It seemed as soon as they had arrived, the hunter and her companion were leaving. Torian, knowing their destination would be thick with Rakghouls, had a plan already in place to deal with them. Quickly, he laid out the items he would need the duo to collect, and he could tell from her face that she wasn't too keen on what he was sending her after.
Not that he blamed her, by any stretch. Trudging through the toxic wastes of Taris in search of Rakghoul filth and fluids was bad enough, but also having to find and carry the corpse of one of those monsters just made things even worse. Had he known he was going to have help tracking Jicoln, he would have already had some of this concoction mixed and ready for action. It was a bit late for that now, and he silently thanked her for not making a huge fuss about the task. The disgusted wrinkle of her nose had been all the hint he had that she found this distasteful. Quite the trooper, he thought.
With an attitude like that, he could see how 'Gammon' had gotten to her place as Champion. In the time since he had first seen her on Dromund Kaas, he had taken the time to look up the hunter on the Holonet. He found precious little about this particular hunter, mostly bits and pieces about being a small-time gun-for-hire, then a few snippets of jobs and exploits. None of it mentioned her being a young woman; it seemed she had kept that secret very safe. He had found information about a retired hunter by the same name, whose armor in old Holos was nearly-identical to what she wore. He wondered if there was a connection, thought of asking her when they had free time.
If they had free time, he corrected himself. First thing was first, they had to take out Jicoln.
A thought suddenly occurred to him. "You know," he thought aloud to himself. "Never did ask her real name. Not that she would likely give it to me..."
He trailed off as a faint metallic glint from the floor caught his attention. Kneeling down, he picked up what appeared to be a metal identification tag. He hadn't spotted anything like this when he had entered, so he surmised it must have been hers. Likely fallen from a pouch or chain when she had disarmed him, and it was light enough that it wouldn't be missed for some time.
He turned it over in his fingers, squinting in the dim light to make out the lettering. Written on it was a name and a planet. Clearly, someone -likely the young woman in question- had tampered with it; heavy scratches all but obliterated the surname on the tag. Still, he could make out the letters making up the first name, as well as the planet name.
Kybrina. Deralia.
"So, 'Gammon'. Real name's 'Kybrina', huh?" he muttered. He quickly slipped the tag into a pouch on his belt before exiting the facility himself. He had to finish packing his campsite, then carefully make his way to the transit station he directed the pair to meet him at, all the while making sure he didn't make a meal for a pack of Rakghouls.
As he reached the camp and began his packing, he caught himself whistling a random tune. That was unusual for him, and he attributed his mood to having help taking down Jicoln. Deep down, however, he knew it was more than that. He knew it was being paired with a lovely, strong fighter like her, with whom he felt he could do just about anything.
Think things just got much more interesting. He thought to himself. Let's see where this goes.
As he waited for their arrival, he first heard them. Then smelled them. Then saw them.
He heard the disgust she showed after every battle with the Rakghouls. Not that he blamed her, Rakghouls were pretty disgusting creatures. After a few short skirmishes, she and her companion had arrived at their meeting spot. She was wearing her helmet again, but he didn't need to see her face to know her feelings at that moment. He was just glad she needed him; judging by how she was flexing her hands, he figured a small part of her was itching to strangle him.
"Smelled you coming," he quipped. His joke was answered with a smack to the shoulder of his armor, which made a dull thud.
"Next time, you're the one digging through sewage," she replied acidly, dumping the pungent bag on the ground at his feet. He noted her voice was normal, no disguise on it this time.
"You know Botany, Kybrina? Didn't think so," he countered, gingerly picking up the bag. "I got the rest of what we needed, so this shouldn't take long."
"It better...wait. How did you know my name?" she asked. "I don't remember ever telling you any sort of name beyond 'Gammon'."
He shrugged, reaching into the belt pouch and pulling out the tag. "Think you lost this," he replied. Judging by her body language, he figured she was blushing. "Might want to watch that next time you disarm someone."
She quickly snatched the tag out of his hand, likely to cover her embarrassment. "Thank you for returning this," she said, affixing it back around her neck. "Now, let's get on with this."
"Fine by me. Should just take a moment," Torian tried to hide his amusement at her reaction. So the cold, unflappable 'Gammon' had a soft side after all. Just know her real name, and one could easily fluster her.
"It's not funny, kid," she snapped, still seeming embarrassed.
"Didn't say it was," he retorted, turning his back to hide his grin.
He worked quickly on the mixture that would allow them a chance to sneak through the tunnel amongst the Rakghouls. It wasn't a complicated formula, and he was finished before too long. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw Kybrina had removed her helmet -likely to allow herself fresh air while she waited- and he noted her cheeks still seemed slightly red from her embarrassment.
"All done. Smear it on thick." he said.
She seemed hesitant. "What does it do, asides from smell like death?" she asked.
"Should allow us to calm the Rakghouls -maybe even put a few to sleep- so we can slip by relatively undetected." She nodded, satisfied with his answer, and he watched her begin to spread the mixture on her armor.
"Oh, no," her Devaronian companion protested. "I am not getting that...this is my best shirt!"
"Nice knowing you," Torian replied, keeping a completely straight face. Almost instantly, Kybrina brought her clean hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. He caught her eye, and gave her a small smile, which made her blush a bit and refocus on her armor.
"Wait, wait. Just...just do it," the Devaronian finally said. As he spread the mixture on his armor, he let out a disgusted groan. "Now I'm gonna have to burn these."
Torian watched Kybrina roll her eyes. "That's what you get for wearing your finery to a fight, isn't it Gault?" she asked him, then turned her focus to him "Kid, I need a favor from you," she said.
"What's that?"
"Keep my real name on the down-low. I have...reasons for not using it. I'd prefer not letting it get around."
He nodded. "Sure thing. Won't be a problem."
