Jump to content

Star Wars: The Sith War - Fiction: Shiny and New


z-Hana Rexius

Recommended Posts

Sparrow bites down on the slightest tinge of ... what is it? Jealousy?

He's not that good looking! And yes I've seen here, but the whole traffics in human misery is a huge turn off for me.

Keeping her calm outer face, Sparrow addresses Kestral.

"Keeping the date is a good idea. It might even cause some suspicions if he didn't keep it."

Turning to Brad,

"What can we do to help and will you be safe? We are good at running down leads if you can provide us with any. Less good at tracking people down in a timely manner, it seems."

After a moment, she adds,

"We could also keep close by in case you find yourself in trouble."

It wouldn't hurt to be close by ... to protect him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brad looked at Sparrow for a moment. Apparently she agreed that he should keep the date with Morgan. No shit, Jedi. You think I'm going to cancel on that just because you found your princess, you've got a few more lessons coming that aren't coming from that temple of yours. You don't cancel on beautiful women, especially ones that can afford to be vindictive via bounty hunter. On some level he was glad that they agreed, because that meant that they could play babysitter while he played with Morgan.

"What can we do to help and will you be safe? We are good at running down leads if you can provide us with any. Less good at tracking people down in a timely manner, it seems."

Is that a fancy way of saying 'sorry we kicked down your door, but at least it means we can follow people'?

"We could also keep close by in case you find yourself in trouble."

Ha! Yeah, right. I fully intend to find myself in trouble, but unless you're considerably less frigid a Jedi than I give you credit, there's nothing you can do to help there.

"Actually, it would probably be for the best if you ladies shut yourself in a room for a few hours and locked the door. Nothing personal, but I don't want to upset your delicate sensibilities. Enjoying onses self is the path to the dark side, or something like that. Anyways, once I'm back and... refreshed, we can talk about why exactly I'm supposed to come help a crew of Jedi survive their 'valiant rescue mission'"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hana stared at Brad, her face slack with surprise. "But... you just... why wouldn't you help us?" To Hana, it was as simple as a friend, lost and alone. To Hana, it wasn't a question of whether to give, but how much it would take. The question was the cry of innocence in the face of... well, Brad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sparrow moved to Hana's side.

"Let him do what he needs to do," she whispered compassionately into the young girl's ear. "We will find a way to make it okay. We have each other."

Brad was moving himself out of the equation now, but that was his nature and she had to accept that. His sullen hostility made that easier for Sparrow. Childish impulses were easier to deal with in the harsh light of his ... charm.

"Come on now, tell us what you can about your friend. Anything might be useful."

It was more a tactic to move Hana away from the man who was leaving and on to doing something positive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"But... you just... why wouldn't you help us?"

Oh fuck me running, she's going to start crying now. Son of a bitch! In dramatic contrast to the Jedi's kind words of optimistic reassurance, Brad's statement wasn't hostile, wasn't compassionate. It was real.

"I never said I wasn't going to help your friend. I'm actually working out a few plans in my head. It's these two that are the issue." He nodded at the two Jedi. "They have all the subtlety of a drunk rancor and are a liability where I'm going. I'm waiting for a reason to stop and go back when they get dragged down under the weight of their own gravitas"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"If you're waiting for us to beg, you may as well stop," Kestrel replies. "So far, we've succeeded in what we've come to do. I don't see any reason to think that will change now. If you can help, and wish to, it's welcome. If not, then do as you please."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She just looked at him, her face passive and devoid of passion.

"If that is how you see it," Sparrow said.

He had shut the door on reasonalbe discourse and written off the efforts of Kestral and her getting this far as ... the subtlety of a drunk rancor. Sparrow calmly acknowledged her inexperience, but would not let anyone tell her she was unskilled. If he chose not to see it, after she had offered twice already, then so be it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Enough!" The word came on the end of Sparrow's quiet comment and it carried a surprising amount of force with it given whom had said it. Hana might be small and cute, but she had been trained to deliver that kind of force to her words, when necessary. And as she watched their small alliance spiral out of control, she feel that need.

It wasn't the Jedi. They weren't being unreasonable. They were offering their help, and taking the insults lobed at them rather well, probably better than Hana would have done in their place. No, the problem was that she'd greatly misjudged the man in the room. After he'd treated her nicely, even after she'd smashed him with a plate, she'd assumed that he really had been a decent, if uncouth, person. She was beginning to realize otherwise.

"I won't have you insulting them, not when all they've done is be helpful. They may be Padawans, but that doesn't make them worthy of your ire," Hana said, her voice shaking with anger and frustration. She was blinking tears back as she spoke, but it didn't detract from what she was saying. "If you can't work with them, Brad; if you can't bring yourself to at least treat them with respect, then you don't need to worry about them. I'll take your offer to leave and go. You'll get your money back, for everything you've spent on me.

"But if you want to do what is decent and right, you'll help us. Help us find someone whose only crime is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, who was caught up in something bigger than her and suffers from... well, you seem to know better than I, what she's going through." Her voice cracked and the tears came. Hana rubbed at them, but didn't stop talking. "Help me, even if you don't like them."

She touched his arm, lightly. Maybe the human contact would help him remember to be humane. Her need for him to agree was so strong that she broke a promise to herself. "Please," she begged, blinking against the tears. "Please."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Help me, even if you don't like them."

She touched his arm, lightly. Maybe the human contact would help him remember to be humane. Her need for him to agree was so strong that she broke a promise to herself.

"Please," she begged, blinking against the tears. "Please."

The others would see Brad look at her for a few silent moments. It didn't take an empath to see the war going on behind his eyes. He closed his eyes, Hana's touch sending him off to a completely different place. He looked up and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling for a half a minute. When he looked back down at the lady at his side, the harsh and calloused scoundrel, soldier of the galaxy's underbelly and, legally anyway, slaver, was gone. In his place stood someone completely different. Sure he looked the same physically. Same clothes, same haircut, but the vibe that was radiating off of him was radically different. This wasn't a common street thug. If he was dressed differently, one could fairly easily imagine him being right at home in the center of a group of court attendants in some grand aristocratic ballroom somewhere. He put his arm around her. Not in some sort of act of ownership or anything, but in at least what looked like a genuine act of compassion.

"Yeah. I'll help you get her back" He looked at the Jedi, his demeanor radically different from the one that had been standing there before. This one was less cocky and arrogant card shark, more field commander. "And you two. I don't mind you tagging along, but you have to understand. This isn't the temple out here, or some peacekeeping mission. This place will chew you up and spit you out if you aren't completely ready for what's coming."

You are out of your mind.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kestrel didn't smile, exactly, but a slight tension drained away from her posture. She nodded.

"I am a Jedi, Brad, and I am Echani. This place will find me a hard morsel to swallow."

She gave Sparrow glance and added, "Both of us."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sparrow smiles at Kestral, but turns and gives Brad a nod. This was a small victory of sorts, but it was one they needed.

"Thank you, Brad. We will try to be careful and follow your lead in this hostile environment."

Her manner was both thankful and gracious.

"I would ask you to consider that we have gotten this far on our mission through more than just dumb luck. We can be helpful. Try extending a bit of trust our way and you won't be dissappointed, but ..."

Sparrow gives him a warm smile,

"... we will try to keep out of your way until you feel you can."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Yeah. I'll help you get her back. And you two. I don't mind you tagging along, but you have to understand. This isn't the temple out here, or some peacekeeping mission. This place will chew you up and spit you out if you aren't completely ready for what's coming."

As Brad slipped his arm over her shoulders and agreed to help, Hana's expression slipped into pure relief. With an audible sob, she hugged Brad, throwing her arms around his waist in a gesture as sincere as it was asexual. Her wet face buried itself in his chest, and it was unlikely that either of the Jedi heard her fervert whisper of thanks to the taller, older scoundrel.

She felt better already, safer. For all of her independence, she didn't want to tackle the civilized wilderness of Nar Shaddaa alone. She had to admit, her first few months in Hutt Space hadn't gone well. But now that she had the two Jedi and Brad, she knew it'd work out just fine. The Force guided him to me, just when I needed him. Her arms tightened a little, her hug growing more forceful.

After a couple of minutes, she regained control and stepped back, sniffing. "Well, that's great. Brad, you need to talk to Tilly, and get what you can from her, and the Jedi and I need to recover my droid and stuff. We'll need every resource we can get." And with one last bright and shiny smile at the emotionally hardened scoundrel with tearstains on his shirt, Hana ushered the Jedi out of the room and set to the long task in front of them.

~The End

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...