Ask Ride or Die, Sisters of The Bin

[Natalie Hope]

Natalie had been to G'wenee once before with Aranmir. It had a decent city, one that had plenty of shops and malls, and places to have all sorts of parties. If you want to go to the college parties, you had to go to the outskirts int he old city. That's where he'd taken her to fight "bandits" but all they ended up being was a college fraternity. Natalie had ended up covered in beer that tasted like piss, and completely unable to to get drunk or high during it. Now, she had come for a wildly different reason.

Her sister of the trash bin, sharer of the ramen, Theia the Padawan had asked to meet her for a night on the town. Natalie not having money was no excuse Theia would have accepted. It was an activity they absolutely needed to do, and Natalie wasn't powerful enough, even with a lightsaber, to tear her from the idea. Not that Natalie minded; there seemed to be an influx of people noticing her affinity for all things noodle, and wanting to see just how far they could get with it. The answer was about as far as it would take for Natalie to get her hands on the ramen and run away with a maniacal laugh.

The square had a fountain in the middle, which Natalie sat on the edge of in her black robes, lightsaber clipped to her belt. None of the buildings nearby were high rises, but there was a ramen shop down the road, and an arcade at the edge of the block. Alleys snaked between the buildings. Natalie remembered running down them with Aranmir to lose Jedi Knight Oldfart. Right before they went to that frat party, of course. She couldn't help but wonder what Theia had in store for her; she wasn't quite like every one else that Natalie had been hanging out with up until that point.

Of course, Natalie had her EZPods in, blasting her ears with what had quickly become her vibe. Her head rocked back and forth, chestnut hair flailing every where. It was Theia's fault, making her wait like this. How else was she supposed to pass the time? It's not like she had any money to go to the ramen shop. She smiled as she remembered Muscle's almost terror at the mention that Jedi didn't get paid.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia was so excited for this evening that she nearly forgotten that Nat was already waiting for her in the downtown square. As much as she wanted to rush faster, she was at the mercy of the local train as it stopped every few miles to exchange passengers. Her own stop was still several minutes out, but it felt like hours before she was able to exit at the correct station. Nearly in a full run, she glided past slower civilians, narrowly missing collisions, and ducking out of harms way as she had begun relying more and more on her senses as her training continued.

She couldn't mistake her best friend, seeing her wait, head bobbing, hair falling from side to side as she skidded to a stop in front of her. "I'm here! You're here!" she said breathlessly, "I'm so glad you were able to come." she gestured for them to start walking, after all, they needed to get their attire for the party this evening.

"We need to get some fancy clothing, none of the cheap clubbing outfits." she explained, "Should we eat first, I really want a smoothie, maybe some hummus and veggies..." Theia's mind started to wander, "There's a superb noodle place around here too. We def should before we go tonight, they generally don't serve food."

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Like the ghost of shopping past, suddenly Theia was in front of Natalie. A quick scramble to pull the EZPods from her ears, and Natalie was surely ready to listen. Indeed, Theia was here, and Natalie was also here! It was the greatest of moments when they were both here, in the same spot, doing the same things. Natalie was on her feet in an instant with her infamous shit-eating grin to greet and follow her bestie.

"I know I've said this before, but you know I don't have money, right?" Natalie said. Theia hadn't taken that excuse the first time, and she probably wouldn't now. That was alright, Natalie would repay her by teaching her how to trick vending machines. Or something. It was the food that got Natalie really going. Literally every word that came out of Theia's mouth sounded delicious. "I'd be down for some food. We can go to the healthy place."

The words killed Natalie on the inside as she said them. Healthy? BLAH! Where was the salt!? Where was the spices!? Where was the M.S.G!? Make. Shit. Good! Alas, it would be up to Theia to take her to the heavenly embrace of food. For the first time in her life Natalie was at the complete mercy of someone she'd consider a friend.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

"I got you covered!" she reassured Natalie as they passed several food vendors, "This is not like just any party..." she paused feeling something off about Nat agreeing to eating healthy. She wasn't certain if it were the Force, or just hearing 'healthy' coming from her. The redhead gave Nat a look, "Okay, okay, we'll avoid healthy-" she paused and pointed to the greasiest looking shop, already feeling the microbes absorbing into her body and giving her food poisoning. However, Theia did like her occasional fried meat on a stick covered in spicy sauce.

"So, I really want to thank you for coming with me today." she started, feeling super awkward about explaining this out loud; it sounded so much better in her head when she rehearsed it. "Its an art showing and well, I don't know where Mama is at, and I'm certain Ezzie thinks the stuff I like is dumb and a bore, Jayna hasn't responded and Uncle Em and Uncle Jai, I didn't want to bother them, they're always so busy." she continued, trying to emphasize to Natalie that this was important to her. She didn't know anyone she was close to would appreciate the work she had done to set up her paintings - there was science, politics, diplomacy... areas that she grew up with, knew really well, but didn't find the interest to make it who she was.

"I did three paintings, there will be other artists presenting from school, but my mentors said prepare for just about anyone to show up to see them tonight."

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Natalie wasn't going to say no to having her expenses covered for the night, that was damn sure. It didn't stop her from feeling a little guilty though. Having a random mercenary pay for her shit was one thing, but a friend was another. Though, that guilt quickly faded away when Theia decided that it was greasy food time. The moment she pointed at the shop, Natalie knew exactly what they needed. "Let's share a platter," she said, her hazel eyes lighting up as she glanced at Theia. "If we don't finish it all we can have left overs for later."

The platter was of course, a large platter of various appetizers. Fried meat on a stick, boneless spare ribs, those little pinched dumplings, and much more. Natalie knew for sure Theia was going to have to detox for a week after this to feel like she'd worked off all the grease and good flavor, but she'd manage. Natalie believed in her. After they ordered, Natalie sat them down at the bar, though she didn't order any alcohol. Last time she was here she'd had enough of intoxication to last her a good while.

"I'm pretty sure Mr. Jawline thinks most things are dumb and boring," Natalie said. "Sounds like you and your family are pretty close. Or as close as one can be when you're uh... us." Being a Jedi certainly was hard on having family and such. Luckily, Natalie didn't have to worry too much about that. Only family she actually gave two shits about was her brother, and he quite a few years ago. But we're just gonna shove those feelings and thoughts right back down into the pit of horrible coping mechanisms they crawled out of.

"I didn't know you painted? Is it like a competition or something?" she asked. Natalie didn't know the first thing about art. Well, except that sometimes it was pretty to look at. Her stick figures covered the walls of many a public restroom for all to see. Many times being accompanied by a phone number or someone making a poem about poop. Part of her was actually excited to see how good of an artist Theia was.

The food came out just in time to hear Natalie's stomach growl. She grabbed a meat stick and held it up to cheers Theia's. "Cheers!"

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia felt herself nearly drooling when the platter arrived to their table, she was absolutely going to regret eating these, but she couldn't deny how good it was going to taste. She picked up a dumpling when she mentioned Mr. Jawline and nodded in agreement, or at least her interests he thought they were boring. Theia about the closeness of her family, her mother and herself, and how she treated the Thornes like her family too; it just felt like recently everyone was so far away from one another, she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Though the topic of her paintings drew back her interest and away from thinking about family difficulties. "Well, honestly, I don't tell many because I feel embarrassed about it." Even now her cheeks were turning several shades of bright red, tapping her dumpling to Nat's meat stick, "Cheers," she took a bite, savoring for a moment before continuing, "You see, my Mama expected me to follow her footsteps, I know a lot about astrophysics, languages, engineering, math; I excelled through primary and secondary school, graduated, and now I should be going to the most prestigious engineering schools." Theia frowned, finding she still felt a sense of guilt for not doing it, "I'm told by all my old friends, teachers, Mama, even Uncle Em, Uncle Jai and Ezzie that I'm so smart, genius even, but it doesn't feel like me."

Theia took another bite of her dumpling before grabbing a stick of meat for herself, "I love dance, ballet more, and even more, painting and sculpting. So I enrolled in art school when I should have applied for engineering school, and tonight some of my works are on display." Theia explained leaning back in her seat, "It feels more...I don't know, me? Like this part of me that I had yet to get to know, like when I started training in the Force..." The girl quickly chomped away at the fried and spicy meats, "Do you ever feel like you know youreself?"

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Natalie did her best to pay attention while also stuffing her face. The boneless spare ribs were probably her favorite part of all of it, but she divulged in a little of everything. She took note of what Theia was grabbing the most, and decided to leave most of those to her. What kind of friend would she be if she took her friend's guilty pleasure food, after all? The fact Theia ate so healthy all the time amazed Natalie to no end.

Theia was a lot closer to her family than Natalie was to hers. She'd always been a kid from the streets, taking to learning from her older brother more than anyone else. Last straw was when her brother was killed fighting the Hutts. The thought of seeing her parents again hadn't even come up over the years since. It wasn't their fault of course, but Natalie just didn't feel like hashing out her feelings. It was much more fun to push them deep down, let them fester, and then let them surprise you with terrible coping mechanisms later.

"I'd like to think I know myself pretty well," Natalie said, wiping some of the grease from her face with a napkin. "I generally know what I want, and how I feel about things, at least. Most of the time I just follow the fun. I can't stay awake in Force classes to save my life, so I just kinda go out. Get in trouble, make trouble, sometimes kick a hermit out of an ancient temple ruins or something." She realized she'd gotten side tracked a little. "It sounds like your family just wants you to be successful, to me. And I'd say you're pretty successful as an artist if you've got paintings on display at a fancy party." If food could become punctuation, the newest morsel of meat she popped into her mouth would be the period. She grinned at Theia.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia grinned hearing she wasn't the only one that couldn't stay awake through some of the classes at the temple. Some masters and instructors were so dull, besides she was certain Master Agnus was purposely targeting her, it didn't make sense why she often got cleaning detention for minor things like skipping the nasty food from the cafeteria. She quickly finished another stick of spicy fried nerf meat before Natalie looped back the attention on Theia, mentioning her family wanting what was best. She hoped that was the case and they could see her success from her own journey.

"I'm sure they would be impress too once they see it." she said as she stuffed two more dumplings in her mouth, "Om sdufft." she said with a mouthful and then took a sip of her fizzy drink. There was no doubt she was going to need to up her drills to work off the amount of calories and fat she just consumed. "We should get-"

There was a loud explosion and the whole building shook; glass shattered from the window behind Nat and people yelled from surprise and fear that suddenly washed through the restaurant. Theia's eyes grew wide as she gripped the edge of the table, looking at Nat, "You okay?!" she asked her, but her light eyes quickly settled on the bloodied Twi'lek who stubbled through the door way, glass crackling beneath his steps as he set down a box...or more like let it tumble from his grasp and through their platter.

He looked at Nat and then Theia, "Don't let them..." he managed to gurgle before falling to floor.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Natalie was half way through a bite of some fantastic fried meat when her taste buds exploded. Fireworks in her eyes, the whole world shattering around her. She could feel the crash of the air pressure against her very soul. The food was so delicious it almost hurt. So good that when she bit into it others screamed and cried. Wait- no that was just an actual explosion. FUCK.

She dropped the food instantly, spinning from her chair to face the door and windows while shielding Theia. Her lightsaber hilt was unlit and in her right hand, her body primed and ready for anything to come barrelling through the door. Her stance would be answer enough for Theia's question, even if shards of glass lined the back of Natalie's robes. None had punctured the fabric, thankfully.

The bloodied twi'lek was her focus, pivoting to keep herself between him and Theia even as he let the box tumble into their food. There was far too many wounds on the twi'lek for Natalie's small medical pouch on the back of her belt to handle. He was also already out, so giving him pain relievers wouldn't help him in the slightest. Natalie's eyes had hardened with the sudden violence, and she kept her back to the counter as she too a step away from Theia.

"I think the art gallery is going to have to wait a bit," she said. Her eyes searched in darting motions for what had caused the explosion, and what had beat the snot out of the twi'lek. Who exactly was them?

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Natalie was already moving, giving Theia an answer that her friend was okay, but the Twi'lek on the other hand... he was in rough shape. Some others at the restaurant cautiously approach, eyes on Natalie's saber hilt, but seeing she didn't further cause trouble, one individual knelt down trying to help the fallen messenger. Theia was feeling stunned, it was difficult for her to get back into focus as her eyes went from the Twi'lek to the box. Natalie said something about her art showing, and it took a moment to process what she said. "Agreed!" Theia said picking up the box and opening it.

"What?" Theia was confused as she pulled the piece of paper out from the box; it was as though it held something more valuable, not just a single piece of paper with a bunch of numbers..."Oh..." She flipped the paper over several times as though an explanation would be given as to what the numbers meant, "Its just a bunch of numbers," she said feeling the urge to duck. Theia pulled Natalie down, watching several blaster bolts fly through the blown out door and windows. Clearly "them" had arrived, and they wanted to make it known of their arrival. Theia knew they would need some time to figure out what it was or who should really have the numbers, as the twi'lek was out, and probably for some time. In quick thinking, Theia pocketed the paper and then grabbed the box, a napkin and scribbled some numbers on the napkin before stuffing it into the box.

When the blaster fire stopped, the girl stood up and threw the box as hard as she could out the window toward the speeder gang who was shooting at them, "Take it!" She hollered and then pulled on Nat's arm, "C'mon we gotta go," she said grimacing; it would be their chance to act like the other customers and find exit in the back of the restaurant.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Well if the blaster bolts weren’t a sign, Natalie didn’t know what was. Theia had pulled her down, but now Natalie was pissed. It was one thing to beat a dude up over a box. It was another thing to actively shoot into a crowded store. The people that did this were evil; to the bone. Natalie turned to Theia, still crouched. Her hazel eyes were hardened.

“Theia, we can’t leave these people like this. We’re Jedi,” she said. Natalie turned her gaze to the scared patrons around them. “You get these people out the back, I’ll deal with the assholes.” She stood up, igniting her lightsaber as she moved out toward door. The gangers came into view. There weren’t as many of them as there were bandits that one time with Ezra.

Her blue blade became a flower in the air as she spun it around her, deflecting the blaster bolts came in. Some were deflected back into gangsters. The rest were just deflected. Even as Natalie got to work dispatching them, she could only see the cool steely eyes boring into her. Right. Follow the Light. She was a Jedi, and this is what Jedi did.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia paused as Nat stopped her, reminding her of their purpose, to be Jedi meant they needed to also help the people here be safe from the gangs outside the door. She didn't like the idea of having to leave Nat to leave her to deal with these guys, but she was far more experienced than herself and trusted Nat knew what she was doing.

"Alright..." she seemed hesitant but she jumped to her feet, waving for some of the restaurant patrons who were hiding under the tables, "C'mon, lets go," Theia helped two guys drag the Twi'lek to the back, he was in rough shape, but it was worth trying to save his life. She hoped local authorities were coming soon; they moved back into the kitchen were others were hiding also and Theia tagged another person to her place to help with the Twi'lek. She opened herself more, the Force flowed through her body and guided her thoughts. She didn't feel any immediate danger behind the back door and she opened it slowly.

They were in the clear, and the sirens could be heard, approaching quickly. Ensuring every one exited, Theia followed behind, making sure everyone was far from the blaster fire before turning back to help her friend.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Why was it that when blaster bolts began flying everywhere, Natalie was always the one spinning her blue bladed lightsaber like a baton in front of a marching band to protect one or more people? Being a Jedi aside, why couldn't she ever be the one doing the attacking!? She wasn't a perfect wall of defense, but how the hell was she supposed to do that at her height? Most of the blasters at least became aimed at her as shouts of "Jedi!" started erupting from the bikers.

Ah well, there was her chance. A tiny dip in the amount of bolts coming her way. With a burst of speed she was on one of the bikers, cutting through their blaster pistol. She was going to leave the biker well enough alone after that, but he reached for a vibro-blade next, so Natalie's lightsaber blade decided to take up residence in his chest for a second. Now she was among them though, and chaos among the bikers ensued. Some ran, some started firing wildly, others wet themselves and cried.

Sirens in the distance. Sweet merciful cops doing their jobs! Natalie was able to deflect one more bolt into a second Biker before the authorities began to arrive. Theia was starting to emerge from the diner too. Natalie didn't exactly need saving, on the contrary she was having the time of her life; still didn't hurt to know where your friends were though. Maybe she'd even get to see some fancy Force stuff from Theia.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

The speeder engines roared loudly as a couple of the bikers speed off, quick to leave behind their brethren without their own speeders and to deal with the jedi and soon the authorities. One scrambled to his bike, but Theia stepped forward, the energies of the Force followed in step and she pulled the bike out of the man's reach. He let out a cry of surprise, but she could feel fear from him as he decided he would bolt by foot. Theia was ready to stop him too, but the quiet whispers of the Force told her to stop as she watched quietly as he would disappear into the maze of allies further into the city.

Theia turned to look at Natalie, her blue blade hummed and the padawan couldn't help to think how cool Natalie looked just then. Internally, she groaned, there was a ping of unhappiness that she still did not have her lightsaber. Pushing aside the annoyance she had with that issue, Theia approached Nat, "Are you okay?" she asked her, quickly looking her over for any signs of injury from the gang. "Everyone got out safely, I don't know about that Twi'lek guy, they were going to get him to a hospital, he looked pretty roughed up." Theia explained, her gaze flickered around Natalie to one of the officers getting out his vehicle and approaching the two jedi. He looked to be unamused more than normal by the situation and Theia frowned glancing at Nat, "You think they got an issue with jedi?" she asked quietly.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Natalie had only seen Theia in action when it came to beating up that one zabrak bitch, so getting to see Theia in action when it counted was a treat and a half! If there weren't actual sounds to the speeder bike being pulled, and the man yelping in surprise, her mind would have added them in. Hell, she would still probably remember it with her own custom sound effects dubbed in just for the greatness of it. For her own part, Natalie just had to deflect one more wayward bolt that had been carrying on toward the diner, only for it to sleep when it was done slamming into the duracrete in front of Natalie.

Theia's voice made her turn toward her friend. "Oh I'm great!" Natalie said with a shit-eating grin plastered across face. "That was the most fun I've had in a while! Just don't tell Mr. Jawline." She nodded through Theia's recounting of the civilians she'd helped out the back. Nothing could really be done by them for the Twi'lek, but at least everyone else made it. They did their Jedi duty, and Natalie didn't even feel like she needed a stiff drink afterwards either.

The badge was of course, none-too-happy as they approached. It was some Iridonian with pale grey eyes. Reminded her of Muscles a bit, except this guy actually had muscles, and lost so many points for being a badge by default. Theia's question looked to be more of a statement manifest. "Let me do the talking. Be ready to run," Natalie said, flashing a mischevious grin to Theia. Natalie disengaged her lightsaber, clipping it back onto her belt.

"Why is any time there's trouble around here it's Jedi that are involved?" the cop asked, taking out a datapad to take their statements. Natalie winced. This must have been the cop that busted the college party Aranmir had taken her to not too long ago.

"Hey, we were enjoying some meaty stick meat when they started shooting up the place. We got everyone headed to the hospital and made the gang go home."

"Right," the cop said, turning grey eyes upwards at them. The next time his eyes went down onto the datapad, Natalie stepped back and grabbed Theia's hand.

"Run," she whispered and, with Theia in hand, sprinted toward the alleys, using the Force to pull a parked speader in the way as they entered. A few twists here, some turns there, and they were a good safe distance away from the gathering cops who now had a mess to clean up. If they really wanted statements, they would go to the hospital to get them. Natalie stopped running, letting go of Theia's hand, confident they'd lost the pursuers.

"Sooooo that was fun. Do you recognise anything that was on that paper in the box?" Natalie asked.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Let her do the talking? Be ready to run?

Theia felt concerned for what her friend was going to say to the officer. Her gaze quickly glanced from the police detective to Natalie as she tried to pick up on what the elder padawan had in mind. Theia respected local law enforcement, though when he approached, his tone sounded unamused by them being Jedi, as if they were the ones who started this whole thing. Theia's brow narrowed and she was ready to add in some talking when Natalie spoke, explaining the situation.

However, it didn't look like he was buying it. Theia felt confused and even annoyed that they were telling the truth and they weren't being believed by the very people who were supposed to be here in the first place. He flipped through the report on his datapad and she heard Natalie whisper something, and though she didn't process exactly what it was, Theia quickly figured it out as Natalie took on fully sprint with Theia in tow.

There was certainly a shit-eating grin on Theia's face as they finally came to a stop. The girl was giggle breaths, "Do you do that a lot?" Theia asked, another giggle slipped out as she couldn't believe they just ran from cops...and they were Jedi!

The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that was swiped earlier. "They are definitely not someone's comm digits..." she frowned counting the number of numbers listed. Her brain twisted and grouped the numbers, trying to find the pattern.

"I think they're coordinates...but they're coded or scrambled." she pointed to a cluster of numbers in the middle of the sequence, "This is a distinct vector point of a system, these here are navi-computer coordinates," she explained, and frowned, "Do you have a ship we can punch these in?" she asked.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Natalie Hope]

Do this a lot? Natalie would do this every day if she could! Minus the whole pew pew part, of course. There were a lot of things Natalie loved about waving her lightsaber around, but being the only one with a lightsaber- and thus being the meat shield of the party- was not exactly what she would call a good time. At least she was the center of attention for it though. It was about time someone was attracted to her; even if they were blaster bolts.

“Only every time I come to this planet,” she said, remembering the last time she was on Gwenanenanana. Who ever came up with the name of the planet should have taken at least ten of the blaster bolts meant for Natalie earlier. “Shame.” Natalie looked down at the piece of paper next to her best friend. There wasn’t even a note saying “call for a good time” or anything. It was really just a series on numbers, and Natalie was inclined to believe her much smarter compatriot on the matter. Imagine handing two girls a box with a paper full of digits and having it NOT be a number to call for a good time. What a terrible decision on the person who wrote it’s part.

The question her best friend, her sister of the bin and destroyer of bitch-ass zabrak girls, posed to her caught her completely off guard. So much so that Natalie froze with a concerned stare at Theia. “Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah… totally,” Natalie said, glancing down at her black robes. “Totally have a ship. Yup! Didn’t take a shuttle here.” It was quite clear she very much did not have a ship. One day, maybe, Mr. Jawline willing, she would have a ship of her own. Today however, she was about as broke as a Jedi should be. Can’t have attachments to money if you have no money, was she right!?

@GABA