Peeka's Troubles

Peeka's Troubles
Date of Scene:	24 August 2025
Location:	Kublop Springs - Tenoo - Outer Rim
Synopsis:	An unexpected visitor arrives at the junkyard after dinner. A glider is lost.
Cast of Characters:	159, Zetha Rumir, Cayde Alexis, Navi

---

Athena (159) has posed:
The hour starts to grow late, but the laundry she's running for her house guests is, as with all things that Wiis ever does, taking a long time.

The laundry machines sound like they're on their last leg. The fact that they've been kept outside for as long as Zetha has been alive probably isn't helping their slowness, either. Regardless, Vons and Cayde will find themselves relocated to outside on the back patio near the machines, while Navi takes up the refreshers attached to Zetha's bedroom and Thaarin gone off the wander the junkyard by himself.

Meanwhile, Wiis is in her own bedroom, helping Twozee scrub the carpet free of vomit, grumbling.

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Zetha takes a moment to gather her courage. She made a promise, and with everything happening tonight, she might as well. Maybe it will even give Wiis something to smile about. Who knows. None the less, the Twi'lek walks down the hall and then slides to sitting cross-legged on the floor - definitely fighting off the lingering scent of vomit that lingers in the hallway. "Wiis. I need to talk to you about a couple things..." Then she stresses. "And I need you to promise and try not to freak out any more than I know your old bones want to."

Athena (159) has posed:
Wiis looks up, frowning. "Why didn't you check to make sure the bedroom was locked!?" she grumbles. "The guests wandered in. They shouldn't have!"

She scrubs more furiously at the floor, but the stain won't relent. "That bad, huh?" she says, her tone cynical. "Well, I don't have much life in these bones anyway. What is it?"

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Zetha frowns herself then. "I didn't think to check it...You never want me in there anyway I assumed it's always locked." Especially since Wiis had whisked away that piece of metal Zetha got a bit ago...and speaking of that...

"First things first. That thing in your room that you're keeping from me...it's got blood on it. Not literally but...remember the T-29 drill that Thaarin and his companions brought? How it was all busted up? I suspect that's the drill what overcharged and exploded while people were working on the comms station. And if /thats/ true...then that's the same drill that Chadra Fan got the component for from here to set up the drill withOUT the auto shut-down feature." She explains. Then looks right in Wiis' direction. "I want it back. No. I need it back. If you're ever caught with it...I need it back to keep you safe."

Athena (159) has posed:
Wiis suddenly draws herself up. She stands up, wagging a finger at Zetha. "No, that's absolute nonsense and you know it," she says harshly.

"You're not going to convince me with this whole 'I need to keep you safe' babble because I will -not- let you endanger yourself so I can escape blame. I own this junkyard, therefore, I'm the one keeping track of all our profits and expenditures, and that's final."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Zetha. I might as well throw you down into the Gorge with those marauders if I give you that bit of metal back!"

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"And what if I'm gone? Huh? What if I finally took your advice and started making something of myself." Zetha doesn't stand, but she does lift her gaze to look Wiis in the face as the continues talking. "Bad enough you're trying to shove me into some strangers arms, but actually, that might have worked out perfectly. Thaarin wants my help making one of our spaceship carcasses space worthy again. He knows his way around programming, and I'm really good at putting things together. He's hoping to go off world. Offered me whatever credits he could spare to pay for the project."

Zetha sighs, and then leans her head back until it mades a soft 'thud' against the wall. "And I might have made him a counter offer. No credits. But when it's done, and the ship's space worthy...he takes me away from here. Takes me somewhere that I could start finding answers to some burning questions. Questions I can't get answered here."

Athena (159) has posed:
"I'll figure it out when that day comes," Wiis says, scowling. "I'll do fine. Or I'll finally retire, and rest these old bones like they should have, a long time ago..."

"Hmph. Well, if you're going to leave, well, at least tell me where you're going. Can't have you vanishing into the unknown, without a lick of an idea of whether you're safe, stable, and somewhere notable with a life of your own and a family of your own, or rotting in a Hutt prison on Nar Shaddaa."

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Zetha finally stands and places her hands on her hips. "Is that permission then? To help Thaarin with his request and leave you once it's done. It's not like we'll be out of here by tomorrow but..." Features soften a little and then she kicks at the ground some. "You could have retired whenever you wanted, you know. Once I got old enough to take care of things on my own. And while I'm not at all sure where I'd go from here to get started, once I do know, you'd know. You aren't getting rid of me THAT easily ya old hag..."

Then she comes full circle. "Why are you being so protective of that hunk of metal anyway? If it's got any value to it, why didn't we just sell it and set up something nice for you so I wouldn't be all worried and shit about the next time you fell over...or cracked your hip the wrong way."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Fine," Wiis says reluctantly, "As long as you promise to marry him," she half jokes. Then she waves dismissively at Zetha. "As if! You know, half of me worries you'll never make good on what you say you're gonna do and the other half worries you will and won't have a kriffing clue what to do with yourself. You haven't haven't even been offworld since arriving on Tenoo!"

"That's enough questions for tonight," she grumps. "If it was so easy to sell I'd have done it already. But you need to stop worrying about it. It's not your problem, and never will be, so stay out of it."

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Thing is, Zetha will likely never stop worrying about it. The only thing that even remotely eases her mind is the fact that it's locked in a safe in Wiis' room and the woman has taken reponsibility for it. But the blood still feels like it's caked on her own hands because of what happened. None the less. "I don't think Thaarin is interested in marriage. At least not with someone who isn't his own kind. Even so, he seems like a good guy...but I'm still young enough. Maybe I'll find someone off world to whisk me away." She grins. "I'll make good on this. I promised. One thing I will never do is go back on a promise." Which is true! She never *promised* the Chadra Fan she'd keep his secret.

"I'm going to go see if Thaarin's getting lost in the junkyard. Want me to try and find something that will help take out that vomit stain tomorrow?" As if letting it stay until tomorrow will help but it's at least an offer.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    As Cayde and Vons are waiting for the cleaning of clothes on the back patio, the Zeltron might notice the padawan looking paler than usual, rubbing at various spots on his arms and shoulders uncomfortably. Every time Vons looks at him, he tries to pull his sleeves over his hands or put them out of sight somehow.

Athena (159) has posed:
"That's because you're not trying hard enough!" Wiis complains. She scowls. "Yeah, yeah, fine," she grumbles. "I'd like it better if you convinced him to stay the night..."

"Great," the Zeltron man grumbles. "Better stop by the pharmacy," he says. "Before your rash gets so bad it spreads to me." He stands and motions for Cayde to follow him down the block, where there's a little drug store that's open late.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    But allergies couldn't be contagious. Cayde arches a brow at Vons, but gets up to follow Vons anyway.

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"I'll let him know you said that..." Zetha offers as she turns and exits the hallway, and then the whole of the 'home' itself to begin stalking the junkyard for wherever Thaarin has gotten himself to. The idea to head to the back where all the ships are is the first to come to mind so that is where she heads.

Navi has posed:
Navi emerges from the refresher, wrapped in a light robe loaned to her by Wiis. It's not a good fit for the Sephi girl; tying the belt tight at her waist causes it to form gaps above and below, and she finds herself grateful for the full coverage of her undershirt.

"Remind me to talk to Thaarin about teasing me about being caught in my underwear," she murmurs. "I think he's inadvertently jinxing me. Or maybe the Force has a mean sense of humor when it comes to us Sephi gals..."

Athena (159) has posed:
It'll take them only a few minutes to walk down the block - Vons will send a text transmission to Navi and Thaarin saying they'd stepped out for a minute. "Now," the Zeltron man says to Cayde, "don't you have some kind of prescription med refill from the doc for your rash?" as he pushes his way into the little drug store.

Zetha won't find it difficult to locate the tall blue skinned man - she'll notice the flickering light of a glowrod coming from one of the junked out ships way in the back.

The droid immediately appears around the corner from where Navi is, and after looking her over a moment, suggests, "Wiis is wondering if perhaps you lot would like to stay the night? The drying machine likely won't finish for another four hours."

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Living in the junkyard has severla advantages. One of them IS being able to maneuver over all the stacks and piles of scrap, bits and bobs of thingies and all the whatchamacallits in the area. Technical terms, you know? What one of them is NOT is silence. Even if Zetha can tiptoe around and across, she cannot make silence out of creaky, poppy metal. So even though she's still determined to climb ONTO the ship that Thaarin is looking over - he'll hear her long before her head pops in his general visual space. "So. Wiis says we should marry and have a family." She says. "She also wants me to convince you to spend the night." She continues. "But most importantly, she doesn't mind if I help you build a ship and leave her to die on this planet..."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde doesn't reply to Vons. Although he seems to be looking right at the Zeltron, his expression is still as unreadable as usual.

Navi has posed:
"I accept. I'll ask the others when I see them," Navi promises the droid. "Thank you all for everything. Is there any way I can help you with that floor? I used to do a lot of cleaning back at the Tem-... at my last residence," she adds, hastily correcting herself.

"Have you seen Vons, Thaarin, and Cayde? I was going to talk to them, and the invitation gives me even more reasons to find them."

Athena (159) has posed:
The tall blue skinned alien chuckles, poking his head out over the gangway. "Oh is that so," he says, now leaning out towards Zetha, keeping himself in place by clinging to the bulkhead with one hand. His scarlet eyes bedazzle the night and glow like twin fire rubies, both brilliant and playful. "Well, should we?" he says mischievously. "Ah, well, I'd hate to be a burden but if my companions' clothing isn't dry yet..."

He then lets go of the bulkhead and skips down the gangway to be less than a step away from Zetha. "Zetha, Zetha. Have you ever heard of hyperbole? I believe your employer frequently employs it to induce guilt, which may simply be how she demonstrates how much she wants you to not leave, although she is also of the opinion that you staying here is quite possibly the worst thing you could do, as a young, beautiful, ambitious Twi'lek woman." A pause. "Speaking of ships, what do you think?" he raps on the hull. "She could be a good candidate..."

Vons grumbles and waves a hand in front of Cayde's face. "Uh? Hello? I'm talking to you."

"I believe Thaarin went out into the junkyard to have a look around," the droid says, "and your other companions, er... well, they were on the back patio..."

However, if she looks at her commlink, she'll see it's blinking with a message from Vons saying they'd stepped out to go to the drug store.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    A droid attending the shop approaches Vons. "Good evening sir, may I be of assistance?"

    Cayde finally blinks and nods when a hand is waved in his face. [Okay] he signs.

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"They're not." Zetha begins. "Dry yet I mean. Could be several more hours before they're even remotely close to being dry enough to wear and not bother anyone with a dampness.." She then shifts, once Thaarin comes closer, to sit up on the top of the ship with her legs crossed and tilts her head while listening to him. "Do you talk to all the girls you meet this way?" Asking with a grin before she shrugs. "I know you want me to think really long and hard about this. That you feel like I'm just doing it on a whim out of guilt. I'm not. Wiis has been on my case for a long time. She wants to retire...at this point I'm really just a burden to her. An extra mouth to feed. Besides, even she knows I haven't let Tenoo like...ever...and when a chance falls right into my lap? I'll take it."

She even looks up at the stars for a moment, bright as they are because some places in the junkyard don't have a lot of good lighting. "There's something out there for me. Something. Someone. Nothing that I'm going to find here." Then she looks to meet Thaarin's gaze once more. "You noticed it from the beginning right? Wiis practically pushing you and me together? Oh Zetha...have you asked him to stay for dinner. You aren't trying hard enough. I'm sorry for it..."

Navi has posed:
"I see. Thanks again," Navi replies to the dutiful droid. "I'll be in the living room if you need me for anything. Please ask Wiis if I can help with the clean-up?"

She shoulders her medical satchel and moves toward the living room, only to spy a blinking light on her comlink. "Off to the store? Cayde probably had another allergic reaction to the local cuisine. Don't blame him," she murmurs. "Maybe I better check on them..."

"Wiis? Cayde and Vons went to the apothecary down the street! I'm going to go check on them!" she calls down the hall, taking a pair of basic sandals from her medical satchel.

"And hope they haven't spread more mayhem while they're unsupervised..." she murmurs as she straps on her sandals.

Athena (159) has posed:
Vons frowns when the droid approaches. "Oh, uh, yeah. My uh, well, he needs --" he gestures vaguely at Cayde and the spots he'd been scratching. "Yeah. Uh. Probably something for -- right, yeah." Vons elbows Cayde, trying to give him a look that will signal the padawan to tell the droid what he needs.

"Why am I not surprised," Thaarin says, sounding amused. He comes to sit next to her, leaning back slightly, one of his hands resting behind her, not quite touching, but once again perhaps invading her personal space. "Maybe," he teases. "Does it bother you? If so, I'm sorry~" He removes his hand from behind her. "I didn't say that," he says with a shrug. "How long or short you think about the matter is up to you. What kind of consequences it will reap, well, I can't be the judge of that, either. Unless you want me to make an educated guess based on evidence, probability and statistics."

"Well, yes," he says softly in response to her when she says there's something out there for her that's not Tenoo. "perhaps. Your fate is only what you make of it," he says, "whether you stay here, or leave Tenoo." Then he chuckles. "She's right about one thing - you aren't~"

"Hm? Well alright," Wiis says from the bedroom absently. "Just don't leave for the colony without your clothes..."

Navi has posed:
"I won't, promise!" Navi calls back to Wiis, before stepping out onto the porch to look up and down the street.

It doesn't take long to spot the drugstore sign, and she starts off in that direction at a brisk walk, careful of her sandals. Rocks and sandals are not friends. At all.

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Zetha's noticed it. Every time. Her personal space being invaded just long enough to make her question and then it's back to normal like nothing happened. "No. It doesn't bother me. Why should it? It's not like we're -actually- going to hook up, get married and have a family." She offers. "You kinda made that clear when you said you wanted to go home. Can't bring aliens onto your world. Isolationists. Want to make Admiral. I doubt you can do all that and carry on any sort of relationship outside of Csilla." All just proves that Zetha was listening. Maybe even taking notes. She tends to do that even if she doesn't want to. Things just stick.

"No educated guesses needed here either...just...we'll make a ship worthy and fly away from here. If I have to survive off the skin of my butt I will. I'm good at it." Though something at the end has her looking over at Thaarin. "I aren't...what?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The droid seems very confused by Vons' vague mumbling. "Sorry, what does he need? Is he a member of your immediate family?"

    But Cayde doesn't seem to think he needs anything. [I am okay] he signs. However, it seems there are now visible hives on his neck although the droid doesn't seem to be one of the smart ones capable of noticing.

Athena (159) has posed:
"What? No! obviously not! I mean do we -look- related?" Vons grumbles to the droid.

Anyway it will be mere minutes for Navi to find Vons standing awkwardly outside the drugstore, trying to communicate with the droid about... whatever problem Cayde might be having. "Oh thank the stars," Vons says. "Can you tell the droid about whatever weird skin problems Cayde has been having? It seems to think we're related, or something."

Thaarin watches Zetha very intently while she's talking, a faint smile growing. Like there's something he's not telling her about himself but for the time being has decided to keep to himself.

He laughs softly. "You're too kind," he murmurs gently to Zetha in a way that feels strangely affectionate. Then he averts his gaze playfully. "Ah, nothing. Nothing." But he's smirking..

Navi has posed:
"Oh, /there/ you are... was just looking for you," Navi says as Vons greets her. "Wait... what's going on?" she asks, needing a moment to take in the situation.

One glance at Cayde's neck tells her everything she needs to know. "Mr. Droid? We need a topical ointment for an allergic reaction to the local cuisine," she says. "Maybe more than one. My friend here has a rather bad allergy to the moss biscuits and the local fish, you see. He's breaking out in hives. Can you provide any remedies?"

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"To your other point. I think this ship might do. There's some elbow grease work that needs to be put into her, but she's not the worst out of all the ships you could have landed your eyes on. Still, we should look more closely in the morning when it's light out. Might find something a bit better, or this one might work. I'd have to take a closer look." Zetha says all this between other comments made. To which her eyes narrow a little but then she gives her own smirk.

"Well if that's the case then I think we've talked about all we can here. Alone. Under the stars." Flirting is not a specialty of Zetha's. Nor is taking any sort of hint in any manner that isn't like it's all being a joke made at her expense. Thaarin's likely playing a little bit of just there hard to get. Zetha's just not catching up. Maybe even falling more behind.

Athena (159) has posed:
The droid blinks at Navi. "Oh, right," it says. "we have several, I can bring out our options and the three of you can feel free to browse?" It then disappears behind the counter.

"Yes.. might be a year long project or more," Thaarin muses, "but I'm not actually in a rush to leave, just yet," he says, his expression growing a bit sad all of a sudden.

Then he offers her another faint smile. "Oh, Zetha, I quite disagree with you. There's much more to talk about, and I'd love your company if you don't mind me, or the dark. Frankly, I do my best work when there's less light..." He then stands, and offers her a his hand.

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"You aren't wrong there, unfortunately. It all depends on what we find the deeper into it we get. Which is why I think it's best to look over a few more ships. Just to make sure we pick the right one for the undertaking." Zetha says this much and then she blinks. Her purple gaze shifts towards Thaarin and then she smiles, perhaps even flushes a bit - but that might not be quite discernable in the dark.

Never the less, she stands and places her hand into his offered one. "Actually. I wouldn't mind at all. It's nice to have someone to talk to that isn't a droid or Wiis..." She smiles then. Even if there's an innuendo there that flies over her head.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde just watches the interaction between Navi and the shop droid, and as it disappears into the back. His face is quite red too, now.

Navi has posed:
Navi winces at the sight of Cayde's bright red face. "Oh, jeez... yeah, the takeout was a bad idea," she murmurs. "If I live to get back to the Core, I swear I'm never touching another fish dish again. Can you breathe okay? No closing-up of your throat or anything?" she asks Cayde.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Perhaps," he says, "but while you were helping Wiis clean up inside, I already had a look around and I'm not sure I'd prefer piloting the others," Thaarin says. He pulls her up, towards him, squeezing her hand briefly before releasing it.

"Well, that's perfect," he says, "say, I don't know much about Twi'lek biology, is it normal, in certain social situations, for your skin to turn that particular shade?" He then begins to scale a ladder to his left, which leads to an unconventional storage space right above the bridge.

"Oh, gods," Vons says, noticing Cayde's face has turned red. "He looks like an unripe jogan fruit," he whispers. "What should we do?"

But just then, Navi will be distracted by the sound of the door of the drugstore opening. It's a familiar face - Peeka! But what is she doing out here alone, and why is she carrying a small backpack with her?

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Zetha squeezes his hand back. Seems like the thing to do. Then he's making a comment about the shade of her skin which only makes it deepen a bit. "I-I mean... maybe... I think it's called blushing. Council might still be out on that one though.." Watching as he goes down a ladder to which she follows him down. "Huh. Wonder if this was used as a salvage ship...no...not salvage. Contraband. Just an odd place for storage to seem to be..." She tried to take her time going down the ladder but depending on the space they're filling, personal space may be quite out the door once she's on the same level as him.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde nods vaguely at Navi's question, although he goes to sit down on a bench in the pharmacy waiting area. Truth be told, he feels awful but is doing his best to hide this fact from everyone.

Navi has posed:
"Please keep me informed of any symptoms, Cayde, and how you're feeling. I'm going to have to treat this reaction without the help of the infirmary and the medical droids, and I need to know everything that's happening, so I know what medications and salves we need," Navi advises Cayde as he moves to sit down.

Her attention is stolen by the sudden appearance of Peeka. "Peeka? What are you doing so far from home?" she asks, almost as concerned about the Chadra Fan as she is about Cayde.

Athena (159) has posed:
"You think?" Thaarin's chuckle bubbles up from down below. "Zetha, I was just teasing. Of course I know it's called blushing. It was one of the first words I learned in Basic. I didn't realize the color change was quite so drastic for humans and perhaps many humanoid aliens, so naturally it was a point of curiosity for me." As Zetha descends, she'll find that it's -quite- dark down here. As in, pitch black. How Thaarin is seeing anything down here might be beyond her. As for personal space, she'll find herself bump into a soft warm body, as the smell of spice permeates the air.

Peeka seems taken off guard by Navi being here. Her gaze drops immediately. "Oh, um, nothing," she says, "I was just going to get going. Bye...!" But Navi won't need the Force to get a bad feeling about whatever it is that the little Chadra Fan girl is planning.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde again just nods vaguely at Navi's request. When Peeka comes in, he frowns. What is she doing here so late, and alone? With luggage, too. Is she running away? He tries entering her mind, it seems she is worried about her father. But why won't she ask for help from the Jedi instead of venturing out alone?

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"I can only imagine the color it turns on my own cheeks. I would suspect it's more purplish than the red that humans or more pale skinned humanoids have." Zetha offers. There's something about how it likely matches the color of her eyes that hangs in the air, but that's neither here nor there. When she feels herself pressed against Thaarin's form, she'll let out a tiny squeak of a gasp. "Oh. S-Sorry. I wasn't aware it might have been a tight fit down here...mostly because I can't see a thing. Can you?" And that smell. She can't discern if it's actual spice or perhaps this close to Thaarin is causing her to scent some sort of cologne or something.

Navi has posed:
"Peeka, /wait/!" Navi calls after the Chadra Fan. "It's dangerous to be out alone at night in this town!"

She looks back and forth between Peeka and Cayde. "Force help us... I have to be here to treat Cayde, but Peeka doesn't need to be out alone... where /is/ that droid with the medications?" she murmurs in frustration. "Vons, can you keep an eye on Cayde? I think I need to catch a Chadra Fan."

Without waiting for an answer, she jogs after Peeka. "Peeka, stay put, okay? We need to talk about this!"

Athena (159) has posed:
It seems that Peeka feels desperate, and believes that no one else can help. Rykard was nowhere to be found, Oona was still recovering, and no one else seemed to have any inkling at all of about where her father might be. Cayde apparently, in her mind, didn't count. He was a child, and plus, his face was swollen like an overripe meiloorun.

"Wh --hey!" Vons cries when Navi runs out after Peeka. "Damn. Why does anyone think that I like getting stuck with babysitting duty?"

"Yeah.. yeah.. w-whatever!" Peeka retorts to Navi. "Why don't you ask your rich girlfriend to weigh in on the matter. Because she's sooo much more important than me, or anyone or anything else that happens at the colony!"

The only thing visible down here will be Thaarin's glowing red eyes. He chuckles softly and steadies her gently. "Who can blame you," he says, "and well, I can discern enough to tell that you look lovely tonight~" But then his attention is drawn to an unseen item on a shelf that also exists somewhere in the dark that Zetha can't see. "... is this.. spice?" he asks, incredulous, as if he'd never seen it before in his life.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Ugh, Peeka probably thinks he's younger than her, and that is so not true! ...is it? Well, he's pretty sure, she's younger than him. By at least a year. At least. Anyway, it's annoying.

    He suddenly gets up and runs after Navi as she chases Peeka, already trying to 'convince' her that she shouldn't go down there alone. <Let us help>

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"You aren't too bad looking yourself, you know." Though if Zetha were to believe what Navi said earlier, Thaarin likely knows it. Plenty of girls fawn over him. What would be one more? That thought goes out the gangplank as Thaarin is talking about something Zetha can't see. "I mean...I can't see it...but I can smell it. Certainly smells like spice. Which likely means we should proooobably not linger here too long. If it's like...open or something..." Then she groans. "Wiis might just whack me with her cane if she finds out there's illegal stuff on one of the ships in her yard."

Navi has posed:
"I'm not dating her anymore, Peeka... please check your rumormill more carefully?" Navi replies evenly, even if she does have to raise her voice a bit as she hurries after the Chadra Fan. "This is not a safe place to be out at night! If you're going somewhere, you're going to need help. I have to treat Cayde's allergic reaction, but after that, I can go with you or take your home... your choice."

Athena (159) has posed:
"You? Help -me-?" Peeka scoffs at Cayde. "You're like, what? Twelve? And your face looks like a hot air balloon, the one they have during the Festival of Lights. Like you could do anything. Your eyes are -literally- about to get swelled shut. Go see a doctor, seriously."

"I'm going to be fine. But if you want to go with me, whatever. I'm going to the scrapyard to find a glider, and then I'm going down the Gorge. And none of you are stopping me. I'm going to find my dad, even if it means joining the marauders." And then she darts away into the darkness, towards the junkyard.

Vons suddenly jogs up, looking annoyed. "Alright, what the kriff just happened? Cayde, your face is about to explode, literally. We should head back--"

"Oh dear, not you too," Thaarin says, "As I've said to Navi before, such flattery is terrible for my ego~" Thaarin nods, getting a glow rod out. "But she ought to know, don't you think? Perhaps someone planted it. Either way, it's not your fault, and I'm sure she'd want to know about any illegal substances in her junkyard." He starts to climb out of the small storage compartment.

Navi has posed:
"Geez... I hate it when she gets stubborn like this," Navi murmurs, halting. "At least we know she's going to the scrapyard first. Let's go back to the apothecary and get what we need for Cayde's allergies, and then go back to the scrapyard. We can catch up to her there."

She takes her comlink from her satchel and keys it up. "Thaarin? Are you there? We have a small problem heading your way... a small, Chadra Fan-shaped problem named Peeka."

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"What do you mean not me too? I can't admire someone I've been in the company of several times now?" Zetha says this and then she gives a chuckle and shakes her head. "No you're right. Wiis will want to know. There's no way that we would have known until we actually went through the ships." She offers this, following Thaarin back of the ladder and then she grins. "You aren't too bad looking from this angle either, now that I see it..."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <No I'm older than you> Cayde retorts as Peeka scoffs at him. A glider from the scrapyard? That didn't sound very safe. He starts hurrying back toward the junkyard. If he has to show her what a so-called '12-year-old' can do that she can't, then so be it.

Athena (159) has posed:
"I'll do it," Vons grumbles. "You go after Peeka. No telling how far she'll get, and with it being this dark, we shouldn't take any chances. See you at the scrapyard," he says, heading back towards the small drug store.

The tall blue skinned man gives Zetha a fond look, and is probably about to say something just as charming back to her but then Navi comms him. "Yes," he replies, and then his brows furrow. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Peeka doesn't dignify Cayde with a response, somewhere in the junkyard sounds of rummaging can be heard.

"Nevermind," Thaarin says, "I think I see what you mean. But what could she be after?"

Wiis peers out from her back patio, looking annoyed. "What in the gangul horn is making all that racket?" she complains.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde follows the noise and Peeka's mental presence into the junkyard. <You don't need a glider...I can take you> he informs her. It would be much safer that way.

Zetha Rumir has posed:
"Uhm. That doesn't sound good and I can hear Wiis yelling from here... what's going on? Finish climbing so I can get out of here...." It's not that Zetha is claustrophobic. She just knows that spice - the spice she can STILL SMELL - is a drug and she's not about to find out just what it does to a Twi'lek. Then she panics for a whole other reason. "Holy bantha fodder, if Wiis sees us climbing out of this together she may infer a LOT so please whatever you need to do go do it just lemme out!"

Navi has posed:
"She said something about looking for a glider in the scrapyard and finding her Dad. I think she's planning on going down to the Marauders' camp and trying to find her father there," Navi explains. "Not sure what she wants the glider for, except to get to the camp. The leader of this bunch of Marauders knows me, so I should probably go with her. At least then they're likely to talk with her instead of doing something violent. Cayde could go, too, since they seem to know him, but with his allergic reaction, I don't know if they'd even /recognize/ him. His face is all red and swollen."

"Thank you, Vons! Get the strongest allergy medication and ointment they have!" she calls after Vons. "I'm not about to take chances on not having strong enough medicine. Not the way Cayde looks."

Athena (159) has posed:
"We might as well all go," Thaarin says, "I know you say you know their leader but no one can really predict what they will do or how they'll react. Even so, the Gorge is dangerous aside from the marauders..." He climbs out of the small storage space (Zetha will likely be relieved) and within a few strides, he's out of the vessel and heading to rendezvous with Navi and Cayde.

Navi will have Thaarin in her sights when she'll notice Peeka pop out from behind a storage bin to left side of the Wiis' house. She's carrying what looks like an oversized kite. "My god," she groans. "Cayde really is twelve isn't he? No way down to the Gorge without the birds and they're definitely sleeping at this hour. What a dummy!"

At that moment, Wiis comes out, carrying their laundry. She gasps angrily when she sees Peeka. "And where do you think you're going with that, you womp rat of a thief?? Dank.. farrik!!"

Zetha might recognize the oversized kite thing. Wiis had never really told her what it was exactly, except that it's a prized possession. She'd always get emotional whenever Zetha asked about it...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Oh, of course she doesn't believe him, but he knows it's true. Whatever, she's just an immature child.

    When Wiis comes out shouting at Peeka for stealing the glider, he reaches out with the Force, pushing down on it as she tries to carry it away. Suddenly, it feels much heavier than she'd thought...

Navi has posed:
"I know. The rest are a lot less predictable than him," Navi replies to Thaarin. "But they listen to him, and he would most likely listen to me."

Her thoughts are interrupted when she sees Peeka hurrying away with something that resembles a very large kite. "Oh, frell... Thaarin, she's found that glider thing she was looking for! Can you stop her before she tries to get into the air?"

Zetha Rumir has posed:
Zetha scrambles out of the hatch on Thaarin's tail and upon seeing the kite and hearing Wiis screaming about it she all but tumbles down from the top of the ship and hits the ground running. "No no no... anything but that. It was out of sight for a reason!" If she notices it's a Chadra Fan running with it that's the least of her concerns but with all the yelling, she's not sure she should just rush in for the snatch. Not when there's ... a lot of other people involved.

Instead, she stops herself, a small cloud of dust rustled up as she halts and then she turns towards Wiis. "I'm sure they have that handled." Nope. Not getting in the middle of that. "But - ah - Wiis. We have another problem..."

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin doesn't hesitate, he immediately goes to try to remove the glider from Peeka's grasp, albeit gently. "Peeka, there's no need," he says, "I'm sure Cayde can wake the birds...even if he can't, Navi could help..."

But Peeka isn't listening. She's in full on tantrum mode. "You're being a bully!" She shouts at Cayde, tugging relentlessly on the glider and jumping up and down to try to get it to move. "No wonder your Master thinks you're a bad padawan!" She doesn't notice she's backed onto the not-so-sturdy balcony of Wiis' house that overlooks the Gorge. It creaks as she jumps up and down on it.

"Peeka, don't!" Thaarin cries, but the small Chadra Fan girl doesn't listen to him. She lets go of one end of the kite contraption to throw a rotten vegetable that Wiis has left out on the balcony at Cayde.

Navi has posed:
"PEEKA, STOP JUMPING ON THE BALCONY! IT'LL BREAK OFF!" Navi shouts, making a beeline for the house, and the balcony, so she can try to pull Peeka back inside... preferably /before/ the balcony breaks off under her feet!

"THAARIN! PULL HER AND THE KITE INSIDE THE HOUSE!" she adds to Thaarin, just before ducking through the door of the house and bolting for the balcony.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns, noticing the less than structurally sound balcony creaking. He lets go of the glider and instead focuses his efforts toward grabbing Peeka to pull her off of it and into the upper floor of the ship-turned-residence.

Athena (159) has posed:
"I'm trying," Thaarin says with his signature calm, though his tone is tenuous and sounds like a thin cord pulled too taut and is about to snap, "But this glider is fragile--!"

Well, Cayde's ploy works, but his sudden removal of his usage of the force from the kite contraption to Peeka causes both Thaarin and Peeka to lose their grip on it. Then the balcony itself collapses and the glider goes flying down into the Gorge, disappearing into the dark. Some of Wiis' belongings may fall down as well, but if Navi's fast enough, she may be able to grab some of them before they fall!

"Noooo!" Wiis cries.

Navi has posed:
Navi tries to reach the balcony. She really tries. But her foot slips on a rug mere meters from the balcony, and she falls, hastily tucking her shoulder and rolling to her feet in time to lunge for something on the balcony as it breaks loose...

...and she manages to grab a large leaf on a potted plant!

Until the leaf breaks off, and the rest of the plant, pot and all, plummets into the gorge, accompanied by poor Wiis' big no.

Some days the Force just isn't with you...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde watches the kite tumble down into the darkness below with satisfaction. That'll teach -her-. However, externally he does not look smug, or show much of any emotion at all.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin sighs, giving Wiis an apologetic look. "Ah, I'm really sorry about all of that," he says, "we'll do our best to retrieve every single one of your belongings," he says.

"As if," Peeka scoffs, now sat on the ground with her arms folded. "Now we'll have to wait until morning for the stupid birds to come. Hmph!" She won't look at Cayde, and looks very unhappy with how everything had turned out.

Wiis blinks, her lower lip trembling. "It's... gone..." she says, her expression blank.

At that moment, Vons finally appears, holding a tube of anti itch cream in his right hand. "Sooo, I got your rash lube," he says to Cayde. "... did I miss anything?" he asks, arching his brow at the now missing balcony.

Navi has posed:
"Just... /everything/..." Navi murmurs, staring aghast at where the balcony used to be.

She sets the leaf on the floor and gets to her feet, moving to hug Wiis. "I'm sorry about all this, Miss Wiis. I promise we'll find your glider."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [Thank you] Cayde signs to Vons, and starts applying the cream. It's not the one Soren prescribed for him, but he prefers that anyway since that one smells terrible and is uncomfortable.

    [I can wake them] he assures Peeka, in the midst of her pouting.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Uh," Vons says, glancing to Navi and then Wiis. "Damn. Sorry about that. But no one answered my question?" He hands the tube of cream to Cayde.

Wiis wipes a single tear from her eye, and shrug, trembling slightly. "It... It's fine," she says, "didn't.. didn't need that old piece of junk anyway," she says with a nervous laugh. She starts to sweep up some of the dirt lying the ground near where the balcony collapsed. But no one would need the Force to see that this had been a massive loss for the old Zabrak woman.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever," Peeka grumbles. "Sure."

Cayde will sense that the birds are in fact, sleeping deeply. He might need Navi's help to wake them...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The reaction starts to fade with the help of the medication and Navi's intervention, although it will take some time to fully clear up.

    But he only needs one of them, so it shouldn't be too hard, right? Otherwise, they could take a shuttle.

Navi has posed:
"I did. You missed everything," Navi replies softly to Vons, over Wiis's shoulder, before the Zabrak woman withdrew from the hug. "Peeka had a meltdown, probably an unjustified meltdown, and did too much jumping up and down on Wiis's old balcony. It broke, and a bunch of Wiis's stuff fell into the gorge. Cayde and Thaarin managed to save Peeka, not that she's grateful or anything, and I hate Tenoo more than ever now. But thanks for getting the cream. That'll help a lot."

She lays her hands on Cayde's shoulders gently from behind. "Hold still a sec, okay? This won't take long," she advises. "I'll see if I can't do something about those allergens." Which she does, though the hives will take longer to go down.

Athena (159) has posed:
Vons sighs. "Oh come on, it can't be all that bad, we're all still alive, and making new friends to boot," the Zeltron man encourages. "Well.... everyone who deserves to be alive, anyway."

Thaarin glances over at Cayde. "You can wake the birds, right?" he asks.

Cayde will be able to sense stirring their minds, but alas they're not quite on the verge of waking up, not yet, anyway...

Navi has posed:
Sensing Cayde's frustration, Navi reaches gently into the mind of one particular red bird, nudging it with thoughts of tasty breakfast. Hopefully it will help...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Well, Cayde was just going to leave them alone and head to the hangar, but then Navi comes in to assist. Tasty breakfast? Then they might have to find something to indulge that idea...

Athena (159) has posed:
Thankfully, this is enough to actually wake three of the birds and summon them to the edge of junkyard.

They appear, but they're maybe not quite the selection either Cayde or Navi might have picked in a line up.

One of them has an overgrowth of feathers on its head, obscuring most of its face and eyes. It also poops on Cayde's shoulder as it swoops in. The second one has massive feet and a tiny head. Why, none of them may be able to guess. The third one has especially bulbous eyes. Perhaps it can see better than the rest (though that's extremely unlikely). And they all look like they just rolled out of bed.

"Gee," Vons quips, "some cavalry, huh? Not sure how the Force works, but did you guys -have- to scrape the bottom of the barrel?"

Navi has posed:
"Guess who just volunteered to clean up Cayde's robes?" Navi retorts softly, elbowing Vons in the arm. "Get to it."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde examines them, frowning. He doesn't pay any mind to the poop on his shoulder. Okay well maybe they really should just take one of the atmospheric transports.

Athena (159) has posed:
"You mean volun-told?" Vons grumbles. "Absolutely -not-."

"I know what you're thinking," Thaarin says when Cayde examines the birds, "and no, I do not feel comfortable piloting another craft down there, and neither should you. They might not be the best looking, or the ... cleanest," He says, eying the poo on Cayde's shoulder, "but they're the safest way down into the Gorge. They clearly made their way here from their densely vegetated roost miles from here, so the answer to the question of whether they can get us down into the Gorge is reasonably settled."

The birds seem eager to take them anyway. They're sleepy-ish, but hopping towards Cayde, and he'll be able to tell in the Force that they're excited. Well, here went nothing, since Thaarin didn't want to pilot...

Navi has posed:
"Thaarin's right. They may not look like much, but they were the first ones to come, and they seem pretty eager to help. I'm betting they've got heart, and probably more where it counts," Navi observes, watching the odd-looking birds hop toward Cayde.

She eyes Vons askance, shaking her head. "Suit yourself. I've got a long memory. Best hope my forgiving streak is longer."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde doesn't seem fully convinced of this. But maybe it's also partially that he likes the idea of flying something through an obstacle course himself. Well more like landing, as that would be the challenging part. If Thaarin could land safely twice in an unnatural fog with undead infesting everything, then surely he could do the same without all those...complications.

    Still, he strokes the feathers of the one nearest him, and offers it some dried meat snacks he'd saved from earlier. Then he turns around and begins gathering up his freshly washed robe from Wiis' laundry.