And this is not our fate (Fel Military)

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared was going to be in the need for a refill shortly, just not yet. Not that he was going to let Lia out drink him, oh no. Jared was much too polite to allow that to happen. Besides, why should the women have all the fun? Never would he understand the men that did that. Those were the men that should be going the same way as the Sith, and that was your public service announcement from Jared Starchaser the day.

“Never crossed my mind that ya couldn’t.” He nodded at her. The look he was getting, and the bit he was starting to feel off of her, whether it be the Force, or just body language, was relaxing. It made him feel like he wasn’t unpleasant. “Always good, we’re for better or worse, products of our parents.”

Of couse he was asking when she was drinking. He was drinking too, it made sense. Not like he’d ask real world questions when he was sober. Only things that were needed to be asked at that point. He was an officer and an Imperial Knight. He had to draw lines somewhere, and polite when there wasn’t booze? That was him. “Ideals are always good. Kind of what got me here. And the opportunity. My family was looking as to where we were going to set up shop.”

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Product of my parents? To a certain degree, I farking hope not.

Taking the first sip of the freshly poured glass, and swallowing, the whisky slipping smoothly down her throat, she listened to what he had to say about what got him here. Ideals, in a way, were 'kind of' her reason, as well, but it was really just a general stand-in for what drove her to join in this imperium. Not that the in-depth reasons were any easier to bring to the fore with the libations.

"Family..." She began, looking down at the whisky glass in her hand. "...is important. No matter the shape it takes."

It sounded cheesy and lame, to her... but at the same time, true. Where would she be if her father had not turned out to be what he was? That was a question she found herself strangely unable to answer, as leaving her home to pursue greater things had been a deep desire for some time.

"My father, as it turns out, was Sith." She began. "And he died for it."

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Really, he couldn’t argue with any pieces here, her thoughts, nor what she was stating. Jared loved his father, for all his pros and cons, even the other elders in the Wing, sure, maybe from hindsight it became almost tribal in the way the Dawn Treader was working and the way Warbird Wing was established, but it just worked for those involved. “Sometimes in this galaxy, you never know who you’re going to be stuck with, or whos around.” Family was important.

Finishing his glass and setting it on the counter and giving it a small push with the Force to grab the bartender’s attention, he brought his own attention back to the redhead. “Just need to know when its okay to let them go.” Sure, with his family, he was going to be stuck with them, but that was his own call.

And then she had to go drop that bomb on him. “Oh…” He had Sith in his own past, but not there was at least a degree of separation, and a big one. Just ideals, no actual Sith dealt with him, nor Ellia, Coren and Lily made sure of such. But that was besides the point. “I’m not quite sure how to respond to that.” Sorry your father was a Sith, but glad they met a timely end? Right, that’d go over well. At least the libation was making it easy on him.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

She laughed, albeit rather nervously, and knocked back the rest of her drink, immediately signaling for another. What in the seven levels of hell had possessed her to say that? Clearly, alcohol had its upsides and downsides. Time to pull up from an almost certain nosedive...

"And you don't have to." She assured him, smiling genuinely, and brushing it off at the same time. She leaned forward and patted a hand down on his nearest knee, leaving it there, giving the knee a gentle squeeze with her long, lithe fingers. "That's just why I'm really here. To not become that, and to keep it from happening again."

There. That was a clear enough explanation, wasn't it? Simplistic, but true.

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared knew what it took to let someone in on their own personal secrets. For him, there weren't many, as everything he had done was recorded in the databanks aboard the Dawn Treader. Still, he would have to open up about his fears to someone... Sometime. Maybe not now. Taking the drink that he was poured and smiled at Lia, more of a 'no need to worry' grin, than an actual happy smile, but all the same.

"Yeah, I ain't too good with the words." He fell, perhaps too easily, into a fringer accent with that one. Someone with more brawn than brain, and enough technical skill that they didn't need to speak well. Looking at her, and keeping his eyes at the appropriate height, he watched and felt her grab his knee. So, was like that, huh?

"Well, I can promise you won't find those problems with me." He really meant here, with the Imperium, but her actions were mucking with his mind, just a tad. He was an Imperial Knight hopeful, not some Shining Armor Knight.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Another smile, and her hand retreated from the knee, back to holding her glass loosely in both hands. Poor boy seemed the slightest bit flustered, and though the libations were definitely creeping into her brain long by now, she still had some modicum of control over herself. So, it seemed, did he. Different backgrounds, but some parallel expectations of treatment and behaviour. She, of course, was expected to be more aloof, but that was no fun at all.

"I was under the impression, Jared..." Lia started, keeping an obvious, teasing eye on him, "...that this imperium was all about beating back those kinds of problems..."

One solitary brow crept upward as she watched him, and she hid her mouth in the rim of her glass, not yet taking a sip.

"...so.." Oh, where was she going with this? "...good that you... are you, then."

Only then did she take that sip. Boy, that sounded dumb.

"I would not have you any other way."

What?

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Was it flustered? It wasn’t that Jared hadn’t been with a woman before. He just never really was expecting it. Always a nice surprise, he figured. Still, if she was going to be serving along side him, or, ahem, under him, maybe he should keep her separate from him here. But how would he feel for a missed opportunity? Pretty lame, honestly. Where was his mind traveling?

“Its what we’re here for. A bastion of good.” Sure, that was the world they were on, still, best adjective he could come up with. “And hopefully, any other problems you’ve come across.” The bleach of the galaxy, or something.

With his side to the bar, and front facing her, he let his arm creep down the bar, not really in a stretch-and-arm-around maneuver that so many teens had tried in holovid theaters, but for support, in a way. “I think you mean…” Wait, what? He shook his head and smiled at her. Nevermind his thoughts.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Those words that trailed off? No. Now she was curious. And that head shaking, the smile? She left her glass to one hand, and on the side of her up against the bar, the other arm crept much like his had done, just to stretch out her fingers and stroke lightly at his hand.

"No... tell me," she implored him, looking him right in the eyes as if searching for something, when he looked her way again. "Tell me what it is you think I mean."

She was aware of the... particular power she had over men, and sometimes over women. It was one of those things that, she had learned, could be enhanced by certain practices of the Force to control. Here, though, she was well and truly herself, with no advantage beyond how she was perceived by this man across from her. That was the way this game had worked since deep into the mists of time immemorial.

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

He couldn’t help but grin at her. Really, the rarity of physical touch that Jared experienced all seemed to go to his head. Was that bad? It didn’t really matter to him if it was. He wasn’t inexperienced, just a determined individual who was not always going to get the girl. But this one was touching him.

He grinned and shook his head. “Nah, that’d be connecting dots I’m not ready to.” He smirked. Besides, he was just going to talk himself out of whatever could happen.

“So, where’d they station you? Officers quarters or barracks?” The former, what he had, was so much better than the latter. And this was probably a logical and smart segue in this conversation. Besides, what’s the worst that would happen? He went home alone? Something made him feel it was okay to doubt that.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

She made a face, her tongue poking out, but her fingers, her hand, stayed where they were. Lia lifted the glass that was in her other hand and took a small gulp, letting the liquid sit in her mouth a moment, before ingesting it.

"Barracks. Something about..." Her brow creased, as if the words eluded her. He shook her head lightly, and returned her gaze to his face. "... something about giving me 'the full experience' to start with."

She rolled her eyes, and laughed. The recruiter had even called her 'princess', and she just about hit him for it. The down and dirty of it was that she'd clearly rebuffed his advances, and he had put her amongst all the rabble in the barracks to spite her. She blinked, looked down at her glass, then back up at him.

"Why? Is that normal?" she asked. She sure hoped not. "Because I think I ticked off the recruiter, somehow."

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

See, it wasn’t so bad? Maybe that was where Jared was a bit off, picking up a girl at a bar, that was new to him. Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling, just different than actually knowing more about the person. Grinning as she spoke after sipping on her drink. “Yeah, we were all there. You should get a look at the officers quarters though, truly.” A lot better.

There was a lot that Jared did not envy women for, and dealing with male dominated worlds was one. He could only imagine how it would be with a recruiter. And trying to get ahead, as they say.

“What’d you do to your recruiter?” He grinned, giving her hand a squeeze as he looked to his drink, taking a big gulp of it. Maybe it was going to be time to call it a night on the bottle. Maybe.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

"I should? I'll take you at your word on that..." She couldn't help but smile, or even grin a little in return. The squeeze he gave her hand seemed to sharply focus her attention, as much as it could be, to the exclusion of everything else around them. "I believe the question is more like... what didn't I do to him?"

And at that, she laughed, which despite the influence of the drink was still a fairly pleasant sound.

"Again, there I go saying things that sound far more salacious than they actually are. Anyway, it seemed like he saw a rare, pretty face, and assumed naïveté. I wasn't what he expected, much to his surprise... if I recall, words such as 'frigid' were uttered." Lia leaned in, and her voice shifted down to a sultry level. "With his particular brand of charm..."

She shook her head in disbelieving amusement, another little laugh escaped her.

"...what an ass."

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

He grinned at her and nodded. “It’s a good word.” Right, that made sense, didn’t it? He looked back at her when she continued on about her recruiter. That was a bit of an open ended statement, wasn’t it? Now his mind was thinking.

Until she spoke again. Was it the drink? Or just her personality? That was remaining to be scene. But hell, she might not even be in his squadron, nevermind his own Wing.

“You said it, darlin’, not me.” Just for the record, whoever was keeping score. Someone had to be, right? “Frigid, eh? Bit harsh…” On any other day, Jared would be doing his best to figure out who this recruiter was and to have him removed from the post, for training, or permanently. But right now? He was thinking he'd like to see just how warm she was.

When she leaned in, he did his best to keep his eyes on hers, and not on her lips, or moving lower. Trickier said than done. “Sounds just terrible.” He tried his best, and failed, at keeping a straight voice, before laughing a little.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

She did a half of a shrug, unconsciously running her thumb up and down his.

"Could have been worse." She said, her laugh tapering off. "He could have had a spine."

At that, her body reflexively threatened to devolve her into giggles, but instead she covered her mouth with the wrist of her other hand to stifle them, the almost-empty glass dangling from her fingers. Once they subsided enough, she lowered her hand and peered into the glass, holding it up as if it needed a lengthy inspection. She thought about how many she'd had already, and considered how far beyond a simple buzz she was.

"Well, I think once I finish this..." Lia began, lowering the glass, returning her eyes to his. "...I'm gonna cut myself off, lest I risk unsightly gaps in my memory."

At that, she tipped back the remainder of the whisky in her glass, and left it on the counter, reaching over their joined hands to put it there. Her eyes lingered on those hands, as she spoke again.

"I rather like... remembering things. Forgetting your name, for instance, wouldn't do."

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

There were some women he would never understand. Well, lets correct that. Jared Starchaser would never fully understand women, and what made them tick. One moment she was fine, and the next a ball of giggles? He smiled as he held her hand softly, if she wanted to pull away, she’d be welcome to, it was more the comfort of touch, after all.

When she started to think about her glass, he made to finish his drink. He kept track, and prided himself on remembering to actually make the super conscious effort. Or something. Right, looking up and down and around wasn’t helping. Nope, maybe there were a few more snuck in there. He was sure there was someone that had a Force power to fix this.

Not him though.

“Yeah, forgetting names would be bad.” He gave her a wink, giving a nod behind him to the door. What was the hour, any way?

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

He agreed - memory was important. Remembering names and faces, where you've been and what happened while you were there... he winked, and it buzzed right down to her toes. She watched him cast a nodding look over his shoulder toward the door. If the drinking was done, then what reason was there to stay here any longer? Her thoughts, too, went to wondering at the time, and she glanced at her wrist, only to recall with a certain amount of resistance from the cotton in her brain that she'd opted to not wear a chrono on account of the style of it. That particular accoutrement was a dead giveaway that she wasn't here because she needed a job.

"Hey... if we're done here..." Lia began, slipping from the stool, but taking his hand with her, rather wanting to not let go, rather liking the contact, having not just something, but someone to hold on to. She stepped in about as close as she could get with him still on the stool he'd been occupying, and poked one long, free finger at his shoulder. "...why don't you..."

And trailed that finger up, running it down the line of his jaw to his chin, getting just about the closest look at his face that she'd had yet. It was a strong face, good lines...

"...give me a tour of those officers quarters? I'm thinking I'd like to see what I'm missing."

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared smirked. Sometimes he did agree with a lot of things, other times… maybe not so much. The pilot typically had a chrono on, but he didn’t need to report anywhere until morning, and his comlink was set to go off at the appropriate, thankfully late morning hour. The life of a Commander, he figured. Right now he wasn’t caring one bit about the morning. He could make it through with enough stimcaf, after all. So, let this night run as late as it wanted. So long as he wasn’t smelling like the bar when he made it to his post for the few hours he was needed. Something of a status update of the day, or another.

Watching her slip from the stool, he grinned. This gave his drunken mind a reason to look at her body, once again, without getting hit, was the plan. He smiled as she poked his shoulder. Looking back into her eyes, he squeezed at her hand.

When she dragged her free hand along his face, he nodded. Yes, out of here. He had a tab that he could settle in the morning. Or tomorrow. Or next time. Just not now. “My pleasure.” He grinned, sliding off the stool and to his feet, indicating with his free hand for her to go first, he nodded.

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

None of this had been at all what she'd expected, walking into the bar, tonight. In reality, she had only planned to come for a few drinks, get bored, then leave to flop on her freshly assigned bunk in the barracks, stare at the ceiling for a while, until further boredom stole her away to a sleep that would have likely been restful. But such plans were long forgotten, as she lead him out of the bar and into the cool night.

"Sooo..." She drawled out, turning around to face him once they were outside and stepping slowly backward one, two, three steps, having acquired his other hand in the process, and thus pulling him along, too. It was a good thing she wasn't wearing heels. "...you're going to have to point me in the right direction, here, handsome. Still don't know where everything is."

That would change, and quickly. She knew the place she came from like the back of her hand, and if this was home now, it would have to be known just as intimately. At least she had managed to find the bar... that was a start. Important knowledge, and all that.

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared never really knew what to expect when he entered any bar. Really, he didn’t know what to expect when he entered anywhere when he wasn’t behind the yolk of a fighter. Most preferred his Flashpoint. But right now, all he could think of her was the set of hips he was behind. This was definitely not a bad move from the fighter.

When she stepped back Jared wasn’t paying attention and hadn’t noticed in time. Stepping up to her, he grinned a little as his body bumped into hers lightly enough. Having both of his hands in hers, he was a bit confused, as he was the one who knew where they were going. He was doing surprisingly well at resisting kissing at her neck.

“Down two blocks, and we’ll be hanging a left. We’re close enough so cocky pilots aren’t making nerfs of themselves and trying to pilot an airspeeder home.” Well, at least that was what he hoped the thought process was with the bar. Even if it wasn’t exactly that. He’d make it sound smarter than it was

@[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

He was close. She liked him this close, but they were standing outside a bar in the middle of the street, and... well, she was raised a bit better than that. Even in the not-overwhelming haze, she could remember that, and released Jared's right hand, tucking herself in under his left arm.

"Proximity wouldn't stop a lazy, cocky pilot from piloting, anyway." She said, bumping against him, then starting to walk, slowly. "Lucky for me, you have a brain in your head."

She reached up to her shoulder with her left hand and took his hand again, as they made their way down the street, feeling very comfortable with this sustained contact, the closeness.

@[member="Jared Starchaser"]