Private Unlikely Allies?

[Gnox the Insatiable]

"I'm not sure I can get.. 'Smashed'." The term gave him a chuckle. A couple more recent souls knew the slang. Life truly had changed in all the time that had passed. Or, perhaps, it was just because his people were so far behind in their advancement. Her grin brought his own as he nodded once. "If there is one thing I truly respect, it is strength." A much more bewildered expression took over as she so casually remarked on the fact he was speaking to voices as if she did the same. No way she did. He didn't feel any amount of the darkness that it'd take to get where he was, though he relaxed when he realized she meant metaphorical ones.

That made far more sense.

He'd follow into the mess room, glancing to her, then to the couch. With a shrug he'd plop down, taking up quite a portion as he let himself be at home as it were. His own chuckle joined hers at the joke. "You couldn't be more correct." Whatever a hotdog was, it didn't sound like the sentient flesh he needed to sate the hunger within him.

His smile faded at her question, his gaze falling to her, studying. "The ritual that gave me my immortality came at a price. A price I was all too willing to pay at the time. Now, if I am to quell the hunger I feel, I must devour the souls of sentient beings." He paused for a moment, then chuckled. "It sounds pretty edgy, no? If you're afraid I might get hungry, don't worry. Those beasts below, even as dumb as they were, sated it for now."

 

[Shai Maji]

For a brief moment, it felt like she was talking to a normal person. Not a Mando or gangster or anyone, just a casual chat and jokes with another mutt. But reality quickly returned when he explained his cannibalism. She let out a nervous chuckle as she scratched the back of her head. "As long as you don't say I look like a snack then I'm good." she joked as she took another sip of her drink.

She stared at him again for a moment in thought. There were a lot of questions she had about him, the Sith and the Empire. And this was the first time ever she could actually sit with a Sith and share a drink with them instead of trading blows. She needed to take advantage of this before he got annoyed, hungry or the trip ended. "I'm... curious." she started as she glanced at her drink then to him. "Why change yourself? Like... in this form, you look pretty damn cool. Why do a thing that changes you into a monster that's forced to eat other people?" she asked him softly. "And what happens if you don't eat sentient people? Like just animals and creatures. Does it just... not work or something?" she continued as she finished her drink and set the bottle aside. Her free hand rested on her right shoulder, her fingers subconsciously caressing the socket meant for her cybernetic arm.

In the back of her mind, something was still bugging her. She still wanted a reason to kick him off the ship, to hate him and chase him back to the cargo hold. But he gave her nothing. Aside from being a cannibal, she didn't know anything about him. Sure he might be part of the Empire but guilt by association wasn't fair in her books. If that were the case, she should have killed Aerith long ago. And in all honesty... a part of her didn't want to know what else he did for a living. So far she was actually enjoying his company to a degree and the ignorant part of her wanted to stay that way.

Gnox the Insatiable

 

[Gnox the Insatiable]

There was a snort as he rolled his eyes. Several voices in his head wanted him to mention something about Shai Maji indeed being a snack, but he stuffed those down pretty quickly in favor of not offending his host. Her question gave him pause though, his grin fading to another much more grim expression. "I chose the rituals to gain power and get revenge for my tribe. But the form I fight in was not my choice. My planet was invaded by vampires." He snarled at the term. "They sought to make me a slave and warped me further. I broke free and devoured them, and now I am what I am. I can not eat, but if I go too long without food I will loose myself to the hunger. When they sealed me away for that thousand years it took much for me to reclaim my sense of self."

He took a breath to relax himself, his snarl fading back to a more neutral expression. "But, I am the results of my choices. I will live with my mistakes."

 

[Shai Maji]

She listened closely to his explanation... and it was not at all what she expected. Her heart sank at the mention of revenge for his tribe. She bit her lower lip as the grip on her shoulder tightened. She just found a lot more similarity with this 'enemy' than she was comfortable with. The rest of the story was pretty grim as well but what stuck with her the most were the first and last bits. Her gaze lowered to the ground as her hand started to massage her collarbone. "I don't blame you for taking that option." she muttered softly as the grip on her shoulder went from a soft massage to pressing her thumb into a pressure point. The fact that the pain simply stopped like a speeder hitting a wall by the socket only added to the growing grief in her heart.

"If someone came to me and offered the same powers you got the day of... on that day... I would likely have taken it without a second thought. But even now, without any of that... I sometimes don't even recognize myself in the mirror." she admitted with a hushed voice. She looked up at him with saddened eyes. She cleared her throat and a dry chuckle escaped her as she rubbed at her eyes and temples. "Just my luck I get stuck with a Sith I can relate to." she quipped but her smile quickly faltered. "I always hated killing." she confessed, staring at the ground by his feet. "As a smuggler it's bad for business shooting people. As a pirate it makes it a lot harder to sell stuff if all the cargo is covered in blood or the ship's full of bodies and scorch marks. Plus I can remember each face who's life I took and it's hell to see those faces when I close my eyes. But now...I don't mind it at all. The Sith took my arm, they murdered my clan, ended the lives of the kiddies I saw as my own family... why would it be wrong to take the lives of those who did this to me, you know?" she spoke as she could feel a knot in her throat.

"Probably one day I'll look back on things and think to myself 'was it all worth it?' if I even live that long. But at this point I just wanna see a hole in the heads of every person responsible for all this." anger rose in her as a growl started to seep into her voice. "Maybe acceptance and moving on is the right thing to do but I can't find it in my heart to just be like 'yeah cool' and then just go on as if it's all fine." she continued as tears started to form in her eyes. Her muzzle was contorted into a snarl as she glared at the ground, her hand once more pressing into a pressure point in her collarbone until the pain pulled her out of her thoughts.

She looked at him and the anger faded. With a sniff she wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat. She wasn't going to cry now in front of a karking Sith. "Sorry... I... just forget about all that. You got your own shit to sort out. Don't need to burden you with my own as well." she apologized as she got off the counter and turned to leave for the cockpit. "I'll-I'll be up in the cockpit if you need something." she hurriedly excused herself as she headed for the elevator in the cargo hold.

Gnox the Insatiable

 

[Gnox the Insatiable]

Shai Maji had been forthcoming since they ended up in the ship, but he hadn't expected her to be willing to tell her story. While there were plenty of things he wanted to ask, to know what exactly had happened, he couldn't bring himself to ask. Or move. She was baring her soul to an enemy. He was tempted to scold her on that, but his heart only sank as he saw the tears forming. He sat up at this, his expression far more confused than he had been before.

It hit him all at once. She was truly treating him like a guest. Like he wasn't some monstrous being that could kill her at any moment. The fear was always there, but to show this kind of weakness, no, humanity, caught him off guard. Then she moved to leave. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he couldn't. He didn't know how to handle this sort of scenario. Just before she did leave he did finally say something. "I hope you can smile again." Not the best thing to say, but it was all he could think to say.

He leaned back in the chair once she was gone, his gaze turning to his hands. It was odd to see them so.. Normal. He had been hiding in himself, in that monstrous form since he returned to this galaxy. There was a lot to think about now. Gnox grumbled lightly as he closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch. "Thinking sucks."

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai stopped by the doorway and turned slightly to glance at him over her shoulder. For a long moment her gaze rested on him. She wanted to say something, do something... but she didn't know what. So she simply left the room without a word and plopped herself into the pilot's seat. She stared at the void of hyperspace zooming past them and let her thoughts wander. The ache in her heart didn't disappear, instead it simply got worse. So far she had a bunch of people whom she considered friends... yet she felt like she could open up more to the one guy who she needed to kill than any of the rest. The only other person who she felt like this about was Kragr and even he was a very convicted and opinionated man. He would likely kick her ass for this.

For several minutes she sat in that seat, fighting with the thoughts in her head. Finally she threw herself into the seat with a heavy sigh. "Thinking sucks." she grumbled as she massaged her temples with her one good hand. She looked back to the exit for a long while until she made up her mind. She rose from her seat and wandered back to the mess room with her eyes glued to the floor. Her feet carried her towards the couch where she dropped into a seat next to him. "If I sit alone in that cockpit any longer I'm liable to jettison myself out the airlock." she muttered as her head rested on the backrest of the couch.

"I hate feeling like this. Living with these feelings. I just want to be able to go back home, make hot chocolate with my mom and talk about starships and guns. But like you said... we're the result of the choices we made." she spoke with a defeated tone as she gave him a sidelong glance. "I'm gonna make myself some lunch. You want anything?" she asked him. She knew her food would likely not do much for him but it was a friendly gesture. She got up and started to prepare a simple toasted cheese and ham sandwich for herself and, if he asked for anything, whatever he wanted. As she worked on her food, a small smile appeared on her face. The pain faded somewhat as she fried the ham in a pan and even threw an egg onto it as well. With tender care she assembled the food and came back to sit next to him on the couch.

She took a bite and hummed with content before glancing at him. "Thanks, by the way." she spoke up. "I... struggle to find someone who I can actually talk to about stuff that bothers me. Maybe you're not so bad... if you're not acting like a Sith." she quipped with a soft snicker before taking another bite.

Gnox the Insatiable

 

[Gnox the Insatiable]

Gnox grunted in acknowledgement as he heard Shai Maji enter the room. He kept his eyes closed as he laid his head back, just relaxing for the moment. When it was clear, however, that she'd decided to sit next to him they snapped open. He slowly turned his head to her as he listened. She was right. How nice would it be to go back before all the death? The cannibalism? He shook his head at the offer of food, but instead of letting the sour mood linger he cracked a grin.

"Not unless you got the blood of the innocent on tap." He probably could use something like that, blood at least, but he opted for the comedy route. No more thinking, just.. Enjoying. Whatever this was. He watched her cook from the couch, unsure if getting up would freak her out or not. She seemed to be more comfortable around him, but he was still who he was. He laughed a little as she sat down, nodding.

"Before I was entombed I didn't even know what a Sith was. It's through convenience I'm even among them. My hunger, the rituals. I don't have to struggle among them." He paused for a moment, his expression softening as another lighthearted chuckle escaped him. "Y'know, it's nice to not have to be Sithy. You make good company, Shai." But for how much longer? A sudden sense of dread washed over him at the realization that this was likely a temporary truse. He sat up, his hands gripping the couch between his legs as he leaned forward a tad. "It might be presumptuous of me, but after this and you drop me off, can I hang out with you again? I like whatever this is."

 

[Shai Maji]

"Sadly this isn't the Korriban Cantina so... you're out of luck on that one." she joked right back as she got to work. On the couch, he continued to explain a bit of himself. She stopped eating at the mention of being good company. She couldn't help but smile at him as her eyes gave a happy glimmer. "I try my best." she muttered before continuing with her meal.

He then sat forward and she could see that there was something on his mind. She continued to eat, though, and was nearly done with her last bite when he spoke up. She froze up at the question and set aside her plate. She stared up at him and then into her lap. That was a loaded question if she ever heard one. Hanging out with a Sith. Not only was that playing with fire in the Union, but it still didn't sit right completely with her knowing that he was the enemy. But she couldn't deny that she also enjoyed this moment of respite. She knew that this was supposed to be very wrong... but she didn't want it to end. She finally made up her mind and a smile appeared on her lips. "Under a few conditions..." she started, turning to face him as she counted with her fingers for him to see. "One, we're not Mando or Sith, we're buds and we keep the faction stuff on the down low. Two, no eating people. You can eat an entire karking rancor for all I care but no eating people otherwise I'll set your ass on fire. And three... please rock this form more." she finished with a smirk. "It's a lot more pleasing to the eye than the karking demon form." she quipped as she popped her last bite into her mouth.

"But yeah... we can." she said with a genuine smile. "I enjoyed this little truce of ours. Just one thing though..." she got up and gestured for him to stay as she quickly ran to her room and came back, holding the holocron in her hand. "This thing. It... it belongs to you. I would have liked to get a credit or two out of it but it's yours." she explained as she held it out for him to take.

Gnox the Insatiable

 

[Gnox the Insatiable]

Her pause after the question had his momentary surge of excitement drown out. He was thinking the same thing, honestly, in the back of his mind. The Sith wanted Mandalorian's dead. Even if he didn't care, they would. Her people would. Hell, Shai Maji probably would too. But he felt like he had to ask none the less. He was the honest sort after all.

The first condition brought back that momentary joy. He nodded once, his grin coming back. Which turned to a grimace as she mentioned the second. "I can make do with blood, I suppose. I'll keep it in a thermas to keep the hunger at bay." A compromise, but he didn't want to compromise this friendship if his hunger started to take over. The third comment brought another look of confusion as he looked over himself. Pleasing?

A question for later.

His smile brightened as she agreed, and he nodded in kind. "Truce is a good term for it. Though." His gaze fell to the holocron, his eyes narrowing instinctively at the dark it exuded. "I'll buy it from you. It doesn't bslong to me, I just happened to find it. Grant it, my money was destroyed in the crash, so you'll have to hold onto it." His grin returned as his eyes turned to hers.

"Just means we have a reason to meet up again, soon, mm?"

 

[Shai Maji]

To her surprise, he instead offered to buy it from her. Not that she was complaining, it was free money. It was simply not what she expected to hear and it showed in the surprised blink of her eyes. A chuckle escaped her as she nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan." she quipped as she stared into his eyes, spinning the little pyramid in the palm of her hand. "Hopefully it won't take too long." she quipped as she turned to leave for her room. The holocron was hidden deep in her closet where she knew nobody would look and by the time she got back, they were out of hyperspace.

She steered the ship down to the surface and carefully landed it with the help of Baby to compensate for the lack of her other arm. The boarding ramp was lowered and she disembarked with a backpack containing her destroyed arm. Luckily she had managed to hook him up with one of her oversized shirts and a man's jeans she quite conveniently had lying around, though she refrained from mentioning where it was from. As pleasing as it was for her more risque side, having him walk around almost completely nude wasn't the best idea. "Welcome to Nal Hutta." she spoke as she walked beside him through the landing pads. "Here, take this. It should be enough for these overcharging kriffers for a ride back to your space." she spoke as she dug in her pocket and handed him a handful of credits as well as a piece of paper containing her contact details. "That building over there is where you can book a flight. If you want a reason for a snack, just mention that you don't mind flying dangerously. Usually they'll set you up with some really shady types." she continued as she pointed to a building at the edge if the landing zones. She was effectively condemning people... but she knew the scum on this planet. Nobody would miss a few low-lives who would likely try to mug him or sell him off to slavers.

She turned to walk but stopped and turned back to him with hesitation in her eyes. "I guess I'll uh... see you around?" she spoke with a faint smile. There was something wrong in this galaxy. For her to feel like she had a better friend in him than almost every other Mando or other person she ever met.

Gnox the Insatiable

 

[Gnox the Insatiable]

"Shouldn't. I do actually need that." There was a snort before he leaned back in his chair and watched her disappear into what he guessed was her room. Yeah. He couldn't deny what he'd been thinking. This was nice. And over too soon. His frown returned as his gaze turned to watch the streaks of starlight fade. They made it to the planet. He stood up with a sigh, rubbing at the back of his neck.

He wanted to talk to Shai Maji more. It felt kind of childish, thinking like that. At least without his war form he'd be unrecognizable as a Sith, so that'd spare some issues of him leaving her hanger. He seemed more surprised at the clothing, not because she had them. But because apparently he should wear them.

There was some muttering about the old days, but he put them on regardless.

He followed her off the ship, looking around. It was.. Far more than he expected. He avoided city worlds. Too many sounds, lights, smells. The mention of snacks struck an odd cord within him. He knew how monstrous it was, that he ate people, but to hear someone like Shai offer ways to get him food. It didn't sit right at all.

He was already walking off as she did, only pausing as she spoke. His smile was much more.. Goofy. Like a puppy being praised, as several voices in his head immediately teased him for. "Soon, yeah. Take care of yourself Shai."