Private And All the Rest

[Corazona von Ascania]

Well, yes, that did make sense. Even if Makko had a genuine excuse, Cora's jealousy had nowhere else to go.

The mention of literal rocket launchers and bombs was enough for her to be momentarily sidetracked. The blue haired girl had caused some sort of explosion during their training exercise, so her owning artillery did track.

Cheeks puffed out in a pout, Cora abruptly pulled her hand away and tucked it awkwardly under her arm. She felt silly and awkward, but was unwilling to back down.

"Oh come now, you wouldn't have died." She bit, lacking a proper comeback.

"Whatever. It's fine."

The image, however brief it had been, of Makko holding onto the waist of another woman had riled her. Cora was uncomfortable with what this said about her and her feelings for Makko.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Wouldn't have..."

He opened his mouth to say more and promptly closed it. His own hand slowly pulled back across the table.

Part of him wanted to spit: It's clearly not fine!

In another setting, in private, they could have worked this through to the end. When they got frustrated they eventually got around to explaining how they felt, even if it was a meandering path with a few stops along the way to get there.

Makko strummed his fingers on the table before picking up another piece of bread.

"I mean...it would have been quite a big fall. You'd have looked after me if I'd broken a leg though," said the chancer, smiling as he dipped his bread.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Blonde eyebrows arched as he joked. Cora watched Makko carefully for a few moments, finally unfolding her arms.

She too, reached for the bread. Because it was there and she liked it, not because he had resumed eating and she was reminded that it existed. Obviously. Tearing the corner from a piece with her fingers, she popped it into her mouth, forgoing the oil for now. Some of the tension bled from her shoulders as she chewed thoughtfully.

"Looked after you? There's not much I could do for a broken leg." She muttered with muted humor. Cora swirled another chunk of bread in the oil this time.

"I suppose I would have visited you at the medbay in that case."

"…someone has to yell at you for being careless."

A smile tried to break through her stern expression, twitching at her lips. Her head canted to the side.

"Though, some Jedi can speed up healing using the Force. I've never done it, but you breaking your leg would have presented the perfect opportunity for practice."

With her luck, she'd probably end up breaking his other leg in the process.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"I think I was more anglin' for helping my limp outta that warehouse and then give me lots of sympathy. Not, you know, experiment on me and then shout at me."

He laughed. Laughed as much as he felt was polite at the dinner table. This wasn't her high end dining, but it still wasn't a bar that served drunk people snacks and pizza.

Normally when they came at something from opposing angles they accelerated into the collision. It was frustrating and then it was satisfying in how they escalated. This time they had slowly backed away from a full on confrontation.

"Wonder if they have any healing lessons...oh I think that's out food!"

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's lips twisted as Makko laughed, trying to hold back a smile herself. She was still reeling from running the gamut of unpleasant emotions, and it almost seemed wrong to experience anything that wasn't shame, jealously, or embarrassment.

Despite still looking a little sour, Cora seemed more at ease. She decided that she liked the sound of Makko's laughter. His attitude was infectious.

Their meals arrived, delivered by a droid waiter. Each dish was perfectly and artfully plated, befitting of the price point. Cora was quick to pull out her holophone and snap a few pictures of her food.

A pause, and she glanced up at Makko before he could say anything with a warning in her eyes.

"Don't you dare."

A hand reached out to shift her dish, rotating it slightly to the left so that it caught the light better. A few more picture from different angles, and she nodded in satisfaction.

Makko Vyres