He was curious about the scars.
Corso had spent enough time with Silver and other smugglers, scoundrels, and mercenaries that he knew the rules that came with the life. He knew you let the past stay the past and didn't dig up what someone else wanted to stay buried. And he was fine with that. If he started asking Silver about her past, his would be fair game for the redheaded smuggler, and that was a wound he didn't particularly want to tear open again. Not yet, at least.
He didn't need to know what sentimental reason made the Captain keep carrying that old, beat-up blaster in an ankle holster when she'd bought-or found-and sold ones five times better without batting an eye. He didn't care how she'd developed such a warped sense of humor, and he wasn't terribly curious about jobs she'd had in the past-intriguing as some of her "old friends" they'd run into had made a couple of said jobs sound.
But he was curious, almost to the point of distraction, about the trio of scars that ran from Silver's hairline down to her chin. He never let it actually distract him during a fight, but he'd nearly walked into people a couple times because of being so lost in thought. He wanted to ask her about the scars, but at the same time didn't want to pry. She'd never so much as hinted at where they came from, so he didn't know if they were from something inane and silly-like a couple of his own scars-or an adventure, or a tragic event she would sooner forget ever happened.
They were headed back for Coruscant-again-when he finally decided to ask her, when he got the chance. "You must really like this planet, Captain," he commented with a smile as the ship touched down.
"Sure do," she shot back, matching his smile, "Easy to disappear with all the crowds, more pockets to pick, and all sorts of people who can get me jobs right up my alley. Planets like this are a favorite destination for girls like me. C'mon, that last job paid extra well. I'll buy you a drink."
Corso raised an eyebrow as he followed her off the ship. Silver was less tight-fisted than most smugglers he'd met, sure, but she was far from frivolous. She didn't spend credits for no reason. What're you doing, Captain?
oXo
Silver hardly waited until halfway through the first drink to grin at him and demand, "Alright, Corso, out with it."
"Out with what?" He leaned against the bar and shot her a confused look.
"I can tell you've been dying to ask me something for days now, so out with it. You know I don't bite," she teased, absently spinning her glass on the shiny surface of the bar.
"You're awful good at reading people, Captain," he chuckled.
"Yes, I am. Now stop stalling and just ask," she grinned.
"I was just curious where you got those." He gestured at the scars.
"That's all?" She chuckled. "Force, Corso, I was worried you were gonna go straight for one of my dirty secrets."
He laughed. "There's more than one?"
Silver smirked. "Oh, yeah. But those can wait. There's actually a half-decent story behind these," she admitted, rubbing her thumb against the scars. "I was on Cholgana, dropping off some cargo and picking up a part I needed to repair my ship. As I'm leavin' this Twi'lek catches up to me and says he works for a bounty hunter who wants to talk to me. Now, I'd ticked off a few pretty powerful people on a couple other planets before this stop, so I was sorta wary of this meeting, but then he mentions this bounty hunter may have a job for me. Being just off my last job, I couldn't really afford to pass on at least hearing him out, trap or no, so I follow the Twi'lek back to meet his employer." She took another swig of her drink. "Probably one of the crazier things I've done in my life."
"Crazier than some of the things I've seen you do?" Corso asked.
"Oh, yes. Fortunately, the gamble paid off. This bounty hunter, Fleck, really did have a job offer for me. He'd been hired by an off-world patron to catch a pair of nexu and deliver them to some estate on Malastare. He didn't fancy the idea of goin' after nexu alone, and was willing to split the pay-off sixty-forty with me if I would be willin' to help." She snorted. " 'Course, I weighed forty percent of a million credits against the risk of losin' my head or something to one of those things, and decided it was worth it. So we got the supplies we'd need and headed for the Indona continent. Fleck had hunted nexu before, once or twice, so he knew what he was doing." Silver smiled wryly. "That was the theory, anyway. Turns out, there's few things more unpredictable than a cornered nexu."
"Why do I get the feeling this can't be going anywhere good?" Corso sighed, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Because it didn't. At least at first," she replied, finishing her drink. "I've never seen anything move that damned fast in my whole life. I still don't know how I managed to get even partially out of its way." She raised a hand to gesture at her scars. "It still got me."
"Still, you tangled with a nexu and that's all you got?" He grinned at her. "You can color me impressed, Captain."
"Not exactly all I got, but the other scars..." Silver cleared her throat and smirked. "Let's just say I don't show them off much. 'Least not in public."
That earned her another raised eyebrow. "Now I'm really curious," Corso chuckled.
"Too bad." She smiled sweetly. "Anyway, long story short, Fleck managed to stun the nexu when it was circling around to pounce on me again." She snorted. "He told me I made good bait. Never did figure out if he was serious or jokin'. We used that one to lure and catch another, and a few weeks later, we were dropping off a pair of very angry nexu for this client of his. We even got a bonus on account of 'em being black. Those are harder to catch." She grinned at the memory. "I didn't hafta take another job for almost six months, thanks to those buggers. Curiosity satisfied?" she teased, grinning at Corso.
He nodded. "Sure is, Captain."
"Good." Silver tossed the bartender the credits to settle their bill. "You do realize you owe me one now, right?"
"Yes, ma'am, I surely do," he grinned back.
"Just making sure. I will collect on that. Eventually."
Corso's grin widened as he followed her out of the cantina. Lookin' forward to it, Captain.
A/N: I think I was five minutes into playing Silver, if that, before I started trying to come up with the story behind her scars. A nexu 'won. xD I love having backstory for stuff like that on my characters. I used Corso as her companion for two reasons. First, she was only level... 11 or 12 when I wrote this, so he was the only one I had so far, and second, because I loves him. I do, I do. 3 I don't think I've fangirled over a character so fast(not much; Nathaniel still wins there) since... oh, Carth. After reading his codex, I'm convinced BioWare cracked open my skull and read my mind in regards to what I want in a romance. Dreadlocks, chivalry, and all.