War Stories

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]


"Don't see why it wouldn't. We're about to find out either way."


-------------


Hands came to cinch the tie of her gray robe around her waist. Squidly was still out like a light, taking up most of the space in her bed. It looked as if their pre-dawn session had taken a toll on the Nautolan but if you had asked her it did Squidly some good. After being locked away from women for two years he needed someone with a bit more....aggressive sensibilities. A shake of her head and a yawn before padding out of the room and down the corridor.


Foot kicked aside her dusty pants, making a mental note to actually get some laundry done on Alderaan. Lights were flipped on in the galley, caf grounds retrieved. Strong smell of caf filled the air as she drug a box out of the small freezer and started to read the directions. Delila didn't cook and she hoped Squidly wasn't hoping for anything beyond a reheated breakfast sandwich and strong caf.

 

[Xin Boa]

Xin stirred just as the robe swished through the door. He was pleasantly sore in several places but also deeply satisfied. The nautolan sighed into the empty room and pushed himself up onto his elbows. Legs kicked at tangled sheets to free himself. The sound of the grinder going reached him. It was good that they'd been open. Several times in the past this moment had been awkward, confusing and emotional when two sides realised they'd had remarkably different notions about what the night had signalled. A nautolan girl had once spent his first five waking minutes explaining that they were now promised to each other and then proceeded to map out their next years of life. Exit stage left one squidly. Looking around the floor of the room he spotted a distinct lack of his clothes and tried to think to where they had been discarded.

That doorway had been even more of a border between two worlds than he had expected. Out in the dunes careful words and a casual stroll through the evening air. On this side was urgency and passion, senses overwhelmed. He'd been told once that women in their mid thirties were the most driven. Only now pinned quite firmly to a bulkhead did he believe it. It took a moment for the nautolan to catch up as slowly burning embers were renewed in flame. He spotted the refresher suite and disentangled himself from Dells with no small amount of effort. He received a curious glance as if she was expecting him to finally back out.

“Guess we find out,” he murmured between deep breaths. He turned with a grin and walked away from her. Robes and runic thrown aside carelessly as he walked revealing broad green shoulders marked in intricate black tattoos.

“Ah.” He took a moment to fondly reminisce as he looked for something to provide some modesty for his walk of shame to collect his belongings. Perhaps he hadn't given a good account of himself, at first at least. The buttons to push had been mostly the same or thereabouts and she'd been perfectly willing to tell him what she wanted. And Xin had a backlog of enthusiasm and youthful stamina. The species difference had only really been a problem when she had, at one point, complained of his heavy headtails draping over her back and shoulders. Xin had promptly retied them all behind his back. Damnable gravity was overrated when it came to this. Fully submerged or zero-g was just far more appealing to Xin.

He emerged as Dells was pouring a caf. The towel wrapped around his waist was quite obviously too small for the job but he walked shamelessly across the galley with a pleasant “Morning,” as he went to retrieve something more suitable.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]



Caf swirled around in the mug, Delila making a face as she had to add in the 'fake' creamer. Powdered stuff, who knew what was in it. She had a strong preference for the real liquid deal but it wasn't a luxury available to her at the moment. Squidly was striding through, towel barely giving him enough modesty to make the trip. There was a low chuckle as her spoon swirled the powder creamer into her caf.


"Morning,little breezy there Squidly."


Naturally she had to tease the Nautolan about his current appearance. Someone had to. For the most part Squidly had been eager to please and relatively laid back in most regards. Didn't have a number of hang ups or control issues as some of his older compatriots seemed to carry with them. If he had any regrets Xin didn't seem to make them known. Or at least he didn't skip out the ramp and into the desert never to be seen again.


"Didn't expect you to be awake. Worried I wore you out a little.Or you worried about missing the fleet? Don't worry, I'll get you there on time. Brak couldn't live without you."

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

At no point did Xin slow his stride as he crossed to the other exit from the room. "You did," he said with an appreciative tilt of the head. That was going to stick in his memories for a good while he imagined. "But I never sleep that deep outside of water."

He looked down at the distinct lack of coverage. "Little breezy round di back but it wud be just rude to go through a galley without some coverage."

Towel was whipped free just before he went from view. Rounding the corner he headed for the shower and started to pick up the trail of clothes. Unfortunately his undergarments were still soaked through and inside the cubicle. Obviously hadn't quite got that far before turning the water on. He ring them out and left them to dry over the rail.

Xin returned wearing his cargo pants, but his jacket and shirt bundled up in his arms. "Brak can keep himself amused for hours on end wid just a box of spare parts to be honest," he chuckled.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]


"If I would have known I would have waited."


Delila leaned against her countertops, sipping caf as she listened to Squidly rummaging around for his clothes. Meanwhile she was trying to wake up. Finding clothes and getting dressed her a secondary concern for her at the moment. Delila had built in a loose timetable on getting to Alderaan, planning to arrive early to take care of other business than what she was contracted to do.


"Never discount the value of a good junk box." Delila took another sip of caf, subtly staring at Xin's chest while doing so. "I would offer to cook for you but you'd be better off eating desert sand. Sorry. You're more than welcome to poke around at anything in here though."

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Well, one couldn't be good at everything, he thought to himself. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards and the memory of what she was really quite good at. After two years locked away the dry spell had been broken in a rather unrestrained manner.

"Hopefully we'll go somewhere ice cold next and I can enjoy him slowing down to a crawl." It was perhaps a little cruel as notions went. Even though barabel were adapted to a colder climates than many lizards they could end up in a coma in low enough temperatures. Xin just wanted cold enough that Brak complained about it to the point of neglecting his name-calling.

"Like I said, I've nuh been with that crowd long. Don't really know how long I will to be honest. But Brak's solid. Good heart on him. Not all of da ones doing the gun work for them have dat." Brak was easy to talk to. There was just the slight nagging thought that started to make Xin realise that maybe he was getting a little too comfortable with that group. The itch to move on and find new pastures before he got attached had started, but it was just a small sensation at the back of his mind for now.

"Biscuits?" He asked with a shrug. Most ships had biscuits and Xin didn't tend to eat heavily at breakfast anyway.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]


"I'd give my right arm to have Brak tag along with me.You better keep him out of the cold weather because maybe I'll convince him one day.What am I thinking?Never going to happen, he clearly has a fierce connection to that fleet you're hanging around. Its a shame but I understand."


Caf was finished and Dells set her mug down behind her. For a moment, Delila thought Squidly was actually making said biscuits from scratch in said galley. There was a quick mistake when she realized if Squidly did cook there weren't exactly any supplies on hand.


"Eh, knock yourself out. I'm going to get dressed. Get a move on, see this fleet you and Brak keep speaking of. I feel its like some religious entity at this point."


There was a grin flashed in Squidly's direction before disappearing.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Xin chose not to mention that he was not all that attached to the Vagrant Fleet just yet. They needed help and he could sympathise with those who had lost their homes. Yet at the same time he didn't like being reminded of it constantly.

He wasn't exactly sure what she meant and was mildly distracted by watching her leave in the silky robe. Xin was left alone in the galley. Where were biscuits and snacks then? Every kitchen had to at least have those even if the owner wasn't capable of cooking anything. From the look of the oven she genuinely didn't. The microwave however looked well worn in.

When she returned he was stood leaning over the counter. There was a packet of something rustling as he squeezed his hand into it and a glass of water next to him. The caf beans remained untouched.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]


Upon returning, cabinets were half open and it looked as if Squidly had done his best to scavenge up something palatable. Keen eyes caught a box of Wookie Crisp sitting unopened in a top cabinet. Must have bought them when she was half-drunk or hungover, it was hard to tell. Hand reached up and fished out the unhealthy breakfast cereal, soon pouring it into a bowl with a meager amount of milk.


There was some crunching as she continued to watch Xin's backside.


"Whatcha up to Squidly?"

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Xin gave her a broad grin over his shoulder. "Waiting until I can feel my legs again," he replied. "Right now I'd actually take being a squid." He certainly felt a bit like collapsing mass of gelatinous limbs right about now.

For the first time there was a hint of embarrassment on Xin's face as he turned back to what he'd found to eat with a small, one-sided smile. This time even a nautolan would read very content body language from Xin.

He turned back, this time staying to face her with his elbows perched against the counter. He'd found some basic crackers. Simple snack food that didn't go off on long trips and artificially packed with good nutrients. They could be found on virtually any ship's galley and almost always tasted of dust.

"How do those taste?" he asked with his head cocked to one side. He washed down some cracker with a glass of water. If he wanted to find a one night stand with someone who could cook and a well stocked kitchen of fresh ingredients he would have to start looking in very different places. Boring places with boring people in boring jobs and people spending their time being told what to do.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]



"First you want sex, now you want food. This is already getting too complicated."


Teasing tone entered her voice, watching as he ate what she referred to as 'emergency crackers'. They were the last thing she ate when her ship had crashed years ago. For good reason too, the things tasted horrid. As if someone swept up a cargo hold and compressed it into a 'edible' bar. Why Squidly was choosing to eat them was beyond her. There was other food, albeit needing to be microwaved or heated in some way.


A species thing?


"Why the hell are you eating those things?" A genuine look of concern as she crossed the distance. There was a handing over of her bowl and spoon. "Wookie Crisp? Not bad when you're hung over. Might give you diabetes by the end of the bowl though."


Arm slipped around him,giving Xin a light squeeze. A grin.


"If I knew you were this delicate I would have brought you breakfast in bed."

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

"S'not that complicated," he replied. There was a note of amusement in the deep tone of his voice. It was his second voice. In his native language beneath the water he could speak his first. He hadn't used it in a long time now. "One tends to lead to the other no? As long as you work up an appetite properly."

His arm snaked around her waist returning the light squeeze. Hair had a certain scent her found. Scent evoked memories. Having her close again brought a number rushing back and had the nautolan's chest expanding to take a particularly deep breath. If she'd still been in the robe he might have been tempted to do something rash.

"Nuh so sure we get that," he mused of diabetes. "These things are awful. So I'm not that sure why I opened them. I'll brave the sugar."

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]


"Its complicated when the other party wants to eat. Then there's no fresh food, you seem to have a hard time learning how to use a microwave.....Pretty complicated to me."


Free hand found the Wookie Crisp box, other arm moving out from around Squidly to eat the sugar cereal dry. Weight rested against him as there was a mention of diabetes. Delila supposed nearly any species could technically get diabetes but then there was the whole anatomy and metabolism thing at play.


A gentle elbow nudge into his side.


"Easy Squidly, I thought you were tired? I feel a whole lot of rustling coming from your direction."

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

"Rustling?" he asked. Xin turned towards her with a bemused expression on his face. She amused him in a way that put him a little off-kilter too. He had a sense if there were to be any verbal sparring between the two that he would come off a distant second best. He probably should have gone looking through the cupboards for something to heat up, but for some reason even that felt like a task that he couldn't be bothered to pick up right now. Not that he was expecting her to provide, he was just content to snack right now.

"How soon..." he started as he turned. His right elbow on the counter he stood facing Dells. "...do you need to head off to Alderaan?" As far as he was concerned there was no rush on the scale of hours to get back to the fleet. It wasn't a time critical job and they were still stationary. There was an asteroid still being mined of some precious isotopes that they weren't about to abandon. It had been a random find from a survey ship Xin had been on. He'd actually suggested the course correction to shave off a few hours. They'd been annoyed when his correction had forced them out of hyperspace to avoid a gravity well before realising what they'd found from the radiation levels on the scanners. His luck was funny like that. Didn't keep him out of trouble but tended to save his skin and sometimes put him in the right place at the right time. Th nautolan hovered over Delila, watching her reaction carefully.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]



"Yes, rustling."


Delila didn't see the problem in her terminology. Squidly was doing a whole lot of movement next to her, movement one didn't associate with cereal or breakfast eating. Now he was busy turning to her, spoon completely forgotten in his bowl. Delila raised an eyebrow and ate another handful of dry Wookie Crisp.


"What are you up to?"


Blue-green eyes looked him up and down before answering. Well, partially answering. Dells had built contingency into plans in case escorting the mining equipment had gone south and required extra time. In reality she had roughly three days of play. There was the issue of her laundry, refueling and the like.


"Tomorrow morning is my latest ship out date to make it on time."

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

"Ah," Xin replied simply. Even to a human the expression on his face would seem a mix of playful and downright mischievous. The spoon had been forgotten. Rather than 'rustling' he rather obviously loomed over her. Shirt hadn't yet been replaced and broad green arms covered in intricate black tattoos framed her between the counter and Xin.

Pulse raced, blood surged. Headtails twitched lightly in anticipation and to try and gauge her reaction. Wide eyes were brought close enough that everything else was in the periphery.

"So...." He trailed off. "Yuh might have da morning free?" Depending on her reaction Dells was either rather curtly getting hoisted up until she was perched on the lip of the counter (not that he held any notion of being the dominant partner in their dance) or Xin would be returning to his wookie crisps in a rather abashed manner.

---

As the dropped from hyperspace Xin had to report in to the fleet. As per usual a handful of assorted snubfighters were out and holding position around the fleet. They didn't circle it; that would have wasted previous fuel. They remained stationary and dark near the most vulnerable ships, but Dells would pick up some signals from them as their scanners tracked a new arrival.

"Well..." Xin announced to her. "If yuh wanted to find the raggedy edge...here it is."

 

[Delila Castillon]

"I may have the morning free.”


Squidly seemed to be abounding in ‘youthful energy’ early this morning. Contrary to his belief, Delila was content to let the man take the more dominant approach this go around. Xin had already put himself to a great start by making the first move and she let him lead the dance.


After spending a day entertaining Squidly the last thing she wanted to do was sit in the cockpit and navigate. Muscles ached in protest, eyelids drooped every so often, wanting to nod off and rest. If she was alone the Crimson Dahlia would be on autopilot and she would find herself stretched out in bed, resting. Or savoring,depending on how one looked at it.


Yawn was stifled. She had seen the edge before. It just looked like more black in her opinion.


“Last chance to stay with me. My offer still stands.”


The offer she had made both to Squidly and Brak. Delila knew he wouldn’t take her up on it but she had to offer again. Knowing this she was already navigating towards the fleet, towards what appeared to be the largest ship. Fingernail tapped on the controls, hoping she wasn’t moving into some type of trap.


[member="Xin Boa"]

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Xin had been in a satisfied doze in the copilot's chair. He was stretched out and draped across the chair in an almost feline manner. He had been considering putting his feet on the console to lean back to almost horizontal, but had decided that would have seemed rude on someone else's ship.

He was a rather different nautolan to the irritable person she'd met planet side. He was out of the sun, skin free of sand and sore in all the right places. It turned out he is as actually quite a relaxed and well travelled individual, despite the two years kept out of society. Not that most people thought of the company he kept as 'society'.

There was a flare of panic at her question, before he realised what he was actually being asked.

"I am nuh as attached as Brak to dis place," he said. "But I'm gonna stick around fi a bit longer and see wah dey are about. Still a free man though. Nuh dat you've seen but actually pretty handy in a scrap. So why don't we swap details and see if any work comes up? Or happen to be in the same Sector." And have a few hours to blow off some steam again, he thought to himself.

The Addrogaddo, a small Corellian frigate was where he needed to go and Xin would get on the comm to identify himself.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"]


"Handy in a scrap? I assumed you would be."


Delila remained quiet as Squidly had to identify himself to the fleet. Personally she still had some issues with the entire premise of the fleet was a bit unsettling. Refugee fleet where one had to pay off their debt? She was all for repaying and helping out where needed. Just seemed more than a little odd to her so many had mentioned a 'repayment' on some magical 'debt'. It was a sure bet Delila's hand wasn't going to be straying too far from her blaster the entire time here.


Xin was finally done speaking, the Crimson Dahlia gliding towards their designated landing area.


"We can exchange details if you want. That's fine."


She'd heard that before. Probably wouldn't hear from him again.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Xin fell quiet silent for a few seconds. The ends of his headtails curled up and his eyes narrowed fractionally. He was giving her offer one final consideration. Might have been more likely to take it if it hadn't been for the last twelve hours. He wasn't the stay and run type. Just wasn't all that interested in any romantic entanglements right now, not that it seemed she was either.

She seemed a sensible person, probably ran a good business. She might have caught his gaze meandering between the fleet and her and back again, but it was sometimes hard to tell where a nautolan was looking.

"Yuh look a little suspicious about da whole thing?" He asked. It wasn't rocket science, she'd been pretty up front about it all earlier.