The Girl and The Robot

[Kaili Talith]

“Okay.” Said Kaili as she looked at what was available on the menu. “Tea and a Danish. On her, thanks.”

Kaili smirked at Allyson and perked her brows in delight. Not paying was nice, and truth told a small part of Kaili had forgotten the free droid repairs. Yet at the reminder there was little the kid could do but agree with herself once more. Allyson had been pretty solid, it was the least Kaili could do at the end of all this.

“Oh really?” Kaili mused as she waited for her weirdly named pastry to be brought up. “Still, I am missing like five different Expansions. That’s like a thousand caps in just expansions.” Idle shake of her head. “I just don’t understand why these companies insist on charging so much for something so simple.” Not like Kaili couldn’t afford it though. “Still, got to make a living in some way, I guess.”

Both orders arrived and Kaili waited for her friend to pay before grabbing her items. There was a table available in the corner of the shop. Crumbs still rested on the table from the man who had just left, but it was the only table available at the moment. Kaili took her seat in one of the armchairs and spun it around to look at her friend.

“I can send you a copy of the agricraft game when we get back. Let you try it for yourself and all that.”

A quick look outside made it obvious that the skies were clearing up already. Kaili took the first sip of her tea, closed her eyes and enjoyed. She loved moments like these. Most people probably did.

“So, we’ve talked about droids and games.” Kaili said as she finally opened her eyes again. “What else do you enjoy, Allyson?”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

She had won that small battle and happily ordered the cinnamon bun and a glass of blue milk. After Kai’s order, she handed the credits to the gentleman behind the counter and received the warm goods. A part of Allyson cringed at the prices of this place, but then she remembered what planet she was on. Trying not to show too much stress over the overpriced pastries, she followed Kai to the small table. After setting everything down she ran her hand over the crumb ridden furniture and then sat down. While Kai spoke about the expansions, Allyson tore through the cinnamon bun, she unraveled the pastry and ate it piece by piece.

“Mmm, they released a boosting service, but playing through the content is fun too because then you get the full story of everything.” Shrugging, she figured Kaili was pretty far behind and wouldn’t be interested so she didn’t press the issue. A smile crossed her face as she nodded, “That would be awesome – it sounds interesting.” They had spoken about droids and games; Kai was curious to know more about Allyson. Though the other things she liked were rather grown up, so she decided against sharing the joys of booze and sex. Allyson knew those two ‘past times’ were just fillers for things that were missing. Of course one of the things that were missing were friends.

Adjusting in her seat, Allyson brushed her foot against Kaili’s under the table – or what she thought was Kai’s foot, it could have been the base of the table, who knows. “Other things I enjoy? Hmm I really like ships, but that falls into droids? So hmm I like watching huttball and you can’t think this is weird…” Allyson bit the end of her thumb and then spoke. “I like to people watch, like I could spend hours just relaxing and picking out people and making up elaborate stories about their lives that aren’t true. Like…” Looking around she saw a gentleman standing next to the counter, he had his face in his comm and was smiling sheepishly. “Like that guy, he’s far from home and he just received a love message from his girlfriend back home. He’s working for a politician, but the man’s crooked so he’s always stressed out trying to fix his boss’ mistakes. The only good thing is his girlfriend who he hopes to marry one day.” Shrugging, Allyson popped another piece of the cinnamon bun in her mouth. “Its something to do when you’re waiting for a contact or a shipment. She laughed and looked down slightly embarrassed. [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Droids and ships falling into the same area of expertise. Kaili nodded her head as slowly as she could to ensure she did not look like the excited freak she was. Had Allyson read her mind? That was exactly how she felt about it too, but there was little point in ever going around and talking to others about it. People just didn’t seem to understand, or be willing to understand. Nobody except Allyson, and that made Kaili smile. Something touched her feet and with it she flinched in surprise. Attention straying away to beneath the table Kaili saw Allyson’s feet and looked back up thinking nothing of it.

Didn’t really make her stop either.

Looking over at the man by the counter Kaili followed Allyson’s trail of thought. Prospecting who people were. It wasn’t unheard of, except Kaili did it... Slightly different.

“I could see it.” She nodded in agreement with what Allyson was saying before pointing over at a lonely woman in a remote corner. “Escort Droid, the snobby attitude and the way she speaks into her HoloDevice ... I’d say an Imperial Voice Modulator as well as the inertia dampening Deluxe Package. I don’t offer such things myself, but I know of several more... Errr, perverted, creators who do. Fifteen-thousand credits.”

Finger trailed off towards two guys hanging out in a booth.

“Two dudes in the booths. Sports Droids. Extra particular about Huttball. Ability to refill beer cups... Optional. Seven-thousand-five-hundred credits. ”

Attention set back on Allyson with a grin. “BB-Unit. Repairs. Free of charge.”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]A sense of relief washed over her as she didn’t get a weird look from Kaili. The people watching was always such a hit or miss with people that she rarely ever brought it up. Grabbing her blue milk, she sipped silently through the straw as she looked around at the people that Kai was mentioning. The way she people watched as unique and every story she told made the smile on Ally’s face grow wider. Finally, it came back to her and it clicked with confirmation how Kaili people watches. Putting the blue milk down, Ally placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward slightly. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]At this time, if it was permitted she would have leaned far over enough to place a small kiss on the end of Kaili’s lips. They weren’t like that, so instead Ally just smiled and kept her day dreams to herself. Though she did express what she was thinking, “You’re so cute.” She fully didn’t comprehend what she had just said, it seemed to be the proper response to what Kaili was doing. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“So, you figure out what droid they use and how much you would charge them for repairs? Super interesting, I love it!” Looking back towards the woman, Ally wiggled her eyebrows and lowered her voice so only they could hear her. “So escort droids, have you ever worked on one?” [member="Kaili Talith"] [/SIZE]

 

[Kaili Talith]

There was a moment of brief shyness there. Kaili tilted her and covered her mouth to hide the smirk on her lips. Being called cute by someone was never wrong, it just... Never happened. Ever. Not if your name was Kaili Talith and you lived on Borleias a few blocks down from a picturesque little bakeshop. Not if your name was Kaili and you had spent the last few months speaking to droids and shoving hydrospanners within their broken bodies. She didn’t quite blush, but she felt her cheeks warm up nonetheless.

“Thank you.” She whispered and took a deep breath to get herself out of it. “I work out the droid they’d want, and then set the price accordingly. I overcharged you by around five hundred credits, you know.”

Kaili too leaned on the table eventually. An idle hand stirred the tea within her cup into a whirlpool. The occasional leaf had escaped from their container and soared around in the delicious brown-red liquid.

“I don’t work on Escorts, no.” Kaili snickered as she lifted her attention from the cup to her friend. “I work droids. Droids and technically I should be working ships.” The hand that had stirred her tea latched on to the cup and lifted for her lips and she took another sip before placing it on the table again. “I graduated from the Levantine Astronautical Academy.” She shrugged as if no biggie. “Navigation and Medicine. Majored in Ship Design, but I never, uh...” Frown twitch. “Never got around to using it. Stuck to droids instead. Much smaller, easier to keep track of.”

Doesn’t kill everyone around you.

Unless you fuck up too bad, but even then there were failsafes.

Kaili sighed.

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]“At least you graduated.” Allyson smirked as she listened to Kaili’s educational experiences. The LAA was pretty prestigious and Allyson had been accepted into their Ship Engineering program, but she declined it and decided to head into the school her father had gone to. The school was located on Corellia and the entire program was run and focused on Corellian ships and the like. A bit closed minded in a sense, but Corellian ships were easy to compare to other ships made in other places of the galaxies. The only things that baffled Ally’s mind were the ships created by the Vong, but that was a whole story in itself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She could tell Kaili was thinking about the incident she had told her about last night. Reaching over, she brushed her fingertips lightly on the back of Kaili’s hand, the one holding the tea cup. A soft smile spread across her face and she nodded. “It’s alright.” It was the best she could do for now to comfort the girl for the time being in the place they were in. “I dropped out of school. I was majoring in Ship Engineering and before my last year was up I basically got up from the middle of class and walked out.” Shrugging, she let her fingers brush the back of Kai’s hand a few more times then realized she was probably over stepping her boundaries. The fingers raised and paused for a moment and then retreated folding towards her palm into a small loose fist. “I would always watch the ships taking off from the hangers and it just made me want to be on one so bad. I had learned everything from my dad – top of my class and all that jazz, I knew what I needed to know and school wasn’t going to prove anything for me.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“It was boring” Her life was boring up until then, she would go home be with her parents and then go back to school. Nothing exciting, no one exciting till she met Ember. Finishing off her story, she tilted her head slightly and continued to look at Kaili. “You’re smart, but over charging me five-hundred credits…why?” Ally just remembered the comment of being over charged and she gave Kaili a pout. [member="Kaili Talith"] [/SIZE]

 

[Kaili Talith]

There were fingers brushing against the top of her hand, and just like that the frown was turned upside down again. A smile tugged and tore at her cheeks. Eye contact, pupils dilating just ever so slightly. There was something about Allyson that just managed to turn things around. Today by the touch of a hand, yesterday by providing an arm to grab onto when things became too much. Kaili could hear her own heartbeat again. Allyson was right there in front of her, just... Pouting. Kaili smirked.

“Take a look around you.” Kaili laughed. “Do you think anyone around her knows what I actually do to their droid?” She shook her head and snickered once more. “I overcharge because I get away with it, Allyson.”

“... And because I take particular joy in rich people proving their own ignorance.” For a second Kaili bobbed her head back and forth as her eyes rolled. “I know, I know, it’s not exactly the nicest thing to do, but I need to make a living too, you know?”

“Besides, even when I do charge double, I still charge half of what the other workshops in the nearby area charges. And they’re even bigger names than me.” Kaili shrugged. “I’m sorry. For lying, I mean. I didn’t think you’d really know what it was I did at that time.”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Allyson couldn’t help but laugh. She found the idea of Kaili over charging something funny now that she had explained it. The girl didn’t know who Allyson was when she walked into the shop, so it was only natural to overcharge like she had done to others. On a planet like this, with this sort of economy – things were going to be expensive – Ally should have known that. Either way, it was still something comical and Ally just shrugged. “It’s alright, when you had said the initial price, my jaw did hit the floor.” Rubbing her chin slightly she smirked. “Still trying to get the dust out of it.” There was no rejection to the hand touching, so Allyson worked up the courage again and allowed her finger tips to brush against Kaili’s for a moment and then stopped letting them rest lightly against her finger knuckles. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“To be honest, if anyone walked in with a broken escort droid I’d hope you’d charge quadruple I mean come on – those things can get really gross. I worked with a guy that had one.” Allyson stuck her tongue out and shuddered for a moment. Shaking her head, she took a sip of her blue milk. “Yeah those things, yeah.” Allyson didn’t get into too much detail about the droid, mostly because she was scarred for life by her coworker and his inability to keep the damn thing clean. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Needing a change of subject, she tried to think of something. Absent mindedly she moved her foot again and brushed against Kai’s leg or the table base. She really wasn’t good at telling which was which and hoped for the best. “Hmm, anything else interest you Ms. Kaili Talith? So far we have, Droids, Games, and over charging the ignorant rich” Sticking out her tongue she teased the girl a bit. [member="Kaili Talith"] [/SIZE]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili usually turned down escort droid repairs for the very same reasons that Allyson drew a picture of. Disgusting. Kaili almost choked on her tea, but luckily she didn’t.

Allyson was an interesting woman. A lot more forward than Kaili was, certainly more pushy. Though not as pushy as she had been in the start back when they were still discussing the price of getting Bait repaired. Their hands touched one another again and a feet ran up Kaili’s shin, yet all she did was smile. The impulse to close her eyes and just let it happen was great, but the desire to take another sip of her caf injected tea was greater and she did just that to calm her nerves.

“I don’t know, Ms. Allyson Locke.” Kaili drawled as she leaned back in her seat. “You tell me. Droids, games, sports, not being an ignorant rich person...”

“Is there anything else we share?” Eyebrows perked for a second in a challenge. “Why don’t you tell me some more about yourself, and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Kaili let on a mischievous smile.

“We’ve got a good tally so far.”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

There was this way that Kaili said Allyson’s name. Of course Allyson had heard her name said several times by several people in this galaxy, but there was just something the way Kaili said her name and said her full name. The way her lips curled over each syllable mesmerized Allyson for just the moment. Snapping out of it, she blinked several times seemingly confused at the question presented to her. “I…” Allyson started and then stopped for a moment, mostly to take a breath and settle her thoughts.

A hand brushed back her stray brunette locks and she continued. “Uh, I’m not really that interesting to be honest now that I really think about it. Grew up middle class, dad was an engineer, mom was a homemaker.” Realizing this was basic information she stopped and shifted gears. Her past didn’t truly define her. “I love to explore, to see parts of the galaxy that no one has ever seen before. I function off of legends. I hear one and I want to go find and see if it's true.” She bit her lower lip and looked towards Kaili, “I love new experiences and meeting people that could possibly change your life.” Pulling her hand back she rested her chin on it and sighed softly.

“I get stir crazy, I think that’s why I couldn’t finish school. I wanted to be in the stars to find and meet new people. The people on Corellia were the same as everyone else.” Looking out of the bakery/cafe, Allyson stared at the sky. “I love the stars, I prefer it than being planetside but…” Looking back towards Kaili, “Meeting you has made me enjoy being planetside.” Allyson paused and thought about what she had just said, there was so much honesty in her words and she began to withdraw herself. The feeling of rejection started to stir as she kept her hands to herself. Why all of a sudden was she worried about this? She was never like this before, if someone didn’t like her it was their problem.

There was just something that made her vulnerable to the girl across from her. [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Well,” Kaili began. “I was born to an upper-class family. Dad is retired and my mother is a...” She couldn’t really say what her mother was, could she? “Cop, of sorts.” Close enough. “I grew up with my brother and my two sisters. Micah and Maleah are twins, and then there is my oldest sister. Her name is Aela. Though you already knew this.” Kaili finished her tea before continuing. “I love ships, droids and everything mechanical. I don’t get out much, but I get by. I hate violence and I do my best to decrease such things.”

There was no need for the rest. Allyson already knew exactly who Kaili was in all her incredibly boring shape. That girl who shut herself inside her shop because she saw her friend die in her arms. There were more to that than Kaili was letting on, of course, but all within good time Allyson would be let in on the whole story.

Probably.

“A friend of mine once taught me how to seal a hull breach with my but.” Kaili chimed up out of nowhere. “Okay, maybe not my butt, but with a pillow. She said the same idea held though.”

“She knows more about ships than anyone else that I know.”

“Maybe you will meet her someday. Her name is Mara.”

“Mara Merrill.”

Yes, the Mara’s Corridor Mara. Yes, the quintillionaire who owns stakes in Iron Crown, Silk Holdings, Arakyd and Akure.

Yes, the Mara Merrill that Kaili had come to worry about on a daily basis.

Yes, Mara, the only friend Kaili had.

At least until now.

She smiled at Allyson, her newfound friend. Who knew you could have more than one of those?

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson couldn’t help but laugh. The thought of sealing a hull with a pillow or your butt was something she would have never thought of to do. So today, she learned that it was possible. She listened to Kai talk about her parents, she had figured the girl was from the upper-class, her manners were impeccable and she was far too pretty to be part of the lower-class or middle class. Still, class didn’t matter to Allyson, none of that ever did. She got by and Kaili was far from snobby. Continuing to listen, the last name Merrill came up.

“Merrill? Like Jorus Merrill…wow…” Allyson did her best not to fan girl too hard. Part of why she loved ships and such were the stories of Jorus Merrill, every Corellian knew about him of course. Kaili was lucky to know a Merrill, maybe one day she’d be able to meet this Mara, one day. “That’s pretty awesome; you’re not as boring as you think you are Kaili.” Looking around the café, it seemed they had been there for a while. The crowd that was with them when they first sat down had changed twice over. Looking down at her comm/watch, she blinked quickly. “Oh wow Kai, we’ve been here for a few hours…should probably head back to the shop. Bait’s part might be in…”

Remembering the droids and how mischievous Bait was. “Kai we gotta go – we left Henry and Bait alone!” Being tidy, she cleaned up the mess that was on the table and tossed away the papers and baskets that held their pastries. “Let’s get going.” Out of habit, she reached and grabbed Kaili’s hand and dragged her behind her at a brisk pace, not too brisk where the girl who had just filled her stomach with tea would get a stomach ache. [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Kaili nodded rather nonchalantly in the light of who Jorus Merrill was. To her he was just another parent, much like her very own father was ‘just another father’ in the eyes of many others. Unless you went to some of the far reaches of the Outer Rim in which case he would be worshipped as a god. But Kaili wouldn’t want Allyson to know that part. Preferably ever, if possible. It had a way with people if you went ‘By the way, my father is a god’ to people. Or at least so Kaili could assume.

Hand tugged. Kaili forced out of her seat and stumbling after Allyson much like the last time they were eating somewhere that wasn’t at home.

Yep. Allyson was definitely part-Bounty Hunter.

“Easy there!” The girl exclaimed as she stumbled behind her friend. “At least let me get back on my feet.”

And stopped down they did. Kaili caught herself from falling over and after brushing out the wrinkles in her sweater she proceeded to enter a sprint home. No words, just a sprint home for the sake of having a business left to return to. Allyson would just have to keep up.

They arrived and much like Allyson had expected, the tiny little package remained on the doorstep to the shop. Kaili knelt down to pick it up before rising up again to inser her keycard into the appropriate slot. The doors slid open and...

Tracks in the dust. Two droids chasing each other around. One of which stopped to look at the droid maker whose eye was twitching. Twitch bad. Fuse popping bad. The box of spare parts that Kaili had ever so pedantically sorted had hit the ground. Screw mixed with bolts, bolts mixed with just about everything else. Kaili's hand ran through her hand before dragging itself across the entirety of her face in panic.

“Henry.” The girl gritted her teeth and almost growled in anger. “Go back inside and recharge in your corner.”

[ But- ! ] The droid sounded most unhappy.

“NOW!” The droid maker exploded. “RIGHT. NOW. NO BUTS. JUST GO. RIGHT NOW.”

[ Okay. ] Henry tilted his chassis in disappointment.

“Bait.” Kaili shivered. This wasn’t her droid. She had to play nice. Or try to. “I know-... You two-... Meant-... Nothing-... By-... IT...” Deep breath. Deep. Freaking. Breath, Kaili. “But that box-... Is my entire livelihood.”

“Please. Do NOT. Repeat this mistake.”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Allyson kept up the best she could, for being a recluse nerd Kaili could run as if she had done so professionally. Being a pace behind the girl wasn’t hard to keep, but she showed up as Bai was getting scolded. Frowning, she looked at the chaos and shook her head. “Bait! To the sleeping room and wait by my backpack! The droid wanted to protest, but realized he was at fault and quickly zipped by. It was curious that he listened so well, which made Ally realize that he liked Kai enough to obey orders and feel somewhat bad at what he and Henry did. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“I’m so sorry about that Kai, he’s just so rebellious.” She wandered into the shop to help assess the damage. With the dust covering everything she really didn’t realize what was out of place minus the spare parts which seemed to have been the tipping point of Kaili’s anger. Looking at the girl, she seemed to be doing her best at containing something. Allyson didn’t’ dare point out that the shop wasn’t that bad and decided to wander over to the parts. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“I’ll help you resort these, since it was my droid that had decided to be a karking bantha head.” Kneeling down she started to pick things up. As she did, she didn’t realize what part was what part. Droid parts looked so similar to her, so instead she started to collected bolts and nuts and sorted them into piles. Looking towards Kai, she sheepishly smiled. “Can you…uh show me what is what?” [member="Kaili Talith"][/SIZE]

 

[Kaili Talith]

It was the similarities in parts that had Kaili in panic. It was a wonder to her why no droid make would seem to agree to an industry standard. Most big companies did, but Kaili didn’t fix droids from just the big guys. She fixed every droid. Except the escort droids. She did not touch those. Ever, and with good reasons that Allyson had already brought up.

The kid knelt down on the ground next to Allyson and began pointing at things. Calm found her, or well, she found it. Maybe Allyson just had that kind of air to her. Kaili didn’t want to be angry. She chose not to. Usually she found at least a small impish delight in getting angry, but with her... Not so much. Perhaps Kaili didn’t want to give the wrong impression.

She didn’t really know why, but having Allyson’s approval felt like the most important thing ever.

At least in this moment.

“That screw is a NTA 6-by-5 millimeter. It goes in the box labeled NTA 6-by-5.” Kaili brought forth the box and grabbed a seat on the ground. Legs crossed she placed her elbow on her knee and her head in her right hand. “Last time this happened he was grounded for a month.”

Kaili sighed. “Luckily it’s only happened once before.”

“I’m sorry. I can get a bit... Temperamental at times.”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson nodded and tried her best to find all the NTA 6-by-5s and place them in the box labeled for them. She continued and found parts that were similar, some she recognized from ships and placed them together as well. She also found the corresponding box for them and when the piles were starting to get too big, she placed them in the box. Kaili continued to talk and again apologizing. Shrugging, Allyson looked over at her and smiled. “It’s alright, I would have been upset too. The worst thing Bait has done was change the language of the autopilot on my ship to Hutt. I don’t know that language, but he first tried to change it to binary which hahaha I know.” Shaking her head, she continued to work.

“Don’t get mad, but…” She gestured towards her face and grinned. “The whole twitching, ­kind of adorable.” Allyson chuckled as she finished up the pile she was working on. Looking towards where Kai had kept all of the parts she wondered if there was a way to get things locked up to keep the droids from getting their little hands on it. Staring at it for a while, she figured everything falling was an accident of their rough housing.

“Kaili, you ever think of making a locking cage around the parts? I mean I doubt they purposefully pulled everything out, might have been an innocent bystander in the chaos of their playing. I think if we built like a cage around it with a lock it would prevent this and if you get broken into – no one can steal the important parts.” Allyson rubbed the back of her neck as she stood and looked at the wall where everything had been placed. It could honestly be a chainlink fence cage with a lock and key. Also may organize the shop a little more. Though the more Allyson learned about Kaili – everything was an organized mess. [member="Kaili Talith"]

“Stuff is pretty cheap and so is labor.” Ally brought up her arms to flex showing her offer to build the cage if Kaili decided for it, if not Kaili got a free ticket to the gun show. Sort of.

 

[Kaili Talith]

There was a tiny snicker at the mention of being adorable again.

“No, not really.” Kaili let go of her jaw and shrugged. “It’s usually just me and Henry, I don’t see a lot of through traffic like I have in the last two days.”

Idle stare at the box. A measure to prevent the box from falling over in the first place, and the labor was being provided free of charge. There really wasn’t any downside to that arrangement. Kaili got to keep her mess organized and in return she got to spend more time with her friend.

“Okay, but we really kind of ought to finish up on Bait first, you know.” Kaili grunted as she rose up from the floor. “All we really need to do is reattach the hand and he should be all done. Really.” Kaili grabbed the arm package and dangled it in front of her for Allyson to see.

“We should probably do that first, worry about the mess later when we have nothing better to do.”

Like right after finishing Bait to get it squared away.

“Nobody wants to be broken. Droids much less so.”

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Nobody likes to be broken. Ally pondered that for a moment, then quickly got up and followed Kaili leaving the mess for after they had fixed Bait. Wandering, she went looking for the droid who was doing as he was told and sitting next to her bag, by the couch slumped over if he could slump. Sighing softly, a part of Allyson felt bad – the droid never had anyone else like him to play with. Henry was the first droid minus the older R2 units that wandered around Clan Rekali that actually played with him. “Oh man I haven’t seen him this sad in while.” Walking up to him, Ally knelt down to his height and patted his head.

“Its okay dude, everything is going to get cleaned up and look – Kaili has your replacement arm” Pointing towards the girl with the bag, Bait beeped and looked towards her as well. Excited beeps echoed as he perked up and rolled up to Kai. A string of sad and apologetic binary came from the droid as he rolled into her foot sadly in his attempt of a hug and an apology. Walking up to Kai, she looked down at the droid and folded her arms loosely in front of her. “Jeez, he’s pretty sorry – I think it’s because he really wants that arm.” Smiling, she grabbed the droid and lugged him to the work bench and waited for Kaili to begin her work.

“So the arm, that’s all he’s missing? Then he’ll be good as new? Complete?” Kaili’s comment still weighed on her mind, she had to agree no one wanted to be broken. Though how do you fix people? You can’t order more parts for them, well you could – still. How do you fix someone emotionally broken? Allyson stuck on that comment wondering if Kaili knew more about her than she was letting on. There was a hole, a pretty big one in Ally and she did her best keep it protected with a front – but did the other girl see right through it? [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

No, she didn’t see right through it, but Kaili could feel it. The air around her just whispered of someone who understood exactly how Kaili felt at times. Perhaps the way she carried herself. With or without a front Allyson would still be someone that Kaili would trust and care for. Quick to make such ties, maybe, but if you didn’t have faith in people, then what was the point in believing? Kaili believed by all means that she and Allyson was meant to meet one way or another. It sounded really icky and sleazy in her mind, but it was true.

“That’s alright.” Kaili knelt down to pat Bait on the top partition of his body as well.”I was just in shock, buddy.”

Shoulders slumped, head hunched and Kaili sighed.

“Henry!” She called into her home. “I’m sorry! You can come out if you want to.”

“... I think Bait would like that once he’s done.”

Kaili lifted the BB-unit on top of her workbench again and looked at the broken arm that he housed. Unwrapping the new one she looked over at Allyson, and then at the arm.

Then at Allyson.

... And then at the wrench.

“Hey, Allyson. Come over here for a minute, would you?” Kaili handed the woman the arm and moved aside for her to stand in front of Bait. “Do you remember yesterday when you said you could... Feel droids?”

“I have an idea, but uh, I need you to help me with it.” Kaili removed the old broken arm and tossed it aside. Propping the new arm into place she looked at Allyson with a grin. “Screw the new arm in for me.”

Except how would she do that? Kaili was in the way, and there was not a single hydrospanner around.

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Hearing her name, Allyson snapped out of her daze and wandered over towards Kaili at the work bench. She took the new arm and looked at Bait who whistled a rather cat call sort of tune. The sort of whistle a man would whistle towards a woman he found attractive. Frowning, she knew Bait was doing this because Ally was going to have her hand in him and he knew it would get under her skin. Staring at the arm, then back at Bait she tried to figure out how this was going to work. Looking towards Kaili, she had a worried look on her face. “I talk to ships mostly, but it just lets me know what’s broken and such I…”

Bait beeped something along the lines of ‘I’ll help you’. “Alright.” Allyson stuck her hand into the droid’s body with the arm and remembered the hook that Kaili had explained to her. On the outside of the droid, she placed her other hand over the same area on where her first hand was with the arm. Taking a deep breath she cleared everything in her mind and focused on the droid in front of her. When she tapped into the Force, her mind pulled up images as if she was internally downloading schematics of the machine. Mentally she saw that there was the hook and a few screws that helped secure the arm in place – allowing it to retracted and to move freely if needed.

Allyson bit her lower lip as the sound of metal moving inside of the droid tinkered slightly. It took her a few moments, but the tinkering noises stopped and she opened her eyes slowly. One by one, eyes fell on Bait who whistled happily. Hands removed from the droid and he started to use the arm. It moved in and out of the open panel and also showed off the minor tool attachments it came with. “It’s secure?” The droid beeped and continued to play with its arm. “I think I did it, you should…probably check.”

Happy post 100 :3 [member="Kaili Talith"]​