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[ someone's up and awake again. Not so tired sounding, though. This time, she's remembered to go and eat before she reaches out to the rest of the hive. ]

( Is anyone in the Bearings that can give me an update on what I've... missed? As much detail as possible.

If it were safer, I might suggest we start keeping more accessible records for these... interludes. )

[ She's not fond of this not knowing everything all the time ever. Which on the note of: she sighs, little echoing tumbling thought that is edged with frustration. ]

( And... does anyone what kind of tricks lions should do? Are they meant to be predators? Are they meant to be tamed?

.... Actually, does anyone know what a lion is? I'm starting to realise I don't know very much about animals if they aren't trying to eat you. Which isn't particularly useful, right now. )

[ ... and for anyone looking for Angel, she will be with a strew of mechanical parts around her that is half in her room, half in the corridor for her shiny new, tackely bright gold performing robotic lion. ]

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[ The reach for Ahsoka is easy, drawing her in - always, always less walls with her. Bits of herself bare that she doesn't with anyone else. ]

( Damn, I was hoping you might have a better idea than me.

A furred predator that most people from... Earth, seem to know about. The male is larger than the female, and has a huge mane. The robot I bought has one, so I guess it's a male? The female does most of the hunting, though.

Still not sure about what tricks I should have it do. )

( If its from Earth, that'd be why I never heard of it. )

[The idea that only the females do the hunting is amusing to her. Trying to picture togrutan society with only females doing the heavy lifting makes her roll her eyes mentally.]

( So the male just lays around with his big furry mane and doesn't do anything? Sounds like a hard animal to teach. )

( They protect against other lions, I think?

Maybe, but thankfully their robots. I don't have to try too hard. )

[ Cheating? Cheating. But what else is being a all powerful siren if not for the life hacks. ]

Edited 2016-09-22 05:23 (UTC)

( Hmm. Sounds fake, but ok. )

[But that gives her an idea.]

( That reminds me...you're good with technology, right? I mean, you're training a robot lion. Ever worked with droids before? )

[Asking Angel to help finish Scrappy felt like cheating. Part of her doesn't even want to ask -- it feels like her responsibility, like everything else her Master had left behind.]

[ and it's giggling, and maybe bragging. ]

( Oh, just an armies worth, from time to time. )

[There's a sense of sheepishness, maybe a bit of guilt with her next question.]

( Would you...mind advising me on something? In person, when you have time. Its not pressing. )

Edited 2016-09-26 05:21 (UTC)

[ Which is - if she was there she would give her a look - because after all, Ahsoka is one of the few people where she's not - pretending to be more or less than she is. Just her. ]

( Ahsoka, you know you're never bothering me. I'm happy to help. I'm working on the Lion's wiring as is, so I've get all my parts if there is anything you might need.

Just uh... follow the trail of spare parts to my room, I guess? )

( I don't think it will give you much trouble. He's mostly wired -- just unfinished. )

[Sure enough, after another small hesitation, Angel will find Ahsoka coming down the hall moving Scrappy with the Force. It remains immobile otherwise, eye flashing a slow red as it sits in low power mode.

Its chassis is mostly finished and decorated in a brilliant mixture of blues, greens, and chrome. There is still a sense of discomfort surrounding Ahsoka when she gently rests the droid down on the floor after sweeping a few spare pieces of metal out of the way.

She smiles anyway.]

Hey.

( We can finish him together. )

[ And - she knows that robot. Anakin had become frustrated it once or twice in her presence, and then, she had worked with him.

That knowledge alone gives her pause when Ahsoka settles down in front of her. Feels the discomfort as a flicker nearby when Ahsoka settles. She unravels herself then, from her lion and straightens herself up to go to Ahsoka.

It's light, gentle, affection she is coming to appreciate and give easily these days. No longer jumping a foot every time someone did. Rather, now, she hooks her arm around Ahsoka's free one and leans into her side in greeting. ]

Hey. [ close, here, them. she is here, and she'll give bits of herself readily to help Ahsoka how she needs. ]

[She hasn't healed -- she'll never heal, she thinks, but having Angel reach for her like that helps more than she wants to admit. Having those sorts of attachments, she understands now why the Jedi forbids them. The pain of loss is enough to tempt any Force-sensitive to darker thoughts.

She'd since convinced herself that if she ignores it hard enough, then they won't come to her outside of a nightmare once a week. Her smile, though weary, is genuine. Though she doesn't lift a hand to embrace her, Ahsoka does briefly rest her cheek against Angel's arm in return.

Reminding herself that she hadn't come for comfort is harder, but she manages to straighten her spine and force down any desire for contact in favor of business.]

There's a lot of strain on his power cells. I haven't been able to figure out a solution.

[ She doesn't let go, rather her only concession is that she needs to work so instead - in an easy way as Ahsoka explains, she takes her hand in her own - like it was oh, easy, nothing, not all sorts of needed to that lean she Ahsoka gave her in return.

Threads her fingers through as she tilts her head to look - and this time at least, she's already poked around in scrappy's systems that she doesn't need to touch first.

She tilts, her head settling against Ahsoka's shoulder as she brings up her marked hand. As much about steadying herself in that moment as she wants to be close to her. Taking a deep breath, feeling the light flare up bright and brilliant in herself, and watches Scrappy light up as she does. Eyes shut as she peruses through its programming, a routine sweep moving through it's systems before her eyes open up again.

Voice not quite right when she's deep into a system, echoes funny in her ears, in her head. A crackle of power that is in her mouth and sparking between her fingers. Raw and flood and - like time moving faster around her than it does else outside of the sphere. Scrunches up her nose a little in thought before she speaks: ]

Feels like there's something not wired right that's diverting a lot of extra power unnecessary. Might be the auxiliary chip - wait - no that's not- [ pause, deep breath, another movement of light under her skin and - ] Alright check the auxiliary chip first, then look at its secondary directional motor. Feels like they're... not quite talking right.

Edited 2016-09-26 06:44 (UTC)

[Ahsoka swallows stiffly when the spark of Angel's power touches the Force and as the feedback vibrates along their link, shocks her nerves as it had the first time she demonstrated it, but this time she is--mostly ready for the experience. She breathes out her nose, tries not to blink too much, and focuses instead on listening to what the other woman has to say and less on what she's feeling through her.

A siren's power. It tastes strongly of copper, makes her lightheaded in a way that she vaguely appreciates in an unconscious sort of way.]

--okay. I can do that.

[She doesn't think to unthread their fingers, and she can't help the small chuckle that comes from her when she thinks of how ridiculous they both most seem, sitting among a pile of wires staring at a droid and basking in the rawness of power.

Its too indulgent for Ahsoka, and she clears her throat to separate herself from the sensation that Angel's power leaves her with.]

I think.

[ She pulls her head up, shakes it slightly to let the power dim, rolling off her like water, crackle off her arm as she lets it fall. A spark that she grounds - she needs to see what that is, still not sure. Knew how she'd stopped that man's heart in absolute surety but - ]

Hm?

[ Her eyes draw back to Ahsoka. Eyes on her face, watching her careful, and the broach with a tight squeeze of her fingers. Neither blind nor stupid, and she cares, always she does. ] It's Anakin's, isn't it? [ A pause. ] I ... helped him when he was building it. He looked like he was forever frustrated with it.

It was. Yes.

[Past tense, always reminding in spite of how it makes her throat want to close. But she is stronger than grief, and it will not rule her anymore. Ahsoka holds Angel's state for a moment before looking down to Scrappy and kneeling so that she can open his chassis. She had been avoiding digging through his deeper wiring, not wanting to accidentally wipe it's memory on some foolish chance that Anakin had left something else behind.

She returns the squeeze of her hand briefly before untangling herself. With Angel's guidance, she pulls his power source free to avoid electrocution and gently passes through wires to get at the droid's auxiliary chip.]

He never did very well when patience was necessary. Especially involving droids.

Edited 2016-09-26 13:09 (UTC)

[ She watches her a moment, letting her work once she lets go of her hand and in turn lets the machine dull from her senses.

Quiet, for awhile, contemplating the work she'd felt respond to her. Anakin had built good machines, she'd like how he'd done it and there was something to that she supposed. Coding and construction. They could be very personal. Everyone had their own little ways. Difference being once a machine achieved a true sentience, then it began to write itself but - ]

Everyone builds different, you know? [ she ventures after a moment. ] I mean sure, it's all the same in some regards. Certain wires have to go certain places to make it work, of course. But... in whole arrangement, these things can be very personal. You can always tell whose work is whose after awhile. There will be parts of its wiring, its systems that is... just his. No one else's.

Yeah.

[Until she messed with it all, of course. She'd tried not to mess with much, even this much feels like a violation -- but she's determined to give the little droid proper function. If nothing else, Anakin would have been proud of her for it.

And it helps keep her mind off the poison that his her broodmate, and his attack dog.]

Chip's not fried. You said the secondary directional motor?

[ She lets her go about it, settling back to her own work. Testing simple commands with the lion. Words she reaches out with her mind that she ties to hand gestures. Beckoning it to her, just to check it's movements, see that they were still smooth, then away again as Ahsoka calls to her - ]

Yeah, seemed like something might have been misfiring from what it said.

[ She tells the lion to stop walking, to sit back on its hind legs, front legs in front of him, poised. ]

[Ahsoka's brows knit as she goes. She's not as adapt as her master or Angel, as far as robotics go, but she knows enough. In spite of that, she is distracted by the lion's movements, and picks her head up from around the droid's dome to watch it.

It pulls a smile from her, though its a light one. She finishes attaching the necessary wires and sits back to appraise them both.]

I guess it is kind of cute, even if whatever its modeled after is weird. It looks kind of like a bothan.

[ She keeps going through the steps, because it's comfortable, between them. Letting Ahsoka work close to her as she in turn works. Waving her fingers up giving a command that brings light to her skin and to its eyes - sit - and it rocks back onto its haunches. Then her fingers sweep up - glowing again briefly - and it rises up like its begging for a treat.

Learning to move with it, in time to it. ]

I thought so. I... guess I was expecting more fangs? When they told me it was a predator. But... there's something to it, I guess.

[ she giggles a little. ] That and I liked the colour I picked.

[Ahsoka's own, more reserved giggle rises with Angel's when it stands upward. She folds both arms over Scrappy's deactivated dome and rests her chin over them while Angel explores her reach with her companion.]

Its not always about the teeth.

[Her smile stretches just enough to show off her sharp little canines, but doesn't offer further insight or comment on it. Its a sly remark, the sliest she can manage in her current mood.

But even she has to admit that the company is picking her spirits up a bit.

With that in mind, she leans back enough to observe Scrappy's open panel, re-stuffing all of his wires and consoles back inside in the most orderly way possible before reattaching his power source.

Scrappy slowly whirs to life in low-power mode again, and Ahsoka's brows knit impatiently.]

[ And Angel is immediately distracted by that - the white sharp line of incisors. All set neat against the curve about her lips. It's -- pretty. She never thought of fangs as... pretty.

The lion makes a noise - like it knew she had been distracted from it where her fingers were drawing it up and - oh shoot, shoot, no, no, back down you go, Lion. ]

I guess not.

[ She clears her throat and settles the lion onto the ground. Sighing, well at least she didn't make it accidentally fall over and break something. Still all in working order, which is more than she can say for Scrappy? ]

Still no good, huh?

[Ahsoka's attention is drawn sharp by the lion's fitful noise, and she instinctively reaches for Anakin's lightsaber to activate it and flip it to reverse grip before she notices that Angel has the situation under control.

Alright, so maybe she was a little jumpy. She wasn't exactly sure of the range of Angel's powers, and how much control she had over that lion -- how much of it was in its programming. When you fight a two year war against a bunch of robots, you tend to be a little jumpy around them.

The hum of the lightsaber hangs for a moment between them before she deactivates it warily and turns back to look at Scrappy.]

Guess not. Any other ideas?

[ That's - well, she's not surprised from what Ahsoka had said about her fight back home. But - well, one day she's going to have to assure her that robots aren't likely to turn on her any time soon. ]

Hmm --

[ She lets it settle back on the ground, a soft instruction to stay before she walks back towards her. Light on her feet as she bends in front of it. More hands on this time as she leans over, hair falling over her shoulder, eyes closing a moment as the light comes to her skin once more. Her hands law flat and the tone of her voice is breathless and airy. Bubbling at the lips with the far off echo. ] Put your hand on mine, come see --

[ Crack in a door, encouraging Ahsoka to slip in close to her. Guide her into the machine that lights up in response to her. ]

[Ahsoka keeps her eyes on the lion, even after Angel forces it to settle. After she moves to kneel down to Scrappy's level is when Ahsoka's attention reconfigures itself back to what matters. It wasn't like some clanker was going to get the jump on either of them by itself.

The power switches on again, like a light all its own. It brings that tingling along her skin again, the feeling of raw energy that she used to feel so keenly as a child, when she could not control the flow of the Force. It feels different in adulthood -- or perhaps its just Angel's powers that feel different. Curiosity wins easily over caution the second time around. Mostly.

For a moment she just watches, expecting Angel to perform her magic and find the real problem. But then she feels a tug of encouragement, the lithe sort of brush against her mind that she's come to find almost as familiar as Anakin's, and she realizes that this is meant to be a group activity. A careful swallow precedes her motion (I can handle this) as she moves to join her friend beside the astromech. The brace helps just the barest bit as she adjusts to the sensation of allowing herself to be guided again.

After all, she hadn't hurt her the last time they had shared minds -- even after everything that had been happening in the Station, she has no reason to believe as much now.

She drops to her knees in a meditative fold, one hand on her lap and the other finding its resting place over Angel's. And there it is again -- like clockwork, a numbing sensation that vibrates through the Force and across the symbiote, a sensation that forces her to allow her eyes to drift shut so that she can breath and so she can allow Angel to be her eyes.]

[ There's always something intimate to her powers in the hive now. Before - her life had been a shut-in existence. In her head, with no one else there. No one to share it with, Jack had made sure. No way to share herself outside of words, and no interest in the things she could build. Dismissive when she babbled of worlds she could make. When she learned to craft like an artist these places of neither here nor there.

She'd showed Ahsoka her misery, her grief, just what her powers had caused to happen to her. But never given her the thing she loved it most for. Never hated her powers like that, at least.

Granted, the plunge is never gentle. There's no sweetness to it, no control, it's being hurtled, grabbing onto a moving object as it takes to flight. All there ever is; is to hang on. Rush, shifting and curling inside of her blood that burns, and oh that's the danger she knew Lilith indulged in, it feels good to burn, and where Ahsoka lets her in, she rushes in to fill the space. To drag her under with her. All breathless and quick and high in her throat. A suppleness and a want to her. There is no up or down, here, she hovers two feet of the ground in the edges of Ahsoka's thoughts, a voice in multitude that echoes from a realm away. ]

( Okay? )

[ A checking thought that's word as much as feeling, brushing against her cheek to make sure it's not too much. ]

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I'm sorry this is so late, cries

gnaws on