Hi-Chew (D6, EM)

[Phoebe Wren]

"Well it's a face only a mother could love," she chuckled, and scratched her nose, leaving a grey stain on it.

"But I meant the face you make when people call you Breaker."

[Axel Ward]

The tease got a strange reaction. Axel glanced away a moment, his expression bland. His eyes seemed strange, almost shifty. Nervous? "Yeah, right." He muttered, chuckling hollowly.

Looking back, Axel chuckled softly at the grease on Phoebe's nose. "Hey, Pheebs. You got..." He hesitated a moment, then waved vaguely at his own face. Well, if she couldn't get it, he could help her easily enough...

"Oh. That." Axel grunted, then shrugged. "Well, that nickname came from my first boss. The special scumbag." He chuckled, shaking his head. "I dunno. That's just not me anymore. Or I'm trying, anyway. I made quite a mess outta the borders, though."

[Phoebe Wren]

"Huh?" seeing him gesturing to his face she knew something was up, so utilizing the ever-so-versatile back of her hand she got down to rubbing her face. It removed most of the grease-spot, so now it was just a faint smudge rather than an obvious stain.

She didn't stop to ask if it was better, since it was more important to listen to Axel speak right now. "Ok... that seems fine. Not being that person anymore, I mean. So... maybe we should call you something else instead?"

[Axel Ward]

Axel grimaced, shaking his head. "You're never gonna get it that way." Snatching up a cloth, he stepped forward. Carefully, and perhaps surprisingly gently, he brushed at the smudge, wiping it up.

"Different nickname, huh?" He said as he worked. He chuckled. "What do you think? Go the opposite direction? Fluffy? Or maybe an animal, like yours. Womp-rat?"

[Phoebe Wren]

Phoebe rolled her eyes as Axel insisted on helping her, but didn't put up a protest. Pretty much seemed like she had gone through this before with someone much rougher with putting her in her place if she didn't comply.

Maybe all Mandalorian mothers were as fierce as the Laerrin Matriarch.

"Fluffy?!" she laughed. "That doesn't sound like you. Womp-rat, maybe? Scruffy? Nerf?" she tossed out some of the ideas coming to her head. "Scruffy sounds more accurate than Fluffy."

[Axel Ward]

Apparently satisfied, Axel tucked the cloth away. "Best I could do." He smirked.

Stepping back, he made a face at her. "Scruffy? Nerf? You're killin' me, Wren!" Chuckling, he shook his head. "Riza likes calling me 'Killer'. That's going in the wrong direction, I think."

Scratching his beard, Axel looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Is this just your way of saying you think I should shave?" Actually, he probably could use a trim, hair and beard both.

[Phoebe Wren]

She laughed a little, but was also making a bit of a face herself as he called her Wren.

"Yeah, maybe?" she managed to grin slightly. "Dunno what the ladies here like though. Rose and Riza strike me as the types to like a clean-shaved man. Orella too I guess. Kairi... hmm... she probably prefers 'em scruffy-lookin'."

[Axel Ward]

Axel's eyebrows drew up. "Don't like Wren?" Belatedly, it occurred to him that his habit of calling everyone by their last name might not be appreciated by someone with a complicated family history.

"Hah." Axel stroked his beard. "Well, I'll keep that in mind if I'm trying to impress the ladies around here. Guess by the numbers, I should be shaving, huh? Unless I wanted to impress Kairi."

His eyebrows went up again. "But you left one out. How do you like your guys?" Axel smirked, his tone decidedly teasing.

[Phoebe Wren]

"It's... complicated," she said, bobbing her hand a little as she kind of tried to reach for the way to explain it. "It's my family name, I was born with it. But... I dunno, I guess it's just not who I really am. And being here, to become part of this clan, it's strange to cling to it still."

Taking a step back Phoebe brushed her bangs away from her forehead. "My tastes though? A woman doesn't just share that freely about herself. That's the rules."

[Axel Ward]

"Huh." Axel said. "Okay." He gave her a nod. "Well hey, you're not gonna call me Breaker anymore, I can not call you Wren."

"The rules?" Axel chuckled. "I've never heard of that rule. But okay, it's your rule, that's fine." He raised his hands. "I got it."

There was a short pause, as he studied her with narrowed eyes. "It's clean-shaved, isn't it?"

[Phoebe Wren]

"Yeah, the rules. Like, you don't ask a woman about her size or weight, and a woman doesn't answer questions about personal preferences directly." Not that they were actual rules - rather more convenient excuses to not answer them.

She narrowed her eyes in return. "It's not really important, okay?" Phoebe grumped and started to pack up her toolkit.

[Axel Ward]

Axel raised his hands again. "Hey. Alright. Sorry. I didn't mean anything. I'm just being a poodoohead. Won't happen again, I promise."

He considered a moment. "Well... this way, anyway." Some things were harder to change than others.

[Phoebe Wren]

"Yeah, you're a real poodoo-head," she agreed with a huff though with a smile. It seemed her temper was cooled already.

[Axel Ward]

"Geez, Pheebs. Scruffy, nerf, poodoo-head? You're really giving me all you got today, huh?" He was chuckling, and a smile of his own was flickering across his lips.

"I mean, you're not wrong." Axel shrugged, still smiling. "I'm just really hoping that none of those nicknames stick, y'know?"

[Phoebe Wren]

"Oh don't you worry, I got a lot more of them, and I haven't even started on the things I could call you in Mando'a," she turned her head over her shoulder to look at Axel and stick her tongue out at him.

"Don't know how much of those Coryn has covered for you yet."

[Axel Ward]

The stuck-out tongue got a rare laugh from Axel.

"Hah. You know me, and you know him." Axel chuckled. "Damn right he's teaching me all the swears."

He shook his head. "Gotta give it to ya, Mandalorians really know how to curse. I'm not surprised." He shrugged. "Soldiers are the best at cursing, and it seems like they're all soldiers. Or... warriors." Axel frowned. He still wasn't totally clear on the difference.

[Phoebe Wren]

"We're all warriors. That means you too, ok?" she nudged him with her elbow as she finished packing up her tools.

"Just keep your head on straight, and you'll continue to be part of this, you hear me."

[Axel Ward]

Axel chuckled at the nudge. "Yeah. Okay. I'll follow your lead." He gave her one of his narrowed-eyed looks. "Even after meeting all the others, I still don't know anyone who's as Mandalorian as you. Even Kairi." He gave her a solemn nod.

He grunted. "Well, maybe Traya. Don't know if I could've taken a hit like that. Damn." He shook his head.

[Phoebe Wren]

That was the kind of compliment that caught her really off-guard, but it was also the kind of compliment someone like Phoebe wanted the most to hear.

So there was a moment of stunned silence, before she gave a genuine smile along with a dip of her head. "Geez... thanks, Axel. That means a lot for me to hear, you know. Like..." she paused, taking a deep breath.

"Thanks."

[Axel Ward]

Axel's smile was surprisingly gentle. "Hey, I'm glad. And I mean it, you know. You know I'm not afraid to tell someone what I think about them."

He lifted up his hand, fist out, towards her. He waited expectantly.