No drinks please {Mara}

[kozeph]

"Right so first I give a strong look, cross my arms or should I be casually holding onto a drink? Hm.. I should sit and look chilled, I mean like if I own the place, but if if my employer doesn't like arrogant cocks then...Hmm..." The pale and lanky Shun sat with his arms crossed, instead giving off an aura of general weakness, being uncomfortable and nervous like really nervous looking, first date nervous. "O-okay when he comes I will just look out the window and pretend I didn't see him, yeah that should work... wait I don't even know how this guy looks like" Shun covered his eyes with his hands."I hate interviews" He murmured, then he exhaled a deep breath.

This was the third interview he had ever since he became stranded in Corellia. Originally he was working as the pilot for a smuggler, but after his employer lost his ship to Pazaak then Shun found himself without a work, in a planet where everyone happens to want to become a pilot. His first option was to work for a very shifty looking Twi'lek that just irradiated trouble, then there was this political activist who needed a pilot and now way he was messing with politics special with the current climate around the galaxy. The third guy to contact him was a human or at least sounded human when Shun contact him or at the very least he was humanoid looking and could speak basic better than some aliens. They agreed on a meeting place for starters and Shun suggested Mort's Diner.

Mort's Diner was a simple establishment, not exactly your family diner nor unfriendly enough to count as a bar or pub. It was mostly a place where old spacers and old geezers who had been spacers at some point came to chat and pass the time. As Shun found out soon, at least they weren't armed and looking for a fight which turned out to happen in many bars across the galaxy, seriously Shun always felt that people in Cantinas were just dying to be rubbed off the wrong way. So yes he rather be in a place full of old geezers than in a bar where he could be shot at, kicked or punched for doing the wrong move. Of course, Shun rather be in a codpit or at least inside a ship than anywhere else.

The diner was a bit empty, although not completely. A trio of old spacer friends were trading stories two tables behind him, or at least that was Shun gathered from their conversation. On the counter was an old pilot and on the other side of the diner was an old Twi'lek and his son having a meal. There was of course a waitress a she Gran. and on a table for two was the tall, skinny and pale looking Shun, Epicanthix by birth. Who looked like he was about to meet a mobster or running from a bounty hunter.

"By a Wookiee's beard here he comes" Shun panicked when he saw the door slide open. "Quick look to the side and look cool" He thought that and at least managed to look at the metal wall, although he didn't managed to pull off the uninterested part and merely looked like he was forcing himself to look at the wall. He didn't do this for long and when he noticed a human approaching he weakly weaved his hand to beckon him to sit.

"E-Ean right?"

[Mara]

(((Apologies for the delay… life got in the way.
Also, sorry if the post is a bit rough, but hopefully it works well enough.)))


[...from Cabin Fever and Short Fuses]

Ean paused outside his ship, the Heleen’s Hope. She was a modified Dynamic and painted matte black. Before he closed the ramp behind him and set the security system, he gazed at his mother’s namesake once more. With a sigh, he headed out from her berth and into the spaceport and eventually, into the city of Tyrena itself. Originally he had come back to his hometown because he hadn’t any idea of anywhere else to go, once he had decided to take a leave of absence from the bounty business. And at first, it had been great to just relax and have no one to be accountable to but himself. But the last week or two had been wearing on him. Boredom, what the old-timers would call ‘cabin fever,’ had him in its grip. The brawl with the Weequay Mavros had been the last straw. It was time for him to move on.

In order for him to do that, though, he needed a pilot. He had had Felze for that, but Ean had cut the Zeltron loose once returning to Corellia. And, of course, back when he was still in the company of Sam, when he had first taken ownership of the freighter—still technically borrowed from the Republic but in essence it was his solely now—she had taught him a few skills. However, the Corellian couldn’t do much more than figure out how to set the autopilot and steer awkwardly, other little things here and there. For a real trip, he’d be better off with someone with more experience behind the controls. And so he had sent out some feelers around the planet for beings qualified to take on the job.

The process hadn’t been going as smoothly as he had hoped it would. Ean had already gone through about a half dozen interviews with potential pilots for him and the Hope. A couple of them had just seemed to be glory hounds, wanting to bask in his infamous shadow, and that was something the former bounty hunter had wanted to avoid. He wanted to leave his past exploits in his past where they belonged. The rest had either just not seemed qualified enough or had just rubbed him the wrong way. Though this was going to be merely a business relationship, it was still a relationship, and he needed to be able to talk to the other being in at least a fairly civil manner.

Now he was on his way to meet yet another ship-less pilot seeking a job. The meeting place was a diner in a part of the city he didn’t frequent all that much, but he recognized the name. His parents may have taken him and his brothers there when they were young: a rare, happy family moment that was mostly lost to him. Generally now Ean preferred cooking for himself and kind of grimaced at the mention of Mort’s, but though his expectations were low by now, he felt it’d go all the more better if he didn’t scare the guy away before they even got started talking. Plus, there was no requirement that he had to actually eat at the place.

Pausing outside the door to the diner, Ean straightened his worn nerf leather jacket that he wore over an old but clean brown shirt. His trousers were made of a deeper brown material and capped at the bottom by his scuffed shin-length boots and at the top by his holster and blaster belted around his waist. Idly, he rubbed a hand over a face that hadn’t been shaved in a few days and thought to himself that he probably didn’t look all that much like the known being that he was. It helped that he had one of those faces that was fairly unremarkable. And that was all fine with him if he could just blend in with the majority of the Corellian male population. Ean liked his anonymity and preferred it to last as long as possible.

He stepped inside, not wanting to delay any more. A glance around the inside of Mort’s told him that it wasn’t exactly a thriving place. Yes, it was not at a prime dining hour, since it was mid-afternoon, but Ean had seen some places that were busy almost around the clock. It boded well for him and his meeting that the two of them would be relatively alone. The Corellian started looking around for an empty table, having planned to be the first one to arrive. Habit had trained him that way, in order to get an early advantage over the other being before he came to Ean. But it wasn’t to be; apparently the pilot had had the same idea.

A gangly Epicanthix sitting at a table near the front of the diner held up a hand and called his name rather timidly. Ean suppressed a sigh; the bliss of disappearing into the crowd was gone almost as quickly as it had arrived. His next thought was that this would be yet another starstruck being who had somehow figured out that the ‘Ean’ behind the advertisement was him, Ean Stenner, the bounty hunter who had gotten the attention of the galaxy with the whole Major Borgonia business. This was not something he wanted to deal with, now of all times. He simply wanted to find a qualified enough pilot for his purposes, someone unbiased and indifferent to who he was. Well, he would just have to set the guy straight with a stern warning and send him on his way.

Lifting a hand in response, he came closer to the table and nodded, wanting to get this over with so he could get back to the Hope, back to the listings on the HoloNet. Not bothering to sit down, he crossed his arms over his large chest. “I’m not sure what you think this is, but I’m looking for a pilot for my ship, not some wannabe looking for an autograph or to pick my brain about my techniques. So you better just be on your way." He stopped, but on the off chance there was another reason for the being's nervousness, he added, "If by some crazy reason you are here for the job, consider this your first test. My life ain't all rainbows, and I can't be having a scared little girl flying my ship. So buck up.”

[kozeph]

Shun was obviously more nervous when Ean entered the diner than he was a couple of minutes before. He even began to sweat which was a sign that Shun was both nervous and a bit scared, he was used to be seeing mercenaries and bounty hunters, he had grew up in a shit full of them and his whole family had a whole history of being soldiers of fortune or bounty hunters. But no amount of experience and growing up with them had in no way prepared Shun for these kind of meetings. Heck just being in the same room with one was enough to make Shun uncomfortable.

"Okay he saw me... he is coming this way, oh Rodian's bullocks he looks pissed" Was the passing thought on Shun's head as the interviewer came closer. Shun was put off by Ean not bothering to sit down, then his words were enough to make him visibly cringe and instantly the insecure looking Epicanthix began looking at the table as if he was being scolded. "W-what tha hell is his problems?" Shun answered back in the deep reaches of his mind, no way he was going to talk back to an angry mercenary and possibly a killer. The Epicanthix wasn't planning on being punched tonight although looking at the situation he might get a bruise or two if he answered badly and it could take weeks for them to vanish. "Ah damn he looks like the kind that punches in the face... Mother what did I get into now?" All these thoughts passed in seconds while Ean was talking.

"What?" Shun spoke, his tone of voice was like a seriously scolded child, both week and even more feeble also obviously confused. "Why for the seven dark voids would I want an autograph? Its not like you did the Kessel run in twelve parsecs! which is impossible with the current technology avaible to ships".

"L-L-Look I-I just came h-here for t-t-the job Now Shun was stuttering, the Epicanthix felt like kicking himself but made no motion to do so in order to remove his stuttering. Anxiously Shun a vain deep breath to calm himself. Shun hands began digging inside his pockets for a while until he drew a small holo player.

He placed in the table and turned it on. The Holo began showing a list of ships Shun had flown before, if Ean knew anything about ships then he would see a fair list of freighters, shuttles, fighters and even two frigates. Most of the models had been outdated for a long time, so that ruled out the fact that Shun might have been Republic Navy, so the only posssible conclucion was that Shun had been flying many ships in the fringes of space. Of course one could also assume that Shun was making things up, his meek appearance and personality might also lead to the conclusion that he was making all this up.

Shun remained in silence watching what action would the bounty hunter take, would he sit down and began to look around the list and begin the interview in earnest or simply walk out?

[Mara]

(((So sorry for the wait... hope this post doesn't completely suck...)))


After he spoke his mind bluntly, the only way he really knew how, Ean waited to see how the Epicanthix would react and how this meeting would turn out, if it continued at all. Whether the being was truly there for the job or had some ulterior motives for wanting to meet with the Corellian, he was curious to find out. He was only interested in serious contenders to pilot his ship, but so far, he was rather skeptical of this one, considering how things had started out.

Even without any silly, special powers, he could feel the fear radiating off the tall man. And not only that, the being was actually cowering in his seat, unable to look the former bounty hunter in the eye. This disconcerted Ean a little bit. He was used to some nervousness; many beings had that reaction when seeing and recognizing him up close for the first time. However, it generally went away, and their excitement took over. But this Epicanthix was almost shaking and seemed to not understand Ean's first words. In fact, he had trouble getting out a coherent sentence in reply and was only partly successful at that.

On just the off chance that this gangling being was actually speaking the truth--and as the seconds and minutes worn on, Ean was actually inclined to think so--the Corellian sighed to himself and pulled out the chair across from the Epicanthix. He sat down heavily and rested his arms on the tabletop, willing to hear the guy out. There was no harm in doing so. Plus, he didn't want to make a scene and standing there for much longer may have done so, especially with how slow the diner was at the moment.

Though still obviously nervous, the Epicanthix took a deep breath and became a bit calmer. At least, he didn't try talking, stumbling over his speech. As the other being then reached into his jacket, Ean's hand went to his blaster, but he quickly realized the item he was grabbing for was not a weapon, and he relaxed into his seat again. Though, he wouldn't have put it past the guy that this whole thing was just an act to get close to the Corellian. It was a ruse Ean may have used himself.

The other's holo player began showing images of various ships, hovering above the table. To Ean, they were just ships, large and small. He had a very limited understanding of the variety and uses of space-going craft. But thinking that this was somehow the being's resume, he kept his eyes on the holos, and hoping the look on his face was that of an employer contemplating his options. Ean added a grunt of satisfaction and a nod to aid in this little facade. If this was truly a list of the Epicanthix's experience, surely he could handle his simple freighter.

Ean cleared his throat and looked back up at his new companion. "Impressive." He folded his hands in front of him. It was time to feel this guy out, figure out some more about him. The job was no guarantee yet, even if the tall being still had no idea who he was or how infamous he was in certain circles. More information was needed. Perhaps he didn't fit into the 'glory hound' category, but he had yet to know for sure if the being was qualified or personable enough to get along with the Corellian well enough.

"All right... then a Dynamic should be easy for you, right? Recently modified but she's still a Dynamic underneath." He quirked up an eyebrow, keeping his tone and face casual. Inside, though, he was beaming with the pride that came with remembering what model of ship the Hope was. Ean had studied up on it ever since he had decided to start this process. Most of what he had learned had been unnecessary so far, which was good for him, since he didn't remember most of it. And hopefully it would continue to be so as this interview continued; he expected the pilot to do most of the talking.

[kozeph]

Shun was still nervous this kind of thing didn't go away simple as that. If this potential employer was going to hire him, Shun had no doubt in his mind that they would have an awkward relationship for a looong time. Shun was not socially prepared, he even had a hard time speaking to his brother well that was when they were still talking to each other. The gangly Epicanthix relaxed for a second when Ean chose to sat, then he tensed up again. The interview was going to start in earnest.

Shun narrow eyes kept shifting between the images of the ships he had flown to the hard and the very serious expression of the human bounty hunter. Shun was sweating now, so he meekly grabbed a napkin and cleaned the drops of sweat that gathered near his brow. The short time Ean was flicking through the ships holos felt to Shun as if they lasted an eternity.

"Ah what if he thinks I'm trying to bluff him.. what if he starts asking many question, I screw up and..." That was Shun's general thought process the whole period of silence. The satisfactory grunt of the human caused Shun to tense up even more and sit as straight as possible causing him look over the smaller being. To the "impressive" comment the thin alien tried a thank you but he stuttered the first few words so he quickly shut up, his eyes darting to the table.

"R-right the interview is gonna start now... pull yourself together damn it!"

"Um..." That was Shun's opening answer to the question about if he could handle a dynamic freighter. Inwardly and in the most secure confines of his head the Epicanthix rolled his imaginary eyes both at the thought of having trouble handling one of those types of ship and that those ancient tin cans were still flying, that spoke volumes the good design but still Shun would have preferred to fly something a bit more new.

"W-what kind of m-modi-modifications?" Shun asked timidly "If if you replaced the shield generators, o-or the hyperdrive a-and weaponry t-then it shouldn't b-be a problem..." It was time to get technical, if he was going to fly a ship Shun wanted to know what the ship could do.

"Engine work o-or modifications to the h-hull s-shouldn't give m-much trouble" "Unless the guy who did those mods sucked so much the ship is now space trash" Shun thought after.

[Mara]

(((Sorry for the wait… I had planned to get to this sooner, but then I had some issues with my car to get checked out and fixed… Anyway, hopefully we can get this going again… And hopefully this reply isn’t too rough, lol. I had to get the rust off.)))


Ean waited to see how the tall being would respond to his mention of the make of his ship. Though he was by no means an expert in the field, he had heard whispers about the Hope and other Dynamics like her. No matter that his had been modified and now outperformed most of the others still out in the space lanes, if not all of them. Luckily for most of these gossiping beings, they had spoken out of striking distance; a few others weren’t so fortunate, limping away with bruises and broken noses. The Corellian really didn’t care how old or new his ship was. She was his, and that was all that mattered. Anyone who worked for him would have to deal with that; time would only tell whether this Epicanthix would be able to.

He relaxed his posture more, even allowing himself to sit back in his chair and remove his arms from the tabletop, setting them in his lap, hoping it would help ease his companion. The man was still perspiring nervously—perhaps even more than when Ean first approached him—something which continued to puzzle him. His bland brown eyes studied the other’s face, thinking to himself that this might not work out if the Epicanthix couldn’t start controlling himself. This could turn into one of his shortest pilot interviews. However, Ean had to give the guy props for pushing ahead and asking for more information, despite his obvious jitteriness or any preconceived notions he may have had against Dynamics. That alone warranted giving the being a chance to redeem himself, or at least calm down.

“Well…” If anyone had asked Ean a few months ago about the modifications to the Hope, his mind would have went blank. Though he had been there on Tatooine while his friend Trano, the major domo of Greegar the Hutt, had his goons perform the upgrades, he had merely been putting up a front. He had just trusted the Trandoshan to order the best for what could be done to the older ship and hoped everything would work out, his presence alone keeping the workers honest. But now, he had had time to go through what exactly the changes were. Ean didn’t remember exact model numbers or anything, but he knew what had been done. “Weapons are mostly the same, but I added a small belly gun. The engine and hyperdrive have been upgraded, so have the shields. She can match up to most things out there.” The Corellian wasn’t sure about that last remark, but it sounded good to him. If anything, it showed his confidence in his ship.

Though the Epicanthix was still stuttering, he had been speaking up a bit more, and Ean made a snap decision. Most of his other interviews hadn’t gone this far, but his instinct was telling him to move ahead, an instinct that was rarely, if ever, wrong. He felt the nervousness of the being was something that could perhaps disappear with time. And if not, at least he would find out more quickly if the man could buckle down under pressure situations and fly his ship with steady hands. Better to find out now during the preliminary process than down the road in a real situation. Though Ean was unsure where his career might lead, he couldn’t promise it wouldn’t get dangerous again.

Pushing his chair back, he got to his feet and looked the alien in the eyes. “But don’t take my word for it. I’ll take you to the docking bay where she’s at. You can judge for yourself whether you can handle her.” He gestured for the other to follow him. “Come on. That is, if you’re still interested in the job.” Without waiting to see if the intriguing Epicanthix was following him, Ean turned and headed out of the diner, towards the spaceport where the Hope was docked. It was time to see whether the being’s need for work would outweigh his social awkwardness. Either way, Ean wanted to head home anyway; he just wasn’t sure if he’d be going alone or not.

It didn’t take much time at all for the Corellian and native Tyrenian to make his way through a more unfamiliar part of town and back to where he was used to spending his time in the recent weeks: the spaceport and its surrounding blocks. He walked easily, not hurrying but not slowing his gait for the wiry and tall Epicanthix pilot. The trip would have been even quicker if he had taken a taxi, but Ean preferred walking. It allowed him to keep his senses more aware of his surroundings. Plus, it was just relaxing for him, down among the streets of the city.

Soon enough, he had his eyes on his beautiful ship, the matte black Dynamic, his mother’s namesake. Still, he did not allow himself to turn around to see if he had been followed. He had known that within minutes of leaving the diner. Ean just stood there quietly for a few moments, hands in the pockets of his trousers. He still had moments of wonder when he looked at her, not believing that he actually owned a ship. It had never been a goal of his, though he had to admit it had made traveling easier at times. But then he broke the silence, figuring his potential new pilot had waited in agony enough. “There she is… Heleen’s Hope.”



(((Here’s a link to the ship app, if you need it: [click])))