Daniel Ciin (miaiphonos) wrote in thegalaxy, @ 2016-05-10 18:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !locale: naboo, koda abrax, sinjir fel |
we will all go together when we go
Who: Koda Abrax and Sinjir Fel
What: a commission and an offer
When: before the whole hot mess on Coruscant!
Where: Naboo
Rating: PG cos Sin likes swearing.
Sinjir tapped on Koda's front door with his foot. In one hand he held a bottle of Cedrellian aged wine, in the other a small, neatly wrapped gift. It had been some time since he had last seen his friend, and he had every intention of making their quasi reunion the best it could be. His intentions were not entirely self-serving: Though it was true that in his pocket was a datapad full of ideas for upgrades to his workshops, and that he had designs on discussing more business than pleasure, it was no less true that Sinjir had missed his mechanically-inclined friend and her optimistic ways. Liri's lectures had left him stung, and he found himself in need of more cheerful company.
He leaned over to peer through the window. A light was on inside, but he did not see her within. He kicked at the door again, a bit harder now. He leaned in toward the door. "Koda," he called. 'You home?"
While Koda Abrax could be described as many things, being exciting was not one of them. Being “put together” was certainly not one of them either, at least not behind closed doors. She was the sort of person who lost pants the moment she entered her home for the evening, and it was dreadfully difficult to get her to put them back on for any sort of social occasion after they were gone. Her evening routine usually went something along the lines of losing her “public” clothes, cooking herself dinner, and singing obnoxiously to her vegetable garden as she watered it before going promptly to bed.
This particular day she was wearing simple cloth shorts and a white shirt. She’d been humming to her leafy greens outside her patio, chewing on one of said leafy greens, when she heard someone at her door. She probably should have been mystified as to why anyone would be pounding on her door at that time in the evening, but considering that Mika was wont to stop by whenever she’d like and Koda tended to get tipsy and order random parts for her astro droid in the middle of the night, it really wasn’t that out of the ordinary.
She flipped her waterer to “off” and put it casually on the ground before heading through her open patio doors and toward her door. The knock came again, and she looked irritated. Usually Mika would have just walked in by now, she knew the code. It must have been a delivery guy. She didn’t remember ordering anything this time… Great.
“Keep your pants on!” she said in a sort of irritable, stubborn tone, but picked up the pace anyway, tapping her R8 unit on the dome to the beat of her prior humming as she passed him.
When Koda keyed her door, the last person she had expected to see was Sinjir, standing there in all his wildly attractive, put-together glory holding wine and a hostess gift. She paused and looked down at herself for a moment. Great. The pause lasted all of two seconds before she shook her head. “I don’t know which of us is luckier that I’m even wearing pants, Sin,” she said and laughed before moving aside. His answering smile was sharp and suggestive; his laugh echoed hers, bright and full. “But I don’t turn away a man bearing gifts. Come on in.”
Koda made what was generally considered a good living in her line of work, but her home was small. Her background as a farm girl could have been to blame for her love of simple living, but it very well could have just been pure practicality. She knew that she was very fussy, and a smaller home meant less to keep as impeccably tidy as she preferred things to be.
“Make yourself at home,” she said gesturing to her living area, “and to continue with the cliche formalities… to what do I owe the pleasure?”
He set the wine bottle down on her table, casting a sidelong look up to her. “Can’t a man just want to see his friend? It’s been too long. If you left this place now and then, I might’ve bought you a drink ages ago.” Sinjir flashed her a teasing smile. He straightened up and extended his hand, the little box resting on the flat of his palm. “For you,” he said. “I thought I should bring a peace offering to make up for my extended absence.”
Koda smirked and her left eyebrow shot skyward in an expression that could only be described as skeptical amusement as she took the box from his hand and opened it cautiously. That wasn’t to say that she expected it to be some sort of prank, only that to open a random gift from a man with a personality like Sinjir’s with zero misgivings would just be uneducated. Sin had never pulled one over on her before, but she knew a prankster’s heart when she saw one.
The box did not contain a prank, however. Nothing jumped out at her and she took a closer look, her quizzical expression smoothing into a smile.
“And handmade gifts,” she said, looking back up at Sinjir. “What are you trying to butter me up for now?”
At that moment, Koda’s droid rolled up carrying glasses and an opener for the wine. It was far outside his function, but Koda had gotten an R-series droid specifically because of their propensity for developing quirks.
“Thanks, Ace,” she said as she took them from him and gave him a pat on the dome before taking a seat next to Sin. “So other than the social call, because it really is nice to see you and your wine,” she said, gesturing to the bottle, “what brings you by?”
“Well…” Sinjir dragged the word out, settling back against his seat as he did. He toyed with the rolled cuffs of his shirt, drawing them tighter around his forearms. Stillness, it seemed, suited him just as poorly as silence. “It really is a social call. And that really is exceptional wine. But there may be something else.” He reached into an inner pocket of his slim black coat, withdrawing a small datapad. He slid it over the seat’s cushion toward her.
“I’m having some workshop envy,” he explained. “And since work’s been picking up lately, I thought it might be time to finally satisfy that green-eyed monster. Are you up for renovating a couple of shops? One on Coruscant, one on Akiva.” He raised a hand, as though to preemptively curb any objections. “I know that’s far out. I know they both are, to a homebody like you. But I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Oh, thank god. I hoped you had something exciting for me,” Koda said, taking the datapad with enthusiasm and scooting back on her couch, pulling her legs up in front of her to scroll through the particulars of the job. The locations of the jobs immediately gave her pause and she wrinkled her nose, but Sinjir stopped her from voicing any complaints. The mark of a true friend of Koda’s was their immediate knowledge that she would complain about the travel, whatever the pay. It caused her to laugh.
“Just open the wine, it’ll soften the blow,” she said, rubbing her forehead and groaning. “You know I just got back from Chandrila because a job accidentally kidnapped me right? Just forgot that I was down there and went into hyperspace? Surprise! Happy not birthday to me. And for the record I’m not a homebody, I just don’t like space travel. There’s a difference.” She always insisted there was a difference, but frankly, she wasn’t sure there was. She’d never own to it, though.
Koda chuckled to herself as she swiped through the info in the datapad, pointing at it. “This place on Coruscant is running at like... none percent efficiency, Sin.”
“Shut up,” he muttered. He wrenched the seal from the top of the wine, pushing the opener into the cork with perhaps a bit more force than was required. “I know. Why do you think I’m here?” He waved a hand, dismissive. “Keep reading. I used to use that place mostly for small arms manufacture, but now I need it to handle larger things. Including but definitely not limited to explosives. Obviously a lot of changes are going to be required...”
The cork came free with a decisive pop. He picked up one glass and poured an overly generous portion into it. He did the same to the second glass, and passed it to her. “So drink up and tell me what you’re thinking.”
One thing that Koda could wholeheartedly appreciate about Sinjir was that the man knew how to pour a whole-ass portion of wine... and, of course, the fact that he brought wine and gifts to business meetings. And that business meetings were unplanned liaisons at her home on an otherwise boring night. Honestly, Sinjir was just kind of Koda’s sort of person.
She took the glass and continued swiping through the datapad, drinking as she did so. She was quiet for several minutes before handing the datapad to Ace who had rolled up eagerly the moment Sin had handed it to her. He zipped off to copy and analyze the data in private. One of the many little quirks he’d developed over time.
“The place on Akiva is actually in pretty good shape. If we started with Coruscant, I could set crews to work while I was on Akiva. The Coruscant project can be done, but it’ll take some serious credits. Done right, though, and it’ll basically be self-maintaining. You won’t need a full time engineering staff, just a few droids. If you’re doing a major switch from small arms to demolitions, I’m going to assume that whatever you’re up to, you’re not going to want a ton of sentients hanging around.”
Koda really had no intention to pry into his plans for his workshops and whether or not they were of questionable legality. Frankly, what he did with his resources was his own business after she was through with them. She assumed he would tell her whether or not he wanted records of his optimizations destroyed at some point or another.
She took another drink of the wine and smiled at him. “You’re right, this is great wine. Way too classy for the likes of us, probably, but you won’t see me complaining.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m classy as fuck.” Sinjir raised his glass, clinking it against hers in mock toast. He nestled farther back into the couch, bringing his boots up to rest at the edge of her table.
“Really,” he said, “I want as few sentients as possible involved in the whole process, especially on Coruscant. Memory wipes are much easier that way, and they’re something I can handle on my own. And ideally I could run both shops entirely by myself. A few droids are acceptable if there’s no way around it. But if that’s the route we’re going, I’ll want extra security measures on the tech side. I can’t be chasing slicers out of my business every minute of the day.”
Koda pursed her lips and tapped her nail on the side of her wine glass, going over a few things in her mind from what she had ascertained from the datapad. She shook her head. “I’ll see what I can do on Coruscant. Akiva should be fine, really. I probably could even get away with Ace and I doing the entire install there. I’ll have to see the Coruscant project in person before I make any real promises, though.”
“As for security, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ve got a guy,” she hand-waved and unfolded her legs to put her own dirt-smudged, bare feet on the edge of her table; one of the hazards of gardening barefoot, she supposed.
“It’s good to see that you’re still getting yourself into trouble, though. It’s nice that I can always count on you to not bring me anything boring.”
“The day I do that,” he said, “put a blaster bolt between my eyes and bury me under your garden.” He took a long pull from his wine. He barely took a moment to appreciate it before downing another, leaving the glass nearly half empty. He leaned up, long fingers reaching for the wine bottle. He topped off both their glasses, although only one of them even came close to needing it.
“You know I’m not going to stop asking. I know what you’re going to say, but… you know we could use more people like you. I know you’re helping, but you’re still kind of on the fringes. Why don’t you get more involved? You could do that even here on Naboo. Think about it. An official, full-fledged member of the Resistance, grabbing new kids the minute they fall through the rift.”
Sinjir’s suggestion was immediately met with laughter from Koda and an exaggerated eyeroll. “With the politics again!” She tried to sound annoyed, but she frankly found Sin’s commitment to his cause kind of endearing. He was a good guy, really, as much as he hated to admit it. “The day the First Order tries to blow up Naboo is the day I get off my lazy ass and join the Resistance. I have clients that are affiliated with the Resistance and the First Order. I don’t know how the latter would take finding out I’d picked a side. Wait.. yes I do. Poorly.”
It was Sinjir's turn to roll his eyes. But whatever he had to say he hid behind the rim of his wine glass and a beneath a mouthful of the drink.
She took a long drink of her wine, still looking amused, though it was rare she didn’t look a little amused about something or another.
“I’ll do all the paying work the Resistance needs from me, don’t get me wrong,” she said, raising her hand defensively. “And I’m more than happy to keep any knowledge of their comings and goings under lock and key, but you know how I feel about commitment.”
“Yeah,” he said. He gestured to her with his glass. “You’re actually good with it. In some cases. You plant things and take care of them for ages while they very slowly grow. That’s commitment, right?” He cut her a sidelong look. “Have you seen what I do to plants?
“Okay, well I can’t eat the Resistance when I’m done with it. I can eat my vegetables, and they’re goddamn delicious!” she said, laughing into her wine glass.
Sinjir smiled, but still would not let it go. “Trust me, I get what you’re doing. Making credits, hedging your bets. But deep down you know that’s bullshit. Completely unsustainable bullshit.”
“Listen, in all seriousness I don’t agree with the First Order’s methods any more than anyone else, but what am I really going to do for the Resistance anyway? Office work? I’m certainly not going to run around recruiting people from the rift into a war they never wanted or asked for. They didn’t inherit this, we did.”
She sighed and took another drink, “I’m not a soldier, Sinjir. I’m not made for it that kind of thing, and I’ve got a pretty good thing going. I have a good life here.”
“Yeah, and do you want to keep it?” Sinjir needled. “One day they’ll move on the rift, and they’ll take Naboo with it one way or another. Think about it. A steady stream of new soldiers, some with Force abilities, some with shit like nothing we’ve seen in this galaxy, all pouring straight into the Order. What do you think’s going to happen to your place then?” He sighed. “I’m not a soldier, either, Koda. But we can make things for the ones who are. We can give them an advantage. Cos right now? They definitely do not have that.”
“You’re crazy if you think they’re going to go after the rift,” she said confidently. “It’s their best source of recruitment since they lost all those men on Starkiller. Come on, they’re not stupid… though I guess they did manage to get the biggest money sink in the history of forever blown up and kill trillions of innocent sentients for no reason, but that’s neither here nor there.”
She held out her now empty glass for another refill. It really wasn’t unusual for her to kill an entire bottle of wine with her friends… or by herself… but who was counting? Sinjir happily topped off her glass, pleased to not be alone in his slowly increasing buzz.
“Okay, so tell me what happens in this hypothetical scenario here? What happens to Mika? Who is supposed to be an unbiased journalist. She just got a gig interviewing General Hux. It’s huge for her career. Do you think she would have gotten assigned to that interview if they knew her best friend of 20 years was a member of the Resistance? What about my grandparents? What happens when I… say… find weaknesses in their next big base? On their flagships? What happens when I do something directly that pisses off the First Order? What happens when they find out who is responsible for the destruction of their precious resources and decide to hit them (me) where it will hurt the most?
“These decisions don’t just affect me, Sinjir. They affect the people I love. Why do you think I’m so goddamn boring all the time?” she added with a laugh. “Okay, maybe I’m just boring by nature, but it’s a good excuse.”
Again he waved her off. Though her objections made a kind of sense, they were all excuses he had heard a million times before. Sometimes the objectors saw their caution bear fruit. Sometimes they stayed safe, and far away from the fray. More often, things did not go so well.
“If she goes through a whole interview with that war criminal and doesn’t at least try to put a chair leg through his chest, she’s a disappointment,” he said. Koda snorted at the image of tiny Mika trying to murder a war general with a chair. “Send that over the holonet. Not some fluff piece to build a career on while people are enslaved and dying.”
He slid up in his seat, leaning decidedly over to her side. The gaze he fixed on her was intense and unblinking. “You both need to drop the act. And I bet you both know it.”
“Why did I let you in my house again?” She said with mock outrage then paused, “Oh right, wine and gifts.”
She laughed and took a drink of her wine just as Ace was rolling back up with Sin’s datapad. She took it from him and patted his dome again before handing the datapad back to Sinjir, who accepted it with an unnecessarily heavy sigh.
“Anyway, I’m happy to do work for the Resistance. I’ll do my best work for them, and at a discount, but affiliating with them officially could cause a lot of problems for a lot of people who don’t deserve it. I’m not willing to live in secrecy right now. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but it’s the only answer I have right now.”
Koda shrugged and took a sip of her wine, feeling a little sad at disappointing a friend, but just as firm in her conviction as ever.
“If they need anything done, let me know. I’m happy to help, even if it’s reviewing another engineer’s work for any oversights. All of that is fine.”
Sinjir shook his head. He took a moment to take in all she had said, to think on how this slight progress might be best used to reel her in. It was a start, he knew, though not much more. “It’s better,” he allowed. “It’s not fine. But that’s okay. I’ll keep asking and you can keep telling me no. I’m not giving up on you yet, Koda.” He settled back into his seat, nursing his wine in silence for a brief time.
“So what does Ace over there think about our plans?”
It always delighted Koda a little when people included her droid in conversation. He was often her only company when she was working in the deepest forgotten corners of ships and buildings, so she found herself chatting with him a lot, herself. He’d developed quite the little personality over the years, which was why she’d gotten an R-series to begin with. She glanced at him for an answer to Sin’s question, and he made some burbling beeps at her.
She laughed, “Well, at least you’re honest. He said he doesn’t really care about politics, and that he just wants you to think he’s cool.”
“Everybody thinks you’re cool, buddy, don’t worry,” she assured him, to which he responded with a satisfied squawk and settled in next to Sinjir’s side of the couch. Sinjir laughed, and patted the little droid on its head.
“I certainly do,” Sinjir agreed.
“So this project,” she started, changing the subject to something a little more in her wheelhouse. “I could start in a couple of days, honestly. After my unexpected vacation I didn’t really go out of my way to fill my schedule. I figured I’d take a little break, so this works out pretty alright.”
“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll transfer half the credits to you now to get started. You’ll get the other half at completion, with bonuses if I’m particularly impressed with your work.” He gave her a playful wink. There had never been a time when he was anything less than impressed with her. If she completed this work on time and half as well as she had done with her commissions prior, Sinjir stood poised on the brink of serious business expansion. Visions of exploding Star Destroyers danced in his head.
“You’re a lifesaver, Koda. And I mean that literally.”
Ace whirred quietly with delight at Sinjir’s attention and Koda had to clench her lips to keep from chuckling. Thankfully Sin moved on to the particulars of the job, distracting her from her amusement for long enough to get it under control.
She snorted at him, “I wouldn’t really need the half transfer now since normally I know you’re good for it, but this time I might want to collect the rest of my fee before handing you the project budget on this baby.” She laughed a little more, but she was cut short by him saying that he meant it literally. She pursed her lips a little, suspecting that he wasn’t 100% joking.
“Seriously, Sin. I’ve got plausible deniability in all of this as a contractor. You don’t. You promise me you’ll keep being careful out there. I know asking somebody like you to not take any crazy risks with your life might be a little pointless…” she trailed off and shook her head. “Just remember you’ve got to be alive to pay me,” she added with a wink. “Unless you kill me when you see the budget. That remains to be seen.”
He laughed aloud. “I’m always careful,” he said, “and I’m offended you’d suggest otherwise. I’ve got too much work left to die just yet. I hate to break it to you, but you’re all stuck with me for a lot longer.”
Koda rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yes that’s terrible news,” she said then lifted her glass. “To terrible news, then.”
“To terrible news,” he said, and clinked his glass with hers.