Pickaxes in Space (Anija Ordo)

[Arrbi Betna]

"I don't, no, though I think after this I should probably put one in," he said after a moment. "We should be fine, our air reserves have a two hour window and we've only been out for maybe twenty minutes..."

As he spoke, they continued drifting at a stead pace upwards. Betna was a bit higher up than Anija and so impacted his head on the Pathfinder first, as neither was looking above or below themselves, only around them.

"We could try- Ow!" he cried, startled as his helmet smacked into the ship's hull with a solid clang. "Well, I think we found it."

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

At his exclamation, she gripped his arm firmly and gave a short burst on her jetpack to slow down their momentum. She looked up to find the dorsal hull of the Pathfinder mere inches from her visor. "Might be a good idea..." She replied after a moment or two. "Let's get going. I'm not a fan of zero-g, really."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Works for me," he said with a chuckle.

Using the various panels and protrusions on the Pathfinder, Betna pulled them around to the access hatch. From there, he hit to codes to open the small airlock and slipped in, pulling Anija behind him. The outer door closed and he felt the tiny compartment pressurize. After a few moments tha,t Betna enjoyed immensely in close contact with Anija and was frustrated slightly when they were over, the inner door opened and they were completely inside the small scout ship.

It wasn't much, but the Vangaard Pathfinder had been his home away from home for years. It was also very evident that the person who lived on board was, or had been for most of his life, a bachelor. Of the two cabins on board, the larger was his bedroom while the smaller cabin was locked with only a bunk inside. It was also locked from the outside, making it a makeshift holding cell for any bounties taken alive. Outside of those two rooms, there was only a central corridor, the tiny engine/hyperdrive room, and the cockpit with two chairs. In short, it was the home of a bachelor bounty hunter/mercenary: Betna.

"Alright," he said as he pulled his helmet off. He was a little self conscious about the ship as it was a little... messy. Not exactly trashed, but it was more a functional sort of clean. It smelled fine, it looked fine, and it wasn't cluttered, but there were still rust streaks here and there on the walls and though it wasn't cluttered, it wasn't exactly organized. "Let's head on back. Shouldn't take more than maybe a few hours to get on home."

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

Anija grinned as he rather expertly navigated the outside hull of the Pathfinder, guiding them towards the airlock. She had to admit, she'd gotten quite the adrenaline rush from trying to solve the earlier dilemma. And now, here they were in rather close quarters. Her grin turned to a smirk, and she followed him out into the corridor. She reached up to unseal her helmet as she looked around. She caught a thread of his train of thought and smirked again. "Don't worry about the ship, it's fine. We can work on cleaning it later if you like." she offered with a shrug. "I don't know about you.... but I'm ready to be home.... not a fan of hard vacuum."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"You and me both," Betna said as he climbed into the pilot's seat, offering her the copilot's seat as well.

He started plugging in the hyperspace coordinates and getting things ready. As he did so, he kept an eye on the data readouts. He really didn't know exactly how it all plotted out mathematically, but after years of flying the old crate, he knew what problems to look for in the code. Once finished, he set the hyperdrive into gear and watched as the pinpricks of light outside the cockpit turned to white lines.

"Alright," he said with a stretch as the ship settled into its course with a few of its normal groans here and there. "I'm going to clean up a bit, want to help?"

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

With a sigh, she dropped into the offered chair, and gently set her helmet on the floor. She watched as he worked the controls and then sat back to relax a bit. She had to admit, for the short time they'd been EVA they'd managed to secure two pretty decent-sized chunks of Stygium. She considered that some good work for a day. At his question, she looked up with a slight grin. "You need help getting cleaned up, Ar'ika...?"

 

[Arrbi Betna]

[member="Anija Ordo"]

"Yes," Betna said without thinking before stumbling and realizing just what he'd alluded to. "I mean, no! No, I was just going to clean up the ship a little. I mean, I could use some cleaning up, but I can do that later on my own. Just the ship could use a little cleaning. Just some tidying. Not me that needs cleaning. At least not yet. I mean, on my own I can clean up myself and... Yeeaah, just diggin' a hole here, aren't I?"

He never really had a way with words, to be honest. At least with women. He knew it. His clan knew it. Everyone knew it. Oh, the awkward commentary that was not intentionally awkward that spouted forth from his mouth without him properly thinking about context.

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

Anija chuckled and shook her head slightly, placing a finger against his lips for a moment "It's alright. I know what you meant, Ar'ika. I can help you straighten up the ship, if you like. Or... I could see if you could use any upgrades to your consoles here. The tech looks a bit old, but very serviceable." She looked around again. "And don't worry so much about the state of things. My own quarters are hardly any better when I'm working on a project."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna smiled at her finger on his lips and seriously thought for what felt like minutes. It was probably only a second or two, but to the Mandalorian, it felt so much longer. It was the serious thought of whether or not to do something that may or may not work. It was the same thought process he had any time he was about to do something very stupid, very risky, or very suicidal. Honestly, he wasn't sure which category this would fit in. Probably suicidal, if he had to take a wild guess. More than likely suicidal. Despite that thought process and subconscious categorization, for some reason his mind said to do it anyways. So he did.

Summoning his courage up, he didn't answer Anija. Instead, he brought his head closer to hers and, with his heart racing the same way it did when facing enemy fire on the battlefield, touched his lips to hers.

Yeah... Definitely suicidal.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

For a moment, she wasn't sure what to do. Until now, she'd not been in a relationship with anyone. And even she knew most Mandalorians tended to marry young. After perhaps two seconds, she leaned into [member="Arrbi Betna"] slightly and returned the kiss, even as her arms came to rest loosely around his shoulders. As their lips met, she felt a sort of.... electricity pass between them. It sent a thrill through her as she drifted her hand down his back. Holding the kiss for several seconds, she fond she did have to break for air. "Kandosii..." she whispered.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

[member="Anija Ordo"]

"Indeed," came Betna's soft response, a wide grin on his face.

He slipped his arms around her waist and came back for another kiss. He'd been sweet on a few girls before, dated sporadically, but it had either ended in heartbreak or nothing had come of it. He'd always shrugged it off and moved on, often burying himself in contracts and work. Mandalorians always married young, around the age of sixteen usually. He'd always felt out of place, in a way, because of that.

Mandos valued family above all and while Betna did have family, he didn't have a family. His mother long dead, his father missing. No siblings and no immediate relatives of any kind. He'd felt a certain... warmness with Anija. A kind of... yearning, of sorts. She was pretty and, at first, he'd thought that was it. A physical calling. He'd seen often enough with others that such a thing could blossom into something more, but, now, he knew that wasn't it. At least, not all of it. It was a small thing, that aspect. A small piece of something much larger.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd found something here. In Anija. In the bonds that grew between them. Perhaps he'd finally found what he'd so secretly sought for so long.

Another.

 

[Anija Betna]

A slight smirk crossed her face for a moment as she caught the general thread of his thoughts. She leaned in to meet his kiss firmly, but gently as her hand rested on his waist, the other on his neck. She held the kiss for several seconds this time, as if trying to pour her emotions across the physical connection. Even so, she knew he had no Force ability. With a almost reluctant sigh, she finally broke for air, resting her forehead against his as she did so.

"I love you....Arrbi Betna.." she whispered in his ear before leaning in to kiss him again.

[[End Thread]]