Private Spanners in the Works

[Acaadi]

"I am like...so behind on all the shows that I really don't mind," Acaadi replied. His voice went from suspicion to a lighter note of amusement.

He was slowly started to believe that maybe she was actually going to honour this truce.

"How big a screen you got?" he asked. "I've only got my little datapad."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Her face screwed up in a look that could only be described as silly amusement. She followed it with a throaty laugh as she

"There's so much to pick from it's hard anymore to find the good stuff." She chuckled, her head rocking back and forth as she thought for a moment.

The question about a screen had her smiling.

"I use a holo-projector that was thrown out. Fixed it and now part of the ceiling usually. Hooked up some speakers from old helmets to make movable speakers." She shrugged.

 

[Acaadi]

"That's cool," Acaadi said. He was fairly certain that everything Phalsi did was slightly more interesting that everything he did.

"Your place I guess? Probably better than huddling around a datapad on my bed," Acaadi said. A dark blush coloured his cheeks when he thought about how he had worded that. He hoped she didn't notice.

"Say about twenty minutes to get cleaned up?"

There was no need to set a particular time, but Acaadi liked his life quite regimented.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

His observation about the setup was met with a thumbs up and smile. "It's not bad. Does the job."

There was a laugh at his words, her hands almost clenching together out of habit before she remembered her trap.

"Yep. Wear comfy clothes. I've got snacks and stuff too unless you have something special you are wanting to bring." Her words still held laughter, wondering if he knew how on the nose his comment was.

The only comfortable way to watch the projector was by not sitting in a chair. With that, her hand came up, greasy fingers making a slap sound as she planted them against the back of his neck and swiped.

The face she made glancing back at him as she tried to run down the hall was pure glee as laughter filled the space.

"See you in twenty!"

 

[Acaadi]

"Really?" he asked, feigning exasperation. He had jumped and then tensed up at the surprise attack. Her patience had lasted all this time for additional revenge. At least it wasn't going to get in his eyes. Acaadi decided not to give chase.

On the way back to his room he had a mild panic about her asking if he had anything special to bring. She was just asking about food, right? That mild panic mixed with a slightly warm and fuzzy feeling deep in his gut as he showered. The sharpship grease, mixed with the metallic flakes and heat of the cutting torches required no small amount of scrubbing.

Acaadi then felt a slight panic at the chance of being late. He liked things organised and neat and assumed everyone else liked the same.

He knocked on her door and held up the two bottles of beer he was carrying.

"All I had by way of a peace offering," he explained.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Giving a peace sign as she went, she made it to her room without incident. She danced and hummed a tune to herself as she spent the next fifteen minute showering. Her routine extending to actually not being a recluse in her room as she went through the whole retinue of conditioning her hair, shaving her legs and even double checking her nails as she came out to her room with her hair wrapped in a towel.

The steristeel encoil plates were visible down the back of her neck. Starting at her neck and stretching down below the overly baggy shirt she wore. The equally large sweatpants, folded down once and tied around the waste hid the rest of the plates as she paused looking over her room with dread.

She'd forgot she lived like a goblin.

Even with the sparse amount of furniture and appliances, a couch turned futon pair being smashed together in a makeshift queen bed while a refrigerator and food prep area filled the other requirements. Her ship had been filled with the rest while the lot of the space here in the temple was filled with wrappers, clothes, and half finished projects. All of which she pushed into a closet before getting out a pair of house blankets in a mad rush to get things ready.

His knock at the door had her finishing off the brushing the crumbs from her bed before kicking the projector with her foot and cursing loudly while hopping on one foot to the door. She did a final scan before it opened.

"A-nice." She gave a chuckle at his offering, the cold of her room wafted into the hallway. She kept the room uncomfortably cold, opting to bundle up instead of keeping it at living temperature. "Good choice. Come on in, take a seat and I'll get the snacks." Her hand waved over to the futons, her bare feet barely touching the ground as she danced over to the fridge.

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi had, at no point in his estimation of twenty minutes, considered how long it would take a girl to shower and sort out their room. It hadn't occurred to him on the way over that if it was a rush for him that she would not be all that worried about him being late.

He was wearing a casual tan tunic and pants. Not too dissimilar from the underlayers of a jedi's robes.

"Did you just bump into something?" he asked as he pulled the door closed after him. Acaadi definitely didn't judge how people decorated their rooms here. It never quite felt like a place people lived.

He did notice the cold though as he took off his shoes. It felt as if she lived here more than his own room. Acaadi didn't have many things. Most of his junk, including the model starships he loved building, was still back at home with his parents.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She leaned against the door of the refrigerator, taking the weight off her foot for a moment to nurse two of her toes. "Yeah, projector. Leapt out, reminded me where it was." She huffed a little at the thing, pulling out a few random things that didn't require any heavy cooking.

"Grab one of the blankets. You'll get cold here in a minute." She hefted the snacks with her, dumping them along the edge of the bed before diving into her own and popping her arms through it and grabbing a remote from beneath her as the holo-projector whirred to life. "Otherwise I'll have to put my feet on you and share warmth."

She laughed at the comment, laying back on the futon and waiting a moment for the screen to flicker to life. As if an after thought, her mouth dropped open with a loud sound of annoyance. "Fethfethfeth-." She popped upright, pulled the blanket off and made a mad dash to the door before flipping the switch and darting back beneath her blanket.

She got cozy before laying back once more and patting the spot beside her. "Don't crane your neck, I don't think they offer massage services for post movie reasons here." The words were lighthearted and teasing.

 

[Acaadi]

He hasn't got underneath a blanket on his own. For some reason it would have felt like making himself too comfortable. Like getting under the covers on a girl's bed without invitation.

He laughed when she pushed her arms through the blanket. "I hadn't even realised they had those."

Acaadi found that his was upside down, the arms flopping around his waist. As she dashed off to turn down off the light he twisted it about awkwardly, feeling unnecessarily flustered by it, to get his arms into it.

"I'm sure if your feet get really cold..." Acaadi trailed off. He followed her gesture and scooted across the bed closer so he could see the projector straight on. Feeling embarrassed made him feel irked at himself which seemed to just go around in a cycle.

She probably didn't even notice what he was doing. Acaadi'a base assumption in almost any social situation was that no one was really paying attention to him. Especially not someone who lived as a lone criminal on the run like Phalsi.

"I don't think they offer massages for anything," he said. "If you've been getting them after training you need to let me know how."

He laughed as he held one bottle at a time. One of his few party tricks was twisting off a bottle cap with the Force. The first bottle had obviously been shaken too much on the way. As the bubbles started he had to wrap his lips around it before making a mess of Phalsi's blankets.

He might have mumbled something that was a swear word first.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

When she came back, it took her a moment to realize he hadn't automatically gotten comfortable. Her brow scrunched, feeling at odds that people didn't assume to get comfy.

"You haven't seen these before?" She'd helped him put his on, not entirely sure how to alleviate the flustered feeling he was exuding. Wanting to cut into the thick of it, she started to speak. "Hey-."

The bottle opening trick was neat, and something she would never have thought to use the force for. But the shaken bottle made itself known as she did her best to stifle a laugh. She felt the muscles along her back tense, and she doubled over, clenching everything tight to stave off laughing.

"I-is alright. They've been through the ringer. Don't worry about it." She managed through hiccupped chokes of stifling a laugh. "Thanks. Thanks for warning me." She shuddered still yet with stifled laughter.

"Least it wasn't on your lap." She had rolled onto her side, away from him and giving him a view of the steristeel plates along her neck as she tried to choke down more laughter.

"And no, they don't offer massages." She huffed with the remaining giggles filtering out of her while turning back to him. "Hey, you know you are welcome here, right? Get comfy. That isn't just me saying it to be nice. We are friends after all. What's mine is yours." She reminded him before making a sharp noise and adding more.

"Just don't go digging through that as a heads-up." She pointed her bottle towards a bedside stand off to the far wall. "Anyways."

"That is a neat trick though. Show me sometime?"

 

[Acaadi]

"Why what's in there?" he asked before his brain immediately chastised him for such stupidity.

"Never mind," he added quickly, before continuing. "Don't worry about me. Be fine just first time in your room."

Acaadi wasn't sure if her noticing was making it better or worse. He felt a little mortified that his awkwardness was so obvious that she commented, but it was nice to have her try and address it that way. Laughter made everything easier too.

He tried to continue the humour by giving the second bottle a suspicious glare. Once again with the Force he carefully prised up one corner of the metal cap. It hissed angrily and bubbles started to rise.

"No!" he warned it, pressing his thumb back over the cap. A slow battle ensured of letting a little air out at a time.

"It's a good way to practise control," he said. "Could try with some small objects before a chunk of glass... What are the cybernetics down your neck?" he asked.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

When he asked, there was a small smirk, and the rise of her brow before he dismissed the question quickly. "Alright." She bobbled her head back and forth, watching him work as he pried open the second bottle before slapping it shut with haste. His explanation had her wondering if it was the same concept as stasis, making her look at him curiously.

"Master Sakadi taught stasis here a while back using rocks." She started, offering up something. "The practice sounds a lot like what you are talking about. Focusing on the small stuff."

He posed a question about her cybernetics, giving her an aha moment as she twisted and made to pull her hair up, remembering it was still in her towel. She remained twisted, offering him a view of it as she pulled the towel out.

"It's called the Encoil. Protects your spine and lets you plug in some more cybernetic nodes too." She shrugged. "You can touch it, it doesn't hurt."

 

[Acaadi]

That smirk was pure devilry to Acaadi and he had to remind himself to breathe. It was definitely what his brain had realised would be in those drawers about a second after his mouth started to ask.

"I've never even tried stasis," he said, "I lost control with telekensis once so I decided to focus on that. Fine control instead of...well throwing people around without thinking about the consequences."

That Phalsi looked as if she had just gotten out of the shower was contributing to him acting awkwardly. He reached out and touched the cool metal.

"Strange to think those are ports that plug like...right into your nervous system. Doesn't that feel weird?" he asked. There was more colour on his cheeks than their had been. The curve where her neck met her shoulders seemed innocuous enough but was giving him trouble.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

"Stasis is actually pretty handy. We practiced on rocks before she had us work on droids." She offered with a smile, realizing too late she was facing the wall as she mentally sighed. "Have to give it a second try sometime. You help me with that little trick and I'll-"

He touched the metal, and her brain stopped working for a moment. She had felt the doctor working on them after the procedure, but hadn't had any touch them afterwards. At least nothing besides to check that the implant hadn't become inflamed or become infected. And that had been a glance.

Friendly touch. Friendly touch- She reminded herself.

"I-it doesn't feel weird I guess. You're the first person to actually touch it so I-." She shrugged, moving a little as she felt herself shiver at the touch. She rolled back over, fumbling with the remote. The small circle of friends she maintained had gawked, but hadn't done more than look. And now she was glad they hadn't since it felt like it tickled.

She decided to ignore the shivering feeling it had sent down her back along the cybernetic. "I can't, really say it was weird. Not that it was bad. Just-ah. Comedy show right?"

"I've got just the show." Even in the dark room, she wasn't sure how clear the stain on her cheeks was.

 

[Acaadi]

"Erm, yeah, comedy."

That awkwardness had definitely been shared. He wasn't so oblivious that he didn't pick up on that. Acaadi, like everyone, had a sort of mental twin of everyone held in his mind. His own perception of what other people were like. In his head, Phalsi was not the sort of person to get flustered by anyone entering her personal space.

Acaadi had to slightly confront the fact that he'd build this mental picture based on very little. She was self-reliant and had run into trouble with the authorities for slicing. Those two things didn't define who she was. The other big chunk of evidence that refused to amalgamate with his mental image was that she liked him as a friend. On the run, she probably hadn't had enough time for friends at all. She'd already admitted to feeling lonely.

"Thanks for inviting me round," he said honestly as the show loaded up. "I like the setup. Wait...did you say you used stasis on rocks? How did you know you were making a rock stay still? Like, did one rock look slightly more still than the other rocks?"

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She made the mental hurdle to rein in her brain as the show loaded, her eyes roaming over to him when he spoke. "I think we both needed a bit of personal time. And sharing it with you is nice." Then came the question about using it on rocks.

"Oh! We used pebbles first. Dropped a handful from our hand and tried to stop them from hitting the ground. There was another couple of padawans and even some older guy...Quill maybe? I think he was a master."

She picked up one of the bottle caps, tossing it up in the air before she focused on the mental image of it hanging while she tried to track the little thing in the dark. It made a soft noise as it landed on her blanket about stomach high with her scoffing.

"Not very good at it yet. Did this in the day time. Little thing is hard to find in the dark."

 

[Acaadi]

The awkward, hollow feeling was very quickly filled in with warmth when she said it was nice spending time with him. So few words to make such and impact on how he felt.

"Oh yeah I've met him. Likes his sort of hands off training. I've always kind of learned better reading and watching more than just...doing..."

He always felt that his preference for learning so traditionally made him less exciting than the other students. He was less exciting than the other students. He liked quiet study and making small models of starships.

"Oh!" he went, reaching for the control to pause the show whilst it was still in the credits. "You know what's a good practise...turning the light switch off so you don't have to get out of your nice blanket."

Acaadi closed his eyes. He could still see, in a way. Everything physical was full and grey. Phalsi was a bright light, a small nexus in the flow of the Force. It made it harder to find such small details like light switches.

Click

"Can you turn it back off?" he asked.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Her attention snapped to him far sharper when he mentioned knowing the master. Such a small place the galaxy was. Her eyes moving to the controller when he paused the show and then opted for a small lesson in the meantime. Her head twitched to the side as he explained, shutting his eyes as she realized what he was doing.

Her eyes managed to close before the lights came on, a cautious opening as she saw the lights were indeed on. She stuck her tongue out at him before taking a steadying breath and taking a long look at the light switch.

She had shut that off for a reason.

Closing her eyes, she superimposed the last image she had seen, but with Acaadi next to her, she found focusing on the small details troublesome. "Good grief, how did you-?" she sassed him, trying to picture the switch in her mind. She let out a frustrated breath, opening her eyes to find it before attempting to picture it once more.

 

[Acaadi]

"It's like...let your awareness walk across the wall. As if it was pitch black and you were feeling it with your hands you know?"

"Keep your eyes closed and reach out," he added, voice dropping to barely a whisper as he tried to avoid breaking her concentration. He didn't realise how easily he was cutting through her attempt at focus right now.

Acaadi didn't spend much time teaching people. Whilst her eyes were closed and the light on he studied her almost peaceful expression. He didn't think about how it would look if she opened her eyes again in frustration instead of turning the lights off.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She blinked at his words, looking at him in disbelief. "Let-oh force this is gonna be fun." The tone was sarcastic of course. For someone very grounded in the real world, the idea of letting her mind wander off was a bit of a stretch. But the explanation was rather on point.

Trying again, she replaced the first image with being in the room when it was dark. The mental image of her approaching the switch came slowly. Her mouth ajar slightly as she breathed and ran through the mental exercise. The dark room image made it easier, somewhat. She just had to work around the large image of Acaadi beside her.

It was like staring through a foggy lens and trying to pick out details of a motherboard. She'd gotten just a handspan away from the switch before her focus broke once more. A gusty sigh had her trying once more, getting the hang of it far quicker this time as the switch wobbled slowly with her renewed attempt.

On the other hand, the intense focus also brought on a heavy weight to her mind, as though the world were being viewed through a fish eye. It felt like something was straining against her connection, the switch on the wall wiggling harshly as she struggled to finish the final push.