A/N: This one was inspired by bounty hunter week. Rated M
Word Count: 1776
Hunt Log: Side Notes and Journals
Sighting: Tatooine
It makes sense now. I know why Torian disapproved of me keeping those beskar boots. They symbolize more than just a nifty pair of shoes to a Mandalorian who'd never been given the opportunity to forge his own.
Everyone knows that all Mandos wear Mandalorian iron, right? It's an indisputable fact. At least, that's what I thought until Torian showed up in a brand new suit of armor, beaming like a boy back form his first hunt.
How could no one have taken him to the forge when he was a boy? Did Clan Ordo hate his lineage so much, that they wouldn't even let a kid participate in the age old custom? I want to ask if anyone took him on his rite of passage, but can't stand the idea of dredging up painful memories.
Oh well, Torian's got his beskar'gam now. That damn piece of metal better keep my man's innards where they belong. He's been hurt enough.
Sadio rolled her eyes when the blaster flashed red. Naturally, she'd run low on ammo during a firefight that should never have happened. Splinters of wood fell into Sadio's hair, making her curse out loud.
"You good?" Torian called from where he crouched behind a table. A bolt deflected off his pauldron into the floor by Sadio's foot, and she scooted further away.
Once safe from deflected bolts and the ones meant for her, Sadio waved Torian's concern away. She jammed another charge pack into her blaster before rising from behind the bar. All they'd wanted was information, a simple job that Wanda swore wouldn't take more than a couple of hours. That was four days ago.
The old huntress was on some moon dealing out death to, as best Sadio understood it, an undead Jedi. Nothing Torian said about the ancient Force user made sense to her. Only that Wanda was busy handling a crisis that involved a joint op between Imperial and Republic forces. That didn't stop the old woman from taking on side jobs, though. Naturally, she sent Torian, her right hand man, to pick up the slack.
When Sadio signed on to help, it was because this sounded like a great way to get some time with her lover after being separated for two weeks. Everyone else was off doing their own thing, so she and Torian had the ship to themselves.
Sadio squatted behind her shelter when the goons lost interest in Torian and turned their sights on her. She heard a yelp, followed by a grunt, and peeked over the bar to find Torian sitting on a light blue Twi'lek's back. "I don't know anything," he shouted before Torian cuffed him over the head.
Thankful that the shooting had stopped, Sadio crouched beside the man's face after giving Torian a casual once over. He seemed okay, maybe that armor was worth all the fuss after all. "Kreegan Ramar." Sadio enunciated each syllable slowly. "Give us coordinates, and you get to live."
The Twi'lek's mouth worked like a fish out of water. He spat, missed Sadio's boot by a wide margin, and squeaked when Torian twisted one of his lekku. "Apologize to the lady." That cool, calm voice sent a shiver through Sadio. It looked to have the opposite effect on their prisoner.
Purple eyes squeezed shut. Torian twisted harder, and the male blubbered. "Okay! Sorry—Sorry!"
Torian smirked at Sadio, who winked in return. "Now, about those coordinates."
After a little coaxing, the male finally gave Sadio and Torian the information they needed. As recompense for causing her so much trouble, Sadio fleeced the Twi'lek and found the keys to a speeder with environmental controls. Just what they needed for the deserts of Jundland.
The trip to the rendezvous didn't take long, leaving roughly an hour to kill before Ramar would arrive. Sadio put the speeder in park behind some rocks a few hundred yards away, and settled into her seat to rest.
"It's dishonorable," Torian stated, arms crossed. "Taking from Jawa. They can't defend themselves, there's no challenge. Kreegan Ramar and her people are nothing but ori'jagyc."
Sadio tilted her head and raised a questioning eyebrow. It took Torian a few more seconds of righteous fuming before he noticed. "Bullies," he translated at last. "They pick on the weak, and claim to be Mando'ade."
"What do you think the chief will do once we deliver Ramar to him?" The contract was for a live capture. The chief had heard of Ramar's bad behavior and demanded that she be brought before him to face judgment.
"Dunno," Torian answered. "I'm sure she'll get what she deserves, though." He slipped back into uneasy quiet, breathing slightly off.
Sadio glanced at her surly Mando and sighed. "Wanna tell me what has you in such a foul mood?"
Torian's jaw worked as he looked out the side window. "Promise not to get mad?"
Laughter probably wasn't the best answer, but Sadio couldn't help herself. In moments like that, he looked so much like a grouchy little boy that she had to resist the urge to ruffle his hair. "Go on," she said, a smirk still on her lips.
Torian sighed, eyes on the horizon. "You're a capable woman, I know that. You've been on your own a lot longer than I've been in your life, but…" Torian turned in his seat so that he could look into Sadio's eyes. "I hate seeing you shot at. It tightens my guts, makes it hard to breathe." Thankfully, he didn't harp on her lack of armor this time.
Sadio's smile turned gentle, and she placed a hand on Torian's cheek. "That doesn't make me mad, blondie. It just means that you love me."
Before Sadio could utter another word, Torian's fingers tangled in the hair on the back of her head and pulled her into a fierce kiss. Sadio didn't complain. She greeted him eagerly, but Torian pulled back when her tongue brushed his.
"Marry me."
Sadio blinked. Torian's eyes were open, his face close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin. "Now?" Torian nodded, a slight pull at the corner of his lips indicating that Sadio's reply hadn't been a surprise.
When Sadio pulled away, Torian let her go. "Are you sure?" This was a huge commitment. When they'd talked about marriage a couple of months ago, it had been an idea for the future. Sadio hadn't expected it to catch up with her so quickly.
"Never been more certain," Torian answered. He let out a huff of laughter and rubbed the back of his neck. "You know, I've never been the nervous type. Never been scared about facing anything. Worst they could do was kill me, right?"
Sadio sat in silence, waiting for the point while Torian glanced through the front viewport. His smile returned when he faced her again. "You change that. Day I asked about our future, had the shakes so bad I left a clean target on the range."
It took Sadio a moment to decipher Torian's meaning. She loved her blasters as much as the next woman, but would rather tinker with a droid or the ship than go shooting with the boys. "Oh," she commented when it finally sank in. Then louder when she realized what he was actually saying. "Oh!"
Torian loved her. He dreaded the possibility of being rebuffed, but found the courage to ask anyway. That silly boy wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, a no name smuggler from a pirate planet that no one knew existed until recently.
Sadio felt herself grinning, but didn't remember making the decision to do so. Instead of offering an answer via words, she kicked her boots off and unbuckled the holsters around her hips.
"What are you doing?" Torian asked, brow furrowed while Sadio struggled with her pants in the tight confines of the speeder.
"Answering your question," Sadio snipped when the snaps defied her attempts to free them. A cheer went up when she persevered, eliciting another laugh from her audience.
Sadio scrambled onto her knees, then repeated the process with the vest and let it slide behind her into the seat. When she faced Torian, he wore an amused smirk that did little to hide his arousal. "Fat lot of help you were," she said, reaching for the seals on his armor. She'd remove only the important bits and work around the rest. They were on the job, after all.
Torian offered instruction, though made no move to help. At last, Sadio had him free of both armor and protective bodysuit, then wiggled into his lap. "Never could do anything the easy way," Torian remarked as Sadio slid down his length. He let out a long breath, eyes closed. "Is that a yes?"
Sadio felt a measure of delight at the breathy note his voice had taken on. "Tell me the words."
Torian spoke the Mandalorian marriage vow while she rocked her hips slowly. A couple of the words were lost in raspy inhales, leaving Sadio to make due on her own when she repeated them. Not that it mattered with his hands on her hips, leg muscles bunching and relaxing beneath her. After a few attempts, both managed to speak the oath that would bind their souls.
They came as one, settling in a sweaty, ragged heap of satisfied laughter. "So," Sadio panted against Torian's neck. "Married."
"Mm-hmm," Torian replied, nuzzling her hair. "Darasuum riduurok." Sadio had no idea what that meant, but liked the way those words rolled off his tongue.
A sharp buzzing through the speakers pulled Sadio out of her post-coital haze. It was the amplifier she'd set up to alert them when advanced tech was being used in the area. "Shit," Sadio swore, scrambling off of Torian to fetch her clothes. "Ramar is here." She hadn't exactly planned beyond what they'd done, and vowed to make better decisions when it came to sex on the job in the future.
Torian fastened the velcro slit in his bodysuit, then retrieved the plates that completed his armor. "I'll draw her fire, you hit her with the carbonite?"
Arching her back, Sadio snapped her pants and grabbed the discarded vest. "Sounds like a plan."
With both fully geared, Sadio reached for the door. Torian stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Be careful, riduur."
Sadio leaned over the console to place a quick kiss on Torian's lips. "We'll celebrate once we get back to the ship. Then, you can tell me what all of those words mean."