Responsibility

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


“Alright boys,” crossing the threshold, Kaile beamed a sunny smile at the Twins. They were still bickering back and forth amongst themselves.

“Okay, okay!” she laughed, the melodic sound reverberating throughout the cargo hold. “We can run both of your diagnostics at the same time.” She would tell them both as a compromise. Her laughter would wane into a soft chuckle, coming to a stop beside the table where she had set the box down. There she set her tools down in a neat order.

“Anything ya’ll want to tell me off the bat that I may need to know?” Best thing to ask in regards to any aftermarkets or programing. She’d rather not get a nasty surprise like a shock to the hand if there were security protocols in place.

While she waited, Kaile began to draw out the items from the box and set them neatly beside her own tools. Out came the can of oil, some spray on lubricants, and a few of the spare parts.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“MY LEFT LEG ITCHES!”

“MY RIGHT SHOULDER ACHES SOMETIMES.”

The pair would speaking separately full time now. They'd slowly disengaged their parallel programming to go into diagnostic mode and would now continue in this manner until they were finished.

There was a clink from the door as Asmus walked in, four bottles of beer in his hands.

“ASMUS HAS BROUGHT BEER.”

“FOR THE LADY.”

“HE SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT FLOWERS.”

Asmus sighed and shook his head. “They've disconnected from each other haven't they?” he asked. He walked over to the barrel he'd left her datapad on earlier and set the bottles down. An opener emerged from his pocket and two lids tinkled against the top of the drum.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Surprise and genuine warmth at his arrival shone upon Kaile’s visage. A sweet and friendly smile shot over at his direction, turning back to the Twins as they prattled on with their comedic duo act.

“Mmhm, a-runnin’ their diagnostics now.” She told him, moving from one to the other while she went on to review the process.

A pert grin shot up at one of the Twins, “Flowers are nice, but a cold beer wets the whistle.” She’d say, her profile to Asmus as she gave him a brief conspiratory wink.

“Think you have any music you can play on your datapad there?” She’d ask, wondering so that they could have something to listen to in the background.
“And could you pass me that there hydrospanner?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

https://youtu.be/b0wfu3tOrtQ

“Yes to both,” Asmus replied. He picked something fairly middle of the road from his selection. Catchy, but neither too heavy or too light.

He slid her beer off the barrel and went sorting through a case of tools for the hydrospanner. This was nice. He'd never had a more simple, plain and yet accurate thought before. It was also enlightening. Was it that hard to understand that he'd enjoyed almost every minute since she'd come aboard?

He stood before her with beer in one hand, spanner in the other held out. Whichever she didn't take would be left on the workbench.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

She took both.

That is why she had two hands one supposed. But that didn’t matter. What did was that as recompense, she planted a brief kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you!” She sang out to him, rocking back on her heels to turn back to the Twins. It was an impulsive thing really. Something she’d normally do to Kurt without a thought. Normally. Typically. With a sudden mush of a brain, Kaile stepped off back towards the two droids, the first strains of the rift of the guitar bringing with it a familiar tune.

“Oh, it’s been years since I’ve heard this one,” She’d admit, bringing the bottle up to take a sip of the beer. Slightly bitter, but refreshing none the less.

“How are you doing boys?” She’d ask the Twins, attempting to keep the attention off her slightly pink cheeks then.

 

[Asmus Janes]

With her back turned she missed the giddy little expression on his face. He beamed at her back like an idiot before walking back over to the barrel to collect his own beer.

“WE ARE AWAITING…”

“SHE SAID ‘HOW’ ARE YOU DOING, NOT WHAT!”

“OH.”

“INTERNAL DIAGNOSTIC REPORT COMPLETE.”

“WE ARE FINE, THANK YOU.”

Asmus managed to avoid snorting beer froth out of his nose. Newer models would much sharper, as were older ones. During the dark times putting enough processing power in a droid for intelligence had been too expensive for loading droids, which is why the Twins were as they were. One reasonably functioning droid intelligence when networked, two cretins in other conditions.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

A small smirk danced behind the rim of the beer bottle she held up to her lips. Another swing and both eyebrows shot up in amusement.

“Mhm” Kaile answered Asmus with a nod, pausing in front of the one Twin who had said the diagnostic reports were complete.

“Alright, let's see what we got here,” setting down her bottle upon the ground next to her, she idly played with her hydrospanner as she began to inspect the readouts. Her foot gave a little tap as the chorus hit, prompting the Lorrdian to softly sing along.

The music would cast a nice little ambiance. There was no tension from before. No pressing need. Just a nice relaxing atmosphere. For the most part, it reminded Kaile of the times when she and Kurt would go about modifying the Messa. How they’d play his mp3 player on blast, and sing along while they would tinker about with salvaged upgrades. The last had been the hot tub.

He still needed to add in the new water reclaimer…

It was just fleeting thoughts. Memories. The harsh sting of it all was waning, but it didn’t stop the ache. Likely never will. Once you care about someone, you can’t just let go.

It stays with you.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Don't let these guys guilt trip you into working through the night!” Asmus called. He was now leaning casually on one elbow, with his beer in the other hand. He idly checked some of his holonet media feeds. “We do actually look after them reasonably well.”

One long swig of his beer and he set it down besides his datapad. He queued up the next track on his datapad and walked over towards Kaile, gently humming along to the chorus. “Want me to check and replace the hydraulic seals or shut them down and run an external code diagnostic to keep them quiet for a bit.”

Both Twins turned their heads in unison towards him, mechanics making a loud whirr at the movement. Neither said anything, but Asmus enjoyed a little chuckle.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

“Haha,” Kaile gave a slight bark of a laugh. “No need to turn ‘em off I like their chatter.” She'd say, going through the diagnostic report.

A cheeky smile went up to the Twins,” besides how else are they gonna tell me all the gossip of the ship if they be turned off?” Mischief gleamed in her chocolate brown eyes.

“I bet they got some stories to tell, don't you boys?” Her smile was practically devilish behind the fringe of her hair that partially hid it.

“The hydraulic seals sound good.” She'd add, giving a small nod while she gave her hydrospanner another little flip.

He could do one of the Twins while she worked on the other. That would make things go faster.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“WE WOULDN'T GOSSIP” the Twin before kaile said, almost managing to sound aghast.

“THOUGH THERE WAS THAT DAY WE WERE PM CORELLIA AND THE BOY CAME BACK DRUNK WITH HIS FRIENDS AND SNUCK INTO THE CARGO HOLD.”

“OH YES AND WHEN THEY WOKE UP HE MADE US PROMISE NOT TO TELL CAPTAIN REES.”

“BUT WE DIDN'T PROMISE NOT TO TELL…”

“Oi! You want these seals back properly or want to be leaking fluids for the next month!” he called loudly. His expression managed to convey embarrassment whilst also being exceedingly pleased with himself at the same time.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

One pert dimple peeked out then. A singular eyebrow rose in humorous inquiry over to Asmus, as she asked the Twins with notable amusement,” oh? What was so bad about bringing friends over that you couldn't tell the captain?”

Oh thus had the making of an excellent story, Kaile mused, taking her hydrospanner to remove some of the panelings for easier access.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“WE SAW THINGS.”

“THINGS THAT CANNOT BE UNSEEN.”

“REALLY. OUR OPTICS ARE TIED TO AN ATTRIBUTABLE DATASTORE. IT CANNOT BE ERASED. RED, GREEN, BLUE OR YELLOW. ALL HORRIBLE.”

“Ah-haha,” went Asmus, the strain in his voice telling. “And why did we get you an attributable data store?” Asmus asked, trying to change the subject.

“BECAUSE WE ARE CLUMSY AND KEPT BREAKING THINGS.”

“...and?”

“AND OTHER FREIGHT CAPTAINS TOOK TO BLAMING CALAMITIES ON US SO CAPTAIN REES SAW FIT TO INSTALL AN ATTRIBUTABLE DATA STORE TO MOUNT LEGAL CHALLENGES.”

“And what did we find out?”

“WHEN SOMETHING WAS BROKEN IT NORMALLY WAS OUR FAULT.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Confusion and incredulity bled together as Kaile tried to make sense of it amidst the growing twitches to contain her laughter.

“Red, green, blue, or yellow??” By then the reasons for the datastore managed to be the last straw and she began to laugh.

“Was it because you went beyond your range?” She asked, taking the panel off and setting it down.

The corner of her mouth twitched anew.

“Must be for some interestin’ feeds for the Captain to review…” in a low murmur, unable to help the slight tease at Asmus’ direction.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Aha, hmm,” Asmus replied, his face now as scarlet as the spots he had painted on the floor for their impromptu game of strip twister. It was only after he’d used the Twins to call out random colours and body parts and had them referee that he’d found out about the new datastore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6kSzwvzn34

Another song came on and Asmus finished removing the seal around the hydraulic knee. “Damn this is gunked up. Has it been a problem?”

“ONLY A BIT CRUNCHY.”

“Right we’ll get this sorted,” Asmus said, his eyes not venturing near Kaile at the moment.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


Oh he was right embarassed, with a face as bright red as a ripe strawberry. It amused her as much as it made Kaile feel bad for teasing him. In so far that he was even avoiding meeting her eyes. Taking that as a cue to halt the teasing, Kaile shone that smile back at the twins.

“So, shoulder itches, hmm?” She would recall what they mentioned earlier. Could be anything, but might as well check it out.

[ Good times for a change. See the luck I've had could make a good man turn bad… ]

“Let’s see what we go here.” Came her inquisitive murmur, blowing her bangs away from her face again. A glance was spared over at Asmus’s while he worked on the hydraulic line on his knees.

The twitch at the corner of her lips could not be helped.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus finished stripping down the bushings and resealed the joint. His hands were now well coated in grease and grime. He set to work on the other joint, wondering why he was quite this embarrassed. Was it his newfound attitude to try and demonstrate some responsibility to Mal and Kairon? No, it wasn't that. It was her. There was now another person whose opinion he gave a damn about. It seemed, however, that the twins were not yet done.

“MADE US LOOK FOR CHEATING AND THEN IGNORED US!”

“HANDS AND FEET ONLY HE SAID!”

“AND THEN HE SPENDS ALL THAT TIME ON HIS KNEES AND BACK AND WON'T EVEN GET OFF THE GAME BOARD.”

“Alright, simmer down you two before I refresh your firmware.” Asmus turned to Kaile and managed to meet her eye. “It was a good weekend though,” he said with an apologetic shrug, trying to claw back some of his swagger.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Oh.

OHhhh!!!

The dawning realization on just what sort of game and weekend the Twins had been exposed to hit her. Red, Yellow, Blue. Green. Her eyes grew wider, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

Welll, I bet it was.

Kaile wasn’t the sort to judge, least of all considering her own curious little exploits. If there was anything about the Rebellion, it was the rather easy going manner on experimenting when trying to find something to pass the time with. There were few choices available when it came to freeflowing booze and idle hands. The entire experience was likely why she was so easy going now. It wasn’t the Jedi Agri-corps - oh the stories she heard about them, but it had been colourful and fun indeed.

“Twister.” She said in passing, no judgement in her voice. “It’s a pretty fun game.” She’d say, another twitch of her lips in an easy going smile.

“Not ‘Seven minutes in Iego’, but still fun.” That was one interesting game. Rraiffik had been her first. He had been really sweet. Memories widened her smile, softening it. The Wookiee had been one of their recent recruits, a whiz with cybernetics. Kaile had been impressed with the manner he could delicately work circuit boards and build the tiniest of drones, some no bigger than a finger. In those seven minutes he’d shown Kaile that there was a reason for the Wookiee’s nimble hand dexterity.

Hands delving into the hydraulic seal at the shoulder, removing the bulk of the gunk. With her small hands and fingers, it was easier to work around the various hoses and wires, but it was still a slippery mess.

“How is this shoulder feeling?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus opened and then clamped his mouth back shut. He had been about to make a quip about whether seven minutes was ever truly enough to truly reach any kind of spiritual experience. Right now didn't feel like the time for that kind of banter. Another beer or two first.
Instead he threw her half a wink and a look that carried slightly more intent than he'd planned and turned back to his work. He wiped his hands down on a grimy cloth before sliding off the next set of seals carefully. The knee joint was important on these models that manually lifted. Most well funded corporate freight companies used either repulsor droids or compact tractor beams to carry out the manual labour. The Twins were cheap but effective. Mechanical was always less trouble in the long run than whatever quantum nonsense made repulsors and tractor beams work.

More fairly chilled music came from the speakers. Asmus had set the mood on the device and let it pick from his collection, keeping to a theme. Asmus was relatively eclectic in his tastes. If anything he preferred dance, his Zeltron Beats 810-820 was probably the album he'd grown up on the most.

“What's the strangest planet you've ever visited?” he asked, finding his voice again.


https://youtu.be/ere2Mstl8ww

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

The strangest planet?

That question would perk both brows up to hide under the fringe of her bangs. Hmm. An expression of deep consideration would bathe her visage then, the hydrospanner slowing down while she thought it over. Her time in the Rebellion and with the Pyre allowed her to travel to new worlds and meet new sapients. A lot of them honestly were out beyond the Core Worlds, seeing as how the Rebellion made the most of those hard to reach spots for safety.

“Well…” she began, the sound of the hydrospanner in use while she worked on loosening a particularly tight area to work upon. “Lahsbane perhaps.”

That had been one of the few times that it took dang near forever to work on those engines. “It’s real pretty. Has all sorts of river canyons and forest knolls.. But no real technology to get over ‘em. No roads.” She went on to explain, slippery fingers tucking her hydrospanner on her belt to get her hands free.

“Which is all right and dandy for the locals,” she shot him a half smile, “ Cause they use hot air balloons and gliders.” Which was an experience all on its own.

A grimace would follow then.

“What ends up being frustrating is the pollen,” a dark tinted hand covered in a sheen of grease fluttered about in a gesture, as if to signal the very air around her. “Really fine mess, clogs up the intake valves on starships right good. Ends up being a mighty awful chore to clean up.”

A nod in remembrance came then.

“But that very reason be that folk like the Empire avoid it, so guess it served its purpose no?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus made a little interested hum. “Funny, I always though a civilisation running off deriligibles was sometime of a steam punk cliché. Quite a nice thing to picture though,” he said as he tried to draw a mental image of hot air balloon sailing over thick clouds of pollen that trailed them on the wind.

“We once dropped off cargo with a pre hyperspace civilisation. Firm instructions to drop it and keep our distance from the locals, but we got a good view of their settlements as we passed over. Really strange to imagine that, confined to one set of stars forever.”

“Right big man,” he said, rounding his Twin to face him. “That's both knees done, how's that?” The droid lowered and raised its weight a few times.

“THIS IS MUCH BETTER, SHOULD BE MORE FLEXIBLE.”

“I can actually see the cogs turn as you try and work it into another joke!” Asmus said. He looked comical standing up to the massive loader, accusatory finger inches from its face. The Twin went silent, but Asmus could have sworn he felt its scorn at having another line of fun headed off.

“You like live music?” Asmus asked Kaile as he returned to behind the loader. “Maybe if we cross paths again we could go see a gig together.” Some of his usual control was back, even if just asking that question made his palms sweat.