Matsu was the picture of patience as she very carefully read Kesare’s emotions. She did not push in to her mind – it was a violation unspeakable for a woman who’d been on the receiving end of such unwanted presences, and she would never do the same to her best friend (so easy to pick it up again) – but merely get a feeling for whether or not Kesare had heard, or was trying to respond. She sensed confusion, hope, and something like determination in Kesare’s mind, but Matsu had all the time in the world. She did not rush her, and instead closed her metal fingers around the glass she’d nearly forgotten about in her shock and took a casual, measured sip to appear as if there was a natural lull in their exchange.
In her mind however she was reeling, letting her eyes rove over Kesare’s face. Not much had changed in fourteen years, at least nothing more than the expected transformation in to a woman who could kill with her looks. There was, however, a hardness Matsu didn’t remember.
What have you seen?
Because I know that look, I wear it too.
But I can hold your hand again.
She was still caught up in memories, in the promise of something like healing, when she heard the soft cadence of Kesare’s voice in her head.
It took all Matsu had not to smile – perfect.
She reached out one more time as her friend turned to go, half to confirm to Kesare that she’d been heard and half to make sure Matsu could get her out with no trouble. She’d arrived in a small stealth ship, perfect for cruising the two of them off Ryloth, but she wanted to be off planet and out in space by the time Kesare’s employers (and Matsu used ‘employers’ instead of ‘owners’ to stop herself from shoving through the crowd of cowed, drunken idiots and snapping the muscled, hard looking man presiding over his establishment with such satisfaction on his face) realized she was gone.
“I have room for whatever you can take with you. I’m sure we’ll be back for the rest.”
Matsu turned to the friends who remained at the bar, shoving down the panic that suddenly threatened to smother her. What if something happened and that was it, a teasing glance at the friend she could have back, a taste of the soulmate dangled in front of her only to be ripped away? What if the man sitting on his stage off to the side suspected something and hurt – no, Matsu would kill him before he laid a finger on Kesare.
She waited only about ten minutes, not wanting to raise any more eyebrows than she was certain she already had. As she passed through the room she pushed out gently with the Force, masking herself and redirecting the attention of anymore who might be watching her.
The wait in the alley was the longest ten minutes of her life.
(The dying had been slow, but she’d been unconscious for nearly all of it. It had only been a few minutes she’d spent letting out gasping wails in the snow, surrounded by blood-stained snow.)
But when Kesare appeared (with nothing in her hands, nothing she found valuable enough to smuggle out with her, Matsu’s stomach twisting in anger and sadness) Matsu did not think before she wrapped her arms around her, running her natural hand up in to her friends hair and pressing her face in to the soft curve of her neck.
She didn’t say anything because she didn’t have to.
Once she let go she drifted quietly, leading Kesare back to the spaceport. There would be plenty of time to explain, but they needed to get to the corvette first. She spoke quietly as they spun through back streets and alleyways, staying mostly out of sight without drawing attention.
“Ke – it’s not going to make any sense, but think of being anonymous. Think of being invisible, just imagine that no one can see you and…push outwards.” Matsu did not know how to mute her signature in the Force entirely, but she was good at manipulating it to be less detectable.
Better safe than sorry – they were almost home free.
[member="Kesare Salazar"]