Miss Me?

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He frowned. "I'll be fine!"

There was no hint of a boast in his tone, Kurt truly believed that he would be okay. He wasnt doing it just to anger Jamie or get his own way, he simply believed that he'd be alright by the time they reached Naboo.

"We have three days at least on the ship." Kurt began as they stepped into the uneven corridor. "With the bacta patches and rest, I'll be okay by the time we get there. I promise I won't overwork myself until then."

Eager as he was to work on the ship, Kurt knew well enough that Jamie would never let him live it down if he hurt himself again.

Better to rest up and work on the vessel after they landed then live with a few months of 'I told you so' looks.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"You had better be!" She proclaimed, though didn't divulge any particular punishment for if he did hurt himself again. She was sure he could think of something terrifying enough if he did.

With a huff the girl dropped the subject, content with Kurt's word that he wouldn't overdo it. "Well, now that we found the prostitution room, where to next?" A roll of her eyes followed.

"I can't imagine I will be surprised by anything else at this point, and there's only so much room on this rusty old death trap."

Truthfully what they did find in that room was a lot less worrisome than what it could have been. Weapons, spice, stolen credits or property would have made for nothing short of a headache had they landed unknowingly carrying them. In that aspect the two lucked out finding what they had, even if it made Jamie a bit uncomfortable in the moment, whereas Kurt saw the opportunity to run with her discomfort as he typically did.

"Say, that room, it looked like it was in pristine condition right? Maybe that alien didn't even know about that room? I mean, it's not like he would have been looking. I wonder how long it has been since anyone has been in there. By the dust at least several years, but it could be decades, or longer!"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Probably." Kurt shrugged, wincing at the pain of doing so. "I don't think you would ever notice that door unless you already knew it was there, only reason we found it was because the ship was shaking during take off. I doubt he ever even knew it was there, much less tried to find it."

The door had been exceedingly well hidden after all. "I wouldn't doubt that whoever owned this ship first made real sure that no one would ever find that room. Though, that makes me wonder how the ship came into his hands in the first place, especially with all that fun stuff still inside."

He used those words deliberately, smiling to himself.

"You said to recognized a symbol?" Kurt brushed passed his bringing up 'fun stuff' and quickly moved on to something that Jamie had said earlier. He'd half forgotten about it in the moment of finding what was in that room, but now that they were back to exploring the rest of the ship it was at the forefront of his mind. It was only natural really, that she recognized something from the ship, especially given that these things were built on Naboo in the first place.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Maybe the ship was left there and never picked up because the person who was supposed to return for it was dead."

She gave a shrug. "It's not beyond possibility. Spira being a tourist capital is a prime place for thieves to act on opportunities." Another shrug. "Or maybe they drowned in the waters and was never recovered."

A world like that would be a prime place for someone in that line of work to find and meet new 'clients' and make quite a nice living off of. There would certainly never be a lack of business with a constantly revolving populace seeking that perfect getaway.

"That would be my guess. I can't imagine anyone would simply walk away from a ship like that without a good reason. It was still space worthy at the time, so it wasn't like she was abandoning a junker."

There were several plausible explanations, but whatever the reason, it had been abandoned for so long now it was surely never going to be reclaimed.

"Oh, the symbol! Right." The blonde pulled back her hair and tied it into a high pony to keep it away from her face. "The symbol belongs to the Underhill family back on Naboo; Another noble house. My family spent a good deal of time with them on various relief missions. The lord of the family died quite a few years ago, though last I knew his wife was still living.My father occasionally visited after the death of her husband, but I haven't seen her in quite some time." Rubbing at the back of her neck Jamie made a faint "Hmm."

"I don't understand why their family crest would be hanging in a place like that though. It doesn't make sense."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt shrugged. "Depends I guess."

"Though I doubt whoever owned the ship was murdered by thieves." Only very stupid thieves killed people. "If they did then they were dumb, especially because they must have known that a ship was on the line. People come to Spira all the time, yeah, but I suspect the person who owned this thing was dressed a bit richer then everyone else. That could mean they had a ship, and that ship was worth way more then anything they were carrying in their pocket."

Perhaps it would unnerve Jamie to see just how much Kurt knew about this business, but that was hardly uncommon given his place of birth. "As for the crest."

He shrugged.

"Maybe they were an off member of the family?" He suggested. "Cousin?"

In truth, Kurt didn't know all that much about nobility or how any of it worked. For all he knew Jamie was next in line to be Queen of Naboo. That thought occurred to him, and then suddenly he frowned, stopping in the middle of the hallway. There was a slight palpitation in his heart as he suddenly and very jarringly became aware of the thought that he could possibly become someone of importance if he and Jamie were to...take the next step. Panic entered his gaze, and he began to trip over his words. "I-adsvasdvasdv"

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Unlikely. Only blood members carry the sigil of their family." The girl placed a hand on her chin to think for a moment. This was the kind of information that she did possess. It was an incredibly important thing for noble families to be in the know of their peers. The more personal information one knew of others, the more influential they could be with certain things. Most of the time this was in the form of blackmail and bribery, but some chose to play a more honest angle.

"The Underhill family consisted of Rollan and his widow Jesslyn. Both of the lords brothers have been deceased for over twenty years. They were dead before I was born and there were no marriage records." Her finger tapped against her lip as she pondered another moment before continuing. "So the only ones still living that could carry that sigil were the lord and lady. Unless it belonged to ---" She paused, her face scrunched up while her nose wiggled. "No, that couldn't be it either. I thought perhaps it belonged to Rollan's father, but I recall the sigil was slightly modified when Rollen became head of the house."

Just then she noticed Kurt suddenly stop in place, his facial expression looking extremely odd, coupled with incoherent babbling. "What? Is something wrong? Am I boring you? Or confusing you?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"W-what?" He shook his head. "No-nothing."

Kurt pushed the thoughts form his mind, deciding that such things could be addressed another time and that it was better to instead focus on the mystery at hand. Whether or not Jamie would someday be a big deal, whether or not he would be some kind of...Queen Consort, didn't matter right now.

Right?

"Maybe it was hers." Right.

Nobility loved scandal, hell, even peasants loved scandal. That was a lesson that Kurt had learned on Tatooine as well. Not from actual experience, but mostly from watching old Holo-vids. There was quite a few things that one could learn from watching holo-vids, Kurt should know. He frowned for a moment and then looked back towards the room that they had come from, thinking for a moment before easing himself against one of the cool walls, resting for a moment.

"Went to Spira for some fun." He began. "Got a little lost...poof."

He shrugged. "Sounds plausible enough."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie gave Kurt a confused look. He was rarely if ever lost for words, nor did he stutter. "You sure? You're acting weird." In her voice was a sense of concern. It was strange of him to so quickly change paces like that.

"I can't imagine it would be hers, she would have no need of resorting to that style of life, given her status and reputation." It just didn't make sense to Jamie why that symbol would be hanging in that room. Still, she had no other answer than what Kurt had offered.

"It just doesn't seem to add up. There's something more to that story that I'd like to find out when we land."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He shook his head. "Yeah...Yeah I'm fine, just my back."

That was a lie, but it was a plausible one at least.

"Babe." He began with a slight smile. "For some people, 'that sort of lifestyle' is fun. They don't do it for money or anything, but just because they want to. I don't know. These people...well, honestly High Society, Nobility, all of that is completely foreign to me."

He shrugged. It really was a mystery to him.

Jamie was a bit more...well not simple, but she was at least upfront. He understood when she said something and understood what she meant. When it came to other rich people, Nobles, Politicians, all of that, well Kurt most often went blank. He supposed that was another reason why he washed out of the Navy.

He could never play the games.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Okay." Nodding her head she gave a partial, comforting smile. "Do you want to sit down for a few minutes? I can get you something to drink."

Fun? What was fun about selling yourself like that? "Really?" Her tone was a mixture between baffled and disgusted. "Why would anyone find that fun?"

Still, despite not knowing the Underhill's much more than a few social events and dinners, she didn't think Jesslyn was that type of woman. Though what did she know? It wasn't like she watched her every move. They were hardly more than acquaintances. It was her parents that spent time with the other nobility more often than not.

"I know what you mean though. It's its' own world. Growing up surrounded by it I've learned how it's played, how words are more social cues than they are surface thoughts. People's truest intentions are usually in their body language and eyes. What someone could be saying may very well be intended to mean the exact opposite, but you'd have to pick up on their body language to see that they're about to stab you in the back when you turn to leave."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt shrugged. There were a few places on Tatooine, brothels and things of that nature where people went. Kurt had never gone to one, had never really needed to, but he'd met plenty of women that worked there. The underworld sort of crowded like that, and more then a few times Kurt had met a woman that'd not only willingly worked at one of the Pleasure Palace's, but had actively sought it out. He'd always found it somewhat odd, but had never judged them for it. Different folks, different strokes. "Some people just enjoy different things. Even Hutt's need love."

The Courier shrugged, wincing as he forgot his wound once again. He still smiled though, amused by the thought of someone loving a Hutt.

"Huh." He said quietly as she mentioned backstabbing. Oddly enough the thought scared him. Kurt could deal with pirates, he could deal with people trying to fight him, hell he could even deal with a crazed Manka Cat trying it's damnedest to eat him and his girlfriend, but people like that? He didn't know. "Do you think I'll be okay there?"

He wasn't the best at reading people, and if he was going to be in that environment...

"You won't be in danger will you?" The thought sparked almost immediately.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"You don't have anything to worry about." She explained. "You haven't got anything of value to them." After all, it wasn't piles of credits they were after, though it was generally involved in some manner. What the game was truly about was power. Power to influence others. Power to influence the courts. Power to influence businesses and their leaders. Credits were an afterthought or inclusive of blackmail, though rarely ever the primary goal. "They aren't criminals like what you'd see on places like Nar Shaddaa, or maybe Tatooine. They aren't trying to simply take what's yours. They want to manipulate others in order to keep their hands clean. It's all smoke and mirrors kind of deals."

Jamie joined Kurt, leaning her back against the hull of the ship next to him. "Rarely is physical harm ever a real danger. There are plenty of ways to ruin people socially without having to resort to violence. Naboo is a relatively safe planet in that aspect." She shrugged, "I'll be fine. I'm not really a matter of concern right now, so long as both of my parents are alive. The worst that I've had to endure was another family's attempt to arrange a marriage that I fought against until it was let go of. Until I'm head of my father's house or I marry then my need to worry about their game is diminished."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He frowned for a moment. "I don't like it."

That was very childish, but Kurt simply hadn't ever been introduced into a game like that. He was used to dealing with Hutt's, with Pirates, with Smugglers and criminals of all sorts. They would talk around you sure, but at the end of the day they would also put a blaster in your face and just speak plainly. Those were the kinds of people Kurt could deal with, the Kinds that he could understand and talk to.

This...no.

"So." He began slowly. "What would happen if we..."

He left the last word unspoken, find that he probably didn't need to finish his sentence. it was very clear that Kurt didn't care about himself, more that he was concerned about Jamie and her well being. There was a certain look in his eyes concern mixed with a certain kind of pleading.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie's face looked rather unconcerned. "I grew up with it. It's something that's taught just as normally as which fork is used for salad and which is used for dinner. It's just part of society there."

She figured now was as good a time as any to explain her upbringing. "I may have already told you some of this but, as a kid, and ever since I could remember, my life was pretty well defined for me. Every day I had the same routines, the same chores, the same studies. The older I got, the more was added to those daily routines. There was no deviation from it. I was raised to speak a certain way to certain people. I was taught how to walk and present myself before other people in that society."

The blonde reached back and freed her tied back hair, shaking it loose and running a hand through it. "A lot of the time I envied the lower class kids. They did whatever they pleased. The only activity I was able to squeeze out of my parents for enjoyment was fencing. And I am willing to bet that was only because it was a very disciplined and routine activity as well. For me it was a means of escaping the monotonous daily studies and a way to relieve stress."

Jamie blew a puff of air from her closed lips and continued. "I didn't want that marriage because I was still a kid. I didn't want it because I knew what it meant. More of the same life I had. It wasn't what I wanted and I'd be damned if it was going to happen before I was ready. So, to answer your question, and I assume you're asking what if we got married?" She shrugged again. "It would mean that I am no longer by right heir to my father's sigil, or his property. Should both my mother and father die, it would pass to my uncle's oldest son, my cousin Shayne, to carry their namesake, as my uncle passed away when I was fourteen."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He frowned for a moment. From the sounds of it, Jamie didn't much care. It all seemed very foreign to him, but then again if he took Jamie to the streets of Mos Espa everything would likely be the exact same way for her. Kurt couldn't judge her for that, wouldn't judge her for that. His frown lasted for a moment more, and then he simply shook his head. If she didn't worry about it, then there was absolutely no reason for him to worry about it either. Slowly he drew himself up, his hands slipping onto her hips.

Kurt pulled her close, gently so he didn't press his back against the wall. His lips pressed against her nose. "No appreciation for Tatooine Mutts, huh?"

It was a joke, but there was an odd sense of insecurity that clung to him.

He'd never really questioned himself before, his skill, or his sense of self, but there was something about this situation that put him on edge. Jamie was High Born, noble and by rights the heir to a house that had lasted far longer then anything Kurt was connected to. The quesiton of whether or not he was good enough for her would be there, no matter what way he represented himself to her people.

The Courier tried not to think about that.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Well, it's rare that folks in that circle of society marry outside of the class structure. It tends to disrupt the waters, so to speak." There wasn't exactly a nice way of saying that outside marriages tend to be beneficial to only one member of the arrangement, but that's how it was, and it wasn't going to change any time soon. Not that Jamie cared entirely, even if she would lose the childhood home she'd always known, at least it would stay within her family. That was most important to her, even if it meant she lost her home.

"It'll be fine. My parents might be traditional, but they're not cruel. If they were, you'd have never met me."

Jamie placed her hands atop Kurt's chest as he pulled her into him, helpless to stop the smile on her face.

"It'll work out. Always does." There wasn't much point in worrying about the unknown. There was nothing one could do to change what they didn't know was ahead, so why worry?

"Besides, with this whole Force thing having surfaced in me, I'm already a freak to those other people."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He rolled his shoulders slightly. It was a shrug, just a stretch of his wounds. There was a slight pain, but it was almost...pleasant. A sigh escaped hips lips, and slowly he nuzzled Jamie's cheek. There wasn't really much else to be said about any of it. He wasn't about to argue the finer points of high society, nor was he going to give a speech about accepting others, that wasn't right.

"Well." Kurt said simply. "Maybe you'll convince them otherwise."

He smiled and kissed her. "But...Truth be told babe, I'd rather we were walking into a Hutt's Palace then deal with all this Nobility stuff."

The Courier needed to be honest with her. This was something that made him uneasy, more than uneasy in fact, downright uncomfortable. This entire situation was foreign to him. All of his skills, everything he had ever learned, including the tutelage of the Navy, was completely and entirely useless.

About the best thing he had going for him was that he was a good liar.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A laugh resonated from within her and the blonde leaned her head against Kurt's shoulder. "If I were an alien with a lifespan of seven hundred years that still would not be enough to convince them otherwise."

Jamie's pale blue eyes raised to look deep into his. "If you think I am stubborn, you're in for something unlike you've ever seen before." It wasn't just her mother who gifted her with the talent of stubbornness, but society as a whole that had taken root within her personality. Though if he thought she was bad at times, he was in for an awakening when they got planet side. "Just whatever you do, don't lose your temper. It's called social suicide."

There was no doubt in her mind that this was going to be an interesting challenge for both she and Kurt. But it was never going to get any easier, so they may as well simply get it out of the way sooner, rather than later. That way, if Kurt wanted no part of it, or of her, he could walk away before he got in any deeper. But if he could survive this type of indirect punishment, Jamie was certain there was little else she could do to scare him off, short of try to actually kill him.

"I wish there was something I could do to help alleviate your worry, but this is just how the galaxy operates where I come from. It's all I know." It was a rather remarkable contrast between the two. Both were human, similar in just about every way biologically, but the stark contrast in what each other knew and considered normal were so far apart that one could almost call the other alien. "I imagine I will feel similar stepping on to a world full of sand and outlaws."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Dunno." He said with a smile. "Outlaws are easy, they'll threaten you to your face and follow through."

That was really the gist of it.

The double talk wasn't something that Kurt could handle. He knew even before they came close to landing that it was going to be difficult for him. The Courier had never claimed to be the most intelligent person, in fact compared to people like Jamie and Kaile he was downright simple. Most of the time he took things at face value, trusted his gut, and simply lead his life. From the way that Jamie made it sound, Nobility was all about tricks, traps, and lies.

The latter didn't bother him, but the former two? "How about we just visit the Gungans instead? I bet I could understand them pretty well."

At least there he would have a chance.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Well, I'm not much of a fist fighter, or a sharpshooter with a blaster, so I think I'm much more keen on not being shot at." Legal crime was much less messy and rarely left trails when done correctly. If it weren't, at least eighty five percent of the upper echelons of Naboo society would be sitting in a cell right now, Jamie included, though more so out of association than direct involvement. While her parents were far more upstanding that some others, they weren't without their own closets full of skeletons, some likely that Jamie wouldn't even know of.

"Relax." She pleaded, "It's not all bad. The people are generally all very nice, and nobody is going to poison your water while you're turned around. It's just..." Jamie held her words for a moment, considering them carefully.

"It's just that you don't want to open yourself up too much. Personal information is like a weapon to these people. If you give them a little, they'll uncover a lot. The best I can say is to keep conversations with people other than my direct family to a minimum, or if you can't, then keep it to small talk."

Jamie couldn't help but laugh at Kurt's request to instead visit the Gungans. "I know a few of them. Very interesting people. Also very friendly. But no, if we land on Naboo, and my family finds out we didn't go to see them, you'll wish you were still in jail."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]