"Sakra-! Get down!" Olena hissed at her team as she promptly got low, hoping that the group had avoided being detected by what could be an enemy force. If such an event does not come to pass, she would gesture for the others to swing around into the closest collection of brush to hide in, before attempting to peer into the foliage to identify what was ahead.
@majus @Elfie Nami almost wants to ask what kind of dancing Seri has done before the obvious answer hits like a runaway bantha. It just seems so right that someone so full of life should be a dancer – but Nami can also relate to that shame, memories of performing for Thassco, her image sent to his captives in the cells… Confused, mixed feelings swirl. If it came to it, I could— it wouldn’t be so bad if we both— why am I even thinking this? “Your skills – computer skills!” She trips over her own tongue as she tries to push the conversation in a constructive direction. “Tech skills, they sound like…they’d be valuable. Maybe we can team up on that. Somehow. I’m certain others on board know how to – to do things, make things, that can contribute.”
@majus @lady-lux Seri cocks her head to the side, bird-like, as she studies Nami for a moment. Is there something there? Some understanding that goes deeper than sympathy? She still knows so little about her, but she can’t shake the feeling that they have a great deal in common. A blush rises - they seem so very common right now - as her thoughts run away with notions of getting to know Nami, chatting and sharing long into the night, when there’s time. Or maybe you’re just desperate for a friend, and you’ll jump at the smallest scrap of kindness and call it a connection, did you think of that? She pushes the hurtful thought away, trying to cover herself with a more enthusiastic nod. “Yes - I’m sure we can figure something out. All of us! And we should definitely team up, we’d be a great pair - uh, working together. On. Tech. Stuff.” Idiot!
Olena's orders are immediately obeyed. As she moves forward and lightly moves the leafs aside, she notices easily white armour. Scout Troopers. Her eyes are drawn to a female scout trooper without a helmet by the bike. As she looks around, she finds two more bikes. One other trooper is sitting on the bike. She frowned - she counted three speeders, yet only two scout troopers. Third one was not present.
Olena's eyes narrowed as she considered the situation and the options available to her. For one, her group had travelled by foot away from the base camp to get to this point. If speeder-mounted scouts had gotten this close, it could be that they were following the group's tracks... But then, why had they stopped now? And where was the third fellow? A mischievous smirk spread across her features as Olena considered the remaining possibility: the call of nature, specifically of the bodily variety. That fellow was probably hiding nearby trying to use leaves for toiletry. A two on four fight, if it came down to it, which the Amaran Amazonian was not trying to let it come to... That and it would be a waste to kill someone wearing that bodyglove so nicely. The vixen crawled back, intent on reporting her findings and suspicions to her comrades. "... So, I'm going to try to find that last guy and put him to sleep. When I give the signal or you lot hear something go amiss, you'll spring up and, ah, 'gently' remind them that they are outnumbered and outgunned. I'd like them alive and their speeders in one piece, if we can help it. If it looks like they're going to get away before I do anything about it, let them go." Speeders weren't hard to operate, right? Even at a slow, cautious speed, they beat walking. Presuming that Triset, Daw, and Jackie had no questions or concerns, she would begin to stealthily circle around the scout troopers, intent on locating their missing third.
Nami nods. “We will, I’m sure – but please, don’t worry about all that just yet. You just woke up. Were you able to find something to eat? I’m sorry there wasn’t much to work with over there…”
“No no, it’s okay!” Seri answers in a hurry, before realising that, no, she didn’t stop to eat. She sets down her cargo, and tears open a simple ration pouch, handing nutrient bars to the others as she bites into hers. “So,” she begins, before swallowing thickly, the bar a little tougher than she’d expected, “um, next steps? Should we venture out? Take a look around and get the lay of the land?” Part of her is itching to dive into anything to take her mind off things, while the other half wants nothing more than to hide away on the ship for as long as possible.
“Oh! Thank you…” Nami stares at the bar in her hand for a moment. She’d expected not to have much appetite, but the sight of food makes her realise how badly she too needed this. “Thank you,” she says again, earnestly, smiling at Seri, before taking a bite – trying not to appear as suddenly ravenous as she feels. She chews on the ration as she also chews over Seri’s question. “Well, if you want to walk around, maybe if we stick to the – the more public areas…” She trails off, a chill running up her spine at the thought of going back out there, but she tries to suppress that fear. “Or, if there’ve been any issues with this ship’s systems, we could help fix some of them?”
“Ov corz!” Seri grins, her words muffled by a mouthful of nutrients. She swallows again, a sheepish expression on her face, followed by a snorted giggle. “…sorry. Didn’t realise how hungry I was. Figured it might be the same for you.” She listens to Nami attentively, settling down to sit atop a raised bulkhead. She scoots, leaving room for Nami to join her with a shy little glance. There might be something there as she mentions the public areas, but it’s hard to be sure. Despite those deep black, expressive eyes and gentle features, Nami isn’t the easiest to read, and Seri feels a little guilty for trying. “Ship systems sounds like a good start.” She nods encouragingly, “we can take a look together? When you’re ready, of course. And I… I also found these, I hope you don’t mind I just thought they might be useful - or you’d want them?” She proffers the datapads - mostly medical in a nature - that she’d collected, offering them eagerly, realising after a second how desperate for approval she must seem.
“Datapads?” Nami happily sits herself down next to Seri. “What’s on these?” She pauses, slightly bewildered, as she recognises the medical files. “Oh, you found – I see.” Though not quite sure what to think, she has a feeling that Seri was only trying to help; her heart goes out to her once again. Feeling a trace of embarrassment, too, as she wonders what else she left lying around for others to find; she’s been so used to travelling solo, not having to think about privacy on board her ship. She smiles at Seri. “Thank you. We can keep these with the first aid supplies for now – some of the references might come in useful. We have a lot of different species aboard here, so it’s good to be able to check certain things…”
Seri squirms, caught between embarrassment and pride - though still not entirely sure if she’s been helpful or invasive. “I just… I just want to be able to, um, help. Like you’ve helped me.” She offers shyly, giving Nami the slightest shoulder to shoulder bump. Her choppy bob hangs in curtains around her face. She realises now that no, it’s not much of a bob anymore, having begun to grow out a little way past her shoulders, her cobalt colouring fading and beginning to give way to the golden-blonde of her Zeltron roots. “I really hope - I mean. I wanted to do something - something that would help you, that you’d like? Now I’m worried I’ve just been… really rude. I…” she stammers, glancing from beneath her bangs, as she presents Nami with the bundled clothes - the outfit she’d assembled, “I just thought you might like something a bit more cosy? Comfier? When you’re less busy. Not that you need to change - or that you don’t - um - look great! I just… I sometimes find a change of clothes helps, after a long day.” By the time she’s done babbling, she’s a deep mauve and feels ridiculous. All she wanted was to make a little gesture, provide some measure of comfort. Now she’s half-covered in nutrient crumbs and blushing like a schoolgirl. Nice job, Seri.
“Seri…” Nami leans over to put a comforting arm around her new friend’s shoulders – unsure if this is right but unable to resist a moment longer. “You’re doing great. You really are.” A warm smile appears on her face as she looks over the clothes Seri found. “Thank you for all this. For thinking of me.” With a sigh she closes her eyes, trying to let herself relax the same way she wants Seri to. “I was in such a rush, I didn’t find these – thank you. There’s been so much going on… But we can face it all better together, can’t we?”
Seri starts just a little as Nami’s arm encircles her. A flood of warmth courses through her, all the way down to her bright pink toes, which curl happily in her boots. Unable to resist herself, she scoots just a little closer, nestling her head in close, her blue-blonde tresses tickling against Nami’s cheek. She can’t stop the joy in her pheromones escaping, but tempers them, not wanting to unduly influence Nami, but happy - so very happy - for her to share this sense of safety. “I - I hope they’re okay. It was just, something I could do, you know? I’m so glad you think I’m doing good - you’re… honestly you’re amazing, not just doing amazing.” She eases back just a touch, wide eyes meeting Nami’s, with an earnest look, “Together. We can. Definitely, I like the sound of that.”
“Oh, I’m really not…” Nami mumbles self-deprecation even as Seri’s words of praise and the rush of pheromones send tingles of reward through her. Still she is unable to shake her feelings of guilt, the sense that she doesn’t deserve this – but she certainly doesn’t want any of it to stop. Her large black eyes blink away tears of nameless emotion as their gazes meet; she reaches out to squeeze Seri’s hand. To hold onto this sense of connection, before she inevitably finds a way to disappoint everyone. “Together,” she says, “one step at a time.” She glances again at the clothes, eager herself to try on the combination Seri’s chosen. “Once we’re finished with the machinery around here, I’ll probably be due a change anyway.”
Seri has taken Nami’s hand, and stacked her free one atop them both, before she can stop herself, fingers interlacing, their vibrant hues locked together. The sensation sends a happy shiver through her that she tries hard to play off. She beams as Nami echoes the word together, then tracks her eyes to the little waiting outfit, cheeks tingling. Apart from anything else, she feels the warm glow of excitement at having lifted Nami’s spirits: her little gift having worked out. “That’s a good point. It’s bound to be messy work, one way or another.” She pauses, snorting out a quick giggle, “Oh, kriff, please forget I just said that!”
Nami stifles a giggle of her own, partly just her simple joy at hearing Seri laugh. “Let’s say – we might have to get our hands dirty.” She looks down at their clasped hands as she says it, feeling the warm comfort of that soft pink touch. “Hopefully there won’t be too much that needs fixing. I don’t know my way around this ship very well yet, but I’m sure we’ll figure it all out.”
Seri’s eyes gleam, and she breaks into a smile that seem to stretch from ear to ear. “Nami stop.” She affects a tone of mock horror, but her voice wobbles with suppressed laughter. It strikes her just how easy it is to be around this woman, to joke and talk and use her name as if they’ve been friends forever. She squeezes her hand, not quite ready to let go yet. “We can do a walk through or something, see what needs doing, make a list. Work our way through it. Schedule in plenty of breaks for delicious nutrient bars.”
Nami nods eagerly. “Sounds like a plan. We’ve both got to follow doctor’s orders about nutrition. Of course we should make sure we stay in touch with Jura too – she’s flown the ship this far, she’ll know if anything’s been giving trouble.”
“Following orders, I can do.” She grins, trying not to think about the deeper implications of that. “Oh! She’s a pilot? That’s brilliant. I guess we almost have the makings of a crew… I suppose I could be… morale officer?” Seri waggles the remaining bars, inadvertently sending a ripple through her cleavage - still tightly packed in her borrowed clothes. This sets off another fit of the giggles, until she calms herself. “Sorry. Yes. But uh, okay. Check in with Jura, do a survey of the ship. Stay healthy. Anything else we’re missing?
A crew. The words send a thrill through Nami, something between excitement and panic. The sense of responsibility she already carries is almost unbearable – but so is the thought of losing this newfound sense of companionship, of safety. Fortunately, Seri is there to break the spell; Nami laughs with her, the levity of the moment breaking her out of her sudden spiral. “Uhm – I think that’s everything,” she says, when she’s caught her breath. “At least until we know more.”
