(oop forgot to do this last week when I posted it to ao3)
Ke’bajuri Chapter 9, Boom Boys
Scorch prowls the corridors like a lone lothwolf until he spots a vod with inked stripes on his chin and across his skull. “Hey,” he calls. “Hey! You, with the tattoos!”
The guy turns and takes him in with a sweep of the eyes, smiling in a friendly way. This reg is a sergeant, Scorch notes, with similarly patterned lines to his tats painted on his white plastoid, in his unit’s vivid dark blue.
“I’m interested in ink,” Scorch says as he closes the distance between them.
“In getting some, yeah?” the guy asks casually, still smiling as he looks the commando up and down. He has smile lines etched around his eyes, markings uninked but no less permanent. “Sure, I can hook you up with the inkers who did these, but not ‘til later; the brother in charge is pulling a duty shift right now, so the shop is closed.”
“I’d like to see the quality of his work before I agree to it, anyway,” Scorch says. “A guy’s only got one skin, you know? I want something nice.”
“Yeah, course! I’m happy to advertise for our artists.” The CT laughs. “I’m Hardcase; let's find a spot to shell off.”
“Scorch, of Delta,” Scorch introduces himself. “You mean you’re The Hardcase, that fucker who blew up the capital ship and bailed out into space in a droideka shield?”
“The one and only, vod,” Hardcase brags, winking cheekily.
“I got an interest in explosions, too,” Scorch says, trying to throttle back his decorum to the appropriate amount of awe from a commando to a CT, even if said trooper had made a heck of an impact in the fight. He lucked out, catching this one’s attention.
“Once you’ve satisfied yourself with regards to my ink, we could definitely also discuss making shit go boom, yeah? You got time?”
“Nowhere to be until we hit our transfer, nope,” Scorch agrees.
Hardcase looks him over again, measuring him up. “I like your paint, vod,” he compliments. “Nice katarn, too. You got any ink already?”
“Yeah, a little,” Scorch says. It’s nothing impressive. Not gotten in a shop, that’s for sure. A big unit and a permanent assignment on a venator means luxury, looks like.
“I’d like to see it; tit for tat?” Hardcase suggests as he opens the door to a small single bunk.