Private A Helping Hand

[Tess]

Lothal/Capital City​

17:30 local time​

A distress beacon had been picked up by her droid. A beacon that was rather worrisome. While flying through the Outer Rim she managed to pick up a message from none other than Cas. And he sounded like he went through hell.

Of course she couldn't simply leave him wherever he was so after tracking the signal she plotted a course for Lothal. It took some time to get there but she was at least there in quick enough succession. She entered the atmosphere and made her way towards the origin of the signal. In the distance she could see his figure on the ground and he looked as bad as he sounded. She landed her starfighter near him, holstered her pistol and hopped out. "Cas?!" she called out to see if he was actually still alive. She knelt beside him and looked him over. His arm was gone, his chest was carved up and he looked utterly broken.

"What happened?" she asked softly, not confident to touch him. "Stay here, I'm getting a medpack." she ordered as she rushed over to her ship. She rummaged through her luggage and found the pack, then rushed back to him. She carefully cleaned his chest off and sprayed the wounds with a bacta spray. "Who did this?" she asked coldly as she did the same to his arm. She wrapped his wounds with bandages for an extra layer then carefully helped him to his feet. "Come on, let's get you to a hospital." she said gently as she wrapped his good arm around her neck and her own arm around his waist to help him to her ship. It took some time to get him into the single-seated fighter, but they managed. Although he needed to take a seat on her lap which was a new experience. She carefully flew to the capital of the planet and worked quickly to get him to a hospital, where she let him go to be fixed up.

While the doctors took care of him, she took a seat in the waiting room. She knew he would be alright. This planet might be a backwater but its capital was really well developed. Her hands were in her lap and she sat patiently still for about an hour or so until the doctor finally came to her. They managed to fix him up and she was allowed to see him. She got up and walked to his room without hesitation, however by the door she carefully entered to look for him. He looked better at least, but the fact that his arm was missing was still quite a problem...and the butcher's work on his chest still stuck with her. She softly made her way to his bed and gently held his good hand, looking him over.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas had no idea how long he laid there for but every time he tried to sit up he'd just feel immense pain - but he hoped someone would come. When he saw a starfighter in the distance heading his way, he hoped... prayed that it was help and as it drew closer, he could sense something eerily familiar about the individual piloting the ship. It took him a few moments to eventually realise it was Tess he was sensing, what luck.

When she called out to him, he lifted his head off of the ground slightly to meet her. "Fancy seeing you here..." he attempted to joke before falling back onto the floor and grunting in pain. Once she returned with medical supplies and as she began patching him up he would answer her question "Was... a Sith Lord... I don't know what I was thinking..." he grunted at the pain once more, exhaling through gritted teeth. With what Tess managed to do, it certainly eased the pain he was in but it wasn't completely gone yet.

When she helped him up and to her starfighter, he'd weakly turn his head in her direction "Thank you..." the one-seated starfighter made things difficult... and cramped... and uncomfortable but luckily for them the journey was short. Once they got to the capital and he was given over to the doctors for treatment in the ICU, Cas was placed on a stretcher and as he stared at the blinding white lights on the ceiling, he finally allowed himself to fall unconscious.

********
​

The Padawan awakened, the first thing he saw was his feet in a blanket at the end of the bed, with his clothes folded up on a dresser opposite the bed. He turned to his right side to see Tess holding his right arm, he smiled weakly and was about to make a joke before he looked over to his left side, remembering his arm was gone. His smile quickly faded as a rush of thoughts entered his mind, his lightsaber was gone, his arm was gone, BB-5 was gone, he had failed. He sat up slightly, no longer feeling pain "Tess... I... how did you get here?" he asked, voice devoid of emotion.

Tess

 

[Tess]

When she saw him wake up, she gave him a small smile. She noticed the glint in his eye and hoped he could manage to get into that mindset, but of course he couldn't. It was no surprise, not after what he went through. He asked her an odd question, which earned him a raised eyebrow. "Heard a Sith distress beacon with your voice playing over it...that's more than enough reason to investigate." she explained simply. She squeezed his hand slightly as she gave him a look of sympathy. "Cas...what happened? Why did you go after a Sith Lord?" she asked him gently. "You're lucky you managed to get away from him before he could finish the job." she said as she looked at what remained of his arm.

"This hospital is good, though. They should be able to help you with a prosthetic." she said as she looked him in the eye again. Very carefully, she reached to his chest to move the bandages and check his wounds. The bacta spray and other medication was definitely helping out a ton. "It's almost fully healed." she reassured him with a gentle smile. "You should be able to be out and about in not time." she said as she leaned in to plant a kiss on his forehead and lips. "Which is good. Because I've missed you." she whispered with a wink, hoping she could get his mind off his failure for a bit.

"If you need anything, just ask. Alright?" she said as she straightened out again.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

He nodded once she had told him how she had managed to find him, although he stayed silent, he was still appreciative of her help but he couldn't show it. Cas then stared into space, face still emotionless until he felt Tess squeeze his hand slightly - he turned his head toward her slowly to answer her question, Cas shrugged "Idiocy. Mostly... I thought I was stronger than I was, could have been." he answered, he looked at the remainder of his left arm and stared at it "He let me live. He'll regret it." the broken Padawan threatened.

He continued staring at his arm when Tess mentioned a prosthetic replacement, as she did so, he envisioned using his replacement to choke the life out of the Sith Lord that did this to him - that ruined him. He had almost forgot about his chest scar until she moved his bandages to look at it, although it was good to hear that it was healing at least. Cas, unenthusiastic, reciprocated her kiss and gave her a weak smile "Mhmm. You too." he responded - he did miss her, but wasn't in the head space to tell her properly. He nodded again at her offer to get him anything he needed.

His attention was turned to the sound of a doctor entering his room, a Cerean man with a kind face and kind smile who was accompanied by a droid carrying a case looking the length of an arm "Hello, there. My name is Doctor Moradin, I'm here to fit you with a replacement for your arm." Cas simply nodded and beckoned him inside with his left arm, only to remember it was nothing more than a stub.

Moradin proceeded to look over his arm, "Your arm has been cut at the bicep, so most of his nerve endings were gone." he revealed apologetically, summoning over his medical droid he continued "Your replacement will be connected to the remainder of your arm via a synth-net neural interface that allows you to register feeling in your mechno-arm." Moradin explained with a smile. Cas nodded at every few words, listening to what he had to say.

With the explanation over and done with, Cas would undergo the cybernetic enhancements ready for his arm to be replaced.

Tess

 

[Tess]

She didn't know all that much about the Jedi...but sounding like he wanted revenge didn't sit right with her. Though she didn't want to bother him with concerns like that now, he was beaten down enough already. She didn't say anything for a while. She wasn't sure what to say. So instead she held his hand tightly and offered a small smile.

The moment was interrupted with a doctor entering the room. Tess looked up at him then back to Cas before taking a step back to give them some room. She listened to the doctor's explanation, and had to admit that she was rather relieved when he explained that there was still something to work with. As the modifications begun, Tess proceeded to hold his hand again to try and support him. She figured it would be uncomfortable, but even if it wasn't she was sure he'd appreciate the gesture. She wasn't sure how long it would take, but she was definitely not going to leave his side in this time.

When the procedure finally ended, Tess let go of his hand and leaned in to look the arm over. "It looks...nice!" she said gently as she looked at him. Though in all honesty, she really didn't know how to cheer him up. Not now, at least. "If nothing is needed, I'm going to look for something to drink." she said softly and turned to leave. The situation was awkward beyond saving now. Maybe a small break would help clear the air and allow her to take assessment of the situation. She reached a vending machine and paid for a simple soda, though while she waited she thought some things through. She had to try and get his mind out of this dark spot it was in, otherwise she was losing her Jedi informant. Having an exiled Jedi wouldn't be useful for anything...though it might allow him to stick with her a bit more. A rather comfortable idea in her opinion...but that also didn't sit right. No, helping him back to his former chipper self was the best option.

She finally returned after a few minutes with her drink in hand. She stood by the door and looked at him. "How is it?" she asked as she approached him. She moved to the side of his cybernetic arm and glided her hand over it. But with a smile she wrapped her fingers around the new hand and gave it a squeeze. "You remind me of an old Jedi I heard about that also lost his arm during the Clone Wars. Guy was a hero." she said to him as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. "I think you look awesome." she muttered. She probably sounded like a total karking idiot...but she was doing anything she could to try and cheer him up.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

As the medical droid began the modifications, he felt discomfort, wincing slightly, but luckily no more pain than he experienced when it was first severed. Tess held his hand throughout the whole process which he appreciated, flashing her a weak smile to let her know that he did even though he couldn't find the words to say it. He really appreciated what she had done for him.

After Force knows how long, the procedure was finally over. He gave his new mechno-arm a look over, it felt... strange, it added slightly more weight to him than his organic arm ever did and it was difficult for him to move it. Feeling slightly frustrated over it, Tess quickly interjected, complimenting him on the replacement - he saw what she was trying to do, but it wasn't that easy. Once she left, he attempted to move his fingers - the response time was faster than he expected, prompting a look of surprise. "It's jarring at first, I understand but you will get used to it after time. We'd like to keep you here for some weeks so you can get used to your replacement." Moradin requested, he nodded in response "Thank you."

With a nod from Moradin, he and the medical droid left Cas to his devices. With the use of his mechno-arm, Cas tried to placed it on the bed, placing his weight on it in an effort to try and get out of bed but he simply fell on it. Lifting himself up with his shoulder, Cas would repeat the process but with his organic arm. Getting out of bed, he approached the hospital room window and stared out of it before raising his new arm, with difficulty, and staring at it it was a physical reminder of his flaws, faults and failure. He didn't even want to look at his bandaged chest.

Before she even spoke, Cas could sense her presence at the door. "I'll get used to it." he responded plainly, eyes still locked on the world outside his window. He felt her fingers interlace with his new hand, causing him to look down at their interlocked hands, her fingers and hand were warm and soft... like they always were, he was happy he could still feel that. He knew exactly who she was talking about from the Order's history lessons, snickering through his nostrils "Thanks."

Cas stared at the floor for a moment, taking a deep inhale. He turned to look at Tess "I want us to be something more than what we are..." he blurted out, although his face was serious "This... we aren't serious, and you could have shown that by bailing on me... but you didn't." he bit his lip, face deep in thought "You may not act like it, but I know you're scared of getting too close or you just don't want to. But there's something more here. I know there is." he didn't know where all this was coming from, whether it was related to his fragile state or something else... but all he knew right now was that he wanted Tess and nothing else.

Tess

 

[Tess]

They stood by the window, enjoying the view of Lothal's plains. Or at least he was. Tess was simply enjoying the fact that he wasn't constantly stuck on what happened.

Then came the surprise.

She glanced at him as he started to speak, but tensed up slightly when she processed what he said. "Cas...?" she started, but fell quiet as he spoke further. She looked him in the eye as he commented on her fear of getting closer to him. She could tell he was being quite serious. She looked at the window then back to him, releasing a sigh. "You're right. I don't. In my line of work, getting close to people means making yourself vulnerable. A means for your enemies to hurt you. Getting close to people is a huge risk." she admitted, looking away for a second. She looked at his arm, then his chest, then his eyes. For several moments she stared at him as she contemplated her decisions. She took a deep breath and released it when she reached her decision.

"But you can take care of yourself. You're not just a random guy. You're a Jedi." she commented, turning to face him. Her hand gently took hold of his cybernetic replacement and held on as she took a step closer to him. "But like I said on Zeltros. I'm not good with relationships. We'll probably have to take it slow at the start." she commented with a smile as she leaned in to kiss him on the lips. Her other hand wrapped around his waist as she held him close. "Or something...I don't know." she muttered as she caught her breath, then kissed him further. Her hand gradually moved along his waist towards his groin. But she immediately stopped and pulled away when the door opened. Luckily it was only the janitor coming to empty the room's bins before moving along.

She glanced at him then back to the door before releasing a giggle. "Let's wait with that first." she said softly, more to herself than him. But she made up for the blunder as she took his hand again and gave him a smile. "Something more, huh? I'm putting my faith in your judgement on this, master Jedi." she teased as she led him back to the bed and gestured for him to get back on, before sitting down beside him.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

He watched as she spoke to him, he could tell through her body language that she was taken aback by what he said. Cas could also sense the slight conflict within Tess, just before she explained to him why she didn't usually let herself grow too affectionate for anyone. He wouldn't lie... he was growing more and more attached to Tess but he was willing to accept any answer she would give him.

When she kissed him, which he reciprocated by gently placed his flesh hand on her cheek while he used his cybernetic one to hold her hand. Cas kissed her neck tenderly once she broke the kiss to speak to him again. Things would have gotten friskier but they were interrupted by a janitor, once he had left - a smirk crept on his face at them almost getting caught "Knocking goes along way." he muttered, a hint of his humour returning.

Cas would follow her and sit on the bed beside her. Getting a slight hand of his new arm, he moved it over her and placed it on top of Tess' own hand, holding it gently as he could - Cas looked her in her pale eyes "I won't let you down. I promise." he said seriously before leaning in and kissing her softly. After a few moments and sensing no one nearby, he would pull away and begin kissing her neck with each kiss gravitating toward her collarbone. As he did so, he would place his right arm on her upper thigh, caressing it, and use his left to hold himself up. Cas used his kisses to tenderly lower her onto the bed and began helping her unzip her white jumpsuit...

*******​

A few weeks of physiotherapy and getting used to his replacement would pass, and with his bill paid for by the Order - Cas was discharged and was in perfect health. However, his mental and spiritual recovery was a whole other story. As he stared at the world ready for him, he raised his cybernetic arm and glanced at it once more "I'm... I'm not ready to go back yet..." he said begrudgingly, rubbing the back of his neck "Lothal's known for its Kyber crystal cave... and I need a new lightsaber, so...?" Cas glanced at Tess, hinting at what he was getting at.

Tess

 

[Tess]

She smiled gently at his words and reciprocated the kiss warmly. However a giggle escaped her as he kissed her neck. "You're going to get us in trouble." she muttered, though she did nothing to stop him. Instead she turned her head to give him more access. She wiggled out of her leather jacket and slowly lowered herself onto the bed, though she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him along before starting to loosen the silly hospital gown...

**********​

No matter how long it took, Tess stuck with him. She kept herself busy with things around town and worked well to sell her appearance as a type of law enforcement acting as a private investigator. Apparently Lothal had more than its fair share of domestic secrets. But no matter how many jobs she had of husbands wanting to spy on their wives or other pathetic cases, she was always close by and ready to pick him up from his therapy. She managed to get them a room to rent for the time they were staying on Lothal, making staying for a while quite convenient.

Finally they received the word from the doctor. Cas was free to go and she was right there beside him to brave this new direction his life had taken. Though it seemed that Cas wasn't ready to leave just yet...

Tess glanced at him curiously as he started to talk. He mentioned needing a new lightsaber and his drawn out conclusion indicated he wanted her along. "You want me to go with you?" she asked with surprise. "I mean...of course I will go with you but...is it legal?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow. "If your order isn't going to have issues with me going into these caves then I'll be with you all the way." she said with a smile as she sneakily took hold of his free hand to give it a squeeze. "Let's go get you that crystal." she said and started to walk to the apartment. "Are we going to need a speeder or are we flying to this cave? Do you know where to find these caves, by the way?" she asked him as she walked, looking around before glancing back at him.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

A mischievous smirk crept on his face as he gave Tess a sideways glance "I'll make it legal." he joked. He would then give her a serious answer however, assuring her "Don't worry, they'll never know." shrugging off the whether the Order had issues or not, he was a troublemaker regardless. Cas would follow suit as Tess made her way to her apartment, walking alongside her as she spoke to him - Cas placed his hands in his jacket pockets and relaxed his shoulders, thinking on what the best method of getting there would be.

"Not exactly..." Cas said in response to Tess' question about knowing where to go "I may know where to start though..." Cas paused, "... the ruins where you found me, if any crystals are nearby it'll be there." he revealed. Returning to her first question, he would answer "Speeders. Not that I don't mind sitting on your lap, your starfighter gets a little cramped."

On the way to Tess' apartment, he wondered how fancy she had made it to be - seeing as he'd been stuck at the hospital for so long, he never had the chance to see it. Then he fell quiet, falling into even deeper thought - he wouldn't be able to hide forever, as much as he was too ashamed to return to Kashyyyk, he knew he had to face the music at some point... and deep down, he knew he deserved it for his arrogance. During his time in physio, Cas had time to reflect on himself and his actions and came to the conclusion he had to grow up and act like a man, a Jedi, now more than ever.

Upon reaching Tess' Lothal apartment complex, he quickly noted that the interior and its lobby were well off, it didn't look ridiculously fancy but is well-kept. For a moment, Cas pondered how she could afford all of these different apartments on various planets before remembering - she was a spy, they were either paid for, or she was paid enough to rent it herself. Impressive nonetheless. Finally, Cas was led to the outside of Tess' apartment door and as she unlocked it, his curiosity grew to see what it looked like on the inside.

Tess

 

[Tess]

She chuckled at his little joke before giving a smile. "Then yes, I'm tagging along." she assured him. As they walked, he pondered over the various questions. He suggested a speeder trip back to the temple where she found him, making her raise an eyebrow. "That's going to take an entire day, you know. A speeder isn't as quick as a starfighter." she voiced her concern. She slid an arm around him and hugged him close. "Not that I mind camping out with you." she said with a smile.

The walk to the apartment was a calm and quiet one. Tess had hooked her arm around his and enjoyed the views around them. The first pointer of the apartment's looks was the fact that they weren't in a bad part of town. The second was that the complex looked well taken care of. And when they reached the door, Tess opened it with a key card. The apartment was quite clearly an expensive one. Tess led him inside and dropped her jacket on the back of a nearby couch. "I figured that if we're staying her for a while, I might as well rent a proper one." she admitted over her shoulder before taking a deep breath. She turned and walked back to him, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a deep kiss. "Good to be home?" she asked him softly before letting go. "Since we're going to be out for a while, I figure we can take a day or two to get everything we need and finalize any other business we have...well, me rather." she suggested as she dropped onto a couch. "I did some P.I. work around town while you were in rehab. I just need to wrap one case up then I'm done." she explained to him, stretching out on the couch.

She turned to glance at him. "What do you think? Take a day or two, or get out there as quickly as possible? My case can wait, you don't need to worry about that. It's not nearly as important as your situation." she asked, sitting upright to look at him.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"Yeah, I know..." Cas responded softly "I... just..." he continued, only to stop. Truth be told he couldn't find the words, nor did he know why he wanted to take a slower route with the speeders - something within him just wanted to chew up Lothal's scenery, did the Force have anything to do with this?

*******
​

The moment Tess opened the doors to (their?) apartment, his eyes widened in awe. Cas followed her inside, scanning the contents of the room with every step he took further inside. "Impressive... most impressive." Cas uttered, Tess really did not disappoint - he was half tempted to just stay in this comfortable looking apartment for the rest of his life to be honest. Placing his jacket next to hers, Cas wrapped his arms around Tess and reciprocated the deep kiss she had planted on him, "It's great." he smiled, staring into her pale eyes.

Cas stayed standing as Tess plopped onto the couch and listened to what she had to say, smiling at the fact she had kept herself busy over the past few weeks - Tess suited the P.I. role well... maybe if she ever decided to settle down she could find a career in that. It was just a thought. Cas then proceeded to look at, and wiggle his cybernetic fingers "I'm in no rush... solve your case. Besides, I need to get something to cover this up." lowering his cybernetic arm, he turned to Tess and wandered to the couch and sat beside her "Not in the mood to have people stare at this." he waved his mechno-arm at her casually before lowering it again. Not very subtly, the Padawan then stretched his arm over the back of the couch and around Tess' shoulder "So, what's this case all about?" he asked, kissing her cheek.

*******
​

A couple days passed as Tess wrapped up some prior businesses, Cas managed to purchase a leather glove to cover his cybernetics and avert drawing attention to himself. He also had spent the two days attempting to meditate, trying to heal his connection to the Force, while he hadn't mentioned it to Tess yet... since undergoing the trauma from the Sith Lord he encountered, he noticed his connection to the Force was slightly weakened because of it. Cas lie sat in the centre of the apartment, meditating as he waited for Tess to return from whatever it was she was doing.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Cas mentioned wanting to get a glove for his new hand, receiving a glance at it from her. She wanted to tell him not to worry about it but she knew that some people did find it uncomfortable, not that she could recall people being uncomfortable by a cybernetic hand. Though convincing him to leave it open wouldn't go down well. Thankfully the conversation moved on and soon picked up speed as he planted a kiss on her neck. She chuckled and placed a hand on his inner thigh. "I think you're more concerned about something other than the case I'm working on." she accused, giving him a light pinch on the thigh before turning her body to kiss him on the lips...

**********​

Day had passed since he got discharged. Their things were ready, her case was closed, the money was received. All that was left was to pack their bags, hop into a speeder and get going. She was walking through the street with a bag of groceries for the trip under her arm and a chocolate bar in her hand. However upon reaching the apartment she would glimpse into a window to see Cas meditating in the living room. An idea crept into her mind as she decided to sneak up on him. "Sneak up" being quite literally breaking into her own apartment and trying to scare him. She wanted to see how aware a Jedi was and just how sneaky she could be in a place like this. So after stashing their things in a safe place she got to a window and carefully opened it. Quietly sneaking through, she picked up the bag of groceries and silently brought it through the window then placed it on the ground of their bedroom.

She took full advantage of the carpeting, quietly sneaking through the house and behind him. She took slow steps, avoiding making a noise while curling her left hand into a finger gun. If she managed to evade his senses, she would kneel behind him, curl one hand around his head to cover his mouth and press her 'gun' against his side. "Bang. You're out." she would mutter to him before letting go and retreating with a giggle.

Of course, there was plenty of room for this trick to go wrong...

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Fine, keep your secrets." he said in a playful eye roll. It must have been some client confidentiality... or maybe she just didn't want to talk about work, which was also fair. Turning his head to meet hers, he reciprocated her kiss...

********​

For someone like Cas, meditating was a struggle - he was a physical person and lacked the interest in strengthening his spiritual side. As an active person, it was even more difficult for him to sit in one place for too long and do nothing but regulate his breathing. This meditation was a task in itself, but still, he knew he had to fix his connection to the Force.

During the meditation he sensed a familiar presence... after a brief moment of figuring out who it could be, he realised it was none other than Tess. Normally, he'd be able to pinpoint the signature quickly but currently, he really had to focus on who or what he could sense. After figuring out it was her, he simply just assumed that she had returned home and paid no attention to it, in turn returning his focus to the meditation.

Then he felt a hand press against his mouth, this wasn't Tess? Cas prepared to quickly push his attacker back with the Force before stopping himself once he heard Tess' voice. It was her idea of a joke. Frustrated, Cas quickly stood up and turned to her with an expression conveying his anger "What the hell, Tess?!" he called out, fists clenched tightly and at his sides "Don't sneak up on me like that! I could've hurt you, badly!" Cas exclaimed in blatant frustration before turning his back to her, taking a few steps forward before stopping and placing his hands on his side.

The Padawan hung his head low and sighed, he wasn't mad at her... he was mad at himself, the reason he was even in this state was because of him. Inhaling, his voice turned soft "I'm sorry." he said quietly "Ever since... y'know... I've been on edge, my connection to the Force is off, my arm's gone, my lightsaber's gone. I'm just not myself." Cas explained in an apologetic tone.

Pinching the bridge of his nose with his flesh hand, he sighed once more before and attempted to change the topic. Turning his head to look at her "Let me know when you're ready to go." then making his way to the bedroom to slip on his hoodie and jacket.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Understandably, Cas didn't exactly find it funny. He exploded and Tess took a step back, holding her hands up and backing off to give him some space. "I was just trying to pull a prank! I'm sorry!" she explained calmly, not raising her voice or anything. Truth be told, she doubted he'd be able to hurt her, but she kept that ho herself.

She lowered her hands and watched him intently, listening to him as he started to speak again. "It's not your fault, Cas." she said with a casual smile. "I should have known better than to break into our own apartment. Just figured you'd see me coming before I even got close." she continued, slowly walking towards him. She wanted to reach out and pull him into a hug, but he walked off to the bedroom. She watched him go. She thought for a second then followed after him. From behind she wrapped her arms around him and simply held him for a few seconds. "Hey, it's gonna be fine. Okay? You hit a rough spot, maybe even rock bottom. Look at it like this, though. The only place left to go is up." she explained gently before letting go and turning him around to face her. "We're on our way to get you a new saber, so you can check that box. You got a funky new arm that we can do all kinds of things with, so check that one too." she continued, giving a mischievous smirk.

"So all that's left is to get your mojo back. And given what I know about Jedi, you're likely not going to have much of a choice with that problem. Now, are we going to get packed, get distracted and get away probably only tomorrow afternoon or are we going to keep going back and forth about all this and why it doesn't help being upset over it?" she asked him, putting on a fake tone of authority while placing her hands on her hips in a sad attempt at looking intimidating.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas, wearing his hoodie, leaned forward on the windowsill with his head hung low and reflected on what had just happened. Mostly, what he felt was embarrassment and shame - embarrassment because as a Jedi, he was supposed to be above such outbursts and shame for going off at Tess. She was mature enough to understand why but he still felt guilty nonetheless.

Footsteps approached and Cas prepared to face her again - then he felt her arms wrap around him and all of his negative thoughts and feelings washed away in an instant. Taking a relaxed breath, he remained in position but listened to what the pale eyed woman had to say. She was probably right, nothing worse could happen right now... well, a lot could but that was just negative thinking, he complied and allowed her to turn him around to face her. Averting his gaze from her, he stared at the ground as she continued to pep talk him.

Once she finished, a smirk crept on his face, she really knew how to flip a situation around. Now allowing himself to fix his gaze onto her, he shrugged "You're right." he conceded, placing the palm of his cybernetic hand onto his face "Of course you are." Cas continued, he laughed through his nose at the current pose she was in - that prissy fake authority she was putting on couldn't have been farther from who she really was.

Standing slightly taller, he held both of her hands gently and deeply kissed her before breaking away "As great as getting 'distracted' would be right about now... we really have to go." he paused, biting his lip slightly before releasing her hands and placing his palm on his chest "I really have to do this." Cas confessed in a serious tone of voice. With that, Cas passed her and went for his jacket in the closet before finding his leather glove and sliding it onto his cybernetic hand, effectively covering it from any and all prying eyes.

********​

Once the two had packed everything they needed, Cas would let Tess guide him to where the speeder was located. Placing a rucksack full of equipment on his back, Cas would hop onto the speeder and get accustomed to the controls before departing. As a pilot, this was really what he needed right now, the therapeutic feeling of driving through the Lothal plains with the wind flowing through his hair - he couldn't wait.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Her hard gaze broke and she let har hands be taken by him. She looked up at him and gave a soft smile. He decided against the usual distractions and she nodded. "Okay then, let's get packing." she said softly, letting go of his hands and giving him a quick kiss before moving on. Out of the corner of her eye she watched him slip the glove on. "We need to get you something more stylish, though. Before we leave this planet. Because that glove really doesn't sit well on you." she teased, walking past him and calmly sliding the glove off before he could stop her and rushing off with it.

**********​

Their things were packed, the speeder was ready and everything was sorted. All that was left was to get going. Tess slipped on her beanie and buttoned up her heavy jacket, giving it a tug to compensate for her shoulder holster, then locked the apartment. With everything set she dropped her bag into a storage compartment and slid into the passenger seat behind Cas, sliding on a pair of aviators. She took a moment to take the wind into account and quickly tied her hair into a bun. "All set." she quipped, wrapping her arms around him. She would have preferred to be the driver, but he seemed very excited to drive. So she relaxed, got comfortable and enjoyed the view as he blasted off to their destination.

A few miles out of the city, though, Tess would let go of him. "Slow down a little, something's up." she called out to him, fishing out her datapad. A nearby signal was being picked up. A ship's emergency signal. She seemingly blinked in surprise and brought the datapad up in front of him. "I'm picking up an emergency signal. Wanna go check it out?" she asked him, figuring he'd say yes. Upon investigation, though, they'd come across the wreck of Cas' starfighter. Still in the astromech socket was his beloved droid, no longer active but still in decent shape. She would let go of him and give a look of surprise. "The hell happened here? Where's the pilot?" she asked rhetorically, taking a few cautious steps closer.

Truth be told, her look of surprise was utter garbage right now. But she wasn't going for a stellar act now.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Cas asked, sounding slightly offended - he really dug the glove he had purchased, not to mention the knuckles would've done some serious damage to enemies, preferably the Sith Lord. Then she blindsided him again, snatching the glove and running off with it "Tess!" he called out in surprise before running off after her.

********
​

Leaning forward slightly, he looked forward and smiled at Tess' quip before firing up the speeder and and blasted off to where they needed to go. This was great, as his hair flowed in the wind he closed his eyes and smiled softly, allowing his instincts to guide him - that and the only way they were going was straight as they sped through the Lothal plains. Ah he drove through the plains, he also reached out to the Force, attempting to feel a trace of any Kyber crystals nearby and in-turn the caves.

As the couple had been a few miles out of the city, she let go of him and asked him to slow down which he complied with. Turning his head to her slightly "What is it?" she showed him what was coming up on her datapad, explaining that she picked up an emergency signal. Cas' eyes widened once he saw what was onscreen... could it be...? Without even saying a word, his face contorted in focus as he immediately drove the speeder towards the coordinates on Tess' datapad. As the wreck of a starfighter came into view, it confirmed his suspicions, Cas parked just a few metres away from the wreck and he and Tess stepped off the bike.

The destroyed starfighter was his, Cas' face fell cold and expressionless as he wandered closer. In the astromech socket lie BB-5 and as he stood over it, he silently clenched his fists placing his knuckles on either side of the astromech socket and leaning over it. He shook slightly. "Pilot's right here." he answered emotionless, referring to himself. He couldn't believe the Sith actually went through with it, or could he? "Damn him. Force damn him to hell." he muttered quietly.

Cas knew BB-5 was just an astromech to some people, but to Cas he was more than that, the droid was a trusted ally, a good friend. To see him like this stirred the Padawan up inside greatly. Fists still clenched, he straightened up and turned to Tess "This starfighter, this BB unit, belonged to me. The bastard destroyed it." turning to the remains of BB-5 "He couldn't get the distress signal out in time." Cas revealed, albeit regrettably. Unsure if the astromech was beyond saving, the Kiffar stated "I know he's 'just a droid' but I can't leave him here." sorrow in his voice. Cas also realised that the site of the ruins was not far from here...

Tess

 

[Tess]

Tess glanced at him when he spoke, a look of sympathy in her eyes as she watched him inspect the wreckage. She listened as he explained what happened and slowly closed the distance between them. When he faced her and mentioned the droid, she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "I get it. We're not leaving him behind, I promise." she said gently, glancing at the droid for a moment before looking at Cas again. "I know a thing or two about droids, I can take a look at him and see what's left. He looks in decent shape still. Maybe all he needs is a jumpstart then he's back in action." she said with an optimistic smile.

She walked over to the droid and looked him over before looking back to Cas. "Only problem is where he's gonna sit. We don't have room on the speeder for him as well..." she fell quiet for a moment then gave a shrug. "Actually we do. I'll keep him on my lap, no worries. He's light enough for that." she assured him before standing up.

"Let's hunker down here for a bit, get comfortable. I'll start working on him and you can get some snacks out for us." she said before focusing on the droid. She stood over the socket, squatted down and lifted the broken droid out of the socket with a grunt. She placed it on the ground next to the wreckage and walked back to the speeder to fish out a toolkit to start removing some panels. After a few minutes of stripping components she pulled out a burnt-out circuit board. "Everything else looks fine. He might have a hitch in his step until we can replace these dented panels but other than that this is the only problematic part. His board got fried." she tossed it aside and sat back, looking around for a bit before glancing at the cockpit. She didn't know anything about ships, but she was willing to bet that somewhere in that cockpit was something she could use.

She got up and hopped into the cockpit for a look around the place. "Hey Cas. How much do you know of starfighters?" she asked him as she lifted up some loose panels to get a look inside the consoles.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"Thank you..." he said softly as he gently rubbed the head of BB-5. Hope was sprung back into him when Tess revealed that there was a possibility BB-5 could be repaired, if this were possible, it would lighten the burden of his humiliating defeat and failure. Although, he questioned how the astromech managed to survive the explosion... did he have some kind of plan of survival? Curious.

Cas looked Tess over sympathetically before looking back at BB-5 "Are you sure? You've already done so much..." he asked hesitantly, he felt guilty that she had done so much for him and feeling like he couldn't give anything in return - that and he'd been so cold and distant from her these past few weeks, he was there physically but he knew that she knew he wasn't all there emotionally.

Still, he nodded in compliance and accompanied her back to the speeder and remained behind once she left with the toolkit. Opening the compartment at the back, he zipped open Tess' bag and pulled out snacks that they both would like; two packs of Frag Snack chips, bofa treats and chandad - he figured he'd save the more filling stuff for later on tonight. How much stuff did she have in here? A woman's ability to store things in compact spaces was a superpower in itself. After gathering up the snacks, he returned to Tess who was now in the cockpit of his derelict starfighter.

The Kiffar handed her a bit of everything, before answering her question "I know a bit." he looked inside the cockpit to see what she was doing - putting two and two together, he looked back at her and raised a curious eyebrow "You reckon there could be something in here to replace BB's circuit-board?" returning his gaze to the cockpit.

Tess