Survival With A Pyne

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

”Its not-” Did she really think he was trying to manipulate her? ”I'm not-”

He frowned.

How was he supposed to put this? Cenric had never really put any thought into it before, he'd never wanted to. It wasn't like he thought he was ugly or broken or something of the sort. He knew that he had some things going for himself, but he'd just never had any luck in that department. It was something he'd already gotten over, part of why he had thought he'd made such a good fit for the Jedi Order.

”I'm not that guy, Mariya. Im just not.” He paused, then continued.

”I know that.” His lips thinned. ”I just don't want you to think..”

What did he want her to think?

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The girl reached outwards and grabbed her shirt from his hand, quickly pulling it over her head and settling it on her body to cover herself. Her hands tossed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail as she stepped further into the room. Turning she sat on her bed, clasping the hair to secure it and looked up at the Jedi.

”You shouldn’t have done that.” She said plainly. “I shouldn’t have either.” Obviously.

”I’m not a shy person, clearly. But I won’t get physical with someone like that on a whim. I’m sorry if you got that idea. I’m just not that kind of girl. It’s not that there’s something wrong with you. It just wasn’t right.”

Did that make sense?

“Intimacy is on my own terms.”

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

He shook his head. ”I wasn't trying to.”

Intimacy? Undeniably he had thought about him and Mariya doing...things, but that hadn't been why he kissed her. The motivation had been to get back at her, not to engage her in something wholly different. That would've been...that would've been far too much. He frowned, unsure of whether he was supposed to step into the room or not. After a few seconds he did, though he didn't approach her.

”Its not something…” He trailed off. ”I never thought that was an option.”

Hed never even seriously considered it. Nor did he think Mariya had.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“It wasn’t.” She said bluntly. Her arms crossed beneath her chest, biting down on her lip while she thought of what to say now. This was so painfully awkward. There was no escaping one another for several more days, so they had to deal with this. The smuggler began to bite at her nails, a nervous habit she’d developed when she was stressed.

“There’s no real fancy way of saything this but looking isn’t the same as touching. I’m defensive of the latter.”

He had been lucky enough that she didn’t outright slap him for it. Most would have received quick retribution, or worse, a blaster in the chest. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

”You didn’t know, and I brought it on, so I guess I can’t blame you entirely. Keep your lips in check from now on please. If I want it I’ll tell you. Or you’ll get a much clearer signal than just some eye candy. But maybe you should ask in any case, just to be sure.”

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric stared at the bulkhead directly above Mariya. The only thought that went through his mind at that moment was whether or not space would kill him quickly enough to not be painful. At no other point in this life did he remember feeling this mixture of guilt and embarrassment this powerfully. In fact, he was fairly certain he had never felt this mixture of emotion in his entire life. He wanted to disappear, shrink away and just forget about the entirety of the last hour.

Unfortunately that was not an option, and instead he had to force himself to look back down at Mariya. Infuriatingly his thoughts drew back to their game of cards and an image of her bare skin flashed through his mind for the briefest second.

The Padawan cringed, knowing exactly that such a thing was not supposed to happen. His fingers tightened into fists and his head shook once which turned into an odd sort of nod, as though he were agreeing with what Mariya had just said. He didn't want her to know he was an utter wretch, having those kinds of thoughts seconds after she had just admonished him for them. "I understand."

The only good thing about this whole ordeal was that Mariya and him would never be in such a situation again, he was confident of that. What would she want from him after this? With what he had done she was probably disgusted by him.

A few seconds of silence passed between them after that. Cenric standing there awkwardly, unsure of what to do with himself.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The brunette lifted her hand towards the side of her head, as if she were adjusting her hair behind her ear, but curiously her fingers seemed to press at a something. If Cenric observed her he would notice her eyes widen, partially dilating as she held her hand there. For a long moment she remained that way, quietly scrubbing through the video that had been recorded in those last few moments. In fact, she rewound the recorded memory all the way back to the beginning of the card game, froze the frame, and lingered for a few seconds. Finally, she pressed against the back of her ear once more, and her chocolate eyes reverted back to their typical appearance.

No more record.

Sometimes the implant was a curse.

Mariya then dropped herself back onto the bed, looking up at the metallic ceiling of her room. "Some day." she said rhetorically. Her hands covered what the hair that had fallen over her face failed to obscure.

"Look, I'm sorry for back there, okay? I just get a certain way when someone makes a move on me like that. Let's just forget it happened and focus on getting the full story on the Alliance once we're back on Naboo."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric watched her carefully, studying her in silence as her finger probed behind her ear and pressed at something. His lips thinned when her pupils grew, and an odd sort of blank look appeared on her face.

He tried to concentrate on something else for the moment, but unlike Mariya Cenric couldn't just press a button and forget what had happened. It played over and over again in his head, the embarrassment coming back with a little bit more force each and every time. The worst part of it was that even now, when she sat in silence doing...whatever it was she was doing, Cenric couldn't help but think she was beautiful.

Even without her clothes off.

The Padawan frowned at himself, eyes closing as he took in a deep breath and tried to push some of his newfound misery away. As he did he heard her speak, saying something he could just barely make out

‘Some day’?

Cenric frowned, some day what? He was almost tempted to ask, but it seemed to him that now was hardly the time for either of them to go digging into anything. There had been enough awkwardness, enough for a life time in fact. His eyes opened when Mariya spoke again, and he found himself looking at her as she lay on the bed. ”Yeah.”

He agreed quietly, still somewhat enraptured.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya stayed put for another minute, unsure of what to do now. There was still an awkward air between them, and she wasn’t at all aware of how to fix that. She picked herself up, brushing aside the hair over her face and looked at the Jedi standing in her room. She pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned slightly.

She searched for something to say, anything to break the awkward air lingering between the two, but for all her efforts she couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead the brunette just stared over at Cenric like an idiot, a half empty expression on her face.

Now what?

Say something you idiot...

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenrics thoughts mirrored Mariya’s almost exactly.

He wanted to say something, anything, but instead he simply stood there and stared at her. His expression wasn't as blank as hers, but instead a mixture of anxiety and wanting to speak. The problem was the only things he could think to say seemed utterly inappropriate at the time.

So he just stood there.

His heart began to beat a little harder in his chest, his fingers curled, and eventually the awkwardness in the room brimmed to such a degree that it was nearly choking him.

What the hell were they doing?

Why hadn't he just left yet?

Cenric had no idea what the answer to either of those questions were.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Air filled her cheeks, puffing them out, before the audible puff released the air causing her lips to flutter briefly. Her head bounced a few times thereafter, and she bit into her lip. This was a painfully uncomfortable atmosphere to be in. Perhaps if she just stripped down again he might run in fear of his life and that would be that.

“Okay, well...” She said, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. “I suppose I should get back to—” What??? You haven’t been doing anything, dummy.

”Figuring out what to do with this isotope.”

Sure, that works. Perfectly acceptable!

Anything to be rid of this weird situation. He was still standing right there and kind of blocking her in. In a way she felt caged, and he looked as dumbfounded as she was. This was going to take time to get over. And with little way to distance themselves it was going to be that much harder.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

”Oh!” Cenric said as if he had just been alerted that Mariya needed to go do something important. ”Yeah. Of course.”

He absolutely knew that she was just making that up, but at this point it didn't matter anymore. He wanted to get out of this room and away from Mariya. He was still imagining her in...ways and that wasn't going to stop if she was right on front of him this whole time.

With a backwards step he moved out of her room, shifting awkwardly. ”I have to go…”

What the hell did he have to do? Nothing, he'd been walking around the ship in boredom.

”Calibrate…” He stammered for a second, then felt his hand brush against his leg. The act instantly gave him an idea. ”My lighstaber!”

Yes she would believe that. ”Yeah gotta go take care of that.”

Cenric quickly turned around and began to half walk, half jog away.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The instant he left the room Mariya scurried over towards the door and closed it, the durasteel frame sliding down with a hiss. Immediately the girl entered the lock code on the panel to the right and then turned back, falling face first onto her bed with an intense groan. Her legs hung over the side of the mattress, hands pulling one of the pillows over her head to drown out any other sounds.

After all, she really had no idea how loud Cenric would be when it came to ‘calibrating his lightsaber.’

Nor did she want to know. But hopefully he wouldn’t make a mess in the process...

Her eyes closed, wanting to be done with this day, hoping that she could at least catch a couple of hours of sleep simply to recharge her mental fortitude. Maybe by then they could just carry on and forget about it entirely.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric headed down the hall, though he didn't move back to the room that Mariya had given him. Instead he went to the last place that he thought she would look for him, the cockpit.

There he sat himself down in the pilots seat, letting out an audible sigh of misery as he reached up and wiped a hand over his face. Everything that could have gone wrong with the day had gone wrong. Including I'm ways that he had never even imagined were possible. He felt sick to his stomach, his head was starting to hurt, and he still couldn't get his damned thoughts even the least bit straight.

Misery was falling in him.

Fingers pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward in the seat. ”You karked up. “

The words were nearly a whisper, so quiet that it was clear he was talking to only himself. His shoulders sunk, and he put his face back into his hands. The Padawan had no idea how long he stayed like that, but it seemed like an eternity every miserable feeling seeming to compile upon one another all the while.

He wasn't sure what he would do next.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

R7’s tracked movements could be heard as the small Astro droid rolled its way into the cockpit. The domed head swiveled towards the Jedi, beeping its binary greeting towards the man. The small lense that acted as the droids photoreceptor focused on the Padawan. It then chirped a few more times and in its own way tried to console the man.

: She will come around. : : Don’t worry. :

The droid then rolled off towards another area of the ship, occupying itself with menial tasks during the hyperspace travel.

Mariya finally rolled over, brown eyes staring up at the ceiling, cradling the pillow against her chest. “Ugh.” She murmured. There had to be something to do to pass the time. She needed time away from Cenric, anything she could do. At last she decided that she would retrieve her blaster from the galley table, clean it thoroughly, then use the sonic and clean herself up. After that maybe try and tame some of the unruly hair that had been punished for days in various stages of buns and ponytails.

As quietly as possible the brunette released the hatchway of her door, sneaking towards the galley where her blaster rested on the table still strapped into the tanned leather holster. With no sign of Cenric the girl grabbed the strap and made off towards her room, though as she turned she managed to slam her foot against the leg of the chair that was partially in her way. She nearly tripped as she quietly cursed and made off with haste towards her room.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric didn't move for what seemed like hours.

He heard R7 beep at him but he unfortunately did not understand the speech of droids. He frowned for a second as the astromech rolled off, his expression growing somewhat weary as a flash of memory reached through his mind. ”Should've taken her up on that lesson.”

The Padawan commented dryly.

Cenric rubbed his face again. He did his desperate best to keep his mind focused on anything besides Mariya, drawing his thoughts back towards his task of being a Jedi. He thought about the Rebel Alliance, what had happened on Celanon, anything that would draw his mind away from the game and the Princess had played.

It worked for a time, though it was frustratingly difficult.

Eventually he had to pull his focus elsewhere, and slowly he began to inspect the cockpit around him. He touched nothing of course, mostly because that would likely draw out Mariya and cause even more awkwardness. He studied the panel, seeing where things were and how other things were wired. It was boring, mind numbingly so, but at least it kept his thoughts from wandering.

What else was he going to do?

He'd been wallowing in misery before due to Celanon and now? Now he felt like he couldn't do anything right.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Returning to her room the smuggler sealed the door closed, set the blaster down on the small table she had in the corner, and removed it from the holster. One hand reached over and flipped the switch on the lamp. With care and delicacy the girl slowly took the weapon apart. She could have done it many times faster than she was, but she wanted the few chores she could think to do to take as long as humanly possible. The more time it took, the less time she’d have to talk to Cenric.

Once she’d stripped the blaster, cleaned the barrel and inspected the components she arranged everything neatly on the table and then gathered fresh clothes for after the refresher. If this had been back home she could simply sit in the steaming water shower for as long as she wanted.

Here, there wasn’t much point...

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Eventually he ran out of things to read.

The cockpit was only so big, and the truth of it was he could have been done with all of this much faster than he actually had been. Eventually he knew that he had to leave his little hideaway, and after another hour or so he finally decided that it was time.

He sighed, wincing as he pulled himself out of his chair. The wound on his side ached, and the bacta patch was peeling slowly off of his skin.

It was time to replace it, and perhaps clean his wound.

Cenric frowned slightly, then after a moment decided that it would perhaps be good idea to head to the refresher. He would have to do it quietly so that Mariya didn't notice, but maybe he would get lucky and she would stay in the cargo hold or her room while he went. A frown settled on his face and he took a slow breath.

Sneaking wasn't his forte, but he would try.

Anything to avoid that girl right now.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

As Mariya wandered across the corridor, the door to her room closing as she left it she heard Cenric wandering around. She had thought he was in his room calibrating his lightsaber, though apparently that didn’t take as long as she had thought it might. Maybe he was just quick?

The brunette stepped into the washroom, setting her clothes in the small cubby next to the countertop.

The clothes she’d been wearing were removed and discarded on the floor to the side of the refresher. Hands set on either side of the countertop and for a minute she examined the state of her body and notably her hair, the ragged mess of the past few days having done a number on it. Her nose scrunched in disgust. A number of scrapes and bruises had formed on her skin. She hardly looked presentable. If nothing else she wanted Naboo to be safe simply so that she could take an actual shower sooner than later.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric struggled to remember the entire layout of the ship. He'd wandered around a few of the decks of course, but he wasn't as familiar with it as he would have liked to have been. After a few moment however he found his way down from the cockpit and towards the room he had been staying in.

Of course he has no personal effects or anything, but he'd left the medical supplies there.

Gathering them up quickly Cenric turned, moving quietly through the vessel and glancing around every corner just to make sure Mariya wasn't there. When he confirmed he quickly turned the corner and headed in the direction of where he thought the refresher was. When he passed Mariya's room he saw the door was still shut, though he practically began to tip toe in front of it.

The last thing he wanted to do was make her think he was creeping around outside her door.

Passing by Mariyas room Cenric continued down the corridor and took one last turn straight into the doorway of the refresher which The Princess had left wide open.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Brown eyes lifted from her hands and arms that she’d been examining to look herself in the mirror once more. Except as she did so she immediately questioned her sanity. Standing behind her, she could see the reflection of Cenric looking directly at her. But that was impossible. He was down the hall, in the other room. Besides, she’d closed the door when she entered the room, and if he’d opened it, she would have heard him.

Except as she turned around to check the mind trick her eyes were playing on her she was not comforted by what she saw. Cenric was standing in the doorway looking directly at her. Silence enveloped the space between them as she stood, once again, undressed, in front of him. Then it hit her, when she had entered and pressed the button on the panel, Mariya had switched her mind into autopilot and didn’t notice that the hatchway had gotten stuck, and the door didn’t actually close behind her as she thought it had.

Now what?!

“Ummm...”

[member="Cenric Marus"]