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Post by Stelpher on Jun 22, 2015 5:07:13 GMT -5
Jan quickly waved off Natali's apology, opening the door of the large building. Upon entering, she easily saw the large vessel within. It was a starship, of that of that she was pretty sure, but it was shaped a lot more like a fighter and rather small.
"This is my home."
Natali took another take on the ship, then just gave a shrug and smiled.
"Looks cozy."
The two then made their way over to the ship, and as the ramp came down, she got to see inside the ship. While it wasn't over the top like some places she'd seen, it definitely had an air of luxury to it.
"Wow, definitely cozy sir."
A little excited to see what other mysteries this ship had in store, she followed Jan as he gave her the tour, pointing out each of the rooms. The ship was surprisingly spacious, its space used to the very optimum to insure a comfortable yet efficient living quarters.
As they made their way for the last few rooms in the ship, a patchwork little astromech came bleeping out to greet them.
"WARP! Bruuurrrr vwert krawwrrrr."
Jan snipped back at the droid. "Excuse me while I took care of some work of my own."
"Dwaaarrrrrr!"
"Oh shut up and go set the screen up to show me the offers."
"Thrrrpt!" the droid finished, scooting away back into the ship.
All the while Natali had trying to stifle the stream of giggles trying to leave her mouth, but wasn't very successful in the attempt
"That was Zero. Don't mind him, he's more bark than bite."
"He's adorable, did you fix him yourself?"
"Not really. Got him like that, but I've been keeping him up and running for a while."
“FWARP!”
"I didn't say you were a marathon sprinter."
Once again, Natali tried to stop her laughter, but to no avail. After a few brief seconds of giggles, she managed to get a hold of herself, leaning against a wall and clutching her stomach.
“I’m-I’m very sorry. It’s just-It’s just been a while since I’ve seen such a funny little droid, and an owner to match.”
Her expression quickly changed to one of horror.
“I mean, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you sir, I was speaking out of turn, I am very appreciative of your generosity!”
She jammed her eyes shut, expecting some sort of impact, but when nothing came she slowly opened one of her eyes.
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Post by aardvarklord on Jun 22, 2015 5:25:29 GMT -5
As encouraging as it was to hear Natali's praise of his ship (even if it was a little marginal), the sound of her struggling not to giggle at Zero's antics had Jan grinning like an idiot. There was just something adorable about her laugh, and it definitely helped him feel better about his decision. As the droid rolled away and she asked if he was the mechanic, he replied lightly, "Not really. Got him like that, but I've been keeping him up and running for a while."
"FWARP!" the droid retorted as he continued to roll away.
"I didn't say you were a marathon sprinter!" he called back, shaking his head with a smirk. And in the meanwhile Natali was busy laughing the whole while, and he thoroughly enjoyed it, even managing to squeeze out a light chuckle of his own. It was just so contagious!
Her comment about Zero and himself being funny made him roll his eyes lightly, smiling at her playful compliment. And then... as if a switch had gone off in her head, she went from cheerful to recoiling in sheer horror. He found himself utterly baffled for a moment as she seemed to think that she'd offended him... and that he'd hit her. For a brief moment, he had forgotten that he was talking to a possible slave--or more likely definitely a slave, if this was anything to go by.
It took him a moment to finally gather himself and wipe the shocked expression from his face, but once he did his expression was just simply calm as he struggled to come up with something to say. "Hey..." he said gently as he pulled her softly into a hug, still struggling to come up with words. Eventually he did, letting her go and looking her square in the eye, "The only thing I find offensive is that you'd think I'd hurt you." He flashed a quick smile at her before lightly taking her hand, like one would if they were taking her to a ball or something of the like. "You're safe here, Natali. Whether you believe it or not, I promise I won't hit you." Why would he? What kind of monster would he be to just beat up this woman he'd just saved from a life of torment and poverty? He might have done some shady things in his life, but he wasn't heartless.
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Post by Stelpher on Jun 22, 2015 6:38:22 GMT -5
A long stillness passed between the two of them before Jan calmly stepped forward.
“Hey…” Was all he said, bringing Natali into a soft embrace.
The stillness returned, but her thoughts were travelling a million miles a minute.
‘He’s not hurting me?’
‘What is he doing?’
‘Is he hugging me?’
‘Why? Why is he hugging me? I don’t understand.’
And those same questions kept running back and forth through her mind, begging to be answered. But all she was met with was silence.
Then Jan let her go, looking her in the eye.
"The only thing I find offensive is that you'd think I'd hurt you."
He then flashed her a smile, before lightly taking her hand.
“You're safe here, Natali. Whether you believe it or not, I promise I won't hit you."
Natali just stared at the man, before her eyes started welling up.
“Y-yes sir. Thank you.”
And then the waterworks started.
It only lasted a minute or two, but Natali couldn’t help herself, quietly crying into this man’s arms.
When she finally stopped, she quickly wiped her face with her tattered top, giving Jan another smile.
“Sorry, sorry about that. It’s been a while, it’s nice to remember that I still.” She gave an awkward little laugh, before grabbing her box back up again.
“So uh, where to next?”
He showed her around another part of the ship with bedrooms, leading her to one.
"This'll be your room. Make yourself at home while I deal with the farting trash can."
She nodded, thanking him once more before he left.
When he left, she simply buried herself into the carpet, lost in thought.
Who was this man? Why was he so kind to her? She didn’t know.
She lay on the carpet a moment longer, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment as she contemplated resting. But no, she had her responsibilities, so instead she headed off in search of Jan.
Upon finding him, she waited until she could grab his attention.
“So what would you like me to do around here?”
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Post by aardvarklord on Jun 22, 2015 18:38:49 GMT -5
Jan had was left utterly and completely lost for what to do as Natali started to just break down in front of him. He didn't really think what he was doing was all that special--he was acting like a half-way decent person to her, not much more than that. Yet, apparently to a slave that was worth the world, and all he could think to do was just hold her as she broke down. What else was he supposed to do?
Eventually she thankfully stopped and he was able to try and recover, rubbing his neck awkwardly as she wiped up her tears. As innocent as it was, that action reminded him that she was sorely low on personal supplies, and it would be smart to stop off some place where they could fix that--though not here obviously. When she finally smiled, he smiled back, even if it was a little forced as he was coming to realize just how awkward this was going to be. "It's fine... glad to help. Once she was ready to go, he led her to her room and left her to get settled in.
When he got back to Zero, whom quickly insulted him but he ignored it, he started to look through the job offers. However, he was also focused on Natalia. What had he gotten himself into? All this time he had been alone on this ship with nothing but this crazy droid to keep him company. The funny thing: he was fine with that. He wasn't lonely, he had plenty of pleasant experiences with people while resting at station or starport, occasionally having an encounter after meeting someone at a bar. It wasn't like he was lacking for companionship. So why had he brought her on board? He wasn't a white knight by nature, and he knew that having someone act like a slave on board was going to be... odd to say the least. In fact, she might wind up adding more to his stress level, depending on how things went.
Bah... no sense worrying about it now. Might as well get on the road. Eventually he found his job, a trip to Frithia with some agricultural machinery where he would double as escort. That would do. As he went about typing out a text response to the want ad, he heard his new employee coming towards him. He waited until he finished his sentence before looking up at her, an inquisitive look on his face. "So what would you like me to do around here?" she asked.
Blinking, he gave her a quick 'hold a moment' gesture and finished his response before turning to her, holding his chin thoughtfully. "Alright... well... basically I just want you to help keep this place clean and occasionally cook," he told her as he gestured for her to walk with him into the ship, "Don't have much in the way of cooking supplies right now, so we'll get that at our next stop. Meantime, might as well just see about getting rid of the dust and grease." He did what he could to keep the ship clean, but he was always working so it had fallen a little lax. Still, it was just dust and general grime in places--not like the ship was a sty or anything like that. Eventually he reached a little cabinet and pulled out some cleaning supplies and handed them to her. "Go ahead and start in the usual places--kitchen, lavatory, living quarters. Let me know if you need help finding anything."
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Post by Stelpher on Jun 24, 2015 3:10:33 GMT -5
Jan looked at Natali for a moment, then raised his hand in a gesture for her to wait. She nodded understandingly, and let him get back to what he was doing. He seemed to be writing to someone, probably about his next job. Now that she though about it, she didn't really know what exactly Jan did. She remembered his response when she had asked him previously.
"Had a high value delivery to give to that idiot I was sitting across from."
Was that what he was? A courier of some kind? He didn't look like it. He had held himself like a pro when fighting off the thugs that had attacked Natali, and the ship seemed a little too luxurious to be the gains of a courier.
'Maybe he was a thief? Or a trader from a wealthy family? Or an Alliance spy? Or an Imperial spy? Or...'
She let her imagination run rampart for a moment, until Jan finished what he was doing and turned back to her.
"Alright... well... basically I just want you to help keep this place clean and occasionally cook," he told her as he gestured for her to walk with him into the ship, "Don't have much in the way of cooking supplies right now, so we'll get that at our next stop. Meantime, might as well just see about getting rid of the dust and grease."
"Yessir." She said, smiling once more and giving Jan a small nod.
Eventually they reached a maintenance cabinet filled with cleaning supplies, and he started taking them out to give to her.
"Go ahead and start in the usual places--kitchen, lavatory, living quarters. Let me know if you need help finding anything."
She nodded again, and then the two parted from one another.
She went from one side of the ship to the other, cleaning thoroughly. While the place was nowhere near 'dirty', there was evidence in some places of someone slacking off while doing the cleaning, and the whole place overall lacked a 'woman's shine' to it. No matter, Natali took up the task with glee. With each spray and scrub, she felt like finally, she was able to do something useful for Jan, instead of feeling like she'd just been causing him problems. The two crossed their paths a few times during her cleaning run, many of which resulted in Natali requesting he take off his shoes.
Finally, she reached the cockpit, and after cleaning most of the room, she found herself in a stand-off with the Astromech 'Zero'. Everywhere he went, dirt seemed to follow, and he had seemed to realize this, making Natali's job as difficult as he could.
And so, after finally cornering the droid in the last dirty corner in the ship, she charged at the machine, hoisting it upside down and leaning it against a wall, where it could not move anywhere without the risk of damaging it or the ship. She finally managed to finish her cleaning, and with the satisfaction of a job well done, she turned to face Zero.
Her arms at her hips, she gloated in front of the machine.
"Ha. Thought you could stop me huh? And look where that got you. But now it's your turn."
The droid seemed to make a horrified bleeping noise, and as Natali laughed, she went in search for Jan.
"Excuse me sir, but if you aren't busy can i have a hand with Zero? He really is filthy, but i can't clean him where he is now."
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Post by aardvarklord on Jun 24, 2015 3:27:15 GMT -5
Once Natali had her work, Jan went ahead and headed to a room where he could wait for the cargo to arrive, and once it did oversaw the loading operation. It wasn't like he was particularly worried about something happening, but he went ahead and scanned the crates while he was helping haul them into the ship, just in case. He wasn't worried about contraband for the most part--in fact, he found what he might have been blaster parts in one of the crates--he was more worried about things that could get him in clear trouble and spice. He had no patience for spice. Fortunately, no such thing was present in the crates and he was able to go through the transaction nice and smoothly. It was about the time that he was about to head up into the ship and begin prepping the engines when he heard a sound like Zero was scared for his life. Raising an eyebrow, he went in search of the little droid and came across Natali, who promptly asked his help cleaning that droid. He immediately laughed and said with a wide grin, "Gladly. Show me to him." Once they made it to the R droid, who was frantically trying to nuzzle himself into a vent in the ship to get away, he put his hands on his hips and stared down at him wickedly, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day.""Bwoooooooooooooooooo," the droid moaned in fear. "Don't give me that. I should've sold you for scrap for shocking me last time. But now I've got a helper. The jig's up little fella.""Dwoodoo doo doodoodoo BWAP!" the droid said in what he thought was resignation and then made an attempt to bolt past them, but Jan caught him like a wrestler held the chunky bugger up in the air. "BWEEEEEEEEE!" "Quit squirming! It'll be over before you know it!" Eventually, he managed to restrain the droid and held him down while Natali cleaned the little bastard. He squirmed a few times, and even tried to zap Jan again, but he just jammed the port shut and had her keep working on him. After what felt like an eternity, she declared him clean and Jan let the droid go, to which he promptly gave Jan another little zap, which made him jump appropriately, then rolled off like he was in a race, squealing " BWOOBWOOWOOWOOWOOWOOWOO!" Rubbing his still-tingling shin, Jan couldn't help but chuckle, "Why do I even keep that bugger?" With that he turned to Natali with a light smile, "Thanks for that." |
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