Chapter 12.

Cheers and Enjoy! Last edited on January 8th, 2015..

Raidre sat in the pilot's seat as Mako and Gault began to make their way out with their newly acquired credit. Gault lingered.

"Are you sure about this?"

Torian looked back at him from the co-pilot's seat. "I got her six."

Gault frowned as if that offered little assurance and looked at Raidre a little longer, she gave him the thumbs up and he shrugged, going on his merry way. They waited until the hatch was secure before lifting off. Torian waited in silence for a time, until his curiosity got the best of him.

"Where to?"

"Gear first, we are not expected at our employers for several of hours."

Torian frowned and looked away. Yes, he had his own money now, but he still felt like he had cheated her out of it. Regardless, she would not have it back, so after much persistence on her part he had acquiesced. She had beamed so bright once he finally had given in, it had made it worthwhile. She piloted their ship towards the lower parts of the city, the dirtier parts of the city.

"What kind of gear?"

"The good kind."

Torian smiled knowingly. "Illegal?"

She grinned. "Oh, highly."

He grinned back, the prospect of better, deadlier toys did wonders on his mood. She knew her ship like the back of her hand and knew exactly where she was going, they docked and were out and about in under thirty minutes. He followed her through the crowds, he had never felt comfortable in big crowds, too many unknown variables, no way to properly defend a position. But he felt better knowing she was around, her messy, short, brown hair a beacon of familiarity in a sea of unknown. She really had no clue how she was regarded. She moved about like no one gave a damn, while in reality eyes followed her where ever she went either appraising her skills, looks or riches.

It was that walk, with the feline gait. Every step firm, making her boots click, she would have been great for military marching parades; she had perfect timing. He found himself following her partly because he had no idea where they were going and partly because she was wearing those maddening pants again, did she not own any other? Torian was torn between the show ahead and the activity around, but she pulled him out of it whenever he got too distracted. He did not understand it, but she seemed determined to look at anything he glanced at for more than a couple of seconds. Between a kiosk on ration packs, and another on military packs, and another that sold jet pack parts and fuel, and then again a kiosk that sold civilian clothing built to hide your kit under. She seemed to want to know about everything and anything he might like. Torian was getting exhausted.

"Are we there yet?" he found himself asking her.

She smiled at him and presented a calendar. "Last question."

He sighed, looking at the filmsi. "Yes…"

"Birthday, point at it."

He cocked a brow at her. "I think I am tall enough for this ride."

She frowned, so maybe that wasn't a crack at his age. He pointed at the date and she looked at it hard for a moment. They walked side by side in silence.

"I turn twenty-eight soon, that'll make me a decade older than you."

Torian tried not to laugh out loud. "No it won't."

She frowned at him. "But I thought?"

"No." he said gently. "You assumed, I'm twenty-four. You think an eighteen year old could have my form?"

She gave him a crooked smile as she took a good, long look at his form. It wasn't what Torian had meant, but he found himself blushing a bit because of it. He'd wanted her attention just like this since Taris, now that he had it he felt a little embarrassed. He didn't warrant the long pause. Did she really need to poke him to get a feel for his musculature? It was all for show, but her eyes looked at him and appraised him genuinely.

He found himself wondering how he measure up.

He had a point, Raidre had never met an eighteen year old with such well-defined muscle tone. She really liked his build, and all guilt of her growing infatuation with him vanished when she realised he was closer to her age than expected. She felt relieved now that she knew she wasn't 'cradle robbing'. He looked so good, but he would need something more than just tech plates and spare kute(1), she slotted that idea away for later.

"You're right, how foolish of me. "

And with that, she stopped staring and moved on. He fell in pace with her, keeping close. Her pace had slowed as the crowd go thicker. They were jammed together, waiting for the pedestrian light to change, Torian was crushed against Raidre's back. She looked up at him from where they stood. He stared back, her eyeliner had a way of drawing his gaze in, like a man dying of thirst, and he was drowning in her eyes. A smile slowly crept up on her face, and it was infectious. Her smile had its own gravitational pull. Torian felt himself drawn and wanting to get a taste of those full lips, smiling at him, inviting him. The lights changed, and the moment was over. He followed her to what looked like a bigger kiosk, it turned out to be Old Higgy's Toy Shop, and his variety of toys were lethal.

Torian walked into the cramped shop, expecting more useless gadgetry, what he saw left him speechless. It was small, cramped and filled to the brim with everything and anything a Bounty Hunter could possibly need. Torian felt like he finally understood why kids on Coruscant would be excited for Fete Week(2). He didn't feel like he could see enough of the place.

Raidre watched, smirking because otherwise she would be grinning and she wasn't going to let her satisfaction show. This was also her favorite hangout spot. Torian paced wide-eyed, she tapped him on the shoulder and pointed him to the left, where retractable blades were showcased. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, was he shivering?

"I think those are calling your name."

Torian moved to look at them, to touch them, and when no one objected, pull the demo on and try them. It made a very satisfying sound. In silence he played with the settings until it sung for him. Both Raidre and the store clerk watched him.

"He likes those."

"Yes he does, got any of those, solid with a good bite?"

Raidre looked at the Weequay 'owner', then directed her gaze to his Jawa companion. She smiled and flashed her credits at the little lady Jawa. With that lone incentive, the Jawa was off, chattering in Huttese and pulling out random items from piles. Items, the Jawa knew Raidre would be interested in. Higgy snorted.

"She sure likes you."

Raidre smiled. "Of course she does, I tip her."

Raidre's eyes traveled back to Torian as he browsed in a store where the items actually interested him. He was so inexperienced and innocent in some ways, it made him all the more endearing. She wondered if he would have hid his credits if she had not have mentioned it to him. It was not that he had no street smarts, it was that he was not used to the crowds on Nar Shaddaa. The guy really had no idea what to do with money, he clearly hadn't handled so much of it. That made her sad for him, he really had grown up on the scraps and left-overs of other folk, she admired how strong and resourceful he had turned out. Raidre looked back to where the little Jawa was rummaging.

"Jilka, honey, make sure you don't rob my friend blind. I'm gonna step out and pick up the boring stuff."

Jilka, the Jawa, just chattered on real fast, nodding to her once so she communicated clearly that she would keep an eye on Higgy. The Weequay gave her a leer.

"Oh, darling, if you want your friend's safety assured, there are easier ways of doing that."

Higgy was an ugly leathery mess, Torian looked up at his husky tone, never missing a beat, hand going to a vibro-blade stashed in his tech plates. Raidre was ahead of Torian this time. She gave Higgy a glacial smile, her eyes grey around their edges, slowly she reached for the Weequay using deliberately slow motions. Higgy never suspected a thing. She grabbed his head and threw it on the counter, it bounced and Raidre caught it, slamming it down again and holding him there. Both Jilka and Torian went back to what they had been doing as Raidre pulled a vibro-blade and laid it bare against Higgy's throat.

"Higgy, we've been here before, what did I say last time?"

The store clerk panted, eyes unfocused. He struggled to get loose, but her grip was as unyielding as beskar(3). Once he realised he was not going to wiggle his way out of Raidre's grip he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"That you would cut my gett'se(4) off."

Raidre nodded. "And what does gett'se(5) mean, Higgy?"

He struggled weakly, unable to extract himself from her grip. "Balls."

Raidre let him go. "I'll only be gone a short while, if you keep breathing make sure you keep it respectful. My Mandalorian friend will have no problems gutting you for soiling his honour."

Torian played with the retractable blade, while looking Higgy in the eyes. "Could use the target practise."

Higgy swallowed and took a step back, Jilka just smacked him and chattered until he got to work. Torian frowned at Raidre's back.

"Need help?"

She smiled at him, hand on the door frame, a step from leaving, she shook her head. "Naw, just gonna pick up some boring necessities, won't even know I'm gone, you pick out some fun stuff for yourself."

Torian frowned, but said no more as she left. He watched as the Weequay was put to work by the Jawa. It was all a show, Higgy was hired muscle that fronted as the owner when clearly the little one owned and ran this place. He went back to browsing, feeling as a child must when brought to a toy store. He could have spent the whole day and still had something to try out or to look at. They had everything from sophisticated tech plates, helmets, a whole collection of varying sizes of vibro-blades and even some more sophisticated stuff like jet packs and missile packs. After a couple of minutes of just staring at the place, Jilka beckoned for him to take a look at the collection she had pulled out for him.

Torian watched in silence as the Jawa laid it all out. Everything was hand-picked and tailored to his tastes, but how in the Rim Worlds had she gleaned all the info by just watching him test a retractable blade?! She laid out tech plates before him, he read the labels with care. They claimed to be heat resistant for up to 500 degrees Celsius, able to absorb full powered blaster bolts and even boasted to be vacuum sealable. Torian scoffed, a likely story. He looked at the next item in the pile; an old looking tech staff with nothing special about it really, except that it was heavy as kriff(6) and it had intricate carvings all along its body. It was quite beautiful actually, the material seemed refined, it was a dark gray colour, it shocked Torian through his durasteel gloves as he held it in one hand for weight balancing and testing its swing.

Torian practised a couple of wide swings around his person, it flowed like water, making satisfying sounds as it cut the wind. He wondered what it was made out of and how durable it was. He put it back with the other items and moved on. The next was a lining for building custom flamethrowers, he tossed it aside without a second look. Any Mando'ade(7) worth his grit could make one of those. The next item was a pair of extensions to his greaves, they were similar like the retractable blades he had tested, but they were jagged and made of much sturdier steel than the display set. The jagged edges seemed counter-intuitive, harder to pull out, making it a waste of energy. But the extra expenditure of force would break bone and leave the enemy with a very nasty wound, likely to infect if not taken care of quickly. And it would leave the enemy, if they survived, a 'parting gift' for the rest of their lives. Torian pulled them out and tested them, they made very satisfying sounds. He put them back in the pile, taking mental note to look closer once he was done inspecting.

He spent an inordinate time playing with every gem Jilka had sent his way, every time he reacted negatively to an item, she whisked it away and replaced it with something superior. Torian had no idea how long he spent at the kiosk, but as Raidre had claimed, she was back before he had time to miss her, he was so focused that he did not even realize she was behind him until she put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and felt ashamed at his lack of discipline, she grinned at him. He put down the retractor cable he had been testing, his hands going to the small of his back, a soldier's at ease position even though he was far from at ease whenever she was this close to him. She looked over his shoulder to see what he had collected. She whistled in appreciation.

"My, my. You have some good taste, Torian."

He blushed and looked back at the items. Torian was a man of simple needs, he had narrowed his pile down to the curious tech staff, a pair of highly resistant tech plates, heavier set than his current ones, a helmet with an intricate HUD(8) that relied on blinking patterns to operate and a set of retractable blades. He was still debating the oil slicking kit or a higher yield fuel dispenser when Raidre had shown up. She eyed the pile and smiled at him.

"You're so conservative."

He shrugged and managed a weak smile. "There are no price tags."

Raidre grinned. "There had better not be, Jilka owes me big, don't you?"

The Jawa surfaced from behind piles and chattered on happily. Torian's Huttese was not especially strong, but he gleaned enough of the words to understand that Raidre had pulled a particularly dangerous job for the little creature. She now considered Raidre a 'favored customer'. Raidre reached for the tech staff, she hefted it to get a good assessment of its weight. She frowned.

"Why you giving my friend junk, Jilka?"

Torian watched the staff in Raidre's hands, at six feet long, and weighing in at what Torian estimated at the very least twenty kilos, Torian thought it was a work of art, priceless in a way he could not describe. He said nothing of Raidre's comment since he was unsure what she was doing, he opted to play along.

The Jawa protested loudly.

Raidre frowned and looked back at Jilka. "What is this even made of?"

Torian watched her loop the staff around, it was too heavy for her, but her efforts were rewarded by that satisfying sound Torian was growing to appreciate. He did not even care that the thing had no internal mechanisms for electrical currents, it could be taken apart and stored as two separate pieces and then reattached easily and it would crack skulls. That was enough for it to qualify as an adequate offhand weapon to Torian. He looked at his other gear as the two females bartered, and that is when he noticed a large bag at Raidre's back, he eyed it with curiosity.

"What's that?"

Raidre looked away from Jilka and back at Torian, a sort of embarrassed smile touched her face, Torian found himself memorizing her facial expression and body language, there was something candid about it at that moment.

"Just some gear I knew you'd need, but would never get."

Torian frowned at that, Raidre looked at the lot on the counter top. "Throw in that junk and maybe we'll take the lot for 8,000 credits."

The Jawa shrieked bloody murder. Torian winced, hands going to his ears, Raidre just laughed.

Was the woman deaf?!

He paused and pondered that a moment. What if she was, maybe not entirely, but partially deaf? Between the moment at the Way Station and then when he had snuck up on her in the quiet kitchen. Torian could be stealthy, but he had no delusions of his skills, a person with full range of hearing should not have been snuck up on like that. He eyed her closely, shutting out all of their excited bartering and his growing attraction for her. He took a moment to look at her objectively, to assess her as he would another soldier or a threat. Her hair was always a mess, he had decided at first that it was disregard, but as he observed her closely he realised he had made an assumption. Torian hated making an ass of himself. The ink was distinctive, but he had never noted the burn scars beneath them. They were cleverly concealed and the bright reds and oranges of the thorny vines concealed effectively any natural discoloration from the burn marks. How had she managed for her skin to heal so evenly? Skin grafts, but they always left a demarcation line. Her face was seamless. He looked closer still, noticing ear piercings, but also a reconstructed ear, likely burned off, that she had a full head of hair was a miracle alone.

Torian frowned, now watching for any signs of injuries, his tally worried him. She favored her left leg, but both ankles seemed to have a difficult time bearing weight for extended periods of time, her hips also favored her left. Her shoulders were not even, but with her plates he could not tell if that was from a previous break or just tissue injuries. What really worried him was her right elbow, if she moved in a manner that was too dry, it would make audible cracks, was that from a break or dislocation? Injuries were common, all Mandalorians grew stronger because of them, but she had quite a collection, some of them very serious for someone who had only been in this business for eight years. Torian made a mental note to bring it up when they had the chance. After much squealing and insults, Raidre led them out with all his chosen items and only 15,000 credits poorer. When they were out and well away from Higgy's Raidre clapped Torian's shoulder in congratulations.

"You impress me, do you know what that tech staff is made of?"

Torian shook his head as they carried the gear between them, Raidre grinned. "Really? No clue?"

Torian shrugged. "Nope."

Raidre laughed out loud, looking like a teenager who had just played a clever prank on their least favorite teacher.

"Torian, that's a cortosis(9) alloyed staff, can you believe it? Cortosis!"

Torian's eyes grew wide as he eyed the item on his back. The staff alone was worth at the very least quintuple times their whole expenses of the day. He exhaled shakily.

"How can you be sure?"

Raidre laughed again. "I know good gear when I spot it, and I've owned cortosis before."

Torian frowned. "What happened?"

Raidre shrugged with nostalgia. "Light sabers eventually cut through it too."

Torian made a face of distaste. "The Jetiise(10) can kiss my shebs(11) with their cheap tricks."

Raidre laughed again. "Wow, what language, someone doesn't like the local saber-jockeys?"

Torian smiled. "Nope, don't care for them, and I gauge how well my day goes with how many times I say shab(12)."

Raidre just kept grinning. "You have got to teach me how to swear properly in Mando'a."

Torian smiled back. "Keep close, might learn more than just swearing."

That predatory look just crept up on him, his gut twisted harder than it ever had, he wanted her real bad right then. She fluttered long eyelashes at him, voice husky and full of desire. He welled with pride that it was directed at him and him alone.

"Is that a promise?"

"Yes."

NOTES:

1 .Under armor body suit.

2 . New Year Fete Week was the first five days of the new year as determined by the Galactic Standard Calendar, but before the first month. The Festival of Life, which originated in the Core Worlds, consisted of five days between the sixth and seventh months. It was marked by parties, get-togethers, and gift-giving. The Festival of Stars was another celebratory week between the ninth and tenth months of the year that celebrates interstellar space travel. Many beings took vacations to other planets to mark this occasion. The festivities concluded with the Galactic Fair (Imperial Fair during the Galactic Empire). Information on the Remnant's celebration of these weeks or the holidays is yet to be determined.

3 .Mandalorian word for iron, they have their own special kind that only they know how to work, it is light sabe resistant.

4 .Balls, testicles, nuts (sometimes even meaning real nuts, like those used as topping for uj cake).

5 .IBIDEM to note #1.

6 .Fuck.

7 .Children of Mandalore (the planet, not the leader).

8 .Helmet User Display.

9 . Cortosis ore was a very rare, brittle, fibrous material whose conductive properties caused lightsabers to temporarily short out upon contact. This effect made cortosis a useful material for anti-lightsaber melee weapons, though with repeated strikes, a lightsaber could still cut through it. Cortosis, due to its energy resistant properties, was also resistant to blaster fire.

10 .Republic Jedi, plural.

11 .Backside or a person, animal or building, in this case it's a person.

12.Screwed up, impolite, can be used the same was as shit in English.