Sabine walked over to the damaged A-wing underneath the shadow of the coral mesa. She could see a toolbox and a lit torch, illuminating a pair of legs underneath the fighter. An imperial pilot helmet along with the upper part of the uniform on the floor next to the toolbox, catching Sabine's eye. The idea of taking the helmet and repainting it was tempting but restrained herself, after all she really hadn't got the chance to know him.
Upon getting closer to the A-wing she could hear muffled groans and curses from underneath followed by a hand reaching for the toolbox that was just out of reach. Hearing the sound of what seemed a huff Sabine watched as the dolly rolled from underneath the damaged fighter and revealed the rest of him. A surprised look on his face when his eyes settled on her standing in front on him.
"Sabine, hey." Wedge greeted and cleared his throat. "How are you?"
"Fine considering, you?" She returned the question. It was almost a week since she had recruited him and Hobbie but had little time to talk to them and get to know them.
"I've had better, been trying to repair this blasted thing." He answered, annoyance in his voice. "That's the problem with these smaller fighters."
"What's the problem?" Sabine asked curiously for she had flown the same type of fighter before with little problem but then again, she had never had to repair one.
"The problem revolves around the internal system and components." He explained straightening from the dolly, grabbing a small cloth and wiping the grease off his hands. "Come on, it's better explained if you see it."
He motioned her to come closer to the ship, stepping closer as Wedge screwed open a panel. Upon closer look, she could see all kinds of damaged and burned out wires, fuses and internal systems.
"The problem with smaller ships is that all of the components are packed together, so if one part gets damaged..." Wedge spoke as Sabine looked as he pointed at what was once the flight controls. She felt her eyes shift to his face that was dirtied with grease, her eyes took her further and travelled down to the rest of his body. She could feel her cheeks flush as she eyed him. He was wearing a simple tank top, revealing his arms with grease stains dotting them. They were slightly muscled, no doubt due to imperial training.
"Chances are other systems will be damaged as well." He continued, snapping her gaze back to his face.
"Which causes a lot of trouble." Sabine stated leading Wedge to nod in agreement.
"Trouble I need to fix." Wedge sighed, sitting down on his dolly and rummaged through it before grabbing a Harris wrench from the toolbox.
"You need any help?" She offered politely, forcing a small smile to form on his lips.
"I think I can manage." Wedge said, adjusting the wrench and sliding back under the fighter.
"You sure, you look like you could need some help." Sabine argued, nodding towards the fighter.
"Alright, grab another dolly from the workshop. Tools are in here." He tapped the box with his foot.
Wedge saw her give him a nod and walk to the workshop, his eyes following her and slowly darted down her slim figure. Finding himself unable to look away as she knelt to grab her dolly from the floor. He couldn't denied Sabine was attractive, she had a slim but athletic build. He was also at least ten centimetres taller but other than that he really didn't know her personally. His eyes quickly darting as she stood up and could feel her eyes on him as he looked back at the underside of the ship, Wedge felt his face redden and silently gulped. Hoping that the grease would hide most of his blushing face.
Focusing back on the damaged engine above him, Wedge could hear the wheels rolling whilst he carefully removed a broken fuel-line. In the corner of his eye he could see Sabine roll underneath the other engine, Sabine pursed her lips together as she glances at Wedge. Thinking for a second before speaking up.
"So, for how long have you been flying Wedge?" She asked him, grabbing an arc wrench.
"I've been flying since I was thirteen, learned it at a fuel depot back home." Wedge said, a smiling at the memory.
"From what I've seen you're not bad." Sabine complimented, recalling his piloting skill of both in the simulator and when they escaped the facility.
"Thanks, could you pass me the arc wrench?"
"So, what did you have for lunch?" Sabine looked at him handing him the wrench. "The soup isn't so bad actually." She added, chuckling.
"I... uhm... skipped lunch." Wedge confessed, his eyes darting Sabine's. Who gasped at him slightly.
"Really, I'm pretty sure why you're having trouble." She pointed out. "You should take a break, I'll finish this."
"I'll eat later, I'll be fine." He lied, maintaining his focus on the damage part above him.
"Yeah, right. Without food, you won't get far Wedge." Sabine chided, hoping it would gain his attention. "Wedge."
"Look, I just want-need to finish this first." Wedge grunted, stopping his work and looked at her.
"Who's that?" She questioned him, raising her brow at him.
"Because I just joined you... rebellion, I feel like I need to prove myself to you guys." He rolled away from underneath the fighter, straightening his back and saw Sabine follow.
"You don't need to prove yourself Wedge, you already have by defecting and helping us." Sabine knitted her eyebrows, offering him a sympathetic look.
Sabine could see him avoid her face, letting out an exhausted sigh. Toying with the arc wrench in his hands as he looked at the brown expanse in front of him, Sabine looked at him before turning her head to where he was looking at. Wedge's eyes travelled over the stretching rocky landscape dotted with coral mesa protruding from the ground. The absence of any trees, plants or any kind of vegetation was strange. It was a desolate world compared to his home of Corellia.
"It's just so... strange. One moment I am at an imperial training facility and the next I'm... here." Wedge spoke up after a while. "I just feel sort of lost."
"I know, when I defected I felt kind of lost too. I just have to find my footing, I'm sure you will too." Sabine related, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks, that means a lot." He felt his breath hitch at the touch of her and couldn't help but smile as Wedge turned his head to as he heard the dolly rolling and saw Sabine standing up.
"Come on, lunch time." Sabine stated, extending her hand to him, Wedge quickly took it and stood up.
"Taking me on a date?" He joked before realising what he said and instantly regretting it, holding in his breath as he felt his heart beginning to pound in his chest and bit his tongue.
"Cute but I am getting hungry." She teased lightly before walking in the direction of the mess hall, quietly catching his breath Wedge quickly followed her.
"I thought you said you already had lunch?" He reminded her.
"Hey, I train a lot." Sabine playfully punched his arm. Wedge simply chuckled, the worry from moments ago, gone.
After getting some food from the makeshift cantina serving the food they received or stole from the empire, Sabine and Wedge sat down at down at an empty table in the mess hall. Wedge had gone for a sandwich with a Bluefruit jam filling while Sabine opted for a simple salad with some dressing and protatos mixed in. As much Wedge didn't really want to admit it, it wasn't the best idea to skip lunch.
Like Sabine said: Without food, you won't get far.
The thought caused a small smile to from on his lips, which caught Sabine's eye and wiped her mouth with a cloth.
"What's so funny?" She eyed him as he chewed down the last piece of his sandwich.
"I... guess you were right." Wedge nodded.
"Told you so, you should trust me more often." Sabine quipped, kicking his leg causing him so spill some of his water onto his vest.
Wedge cursed under his breath and sent Sabine an annoyed glare who in turn was enjoying it, her brown eyes gleaming and biting her bottom lip for a moment long enough to notice for Wedge.
"I do trust you but..." He began before trailing off.
"But?" She raised a brow at him, curious of what he was going to ask.
"I don't really know you other than knowing your name." Wedge answered, his posture relaxing.
The question slightly surprised her, she really hadn't told anyone about her past life during her time in the academy on Mandalore and her defection from it. She wanted to know Wedge better but wasn't too keen on sharing her past, thinking for a brief moment she decided that she could tell him a few things about her.
"So, what do you want to know?" Sabine asked, trying to hide her hesitation in her voice.
"Well I know you're Mandalorian, I've seen the armor in the holo's on the academy."
"Yeah, I was born on Mandalore and eventually joined the academy there." She confirmed.
"Do you miss it, your home?" He asked curiously.
"Not really, I guess. The Ghost is my home now." Sabine smiled lightly as she turned to look at the freighter. "What about you?"
"Sometimes, but it wasn't really exciting so I joined the academy." Wedge revealed. "I take it you joined an academy since you know your way in an imperial base."
"Yeah, I did. Back home before I... left." Sabine nodded meekly, trying to hold back the painful memories.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, Sabine looked at him unable to make out the look on his face.
"I prefer not." She shook her head, looking at her salad on the table.
"Sorry, uhm." Wedge apologised, ruffling through his hair and trying to pick a better subject to talk about. "What kind of music do you like?"
Sabine looked up from the table, she had always like listening to music when she had spare time or when she was painting or drawing in her sketchbook. Her favourite was Quenk jazz unlike the more popular Heavy Isotope or Core Drive.
"I enjoyed listening to Quenk jazz, you?" She smiled, her answer made Wedge look up in surprise.
"I quite like Gliz and Jatz." He replied, her preference wasn't too different to his. "What do you think about Heavy Isotope?"
"Eh, not really my thing." Sabine shrugged before finishing her salad.
"It's not bad..." Wedge searched for the correct words to finish his sentence.
"Too overrated." She finished his sentence for him.
"Yeah, I guess. Core Drive is decent in my opinion."
"A few numbers." Sabine agreed. "What about holomovies?"
Wedge chuckled lightly at her question, during his childhood and time at the academy he really hadn't the time to watch any kind of holomovie.
"I really haven't-" He began before a voice interrupted him from finishing.
"Sabine, gear up. We got a mission." A female voice called out to her, Wedge turned around and saw Captain Syndulla standing in the entrance of the mess hall.
"On my way, Hera." Sabine stood up, grabbing her bowl and quickly placed it back on the counter of the cantina. Wedge saw her walk to the entrance but stopped at his table, giving him an apologetic look. "We'll have to finish our conversation later, sorry."
"Don't be, I need to get back to work as well." Wedge stood up himself and followed her to the entrance, as they exited the mess hall Sabine looked over her shoulder to Wedge who moved back to the fighter he was working on and call his name out.
"Hey Wedge."
"Yeah?" He stopped and turned his head to look at her.
"The grease didn't really hide it." Sabine grinned at him before sprinting off the Ghost, leaving Wedge with an embarrassed face.
Wedge watched as she sprinted up the ramp of the Ghost, rubbing his forehead as the freighter began to lift off.
"Well, kriff..."