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Sept 20, 2012 22:23:13 GMT -5
Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Sept 20, 2012 22:23:13 GMT -5
When the union of two bodies was finished, and both were fully satisfied, Ervisa separated from her lover de jour and fished out a pair of cigarettes, lighting up and inhaling deeply with the well-earned post-coitus smoke.
The Togruta man, whose name she hadn't caught, took his and smoked it too as the Mirialan woman pulled on the little black dress again and prepared to head outside to meet Horst at the counter, hopefully with a cart full of clothing.
Instead what greeted her was the site of collapsed racks and a bloody mess, being cleaned up by an exasperated looking Twi'lek woman and an unhappy Duros.
"What the hell happened here?" Ervisa sked incredulously.
The Duros muttered something in his own language, and the green Twi'lek woman answered.
"Your friend trashed the store, then he left. Dropped a note that said to pick your own clothes."
"I don't know what he is, but I'm not sure he's my friend."
Typical man. See a girl having fun, get jealous of her happiness and destroy things. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten a chance, like she'd spurned him. He'd had plenty of opportunity, but he'd neglected it. He hadn't even shown one iota of interest in her, and now he was trashing a store because he didn't like her having fun?
Now Ervisa was the angry one. Selfish bastard.
She sighed deeply as she realized it was up to her to be damage control.
"Okay, there's a group out at a hunting retreat, has an account set up here locally, so bill the damages to Ethan Moreill. Also bill him the cost of my clothes."
"I'm really not sure that-"
The Mirialan woman glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and she waved her hand slightly. "You will bill Ethan Moreill."
The Twi'lek woman agreed, and Ervisa pulled off her high heels and started to help cleaning up, though about fifteen minutes later she was tired of it and started to pick up her new clothing before gathering up the bag of personal effects from the Hospital.
In the end she kept the dress, and the stockings, and the heels, but she also added no-nonsense camouflage pants, numerous tank tops, and even some sexy underwear. Just in case.
With Ethan footing the bill, she didn't have to worry too much about it.
Finally, Ervisa exited the store and pulled on her sunglasses once again. She had no idea where Horst had gone, and to be fully honest she didn't care. Selfish bastard wanted to storm off and be alone then fine, let him.
She passed by the restaurant she'd been in earlier, now many hours later, and she kept walking. She walked all the way to the municipal airfield where she went into the attached cafe and sat down, using the last few credits she'd had in her pocket on a cup of steaming spiced tea.
Presumably their flight would be coming to pick them up here.
If not, then her time with Spearpoint was over, and she'd go back to wandering.
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
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...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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Sept 20, 2012 22:57:30 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 20, 2012 22:57:30 GMT -5
Horst stormed down the street, muttering and growling and giving off a general impression of being pissed off. Fellow walkers avoided him like the plague, for an angry man with seething passion was easy to see.
Horst mumbled, cursed, and even just flat out made sounds he couldn't explain. This woman was driving him crazy! One minute she was a kind, independent individual and decent person, and the next she was screwing Togrutas and flashing her chest and avoiding any sort of connection whatsoever.
Horst had half a mind to hit her. He decided he'd rather hit himself though.
Honestly, he'd screwed up. Met a woman, forgotten how to talk to her, said stupid things, missed out on the first physical relations he would have had in years, remained completely unfamiliar with her, and now, thanks to his stupidity, he'd just made himself look like a giant ass.
Smooth as frakkin' sandpaper. Horst looked up, wondering where he'd wandered off to. The sound of air-travel was apparent, and judging by the small terminal building between him and the noise, he was guessing it was an airfield.
Horst trudged through the terminal out onto the tarmac and to the nearest hangar, still unable to think clearly. Inside, a few guys were tinkering with a large repulsor-powered transport. When Horst entered, they all looked his way.
"Give me something to do," Horst demanded, taking a random tool from his belt. The guys looked at each other, questioning who this big guy was, why he sounded so mad, and if they should let him tinker with their stuff. Finally, one of them spoke up, asking if Horst knew anything about repulsors. Horst didn't answer, sliding under the transport and beginning work.
The repulsor had a basic problem; the power wasn't flowing correctly, meaning the repulsors themselves weren't generating enough lift. Horst dismantled a few panels, and soon his thoughts of a certain green woman and a certain related predicament were replaced by wiring, mechanical components, electrical information, and repulsor calibrations.
For a half hour, Horst simply worked.
After that half hour, Horst turned the key in the ignition, sending the initial charge to the repulsors of the transport. They hummed right up, hitting a low G-sounding beaming as the metal body lifted itself from the ground. Horst smiled then, at least knowing that he'd fixed something today.
The guys in the hangar, meanwhile, had been watching him work, occasionally asking for explanations of what he was doing. They'd remained pretty quiet, but they thanked the Engineer when the vehicle started hovering. Horst learned their names: Ike, Mike, and Zike, the LeFro'a triplets. He made a mental note to ask them some time about coming onto Spearpoint as engineers; they would be needed, and he could use the company.
Calm and covered in grease, Horst exited the hangar onto the tarmac, unsure of whether he was yet ready to answer any sort of questions he had. He didn't want to, to be honest. He wanted them to just go away. The entire thing was too confusing and too complicated.
Nevertheless, there they sat, waiting.
Horst returned to the terminal hoping to score a cold drink after his half-hour of labor. Purchasing his beverage, he looked around the cafe, half-searching for and half-hoping not to find a certain Mirialan.
Nevertheless, there she sat, waiting.
Horst's anger bubbled back up, but this time she wasn't in the equation (that skanky sales associate was still on his hit list though). It would be stupid of him to expect different from her, at this point. Come to think of it, it had been stupid to expect anything different of himself.
She was loose, and he was a moron.
Horst didn't approach her though. He merely sat the counter, looking over every now and then with a look of hard-thought. He'd also watch the tarmac, hoping the chopper was far off. They weren't ready to be stuck in a metal box 2000 feet above sea-level for five hours quite yet.
If ever.
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last online Apr 19, 2013 18:45:53 GMT -5
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Sept 21, 2012 1:08:37 GMT -5
Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Sept 21, 2012 1:08:37 GMT -5
Ervisa was beginning to regret that she'd changed out of the dress before leaving, because some fresh air on her emerald legs would have felt extraordinarily welcome. It was a very hot and muggy afternoon, shaping up to be one of the nights too warm for sleep. Luckily she had a fan to keep her company and blow cool air over her.
Inside the cafe there were windows, all open to the fresh air and allowing a not-cool-enough breeze to waft through. Her khaki pants bloused into brown leather boots were, while not quite sweltering, not exactly the most comfortable attire for the heat.
Luckily it wouldn't last too long. The weather forecasts predicted rain in the next few days. Monsoons. Bloody weather was so hard to predict.
The Mirialan woman pulled out her hundredth cigarette of the day and lit it up, the embers at the tip glowing as air was sucked through it, bringing in a cloud of fragrant and spicy tabac. She held it in for a few seconds before blowing it all out again, the breeze blowing it slowly across the room.
She sipped her tea slowly, somehow not minding having a hot and milky beverage on such a steamy day, as strange as that might have sounded. Ervisa was about halfway done when she sighed and decided she'd better go look for Horst.
There was no telling what the dumb bastard had gotten into now. Could have picked a few random fights and gotten arrested for all she knew.
The Mirialan rose to her feet and walked over to the nearest booth, occupied by a dorky looking teenager if ever there was one, and she started to talk in her casual and relaxed way.
"Hey, I'm looking for a man-"
"I get off at six."
"No, a scruffy man a little over six foot."
"Well, I can not shave tomorrow, and put lifts in my shoes."
Ervisa tried really hard not to laugh.
"This guy's name is Horst, he's a big dude, pretty buff, wears crappy clothes. Doesn't quite look like a homeless man though. Am I getting through to you?"
The teenager nodded. "So, like the guy sitting at the counter right behind you?"
The Mirialan woman turned, catching a glimpse of Horst. She looked back to teenager.
"That's the guy. Thanks sexy. Look me up if you're ever lost in the jungle." A wink and a pat on the shoulder.
Ervisa crossed the room with her cup of tea still in her hand, and slid onto a stool right next to Horst. For a few long seconds she didn't say anything at all, until finally she sighed and twirled the end of her braid between the thumb and index fingers of her left hand.
"Do we need to talk?"
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
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...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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Sept 21, 2012 14:32:46 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 21, 2012 14:32:46 GMT -5
Horst didn't say anything as Ervisa slid onto the stool next to him. So far, that was better than he had expected. The fact that she'd actually come to him was surprising, as the Engineer was half-expecting that she would've just left him there.
The other half was expecting to have been punched in the face from where he couldn't see it coming. Again, things were already going better than expected.
For a good minute, they were both quiet. Horst wished that he'd gotten a cold drink with some hard liquor in it. Things were always easier to deal with drunk.
"Do we need to talk?"
Horst sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed them with his good hand. He was still angry, and he was still a little upset, but at least now he had everything figured out to a degree.
"Might as well," he responded, opening his eyes and blinking twice, and then finishing his drink. In reality, he didn't want to talk in the slightest, but he at least felt the need to be honest with Ervisa. Horst figured he owed her that much after his stint in the shop. He considered telling her that he hadn't done it on purpose, but he knew as soon as it went from a thought to a phrase, it would sound awful and unintelligent, like a kid trying to think of an excuse for breaking a guy's window.
"S'pose this is all my fault for a having a shred of hope." Horst knocked on the counter, and a server appeared. He asked if they had liquor. She answered in the negative. Sighing again, the ex-smuggler just requested a check for his drink.
He looked at Ervisa then, wondering what she would say. He himself looked like someone had beaten a puppy, and then the puppy had grown up and become a sour old bastard. He didn't look particularly mad; more like he was just done with life in general. It was a look of exasperation and accepted defeat.
He'd lost.
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last online Apr 19, 2013 18:45:53 GMT -5
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Sept 21, 2012 16:37:26 GMT -5
Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Sept 21, 2012 16:37:26 GMT -5
It was hard to stay mad at Horst. Sadly that wasn't testimony on him quite so much as it was on Ervisa. The Mirialan woman was notoriously bad at staying angry or holding grudges, especially when the other party didn't have an issue anymore.
Horst didn't seem to be angry anymore. He seemed more... blue. Melancholy. The bounce was gone from his bungee, and his balloon was empty. His fuel tank was empty, and his power cell was dry, his-
Ervisa mentally told herself to shut up, just in time to hear the human man say something a little odd.
Having a shred of hope? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Hope over what?
Was he somehow hoping she'd have been something besides what she was? Perhaps he was hoping she'd have been with him instead. Well, he'd blown his chance. And if he wanted to change her, well he was out of luck. You couldn't change Ervisa anymore than you could stop the sun from rising.
The Mirialan woman was absolutely perfect if you liked damaged women. She had issues. Tons of issues, and she wasn't about to work through them. Not even proper psychiatric care was about to straighten out her world of hurt.
Maybe medication would have done the trick, but she was far away from a proper pharmacy and any kind of treatment.
Ervisa waited in silence as Horst tried to get alcohol and failed, only speaking again when the server had gone to the far end of the counter.
"Don't know what you mean by hope. But if this is about me having fun, you'd better come to terms with it. I'm not gonna stop you from getting frisky with girls, so why should you care who I'm with? Besides, it's not like you even want to look at me."
Ervisa frowned into her tea, thinking about the long day of averted eyes and avoidance. Obviously he wasn't interested, so why did he care, why was he being so possessive?
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
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...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Sept 21, 2012 17:12:32 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 21, 2012 17:12:32 GMT -5
"Really? You think I wouldn't jump your bones in a split second? " For a real split second, Horst perked up a bit, laughing softly, practically under his breath. The reprieve ended almost instantaneously, however, and soon he was slumping over the counter again.
"And I don't care who you're with... or at least... Bah, I don't know." Horst sighed. For a minute, he was silent, trying to piece together the words in his mind. What exactly was he trying to say?
"I guess I just hate yer' apathy about it. Like the rest of you, the person under tha' flesh, ain't worth knowin'." For another minute, he was quiet, rubbing his temples, hoping to find some way to just get her to define herself for him.
For the sake of his sanity.
"Be honest with me for a second. Then you can hit me or kiss me or ditch me or whatever." He looked over, eyes soft and face humble, and asked a single question.
"Are you happy living like this?"
After that question, Horst was quiet, watching his companion from the corner of his eye as he took up twiddling his thumbs. He'd asked simply and honestly enough to the point where he hoped she didn't take it the wrong way. It was just a question, nothing more. Was she as unhappy as she seemed? Or was Horst just that bad at reading people?
He listened, hoping to hear the answer.
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last online Apr 19, 2013 18:45:53 GMT -5
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Sept 21, 2012 17:53:26 GMT -5
Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Sept 21, 2012 17:53:26 GMT -5
Like the person under her flesh wasn't worth knowing? Said the man who didn't know the person under the flesh.
Damn these people who were always digging around underneath surfaces to find the best in someone. The best in Ervisa had left a long time ago. Hell, the only time when any real good leaked out was when she was mistaken for someone or something else. The best of her had been as a Jedi, and she'd royally blown it there.
Now what was left? An addict with force powers and a lightsaber.
Yup, just a fine and dandy existence, brimming with hope of a better future. True potential, true greatness. Who could deny that Ervisa Therani was clearly successful and skilled?
Anyone with working eyes and a third grade education.
Then he asked her a question.
Was she happy living like this?
Her instinct was to reply back with the obvious answer in as brusque a way as possible, but she stifled that reaction and mentally cursed. Now he was concerning himself with her happiness? As if it were his business to somehow see to her being happy and fulfilled, as if asking the impossible weren't enough.
Happiness had evaded her for a long time, only fleeting glimpses remaining when immersed in the bottle or lying between cool sheets with a man.
The Mirialan had deluded herself into thinking she could be happy married and living with some, and that pipe dream had fallen on its ass too damn fast. No, the only happiness she could get would be in meaningless sex and the occasional drunken binge.
When she did answer, it was with a sigh and all the bitterness of a life gone dramatically wrong.
"I haven't been happy in seven years."
Another cigarette was produced, and Ervisa lit it up, not thinking of or caring about the health side effects. It was just another thing that helped her cope.
"Why should I be? I'm nothing now. Used to be a Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy, a real hero. Now I'm a drunken hussy on a backwater world. How the mighty have fallen..."
A bitter chuckle.
"You tell me, why should I be happy?"
Placid grey eyes stared at the human, with flecks of blue sparkling, as if there was life, yet somehow the gaze felt dead, lacking in warmth or joy.
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
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...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Sept 21, 2012 23:35:13 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 21, 2012 23:35:13 GMT -5
Horst was actually surprised that Ervisa had actually answered his question. He was surprised more so that she seemed to be giving him an actual answer. The cherry on top?
She was being dead serious.
He listened with open ears as Ervisa adopted a tone he didn't think she had in her. A tone of dead seriousness, zero sarcasm or suggestion, and utter truth.
He almost didn't believe her. Almost.
But Horst sighed as his question was fired back at him. He put his hands flat on the counter and looked at Ervisa squarely in the face again. Her eyes were vibrant and lively, but not in the way of determination or wonderment.
More like remorse, and a demand to know why the world had chewed her up only to spit her back up.
But why did he hope, exactly? She posed a great question, and he had to think about it. What did she have to smile about? Horst bit his lip, thinking intently. How did you describe someone you didn't know?
Because he knew someone who had been exactly like her.
"I guess I can't tell you a thing," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. When he put it that way, it sounded pretty hopeless. "But I'm not really the one who can find something for you to smile about, now am I?" For once, he knew exactly what he was talking about. He'd been like that for years, and not too long ago.
"I know what it's like, ya' know. Waking up every morning, not seeing the point of even getting up. Looking at tomorrow like it's a Bantha-sh*t fairy tale. Wanting to kill people just for sayin' the word 'future'." Horst's look hardened a bit, and his own eyes became strong and fiery, displaying his anger, his sadness, and his passion to keep moving forward altogether. His voice became adamant, and his tone was solid, almost like he'd said this on a million different occasions and believed himself every time. Maybe he was just a deluded fool. Maybe he had something there. He left it up to her to decide, and drove it home.
"But if I learned anything, it's that if you don't have a reason to be happy, you gotta' go out and make one." With that, he broke his gaze, returning his eyes to his hands, now immobile and un-moving.
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last online Apr 19, 2013 18:45:53 GMT -5
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Sept 22, 2012 0:03:12 GMT -5
Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Sept 22, 2012 0:03:12 GMT -5
Go out and make a reason?
Ervisa snorted, hardly a dignified or ladylike action to be sure. There wasn't really any other way to express her indignation at that statement. It wasn't as if she could just snap her fingers and make everything turn into sunshine, rainbows, and kittens.
The very best thing she could do was to have sex or get drunk, which would put a smile on her face and make her cheer up for a while before the loneliness and the bad feelings sank back in.
Yeah, go and make a reason. Brilliant.
Ervisa shot Horst a look that said 'Really?' And then she actually bothered to reply.
"What am I supposed to do? Go become a nun? Teach crippled children yoga? Volunteer at Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle hospital?"
The Mirialan took a drag of her cigarette and a swig of tea before continuing her diatribe.
"All that will change me just about as well as sitting on my ass waiting for Prince Charming to zip along and speed me away to become Alderaanian royalty because I had the right shoe size. Only way I'm gonna change is with an act of the Force or a blaster bolt to my head."
Ervisa stubbed out her cigarette violently and drained the rest of her tea before rising and swinging her duffle over her shoulder and heading outside onto the tarmac to stare at the craft taking off and landing, to hopefully take her mind away from all this.
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
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...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Sept 22, 2012 15:02:28 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 22, 2012 15:02:28 GMT -5
Horst remained staring at his hands as Ervisa tossed his idea out the window, ranting briefly that she wasn't about to wait around for some miracle. She stuffed out her tobac, violently downed her tea, and marched out to the tarmac, leaving Horst with nothing but an empty tea-cup.
The Engineer sighed. That had gone well.
He understood though. He slid the tea-cup toward him as he thought. He had been there, and he knew that not a thing anyone or anything told you was able to change your mind. It was a mental rut; once you were there, the only thing that could get you out of it was yourself.
The lady behind the counter came over, handing Horst a check. He asked her to include the tea, and after a quick scribbling, Horst dolled out the credits and payed for the drinks.
"Where'd your lady go?" She asked, looking around. Horst resisted the urge to laugh, and another to shoot her a look, instead merely grinning and clenching his hands.
"I wish I could tell ya'."
Horst got up and looked out the tarmac. Ervisa was there, duffle bag in hand, staring at the air traffic. He considered going outside and talking to her more. He considered letting her take the chopper back to SPHQ alone, with him waiting for another.
In the end, he just stood there, leaning against the window, watching the traffic as well. The LeFro'a triplets were visible maneuvering their repulsor-craft out of their hangar, and Horst smiled a little as he saw it float up into the sky and into the world beyond.
Horst hoped that Ervisa would learn some day that there was a world beyond. He just wished he could help her see it. She won't believe anything unless she sees it herself. Horst sighed again.
A chopper appeared on the horizon, and as it got closer, Horst could see the Spearpoint logo in black ink on the fuselage. It took it a good ten minutes, but it was eventually setting down on the tarmac, VTOL-pad B5.
Horst gave Ervisa a minute to put some distance between them, and then headed out himself, exiting the cafe and trudging across the tarmac with his hands on his tool belt, checking to make sure that he had his full set on his. He felt around; his screwdriver, his wrench, his wire-cutters, his... wait, what was that?
His fingers closed on something metal. And cylindrical.
Horst pulled out the gun from between his waist and his tool belt, raising his eyebrows in surprise. In the midst of today, he'd forgotten to give Ervisa her gun back.
Reaching the chopper, Horst tapped her on the shoulder. Holing the gun horizontally on his palm, he offered it out, shouting over the rotors.
"Keep shootin' Ervi."
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last online Apr 19, 2013 18:45:53 GMT -5
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Sept 22, 2012 15:23:54 GMT -5
Post by Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy on Sept 22, 2012 15:23:54 GMT -5
Ervisa stood outside, without the omnipresent cigarette due to a sign labeled "no smoking on the flight line." Also due to the fact that with stress she'd run through two full packs, and her lungs probably demanded that she give it a rest for a while.
Luckily, as the sun was low in the sky, the helicopter from Spearpoint, identical to her own downed bird, appeared in the sky and touched down on a pad. Ervisa shouldered her duffle and walked over to it, pausing right before the passenger compartment as she realized Horst hadn't bothered her for a rather long stretch of minutes.
Right on cue he tapped her on her shoulder, and the Mirialan turned. He handed her back her blaster pistol, and promptly she holstered it in the brown gunbelt resting on her waist.
He told her to keep shooting, which she presumed was something like keep flying.
Hardly the most inspirational words ever uttered, but it could be worse. Anyway the pain meds were dying down now, and Ervisa's mood was pretty low.
Without saying anything she clambered into the troop compartment, strapping in to a jump seat and kicking her long legs out in front of her, dangling out the door. She leaned back as far as she could and closed her eyes.
Then she let a tired sleep consume her, the fatigue from her ordeal sinking in.
This sleep was devoid of any visions, but it still had dreams, mixed dreams of sadness and discomfort, with a certain amount of hope. Sadly, it wouldn't be there by the time she awoke.
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
628 likes
...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Sept 22, 2012 15:36:51 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 22, 2012 15:36:51 GMT -5
Horst didn't look at Ervisa as she swiped back her weapon without a word. She clambered into the troop compartment, sat down, put her legs out to dangle, and dozed. Horst looked at her for a moment, trying to figure just what he thought of her.
He honestly couldn't say, save for that she was strange, and she had captivated his interest for two days. Beyond that? She wasn't half bad looking.
Horst shrugged to no one but himself, and then clambered into the co-pilot's seat, putting on a pair of headphones. The pilot, a Twi'lek, flipped a few switches before the chopper started to rise. Horst was glad to hear that he wasn't talking, but by the look of it, he was mumbling. Horst couldn't hear the subject of his thinking-aloud, but whatever it was had him in a bad mood.
For a second, Horst considered asking him about it. He decided against it, though.
He'd dealt with enough for one day.
The chopper hovered off, into the day to come.
[The End]
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