Private The Taken

[Xin Boa]

There was no hot bath to be had at Eriadu. Brak had pushed the Saegassum and made it to the space port before them.

Xin managed to catch some sleep on the flight. A few hours managed to make him feel more tired rather than refreshing him.

Adric seemed calm and relaxed when they arrived. Xin could almost feel the kid turning his thoughts inward. He barely seemed to take in where they were.

He suspected Adric had tried to come to terms with the sith enclave being his home for some time to come.

"This should be there..."

Xin had been about to announce that this was the right docking bay. There was no need when Skreech made such a noise charging across the ground towards them. Xin braced, but there was just as much of a chance that the monkey lizard would launch at Dells.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Xin Boa

While Adric and Xin managed to get some sleep on the flight, Dells had remained wide awake. At this point, everything hurt and the prospect of sleep was just a pipe dream. Walking around the port she was stiff from sitting so long. Years bouncing around in the military and getting in scraps she was convinced arthritis had settled into some of her joints. A sign she was getting a little older than she'd like to admit.

So she was more than thankful when Skreech bypassed herself and jumped on Xin, carrying on if Xin had risen from the dead. Dells was more than happy to take the less physical option of hugging Brak. After that, she quickly disappeared into the Saegassum before Skreech could attack her. From the sounds of it the monkey-lizard was busy messing up Adrics hair.

Next thing she knew, Dells woke up half-face down in bed. Drool on the pillow, one boot off, one on. Hair a complete mess. Fumbling around, there was no datapad to check the time. Right, she had lost hers in the chaos months ago. Lights were dim and she stumbled off the bed, not bothering to find her other boot or fix her hair.

Light was bright in the corridors. They were in hyperspace, as she passed a viewport it was confirmed. Walking was a bit hard and she kicked off her other boot, might as well make life a bit easier. Not sure if anyone else was around, Dells decided a cup of caf was in order. She hadn't had one in...months? She shuffled to the galley, praying she remembered how to make a cup.

 

[Xin Boa]

"You ruined my chair," Xin repeated.

"How?"

"By sitting in it."

"The chair is still there!"

"Yes but you've sat your big reptilian hide in it and pushed your tail through the back. Now all the cushions are...all wrong."

"Get new cushions?" Brak suggested.

"But then they'd be new cushions. They wouldn't be like the old comfy cushions," Xin protested again. Brak shook his head.

Xin tilted his head and turned towards the door. He could heard the caf machine turning on.

"You alright up here?" he asked Brak.

"Long enough to 'ruin' your chair," Brak replied.

Xin walked back through the ship. The corridors were still familiar to his feet, but it would time to convince himself he wasn't still underground.

"Hey, catch up on some sleep?" he asked Dells. Stepping behind her, he wrapped arms around her waist and placed his chin on her shoulder.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Xin Boa

Being at 'home', Delila was finally able to let her guard down and focus on one task : making caf. So when Xin managed to sneak up behind her it was a complete shock. Body stiffened as his arms wrapped around her - not to mention when he drew in closer to rest his chin on her shoulder. It took a minute for her brain to register that it was Xin and not to panic. Clearly it was going to take some effort to go back to a more normal, relaxed state and not be on edge constantly.

Forcing herself to relax, Dells leaned back into Xin.

"Yeah, not sure how long, awhile I feel like." Dells yawned, it was going to take awhile to feel like she slept well. "I think I should have cleaned up first. I just crashed. Then my first thought was caf when I woke up."

"What about you? Hows everything going? I see we're in hyperspace."

 

[Xin Boa]

"On de move, complaining about little things Brak has done," he mused, tilting his head from side to side.

Despite the tension that had set her body rigid at his touch, Xin remained where he was. Even the bitter scent of caf wasn't enough to set him running yet.

"When did you last have a mug of that stuff? Am I gonna be peeling you off da ceiling?"

He was trying to keep the conversation light. He could do with a little light and irreverent. The sheer focus of keeping their plan together without being caught had been as mentally draining as the labor had been physically.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Xin Boa

"Complaining about Brak? We've not even been on board for twenty-four hours. Now if we were talking about Skreech then there's another story. I can't prove it but I swear he stole my pillow and replaced it. Seemed really flat for no reason at all. I don't remember it being misshapen."

Caf was finished brewing and she added in a bit of creamer, the sound of her spoon clinking against the mug. She was well aware of Xin's tactic of keeping things light. Considering their ordeal it was probably wise. Mentally it has been taxing - keeping spirits high enough during forced labor and the potential of being outed for knowing Adric. Now that they were about four steps ahead - and growing in distance - they could stop to smell the roses so to speak.

Personally she was looking forward to spending a quiet month or two on the blue-sand beaches of Wroona. Dells was confident Xin would have no objections once they tied up the loose ends of their current situation.

"Its been...a very long time." She took a small sip, nodding her head in silent approval at the taste. "No, I don't think so. I'm still bone tired. I've got to clean up and get myself together. Then I have to set to work on our other project. See if anyone responded to my message and go from there. Caf should help me get through the next several hours of work."

Another sip of caf.

"If Brak can swing it alone I vote for a break after this. No jobs, not even the simple ones, for at least a month. I need a week alone of laying in bed sleeping and giving this ancient bones some recovery time."

 

[Xin Boa]

"Brak is too big to go looking through the maintenance tubes," Xin laughed lightly. The monkey lizard had a habit of building a stash somewhere within the ship. "Would not surprise me if he had it tucked away somewhere."

Xin reached up to the cabinets and rummaged around for a nutrient bar before joining Dells at a table.

"No jobs," he agreed. "Brak just finished a delivery run that really added to the business buffer too."

If they had left earlier, Brak might have decided to dump the cargo to rush to their aid and they would have been left in a very different position.

"I can help this morning," Xin offered, knowing that practically there probably wasn't much more he could do beyond sitting and waiting her type messages.

"Somewhere with an ocean.." he ventured.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Xin Boa

"It's morning?" There was a still a great bit of disorientation and lack of time on her part. Once they settled back into a rhythm and could keep up with their movements through the hyperlanes she knew it would subside. "Sure, once I finish my caf and get myself together we'll see what, if any, messages came our way and our next moves."

"I think an ocean is a given. I gave up any idea of snowy mountain getaways once I fell in love with a Nautolan. Small price to pay if you ask me."

---

Once her caf was finished, hair fixed and clean clothes on - looking like a normal person again - did the searching through messages commence. Dells was sprawled out on the couch in the lounge, legs stretched across and on Xins lap. Datapad sat in her lap as she started to dig through in hopes of getting a lead.

"We've got a whopping three responses to my several sent out. More than I expected to be honest."

Hand came up and adjusted her black-rimmed glasses, happy to have found them in the drawer next to her bed. Being tired, words had started to run together. A hazard of old age and harsh environments on her eyes.

"First from a spacer. Word of a Jedi-run space station. Never heard of it, doesn't have a name either. Mind starting a search on that for me? Sounds a little far fetched if you ask me. Second message....rumors of an enclave in the Expansion region. Maybe if we get information on this supposed space station we might have luck of putting more puzzle pieces together."