Awesome comes to Anchorhead (semi-closed/lmr)

[Mr. Slenderman]

In all honestly Teilo didn't know what had woke him up first from his semi-drunken stupor, the loud banging sound echoing through the ship or the cold liquid that was squirted into his open snoring mouth. Fighting the slight sense of drowning for about three seconds after his green eyes shot open the pirate tasted the familiar bitterness of Caf before sitting up and spitting it out. Consciously taking the first breath of air for the day Teilo violently coughed showering the hard metal floor of hound with spit and the thankfully not hot brew. Not even having time to wipe his mouth a familiar crackle of static made his eyes to snap slightly up to see an equally familiar shape.

"*Hszzzt* Good morning master! A thousand pardons for the way I had to awake you. I took the liberty of turning off the heating unit for my Caf dispenser so I wouldn't burn you, but I know organics still don't like foreign liquid poured on them. There is however someone pounding on the boarding ramp who would like a word with you." Scuffs said in his regular annoyingly cordial way before retracting his dispenser arm and hovering away from Teilo.

Feeling somewhere between not caring and head hurting too much to care the pirate continued to sit in his spot as he took in his surroundings. Much to his not surprise Teilo recognized the rather secluded area he had apparently passed out in was behind the ship's bar in the 'Hound'. The details of the previous night were kind of hazy, but judging by the numerous empty liquor bottles and his lack of pants or a shirt made him wish could he remember. After reaching up to steady himself on the bar's counter Teilo discovered much to his puzzlement a pair of silky thong panties on his head as he went to scratch his raven hair. Moving his hand under the dainty fabric to give himself the good scratch he promised himself the pirate couldn't help but chuckle at the funny fact he technically had two pairs of underwear on now.

Finally on his feet Teilo slowly made his way from around the bar to investigate the banging on the loading ramp and thumbed the waistband of the lingerie around his head. After scanning the unusually cluttered round table he found his blood stripe pants sloppily slung over one of the chairs. Honestly not caring about the wrinkles at this point Teilo half hopped half walked as he slipped them over the boxers he didn't remember buying. Hoping he wasn't making a mistake not finding his blasters before opening the ramp his progress was only stopped as his foot brushed against something rough yet organic.

Looking down before crossing the threshold into the cargo bay Teilo noticed a well chewed but still smokable cigar against the door frame. Picking it up with a smile the pirate rummaged around in his pants for a light of some kind. Not finding his lighter or a match he moved further into the cargo bay still heading for the source of the ever annoying banging sound. As if just his luck a fusion cutter was laying across the ramp control box which he quickly picked up and switch on. Even at it's lowest intensity Teilo nearly burned the whole cigar and half of his face off with the cutter as he lit the stogie and mashed the button to let the ramp down.

Teilo instantly remembered he didn't know where his shades were as thin but powerful rays of sunlight started to pour in through the lowering ramp. Just as he let out a puff of smoke and walked forward the ramp violently shook before stopping after only dropping a foot or so. The pirate cursed under his breath and resisted the urge to kick the hydraulic supports right before someone started shouting into the small opening. Getting on his hands and knees Teilo crawled over to the cracked ramp and lowered his face just in time to get an earful of screaming zabrak.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! I'm right here buddy cut the yelling out alright? What do you want?" Teilo yelled back indignantly at the now puzzled looking zabrak. "Sir! you've been using my docking bays as your own personal night club for the last two days now and I've had it. I want you gone and why do you have panties on your head?"The pirate contemplated using the fusion cutter to melt the zabrak's face off, but decided to just laugh and blow smoke in his face instead. "Look buddy, I'm not leaving til I get what I came for. I paid you already for the whole week so quit your complaining and I like these panties!"

With a sneer on his face the Zabrak waved the smoke out of his vision and tried to storm away without another word before Teilo called after him. "Oh and send for the best mechanic you know to fix my ramp. I'd rather not be stuck on here for the rest of the week." The pirate said before ducking his head back into his ship to search for the rest of his gear.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra Gly was more or less recovered from her recent experiences. By experiences, she meant arguments. The spat with her parents over her prospective suitor had gradually died down. Of course the price tag was that the Togruta mechanic highly doubted she was ever going to find Mister Right, or Prince Charming, or whoever was supposed to waltz along and enter her life.

All she could focus on as she walked through a dusty street was the thump of a large wrench against the orange skin of her thigh. It made a consistent pattern of bumping as the Togruta teen trudged through the dusty street. Her boots kicked up small clouds of dust and each one seemed like the sigh that was exhaling from her chest.

Glum was the word to describe her at this moment, and not even a new romance novel she'd bought for a good price had captivated her attention.

Tashra had read the first two pages, and no more. The plucky Twi'lek maid Lyn Adriyeh had just started up a demeaning job on Corellia to support her aging parents. Despite all her dreams of success and a higher education, she was putting it all aside for the benefit of her family.

That struck a little close to home. Tashra was beginning to think that she might have to give up for good on all of those dreams...

When she arrived, with her trusty droid in tow, the girl immediately looked over the ramp she'd been asked to repair.

It looked to her like the mechanism was frozen up with some kind of granular material. Sand? Ash? It was hard to say, but...

The orange-skinned girl pulled the large wrench from her toolbelt and slammed it into the frame next to the locked mechanism. She did it twice, and was rewarded by a shower of dust that wafted down onto her, prompting a large amount of blinking and coughing.

Tashra reached up to rub her eyes, not seeing anyone around.

[Mr. Slenderman]

"Ah! Screw this!" Teilo yelled out of frustration as he pulled his now liquid coated hands out a pile of food wrappers and garbage he had hoped his shirt had been in. Deciding to give up the search the pirate took a sniff of the viscous stuff covering his hands he prayed was food residue but was more then likely alien vomit of some kind before jogging over to the crew 'fresher.

As he hit the button to open the door with his elbow Teilo was bombarded by the kind of putrid stench caused by excessive amounts of alcohol and multiple people being too drunk to remember to flush. Ignoring the slight burning sensation in his eyes the pirate flushed the toilet without looking and wish he didn't hear the wet slurping sound is it struggled to go down. With a visible shudder he turned on the faucet above the small sink again with his elbow as he hoped his hands would be back to normal soon enough.

Five minutes and a newly drained soap dispenser later Teilo left the small room and swore to lock the 'fresher next time he had guests. "Scuffs. Scuffs!!" He called out as he avoided stepping on various spills and such heading for his room. With perfect timing as always Scuffs hovered his way out of the captain's quarters before Teilo could hit the button to open it. " *Hszzzt*Yes master? I assume you were calling me to start the recovery efforts from last night's crew auditions correct? I took the liberty of starting in your room and giving you fresh sheets in case you wanted to rest. I hope this is what you wanted sir."

It was times like these that Teilo was honestly happy to have the old faulty bastard around to take care of the things the pirate was honestly too lazy to do himself. "Not quite the way I would've started, but Spit out a sandwich and I'll call it even." For a split second before dropping the Nuna sandwich into his waiting hand Teilo could've swore the old rust bucket rolled his....'processor' at him before zooming off to start cleaning on the main room.

Thankfully for the pirate Scuffs had at least found his boots and blasters as the they laid across his clean bedspread. Speaking of the droid just as Teilo was sliding his boots on and finishing the sandwich another crackle of static echoed down the hallway into his open door. "*Hszzzt* Sir, by the sound of it someone seems to be doing some unauthorized maintenance work on the Slice hound. More specifically the ramp." Pushing off with his heavy booted feet Teilo stood up and contemplated if he rather kill someone with a blaster today or try his hand with a fusion cutter like on Bogden before remembering something important: he ordered a mechanic here under an hour ago.

Feeling kind of bad for his homicidal thoughts the pirate nonetheless snapped on his blaster belt before quickly rummaging around in his dresser so he could look presentable for the mechanic he was anxious to meet. Teilo normally didn't let anyone he didn't know even touch his ship so of course he wanted to check and see just who that loud zabrak had gotten for the job. Deciding to go for comfort over style he slipped on a blue tank top with Nar Shadda written across the front in Huttese.

It was while he was putting on the shirt that he remembered he still had those panties on his head. Quickly pulling them off he crumpled and threw them in the bottom draw to join his other souvenirs before turning his attention to the sunglasses situation. Much to his disgust Teilo's trademark shades were still nowhere to be seen so far so he settled on the simple protective welding goggles he used from time to time for now. With the lights still dimmed in the ship it was much to dark to actually wear them at the moment so the pirate just rested them on his forehead to hold back his still messy hair.

Feeling finally at least semi presentable Teilo left his room and walked down the corridor that now was practically spotless as the sounds of Scuffs' cleaning echoed further into the ship. Already most of the garbage was either gone or at least bagged in the main deck and even the bar's counter was well buffed. Looking as his collection of fine spirits reminded the pirate to breath into his hand and check his breath for some strange reason.

However, after catching a whiff of his still horrendous morning breath Teilo was glad he did. Pouring himself a quick glass of Nubian brandy he swished the exquisite liquor in his mouth before swallowing each gulp hoping to compensate for a good brushing. Despite his increasing sense of being late to meeting the mechanic the pirate still found time to even vault over the counter and select a fresh cigar.

Taking the old saying "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right" to heart Teilo carefully clipped the cigar before lighting it with an old fashion wooden match. Taking only a moment to take in the robust taste of the if he was not mistaken leaves of Ithorian plant origin before jogging from behind the bar and into the cargo hold. Just like he had left it the ramp was opened a fraction of it's normal range, but by the sound of busy tools would hopefully be soon fixed. Crawling on his hands and knees like before Teilo slipped his head sideways through the thin opening and came nearly face to face with a female Togruta .

In the back of his mind the pirate had imagine the person working on his baby to be like one of the hundreds of sweaty, greasy, and foul smelling degenerates he was proud to call friends. Instead not that he was complaining to deal with a girl from a difference species, but he nearly dropped the cigar out of his mouth due to puzzlement at the Togruta. "So you're the mechanic? Was expecting someone....older and maybe ugly to boot to be working on my ship."Suddenly feeling stupid after saying it out loud Teilo couldn't help but think that sounded a bit rude.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra eyed the ramp mechanism intently, and tried to lower it again, but it was still stubbornly stuck. Maybe it was a hydraulic issue? That could explain why the ramp wasn't responding. Course, if it was properly maintained, then this probably wouldn't have been an issue.

The orange-skinned teenager was staring intently at the hydraulics when a face appeared at the top of the ramp, emerging out of nowhere and startling her. She let out a brief 'eep!' before falling on her ass in the dust.

Promptly she picked herself up and brushed the sand off of her bare legs and her shorts. Then she replied to the startling stranger.

Why exactly he thought mechanics had to be ugly, she didn't know. After all, most of the ones she'd known looked pretty ordinary. Like she did. But the age thing, she could understand because she;d faced it before. Too many people underestimated the abilities of a mechanic because of their age. But she'd been tinkering on things since she was toddling.

"Sorry. Yeah, I'm the mechanic. My name's Tashra, but people call me Sparky. I think you've got a hydraulic issue here, like maybe the fluid is leaking and pressure is lost. I dunno yet. When was the last time you had the hydraulics looked at?"

The Togruta girl would wager it had been at least six months. Probably a lot longer actually. No one seemed to understand how important preventative maintenance really was.

Perry walked over and examined the hydraulics on the port side with his detailed scanning vision.

"Confirmed your honor, there is a fracture in the casing, which I move to designate Defense Exhibit One."

Tashra nodded to him. "All right counselor, so moved."

[Mr. Slenderman]

Teilo barely thought fast enough to pull the cigar from his lips before letting out a quick roar of laughter at the mechanic taking a tumble. Even though he had already been feeling bad about "ugly mechanics" comment just the sound of her startled yelp alone was priceless. As his laughter died down the pirate wiped a few tears from the corner of his eyes, but still maintained his amused smile.

"Heh, really sorry about spooking you and all. Wasn't expecting that little squeak and fall of yours though. Haven't seen something that funny since that Twilek traveling Circus back on Nar Shadda." Yet again after opening his big mouth Teilo couldn't help but feel his compliment was still on the rude side.

With the ramp still obviously not fixed yet the pirate pulled his face back from the side of it and crawled to the bottom where it was the widest. Rolling onto his back Teilo started to inch his way out of the exit feet first with his toes down hoping to feel solid ground before having to actually fall out.

Thankfully just as he had slipped out up to his chest his boots hit dirt giving himself good leverage to get the rest of his torso out. With a good stretch Teilo's back did a soft pop as he reached his arms high exposing his abs. Now that he was free of his ship the Tatootine sun was a bit on the bright side for him so the pirate slipped his goggles over his eyes before walking over to talk to the mechanic face to face.

That last part was only figuratively of course because he could've tell from his previous spot on the ramp, but he towered over her. "Sparky huh? Why do they call you that?" Teilo said inquisitively before craning his neck up to think about the maintenance schedule. "I'm horrible at remember this kind of thing, but let me think. Let's see.... I had a tune up after my last stop at Nal Hutta which had to be only a few months ago, but I had my ramp get damage back on Geonosis about a month ago. Seemed fine until now though."

Just as Teilo took a long puff off his cigar a mechanical voice made him turn around to see a droid that sounded like it got lost on the way back from the local courthouse. Walking over to him Teilo ran his hand over the noticeable crack that had been pointed out. "Eeyup... This is from Geonosis. Was off loading a caged Gundark for one of their arenas when the bastard got loose and started rampaging. Seeing as I did technically make the delivery I hauled ass when it came after me."

With a sigh the pirate turned around and returned with crossed arms over to Tashra to talk some numbers. Normally he had all his repairs handled for free back at 'The track', but a broken ramp is bad news for any spacer. "So, Including labor how much is this gonna cost me?"Then it struck him that in his rush he'd slipped into just straight business mode before clearing his throat and putting on a good smile. "Oh, forgot to mention it. Kind of late, but name's Teilo. Nice to meet you and all that."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra opened her mouth to reply to his question about her name, but it hung there, open, as the human man continued to talk and talk. He was answering her question, but still...

He didn't seem very friendly to her, or very... Nice. It was a funny word, nice. So subjective, so variable; and yet she knew right away if someone was nice or not. And while Teilo didn't seem mean, Tashra wasn't convinced that he was... Nice.

Nice people didn't make fun when you fell over, did they? They were supposed to say 'there there,' and help you up. Maybe pat you on the shoulder and brush the dust off of you. Definitely he didn't seem like some dashing Prince from a far-away kingdom, or a secret agent for the Republic, or a Jedi living in exile.

Yeah, the Togruta girl didn't see one of her romance novels playing out here.

Something gave her the impression she had to stick to business. Maybe the way he'd jumped straight to the cost, which was something she normally forgot about until the very end.

Very quickly, the girl's amber eyes focused in on the crack Perry had pointed out, and she sized up the whole piece.

"Well, I can patch it and put in new fluid for uh, 150 Hutt credits. But it really should get replaced entirely. I could find some used parts for maybe 400, or for 500 I could just machine you new ones. Those'd last the longest. So, it might be more expensive now, but it's like, a better choice. If you know what I mean?"

The teenage mechanic stood there, awkwardly scratching one of her petite montrals; the 'horns' that grew atop her head.

[Mr. Slenderman]

With his smile basically falling from his lips Teilo could quickly tell he had been talking too much just by the look on Tashra's face. As you'd expect of someone who normally talks an incredible amount on a daily basis the pirate knew the average person took his stories one of two ways most of the time. First, either they loved them thoroughly, but still wanted him to shut up or second, the listener took him as a rambling idiot trying way too hard to impress them and really wanted him to shut up. At present Teilo couldn't place which of the two Tashra was leaning the closest to, but he decided to shut up just the same.

Feeling no longer in a smoking mood the pirate took his moment of silence to drop his cigar to the sand and stamp it out as he listened to the mechanic list his options. "Yeah I know what you mean. I'd be honored if you'd machine the parts for me, 500 credits is nothing when it comes to skilled craftsmanship."

Forgoing the story about the time he bought a bad hyperdrive motivator from a Duros Teilo slowly started to felt younger by the moment as the awkward silence between him and Tashra seemed to stretch on. Stirring the sand with the tip of his boot the pirate really started to feel sincerely sorry for his cruel laughter when the Togruta fell earlier. Even his half assed apology actually might have done more harm then good with him sounding more entertained then concerned about it.

With the fact that she had never responded not escaping him Teilo decided to give it another go and hope for the best. Wanting to seem sincere this time around he slipped his thick goggles off so his eyes could actually be seen before starting. "Hey, Tashra...um.."He paused for second to fight his normal urge to not be sorry for anythings he does. "I hope you believe me this time around, but I am sorry about that whole jerkass laugh thing when you fell. I feel like a real dick now.."

It wasn't until the last sentence rolled off his tongue that Teilo decided that this had to be the most straight forward and least eloquent conversation he'd had since his diaper days, but for some reason just felt right in this instance."Hey uh, since it's blazing hot out here would you like a drink or something on the ship? I know the ramp's a wreck, but there is another way on board if you want."The pirate said still nervously stirring the dirt hoping she'd say yes.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Yeah, I'll jus-" Tashra started to reply automatically, assuming he'd elected for a cheap repair. Instead she caught herself, and after a brief "Wha?" She nodded eagerly and started talking to Perry rapidly.

"Yeah, so get pieces of durasteel according to the measurements here, and take them over to the machine shop."

"Where should I acquire the evidence your honor?" Perry asked in his mechanical timbre.

"Uh, try the scrapyards, the usual ones. Tell them to bill me, I'll take care of it later."

"Yes your honor," Perry said before shuffling off away from the ship, the sound of his servos audible over the gentle sound of the breeze.

It was then that the human man spoke up again, and he seemed somehow different this time. Not so haughty or confident, like he did a minute ago. Nor was he boisterous or wild. In fact, he seemed... Tame? Tentative? No, it wasn't even that. Genuine. He felt genuine. Not like he was putting on airs or a facade, but like he was actually speaking with her, not AT her.

"Oh," Tashra said as she scratched one of her montrals, "It's fine I guess."

And then he promptly referred to the surface as 'blazing hot,' which prompted a quizzical expression on the Togruta girl's orange face. One of her amber eyes widened a little.

"Hot? It's still morning," Tashra said with a little giggle. "You should see it at double noon."

She paused for a moment and cocked her head before slowly nodding as she really registered his offer. Then at long last she nodded with a sense of finality and said 'yeah.'

[Mr. Slenderman]

For some reason for all the ways Teilo could've expressed his joy at Tashra accepting his offer saying "Awesome!" with a small grin seemed to fit the best. "Alright then, we can get in over there." The pirate said tossing a thumb over his shoulder to point at the normal seeming hull of his ship. Turning on his heels towards the direction he indicated Teilo started tracing his fingers over the armored plates looking for just the right one.

Off the top of his head he couldn't remember where he had that emergency hatch built, but if the schematic the pirate visualized in his head was right he was getting close. Speaking of visualization with his face out of sight with his back turned a large smile stretched from ear to ear thinking of Tashra. While she obviously wasn't the usual age group Teilo found attractive there was just something he found....alluring.

More then likely it was the fact she was one of the always stunning to him Togruta or those great legs in short shorts, but knew for the sake of her not being one his normal acceptable targets there had to be more to it.

Finally finding the plate that looked slightly smaller then the others Teilo's smile shrunk to a small smirk as his hand ran along the edge. "Found it!"the pirate said cheerfully as he pressed down on a small camouflaged button and the plate slid back with a hiss under the one next to it to reveal a short tunnel.

A second later a small light cut on in the small opening to reveal a short ladder built into the tunnel wall. Standing on his tip toes Teilo Was able to get his fingers around the first rung before turning back to Tashra. "Another minute and we'll be in." He said reassuringly before disappearing from view as he started to climb to the next rung and the next.

Just before the top of his boots vanished into the ship as well Teilo reached the second sliding plate and the keypad that opened it. Thankfully for him when the mechanic had put this second part in he'd let the pirate pick his own password, otherwise he would've forgotten for sure. After entering his shoe size, height, and weight all in one line of numbers the hatched opened pouring the ship's lights through the thin grate above him.

Carefully dislodging the grating the pirate pushed it aside as he rose through the opening behind the ship's bar counter. Pulling himself out of the hatch Teilo remembered clearly when he had first thought about when he decided to get a hatch put in and thinking where else would you put one then behind a bar. Thinking immediately of Tashra before standing up the pirate thrust his hand back down the hatch to help her up if she needed it.

"Need a hand?"He asked knowing she could more then likely still do it on her own.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra watched as the man gestured to the hull, and after a brief moment of confusion, the Togruta mechanic made the connection. There was a secret door inside it, hidden away somewhere. Her amber eyes took in the details, and she fixed her gaze on one panel in particular. Sure enough, when Teilo pressed a button it slid open, and the petite teenager followed him inside.

A short while later, they were climbing up into the ship's interior, with the human coming up into the room a few seconds before Tashra did. He offered her a hand up as she was already halfway out, and surprisingly, the Togruta girl took it.

She wanted to be polite. He was being nice after all, so she could go along with that. Of course she was oblivious that her hand was covered in grease, and by extension, so was his.

Standing up, Tashra found herself behind a bar of all places. Pretty much every eatery in Anchorhead was a cantina, with a bar inside, but the idea of having one in a ship seemed a little, well, different. Fancy was the word, and Tashra felt awkward in fancy.

No, the orange-skinned girl couldn't see herself having a bar in a ship, or wearing evening dresses with high-heeled shoes. If that was what Teilo was used to... Tashra shifted her weight awkwardly as she wondered if she was that out of place.

"Soooo," She said apprehensively. "This is kinda fancy."

[Mr. Slenderman]

In hindsight when Teilo had offered his hand to the mechanic who had just been working on his ship he should've expected to get a little dirty or in this case just slick with grease. Knowing better then to try and wipe the stain causing substance on his shirt or god forbid his only pair of blood stripe pants the pirate just made a mental note to not touch anything as he took a look around the room itself.

With a smile of approval and sigh of relief Teilo made another mental note to find some way to reward Scuffs for fully recovering the room in such a seemingly short time. On the climb up from the hatch the pirate had put together his best excuses besides "I had a drunken party here last night..." to tell Tashra if the room had still looked like a war zone when they came in. Thankfully, with the help of the obviously best butler in the galaxy he'd dodged a bullet this time around.

"Well, I'd like to welcome you to the Slice Hound III! My humble home away from home."Teilo said in a humorously grandiose voice with his attention on Tashra. After he was done though his smile went from ear to ear at her compliment. "Oh thank you, I've heard 'The Hound' called a lot of things before, but this is the first time it's been called fancy."

Then after rolling the word around in his mind the pirate started to notice just how out of place Tashra seemed to be while just observing her surroundings. Wanting to at least alleviate some of the tension Teilo walked over to the round table and flipped on the unit's large holoprojector hoping this would do the trick. Suddenly the formerly empty table was covered with a cycling extensive list of several hundred hologram channels.

"I hope you didn't get the wrong idea about the 'The Hound'. This isn't some prissy diplomatic vessel. When I originally had custom interior work put into it I only thought about the fact that at the end of the day what's better then curling up with a good drink and watching a good holovid or two." Teilo decided it was best not to mention the more then a few better things he could name and instead called out for his droid.

"Scuffs! Scuffs front and center! We have a guest!"Adding a few claps to show urgency did a good job of reminding the pirate of the grease situation as he got his other hand just as dirty. "Hey Tashra, I'm gonna head to the 'fresher and wash this stuff off. My droid scuffs should be here in a sec to get you something to drink and feel free to pick any channel that catches your eye. The controls are right there." The thin streak of grease that lazily trickled down his index finger as he pointed to the table's panel made Teilo do a quick turnaround to mash the 'fresher door button with his elbow and step in before it closed on him.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Little did Teilo know that upon leaving Tashra, he had unleashed a monster.

Being rather poor and on an insignificant ball of rock far removed from the beautiful cities of the Core Worlds, the Togruta teenager had never before seen the holonet in any form. However, she had heard OF it, and it didn't take her a second thought to turn onto a random channel and immediately become engrossed in the display.

"Astia, my love for you is a special thing. You know since my wife died I've been so lonely, but I think we met for a reason," An absurdly handsome actor said as he held an absurdly handsome actress's hand.

"Oh Daniel, you know I'm already engaged with your cousin Andre. How can I break his heart like this?"

Tashra watched the scene unfold with held breath. It was so fascinating already! It was just like one of her romance novels, but with real people! How was that for cool?

"How can you break your own heart by going through with it?"

"Awwww," Tashra sighed softly at the romantic sentiment. Yes, she liked this Daniel. It was so easy to believe he was a real person, and that maybe she could find her own Daniel somehow. At least she could live vicariously through the holodisplay.

"Aha!" A third voice said.

"Andre!" Both Astia and Daniel exclaimed.

"Oh snap!" Tashra squealed as her jaw hung open.

"My suspicions have been confirmed! How could you Astia?"

"It wasn't like that Andre, I swear it!"

Onscreen the drama continued, and Tashra watched breathlessly, deaf to all else. Her sense of time was immediately misplaced, and her distraction was as complete as could be. This was fantastic. Like, the best thing she'd ever seen, and she'd even fixed an HK droid once.

All that was missing was a sandwich and a fizzy drink.

[Mr. Slenderman]

Much to his horror about three seconds after his rush into the 'fresher to get his hands washed Teilo remembered about the unspeakable atrocities that had gone down in the small room the night before. Taking in an involuntary breath as he gasped out of surprise the pirate prepared himself for a horrible olfactory related death from his stupidity, which surprisingly didn't come. Mustering his courage to actually take a willing sniff of the air Teilo found the gag inducing miasma from before replaced by the smell of fresh linens and citrus fruit.

Adding "Get Scuffs plated in gold for this when I get home." to his mental list the pirate gave the 'fresher a full look over before finally washing his hands. Not wanting to make yet another mess Teilo was absolutely sure not to drop a single of water or soap on the stunningly clear floor as he dried them off.

Exiting the 'fresher with a smile at first the pirate's face formed a kind of open blank stare a moment later when he saw what had been going on during his short absence. Gone was the withdrawn girl barely saying two words to him, instead she had been replaced with a perky little beauty that was seemed fully involved in a cliche soap opera of sorts and that didn't say a single word to Teilo on his return.

Hearing a familiar whine of repulsers the pirate arched an eyebrow as he looked across the room to see Scuffs giving Tashra his own version of a look up and down. By the glint in his processor Teilo could tell the droid was giving him a look somewhere between "What have you brought home this time?" and "Have your standards really dropped this low?"

Deciding if he should try to be bold and flip the channel before he overdosed on bad acting Teilo slowly crossed the room and then made up his mind to let the Togruta have her fun. In away just the look of pure joy from the simplest of actions reminded the pirate of his perpetually Nerf smelling clothes days back on Corellia. With neither Scuffs or Teilo wanting to disturb Tashra they did their usual exchange of insults for when guests arrived in silence. As if trying to shut his master up the droid shot out four fried Nuna sandwiches like before then hovered over to the bar to make something to wash it down with other then Caf.

Still finding a laugh in the fact that of the thousands of channels that he could pick up in the ship Teilo only watched maybe a dozen only a daily basis. A lot of the rest like the impressively mushy soap opera was one of those show's he'd normally die before watching. Then again, since he was watching it with a cute Togruta the pirate could call it even. Peeling the plastic back from one of the sandwiches to take a bite Teilo held one of the others out to the still zoned out Tashra wanting to hear what she thought of Scuffs' cooking. "Here, it's Nuna. My droid makes a hell of a sandwich and the hell of a drink too if you just tell him what you'd like."The pirate said cheerfully before taking another mouthful of meat.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra absently took the sandwich and peeled away the wrapper as she intently watched the onscreen happenings, looking exactly like a young child at a birthday party as the cake was being presented. It said something that she barely noticed the strange droid in the room. However, the comment about a drink did sink in, and the girl did feel thirsty.

"Ginger ale?" The Togruta girl said distractedly before digging her stubby fangs into the sandwich and chewing a bite. He had been right, as it was actually quite good. The meat was flavorful, and the lettuce crisp. There was even some kind of tangy sauce that she couldn't identify.

The drama continued for another minute before they cut to a commercial for some boring cereal, which prompted the young mechanic to look back to Teilo and the unusual droid over to the side. That aroused her mechanical curiosity, and the girl's amber eyes gleamed.

"Oh hi there, what's your name? What kind of droid are you? Who's your manufacturer? Aratech? No, that's not it. Definitely not Czerka..." The girl asked a series of questions in rapid succession before distracting herself and rattling off guesses at manufacturer for a solid twenty seconds.

"Sorry," Tashra said sheepishly at her own talkative behavior before taking another bite of sandwich.

[Mr. Slenderman]

Just from Teilo's point of view at the moment watching Tashra seemed to be way more entertaining then the holovid she was watching. The way her eyes were glued to the screen and how she grabbed the sandwich without a single glance and commenced to eating reminded him of his youngest cousins. Whenever he comes to visit it's always like pulling teeth to get them off of the 'The Hound' and back to the ranch. He really should've seen it coming that it would be the same way for a girl on Tatooine.

At her request for something to wash the sandwich down with Scuffs moved at his regular fast and meticulous pace to fix her order. To be perfectly honest Teilo had never drunk just plain ginger ale before, but he was in the mood for something stronger at the moment.

"Hey, while you got the ginger ale out make me a Trandoshan Tripwire and hold the nerf blood if you'd be so kind Scuffs."Teilo said through another mouthful of food. His metal friend did his signature rolling of his processor before placing Tashra's tall glass of ginger ale down next to her and floated off to start on his master's drink.

It was around this time that the show came to a momentary stop for the standard commercial break and it's zombie like trance on Tashra slipped. She in turn released a stream of questions faster then the pirate could even shoot with his blaster and they weren't even directed at him interestingly enough. Scuffs replied in his regular polite if not deadpan way, "*Hszzzt* My name is Mr. Scuffs, I'm a butler droid of sorts that has been serving Master Braitano for nearly fifteen years, and I know not my make and model due to the fact I'm constructed out of the remains of three or four odd droids. I believe that answers you questions Miss...Tashra was it?"

After his droid slid his drink down the bar Teilo took a long sip to wet his whistle before speaking out himself, "There really isn't anything to be sorry about seriously either, but love the way you turn out to be a real live wire when there is something you're interested in around."He ended taking another long sip of his drink.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

So that explained it. The droid was a hodgepodge, which was actually pretty impressive. It took some serious skill to assemble a droid from parts. The big companies sold kits, but that wasn't the same. Making your own droid without instructions was pretty awesome.

Totally awesome in fact.

Tashra was about to ask who built Mr. Scuffs when Teilo complimented her.

At least she was pretty sure it was a compliment this time. Livewire sounded like a compliment. Or something cool. Too bad that wasn't her nickname, because it sounded so much cooler than Sparky.

Oh well though. Sparky was just a part of her already. And no one got to pick their own nickname anyway.

"Thanks," The Togruta girl said as she took a sip of the liquid. It was bubbly and sweet, but it had a little bite to it. A certain spicy quality. It made her relax a little more as she waited for the holonet program to resume.

"So yeah, it'll take a couple days to finish up the machining if you want it done right. Perry could do most of it, but I like to keep an eye on it myself. Sometimes droids don't 'zactly pride themselves on craftsmanship, y'know? I should probably get down there soon, Perry's probably got the parts already."

[Mr. Slenderman]

By his only his sixth sip of his drink Teilo quickly remembered why he hadn't had one of these things in awhile. The old scaly bastard back on Nar Shadda who taught him how to mix an authentic Trandoshan Tripwire had told him not to pick up drinking them if he wanted to live long, but warnings tended to have the opposite effect on the young pirate. Pain on the other hand was a very good teacher and seemed to have a full lesson planned for Teilo.

Still trying to maintain his straight face in front of Tashra his guts burned like acid and the world seemed to spin. Teilo was barely able to put the glass back on the bar counter as his vision and stomach both lurched a bit like being a boat. "You're most welcome!" The pirate said with a laugh to Tashra before reaching his open palm towards Scuffs and speaking under his breath, "Code Haze and a glass of water, now.."

Despite being few and far between there were still instances Teilo got unfortunately blitzed. Normally the Tripwire would've only made him a wreck after three or four of them, but considering he'd just woke up from a long night of drinking less then an hour ago the pirate should've seen this coming. It was times like this when he had company he actually didn't want to seem drunk around that he programmed Scuffs with "Code Haze" for just such an occasion.

Obedient as always the butler droid shot out two small pills and an individual metal cigar tube into his palm. The pills were just your standard powerful painkillers when you either don't have time for bacta or just plain hate needles, but the cigar was actually something really interesting. Like almost all of Teilo's favorite things to smoke this particular cigar was of Ithorian make, but unlike the others these kind were made for healing purposes. As strange as it sounds inside was a medley of medicinal herbs and sensor enhancing stimulants all wrapped up in flavor aged leaves. Rounding out his master's order with the requested water and a tiny box of wooden matches Scuffs hovered off towards the cockpit.

Quickly taking the pills and chasing them with water the pirate put his glass down and cleared his throat before speaking again to Tashra. "Mind if I tag along? I've been to Tatooine before, but never Anchor Head. Plus I can't think of someone I'd want more as a tour guide then you if it's not too much trouble." He said hoping to maybe learn more about her as he stuck the hopefully helpful cigar between his lips.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Oh, uh sure. That'd be fine I guess," Tashra said as she scratched one of her montrals, more out of habit than out of the actual tactile sensation. She wasn't used to people who wanted to watch her work. Normally people only wanted to spend their money, get their problem fixed,and fly away as fast as possible.

So this was a change of pace. Of course did it mean she had to be special? Like, have nice behavior and manners? She wasn't entirely sure what he expected from her.

He was nice to look at, and that put him a step above her, with her usual array of smudges, smears, and bandages for cuts and scrapes that seemed to form as if by magic in the course of her busy days.

"Yeah, it's fine. I just don't know how good a tour guide I'd be. I mean, I know my way around and all, but it's not like I'm real good at talking about all the places. And I mean, it's like, how can I you know, tell all the important things when..."

Tashra's attempt to speak her piece fizzled out and died in what really should have been smoking embers on the floor if there was any appropriate reaction from the universe. However, there wasn't, and she merely felt awkward.

Droids didn't seem to have that disadvantage. If only she could upload a program to herself that would make her talk pretty.

What was it she'd heard some spacer say? If wishes were fishes?

What was a fish anyway?

[Mr. Slenderman]

Teilo nodded his thanks to his Togruta friend as he struck one of his wooden matches on the bar counter. In one practiced motion the pirate cupped his hands around the cigar clenched in his teeth to light it before dropping the match to the floor. A quick stomp of his boot finished off it's already dwindling flame as he took the first long drag and let out a perfect smoke ring.

With a small smile the pirate watched his creation float up until it dissipated upon hitting the durasteel ceiling. Feeling the herbs kicking in and the pressure around his head starting to release Teilo turned his attention back to Tashra who seemed to have started stammering again. Walking around the bar counter again the young pirate hopped himself on top of it this time to have a seat while he addressed his friend.

"*heh* Don't fizzle out on me now Sparks. Hope you don't mind me calling you that instead of Sparky by the way. Anyway, wherever you can show me is more then enough. Something is always better then nothing in my book and gotta ask why you seem so nervous when it comes to talking to me. Do I stink?" Teilo went through the comical to him exaggerated motion of smelling under his right armpit and pulling back with an over the top disgusted face, "Yeah that might be it!" He said ending with a big laugh.

The young pirate really hoped his somewhat juvenile humor didn't have the opposite effect of distancing her even further as his laugh trailed off before replacing his cigar between his teeth and hopping off the counter. "Well, we might as well get going. Just gotta grab a few things from my room real quick. Help yourself to another sandwich or anything at the bar." Teilo said before bounding off down the corridor to the captain's quarters.

Not wanting to keep Tashra waiting the pirate tossed his closet until he found one his beat up satchels and a simple worn brown jacket with pouch pockets over each breast. They of course weren't the best clothes or accessories Teilo had in his sizable closet but for the task at hand they would do nicely. Going out in that heat would do murder to his skin with just a tank top on and the pirate planned on buying some souvenirs anyway so might as well bring a bag.

By the time he returned to the main room with his friend Teilo had the coat on with the sleeves rolled up with the satchel across his chest and had strapped his blasters on. Still with no sign of his shades the pirate put his goggles back on his head as he crossed the room over to the hidden hatch. "Back into the heat I go..." he said wearily as he mashed the controls to open the compartment and stared down at the arid soil below yet again.

As Teilo got down to slide through the opening he took the time to grab a small hand full of the cheap cigars behind the bar and stuff them into his right breast pocket before flicking his over chewed one over the bar to parts unknown. With his chain smoking vice covered the pirate landed easily on both feet and waited for Tashra to follow suit.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

His joke just made Tashra 'blush.' The markings on her short headtails and diminutive montrals flared an electric blue and she stared at the floor. Now she felt awkward for making him uncomfortable.

Why was it that it was so impossible for her to talk with handsome guys? Every time she just managed to stuff her calf-high boot straight into her mouth, and not even her stubby fangs could get it out.

And naturally before she could figure out what to say, he disappeared off to his room, leaving the Togruta girl to scratch one of her lekku and try to come up with something intelligent to say, something that would make her seem smart, or pretty, or charismatic, or anything besides what she was.

She hadn't succeeded by the time he returned, and when they crawled back down the hatch and into the desert heat once more, Tashra felt a little more at ease. The heat was somehow comforting, and she promptly regained her spirits. It took a great deal to keep Tashra Gly down.

She began their guided tour by exiting the spaceport.

"So this is the spaceport district. There's about fifteen docking ports scattered around the edges of town, and that's where you find the garages and shops. People generally live in the center of Anchorhead. Of course the city is all surrounded by a wall to help block sandstorms, and in case sand people ever try to attack. Mining expedit-expeder-expi- A bunch of miners left from here to go to the mountains for ore. My mom was one of them. My new parents told me that much when I was little."

The personal note made Tashra feel a little sad. What had happened to her mother out in the mountains? Was she even alive still? Had she forgotten about her daughter? There were too many questions to answer.

Desperate to change the topic again, the Togruta girl pointed to a food stand.

"These stands are all over the place. They grill up fresh bantha and dewback kebabs. All of them have different sauces. There's like thirty of them, and they all say they're the original. The real one is by docking bay 7 though."