Pure Innovation

[Onley Xiangu]

S U L L U S T​

It was a nice change of pace to be off Maena. The Kiffar-Arkanian hybrid had grown accustomed to the planet. After all, when you lived on a planet with a city of 300 million inhabitants spread over a claustrophobic, loud 600 levels of every sin imaginable...it was difficult to grow bored. Even still, business often took him elsewhere in the name of novelty. There was a particular visitor to Maena that had a particular interest for Sullustan women. Onley didn’t really get it, but he was nothing if not a pleaser.

And so he found himself in G’rinn Go City.

In a way, it didn’t feel so different than home. Far, far less less open crime and vice of course but the loud, bustling atmosphere made him feel comfortable. Wide open plains simply reminded him of Ovmar dumping him on near-dead planets to see if he could fend for himself. He could - but he preferred to avoid quiet, natural places whenever he could nowadays. They were unsettling.

Though not the planet’s largest settlement, or its most advanced, G’rinn Go City was bustling nonetheless. It boasted Sullust’s impressive markets, miles-long spreads of every product imaginable. Clothes for sale flapped in the wind over wooden stalls, most in the dull grays and browns that Sullustans seemed to prefer though some pieces went for a daring orange or purple. A Sullustan man was loudly selling his wares, holding up what looked like a handheld fan one might hold to their face on a hot day. Ancient tech, as far as anyone else was concerned, but with the passion coming from the man Onley assumed he’d sell at least one that day. Kids of several different species chased each other through stalls, leaping to try and touch the bottom of kites hanging from a toy vendor as they ran by. Appliances, scrap metal, speeder parts, counterfeit handbags claiming to be real Gundark leather handstitched on glittering meccas such as Coruscant, Empress Teta, or Maena.

But most amazing was the food. You could probably find just about anything you were craving here. Vibrant oranges, reds, yellows, greens denoted all manner of ripe fruit and vegetables. Bright, marbled raw meat was displayed in humming, clear-topped refrigerator units. Choice cuts of fish were arranged neatly next to blue-green tanks churning with live blue-ringed sea crab and ice-lobsters. Rice and strange grains were displayed in huge piles, dusty cups buried in their sides to fill bags of shoppers milling by. The whole place had a distinctive smell, mostly pleasant save for the slight scent of fruit over-sweet in the day’s sun from less observant vendors.

Onley was just passing time, but he happened to spot the curly mane of dark hair before anything else.
Of course.

He took his time getting to her, dark eyes just observing as he drew closer. By the time he'd gotten close enough to be heard, he realized that she was turning over a Sullustan kiwi in her hands. Fuzzy and small, they looked more like peach pits than real fruit.

"I wouldn't," he warned as he came up next to her. "Not really worth your credits. Two bites, pretty sour. There are better things in this Market." He wasn't talking about himself. Mostly.

"Onley," he said, offering a hand for a shake.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Freedom was an odd concept for Madeline. It was something she always yearned for, but was always just that far out of reach. Now that she had it, she wasn’t sure what to do with it. It had taken a lot of convincing from Kana, a back and forth of if she should or if she shouldn’t - but in the end Madeline found herself in G’rinn Go City on Sullust.

Madeline felt alive. The energy of the city seemed to flow around her, a current in the masses running over her skin leaving behind goosebumps and a faint smile on her lips. She had chosen G’rinn Go City precisely for the fact that it wasn’t Sullust’s largest city. It was large enough of a settlement that Madeline knew she could and probably would get lost in, but not so large in that the masses of people made it feel like she couldn’t breathe.

Weaving in and out of the stalls, Madeline stared in awe at all the different fabrics and little trinkets the vendors were selling. Her fingers danced across leathers and wood - drawing weird looks from some of the sellers though no one had said anything to her, and if they had Madeline didn’t hear. It was rare - to see a woman of her age looking at the items as though it was her first time ever seeing some of them, but for her it was. Of course, the vendors didn’t know that. How could they?

Twenty years of her life as a slave had left her without much experience in places like G’rinn, but Madeline was running on the theory that if she could survive twenty years being carted around like cattle, she could handle a couple of days in the city.

Eventually she found herself near the food markets - the allure of bright colors and the smell of cooking food brought her in - hypnotic in its own sense. Madeline found herself in front of the brightly arrayed fruit, offering a soft smile and a hello to the vendor before scanning over her options. She had found a few peaches that looked good, handing them over to the man before she looked around some more. Next she saw Sullustan kiwi, picking up one while she mentally debated it for a moment. Thumb running over the outside she couldn’t help but grin a bit. It was small, sure - but the texture was interesting. Trying to recall, Madeline was positive she had never had such a fruit before.

A presence came up next to her, his shadow casting over the fruit and normally she wouldn’t pay the other shopper any mind but something compelled her to look up. The first thought to cross her mind when her eyes met his was, ‘woah’. Madeline had up until that point, never found someone who had made her have such a strong reaction just by looking at them. It made her flustered, and she wasn’t quite sure she liked the feeling. Realizing he was speaking to her, her dark eyes shifted down to his lips - eyes watching intently as his mouth formed around the words. He has nice lips, she thought and immediately had to hold back a groan at her child-like reaction. You’re a grown woman Madeline, act like it. Heeding his warning she set the kiwi back in its spot, before turning her attention fully to him. Smiling brightly up at him she slipped her hand into his, lithe fingers wrapping around his hand in a confident shake.

“Onley… it’s nice to meet you. I’m Madeline.” Her voice came out a little louder than intended, unable to tell the pitch of her voice gave her one of her biggest problems when speaking and had, over time, caused a fear of hers. She only hoped she had pronounced his name correctly.

“What would you recommend then?”

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​

 

[Onley Xiangu]

Onley was discriminating only in the sense that he had standards. Other than that, he had no type - skinny or thick, short or tall, light or dark, human or alien, Onley liked them all. He was a sucker for a pretty face first, there was no denying that. He was drawn in first physically and he would admit to being largely shallow. Each fling was a different length. But he found he got bored easily - a pretty face only got you so far. He hung around longest with the women who were strong, confident, interesting, had passions of their own, and maybe were a little bit dangerous.

He liked her handshake.

Her voice came across perhaps a bit louder than would have been normal, but they were in the middle of a bustling market - if anything, it just made it so he didn’t have to strain to hear her. But then he realized that some of the words weren’t formed exactly as he’d expected. Her accent was Basic, but curled a little strangely. And he’d thought she was just looking at his mouth like every woman seemed to but then…

He realized she was deaf.

For a second he felt like an ass, but then realized he couldn’t really have known. So instead he just made sure that even as he turned his head slightly to look at the other things the vendor was selling she could see his lips to read them.

There wasn’t anything particularly exotic on display, at least at first glance. But then he spotted them - nestled in a small box right at the top of the slanted box drawers: Aurilians fruits. A little more expensive than most of the other things found on display simply because they were difficult to grow, they were round, shiny, and a dark blushing pink dappled with green spots. Onley grabbed two, passing the requisite credits to the man behind the cart before handing one to the woman next to them.

She really was easy to look at - big, beautiful eyes and a curly mane of hair, pale skin.

“Aurilian fruit,” he said when he was sure she was looking at him. “Delicious. Peel the rind off, like this,” he said, digging his thumbs in to the thick outer skin and peeling it away to reveal exceedingly soft fruit inside. He ripped off a section, conveniently held on the rind somewhat like a small watermelon. “Just be careful when you eat it. It’ll give you a great headrush.”

He bit in to the section of his he’d peeled off, an immediate burst of euphoria overtaking him as quickly as the delicate citrus bite. It was muted - nothing like a drug, or anything nearly that strong. But it was unmistakable. Just a sense of well-being and happiness. One of nature’s gifts.

“Come on,” he said, starting to walk further the street. He just sort of assumed his acquaintance would accompany him. “So, what’s a girl like you doing on Sullust?” he asked, still making sure his face was visible to her when he spoke. Telepathy would be much easier, but it was best not to reveal oneself as a Force-User to others, especially not when you were about business such as his.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Madeline was confident, but not when it came to affairs of the heart. She had no experience, and her disability made her anxious that it would scare any possible suitors away so she simply never let her mind think too much on the topic. Something Madeline allowed herself to think on however was when someone was attractive, and Onley was just that. Dark hair and eyes, the man emanated power and confidence - dangerous when separate, but even more so as a pair. It was something she shouldn’t allow herself to indulge in, but like a first time goer at a beach, the tide looked so inviting.

She watched as he scanned the display before picking out something he introduced to her as ‘Aurilian Fruit’ - something Madeline had never seen the likes of before, and honestly she doubted she would have noticed it without his keen eye picking it out. Carefully following his instructions, Madeline stuck her thumbs into the fruit peeling away the outer skin. Peeling off a section, she waited until he had eaten his piece, not because she didn’t trust him but rather she was interested if she could see how much of an effect it could have on him if it was said to give the person eating it a headrush.

A smile made its way to her face once she realized he was either very good at hiding his reaction to it, or it was muted - not meant to make the individual consuming it look as though they were drunk. Carefully she bit into the piece of the fruit, immediately feeling the euphoric sensation rush through her. It stimulated her senses, every nerve lighting up and firing at once and a laugh tumbled out past her lips, light and airy - like a bell ringing through the air. Madeline’s eyes lit up in mischief as she smiled up at him. “This… this is amazing!”

She was surprised when Onley motioned for her to follow him, having not expected this interaction to go farther than just the stand they were currently at though she nodded at him. Holding up her index finger in a ‘one moment’ gesture, Madeline turned quickly passing the seller the required credits for the peaches she had wanted earlier, taking them from him with a thanks before slipping them into her bag, slim legs carrying her quickly over to Onley’s side as they started their trek through the bustling streets.

Madeline knew the question about why she was in Sullust would come up in conversation with someone, she just wasn’t expecting it to be so soon. Smiling she looked down, pulling off another piece of the fruit and taking a bite as her eyes reconnected with his after a moment - the gesture seemed shy, and while that might have been part of it she was also trying to collect her thoughts, figure out just how much she should let out.

“Exploring, actually. I haven’t seen much of the galaxy and I had some free time. I was nearby, so I figured why not start here.” Her mind briefly wandered to the idea of how much of the galaxy Onley had seen. If she had to guess, she would say he had seen a good portion of it. He seemed around her age, give or take a year or two but with what she had seen of him so far his knowledge was expansive.

“What about you, what are you doing in Sullust?” Madeline nudged him slightly as she said it, eyes lit with mirth. It was a flirty gesture, something that had her insides screaming at her to step away, to stop but she couldn’t, wouldn’t - not yet. She couldn’t deny she was attracted to him, and she was just glad he had seemed to be understanding of her predicament. Onley also seemed to be intrigued by her, just as much as she was him - and that had Madeline pushing farther. She wanted to get to know him - maybe it was dangerous but at this point in time she couldn’t find herself to care. Madeline was determined to enjoy her newfound freedom.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​

 

[Onley Xiangu]

He wasn’t surprised at her admission that she hadn’t seen much of the galaxy. Her wonder over the fruit was proof enough of that. But that wasn’t a strange story either. Despite the possibility of space travel, there were very few citizens of the galaxy who ever saw more than the planet they were born on. Some might fly to a few nearby, some even to those outside their particular system. But those who flew far from the corner of the galaxy they’d always known were less common.

Onley’s travels were less by choice and more a product of his childhood. Born to two Sith who had decided to allow him to live as something of an experiment, he had been given to a Ward until he’d come to be self-sufficient. Perhaps it had been a blessing to be spared those two particular creatures raising him, but Jared Ovmar had taught his own cruel lessons. Any dead or barbaric world, any place that it seemed he shouldn’t survive, he’d been placed on to do just that. He wouldn’t pretend that he didn’t see the point. At the time it had been its own kind of hell, but he saw the purpose in it. He’d gained the sort of skills missing from traditional training - how to hunt, how to navigate, how to defend himself creatively, how to do what had to be done. By the time he’d asked to be trained in the Force, it just seemed like another tool instead of the most important thing in his arsenal.

Sullust wasn’t the first place he’d have visited were he suddenly able to jetset around the galaxy on his own time as she was doing. Onley just assumed that her reason for traveling was around here somewhere, and Sullust was one of the closest places to explore. Not that there was anything wrong with it. It just lacked a certain...excitement. Its capital city - in fact, its entire government - was corporate, cold, lacking any of the raucous life Onley had come to love discovering in his travels.

Still, this market wasn’t so bad.

“Just some business,” he answered casually. Being able to tell enough of the truth to remain convincing while hiding the rest was what made him good at what he did. “My company is going to be entertaining some important guests, and they have...interesting tastes. Had to come to this market to try and find them.” All of that was true.

“But I think I have time for some food. You?”

Again, he didn’t wait to see if she’d agree. He wasn’t usually quite so quick to things, but he’d taken another slice of flesh from the Aurilian and a burst of euphoria curled over his mind again.

There weren’t really the traditional sort of restaurant here in Go City, if only because every inch seemed packed with stalls. But if one looked hard enough they could find the places that sold their wares prepared too, leaving out small tables and rickety wooden chairs for patrons to stop and take a load off as they shopped. Really, rather ingenious. Onley found one of these quickly enough, sort of rustic charm drawing him in as he dusted off a seat for Madeline and then himself, sitting down.

An older, plump Sullustan woman came over, dewflaps wiggling slightly in excitement at having someone to serve. The man behind a dangerously steaming grilltop somehow built in to his permanent stand bopped excitedly as well, calling to his wife who waved him off before looking between the two humans.

“Wakati arti sisi pego?”

“Mmm...kufanya hivyo kwa njia hiyo?”

“Hakuna! Masanduku wale waliokuwa palak wamba!”

The Sullustan woman quickly shuffled off to her husband, presumably to go tell him what Onley had ordered.

“I hope you don’t mind but I just asked her to give us the nicest of whatever they’ve got. And she said something about a drink with...cucumbers in it? What are cucumbers?”

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting in terms of an answer from Onley, but she knew it would be vague. The impression Madeline had gotten from him so far was that the man walking next to her practically exuded mystery. She could understand that though, the galaxy as a whole was not a very trusting place and it was best to be cautious around new people, even people such as herself.

Instead she found herself nodding, a hum of agreement slipping past her lips at the mention of food. Until that moment she hadn’t given much thought to if she was hungry or not, but the idea of getting some food was alluring - even more so with him.

Following Onley, Madeline took in more of the market that she had yet to see as they walked through. It had a charm about it - one that you had to look closely to see. Sure, Madeline knew there were probably places far more alluring than the market the two of them were currently in, but Madeline was glad this places charm was a bit understated and not so flashy.

When they arrived at the restaurant, she was surprised at the motion of Onley dusting off a chair for her before taking a seat himself. A soft ‘thank you’ followed with a smile came from her as she sat down, her motions fluid and gentle. Raising her hand up she swept it through her tight curls, pushing them back from her face. A waitress showed up quickly enough and Madeline offered her a polite smile, eyes glancing down to her lips though her eyebrows furrowed a bit when she realized the formation of words was something foreign. Unable to understand she shifted her eyes to Onley, eyes focusing in on his lips to see him speaking - lips wrapping around words unknown to her and she realized he must speak the same language as the lady who came to take their order.

She watched in wonder as the two conversed. After the woman had shuffled away Onley had turned his attention back to Madeline. She wore an amused smile on her face, fingers absentmindedly twisting a plain ring on her middle finger. Her amusement grew even more when he questioned what cucumbers were.

“They are a green vegetable, very versatile and tasty. Cucumbers are actually what pickles are before they become pickles!” There was no tone in her voice that made it seem as though she was belittling him for not knowing what a cucumber was - she of all people couldn’t do that to someone when her knowledge was so small as it was.

“I appreciate you ordering by the way. I was so lost.” A laugh followed, shortly after with another question. “What language was that?”

Before he could answer the woman came back setting the drinks down in front of both Madeline and Onley. Nodding her head in thanks to the woman she smiled before turning excitedly to the man sitting across from her. Gingerly pulling a slice of cucumber off the top of her glass she held it up. “This is a cucumber - I promise it’s not horrible.” As if to prove her point she took a bite of it, and after two more it was finished. A warm smile followed by a wave of her hand towards his drink.

“Go on...tell me what you think.”

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​

 

[Onley Xiangu]

“Sullustan. Strange language, difficult to learn since they use their dewflaps to make some of the sounds. But where I come from, you have to pick up a lot of different languages if you want to make any headway,” Onley answered, running a heavily-tattooed hand down the front of his shirt to smooth it. It was the dead of summer on this side of the planet and somehow his plain t-shirt was barely allowing him to cool down. Thankfully most of the vendors saw fit to spread enormous umbrellas over their stalls, shielding them from a relentless sun and creating great banks of shade for shoppers and stoppers alike. Colorful drawings covered nearly every inch of his skin, even crawling out from the collar of his shirt to creep up his neck. He’d run out of space a few months back. It had been a sad day, but also an accomplishment.

“Pickles are something before they’re pickles?” He hadn’t really expected to learn such surprising knowledge that day, but as the drinks were placed in front of him he had to admit the foreign vegetable did look a lot like the pickles he knew and loved.

Watching her eat one, he wondered if she knew what she was doing or if she was just that blindingly innocent.

Regardless, he pulled the slice from the rim of his glass and eyeballed it before taking a tentative bite himself. There was a moment of silence before he shared his opinion.

“It just takes like water,” he said, nearly mystified. “How do they make these as delicious as pickles?” He couldn’t help but laugh a little, shaking his head.

He was naturally the sort of person that didn’t make silence, the natural lull in conversation. He had been born with the gift of social grace, navigating interaction with the sort of ease that made others relaxed. In the nice, cucumber-crunching moments of silence, it occurred to him that he thought of Maena as “where he came from”. Was that true? He’d never really considered himself as having a home before. Ovmar’s space station had hardly been warm and inviting, despite the memories he had playing children’s games with Silas in the time between planet-drops. He’s spent some time on Coruscant, a little bit on Nar Shaddaa. But maybe the slip was truth enough on its own. Maena was home.

“So, where else do you plan on going in your whirlwind tour of the galaxy?” he asked, sipping on his water that tasted like water because the vegetables in it tasted like...water. He might have asked where she was originally from, but it seemed like most in the galaxy would rather not talk such things. Everyone was always looking forward.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Eyes lingered, following the path Onley’s hand took as it travelled down the front of his shirt. Madeline had no idea how she had missed it before, but the man before her had intricately and brightly colored tattoos covering his skin. She had seen tattoos before however none so expertly done or so many at once. They were beautiful too, and as she travelled her gaze up she saw what looked to be more that danced along his his neck and crept down beneath his shirt. It was an attractive sight she would admit - artwork of any form had always appealed to her. For someone to create such beautiful pieces that spoke volumes had always amazed her and for them to create the same kind of feeling on skin was incredible.

Madeline had the thought of possibly getting one of her own after this.

She had wanted to laugh when he questioned the idea of pickles being something before they were pickles, but she couldn’t stop the airy sound from escaping past her lips when his reaction of tasting a cucumber was ‘it tastes like water’. She nodded her head, eyes lit with mirth. “They really do. I believe to make them into pickles they put them in a larger volume of vinegar and some other ingredients and eventually they turn into them.” A noncommittal shrug followed, another sip of her drink before she spoke again.

“I actually don’t have anywhere specific in mind. I had plans to eventually visit Coruscant and possibly Naboo but other than that I was planning on just going with the flow, so to speak.”

A pause, tongue running over her bottom lip. She was surprised. Madeline had not expected conversation to flow so easily with someone, let alone someone with the amount of charm Onley had. Typically people such as himself made her nervous and Madeline found herself stumbling over her words often. This wasn’t the case with Onley and she wasn’t sure if it was the allure of him, her confidence growing, or a mix of both.

“What about you? After your business here is done you have any plans elsewhere in the galaxy?”

The waitress came back then, looking apologetic for interrupting their conversation as she set down a plate of what Madeline assumed was appetizers of some sort. Madeline smiled gently at the woman, turning quickly to Onley and asking, “How do you say thank you in Sullustan?”

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​

 

[Onley Xiangu]

“I really like Coruscant,” he said, thinking of the city-planet fondly. He neglected to mention that his Mother had once been Empress of the symbolic capital of the galaxy. It was best not to identify his Mother unless he was sure of his company, and as much as he liked Madeline, he wasn’t sure how she’d react to the precise nature of his family. “I think you’d like it there. The upper levels are beautiful.”

Onley was sure he had plans, though they were sort of made for him by the whims of his business. That was fine for him. For all the work and defense that went in to maintaining territory in a planet and galaxy full of cartels waiting for open real estate, his line of work allowed him ample time for relaxation and pleasure. Going outside Maena was always a possibility, he supposed. But one the other hand it never seemed to occur to him. Which wasn’t surprising, if one knew the planet’s nature.

“Well...yes and no. I grew up in a lot of places, but now I call the planet Maena home. It’s capital, the New City? It’s nestled inside a massive volcano. The city itself is six-hundred layers, all packed one on top of the other. Each layers is massive in its own right, a world all on its own. The people who live there call it the 600 Cities. There’s so much to see that when I’m not working, I can’t help but just want to stay there and find something I haven’t discovered yet.”

He paused, one side of his mouth quirking up in one of those grins characteristic to the overly-bold accustomed to their gambles paying off.

“You should let me show you around some time.”

The waitress came back over, Kaminoan calamari arranged on one side of the platter, with square salty crackers and bright Sullustan jam arranged on the other. Truly, an appetizer that deserved a thank you. He smiled at Madeline when she asked for a translation. “Asante," he said quietly in to her mind, taking the chance on revealing telepathy.

[member="Madeline Roux"]​

 

[Madeline Roux]

Maena - the name of the planet flitted around her brain, a creature small and covered in a twisted mix of red and black, smoldering in flames scurried between the crevices. Leaving in its wake burnt paw prints that forever imprinted itself within her mind. She had heard the name of the planet before, possibly having read it somewhere though she couldn’t recall much information on the planet.

Though she couldn’t recall much, it fit the man sitting before her. It was dark, alluring, mysterious. It may have not been his birth planet, but it was him. Like him, Madeline felt an inexplicable feeling towards the planet. She was drawn to him, to the planet, and Madeline honestly wanted to learn more of Maena. She just wanted to learn.

600 cities. It seemed absolutely massive, and something she couldn’t have ever fathomed. Let alone it being only a part of the planet - kark. She would be mad to not want to experience the place at least once - be it dangerous or not.

As she was about to respond, his voice had suddenly infiltrated her mind - alluring in it’s own right. It was filled with depth, and ridiculously smooth, just as she had imagined it to be. Her eyes had widened in size, staring at him in shock for a moment, too stunned to say anything.

Just like that she was back in the moment, cheeks reddening with embarrassment at how she reacted. It wasn’t intentional - and his voice surely wasn’t the first she had ‘heard’. It had come as a surprise, taking her off guard. But even Madeline couldn’t deny how attractive his voice was.
Instead of responding outloud, Madeline found herself taking a sip of her drink, responding back to him inside of his own mind.

“Maybe you could show me Maena sometime?”

He took a chance on revealing his knowledge of telepathy to her, what would be the harm of doing the same towards him?

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​