Jackie
Child
Professional lazy grump.
Posts: 248 Likes: 23 
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Post by Jackie on Dec 27, 2015 19:12:19 GMT -5
Cadence seemed pleased when Tren agreed to lend her a hand, not that the dish she was preparing took a terrible amount of effort to start with. Hearing just how far the Zygerrian's knowledge of cooking extended got a chuckle from the woman. "Living on your own and only having the kitchen on a small freighter to work with will get you decent at cooking in a hurry, if only because you get tired of eating those nasty, non-perishable rations. Of course I'm still no gourmet chef, but my food is edible and different from day to day at least." The Epicanthix wasn't really surprised to hear that Zygerrian cuisine relied heavily on specific ingredients or that it was lacking in the meat department, their homeworld was a desert planet after all, less variety than a terran world unless you did some major importing. When he went on to also mention that their 'cooks' cooked variations of their own cuisine or at least added their own twist and style to Zygerrian foods, Cadence found herself unsurprised. Talk of the Trandoshan cook and Tren's 'words of advice' actually got a full laugh out of the woman. "I learned a long time ago not to ask any species what's in their food... If it tastes good and doesn't make me ill, I just smile and eat it."
As she went about making the meal, Cadence used the opportunity to teach Tren a thing or two about cooking, assuming he was willing to hang around and actually attempt to learn anything of course. She could really only teach so much given the simplistic meal she was preparing, but something was better than nothing in her opinion. At some point near the meal's completion, Tren's little pet had elected to join them, even attempting to jump upon the counter to either investigate the smells in the air, or perhaps even get a nibble of whatever was giving them off. Fortunately before the latter could take place, Tren promptly gave him a light push back down, telling him to go lie down, which he surprisingly did. Or maybe it shouldn't have been so surprising, after all, Cadence had no idea how well trained the little creature was. "Heh, I'm sure there will be some leftovers the little guy can have." The near-human went on to say as she gave the pan a final good stir.
"Welp, it's ready, grab a couple of plates from that cabinet over there would you? Silverware is in that drawer down there, just set it all on the table." Cadence pointed out the locations of the items in question as she spoke them, and when/if Tren complied, she'd go ahead and bring the pan over, leaning down over one of the plates and depositing a healthy portion of the food onto it before doing the same thing to the other. Afterwards, the Epicanthix took the pan back to the stove and set it back down. "Go ahead and dig in, tell me what ya think." The woman encouraged as she took a seat at the small table, wasting no time in digging in to one of the plates. Whenever abouts Tren did try a bite, he'd have found the food flavorful, but not over-the-top as far as seasoning and spices went. Even if it didn't rank very high in the flavor department compared to what he usually ate, there was no denying that it was very filling at the least.
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Post by aardvarklord on Jun 20, 2016 22:59:30 GMT -5
It was no surprise to Tralen that she had had more opportunities to learn how to cook than he had, and the reason made nothing but sense. He was well-aware that most people probably knew more about the subject than he did, simply by the nature of what his upbringing had been. Still, he couldn't imagine what it would be like eating pre-packaged meals... suppose he'd best get used to that. "Yeah. Suspect I'll have to start doing the same," he admitted with a smirk." As for the subject of alien foods... well she was dead on about that, not much to be said. Unless you knew exactly what kind of culture you were dealing with (like Ithorians for example), just keep your nose out of that mess.
It was nice to finally have someone to help teach a little bit about cooking. Tren wasn't exactly about to turn that sort of teaching down, especially with how important it would be going forward. Really, he had a decent idea of the basics, but he had no feel for how not to burn something. After all, how hard could it be to mix together some ingredients and put them on something? But timing... yeah, that was something he'd need to be given a guideline on and refine through time. That or figure out a way to get some money again and have a professional cook--not a slave this time obviously. Yeah... that would be nicer, and here was hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to manage that considering what he had to offer. But... he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could rely on that.
He chuckled a bit when she assured him that Sasen would be able to have at the leftovers, he replied cheerily, "I think he'd appreciate that, assuming he doesn't overeat." Right after saying that, he scoffed and added with a smirk, "Oh, who am I kidding--he'd still love you." Once the food was ready, he went ahead and helped her get all the silverware set up and, once the food was dipped out, brought their plates over to the table and had himself a seat while she went about putting some of the cookware away. At her behest, he took a nice bite of the food, rolling about in his mouth thoughtfully. It wasn't exactly the top-notch meals that he had back home, but that was to be expected. As such things went he certainly didn't have call to be snobby... granted some part of him still wanted to be, but he kept that under control. Instead he finished the bite and teased her with a smile, "Well, what do you know. You DO know how to cook. I mean, my mother would get someone else to cook, but that's like saying the Nikto judge gave you a three."
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Jackie
Child
Professional lazy grump.
Posts: 248 Likes: 23
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Post by Jackie on Jul 10, 2016 15:42:40 GMT -5
Cadence couldn't help but roll her eyes as Tren took a bite of the meal she'd prepared and proceeded to roll it in his mouth, his expression turning all 'thoughtful' as if he were a wine connoisseur sampling the local wine. She'd full on scoff when he teased her after swallowing the bite, remarking that his mom would've assigned someone else the cooking duties. "Probably for the best, I have a feeling there'd be a rash of food poisonings at your place otherwise." she'd fire back with a smirk before taking another bite of her food. If the Zygerrian didn't care to banter a bit as they ate, the Epicanthix would have been content to gab back and forth a bit. Regardless of how much Tren could put away, the near-human called it quits after her second plate. After allowing him to get however much more he may have wanted if he wasn't finished eating, Cadence got up and proceeded to dig out a container to store the left-overs in, though she'd pause long enough to get another plate and scoop a medium sized serving of the noodles onto, which she'd then put on the floor for Tren's little pet. When the rest was stored away in the refrigerator, Cadence's eyes drifted over to her guest. "Shower is next to the starboard cabins if you want to get cleaned up, if you didn't bring your own soaps I guess you can use mine, I don't use the really girly stuff at least." she'd inform him in case he wanted to get cleaned up before bed, Cadence herself tended to take her showers in the mornings. Regardless of what he did after that, the Epicanthix went ahead and gathered up all the dishes for washing.
Washing, drying, and putting away what few dishes they used didn't take very long, Cadence retreated to her cabin to throw on her pajamas. Whenever Tren next saw her, he'd realize she'd not been kidding when she said she wouldn't be changing her routine any despite his presence, as the woman's sleepwear consisted of a cropped t-shirt and her underwear. Unfortunately for him the near-human wouldn't have been concerned any if he was put off by her lack of modesty or her crude sleepwear, he'd just have to get over it.
Dressed down and with datapad in hand, Cadence eventually sauntered over to the Black Bird's lounge and flopped down on one of the couches, at which point she'd bring her datapad up, intent on doing a bit of reading. The ship was fairly quiet aside from the steady drone of the engines and the sound of the shower running nearby, though a soft whining noise eventually joined it which made the woman look up from her pad. Amusingly, the Zygerrian's bezrak pup had plopped himself in front of the door, awaiting the return of his master and whining rather pitifully, bring a smile to Cadence's lips in the process. A few minutes later it gave up, and next thing Cadence knew, something brushed itself against her leg. Upon looking down, she'd find the pup rubbing against her legs, no doubt looking for some attention, which she was happy to give luckily for him. "Awww, feeling a little neglected little guy?" she'd ask rhetorically as she sat her datapad aside and reached down to pet the little creature. After petting him for a bit, the Epicanthix eventually reached her other hand down and gently picked the small creature up, at which point she'd lean back and set him on her lap, one of her hands continuing to gently caress and pet him while the other picked her pad back up so she could resume her reading, and it was likely this was how Tren would find the both of them.
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Post by aardvarklord on Jul 10, 2016 18:51:30 GMT -5
"Ha! Well-deserved ones at that." Tren was more than happy to gab, even if it was ironically something he wasn't all that used to. Or rather, he had to put in a mental effort to not come off as a domineering asshole and instead simply be personable and friendly with her. Because, to be honest, he did actually enjoy being able to talk with someone openly and without fear of anyone listening to him, and while the Zygerrian had no illusions about what she thought about how he'd shanghaied her into he for his part really did want to be a decent person towards her. Like her, he had two servings of the pasta, though he was a bit more on the full side than she was when it was done; normally he probably only would have managed one but he'd forgotten to grab lunch before this venture. He was more than happy to help with dishes, for what his help was worth. When she provided some of the left-overs for Sasen, he was practically prancing about at her feet eagerly waiting for her to put the food down, and even before she'd released the plate he buried his face in the pasta and went about scarfing it down. Smirking at his pet's antics, he replied lightly to her offer of using soap, "It's fine, I've got my own. Though, if you've got any towels that would be useful."
With that he went about getting his stuff gathered up, grabbing his pajamas and making sure he didn't forget his trimmers. As he was leaving his room however, Sasen still licking the plate clean, he was genuinely surprised to see Cadence walking around practically in her underwear. Jeeze, for someone so proud she sure dresses like a slave. Such ragged garb and nothing but underwear for her modesty. Still, she had pretty nice skin ignoring the occasional scar... and toned legs... and that rear... and that figure. Yeah, despite his dismissive thoughts about her 'night' attire, Tralen couldn't deny that the near-human was a lovely woman. Of course that had no bearing on him, they'd be parting ways pretty soon, but there was nothing wrong with a little window shopping and admiring her parents' fine handiwork. That... came out wrong even in his head. Shaking the thought off he darted into the shower. Though... even a shower didn't quell all of his thoughts, both those typical of a young man and those specific to what was going on around him.
Of course, as he was starting up the shower, Sasen realized to his dismay that his master had gone into the shower without him. Tralen just didn't want slobber all over him while he was showering, but the pup didn't know that and wined at the door for some time, waiting for him to come out. Eventually though, it seemed likely that he was going to be left alone... forever... and ever. But, there was someone else in the area, so he went up to Cadence and quickly started playing for her affection, which he was more than delighted to have. Heck, she even picked him up--nobody but Tralen did that usually! The pup very quickly found himself a comfortable place on her lap and laid his head against her, gladly enjoying the tender treatment that he was being given, and slowly his eyes fluttered closed until soft snores started leaking from the pup.
When Tralen finally came out, he was in pajamas of his own, fine exotic fabric making a set of pants and a shirt colored burgundy with a few grey stripes. Actually, it didn't look all that fancy, but the smoothness of the fabric and the comfortable temperature told the rest of the story. He didn't have many luxuries packed, but he brought the ones he could. When he came out of the shower, he initially was looking around for his pet, wondering where the little fella had gotten off to--of course it didn't take more than a minute for him to find his answer. A smile touched his lips at the sight and he went ahead and sat down next to them, keeping a respectful amount of space between himself and his host as he reached over to gently pet the sleeping pup. "Well, safe to say he likes you," he commented lightly, grinning at the restful look on his pet's face. Of course, after a few moments of quietly petting the critter and letting his guest simply read her datapad, a thought that he'd been toying with in the shower came back up to scratch at him. After a few moments of gnawing on his lip and trying to suppress his irritating pride, he finally got the words out, said somewhat quietly as if he were embarrassed with himself, which he somewhat was. "I'd like to apologize for how I basically hijacked you. I mean, it was the best way I could think of to get off-planet but... well... doesn't mean it doesn't make me out as a scumbag for doing it. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry... even if you are getting paid for the trouble," on that last note he gave her a slight smirk, toying slightly with the situation. In all seriousness though, he did feel bad for strong-arming her. Even if they never met again, he hoped to start leaving a positive impact on others... even if he wasn't entirely certain how to do that. Figure he had to start somewhere.
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Jackie
Child
Professional lazy grump.
Posts: 248 Likes: 23
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Post by Jackie on Jul 10, 2016 23:06:48 GMT -5
Upon seeing movement in her peripheral vision, Cadence glanced up from her reading to see a freshly showered Tren making his way over to the little lounge. The woman couldn't help but smirk a bit as she looked over his pajamas, the fine, burgundy material residing at the opposite end of the spectrum of her rather rudimentary sleepwear. While it may have been rather tame by his standards, it was definitely 'fancy' by her standards and she wouldn't have minded getting her hands on some nice silk sleepwear, she just didn't feel like blowing the obscene amount of credits necessary to get a nice set. Besides, what she was wearing now was perfectly comfortable, even if it wasn't the prettiest thing to look at. "Cute pajamas." she'd tease with a grin as he had a seat fairly close to her and reached over to pet his pup. "Gotta admit, I do like the little guy a lot, but I've always been a sucker for cute animals." When silence ensued once more, Cadence resumed her reading, content to keep petting the bezrak pup as he snoozed peacefully upon her lap with her free hand. Even though she could only really see Tren with her peripheral vision, the Epicanthix could tell something was bothering the Zygerrian, or at least he looked a bit perturbed by something or other. Before she considered asking what was eating him however, he saw fit to speak himself, Cadence's brown eyes once more leaving her pad and raising to meet his blue ones.
Cadence was surprised when Tren proceeded to apologize to her for having twisted her arm to get himself on board, even more surprising was the fact that the apology sounded genuine. Her surprise was quick to wear off however, and the woman couldn't help but smile and chuckle lightly at his choice of words. Honestly, even though his stunt may have left a minor bad taste in her mouth which was still lingering, she couldn't outright despise him for it. The fact was she was a smuggler, and as a smuggler she'd had to deal with this kind of thing before, even if this specific scenario was a first for her. Cadence couldn't count how many times she'd had her arm twisted by customs officials over the years, and she'd long since learned not to take any of it personally, it was just something that came with the territory. While it may have not been necessary considering he was paying her, the apology was very much appreciated, and any lingering bitterness she may have held towards him was quick to disappear. "Eh, don't worry about it, honestly its nice to have a bit of company for a change, gets kinda boring being stuck on this tin can with no one by my droid all day."
As if on cue, a flurry of annoyed sounds came from the engine area of the ship as a green astromech droid rolled out towards the lounge, apparently having heard Cadence talking about it. "Speaking of tin cans...." she'd murmur under her breath before setting her pad aside and glancing the droids way with an over-the-top smile. "Oh of course I'm not saying your company isn't pleasant! A better droid a woman couldn't ask for." It seemed the droid didn't much care for her words however, for another flurry of negative sounds emitted from it. Apparently it didn't much care for her words. The Epicanthix ended up rolling her eyes as the droid came to rest next to them, it's head rotating to look her way. "And where have you been all day?" Cadence went on to ask the machine, whom replied in the many beeps and boops one would expect from an R2 unit. "Oh yeah? And what's your prognosis?" More negative sounds ensued, which made Cadence frown. "Hyperdrives don't grow on trees ya know, we'll just have to make due a little longer. Fortunately the credits our friend here is paying us should be enough to finally afford a replacement." A series of excited, 'happy' chirps and beeps ensued as the droids head rotated a bit to look at Tren himself. Cadence herself shifted her gaze to the Zygerrian. "I completely forgot to introduce you two earlier, this bucket of bolts here is Ratchet, Ratchet, this is Tren." Upon being introduced, Ratchet let out a fairly friendly sounding series of beeps and whirs. "He says it's nice to meet you, aaaaaand that he's sorry you've had only me to hang around with for so long..." Cadence translated with a roll of her eyes. Of course this elicited the iconic astromech 'snicker' from Ratchet.
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Post by aardvarklord on Jul 11, 2016 22:10:25 GMT -5
Tralen smirked a little at her teasing, but more than anything he just enjoyed relaxing with her and his sweet little pet. Cute fella was just about the only good thing that he had to remember his mother by. In truth, he didn't hold a grudge against her, as much as he complained about the horrible things he did and as negative as he was about all of that, she was still his mother. Though, he wondered if anyone else would be sympathetic on that front.
On the positive side, it was a relief to hear that she was pretty accepting of his apology, something which was quite visible on his face. Who knew why he cared so much in the first place, but it was still quite nice. Heck, maybe if he was lucky it would come back around to benefit him, though more likely he would never meet her again and this would just be one more step on his journey. The idea of being alone for that long was kind of eerie though, and he was just about to say just how lonely it sounded when he was interrupted by a sudden ruckus of beeping. Now, Tralen had seen his fair share of droids--they weren't the preferred method of labor in Zygerrian space largely due to the amount of dust on the worlds they preferred and due to their general economy, but they were still present in certain capacities (especially in the poorer sectors). Yet, he hadn't really ever seen someone have a legit conversation with one like it was a sentient being. Maybe she's got a screw loose up top or something. One slaver told me about finding someone who had been left in the wilderness with nothing but a box and wound up insisting on dragging 'his best friend' around. That said, he knew what droids were good at, especially astromechs, and when she started talking about the hyperdrive that set off a few warning sirens in his head.
Of course, before he could ask about that, he was 'introduced' to the droid, to which he somewhat awkwardly replied, "Uh, the pleasure's mine," then looked to Cadence, sort of looking between the two, "So, what was that about the hyper--?"
At about that moment, Sasen woke up, initially stretching and just yawning peacefully with a few soft cracks. However, when his eyes latched onto Ratchet, what looked to be a trashcan moving around on his own, he recoiled pretty quickly and scooted back rapidly until he fell off the couch, yelping the whole while. It probably wasn't pleasant for Cadence when that happened actually. "Woah, easy boy! Just a droid, nothing to get spooked by." With that he headed over to pick up the little fella with a big grunt and hauled him back over to the couch and kept him under a bit tighter hold. Fortunately, with his master holding him the brezak was at least able to stay there, though he was still shaking. Providing Ratchet didn't do anything to provoke the pup, he'd say gently as he pet him, "See, nothing to be afraid of." He then turned to Cadence with a smirk, "Aren't many droids on my homeworld, especially where I live, so Ratchet here's the first one he's seen up close."
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Jackie
Child
Professional lazy grump.
Posts: 248 Likes: 23
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Post by Jackie on Jul 23, 2016 11:14:42 GMT -5
Had Cadence known the little pup had never seen a droid before, she may have kept a bit tighter hold of him, as it was when he woke up he promptly recoiled and scooted right off her lap to the floor, though the startled Epicanthix at least made an effort to catch him. By the time Tren got up off the couch and came over to them, the woman had already scooped the little guy up off the floor and was ready to hand him off to the Zygerrian. She very clearly didn't understand what spooked the brezak, or at least until the man assured his little pet that it was just a droid. It never really occured to her that his people wouldn't utilize droids to the same extent as most other races, though considering his world was largely desert it certainly made sense, well that and the use of slave labor on such a grand scale probably made droids a bit redundant. Rachet for his part seemed rather amused by the whole scene, letting out a few amused sounding beeps and boops. Cadence shot him an unamused look for his 'words', but didn't translate them, instead turning her attention to Tren as he went on to inform her of the lack of droids on his homeworld, and that Rachet was likely the first the pup had seen in person. "Well I'm sorry his first run in had to be with this particular droid..." she'd respond with a chuckle, which got a few negative sounds from Rachet before the droid turned around a leisure rolled off to do...whatever droids did in their free time.
"Sorry about that." Cadence went on to apologize. "This is the result of not wiping an R2 unit's memory from time to time, but he helps liven things up a bit on those more boring trips." It was about then that the Epicanthix recalled he'd been asking about the hyperdrive before his pet freaked out, figured she better elaborate on that. "About the hyperdrive, the stock one they put in this thing wasn't all that great, started having issues with it a few months back, nothing serious yet but it's been steadily getting worse. Rachet says it's just a bad unit and needs fully replaced, I technically have enough saved up, I just don't like making big purchases without having a few thousand credits left over in the coffers."
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Post by aardvarklord on Jul 26, 2016 19:58:50 GMT -5
It was appreciated that Cadence managed to get the poor pup off the floor, but Tralen wanted to hold him in case the poor little guy pissed himself (would be horrible of him as a guest). Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened, and instead once the woman insulted the droid (to the Zygerrian's amusement), the little guy calmed down fairly quickly. Of course, he still looked around occasionally, as if expecting it to come out, but none of the droid's insults came through and they were both able to relax pretty quickly. Her apology was waved off pretty gently, he himself added, "Eh, if anything I should be sorry for him scratching you up." Obviously the pup didn't do anything to actually do damage, but he couldn't imagine it was a comfortable experience. Well, regardless of all that, it was interesting to hear that the R2 unit actually gained a bit of personality if not wiped--he'd heard about that, but never put much stock in it. After all, it was just a machine, how could it start 'acting up' if it was just doing the same old stuff? But, he did notice that it seemed to have at least a semblance of personality.
That said, the mention of the hyperdrive being a bit crap and her saving up to buy a new one was a little alarming. Still, her reasoning was sound enough and he could definitely appreciate the thought. "Well, hope it'll hold out for a bit longer, knock on wood," he said, giving his head a knock as a subtle joke. Before long Sashen hopped off of him, no doubt heading to relieve himself, and in the meantime he was left with her. "So what is this thing?" he asked as he adjusted himself a bit, "I've seen a lot of ships, but this one is definitely new to me."
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Jackie
Child
Professional lazy grump.
Posts: 248 Likes: 23
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Post by Jackie on Aug 24, 2016 22:44:54 GMT -5
"Meh, he didn't get me too badly, sides, he's cute enough that I'll let him get away with it." she'd reply with a smirk. As far as the hyperdrive went, Cadence too very much hoped it would last just awhile longer, the first thing she planned to do after dropping this fellow and his pet off was make for the nearest seller of starship parts and replace it. Til then, they'd have to make do with Rachet's jury-rigging and patch work. The near-human watched as the pup eventually climbed down from the Zygerrian's lap and meandered off somewhere, though her gaze promptly returned to Tren when he inquired as to the origin of her ship, at which point a smile formed on her lips as she laced her fingers together behind her head and crossed her legs. "It's Corellian if that wasn't inherently obvious, it's a YT-2660 Light Freighter, and the reason you've never heard of it is because it was never mass produced. I named this one the Black Bird" she'd add with a chuckle. If Tren happened to inquire as to how she'd come into possession of the ship, the woman's demeanor would subtly change and she'd have waved off the question entirely, remarking that it was a long story or something of the like before changing the subject.
Cadence was content to chat with the Zygerrian for awhile longer if he was alright with it, she'd even offer to play a game or two of Dejarik with him if he was up for it, and if he didn't know how to play the game she'd have been happy to teach him.
Regardless of how the next hour or two was spent, eventually the Epicanthix decided to call it a night. "Welp, I think it's past my bedtime, girl's gotta get her beauty sleep ya know..." the near-human remarked with a smirk as she stood up, stretched, and scratched the back of her head. If Tren had nothing more he needed to say before heading to bed himself, she'd go ahead and retire to her room. After taking a few minutes to brush her teeth and go about her nightly routine, Cadence turned off the lights in her room and crawled into bed. While she didn't think her Zygerrian guest would try anything during the night, she'd end up tucking her DE-10 beneath her pillow just in case.
Six hours later...
All was quiet aboard the Black Bird as she hurled through space, only the constant, dull hum of the hyperdrive staving off complete silence, though the ship's occupants were about to get one helluva wake up call...
Without warning, the freighter suddenly dropped out of hyperspace, while the inertia dampeners would thankfully ensure no one was splattered against the nearest wall, the emergency exit was still rough as could be, rough enough to toss a certain Epicanthix clean out of her bed even, ripping her violently from her deep slumber in the process... "What the FUCK?!" the dazed woman screeched as she picked herself up off the floor. Even in her groggy, startled state, Cadence had a feeling she already knew what had happened, though she found herself hoping against hope that she was wrong...
"RACHET!" the near-human yelled across the ship towards the cargo bay, the droids preferred area to 'sleep'. An angry flurry of beeping and other such noises was quick to respond as the green R2 unit rolled out into the central hall. "Well sooooorry if getting thrown out of my fucking bunk makes me a little cranky." Cadence snapped back, though the droid was quick to retort. The Epicanthix ended up just rolling her eyes and waving the droid off. "Whatever! Just run some diagnostic tests and find out what the problem is and we'll form an action plan after I've gotten a pot or two of coffee in me..." The droid seemed to calm down a bit at this point, letting out a few more beeps and boops before rolling off to do it's thing. Unless Tren had exited his room to see what was going on by then, she'd make her way to the door to his cabin and rap her knuckles on it. She wasn't particularly worried about disturbing him, there was no way he could have slept through that drop from hyperspace. "Hey, you alright in there? Didn't break anything did ya?
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