Tinker Tinker

[J3C0]

It didn't take long for Valerie to whirl the two other blades close to the center of the target which of course was met with raucous cheers.

It could very well be claimed that they were letting her win, though anyone who knew the clans, and anyone who knew her, would think such a thing was utterly stupid. Clan Vizsla did not play favorite, and Valerie Vizsla was not a push over. She knew her way around a blade better than most, and letting her win was just as likely to get you a beating than anything else.

As soon as the last blade was sunk, her attention was caught.

One of the men signaled to her, then nodded over to Fennec. Valerie looked at the strange girl, having picked her up only a few days before. She hadn't really had the time to see if she'd settled in, though she supposed now was as good as any.

With a wave of her hand she called to the strange girl.

[member="Fennec"]

 

[Quietus]

They hadn't exchanged names, which really was just fine with Fen. Names were overrated, especially for people as anti-social as she. A simple "hey you" sufficed to garner her attention most times, and the hand wave was plenty enough. Taking a long drag of her cigarette, she stepped forward through the crowd of warriors, blue eyes failing to meet the faces of those there save that of [member="Valerie Vizsla"].

Standing a handful of inches taller than the Mandolorian, Fen came to stand directly at Valerie's front where she turned her gaze to look down at her with a hair more interest than was likely acceptable. Poise unassuming and non-threatening, she tipped her head to the side to exhale a plume of smoke away from Valerie's face.

"You have work for me?" well, no use in beating around the bush, eh? Clearly introductions weren't high on her list of priorities.

 

[J3C0]

[member="Fennec"]

Work?

Apparently Fennec hadn't noticed the the celebration that was currently going on around them. Sure Mandalorians liked to be prepared, and sure Clan Vizsla was mostly filled with stuffy aristocratic warriors, but even they knew when to settle down and blow off a bit of steam.

“There's always work to be done.” Valerie said to the taller woman, her gaze shifting slightly towards one of the grinning warriors, then back towards Fennec. “But not today.”

Sometimes procrastination could be a good thing. She turned, beginning to walk away from the commotion of warriors, signaling to other woman to follow her. “Everyone needs a day off, even the mechanic. You should relax, enjoy yourself, have a little fun.”

The way she spoke was oddly less forceful than usual.

 

[Quietus]

If the prospect of idle time and fun were at all engaging for Fennec her expression did not show it. She followed after [member="Valerie Vizsla"], unsmiling, smoke trailing after her, beaded braids clinking softly at her back.

"I do not like having nothing to do," came her words quickly from behind Valerie. Idle hours usually meant a lot of drinking for Fen, more than usual, anyway. While she was not opposed to this, it meant spending credits she didn't currently have to spend. Getting here had only been made possible by a pit-stop at another space station and a few days of repair work there. She was in need of supplies and itchy from spending too much time in space travel. Too much time in her ship.

They call it shuttle-fever.

Fen's gaze lingered on the woman's figure as they walked before drifting off as she finished her cigarette. She needed more of them too.

 

[J3C0]

[member="Fennec"]

Valerie raised her eyebrow. She felt the same way most of the time, but right now there was something to do, have fun. It was odd that Fennec didn't quite understand that, or maybe she still felt like an outsider among strangers. The Mandalorian woman nodded for a second, running a hand over her messy dirt encrusted brown hair before looking up at the strange woman.

“You have something to do. Enjoy yourself.” Valerie stretched slightly, still tired from a day of fighting, her bones weary and her muscles still aching. “As long as you are with us, you work at our pace, eat with us, party with us, sleep with us.”

Of course she didn't mean it in that way.

“For all intents and purposes, you are part of Clan Vizsla, or as close as you'll ever get anyway.” Fennec was a force user, it was highly unlikely that even if it was what the girl wanted that she would ever be apart of the clan. That was simply part of their rules.

 

[Quietus]

"I sleep alone," Fen returned rather abruptly, "I do not sleep with others."

There was no hint of innuendo or read-between-the-lines in her voice. The delineation between sleeping and sex was perfectly clear for her, as the two were not something she ever mixed. Besides, this was all part of the deal made that no one entered her ship while she slept. Fen had her reasons that she did not care to divulge and was content to leave it as simply being a strange quirk of hers.

She sparked up another cigarette, painfully aware it was her last one. She intended to enjoy it.

"You do not have to act like I am part of your clan," she gestured to [member="Valerie Vizsla"], "I knoh how it works. You do not like outsiders and I won't pretend that I belong. Easy, right?"

 

[J3C0]

“You're not part of us.” Valerie said as she came to a sudden stop, rounding on the taller woman with a fierce look in her eye. “But you're as close as you'll ever get. It's not just about finding a way to work with one another, not just about tolerating or finding a way to function. It's about trust.”

She turned away from Fennec and regarded the soldiers that lay behind them.

They were still clustered in that large open square, most of them cheering, waving around cups, food, and some of them even guns. She would have to go over there and smack them for doing so, but she understood that sometimes people forgot themselves, especially Mandalorians. Celebration came to them as easily as battle.

“Those men and women need to trust you. I'm not asking you to be their buddy, not asking you to kark them or play their little games or even be friendly. Simply show that you're human. That you're like them.” Of course she had no idea that Fennec was in fact not human. “Vices, virtues, whatever. Relax, enjoy yourself. Work will be there tomorrow, in the meantime...”

Valerie gestured all around herself as if pointing Fennec in any direction. “Find something you like.”

 

[Quietus]

"They can trust that I will do my job," Fennec returned, watching [member="Valerie Vizsla"] with a pointed stare. So long as she kept getting paid that was all the trust she needed. Belonging had never afforded her anything.

An eyebrow twitched at the mention of presenting herself as human, to which the woman shifted gears and stepped closer to Valerie.

"I am not like them," she stated simply, accented voice lower now, Fen gazed down at Valerie, "I don' fight, I don' know anything about war, I don' have family or belong to anywhere, I don' wear armor or live by honor or code. What did you think an outsider would have in common with your people? Maybe that I survive, that I like to drink," Fen took another drag of her cigarette and set the puff out and over Valerie's head, "maybe that I like you."

Forward, direct. Val's huffy and authoritative show intrigued her and Fen was in desparate need for either a long night of drinking or a long night of ... something else. The latter would certainly cost far less, but that wasn't to say it wouldn't invovle a bit of the former.

 

[J3C0]

For a moment Valerie found herself startled.

She wasn't surprised so much at Fennecs interest as she was in the girls forwardness. Her eyebrow quirked for a moment and her face contorted into something that was a mix of interest, and a slight hint of thought, as if she was imagining something. Her stance changed all of a sudden, moving away from the huffy authoritative pose and into something more natural.

“Well, I can't blame you on the latter.” Valerie looked Fennec up and down for a moment, then cast a glance to her raucous Clan. “Or the former.”

She rolled her eyes towards the men and women of clan Vizsla, then shot a look back towards Fennec. It was oddly predatory.

 

[Quietus]

Fennec's eyes openly roamed across the figure of the Mandolorian from where she stood. She was so close that the foreward portion of her mowhawk likely tickled at the upper portion of [member="Valerie Vizsla"]'s face.

"We can do something we like," her hand brushed noticeably along Val's front as she lifted it to pinch her cigarette from her lips, "together, hm?"

She lingered there, giving the other woman a few moments to consider before calmly and slowly stepping away, "Or not, if you don' like."

 

[J3C0]

Valerie raised an eyebrow and gave Fennec a considering look.

She appreciated the forwardness, the directness. It was really the only way to get into a Mandalorian Womans pants, especially when that Mandalorian was a Vizsla. Beating around the bush...hehehehe...wasn't going to impress anyone, certainly not Valerie who had always been rather strict with her love life.

No one inside the clan.

Though Fennec wasn't in the clan was she?

“You'll be lucky to come out with only a few scratches.” Valerie said with a grin before turning away from Fennec and heading towards her tent.

 

[Quietus]

An arched brow being the greatest extension of her expression of interest, Fennec paused and watched the woman head off towards the tent. A moment later she was following and before long, behind closed tent flaps, helping the Mandolorian out of her armor in a most expeditious way.

~~~

Later that evening, after all the private quarters festivities, a barely-clothed Fennec settled on the ground with her back leaned against a support beam nearby the bedding area. The night air had permeated the tent to mix with the scent of skin and sweat and a breeze was a welcome visitor to the woman's heated flesh. She yearned for a cigarette but knew that would have to wait until the next supply run. With any luck the next few days would bring enough work to keep her cravings in check.

Hearing Valerie stir behind her she glanced over her shoulder and muttered something about leaving soon so Val could sleep.

First she would need to find all her belongings that had been strewn rather haphazardly around the tent.

[member="Valerie Vizsla"]

 

[J3C0]

[member="Fennec"]

Valerie lay back in the sleeping bag with her clothing entirely off. The meager scraps that she had earlier worn had been tossed to the wayside, with her tank top hanging from one of the support beams of the tent itself. She looked at it and tilted her head to the side slightly, questioning how exactly the thing had made it all the way up there.

Her lips turned down into a frown, and she shrugged slightly.

Her armor set on a table at the far end of the tent, each piece meticulously laid out and polished, each piece ready to be put on at a moments notice. The black bodysuit that was worn underneath also lay on the table, and below that sat a bag of regular clothes that Valeria could wear on days like today.

That bag sat nearly untouched.

“Sleep is for the inebriated, the weak, and the dead.” She intoned slightly, beginning to reach for a bottle that was found near the sleeping back. “I am none of those things.”

Yet.