Growing Pains

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“They wouldn’t do that would-- yes alright they would,” he replied with the words coming in quick succession. Would have been more amusing if that pursuit didn’t sometimes dominate all of his thoughts in an evening. It seemed to vary based on his mood. Some evenings it barely graced his thoughts. On others she could dominate his thoughts for hours on end. Seeing her, kissing her, holding her, removing those dirty overalls...

Focus, he told himself abruptly. There had been questions and it wasn’t the time for going soft in the head.

“Opening bottles with the Force has been a party trick since....” he gave a shrug, which was quite an awkward gesture lying on his back. “Since I went to a party that one time.” Trextan needed to get out more. Had she said venting frustrations during lightsaber training? Focus.

“The braid? Well no one really knew what to do with me for some time. I think when I’d calmed down enough and started to train again no one ever thought to officially make me a padawan. I’m a Knight now,” he said. There was enough Jedi training to keep any note of pride from his voice. He was glad of his progression, but kept away from becoming wrapped up in his own successes. That had been the Sith way, to gloat over your power and to use it for your own ends. “So I suppose at least I dodged that one.”

“I’d ask if there was anything I could do to help, but I guess this is a sleek military cloaking shuttle and not a rusty old sand speeder?” Pleasant memories welled up of riding across the dunes pressed tightly to her. The Twin Suns setting as they settled down to eat some food before scouting out on foot.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

“Oh, you went to a party?” Brows rose high and mind raced. Had that Miralan nurse who used to linger around his room been there? Okay, that was a silly thought, but one that the Rogue couldn’t quite tone down. While she might not be great at flirting, after being around her squadron and everyone else in a small ship, she was able to read the signs of interest. Choli hadn’t lied; Taheera Solo was interested in Trextan. He hadn’t mentioned her since then, but that didn’t mean that the nurse wasn’t still there. They appeared to know each other pretty well from the visits, which meant they saw each other more than just due to medical necessity.

Anyways…/i]

“What do Jedi do for a party? Sit around and drink Juma Juice?” She teased, her hand extending for him to return the hydrospanner back. “Mind? Just need it real quick. Found a loose bolt… explains the extra grease that collected here.” A small gesture attempted to show him where, but likely would only result in potentially knocking heads. Hers was still tender from when he had surprised her earlier, causing her to knock against the paneling in a start.

“Or did you go sneaking out of the Temple hoping that none of the masters caught you?” Her profile was to him as she worked, but there was no mistaking the mirth in her quiet sass.

“So then did you have a ceremony then?” A sudden question drifting from her earlier quips, “For knighthood? Jan said they have those… “ how did it go? Had his father been there? What did it entail?

“Is that where you repeat the Jedi Code and swear you’ll stick to it?’ While there might be a glimmer of teasing in her eyes as she darted to glance back at him, there was also a piqued curiosity. Just what made Trextan a Jedi? How was it any different from the variations she’d read about in Chole’s holocrons.

And perhaps, a bit more selfishly, where did that leave them in the mix?

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan's mind had gone a similar place to Choli's in her line of questioning. It was to be expected given the thoughts that had been trying to push their way into his mind for the last few minutes. He managed to maneuver himself to tighten the bolt without colliding with her. His training made him particularly mindful of his body and surroundings. As one of their drills in the sith academy the masters would bring down switches from the trees above ground. Then they would have the acolytes walk between two rows of their peers blindfolded and try to avoid the painful welts that would follow getting struck.

His left hand sealed the hydrospanner, which fortunately had the correct head on. His prosthetic right arm stabilised it. A small whir from the device and the bolt was tightened.

“A party. Singular. And I don't even think someone like Omar would call it a 'party’,” he chuckled. It was actually within the temple grounds and there wasn't a drop of alcohol. So when I say bottles...yeah, fizzy drinks.” He sighed to feign embarrassment. He wanted more company, more friends. Yet he still found himself awkward in the company of large groups trying forcefully to socialise. The others there had all seemed more easily conversational than him.

“And no real ceremony. I think this Order is still on something of a war footing. No words, just a recognition in front of the Marshalls. A promise to uphold the values of the Order and to look after those in need I guess. I think they all have the own interpretations. Maybe? One of the Marshalls brought her husband and three children.”

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

With the bolt tightened, Choli gave a brief, “Thanks, I’ll make a mechanic out of you someday.” In a half tease, however, hearing him elaborate on the New Jedi Order and their practices caught her attention. Her face would scrunch up in a well of pensive thoughts that resulted in speaking her mind. Not that she ever held back.

“So wait,” the young pilot gave a pause, turning to look at Trextan, her breath fanning his face. There was confusion in her gaze, hazel ellipses shifting hues as she processed that, “But don’t you have a Jedi Code? I thought that you couldn’t have attachments?” Or whatever might pass for that. Hearing that a Jedi Marshal was married and had kids was… curious. From what Jan spoke of the Jedi Order when he was in the Republic, things had been a lot stricter then.

A closer inspection brought a narrowing of the Rogue’s eyes, catching a bit of what appeared to be an indication that something troubled him.

“What? What’s wrong?” She inquired, this time concern washing her olive face, moving back down to angle a bit to her side to face him now that the bolt was done. She'll need to wipe up the excess grease but that could wait.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Choli Vyn"]

Seemed like his heart skipped. Not with excitement this time, despite their proximity. This time because she'd caught a hint of his discomfort and his thoughts on the matter were slightly embarrassed to talk about. However, if he'd come to learn much about Choli he had come to know that she would bluntly poke at an issue until it was out in the open.

“Nothing much,” he said. “But honestly since I've been there I thought I would try and…” this sounded ridiculously awkward to say out loud. “...make some friends there. Hasn't gone all that well so far. Partially I think it's because the Alliance has a lot of wanderers pass through the Jedi.”

He lifted his left shoulder up off the deck slightly to more easily meet her gaze. “Don't know what it's like for you here. So tightly packed I bet at times you wish you could be back on tatooine with some space to yourself. But it seems nice having a tight crew. Not that I don't really enjoy talking with you when you have comms,” he added suddenly. Trextan had been quite grumpy the day after she had supposed to have signal back to the Alliance and had stayed off the grid for an extra day.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

“Yeah… it's why I tend to come down to the mech bay. Lucy isn't too bad and not everyone likes to turn a wrench.” There was a small flurry of pleasure at hearing him say he enjoyed talking to her.

To a degree, Choli sort of understood what he meant. Her expression waned from one of concern to contemplation. Taking a rag from her back pocket, the pilot swung her attention back to the panel but still was focused on the young teenager beside her.

He could be broody at times. It make him appear to be a little harder to approach or start a conversation. Although the Rogue had thought Trextan had a few friends already.

“What about Elmont? That Jedi from Skor?” They seemed to get along. Then of course, “ or the Miralian nurse that was paying you all that attention?” Oh, like that wasn't obvious! At least Choli could hide the tell tale color flare or her eyes focusing on wiping down the driveshaft with her rag.

“You just get pretty quiet. Broody at times. Hide behind your hair.” Were her hand free she'd have flicked a dark forelock of his with her finger.

“Smile more,” this time she did turn to face him with a half smile,” it looks good on you.”

A pause,” oh and yeah, you tend to focus on things so that whatever is happening around you seems to go over your head.” She wasn't trying to pick on him, but more comment on what she's observed.

“Don't you have friends on Coruscant still you can Comm?” Now there was a thought.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Well, if she'd been blunt before she'd just gone and found an even weightier rock to apply to the situation. Instead of sulking he replied with: “Yeah, I know I do.”

If Jacen had told him as much there were have either been a sharp backlash or further quiet brooding. The hypocrisy was entirely lost on the teenager. Quite a lot of things were lost in her telling him it looked good when we smiled.

“I haven't seen some of the kids from school for years and years. They isolated me pretty well in the sith academy. And those I trained with...well...I don't know who escaped with their masters, who was arrested and who died. Some of them might want to talk. I haven't seen Elmont since Skor. I don't think you've met Rebel, we get on well. I do with Taheera too. The nurse, Jedi healer. Haven't seen her in some time either though.”

He didn't even realise that he reacted to her comment by bringing a hand up to sweep back his hair. “Sometimes when you have an Omar talking over you it's hard to get a word in,” he said with a chuckle. He briefly considered how much more easily he spoke with Choli now compared to what he could be like.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

So he hadn't been talking to the nurse recently? It seemed rather silly to be so hung up about it, but she was. What the pilot didn't realize is that it was normal for her to feel a bit insecure about the entire situation. Although having Trextan be rather oblivious to girls flirting with him was a definite boon.

A heavy snort followed at the mention if the Zeltron,” trust me, I doubt anyone can get a word in when Omar's around unless his big mouth is busy.” Okay, maybe that sounded rather lewd but it wasn't how she meant it. Just that unless Omar was focusing on something else, he always had to have the last word.

Turning back to him, she dropped the rag on top of her chest and pointed to the panel near his head. “Hey can you get that for me? Just need to secure it. ”

In the midst of the shuffle, Choli contemplated on what Trex revealed about his friends. “Well, if you still have their frequencies, then they are just a Comm call away right?” Seemed rather simple to her. They might not all connect and who knew just what were the status of them all, but maybe one or two might pick up.

“No different than calling your sister right?” Choli didn't say step sister, because to her, a sister was still a sister regardless of blood if Trextan thought of her that way.

Speaking of which…

“Did you Comm her,”

Heavy hitting all the way tonight.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“Yes,” he replied quickly. Now what to say about that exactly? Choli had been fairly insisted about it back when he had first talked about it with her. Clearly no stones were being left unturned today.

“She was glad to hear from me. Really glad actually. And a little angry too. There were lots of emotions going on. I guess she had a right to be upset really. I know I should have got in contact with her a long time ago and you shouldn't have had to prompt me to do it.”

Trextan gave a slight shrug and reached up to the panel over his head. “From her point of view I suppose she lost her sister and parents and even if we hadn't really been close it can’t have been great to lose contact with me too.” That was a new thing for Trextan, trying to understand another person’s point of view. The cause wasn’t easy to pick out. Part of it came from learning to be more empathic through the Force. He was also less wound up in his own problems than he had been. A large factor was probably having someone else whose opinion he cared about a great deal.

“She’s actually getting married in a few months. Hadn’t known if I was even alive to send an invitation to...oh. Would you like to go to a wedding?” Trextan paused what he was doing and turned to her with a grin at the idea. He’d thought of it before but hadn’t had a chance to ask.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

“A wedding?” There was a brief flicker of movement towards Trextan, brows arching for a moment before she returned her attention to setting the panel in place. Grimy fingers left small black prints against the dark matte paint, adding a few smears as she lined the panel up so they could start securing it back down again with the twisty clamps.

There was a slight furrow to her brow followed by a wave of curiosity that went bathing her expression. Weddings were elaborate affairs for the Tusken Raiders, a feast that could last for days while the bride and groom became bloodmates in a ceremony that not only brought them together, but their Banthas as well. Granted, that had a tendency to come about along the same time as the coming of age ceremony. Reminiscing about that brought back to the forefront of traditions regarding a bloodmate and one of less than a handful of times they were ever allowed to remove their robes.

Heat swam up her face.

“Never been to one outside the clan.” She admitted freely, using her thumb to twist and press down the snaps to start securing them in place. They lined the entire outer edge of the panel, and a few were near Trextan’s reach should he decide to help along.

“Figure it wouldn't be quite the same.” Choli would mull, the slight snap click as she secured the panel echoing. “Although I guess the end result is.” She offered up a half smile.

“Depends on the date and if I can get the shore leave approved.” Reality of being a GA pilot at the ready to be deployed at any given notice. Nonetheless, Choli wouldn't mind. She was just as curious as interested in spending more time with Trextan.

“On Coruscant?” That world was still a mystery to her. She expected that a birds eyes view of the econompolis was vastly different than having feet on the ground. Well, not quite on the ground. The place seemed to be covered across every available meter with towering skyscrapers. Her mission didn’t have her focusing on the sights as much as ensuring that she didn’t get shot down mid-air. They’d lost plenty of good pilots then.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“That’s fair,” he replied. “Can’t time your holidays and comms calls around your personal life on this ship,” he replied. The Subversion could be behind enemy lines and on comms silence for long periods. Wanting to talk to her was hardly a priority compared to keeping the First Order’s fleet movements under scrutiny. “It’s on Coruscant, though I can’t actually remember the date. I’ll find it later.”

Trextan grunted as he found one of the catches refusing to hold. He swapped hands and tried with the right. It felt as if it was about to give and then he realised the artificial arm was about to start bending something. He mumbled an apology, realigned his corner of the cover and then clamped it down properly. He was trying not to be more help than hindrance, but he had overalls on now so it would have seemed silly to lie under here watching her work.

“Don’t know what clan wedding is like but this will be getting dressed up and watching them sign some documents, then some food, speeches, and dancing.” Oh feth, dancing. Would Choli expect him to be able to dance. There would be all sorts. Slow dancing and bouncing up and down to a band and everything in between. Alenna had definitely said something about a band, but when she’d started babbling excitedly he hadn’t picked out all the details. The details hadn’t mattered; he had nothing to add to the subject. Hearing her talk happily about the wedding and her fiance had been soothing after the tense first few minutes of conversation, but it was the tone of her voice that had mattered.

“I don’t know if I can dance all that well…”

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

The more Trextan elaborated on his sister’s wedding, what it entailed, and what would follow, the more the pilot felt a bit like a mud fish out of water. A small, “heh,’ was her response to seeing him try to force the clip in, followed by a, “Yeah, just make sure they are aligned.”

Once the panel was secured, her fingers took the rag from earlier and began wiping down any left over grease in assured glides. What was dressing up? If anything, the most she had was her dress uniform. Maybe that would work? Clan weddings had both bride and groom finally able to cast aside the unisex robes and fit into ones more suited to their gender. There were a few coming of age ceremonies where carefully crafted face masks made out of tiny pieces of salvaged metal, stone, and glass would be given to the women. There were all sorts of pieces of tradition, down to the careful application of a root dye. Odds were that Trextan’s sister didn’t do anything of the sort.

“Why sign documents?” It was an odd thing, half asked with mild embarrassment. Truth be told, the more she thought about it, the more she wasn’t sure if she’d be doing much other than standing there. But perhaps that was enough?

“Well, no one ever really starts out knowing how to dance well. Honestly, took me a bit to realize just what that was before it clicked. “ hazel eyes shone back at Trextan, a half sheepish smile now coating her lips.

“You wouldn't be the only one who can’t dance.” Turning back to the panel, she took a deep breath, chest rising. “Alright, that’s that for now, just gotta run the checks inside for power to make sure it won’t blow up on us.”

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Crap. She new how to dance. A wave a mild panic swept through him. At least it was out in the open now. Chances were if he got openly embarrassed about the matter she would probably point out that he was being silly. And he would be of course.

“Makes it official,” he said. “I think Coruscant keeps like a register of all the married couples. Must be laws and tax and things around it. And by the time the dancing starts some people will have been drinking solidly for a few hours so you’re probably right about that.”

He shimmied down until he could see the ceiling of the hangar again. He hadn’t noticed the zig-zag line down the middle where it would open up and the entire bay floor would lift up to the hangar. He took a rag to wipe his hands. There wasn’t actually much grease on them but he preferred to be clean. That didn’t need to be admitted right now lest Choli start planning some sarcastic comments.

“When did you learn to dance?” he asked. He was suddenly interested to know where and with whom she had learned. He stepped up and into the bay of the U-Wing. He recalled the moment trouble with Omar had started. The zeltron had immediately picked up on their reaction to seeing each other and started to pry, even though they had been in the middle of an infiltration mission.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Choli wasn’t aware that Trextan misunderstood, believing her to know how to dance. She didn’t, but that would inevitably come back to rear it’s head in hilarious results at his following question.

Confusion rose in her eyes before the pilot gave a few blinks, wiggling out from under the U-Wing and collecting her tools.

“I don’t,” she clarified, adding,” It just took me a bit to realize what dancing meant.” Now she was fully embarrassed.

“Don’t really dance. We don’t have anything really like it, at least, with what the rest of the crew did when we had a few get togethers in the past.” Tucking her tools into her front pockets, Choli gave a half turn and stepped into the cabin of the ship. Ducking her head, she headed on over towards the cockpit, where she tucked herself down on the main pilot’s chair.

“That’s what I meant with the whole,” a grimy hand would gesture, “you wouldn't be the only one. I've spent the bulk of my time just making sure the rest of the squadron got to their bunks safe at the end of the night. Got me plenty of free drinks, but more of the non alcoholic kind.” A pause before a flash of hazel eyes down Trextan’s way, “I was the youngest. Someone had to be the designated drunk pick-er-upper.”

Turning towards the console, her hands went flying over the controls, flipping a couple of toggles and activating the remote generator powerline. Immediately, the pale green glow of the indicator lights and console would bathe the pair in its soft light.

“Alright, let’s test this girl out.”

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“I imagine it was more the drunk bantha-prod-wielding-herder!” he replied. “And good...I mean...well that’s both of us then. Not that we have to. Dance.” He followed as far as the cockpit and took the co-pilot’s chair. It reminded him of their rushed escape from Polis Massa and brought a smile to his face.

This was like her, he decided. They obviously had flight mechanics, yet Choli still worked with her ships and ensured the job was done properly. He wouldn't want to be a mechanic who had done a half-assed job on one of her ships. If she was blunt with him….

He watched her hands sail over the controls. This was set up rather differently from the shuttle they'd taken before. He imagined it was also quite different from an X-Wing. That ship from Skor had probably been a law unto itself. Two years since she had been out in the desert, he reminded himself.

“How much detail can you get from a ship with the Force?” He asked. “I imagine healers can go deep but I've always just skimmed thoughts and emotions from other people. Was just wondering what it's like with technology.”

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

“Yeah well, “ Choli began, arching her brows as if recalling some of the wilder moments with Rogue. Asmus, Tela, Owen… “You wouldn’t believe some of the things these guys do.” There were a fair share amount of stories that still made her give a mental double take.

“Just getting them to their bunk was the easiest portion. Well, to a bunk.” Needless to say, there were times where she had been shooed away as a few pilots got to other far more active activities that Choli didn’t quite want to stay behind to get a better view of.

“Well… all weddings have food right?” The brightening of her expression at that small fact might be comical were she not serious. By now it was apparent that food was pretty high up on the pilot’s list of important details to know wherever she happened to be visiting.

“We can just sit and eat.” Not a bad thing at all, honestly. Turning back to the piloting console, the young woman took out her sonic servo driver and selected a specific setting. A flare of her hand and she began taking recordings. “So far so good. No spikes on the line.” She murmured, a habit she picked up while working on anything mechanical.

“Hmm? Oh,” took her a few seconds to answer, her mind attempting to think back towards what she’d been successful in doing thus far.

“Umm, what do you mean? Like thoughts?” Well, maybe droids could have something similar. Just processes. Her olive face gave a slight scrunch in contemplation.

“Well, seeing as I’ve never been able to poke into someone’s mind, working with a ship like this is more… just following set paths. Processes. Any program or software is just a series of code that explains how one object is supposed to act with another. It doesn’t deviate from that unless someone changes it. I guess even the personality matrices of droids are the same. There might be a form of self awareness, but even that is programmed into them.” She gave a small shrug, her shoulder rolling.

“I haven’t felt much emotion… well anything that can pass for that. Even with Arr Four; he might be sassy at times but everything he does is based off an Aaa eye that modifies his behavior based on set parameters imputed into it before. But that is also how quirks develop, degrading hardware, mismatched parts, lack of software updates, it all collects… and why mandatory wipes are protocol.” It might sound a little cold, but Choli was just trying to describe how it felt to interact with technology. “Wires, datachips, all of it… i guess the Force just flows through it like any kind of energy.”

A half snort, “Although Arr Four loves to let me know in other ways when he is annoyed at me. Or wants to join in the fun at cracking jokes at my expense.”

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan opened his mouth to respond to the explanation of herding back the pilots. He had questions, but then he realised he truly didn't want answers. Had she ever been tempted… No, best not to think about it and trust her to be responsible. Or at least be disgusted enough to keep her distance.

He pondered her description of interacting with machinery through the Force. It wasn't easy to describe doing anything with the Force. Those he had discussed it with at length with had given him enough to realise that the perception might vary from person to person to. Perhaps what Choli went through would be beyond his comprehension until he could try it himself.

He cracked a smile and idly twisted his chair back and forth. “So I can promise...a three course meal. There were three options but I can't remember them now. And then I think there was finger food, cheese and wine later on. This is probably as good as it gets on food offers!”

Hopefully when R4 next decided to sass them both he could use the new protocols in his wrist unit to catch the little ball of mischief out.

“So…are you almost done?” He asked hopefully.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

“Three courses?” Choli gave a low whistle. It was hard to keep her widening eyes at bay. That much food at one time? Then again, she mulled back on the many days of feasting that followed a marriage and a coming of age ceremony. It was strange, Trextan had mentioned that it was his older sister getting married. From the pilot's standpoint that meant likely older than her own age; normally at fifteen a girl would have already have a blood mate. If there was anything she'd learned since leaving Tatooine is that there were many different cultures and traditions out there. It piqued her interest as much as it was a little bit scary.

“Well if I can get the free time count me in,” she said, the corner of her mouth rising in mild humor, moving to read a few more scans from her servodriver. So far so good.

At Trex’s inquiry she gave a small laugh, shoulders shaking as the thick braid of her hair swayed at her back at the movement.

“Yeah, let me shut this off.” She replied, using the toe of her boot to swing back around to face the console. “This can get pretty boring,” admitting that not everyone was as interested in doing inspections as herself.

A quick glance at him and her smile broadened to a grin,” well at least you didn't get too dirty,” save his hands at least. A dark thumb came up to point at the crew bay behind them. One wouldn't normally believe a U-Wing to have as much space as it did until they were in it. There was a collapsible set of red fabric crew seats in the middle and two main hatchways, one of which was shut. Along the back, however, and along the bulkheads were little areas to tuck gear away during a flight.

“There are clean rags in one of the smaller lockers there if you want to clean up. If you want to sonic your hands though, there's a machine out the bay and towards the right.” She'll need to clean her own hands. While she managed to get the bulk of the grease off, there was still a thin film that tinted her hands a dark grey.

Flicking off a few toggles and turning off the power, the pilot asked, “I just need to get cleaned up but we can pretty much do whatever until I need to crash prior to my shift.” Just like that, the green glow that had bathed the pair was gone, leaving them in a barely illuminated cockpit with only the pale yellow orange light from the maintenance bay ceiling filtering in through the viewport.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan wasn't actually bored he was simply hoping to have her attention all to himself for a few minutes. He wasn't a huge fan of being covered in engine grease and grime, but there was something oddly endearing about seeing Choli that was. It was the simple pleasure of seeing her in her own element - just like on tatooine - after seeing her so distraught on their first meeting.

“It can wait a moment,” he said. There was a soft tone to his voice that seemed to have matched to change in lighting. “Haven't seen you for weeks and haven't had a chance to steal a kiss yet.”

In his uncle’s veranda they had learned that sitting opposite one another and trying to kiss properly was painfully awkward. Standing worked, but that would have seemed odd. Sitting next to each other was fine, but the pilot's chairs were too far apart. Left one option.

As she stood he swivelled the chair far enough enough that he could face her. And capture her. With a gentle tug he pulled her towards himself. One hand to waist another to hand and then her back to steer he to sit sideways across his lap.

Despite what he said he didn't kiss her. Both arms wrapped around her and he nestled his head into her shoulder to give a squeeze. As he leaned back his prosthetic hand playfully drew a smear down her cheek from some spots of oils.

“I missed you,” he said earnestly. He hadn't expected that the ship where they'd had their awkward surprise reunion was where they would end up getting to reaffirm their affections out of sight of the crew.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Choli normally wasn’t used to being tugged down against anyone, least of all onto someone’s lap. Physical intimacy as mundane as handholding had confused her, sitting on another’s lap, well a new experience. She gave a soft noise of surprise that faded when Trextan drew her close and brushed a finger against her cheek.

There was a dark, slick smudge left behind by his prosthetic finger, along with the light warmth that radiated from it. It was still strange for her to wrap her mind around the fact that his prosthetic arm maintained a similar degree of warmth to his body heat. Not that it really mattered right now. Where Choli’s mind would have typically been distracted by studying his arm more, it was now solely focused upon the young Jedi who encapsulated her in his embrace and stared up at her with those dark brown eyes and half smile.

Her heart gave a flip. Breath caught at the mention of a desire to steal kisses. The amusement at his playfulness softened to one that matched his own; sincerity in those darkening eyes of her as she added, “I missed you.”

It was easy to say. No need to deny it, it was what she felt. The right corner of her mouth drew up again in mild humor, adding,”I’ll end up smearing you with grease if you're not careful.”

Of course, by that time she was already inclining forward, so it was more of a promise than any real threat. Sitting across his lap was a little uncomfortable in the co-pilot’s seat, but it wasn’t so bad that it deterred her intent. Good thing he had the coveralls on, for her hands went sliding up along his arms, leaving a light residue over the dark green fabric before they came to settle just over his chest.

The Rogue pilot smelled of grease, a tinge of sweat, and just a touch of the savory noodle meal Trextan had brought her earlier. Unlike on Tatooine, there wasn’t a fine dusting of sand across her skin, the gritty particles catching just about everywhere. Moving in close, her breath went fanning over his face. However, at the last second, just as she neared, Choli playfully turned her grimy cheek that the Jedi stained earlier, moving to rub hers against his in a quick smear. Her body shook in amusement, the dim light unable to quite catch the vibrancy of the green that shone in her eyes.

Tugging him a little closer, her giggles subsided and she gave a heavy sigh. Pulling her head back to face him, the young woman studied the Knight closely, tinted fingertips lightly dribbling across his right jaw.

“Yeah,” she would breathe over him, echoing again softly in an earnest murmur,, ” I missed you too.”