And Sometimes a Boy Needs His Mommy

[Ben Corscifine]

Hyperspace. En route to Bakura.

This mission had experienced more false starts than a crooked podrace. Ben had been trying to find his parents since he had been on Ilum and had a vision of their demise at the hands of a Sith on Coruscant. It was his attempt to infiltrate the Sith capital which had brought him into contact with [member="Jessica Justice"], and the plans had been laid out to sneak onto Ben's birth world when the dramatic confusion of Ben's relationship with the Jedi Order, the slow decay of the Republic, and collapse the One Sith had stalled Ben's efforts. When the dust settled and Ben finally did make it to Coruscant, it was after the Alliance had pushed out the Sith. He had arrived without obstruction, but found no evidence of his parents' whereabouts. The closest he came was a flier which urged Coruscanti citizens to board a refugee shuttle bound for Bakura, where they would be safe when the fighting between the One Sith and the Galactic Alliance began. Emboldened by the semi-lead, Ben had boarded a transport shuttle to Bakura immediately, only to find himself attacked by pirates and diverted once again.

Having come back into contact with Jessica on Soceras, rescuing her from slavers and subsequently becoming friendly with her father, Ben felt ready to try a joint reconnaissance mission with the adorable young scoundrel once again. Though things had admittedly changed between Ben and Jessica since their first encounter. They had developed feelings for each other that were beyond the boundaries of simple cooperation, and the time they had spent in transit to Bakura had been exceptionally friendly.

Sitting in the cockpit of the Rowdy Angel without Jessica felt strange to Ben, but he had awoken early out of nerves. At present, it was just Ben, Jessica's droids--who beeped quietly as they executed the hyperspace transit--and the endlessness of hyperspace. Ben had not had quiet moments of peace like this one in quite some time. As he sipped his caf and glanced at the navigational computer (which indicated that their exit from hyperspace was not far off), he realized that he truly felt at home for the first time since he left Lothal.

 

[Jessica Justice]

She'd woken about fifteen minutes or so ago. Leaning against the doorframe leading into the cockpit she observed the sandy haired young Jedi, watching with a soft smile on her face. She wore an oversized sleeping shirt, one that fell nearly to her knees, and hung lazily off of her left shoulder.

Running a hand through her messy bed-head hair, she began towards him, pheromones leading the way as she came to a stop behind him. She gently place her hands on his shoulders, the tips of her fingernails ticking his neck gently, before reorientating to guide her hands to begin sliding down his chest. They then smoothly redirected to move to his biceps as she cooed in his ear in that soft, husky voice, "God, ye look so good first thing in the mornin'."

Her hands continued sliding, until her fingers danced around the lip of his cup of caf, before she'd deftly pilfer it from his grasp. Giggling playfully she took a healthy sip. The invigoration the liquid gave showed quite evidently in the way her eyes flashed afterwards. Returning the cup to him, half its contents missing, she quickly repaid him with a gentle kiss on his forehead, and a brief touching of her nose to his. "Ye be looking amazin' yeself, love." She murmured, before dancing out of reach to observe the Nav-com.

"We be nae far, yea?" She inquired, before looking over her shoulder at Ben, shifting her weight from one bare foot to the other.

[member="Ben Corscifine"]​

 

[Ben Corscifine]

It was something Ben was getting used to, being touched. It wasn't necessarily the sensuality that was most alien to the young one-time Jedi. Granted, that was new as well, but he was most surprised every day by the comfort he was developing with Jessica physically. The abstemious interpersonal codes of the Jedi Order had eliminated the possibility for Ben in his youth, though as he was coming into young adulthood he was beginning to discover what it meant to share your personal space with another. There had always been a sort of bubble, Ben felt it when he reached out with the Force. Now, Jessica had permeated the barrier and replaced it with a tether. Ben felt the woman coming before he drank in her familiar scent, and well before he felt the muscles of his neck and shoulders relax under her physical touch. He even felt as though he knew her intention to steal his caf before it happened, though his lack of reaction settled the matter that it could never be proven. Ben, who had notoriously had trouble personally connecting to the Force, was finding more of that interrelatedness and instinct through Jessica than he had through meditation.

And boy, was this training more fun.

Ben took a long look at Jessica, lingering just long enough to elicit an almost imperceptible twitch from one of the young woman's droids. For all Ben knew, they were spying on the pair at all times. Whether they were sending incriminating messages to Jessica's spacer father or not, Ben was far too enamored with Jessica to care. He felt the whole of himself shutter in the unseeable dimension of the Force as Jessica's lips pressed against his skin. He half-growled, not having spoken at all that morning until then, "Im trying to figure out there are reasons other than the very comfortable couch for my love of waking up on this ship." A silly thing to ponder, with such an obvious answer. But Ben thought that he was being cute, playing coy. His attempt at flirtation was certainly something confounded by the vision of Jessica bouncing around the cockpit in her sleeping attire. And her eyes always had a way of striking the boy dumb.

He stammered to collect himself enough to answer her question. Ben had suddenly found himself immediately unwilling to discuss the mission at hand. He broke his gaze on Jessica to review the Nav-com. "Very close now," He breathed, matter-of-factly. The truth was that he was nervous to actually discover his parents' fate. He feared the worse, his vision on Ilum feeling all too real in his memory, but he also did not know what the "best" would look like. His parents had entrusted the Jedi with Ben's care and training, and there was an expectation that Ben would excel on Lothal. Instead, he had been an average Padawan and now could barely even consider himself a Jedi at all for how his training had stalled out. Ben tried not to betray these feelings to his companion; no need for extra anguish before the pair had even arrived.

His eyes rose to meet those of the young woman who had offered to accompany him on the trip. As he was transfixed by her gaze, a lovely, peaceful thought crossed his mind: at least he could introduce them to [member="Jessica Justice"].

"Sleep alright?"

 

[Jessica Justice]

She noted the subtle shift in personality as he stated their pending proximity to their destination. Padding softly across the cockpit to the young Jedi, Jessica slipped behind him and slowly wove her arms about his neck in a comforting hug. This likely elicited a gentle hand upon her arm, as she gently nuzzled her face into his neck.

She couldn't help but grin as he inquired about her sleep. "Ah slept fine, but could've been better..." she murmured into his neck, before gracing the tender, vulnerable flesh there with a gentle press from her lips. She tussled his hair, envying momentarily that nothing she did to it made it less appealing, before stepping lightly towards the aft of the vessel. She began humming as she did so, her steps taking a sync to the tune. She glanced back with a twinkle in her eye, and a grin on her lips. "Ah should probably get ready. Ah be meetin' ye parents, after all."

With that, she scampered off to her quarters to figure out just what she was going to wear for this particular adventure...

[member="Ben Corscifine"]​

 

[Ben Corscifine]

Ben watched as Jessica quickly disappeared into her quarters. For a moment, he was compelled to rise and follow her, but his anxiety kept him glued to the copilot's chair. He shifted his focus to the endless blue waves of hyperspace in motion. It occurred to him that he took all of this for granted. The ability to travel so freely through a universe so vast was truly marvelous, and yet it rarely crossed his mind. Somehow, it made him feel a great deal more at ease. Perhaps he should have felt small in that moment, but instead the young man felt something that had not occurred to him in longer than he could remember: liberation. Here he was, pursuing his own agenda with the company he had selected himself. There was a lot to be nervous about on this mission, but there was also a great deal to celebrate.

The ship exited Hyperspace, and the curvature of the planet Bakura's horizon stretched out before the cockpit of the ship. Ben knew little of the planet, except for the fact that it was home to a large Human population and that it had apparently accepted refugees from Coruscant by way of the Church of the Cosmic Balance, a religious group that dominated the belief system of Bakuran society. The plan was to arrive at the church in Salis D'aar, the capital city on the planet, and investigate the refugee situation from there.


Ben leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He slowly entered a meditative state, reaching out to the Force for guidance on the mission to come...or simply wishing with his deepest mind for luck.

[member="Jessica Justice"]

 

[Jessica Justice]

She had been rummaging through outfits, trying to find something suitable, especially when one of her droids pinged over the coms system that the temperature was expected to be a little chilly on arrival.

After what likely felt almost an eternity, the young woman would return to the cockpit, satchel slung around her neck, strap at one shoulder, compartment at the opposed hip. This girl and her skirts though.... at least this time she chose to don leggings. A grey, knit patterned pair. The sound of her booted heels heralded her approach, and as Ben would inevitably turn to look to the woman, he'd witness her coiling a scarf about her neck.

Brightening visibly at his attention, she did a quick turn-about, before locking eyes with him. "How do Ah look?" She asked, eager for his approval. After he answered, the BB unit would warble about preparations to land.

"Well, ready or nae, here we come!" She'd cheer, hoping into the pilot seat next to Ben, taking the stick as she and the astromechs guided the vessel planetside.

Spoiler

The Outfit

[member="Ben Corscifine"]​

 

[Ben Corscifine]

Ben appreciated Jessica's flair for fashion, though he himself was fairly routine in his dressings. He had branched out more since leaving the Jedi and not being required to wear robes every day, but still his tastes were fairly plain. Today he would disembark in a white t-shirt and jeans, wearing his thick-soled boots and a leather jacket to protect him from the elements--which were supposed to be a little more uncooperative on Bakura that particular day. Jessica, on the other hand, looked anything but plain. Ben leaned forward in his chair and rested his arms on his knees and his head on his hands, getting a close look. "You look great! Definitely ready for adventure." He did not have much in the way of romantic words--sometimes the right thing to say came to him in the right moment, but he had too much of a logicians mind when he was focused on something else. Hopefully the compliment would suffice, his depth of feeling and attraction to Jessica understood even masked by his preoccupation.

When the droid gave the call for landing, it was all real to Ben. As Jessica guided the ship into the airspace of Salis D'arr, the massive temple of the Church of the Cosmic Balance quickly came into view on the horizon. The most prominent feature of the structure was the large spire that extended from the larger construct on the planet's surface. The church was a ways outside the walls of Salis D'arr, but close enough that it could be reached on foot, as certainly it was by many of the citizens of the capital city. Suddenly, a voice came through the ships comms, "Rowdy Angel you are cleared to land at docking station Bravo." Ben smiled at [member="Jessica Justice"]. In the Outer Rim, she was clearly royalty, and her ship would be recognized and welcome anywhere, lest the poor soul who failed to show the young princess of crime respect meet with punishment from James Justice. The pair easily found the indicated landing zone, and Jessica and her trusty droids pulled the ship in to dock. The stations for landing were outside, and the weather on Bakura was poor, but not awful: clouds in the sky and a chill in the air, but no snowstorms or thunder on the horizon.

Ben took Jessica by the hand and looked her in the eyes, "Ready to get in there?" Clearly, the boy was stalling. This was the first of his own campaigns to which he had committed himself since leaving the Jedi, and every turn had ended in failure. He worried that he wouldn't find his family, but he worried far more that his endeavor would be a failed one. Failure was never an option that the young man accepted, and learning the limits of his ability had been a lifelong struggle for him.

 

[Jessica Justice]

After the ship had finished powering down, she'd given the droids their orders for the duration of the trip. The biggest being too not tell daddy unless big trouble occurred. And agreed signal when that actually happened.

After taking Ben's hand, she got the feeling that he wasn't quite ready, emotionally, or mentally, for this next big step. A soft smile parted her lips, as she pulled close, giving him a hug, and a quick peck on his cheek, before pulling far enough back to look him in the eyes. "It'll be fine. Ye got me with ye, and ye found the trail this far on ye own. Finding ye parents will be smooth enough!" she said encouragingly, that stunning smile refreshed upon her face.

"'Sides.... never been tah Bakura before. It be adventure time love!!!" she'd cheer, before tugging Ben's arm cheerfully down the ramp to exit the ship.

Outside, she marveled at the sites. So different from the cityscapes of Coruscant or Soceras. The metropolitan cities were daunting to most, but the duracrete jungle was 'natural' to the young woman. This worlds more contained civilised centers were strange, and somewhat baffling, but intriguing, to the young woman....

She couldn't wait for what was ahead!!!

[member=Ben Corscifine]​