[MillietheWarrior]

(Human Form)

The scenery outside was peaceful; green, luxurious, and spacious. The only problem was the modern day blot of technology that was a hangar and a garage sitting in the middle of the vast emerald green fields of the farmlands. The sound of gears clanking and tools clinking was loud in the spacious workshop. The hangar doors were wide open, emitting a chilly breeze behind the massive ship that currently occupied the floor space. A billions different parts, droids, tools, and odds and ends lay strewn around the shop. A radio blasted was sounded a lot like heavy rock music, and if one looked really closely, they could see the tail end of someone sticking out of a nearby speeder. The rock music was accompanied by a cacophony of curses as the speeder suddenly shuddered and coughed, nearly ejecting the person working on it and sending it’s mechanic flying.

The grease splattered worker spluttered on the floor a few feet away, face streaked with sludge and oil, and eyebrows looking a little singed. “Fierfek!” she shouted, using one of the more colorful words she’d picked up from a certain someone. Yes, it was a ‘she.’ The ambiguous jumpsuit she wore revealed no curve or dip, and it was hard to tell if she really was a ‘she,’ but there was no denying it when another round of curses spilled from her feminine lips. Not only was she not your average male mechanic, she was also not your average, typical woman. She sported fin like protrusions for ears, making her seem like a giant lion fish instead of a human, and a long, thick tail that was spiked at the end. Her nails were glistening claws, and if one looked close enough, they could see fangs glinting past her lips. With a feral snarl, she kicked the speeder, and then leapt back quickly when it growled at her. “Kriffing piece of junk.”

She put her hands on her hips, and sighed. “I never should’ve agreed to fix this thing. More trouble than it’s worth.” Suddenly, the woman seemed to remember something, and perked up, looking around the hangar and her garage. “Hey…where’s…” She flicked her tail absently, pulling her cap lower on her head. She was never seen without her cap; she had no intention of taking it off. Beneath it, a cascade of curly hair and tiny horns were hidden, keeping her gender safely ambiguous, just like her jumpsuit. When she had customers or people coming over, she kept it zipped up tightly, but in moments like now, she had it unzipped to reveal a form fitting tank top underneath that left no question as to whether she was a woman or not. She even went so far as to go by the name ‘Rob’ instead of her real name, ‘Robin,’ and deepen her voice as best she could.

She found that most men tended to dislike having women work on their machines; if they saw she was female, she’d lose business. Even one of her closest ‘friends’ didn’t know she was a woman. It was just easier that way. She huffed quietly. Yeah, better and easier, right? But she hated deceiving Talyc, and she…well, she really wished he knew she was a woman. Not-not that she had feelings for him or anything, no! She just…uh…well…The woman frowned, wondering where that train of thought was going. She tended to try to steer clear of those thoughts, forcing herself to see Talyc as only a friend and nothing more; after all, he only liked her because she was a good mechanic and babysitter, and didn’t even know she was a woman to boot! “Back to the task at hand!” she quickly reminded herself aloud. The task at hand was currently trying to find the little wild-child she was ‘babysitting’ for Talyc. “Cuyan!” she called into the expanse of the hangar. “Hey! Where’d you get off to, you little snapper?”

[Jessari]

The little girl had followed right behind Robin like a small scruffy shadow as the woman moved about the hangar. When the mechanic had disappeared inside the speeder, she had sat on the floor a few feet away, watching the reptilian-like tail swish back and forth. She'd stayed there for a good half-hour, mesmerized by the both the motion and the mysterious clanks that came from the speeder. Then, like any other child, Cuyan eventually got bored. Robin never noticed as she padded away.

For a while, Cuyan prowled the hangar, poking about in the metal guts of a hundred different machines, but they meant nothing to her. She had enough trouble figuring out how to work a light switch. Finally, in an effort to escape the pounding rock music that assaulted her ears, she walked out the open doors into the breezy outdoors.

Cuyan stretched, loving the way the sun warmed her bare arms. She kicked off her shoes and socks and ran. Fields bordered the hangar on all sides, and the tall grass quickly closed in about her. This was where she truly felt at home, out here where all she could see was nature. It was where she had begun her life, where she had lived until she'd been captured by the carnival men. It was where her only family had been, until Talyc had come along and given her a new family.

When the cacophony behind her had faded to a whisper, Cuyan slowed to a walk, then stopped, crouching low.  One ear listened to the human music, allowing her to mentally mark her location and that of the hangar. All her other senses were tuned in to the sighs, sounds, and smells of her immediate surroundings. Her delicate nose twitched, scenting a small mammal. Golden eyes searched until she found a track, a small footprint the size of a dime. Her body tensed, and she crept forwards on palms and toes in the oddly-graceful walk she'd known before Talyc had taught her to stand like the two-leggers. So intent was she upon tracking the animal that she didn't hear Robin's faint voice call her name.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Where is that little wild child?” Robin muttered to herself, swiping a greasy hand across her forehead and making no improvement to her already oil smudged face. She then proceeded to march about the hangar, lifting things and looking under things, all while calling Cuyan’s name. But the girl didn’t answer. Robin began to panic; if she lost the kid, Talyc would have her head…or at least another argument. She was certain Cuyan would turn up eventually, but for the moment, she really needed to find her. Frantically, she checked the shop for another twenty minutes, even checking her office and under her desk, where the girl liked to hide when Robin had customers or while she worked on the computer. But no Cuyan. Huffing and growling with exasperation, Robin uncurled herself from beneath the desk, and looked around the hangar once more for good measure.

Still, no Cuyan. Then her eyes landed on the open hangar, and she sighed; oh dear heaven, the kid had gotten out. No telling where she’d gotten to now! Robin quickly ran outside, putting a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. The grass of the green fields was too tall to spot Cuyan immediately. “Cuyan!” she called, braving the treacheries of the fields and stepping out into the grass. “Hey kid! Where are you!” Her tail waved back and forth, swishing in the grass as she plowed her way through. “Cuyan, answer me! If you don’t, auntie Robin is going to be very mad, and won’t give you anymore chocolate when you come to visit!”

[Jessari]

Cuyan prowled slowly through the tall grass, not noticing the dirt and burrs that had begun to cling to her clothes. One hand in front of another, time measured in slow breaths. The tiny tracks wound through the field, finally ending at a small hole in the ground. As she crouched low in the dirt, a stillness fell over Cuyan, until it seemed she'd turned into a dusty little statue.

For several long minutes, the only movement was that of the wind blowing the grass, creating dark green waves that shushed lightly across the field. Then, her patience won out. A black-tipped nose stuck out of the hole, twitching for a moment before a tawny-furred mouse poked its head above-ground. If Cuyan had possessed the twin tails of her Khimera family, they would have been waving in anticipation.

The mouse paused, looking about, ready to dart at any suspicious noise or movement. She waited, encased in stillness, prepared to dart forward once the mouse had come too far to escape. Slowly, cautiously, the mouse began to clamber out of the hole. One paw, two. Half its body was exposed. Silently she willed it to venture further.

“Cuyan!”

The cry was close, and the startled mouse disappeared before she could twitch a muscle. Knowing there was no use to try stalking it any more, Cuyan rocked back on her heels and craned her neck up towards the sky. She hadn't been hungry anyway. Despite her tendency to forget she was there, Robin always kept her well-fed.

But Cuyan hadn't finished playing yet. Instead of answering Robin, she began creeping through the tall grass towards the sound of the woman's voice. She bet that the lizard-woman would be much easier to sneak up on than a mouse.

* * * * *

A loud growl preceded the Nightfalcon as it rocketed down the country road, saddlebags loaded down with heavy pieces of armor. A helmet clanked against the side, the sun glinting harshly off the burgundy and silver metal. Although he couldn't be heard above the noise of the engine, Talyc muttered underneath his breath. Why Rob refused to move closer to the city was beyond him. It would bring a boost in business from customers who didn't want to travel into the middle of no-man's land to get their equipment fixed. Although he was loath to admit it, however, Rob was one of the best mechanics in the core planets.

Besides that, he was also a good babysitter. Not many people would be able to handle his rather unique daughter. Rob certainly had a way with her, and although Cuyan hadn't yet learned the words to express herself, the grin on her face when she saw Rob said it all.

It wasn't for Rob's mechanical skills that Talyc was visiting today, but the aforementioned babysitting skills. While Talyc was out traipsing the galaxy with Idris, Rob had again allowed himself to be coerced into watching Cuyan. He'd been gone longer than he'd expected, due to Idris' injury and the resulting hospital stay, so it was likely that Rob was going to rag on him yet again. A corner of Talyc's mouth twitched, not quite forming a smile, but pretty close to it. Truth be told, he enjoyed getting Rob's goat from time to time. He conveniently forgot about all the times the young man had turned the tables on him.

As he pulled up outside the hangar and shut off the engine, Talyc could hear the sound of rock music pounding inside. Typical Rob. "Hey, anyone home?" Talyc shouted, but got no answer. After glancing around the hanger, the Mando went back outside, scratching his head. Where was everyone? His boot bumped against something, and he looked down to see Cuyan's socks and shoes lying in a heap. He rolled his eyes with a long-suffering sigh. Couldn't keep that kid in her clothes. At least he'd taught her to leave the necessary bits on.

At the boundary of the field, Talyc noted a swatch of crushed grass. Cuyan would never make such an obvious trail, but he could easily imagine Rob's tail demolishing the slender blades. He smirked, shaking his head. The two must be playing out in the field. Stepping into the field himself, he began to follow the path Rob had left, wondering how far in the two had gone.

[MillietheWarrior]

Robin was unaware of the visitor who had just pulled up; if she had been, she’d have bundled herself up back into her jumpsuit. As it was, she continued searching for Cuyan in the grass, grumbling under her breath. Talyc had left the kid with her longer than usual. Robin lived having her there but she took a lot of time out of the day searching for her when she went off on her stints. The only sure-fire way to make her stay put was to tell her she’d be given chocolate if she was a good girl. “Cuyan!” she called again, searching for the girls mop of unruly hair in the grass. She was going to charge Talyc an arm and a leg for this babysitting venture. Maybe next time he came in for repairs, she’d charge him a bit extra, just to get back at him.

Robin was about to turn around and look elsewhere, when she finally caught sight of Cuyan. “Ah ha!’ she cried, before swooping down and grabbing the girl around the waist. Unfortunately, she swooped too fast, and her hat flew from her head, the locks of hair tumbling out. With a muted curse, Robin kept her arms locked loosely around Cuyan, making sure the girl wouldn’t go anywhere, before bending down to grab her hat. She didn’t have two hands free, so it would be impossible to put her hair back in, so she just placed the cap on top of the mass of curls. She chuckled faintly and grinned.

“Cuyan, you’re way more trouble than your worth. We won’t tell daddy about this little mishap, will we? We don’t want him knowing anything he’s not ‘sposed to.” She tapped Cuyan gently on the nose, grinning, and turned to head back to the hangar. She took only a few steps, before her eyes widened to unimaginable proportions, and she nearly dropped Cuyan, before she squeaked and tried in vain to close her jumpsuit with one hand. “T-Talyc?! What the shab are you doing here?!”

[Jessari]

Cuyan was nearly there. It hadn't been hard to locate Rob, what with the crashing of trampled grass and the repeated shouts of "Cuyan!" When she finally reached her, the little girl crouched low to the ground, rear end wriggling in the air like a house cat ready to pounce.

But she never got the chance. Rob turned and saw her, snatching her up before she had a chance to turn and vanish back into the tall grass. Cuyan wriggled for a moment, trying to get away, but then something brushed her cheek. She looked up to see shiny black curls hanging all about Rob's face. Her golden eyes grew wide, and she reached up to grasp a lock of the spiraling strands in dirt-caked fingers, a look of wonder on her face. Pulling it out straight, she let it go and watched as it sprang right back into its previous shape. Then her gaze rose higher, and she reached out, intending to touch the tiny horns that poked out of Rob's hair. Rob was faster than she was, though, concealing them beneath the hat again.

With a light sigh of disappointment, she leaned against Rob's chest, wrapping an arm around the back of her neck and resting her head against the woman's shoulder. Her fingers played idly with the thick curls as they moved back towards the house.

Then there was her father. Cuyan sat upright, one grubby hand reaching out towards Talyc. "Ika, ika," she cried, a happy smile on her face as she both mangled and misused the Mando word for little one, ad'ika.

* * * * *

Talyc came upon them sooner than he'd expected. His eyes lighted first upon Cuyan, taking in the excessive dirt on her clothes and the holes in the knees of her pants. Her dark brown hair was tangled, looking as if she'd mussed it up intentionally. He wouldn't be surprised. "Su cuy'gar, ad'ika," he said, a rare smile warming his lips. He reached out for her.

Then his eyes moved over to Rob. For a split second, he thought he'd come upon Rob's sister or something, but there was no mistaking those eyes, framed now by thick black curls. He froze, his eyes dropping lower to rest upon the two round curves beneath the tank top. "Rob," he sputtered, his eyes threatening to pop out of his head as he stared, "you have breasts!"

[MillietheWarrior]

“Talyc!” Robin shouted again, mortified. Without thinking, she reached out and pushed Talyc as hard as she could, which, considering her size and strength, was fairly hard. “Oh my God! Don’t look! That’s uh…it’s…just the way my shirt looks!” But there was no help for it. Talyc had seen; he knew her secret, and now she would lose all her business. She groaned in annoyance, realizing that there was no hope for the situation. She carefully put Cuyan back on the ground, running a self-conscious hand through her hair. “Yeah, okay. Secrets out,” she grumbled, then folded her arms across her impressive chest, which, up until now, had been invisible to the world. “I’m a woman. And yes, very well observed.”

She threw up her arms, and stomped past him, tail waving angrily behind her as she stormed back to the hangar. A strong of curses followed her, curses that sounded like a bunch of different languages strung together, including Mando’a. “Now what am I going to do?! This is going to ruin everything!” She suddenly stopped, and pivoted on her heel, stomping back to Talyc. She pointed her finger in his face, her own face awash with anger. “This-this is all your fault, you know!” Nevermind that a small part of her was giddy at the fact that he now knew she was a woman; maybe then they could...Nope, nope, Robin cut that thought off right there. There never was and never would be anything between her and Talyc. Ever.

[Jessari]

For a long moment, Talyc's brain short-circuited. He couldn't help it - the sight of his friend's face, covered in black smudges of engine oil as usual, softened by the hair that sprouted from beneath his, her hat. He'd known Rob for a couple of years, had come to think of him as a brother. He'd trusted him enough to let him watch over his daughter for sometimes weeks at a time. And now to find out that Rob had been hiding this the whole time...

His mind stuttered back to life as Rob reached out and shoved him. Talyc stumbled backwards a few steps, but managed to keep his balance as she stalked by him. He felt oddly hurt and betrayed by this discovery, as if Rob had done this intentionally just to spite him. True to his nature, he couldn't help but lash out as she turned to point an accusing finger at his face. "Now just hold on a sec," he growled, his face tightening as he leaned forwards. "How the hell is it my fault you're a stinking girl?"

Talyc, like most Mando men, had nothing against women taking positions traditionally held by men. They counted them as equals and treated them accordingly, but at the moment all Talyc wanted to do was get back at her for the mixed emotions that rumbled in his chest. Cuyan tugged at the edge of his shirt, but it didn't really register. His only response was to settle a hand on her shoulder to keep her still.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Because…because…Because it just is!” Robin exploded, throwing her hands into the air. “You weren’t supposed to find out! No one was supposed to find out! Do you know what will happen to my business if this gets out? I’ll lose half of my customers! I won’t be able to afford to keep the hangar if that happens, Talyc! And all because you couldn’t have waited twenty more minutes to show up!” She snarled angrily, revealing the sharpened set of pearly white fangs. She prodded him in the chest, suppressing a wince as her claws grated on the thick beskgar of his armor.

“Now what am I going to do? Huh? Tell me exactly how I’m suppose to fix this?! Ugh!” Her hands flew into the air again, and she turned angrily, her tail purposefully whacking into his armor as she did so, and began stomping back toward the hangar, muttering curses about a stupid, prying Mando with a big nose. “Yeah, see if I fix your kriffing ship for you again after this, you big idiot!” And still, that nagging little voice that said she’d fix it a thousand times if he’d just look at her not as a friend, but as a woman. She violently squashed down that voice with an iron fist.

[Jessari]

"And who exactly do you think I'm going to blab to, Rob?" Talyc's voice rose as he threw his arms up. Burgundy hair brushed his forehead as he shook his head in frustration. "Is that even your name? Lemme guess, it's really Priscilla, or Susan, or something."

He dodged back as she spun on her heel, but not quick enough to avoid her tail. There was a thud as the thick, spiked tip impacted against his chest, and he thanked his lucky stars he'd left his chestplate on. He followed her, Cuyan in tow. "Where do you think you're going?" He laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Then the realization that she was female again pounded in his head, and he dropped his hand as if he'd been scalded. How exactly was he supposed to act around her now? His voice was no less angry as he spat, "How about trusting me? Oh wait. You apparently can't do that, can you? All this time I trusted you with Cuyan, you couldn't trust me with something like this? Thanks. Thanks a lot for that."

[MillietheWarrior]

“To…to who knows who! You’re a guy; guys like to talk about things like this over a beer. They don’t care if they hurt or slander someone. Your all alike. That’s why I couldn’t let you know I was a woman; how do you think everyone would’ve treated me? ‘Oh, poor little lady thinks she can fix my ship? That’s a man’s job.’ Or, ‘silly little girl, why don’t you let a man do this? It’s not a job for a delicate little gal like you.’ Do you know how often I heard that growing up and going through mechanic school?! Do you know how many days I just wanted to quit because no one believed I could be the best damn mechanic this side of Tattooine?”

She turned, her ear fins laying back on her head as she snarled at him. “My real name is Robin, not Priscilla or any of those nancy-fancy names. Geeze!” She huffed in exasperation. Men were all the same; they thought they knew everything, and then when they found out they didn’t, they got mad. Talyc was no better. “I’m going back to my hangar, thank you very much.” When his hand landed on her shoulder, she whipped her head around, ready to hiss at him, but saw the look on his face as he withdrew it as quickly as he’d reached out; like he’d been burnt. “See?!” she shouted.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about! I’m a woman. And obviously, you treat women differently than men. I’m still the same person I was, just…female now! And look at you! You don’t even know how to act around me, do you? This, this right here is what I was talking about. Do you see why I couldn’t take the chance? Because it would’ve messed everything up. You don’t know how many times I wanted to tell you, but each time, I was just…afraid of what your reaction would be. And here it is! I knew it. I’m a woman now, so I’m ‘different.’ Well? I’m right, aren’t I? You have no idea what to do now that you know I’m not ‘one of the guys.’”

[Jessari]

Talyc shoved his fingers through his hair. If he hadn't been so angry, he would've seen where she was coming from, but at the moment, he wasn't about to give her any sympathy. "Well, Robin," he spat, each syllable dripping with sarcasm, "if you're going to stereotype me as a typical guy, I guess I've got the right to treat you like a typical girl if I want to, don't I? If you hadn't been such a damned hut'uun and told me the truth right from the start, we wouldn't be in this shabla mess."

""My best friend just had a gender change, and you expect me to think of it as nothing? I don't know who you are any more," he said, his voice lessening in fervor for a moment as his dark eyes drifted away from her, something akin to sadness flickering through them before disappearing. Truth be told, he didn't think less of her mechanical skills with this new information, but he couldn't get over her lack of faith in him. "This isn't some little lie about the true color of your roots, or what you ate for breakfast, Rob, er, Robin. This is serious. I don't-"

He paused, then the anger seeped back in. "I can't even talk to you right now." He stomped down the path, headed towards the clearing that held her hanger and his means of escape.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Fine!” she shouted after him. The comment he’d thrown at her in Mando’a had hurt something fierce; it was the ultimate insult. Talyc had never dared to call her anything like that. “Just walk away then! I can see how well you’ve accepted who I am! Sorry I’m not perfect like everyone else in your amazingly perfect life. I have my flaws too, you know!” Robin stomped after him, suddenly horrified to feel angry tears stinging at her eyes. She wiped them away fiercely, snarling under her breath. Her hair whipped around her shoulders, the unaccustomed weight making it difficult to focus and move.

“You are a typical male! Just walk away instead of talking about the problem! Way to go, Talyc. Way to face the truth and man-up! God, if you’d just stopped to think about it, you’d see I was right. And…and who cares! How does this even change anything! I’m still me! Why can’t you accept that? Or is it you’d like me to pretend to be something I’m not for the rest of my life!” She stopped moving, and stomped her foot furiously. “It’s not fair! I can’t win no matter what I do! If I’m a guy, I can be one of the guys, and your friend and a convenient babysitter, and if I’m a girl, I’m treated differently and I lose half my business because of the male chauvinistic mindset and the fact that you don‘t want to be friends with a woman! What am I suppose to do? Would you have preferred I hid it until the day we both died?!”

The angry tears were back, pricking at her eyes and blurring her vision. She squeaked and hiccupped, absoloutely mortified when she felt a tear slip down her cheek. "And-and I am not a hut'uun!" she shouted finally, her voice cracking slightly at the end. "I...I didn't even mean for you to find out...At least not like this..."

[Jessari]

"That's not the point!" Talyc spun around to face her. Somewhere deep inside, he knew he'd stepped over a line with that insult, but he was determined not to care. "The point is that you've been lying to me for years, and if I hadn't found you out, you would've kept lying to me. Yeah, you're still you. You're still the person who lied to me repeatedly while making me think you were my friend. Friends don't lie to each other, Robin." He blew out a breath, crossing his arms. "I accepted your ears, tail, fangs and claws. What made you think I wouldn't accept this? When have I ever said that I'd refuse to be friends with a girl?"

Then came the tears. Just a few days past, he'd provoked Fianna to tears and had barely thought anything of it, but somehow watching Rob cry (Robin, he corrected himself), somehow that was different. Guilt found its way up through the cracks in his anger, softening his expression just slightly. "Aww, come on," he started, then stopped. If he tried to make her feel better, she'd probably just clobber him for treating her like a girl. What would he have done before? How would he have reacted to Rob tearing up?

He huffed out a sigh, not looking at her face but just over her shoulder. "Dunno if you'll believe me, but I won't tell anyone about your secret. If you lose any business, it won't be because of me." It wasn't an apology, and he was still upset, but it was the first sign he'd given that he was willing to be rational. "Just - just don't cry. Jeez."

[MillietheWarrior]

“I’m-I’m not crying!” she said angrily as a defiant tear traced it’s way down her cheek. “I-I don’t- I don’t cry!” She sniffed hard and wiped at her cheeks, smearing some of the sludge and oil from before, and effectively making herself look dirtier than she had. She felt like an idiot; a big, stupid, female idiot. With an air of wounded pride, she forcefully grabbed her bundle of curly hair and tied it back with a stray band she had in her pocket.

“I-I lied to…to keep you and I safe, okay? Would you believe me if I said that? I didn’t want any…weirdness between us to make things awkward. I liked being your friend, one of the guys you could just talk to without worrying. If I was a woman, you’d never have been as comfortable around me, and you very well know it. When have you ever been comfortable around women, besides when you pick them up in seedy cantinas for what I can only hope are one-night stands?”

She sniffed again, feeling the traitorous tears from her traitorous eyes begin to fall down her slightly traitorous cheeks. “I’m s-still your friend. At-at least I hope I am.” She rubbed at her eyes and cheeks with the heels of both hands, looking for all the world like a little girl who’s favorite doll was beheaded by a mean boy. “And I…believe you. Even if you were angry, I know you can keep a secret…but this is going to change everything between us!”