Sand and Sun

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He squeezed her gently. "Wouldn't think of it."

Oddly enough the thought really hadn't crossed his mind. Going out alone had been his original plan of course, but even then he had mostly wanted to use the drones to search the wrecks until they found something more exact. Now that he had brought Spark though, he hadn't really considered going off on as his own. It was weird in a way, but probably simply because he enjoyed spending time with her, that and an odd need to protect her.

Munin shifted slightly and let her slip from his arms.

"Mostly military rations." Oddly enough the rations had been incredibly easy to acquire. It seemed that most quartermasters were more than willing to sell their stock as long as you paid them enough, and Munin paid more than enough. "Some Nerf Jerky too."

He said with a smile. "I also brought along something more...special, but we'll save that until after we find what we're looking for."

Even though he still wasn't sure that they were looking for.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Gingerly, she lowered herself back on the sleeping bag. Blonde-brows lofted in curiosity. "Special? Is there chocolate involved?" Reaching across the small space to one of the travel bags, she dug out two packets that looked like military rations. Looked like you just had to open, add water, and the work would complete itself.

Thin-fingers struggled with the packaging. She pulled. #nothing Turning the package around, she adjusted her grip and pulled again.

Cheeks flushed.

She tugged again. Thin lips frowned. Blue-speckled gaze glared at the food packet. Hunching over slightly, she flexed her bony-arms and pulled again. A small grunt left her mouth.

#thisiswhyIneedalightsaber

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He watched her struggle with the packaging for quite some time, trying not to laugh and keeping his lips rather thing. Munin wondered if she would eventually resort to using the force to actually open the small rations, though he hope that it wouldn't come to that. Part of him wanted to point out that using a knife likely would have been a lot easier. "You-"

Munin cut himself off as she finally managed to tear open the packaging.

"There you go." The Information Broker said as she sat himself down on the sand in front of her. Part of him wondered if he shouldn't have poked around the freighter more, maybe found them some actual beds instead of staying in the hangar, but at the time he'd set up the camp he'd been far more concerned about getting Spark a proper place to lay down. "I think some of the other rations have pieces of chocolate in them, though I doubt it's very good chocolate."

The surprise he had brought did not in fact involve Chocolate, but it was a good surprise nevertheless.

"I doubt it's the Alliance's biggest priority to give their soldiers good chocolate." At least he hoped not.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"Yeah, yeah I got it." She added water to one and passed it to Munin. Adding water to the second, she set it aside. She gave one last glaring scowl at the discarded packaging. "You didn't directly answer my question," she pointed out. "Guess that makes you qualified for your job."

A small smile flickered across thin-lips as she stirred the food with a utensil from that same bag.

"And the Alliance isn't...wasn't that bad. In the beginning, they...," blue-eyes flickered up and she paused, closing her mouth.

Had she said too much? A gust from the storm rattled against the side of their refuge. Gripping the food packet, she blew against the simmering contents. Nuna-soup. #Mmmmm She couldn't bring her eyes back up to Munin's.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"It's not just the Alliance." He didn't quesiton, he didn't pry. "Most militaries will prioritize nutrition and cost over Taste. Can't really blame them too much."

Part of him wanted to jump on her words and dig as far and fast as he could.

It was in his nature to gain knowledge, and when it came to Spark, he wanted to know even more than usual. Yet he also knew that asking her a thousand questions wasn't the way to gain her trust, and more than anything else in the galaxy, he wanted her to trust him. So he would go slowly, he would fight his instincts and keep his questions to himself until she was ready to share everything. He frowned to himself for half a second, before quickly taking a bite of the odd Nuna Chili that had been dug out for him.

"And no, the surprise is not chocolate." He thought she might appreciate the answer.

"Hopefully though." Munin began again as he took another bite, thoroughly chewing before he began to speak again. "You'll find out sooner rather than later."

He offered her a smile, though in truth he didn't mind it here so much. Jakku was a miserable world, yes, but Spark's presence here made the trip a lot more bearable. Without her he would likely be alone right now, hoveled up in a different ship, waiting for the storm to pass.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"Yeah, most don't think about feeding chocolate to recruits as a priority," she spoke quietly. She knew of course. She studied Munin quietly as she slurped up her soup. He didn't pry and he didn't ask. She was....surprised. It made her let down her guard. #justatad

She offered a small smile back.

"Hopefully." Finishing the soup, she cracked open a bottle of water and finished that off too. The pain meds must've been working #finally because he head was starting to feel closer than normal. And for the first time, she wondered what would happen after this trip? Would they part ways like before?

Frowning, she re-centered her thoughts on the present.

They had a job to do, first. She promised she would help him and she would. And she didn't want to think about leaving him, not yet.

"We should get some sleep. I can take a first watch since I've been out most of the day with a concussion anyway. I'm not really tired."

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He let out a slight yawn, involuntary.

"I don't think there's much need for that." Munin said with a small shrug. He didn't think it was likely that any raiders would be in the canyon right now, especially with that storm still going on. It had wound down slightly, granted, but it was still going on. That along with the drones he had slipped towards all the exits at least gave them an early warning system if anything were to come at them. He pulled the Datapad back into his lap and entered a few keys.

"When we're ready." Munin began. "We'll send out some more of the drones to check these ships, then use that data to search the ones that have places the drones can't get to. That'll be hard on both of us, I think it's best if we both get the most sleep we can get."

He looked at her. "Besides, being unconscious just means you need more rest."

The Information wasn't a Medical Expert, but he was pretty sure that getting knocked out didn't mean you shouldn't rest and sleep a bit. Her body was likely tired in it of itself, even if she didn't quite feel that way. He'd rather have her ready to go and feeling better in the morning than staying up half the night and then feeling worse in the morning. It wouldn't do for either of them to drop dead half-way through searching the ships, especially if they did actually run into anyone else.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"Are you trying to coddle me?" Blonde-brow rose and she tried to hide her smile. She leaned back on the sleeping-bag. Arms crossed and cradled the back of her head as she looked up at the ceiling of their shelter.

"If I wake up to a bunch of weapons pointed at my face or in cuffs, I'll know who to blame." She looked up at him, seeing the glow of the datapad on his face as he cradled it in his lap. Elbow knocked against his leg.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He let the datapad slip from his lap as she kicked his leg, though he made careful note to catch it and gently place it in the sand. The thing was constructed to last through a nuclear detonation, but Munin had been brought up being careful with electronics and he couldn't help but go through those motions. The orphanage had been rather...touchy, when it had come to their terminals and datapads, breaking one of them had been tantamount to sacrilege.

Luckily, he'd never earned a beating that way.

As soon as he set down the Datapad Munin allowed himself to slip forward and fall towards Spark. He half crawled over towards her and then laid down on his side beside her, one arm slipping over her stomach as he let his face stop just a few inches short of hers. "I believe the word you're looking for is 'cuddle'."

The Information Broker smirked.

In truth he wasn't really all that worried about being woken up with guns pointed at his face. The drones would alert them long before anyone got inside, and he was pretty sure that most of the paths into this freighter were buried beneath the sands anyway. His biggest worry were...well for lack of a better term, the local wildlife. There was no telling what crawled beneath the sands of Jakku, and he was still somewhat worried about waking up a Krayt Dragon or two.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Breath caught a bit in her throat. Her cheeks warmed. They always would when he moved like that. When he got close. She stared up at his face and slowly curled into him. The sand beneath the bag was lumpy and reminded her of where they were and the reality of their situation. But even with the lumpy sand, she found that next to Munin, she was pretty comfortable.

#scarycouplestuff

Eyes closed because she felt awkward enough about it but her lips moved in to kiss his. They missed. She got his chin but she quickly corrected her trajectory.

#boldmovesforaFinn

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

If someone would have told Munin two months ago that in just a few weeks time he would be on Jakku kissing a beautiful blonde girl in a broken down freighter while a sandstorm raged around them outside he would have called them insane.

The situation in it of itself seemed rather unlikely, couple that with the idea that Munin would be willingly kissing said girl, and actually feel something for her...well it was something entirely different. That was the thought that ran through his mind as Spark moved up and seized his lips, hand tightening on her side almost involuntarily as he was caught off guard by her boldness. After a second of hesitation he kissed her back, lips pressing against her as he let himself relax.

His heart began to beat a little faster.

He felt more alive than he had in years.

It was an odd mix of emotion he felt in that moment, excitement, joy, affection, just a touch of need. They were all mixed together in one happy grab bag that he couldn't quite identify, that he'd never felt before. For once Munin didn't question it though. For once he didn't analyze, he simply leaned into her and enjoyed the feel of her pressed against him.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She lost track of time.

#snogging

She didn't remember who broke off first or how. But things stopped naturally. He didn't push her and she was glad because she wasn't ready for anything else. Bad break-ups did that to peeps. Lips still tingled as she fell asleep, cradled against his chest. She was getting used to his presence. His voice. His steady heartbeat. The way his fingers brushed against her skin. That little crinkle in his eyes when he was trying not to laugh.

And it all scared her but she hoped in a good way.

And for the second night in a row, she slept soundly. And for the first night in a long time, she didn't have any nightmares - at least, not ones that she remembered.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin woke up first.

He woke up to the sound of nothing, a distinct stillness. There was no whipping wind. No chirping birds, nothing. It was that stillness that pulled Munin from his sleep.

During the night Spark and he had become somewhat entangled with one another. She lay half on top of him, arms wrapped around him while his own lay around the small of his back. The sleeping bag was tossed loosely on top of them, the other having been laid down as sort of a bed. He frowned for a second, trying to remember when they had fallen asleep. His eyes wandered around the room, settling on the datapad within the sand.

Unsurprisingly no alarms had gone off, the drones within the ship sitting in the silence.

A small beep carried from the device though, an almost silent alarm that went off over and over again. The Information Broker narrowed his eyes, yawning slightly as he tried to get some clarity. He looked at the screen, eyes drifting towards one of the minimized bars on the desktop. He looked at Spark, then back at the datapad. Munin frowned, then very slowly tried to stretch himself out. Without disturbing Spark he attempted to reach the datapad, hoping that his arm somehow became elastic enough to reach the machine.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Blonde-lashes twitched as the beeping went off. Something moved beneath her. She was caught in that world between sleep and awake. Hand flopped across Munin's face and would whack him slightly on the nose if he didn't move. Head nuzzled in beneath his neck. Tangled, blonde-strands of hair would tickled across his face and mouth.

The petite slicer would curl tighter into his chest.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled, without opening her eyes. "Just five more."

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Somehow he managed to reach the datapad, just about the same time that Spark smacked him across the nose. He smiled slightly as he grasped the corner of the computer, dragging it closer and trying to fight off a sneeze as a strand of blonde hair tickled the inside of his nose. His eyes twitched repeatedly for a moment, but Munin managed to fight off the sneeze and eventually took a deep breath to calm himself. Spark mumbled into his neck, and a wide smile touched his lips.

"Okay." He kissed the top of her head.

His other arm stayed looped around her, gently squeezing for just a few seconds as his glance cast towards the datapad once more. The small beeping had been silenced by the press of a button, his fingers flicking across the trackpad to figure out what exactly was wrong.

A map jumped up onto the screen.

It was the same map that Munin had showed Spark last night, though this time the twelve ships that had been highlighted dropped down to just one vessel. It was an ancient Valor-Class cruiser by it's shape, most of it long buried beneath the sand. It appeared that the drones had been able to explore each and every single vessel while they slept, all except for one of them. The Astral Bride, an affectionate name, likely given by some war weary Admiral. Munin frowned for a second before excitement began to grow within his chest.

They'd found it.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Blue eyes finally cracked open, slowly, and blinked back lingering sleep. Glasses were straightened over her eyes. She squinted at the screen and pulled herself up to a seated position. Hands came up to pull wild, blonde hair into a messy bun.

Bony-hip dug into Munin's side as she leaned into him to get a better look.

#wakeywakey

"Is that good news?" Finger tapped the screen. And for the first time, she realized the howl of the storm was completely gone. And so was her headache. They'd be able to go out and explore.

#nomorecabinfever

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"The drones found it." He said with a smile, ignoring the slight inkling of pain from her leaning into him at just the wrong angle. "They searched the ships while we were asleep. Eleven of them were completely open, or well, mostly anyway, that let them narrow it down to one ship."

He pointed towards the Valor-Class Cruiser. "The Astral Bride. It's the only ship that had locked sections. Places the drones couldn't get into. They were able to use sensors to determine that the buried part of the ship contained something, and that something spread out further than a ship of that class should actually have."

Munin stopped for a second, catching his breath and looking at her with a wide smile.

"That means someone built something under the sands." It was perfect really, if you were looking to create a hidden base, why not throw it on some junk ship in the middle of a graveyard of other junk ships? Who would look here, and more importantly, if they did look how could they possibly find the right ship before you could escape. "It has to be where the base is."

Munin sounded incredibly pleased.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"Those drones are priceless," she mused. And they were. They saved the pair of them from weeks, months, or years camping out in a place like this. And Spark's dry skin was especially thankful. #moisturizer Leaning away from him, she stood, scooping blonde-strands of hair back into a messy bun. Stepping over, thin-fingers wrapped around the lever for the door and she yanked it over.

#pullinghard

The hangar doors began to squeak open. "Let's get going before another storm roars up. Is this place walkable? She frowned, thinking about what this place could mean. What the thing Munin wanted could mean. Would it hurt any of her friends in the Outback? In the Alliance? They hated force users. What kind of defense measures awaited them - awaited her?

Fingers trailed briefly around her neck, shivering at the thought of an anti-force collar long gone.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin pulled himself up, slowly closing the datapad and slipping it back into the bag where he had taken it from the night before.

They could pretty safely leave everything here as long as they closed the hangar door behind themselves, but they would at the very least have to take some supplies. A day or two of rations, water, and of course his datapad. There was no telling what they would encounter once they were on that ship, and Munin wanted to be prepared for anything. Taking the entire speeder probably wasn't a good idea, they had no idea if the entire vessel was trapped or just the inside. "We can walk."

He confirmed.

"Grab a bag though." Munin slipped over to the speeder and pulled some supplies from the back. "Just in case the trip takes longer than we expect."

He wanted to be prepared. The Information Broker quickly settled things on the ground, evening out the supplies so that he and Spark ended up carrying nearly the same amount of weight, with just a little bit more in his own back. Before she could object Munin pulled the heavier pack on and lifted the other, offering it to her so that they could get going as quickly as possible.

No time to waste.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She made no protest about him taking the heavier pack. Nor would she have. It would've taken a lot more effort for someone of her build to carry that much weight. She knew her own limitations and accepted them.

#logical

"Thanks," she shouldered into the pack Munin offered. Glasses were adjusted up the bridge of her nose as she stepped out into the bright sunlight of the afternoon. That storm had lasted quite awhile. Mind spread forward invisibly through the force, gently probing all the tech around them and zeroing in on the Astral Bride as their footsteps took them closer.

She frowned.

"Something's off. All these other ships, I can sense the tech in them. But with the Bride...it's like I'm blocked."

Made sense with all their force user bigotry.

It was the same feeling she got when collared. And it scared her. A lot.