RowanThursday Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) Just a small Interlude in the Life of a Smuggler fic. Some backstory, mostly humour and friendship. ======================================================= Mild SPOILERS for Smuggler class story, up to near the end of Act One. Probably also somewhat incomprehensible if you *haven't* rolled a smuggler. "So, which one's Ord Mantel again?" She flicked a quick glance up at him, and rolled her eyes. "What?" her first mate and - she supposed - boyfriend spread his hands apart, defensively, and grinned. "Sky's full of stars, just wanted to know if we could see the old place from here." Melody rolled over in her sleeping bag, wincing a little at the pain in her back where a particularly persistent piece of rock had made its presence known during their last night's sleep, through three layers of thermic insulation, and shrugged. "Should be comin' up over the horizon in about... two hours," she noted, after a quick glance at the sky. "If you're still awake, that is." "Ya mean it won't come up if I'm asleep?" Corso blinked, a perfectly studied picture of confused innocence. She reached across and hit him with her hat, then blew him a kiss, before settling on her back once more, and gazing up at the selfsame stars. Somewhere out there... She closed her eyes. "So... Captain?" he asked, quietly, after a while. "Sorry- I should be lettin' you sleep," was added after a moment, with a flush of apology on his cheeks that she could almost see in the cold night, with her eyes shut. She waved a hand. "Not a problem." Too darn cold to sleep, anyway. Still, wasn't like it was Corso that let that crazy Sith shove her blasted glowstick through our tent last night, was it, and he's not said one word about that. My stupid mistake this time. "So....." he hesitated. "Ya know Risha's gonna go totally wookiee on us both this time, right?" "Hah!" She half sat up, the laugh a sharp yelp, and followed it with a slightly embarrassed giggle, looking round at the snow and rocks. "Yeah, I guess we got ourselves sidetracked again." "SIDETRACKED?!" Corso's voice rose, a fair impression of Risha at her most exasperated somewhat marred by his Mantellian dialect. "Bad as Tatooine all over again," he chuckled. "She'll be wearin' a hole in the cargo bay, pacin' up and down waitin' for us to get back with that gizmo she's after." "Then she can darn well pay for a new floorplate," Melody snorted, nodding. "'Bout time Rish' remembered whose ship she's ridin'- tell the truth, I'm getting just a li'l bit tired of running round after her errands, if I didn't think the payoff was gonna be worth it- which I don't- ." "And," Corso lay down, looking up again at the stars in the Alderaanian sky, "If you weren't lovin' the chance to roam just as much as I am, o' course?" "Yeah..." the Captain smiled fondly. "You got me there, honeybunch." He doubled up with a shout of outraged laughter. "Just so long as you don't go callin' Skavak that next time he sticks that face of his into our lives," Corso grinned, turning on his side. "I dunno..." Melody mused. "Might be worth it just to see his face fall off." "Thought you were gonna call him a scum suckin' ice chewer in old high ortolon or somethin'?" "I figure on keepin' quite a few of my best insults ready for Sarlacc-breath, next time he shows up," she noted, putting her hands behind her head and supporting her neck. "Well, just remember, he probably won't get what the heck you're on about if you start castin' nasturtiums on his 'natomy usin' Gree thought patterns again, like you did to me that time I when I threw up a little in the navi-comp." "Aspersions," she corrected, absently, reaching for her spectacles and then frowning. Blasted ambush droids. If you didn't fancy having your sight laser-corrected these days, it was no easy matter, finding a pair of glasses any more. Everyone with the money to pay for them seemed to go for the surgery. She'd picked up that pair on Nar Shaddaa, years ago, long before Ord Mantel, long before Corso- or Skavak- had blundered their way into her life. Now she'd have to see if the ship's crafting rig could fix the crack right through the right lens where the first of those droids had pitched her right through the air on to her face. On a point of honour, she refused to consult C2-N2. "And besides, I told you about that Balmorran booze, but you had to be all macho on me..." "Captain Mel-o-dy Jan-u-ary," Corso wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her suddenly, "You are cute when you are bein' too clever by half," he grinned, and returned her kiss playfully, before rolling away again. "Just mind the fire when you're rollin' about" she called after him, eyes glittering. "You ain't so cute when you're on fire." "Aye-aye Captain-Mom-Honeybunch," he crowed, gleefully ignoring her stuck-out tongue. "Hey, Honeybunch I'll take, but no 'mom', thanks all the same, sweetie," she tried to glower at him. "Hey, ya let the Wookiee call ya 'Little Mother'-" "Last time I checked, I wasn't walkin' out with the Wookiee," she protested. "Anyways, I let Bowdaar get away with it for my own good reasons." "An' what about them Jawas at the spaceport when we left? Wishin' 'Safe startrails for the big mother from over the dunes'?" "I did 'em a favour!" She shook her head, trying to pull the sleeping bag further up around her shoulders as the cold wind grew worse. Hope we make it to House Alde before tomorrow's out. Weather's getting worse all the time. Corso rolled his eyes. "Still figured I was about to see you get all Sithy on me and learn that lightning thing when little Renishi called ya 'Big Mother' though," he added slyly, after a moment. "Thought we agreed we weren't ever gonna mention that again?" "No, I just promised I'd never breathe a word anywhere where Risha could hear about it," he chuckled. "Didn't say anything about just the two of us. Anyway," he began again, after a pause of watching the errant, fluttering snowflakes in the moonlight. "Was more than a favour, I figure it. If it weren't for what you did out there in that desert, they'd a had Imps stampin' on their faces for 'em before too long." "Yeah, well..." she turned over, her face darkening. "Damned Empire just takes what it can get, doesn't it?" "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--" "Don't worry about it." Melody forced herself to settle back again, and looked up, facing down the night. "Old wounds, remember. You got enough yourself. Guess we got ourselves a crew of orphans here. Leastways, I haven't the faintest clue 'bout Rish's folks. Guess that leaves C2, son of a..." "Scrapheap?" "That'll do fine," she smiled despite herself. "Now come on, we better sleep. Long cold day tomorrow. Then we can stop carryin' Norbert the Noggin round with us," she jerked her head towards the- thankfully covered- plasteel cylinder standing next to her pack, "And get ourselves back to the Hestia's Dawn, see what kinda job l'il miss bossyboots has in mind for us next." "Go to Hoth an' sell snow to the wampas?" Corso suggested, sliding a hand out from his sleeping bag and touching his fingers to hers. "Maybe to get some extra special furry dice for the cockpit, seein' as without 'em you'll never--" "Find the fabulous mystery treasure of Nok Drayen--" Melody rejoined with a chuckle. "Which- serve us all right if like in the old Twi'lek fairy tale you ain't read-" "That's right, Captain, I ain't read it-" "Well, shame on you, it's in my library-" "So's half the books in the senate library, seems to me! Surprised Hestia's Dawn can make escape velocity with that lot on board, some days..." "Like I was sayin', serve us all right if this grand treasure at the end of the rainbow turns out to be five credits and a dinged up speeder." She shook her head. "Can't say as I really care. I just haven't the heart to tell Risha that. Still, whatever it comes out like, it's one heck of a journey-- and I'm glad of the family I've met along the way." She took his hand, and suddenly gripped it with an intensity that belied the lightness of her words. Corso endured her grip, and watched, waiting quietly until it slackened, as her eyes slowed their roaming beneath their closed lids, and his Captain sank into sleep. =================================================== Please read and review if you're of a mind to do so Edited February 10, 2012 by RowanThursday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocopants Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Awww. I've always loved Corso, even though I like Darmas more as a romance. I like this, nicely written and all that. Are you planning to continue? By the way, I love your signature. Best. Quote. Ever. <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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