Jiri did not want to be coddled. 'Look, the arm is fine' he protested, 'you don't need to do this'. Plex continued to wrap the wound, she answered Jiri's protests in a tone laced with ridicule, 'I know I don't have to, and honestly I probably shouldn't, your the worst merc I ever hired, I had to save you and everything'.

Jiri bawked in disbelief, 'You save me? Right, the way I remember it, I saved you. Those guys coming to kill you, remember that?'.

Plex glanced at Jiri and smiled slightly, Jiri noticed that she did this when she felt she had a good answer for something. 'Yeah I remember, I remember you getting yourself shot in the arm as soon as the fight started, you were lucky we were there'. Jiri realised this might not be an argument he could win nor lose, neither would admit to being saved by the other. It was a matter of pride for both of them.

She finished triage on the wound, 'there we are, good as new! With the nano-healing bots you should be back to reasonable use within an hour or so!'. She slapped Jiri hard on the shoulder. 'Ow!' cried Jiri as he slumped back into his seat, clutching his shoulder in pain. The instant rage he felt subsided quite quickly, and he couldn't help but smile, he remembered he had done the exact same thing to Tyken when his arm was hurt. 'Hm… Karma' he said aloud. Plex was putting away medical supplies and bandages as she answered, 'Your welcome, and it's Plex by the way, not Karma'. Jiri laughed hartily at this, it felt good, really good. He felt the warmth inside, the joy of release that laughter brings. He realised it was the first time he had really laughed since…

Plex finished putting medical supplies away, she leaned against the counter and turned her body to Jiri. She noticed the sober turn in Jiri's face, she could see that he had some kind of pain, maybe he was running from something? She thought it best to take his mind off whatever it was on.

'You know your a terrible shot?', she teased.

Jiri looked up with a grin, 'you have no idea how good a shot I am, natural hunter, always have been'.

Plex feigned that she was impressed by this, 'oh so your a big time hunter in the wilds, firing your gun at animals right? I'm impressed'. Then she leaned in to deliver her riposte, 'How many times do they fire back?'

Jiri got defensive was she mocking him? He felt like he was being mocked. 'Not much' he answered after contemplating where she could be going with this.

Plex left her spot against the bench and begun to slowly pace towards Jiri, 'being able to shoot while being shot at, knowing when there is a gap in fire, learning the patterns of fire and detecting an attack opportunity, firing an accurate snap shot in only a moment. Trust me, hunting animals is nothing compared to hunting people'.

Jiri felt himself in the grip of curiosity again, 'so that's what you do? Hunt people?'.

Plex crossed her arms defensively, apparently she didn't want to talk about her work. 'You are not a fast learner are you? You haven't learned to not to ask shady characters about their work?'.

She sighed loudly, Jiri sensed this was a prelude to her giving in. 'I guess it doesn't matter if I tell you, your not a fed and you are clearly new to all of this, if someone doesn't help you learn you'll get killed in no time flat'. As she begun to give her story, she pulled her pistol out and begun to clean it. 'Roruk and I met many years ago when I was a little girl. I don't think we could have met under worse circumstances honestly. I was an orphan, and I was sold into slavery, brought by bandits. I don't want to think about what might have happened if not for Roruk. I don't know how they caught him, but they caged him and were going to transport him off world for whatever. He broke out because… well he's a wookie, you've seen what he can do'.

Jiri remembered Roruk lifting Greggus effortlessly off the ground, he made a mental note not to make the wookie angry.

Plex continued her story, 'well as Roruk got out of his cage, he passed my cage and saw me sitting alone'. Plex's face became wistful of the happy memory, 'He smashed the door to my cage down and carried me out, we escaped in a ship. Roruk has become my family and we've been traveling together ever since'.

Jiri felt heartbroken by the tragedy of the story, but at the same time entranced by the image of life on the road . It was always a dream he would indulge in back on his home planet, now he had met someone living the life he wanted for himself. 'and now you live in space with a wookie hunting people?'.

'We not just bounty hunters, we do all sorts of things, some legal, some in the grey area, and some things that are totally illegal. Getting by is the name of the game, and we haven't lost it yet'.

She became lost in thought for a moment, was there something she was hiding? But then she flashed a smile towards Jiri, 'well I'd better teach you how to shoot properly'. She enthusiastically grabbed Jiri's good arm and pulled him from his seat.

'Um… I already know how to shoot'.

'Yeah, animals, we already established that. Plus that rifle? That thing is too big and cumbersome, not only can you not conceal it, you only have one arm at the moment. No way you could use that thing with one hand'. Jiri knew that this was all correct, his pistol experience was limited, and the rifle was useless with only one arm. The hesitation was all the confirmation Plex needed to continue her lesson.

'Okay, so make sure you turn your body slightly, like that', she grabbed Jiri's waist and pushed him into position. 'Okay, and make sure when your aiming', she handed Jiri the pistol and ran her arm along the outside of Jiri's guiding it towards an imaginary target. She contained her explanation, 'normally your other arm would be used to stabilize the gun, but with one hand, grip here and push downwards slightly', Jiri followed the directions, but couldn't help but notice her breath on the back of his neck, the smoothness of her skin, the seduction of her voice. He was really mesmerized. 'aaand pow!' she pulled Jiri's arm back, simulating the recoil, 'your target is now toast'. Jiri turned his head to look at Plex's face. There was a moment where the pair locked eye's, in this moment Jiri realized this was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, her petite features, her eyes that sung songs his ears could never hear, he was completely captivated.

Suddenly Tyken's voice came in over the speakers, 'we are nearing our destination, please be ready for our departure'. Jiri was snapped out of his trance, he looked over at Plex who was fidgeting nervously with her clothes. 'Okay, your getting near to your stop, get your stuff ready', she seemed slightly flustered. Jiri asked, 'your… not coming then?'.

'Nope, me and Roruk will stick with the ship, got nothing on this planet I care to see'. She looked at Jiri with what seemed like concern, 'just be careful of yourself alright?'.

Jiri looked back quizzically, 'hm… you care about me?' he teased.

Plex gave her answer, 'I care about my reputation as a teacher, if you died if would reflect badly on me having tried to teach you how to not die'.

'Gee, thanks', Jiri joked as he left the room to make his final preparations. But his mind was quickly brought back at the moment he shared with Plex. Could it really be mutual? Did he have a shot? He tried to remind himself to stay focused on their task, but it kept coming back to him.

He met with Tyken in one of the ships crew decks. Tyken asked, 'she said she was going to see to your wound and show you some things. Did she?'. Jiri smiled, 'Yes… yes she did'.