This Place Gives Me Flashbacks (Rawnie)

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane smiled, and then collapsed against Rawnie when she moved the chair around. When he tried to get back up, he only managed to half-drag her out of the chair.​

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"I think I'm as fine as I'm gonna get. Lets just um... make sure I don't keep pulling you down into my dizzy crash-landings."​

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He jokingly opened his eyes a bit wider, and stared at her.​

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"Now tell me, Icy, are my eyes bloodshot?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Bloodshot. Was it a joke? She stared at his solid red eyes for a full thirty seconds, trying to figured it out.

"I... don't know? It looks pretty red to me?"

She bit her lip, hand on his shoulder to keep him steady. With a shake of her head, she stood up, offering him an arm to lean on.

"Let's get you laying down before you pull me on top of you again. 'accidentally', of course."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane held onto Rawnie's arm as they went through the gravity shift, still sort of jokingly smiling at her.​

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"Well, I wouldn't say no to intentionally dragging you, so long as you promise not to let me pass out."​

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His expression became a bit more serious.​

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"No, really. I need you to at least stay next to me and make sure I stay awake."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

The blonde nodded, face going serious. That blow to his head was serious then. She led him down to the couch, trying to help him get comfortable there.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you awake, one way or another."

How? She was no good at story telling, and conversation could get awkward after a while. She'd just have to try. Mom was good at keeping a conversation going. How did she do it?

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane let Rawnie bring him to the couch. He felt like a jackass for thinking about it, but she was cute when she was worried.​

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"Eh... we can talk about whatever. Or, um... watch a vid, or something."​

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He put an arm around her and hugged her a little bit closer to himself. The doctor smiled a bit nervously.​

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"Or I could do this, if it's okay?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Another hug... She felt so... awkward. This wasn't normal. Was it? Did friends always hug when they were scared? She awkwardly hugged him back, biting her lip.

"S-sure. It's alright. Do what you have to, as long as you don't pass out on me."

And really, she kind of enjoyed it. Nobody hugged her back home. Not in many, many years.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane's smile turned a bit more relaxed, and then he gave her a totally deadpan look.​

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"If I actually do pass out on you, don't get anywhere near my mouth. I drool when I sleep, apparently."​

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Wow, if he got any smoother, he'd be a runway... Oh, wait... nope.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Her eyes when wide. Was he joking again? He was always joking. Even when he was hurt. Drool really was the least of her worries.

"Do whatever you have to do, Lor," she sighed, "I've handled worse. "

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane chuckled and looked at Rawnie again.​

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"I know. You've had to deal with a questionably moral blue doctor, an idiot who you mistook the doctor for, a Bothan who apparently doesn't know when to quit, and now..."​

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He sighed a little bit and looked away.​

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"Now you've got to deal with unwanted hugs from the questionably moral doctor. Oh, and you had to deal with me being drunk. Forgot about that."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"Besides that, " she shrugged, "you're really not that bad. "

Not as bad as some people she knew. In fact, she actually liked this one. He was honest and real with her. Blunt. She liked blunt. And funny. Her humor may consist almost entirely of making people feel stupid, but she enjoyed a good joke. Someone who could understand when she was being cruel and when she was just being herself.

"Lor? Tell me about home."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane smiled and relaxed a bit more as he felt Rawnie's shoulder nudge into him.​

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"You're a tiny bit too nice to me, y'know. If I wasn't such a well-adjusted alcoholic madman, the difference between my last 'friend' and you would put me into a self-destructive spiral."​

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He raised an eyebrow as he thought about stories to tell. The smile on his face turned into a teasing smirk.​

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"I don't suppose you wanna hear the story about the nun who tackled me into a closet, huh?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Nice? Did he just call her... nice? That confused her. And she was still letting him hug her. No. Wait. She was hugging him back. This was so awkward. Warm, pleasantly warm, but awkward. She was so not used to physical contact with... anyone, really.

"Tell me about anything you want," she answered, "as long as it keeps you conscious."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Well... Raunchy story for the Ice Girl, then..."​

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Lorane snuggled Rawnie a bit closer, and looked at her for a bit longer. The thought that she still smelled good kept popping up in the corner of his head, looking for another thought to connect to. It didn't find one.​

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"So, I moved to Chroma Zed basically right after I left Csilla. Fun place, Chroma. Especially the town you met me in. Golden Coast is full of all sorts of shady stuff, and I love it there. That bar was actually somewhere I hang out pretty often, and the bartender is the person with the least mocking expression of concern I know."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She nodded, letting him hold her closer. she felt her own eyes close as she wrapped her arms around him, absently running her fingers along the back of his neck as she listened.

"That bar? Yeah? So, what's so raunchy about this story?"

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Oh, well, I didn't tell you about Our Lady of the Holy Boom. It's sort of like a church, except the nuns are not nuns, and they sell all sorts of weapons and illegal stuff."​

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Lorane smiled as he thought of his first week there, figuring out that everybody in Golden Coast was more or less an underground criminal. He turned the smile on Rawnie as he felt her fingers on his neck. That felt really good. Good thing she had her eyes closed, or she would've seen the Chiss' face turn roughly the color of his eyes.​

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"So, the raunchy part is that this seriously hot-looking Zeltron 'nun' came into the bar and drank up a storm. Enough that the robe-thingy they all wear came off before she pushed me into a closet. Don't ever mess with pheromones, by the way. They feel good when you're doing the stuff you get sort of forced into, but then you end up with a massive headache."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She wished he wasn't so close when he told her that story. Her face was going pink. Truth be told, she was a little... jealous? Her only experience along that line had been with her first and only boyfriend. Only a single month were they together before he moved on to a prettier girl. They hadn't done everything, but it was close. Then he was gone, leaving behind a note on her bed and just memories. She'd been angry before, but she was over it now. It hadn't taken long. She was strong. She didn't need a lover to validate her existence.

"Pheromones? Noted."

She kept running her fingers up and down his spine, almost on impulse now, leaving behind light scratches.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

The scratching on Lorane's back felt good, but it worried him a little bit. Was Rawnie suddenly angry at him? He didn't think so. She was still pretty close to him, and she was still moving her fingers around on his back. The doctor squeezed her a little bit, and looked at her with concern.​

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"Um... are you okay? I mean, that feels good on my back, but people are usually a bit less aggressive when I'm hugging them."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

The blonde blinked and pulled her hand away immediately.

"Ah! Sorry!" she quickly apologized, "Buir used to scratch my back when I was sick or hurt. It's just habit, I guess. Won't do it again."

She swallowed hard and started to pull away. She'd made things awkward. Again.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane's expression went from concern, to confusion, to a mock-annoyed expression. He poked her cheek.​

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"If you don't scratch my back, I will subject you to armageddon by poking."​

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He offered his open arms to Rawnie again, doing his crooked grin.​

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"No, seriously, I liked it. Come back over here so I can tell you another story."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Oh. So now he... liked it? He was confusing. Rawnie had been certain she'd messed up. She awkwardly went back into his open arms. Was this what friends did?

"...Alright, if you're sure..."

Her fingernails gently raked across his flesh as she examined his head as best she could through the bandages. He seemed to have at least stopped bleeding, or at least he wasn't bleeding through the gauze. That was a plus.

"Another story then."

[member="Doctor Azure"]