Bunnies Need College Too

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

When Kaile leaned forward one of the students that had been walking by couldn't help but take a peek. So much so in fact that he didn't notice the slight raise of the curb that he was walking into. The boy stared, and his lack of attention sent him flailing and then crashing to the ground just a few seconds later.

Kurt looked over at the kid, raising an eyebrow for a moment before drawing his attention back to Kaile. ”She's a corvette. A bit bigger than the Messa.”

Actually almost double the size.

The ship was mostly made from cobbled together starship parts. Unlike The messa it wasn't sleek or pretty, but it had its own sort of charm that one couldn't really deny. Kurt liked it, and the fact that he and his friends had built it out of little more than scrap parts seemed to make it all the more special. He smiled for a moment, then continued on.

”Wanna see it?” Kurt asked, practically beaming. ”End of the semester, I was going to use it to head to that Arceneau auction thing.”

The first big flight.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Oh stars, you alright?" Kaile would ask the poor fool who stumbled on the floor. Wounded of pride, the student would wave her off, trying to save what manner of pride he had left. Well, as much as he could what with the way Kaile had jumped off her seat to lean over to check on him.

"I'm okay." he told her. His friends with him, however, only laughed.

"Sorry about that miss!" one would say, dragging his friend off.

"Alright..." Turning back, Kaile met Kurt's eyes. Seeing him get all giddy with excitement at the prospect of showing her was infectuious. Besides, her time was limited here even if she didn't want to think about it. She had to go back. There was still much to do and she had another long term mission to go to.

No, don't think about that, the Lorrdian told herself.

Breaking into a wide smile, Kaile replied with a nod, " That I do!"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt gave a slightly bemused smile, noting that some of the boys friends also cast their glance down towards Kaile's...yum bunnies.

By the time she turned back he was refocused on The Eve, the ship that he had his friends had all built together. He grinned practically from ear to ear when she agreed. There had never been any doubt that she would want to see of course, he knew his friend well enough for that. They had worked on The Messa together, building out every corner and customizing the ship enough so that it was more of a home than a starship. The Eve wasn't quite there yet, but perhaps in time.

"This way." He told her as he pointed towards the Kuhn Science Building.

The entire place was massive, containing dozens of lecture halls and a hundred class rooms as well as several laboratories and of course a few hangar bays. Kurt and his friends had been allowed to keep The Eve in one of those bays free of charge, though they had to make a deal that the University was allowed to show off the ship and the 'ingenuity' of Kalinda's students. It had seemed a good deal.

"She's an ugly." Kurt told Kaile as they began to wander around the side of the building. "Sort of cobbled together."

He still sounded more than a little proud. "The chassis is from an old Corellian Freighter, the hull I think from about fifteen TIE fighters, we even threw in a few x-wing parts that the university had laying around."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Just hearing him talk about that bucket of bolts he made prompted a half smile from Kaile. She could pick up on the pride in his tone, in the way he straightened himself while describing what he and his classmates built.

"Sounds all sorts of shiny." Kaile would compliment, bringing her hands to tuck just behind the small of her back. Their pace had some energy to it, set by the pilot in his eagerness to explain it all.

"So it is a prototype then?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Well...kind of." He said as they turned the corner and entered the science building.

Most of the layout of the University was about as confusing as could possibly be. Kurt wasn't entirely sure if it was done on purpose or by accident. It had taken him a week to understand how to get to all of his classes, even now he still got lost sometimes. It didn't help that the school was as big as a city. Helped that there were a lot of maps around campus though.

"There won't be anything after this." He told her. "I don't think so at least."

Kurt ran a hand through his hair and let out a small laugh. "But if you're asking if it's perfect...no."

Quickly they navigated the hallways, eventually reaching a heavy set of double doors. Kurt wandered over towards the panel in the corner, pulling it open and beginning to punch in a short security code.

"Don't be too harsh." He said as the doors opened and The Eve fell into view. "There's some...loose wires."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There it was again, that look of sheepish anxiety that tugged at her heart and made Kaile want to reach out and touch him. So she did; hand outstrechimg before coming in contact with the top of his head. She gave it a quick ruffle, attempting to brighten his expression.

“S’long aa you remembered to cap ‘em off.” She began, ambling past him into the corridor. “Doubt anyone would want a nasty shock,” the corner of her mouth gave a perk up.

It was nice to see that kurt was moving forward. He seemed all the better for it. Leaving had been a good decision for both of them it seemed.

“So the prototype is the university’s?” Or how did that work?

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

”Its ours.” Kurt said with a smile as Kaile ruffled his hair. ”Mine.”

The Courier corrected himself slightly. ”Most of the materials was basically just garbage laying around the warehouses. The University gets to show it off as a project but we built it so we get to keep it. The others...my friends who helped me build it wanted me to have it.”

With a gentle nudge he urged Kaile towards the ship. The outside wasn't pretty, neither was the inside of course, but he wanted to show her the whole thing. He was proud of what he had made, the small things hed managed to slip onto the vessel that made it special.

He wanted her to see. ”TProbably because I'm the only one who can fly.”

The others were all engineers and mechanics. They enjoyed the theory of flying far more than the practice. Slowly Kurt lead his friend across the hangar, reaching up under the Eve and pulling a manual lever to drop the boarding ramp. One of the small quirks of the ship.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"What?!' Kalie's mouth fell agape, surprise warming the apples of her cheeks and filling her chocolate brown eyes in growing awe. In a matter of seconds, the Lorrdian's expression seemed to practically glow at the news.

"Yours?! All yours? No debt or anything?!" that was quite steal. Well, proverbially at least. Taking a ship and building it from the ground up took time, money, and long, laborious hours, much the less when it came to an entirely new prototype.

"You're kidding?" she still almost couldn't quite believe it, the nudge Kurt gave her allowing her to climb up inside. Was it as small but cozy as the Mesa inside? Or was it bigger?

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

It was bigger than The Messa, quite a bit bigger in fact.

Nearly twice the size, The Eve could hold more people, more cargo, and also had more features than his old ship ever had. That wasn't to say it was any better of course, it was simply a different kind of vessel. Both were classified as corvettes, but in truth they were in a class all their own. "No, it's all mine."

He smiled broadly as he said the words.

"Though...it takes a bit more maintenance." Though he and Kaile had worked on The Messa often, it had mostly been at their own choosing. That wasn't so with his new ship. With this vessel he had to make sure to keep on top of everything. "There's a couple of bedrooms up that way."

He pointed to down the middle of the ship. "Galley there. Engine room, and cargo hold of course."

Kurt smiled and slowly lead Kaile towards the front of the ship, through the corridor that had the bedrooms on either side.

"These are mainly just for guests." Kurt pointed to the rooms they passed by. "This one is mine."

The former Courier pointed to the left, the largest bedroom that he'd decorated himself. The Poster that Kaile had given him was there, along with the model of his pod-racer as well as a few other trinkets that had been gathered through his journey. Then he turned to the room opposite his, pulling the lever open. "And this one..."

He trailed off. "This one is yours...when you want it."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was a little trouble in reminding herself to keep her slack jaw shut. Kaile’s eyes were as wide as they could be. Oh there were patches of bays and the like that would need some work done. A few exposed wires here and there. Nothing that couldn’t be maintained. It was to be expected with a prototype. It wasn’t going to be all slick curves and sweet finishing touches. It was a work in progress, but what progress had been done so far reflected a work of love.

There was energy here. Kurt’s energy. His and that of his classmates. Kaile could tell that much from the passion placed into building it.

Seeing the tokens and knickknacks that had come from Kurt’s cabin in the Messa brought a small pang to Kaile’s breast. Her hand curled over it, thumb brushing against the ends of her left braid in contemplation. One that washed away to one of shock and surprise when Kurt revealed that the cabin across the way could be hers if she wanted it.

If her eyes could go any wider, they would have. As it was, when the pilot swung the door open, it revealed a large but relatively empty cabin. It was larger than the one on the Messa, with an even larger viewport.

There was a rush of emotion, and Kaile couldn’t help but bring her hands up to cover her mouth. From the tops of her fingers, chocolate brown eyes would lock upon the blue of Kurt’s own.

A faint trembling took her, and Kaile felt a knot grow in her throat.

“Really?” she asked in a faint, half muffled voice. That he would offer this to her. It made sense. She knew it did. After everything they went through living together and then separated once more. Her vision began to blur, and Kurt’s scruffy face became a watery blur.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Of course." He told her quietly.

The Pilot knew that she wouldn't take it now, knew that she couldn't. The fact that she had made it here in the first place was nothing less than a small miracle. Their lives were in vastly different places. Kaile still had her life to sort out, a mission to complete, and Kurt? Well Kurt had no idea where he was at. School would be finished eventually, and then...and then he didn't know.

But that didn't matter.

"Doesn't matter if it's now." The former Courier began. "A week from now, a year."

It was important for her to understand. This offer wasn't conditional on her returning now, it wasn't something that he was trying to use to lure her back to their old ways. It was a symbol of their friendship, who they were and how they had changed each other over the years. "This room is yours as long as this ship is mine."

There was always the possibility that it would get blown up, that he'd lose it in a bet or some other ludicrous pass of life. But as long as The Eve was his Kaile would have a place there.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

That meant more to Kaile than anything else of late. Sweet words to her ears that were equally bitter sweet as they were a poignant tang in her heart. Before she knew it, the Lorrdian hands had falling free from her mouth only to outstretch over towards the pilot.

With a swift motion, the older brunette threw herself into a tight embrace within Kurt's arms again, the motion prompting a slight rock of feet that quickly braced to hold them steady. Kaile immediately snaked her arms around Kurt, palms scoring against the fabric of his shirt and tugging him as tightly to her as she could. Her face hid along the crook of his neck and little hairs that had slipped from her two braids would fan under Kurt's breath.

"Thank you," Kaile managed to choke out. She understood it. He didn't mean to pressure her to say now. But whenever she was ready. It meant that there would always be a place for her here with Kurt. Yes, the Messa was the home they built, but this meant that that small reach had spread.

For a woman who never truly could call place anywhere her home, there was a relief and a joy to know that she could call Kurt one of her own. But it was all baby steps. It might not be today, it might not be in a few weeks or even months. But there was a place for her here for whenever she decided it was time to return. This trip was evidence of that.