Sand and Sun

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

What was he doing?

Munin wasn't sure.

It was too early for this wasn't it? Was he being silly? Probably, but in that moment, with what he had just watched, with how he had felt his heart skip a beat Munin couldn't quite help himself. Slowly he wandered after Spark, steps digging into the sand. She dug through her bag for something, though in truth he was a bit too distracted to notice what it actually was. He was being a fool, they hadn't known each other for that long, perhaps a week, but...hadn't they already lived through so much?

Survived death? Cliffs? Deserts?

Wasn't that enough? Slowly Munin walked over to her, dropping to his knees in front of her. "I..."

He began to catch Spark's attention.

"I think." This was a foolish thing, silly thing, but he had to keep going. His fingers gently reached out to tip up her chin so that he could look her in the eye. "I think I might be falling in love with you."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Attention immediately focused on the information broker at his touch. Glasses sat askew on her freckled nose. #perusual Blue eyes widened at his admission. She blinked and blinked again.

Cautious heart stirred a little.

She cared about Munin. A lot. Liked him a lot. Was there room for love? Yes. But after all she'd been through, she'd need trust before she could fall in love and that took time. Not just a week. But would he give her time?

If he really loved her, he would. And if not...

"How can you be so sure?" She asked quietly.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"I don't know." He said quietly. "I've never felt this way before...about anyone."

What else was he supposed to say?

"What else could it be?" He asked quietly. This really wasn't something in his territory, perhaps he should have hoogled i on the holo-net before suddenly blurting out the declaration for Spark to hear, but...well the moment had seemed oddly right. Even if maybe it hadn't been. He frowned for a moment, his breathing slowing a bit as he realized that he may have done the wrong thing, that maybe she hadn't been ready for him to say such a thing.

Fear grew in his chest.

"I want to be with you." He said slowly. "Talk to you, hold you, kiss you...Just sit in front of a holo-terminal with you."

Silly description, but apt for them. "It's alright if you don't feel the same."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"Its not that," she said quietly and somehow managed to find his hand with her own. "I want to be there. I like you....a lot. Feelings, love. None of that stuff is easy for me. I. I need time."

She squeezed his hand and for Spark, that touch spoke volumes.

#eeeeep #emotions #socialsituations

"And I want you to know me more. I'm ready to share more things about me, if....if you want to know?" Sneakered-feet shifted in the sand. Her free hand self-consciously brushed off sand from her jeans.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"Okay." He could accept that.

Time.

It was logical. Munin didn't know much about Spark's history with...well anything. They had talked a little bit, but in all honesty he still didn't know much. If she needed time...then he would give it to her, especially if it meant that he got to be with her more, learn about her. It was something, it was enough for him. Slowly Munin lowered himself to the ground, his hand remaining in Spark's but withdrawing ever so slightly. He wanted to let her be comfortable.

"I do want to know." He said softly. "Is it..."

He didn't know how to ask this. "Is it alright if we get a bit more comfortable before you do?"

Munin didn't want to be sitting awkwardly in the sand if he was going to be listening to what she had to say, in all honesty he'd rather just have her tell him while she was laying in his arms, but he figured asking was the best way to achieve that.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"No," she said quietly, pale cheeks betraying herself once again. "I don't want to be distracted. This'll be hard enough for me as is."

And it would be. This would be the most she'd ever talked at one time in a long time. But she did scooch off the crate and settle in the sand at Munin's level, lightly holding his hand. Knee brushed against his as she crossed her legs.

Glasses were adjusted and she took a breath.

#preparingforamarathon

She knew anything she shared with him, he could use against her. It spoke volumes that she was opening up to him as much as she planned to.

#vulnerabilityalert

"Okay, so you know about how I grew up going from boarding school to boarding school...," and she continued on. She told him about her time working with the Underworld on Zeltros. Her run-in with a Jedi man who brought her to the Jedi in the Republic. How he recognized that she had force potential.

From there, details were fuzzy and she explained it was because of a Sith Lord on Manaan and how he captured her and infected her with a technovirus. She talked about her time with the Sith and doing horrible things because of her re-wired brain and Darth Carach.

She spoke about falling into the Netherworld and how it 'woke-up' her mind with the help of a crime lord and her exit from the Sith and journey to the Alliance. How she met Coren Starchaser. Her capture by Darth Bane because of his obsession with Coren. When she became a pirate's slave.

Her rescue and escape back to the alliance. The betrayal by Coren and Chevu. How she threw herself back into Alliance and Underground work and her capture by Darth Adekos. How she turned this capture into an opportunity to spy on the Sith Triumvirate.

And then how her cover was blown from the Sith....

"And that's when I ran into you. Until recently, the Alliance still thought I betrayed them. But my friend and handler, Gabriel, showed them proof of my correspondence with him. That's where I went, before I met you here. Back to the homestead. They're my family."

How long had it been? Hours? A hand came up and massaged her stiff neck. "I think I have a superpower for getting captured." A small smile went across thin lips.

#jkbutnotreally

"I know it's a lot. But I wanted you to know." Sharing would help her move forward. "Do you...have any question?"

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

The story was a long one, and by the end, Munin sat stunned.

His hand was still intertwined with hers, her knee still gently leaning against his. For a moment the Information Broker was...well simply without words. The tale was a fantastical one, and in truth...parts of it had made him sick to his stomach. The thought of Spark being captured...tortured...none of it sat right with him. It made him angry, sad, a whole range of emotion that he’d never really felt for anyone else.

Munin found his need to protect her doubled over by the end of her story, a silly and childish thing. He couldn’t fight Sith Lords, he couldn’t battle Jedi or do anything of the sort, but the thought of something like she had experienced already ever happening again...it disturbed him. The pit in his stomach slowly went away as she looked at him expectantly, her face flushed and red from the entirety of her story.

“I..” He looked at her. “No. No questions.”

Munin gently squeezed her hand.

What was he supposed to say now? Part of him wanted to comfort her, part of him wanted to hold her, and yet another part wanted to hunt down anyone who had ever harmed her and ruin their lives entirely. After a few moments, he simply decided to squeeze her hand again, his other hand raising slightly brush against her cheek.

He knew she didn’t like touch, but...it was important.

”It doesn’t change anything.” Munin said quietly. He didn’t know if she had been worried about scaring him off. ”I still want to be with you, and...help you with whatever you need, however you need.”

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She squeezed his hand back. Other hand came up and hesitantly entrapped his hand lightly against her cheek. She closed her eyes a moment, shuffling the memories away, letting herself feel Sawyer's fingers against her skin, and letting her worries fade just a little bit away.

Blue-eyes opened again to find the other pair looking her way.

"You can help me with one thing. I don't want to call you by a name I came up with. I want to call you the same name your sister calls you."

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He smiled slightly.

Munin had been honest with her when he said that he had no fixed name, no real identity. He and Huginn had pseudonyms they'd chosen for each other, pulled from an old childrens tale. It hadn't seemed silly at the time, though now that he was an adult Munin saw it as such. Yet there was no embarrassment to it, not really.

"Munin." He said simply. "She calls me Munin."

For a second he paused, then decided to elaborate. "When we escaped the orphanage we did it because of our knowledge, things we'd learned and figured out, so when we went into business as Information Brokers were chose the names Huginn and Munin. The names are from a story about a God. He had two Ravens that kept and brought him knowledge."

Munin smiled a small smile, as if the memory was one of his few pleasant ones.

"We thought we'd be the Ravens."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Munin.

She sounded it out in her head. She liked it. Hand fell back at her side and glasses were adjusted on her freckled nose. She listened quietly. He was opening up, too. Reaching behind her, she took the antiseptic ointments and began applying them on the minor cuts along her palms. Sleeves rolled up and she began doing the same to her gangly-arms.

"I liked that you used a story," she mused quietly. She winced, getting the ointment on a larger scrape.

"After I do this, I'll work on a summary of things I can do with the force and transfer it to your datapad."

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He watched her for a few minutes, and then smiled.

"Why don't we take a little break first." He suggested with a smile. "We've had a bit of a day."

That was putting it lightly. They had everything they wanted from Jakku, she had just told him her entire life-story, and to top it all off he could swear he heard another sandstorm coming. He shifted for a few seconds and then scooted a little bit closer. "We can lay down for a bit."

Munin knew that touching was difficult for Spark, and now he knew why.

"Just relax." He clarified. "I'll tell you a bit more about when Huginn and I first left the orphanage."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She fumbled with a bandaid and got it on. She studied Munin closely. She knew that part could wait. Head tilted to the side. She heard something out there too. With a flick of her finger and mind, she nudged the cargo-door closed with the force.

They were sealed in.

A few auto-lanterns flicked on. "Okay. But first, help me with this." She held out a spot on her right hand where she couldn't quite get the bandaid right.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

He wondered briefly if this was how he was supposed to feel. Any other time, any other person, and he likely would have felt trapped and filled with anxiety. Yet here, with Spark, he didn't even begin to feel that way. The storm outside didn't concern him, the entire world didn't concern him, heck the entire galaxy. He was simply happy to be here with her, happy to have her by his side.

Munin gently grasped her palm.

For a moment he inspected the wound. The cut was tiny really, not even noticeable, but probably one of those that stung quite a bit just because it was so small. He smiled for a second and then kissed her hand, taking the band-aid from her a second later and gently covering the tiny wound.

"Better?" He asked with a smile.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She flexed her fingers. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Thank you." She tucked some loose strands of blonde-hair behind her ears. "I think that's most of the ones that could get infection."

Better to be safe. It was only logical. They had access to a limited amount of medical supplies here and she was no healer.

"Okay, I'm ready."

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin smiled and then gently tugged her to her feet.

The odd sort of bed that they had made the day before, the two sleeping bags, were still there. He let her situate herself first, getting herself comfortable on the odd sleeping bag mattress before he slowly joined her. His arm went looping around her gently, and with all the care in the world he tugged her close.

"It was on Zeltron." He began as she gently nudged into his chest, arm half flailing against his face as she tried to get herself comfortable.

For a moment he paused, trying to collect himself. The moment they were in, as odd as it was, as strange as it seemed...was perfect. He wouldn't have asked for anything else, couldn't have asked for anything else. Munin looked down at her with a small smile, eyes locking with hers before he quietly continued the story.