Responsibility

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


“He does good work though,” she’d compliment Asmus, flashing a glance over to the man in question. A ghost of a grin frosted her lips.

That wasn’t the only good work… He had been quite handy with his hands and that lavender oil --

“Don’t ya’ll think my hair’s pretty?” she’d beam up at the Twins, trying her best to banish those thoughts. The back and forth banter made her laugh, a light hearted note at the slight bit of dramatization. They were characters alright, and Kaile didn’t mind them a bit. The unique personalities that droids could take always fascinated the Lorrdian. While she understood the necessity for periodic wipes, personally she didn’t like them.

Truth be told the little quirks were what made them just a bit more human to her. Familiar and personable.

“Reckon I can fix that for you,” Her low murmur would offer aid, already thinking about what she’d need for it. Wouldn’t take too long. “I got my tools with me, shouldn’t be too much trouble to go through and make sure ya’lls doing okay. When was your last diagnostic?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

The Twins reeled off a series of numbers point to a very precise time. “APPROXIMATELY EIGHT MONTHS AGO.” they finished, in case Kaile didn't quite catch the string. “YOUR HAIR LOOKS LOVELY.”

“THAT WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED,” one said on its own.

“MISS…” The other added.

Asmus flashed her a smile back. Those lewd thoughts actually faded when faced with that hint of a grin as she looked to him. Instead he just wanted to be done with the containers, to be talking with kaile again, seeing if he could make her laugh more.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

“Kaile.” the Lorrdian answered with a friendly grin. “Ya’ll should really consider names. Ya’ll might be twins but wouldn’t it be nice to have somethin’ of your own?” she’d suggest with a friendly banter.

“Reckon I can come after lunch and take care of that diagnostic and do ya’lls routine checks.” which might mean some time apart from Asmus unless he was so inclined to hang about the Twins some more. Granted, the Captain might have other duties for him to attend to. Either way, breathing room might be good. Give both time to think.

Glancing over towards the datapad, Kaile ambled her way on over to it. Music… music… Right. Something upbeat.

“There we go.” three more songs to last them the next few minutes.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“DIAGNOSTICS WOULD BE GOOD BUT WHAT AN ODD THING TO SUGGEST, WE THING TOGETHER, WE ARE EXACTLY THE SAME.” they said in unison. There were almost two seconds of silence before the one on her right turned its head over so slowly to face the other one.

“YOUR PROCESSOR IS POINT TWO PERCENT SLOWER THAN MINE.”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW.”

“IT IS IRREFUTABLE FACT.”

“I'LL SHOW YOU AN IRREFUTABLE FACT…”

The bickering would continued as they stomped back to their charging stations. Asmus was shaking his head, a broad grin on his face.

“You didn't ask them which was the most handsome did you? That would keep them going all day!”

 

[Kaile Vera]

A rather cheeky grin shot over to [member="Asmus Janes"], “They both have their good sides.” she’d say, a bit more light-hearted than earlier when he had her breathless against the environmental pod not three meters away. She wasn’t the only one who managed to get things a bit more under control, at least from the broad grin that the scoundrel wore, deep green eyes laughing down at her through a fringe of dark hair.

“A diagnostic and an updated maintenance would do them some good.” she’d add, turning back towards the environmental pod in front of her. “It’s the least I can do to pitch in while I’m here.”

Bouncy, foot tapping music would bring with it an upbeat nature that would seemingly counter the reminder of her short while on the Quin.

“If ya’ll have any other droids that need a check, I’d be glad to give ‘em a look.” she’d offer, brown eyes checking the temperature, pressure and humidity. All good. A boop and a press of her thumb would check that pod off.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Nah, just those two. Well there's the medical drone, but it's an overblown scanner really!” he said. “Pffft, not too many cargo pods left now.”

He mused on this for a few moments, but working out what was confusing him. “So is that work you're heading out to get now?” he asked. “Working on droids and the like?”

He lightly bobbed his head to the music as he pondered another question. If he hadn't seen every last inch of Kaile already would that have made it easier or harder to stop those salacious thoughts roaming around his head.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile had begun the half turn to amble towards the last few pods when his question caught her attention. Back towards the scoundrel, Kaile slowed her step.

“‘Pends if that’s what will get me paid.” If there was one thing she learned from being with Kurt and what came after, is that while there might be secrets, there weren’t no lies. However, even when there had been no lies with Kurt, after almost a year, he still felt betrayed by the omissions.

There was no middle ground it seemed for someone like her.

“I’ve done plenty of maintenance repair before in between ports. Short cook and waitress too.” she’d add, glancing up to the display screen. Pressure, temperature, humidity. Another tick mark checked.

“Engines… general stuff really.” she flashed him a ghost of a smile then, turning her profile to glance at him with those large brown eyes of hers. Her right hand rose, and she gave a wiggle of her fingers.

“Reckon small hands come high in demand.” in reference to maintenance of hyperdrives and reactors of the like.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Yes, I can imagine,” he replied, just the faintest hint of strain on his voice. He could see the end of the road now. Literally. Just a few more cargo containers. However, his mind was quite focused on a particular thought. She was good with engines, they'd need more mechanics on the Warden.

Another container to go. “Good skill to have, especially if you're going to be on the move. Can get a lot of places free if you can do some maintenance work on the way. Kairon's always been the one to keep us in the sky really.”

He glanced over his shoulder, caught her walking away from him. Asmus was a relatively open individual. He could be attracted to either sex when the mood struck him, but if there was always one thing that caught his eye it was the way a woman walked. He turned back and walked to the next container.

“You just pick it up as you go?” he called.

 

[Kaile Vera]

“Hmm?” came her slight hum of inquiry, lifting her head to peek over at Asmus. “Pick what up?” she asked, a bit unsure of what exactly he meant. Slowing down to a halt, she would shift her weight over to her right hip, jutting it out as her attention panned over to the display.

Just then, the song ended and and the following came up. The guitar rift was familiar, a little bit more mellow, and one of Kaile’s favorites.

[ Closing time… open all the doors and let you out into the ‘Verse… ]


https://youtu.be/xGytDsqkQY8

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

Oh, Asmus adored this song. She'd see that clearly enough on his face if she turned around. Or she might notice the slight arch of his eyebrow as he looked over at her again.

“Maintenance work, programming, all that?” he asked. As he turned he realised he had the last cargo before before him. One more tick and it was time for lunch.

As the chorus started, he would begin emphatically singing along. He didn't care what she might have queued up next, he put “Singing in my sleep” up next.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

He wouldn’t be alone.

“ --.take me home. I know who I want to take me h-oome,” Kaile’s sang along with Asmus, catching him singing with gusto. That he could do so without shame and with an equal amount of enthusiasm as her was met with a wide grin and a twinkle in her eyes.

“Take me h-oomee…haha” her laughter followed suit, rocking on her heels as she grinned up at him. “I take it you like the song as well?” the right side of her mouth perked up while he checked off the last environmental pod.

Now as for his question…

“Mhm.” came her nod. “I do. Easy pay and I get to travel.” well, to a degree. That would depend on what exactly the Alliance or the Pyre required from her. Some missions were long term. Others were not. This one, well… Retiit wasn’t too fond of her after she got fired a year ago from Yum Bunnies. Getting caught banging a customer in the pantry room isn’t the best way to keep a job.

It did, however, opened up another door for her to explore. Living with Kurt. Friendships. Connections. Only now I know why they warned me about it….

“Heh…” her eyes went panning over to the pod, and her hand would extend to flick at the bin with her forefinger.

“Guess that’s it then?” she said, starting to take a few steps back.

“Unless there are other things we need to do down here for chores?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

“I really, really, like this song!” he exclaimed, grinning for ear to ear. “Just a quick…diagnostic on the alarms…” he said, tapping at the datapad. He probably should have informed her they weren't all about to go off. Just a little green light on his datapad and they were done.

“I tell you what,” he said, “I'll tell kairon you've done more than earn your keep and he might part with some credits for your own. If you program the twins to always refer to him as ‘old man’ when you run some maintenance. And there's always more to do, but right now there is lunch!”

Asmus slid the datapad back into a docking station on the wall. As she took a few tentative steps towards the exit he sprinted the last few metres and grabbed her around the waist with a laugh, almost skipping away with her.

“Come on then, I'm starving!”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

He was just like a little kid.

“Whoa.. hey!” Kaile would say in exclamation, half laughing as he tugged her along towards the exit. Keeping up with him, she began to laugh. “Alright! Alright” she’d add, trying to find a balance as she did a half little dance to keep up.

She spun within his grasp, his hands sliding along her hips, and the Lorrdian gave a slight chuckle as his laughing green eyes stared down at her.

“Can’t have a man starving!” she’d say with a notable amount of wryness, shaking her head. Her hands found the strands of her hair and went tucking them behind her ears.

“Bye guys!” she’d call out to the Twins, giving them a wiggle of her fingers in parting. “I’ll be back to get on your check ups soon.” she promised.

Glancing up at Asmus, she shook her head.

“Yous don’t need to do that with the Captain. I’ll be glad to do it for free.” a sly grin took the place of her sunny one.

“And maybe I’ll toss in the Old Man for laughs.” she chuckled, passing through the threshold that would lead them towards the corridor.

 

[Asmus Janes]

The corridor back to the galley was long and narrow. The ship had a spine that ran from the nacelles to the saucer section and the main cargo bays hung from this. In front of the main bays were a collection of modular pods, magnetically sealed to the hull. These couldn't be opened up without going to a space walk, so tended to contain less delicate cargo.

“BYE KAILE!” echoed the voice of the Twins in perfect harmony.

“Ah, and I was going to tell Kairon to thank you for the work anyway,” Asmus said with a slightly sheepish grin. Holding out a trigger finger he laughed. “But do program the old man routine for laughs. What do you fancy for lunch? Kairon's probably still on the bridge and the cat won't cook unless she's on the rota. She's just a scavenger.”

“I resent that!” came a voice from back in engineering.

“She also has exceptional hearing,” he stated regretfully.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


“So who’s turn is it to play cookie?” Kaile would ask, only to have Asmus enlighten her half way. She gave her own sheepish grin, ambling along the corridor with the man at her side. Her boots made a low tattoo with every step she took. The corridor was narrow, which made things a bit difficult when having to pass through sections.

There was that awareness again, which manifested in her hands running through her hair and start to play with it. she roped the length of hair that fell just past her shoulders over to her left.

“Mmm, bet that makes her great at trackin’ things though,” she’d add. A nibble of her lip would relay her internal mull on just what to eat.

“I’m easy,” she told him, giving a small roll of her shoulder, the fabric shifting to dip a bit over her collar. “I could make somethin’ too.” Kaile would offer, glancing up with a half smile.

“I don’t mind.” they passed the magnetically sealed bays, getting closer to their destination with every step.

“Would you like anythin’ in particular to eat?” she asked him, glancing up with a curious arch of her brow.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Erm…” a question as mundane as nourishment was lost in the large, brown eyes for a moment. “Let's…let's see what we've got,” he said. The muscles around his cheeks faint twitched as his gaze lowered from her eyes to her lips before breaking away.

“And the only thing she can track is the odd chicken wings we drop under the table!” he called. Asmus stopped in his tracks and made a theatrical show of cupping one hand behind his ears. A faint, angry hiss reached them from engineering.

“There we go,” he said. Stepping into the galley he went for the cupboards. “Got some cured meats here and some bacon. Maybe in a pasta sauce?”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


“You got any pasta?” she’d ask, ideas blooming in her mind on what options they had if they had pasta sauce and varying cured meats.

“Could make some version of Rodian Spaghetti… sans meatballs and instead -- “ she’d peer over his shoulder to glance at what he he held in his hand.

“Mystery sausage?...” her lips twitched.

“No different than any Wild Space dive.” oh there was more truth of the matter in that than most would care to admit.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Yeah, plenty. It keeps well,” he'd reply in a matter-of-fact tone, trying to ignore the hairs standing up on the side of his neck from the touch if her breath. He bent over and with a clunk opened the cupboard under the counter. He slid out a metal tray. There was a loud crinkle as he sorted various plastic sealed foodstuffs.

“Ah, there we are,” he said, turning to show her an unbranded packet of spaghetti. Placing those on the counter he walked towards the corner to grab a small pan, which he carefully filled with water and placed on the electric stove.

“Right then, water on the boil. What goes in Rodian spaghetti?

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

With the straightest face, Kaile said, “Whatever you shoot first.”

A pause.

Then another twitch of her lips. Then a snicker. Ahh, he might not get the joke, but it always made her laugh so hard whenever she said it. Her chuckle then turned into a ridiculous full blown laughter, one that came out in great heaves as she held her arms over her belly.

“ahaha…” hip to the counter, she wiped a lone tear from the corner of her right eye. “Ahhh... “ a gesture of her hand would follow.

“Ignore me. I’ve my ‘bouts of madness.” she’d say out of breath, her chuckle waning.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus turned to her curiously. Her mouth twitched up and the penny dropped. It was so easy to get swept in her. He gave the joke its due, chortling along. Yet as hers became a full blown laugh he was carried along with her. His eyes crinkled up as he laughed along.

“Oh dear,” he sighed. His arm slipped around her hip and pulled her against his side as he planted a kiss on her head affectionately. “That was awful,” he added with another low chuckle.

Returning back to what he was doing he took a knife to the meat to cut it into chunks for the sauce.

Grimacing as he pressed the knife through the tough sausage he added: “I think this thing put up a fight before it died mind, meat like leather!”