Private A Different Kind of Audience

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Ukatis - Axilla Junkyard

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

Ace stepped back, arms folded, and observed. She remarked his instructions, filling him with confidence. Her bravado, though? Ace met it with silence, not irritated, just focused. He smirked and nodded as his form of acknowledgement.

She missed. Entirely. On the bright side, at least she hit... something. Ace's shoulders loosened and a sigh escaped him, an amused one.

"It's okay." He said softly, calmly stepping forward. "Didn't expect you to get it the first time. Just wanted to see where you were at."

Ace stopped in front of her, eyes flicking from the shattered viewport back to the pistol in her hands. No judgment. Just calculation, then clarity.

"You're leaning too far back." He murmured.

He stepped closer without thinking, Ace's hands came up, slow and steady. One rested lightly on her elbow, shifting it a few degrees. The other brushed along her wrist, guiding the line of her aim. His touch was gentle, careful, like he was afraid of startling her, or breaking something delicate.

"You want the recoil to come through your arm, not knock you over." He said quietly, voice low in the cramped silence between them. "Here. Line your shoulder with the shot."

He moved behind her without ceremony, positioning her feet with a nudge of his boot. He was close enough now that she'd feel the heat of him at her back, close enough that Tic tilted his head with a curious chirp. Ace didn't notice how... intimate this may look.

"Now... breathe out. Slow."

He lifted a hand, hovering it near hers but not touching this time, guiding the rhythm.

"Don't try to impress anyone. Just shoot like you mean it." Another small adjustment to her grip, knuckles brushing hers. "Now try again."

He stayed there, close, steady, centered around her and waiting for her to pull the trigger.

Fatine von Ascania​

 

[Fatine von Ascania]

Fatine huffed. He didn't think she'd get it on her first try? His lack of confidence was annoying, but well placed.

Whatever irritation she felt drifted away the moment Ace moved to readjust her stance. She almost wanted to quip that he didn't have to be so gentle with her, that she could handle a bit of roughness, but when his fingers brushed the line of her wrist, they left sparks in their wake.

Fatine swallowed thickly and allowed her aim to be guided, allowed her stance to be widened at the nudge of his boot. She hadn't given the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck permission to prickle in response to the warm drift of Ace's breath when it hushed over exposed skin.

For all her bombastic talk, Fatine was hopelessly inexperienced when it came to intimacy, or even the suggestion of it. And unless Ace was far more devious than he'd let on, this wasn't even a suggestion.

Which just made everything intensify. The nerves along her skin felt as raw as the ones in her stomach.

He was talking. Giving her instructions and explanations, none of which penetrated the thick haze of fog that had replaced her brain. The cadence of his voice, cool and steady, was about all she could process.

The world faded back into some semblance of reality when he reminded her to breathe.

Fatine exhaled through her nose, long and slow. It went on for far longer than it should have. Her hand twitched as his knuckles brushed against her own.

Devil, something in her hissed. Get a hold of yourself!

The girl turned her sighs back onto the slab of scrap metal, glaring like it owed her money. Her finger brushed the thin grip of the trigger, and Fatine breathed out again.

Bang!

The next shot, refined by Ace's input, clipped the target. Fatine shrieked at the sight of a small, rumpled indent at the edge of the metal sheet.

"Ohmystars!" she yelped, throwing her hands in the air. "I did it! I totally did it!"

Unfortunately, the girl's exuberance came with a lack of trigger safety. The weapon accidentally discharged again, pinging off the plating of a discarded console, and nearly struck poor Tic!

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Ukatis - Axilla Junkyard

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

Ace couldn't see her face from behind, but he felt the shift in her body. It was a tiny stiffening in her spine, a faint tremor in her arm, and the way her breath caught for a moment when he adjusted her wrist.

He paused, just a beat. Not suspicious. Just assessing. First-timer jitters, he decided. The initial recoil had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. Nothing unusual about that.

Another subtle cue caught his attention, the way her shoulders rose too high on an inhale, then lowered in a long, deliberate exhale. To Ace, it looked like someone forcing focus under pressure.

Good, he thought. She's locking in now.

When she fired, finally hitting the target, the the corner of his lips rose - curling into a boyish smile he didn't bother hiding. Pride swelled in his chest. She'd listened, adjusted, and pulled it off. The actress seemed to be a natural.

"Knew you could do it." He said, voice light and almost jovial. Uncharacteristic for him.

For a split second, he let himself enjoy it: her steady stance, the clean shot, the way her energy shifted from tense to triumphant. It felt good watching someone grow into a skill right in front of him, especially someone who lit up the moment she succeeded.

And then... the pistol barked again, wild and sharp, snapping him out of the moment as the slug ricocheted off a console and zipped dangerously close to Tic.

Tic jumped, startled, then turned his photoreceptor toward Fatine and began... exclaiming obscenities in binary. Ace shook his head, smirking at the droid's frustration.

"Take it easy, Tic. She's learning." He said. "Besides, it's not like you haven't been shot at before."

The small BD-unit said something back, defiance in his chirps and trills. He emitted something along the lines of 'Just because you put me in dangerous situations, doesn't mean I have to like it!'

Ace didn't answer. His gaze lingered on Fatine instead, on the warm tone of her skin, the few stray curls brushing her cheek, the soft line of her jaw. And then it hit him, he was still behind her. Still bracing her arms with his hands. Still far closer than he'd meant to be.

Clearing his throat, Ace stepped away to her side and folded his arms over his chest. The tips of his ears flushed and he glanced to his side, intentionally evading eye contact.

"So, yeah..." He said. "Just keep practicing in your own time. Remember what I taught you and..." He finally met her eyes "Don't forget the safety."

His lips twitched at that, not quite a smile, but warm enough to know he was teasing. After that, his shoulders loosened and Ace stood in place for a few moments longer, unsure of what to do. Because, even though he'd never admit it to himself, Ace didn't want things to end so soon.

Fatine von Ascania​

 

[Fatine von Ascania]

Tic's angry stream of binary was enough to tone Fatine's excitement down to a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Tic," she did her best to stifle a giggle with her free hand. “I didn’t mean to.”

On second thought, she re-engaged the safety. "See?" The girl drawled, twirling the blaster clumsily around her finger again. "It can't hurt you now!"

When Ace released his guiding hold and stepped back, a chill rushed in to replace his warmth. Fatine's lips pursed faintly in something that approached a pout.

Why did she suddenly feel a little…empty?

She turned, and Ace wasn't looking at her. He was looking away from her, actually. The cadence of his tone was cool as ever, but the subtle twitch of his lips and the coppered warmth at the tips of his ears filled her heart with fluttering relief.

Not just relief, but encouragement. With a sing-song hum, Fatine danced closer, swaying playfully on her feet. Sparks of mischief shone in those wide hazel eyes.

Her grin settled between something sharp and something wry until she leaned in and pressed a brief kiss to Acier's cheek.

"Thanks for believing in me," she murmured.

Fatine pulled away, nerves and excitement threaded onto the needle of her bubbling laughter. Her cheeks tickled pink as she grinned like a fool who'd somehow thought she'd won this interaction.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Ukatis - Axilla Junkyard

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

Ace remained in place, silent, still frozen between choices, eyes lowering to his boots. Tic softly chirped something in the background, it drew his attention enough for him to lift his eyes.

That's when he saw her, Fatine humming and swaying toward him in a natural rhythm. Catching the mischievous intent behind her eyes, Ace cocked an eyebrow. Every neuron screamed at him to move back. Old survivor instincts. Only... something else in him didn't allow for it.

It wasn't dramatic. There was no jerk or gasp, rather, a full system shutdown the second her lips brushed his cheek. Like somebody had yanked the power core out of his chest and he was waiting for a reboot.

The warmth hit him a heartbeat later. Cheek first, neck second, ears last: bright, unmistakably red. He didn't move, didn't breathe, didn't even blink until she pulled away and he realized he was still just…standing there.

Tic let out a smug ascending chirp. Ace ignored him with every ounce of dignity he had left.

"I--" His voice cracked, then quickly cleared it. "Yeah. Of course." He said, smiling softly.

He didn't step back, though. Didn't push the moment away. He just looked at her, taking in the pink blooming across her cheeks, the way her smile curled at the edges like she couldn't hold it in. And Ace's chest did something inconvenient.

He finally tore his gaze away, too late to hide the way he'd softened. Too late to pretend the kiss hadn't short circuited every thought in his skull.

He wasn't ready to name this feeling. But it had definitely named him.

-END-​

Fatine von Ascania​