Gettin' on out! (Alaska)

[Valcor]

Alderaan was quite possibly the most aesthetically pleasing planet Mo' had ever laid eyes on.  It was certainly prettier than a mine or the lower levels of Coruscant which had been the predominant locations Mo' had lived in.  It had rolling green hills that shown vibrantly in the sunlight, beautiful cities of granite and marble, and even it's people seemed to shine when the sun hit them.  Their clothes were a collage of reds, greens, blues, and everything in between.  For a creature so enraptured by colors and sights like Mo' was, this was quite possibly the most interesting of places.  So when Mo's most recent job terminated on this beauty of a planet, Mo' just could not bring himself to leave back to the cesspit that was the lower levels of Coruscant.

For most other sentient beings in the galaxy, living somewhere came with so many requirements.  They might need a place to stay, or specific places to bathe or eat, but not for Mo'.  The large Savrip barely had any concept of hygiene or ownership of property.  He was aware that some people owned their own homes, but he had spent so long without, he simply did not count himself among those who required one.  The Savrip was just as comfortable in a dark alley slumbering as he was in a bed or in a home.  It wasn't like any of the ilk that regularly traversed such places would bother a nearly half ton creature like Mo' either way.  So he decided to stay on Alderaan.

Every day he woke up to the sweet smell of it's clean natural air, eat at whatever restaurant he happened to pass with his saved up credits from his most recent job, and wander about it's streets.  It was all so intoxicating for the creature, so much so he barely noticed all the horrified looks of passers by his almost primal appearance elicited.  Despite how much Mo' enjoyed such a majestic place, he barely noticed how little he actually fit in.  He bore no regal apparel, he could barely understand the educated language the locals used, and he certainly did not notice that he was most often the only armed creature for blocks.  

Apparently this was not taken kindly to on such a planet as Alderaan and soon got Mo' into trouble.  In the few short days he had been there, Mo' had gotten himself rather roughly run out of the nicer sections of town and once again found himself on the outskirts of society, not that it bothered him particularly much seeing as even the undeveloped side of Alderaan were more beautiful than anything he had ever seen.  Still, Mo' was once again in cantinas frequented by the less than legal types, which Mo' ironically had more in common with than the rest of the planet.  So once again, just like every other day previous, Mo' found himself resting in a hive of scum and villainy, drinking and doing little else but existing.  Well, at least this time, Mo' had a view to lose himself in.

[Alaska!]

It had been a couple months since Nora and Romny Holst had left Alderaan. Having heard nothing from them, their only daughter became desperately worried. The university had no answers for her, no one did. To Maura and the the Houlst's employers it was if the couple had just disappeared from the face of the galaxy. Communications wouldn't make it through and no matter how desperately Maura attempted to reach out to her parents through he Force, she simply lacked the skill and geographical closeness to reach them. It was then that Maura, decided to leave home to find them. She had nothing to go on and a plan that was shaky at best. More or less her plan, if it could even be called that, was to hitch hike across the galaxy in search for something. The house that Maura had spent the better part of her adolescence was away from the city to accommodate her father's expansive garden and business. So, finding her way from there to Aldera City was a bit of a challenge. The first person to pick her up was nice, though talkative but the two after that were...a bit creepy. After that Maura opted to walk the rest of the way there. That had taken several days.

The first day in Aldera City had been a bit better, Maura used some of her few precious credits to pay for a room where she could wash the grime off of her. A shower had never felt that good and probably never would again. After a night's rest Maura was out and about once again, searching for some kind of transport off planet. And one that would do it for very little money. That would perhaps be a bigger challenge than walking all the way to Aldera City. Maura hated using her disability to sway people but not even that seemed to be working. Having exhausted the pilots at the various ports, Maura ventured to the less savory part of town. Some women might be afraid to wander around this part of town by themselves but Maura held no sense of danger about the situation. She'd seen many interesting parts of many towns. Nora had been an anthropologist and frequently wandered these parts. The under levels are always the most interesting, she'd say. Thinking about her mother made Maura's stomach and heart ache a little. It also renewed her drive to find a ride off planet.

At the end of a fork in the road was a rather shady looking cantina. Maura stood in the road, staring up at the rusty establishment. Something was nagging at her, like something in her gut telling her to go in. Tilting her head to the side, she tried to concentrate on the feeling and explore it. However, the feeling of a speeder swerving in order to miss her threw this off. The driver yelled something at Maura but she couldn't quite make out what he said. Hurriedly, she went in. The place was relatively full which made it hard for Maura to pick a place to start. Seeing no friendly faces, she walked up to the bar and took the last available seat near the end. Beside her was a large and rather intimidating creature, which was probably why the seat was empty at all. Maura waited patiently for the bartender to acknowledge her.
"What can I get for ya?" he asked while his eyes looked her over. He was probably wondering what someone like her was doing in his cantina.
"I was actually hoping you might know a pilot or someone to get me--" Maura signed while she spoke orally, something that caught the bartender off guard. He cut her off with a rude gesture.
"I only give advice to paying customers. Order a drink or get out." Maura's usually pretty face scrunched up in a scowl of discontent. She reached into her pocket and slid a few credits to him. "Sonic Servodriver," she said slowly, emphasizing the words with her hands.
"Coming right up," the bartender answered, turning his back on her. Maura huffed angrily and began to tap her fingers against the dinged up bar top.

[Valcor]

Mo' was certainly no drunkard or socialite, but something about a back alley cantina soothed the beast.  He could stay as long as he liked so long as he had credits with him, few cared to bother him, there was hearty food full of meat, and plenty of fascinating concoctions to drink no two of which seemed alike.  Despite the noise, occasional fights, and slight stench, Mo' was content for the moment.  He had a bottle of something alcoholic in one fist, not that even the strongest of drinks had much of an effect on a creature the size of Mo', and a leg of some mystery animal in the other.  It was like a fine dinner for the more civilized of Alderaan to Mo' and he had not a care in the world.  Ripping a rather impressive mouthful from his meal, both showing both the strength of his bite and his appetite to those in his presence, Mo' let out a soft chuckle of contentment, barely even giving his new bar-mate any notice until she spoke.

Mo' was not particularly observant by most creature's standards, but he had been in enough rough places to know that a soft petite voice like the one that began to emanate from beside him, was not at home there in a cantina.  With meat still clinging to his jaws, the imposing creature turned his gaze to see just what had caught his attention, not even bothering to move his hunk of a head.  Swallowing his bite in a audible gulp, Mo' opened his mouth to speak for the first time since he ordered his meal, "You a li'le toinee fer a place loi' dish 'oomie." His broken basic was barely understandable in the first place, and with the addition of food still lingering around his maw, it was nearly unintelligible.  When the young girl gave Mo' a quizzical look in return, the beast grinned sheepishly, once again swallowing what remained in his mouth before repeating in a shorter phrase, "Yer shmall, you losht?"  His tone was more earnest than threatening, since Mo' was but a child by his own species' standards.

Mo' was rarely in the company of anyone but brigands and outlaws, and thus had little knowledge of what was and what was not appropriate to say, leaving him rather blunt and rude in conversations.  This became all the more apparent when the creature unashamedly looked the Alderaanian human up and down, pausing on her prosthetic leg as he did so.  Completely ignoring the new patron's response in favor of his own curiosity, Mo's rumbling voice interrupted her, "I ain' never sheen a leg loike dat, wot 'appened?"  Finally intrigued enough to give his full attention, Mo' swiveled about his bar stool to face to comparably slighter creature before him, both his drink and his meal still gripped in both fists.

She was certainly more pleasing to look at than the sort Mo was used to.  She wore those bright colors the other people he had seen in the nicer parts of town wore, a rather welcome change to Mo' than the rest of the patrons More importantly however, she spoke well.  Mo' liked that.  Like an infant listening to music, her voice brought a slight smile to Mo's face, it was soothing unlike the gruff tones to which the lizard was accustomed.  After a few moments of gazing at the small creature, Mo' realized he was likely frightening her.  The ex-slave knew of few people who cared to be in his direct presence for prolonged periods of time, much less conversation, and still had the memory of being run out of Alderaan proper burned into his mind.  Lowering his head apologetically, Mo' waited for the girl to speak once more, having not really paid her previous comments much mind due to his own distraction with her appearance. 

[Alaska!]

The drink arrived swiftly. She took it eagerly and sipped at it. Maura had drank before, even before the legal age though only in the context of cultural events. Even though she had experience, the woman had some trouble indulging a lot of the substance. This one drink would have to last her some time as she did not intend to get another one. Unfortunately, the bar tender seemed to have forgotten about her question. His back was turned now as he dealt with someone at the end of the bar. Maura let out another angry huff and took a larger sip of her drink. It would seem that the moment of quiet wasn't to be hers as she felt a pair of eyes on her.

Maura looked around, trying to figure out who might be the one looking at her. Seeing no one at a distance, she turned to her left. Staring at her instead was the mass of being beside her. He was huge, both tall and wide. He was quite the imposing figure and the piece of meat hanging from his jaw didn't help soften his look. Maura's brow furrowed. Had he perhaps said something to her? That would explain the expecting look he was currently giving her. Having maybe caught on that she didn't hear what he'd originally said, the being repeated himself.
"Yer shmall, you losht?"
"Oh!" she smiled kindly up at him. He was concerned, that was a nice change given her streak of bad luck thus far. "No, no I'm not lost...not really. I came here looking for someone to give me a ride. I need to get off planet to--" Maura was cut off suddenly. The being's lip movement was hard to miss. They were massive to match his size. She momentarily stopped talking to concentrate on whatever it was he was saying.
"I ain' never sheen a leg loike dat, wot 'appened?"
The comment caught her off guard and stung a little. Glancing down she realized that the robes she wore didn't hide her other disability as well as Maura would have liked. Quickly she moved to cover her prosthetic leg. Her face burned as red as the Hydenock Tree. Initially, she was angry. No one was so direct like that. no adult anyway. Maura wanted to snap at him. Only children were so forward and obviously he wasn't--.

Oh. Mauara stopped for a minute, staring at the giant before her. Maybe he wasn't what she'd thought he was. Instantly her rage was quelled and her expression softened. Having spent all that time with her mother on anthropological studies, Maura had come to accept that certain things were cultural. Some species didn't develop the same way humans did and others just had different ways of communicating. She had a different way of communicating too, she realized. Taking a deep breath, Maura took up signing to the man as she spoke verbally.
"When I was little...er," she added hastily. "I was attacked by an animal. It hurt my leg badly. I also got very, very sick which is why my mother had to amputate my leg. When I woke up I didn't have a leg or my hearing. After that I got a new leg!" That was the simple version of it and it also told the being that she was deaf. Maybe he'd understand if she wasn't always so attentive to what he said. She smiled kindly at him, taking another sip of her drink before engaging him in conversation.
"My name is Maura Holst," Maura said. With her right hand she finger spelled the name. "What about you? What is your name? And please when you speak look at me so I can see your lips. I won't know what you are saying otherwise."

[Valcor]

Mo's curiosity was certainly peeked at the talk of an animal attack and the loss of hearing.  Mo' had never lost his own hearing, so the concept was truly alien to him.  His eyes widened and his large maw stretched into a delighted grin.  Now facing this smaller creature fully, Mo' tilted his head to the side curiously before taking another large chunk out of his meal.  Taking his time to swallow before speaking this time, Mo' responded, "No 'earin'? You can' 'ear me?" With a wide smile still splayed across his face, Mo' snorted in excitement.  "Do mo' of dat signey stuff!" Mo' said mid laugh as he banged his bottle of alcohol on the bar, spilling a good amount of it on his own hand.

When the girl spelled out her name, Mo' nodded quickly and bared his teeth in a larger toothy smile before responding with his own name, "Gits just call me Mo'.  Dey sez it woz my first wurd, an' dey ain' have no udder name, so dey callz me dat." his almost constant grin did not vanish as he spoke, neither did his wide excited eyes nor his complete focus.  After a short pause Mo' spoke again, his rumbling voice sounding over the clamor of the cantina for those who could hear, "Do my name in dat signey stuff!" Mo' requested rather bluntly, pointing with his alcohol hand at her own.  After his request was granted, Mo' let out a bellowing laugh, "That's noice, I loike dat."  Mo's words were barely audible amid his laughter and likely just as difficult to read while chuckling as he was, but once composed he spoke once more, "Didn' you say somefing 'bout a ship?"  After this Mo' barely waited for a response before taking it upon himself to find her what she was looking for.

Standing up abruptly from his stool and letting his bottle fall to the floor, Mo' took the girl, now known as 'Maura' by the arm before dragging her from her seat towards the other side of the cantina.  She had entertained Mo' and was nice to him, which in Mo's mind entitled her to his help, what little he could offer.  However, Mo' did know a few pilots from his time as a mercenary, and there was one not far from where they were sitting.  Barely offering an explanation, not that Mo's lips could have been seen from behind him where the girl was being dragged, Mo' brought Maura over to a table surrounded by gruff looking men in an array of shoddy outfits.  

Once there, Mo' hoisted Maura up and placed her beside him like a piece of baggage before patting her shoulders with his large leathery hands.  "Dis 'oomie needs a roide, you floiy ships, take her." Mo' barked at the table of men rather bluntly, his rumbling tone booming over whatever conversation they might have been having.  A few reached tentatively for their weapons, only to earn a primal snarl from Mo' before on spoke up from the circle, "Does she have money Mo'?" The one clearly familiar with the beast inquired, his tone more amused rather than fearful.  With that, Mo' snapped his head over to Maura, directing the pilot's inquisition to her.