Quarrels and Quills

Vector Hyllus

Vector remained with Frenka when Huttsbane left, and the Agent with him, unable to look away from his friend's bleeding form. The two Jedi were working furiously to ebb the flow, the woman encouraging the young man to keep working. He could feel her heart struggling for each beat, which pained him all the more for his being unable to assist.

The Agent's song reappeared on the edge of his senses and he looked down the the dark tunnel in her direction. Her eyes were the first to appear, but soon enough several shapes made themselves apparent. Evocii bearing large sacks, pulling hastily-built wagons filled with even more hastily saved belongings. The Agent herself had a Evocii toddler on her hip and a large burlap sack over her shoulder, walking easily despite the load, with complete confidence that she and the child were utterly save.

Her expression was unreadable, even as she met his eyes, then moved them to stare forward at the cave's opening. She was focused on moving the Evocii to Theron's vessel...no, he realized, that wasn't quite right. The Agent was focused on moving Frenka's people to said ship. Where he was overwrought and unable to move, the same pressure that held him propelled her forward. He recognized it as her way of telling Frenka that she held her in esteem.

Neva Xolte and Akaavi Spar

Her craft had been loaded for bear when it left Rishi for the skies of Odessen. Neva hadn't been to this planet before - likely because it wasn't a large spacefaring hub. It seemed alright as far as planets went, not that she had any opinion on the matter. She never intended to settle on a planet. Ever. It went against every fibre of her being to even contemplate having a house on a planet, even if she never planned on being there. The idea of owning a stationary property bothered her.

Still, the relief and joy she felt coming from everyone at the small landing pad put a smile on her face. Clearly having a stationary place to call home meant a lot to her friends - so she could be happy for them. Gina had disappeared from beside her and she spotted her halfway across the hangar embracing...herself. Neva supposed it wasn't that different from having a twin. The two women just needed to have different names it would be a lot easier to navigate...

"I would have a word."

Akaavi's voice rumbled from behind her and up on her left. She sounded...off. Neva turned her head to look up at her Mando girlfriend, squinting at her as though that alone would reveal the thoughts in the other zabrak's head, before turning her whole body toward Akaavi. She really did look upset and Neva was a loss as to why.

"I thought we were in an...exclusive...relationship." The stony-faced zabrak's voice betrayed her, the hurt tumbling from her lips as freely as the words.

Neva stared at her, uncomprehending. What brought this on? As much as she felt like this question came out of nowhere, she also knew that Akaavi would never have spoken out if it wasn't something she was absolutely certain of. Neva almost asked her if she had seen someone she fancied and wanted to play the field, but the pain she felt coming from the other woman pressed her to be plain in her reply. She sensed that now was not a time to be glib.

"I intend to be in an exclusive relationship with you, yes. I have never entertained a thought otherwise." She watched the other woman's jaw unclench as she spoke and she gave her a bit of space before adding, "Why do you ask?"

Akaavi shifted her weight a few times before answering, not meeting Neva's eyes for a full minute before replying. "I...You were very protective of Gina. And kind. I just...I thought you might have been flirting with her. I wanted to be sure that your heart wanted what mine wanted. And...I could not tell." Akaavi looked at Neva, befuddled. "You always treat people as though they are a good friend, even when you do not know them. I do not understand how you can behave this way and have things go well for you."

While Neva had blushed with Akaavi's accusation, she ended up laughing and reaching for the other woman's hands, who offered them gladly. "You are right, I do tend to treat people with an overabundance of trust and friendliness. It works for me. Do you really think if I tried to handle things the way you do that it would work out for tiny ol' me?" Their height difference was accentuated by the mandalorian's rocket boots, putting Neva's head just shy of the middle of Akaavi's chest. She hugged her anyway.

"I'm sorry I made you worry that I would stray, though. I don't know how to change so that..."

"Don't." Akaavi's voice came so suddenly, that Neva moved away enough to look up into her face.

"Don't what?"

"Change. I will learn...to trust. I think you should keep being Neva Xolte, the pilot who is friends with the galaxy."

Theron Shan, Visper Averrod-Iresso, and Huttsbane

Theron was relieved to see that the Evocii were efficient in their evacuation preparations - but he wasn't really surprised. They were probably even more ready to put this planet behind them than he currently was.

"Only bring the necessities," Theron told them as they streamed toward their ship, and second one Susanna had volunteered the use of for the journey. "Anything that's replaceable, we can replace."

Naturally, he wanted to make sure that room for people was the priority. That instruction proved as needless as telling them to hurry, though. The tribe had lost almost everything material in the fires that had consumed the market; wisely, they had abandoned their possessions in favor of preserving lives. There was little enough to pack.

"I think we can move her," Visper finally said. "Carefully. But she's stable enough to get her to the ship. The faster we can get her into a bacta tank, the better."

"Good," Theron said with a brisk nod.

Huttsbane said nothing. He didn't trust himself to speak. But he gave a tight nod of his own. There would be time for thanks to their rescuers when - not if, but when, he assured himself - Frenka was out of danger.

Focused as he was on the task at hand, Theron was mildly startled when a hand lightly brushed his jacket sleeve. He glanced over to see what the person needed from him, and was surprised to see an Evocii boy of about ten staring at him. When they made eye contact, the boy smiled at him, then hastily ducked away.

Theron got the message. You're welcome, he mentally replied.

Out loud, he said, "Alright. Let's load up. Then straight to Odessen. We'll sort everything else out there."

The Evocii were packed tightly onto the ships. Fortunately it was a short trip, Theron thought. No one complained, in any case. Not when this was their ticket to survival. When they landed planetside, he saw that preparations were already underway for their new guests. You couldn't help but appreciate this group, he thought. Theron threw himself into the process of getting the Evocii refugees settled in their new home.