Private You Just Walk In Like You Belong

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile couldn't help but laugh at such a forceful declaration as if that was Asmus's battle cry into the start of a new chapter. The sound was bubbly, light-hearted, full of the same delight and affection the Lorrdian shone from her chocolate brown eyes towards Asmus.

"I love you." while the admission was said with a crinkle at the corners of her eyes and joy on her lips, it was such an open display of adoration. Such a contradiction to the former SIS agent who rarely divulged information about herself or her genuine emotions.

"Let's do that," she confirmed, nodding vigorously, the topknot of messy hair swaying with each swing. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and she became even more excited. An idea. One she'd often mused about before but had never had a chance to relay it properly.

"Ooh! Let's make a list! Of places to visit for a date!" she added, excitedly gesturing with her gluksticks over at him.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"I love you too," he said quietly.

A little of the puppy-dog enthusiasm was replaced by slow-burning affection.

"Oh a list!" he grinned for a moment before looking off into the middle distance.

"My brain is now completely empty," he said. "Ooo a Togrutan handball game!" he laughed.

"Oh I have got to be able to do better than that..."

 

[Kaile Vera]

There came the roll of Kaile's eyes in amusement, jabbing the gluksticks in his direction. "You just want to eyeball the players in their uniform for that one." she teased him, grabbing another pinch of noodles to finish them off. They may not be the best-tasting ones, but they were edible. A swig of ale came after.

Scooting around so that she could sit cross-legged, Kaile mused, "Think we can... maybe make a map of all the different food festivals there are? And maybe, like... check them off every time we visit them?"

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Oh no! I have been discovered!" he laughed.

"Six foot six sweaty togruta. You'd be fine too."

He decided to leave the last little pile of noodles. They were too bland for his spacer pallette.

"Oh food festivals! That's good. And if we're going to do posh food I can convince mum to take us on one of their 'dining experiences'," he laughed.

"If you're going to go expensive, you might as well have some holonet chef serve you a crazy nine course meal in a mansion right?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

While Asmus might be used to the more posh experiences, Kaile was not. Although she reckoned she could play the part with a little research and truth be told, in the past, she did enjoy dressing up. It might not be as fancy as what Asmus's mother was used to, but if Asmus wanted to do it, she figured she could play along.

"Hah, just let me know before hand so I can research which knife and fork to use," she joked, but was actually serious. "Any other places you'd want to go?" she asked, finishing her bowl of gluk. It might not be licked clean, but at least she didn't waste the credits.

"You gonna finish the rest of your food?" She pointed her gluksticks at his bowl. Every intent on finishing it off too. Waste not, want not.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"I tell you what..." Asmus said. He leaned over and tipped his noodles into her bowl. He swirled them around in the remains of her sauce, hoping that it held at least a little flavour. Then he split the portion in two and took back half.

He picked up a few strands and put them in his mouth.

"At least yours tarses of summit..." he mumbled with a full mouth.

"Those places aren't as posh as you think," Asmus said. "You get your own table and they swap the cutlery each course!"

But where else would he go...

"There's that crystal planet off the corellian run. Never been there?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

"A crystal planet?" Kaile's eyes perked in interest, stirring the noodles Asmus shared with her gluksticks. She'd visited Corellia before, but not the other planets on the nearby systems.

"No, I didn't know there was one. I knew Corellia was terraformed and restored from its shattered sections, but not about a crystal planet. Which one is it?"

Another swig of ale, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, grabbing a napkin to clean it up afterwards. A small burp and she excused herself.

"Like big crystals or the fancy ones? How shiny we talking?"

 

[Asmus Janes]

"It was...damnit..."

Asmus gave a shake of his head. The name was eluding him.

"Yeah, can't remember. The crystals cover the whole surface, they're...as big as skyscrapers I think. Darnian from Nexu Squadron said he'd visited once."

The Subversion had spent a long time moving slowly and stealthily through First Order space. The small crew had always had plenty of work to do, but the pilots had a little more time to talk and relax.

"I don't know if that would be amazing or we would take one look, go 'wow' and then want to leave," he laughed.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile snorted laughter, finishing up the last of the noodles in one go. Food belly activated, she set the bowl aside with her gluksticks on top, then sighed. She was stuffed. There were significant benefits to making every credit stretch, but there were also cons when she refused to let any food go to waste. Sometimes, this worked out. Others, not so much.

It made for an interesting dynamic when Kaile was the saver, and Asmus was the spender. Budgets had to be allocated early when Kaile agreed to be with Asmus and try to work things out together. His hair products had been the most prominent item. Not so much fashion, as they didn't have any fancy places to go to -- although Asmus did enjoy having some comfy pajamas.

"Okay, we can put it on the list." she passed a hand over her belly to rub it. A glance around the gutted entertainment center and then another sigh, leaning back on her arms and elbows.

There was a pause, then a curious thought.

"Is there anything else you want to do? Or something you missed?" Kaile really didn't want him to deny him so much while leveraging their safety. She had been rather overzealous trying to make sure they wouldn't be found.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Missed? No. What I was looking for was you. And you weren't alone, as it turns out," he laughed. There were three of them in the family now.

What had he missed? Certainly not an adventurous youth. His exploits had been more amorous than heroic, but those days had given him a chance to explore far and wide.

"I'll think about it," he said. "I think a little more time for us. But don't think I won't treasure our last year and a bit."

This time he was more honest. He hadn't needed anything else. No fancy diners or sports games. They'd grown as a family together.

"But what about you?" he asked. Given her thoughts about her past, there had to be things she felt she'd missed out on, he thought.

 

[Kaile Vera]

A warmth of joy grew in hearing that Asmus didn’t feel as if was missing anything or had given up on major points of his life for her and Bix. He’d told her when he found her he was willing to do what ever Kaile wanted as long as she’d let him be by her side. He’d fully committed to that and Kaile certainly felt that he loved her and Bix with all of his entirety.

It was the question he posed to Kaile that caused her to pause and think. Her brow furrowed, and she wiggled her bare toes in thought. The hum of the air recycler percolated through the air a bit before she said, “I.. don’t know.”

It was an honest answer. To clarify she added,” The majority of my missions required me to be deep undercover. I had to become in entirety who I was supposed to be. It wasn’t just an in an out role. Some I did for years. I couldn’t stray from what was expected of me when embedded that long.”

 

[Asmus Janes]

Her answer gave Asmus pause for thought. Kaile had been without a true childhood. She'd been taken from mission to mission and people like Vo had probably be ready to disavow and cut her loose at a moment's notice.

Asmus leaned over and placed a hand over her own.

"I think it might be more important that we find something you really want to do. Whether it's the family, the two of us or just you."

It could be that it was something they needed to prioritise over becoming a family of four, he thought to himself. Kaile had friends now and she had a family. He was her family.

"Have a think about it," Asmus offered. "Come on, we should get pre-flight checks going and get in the air."

 

[Kaile Vera]

Hearing Asmus put it that way only made her childhood stand out in perspective and a stark contrast to what Asmus's childhood, and likely others outside the Rebellion, the Resistance, and the Galactic Alliance, had to experience.

Since Kaile was a child, her life had been a play pretend for some more significant cause. Be it the freedom of the slaves at Lorrd under Imperial rule, the Sith, or what have you. As an orphan with no other folk or kin to turn to, what else could she have done when presented with an opportunity to get out of her bindings and offer a bit of adventure?

"Okay," Kaile replied, squeezing his hand and using the word that held so much more significance to them both.

"And thank you," she added, bending forward to reach over and press a quick kiss of gratitude.

"Alright, let me clean up here, and you can get started on those pre-flight checks. I'll head on over shortly."


Thankfully, they replaced and repaired what they needed on the Solaris without any other issues. It went to show that the years with Kaile had given Asmus enough on-the-job training to turn a wretch with expertise. Now in hyperspace en route to Terminus, they stood around the holo table in the meeting room, reviewing a holo of the world, the enormous Terminus station, and its revolving Arceneau trade and refueling stations.

"So both ATC and Terminus have Yum Bunny locations here and here," Kaile began, marking the places with orange dots. Meanwhile, Asmus was to provide the information Vo provided regarding the pick-up.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"I've got precious little on the plan. Vo hasn't disclosed how they're getting to Terminus or when. Then again, that's probably deliberate."

She knew how this worked better than he did. If they were caught on the way then the team being extracted wouldn't be caught too.

Asmus had a pen that interacted with the display. There were already lines being projected for his intended routes into the system that wouldn't draw too much attention.

He drew some potential directions for escape vectors our of the system, assuming the worst.

"I'll run these through the navcomp ahead of time so we have exit jump points ready to hit. If it comes to it.

Now...I've cleaned that uniform twice now and I think I finally got everything out of it." He let a smug grin linger for a moment. "Do we want to be ready in two places so Vo can give them options?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

There was no avoiding that smug, cocksure grin Asmus shot her way. To be fair she couldn’t blame him. It had been quite the filthy workout, one well overdue, and the time spent would now be forever tied with a memory to that Yum Bunny uniform. Nonetheless, Kaile laughed and gave him a playful nudge if her elbow.

“Alright,” trying to be serious again, taking a deep breath. “We will split up. “ she said, pointing at the each location “I’ll be at the station, you can be on Terminus. “

“If we need to meet up, we can do so here,” Kaile pointed at a section by the entertainment section on the ATC station, and then another by the industrial sector on Terminus,”or here.”

“Back up could be by the warehouses. If needed we can claim to be picking up merchandise or shipments and use your mother’s connections.”

 

[Asmus Janes]

"I feel strange about taking her offer," Asmus admitted. "But I think she made it being as informed as she could be. I'll keep that in the pocket and hopefully don't use it. She would probably have to evac some of her people before they were investigated."

Asmus leaned back in his chair. It amuse him a little how quickly they could switch back and forth between different modes. Childcare, personal needs and business. It came with the maturity of their relationship.

"Vo gave us a window of just a few days for their arrival. I'm hoping this will go to plan but..."

Thinking back, even their first trip on the Quin hadn't gone to plan. They'd been in a shootout. Not a lot that followed had either.

"...I trust you. Always."

 

[Kaile Vera]

Those four words were enough.

A ghost of a smile drew over Kaile's face. The last time Asmus had told her he trusted her had been en route to Surabi after the flashfire.

...I trust you. Just tell me what to do. They didn't catch us last time. They won't catch us this time.

At that time, she had planned to buy him a new identity, a new life. Spent all of her credits to get him a clean slate. Left him behind even after asking him to trust her. Not this time.

This time, they were doing it together.

Her hand went reaching out to take hold of his. "We got this. Together."

Now all they had to do was wait.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Alright, we're locked in," Asmus said.

They had been in a virtual queue around the ATC station, but now they had an approach. Asmus was planning on booking a number of landing pads and times to make sure they didn't get held up if they needed to react fast. Gentle nudges on the stick brought them around towards the docking bays.

After their final confirmation he had found a greater sense of confidence. It was different from the optimism he had felt before. They really were taking this on together. Nothing between them but openly shared plans and goals.

Asmus looked over at Kaile as he let the slave circuit draw them into the bay. She had a bag packed ready to go. A weapon, several types of comms just in case and her work uniform. Asmus held a breath just a little too long.

Beep

"Well, there he is," Asmus said. It was an encrypted message from Vo. Obviously sent at the last moment to reduce the risk.

"He's got an asset on Terminus I'm going to meet," Asmus read off. "They've got no one here. Still no comms from the team supposedly getting our people out, but they know what the options are. And its got...a map of where all the local patrol ships are. I guess...this is us as prepared as we can be," Asmus said.

"They know where to meet you and I'll find out from Vo's friend."

Asmus would keep a hand on his blaster. Even if they were working for Vo, there was always the chance of betrayal. He didn't know how Kailehad lived in this world for so long.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Even with as much that they prepared, it couldn't stop the icy shiver of dread that ran down Kaile's spine. The 'what ifs'. Now that she had family and friends to care for and love meant that it was equally as frightening to potentially lose them. Asmus would go his way and she would go to her location, but it didn't stop the worry.

Grabbing his hand, Kaile tugged Asmus over to her to give him a deep, lingering kiss. It was one of affection as much of an incessant need to reassure herself it will be okay. Well, as okay as it was going to be.

"Be careful," she insisted, opening her eyes to look up at him, searching his face. "Don't do anything I would do. Don't be a hero. Trust your gut and if needed --" she swallowed hard and said, "Get out if you have to."

A few blinks and an honest admission, "I can't lose you."

 

[Asmus Janes]

"I can't lose you."

They had both done so well to work around the gravity of the situation. They were Bix's parents, almost the only people in her life. Yet they placed themselves at risk. It might have been manageable, it might have been to save their close friends. It still had a small chance of neither of them returning home to Bix. Every SIS flight mission had been riskier, but none had carried the same potential loss that this one did.

"You won't," Asmus said.

On the way back to the Solaris, he still had to recompose himself. By the time he was behind the controls, the engines had remained warm and he felt ready to go. His hands followed familiar patterns across the controls.

---

Asmus liked Terminus. It was a smelting pot of cultures. Those familiar in the Core worlds and those that often kept to their isolated systems in the outer edges of the Galaxy's edge. He walked through a bustling market, his right hand never straying too far from his side, close to his blaster. Asmus felt safer in the skies, in the void of space.

A line appeared across his vision. The Implants he carried were being pings by a local network. He'd kept the implant for interfacing with ships. He and Kaile might have cleared down everything they had, but the device was receptive to an old SIS handshake. Asmus accepted the connection.

You must be the contact, came a voice in his ear.

"Mhmm."

Straight down this road, first left, next right. wine bar on the corner. Red shirt.

Asmus followed the instructions. The bright and ill-fitting red shirt was draped over the shoulders of a rather large houk. He couldn't think of a less subtle choice for a contractor working for Vo, but perhaps that was the point.

---

"Buckle up red!" the smuggler shouted back at Lucy.

"There isn't a godamn fething seatbelt you..." Lucy shouted back, her face as red as her hair.

"Whoops!" laughed the weequay smuggler.

"Where did Vo find this guy?" Max asked, clinging to his seat.

In the window the sharp dagger of an imperial cruiser loomed large. Red flashes arced out to meet them, splashing across the shields.

"Look, dampeners on the old girl bit fussy, but..." The stars extended into the blue streaks of hyperspace. "...we're away!"