Private So, About That Band...

[Xeno]

So, About That Band...
Coruscant
Tags: Vitiion Daivik

Luxar | Klocto | Sword

"Stuck in the same routine
Living an empty dream
When am I gonna wake up
Thought we had it right
Now it's an endless night
Where is it gonna take us..."

Sithspit had been preparing for this gig for a while now. They were near topside, only a good hundred or so levels down. Less shady, but still not your high end establishment territory by any means. Fog had set in on the stage, with the trio taking their places and playing in their first song. Something was different about Xeno however. His eyes looked out into the crowd for someone, a friend he had made recently during a rather disastrous excursion into the undercity. He felt a little coy about not informing her that he was actually a member of the said band he had invited her to come see. In truth he was a little bit embarrassed to bring it up in casual conversation if he wasn't recognized. Xeno didn't like fame. Sithspit had been intended to be a project of passion. None of them could have imagined how large they'd get.

Vee was there. He spotted her in the crowd, giving an embarrassed shrug to the sniper. Thankfully he had invited her backstage following the performance where he was sure to get an earful about being modest and stupid. That was fine. He was just happy to have made a new friend. It was that progress that he needed.

---

"I can't believe it," Klocto laughed. "Xeno actually made a friend without us."

"They grow up so fast," Luxar whirred, the shard's mechanical body slapping it's knee.

"Very funny," Xeno scowled. "I'll make sure to make fun of you when you try to make friends, Klocto."

The Rodian grinned, placing a hand on Xeno's shoulder.

"Nah, we ain't making fun," he chuckled. "Just teasing. You're doing good. Just maybe tell them you're a part of the band next time."

The half-Nagai exhaled, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder before making his way to the backstage entrance, where Vee would be given clearance to enter. He would attempt to be casual about it, but ultimately he couldn't stop thinking about how stupid it had been to not divulge any information about the band at all. Making friends had been the only focus he had that it had been lost on him. Whenever she entered he'd let out a nervous sigh.

"So... about that band," Xeno frowned. "I... may have left out a few details. Actually a lot of details. They are my friends though, so, uh, that was accurate."

He sighed, tilting his head a little.

"Yeah, it was probably stupid to not tell you the other half."

 

[Vitiion Daivik]

Well. This was...unexpected. When Vitiion had been invited to the Concert, she hadn't expected that one of the people performing there had been the one to invite her. It made it even more amusing to her that Xeno didn't seem to be a great conversationalist, when he went around singing. Her eyebrow just raised as she spotted Xeno's shrug as she sighed to herself. He was lucky that she was even staying. It was nothing against his music. It was just the crowd really wasn't her thing. Her paranoia was at all time high since the revelation about her Force Sensitivity but she shook her head, trying not to focus on that. Tonight was all about her trying to support a friend of her's. A friend who had kept a pretty big secret from her, but after all, they all had secrets they kept to themselves. Sometimes the secrets were silly and pointless. Either way, she just relaxed as much as she could, folding her arms along her front.

The Rodian and...Droid? She wasn't sure if it was actually a droid, but she didn't know what else to compare it didn't seem too bad at the music either. She wouldn't normally go out of her way to listen to this kind of music but it wasn't that bad either. The thought of the band having crazed groupies following their every move popped into Vee's head and she just started to giggle at the thought. For some reason, she felt like Xeno would hate the idea of that. He didn't seem to be the kind of person who wanted to live in the limelight to her.


Eventually the concert came to an end and it was time for her to head backstage. The Atoan raised her little badge or whatnot to get accepted back there before walking through to meet Xeno, raising her eyebrow once again as she folded her arms along her front once again. Listening to him explain how he left out a bunch of details about the band, and how they were still his friends. Vitiion just shook her head, letting out a small sigh. Xeno might have thought she was disappointed in him, or annoyed at him for keeping secrets, but in fact she was on the complete opposite end.

"I'm going to stop you right there. Okay? You don't need to explain yourself. Maybe you thought I'd treat you differently if I found out you were famous, or maybe you just wanted to give me a big surprise. Either way, it's fine. You're still the same ol' Xeno to me...Well, I say old but you're still kinda new to me." She did her best attempt to try and reassure him, breaking out into a small smile as she glanced around backstage. "In fact, I'm...happy for you. You have your own little family in a way with your band, I suppose. A home with them. Not everyone can find something like that."

Another sigh came as she ran a hand through her hair, trying to figure out what words to say. She was trying her hardest not to be as blunt as she normally was. You were meant to care about your friends' feelings and opinions right? "We all have secrets. Stuff we don't tell people, because they don't need to know. I didn't need to know you were part of the band. I'd find out eventually, like I did out there." Her face furrowed into a serious frown for a moment before lightening up as she broke out into a smirk. "You're lucky though. I despise crowds. If it was anyone else here, I'd probably have bailed halfway through the first song."

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Coruscant
Tags: Vitiion Daivik

Luxar | Klocto | Sword​

"That's... entirely fair," Xeno sighed, cracking a smile. "Thanks for showing up anyways. I... I appreciate it."

He didn't like crowds either to be fair. It was different being on stage than it it, so he sort of had a tendency of forgetting it was there some times. Next time they met up it could be somewhere less crowded. That seemed like a good idea.

"Hey Boss, your friend here?"

Luxar was the first to come over, his tall mechanical body leaning down to assess Vee.

"Oh," the shard whirred. "Hello there, tiny lady."

Klocto entered next, the Rodian's hands tucked into his pockets.

"You chose to live in a 7 foot robot, Luxar," he noted. "Everyone seems tiny to you." A grin spread across the reptile's face, or at least as much of a grin as his snout could manage. "Name's Klocto. Nice to make yer acquaintance. Sorry if backstage is a bit of a mess. We weren't expecting visitors till last minute. Someone isn't that good at communication, but I'm sure you've already figured that one out."

Xeno frowned, shooting his friend a glare before ultimately relenting.

"I'm... working on that," he noted.

"I'll go put on some tea," Luxar randomly decided before setting off towards the makeshift kitchen space.

"Not again," Klocto sighed. "Get back hear you carbon-based loon! You don't have taste buds!"

Xeno laughed awkwardly as his friends departed, turning back to Vee.

"Well, uh, that's them," he shrugged. "Weird bunch, but they're good once you get to know them. Uh, quick heads up the metal guy isn't a robot. He's a rock piloting a robot. It... doesn't make much more sense than that. Oh, right."

Xeno walked off then returned with something in his hands. It would easily be recognized by Vee as a sniper rifle.

"You wanted a fancy gun, yeah?" Xeno grinned. "Consider us even, I guess."

 

[Vitiion Daivik]

"It's alright. Us fuck ups need to stick together." Vee broke out into a small chuckle at that, shaking her head afterwards. It helped to give her something to do at the end of the day, even if she felt like she was going to have a splitting headache soon.

Though at the sound of someone called Xeno boss, Vitiion raised her eyebrows and fought the urge to start giggling as Luxar came out, and her eyes just instantly went up to look at the "droid"'s face, tilting her head as she was called Tiny Lady. She just placed her hands on her hips as she looked up at Luxar.

"Well...Hello there...big robot?" She wasn't sure what else to call him, at least not until Klocoto came out, and introduced himself and Luxar technically. Vee just raised her hand in greeting towards the Rodian, giving a small grin in response. "Vitiion. Or Vee, if that's easier to say The backstage is fine, I've seen worse. I promise you." The Atoan just gave a dismissive wave of her hand to dismiss any concerns about the backstage. Sure, it wasn't going to be included in any magazines for amazing looks but it felt pretty casual which was fine with her.

Though before she could say anything else, Luxar was heading off to make tea and Klocto ran off after the shard. The comment about taste buds finally got a giggle out of her, as she shook her head. These was most definitely a merry band of screw ups from the looks of it but they didn't seem all that bad if she was honest. She was happy that Xeno seemed to have a reliable pair, or at least they seemed reliable enough. They didn't seem like the type of people who would let anything happen to her new friend.

"They seem like good enough people, yeah. Glad you have them Zee." Vitiion grinned as she looked off in the direction that the duo had went. She elected to try and not think too hard about the fact that Luxar was...a rock inside of a robot body. How would that even work? Eh. She wasn't paid to think about that kind of stuff so she didn't have to worry about it. All she had to do was accept that Luxar technically wasn't a droid. It was a bit more confusing than she'd have expected but it was neat.

When she turned her attention back to Xeno, her eyes almost instantly went straight towards towards the sniper rifle, grabbing it as soon as she could to start examining every aspect of it. Her eyes seemingly sparkling with joy as her face just had a bright grin sprawled across it. She could already see a few key things that stood out to her and could think of a few ways on how she could use it on the field. She'd have to work on practising with it to feel fully comfortable with it, but the Atoan rested the sniper rifle against a wall before walking straight up towards Xeno and giving the half-Nagai a small hug. "It looks amazing. Thank you. We're most definitely even now."

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Coruscant
Tags: Vitiion Daivik

Luxar | Klocto | Sword​

Zee? That was... interesting. Short for Xeno, so that one was pretty obvious. Nicknames were still sort of a new concept to him. Of course, it didn't stop being completely new things. Vee stepped forward and... hugged him. For just a split second, while the sniper was not looking at his face, the man's pale skin would become a slightly different color. Maybe even a red. Physical affection was definately alien to him, let alone signs of gratitude in general. That was going to take some getting used to.

"...Yeah," Xeno muttered after a split second of contemplation. "Cool. Awesome."

Whenever she stepped back he would rather awkwardly rub at his shoulder.

"It's an Ion Blaster apparently," he noted. "Supposedly good for taking down small vehicles. Guess you'll be the judge of that one. Figured it was more up your alley."

Luxar would walk back in, a tray of teacups in his hands. It, notably smelled very good. Sweet and a bit tangy, like citrus. Klocto followed with a frown on his face.

"Tea?" Luxar offered in a pleasant tone.

"It's edible this time," Klocto insisted. "I made sure it wasn't made with random plants the metal hipster found in an alley somewhere."

Xeno let out a snicker, picking up one of the cups.

"Thank god," he sighed. "I thought I was gonna lose my kidneys drinking that one."

He took a sip, looked at the cup for a moment, then took another. The half-Nagai wasn't dead. That was... good? Yeah, probably. Luxar would turn to Vee to offer the tray.

"So you're a DF sniper, yeah?" the shard asked. "Sounds rad. Bet you got some crazy stories. Every good soldier has one they got saved for a moody bar convo."

The Rodian would let out a sharp wheeze.

"Dude, you've been watching too many holofilms," he shot down, but then turned to Vee himself. "But moody bar story does sound intriguing if you hypothetically had one."

 

[Vitiion Daivik]

"It seems like it'll be pretty useful. I'll need to keep a regular rifle or a side arm to deal with actual people, but this'll do nicely. Of course, I could probably just get by with just using this. Quick hit and run tactics..." Vee started mostly mumbling to herself. Dozens of different scenarios going on in her mind. Different situations that she'd be able to use the rifle as she picked it back up from the wall and carefully started to take a look over it again. Brushing it down slightly with her sleeve to polish it a bit. Checking over the rifle carefully, looking at the different components. She looked like a kid in a candy store with how bright her eyes were, just staring down at the thing. She loved it! She might try to tinker with it at a later date but for now she was better off focusing on Xeno instead.

Her attention was instead taken over to Luxar instead. The Atoan raised an eyebrow at the comment about edible. She supposed they meant that it was actually something they could drink as she held a hand out to take a cup of tea from the Shard, carefully grabbing it by the rim of the cup instead of taking the handle. Blowing at the hot liquid slightly before sipping from it. Hm...It wasn't awful. She took another sip, tasting the tea for a moment and trying to get an opinion on it before nodding. "Well. It's not like what I used to make for the High Priestesses back on Atoa but...it's decent. You've done well Luxar. I'm glad I'm not getting poisoned."

She kept a grin on her face, even as the Shard started to ask for crazy stories. Vee couldn't help but roll her eyes as Klocto also seemed to be asking in own way about a crazy story, and the Sniper just rested her chin against her fist for a moment. "I've mostly been in training since I arrived. Had a lot of things I had to learn. Coruscant is...vastly different to Atoa. My understanding of basic wasn't great either. The Atoans mostly stay reserved to themselves and use our own language. So unfortunately, I don't have any moody war stories to tell you three. Perhaps because I'm not interested in the idea of going to a Bar either." Vee just shook her head, trying to at least think of some kind of story she could tell the trio. She wanted to try and keep some of her own secrets at least as she rested her chin on her fist again.

"I suppose I could tell you about me joining the Defence Force. It's nothing special or amazing, but it's something to talk about. I arrived on Coruscant after...leaving Atoa." There was no need for her to mention why she left, or that she couldn't go back home. It just wasn't important to the story. "I had nothing but the clothes on my back. Now, you might wonder what my first thought was, being on a strange new planet, speaking a language I could only just understand." Vee sighed to herself, turning her attention upwards to just stare off into space. "Was it about food? A place to sleep? No. I wanted to have a blaster in my hand. It's the only time I feel...alive." She glanced down at the Ion Sniper Rifle for a moment, running a hand over it carefully before looking back up. "I could have tried to join a gang. Or maybe a bounty hunting guild. But instead, I found the recruitment building for the Defence Force. So...that's why I do what I do now. I don't do it because I want to help the Galactic Alliance, or because I want to help people. I did it for...selfish reasons." The Atoan sighed to herself after she finished speaking. Why did she even go with that story? Why didn't she just lie and make something up?

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Coruscant
Tags: Vitiion Daivik

Luxar | Klocto | Sword​

"Eh, who cares," Luxar shrugged, "You made a choice. Doesn't matter why as long as you stand by it. I doubt you're the only one there for selfish reasons."

"Not that we can judge anyways," Klocto added. "Wow, this tea is a lot more underwhelming than the first time I tried it."

"I'm not dying, so I don't think it matters," Xeno shrugged before turning back to Vee. "You're fine though. It's normal. As far as motivations go there are worse." He tilted his head, rubbing at his chin as he thought. "I don't think you're missing out on not wanting to go to a bar either."

"Terrible for gigs," the shard added. "Had to clean booze off my chassis. Not fun."

A faint laugh escaped Xeno's chest. They had been so much younger then... Stupid, angsty, and out to prove a point. Now they were something entirely different. It was... weird. He never thought that things could get so different in such a short amount of time.

"I'm, uh, guessing that something prompted your departure from Atoa," the half-Nagai noted. "You... don't have to talk about it. I'd still say that learning basic and enlisting on your own is pretty impressive either way. I... uh..."

Xeno turned back to Klocto and Luxar, who both seemed to nod. They understood. With that the man turned back with a more serious expression. They were in agreement.

"You could say we're outcasts ourselves," he continued. "Defectors, actually. Guess this sorta goes back to why I was hunting artifacts in the first place but... we were Sith."

"Not by choice," Klocto chimed in with a frown, taking a puff of his cigarettes at a distance as to not cloud up the area. "We were plucked from our homes, taken for force connection and little more. Sith seek power, and once they can no longer grow they seek to siphon the power of others. They set out to mold us into killin' machines. Let's just say we weren't too keen on being told what to do."

"Sithspit ain't just a common insult," Luxar continued. "It's a big old middle finger to the old hags that bossed us around. We used to be angry. Now we're just here to vibe."

Their lead singer sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"If we had a home to return to I doubt they'd want us back," Xeno stated. "So we've just been drifting. Cosmic fuck-ups is about as real an assessment as it gets."

 

[Vitiion Daivik]

"I suppose there's worse motivations. I just know some people would probably expect something noble out of me but...I'm not noble. I'm not a good person." She shrugged her shoulders afterwards, sighing to herself. Vee always had thought that she was gifted and talented because of how well she worked with weapons, but considering the news from Xeno that she was Force Sensitive, she wasn't sure if she could consider herself talented anymore.

Though she turned her attention over towards the band as they started to talk. Resting her chin on her fist as they spoke about bars. Nodding along until Xeno mentioned there must have been some kind of reason that she left Atoa, and her head instantly snapped over towards the lead singer, as she snapped perhaps a bit too quickly than she had wanted. "I don't want to talk about it." A part of her did feel awful for snapping at Xeno that way, but it was just...something she wasn't ready to discuss with anyone. It wasn't like she had some terrible suffering. It was just...still a sensitive wound for her. It hadn't fully healed yet

However when Xeno said the three of them had been Sith...Well, Vitiion didn't seem to react much to that information, as she glanced between the three of them. Listening to how the Sith had stolen them from their homes and basically tried to mould them into a killing machine. It was...interesting to Vee. Considering that was exactly what she was training herself to be. It was different perhaps...Or was it? Vee just pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing to herself. She wasn't used to trying to think about things so much. Normally she was someone who didn't really think in detail about things. She wasn't ignorant, far from it but she liked to believe it was better not to think about those kind of things.

The Atoan looked back over towards the trio, frowning as Xeno spoke before she cleared her throat. "I'll admit, I don't know much about your situations but...I think you three already have a new home. Because home isn't always a place. Sometimes it's a people. And you three have your own people, right here." Vee waved her hand between the three as she spoke, sighing once more afterwards. "You're giving to the Galaxy, instead of taking away from it. Your music helps to bring joy to some people. I'm not one of them though." She did break out into a small smirk at the last part, mostly just trying to joke around with the band.

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Coruscant
Tags: Vitiion Daivik

Luxar | Klocto | Sword​

"You're giving to the Galaxy, instead of taking away from it. Your music helps to bring joy to some people. I'm not one of them though."

"I wouldn't say giving," Xeno noted, cracking a slight smile at her joke. "Just... letting out steam. The giving part is more just a bi-product." He took another sip of his tea, frowning. The citrus really was escaping rather fast. "Uh, regardless, the point we were trying to get at is we don't really give a damn where you're from. Not in the bad way, I mean, but..."

"Oh shut up," Klocto cut in. "He means you're good, lass. Say what you want, leave out what you want to burn with a flamethrower. We're a people forged in new identities."

"Yeah," Xeno sighed. "That. All that matters is that, well, you aren't 'bleeding out alone' I guess."

Luxar and Klocto would both turn to stare at him, prompting the half-Nagai to awkwardly scratch the back of his head.

"I'm still working on that," he assured.

Luxar would walk over to the shorter woman, giving a very imposing thumbs up.

"You're cool in my book," the shard stated. "Any enjoyer of tea is a friend of mine."

"Dude," Klocto began again, rolling his compound eyes. "You literally cannot even taste it."

"It's not about the taste, man," Luxar rebutted. "It's about the atmosphere. Imagine a steamy room filled with falling petals and scented candles, a cool breeze wafting through with the refreshing chill of the morning dew. Bliss."

Xeno rolled his eyes as well, giving a slight snicker before turning back to Vee.

"So you got friends now too, ya hear?" the former assassin stated. "We'll, uh, figure out a more suitable atmosphere next time around."

 

[Vitiion Daivik]

"It might be a bi-product, but it's still a result of you three. Without it, these people's lives would be a little bit darker." She shrugged her shoulders afterwards, folding her arms along the front as she listened to Xeno and then the Rodian when they interrupted Xeno...Hm...A flamethrower. That sounds like something she'd enjoy to use. The Atoan rubbed her chin at that thought, a few invasive thoughts of setting fire to buildings on Atoa as something that would help her relieve some stress before shaking her head. It was just a stupid fantasy and she shouldn't try and give it any extra thoughts.

"I mean, I suppose I'm not bleeding alone right now, you're right." Vee nodded to herself, glancing over towards Klocto and Luxar as the pair seemed a bit confused by the statement from Xeno, causing her to just break out into a small giggle. Shaking her head afterwards, to look up at the shard approaching her. Tensing up ever so slightly at the thumbs up, mostly because of the Shard's size that was still intimidating the Atoan. She wasn't used to people being that large.

Her eyes darted between the three of them, a slowly growing smile starting to make its way on her face as she shook her head. Their shenanigans amused her, even though she shook her head at it. "Someone seems to be a bit of a dreamer. That's a nice trait." She grinned at Luxar at that, before looking over towards Xeno, rubbing the back of her neck in thought. "I mean...the atmosphere could be a lot worse, I'll be totally honest. This got me out for the day, let me experience something new. It could have been a lot worse."

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Coruscant
Tags: Vitiion Daivik

Luxar | Klocto | Sword​

"I mean...the atmosphere could be a lot worse, I'll be totally honest. This got me out for the day, let me experience something new. It could have been a lot worse."

Xeno grinned a little, tilting his head a little.

"I'll... take that as a compliment," he remarked jokingly.

"Ah chit," Klocto frowned, looking at a watch on his wrist. "That swoop race is in an hour, Luxar. We gotta get movin, big guy."

Luxar turned, giving his friend a big thumbs up.

"Hell yeah," the shard laughed mechanically. "This is gonna be wild." He turned back to Vee for a moment. "We definately need to hang again. I know a nice café we can all go to."

With that, Klocto and Luxar exchanged a final bit of formalities before rushing off. Xeno let out a sigh of relief. It had gone pretty well all things considered, aside from all the parts that he had definately not communicated well.

"So, uh, yeah," he continued. "Those are my friends. They're a good bunch. I... sorta stumbled into them on accident if I'm being honest. I was a stupid kid that thought going it alone was the way to go. I... suppose I still may be a little stupid."

He let out a faint laugh, scratching at the bridge of his nose.

"Uh, thanks by the way," the half-Nagai added. "You've been great company. I don't really get to genuinely meet new people often, so this was a nice change of pace."

 

[Vitiion Daivik]

Vitiion just returned the smile as she folded her arms along her front, not saying whether or not she meant it as an actual compliment, letting him use his imagination instead.

Though she raised an eyebrow when Klocto and Luxar seemed to be talking about some kind of swoop race. She had obviously heard of them before, but the Atoan was never too interested in the idea of zooming through the world and instead preferred to sit and stay in one place. It's part of why she enjoyed being a sniper.

"Stay safe you two. I'd love to try out that café sometimes. Always a fan of good food." She gave the two a small mock salute as they headed off before glancing over towards Xeno who seemed to be relieved at it all. She just giggled as he spoke, keeping a smirk on her face. "I mean, I won't disagree with you still being a little bit stupid...but it's fine. We're all a little bit stupid every now and then. It's not exactly a bad thing to be stupid sometimes."

Vee shrugged her shoulders, trying not to look at Xeno when he said she was great company. Her face just felt a bit flushed as she was embarrassed at the compliment and just waving her hand in his direction. "It's fine. Seriously. You don't need to thank me for any of that. I just wanted to help you out at the end of the day."

Xeno