Gravity

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Kaile would be easy to spot.

Standard casual dress, dark slacks and a grey top. Her hair was still that inky black color, falling straight down to just past her shoulders. One would wonder if she also had it treated to keep it so straight considering how years ago it still maintained a slight wave.

Brushing her bangs away from her eyes, the Lorrdian spotted him sitting on an empty table near one of the walls. He was facing the doorway, likely to catch anyone who was coming inside. He looked, well -- Force wasn’t fair with how good he looked. His hair was a bit more unruly than usual, as if he’d ran his fingers through it more than a few times. Strange to see him with it so short now, although from experience a few nights past, it was still long enough to grip.

Okay, stop it! Kaile would chide herself, attempting to push those thoughts to the side. Swallowing hard that rising anxiety, the woman took a deep breath.

“Okay…” she told herself, attempting to give some manner of encouragement for what she was about to do. Well, considering this was caf they were talking about having together, that meant she had to at least get her own first. At least that way she had something to keep her fingers busy with.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus turned to regard Kaile as she entered the mess. His face lit up the sight of her before he remembered himself and settled for a casual wave. It wasn't the strong caf that had his stomach do a little flip.

Green eyes followed her as she meandered towards the canteen and the serving droids. They stole little glances and watched her careful, periphery mindful for anyone paying him any attention. No one was.

The straight hair perhaps didn't suit her as well as the style she'd worn before. Despite the time he'd taken to treat it back when they'd been on the Quin, to him it looked it's best the messier it was. His breath caught as he drew up in image. Bare shoulders, chest flushed, strands of hair stuck down with sweat.

He looked down at his rather tepid caf and decided to study its surface.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

It was hard not not awkwardly give a little wave back. It was automatic really. Kaile felt like a ninny afterward though. She’d never been so self concious in her life.

“Good day Madam,” the serving droid would pipe up in an oddly cheerful manner. For a moment, it made her think of the Twins. The corner of her mouth gave a slight curve up.

“Hello,” Kaile replied, nervous fingers tucking a lock of hair behind the shell of her ear.

“With what may I serve you today? We have fresh StarCaf, caffeinated and non caffeinated. We have a selection of teas and juices -”

“Tea would be fine. Do you have any Ukian Chamomile?’

“Of course!”

The next minute seemed to drag as the serving droid prepared her tea. It was difficult to try and not peek too obviously over at Asmus. Instead she kept him in her peripheral. There was a twitch on her lips as she noticed that he too was doing the same. Asmus wasn’t an espion agent, his display of subtle and inconspicuous needed a little bit of work.

“Thank you,” she replied, taking the hot mug of tea in hand. The soft rising steam brought with it the soothing scent of the chamomile. It would settle her nervous stomach.

Okay, here we go, Kaile told herself, turning on the pads of her feet over towards where Asmus sat.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Eyes down, eyes down, eyes down.

Asmus managed to at least keep his nose down towards his datapad as she approached, even if his eyes followed her all the way to his table.

He looked up with his best ‘and oh surprised to see you here’ look.

“Hi,” he managed before he shook his head and chuckled at the situation. “Sorry,” he added through a broad smile as he sat back up and slid his datapad away.

“Get some good rest?” he asked jovially. The med bay was hardly the place to get rest and she likely needed it. Whilst he tried to seem casual, if a little overly amused at the situation, it was his eyes she would read. There was an intense longing hidden in those emerald forests. She knew how to find it.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


“.. Hey.” not the best hello there Kaile, good one. That mental chide went echoing in her mind as she slid into a seat across from Asmus. Their eyes caught and there was another slight flutter in her belly. He had the expression of an excited kathpup wagging its tail. Adorable, but it also made her feel a bit out of place. Put under the spotlight perhaps. Awkward.

Nervousness prompted the Lorrdian to duck her head, staring down at her tea.

“Yeah, managed to rest some.” she admitted, although that was a bit of a lie. The hours spent with the thought of coming here to talk to Asmus made her mind a bit too active to really be able to sleep much.

“Have a good shift?”

Nothing too crazy, just keep it casual.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Yeah. Though…I don't really have to do a great deal,” there was a slightly sheepish smile at that. “I do have things to do and try to make myself useful, but truth be told whilst we're taking the slow path…” Asmus shrugged.

There was something quite surreal about the situation. Kaile was sat there, on the other side of the table, in the mess. This regular old mess he'd sat in every day for a year.

“Good you see you out of the First Order uniform.”

Not often that the scoundrel was short of things to say. It felt like a swarm of cloaked mines was around him. If he veered off course Kaile could collapse in on herself.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


Brown eyes went flicking up at the compliment, and Kaile gave a half smile along with a shrug of a shoulder. It was funny to consider that not a few nights ago, they’d been on top of her bunk, inhibitions tossed to the side and just..reacting. How quick that had occurred still made her face flush. How she had lost herself. Asmus had that much of an effect on her.

Her fingers would tighten around her mug, feeling the heat of the tea seep through the metal and onto her flesh.

“Well… It doesn’t do me much good here.” it was an attempt to joke, her gaze falling back down onto her tea. The chamomile made the water a pale yellow color, its scent comforting.

“Reckon I’d get scolded if I kept on it.” for a few seconds, one could see the half silly ghost of a smile at the attempt of a joke. Just a brief flash, but familiar enough for the scoundrel to catch it.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Yeah I bet,” Asmus said with a chuckle. “Crewman Mathews wore Storm Commando gear to a party when we were on shore leave. It did not go down well. I imagine a stolen uniform is probably a little good for fancy dress. I assume…”

Asmus paused there, mouth open. He lowered his head back down to see that his hand had been idly doodling circles on the desk. Head still lowered, he looked back up at her.

“Sorry,” he said, having almost started to ask questions he shouldn't. His tone however, suggested he wasn't very sorry. Once upon a time he had told her that he should have apologised for his actions, but he simply didn't want to.

“Got you doing paperwork whilst you're out of action? I imagine the post mission work will take a while at least.”

That was pretty safe. Hardly a secret that someone who had been undercover would need time to document all the gathered intelligence.

 

[Kaile Vera]

“It’s alright.” Kaile would reply quietly, staring back down at her tea. Her own fingers were playing against the side of her mug. The motion of the dip of her head sent her hair falling forward, brushing her cheek.

“Yeah,” the espion would nod. Such things were always full of debriefings and pass downs. They could be boring and lengthy, but with Kaile’s incredible memory and speed, she was able to completely them fairly quickly.

“Depends on what it may be.” she added, bringing her cup of tea up for her to take a sip. The liquid was hot, but she barely was able to taste it. Stars, her belly was still fluttering. Nervousness dancing up and down her spine.


A bite of her lower lip, and then the lift of her eyes. Hazel met gold flecked green eyes. He was so close; messy hair with those dark forelocks that fell over his brow. That small crooked grin. The vibrancy of his eyes. For a moment, there was an expression of longing in Kaile’s eyes. One that she tried to hide by dropping her attention back to her tea.

“How’s your uncle and everyone doin’?” she quickly asked, trying to change the focus.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Oh of course,” Asmus replied sharply, as if it had just occurred to him that Kaile knew his family. “So Kairon sort of went into business with Mal. They're near enough a legitimate shipping business now with several freighters. Jarrick runs the Quin, Mai is with Mal and Kairon on the Warden.

“He seems pretty content. Far more than I've ever known him anyway. My mother stopped bothering him about me once they'd laid out a pathway to get me into an academy and he just seems happy with Mal.”

He kept his gaze level now, looking to meet her eyes again. That brief look had sent his pulse racing. Thinking on their last voyage brought Bobo to mind. But it occurred to him that he had no idea how long the little creature's lifespan was. Sod it.

“Is Bobo still with you?” he asked tentatively.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


The mention of the tiny lizard brought a shadow of a smile to Kaile's face. Bobo was a little bit older, but doing well. He was the one constant in her life through all these years.

“He's fine,” she replied, setting down her cup back on the table. Behind her, a fresh group of junior officers coming off their shift entered the mess. A couple caught sight of Asmus and one gave a small wave.

“Just spending some time elsewhere for now.” Her fingers came up to gesture around her, as if to emphasize that she'd been doing all of this.

The group that came in headed over to the mess line, but a few curious glances were sent their way.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Ah good, I love Bobo. Despite the earlobe nipping. Funny little thing, he must be getting on a little bit now,” Asmus said. “Yeah didn't expect him here, I doubt we even dropped you off. Can you even tell me how long you've been down there?”

He'd given Ensign Halto a cursory nod, but otherwise ignored the junior officers that entered the mess. He was too focused on the hint of a smile he'd seen make its way across her face.

That was what he wanted. No worries, no fear, just Kaile smiling and happy to see him. It didn't seem so much to ask. But then it seemed he'd only scratched the surface of who she was.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


Chocolate brown eyes rose to lock on Asmus’ face. She caught the slight nod, turning her head towards the direction he had given it to. About four junior officers. Ensign Halto, a Devaronian, kept glancing back curiously.

Turning back to Asmus, Kaile licked her lips. They felt dry, understandable with all the worried biting she'd given them.

“Nine months.” It was as much information as she could give. It was a moderate length of time for an embedded agent. There had been a few in the past that lasted years. Not even a year after she left the Quinn, Kaile had thrown herself into mission after mission. It kept her busy and left her little time to think. Some might even say little time to grieve.

“Standard fare.” Which should be telling.

“How's your family?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Grandfather died, which means my mother pretty much rules the companies with an iron fist. Dad just does the clever massaging of the figures behind the scenes. She even tried to buy out Mal's business. Don't think it went well. But hey, no one's tried to turn me into an accountant for a few years at least,” he said, leaning back into his chair and giving her a shrug.

http://data.whicdn.com/images/44046414/tumblr_mdv7sj0Sku1rldpn0o1_500_large.gif

“I can't imagine being away from absolutely everyone for that long. Scary. When do you get to see Bobo again?”

He caught another look from the group of officers, but they weren't being overly intrusive. It wasn't like he didn't just talk to people. Well known that he could talk the ears off a gundark. Wasn't like chatting to a member of the opposite sex was a tell tale sign for him either.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


His grandfather died. The reservation upon Kaile’s face seemed to fade and began to soften.

“I'm sorreh ‘bout your grandpa,” there was a thickening in her throat, and her fingertips went curling onto the mug once again. So much had come to pass for Asmus. Then again, there were parts of Asmus’ life that she wasn’t too aware of. While the Lorrdian had checked up on Asmus now and then, how the rest of his family had been doing or what he did on a day to day basis was beyond her. It wasn’t her right to butt in; much the less when the same could be said about just how much Asmus knew of her.

While Kaile had been as honest as she could have been, there was much that the scoundrel didn't know about her. That bothered her as much as Kaile knew there were valid reasons why. A part of her wondered where they’d be if they had met earlier. Would they still be in the same complicated dance? Would those four days have passed the same? Or would they have been different?

There were times where the espion wondered if it would have been easier to not have met Kurt or Asmus. As soon as the thought came, they were banished. They may have brought heartbreak, but they also had opened her up to something special that she hadn’t had before. For that much she was grateful.

It just made it all the harder to really ever get back to the point of where she had been. Nothing was ever the same again.

The more Asmus would talk, the more she realized that it had been different for him. He was still easygoing, optimistic, and cheery. He truly enjoyed what he was doing here with the Resistance. That was good. That was great. To a degree, it validated her decision. He was happy.

I can't imagine being away from absolutely everyone for that long.

That was a reminder. It was true. At first Kaile never had any issue with it. Not until she understood the differences between acquaintances and real friends -- family. How truly she was on her own had been a bitter pill. The brunette gave an attempt at a small shrug and lashes fell.

“I’m used to it.” even to Kaile, that would sound rather hollow.

“Some time soon.” Kaile finally would answer, shifting in her seat. “Reckon once I’m reassigned.” shore leave was granted in about a month or two increments. It had been one of the conditions she’d asked for long term assignments.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Happy waves lap at the parched earth. They ebb away. Exposed to the truth and left vulnerable by the receding water, the earth hardens. That smooth surface starts to show imperfections before finally the first fissures appear. They grow and multiply until the first crack.

Asmus was watching Kaile with a fierce intensity. Something hurt. It was the way she'd expressed how she was used to being away from everyone she knew. Bobo had been all she'd had when he met her. Replaying those days it was almost easy to see the slow transition as she came to the decision that should could not keep him. He was taken back to that moment. That last moment when he'd caught that final fleeting glance before she was gone.

Asmus realised he'd been staring. With a guilty expression, he looked down at the thin skin that had formed across his caf.

She'd left and he'd gone on with his life. The wound had slowly healed, soft waves lapping away until the cracks were smoothed over. And she had been alone.

Asmus forced a smile onto his face and looked back up. “Would be good to see him again,” Asmus offered. Perhaps pushing too far. How he wanted to be open to and honest, to tell her he could be there. Asmus wanted nothing more than to simply hold her hand, perhaps rub her back softly. Small cracks, opened up by the loneliness he felt in the tone of her voice.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


Both were avoiding each others’ gaze. A tad bit more vulnerable than before. There was a sea of guilt and confusion between them, and the years had done nothing to truly ebb away that pain. Two strangers they had been. Two strangers who had loved each other more than one should. Such interactions shouldn’t happen, but it did. Now both were walking that razor’s edge of emotions that churned like a riptide at sea.

Kaile didn’t answer, but her expression gave it away. There was no intention for such a chance to come to pass. There was the guilt that coated the ache of responsibility.

“Hey Janes!” a voice suddenly barked out, startling them both and cutting into the thickening tension that surrounded them both. A hand went clapping at the Captain’s back in good cheer, the small group of junior officers surrounding them with wide grins and jovial tones.

“You going to join up for handball later on?” it was Ensign Halto, plopping himself beside Asmus with a rascal’s smile.

“Hi there,” he beamed over at Kaile, giving her his best smile that lit up his coral face.

“Is Janes here boring you with his tales?” the man was oblivious to the slight discomfort his presence brought. “Don’t believe none of it!”

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus gave Halto an unimpressed stare, whilst forcing a smile to his face. “Well then it's a good job we were just heading out. If she stayed awake through mine she'd be put in a coma when you started. Besides, she was on the shuttle whilst I was flying. Who was with you when you…recalibrated the gravimetric sensors? Come all for the tale of Ensign somethingorother and his point two variance corrections!” There was a little more venom in his tone than he'd intended, but he was annoyed.

He looked across at Kaile. That spark of mischief would be all too visible. “But did you know that Kaile here enjoys a good game of handball? Unfortunately she took a knock and can't play yet, but maybe later in the trip!”

“Getting crowded in that little hangar on game nights!”

“Aren't you glad me and the big-nurse introduced you all?” Asmus smiled. That seemed enough conversation to cover their exit. “Shall we get going?” he asked her.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


Kaile gave Halto a brief smile. If anything being able to play pretend was Kaile’s best skill. Her expression brightened, and she appeared to be in a good mood. It did not however, reach her eyes.

“Yeah,” she agreed, rising to her feet and gathering her cup in her hands.

“Leaving already?” Halto would joke, while the rest came to sit down around them. “Janes hasn’t even introduced us yet.”

Kaile turned her head and gave a grin, “Well I reckon that will have to wait for another time, no?” a flash of blue seemed to flicker over her eyes. A HUD. “...Ensign Halto.”

A series of guffaws and and elbow went jutting into the Devaronian’s side, making fun of the man for the fact that the agent knew who he was.

“She’s Intel, Halto. “ the jovial tone continued, much to the quandary growing over Halto’s face..” She can find out just how many cafarel datafiles you’ve been downloading.”


“Man, that will take more than one intel agent to figure that out!”

“...don’t be too sure.” Kaile would quip, a rather smug expression lingering on her face. One that disappeared as she turned away. Time to leave the mess, she mused, drinking the rest of her cold tea. Her purposeful walk towards the exit barely hid the annoyance she felt.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus have the rest a curt nod, trying to smile through it. “Catch you around.” Asmus had picked up new skills since Kaile had last seen him, but playing a role wasn't one of them. He did a reasonable job of acting casual in the hope none of them would think much more of the situation.

Within a few strides he was on her heel and then by her side. He’d abandoned his caf, with its thickening skin, back on the table. She had just been starting to relax when the others had turned up. Perhaps, in hindsight, he should have gone to the other mess. Most of the enlisted wouldn’t have bothered him like the junior officers would. He’d never been particularly good at barking orders.

“I saw… oh never mind,” he said, deciding he could ask about the implants later. Not much went on in her eyes that Asmus didn’t notice. “Deck D is quiet around now?” he offered. He kept a reasonable distance to try not to seem overly familiar, but was worried she was about to retreat back to deck B.