Private Where the Kark am I!?

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

"You learn to get crafty, if you grew up with the people I was surrounded by." He quipped. "Learned to fight since I was a kid. Survival literally depended on me thinkin' quick." He admitted with a plume of smoke from his nostrils.

“Mm.. Guess we’re more alike than we think,” Hers was a tone of sisterly gust, as she reached for her second round of beers Yuri had ordered not that long ago; the young woman took a big swig during the brief lull in the conversation. Vara set down the tallboy in her grasp, its contents sloshed gently in the glass, like a calm swell washing ashore in the early morning. “Y’must’ve had a different curriculum than mine though, cuz damn..” A tender chuckle poured from her lips.

She was not going to forget the ass beating he served her, not in a lifetime.

The mutt drew the cigarette to her lips in the wake of her words, keeping her curious, interested gaze directed at Yuri as he himself took a serious tone now, and finally cut the chit.

"Come on, sister, us fleabags gotta stick together. Ya dig?" He joked before sitting back to take another sip of his beer. "Nah... in all seriousness... ya got a spine. Call it a force of habit, or tradition, or whatever, but it wouldn't have been right of me to just pop ya and leave you there." He admitted with a far more serious tone.

"Vode an." He remarked with another shrug. "Besides... not often I see another mutt in the wild. Call it a... sense of comradery if you want." He quipped with a wink.

An amused grumble rolled from her throat; Vara took another toke at her cigarette, the white-gray smoke wafted out her snout with a sigh.“Your understanding of camaraderie,” her head mockingly tilted to the side as she drew quotation marks. “Is makin’ a twin think they was gon’ die?” Vara shook her head, chuckling. “You karker,” her tone took a sharp turn towards the serious at the flip of a coin. “Thought I was a goner,” The young mutt sharply tore her gaze from him as she ran a claw through her mane, carding it, playing with her locs as she tapped her cigarette at the ashtray between them on the table. A small ash clump snapped free from the rest of her smoke without much effort.

Her gaze then fell on the small puddle of lager at her side of the table, mirroring her visage. Her crimson stare looked back at her; sharp, yet stormless as the cogs in her head visibly churned, processing the fight. The could’a, would’a, should’a’s… Their rather pleasant chat. All of it.

Her math mathed, in the end.

It was all fair game; hers was a classic case of “kark around and find out,” and she had found out.

And not for the first time, oh hells no.

Could it have ended worse for her? Oh for sure, and for a moment, she thought that was it; that her story was concluded before she could even write it. He gave her the scare of her life, even when she fought on with nothing but utter defiance to the bitter end she perceived was coming for her.

But… she was still alive; breathing, drinking, smoking, talking and laughing. And in decent company.

And that’s all that mattered to her.

There were better slights to hold onto for a grudge.

The young woman nodded. “No hard feelings,” Her words carried no amount of mockery or quip. A small crack of her voice in the end of her words, that of an apology, refused to be worded outright and openly. Vara reached her claw to him in the wake of her words, the filter of her cig expertly trapped between her first two knuckles; the faint trail of smoke streaked in sync with her movement. The young mutt’s head tilted to the side, her ears and brows perked up, expressing an unspoken question at him as she held Yuri’s gaze with her own:

We good..?

If the fleabag sat across from her took the offer for peace and mutual understanding, Vara would dap a brother up in a heartbeat.

 

[Yuri Maji]

A laugh erupted from Yuri at her remark of what 'school' they attended. "Oh, you got no idea..." He remarked. If she had any idea of who he grew up with, she'd probably count her blessings a few more times. But that simply brought him back to his previous assessment of her. She was hard as nails, they would expect of him to at least make the offer.

She went on to comment once more on her presently drawing breath, earning another chuckle from Yuri as he let out another puff of his smoke. But what caught him by surprise was the hand outstretched to him, and the apology quickly following from the mutt. Yuri watched her for a moment, then looked down at her open hand, contemplating the proverbial olive branch offered to him.

After a few seconds he made up his mind, and tapped the burning bud straight into her palm. "Kark no, we ain't good. You stole my money and tried to fight me over it. Quit while you're behind, harpy." He scowled as he spoke. No way in hell was he going to let something like this just slide past.

But it gave him a chance to speak his mind.

"Listen, we ain't buddies. I don't know you. But as far as I see it, you're karked if you stay on this station." He took a long sip of his drink as he maintained his glare at her. "So... I got a proposition for ya. I know some people who are always lookin' for workers. Dangerous work, real good odds of dyin' or being arrested if you cross the wrong border. But it pays well. You'll be able to afford your own ship in no time, decent one too if you check yourself." He sat forward, hands clasped together to make sure she was paying attention.

"Or... option two. Less a job and more a lifestyle. You join my people. You permanently paint a target on your back, but you'll gain the means to protect yourself and your family." A finger raised to halt any immediate response. "Option one, you'll probably live good and you'll be able to walk away whenever. Option two... you'll never be able to walk away, and the galaxy will never be the same for you." He finally finished, sitting back to finish his beer and strike up another cigarette.

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

A brief, hot sting.

Yuri drove his point home before he even began to speak his mind; the alight tip of his cigarette left a faint scorch in the palm of her extended hand. The woman’s expression shifted in a heartbeat; a hint of disappointment flashed in her crimson gaze as he looked at him with a now neutral expression. The woman slowly drew her hand back, drawing the cigarette between her first two knuckles to her lips.

"Kark no, we ain't good. You stole my money and tried to fight me over it. Quit while you're behind, harpy." He scowled as he spoke. No way in hell was he going to let something like this just slide past.

But it gave him a chance to speak his mind.

"Listen, we ain't buddies. I don't know you. But as far as I see it, you're karked if you stay on this station."

Vara held Yuri’s scowl with an unblinking gaze of her own as she toked, watched him take a long sip of his lager in the wake of his words.

…She had meant it.

The bullchitter wasn’t bullchiting this time!

Her genuine offer of reconciliation was turned down, but the woman couldn’t blame him. “Fair,” a growl from her throat preceded the dry acknowledgement of Yuri’s feelings on the matter.

It’d seemed she’d had to pay her debt before thinking about “getting along” again. No harm done; that’s how she was herself. Words were utterly meaningless when they weren’t backed up by actions. Seemed clear to her that’s the conclusion he had made, going off what little he could perceive of her; he must’ve thought she was going to kark off without fixing a thing, leaving him with a dry “sorry”. The woman gave a small nod of her head at that train of thought in her mind.

She could work with that.

As much as she was great at messing things -and people- up, she wasn't so bad at making things right.

Vara slowly pulled away the spent cigarette between her lips. The nicotine rich smoke wafted from her snout and parted lips a gentle exhale of breath. The woman went to stub the consumed yet still alight bud into the ashtray between them.

"So... I got a proposition for ya. I know some people who are always lookin' for workers. Dangerous work, real good odds of dyin' or being arrested if you cross the wrong border. But it pays well. You'll be able to afford your own ship in no time, decent one too if you check yourself." He sat forward, hands clasped together to make sure she was paying attention.

Vara’s ears perked up as Yuri began again, her gaze never once steering away from his. The woman listened to what she had to say, as she reached for and took another cigarette from his pack, placed it between her lips, and produced her zippo from the inside pocket of her jacket again; only this time she played with the lid in her digits, after lighting up her smoke.

The distinct clink and clatter of her zippo echoed in a slow, rhythmic beat inside the booth they shared.

"Or... option two. Less a job and more a lifestyle. You join my people. You permanently paint a target on your back, but you'll gain the means to protect yourself and your family." A finger raised to halt any immediate response. "Option one, you'll probably live good and you'll be able to walk away whenever. Option two... you'll never be able to walk away, and the galaxy will never be the same for you." He finally finished, sitting back to finish his beer and strike up another cigarette.

CLINK…

CLANK…

CLINK…

CLANK…

She ran her thumb along the lid, caressing the metal under her fingertip “Who’s "my" people?” Vara asked him, echoing one part of his words, after bringing the cigarette to her lips for another draw; the part about having a back like a target didn’t sound much different than how she had spent her life back home. The young woman’s head tilted to the side in thought as he looked at him.

Her crimson gaze burned alight with visible consideration. Both choices were very much life altering. But she did not feel intimidated by either of them. She had already left everything behind, to make a name for herself.

To live.

Live like she never had.

“You can never walk away… That's a life long debt,” she spoke her mind to him now when Yuri’s words reached a finality. "And indebted with what? Duty? A tribute, of some kind?" Another exhale of smoke. The white plume rolled out of her snout; a thin veil of smoke began to slowly thicken between them with every drawn breath of smoke. “And who’d I be indebted to, if I said yes?” Vara asked; it seemed the first option did not intrigue her as much as the second one she was presented with. “You? More than I already am? Or somebody else?” She went on with more questions. “And that bit about the galaxy becoming something different. Different, in what ways?” the girl asked, her intrigue growing with each question she spoke out.

“Then… you said you cannot walk away from it. So you obviously go all in, then.” the woman flicked the ash of her cigarette on the ashtray. “But the galaxy is massive. Yeah? Who’d really know, if someone decided to kark off? Just vanish. Not a trace. How would they find ‘em?”

The tone of her voice hinted at deep intrigue, throughout her words. She wasn’t making schemes in her bright ol’ mutt-brain and planning parsecs ahead of her. No.

It was all simple intrigue, eager for her curiosity to be sated.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Her disappointment at his refusal of her apology was somewhat amusing to him, though what had his full attention was her volley of questions regarding his second proposal. Sometimes recruiting someone to the Mandalorian cause seriously felt like a cult, or some kind of scheme. "Duty of some kind, yeah..." He muttered, fiddling with his wallet as she continued with her questions and concerns.

"If you paid attention to the picture you left on the floor of the corridor, you'd have your answer already." He commented as he unfolded the picture and set it down in front of her. The picture itself contained a teenage Yuri clasping a very distinctive helmet. Beside him stood a broad, scarred woman clad in heavy armour along with another Shistavanen in civilian clothing. They looked vastly different from him, but the armour the woman wore shared a striking resemblance with the helmet he held. The cherry on top was the massive War Droid behind the trio.

"You'll be in debt to Mandalore. Or, at least, its people. Your duty and debt will be to the rest of our people, just like theirs will be to you. The galaxy? It hates us. Allegiances change at the drop of a credit. Twenty years ago, we were at war with the galaxy after they tried to massacre us. Now? We're friends, for the moment at least. The only people you'll be able to trust are your own. Anything you do, any job you take, you'll be expected to do it to help our people." He took the picture back and finished his beer. It was rather concerning that she was so intrigued by the second option. Any smart person would take the first option he gave.

She would definitely fit with a T-visor.

"When you walk the way of Mandalore... you are both hunter and prey. Your clan is the only people you'll ever be able to trust." Ears flattened somewhat as his gaze shifted. "If you decide to pick a clan, of course." The split second of remorse disappeared as quickly as it came behind a smug grin. "Plus... havin' the best armour and weapons in the galaxy is a plus." He shrugged, leaning back in his seat as he watched her.

Smart people would take the first option. If this harpy knew what was good for her, she'd be a smart person...

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

Click…

Vara’s maw shut in the wake of her words, as she listened to the answers the fleabag had for her. The woman nodded along, signalling her continued interest as he went on to explain that, yes, this debt was some kind of a duty. Yes, you would be tracked down and turned into a worm feast if you backed away from this way of life, after committing.

Vara reached out for the picture Yuri offered him in the wake of another pull of smoke; what she held in her hands was not some fancy-techy thing, this. No. It was on print. Weathered and aged. Real. Tactable.

”Very oldschool,” Vara murmured as she took a closer look. After a few moments, when Yuri’s explanation of the facts reached a finality, the woman set the picture down on the table, and slid it across back to him with the push of a digit. Her hand went up to pluck the cigarette from between her lips.

The woman leaned back; the leather of the cushions beneath her backside crunched in a soft, meaningless protest as she leaned her weight against the backrest. The pair of crimson orbs dimmed to a squint as he looked to Yuri in silence.

Clack…

Click…

Withdrawn into contemplation, the woman continued to flick her zippo’s lid. The tempo was reduced to something much, much more deliberate.

…What he had to say for being owed a debt by others had her interest piqued into a newer level. She couldn’t deny that one. From how she understood it, you were held to a standard, an expectation, but so too were everybody else, and they did things for you, just as you’d do things for them.

There was a mutual benefit in this.

Clack…

Click…

This sounded to her like being apart of a big family.

Having access to the means for the bleeding edge technology and equipment to defend yourself, and those you cared for, and your People that you’d be a part of now, also sounded quite nice. She had never had any qualms with standing up for herself, or her loved ones. People she gave a chit. And you could expect them to watch your back, too. And they would be compelled to do so.

That alone? Now that sounded very compelling to her.

But a problem remained for her. A make or break.

And she had probably the best man sitting in front of her to get an answer for it, in her circumstance.

“If you were given the chance,” Her eyes slowly widened, their focus returning back to Yuri’s visage from behind the shroud of smoke that hung in the air between them. “For a clean slate… No strings attached, no retribution by your People to chase you to the end of the galaxy,” her tone took an interrogative turn as she spoke of this pure hypothetical. “Would you take it? Start fresh?” A dot of burning orange flashed at her lips as she took another drag of smoke.

How free were you, Yuri?

 

[Yuri Maji]

There was a long silence between the two mutts as Yuri watched her contemplate the options. Weighed the pros and cons of taking the creed and signing her life over. The rhythmic click-clack of her lighter was the only thing breaking an otherwise deafening silence. When she finally broke the silence, she asked a question he didn't expect and, in doing so, she opened up a question he had been asking himself for almost a decade.

A faint chuckle escaped him as he wafted the smoke away. "We ain't talkin' about me here, mutt." He quipped, but the smile didn't reach his eyes as he looked away.

She was smarter than she let on.

That joint would have been great in this moment.

"Clean slate... cin vhetin..." He scoffed, taking a long drag of his cigarette as his gaze found hers again. "I'm the worst person in the galaxy to be askin' that, I'll be honest." He tried to maintain a lighthearted, joking appearance. She put him on the spot, but he had no obligation to answer her. And yet... he couldn't get himself to just brush it aside and leave.

His gaze shifted away once more. "Growin' up... Ma was a soldier. Fought the Sith for the better part of four decades. Something happened... and she was excommunicated. Titles stripped, her clan kicked her out, her name erased from the songs. Everyone I knew either spoke to me with pity because of her... or they hated me. The son of the traitor." A shadow of a growl rumbled from his maw as he stared at the table in front of him.

"When she died, it just got worse. I avoided them all, tried to get as far away from the life as the galaxy would let me. I've done a lot. Smugglin', killing, mercenary work, the works. I told myself that I was helpin' in my own way. I ain't a soldier." But it was a lie, he knew it. He always said that he cared, that he wanted to help his people.

But he couldn't face them. The only time he raised a finger to aid his people, it was to go to war in a fit of revenge that cost him everything. He was a coward. Afraid of his mother's shadow, afraid of making the difficult choices, afraid of setting foot in her home because of the memories...

Afraid of attending her funeral...

Golden eyes finally met crimson as Yuri looked back to the girl. "I've been avoidin' my own people my whole life. I wear the armour, I speak the language..." For the briefest of moment, another pair of crimson eyes met his gaze. Eyes belonging to a scarred face with a flowing mane, broad shoulders he would ride on as a pup, and crimson lines on the bottom lip of a smug, toothy grin.

"Welcome to the Mando'ade..."

A smirk stretched along his features as he sat back. "... Can't start fresh if ya haven't even started yet." He finally answered, feeling a weight off his shoulders.

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

CLACK…

"We ain't talkin' about me here, mutt." He quipped, but the smile didn't reach his eyes as he looked away.

You couldn’t out-bullchit the bullchitter.

Not this one.

Vara’s answer to him came in the form of a stubborn stance in demand for an answer; the mutt sat back at her booth seat, immersed in a deliberate comfort as she went on to prop her boots on her side of the table, with her ankles criss-crossed loosely, one draped over the other. Her cigarette hung loosely low, between her lips; each gentle drag of smoke illuminated a part of her visage in a brief flash of fiery orange as she went onto cross her arms over her chest.

Yuri had her full, undivided attention, as she witnessed how her question had opened the Pandora's Box to his emotions.

She watched in deliberate silence as Yuri battled his emotions at first, and quickly lost. It did not take long for him to speak more of himself. Of his past. The young woman dared not to interrupt him with a remark of snark, mockery, pity, or empathy.

No.

The gal simply listened, as she kept her own thoughts and emotions safeguarded from him.

Everything she heard him say, his body language, his tone, the light in his golden eyes, solidified a decision she would eventually come to make at the end of this conversation.

The young shistavanen allowed his words to sink in, to hang in the air for a long moment in their shared silence, while she took them and turned it over and over in her mind, before she parted her lips to speak.

"... Can't start fresh if ya haven't even started yet." He finally answered, feeling a weight off his shoulders.

“...Can’t start fresh, if you haven’t even started yet,” Vara first echoed Yuri’s last words before he fell quiet. “A journey unbegun is a story unwritten.” The gal then began after another moment of deliberation. The woman’s visage offered a genuine grin. Not a hint of mockery, nor pity did shape her features as of this moment. “It’s never late to start. Especially what you said suggests my idea of a clean slate exists! Si-in veht-iin," She had absolutely butchered the word in her attempt at repeating it the way she heard it, it was completely foreign to her tongue.

The woman uncrossed her ankles and drew her feet from off the table in one smooth motion upon her words reaching a finality. The woman rolled her weight forward. Her digits met and clasped each other, her zippo in their embrace, as she leaned on the table on her elbows. "There's a way out then, no matter how deep you're in it, and not in a body bag!"

Which begged another question. Vara was not hesitant to voice it. "If that's the case, then it means something compels you to stay. Something that's worth all the bullchit you put up with. What is it? Why continue to care for a people that pities and resents you? Why let them judge you with sins that are not even yours to carry? And what they say to you... Why's it matter so damn much?" It was obvious she wanted to understand how binding committing to this was, even when the nature of her question was very much a personal matter for the fleabag before him.

It was up to him now to enlighten her if these shackles were simply of his own, that he was the exception and not the rule.

Vara gently reached for the cigarette between her lips, and flicked its ashes into the ashtray.

The girl would continue speaking her mind on the matter then, after seizing a long lull in the conversation that allowed her to continue. This time she raised an observation and not an interrogative remark. “Mmh-... If there’s one thing I can take away from my experience in life, it's that Life is a one big joke,” Vara heaved a sigh. A fresh plume of smoke fumed from her snout. “And sometimes, we can’t be in control of our lives. Then, the jokes start to write themselves! But do you know what we’re always in control of?” She leaned in closer, before the woman answered her own question for him. “The punchline.” Warmth radiated from her toothy smile. The young woman hoped the meathead fleabag could see the wisdom in her words.

That in the end, you reserved the last word; the say for who you were. Who you truly were. What others said, thought of, decreed or announced who or what you were to them, mattered only if you allowed them.

You always had the last say.

"And the way I see it? You still got your punchline, dude."

 

[Yuri Maji]

The mutt shared some of her own philosophy with him and, while he cringed at her pronunciation, he did agree with the sentiment. But that led her to another question that he finally began to answer for himself. He simply stared at her, wordlessly mulling over the question of why he still carried the creed with him.

The plain and simple answer was that he had no answer.

Not one he could give with words, at least. Despite his resentment towards his people, Yuri had just as many memories of brotherhood and family. It was something the mutt had to experience for herself, she sounded like the philosophical type between them in any case. Yuri remained quiet as she went on to share some more of her thoughts. The wording wasn't exact, but the sentiment behind it was one he always believed in. They were all captains of their own souls, it was just a matter of which course they wanted to plot.

A gentle smile took hold as Yuri shook his head. "Well... let's hope it's a good one." He looked back as his grin widened. "Yours is pretty funny already." He quipped with one last jab before standing up from the table. A handful of credits were set on the table in front of her. "Get yourself somethin' to eat. You can get the bill. My ship's at hangar three, dock two. Those credits should be enough to get you to Nar Shaddaa. Ask for a Trandoshan named 'Tuchanka'. She'll be able to help set you up." He stood upright and gave her a wink. "If I don't see you again, well... I'll at least know you made the smart choice." He turned to leave the woman to her own devices.

But the Hound paused. He looked back at the mutt for a moment before giving a shrug. "I'm Yuri, by the way." He spoke up, before walking away.

Back on his ship, the Hound's posture finally collapsed as he slid against the wall with heavy breaths. "Kriffin' harpy." He muttered to himself, fighting back a flood of emotions in an attempt to regain his composure. Everything she said, all of her questions kept spinning in his thoughts as tears began to roll. After a few minutes, he took one last breath and straightened himself out before finally dragging the gyroscope to its rightful place.

All the while, a red eye watched him from below a tarp in the cargo hold. A faint, mechanical rumble echoed through the ship as Yuri walked away.

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

A grin remained etched to her visage; sculpted not by unwarranted belittlement or scorn, but by heartfelt sympathy and warmth. An expression she rarely allowed to surface. Rarer was her willingness to offer such vulnerability.

If ever.

Even when his tongue failed to deliver, falling back to a wordless contemplation for what felt like eternity for them both, Yuri had given her the answers she had sought.

Vara shared his quietude with her own. Leaned against the table, propped on her elbows, the harpy’s clasped hands arose to her jaw to support the weight of her head. Her eyelids dimmed gently as the mutt continued to hold his golden gaze.

Her words had hit close to home.

Hurt read clearly in his eyes; his were wounds she could not have reopened, for none had been allowed to heal to begin with. The jokes had written themselves for Yuri.

His was a soul with a bitter, unfavorable past.

Just like hers.

The harpy let out a sigh after a deep breath. She felt the tingling sensation of regret grasping at her core as she stubbed another spent bud into the ashtray. She did not intend on putting him through a massive contemplation of the self. That wasn’t her aim, but that’s what brought this conversation towards the inevitable conclusion it was headed towards.

"Well... let's hope it's a good one." He looked back as his grin widened. "Yours is pretty funny already." He quipped

A kind, humoring chuckle met Yuri’s words. “Hmph.. That so?” The woman’s expression changed to that of confusion on a dime, however, when the fleabag unexpectedly rose to his feet; caught off guard for a heartbeat at the sudden motion, Vara’s brows knit to an inquiring frown. Her ears perked up in self-evident intrigue. The harpy looked up at him from where she sat, as he went onto set down a handful of credits before her on the table.

"Get yourself somethin' to eat. You can get the bill. My ship's at hangar three, dock two. Those credits should be enough to get you to Nar Shaddaa. Ask for a Trandoshan named 'Tuchanka'. She'll be able to help set you up." He stood upright and gave her a wink. "If I don't see you again, well... I'll at least know you made the smart choice." He turned to leave the woman to her own devices.

But the Hound paused. He looked back at the mutt for a moment before giving a shrug. "I'm Yuri, by the way." He spoke up, before walking away.

Vara’s unflinching gaze trailed Yuri; even when the young man turned to face away from her, after he uttered his name for her, she could not bring her tongue to speech. What was she gonna say? Wait? Stop?

After all that?

And before long, it had become too late to say anything, even if she wanted to. The fleabag disappeared into a corridor on the far side of the cantina, walking past patrons coming and leaving the premises. His scent slowly began to grow colder to her snout with each heartbeat that passed with her indecision.

Other scents slowly began to replace Yuri’s.

She was alone now. Left alone with his words, and her thoughts.

It was time for that choice.

...No. Not yet.

She needed a smoke first.

The young mutt unclasped her hands under her chin, as a digit reached for the pack of cigs Yuri forgot or did not bother to take with him.

Click…

The woman lit the tip of the cigarette between her lips; her crimson gaze closed shut as her core rose in a deep, deliberate inhale. The smoke vented from her snout and between her grit teeth in a thick cloud in a sharp exhale.

Clack...

She tapped the bottom of her lighter on the table, deep in thought. The cigarette trapped between her knuckles, the harpy massaged her brow. What to do…

What to do…

—

The lively buzz of the cantina was long behind her. The shouting of vendors at their stalls, trying to sell their merchandise, the plethora of -mostly unfavorable- scents of cheap “food” grew sparse with each footfall, all replaced by the background cough and thrum of failing ventilation units and the gabble of a whole shoal of strange, untrustworthy characters she walked past.

Departures.

Without skipping a beat, the young mutt continued down her chosen path.

Hers was not going to be the smart choice.

It would be the right one.

The illumination of the corridors to the hangar bays proved better than anywhere else on the station. Under the shower of white fluorescent, she walked with purpose in her step, having only her thoughts to accompany her to the start of her journey.

Before long, Vara’s footfalls came to a halt. She stood tall before the massive pathway. Her eyes had found the numbers she sought after with ease.

Hangar three. Dock two.

The bold, white numerals painted on the blast doors told her she came to the right place. She lowered her muzzle then, and drew a long, deliberate sniff; Vara nodded to herself in silent confirmation. He was still here, and no doubt he sensed her now, too.

She was in the right place.

With a hand, the harpy grasped at the sling of her duffel bag hanging on her right shoulder; it looked fuller, heavier now. Someone had gone shopping.

On her left, she held onto a plastic, transparent bag. The sharp corners of two white boxes -takeouts, poked small holes into the plastic bag, warm to the touch; the vapors of the steaming hot food condensed into warm droplets, clinging onto the bag.

Her eyes rested on Yuri’s ship. She found herself drawing for a deep breath.

…She could still kark off.

Take the smart choice, as he put it.

A smirk tugged at her lips, remembering Yuri’s words, only for a gentle shake of her head to follow. She didn’t come all this way, to this god forsaken station, for the opportunity to hang her hat one day and continue to be a Miss Nobody, and die old and demented, no matter the bank she’d make with Tuchanka.

A mountain of creds wasn’t the only thing she wanted in life.

She was not going to continue her existence as some nameless, worthless underling.

And with that, Vara stepped forth to meet what lay ahead.

Her head held high, the young mutt went to Yuri’s bucket of bolts. It wasn’t long until she saw a silhouette moving about in the interior of the cargo hold, as she drew near. The gentle echo of her footfalls reached a punctuation upon coming to the mouth of the ramp. Her eyes found Yuri’s, when he emerged. In silence she reached out her right hand to him, when he got close.

The faint scorch of a stubbed cigarette still faintly marked her palm.

Vara would draw her hand up and away when he reached to greet her. Her brows furrowed in suspicion, as her head tilted with the very same notion while Vara regarded the fleabag. “Not gonna burn my hand again, are you?” She threw him a jab, her quip evident in the rising tone of the words she raised to him before she fell silent.

If that didn’t make it obvious, her toothy smirk certainly did.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Working on the ship managed to take his mind slightly off what they had discussed, but no in its entirety. At least he could take out his frustrations on the ship and not himself or Baby. A plethora of Huttese and Mando'a echoed through the ship as Yuri moved about to find the correct tools, scanners and fluid bottles, unknowing that he had a brand new stowaway boarding his ship.

Baby didn't take kindly to it as a low growl emanated from the machine covered by a tarp in the cargo hold. Yuri himself reached for his pistol when the thief suddenly caught his attention with an outstretched hand. A number of things ran through his mind as he watched her for a brief second. He was looking terrible with oil and grease staining the pelt of his chest, Baby was beginning to stand up as its mechanical binary grew more aggressive... and she was trying to shake his hand once more.

"Baby, hold!" He barked, holding a hand out to calm the beast. He maintained his glare until the beast retreated back to his resting place. Finally his attention was brought to the girl with no name as of yet, his eyes squinted with suspicion before he slid the goggles onto his forehead. "... Nah." He finally answered, cupping his hand to smack against hers. "Still don't mean you're off the hook, though." He followed up with a pat on her head and a smug grin. Nodding to the ship behind him, Yuri slid the goggles back on and turned to find his way back to the engine room. "Make yourself at home, I guess. Ship's a bit of a mess, just a heads up." He remarked as he walked away.

Sure enough, the rest of the ship wasn't as clean as he would have liked. A suit of armour and a number of weapons were strewn across the galley's table, and a variety of other odds and ends littered the rest of the place. Yuri resumed with his repairs until a victorious "Finally!" Echoed through the ship. Looking like he crawled through a salvage yard, Yuri made his way back to the galley with a satisfied grin. "So, you decided on the dumb choice, huh? You sure about this?" He joked as he watched the girl.

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

A powerful mechanical whirr came growling from her right, underneath a tarp. As what was underneath began to rise to meet this interloper standing before it, she saw a sight that was often the last thing so many of its victims had seen.

A massive four legged beast of steel glared at her. In the matter of a nano-second, the young woman found herself looking at stacks upon stacks of massive gun barrels, accusingly pointed towards her.

Holy…

"Baby, hold!" He barked, holding a hand out to calm the beast.

Vara froze in place. Her instincts screamed at her to snap around and run for the hills, but she knew she would seal her fate for good if she moved as much as a facial muscle the wrong way. Thankfully, she was not to be turned into minced meat today as Yuri stepped in, ordering the wardroid to back away to its resting place in the cargo hold with just a glare after his initial shout of its rather affectionate name.

Vara’s eyes trailed the massive wardroid, making sure she did not make the wrong move and agitated it without knowing. “Hope I didn’t come over at a bad time..?” She spoke, only when the coast was clear; the nervousness in her chuckle was subtle; she held herself well under the unexpected surprise, but her eyes would reveal she had felt a lot more afraid than she was letting on.

The harpy watched the Mandalorian mutt cast a suspicion-filled gaze her way underneath the welding goggles as she still held her hand out for him. His simple gesture of sliding the goggles away from his eyes cut through the rising tension like a blade.

"... Nah." He finally answered, cupping his hand to smack against hers.

“Yeah!” The young woman’s boisterous tone was electrical. Her volatile, unpredictable energy returned in an instant; she took half a step forward in an instant, closing the gap between them and caught Yuri’s hand in a tight clasp. She pulled him in for a hard shoulder knock. Her claws clicked with his as she parted. “Name’s Vara,” the young woman's sharp teeth flashed in a quick, approving grin.

And they were strangers no more.

It was always a pleasure meeting and dapping up a fellow cousin for her. The fleabags did have to look out for each other out there, that was a fact.

"Still don't mean you're off the hook, though." He followed up with a pat on her head and a smug grin.

She had no qualms with still having to make amends, but the pat to the head, as if she still had her natal coat. “The kark-..!” In one smooth motion, the young woman leaned back and away from Yuri’s touch, and swatted his hand away with the back of her hand. She spoke with a toothy smug grin that challenged Yuri’s. “Hey I’m no pup, scughole,” She mailed her quip with a firm low growl of her throat.

It was clear she did not quite enjoy being treated like some youngin' with no scars on her pelt.

The minor clash of characters this time around was postponed until a more reasonable moment, as Yuri slipped his goggles back on.

"Make yourself at home, I guess. Ship's a bit of a mess, just a heads up." He remarked as he walked away.

A bit of a mess? Did this fleabag know who he was talking to?

“Hah, should see the state of my room back home,” A warm chuckle rolled from her throat. “No harm done, twin,”An amused, toothy grin took hold of her features as he shook her head. The young woman walked up to the galley’s table nearby in the wake of Yuri’s words, as he set out to finish with the repairs. The muffled clatter of various tools echoed in the interior while the young woman was briefly left to her own devices.

She set her bags on a vacant part of the table next to the various and exotic assortment of firearms sat idle. Some of the pieces held her intrigue. Unconsciously, her digits reached for one of the weapons after she glanced at it for a few moments.

It was only when she moved to get their meals ready she realized there was an empty space where one of the firearms stood. “Huh..? Oh-..!” Her eyes grew wider as she came to the realization. She patted herself down, feeling the foreign, unfamiliar imprint of the missing handgun in the pocket of her jacket after a moment. She produced it, gave it one last look in her hands, and set it down exactly the way she had found it.

This subconscious hoarding was going to get her into trouble some day.

"Finally!" Echoed through the ship. Looking like he crawled through a salvage yard, Yuri made his way back to the galley with a satisfied grin. "So, you decided on the dumb choice, huh? You sure about this?" He joked as he watched the girl.

Yuri would return to see the tantalizing smell of beef noodles wafting in the cargo hold. Vara sat at the galley table, with one of the takeout boxes before her and her chopsticks in her hand. The fleabag’s meal sat across from her at the table.

“Nah,” the woman spoke with a playful, highly exaggerated tone. “I actually booked a shuttle for Nar Shaddaa, just killing time till the last call,” Vara chuckled, shaking her head. “Come si’down dumbass, your food’s getting cold.” she gestured to the metal folding chair at Yuri's side of the table with a nod. Vara then wasted no time in stuffing her face in the wake of her words afterwards, shoveling clumps of noodles and small chunks of meat into her mouth with her chopsticks.

By all hells did she need this meal.

“Figured you’d be starvin’ too after all this,” she said with a grin. Her digits reached for something in her duffel bag; the contents softly clattered, before she produced a can of beer and threw it at the mutt at a wide arc. “Catch!” A short, amused chortle accompanied the throw.

 

[Yuri Maji]

The girl's freezing terror in the wake of Baby's warning drew a chuckle from Yuri as he clasped her hand. He finally got a name out of her as the bumped shoulders together, a greeting he clearly wasn't used to. Still, it helped to break the tension between them a little bit as they went about their own devices. Thankfully he was saddled up with a street rat, so the state of his ship was likely not a big issue... though, he did get a little concerned when he remembered what he had left on the table.

Upon entering the galley, his gaze scanned over the assortment of weapons and gear he was in the process of cleaning to make sure nothing went missing with Vara's presence. He scoffed at her quip as he made his way over to the table to take in the sight of some decent food. Hands rested on his hips as he shook his head. "First time I don't need to tell someone to buy me dinner first. That's a record." He quipped, making his way to the fridge. He only stopped when she called out to him, and a can of beer came sailing through the air and into his grasp.

The Hound simply stared at her for a second as he held the can. "You didn't think this through, did you?" He asked her. To drive his point home, he used one hand to snap the tab open and wait for the contents to finish boiling over before taking a very long sip. "Try this on for size." He remarked, opening the fridge to pull a dark bottle and set it down in front of her. "Ne'tra gal. Another perk of wearing a T-visor, you get some of the best liquor in the galaxy." He explained as he sat down to enjoy their meal. His pace was much slower than hers, clearly not nearly as hungry as Vara.

After eating a decent portion, he sat back and slid his container over to her side of the table. "Finish up. You need some meat on your bones." He teased, finishing off his can in one go. "I'll get us underway." He stood up from his seat and prepared to head to the cockpit, though he paused to look back to her. "You touch my stuff again, I'll space ya." He warned with a glare before heading to the cockpit.

Within a few moments, the ship rumbled and lifted off the ground, then shot out of the station's hangar to their next destination. More curiously, a BB-unit came rolling past to assist with piloting as Yuri exited the cockpit. He looked back at the droid, then at Vara. "Not as scary in that form, huh?" He teased. "I'm gonna freshen up. If you wanna watch the jump, grab a seat." He urged her with a gesture to the cockpit.

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

"First time I don't need to tell someone to buy me dinner first. That's a record." He quipped, making his way to the fridge.

Vara scoffed at the implication. “Call it a sense of comradery, if you want,” The young woman quipped, her words a deliberate echo of Yuri’s exact utterance when they were at the station, spoken at one point in their conversation.

"You didn't think this through, did you?" He asked her.

Mid chew, the young shistavanen came to a halt. With a muffled gulp she swallowed a big mouthful of beef and noodles. The gal lightly cleared her throat before she spoke. “What makes you say that?” Her tone drifted away from the joking jabs and playful quips in the wake of his words. With a questioning gaze, she looked at him for an answer; Vara had assumed she was being questioned of the choice she had made by coming here to him.

However, that notion was instantly erased as she quickly registered what he was talking about, when he slammed a bottle before her.

"Try this on for size." He remarked, opening the fridge to pull a dark bottle and set it down in front of her. "Ne'tra gal. Another perk of wearing a T-visor, you get some of the best liquor in the galaxy."

“Ooooooooh-..!” Her mood came to at an instant, as if nothing happened. She took a break from stuffing her mouth and reached for the bottle, inspecting it in her grasp for a second, before she brought its mouth to her lips, and took a big swig amidst Yuri’s explanation.

Her tastebuds found a piece of heaven as she tasted ne’tra gal for the first time in all her years; the sweet, dark, sticky ale carried a hint of a lightly roasted flavor… Was that chocolate, too? Whatever this was, she was definitely having more of it. Barely taking a draw of breath in between sips, the young woman had downed the entire bottle at a respectable time.

“Damn,” The woman set the now-empty bottle on the table. “That’s some smooth poison, dude.” she chuckled as she reached for her chopsticks again. In just two more hungry bites she had finished what little was left of her beef noodles.

A satisfied sigh rolled out her lips. The foldable steel chair under her gently creaked as she sank back into the backrest. She reached for a can of beer at her side of the table. The tab gave way with a distinct crack-hiss. She raised it to her lips, and took a hearty swig as she silently kept Yuri company at the table, even after finishing her own meal.

It was good to be alive.

Vara’s gaze shifted from the corner to meet with the fleabag’s gaze, sensing his motion when he slid his takeout her way.

"Finish up. You need some meat on your bones." He teased, finishing off his can in one go. "I'll get us underway."

A simple shrug came in the wake of a moment’s pause. The young woman reached for the takeout a second later. “Your loss,” the woman teased back. She dug in, wasting not a single strand of noodle or a crumb of beef.

"You touch my stuff again, I'll space ya." He warned with a glare before heading to the cockpit.

“Hmm-..?” She almost choked; caught off guard by his warning in the middle of swallowing a bite, Vara could not stifle the coughing fit. “I’unnowhat’chutalkin’about!” An excuse hurriedly tore from her lips before her words were silenced in another fit of coughing.

Damn… This scughole had an eye at the back of his head or somethin’?

She cleared her throat as Yuri disappeared into the cockpit. She heaved a sigh, and vacuumed the rest of her meal in one breath. She felt the take off, as the ship shuddered up with a rumble in the coming moments. A shift in momentum indicated they shot off from the hangar.

The mutt wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and got up from the galley table to clean up. Empty takeouts, bottles and cans thrown to the trash, she was done and reaching for a new bottle of ne’tra gal from the fridge by the time Yuri got back. Turning around with a bottle in her grasp, she paused in her tracks to allow passage for a BB unit rolling past her as the fleabag emerged from the cockpit.

"Not as scary in that form, huh?" He teased.

Confusion flashed in her gaze for a second. She looked back at the wardroid under the tarp, then towards the cockpit. “That’s-..?” She registered it quickly.

Yuri wasn’t kidding, these guys had access to some high tech.

"I'm gonna freshen up. If you wanna watch the jump, grab a seat." He urged her with a gesture to the cockpit.

She took his offer in a heartbeat. Without a word. Without letting him say or add anything else that would delay her from seeing the jump, she took off to the cockpit at a brisk pace with a bottle in her hand, just short of running. She had never traveled with a view before!

Hells, she hadn’t traveled anywhere off planet, till today.

Passing the BB unit docked into an interface in a hurry, she quickly sat down at the co-pilot’s seat, and leaned forward towards the large viewport before her. Vara’s crimson gaze flashed in deep anticipation. She heard the hyperdrive whine before long.

At first, the stars did not move. No. They SNAPPED. One heartbeat, they were distant dots of light in the endless vacuum of space, the next they tore themselves into a flash of blinding white lines, all at once. They stretched forward, like the galaxy itself was being pulled apart!

The ship hummed, deep and loud. Every nut and bolt, every panel and sheet of durasteel vibrated, shook and groaned in protest; her stomach lurched forward, then slammed to the backrest with her spine from the sheer momentum. Her maw agape, all she could do was watch the show in deep fascination.

And then…

Silence.

The vacuum around them was replaced -no, flooded with something immeasurable. It took the place of realspace at the snap of one's fingers. Instantaneous.

Her whites shone brightly, as she grinned from ear to ear. Wholly captivated by the spectacle, Vara found herself unable to pry her gaze away from the lights. Not even when she heard Yuri’s footsteps approach from whence she came.

The sealed bottle of ne’tra gal hissed open as she pried the cap with the swipe of a talon. She passed the bottle to him without taking a sip. She didn't want to miss a second of this. The mutt asked him after a few moments, unblinkingly.

“Where are we going?”

 

[Yuri Maji]

Finally in the private comfort of his own room, Yuri sat on the bed for a few moments as he thought it all through. He hoped that he was making the right decision, offering a random mutt he didn't even know a chance to adopt the creed. Then again, how different was it for him or any of the others he knew? With a sigh he got up and headed for the shower, all he had to worry about now was if he could bear to fly with this girl for a day or so.

After a long while, Yuri emerged from his room with a fresh set of clothes and a much brighter expression as he headed for the cockpit. As expected, Vara was completely enamoured by the bright swirls of Hyperspace. He silently envied her, he was so used to it by now that it almost lost all of its magic. It was still comforting, and Yuri silently accepted the bottle to take a sip before giving it back to her. "You get used to it after a decade or two... but it's still beautiful." He spoke up, purposefully not answering her question for a moment as he watched the swirls for a while longer.

"We're headin' to see a friend. He'll be able to teach you better than me." He finally answered her as he spared a glance. "Spare room's around the corner from the galley. I'll... see if I got any spare stuff for you." He turned but paused, gesturing to her build. "At least, stuff that'll fit a plank." He quipped with a wink and a two-fingered salute. "Get some rest, mutt. You're gonna need it." His voice echoed, followed by the clatter of armour and gear as he tidied up the galley a little.

He seriously hoped that he made the right choice...

Vara Rasha

 

[Vara Rasha]

Tags: Yuri Maji
​

Dazzling.

The shades of blue mottling and stretching with each swirl were simply put, sumless. As alluring as an amply curvaceous performer on stage, it charmed the mutt as such in its strange elegance and scorching fervidness. It whispered her name, beckoning for her.

"You get used to it after a decade or two... but it's still beautiful." He spoke up, purposefully not answering her question for a moment as he watched the swirls for a while longer.

The young woman felt the bitter sting of tears in her eyes, threatening to spill as she felt the shistavanen man slip the bottle of ne’tragal back to her. In a heartbeat, Vara decided to conceal her raging emotions behind the palatable reassurance of alcohol. Her dear old friend. Vara’s eyes squinted as she pushed her tears back into her, but they never wavered in their focus from the flashing lights in front of her, as she raised the bottle to her lips.

A hefty swig. The magnificent drink trailed down her throat like water.

"We're headin' to see a friend. He'll be able to teach you better than me." He finally answered her as he spared a glance. "Spare room's around the corner from the galley. I'll... see if I got any spare stuff for you."

The young mutt’s head slowly bowed for a nod. Her snout drew a strong inhale, a much needed breath. She bemusedly blinked, as she felt her core relax. She just realized she had held her breath for who knows how long while she witnessed magnificence. The fact stole a warm grin from her features.

Yuri’s brief pause in his footfalls after his words held a portion of Vara’s attention. Her sharp ears pricked up, as her head tilted ever so slightly.

"At least, stuff that'll fit a plank." He quipped with a wink and a two-fingered salute.

He earned himself a humoring exhale of breath. “Hmph.” Vara’s response to that came in the form of a truly heartfelt gesture; with her hand raised up, stretched to the side, the mutt formed a knuckle with only her middle finger remaining extended. “Kaaaark off, mutt. I’m perfect.” The warmth in her chuckle made it known she appreciated Yuri’s quips and jabs.

"Get some rest, mutt. You're gonna need it." His voice echoed, followed by the clatter of armour and gear as he tidied up the galley a little.

Her flipping hand lazily fell on her lap as Yuri once again left her to her devices. Vara leaned forward in her seat, clutching the bottle in both hands. Her elbows poked into her thighs as her eyes closed shut. Baby’s occasional binary warble served her as a reminder she was still in company; her tether to reality.

And finally, her heart began to leak through her eyes.

In a breathless, silent sob, an ivory drop streaked down her jaw. Her lips tightened to a reticent snarl. Her eyes snapped open in the storm of emotions within her, as she locked her eyes with the salvation swirling before her. Years of pain and suffering, struggling and hardship. A slave, in all but name.

But not anymore.

She had saved herself today.

And one day, she was going to save all those she had left behind.

Vara sanctified her vow in tears and silence, as she brought the bottle to her lips for another swig. There wasn’t an ounce of doubt, of reconsideration in her mind.

She had made the right choice.

…She never would have thought freedom could taste so sweet.