All The Way Out Here

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

It was a small thing at least. In truth Ein had high hopes for this project, very high hopes. Terraforming was a technology that had been lost quite a long time ago. The galaxy once had experts in the trade, but now? Well it was little more than a thought.

Of course there were a few success stories, but no one had ever truly managed to make it work to a degree where it was economical. This was mostly because in a business sense Terraforming didn't make enough money. The returns took such a long time that many companies went under before they even saw a glimpse of them. That was why Vanir was tackling this, because it held such massive revenue streams from other sources that it didn't need to worry about this one.

That was the theory at least. "Thank you."

Ein said with a smile as they reached the row of tents and pre-fab building.

"Come on, lets see if we can't stick you somewhere." He motioned to her and began to head into the building, using a metal side door. Once they stepped inside a cool breeze would hit them, stark contrast to the muggy air outside.

 

[Lief]

It wasn't long before the prefab building towered over them, and he gestured toward what seemed to be a rather heavy looking metal door. Truth be told it surprised her how much they had managed to discuss in so short a walk from her ship, most tried so hard to hide their true intentions around these parts, that having a real conversation was honestly refreshing. When was the last time she'd had a conversation that didn't involve beating around the bush?

Bakura.

But it was best not to think about that. Things had been said that probably shouldn't have left their mouths, but it was out there, and it was over. He had rejected her assistance, refused to step away from the smog he was stuck under... And Kyra was forced to do as she had done throughout her life. Walk away. Leave him behind. It was better that way, right? At least she wasn't going against her own sense of morality. Doesn't stop it from hurting, though, does it?

Over a decade boiled down to nothing in a heartbeat.

She shook the thought away, to find Kyne staring up at her knowingly. Waving a hand at him she focused on the doorway and stepped through it. Once the door closed behind them the crisp air which circulated the building was a welcome reprieve.

"I didn't even realize just how bad it is outside until this second." Air was always heavy before a storm, and usually that broke alongside the clap of thunder... Would it work here, when storms were said to last from days to months? Who knew. If it didn't, though, she did not envy the workforce.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

"It's worse because of the oxygen here." Ein explained with a smile. "Everything is a bit thinner but heavier, more nitrogen in the air."

He shrugged.

That was also why the storms were more brutal. Things tended to last longer, be more fierce, and in general just hold more unpleasantness. There was a reason that most of the employees had chosen to migrate into the pre-fab facility. Here there were air recyclers, air conditioning, and a host of other good things that many others could only dream of living in tents. Ein motioned for Kyra to follow him, heading through a towering stack of crates and shipping equipment.

"This doubles as a warehouse." He explained as they moved through everything.

The top two floors were used as a mix of office space and residential, and of course there was one other building within the settlement that was used as a lab, though for the reasons he had mentioned earlier that was mostly kept by itself isolated. Eventually they reached a small desk in the back room, the chair sitting behind it being empty.

Ein slowly wound around the desk and sat himself down, quickly typing on the keyboard.

"Just gotta find out if we have any beds." He told her. "There were quite a few travelers out there."

 

[Lief]

It made sense. She did not relish the prospect of heading back outside now she had tasted the sweeter air available inside, but at the same time she wasn't exactly adverse to it, either. It didn't matter where she lay her head so long as she wasn't about to be beat down on by the storm, if that meant laying on the ground somewhere? So be it. She was the outsider here, after all, caught up in the middle of this due to her defective ship.

Winding their way through the lower floor, past crates and other such methods of storage, Kyra remained surprisingly quiet for a time. Perhaps it was fatigue finally kicking in, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd properly set her head down, there was always something to do on the Bucket. Perhaps it was time for an upgrade? Don't let her hear you say that, or she'll never work again.

They continued through the prefab until Ein approached a desk and swiftly lowered into the seat behind it. Raising a brow, Kyra laughed ever so slightly... Before shaking her head.

"Don't worry about finding me a bed," she said, "I assure you, I've slept on worse places than the ground. This should only be for a few days, right? I don't want to take up any more space than I have to. If any of the tents are spare, that'd suit me fine, if not I'm sure there's some corner I can hole up in."

Everything about her, from the way she said the words to her body language, told the truth of the matter: Kyra genuinely did not care. Truth be told, she was grateful that he had even brought her this far, out of the storm. "You've already done more than enough."

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

He typed in a few more things into the terminal.

A frown pulled across his lips.

Ein didn't really like the idea of sticking her into any of the tents at random, mostly because of the equipment that was kept inside of those tents. It's not like he distrusted her off-hand or anything, but she was still just a stranger and what was kept in those tents held some value at least.

Though of course not all that much considering they kept it in tents.

"Lets see." Ein said quietly to himself, pulling down a few bytes of data and humming to himself for a moment. Unconsciously his hand drifted up, scratching through his beards s he waited for the data terminal to load up inventory reports. There were thirteen tents total, one of them being his. The others all contained varying levels of things for the coming project, though one or two also housed some weapons just in case.

After a moment he found one of the tents that had nothing but spare parts for the shield generators, valuable, but not really worth stealing.

"Alright." He said quietly. "Lets at least get you a bed roll."

Those they had plenty of.

 

[Lief]

Not one for needless chatter, especially not where focus was concerned, she remained quiet and glanced around the room while he worked away at the terminal. Force knew she hated being watched when she was doing something. It made her anxious, to say the least. She wondered just how long they had been working on this project for, was it relatively new? Or had they already sunk a few years into it, with the storms to blame for the lack of substantial progress? Who knew.

What she did know, however, was that when the silence came to an end she felt herself suddenly at ease. A small exhale of breath escaped her, and the tension which had wormed its way into her shoulders relaxed. It wasn't often that she was surrounded by such eerie silence, her ship made a lot of noise, and even when it didn't she did in the workshop. While such time had been relaxing on Jakku, it wasn't like she was here of her own accord. In fact every second spent here without distraction just reminded her of the countless things she could be doing.

Finally he seemed to find what he was looking for, and she offered a sheepish smile when he rose back up from the desk.

"I appreciate this, Ein," she asserted, with a small nod of her head, "if there's anything I can do to repay the kindness you've shown, you need only ask." It wasn't as if she was some useless citizen, after all, she had her trade.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

"It's alright." He told her in earnest.

Kyra wasn't the first civilian that had stopped by their little world without a clue, and she probably wouldn't be the last. There were a whole hell of a lot of people that traveled out here, not to stop or anything, but smugglers, traders, even the occasional run away usually found their way around these parts.

It wasn't always a bad thing.

"Just don't steal anything." He said with a grin that said he was joking, rolling away from the desk and standing up. "Then we'll be all good."

He immediately turned and headed towards one of the corridors of stationary containers, once again motioning her to follow along. They had plenty of supplies, bedding, pillows, food. IF there was one thing Vanir overstocked on it was living supplies. This was mostly due to several factors, one of them being that the higher ups were paranoid about people complaining that they didn't have enough to live off of. Better to go over than under.

After a moment they arrived at a large shipping container, one that Ein forcefully pulled open. "So what brings you all the way out here anyway?"

 

[Lief]

She shook her head slightly, and returned the smile.

"Me, steal? I don't have any use for your fancy tech, I have everything I need onboard my ship. It's just a shame she isn't cooperating." That was the thing with refurbished vessels, though, they were never anywhere near as reliable as the original. Especially not when all of the replaced parts came from completely different models... Most of which she found in scrapyards. She didn't exactly make much money when she was younger, but on Raxis there had been junk galore.

With the motion she followed along just a few steps behind him, watching him curiously from behind. Honestly, given his position here, he was rather carefree. Less stuck up than she might have expected. And he seemed... Genuinely happy to help. Maybe the folk back on Lianna had painted a poor picture of the industry. Or perhaps it was just the Space Witch's lot.

Lifting a hand she rubbed the back of her neck while pondering the question presented. "Well, my old 'Bucket decided it didn't like flying no more, but as for why I was in the general vicinity..." She shrugged ever so slightly, and masked a tiny sigh. "I was headed away from Bakura. Figured I'd take the scenic route to avoid the First Order and their little cronies, I avoid claimed territory where possible. Truth be told, I was just trying to skirt my way back around to Teth." Running from my past. Or into my future. Who knows... I just had to get away from there, from him.

She smiled again, pushing all thought of him deeper down. This was why she had wanted to simply press on, even when suspended in space she had her workshop to keep her mind preoccupied. But here? Force help her.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

"Ah." Teth, that was a world he knew.

Saeva had set up shop on Teth nearly a decade ago now. They served as the plants primary defense forces, batting away incursions from pirates and the like. It was a nice enough world, not terribly populated but good enough to look nice.

Ein pulled out a bedroll from a stack of them, looking around for a moment more before spotting a pillow squished between two boxes. He pulled it out with the plastic wrapping still around it, smiling slightly as he put it ontop of the roll and then proceeded to grab a blanket. He then turned to her and offered it all to her. "Here."

The CFO said with a smile.

"Feel free to keep that." They didn't exactly need blankets. "I hope you're okay with sleeping in the heat."

Ein had gotten used to it. "The tents don't do much to keep it out."

 

[Lief]

Teth had played a large part in her sister's life, it seemed. The Silent Temple was hidden somewhere within its jungles, far from prying eyes, and it had become a place to touch down and restock supplies for Kyra these days, even if she didn't entirely affiliate herself with the Je'daii who lay within its halls. Outside of that, the bunker she had been told about, and the orbital shipyards, there was very few other things that she knew of. Very few things that could be seen unless you knew where to luck. That was the good thing about worlds like Teth, though, they were paradises... Ones very few saw reason to venture to.

They reached one of the storage areas, and Ein took it upon himself to break open a few containers; she was handed several items, a bedroll which she held beneath one arm, a blanket which she draped over the top of it, and a pillow she held within the opposing hand. More comfort than she was used to, truth be told. She smiled in response.

"I grew up sleeping in an engine room, the heat doesn't bother me much these days." The memories which resurfaced sent a tiny shiver down her spine, but she shrugged it off and continued to smile. "It's the air I'm more bothered about, but I've a rebreather somewhere, if push comes to shove it should suffice." But she doubted she'd need it. While the air was admittedly heavy and thin, it was just about enough to get by on. Still, it wasn't a bad idea to keep her options open, and it really was just a short trip back to her ship to grab a few necessaries.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

The air was good enough to breath, and like most she would probably get used to it.

There were no toxins here or otherwise harmful effects, it was basically just like climbing a very tall mountain on a planet with normal oxygen levels. At first it felt weird, but eventually one got used to it, their system adjusted. Oddly enough it worked out best when one was actually asleep, probably because the body was less focused on talking, seeing, and hearing, and just more worried about actually keeping oneself breathing. Ein himself was completely used to the air by now.

"Well." The young man said with a smile.

There wasn't really a lot to do around the settlement, it was quiet most nights and the storm hadn't quite rolled in just yet.

"I'm going to take a bath to get some of this sweat off me." One of the few resources they actually had here was water, there was an underground basin they had tapped into months ago and with a few heaters they managed to get ti running pretty well. Baths, showers, all worked out. "You're welcome to join me."

He shot her a wink, then stepped out of the container.

 

[Lief]

Kyra raised a brow in amusement at the next words out of his mouth. It was true, the humid air left one feeling rather gross and sweaty, and in Kyra's case it did not help that she had spent a lot of the past few hours toiling with machinery, grease streaked her face, and her hands, but it wasn't new to her. Her natural smell had turned into that of oil. It didn't bother her, she usually spent her life with just Kyne and a whole heap of droids, there was no organic crew to speak of. Who was she trying to impress?

But the mere mention of it, the notion of having access to an actual bath instead of just her ships refresher, made her feel somewhat... Self conscious about it. Was it wrong for her to be walking around in such a state? It wasn't as if she had expected for all this to happen. She had only left her ship in hopes of getting to the crux of the issue, were it not for the dire state of the vessel and the incoming storm she'd have been out of here in no time.

Perhaps I really should clean up. Who knows if I'll have access to such once the storm hits.

But joining someone else? That was an entirely new concept to this spacer. She looked him up and down for a moment, before shaking her head with a slight laugh. He was joking, right?

"While a bath sounds glorious right now, I have no doubt you'd enjoy the peace if left to your own devices. Besides..." She resettled the bedroll under her arm, "I should probably set up before it gets too late, or the storm hits. Do we have an approximation on time for that?" Her gaze wandered one final time as he stepped out of the container, another slight grin appearing for a split second, before she looked away and feigned interest elsewhere.

Who are you, and what have you done with Kyra Sol?

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

Ein shrugged, he wasn't about to press the issue.

He knew that the heat would get unbearable even with the storm coming in. The rain would cut some of the humidity, but this world was naturally warm due to it's position nearer to its sun. There was no real way of not being sweaty here, so it was nice to at least wash up every now and again. That was really the greatest benefit of having water handy, sonic showers didn't always feel like they actually got you clean, plus there was that annoying buzz in the ear they delivered.

"Go out the door we came in, third tent on the left." His own was the first tent to the left, the third was the one empty enough for her to stay in.

She would find more stacks of containers and lockers in there, but a large enough space for her to put her bedroll and then some. That was the convenience of sleeping in a tent, even if there wasn't enough room she could easily move some stuff around and actually make space.

Not that she had to.

Ein turned away and began to head down a different corridor, turning back for just a moment. "If you change your mind, I'll be right through there."

He pointed towards a different door, smirked, then headed off.

 

[Lief]

He wasn't pushy. That was good. With a small smile she listened to his instructions and proceeded to nod her head.

"Third tent on the left, got it."

Not exactly the most difficult thing to remember, now, was it? Burdened with the bedding, which while remaining light was somewhat cumbersome in size, she turned from the container and got just a few feet before he spoke again. Turning her head slowly, so as not to be rude, she raised a brow once more. Again curiosity plagued her mind, eyes wandering over him then to the door he was pointing to.

"We shall see" she said, with a slightly coy smile, before turning to head out. She didn't want to get caught out in the storm right now, and she did have to make a quick trip back to her ship once the bedding was down. If for no other reason than to get Kyne a few things.

"C'mon, pup" she muttered, as they made their way back through the prefab building and out into the more noticeably thin air beyond. Through the tents she wandered, until she reached the one he spoke of. It didn't take her long to have everything lain out, away from the supplies so that she didn't knock them over - she was a bit of a klutz at times, after all - and after she was finished she had Kyne remain in the tent while she ran out to her ship.

The clouds in the distance rumbled, and a few stray birds flocked overhead. She wished them luck in their attempts at outrunning the storm, and punched the controls to lower the Bucket's ramp.

Once inside it was a simple matter of acquiring a few things, including the aforementioned rebreather and a change of clothes, and in a heartbeat she was ready to face the storm again. It was definitely moving faster than she had anticipated. With a small frown she hurried toward the tent to deposit the items, setting down a pair of dishes for Kyne.

"Stay here pup" she said quietly, petting him. Hopefully there was some sort of dampner on the tent, else when the storm hit he'd turn into a crumpled mess of hound.

Then came the uncertainty. She paced back and forth for a moment, trying to make up her mind. Even if I don't join him directly, I need to bathe.

Grabbing her change of clothes, she gave her pup another pet before moving from the tent and back toward the building. Yeah, she'd wait to have her own bath... That made sense, right? It wasn't as if his invitation had been genuine at any rate. You don't even know this guy. Don't become a fool, Kyra, save yourself the embarrassment.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

Ein of course wasn't even thinking about Kyra, not really anyway. He wasn't the sort to pressure anyone into doing anything. If she wanted to join him then she would join him, if she didn't? Well that was her choice. There was no concern from him.

The CFO smiled slightly as he stepped into the bathroom.

The entire thing was empty of course, mostly because everyone else was either getting ready for the storm or doing their job. The refreshers themselves were actually set up in a rather simple manner, though the one Ein had entered wasn't the communal 'freshers at all. One of the nicer parts of Vanir was that it understood people were human, they wanted alone time, and they wanted small luxuries. The Refresher that Ein had gone into was a private bath of sorts.

There was a large sink, jacuuzi tub, as well as a well built water shower.

On the other side of the building was the communal refreshers which had standard showers and several bathrooms, but this one was a bit nicer. Ein turned on the water to the bath, turning and slipping off his clothes before tossing them to the floor without a care.

 

[Lief]

Had Ein bothered to mention that the refresher wasn't communal, or that such a thing existed on the other side of the building, then her choice would have been far simpler. As it was, she made her way back up through the prefab believing that she would find ample space to relax without having to run directly into him.

It wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed his company, far from it, she simply didn't want to interrupt any more than she already had. Given the sheer number of people working on the project, she had deduced that the room he entered had to be a locker room of sorts, with separate stalls, he might not even notice that she entered at all.

With a small sigh, she finally reached the door he had motioned to halted outside. There was barely any sound from within. A few moments of pacing outside the door followed. He had been the only person she had actually met, what if there were others inside? She doubted all would be quite so welcoming as Ein had been.

What does it matter, since when do you care?

With the toe of her boot she pushed open the door, slipping inside the room. The air was slightly heavier than the rest of the building, but still an improvement to the exterior, but bathrooms tended to be a little humid at least when they were in use. After stepping inside, though, her eyes widened. It was not at all what she had expected... certainly not a communal space.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

The sound of the running water was a bit overbearing inside of the small bathroom, so when Kyra was pacing outside of the door Ein didn't hear her.

Instead he was standing in front of the mirror, a small beard trimmer in his hand, eyes fixed on the reflection in front of him. He worked meticulously in grooming himself, cutting away the longer hairs and shaping his facial hair. The practice was something that had been beaten into him, his upbringing on Empress Teta ensuring that Ein would always be presentable.

It was part of who he was.

Just as Kyra opened the door Ein put down the trimmer, running a hand through his beard. Generally he waited until after washing to do this sort of thing, but when it came to a nice bath you had to have it fill up first to get the full effect. Besides, it wasn't like he was in any sort of hurry anyway.

As the door opened Ein turned, no hint of modesty presenting itself from him. "Oh."

He said, spotting Kyra.

"You decided to join me after all." A not so small smirk touched his lips.

 

[Lief]

For just a moment she thought the room to be empty. A bath was filling with water, a shower stall stood vacant, with a slight frown of confusion she glanced around the room... And then he turned. She didn't know what to do at first, simply staring at him in confusion. Why was he just stood there? Didn't he care that someone had walked in on him?

Clearly not.

She tried her best not to look over him, something she usually did when first around someone, and kept her gaze locked on his face. She suppressed any signs of embarrassment and laughed ever so slightly. "Would you believe I thought this was a communal space?"

He didn't seem the least bit bothered however. If anything the smirk suggested surprise, and not the negative kind.

You're already here, Kyra...

She swallowed for a second, and looked away - feigning interest in the rest of the room - with a tiny smile pulling at her lips.

"Nice space, unexpected given the rest of the building..."

Smooth...

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

"Not really." Ein stated with a simple smile in regards to her first question.

Perhaps that was his own fault, but he had said join him when they had first parted way. Maybe she had misunderstood him, or maybe she was just playing coy. Either way she didn't seem too upset about the fact that she had walked in on him, aside from the slight embarrassment that still colored her cheeks. She was trying hard to look everywhere but him, but notably she made absolutely no move to leave or head back out the door from whence she had came.

Something Ein found all the more amusing. "It's so people can relax."

The Financial Officer explained to her, taking a step towards her.

"A lot of the time in places like this people get wound up, stressed that they're surrounded by the same people all day every day." He glanced around the bathroom then took another soft step towards Kyra. "Everyone needs a place to get away."

There were several more rooms like this, albeit they were more meant for reading and other activities. This was just one form of privacy that was built into the Vanir Facility, mostly meant to keep everyone working here from killing each other.

Ein smiled as he came to stand directly in front of her.

 

[Lief]

He didn't believe her? Well damn, it seemed even when being truthful people didn't tend to believe a word she said. Another slight smirk wormed its way to her expression, and she slowly looked back to him. There was very little else to look at, after all, there was only so much intrigue one could garner from a shower cubicle.

"We could have done with rooms like this back on the ship, everyone was always crammed into such tight quarters." That was the beauty of being her own Captain these days, and of having a crew that was entirely mechanical.

It could easily be assumed that she might miss the natural flow of conversation or the company provided by organics but truly she preferred to be away from most. There had been a few exceptions, of course. Eamon, Connor, Junko, Steph but none which had stuck around very long... And only one had ever shared her ship.

Only now did she notice that the space between them was shrinking, and she shifted her gaze to keep it fixed upon his own.

You should leave, Kyra, let him have his peace and quiet, find another space...

But she didn't. Truthfully she didn't want to leave at all.

Instead she took the bundle of clothes she had brought with her, and settled them to the bench at her side without moving from her position. She wasn't the type to seize such an opportunity, but what did she have to lose these days? Who was she trying to impress? You're as independent as they come, do what you wish.

[member="Einhardt Al'Kuhn"]