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silurisanguine · 3 months

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OC mega Q&A

I did this many moons ago for my Deus Ex OC Zofie Orel from this user's posts. The original posts seem to have vanished but credit where credit is due. I've also added a section from this post as well. Now i'm going to do it for Seren Jones as it really does flesh out her character quite a bit, even more so that i've already done. It's also a good reference to show anyone who asks. I'll tag the Coemancer crew if you fancy doing it for yours and anyone else who wants to give it a go.

LONG post behind cut.

BASICS

What’s their full name? Seren, (Coe) Jones. She takes the Coe surname in her OG verse after marrying Sam, but drops it again whilst Starborn so as not to draw attention to herself. She plans to take it again should the stars align.

What does their name mean? Why were they named that? Seren is welsh for Star. She understands the irony. Her parents named her Seren after her mum saw her open her eyes for the first time and knew she'd want to explore the stars. Her father being a history professor with interested in the cultures their ancestors came from suggested the Welsh word for star.

Do they have any nicknames? Star, Ren. She also went by Dusty James when in the protective programme.

How old are they? 30 years old as of the start of her story.

When’s their birthday? 12 9th month 2300 Akila City

What’s their zodiac sign/element/birthstone/etc.? Do they believe that holds any significance? Earth astrology means nothing in space. She has no idea and doesn't care.

What’s their species/subspecies? Do they have any special/magical abilities? Starborn. All the powers that come with that. She is naturally empathic and can sense the emotions of others, which is both a benefit and hindrence. She now also has the ability to manipulate minds, thanks to Ryujin. She uses it as a tool should the need arise, but doesnt rely on it.

What “class” do they belong to (for fantasy characters)? If none, what weapon do they favor? They favour the Va’ruun Inflictor rifle, Hard Target sniper rifle and Magsheer. Occasionally using a Big Bang or Breach shotgun for close quarter’s ship fighting. Her specialities in her og verse were stealth, but since becoming starborn, she has developed more close quarters fighting skills that utilise her abilities. APPEARANCE

What do they look like? 5’5” athletic build woman. Original universe she had a silver coloured pixie haircut, Currently sporting a turquoise blue bixie cut. Has a few tiny scars on her face from mining, one on her forehead, the other on her jaw. She has a body encompassing tattoo of a trail of stars around her body. She now also has a band tattooe'd around her ring finger to symbolise the wedding ring she lost.

Do they have a face claim? Myself in my 30s but with full health and video game perfect.

What’s their style like? Clothes, hair, makeup? Her original universe she wore sleek modern dark clothing. Whether it be formwear or suits. Now she wears what ever is comfortable under her starborn suit which she mostly wears. She does prefer dark colours still and prefers formwear, cargos and long sleeve tops or settler wear in shades of black. She does like to wear makeup, sticking to smoky eyes and dark lipstick. Her hair is one of her signature things and the blue colour is because of a certain pendant someone once wore.

How do they carry themselves? What’s their default expression? Her Og verse, she carried herself with humour and a twinkle in her eye. Since becoming starborn, she’s become more reserved and there is a constant sadness in her eyes.

Do they have any physical ailments or disabilities? Not any more. Noel once called her the physically healthiest person she’s ever met- One benefit of becoming Starborn. Mentally though, she is traumatised and has higher functioning depression.

Any defining features to their character? Her accent isnt definable as she moved from Akila to New Atlantis a few times. She now doesnt really have an accent but can take on any and often does when in proximity to them, becoming more Akilan the longer she is there and same in New Atlantis.

PERSONALITY

What’s their alignment? Chaotic good. She is compassionate and believes in doing good, but she hates beurocracy and sees the corruption in both the UC and FC. But she loathes the Crimson Fleet, seeing them as nothing more than 'coloured coded Spacers'.

Which one of the 16 Personality Types do they fit into? She finds that whole thing very problematic and does not subscribe to it.

What are their hobbies and interests? Do they have any particular “favorites” (food, books, and so on)? Houseplant gardening, Music and reading. She also now loves customising her weapons. She secretly loves Chunks cheesecake and cherry Boompop! She can cook, but tends not to bother much by herself. Though she did learn to cook her grandpa's famous meatloaf after the recipe was passed to her. Favourite book is Bram Stoker's Dracula.

What are they bad at? Delegating. They have a perfectionist streak and feel they need to do everything themselves to make sure it's done right.

What kind of things do they dislike/hate? Cruelty, The Hunter, The Crimson Fleet in the OG verse, Corruption, Injustice and evil corporations.

Do they have any vices/addictions/mental illnesses? Her main ‘vice’ is always having bourbon or a Solomon beer on her person to toast the universe she leaves. She also has higher functioning depression.

What are their goals and motivations? To find a universe she can finally stop in and find a Sam she can be with again after losing the love of her life in her OG verse. To survive until then.

What are their manners like? Any habits? Her OG verse , she was polite at first until she got the measure of someone. Now she knows people, she behaves exactly as she needs to. Habits - saving every fishbowl, jellyfish tank and plant from ships. She also always toasts a universe before she leaves it.

What are they most afraid of? Never finding ‘home’. Finding a Sam she hates.

BACKGROUND

Where were they born? What was their childhood like? Akila City. But at 5 left and moved to NA with her parents. Start of war left NA and returned to Akila at 8. Stayed there until she was 16 when her dad got a new job in NA uni and moved back there again. She was a lone child and was bullied most of her childhood due to being Freestar in UC space, then an expat back in Akila. She was nerdy and kept to herself, a little baby goth that liked to read and learn things. She had few friends, most expats like her that stuck with each other until something better came along for them, often leaving her alone again. Wasn't until she went to university she started making friends that had similar interests to her.

What’s their family like? Her dad Michael is a university professor, occasional poker player and the one who showed her how vital a good education is. Her mum Anne mostly worked in the diplomatic sector, as an assistant to the consulate dealing with businesses. She taught Seren how to deal with both. Seren had a good relationship with her parents, though as a kid didnt fully understand why they had to keep moving. But it forced her to have a strong sense of independence that allowed her to survive her life now. She misses them dearly but hopes they are doing well with the vast amount of money she left them. She avoids meeting them in the new universes, especially ones where she doesnt know what happened to the Seren of that universe.

What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold? She was born in Akila City, so is Freestar Collective. She believes in what they stand for, but doesnt ignore the corruption with the governors. She became a Ranger because of her sense of justice, though hates the black and white views of some of them and the corruption in others. In her OG verse she also joined the UC Vanguard as she realised very quickly there was a bigger story going on that would effect the whole settled systems. Same reason for joining Sysdef to take down the Crimson Fleet. Other accomplishments of her og verse were being a Ryujin operative that managed to prevent the Corp from releasing some dangerous tech. Of course her title now as Starborn brings it’s own complications and accomplishments in each universe she travels through.

How do they fit into their “story”? She was in protective custody under a cover name Dusty Jones, working as a miner. The day she was told the company she had become whistleblower to, was no more was the day she was asked to collect what ever was in that cave on Vectera. She became the lead explorer of Constellation due to her connection to the Artifacts and ended up becoming Starborn after losing everything that meant anything to her in her original universe.

Where do they currently live? What’s their place like? Now? On their ship: The Valkyrie. Before she builds that, her Guardian ship and sometimes the Lodge beds to rest. Before that in her OG verse- the Lodge, her home in Akila and her cabin aboard the Star Eagle. The Guardian of course is minimal. She adds a bed roll to one side and any cuddly toys she finds she places them around her cockpit seat as it amuses her. Same with fishbowls and jellyfish tanks that she puts by the main viewing window. Once she's built the Valkyrie, she sets it up with an infirmary as the first thing you enter upon, crew quarters one side should she chose to have some and her captain's quarters the other, which is always a Nova galactic hab as its cosy and has a built in galley. Upstairs is a workshop and small internal storage. Her priority is always have a cabot4 bridge so she can avoid ladders. Her home in Midtown, Akila in her og verse was cosy, mixing Akilan furniture with more modern New Atlantis stylings. One day she might rebuild it.

How do they eventually die? She’s ‘died’ many times already. Each time she enters the Unity her body dies and part of her being joins that universe, the rest being reborn again in a new verse. She hopes one day she’ll find her new home to stop in and die of old age with the one she loves…and maybe start all over again when they feel like it.

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend? She was best friends with Sam. Also in her og verse she was great friends with Andreja and Barrett. To a far lesser extent Sarah until after she loses Sam, where Sarah is a great comfort. She found it easy to make friends with lots of people around the systems too. Now? She has become friends with her counterpart from one universe and the Sam they are married too. It always ends though, so she tries not to become too close to anyone.

What’s their friend group like? What role do they play in it? Before - like family. As an only child who was bullied growing up, she didn't really have friends. So to be with people who accept and get her was a wonderful feeling. She was part of Constellation and became almost the main go person thanks to being connected to the Artifacts the group were looking for. Now She is quite the self imposed loner. Sometimes guiding those she likes in a verse she comes across, helping them in some way. She sometimes takes crew aboard her Valkyrie so she isnt so alone, giving them her ship before she leaves that universe.

What’s their love life like? Do they have any kids? She was married to Sam Coe. They had an incredible relationship of best friends, soulmates and lovers. Passionate and full of fun. But he was killed by the Hunter in her Og verse and she has been in mourning since then. She became the closest thing to a real mother Cora Coe ever had considering how bad her birth mother was, but lost her when Sam died and Lillian took her. She will meet that Cora again some day though.

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust? She admires her parents for doing what ever they had to do to keep her safe and comfortable during the Colony War. She admires/d Sam for how he turned himself around and became such a wonderful father to Cora. So far, the Sams she's met, she would trust, even the one who was cold to her, because she understood his reasoning.

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies? The Crimson Fleet. The Hunter, Lillian Hart and Jacob Coe. Benjamin Bayu, Vae Victis. They made plenty of enemies in her og verse, what was left of the Crimson Fleet for one and who ever Vae Victis was working with.

Do they have any pets? No. She always wanted a cat, but they were too expensive and being she is Starborn now, it isn't fair to have one (cats are seen in a movie poster so i think they exist, we just never see them). Perhaps when she finds ‘home’ she’ll get one for her final home. She does save all the fishtanks and jellyfish tanks though for her ship, who get to see space as she sets them in her cockpit.

Are they good with kids? Animals? She adores Cora like a mother. She never thought she’d feel that way, but Cora is special - also a teenager. She still doesnt go googly over babies. She has no intentions of more children and isn't even sure Starborn can have children. But adopting might be on the cards..maybe. She likes animals and prefers not harming wildlife, using creator's peace on agressive species. FACTS

Which tropes do they fit? Which archetypes? The Hero, The Chosen One, The Sage and Explorer all rolled into one.

Do they play any instruments? Sports? She likes to sing along to songs when she’s alone. She is naturally stupidly fit thanks to her new nature, but as an explorer keeps it that way.

What are some items they always carry? Her favoured weapons, medical packs, alien boba tea and Chunks cakes. Bourbon. Lots of credits.

Do they collect anything? Her ship Valkyrie. Fish and jellyfish tanks. Succulents.

What position do they sleep in? Side sleeper, curled up usually with a plushie for comfort.

Which emoji would they use the most? :cowboy:

What languages do they speak? Standard universal (Mix of British and US English). Akilan slang.

What’s their favorite expletive? Shit.

What’s their favorite candle scent? Amber and vanilla.

What songs remind you of them? Evanescence - Far from Heaven and Starset - Telescope

Which animal would you say represents them? A russian blue cat.

What stereotypical high school clique would they fit into? The weirdo.

What would their favorite ride at an amusement park be? Rollercoasters. She loves swooping around in her ship during combat.

Do they believe in aliens? Ghosts? Reincarnation or something else? She believes the Creators are something otherworldly and she still believes some planet has sentient aliens comparable to humans. But she’s seen plenty of alien creatures! Ghosts? yeah she believes in them after finding the Pale Lady. Re-incarnation? Does Unity count because she’s been reborn a few times now.

Do they follow any religions/gods? Do they celebrate holidays? Her parents are both Enlightened and she does agree with the philosophy, though doesn't practice. Even with becoming Starborn, she can't subscribe to the Universal view. She refuses to celebrate UC Foundation day, but does enjoy the Solomon festival in Akila. ( Earth equivelent US 4th July and UK Midsummer)

Which Deadly Sin do they most correspond to? Which Heavenly Virtue? Not catholic so closest might be wrath for her hatred of The Hunter. Virtue? Compassion.

If you had to choose one tarot card to represent them, which would it be? Strength: UPRIGHT: Strength, courage, persuasion, influence, compassion. REVERSED: Inner strength, self-doubt, low energy, raw emotion. Both aspects fit her. SOCIAL

How does your OC feel about their full name? They find it quite ironic their name means star, when they are in fact Starborn. But she loved when Sam called her his star, so she loves her name.

What do strangers notice about them first? Her eyes usually. they are very pale green and striking, usually accentuated with makeup to enhance them. next would be her hair colour, which is usually unnatural.

How does their social personality differ from how they act when they’re alone? In her OG verse she comes across as polite and professional to strangers but also empathetic due to her natural ability. As The Marshall once said, she could sell dirt to a dusty (aka miner.) She's quite chatty and enjoys company. Alone, she talks to herself whilst doing things and especially now as Starborn where she finds herself alone a lot she often sings to herself. (the Guardian ship has great acoustics she'd found.

How do they act around a crush? She was smitten the first moment she saw Sam and worked very hard to make sure he got her signals. But always behaved as a friend would to him, just now and then dropping hints that she was interested.

Do they have a “tell” for when they’re lying? No, she has a killer 'poker face'. If only she knew how to play poker. But It's how she was able to fool the Crimson Fleet when she went undercover in them, playing them whilst taking their support from them. She enjoyed being the Mantis in her OG verse, seeing as much like one of her favourite earth movies Atomic Blonde.

What do they smell like? In the OG verse, her signature scent was amber, Akilan bloodrose and vanilla. She's been told she now has a incense like scent they can't place. She wonders if all Starborn smell like that?

What is their hair texture like? Very straight, silky thick hair.

How much jewelry do they wear, and do they have a favorite or distinguishing piece? She wears two sets of little hoops in each ear, which she gets redone every universe. She once had a platinum wedding ring, made from metal she mined.

Do they have a word or phrase that they tend to overuse? My Sam.....

What is a weird quality that they have (ie their hands are always cold, they’re always hungry, they snort when they laugh, etc)? Apart from the fact they are a being beyond space and time now? ... They have a high tolerance for alcohol, it seems even more so now as Starborn.

What color do they look strikingly good in? Deep dark red or teal blue. But they look and feel great in black. Andreja would be proud.

How do they show affection to someone they love? Small touches of affection, making them a hot drink when they wake up, Finding them little gifts that mean something personal to them. Having a secret language that includes jokes only they get. Always having their back.

Do they make strong/frequent eye contact when they talk to someone? Yes. Their eyes often reflect the emotion of the person they are talking too.

What attributes do they have that are inherited from their parents or shared with their siblings/other relatives? Courage and stubborness, compassion and empathy (the latter from her mother. )

Are their greatest flaw and their greatest strength related and in what way? (ie very caring and helpful but a doormat, or very observant and shrewd but often paranoid) Being stubborn can be both an asset and a flaw!

How has their childhood affected the way they view an aspect of their life (people, education, society, themselves, etc)? She saw the two main factions of the Settled Systems as a child and how it treated a child, so as much as she is more a Freestar supporter she knows it isnt perfect. She was often alone and is cautious about making friends although she desperatly wants companionship.

#MASSIVE OC Q&A #Seren Jones #Starfield OC #The Coemancer Crew

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mosylufanfic · 1 year

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You Gotta Get Going (if you're gonna make a showing)

Because Bix was in such a bad state in the last story, I wanted to write something where she'd started to put herself back together a little.

Title from the Peggy Lee song, "It's a Good Day," which is an old-timey bop. Although I always substitute "don't forget your pills" when I sing along.

You Gotta Get Going (if you're gonna make a showing)

Bix checked the back door. Locked. Of course it was. Brasso always checked all the doors before he left in the morning, because when he left she was generally still asleep, and their rented house wasn't in the best part of Gangi port.

And this wasn't Ferrix, where people looked after each other. Or stuck their nose in. Often both. If someone tried to break into this house, their neighbors would all look away.

So. Doors all locked, windows all sealed, before Brasso left.

It made her feel more in control to check them, though, even knowing Brasso would have. It was responsible. Forward-thinking. The kind of thing a person who wasn't a human wreck would do, checking the doors before she left.

"Bee," she said, pulling down her coat. "I'm going out."

"Wh-where?"

She really had to find some resources on a MO model's voice box, she thought for the fifth or sixth time just that week. Everything she'd ever read over the years said it was due to glitches in the programming, but there had to be something mechanical she could tweak.

"Just out. Just an errand."

"H-how long will y-you be?"

She stopped in the middle of pulling on her gloves and went to crouch in front of him.

"Beebee," she said gently. "I'm okay. Today's a good day. I didn't dream last night. I promise I'm not going out looking for - " Drink. Drugs. Sex. A fight. Any or all of the above. "I'm just running up to the secondhand shop to sell back some of my repairs."

Something in the angle of Bee's top casing looked skeptical.

"If I'm more than an hour, you can call Brasso. I won't be mad."

At her lowest, she'd shouted at Bee for doing exactly that, and caught herself mid-scream. Bee, who was as scared and lonely as any of them, without Maarva, without -

It had made her crawl into her bed and huddle in a pile of self-loathing for a day, which hadn't felt any better than the screaming.

"O-k-kay," he said, almost sternly. "One hour."

She smiled at him and picked up her bag. The parts she'd been working on all morning clunked against each other inside.

Hair brushed and braided. Socks on, shoes on. Mood tab swallowed, out of the bottle Brasso couldn't afford on his dock worker's salary, but bought anyway. Coat zipped up against the cutting wind off the sea. Scarf wrapped around her head. Front door, locked behind her.

She checked them off in her head like a list of how to be a person.

The window next to the door - one last double-check, from outside. just like Brasso did - was the same window that was over her bed. She'd stared out that window for hours, numb and blank, when they'd first gotten here, haunted by what the Imperials had done to her.

Focus on the birds when it’s bad, Bixy, Jezzi had murmured, fingers tender in her hair. Watch them soar.

Jezzi was gone, back to Ferrix, but Bix still watched the birds on her worst days. Lying there, she would think, who even am I anymore?

She remembered the Bix Caleen she used to be once. Strong, tough, centered. Supremely confident in her place. Striding through her little world and knowing where her feet would land. A Ferrix girl, a business owner, someone trying to fight against the Empire in her own way.

But it was like thinking about someone she used to know, a long time ago. The center had been pulled out of her in a dingy hotel room, scattered to the winds on the screams of dying children.

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pressed her hands to the nearest wall. "Good day," she muttered, focusing on the rough, cold stone under her palms. "It is a good day. It is going to be a good day."

When she could, she walked on, listening to the birds.

Gangi Port people passed her by, some of them giving her sidelong looks, some looking past her. It never would have been like that back home. This six-block journey would have taken an hour because she had to stop and say hello, how are the kids, sorry to hear about your granddad. Oh me? Shop's good, Paak's good, Timm's good, of course, I'll tell 'em you say hello.

Well, you're not there anymore. You're here.

The secondhand shop was supposed to be open all day. But the clerk was locking up, a package under his arm.

"Where are you going?" she demanded. The sound of her own voice threw her. Loud. Confident.

He whipped around, bone-white, then gasped and leaned back against the door. "It's just you."

"Yeah, just me, here to sell you some stock. Where are you going?"

"Out."

It sounded so much like her own words to Bee that she narrowed her eyes. He looked away.

"I've got an errand," he said. "Delivery."

She kept silent.

"I - the - it's got to go out. Today. Someone was supposed to pick it up. But he - they - the lunch hour got cut because they - and - I have to. Delivery."

Wow. He was a mess. And she could say that as a certified hot mess herself.

"You're going to lose a lot of business closing up like this," she said. "Everyone shops on their lunch hour. Your boss know?"

His eyes darted to the side.

"He doesn't know," she said. "How's about I tell him?"

"Please," he said. "Please, I - this is important. This - this package. It's important."

She looked at the package. It was a square box wrapped in brown paper, unlabeled except for a light pencil sketch of a bird in one corner.

She knew in her bones it was going to the Rebels. Somehow, some way, it was destined to fight the Empire.

She should stay out of this. Wasn't this how she'd ended up in that hotel room?

"Listen," he said again, the tones of a man with a brilliant idea. "Why don't we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll buy all those off you, sight unseen, if you take this down to the docks for me and don't tell anyone, ever. Then I won't have to close."

"You'll buy all my stuff anyway, so your deal's shit. Throw in twenty-five credits extra and I'll do it."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Twenty extra, but only when I get confirmation it's on its way."

Okay. He wasn't as dumb as he looked.

"Done," she said. "Where am I taking it?"

"The docks."

The docks. Damn. Walking there, finding whoever was waiting for this package, and walking back would put her well over the hour she'd promised Bee.

But the docks was where Brasso was, so she would find him and -

Well. She'd catch his eye from afar. Show him she was there. Wave that she was going home.

They were awkward lately, since she'd tried to kiss him in the middle of an argument, while she was drunk off her ass, and he'd just stood there like a stone pillar. They hadn't spoken about it since. Hadn't spoken about much. She'd known Brasso since she was born and sometimes lately it felt like living with a stranger.

She rustled in her bag and brought out the pieces she'd repaired to the clerk, who traded them for his package. She opened her bag and tucked it in, and the shoulder strap immediately cut harder into her shoulder. Heavy. And the way it rattled felt like - hmmm. Maybe a carbonti sensor array?

No wonder he needed it delivered so bad. Those could fetch enough for four bottles of mood tabs. She should have held out for more.

"Who am I meeting?"

"Don't know."

"Don't know? You sure this is legal?" she said, just to tweak him. His eyes darted again.

Seriously? Someone needed to teach him about how to play it cool.

"He'll be wearing a scarf."

Saying nothing, she lifted the ends of her own raggedy scarf. It was cold enough to freeze a tauntaun's tits out here. Everyone was wearing a scarf.

"Orange. White stripes. You need to go. Their lunch hour got shorted today. That's why I had to deliver it."

"Fine," she said. "Going. White with orange stripes."

"Orange! With white stripes!"

She waved over her shoulder as she twirled on her heel to head down the sidewalk. The sea birds shrieked joyfully overhead.

The walk to the docks was a mile and a half. Her legs started to get tired. She rarely walked this much anymore. Her mood, so buoyant, began to sag. The screeches of the birds began to grate.

Was she out of her head? Well, yes, she was. But playing courier for Rebels? Again?

But what would it get her if she didn't? She'd still be poor broken Bixy, shattered into pieces, whether she did this or not. So why not? Why not hit back if she could?

Maybe it was a mosquito bite of a strike, but she'd've done it.

What could a mosquito bite do?

Fucking well annoy them, and she'd take that.

Swinging wildly from up to down, she still kept walking, one foot in front of the other. Her thighs ached, and her shoulder burned from the unaccustomed weight of her bag. When a patrol marched by at the end of a street she was walking down, she froze, and couldn't move for at least five minutes.

When her knees unlocked, she almost turned and went back. Keep your twenty credits, here's your package.

But she was closer to the docks now than she was to the shop. And the patrol was gone. They wouldn't come around again, not in the time she had.

Keep walking, Bixy.

The smell reached her first, fish and salt, and then the sounds of water ships, the slap of water and the shouts of the sailors. A bell clanged, tang, tang, tang, tang, small and tinny to someone who'd grown up with the resonant clang of the anvil in the tower. The workers started flooding off the dock, some heading for a beach shack, some pulling food from their pockets, some meeting a person waiting for them with a pail and a kiss. She scanned them all for an orange scarf, and also for Brasso's big form.

"Heyyyy, Bixy."

Ahhhhh, kriff.

Norlis was obnoxious in two ways - one, he'd once heard Brasso calling her Bixy, which was how she'd been known to most of Ferrix from birth to fifteen, and thought it was cute - or more accurately, thought he was cute when he said it. And also, she'd screwed him. Twice, which meant he thought it could be an ongoing thing.

Okay, she'd been drunk both times, but still, she didn't know what she'd been thinking.

Please let him not be wearing an orange scarf.

She looked over her shoulder. Stone and sky, there was mercy in the universe. His scarf was black. "What do you want?"

He grinned at her. "Think it's more about what you want. You came to see me? That's so cute. Did you bring lunch?"

"Kriff off. I'm not here for you."

"Aren't you, though?"

"No, I'm not. Leave me alone."

He put his hand on her arm, and she yanked away. He reached for her again and she grabbed his arm, twisting his wrist until he went to his knees, cursing.

"Leave," she snarled. "Me. Alone."

He called her a filthy name. She twisted harder. He glared, then nodded yes. Then she dropped his arm and turned to walk away.

Brasso stood just behind her, huge arms folded over his huger chest.

Well, now she knew why Norlis had given in so quickly.

"I took care of it," she said, striding past him.

"I know," he said. "What's wrong?"

"I just said - "

"Not him. What's wrong? Why are you here? What do you need?"

"Nothing's wrong." She looked around, searching out an orange scarf with white stripes. "I don't need anything."

"You just took a walk?" he said, voice overloaded with skepticism.

"I'm running an errand." It had been orange and white, right? Yes, she'd repeated it, messing with the clerk on purpose. Orange and white. Orange and white. Orange and -

"What kind of errand?"

Kriff it!

She spun around and saw what she'd missed before - the scarf wrapped around Brasso's neck. Faded orange with dingy white stripes.

She stared at it, mind whirling.

Brasso. Brasso had - Brasso was -

"Bix," he said.

"I - I came to bring you this," she said, lifting the bag off her shoulder.

He frowned at her, then looked in the bag. His eyes shot back to hers. "You know what this is?"

"Yeah," she said. "Do you?"

He looped it over his shoulder. "Thanks, Bixy," he said a little too loudly. She was surrounded by people she could fleece blind in sabacc. "Let's walk this way, eh?"

He laid his big, warm hand on her shoulder and steered her off to one side. He stepped confidently down a set of jumbled boulders at the edge of the water, clearly knowing the way to a favored spot. When he turned to offer his hand, she ignored it and picked her own more precarious way down.

He dropped to a large, flat boulder with a sigh and pulled a protein bar out of jacket. He bit off a corner and chewed meditatively for a moment. “Who gave you this?” he said.

She settled down next to him, the stone bitter cold against her butt. She tugged her coat around herself and wished she'd thought to put some food in her own pocket. “Clerk at the secondhand shop. I was going in to sell some of my pieces. He was locking up. What are you going to do with it?”

“My job. I’m going to put it in a cargo hold.”

“You can’t tell me that’s on a manifest.”

“Didn’t say that.” He broke the bar in half and offered her the side he hadn't bit into.

She pushed it away. If that was his whole lunch, she wasn't taking any of it. She took enough from him. “You know where that’s going. Or who it’s going to.”

He laid the half-bar on his knee. “Of course I do.” He looked out over the sea as if he could spot the spaceport on the other side, the ship that would fly away with this package, the Rebel fleet that was waiting for it.

“And you’re still - ?”

“Fighting,” he said. “Like Maarva said in her eulogy.” He grimaced. “You didn’t hear that. She - “

“I heard it,” she said quietly. “From the - from the hotel window. Before - Cassian came.”

He stared down at her. She turned her head and looked out at the sea.

It was the closest they'd ever come to talking about . . . what happened.

There's a wound at the center of the galaxy, Maarva had said, and there was a wound at the center of Bix Caleen. Whenever it threatened to devour her whole, she would recite Maarva's words to herself: I want you to go on.

"Bixy," Brasso said softly, and she looked back at him involuntarily. "You shouldn't've done it. This package."

"Why not?" she said, abruptly annoyed. "Why shouldn't I fight as well?"

He lowered his voice. "You're a wanted woman! Fugitive from Imperial custody, remember?"

"Hard to forget. But what about you? Inciting a riot? Can't imagine the Empire's pleased with that, either."

"I didn't incite," he said.

"You smashed an Imperial in the head with Maarva's funeral brick."

He cracked a grin at that. "S'what she would've wanted."

She found herself smiling too. "Wasn't it just." But she poked him in the arm. "What did you think would happen? They'd shrug and say 'boys will be boys'?"

"I'm fine. None of the patrols pay me any mind. I'm just a big dumb dock worker running an errand. Nothing for them to see."

"You're not dumb," she said. "Don't say that. How did you get pulled in, anyway?"

He shrugged. "About a month ago, deckhand broke his leg on the passage. I was going into town anyway, over my lunch break. He asked me to pick something up for him. Told me the alley, next to the secondhand shop, marked like this one." He gestured at her bag. "Just pick it up and walk away. I did it. Next week, another deckhand on a completely different ship asked me the same thing."

"You knew what it was from the start?"

"I'm not dumb," he said.

“That's a long walk," she said. "Must take the whole time you have for lunch."

He shrugged. “Usually does.”

“Every day?”

“Nah. He puts a flag on the main road. I see it when I'm walking to work. I call from the public comms when I've picked it up."

"Someone's going to notice," she said.

"People see me," he said. "Hard to miss me. But they don't notice me."

It stung. "They should."

He shook his head.

"They should," she repeated, more forcefully. "And someone will. A dock worker running into town all the time? Tell me the other lads do it. Go on."

He twisted his mouth. "They all know I've got - " He glanced at her. "Obligations."

Obligations. He meant her.

She swallowed the bitterness in her mouth. It was only the truth, after all. "Here's what we're going to do, Brass."

"We?"

"I'm going to start bringing you your lunch."

"I can bring my lunch."

She rolled her eyes to the heavens. The sea birds screeched with laughter. "Lunch is not the point. Look, the doctor said it, right? I need to get exercise. Get out in the fresh air." Her thighs twinged a reminder of the walk she'd taken, and the walk she had ahead of her. "So I'll bring you your lunch every day."

He opened his mouth.

"And if some days, I happen to swing by that secondhand store and happen to pick up a package, well, that's just something that'll happen."

"I don't know."

"You get to have your whole lunch hour to yourself, I get a walk, and nobody notices you running errand after errand into town."

"And you?"

"What about me? That crazy Bix girl getting some fresh air every day. Good for her. Nobody'll notice after the first few days." She nodded. "It makes perfect sense. We'll start tomorrow."

He held up his hands. "All right. I'm beat." He smiled at her. "It's good to see you like this, Bix."

"Upright? Sober?"

"With a spark in your eyes again." He reached out and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Her chest felt like he'd clamped that big hand around it, tenderly crushing all the air out, forcing her heart into her throat. It thumped, thumped, thumped while she looked up into his dark eyes.

She'd known him since she was born, a sturdy background figure a whole life stage ahead of her, maybe two. But Cassian had pulled them together - Bix madly in love with him, Brasso looking after him like a little brother - and even when that passionate teenage relationship had fallen to pieces, the one with Brasso had held strong. She would see him around Ferrix town and feel a surge of pure fondness - ah, there he is, our Brasso.

People see me but they don't notice me, he'd said, and she hadn't noticed him. Not really. Not for years.

Well, she was noticing now.

He dropped his hand and cleared his throat, looking away. Probably afraid she'd try to kiss him again. Not after he'd made his disinterest so thunderously clear. "What'll happen," he said, eyes fixed on the horizon, "if you have a bad day?"

She bit her lip. But it was true. Good days were becoming less rare, but bad days still happened. "If the flag's out and I'm not here by the lunch bell, go into town like you used to."

"I'll say it's to check up on you."

"Don't really check up on me. The walk's too long."

"Mmm," he said, a vague noise that might have been taken for agreement if she didn't know better.

The bell from earlier clanged loudly over the water again, and up on the dock, all the workers started getting to their feet.

"It's over already?" she said. "That's all you get?"

"Two minute warning," he said indistinctly, shoving the remainder of the protein bar into his mouth. "Short today." He waved a hand at all the ships waiting and chewed ferociously.

She picked up the wrapper and put it in her pocket. "Listen," she said. "How much are they paying you for this - errand?"

He held up a finger, chewed a few more times, swallowed, and shook his head. "I wouldn't ask for paying."

"Brass!" She clutched her head. "You can't do this for free."

He opened his mouth and she shook her finger at him. "I've seen your paystub. That house is expensive. Food, heat, clothes, those are all expensive. My mood tabs are really expensive. And we both know - “ She stopped and swallowed. “We know I'm in no shape to hold down any kind of job."

His eyes went sad, but he nodded slowly.

"So, we charge. Believe me, that clerk is getting his." She rubbed her fingers together. "He's gotten free deliveries off you for a month now, but that ends. I'm getting twenty today, but that was an emergency. I think I can make it ten per delivery, maybe fifteen, I don't know. See how much I scare him."

A smile crept over his face, just as she'd hoped. "You're a shark, Bix Caleen."

Because her heart had thumped again, she wrapped her scarf tightly around her ears. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

He offered her his arm so they could pick their way back up the rocks. "Only you."

FINIS

#Bix Caleen #Brasso #Brixo #I like that for a ship name #mosylufanfic lives up to her damn name #NaNo stories #PTSD #depression #she's doing better this time around!#really!#andor #star wars

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