Responsibility

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

There was never any end for work. That was clear when one was on a ship and part of her crew. However, Kaile could tell that Kairon was having fun on account of Asmus, who immediately began to look glum at the amount of tasks set upon him. The corners of her lips twitched and she gave a quiet smile.

THey loved each other. That was obvious enough. Kaile didn’t need to read their body language to understand that and see it. They were family. Family.

That thought sobered her.

Would it have been the same if she had her own? Would she have the same banter? See the affection in their eyes? Would they really -know- her. Send her off to do tasks and she’d moan and groan, but actually be okay with it?

Those melancholy thoughts were abruptly cut off when Kairon asked her a question. Kaile immediately smiled.

“Aye I do.” she told him honestly, however her eyes widened after a particular phrase. “A Togruta ball?” her brows rose high, curiously glancing from Kairon to Asmus.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Handball, remember?" Asmus said between mouthfuls. It was quite clear from their respective portions that he ate a good deal more than his uncle.

"Oh, is she playing?" came a melodious voice from behind them. The colourful Cathar stalked towards the table, eyes on Kaile. It was the look of a predator that had spotted a morsel out in the open.

"Oh you're talking a big game again, almost as if you didn't take such a pasting last week!" Asmus interrupted on Kalie's behalf, a smirk on his face.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Now she felt silly!

Right, hand ball! Truth be told Kaile had become distracted over the mention of balls and dresses earlier, so her mind immediately went to the Eriadu ball instead of an actual competitive gave.

"Oh.. right," for now Kaile enjoyed watching the crew interact with each other. It made her remember how things had been with Kurt. They were a family. A thought came to her.

Is that why she was so depressed? Was it because all this time.... Kurt had become her family?

That struck her.

That struck her to the core.

A moment of somberness hit her, and she quietly chewed on her bread while the rest bantered back and forth.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

It wasn't long before the group had established house rules for the match. First to twenty, with Asmus and Kailie taking on the other pair. Kairon was pretty slow, but Mai was actually the best of them. She also had a vindictive streak.

An empty plate before him, Asmus turned to Kaile. There was another look in the large brown eyes. Not sadness, just concern or...contemplation. He didn't usually put this much effort into considering the feelings of others. Perhaps he felt responsible for her, or perhaps it was just a little easy to get lost in those big eyes.

He realised he was staring. "Right, I've gotta go get something out of one of our cubby holes. Aaaand check some more pipes. Want to have a rest or you coming along?" he asked hopefully.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Turning to Asmus, Kaile found herself unable to answer. She didn’t know. It felt as if she was being tugged in two different directions. There was the need to be alone… but at the same time, she really didn’t want to be. There was the craving for touch, the need to be comforted, but also a desire to let her mind simply blank out.

It was another kettle of Giju and she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

She had never been this indecisive before. Normally she just went with the floor. Why do things have to be so complicated? A weak smile was sent over to Asmus’ direction.

“I don’t want to be a bother if you need to get things done.” she told him. That much was the truth.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

What was up with her? Why did other people always have to be so complicated? Asmus gave it thought for half a second at most and made his mind up for her. On account of selfish reasons of course.

"Bother? Don't be silly, you can keep me company and make sure I don't get lost!" he said, flashing her half a wink as he stood up from the table.

He led her to what appeared to be a smooth portion of corridor walk. Yet when he gave it a swift kick a clear rectangular outline appeared. Using a magnetic clamp he pulled it away, revealing a dark opening just a couple of feet wide. Reaching inside the opening he pulled out a couple of head torches stored in a cubby hole.

"You don't have an issue with small spaces?" he asked before getting on his hands and knees.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

That made her smile.

Kaile gave a shake of her head from side to side in the negative. “No. I’m okay.” In fact, her size is the reason why she spent the better part of her youth climbing into engine compartments and being a wrench turner. She had small hands.

“I’ll come with you then,” she told him, picking up her step to stop by him. Brown eyes watched him get on hands and knees. She bent from the waist and called out behind him.

“Did you want me to follow with a light or something?” she asked him, just to be sure.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

It almost immediately occurred to him that he'd missed a trick. Now he was going first and wouldn't get the good view. Oh well. That would have perhaps been a little rude. The tunnel was hot, dark and humid. He despised going down these on his own.

"Yeah just follow along," he called back. "There's a pipe up here, same deal as before and we can both get through it again."

He kept crawling ahead until a pipe dipped in through the top of the shaft. When he reached it he rolled onto his back, looking down across his chest down to her, he held out a scanner again. "If you wanna begin here, I'll start from the middle. Shame we haven't got any music in here. Don't suppose you want to sing?" he asked, grinning.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Crawling up behind him, Kaile gave a slight grunt as she took the scanner from him. A small nod and a smile would relay her okay. To ensure it was there, she even gave a thumbs up. Of course, that's when he mentioned if she sang.

Heat rushed over her cheeks just then. Did she sing? Yes. Was she any good? Well... Kaile had never been the sort to judge if she was good or not. The bulk of the time the music was blasting all through Kurt's ship and she sang along with it, regardless of whether or not one could hear her voice. However, there had been some intimate moments where she would be cuddled up next to Kurt or in the refresher, and she would sing.

"I do..." she admitted, not wanting to lie. "But how about you?" she offered instead. "We could sing together?"

That way, both could share the embarassement.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Hah!" Asmus replied, his grin ever wider. "Erm..." he rolled is eyes. It was noticeable that he hadn't started doing any work yet. It was far more interesting to talk to Kailie and they were well out of Kairon's gaze here.

"Aha, poptastic nonsense is what we need!"

"I try to discover
A little something to make me sweeter..." he kept looking at her as he sang, shaking his head from side to side and exaggerating his movements as if taking part in a lip synch battle. He paused to see if she'd join in.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Ohmystars!

No he didn't! YES he did!

Kaile's brown eyes grew wide. Wide to the point they bulged out. Joy radiated from her formally glum face and she began to laugh. Shaking her head, and glacing at him with a sly mischievous look, her own melodic voice joined in.

"O-hh baby refrain from breaking my heart," she brought the scanner up, checking the spot he told her to focus on. There was a slight bob of her head. "I'm so in love with you-uu!"

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

I'll be forever blue
That you give me no reason
Why you're making me work so hard

He wriggled from side to side as well as he could in the confines of the shaft. She was a much, much better singer than him, but that wasn't the point.

Moving the scanner back and forth he drew his knees up, planted his feet and after every foot of pipe scanned shuffled himself further up the tunnel.

When they finished they were a good way through the pipe. He giggled like a boy. Seeing her so happy, it just seemed to fit her face in a way the sadness didn't.

"You pick!"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Her boot tapped a beat. Her head bobbed, the stray strands of her hair falling forward and brushing her cheeks. A bit of grime stuck to the left one, unknowingly placed there by a bit of dust that collected on the back of her hand. His enthusiasm made her laugh\, and his giggle was infectious.

Asmus was a balm to her soul.

It was just a small thing, but what he did for her was so important to her. He made her laugh. He helped her bear the sting of loneliness. Kaile didn’t know how to thank him enough.

“Another song?” she scooted along, using the scanner again. In the cramped up cubby hole, there was an intimacy there. One she appreciated.

“Hmm…” her lips twisted as she thought and considered. A thought came to her then, and she gave another sly glance over to Asmus.

“ We can dance if we want to…” oh yeah, she was going back. W-aaayyy back.

“We can leave your friends behind!”

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Dong

Asmus' arm smacked against the side of the shaft. "Turns out we literally cannot dance if we want to!" he interjected, before heartily joining in the song. Though he did keep rubbing his elbow.

"Alright," he said after they'd finished. If you can do this last stretch I'll go get that package," he said. Rolling back onto his front he crawled on, going round a corner. There was a dull thud, but he carried on singing as he went so she knew he wasn't far.

Yet after the next verse he went quiet. Kaile, who would be on her back to inspect the pipe would suddenly have Asmus' face appear before her upside down.

"Boo! Sorry there was room up there to turn around, but unless you're squeezing past me you'll need to go out backwards," he said. In his right hand he now held an attache case.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Ohh!" She gave a small cry of surprise. One that made her laugh at the image of Asmus' hovering his head over hers. His hair had fallen forward, and it cast a shadow over his face. With a snicker, the young woman shook her head in amusement. Setting the tool down upon her chest, she said,"Your hair is everywhere!"

It was a lighthearted tease, followed by the arch of her arms and the subsequent threading of her fingers through his hair. They slid into the thick locks, sliding them back until she gently tucked them behind his ears. Bright brown eyes shone with warmth.

"Better, right?" She asked, with a cheeky grin and a flashing dimple. "I'll back up." She added, dropping her hands back down to grab the tool to go.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Heh."

Well this was strange. Asmus was never short of words. There was always a quip, a plot, a story or a joke to be imparted.

Instead he just looked at her. Then her lowered his head an inch ever so slowly.

And shook his head from side to side quickly sending his hair cascading back over her.

"Come on we've got a game of handball to win.im best go show you how." And I need to think on this whole 'not knowing what to say and acting like a child thing.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Her laughter would float around him.

“That tickles!” Kaile chuckled out, using her right hand to try and bat the length of his hair away. However, one stubborn lock had already brushed against her nose. Wiggling it, she rubbed it with her hand furiously, eyes squinting shut as to avoid any more brushes from the tips of his hair.

“Okay, okay!” came her laugh, giving into his demands. Her hand went up, palm coming to rest against his lips and fingers lightly pressed against his upper face. She gave it a gentle nudge, indicating she needed a bit of room to move first.

“Silly Asmus, tricks are for younglin’” she teased him, using the time and the additional space to attempt to scoot from under him and slowly roll up with the intent to get on her hands and knees. She’d start her backward trek once she was stable enough.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"So rude," he chided in a mock tone when she gently pushed him away. Shuffling back a bit he gave her room to roll back over. Asmus found himself face to face once again, this time at least both oriented in the right direction.

It was a slightly awkward affair to move back out, with her going backwards and him having to push the mysterious attache case ahead of him.

He kept his head down, eyes mostly on the case as they moved otherwise, he decided, it would have seemed slightly awkward to be watching her back out the whole time. "Right then, time to show you how to play, mind if I go grab some water bottles and something more to eat?" he asked.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

The girl gave a bit of a giggle. Asmus, was still growing. Or maybe he just used so much energy that he couldn't help but need to eat all the time. That amused her as much as made her feel a little bit jealous. If only one could have his great metabolism, she mused. Her hand would run into her hair, threading the pale locks back and behind her ears.


"Okay," she grinned up at him, carefully still moving back in their awkward shuffle. This took a bit more time, and there were a few bumps here and there. Ultimately, she managed to slide a leg out. Her foot met the floor and Kaile braced herself as she slipped out of the cubby hole.

"There we go," she said with a sigh, straightening. She took a few steps back for him to have some room, deciding to get a good stretch in the meantime.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Asmus awkwardly maneuvered himself out of the passage. Groaning, he took a moment to stretch out his own shoulders. At the same time he murmured "give a little respect..." under his breath. The song was well and truly lodged in his head.

"You got any clothes for a chuck about?" he asked. "If you want to go and change I can give the case to Kairon and then change myself."

Thr last episode involving clothes had been...difficult. His self control only went so far after all.