The sound of a warbling engine just outside Jade’s shop let her know that she was soon to have another customer, though, she likely never would have guessed it was a member of the Dajorra System’s government (and a high-ranking member, at that). Stepping off of his speeder bike, Bril dusted off his robes and stepped inside. He didn’t say anything upon entering, instead waited for someone to come out, figuring they were just busy in the back.
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Jade Augros was frustratedly pulling an engine apart in her work area, music blaring. If it wasn’t for the small alarm she set up to notify her someone was in, she would’ve stayed lost in her own little world.
With a grumble, the selenian turned her music down and hastily wiped the grease from her hands onto a disposable rag before heading out to the lobby.
Upon entering the lobby, Jade saw Bril and felt like she recognized him but couldn’t place him completely. “Welcome in,” she said, wiping some sweat from her forehead and accidentally replacing it with some engine oil. “How can I help ya?”
He turned and, upon seeing her, gently lowered his head in a partial bow. “Hello there,” he said while folding his hands behind his back, “I was hoping to get some repairs done for my speeder bike. Do you take walk-ins, or would I need to schedule an appointment with you instead?”
While he waited for her response, he did a quick once over with his crystal blue eyes. She was pretty, that was for sure, with a natural beauty that shone through the motor oil and grime she wore on her face and arms. Speaking of arms, he noticed the faint stripe patterns on them … was she a Selenian?
As much as Jade wished she could say she was by appointment only, with how much the business had been fluctuating she couldn’t risk losing a single customer.
“Walk-ins are fine. Did you ride it here?”
“I did, yes,” he took a step backward, gesturing with his hand to the speeder bike parked just outside. It was in great condition, its black and gold chassis polished so much that it looked like it was fresh off the factory line. Clearly, he valued taking care of his belongings. “I was hoping you could make some modifications to its weapons system. Need something with a bit more punch.”
Jade moved towards the bike, immediately inspecting it for wear and tear, surprised to see quite literally nothing. “Have you ever ridden this before today?”
“I have, yes. I don’t get to ride it often these days because of my work, but I like to slip away every now and then.”
He folded his arms across his chest while watching her inspect the vehicle. Her question was a reasonable one given the fact that it looked like it just came off the assembly line. Although Bril knew that he should make more time for it, for himself, his newfound responsibilities to Galeres, to the Erinos, and his longstanding responsibilities to his family left little time for him to just get out and see the scenery. Or, perhaps he was just bad at maintaining a proper work-life balance.
Shaking away the thought, he gestured to the two light blasters fixed on either side of the swoop’s body. “You think you can upgrade these for me?”
Jade began by crouching down beside the speeder, inspecting the stock blasters fixed to the sides of the bike. “You’re that diplomat, right?” Jade asked, assuming that the man in her shop was the guy she saw on the news. “What do you need bigger blasters for?”
So, she recognized him. He supposed that came with the territory, though. Since adopting the title of Starosta again, though this time as Aedile of House Galeres, he had more eyes on him than ever. Had she heard of his work to improve the lives of people in Lower Korda?
“I’m a diplomat, yes. Though, admittedly, that descriptor still feels a bit … foreign to me.” Would it ever feel normal to him? Student, master, warrior; brother, son, father … those things made sense to him. Felt natural. But Councillor … what did he know about politics and government? All he had were his wits and his ideals, and even that didn’t seem like enough these days. “Well, you may have heard of a high profile assault that happened last year in Korda? An attempt on a peacekeeper’s life? That peacekeeper was me. So, i figure you can never be too careful when you make enemies of powerful people.”
Jade stood up from her inspection and looked towards the man that towered over her. Being as she got most of her supplies from Korda, Jade was well aware of the attacks in the area.
“I can do it but I’ll have to charge you a premium. I have a policy against weapon mods, but I can order something in for you.”
Back on coruscat, Jan, Jade’s father, refused to put weapons on any vehicle. There was enough violence in the under city and the last thing he wanted to do was contribute to it. It was a philosophy that he handed down to his daughter, but now that they lived in a safer place, Jade was willing to make an exception.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never actually used them,” he said, “And hopefully I’ll only ever need to use them to save lives, not take them.”
Bril looked around while she inspected his swoop. There didn’t appear to be any other staff here. “You work here alone?”
“It does,” Jade said before going on to answer his question. “The shop is my dad’s, but he’s gone right now, so it’s just me. He’ll swing by to help when he can.” The Selenian circled the speeder one last time to inspect it before nodding. “Otherwise, yeah. Just me. I’ll get the door open if you want to ride it into the garage?”
“Family business, huh?” he said, looking over to one of the pictures of her and an older man hanging on the wall. That must have been her father. “I appreciate that. Was like that with my family, too. My siblings and I would help our parents with research when we were kids. To us, it was just an opportunity to dig up cool stuff, but it was really special, looking back on it.
"And yeah, I can do that.”
Bril walked toward the door and, with the slight flex of his fingers, pushed it open with the Force and held it there so he could mount his speeder bike and slowly, carefully ride it into the garage. Once he’d done that, he dismounted and walked back over to where Jade was standing.
“I’ll give you the comm codes for my office in Fort Blindshot, that way you can send me the invoice when the work is finished. Sound good?”
He didn’t seem particularly interested in knowing how much the upgrades would cost him; perhaps that was the luxury of a man of his station?