Private Damage Report

[Mathieu Brion]

Was his standards low? To Mathieu, the answer was a rather definitive no - but then, he rarely looked at emotional matters as something related to standards. With that in mind, he shrugged "I was happy. That's what matters." he was far from confrontational, if anything, he was a little introspective and in a way, showing a great deal of sincerity.

For a while, he remained silent. Both interested to see what she had to say and to see what she'd do in the game. "Lucky" he mused upon seeing her match his twenty. He listened to her brag about her swooping and was quite surprised when he saw her draw another card. The chance that she would get a 1 was about 10% and of course, she did not get it. He gave her a look basically asking what she expected before laughing heartily at her accusations "If I'd abuse my abilities, I'd rather make you go do the dishes than win at cards" He shot back at her with a friendly smile before moving on to her sports interest "I did a little bit of swooping back home. Nothing too serious, just a few field trips, you know? Got any team you're cheering for?"

"Mathieu Brion, and I'm not acting nice, I am nice" he said - chances were that she meant exactly that but he really didn't mind teasing her, figuring that she'd probably get used to it soon enough. "And you're definitely not acting nice. So what's up? I mean, usually people from the streets aren't all too tough when they're talking to someone who could give them a trashing." The words themselves could easily be interpreted as threatening, but his demeanour told an entirely different story - he was speaking from a place of understanding, a point which he was quick to clarify "I picked up a thing or two before I joined the order." sending her a mischievous grin, he then started to deal the cards to start the second round.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Matt made a joke about abusing his powers, earning a small smile from Ara for only a moment. "I'd prefer not. I did enough dishes working for Joe." she quipped dryly as she looked away. He asked about which teams she rooted for, but she merely gave a confused look. "It was street racing, official teams sort of defeat the idea." she clarified for him rather flatly, seemingly not fully catching what he meant. "Besides, who watches official swoop races? It's boring. The real action is pod racing. That's something I'd like to do one day." she admitted with a daring grin.

He finally introduced himself, earning a scoff from Ara. His accusation received a solid response from her as she looked up at him with a harsh glare. "You don't look all that tough. Plus I've had my ass kicked by scarier guys than you. You don't scare me." she fired right back with venom in her voice. "Besides, not all of us had happy little childhoods with spoons up our asses and parents that actually gave a shit." she continued, standing up to look down on him with her glaring green eyes. "I'm currently in my mom's house. A mom that threw me away as soon as she pushed me out. As if that's not enough, the only person that looked out for me literally only saw me as a useful tool to help him out around his place!" she berated him, her voice finally rising a bit as she spoke to him. "You probably don't even know what Sam did or the kind of person she is! You just keep hopping along with a karking parsec-long grin as if everything is alright in the galaxy. You want me to be cheerful and happy? Then give me a karking reason to be." she practically shouted at him.

Still standing, she glanced around as her glare faded. She sat back down and folded her arms as she looked at the ground. She said more than she wanted to in her temper tantrum. She felt small as she glanced up at him through her red hair. She hugged herself a little tighter, looking away again as she tried to just ignore him.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

She'd prefer not to. Mathieu smirked "Yeah, and with the force, we could have you sing a very different tune" he said, sending her a mischievous smirk before trying to recompose himself "But that would be rather immoral, wouldn't it? Don't you worry, I'm not going to do that, nor am I going to cheat in cards."

It seemed like his question about which team she cheered for had been taken a little bit too literally as her mind immediately went to official ones. Perhaps they just had different vocabularies because in his mind, it was rather hard to misinterpret his question. Mathieu begun letting out a sigh but tried his best to just let it go. "Pod racing, huh. Yeah, that one, I haven't tried. I like to work on stuff, be it ships, weapons or what-have-you. Give me a call if you wanna tinker on a pod someday." he said. So far, in the conversation, Mathieu had done his utmost to not involve Sam in it. He wanted his relation with Ara to actually be a relation to Ara and not be perceived as a mouthpiece of her mother. Still, the comment was too relevant not to mention, so with an innocent tone, he chirped "But then, I'm not working as a mechanic."

There was so much which could be said - Mathieu was not very scary, but as long as he could beat her up, it didn't really matter if she had received a thrashing before or not. But then, maybe she saw his threat level more as the theoretical likelihood of him actually attacking her rather than the potential damage he could cause if he did. The large Morellian remained silent and simply listened to her as she went on. He could see so much bottled up anger and rage in her. But more importantly he saw fear - the chief reason for putting up such a tough facade as she did.

Mathieu stood up before she had the chance to sit back down. He was towering above her but his face was a friendly and sympathetic one "Come here" he said and opened his arms for a hug. He lowered one hand to rub her back whilst the other went to the back of her head. The Padawan did not say anything. He simply remained silent as he hoped to show that friendly affection was not so hard to come by.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara didn't expect him to jump up like that. When he rose, she took a slight step back but immediately sized up to him. With a puffed out chest and a harsh look in her eye, she squared up against him with his soft and calming features. She waited for him to raise a hand and was ready to fight back as much as her petite frame would allow. His arms raised and a slight flinch escaped Ara as she looked at him.

But her hard exterior faltered when he offered her a hug. Her hands came up to fold over her chest as she looked at him with confusion. Slowly shr took a step forward. Then another. After her third small step she pressed into his chest and let him embrace her. She relaxed tremendously against him and let out a heavy sigh. Her hands slowly wrapped around and returned the hug as she took in as much of the hug as she could.

After a long while she finally let go but still didn't look up at him. "Thanks." she said softly as she glanced up at him through her hair. "How did my mom manage to hook up with you? Seriously." she commented as she hugged him again. "Were you serious about the pod racer part?" she asked him as she kept her face pressed against his chest, not caring much about her horns. "Can you actually do mechanic work? Or am I gonna have to ask my mom for help?" she asked him as she pulled back to look up at him.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Slowly but surely, Ara seemed to be relaxing. Mathieu's hand made a calm soothing motion on her back as they stood there for way longer than he had expected. He leaned back a bit as she looked up to him with a thanks upon which he flashed a soft smile "Hey, no need to thank me for a hug" he said, meaning every word of it.

He let out a chuckle when asked on how he and Sam had got together. He remembered how she had slowly opened up to him and how close they had grown at one point. It was something for her to share with Ara, not him. It didn't seem like the girl expected him to answer either as she then resumed the hugging - something which he welcomed with already opened arms. It hurt his feelings more than anything to see that she was stabbing him with her horns. Not only because he had a rather high pain tolerance and her horns were far from developed still, but mainly because it indicated that she was not at all used to hugging people. Gently, his hand by her head guided it a bit to the side so that the offending one would fall into the ridge between his pecs. He wondered if it would cause her to grow weary and awkward but kept brushing her back calmly, hoping that it would let her feel safe.

"Yeah, of course. I'll help ya out" he said, letting her feel his chest rise and fall as he spoke until she pulled back. "I can't compete with a real mechanic, you know, but I know a thing or two and I have a long contact list I can call if we get stuck." In his mind, the game of Pazaak was over by now so instead of returning to the armchair, he went to sit in the middle of the couch next to her seat "I don't know what ground rules you two are gonna set, but if you need permission for dangerous stuff, you'll need to get it for this. OK?"

The large Padawan waited for her to take a seat somewhere before asking "So, you've been travelling for a while, haven't you? Got any interesting stories from your trip here?" he asked

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara was a little weirded out as he turned her head, but quickly realized why he did. Still, she didn't say anything as she held onto him. A faint smile appeared on her lips as he agreed to help her out. Inside, she was beaming with joy. He seemed like a guy true to his word, which was good for her. She might actually finally be able to make a dream of hers reality for a change. To her disappointment, though, he insisted that she asked her mother for permission first. "I... don't know if I'd want to. Just my luck, she'll be overprotective or something and stop me from doing it entirely. I don't want her getting in the way of my dreams." she admitted softly as she looked at the ground. It didn't take a genius to see that she still had very little trust in her mother.

He sat on the couch and she joined him, keeping to herself. She thought for a few seconds over his question as she tried to recall anything that stood out. "Not really. I hopped from place to place, looking for her. I had to pull some tricks to make money here and there for lifts but other than that, I tried to not draw attention to myself." she admitted as she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You're cool. Can't I come live with you rather? I'll even clean your house up for you and do your laundry." she asked him, clearly quite serious in her question. "Seriously. My mom's not a good person. She doesn't give a kriff about me. It's only a matter of time before she throws me out as well." she explained as she played with a thread coming off her worn and dirty jacket.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

She wasn't too fond of needing her mother's approval. That was not unexpected but all he could do was to form a flat smile "Try. Try and we'll see how it goes. You can have my holo-frequency and till me how it went after."

Mathieu loved a good story and to hear that she didn't have any to tell was a little disappointing. Usually, longer trips brought something interesting, especially when it was someone younger who went, seeing as they were a tad more easily impressed. Still, he accepted it with a soft shrug. When she leaned in against his shoulder, he immediately started moving about. At first, it would seem like he might be trying to get rid of her but within just a few short moments, it would become obvious that it was not the case. The large Morellian opened his arm to bring her in under it and slid down a bit to ensure that she could lean in against the side of his chest. It was much more comfortable than leaning in on his shoulder, not to mention much warmer.

The kid's demeanour had softened so much since they first met and Mathieu was happy to see that. "My 'house' would take a long time to clean. I live in the temple" he joked, giving her a light squeeze, hopefully giving her a hint as to why it would be impossible for her to come live at his house. Naturally, Mathieu felt like it was way more possible than she might expect, but he wanted to wait just a little bit before telling them - or perhaps consulting with a master first. Because the fear and anger he had seen in her demeanour made him unsure of what the best course of action was.

His arm that draped her side pressed her tight a few times as she expressed her dislike of her mother. "If that ever happens, be sure to call me first, OK? We'll figure it out" he said. While he hoped it wouldn't happen and leaned towards the likelihood being low, it still wasn't unfathomable if Sam did it. And if that happened, he wanted to make sure that the little Sheridan would be alright.

His thumb stroked her, by his standards, little arm before looking down at her "You like stories?" he asked, with a great smile. If she answered positively, he would give her a little warning "Okay, so this was when I was with Sam on Nar Shaddaa. But it's a good story, wanna hear it?" if she still answered positively, he would tell her about the action packed moments of when they got her ship back. His goal was only to tell a good story and never to make the girl like her mother more. So most details, he kept blurry whilst primarily showcasing the action they went through, describing how he tanked blaster bolts which causing havoc with his chaingun and how Sam danced among the office desks, dodging bullets and taking down bad guys.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara was about to move away and give him room but he quickly pulled her back into a more comfortable position. She relaxed into his frame and shifted to not stick her horns into his chest. She looked at him as he joked about where he lived, earning a small smile from her. "Friggin lucky." she muttered as she sat back against him.

He hugged her tighter as she mentioned her concerns over her mother. It felt good to have someone that felt like an actual friend. "I will. You look like a trustworthy guy. Just drop me your details, I'll send a message later." she commented softly, enjoying the moment with her new friend. He asked if she wanted to hear a story, mentioning that it was with her mother. She looked away for a second before looking up at him. "Sure. Might be able to see how you two hooked up." she commented as she sat back against him.

She listened quietly to his story, trying to pay attention. But in no time at all quiet snoring cane from her as she fell asleep against him. Shifting slightly, she got more comfortable in his embrace and was soon completely gone.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

At first, he didn't notice the snoring. The Morellian had talked for quite some time after she had fallen asleep, letting her hear his voice with her head pressed against his chest. Once he discovered that she was asleep, he let out a soft chuckle and rubbed the side of her arm once more. She had had a tough upbringing and a tough shell, just like her mother when they first met. Still, they seemed to have made a connection and as much as she seemed to have trusted him, he felt protective of her. The girl deserved some happiness in her life and if he could help just a little, he'd want to do it.

Gently and carefully, he picked her up, letting out a small chuckle as it felt like he had had gear heavier than her in the past. Walking about in the house, he peered into the two bedrooms and made a guess as to which one was the guest room. Mathieu was careful not to wake her when he tucked her into bed. Kneeling down next to the bedside table, he wrote a note

"Hey, I'll leave my contact details down below. Call me if you wanna talk or something. Can't talk during class though.

/Mathieu"

He then returned to the living room to finish his soda before returning his attention to finish the dishes and cleaning up in the kitchen until Sam came back.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

Probably an hour after Matt had tucked Ara in, Sam returned to her home. Tired, stained with grease, and dirty all over again, Sam opened her door and entered. She took a moment to get her bearings as she only saw Matt doing his own thing. "Where's Ara?" she asked him, trying to get her bearings. After checking in with her, she returned to the living room and grabbed herself another beer. "Thanks for looking after her. That karking fighter was gushing fluids all over the place. Idiot of a rookie didn't secure the couplings properly and they came loose after he tried to make sure it was running smoothly. That's what you get for leaving a rookie on their own." she explained as if she herself was working there for years.

She motioned towards the door and went outside to talk with him while Ara slept. "You know, you picked a fine time to kark off." she quipped with a chuckle. "First I manage to get my past life sorted, then I get a stable job... now she's back in my life and I legitimately don't know how to work with that." she admitted, taking a long swig of her beer. "But hey, it's not the most difficult thing I've had to endure. Did she say anything while I was out?" she asked him as she leaned against the wall.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Sam was back. Mathieu held his finger in front of his mouth, indicating that she should be silent before motioning that she was sleeping with his hands before finally pointing to the guest room. When she returned out, Mathieu listened to her speak about her work whilst finishing what he was doing. The time to leave was nearing. The large Morellian let out a chuckle and spoke softly with a low voice "It sounds like you've found your place here, Sam."

Soon, the moved outside. It was dark compared to the homely lights that shone from inside her house. It was a bit colder, but in truth, he enjoyed the fresh air and the soft breeze. Chuckling along with her, he innocently shrugged, only to look at her sympathetically as she mentioned having gone through worse things in life. Mathieu was not about to betray the trust Ara had but in him by telling Sam - the person she seemed to hate more than anything, about the specifics of it. "Just small talk" he said after shaking his head. "Maybe she'll tell you tomorrow" he added before putting a hand on her shoulder "I think she's a good kid, Sammy. And she reminds me a bit of a certain someone I know. Try to be patient with her, OK? I left a note by her bedside table with my contact details on. She is welcome to call at any time. And so are you. I can drop by and make something simple for you to eat tomorrow. Home made food, you know." his voice was still low and he spoke calmly and with purpose as he looked her in the eyes.

The Morellian removed his hand from her shoulder and started walking but soon turned to speak to her again "It was good to see you again."

/End Thread

Sam Sheridan