First Reply Uptown Funk

[Skyler]

"Chit," she swore as the hutt was body slammed by that, now empty, rathtar cage. And luckily, slimy boy didn't have a good grip on her hair and she was able to scooch back. The hutt's little arms also dropped that chain and Sky was able to untwist and wrench her wrist free. A nasty looking bruise was already mottling her light mocha skin.

"You make it all look so easy," she caught her breath, her gaze catching that wild twist of her hair where Mister Grubby hands had gotten it. She was referring to his usage of the force. It just didn't flow like that for her. It was such a wild, untamed storm. Scooping up her blaster, she nodded at Drifter.

"Back to the ship!"

Like that tempest, the force barked a warning at her. It was a fast vision. One that had Drifter strutting off that hutt's skiff with her close behind before a rathtar arm snaked around his waist. He was already at the steps by the time her vision cleared.

"Wait!" Lunging forward, she'd go to tackle him to the ground hoping those tentacles would swipe through air instead of them. Even as their bodies twisted as she landed on top of him in a compromising position. VERY AWARE of where things were.

A brief, lopsided grin tugged at her lips as she lifted her blaster and shot behind them. At a trandoshan about to fire on them. "Look at that. Better than a crash pad," just as quickly as the quip left her lips, she rolled off him and offered him her hand up. "Come on twinkle-toes!" That rathtar was turning its attention back on them.

Drifter

 

[Drifter]

Interacting With: Skyler

Drifter barely had time to register Sky's warning before she tackled him, sending them both sprawling onto the grimy deck of the skiff. His back hit first, knocking the breath from his lungs, and suddenly she was right there -- all wild hair and sharp elbows, her blaster firing over his shoulder.
A Trandoshan behind them dropped like a sack of bantha feed.

Drifter arched a brow under his polarized helm, and despite the fact Skye would not be able to see his expression, she could hear the smirk as it crept across his lips despite the fact that they were definitely about to die. [ Well, if you wanted to be on top, sweetheart, you could've just said so." ]

Then she was off him, rolling to her feet like this was just another day at the market and not a horrific escape from a Hutt's personal death trap.

Drifter grinned, grabbing her hand and hauling himself up just as the rathtar let out a wet, guttural screech.

[Yeah, yeah, ] he huffed, flicking his fingers in a lazy gesture. The Force surged, sending a nearby crate smashing into the beast's side, slowing it down-- barely.

Sky was already moving and Drifter took off after her, firing off another shot at the rathtar. And then they were leaping off the skiff, blaster bolts flashing behind them as chaos erupted in their wake.

 

[Skyler]

"GULLY!" Sky's bellow of a shout made it above the sounds of blaster fire, screams, and hungry baby rathtars. A turret in the Corellian freighter spun to life as if in answer. Red bolts making the air warm around then as they covered their retreat. Force visions came on as persistent waves as the force screeched its warnings at her.

"Try to keep up, Darlin," she called out to Drifter as she suddenly wove right. A balster bolt hitting air where she'd just been. Then she wove left. The same thing happened. Then a paper thin pause as she spun and fired at the skiff. There was a hiss as something caught fire.

One more shot and it would explode.

But she was already moving, just a stride away from the lowered ramp of her ship. Visions still peppered her and her stride wavered as she blinked between the what-was-to-come and the present and keeping her feet moving up that durasteel ramp. Free hand reached up, encircling that pendant around her throat in a white-knuckled grip.

"JUMP!" She warned to Drifter and leaped forward even as that vision cleared of a tentacle from the other rathtar heading their way.

 

[Drifter]

Interacting With: Skyler

Drifter didn't need to be told twice.

The Force snarled a warning in the back of his skull, and he turned just in time to see a slithering mass of muscle and teeth lunge.

[Ah, gorram it.]

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a nearby supply crate crashing into the beast's gaping maw, buying himself just enough time to do what Sky had ordered-- jump.

Blaster bolts whizzed past his ears as he launched himself forward, boots skidding against the ramp's slick metal. Sky had already rolled to her feet, reaching for him because of course she had seen something again.

Always half a step ahead, like she was dancing with fate itself.

Drifter grinned as he grabbed her outstretched hand and let her yank him inside. [ You do like catching me, don't you? ]

Behind them, the skiff exploded, fire and shrapnel spiraling into the night.

The rathtar screeched.

Drifter didn't look back. He was already sprinting towards the cockpit.

[Gully, get us the hell outta here!]

The freighter rumbled beneath them, engines roaring to life as Gully flicked a switch that sent them rocketing into the sky.

 

[Skyler]

Gully swore at them from the cockpit as the ship sealed closed behind them.

[ You do like catching me, don't you? ]

"Only because you keep falling for me, Darlin," that answering glint in her eyes didn't last long to Drifter as she followed close on his heels to the cockpit. Her stomach lurched as the ship tugged upward then veered suddenly portside. Sky barely managed to catch herself against the hull wall.

"Hutts aren't very happy right now," Gully barked from the cockpit as Sky lurched in, sinking into the co-pilot's seat.

"That makes all of us," Sky huffed, working on the coordinates to the nav computer. "I know a place we can lay low for a bit. Out of here. Just keep any of their security off our tales. Unless you got a place in mind?"

Purple-streaked hair swayed as she glanced back to Drifter.

 

[Drifter]

​

Kalee's Shadow
Hyperspace

Drifter tossed Sky a crooked grin, all charm and trouble, the polarized helm transferring that signature grin that was shining underneath it [ Well, depends. You got a problem with cantinas that smell like roasted bantha and broken dreams? ]

REgardless, Drifter chuckled watching Gully flip a few switches as the stars streaked in front of them, hyperspace just within reach. [ Then let's go with your spot, Captain. I trust your taste marginally more than mine when I haven't slept in two days and just wrestled a rathtar. ]

Sky didn't answer right away. She was watching him, something in her eyes stormy and far away. Visions again, maybe. Or just the ache of bruises not yet counted.

He leaned closer, voice dropping just for her. [ We made it out. That counts for something. ]

The ship rumbled as it slipped into hyperspace, stars warping into that familiar tunnel of light. Gully muttered a prayer to whatever deity listened to crusty droids with too much sass.

Either way, Drifter kicked up his feet and gave his shoulder a shake, feeling quite pleased with himself. It was then that he revealed the small aurodium statue he had plucked.

[ Either way... got our pay day. ]

 

[Skyler]

"Thought you were gonna say glitterstim and zeltron sex," Gully grumbled.

Sky turned her attention away from Drifter's infuriating helm and lofted a dark brow at her partner. "Saints and martyrs, Gully. Something specific on your mind?"

He grumbled again and slouched his shoulders. Keying in the coordinates to their destination. Sky frowned as Drifter was all smug, chilled, swagger. His composure way too relaxed with them losing their pay day. "How can you be so goddess damned cavalier..." voice trailed off as he finally showed his hidden card. Her consternation began to smoothed into a half lopsided grin.

"Well, well, well. And here I underestimated you-"

"Won't be the last time," Gully so helpfully added.

Sky huffed.

"You ever been to Lok?"

"A veritable chithole," Gully butt in again.

"But we've got a safe-" Sky began as Gully coughed. "Okay, safe-ish place to crash."

"And they've got the best nuna on a stick and baths," Gully offered again. This time helpfully. Sky frowned and sniffed at the air between the two males.

"And you both need one. Maybe get that suit sani-cleaned too?" A pointed look to Drifter.

 

[Drifter]

Interacting With: Skyler

Drifter leaned back in his chair like it was his throne, black leather armor creaking faintly under the weight of his easy arrogance. Songsteel plates caught the dim interior lights with a cold glint just like his polarized helm mirrored everyone around him like a polished obsidian mask. You couldn't see his eyes, couldn't read his face, but it was for damn sure that the voice modulator within it crackled with his signature charm all the same.

At Sky's jab, he tilted his head toward her, helm catching her frown and reflecting it back tenfold.

[I'll have you know,] his voice drawled through the modulator, smooth as melted caf and twice as dangerous, [this is the scent of danger and raw charm. Bottled, it'd go for two hundred credits on Coruscant's black market.]

"More like a hundred on a bad day," Gully muttered from the pilot's seat.

[ Flattery, ]Drifter responded, resting his armored boots on the edge of the console like it was a bar counter and not their only working nav unit.

[You're both just lucky to bask in it...but speaking of smells,I could go for dinner.]

Drifter's helm angled toward Sky, the faintest distortion of his voice warping into something smug. [You like nuna on a stick, right?]

The stars outside streaked one last time through the viewport, and they were on their way to Lok.

---

The stars snapped back into stillness with the soft thump of hyperspace disengaging. The freighter gave a shiver, not violent but just enough to remind them she was an aging Corellian crate held together by stubbornness, patched wiring, and Gully's increasingly colorful language.

Lok swelled into view. A scorched, copper-tinted world choked in dust storms and bad memories. Its surface was pockmarked like a brawler's face, tough, grim, and unforgiving.

Gully muttered something about his last paycheck and adjusted the stabilizers. "Welcome to the armpit of the Outer Rim."

[ Just the way I like it,] Drifter replied,the visor of his helm flicking between her and the planet below. [Plenty of shadows. Fewer rules. And no one asking too many questions.]

Of course, he had no shame, immediately asking.

[ So about that dinner? ]