Private You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours...

[Lief]

Well, he was no closer to home than he had been prior to Esiss' betrayal but that didn't mean he hadn't made any progress in general. After being spat back out from Elsewhere and into 'Realspace' once more, Eliphas had found himself in orbit of a space station in goodness knew what part of the Galaxy. There was a lot on his mind in the aftermath of the recent revelation that he was, in fact, Sensitive. It was a lot to process, though he didn't really know what would even come of it. Perhaps nothing at all, maybe he'd just shelve the knowledge and return home with it as his secret. Maybe he'd tell his parents and they'd want to hide it to keep everything normal. He couldn't quite tell if he felt any different, whether knowing had changed him in any way.​

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He doubted it had.​

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The interior of the space station was surprisingly clean and updated, there were plenty of panels on the walls which resembled windows, casting daylight replicators about the place, and plenty of living plants lay in pots here and there, well tended to. Eliphas hadn't been on a space station before, but everything he'd read about them had led him to expect far worse. Grungy, dark, filled with nerdowells... The latter he supposed was still present, most everywhere in the Galaxy had its own hive of scum and villainy. But thus far he hadn't run into it.​

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There were vendors here and there, though the boy had nary a credit to his name, several cantinas, bars, and the like, as well as workshops. Though he knew now how to make his strange ship go, he was very much aware of the fact that there was still plenty wrong with it. Lights which flickered on and off, certain areas which he couldn't even access due to a breached hull, etcetera. He wasn't sure how he'd pay for any of it to be fixed, but at the very least he could ask around for a quote. Then he'd know how large that mountain would be.​

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With any luck, someone on the space station would have a job for him too. A way to fund the fixes...​

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Orion Skywalker ​

 

[Orion Skywalker]

The fight had been a short one - but the man he fought was a giant. His jaw ached from the hits he had recieved, his head still felt like it was ringing days later - and his knuckles were still cracking open at so much of a glance towards them. It would've all been tolerable if it weren't for the huge purple and orange bruises that blotted half of his head. At least the paycheck had been nice.​

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Grunting as he lifted himself from the chair outside his apartment, he moved with a barely perceptible limp towards the markets. In them, there was a thousand jobs and more - and he wasn't anything to shake a stick at. The man who hid his name from everyone had a good reputation for being a mechanic - if not some hired muscle if one needs. It made him a hot priority to hire - and with his coming Hutt payments needed, he'd need a few more jobs.​

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Over hearing the conversation near him, he picked out the words 'repair', 'jobs', and 'starship'. He beamed as he stepped in, resting a bandage wrapped hand on the shoulder of Lief .​

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"Greetings, traveller - Pardon me, but I heard you'd need some repairs? Not to toot my own horn or anything but -"​

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With a little pump of his other arm, he grinned wider and mouthed the words "Toot Toot".​

 

[Lief]

Though there were plenty of mechanics about, few would even look at his ship without some sort of assurance of credits. He couldn't blame them of course, Eliphas wasn't looking quite so elegant as he once had. Life had well and truly been tipped on its head for him, and he was scrambling to pick up the pieces so that he could get back on track. He wasn't unclean, or too unkempt, but he'd lost that shine he'd had before the crash. That look which spoke rich kid. Where before he'd been able to blag his way through life, now he was truly struggling.​

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"No, sir. I don't have the credits yet, but I wi---" Guy wasn't interested.​

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"I can trade you for some work, I---" Next guy wasn't either.​

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He'd lost track of how many times he'd tried to barter his way into a fixed ship that day. At this point he had half a mind to just try and fly it again, though last time it hadn't gone so well for him. On the flip, it hadn't gone terribly either. He'd learned a lot more about this here Universe of theirs, and those who inhabited it. Kal had been an interesting host if nothing else.​

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Yeah, maybe he'd just have to tempt fate again.​

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A hand settled on his shoulder, and its quick accompaniment of words kept him from jumping too badly in surprise. He turned to find a roguish looking individual beaming at him. An offer of repairs... He'd overheard his talks, but had he overheard the need for bartering?​

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"Greetings," he retorted, with a slightly less enthusiastic smile, "You heard rightly, though I should warn you I haven't the immediate credits with which to pay. I feel certain that I can find a job here before the day is out." Truth be told, as much as his ship looked like a wreck it was mostly in working order. He just wanted a few of the wonkier wires replaced so that the lights didn't keep short circuiting. The rest? Well the rest he could deal with back on Teta.​

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If he ever made it back to Teta...​

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Orion Skywalker ​

 

[Orion Skywalker]

"I work pro bono!", he said with a wider grin.​

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"It's real simple kid - I fix your ship, and you pay me when you're done. If you don't, then I keep your ship - and sell it to a salvager to make up the difference. It's a win win! You get your ship fixed no matter what, and I get paid - no matter what!", he laughed.​

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"Come on, show me the ship and we can go from there. Give you a little time to think about it."​

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Lief​

 

[Lief]

The deal was too good to be true.​

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Eliphas knew it was. He wasn't born yesterday, he wasn't stupid... And yet, even with all of that in mind, he couldn't help but wonder what other choice he had. Nobody else on this strange station had given him even a second of their time, and if things continued on the way they presently were he'd never make it back home.​

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It was with a rather begrudging sigh that he finally nodded his head. "Okay. I don't need everything fixed, there's just some loose circuitry. The rest... Well, you'll see." He'd never accumulate the funds to fix the entire thing, not out here in space at least. Maybe once he reached Teta, but then his parents weren't likely to let him keep running around in a barely held together rustbucket were they?​

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He led the way toward the hangar wherein his ship was docked, and when they came upon it he was made all too aware of just how terrible it looked. Time away from it had apparently softened the memory, because boy was it hideous. Bits and pieces from countless other ships, stuck together so that the original vessel couldn't even really be deduced. Not that it would have been anyway, it had been made for the likes of the Spirits not for people like Eliphas. The cockpit was strange, it didn't seem to function like any normal ship would.​

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But he could make it go, that was what mattered. What he couldn't do was stop the flickering lights.​

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Orion Skywalker ​

 

[Orion Skywalker]

Orion followed quiet and dutiful - but when he saw the ship he couldn't help but let out a low and drawn out whistle. It was a piece of work - as much contemporary art piece as it was ship; what with all the bobbles, spot welds, and parts from other ships strapped together. For a second, he could've even sworn he saw the vectoring panel of a YT freighter stuck to the side of the young man's ship.​

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"I thought you had a ship, not..."​

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He paused as he tried to think of something clever - but simply shrugged.​

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"I'll be upfront - even if I fix this, you'll be lucky to make it to the next system, let alone wherever you think you're doing."​

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"You sure you trust your life to uh...", he said with a slight poke at one of the shoddier panels.​

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"To this?"​

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Lief​

 

[Lief]

The man was doubtful, and quite frankly Eliphas couldn't blame him. Had he not already piloted the ship through Hell and back he never would have presumed it would have lifted off the ground either. Not after inspecting the interior, and being abandoned by Ensiss to figure it out for himself. The Besalisk's selfish decision that day had been both a blessing and a curse for the young Tetan, saddling him with a ship that would reveal the truth of who he was deep inside, yet also burdening him with a ship that was finnicky at best. His only way home...​

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"I don't need you to fix the entire thing," he reminded the man, with a little more confidence to his tone. A certainty that again was borne solely from the fact that he knew the ship ran. "Just the dodgy electrical system. The lights flicker, and some of the systems are sporadic, because of it. She'll get me home."​

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She had to get him home...​

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Orion Skywalker
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