Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Podracing Performance

[Lief]

Rhia was, at this point, completely oblivious to the conversation happening between the two adults in the room.

A sudden snort of laughter escaped her and her head swayed lightly. Almost immediately after she took another bite of the flatcakes, and lightly began to bounce up and down in her seat. At one point she almost knocked over her glass of blue milk trying to pick it up to take a sip, yet by whatever grace there was it managed to right itself last minute.

"Wait..." she drawled, speech already beginning to slur, "Wait, wait... I thought.... Weren't you asssleep?"

Accompanying the words was a finger pointed toward Cotan, though her hand could not remain still and the fingertip itself seemed to be drawing a circle in the air. That caused her to start laughing all over again, before her head leaned forward and rested against the edge of the table.

"I... Don't feel ssooo good..."

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Asha's lack of information as to the possibility there was anything off in the flatcakes did not do much to assuage Cotan's quickly growing worry.

He jumped out of his seat as soon as Asha did, rounding the opposite side of the table to get to Rhia. By this point, the girl was doing a wonderful job reenacting Cotan's posture mere moments ago, although she was far more awake than he had been—and at the same time, far more gone. He bent down, looking into her eyes, checking her complexion. The slurred words themselves were moderately worrisome. Has the blue milk started to ferment? That's a shame, I actually like it.

Of course, in some parts of the galaxy, mildly fermented milk products were considered a delicacy. Focus, Cotan.

Shaking the lack of sleep out of his mind, he picked Rhia up without much trouble. "All the documents that I received about her should be on the desk in my cabin," he told Asha. "Grab those and then meet me in the sick bay." That said, he quickly bustled out of the galley, careful not to bump Rhia's head or feet into the doorway on their way out. On the way to the sick bay, he nearly tripped over K1-S5, a deft jump being all that kept him from careening overtop the droid.

K1 burbled questioningly at him, following him back to the sick bay. "Rhia ain't right, Kiss," he muttered in response, setting the tiny girl down on a bed. K1 came up and inspected the girl by itself for a moment, before giving a derisive buzz. ::Rhia!Status=Intoxicated,:: was the droid's scornful reply. "I can see that, Kiss," Cotan grumbled, trying to find the medical droid hologram that would help examine his apprentice. Quickly noticing the projector, he clicked it on, the hologram quickly coming to life while a scanner started waving over Rhia, while Cotan turned to call out the hall.

"Any luck on those papers, Asha?"

[member="Asha Hex"] [member="Rhia Kesyk"]

 

[Lief]

Before she could truly jump into action Cotan was up, and had the girl cradled in his arms. By this point she was quiet, and though her eyes were open they were not alert.

Asha had seen people intoxicated before, even if she'd only ever had a sip of alcohol herself - in the company of Jorus Merrill no less - and though she hated to say it all the signs pointed toward that. Which, of course, Cotan had already noticed too, why else would he be trying to see if the fruit was overripe?

She's just a kid... Asha thought. Was there even any alcohol onboard? There sure as feth wasn't any in the flatcakes, or the blue milk, neither was bad. Had she gotten into some old stores? Thought, perhaps, it was muja juice?

No. She was coherent when she first entered the galley, it wasn't until she ate that it happened.

Cotan's words pulled her from her frantic thoughts, and without responding she rushed out of the room toward his cabin. It was a room she was only partly familiar with, but thankfully the desk was easy to find. A few pieces of flimsiplast, books, and the like, lined the tabletop, and under one particular book on Zelosian cuisine she found it.

The girl's paperwork.

As she made her way into the sickbay she held the document out to him and frowned. "Wait... She's Zelosian?" was the first thing she said, as she spied the word on the sheet of flimsiplast and added that together with the cookbook, genuinely surprised by this fact. She'd read some interesting essays on that species way back when, prior to Thule, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was that was shooting up as a red flag in her mind. There was plenty different about that species, of course, even if they looked human on the surface.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Lief]

Everything was a blurry mess.

When she tried to lift up her head it felt so heavy that she rocked back and forth and then face-planted the table pretty hard. The pain was sharp for a mere moment before dulling out, and seconds later her body was suddenly weightless. As though she was flying, which was impossible right? Well in her mind that was entirely plausible, though as she flailed one arm to try and steady herself in the air all she wound up doing was whacking Cotan straight in the face.

Only a few seconds passed before she went limp in his arms.

She was still conscious, her eyes set up at him, and still breathing - though at an admittedly faster rate - but she simply lay there. Levitating, from her own perspective.

Muffled noises passed through her ears, the binary whistles of Kiss almost melodic, and while the chaos ensued around her she simply lay there, with a soft giggle punctuating the air every now and then. Nothing seemed real to her, every action felt disconnected and any time she moved a limb or turned her head it continued to feel heavy, and the room whizzed by at an uncomfortable pace. The air rippled, as though she was viewing it all in slow motion, yet her head itself seemed to move at an alarming rate.

Disorienting, to say the least. So much so that her skin began to pale, and turn a very light shade of green.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Yes, she's Zelosian," Cotan replied, rubbing at the now-red spot on his face where Rhia had managed to smack him. "The papers didn't say she had any allergies or anything like that, and last I knew Zelosians generally ate human food fine." He stepped back unconsciously when he noticed the girl's complexion start to shift towards the more worrisome side of the spectrum, levitating a waste can over next to the girl with the Force. Then, just as the scanners started to finish going over the girl, he reached out, grasping the papers from Asha's hand and starting to read over them more closely than he had yet.

Zelosian, plant-based lifeform, unprocessed and organic foods recommended—can't really guarantee that one on a ship, he mentally listed off as he read along, before landing on a line he must've missed the first time. "No refined sugar?" he asked, somewhat incredulous. At that moment, the emergency medical hologram was fully projected, taking the form of a near-ancient 2-1B surgical droid. "Correct," the hologram replied, turning to face Cotan and Asha.

"Zelosians become intoxicated through the ingestion of refined sugars, not alcohols. This is a surprisingly common mistake among caretakers inexperienced with Zelosian physiology." The holographic droid turned again, inspecting the greener-than-normal girl lying on the bed. "If her condition should worsen, place her into recovery position and monitor her carefully. For now, keep her hydrated and give her light snacks. She should recover within a few hours." The hologram turned back, nodding at Cotan and Asha. "If you should have any other problems, please contact a physical doctor." Then the hologram blinked off, the scanner retracting back to where it normally was folded against the ceiling.

Cotan, for his part, was nearly stupified by the mundanity of what was happening to his apprentice.

"No refined sugar. Who would've thought."

Completely at odds with the worry he'd been experiencing seconds ago, and at risk of angering his intoxicated apprentice or drawing a disapproving look from Asha, he started laughing at the ridiculousness of what had just been happening. "Back when I first met her I told her alcohol was off-limits, and now I find out that I should have been more worried about her raiding the cabinets!" He laughed some more, having completely passed from finding the situation worrying to considering it extremely humorous.

Once he was able to stop laughing long enough, he stepped back over to Asha, taking her hands in his own. "Well, Doctor Ashie," he began, a mirthful grin on his face, "How about you please continue to monitor our patient while I go find her some crackers and a glass of water?" He squeezed her hands, before dropping them and patting K1. "C'mon, Kiss, you're going to help me carry some things over here," he said. "We'll be back in just a minute."

Then, his droid at his heels, Cotan quickly exited the sick bay, before he started laughing again.

[member="Asha Hex"] [member="Rhia Kesyk"]

 

[Lief]

"Sugar" Asha said, almost at the exact moment that Cotan came to the same revelation, "Gorramit, really, I just intoxicated your Padawan... Seriously?"

For a second there she looked utterly mortified. It countered his sudden laughter-filled relief quite splendidly, the two dynamics filling up the room around the girl once the diagnostics were completed and a new battle plan was set into motion.

With the scanner going back to sleep, and Cotan getting ready to head off into the ship to find things to assist the girl with, Asha stepped closer to the medical bed and sighed. Surprisingly enough in the time which had passed Rhia had passed out, before she could throw up, which she couldn't quite decide if it was a good thing or not. Rather than dwell on it too much she shifted the girl onto her side, propping her up with a rolled up blanket from one of the store cupboards, and then sat down beside her.

One lighter sheet was pulled over the girl.

"I've never been drunk," Asha confessed to the sleeping ten year old, when Cotan and Kiss were gone, "So I don't know what you're going through right now, not really... I do know that there is a way to detoxify your blood with the Force, though, I wonder if that would work in your case..."

Rubbing her temples, she leaned back in the chair and continued to watch the girl.

"I should have focused more, back on Voss. Maybe this is a wake up call, maybe I should start studying healing again..."

With guilt ravaging her mind, after all it had been her cooking which got them to this point, Asha resumed her idle mutterings to a deaf audience.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Alright, Kiss, one package full of salt crackers, and one jug full of water," Cotan said, handing each to the droid in turn. A pair of mechanical arms snaked out, each one equipped with a claw-like appendage to hold the items with. Then, Cotan set a pair of half-drank tea cups on top of the droid's head. "Think you can keep that level so that I don't have to clean up the mess?" Cotan asked the droid, which responded with an irritated clack. "Thanks, Kiss. Knew I could count on you." The plates and silverware that Cotan and Asha had left behind, each barely touched, found their places in his own hands, Cotan straightening up from the table.

He glanced down at Rhia's flatcakes, and frowned. "Shouldn't waste food, but I already know that this is more than enough for me. Think we could give them to Azrael?" he mused to his droid, which gave a single, loud beep in the negative. "Yeah, you're probably right. Okay, Kiss, lead the way back to the sick bay." Still chuckling at the complete absurdity of what had just happened, Cotan followed along behind the droid, lightly hearing Asha's voice while the woman talked.

Entering the room, Cotan was fairly relieved to see that Rhia was asleep. She didn't look nearly as green as she did before.

No more so than usual, anyways.

He set the crackers and water down on a bit of free shelf space, before pulling an extra chair next to Asha for himself. "I wonder how it is that table sugar can make a Zelosian drunk," he wondered, handing over Asha's plate. "After all, some Zelosians are recorded as surviving off of nothing but photosynthesis for a few months. Photosynthesis produces sugars, which are then used by the plant—or in the case of a Zelosian, the...body, I guess?"

The body of the plant.

"Bit odd, don't you think?" he mused out loud. "I might have to find some extra books on Zelosian physiology to figure out how that all works." K1 rolled up next to them, burbling impatiently at Cotan. Cotan glanced over and noticed that the tea cups were still balanced atop the droid. He reached out, picking them both up. "Thanks, Kiss. Head up to the cockpit and be ready for when we drop out of hyperspace." He watched his droid leave the room, before turning back to Asha.

"Oh, thinking about books, after we dropped you off on Aurum, Rhia and I visited a book store. I think I found one that you'd like." He glanced at Rhia, smiling slightly. "As soon as we're sure mild drunkenness isn't terminal, of course." He looked down at the two cups, and furrowed his brow. "Do you remember which of these was yours?"

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

There on the medical bed, Rhia began to stir.

The words spoken around her were still a muffled mess, and her vision blurred when she opened her eyes and tried to look around. Thankfully her head wasn't quite so dizzied when she turned it to the side, and the sickness which had begun to well up within her dispersed with a shuddered exhale.

Against her own better judgement, a voice in the back of her mind which was significantly more quiet than usual, she tried to sit up. That process, however, was easier thought up than done, her hand sliding against the bed cover and almost sending her flying to the ground. She didn't fall, though, but the slip had her heart rate painfully quicken.

"Books..." the girl slurred, picking up on that word out of the rest of them because of course she did. "I... Like books... I want to read... all the books..." With a hiccup she allowed her head to flop back down against the bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling.

With the lights dimmer than they typically would be in the sick bay, she was soon back asleep and snoring softly - something she most definitely did not usually do - books invading the weirdly lucid dreams which took over her inebriated consciousness.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Lief]

As Cotan and Kiss returned to the sick bay, Asha shifted in her seat and gently dimmed the lights with little more than a very subtle gesture of one hand. It was true, Asha was not usually one to use the Force for so insignificant a reason, but at the same time she worried that getting up and shuffling around might wake the child from her slumber. And who knew what would happen then.

Gladly accepting the food which had not yet been touched, as well as the tea upon Kiss' reminder of its placement atop his head and Cotan's confusion on whose was whose, she took a sip of the latter and finally seemed to ease back in her chair. The girl's ability to rest given the circumstances, and Cotan's now relaxed state, allowed her to release some of the guilt which was pent up within her.

Of course, the tea helped a little also.

"Natural sugars clearly don't have an effect on her," Asha stated, softly, "Because we've seen her drink fruit juice before now. The sugars produced mustn't be quite so refined or complex. It is strange, though, you're correct. I can't believe it would be safer to give her alcohol than it would the mixer. I don't think I've ever said a statement that is so backwards before. Poor kid."

Shifting in her seat she placed down the teacup and began to eat the flatcakes which were by this point a little cold. Still good, though, especially with the fruit mixed in.

"I can see what I have lying around on the Prophet some time? I've collected plenty of datachips in my time, and I know I've read up on Zelosians before. Just took me a minute to remember."

Reaching across to Cotan she lay a hand over his and let out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know. Honestly, I thought Rhia was human. Can you possibly forgive my oversight?"

The mention of books had the conversation shift in a more pleasant direction, and Asha's surprise at his having found a book for her was evident on her face. She managed a meek smile, still feeling at least a little guilty, and tipped her head curiously to one side.

"You were thinking about me? What is the book? Or is it a surprise?"

Asha had never really had a surprise before, mostly because such was impractical in the eyes of her Father, so the mere notion of it being one excited her.

That excitement was short lived, however, when Rhia suddenly sat upright and almost tipped over to the ground. Muttering something about books, no less. Asha half rose, setting the plate to one side, but the girl was flat asleep almost as quickly as it happened.

Looking across to Cotan she tried to gauge his reaction, her own face being almost too neutral... Like a politician afraid of losing support.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan reached out when Rhia seemed to slip, ready to catch her if she should fall; thankfully, she didn't, and quickly returned to a fairly deep sleep. This time he merely smiled at the silliness of it, not wanting to wake the girl up. So, he sat back in his chair, pulling Asha back into hers as well. "Asha, it's not like anybody can tell a Zelosian from any average Near-Human from sight," he said comfortingly, squeezing Asha's shoulder. "I didn't tell you, and I didn't even read her papers enough to know she can't have table sugar. This certainly isn't your fault."

He paused, taking a bite of his flatcakes and swallowing them, before giving a sly, obviously-troublesome glance back at Asha.

"Not entirely, anyways."

He ate the last few bites of his flatcakes, letting Asha ponder over what the book was that he was talking about. Compared to how he'd only taken a single bite out of them before having reason to worry over Rhia, the speed with which he finished them off could prove quite surprising. His old master had always been worried that he might choke, though thankfully Cotan had avoided such. "It's definitely a surprise," he said once he finished. He rose from his chair, setting his empty plate and his cup of tea on a free shelf.

Then he went to the entrance and dimmed the lights a bit further, down to a similar level as the hall lights during the ship's night cycle. Just outside, K1-S5 was waiting in the hall, likely to tell Cotan that they were about to leave hyperspace. Cotan instead jerked his head in the direction of his cabin, mouthing get her gift at the droid. "Just let her sleep this off and she'll be fine," he said afterwards, stepping back over to Asha. He layed his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them to try and help her relax a bit. "I promise. She might be a bit younger than the first time I was ever in this sort of state, but she's resilient." Unless Asha would try to stop him, he kept up the gentle massage until K1 wheeled back into the room, a lightly wrapped package held in one of the manipulator arms sticking out from his chassis. Thankfully, the droid didn't grumble too much at having been interrupted just a minute ago.

Cotan withdrew his hands from Asha's shoulders, grabbing the package. "Here we are, delivery courtesy of my droid," he said, sitting back in his chair and handing the wrapped-up book over to Asha. It wasn't anything particularly special—just the book on tea and all the variations of it throughout the galaxy—but he was glad he'd managed to find something to wrap it in and make it look a bit more like a gift. And hopefully Asha didn't already have a copy of it. "Just something I saw on Orax that made me think of you. I hope you'll like it."

[member="Asha Hex"] [member="Rhia Kesyk"]

 

[Lief]

Guided back into her seat, Asha began by sitting relatively stiff - still watching the sleeping girl - the remainder of her breakfast quite forgotten. As he spoke to her she finally tore her eyes away and let out a very heavy sigh; he was right, of course, there was no way for someone to know everything about every species out there, nor for them to have preemptively guessed that such a reaction was even really possible from something as simple as sugar.

When his comforting tone turned playful, and he teased her, she scowled his way. Of course she simply couldn't keep it up, and almost immediately she broke into a grin. Appetite seemingly returned she made quick work of finishing it up, in case there was any other scare which interrupted them, and downed the rest of the tea given it was now lukewarm at best.

Cotan assured her that the book was, in fact, a surprise, which turned her thoughts back to their secondary conversation. A real life surprise, for her? She could feel the tears beginning to well up already, though it was honestly nothing compared to the sensations she felt when the book was finally handed over to her - after more reassurance from Cotan and a massage which left her far more relaxed and settling back in her chair. Truth be told she didn't want that to end, it surprised her how well he was able to remove the knots in her shoulders and her eyes drifted closed.

When he stopped she opened one eye, only to watch as the gift was passed across to her. She held it in both hands, staring at the wrapping, as one single tear fell and sullied the paper. Asha wiped it away, and cleared her face of the cascading others which tried to follow suit, unable to even find the words to express herself. Instead she opened it up, finding For All The Tea in Atrisia held within. It was subtitled in parenthesis (And the Known Galaxy), almost as though the author had been afraid that someone might think otherwise, but that one little detail made her grin. And then her expression collapsed.

She covered her face, literally holding back the tears so that they too did not fall - this time, after all, they would fall upon the book itself!, and that simply would not do - while clutching the book to her chest.

"Thank you," she whispered, overcome by the sudden wave of emotion she was feeling, "I love it... I love it so very much."

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan, who had only been intending to give the girl an innocent gift, was completely at a loss for words when the first tear fell on the wrapped package.

Alongside that, he felt fairly worried up until the last moment, when she said she loved the book. At that single utterance, a wave of relief washed over him, now that he knew her tears were joy, not sadness or disappointment or anything like that. Still, he couldn't help feeling confused. Had Asha never received a gift in her life, or had it simply been so long since she'd received one that she was so overcome with emotion? Could it have been the fact that it came from Cotan himself, rather than somebody else?

Perhaps all three.

Somewhat awkwardly, he reached out, enveloping Asha in his arms. Completely at a loss for what to do, he pulled the girl in to his chest, giving her a comforting squeeze while he did so. "I'm glad you like it," he replied, somewhat unsurely. None of his experiences when he was younger and was chasing Jedi girls just as a matter of amusement for all the parties involved had prepared him for what was happening now, and he had to profess to being completely clueless as to where to proceed from that point.

Hopefully Rhia stays asleep through all of this.

He held her like that for a few minutes, before pulling back slightly; one hand reached out, lifting Asha's face back up. Absentmindedly, he started to smooth out her hair, any thought as to something he might've been about to say lost as he glanced back at her face. Just what could he say in this situation? The girl had only recently returned to him after being missing entirely for months, and now, only a short time after she'd reconnected with him, he'd convinced her to come stay on his ship and travel with him, he was picking out gifts for her, and they were being far more affectionate than they'd been before she disappeared...

"Uh, Asha," he started, trying to force his tongue back into functionality, "Do you remember, back on Aaris, how you said that my poor choice to go and pick fights with Sith Lords was something you love about me...?" He stopped again, entirely having lost his train of thought. Just where had he been going with that? Still, he'd managed to at least formulate the semblance of a question, so with a bit of a shrug, he closed his mouth, leaving room for Asha to reply.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

As she was pulled into his arms, Asha slowly began to calm down from the strange display of emotions that was entirely unlike her.

Typically the Lorrdian was very reserved, a byproduct of her upbringing, she found it difficult to truly express herself at times, that or it was easier not to. But around Cotan it had always been a little more difficult, he was a trickster, and was always joking around, and those traits rubbed off on her whenever they were in one another's company.

But there was something more than that. She had always felt relaxed around him, comfortable, able to show such things rather than feigning apathy or general serenity. Sat there as she was, in his embrace, soon all she could do was let out a very soft sigh.

The hand which had been over her face moved, wiping away any trace of the tears though her eyes were a little red, and when she finally looked up he was staring right back at her.

Poor guy looked completely out of his element, and a wash of guilt ran over her expression for that. It was true, she had changed somewhat since Nar Shaddaa - a realization had come over her during her time with Vik, when she had been so reliant on another that she could not keep to her usual duties, her mindset had shifted. She knew how much there was to lose now. How close she had come to the eternal void.

He began to talk then, so she focused on his words and slowly began to nod in response.

"Yes? I remember..." But his question didn't go anywhere else, not yet at least, which left her curious about why it had been brought up. Aaris felt like forever ago now, though in truth it hadn't been at all.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Part of Cotan had honestly been hoping that Asha would have supplied more than the basic answer she did.

Not that said part could come up with anything that she would have supplied to move the conversation along.

Cotan's brain went into overdrive, trying to come up with some sort of progression of the conversation beyond where they'd just left it; as things stood, he couldn't really come up with much. Seeing Asha cry over something as mundane—in his mind—as a little gift had managed to clear any thought that he'd had available to draw from, and the normally fast-talking Judge was entirely at a loss for words. Looking into Asha's eyes as he was didn't really help much.

"I, ah..." he seemed to be chewing on his words, stil not entirely sure whether it was just his tongue on autopilot or if he was completely thinking through what he was about to say. After a moment, though, his brain regained complete control.

And, completely at odds with how things normally went between the pair, it was time for Cotan's cheeks to start to redden.

"...I'm going to go do the dishes," he said quickly, flashing a somewhat apologetic smile at Asha. In quick bustle of movement all the empty dishware in the room was gathered up, and Cotan was out of the room and on his way to the galley in only a few long strides. Once in the corridor, he had to bite down on his tongue to keep from cursing at himself, something that he continued to do once he reached the galley and actually started to wash all the plates, cups, and silverware that he had let accumulate over the last day or two.

Even then, while washing them, he couldn't help but continue questioning himself over what had been happening just a few moments ago. What was with the girl? Cotan didn't know. What was he supposed to do in that situation? Cotan didn't know. Just what was he about to say to her, before he overthought it all and left the room?

He almost didn't want to know.

"Well, at least she liked the book," he muttered to himself, scrubbing at a particularly well caked-on piece of something on a plate.

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

All at once, without much in the way of warning, Asha found herself alone in the room.

She blinked, feeling suddenly cold without Cotan's embrace, and stared at the doorway even after he was long gone down the hall. Had she said something she shouldn't have? Done something wrong? Upset him in some fashion?

Chewing on the inside of her lip, filled with uncharactertistic anxiety, and uncertainty, she brought her hands down into her lap and glanced at the book which now lay there. She brushed a fingertip over the spine, then the embossed font on its cover, and let out a small sigh.

She shouldn't have cried, she knew, but it had been so very unexpected. As she sat there she tried to think of a way to make it up to him, but after drawing a series of blanks she merely picked up the book and began to thumb through it, pages upon pages of wonderful knowledge on tea. The thing which had first formed a real connection between the two.

Engrossed, though still making sure to look up every now and then to check on Rhia, she nestled down into the chair and tried her best not to worry over the reasons he'd suddenly left. Chances were, he wasn't used to seeing people cry. She knew it made even the best of people feel uncomfortable.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan finished with the dishes quickly, using the mindless task as a way to clear his earlier thoughts away. Interacting with Asha and Rhia on a daily basis was certainly proving to be a good test of all skills he'd been made to develop as a Padawan. After some years out of practice, functioning more as a Judge than a Jedi, he was finding that he ought to have stayed up to date with the meditating, mindfulness, and such far more than he had. Setting the last cleaned dish on a rack to dry, he turned, only to find his droid at the doorway.

"Time to drop out of hyperspace?" he asked, K1 beeping out a quick affirmative. "Head to the cockpit and take us out, then. I want to stay up in orbit until Rhia's awake again, though—I don't think pulling in for a landing with a drunk child onboard would be a very good idea." The astromech trundled off, leaving Cotan alone in the galley. He glanced around, before sighing after a moment. Not much else to do onboard.

He left the galley, walking back towards the sick bay; a quick glance in showed that Asha seemed to be engrossed in the book. He walked in quietly, trying to make sure not to wake Rhia up, and resumed the earlier position he'd taken behind Asha. "Reading in this dim light can't be good for your eyes," he said, peering down at the book. His tone was only mildly chiding, but it was a bit better than the unsure way he'd been chewing on his words earlier.

"Besides, Rhia's fine for now. Just gotta let her sleep this off and she'll be perfect in a little while." He rested his hands on the back of the woman's chair, glancing back up at his snoring apprentice.

Definitely fine.

"How about we head back out to the common room and spend some time together?" he suggested. "Or any other room. Your choice, really, but talking in front of Rhia like this is just a bit awkward."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Asha had been reading a particularly interesting passage on bioluminescent tea leaves grown on Felucia, when Cotan entered the room. She sensed him there before he spoke, though she made herself read to the end of the paragraph before slipping a random piece of flimsiplast between the pages and closing the book shut.

"Can't do too much more damage to my eyes," she informed him, with a cheeky tone, "Besides, I didn't want to wake Rhia up by turning on the lights."

Turning in her seat she looked back at Cotan just as he made a suggestion for them to go elsewhere. Her still-guilty eyes looked across to the sleeping girl, and then back to Cotan, before finally nodding her head. "If you're sure she'll be okay..."

Rising from her chair, with book in hand, she moved over to the doorway and switched the light off completely. Only a very subtle glower remained.

She ventured out of the room and winced in pain at the sudden change in light, the hall being significantly brighter and - when she walked out into it - the lounge even more so. She stood still for a moment, forcing her eyes to adjust, before seeking out a seat. Her eyes drifted across to Cotan, expression sheepish, as she remembered what had caused him to flee the room in the first place.

"I'm sorry," she finally said, voice still a whisper despite the fact that they were no longer in the sickbay, "I didn't mean to do... whatever I did..." Honestly, she still didn't completely understand what had happened.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan smiled at the joke Asha made, although he didn't laugh. Instead, he led the girl back out into the rest of the ship; noticing her wince once they arrived in the common room, he dimmed the lights down to a level that would be more comfortable for her. He could hear Asha moving to a seat behind him; when he turned around, she addressed him again. He didn't respond for a moment, instead walking around until he was behind the girl again. His hands found her shoulders, and he resumed the gentle massage from earlier.

"There's nothing you have to apologize for, Asha," he said quietly while he worked. "You didn't even do anything." His fingers probed gently, finding all the knots that they could and starting to work them out. One of the skills Cotan had developed when he was younger; all the emphasis on training and fighting that he'd had led to needing to develop some skills at working out all the physical problems that would arise. Not like the Consulars of the order, who were all focused on meditation, the Force, and didn't exercise or train with a lightsaber nearly as much as Cotan and his compatriots.

Very similar to Asha and her specialties, in the young man's mind.

He worked silently for a while longer, before he sighed. "If anything, I'm the one who ought to apologize," he said with a fairly sheepish tone. "I shouldn't have busted out of there like that. I can't imagine it made for the most comforting experience." Cotan closed his eyes, relying on his tactile senses to carry along with what he was doing. "You know I'm glad to have you on the ship, right?" he asked, though he didn't give Asha a moment to respond.

"I really do mean it. When it was just me and Kiss, it was pretty lonely—he's not much of a conversationalist—and Rhia's nice to have around, but she's still just a kid. A lot of it is spent reminding her to get some exercise, quizzing her over her readings, doing some training and meditating, you've seen it all so far." He resisted the urge to laugh at some of the silliness that had resulted from working with Rhia so far, the earlier breakfast being only one of the events in mind. "I'd be lying if I said she isn't frustrating sometimes, either, though she's finally started to figure out what humour is. I think I need to go to Crystalsong at some point, have a word with some of the masters running their little enclave out there."

He continued kneading at the girl's muscles, barring some attempt of hers to make him stop, falling silent again. Thinking on what next to say, and doing what he could to not let the moment get to him like it had just a few minutes ago. Eventually, he took a couple deep breaths, calming himself. His hands rested against Asha's shoulders, ceasing their movement. "So, about earlier," he began slowly. "I just wanted to say..."

What was it he had wanted to say?

"Asha, you're kind, you're funny, you're compassionate," he started again, lightly squeezing the girl's shoulders. "You're nearly infinitely patient, both with me and Rhia." Something that had been tested just a short while ago, he imagined, when he started laughing at Rhia's drunken self while Asha stood and worried. "You're more concerned with the wellbeing of others than with your own—albeit, in a different manner than I am. And after having had you on the ship for a while, I just..."

He stopped again, and shook his head somewhat helplessly.

"Asha, you are who you are," he whispered, leaning in close to the girl while he reiterated what she'd said to him so recently. "And that's what I love about You."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Cotan's magic hands were back at work, continuing to ease out the various knots which had formed both prior to and due to their medical scare that morning. She could hardly believe how much time had passed since they'd first seen one another in the cargo bay, since she'd worked on breakfast, and Cotan snoozed. It felt as though half of the day was gone already, and she knew that they really ought to have been coming in to land at Tatooine. Apparently that wasn't happening any time soon though, which made sense with Rhia in the sick bay.

She couldn't imagine that breaking atmosphere would be nice on the girl's tender stomach. Besides that, ships often got searched - though perhaps less so in a lawless region like Tatooine - and they didn't need someone happening upon a drunk ten year old.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back until it unintentionally touched his abdomen and sighed. Less stressed than she had been just moments prior, she managed a small smile up at him once he assured her things were fine, her fears melting away. She wasn't good at this sort of thing, of coexisting with others, she hadn't had to for extended periods of time, her recovery period with Vik and her upbringing with Jericho not withstanding, when it came to residing in such a way of her own volition, around people of her choosing? Well... There was a genuine worry that at any moment the whole thing would turn to dust, and she'd be back on her own.

After being with Cotan for so long now, even if it may not have seemed so long for someone who was used to such, she wasn't sure she wanted to give it up any time soon. Especially not for potentially negative reasons.

"It's okay," she breathed, "I didn't mean to overwhelm you, I just... Nobody has ever really done that for me before. I unintentionally adopted Azrael from Sargon, when he picked me up on Thule, and of course my Papa helped me find my Prophet, but..." She swallowed for a moment, keeping her eyes tightly shut, "To have someone simply see something that reminded them of me? And then to bring that back?"

No, that certainly wasn't something that had ever happened.

"Gifts aren't something I'm used to, I suppose, and coming from you? Well... Thank you. It means the world to me, Cotan."

Then he tried to reassure her, that he enjoyed her company on the ship, and before she could respond he continued on. Mentioning Rhia, and the Masters back on Crystalsong, had Asha frown for a moment; it was true, their practices were a little strange and restrictive. No doubt a product of a bygone era. Some of the things Cotan had informed her of, such as the lack of imaginative reading material, and her unfamiliarity with music, bordered on barbaric.

"She's a good kid," Asha said, though she did not doubt he already knew it for even a second, "But even parents need a little break every now and then, and they have the ultimate responsibility toward their children. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Silence spread between them then, her head remained where it was, eyes still closed, enjoying Cotan's soothing touch. It wasn't until he began to broker their earlier conversation that one eye peeked up at him curiously. And what came next had both open, wide, the redness in her cheeks exhibited earlier that morning returning in full force until they practically burned. It was difficult for her to take compliments in any form, usually she would shoot them down entirely, or simply dismiss them, but in that moment she was unable to do either.

She stared at him, instead, and when he leaned in to finish his train of thought she turned her head and looked from his eyes to his lips, then back again. She tried to formulate a response, surely he expected a response, but all she could do was stare, and continue to blush, and look across his face with a mixture of both anxiety and endearment.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

The quick reddening of Asha's cheeks did not go unnoticed by Cotan. Nor did her various glances across his face, or the odd expression on her own. Cotan, after finally having said something he ought to have gotten out days ago, didn't particularly mind any of the odd looks. His hands withdrew from Asha's shoulders, as he moved off to her side, kneeling somewhat so that she wouldn't have to crane her neck and back so oddly to look at him.

Of course, by this point he was at a loss for words again, in a similar state as Asha. Still, he could tell she wasn't talking any time soon, and it was up to him to carry things along. He had some few ideas, but he had reservations about what to do. Would he seem too insistent?

Pushy?

Demanding?

It wasn't long before those thoughts were pushed from his head.

You have to take risks sometimes, Cotan.

Somewhat hesitatingly, his hand reached out, gently cupping Asha's cheek.

A single moment passed, Cotan looking into Asha's eyes again.

Then he leaned forward, lightly pulling Asha in towards him, and gave her their first proper kiss.

[member="Asha Hex"]