5.
Mando said nothing as usual before he turned away from her. Eira removed the scarf from her hair, running her fingers through the sweaty tangles while she followed him through the ship and into the cockpit. "This is a Razor Crest," She said, recognizing the control panels. "RC...7L?"
"3B," Mando replied, firing up the engine.
Eira let out a cynical whistle. "3B. You sure this antique can make it back outta the atmosphere?"
"It'll make it. Strap in." He told her in his flat modulated voice. The engines completed their warm up sequence and he nudged the throttle forward. The Razor Crest took off, the polluted clouds of the planet falling away as the ship gained altitude and finally broke through the atmosphere. A line of X-wings and a New Republic Defense ship greeted them in the space above.
"What kind of firepower does this thing have?" Eira asked, eyeing the controls for the laser cannons.
Mando sighed. "We aren't shooting our way out."
She tapped her foot nervously on the steel floor muttering, "And here I thought Mandalorians lived for battle…"
"Razor Crest, this is New Republic Blue Leader. Give us your clearance code," The X-Wing hovering directly in front of them hailed.
"This is Razor Crest. Clearance J4734…" Mando spoke into the com.
Eira sat on the edge of her seat staring between the back of Mando's silver helmet and the X-Wing. The seconds ticked by slowly as they waited for the X-Wings to either let them pass or blow them apart.
"Clearance received. May the Force be with you." The X-Wing retreated leaving them a clear path to jump to hyperspace. Mando engaged the hyperspace lever and the Razor Crest shot forward, the stars outside melding together into a blue hue.
"Well that was exciting." Eira quipped, "I haven't been in that much trouble in a while."
Mando let out another long, annoyed sigh as he turned in his seat to look at her. She gave him a bemused half smile, her stormy grey eyes bright. He briefly considered putting the blinder mask back on her so he did not have to look at her. "I need the coordinates." He said instead.
She unbuckled her lap restraint and stepped up to the controls. A digital series of numbers appeared after a few taps on her wrist comp and she typed the coordinates into the Crest's nav system. "What's on Rhabat?" He asked as the autopilot updated with the location provided.
She leaned back on the control deck shrugging one shoulder. "Maybe nothing. Hopefully something. Those coordinates cost me my ship." She crossed her arms over her chest, contemplating the choices that had led her to be sitting in the cockpit of this outmoded ship and not her AA-9.
"It'll take twenty-two hours to get there." He told her, "I expect my payment when we arrive."
"Of course..." She tucked a few loose strands of silver hair behind her ear, "Will this be our only jump together?"
"I haven't decided yet." He answered.
"Fair enough." She let out a long breath and looked at the stars blasting past the window. At least this antique could break light speed. "Is there anywhere in particular you'd like me to store my things in the meantime?" She asked looking into his visor. " Or somewhere on this relic I can rest? Maybe freshen up?"
He stood up once again towering several inches over her and gestured his head silently for her to follow. He slid down the ladder leading out of the cockpit and back into the main level of the ship. "Shower, vac tube," He said, touching a control panel on the wall and a narrow door slid open. She poked her head in to investigate the small refresher area. He led them around another tight corner and entered a common area. "Food replicator. My sleep pod. You can have that one." He indicated the pods on opposite sides of the room. "You can store your things below," another nod to a hatch in the floor, "Don't touch anything else."
Eira nodded, "Got it." She nudged the crate that was still hovering where she left it when they entered the ship with her foot pushing it toward the hatch Mando had pointed. With another command on her wrist comp it sank down landing with a thud on the floor below. "I'm starving." She said suddenly clapping her hands together and walking towards the food replicator, "Would you care to share a meal? We didn't really have a chance to talk anything but business-"
"I take my meals in private." He answered.
She turned away from the replicator, staring at him again like she was trying to see his eyes through the visor. "Is it true then? Your kind really don't ever take the helmet off?"
"No living thing may see my face. This is the way." He replied like that was all the explanation that was necessary.
She nodded, "So...it can come off as long as I keep my eyes closed?" He didn't respond to her attempt at humor and her cheeks pinked with embarrassment. She looked down at her boots, suddenly finding them much more interesting than his visor. "Well, I'll eat and you can sit. I've never met a Mandalorian before and I just finished this book on the Mythosaur-"
He sighed again and Eira was beginning to find his long-suffering Mandalorian act almost endearing."I prefer silence."
"Oh...yeah is that part of the 'Way' also?" She asked.
"No. I find your voice grating."
Nevermind. Not endearing.
Eira's cheeks turned crimson, her whole body flushing with heat according to his visor readings. "Maybe it's the audio input settings on your bucket." She replied hotly.
"Announce yourself before you enter any closed door, " he said before leaving her to return to the cockpit.
"E chu ta." She muttered angrily as he retreated. Mando paused with his boot on the bottom rung of the ladder and turned his visor to look at her. Eira smirked again before returning to the replicator for a bowl of Aurebesh stew. "Thanks again for getting me off Levine, " she called out as his boots disappeared into the upper portion of the ship.
He sat heavily in his chair feeling slightly guilty about the harsh words he'd said to her. There was something about her that got under his skin. If it wasn't for the Beskar she had promised he never would have taken the job. The payment she offered would help fund dozens of Foundlings. He owed it to the Covert after everything they had done for him.
After she choked down the flavorless bowl of mushy stew Eira decided to further explore the ship. She started with the lower level doing exactly what Mando had told her not to do and touched everything she could. She investigated the carbon freezing chamber, currently empty of any meatsicles. She opened every cabinet and storage drawer she could find. Mando had weapons stashed everywhere. She found blasters tucked above the light fixtures, a grenade hidden in a box of spare engine parts, and even a bes'bev, the infamous Mandalorian flute-weapon. The latter which she had only ever read about and wondered if Mando actually knew how to play it or only kill with it. She supposed in his line of work it was more than necessary to always be prepared.
Eira took her small bag of clean clothes and personal items then stored the locked parcel unit she had brought in one of the open lockers next to the carbon freezer. She was still alone when she climbed the ladder back to the main level. The sleep cubicle Mando has assigned her was bare except for a thin mattress. "Slept in worse," she muttered before spending the next several minutes opening more lockers and finding nothing but additional weapons.
There were no personal effects in any of the places she searched. Nothing that gave any hint to the man under the Beskar armor. There were also no spare blankets. "Why'd you trade your ship, stoopa beesga?" She cursed at herself slamming a locker shut. Mando was waiting on the other side of the locker door, head cocked and arms crossed over his chest. Eira jumped back one hand on her chest trying to stop her heart from exploding through her ribcage. "Maker be damned! How are you so quiet in all that steel?" She demanded.
"I thought I told you not to touch anything." Mando said in his flat, modulated tone.
"I'm not touching...I'm looking for a blanket..." Eira replied. Another sigh from him as he stalked across the room towards his sleep cubicle. The small hatch slid open revealing another flat mattress and a folded blanket. He took the blanket and silently held it out to her. She took the blanket and asked, "How 'bout a towel?"
"There's a towel in the refresher. Put it in the sonic when you're done, " He instructed.
She nodded, "Thanks." She stood awkwardly in front of him for a second waiting to see if he would dole out any further instructions. He was infuriatingly calm. Calm and more than a little bossy. Obviously someone who was used to getting what he wanted. Probably because he was the one in Beskar and in control of the business end of a blaster. When he didn't make a move she turned from him with an exasperated hum.
"You speak Huttese." He stated as she tossed the blanket onto her mattress.
"Yep. Do you find that grating as well or is it just my Basic that bothers you?" she replied, digging through her bag for her one spare tunic and pair of clean underwear. She found what she was looking for and gazed into his T-shaped visor. Her eyebrows raised in expectation of another statement but he stood silently. "You're not very good at the whole conversation thing are you?"
He clenched his fists a few times. His heavy boots shuffled on the steel floor. "Most...quarries end up in Carbonite."
"Quarries...that's very Bounty Hunter of you."
"You said you weren't a smuggler." He said.
She gave him an amused smile, "Is that your way of asking why I speak Huttese?"
"Yes."
Eira sighed, "I spent a few years on a Hutt pleasure barge..." She self consciously rubbed one of the scars that encircled her wrists. "Then I decided I didn't like being a slave anymore so I escaped and eventually became a smuggler. Smuggled spice for a guy that ran his operation out of Cloud City before he went legit. Huttese comes in handy when you're negotiating base-8 prices with slugs."
"And now?" He might as well have been a statue for all he moved.
Her lips curled into a smile, hiding something darker just below the surface. "And now I'm in business for myself. What about you?"
"I'm Mandalorian." He replied. "And a Bounty Hunter."
She gave him an amused smile, "Yes, yes you are. Well, thanks for the riveting chat but I'm gonna shower and get some sleep. I'm not expecting the battle of Jakku in a few hours but...my odds will probably be better if I'm well rested."
"What are you expecting on Rhabat?" He asked.
"I'll be happy with a name, " She said after considering the question for a moment.
A quiet hum escaped his helmet. "A name is worth fifty pieces of Beskar?"
Her lips turned up in another half smile that was more feral Nexu than humor. "A name is worth everything if it gets me what I'm owed."