Log:Why We Steal

Hex's worries about being helped dissuade no one.

OOC Date: April 27, 2016
Location: Crawler
Participants: Hex, Kasia Ciph, Stavros, Arcadia

Long story short: Hex's first interaction outside the Resistance since the incident can't stop the heist-train.

The whole story:

It's a big deal, Hex's first trip off world since.... well, the last trip off-world, the one that didn't go that well for him. The one with entirely too much lightsaber. Kasia's mighty, mighty shuttle has brought them off super secret D'Qar to meet Stavros, but it's Kasia alone who has been sent to retrieve their Zeltron friend. Hex himself has stayed aboard the living quarters of the shuttle; it's a linear space his player pictures like a Space Motorhome. Awaiting their return, he's seated on a couch, poking listlessly at a datapad he can't seem to find meaningful interest in. It's awkward, hanging out just waiting for someone to come back and notice you were totally irresponsible with your body parts. Normal life doesn't prepare you for that kind of awkward.

It is a big deal, and try as she might not to fuss too much, there has been a degree of fussing to make sure that Hex is comfortable, and safe, and has whatever he needs, both for the trip over, and then for the time that she's off the ship to find Stavros. At last she exits the ship, leaving Hex with a drink that's easily drinkable without the need of two hands, and something to munch on -- probably some mildly horrifying dried fungus type thing -- and entertainment in the form of a datapad. Even if it's not very entertaining to him. She's fussing, okay. In spite of leaving Hex with plenty to do, the trip off the ship doesn't actually take too long, tracking the Zeltron down -- because we're presumably on Nar -- and then making the return trip to the small ship with him. "He's doing better now than he was." Obviously, or they wouldn't be here. "I'd warn you about what to say, but you're probably going to have a better idea of that than I do, given--" she makes a vague gesture toward Stavros, and his obvious Zeltronness.

"Right." Stavros picks up what Kasia is laying down as he follows her into the beetle-shaped craft. Once she opens the ramp and leads the way, Stavros follows, looking for the patient. He sees Hex. He's been warned about his condition, of course, but it's difficult to get used to seeing a friend you have a certain mental image of become jarringly different.

He doesn't pause, though, instead speeding up to almost a trot. The first words out of his mouth: "I am _so_ glad you're alive." He drops to one knee and proposes - a hug. "Do you hug? Is that okay right now, or is touching bad?" If the response is at all welcoming - emotional response even before words, most likely - he leans down to wrap both arms around Hex's shoulders- more awkwardly than if he had two arms, sure, but either Stavros has witnessed the walking wounded (so to speak) before, or he's made of sterner stuff than the warm Zeltron butter he so frequently seems.

Hex is different. There's the obvious differences, like the burn scarring and the lack of a right arm and there's only a need for one boot. But subtler differences as well, the way he just seems tired, the way he seems a little older. It's clearly been a rough time, and there's always all those wounds that don't show themselves in easy physical form. Stavros catches him by surprise with the knee down, and at first he freezes in alarm, ah, touching! There's a brief glance to Kasia, like 'a hugger! you have brought unto us a hugger!' But - he looks different. He is different. And after a moment of thought, he does reach out and return said hug - with sincerity, and a quiet, "Me too."

Kasia has grown accustomed to this different Hex, but understands well the shock of that first sight. The look from the Twi'lek gets a helpless 'what can you do' sort of gesture, and a tiny, but encouraging smile. While hugging happens, she steps back to retrieve a small chair to set beside the couch, to make sitting down and conversing a slightly easier task in this smaller space. With that seen to, she slips around Stavros so that she can take a seat beside him on the couch, leaving the chair for the Zeltron to take, or not, as he decides.

Stavros does ease back to the chair, but still sits on its edge. "I imagine telling people what happened has gotten old, by now. Also telling people how you're doing- but I'm asking anyway." The Zeltron runs a finger through his blue hair. "I think we'll be able to help you out soon, but if there's anything _else_ you need-" Not the obvious 'limbs! I need more limbs!' "-make sure we know, okay?"

He looks over at Kasia. "And how are you doing?"

Kasia settles into her seat and reaches to try and take Hex's hand, leaving the telling of the story to him, because it's his to share, or not. Instead she smiles at Stavros faintly, looking a little less worn down than she did last time. It might also simply be the makeup she's applied, she's damn good at that. "I'm alright. Just-- you know, keeping busy, trying to help out as much as I can. Is there-- how have things been going with all of that? Collecting information and such?"

"People - mostly haven't asked what happened," Hex admits. "But you're the first person outside of the Resistance I've talked to, and word travels fast around a base. What happened is that I fought something I didn't have a chance against, and I lost." Not a lot of detail there, but then, maybe it's demons he doesn't want to revisit. "How am I doing... that's... I'm glad to be alive?" he revisits their earlier comment. "All the parts that aren't traumatic and horrifying are surprisingly boring. I've had way too much time to think. It's too hard to write. It's way too hard to stand up and piss. I have new appreciation for a number of aspects of life I'd previously taken for granted, I'll say that." A pause lingers, a gap in the conversation that Hex seems to slowly fill up with worry. "Stav, you know you don't have to do anything, right?"

Stavros listens attentively, nodding occasionally, but his eyes stay pretty firmly focused on the one speaking. At the final comment, his left eyebrow rises. "I don't _have_ to do anything. I'm a man with a gun, ships, a successful business, and highly competent friends." He smiles, and it's a bit wry. In Hex's position he might share that sentiment, but he's not in Hex's position, so "What's any of that worth if I don't use it? If I don't help to make things right for you, why am I even trying to make this crazy idea into a crazy team?"

The Zeltron glances to Kasia, explicitly including her as he answers her question. "We've got all that we need and then some." He can't help but smile at that. "Maybe too much. I could use an information analysis droid. What you guys-" He addresses Kasia directly here. "-discovered, we've run down. We know the schedules and manifests of more ships than I knew were on Nar Shaddaa - the cover, and what they're _really_ carrying."

"Long story short," the unlikely leader of this strange crew says, "I think we'll have more cybernetic prostheses than we'll know what to do with by next week. I don't think we've found the shipment yet, but once we do, we're ready to jump in." He shakes his head as his eyes go a little distant. "You would not believe what they're pulling off, Hex. You really wouldn't. Did you know Siya can hack into corporate mainframes? It's a learning experience all around, but I'm asking people to step up- and they're doing it." He leans back forward, elbows on his knees. "And we really are being careful," he reassures.

Kasia listens to Hex sharing information that she's no doubt familiar with, but even the vague answer makes her brows furrow. Some underlying anger and worry mostly hidden save for that crinkled brow, which smoothes out after a few moments. "Hex," the name said in a gently chiding way, but that's all she says on the matter of what Stavros and his decision to help. She leaves the rest of it to the Zeltron for now, squeezing the hand in hers as she listens, only commenting once Stavros is done. "See? Everyone is being careful, and we all want to help. So." That's that. She studies the green man beside her for a few beats, watching for... well, it's hard to say what, but then her attention shifts to Stavros. "I imagine that information was interesting. You always know that stuff is coming in and out of Nar, but it's rare to have any idea of what it all really is."

Hex listens, and listens quite intently, but he looks away from both of them, more towards the coffee table, and his lekku shift in what seems like distress. "I made some mistakes, before this. I made a lot of mistakes," he says quietly. "I tried - I thought -- it's a long story, but I got several people hurt and one person worse than that. People I respect, in pain, because of me. /Completely/ because of me, and because of my choices." He risks a glance up at Stavros, and then away again. "I can't have that again. I can't handle that. If something happened to you, or to Siya, or Kasia, or anyone because you were trying to do something for /me/, I'd go to pieces. I don't know if it's ever happened to you or not, but it's the worst pain you can feel, to look at someone else suffering and know you're the reason for it. To know it should be you there instead of them. I can't do that again. I can't."

"Hex," Stavros says quietly, "I don't have much experience fighting for a good cause. I have a lot of experience fighting for the person next to me. Sometimes they're hurt. Sometimes they die," he acknowledges. "And I can feel that. Not just my anguish, but their pain and fear, too, if they're close. And it - disappearing, when they're gone."

"But you can't make my or their choices for us," he says. He is, while speaking, trying to push some acceptance Hex's way, some calm to let his words sink in without causing panic or anxiety. "You've got to accept that we decided this was worth the risk." He glances at Kasia, then back at Hex. "I think people who are in the Resistance did, too. They're putting something else before themselves." What, exactly, they're trying to do, Stavros doesn't really know. The First Order is a passing concern at best to most people raised here. "So you made mistakes. You learn from them, and you adapt, and you realize that no matter what you think, there are people who think you're worth it. Okay?" The words are friendly, but there's no give in his position, or indication he has any intention to rethink it.

Kasia doesn't have a lot to say on the subject that she hasn't already said, but she does lean closer to Hex, slipping her arm around him to give him a gentle squeeze. It's not until Stavros is finished that she tilts her head down and turns it a little, so that she's looking at Hex's face. "See, we all care too much to let you talk us out of helping you. This is what you get for having very stubborn friends."

Hex is sort of a tightly wound person, in very specific areas - as though emotions get all tangled around certain pain points, and build up there over and over without necessarily having resolved any previous tangles. Panic and anxiety is way more his thing than calm and acceptance. So it's probably a good thing that Stavros is being a little pushier there, and some of the tension seems to ebb out of the Twi'lek's frame - just a little. He's kept his hold on Kasia's hand, clinging. "Very stubborn friends," he echoes, with a half smile for that. "You are. You are that. I don't want to seem like I'm not grateful, either -- I am, more than I can say. More than I've got words in Basic for, except to say that I don't want to live a life where I can't run. I've always run."

"You will again," Stavros says. "I don't know that it will be _easy_, but you're pretty stubborn yourself." His grin just about splits his face, showing off some white teeth and giving a glint to his eyes. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you came. By the time you're back, hopefully the work at the Blue Light will be done, and you can get the grand tour, try out the new dance floor." He winks. "I should probably get back- I've got some searches running, and there is that bar I should show up at occasionally, so people remember I'm now a man of peace." He starts to rise to his feet. "Kasia, does this thing have any cargo space?" He taps the floor with his boot. This thing! The ship. "You may have to borrow mine to run the goods back to - somewhere." He puts a finger on the side of his nose. "Somewhere I do not know and will not ask about."

Kasia's hand grips Hex's tighter, trying to give him an encouraging smile. "You will run again, and do all of the things that you used to. Like he says," she cants her head toward Stavros. "You're too stubborn to do otherwise, and then you've got my stubborness on top of it. Not much can get in the way of that." Her gaze angles up at Stavros, and the gratitude shows as she smiles up at him. "Yes, it does hold some cargo. I've got space below for it, and if that's not enough room, well... I'll use whatever I can to bring everything that needs to be brought over, once we've got it on hand. Take a look if you like, you'll be better at judging this than I am, and figure out what we'll need to do."

One corner of Hex's mouth turns up in amusement at their assessment of his stubbornness. "I'm not," he replies.... stubbornly. "Just been through some shit, is all. Who hasn't?" There is another brief tug of a smile for the mention of the dance floor, and he promises, "Count on it. Good luck, tiati'muchi." Aw, Stav gets his own Ryl term. Presumably not an epithet, but Hex doesn't translate it, so you never know! "Keep us posted, alright? And - thank you. Tell the others I'm --" What, exactly? Alive? Better soon? "--soon to be armed and dangerous."

Stavros shakes his head as he laughs. "I will tell them," he promises. "And we'll make sure you get it. I probably won't be able to visit you," he glances at Kasia, "But maybe we can pass notes via data card. Do they still do that in schools? Just don't read them, Kasia." His voice is stern. "They are _private._"

"Good luck, Hex. Take care, Kasi." He lifts his hand in a wave, and goes to investigate the cargo situation before making his exit. "I don't know how much we will really have, but I can at least take the measurements-"