Funny Finding You Here

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He decided to drop the subject.

Kurt likely could have argued more, he could have made the point of what she would do if someone threatened her family, or worse, someone killed them. He could have argued about hostage situations and half a dozen other things, but in the end he knew that it was useless. Jamie was still young, and her experience with the galaxy was basically nothing. She was naive, ignorant even. Part of Kurt couldn't blame her for that, couldn't be angry with her.

Another part didn't want to ruin it yet.

Eventually Jamie would come to see what Kurt already knew, what he had come to understand during the war. It was a harsh reality, and it was one that would crash down on everyone eventually. It didn't have to happen yet though. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat."

That was the end of it, for him at least.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

She eyed him for a second, curiously. He seemed to have let it go relatively quickly. Perhaps he was still ticked off about the accelerator incident.

Not wanting to push him over the edge again she simply nodded. "Okay, that sounds good. I'm pretty hungry. What have you got on here? I am a pretty decent cook." One of her few actual talents was food preparation. That had been one of her daily regimens with her mother, to prepare meals on a daily basis. Jamie wasn't quite sure what kind of potential ingredients Kurt had to make do with, but she was sure she could probably find something, unless he was one of those really lazy bachelors who just kept instant prep meals.

"At least let me do something to pay you back for this."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He shrugged. "Sure."

Kurt wasn't much of a cook, in fact he wasn't a cook at all. Kaile did most of the cooking on the ship, when there was cooking anyway. Most often he went out to eat, or ordered something on the station he was staying on. It was simpler that way, cost him a few credits a year, but not bad at all really. The pilot had never much minded what he ate, or when he ate it in fact, food on Tatooine had never been the greatest, though his mother was a grand cook.

"I'm not sure." Kurt said on her second question ."Kaile does most of that stuff."

As sad as it was, Kurt never particularly cared about such things.

He had always had enough food, and that was really enough for him. As he began to climb down to the galley, Kurt began to ponder on just what they might have.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Right. Okay then."

Jamie followed Kurt down and into the galley. Wasting no time she began searching through the various cabinets and refrigerator for ingredients. One by one she picked up a number of items and set them atop the counter for review. It seemed like they had everything needed to make a soufflé. She took a mental inventory of everything to make sure it was right.

Dewback eggs, Bantha butter, Bantha milk, Groat cheese, Paprika, Flour, and Pepper. Oh, and Jogan fruit for a side!

The girl smiled happily, not that a soufflé was anything gourmet or worthy of recognition, but it was better than nutrient paste or starving. The recipe was something she'd learned from her mom back home. Jamie hummed a song quietly to herself as she navigated around the prep area like it was her own kitchen, mixing together the milk, butter, eggs, and spices, before setting the temperature on the oven. She couldn't fly a ship worth a damn, but she did know some things about cooking.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

While Jamie made herself comfortable in the galley Kurt decided that he would check the listings for Sif.

After he dropped off Jamie he would be making his way to pick up Kaile, after that he usually took a vacation, but the odd conversation that he and Jamie just had made him...restless. He wanted to do something, wanted to to get out. Maybe doing another job would push that feeling away. A frown pulled at his lips slightly, half reading the job listings and half thinking about something else. There was a big commotion around ATC's Bazaar this week, lots of deliveries going to and from there.

"Have you ever been off Naboo before?" He asked quietly. "Even for vacation?"

She was relatively wealthy, she had to have traveled at least once or twice.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Nope." she said, quite frankly. Her parents had visited other planets for missionary work, or to offer relief aide, but she'd never gone. "My parents were very strict when it came to my schedule."

While waiting for the heat to rise in the oven Jamie located a small cutting board from beneath the sink and began to slice the Jogan fruit into small pieces, plucking up a piece for herself. The girl turned to face Kurt, still chewing on the watery fruit for a moment, before continuing. "If I didn't have classes, I had fencing training. If I didn't have training, I had a political and civics mentor." Shrugging, she never really understood what a vacation was.

"Once in a while I had a day off, does that count?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"No." Kurt said frowning. "No not really."

His parents were never so restrictive, in fact the idea of it was comical.

Kurt's mother and father had always been very open people. Not Natives to Tatooine themselves, but refugees from Dromund Kaas. They were both incredibly intelligent people, and both veyr forward thinking. Growing up they had allowed Kurt many liberties in life, had given him all the freedoms he could have hoped for, and had supported him in whatever he had wanted to do. He was grateful for them, and he loved them very much. Doing what Jamie had done would have seemed...silly to him.

"What about the Gungans? Ever meet any of them?" That wasn't away from Naboo, perhaps she'd been to Otoa Guna.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Oh." She sulked a little. Vacations just weren't something her family did, so she never really understood the concept of them. Her family had always felt it was simply a frivolous waste of credits to leave the planet for unnecessary reasons.

The talk of the Gungans though, that made her face light up like a bundle of fireworks. "Yes! Many of them!" She slid the neatly cut Jogan fruit into a small bowl from the cupboard and carried it with her to the table near Kurt, setting it down between the two as she dropped herself down into the chair. She'd have to get up again in just a moment to put the souffle into the oven, but the world beneath the surface of Naboo was about as close to a vacation as she'd ever gotten, and to her, it was a whole other world. Alien in its' own way.

"I made some friends with the Gungans, even saw a few of their underwater cities! It's really very impressive what they can do! You'd never even know they were there if you weren't looking! Otoh Gunga is enormous!"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Well that was something he supposed.

Kurt had met a few Gungans while traveling, though many of them had been strange, others had been very helpful, even kind. Gungans knew their way around the waters of Naboo, and unsurprisingly they grandly enjoyed the waterworlds of the galaxy, he had met most of them on Manaan during the swoop races there.

"Otoa Guna, huh?" That was the Gungans primary city as far as he knew. "I've never been there, always wanted to go though."

"I've met a few Gungans, one of them was a smuggler. Interesting fellow, went by the name of Gnar." Gnar had been a very strange man, very strange man indeed. He insisted that he was not a smuggler, but instead a purveyor of goods across the galaxy. Of course, when Kurt had tried to tell him it was the same thing Gnar had quite violently disagreed with that statement. The Gungan had gotten into a bit of tizzy, which in the end had been settled by the two of them having a drink. Very odd man.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"They're a very interesting people. A bit reclusive, many prefer to stick to their own."

She stood back up, intending to set the food into the oven to bake. "Most are friendly enough though." She reached over into the bowl and plucked a piece of fruit with two fingers and tossed it into her mouth, sealing her lips shut promptly after, a bit of a smile forming as she walked away. Jamie pulled open the door and slid the dish inside, closing it immediately after. She looked around for a minute to scrounge up a timer and set it for 20 minutes. Placing it down onto the counter she returned to Kurt.

"Some are a bit turned off by outsiders visiting, and turn their noses at you. Those are surprisingly few though, and many welcome guests."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Well, it was certainly an experience." He mused for a moment.

Gnar had been a rather interesting character, though out of the rainbow of oddities that Kurt had encountered within the galaxy the Gungan hadn't been particularly outstanding. The pilot frowned for a moment, then shifted slightly as he looked over at what Jamie was doing. He had no experience with cooking, though he'd watched others do it often enough. Still, he had no idea what she was actually making or what it would taste like in the end, though that would hardly bother him.

"Maybe I'll go one day." Kurt said out loud. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind me."

He was after all the companionable sort.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"You think so? I'm not so sure." She smirked. "You're not the most personable, you know." Her smirk grew ever wider, her tongue partially out between her two rows of shiny white teeth. "You're kind of grumpy at times." Jamie lifted her legs beneath the table, finding his lap to rest them on. "And you're constantly on edge. You need to relax a bit more."

She couldn't hold it back anymore and laughed. Of course she was teasing him in a relatively playful way, not intending to actually insult him, her tone would make that clear, or at least she'd hope.

"Maybe if you asked nicely though, I might bring you with me sometime, let them know you're an alright guy." He would feel the tip of her toes poke his stomach while she giggled.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Grumpy?" Kurt perked an eyebrow.

She had half a point, but there was a reason for that. "Only when I start the day with getting arrested, then get shot at, then get yelled at."

His tone was rather flat, though there was a hint of amusement in his tone.

Truth be told he wasn't all that angry about it anymore, there was no point in being upset. Things happened, and there was no point in dwelling on what had happened in the past. Kurt didn't hold grudges, especially against people that weren't really at fault for the things that happened to him. Jamie wasn't at fault for her parents arresting him, or for the people in the dinner...though she was responsible for yelling at him. He frowned slightly, then shook his head. That hardly mattered too, just a bit of yelling.

"I think they'd love me." Kurt stated again. "I'll bring them some fish."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

She'd poke him with her feet again. "Not my fault you got shot at or arrested. I wasn't on Naboo, and I didn't start the gunfight." Her head turned slightly off to the side and her eyes narrowed a bit. "And as for the yelling? You played a part in that yourself too." Leaning a bit forward she cupped her chin in her hand as Kurt proclaimed his place amongst the Gungan people. He seemed pretty confident that he could win them over with something as simple as a fish. As if he could simply bring any fish to them and be thought of as a God.

"You'll bring them some fish? These are sentient people you know, not mindless animals. Just bringing them some fish probably wont make them your best friend. That is, unless you know their favored type of fish."

Looking back at the bowl filled with Jogan fruit that sat between the two she picked up another few pieces, then outstretched and overturned her hand, offering one to him. "But humor me, why do you think they'd love you? What makes you so special?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt shrugged.

"I'm a nice guy." He had a way about meetings people. Kurt wasn't exactly the most threatening person. Most of the time he carried an air of friendliness, one that made most people enjoy his company. He was charming, or so most folk had told him. It was part of what had made him so famous on Tatooine and part of what had allowed him to coast through the military so long while technically never doing much except for flying the fighters he was supposed to do.

The Pilot was odd in that way, but he knew how to make friends.

"Won you over." He said simply. "Didn't I?"

The point would stick, or so he hoped.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"A nice guy. That's it? That's all you've got?"

She scoffed and turned her head, rolling her eyes and furrowing her brows at his accusation that he'd won her over in any sort of capacity.

"And just what makes you think you won me over?"

This she wanted to hear. He must have the biggest ego of anyone I've ever met. She was curious just what he thought he did that was so spectacular that she was smitten for him. He certainly seemed awful sure of himself. With a shake of her head her jaw dropped just a bit, her tongue pressed down against the floor of her mouth, fighting the stupid smile on her face as she looked at him.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt smirked. He knew people well, he knew how they acted, reacted, and just what to do when they needed that little extra push. It was something he'd learned while still on Tatooine, while making the circuits as champion. Fans were always clamoring about him, talking to him, asking for autographs and interviews. During that time Kurt had learned to read people, to act around them in proper terms. Though it wasn't up to Lorrdian standards, Kurt knew well enough how to read people.

It'd helped him defuse more than one sticky situation.

"Well, you're here aren't you?" He offered that as though it were proof enough, which truthfully, it was.

There wasn't really a further argument that needed to be said. She was here, on his ship, cooking him some kind of dinner that despite the delicious smell he still could not identify.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I have to be somewhere." A stupid question deserved a stupid response. "If I wasn't here, I'd be on someone else's ship, making them something to eat." She folded her arms beneath one another and shrugged.

"What exactly are you getting at? You didn't answer my question. You just substituted it with another question."

Jamie looked over at the timer, then shifted her body so that she could see through the small glassed window of the oven. The dish had risen quite well, much to her delight. She wanted to make something that he'd hopefully enjoy, something she wouldn't screw up given there was such little she could already do as a gesture to make up for earlier, as well as to say thank you for the impromptu flight lesson. The souffle would just need to finish browning along the top and edges, to make a soft, flaky crust as it peaked out of the dish.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Ah, but as I recall you were rather adamant about not being on my ship." He smiled. "Until I convinced you otherwise."

Kurt wandered towards the center of what could be considered the dining area, plopping himself down on the small acceleration couch that was located there. He half remembered to thank Kaile for actually making him buy furniture for the ship, and cups...and things to cook in...and pretty much everything else. He realized that his ship likely would have been a lot more sad if it weren't for his roomate. He frowned for half a second, then returned his smirking gaze towards Jamie again.

"Isn't that evidence enough?" Kurt mused out loud, still looking rather smug.

"Just accept it, love." The heavy Tatooine drawl touched on his lips. "Simpler that way."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Her feet dropped abruptly to the floor as Kurt got up and vacated the seat for one further away, and arguably more comfortable. She growled with frustration, having been left sitting where she was. Somehow he knew the buttons to push that would frustrate he to no end. She hated that. Despised the very idea that he had somehow managed to find his way under her skin and so easily aggravate her.

"No. It's not evidence enough" her voice turned changed tone and pitch as she mockingly attempted to sound like him, enunciating the latter portion of the statement.

"You won't answer my question. Why not? You dodge the question, and then you get up and sit further away?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]