[Day 8 - LA] Getting a Breath

[Daunt]

"Do you always calculate cost-effectiveness of everything?" Daunt mused, having calmed down in the hammock. "Don't be shy about eating with me around, I'm not hungry."

[Elaranu]

"Are you sure? And I suppose I started calculating the cost effectiveness of things back at the academy; There is something out large loans and little income looming over you that makes you count every credit.''

[Daunt]

"Why are you so damn cash-stricken?" Daunt looked up. "Want some money? I have quite a bit and don't really need it. Money are not that relevant in life unless you let them."

[Elaranu]

Ela chuckled, moving one of the steaks from the platter to a plate, "I agree in principal. But, being a ship mechanic, I know it takes credits to make things, and credits to fix things. More importantly to my worldview, it costs a lot of credits to attend a prestigious academy. Tens of thousands of credits for the whole five year program. And they want those credits back in a timely manner or they make life difficult for you.'

[Daunt]

"So how much short are you at the moment if it's no secret?" He got straight to the point.

[Elaranu]

"Truthfully, I no longer owe the people I did. I owed my family, but I found someone here who paid it off to them. That just means I owe the King now; He paid off the remaining twenty thousand credits."

[Daunt]

"And when will this King consider your debt to him paid?"

[Elaranu]

"That's a good question; Finding that Mandalorian that wronged him would have been a large boon towards that I should suppose, but my searching for rumors after you took me back to Rygor was both fruitless and cut short."

[Daunt]

"You're quite unfit for this kind of a job, to be brutally honest." He swung lazily. "Maybe it's time to get your hands free by providing the guy with some equivalent. I'll be leaving this world soon to some place far away, and I'll need a pilot and a ship. And I'll be leaving this boat and my speeder behind. I can throw some cash into the mix."

[Elaranu]

"Honesty is good; There is nothing brutal about it unless you have something wrong with you. And you are right; The things he wants from me are not things I am good at, that is one reason my respect for him is fairly low, despite his generosity. I mean, I got this ship from him as well. Perhaps, with things being as they are with this rebellion, such concerns will be short lived anyways. As well as such offers.''

[Daunt]

"You mean I die tomorrow?" He laughed. "Quite possible, I suppose. Still, if I survive, I'll repeat my offer."

[Elaranu]

"You mean I die tomorrow?" He laughed. "Quite possible, I suppose. Still, if I survive, I'll repeat my offer."

"I also meant plans changing, depending on what happens.''

She sat down near the hammock, plate in her lap, Chiss utensils in her hands as she started cutting at it, ''Both yours and mine. I might not even owe any credits to anyone after this, if things go a certain way.''

[Daunt]

"I'd call that positive thinking. Why owe if you can owe not." He nodded, narrowing his eyes in a moment of levity. "Do you plan on living dangerously tomorrow?"

[Elaranu]

"I am actually less worried about me than my employer. They are a bit... impetuous. Not that they have not survived this long regardless, but if the Imperials choose to crack down even more than they have, I do not see him lasting long with his bravado."

[Daunt]

"Looks like you may have made yourself quite an arrangement with shifting obligations. The guy must like you."

[Elaranu]

A slight shiver, "Sometimes I am afraid of that. I do not mind some people looking at me with lust or such, but some people I would rather keep their likes and eyes to themselves."

[Daunt]

"It practically begs to ask now if I am in column A or in column B." He looked down toward her eating with a curious expression that carried some intensity, likely due to the fierce chartreuse greenness of his gaze.

[Elaranu]

Ela waved a hand dismissively, "The former category. The only way you get in the latter category is if I am uncomfortable around you, and that has not happened with you yet. So oggle away, if that is something you are interested in. Just do not change yourself or your behaviour on that account; It is not that hard of a concept.''

She took a bite of the still pink meat, appreciating that it wasn't overdone.

[Daunt]

He looked up, stretched and continued swinging. "I am not one to ogle or salivate if a girl shows no interest. One-sided things are not my thing. Lusting has to have certain reciprocal dynamic else it's stale and not worth it." He would never overdo a steak. He liked things fleshy and juicy.

[Elaranu]

"Wise enough, I suppose. I would not care for that approach since it assumes much; But then again, perhaps you are better at reading such things than I. Honestly, i just assume most people overestimate their ability to gauge others' interest in them and it explains a lot for me in how other people behave.''

[Daunt]

"It's not the same with everyone, and various species have their quirks, and I am not flawless. But if there's a minimum of initiative that calls for some reaction things can be incremental from there. Even though I try not to assume, it's still easier on my part in the end because my body stays ready."

[Elaranu]

"Ah. Well, I will just choose to trust your instincts then, since it is none of my business."

She took another small bite, being somewhat delicate with the meal despite its simplicity and lack of preparation.

[Daunt]

"If it's none of your business that there is no reason to trust or distrust my instincts. Thanks for the hammock though, it is really enjoyable. Shows that you have an unselfish side to you at the very least?" Her eating manner drew some attention. "Though I don't think you are a type that would bite more than she can chew."

[Elaranu]

"I am careful, that is all. There is no need to rush into things or take on too much at once.''

Another juicy bite before she picked out a cloth napkin from one of her packs.

[Daunt]

"That is one way of living. Another would be to pace up to things you want. Yet another to lie in waiting readied to decisively grasp an opportunity." He spared her his gaze when she was about to clean her lips.