The small shuttle on the landing pad was nothing special, probably barely able to make past light speed, but the sounds emanating from the garage next to it was special. It sounded like a pair of lightsabers crossing, yet it was too constant to be a duel...
Furtively sticking her head past the corner Mira found herself looking into small room. Or rather, the room was small because of the rows of tables taking up most of the room, on which a dizzying amount of junk lay. Neither walls nor ceiling was spared from storing even more stuff, the ceiling barely cleared enough to let the light from the lamps past.
"No, this isn't working." A familiar voice spoke, Bao-Dur's shape was easy spot as he rose to his feet, the odd bionic arm of his glowing blue as he held a extinguished pair of lightsabers in his hands. "I think I need to change the power field conductor again, but how I'm not sure."
Mira smiled. The technician hadn't changed at all. Even though he had the glow of a jedi about him his stance, his greasy clothes, his analytic eyes and even the way he scratched his chin spoke its clear message. This was the same calm and polite mechanic she knew.
"Perhaps you need to change the way you view the problem." Another, all too familiar voice, suggested. Mira shuddered.
Despite the exile's orders on the matter, as well as her aid, she had even saved Mira's skin once, Visas Marr still gave her the creeps...
The woman rose behind a pile of discarded junk, her crimson robe stained by blotches of oil, her familiar veil had escaped getting dirty however, as had her pale features which begun to twist into that annoyingly shadow of a smile: "Besides, we have company, the huntress..."
Bao-Dur blinked, then looked up from the pair of sabers, his gaze finally catching Mira's as she stepped out into the open. There was a flicker of happiness in them before he returned to his usual calm self. "Mira, it's good to see you."
He gave her a light hug, signalling that he didn't want to smudge her clothes with his stained suit. Mira frowned, she wouldn't have minded really. Maybe once she would have been defensive about such signs of affection, once...in another life.
Visas also stepped forward, casually slipping past a discarded droid, she didn't hug Mira either, though this time the former bounty hunter didn't mind it as much. Instead the Miraluka bowed slightly as she spoke: "It is good that you are here, you seem...better."
"Thank you, I think." Mira raised an eyebrow in question, her gaze darting between the two. "What are you guys doing?"
"Visas here is assisting me in an experiment with lightsabers, I had hoped to create a new tool but have had no luck yet." Bao-Dur revealed, if he was frustrated he didn't show it. "She has quite a talent for it."
"Visas? Really?" Mira couldn't help but show her surprise. The velvet gloves and veil of Visas seemed more fitting for royalty or perhaps some rich trader, not a mechanic.
Visas smiled, no doubt sensing Mira's thoughts. Creepy...though maybe Mira shouldn't be so critical, she herself could sense Bao-Dur's soft calm as well as the suppressed darkness within Visas. "I have never thought much of technology before now, Bao-Dur has shown me, perhaps without thinking of it, how the force can even touch such dead objects. It's...subtler then I thought."
Mira shrugged. "I don't know much about that. But I guess whatever makes you happy..." She turned to Bao-Dur. "Mical tells me you've all decided to rebuild this place. Where did you get all the parts?"
"Much actually came from the academy itself, it wasn't so difficult to fix much of the debris into useful machinery. The engineers back then knew what they were doing." Mira smiled, she had remembered the state the place had been in, Bao-Dur was being modest, as always. "The rest was donated by the Khoonda government, they still remember the mercenary attack."
"How nice of them." Mira snorted, the bounty hunter in her wanting something more for saving dozens of lives. "So you've rebuilt everything and going forward with...whatever we're doing doing here. Guess you don't need me then huh?" She was joking...wasn't she? Mira wasn't certain.
Bao-Dur hesitated, his feelings of insecurity seeping towards however inclined her head slightly as she said: "Actually it is soon time for dinner and Atton is not here once again, perhaps you should use your hunting skills and...hunt him down."
"What? So I'm the new dog now? Fetch and all that?" Mira asked, a little miffed.
"You know I did not mean it that way." Visas said, her voice annoyingly smooth.
"I don't make a habit of taking intentions for granted." Mira replied, feeling anger well up within her. Something with the way Visas acted just...irked her.
Bao-Dur stopped the argument by coughing, putting a warm arm over Mira's shoulder he lead her away and said: "Look, Atton has been....better. I'm not sure he has accepted things like we." he obviously sensed Mira tensing. "Well anyway, he is worse of then us, believe me. I believe you to be the best one suited to speak to him."
"I'll give him a swift kick in the crotch if he annoys me, you know that right?"
"Well..." Bao-Dur shrugged. "Perhaps that's what he needs."
Shrugging off the arm Mira stepped away and turned as she walked towards the exit. Smiling she pointed at the confused Zabrak. "I'll tell him you said that you know..."
To her surprise there was actually a twitch of a smile in his face.