For Their Own Good (Galactic Empire Invasion of Fondor)

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Chloe's eyes grew wide at that little bit of revelation, falling back against her seat to take it in. Her hands came to rest between her legs, the glass of whiskey cradled between.

"Goes to show you just how much can change in just the span of a few months." she said in a bit of a daze. There was much to take in, and she wondered just what else had been happening in the galaxy as of late.

"Just what has been going on 'round this place?" It was more of a rhetorical question, but could be taken literally as well. She gave a small sigh, bringing the glass to press against her temple, enjoying the sensation of the cool surface against her warm skin.

She gave a pause, watching him silently for a moment. Then she gave a half smile. "You look good, Jorus." she said quietly, warmth in her eyes.

"It is good to see you are doing well."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"] always had a way about her, at ease in her own skin. Alna had the same sort of deal -- comfortable with herself, the kinetic energies of her body, never on the back foot in a conversation. There should be a word for it, but Jorus couldn't think of it.

"Yeah, I was glad t'run into you too," he said. "Ain't many I'd consider one of my kind, not just as people but..."

He shrugged. "Back when I first got with Alna, when things were a little up in the air, her Lady Protectorship asked me to take you out an' teach you the thing I do. Time wasn't right, but there's no-one else that makes sense. Well, there's ol' Vaud, but Vauden Miir's no Master. And I'd sure like to pass on what I know if you're halfway interested in bumming around free space with me for a time."

 

[Chloe Blake]

It would be a lie to say that the thought of flying into the black with @[member="Jorus Merrill"] hasn't drifted in and out of Chloe's mind. She had an entire stack of undelivered handwritten letters to Jorus that explained all that and more. She'd made her peace with it, but nonetheless, it didn't stop the warm feeling spreading within her at hearing Jorus offering to fly with her again, much the less, teach her what he knew.

A faint smile grew over her lips, the right corner of her mouth upturning just so. With a warm expression and a low steady voice, she said in her distinctive Corellian drawl, "I'd like that." No more words were needed, the desire to be his companion again, along with her innate curiosity at learning more about traveling the hyperlanes with Jorus's skill more than answered for her. Even if it was for a limited time, flying with Jorus had always been a comfortable joy.

He was, after all, a treasured friend first and foremost.

"We could both use some time to catch up on some stories," she offered in turn, giving her glass a small tip at his direction, "Maybe in turn, you might pick up a thing or two from me," Chloe added with a lighthearted grin.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

"I'd like that," he admitted. "Maybe now as they've got to callin' me a Master, I might figure out how to lift a rock or somethin'. I ain't holdin' my breath, but it'd be nice to be able to fight like a real Warden, workin' in them little pushes an' pulls."

He stopped there, because the thought of hand-to-hand training with Chloe, well-

"Yeah, I'd like to learn how to fight like a Warden for real. Spend too long relyin' on arm bars an' punches an' wide-angle guns, you start forgetting that you ever could be somethin' a little...older, I guess?"

 

[Chloe Blake]

An impish grin split Chloe's face in two as she said with a livelier sense of humor, "Ha haha.." she brought the glass to her lips, her big blue eyes twinkling with mischievous delight as she said with a lighthearted quip.

"What? You? Lift up a rock?" she gave him a mock shocked expression, "Will the wonders of the Galaxy ever cease?" she flashed him a teasing wink, taking a sip of her whiskey before adding with a wide grin,

"Jorus Merrill... the undisputed master of the Hyperlanes... capable of charting and jumping into Hyperspace with his mind..." her right forefinger came to tap her temple in mocking lighthearted emphasis, "... finally.. after much hard work... is able to lift a mere pebble..." her voice trailed off but the grin remained.

"People will talk you know. You'll be the new subject of curiosity." she gave him a teasing toast of her glass and then took another drink. It was nice after so long to be able to have a lighthearted conversation with Jorus, to tease him like she used to.

"Hmm... I reckon then once this all blows over," she made a small motion to the heavens, in regards to the Atrisian situation, "We can talk more about that." she said a bit more seriously in regards to his offering at training as well as getting some hand to hand combat sparring thrown in.

"And perhaps you won't get your head knocked around too much with the sparring," she tossed out with devilry.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

As she teased him like she hadn't teased him in years, he poured another round of the Whyren's. Couldn't repress a grin, either. "Easy there. One of the few things I'm halfway qualified to dish out in return is sparring. Maybe not Warden sparring, but-"

The comm buzzed, and he leaned over, squinting at his holofeed -- probably the newest and most expensive part of the ship. He felt his eyes go wide. "Ayden's chased them all the way to Fondor -- and backed off. I've got a source on Annaj. Varanin has agreed to make the Empire a province of the Fringe Confederacy. Republic's about to go gunning for O'reen."

He sat back in his chair, stunned. "This changes everything. Like, everything. Fething galaxy wheel can't stop spinnin' for me to get off for one frelling hour." He pounded back the second glass viciously, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Worst move I ever made, gettin' rich. Now the best I can do is hide in the last bits of free space, find some people that think like me, and just...float. For half an hour at a time, 'til the galaxy drags me back."

 

[Chloe Blake]

The humor quickly faded from Chloe's face at that bit of revelation, her face blanching a bit at the sudden turn of events. Her eyes grew wide, and it was startling to see Jorus react so.

Things had certainly changed. Changed them both. Made them a little bit more experienced, wiser, and with a whole new set of responsibilities.

Perhaps, the end of innocence.

A bit more somber now, Chloe leaned her body forward, taking the last dregs of the whiskey with one fluid swoop. "O'beautiful, for spacious skies, but now those skies are threatening." she murmured slowly, her head lowered about an inch, her eyes glancing up to stare at @[member="Jorus Merrill"].

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly through her mouth afterward. "It's getting crowded in our skies, Jorus." she said quietly, the ambient light of the holofeed reflecting against their faces.

"And there be less of us now," she added, stating in regards to the Wardens. Her lips turned to a straight line in pensive thought. "We need more... more to to help protect the lanes...protect the freedom of every spacer out there."

"If it is true that the Atrisian's are now submitting themselves to the Fringe... and the Republic is preparing for war... Things are about to get a whole new level of chaotic that would put the Nine Hells to shame."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

"Feels like things aren't gonna stay even this static for long." He polished off the glass with a grimace. "Change and more change, and there's no catching up with it. And yeah, it's gettin' real crowded in my sky these days. I say that too. Wonder if I got it from you or you got it from me -- or maybe we heard it from the same folks. Or...maybe it's a Warden thing. Sounds like'em.

"I've got no wish to fix things, y'know that? I mean, I put enough time and money into tryin' to do just that, you'd think I'd have some desire to play Jedi an' fix the galaxy. But when it comes to the big stuff, the trains, the trade routes, seems like all I ever want to do is get outta the galaxy's way, let it do its thing.

"If we can keep the grabby ones outta Levantine space...maybe that'll prove that the galaxy can do the right thing on its own, doesn't need folk like Jedi or Templars to led it by the hand like a kid, like they feel they should be doin..." He waved. "Eh, don't get me wrong. I'm a little tipsy."

 

[Chloe Blake]

"Well, you've always been the kind to be a lightweight," she told @[member="Jorus Merrill"] with a faint smile, "Although, I've an inkling that if'n you ever the desire to go full on Jedi... you just might be driving yourself to drink." she said with a lighthearted tease, finishing her own glass of whiskey in one go.

Unlike Jorus, being born and bred in a family farm that doubled as a distillery had it's perks -- the chances of getting well into her cups and tipsy were real low. So it was with a shifting of lean muscles under her well worn mech suit that Chloe slowly rose to her feet, her empty glass in her left, while her right went reaching out for his with her right.

"C'mon now... 'Fore you end up drinking more only to belt out the latest pirate ditty." she told him with a faint smile, knowing full well that the time for relaxing came few and far in between. Perhaps, at a later time, they'll be able to sit down for longer.