Continuing the Search

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

The pilot shouldered her pack and watched Armaud's movements quietly. Reaching out, she put a brief hand on his shoulder and squeezed. It was a simple gesture. Something that didn't need words. Words she didn't have.

Stepping back, she turned.

"I'll be outside." She figured he might want a few moments by himself. Maybe to say goodbye to something that once was.

She tied her jacket around her waist and sent a message to Pibs, telling the little droid they were on their way. Tucking the comm away, she regarded the surrounding water quietly. She wasn't joking about piggybacking on Armaud to get outta here.

 

[Armaud Eden]

Besides the various baubles, trinkets, gems, and artifacts pulled from the shop, Maud didn't have much in the hut that he needed or had to bring along. That was sort of the point of the inception of the island; he could live out his days there are abandon it on a whim, the hut would feel no insult regarding the matter.

Gathering up the bag of items and giving the hut one final glance, he left and padded out towards where Kins was sending her message.

"It's not a far walk from here...so..." He stopped, turning to fix his verdant gaze on her. "Fireman carry or piggy back?" He had spent the night holding her, falling asleep against the warmth of her breath. This wouldn't be a big deal at all. He was sure of it. "Or I could hold your hand, guide you to the high spots. They're there...if you trust me."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Worried blues finally found their way to sets of mossy-green. She took a breath and frowned. "I do trust you. I," she paused, lips pressed together.

"I'm just not ready yet."

It was no small thing to admit. It was vulnerability. It was a glimpse of weakness. Spacers didn't usually show that. Not openly.

"I'll go with piggyback," a half-wavering smirk crossed her lips. It was slightly embarrassing and certainly a cut to her pride. "Alright come on. Turn around." A brave mask slipped over her features. If he allowed, with a little hop, she'd wrap her legs around his waist. Arms clinging around his neck.

 

[Armaud Eden]

With a furrowed brow, he nodded. Controlling ones fear was a core tenant of the Jedi Code, the emphasis being that fear can never be absent but one must exert control over it in order to always be in control of themself. Of course, Maud wasn't particularly attuned to that philosophy and in truth, he had never really agreed with the Jedi Code. Emotions were important, it helped to resolve things. For Kins, it was a matter of time.

She was afraid of water and that feared stemmed from something. With time, and perhaps a little persuasion, she could overcome that fear. Just as he could overcome his fear of paralysis or confined spaces.

But now wasn't that time.

He turned around with a smirk and knelt down, standing up straight when his arms tucked beneath her thighs and wrapped around his waist. "Piggy back was my preference too..." He said with a coy smile, the bag of baubles suddenly offered for her to take. He looked over his shoulder before starting out.

"You mind holding on to this for a bit?"

Off they went.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Kinsey smirked at his preference comment.

"I'm sure it is," blues rolled. Carefully removing one hand from its safety grip around his shoulders and neck she took his bag and maneuvered it to her own pack. She gave one last look at the little open structure. The place where she and Armaud had first kissed, broken through the boundaries of the friendship they both didn't want to lose.

Had to leave the safety net at some point, she supposed.

"It was a good night. A good place. Thanks for sharing it."

As they splash-splashed off the island, her eyes remained trained ahead. Hopefully it wouldn't be swampy for long. He'd feel her muscles tighten, body stiffen if the water went above his knees.

 

[Armaud Eden]

He didn't offer her a response except in the form of a smile, given when he knew his steps weren't in precarious positions. It was his preference and it was a good night. He hadn't taken her there for things to end up the way they did, but he was glad with it either way. It was his experience that the best things were often unplanned.

"Speaking of night..." He tightened his grip on her legs as he moved towards some bald cypress knees, furrowed out from previous steps. Hopping from one to the next, he broke up the treacherous nature of this particular path with light conservation.

"I used to come out here during the night. Walk back and forth from the Homestead when I was having issues with Gabe or mom..." Surprisingly, he didn't linger too long on that subject. They had been over it and he wasn't keen on dredging up the revelation that he had no idea where they went. "So I know the path fairly well. You don't need to be nervous."

It was like telling someone to smile when they were sad, like that might fix everything. But it was worth a try.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

She didn't miss the tightening of his grip around her legs. Eyes went from being tightly closed to wide-open.

"Well, you don't need to be so cocky," she said without any sting or bite. She could guess fairly easily what his intentions were. She tried to lean into his movements, so they moved more as one. Bottom lip pulled tight over bottom teeth.

"Please tell me we're almost done with this part? Not that clinging to your back isn't fun. It would just be MORE fun in slightly different circumstances."

 

[Armaud Eden]

Cocky was a particularly interesting way of putting it. He liked to think of himself as self-assured or confident, things born from experience. By the way she was trusting him to carry her through the woods, he imagined she thought he was experienced enough as well. Or perhaps she trusted his cockiness.

"I figure a few more hours and we should be there..." He sunk down to near knee depth and let out and audible ooph. "And you just washed these pants. That's unfortunate." Heaving, he took another step and lifted himself up out of the muck, navigating to the drier bit of land. Just over the hill, that was where the burned grove would start. Where the fire stopped, that's where the water began.

"Yeah..." He grunted as he stepped over a cleverly concealed branch beneath the tannish water. "Piggyback rides are more fun out of water...that's what you meant, right?"

He was sure that's what slightly different meant.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Eeeee," a squeal of panic left her throat at the sudden depth of water shooting up her feet and calves. Arms tightened around the hippy's neck - probably a bit too uncomfortably.

"A....few....more hours," she whispered against his hair and cheek.

"Stars sake," followed by a curse in Corellian.

"Now my boots are all wet," she mildly complained without really complaining at all. Concentration snapped back to Armaud's question about piggyback rides. "Um. Yeah sure. Meant it mostly like that."

Good thing he wouldn't be able to see the warming of her cheeks.

Legs squeezed a little tighter around his middle.

 

[Armaud Eden]

Maud chuckled in between breaths as he crested a small massive tussock of sedges, surprised she hadn't picked up on his sarcasm quite yet. Though, maybe he hadn't really had the opportunity to employ it properly. Either way, they were close to being out of danger zone. A lot closer than he might have led on.

"Yeah, too bad about your boots getting wet..." He stated with clenched teeth, sloshing through the muck until he came to a finger of peat extending out into the water. Stopping, he knelt and dropped his arms.

"Hope you've enjoyed flying with Air-Maud...hope you'll visit again soon." The finger led up to a hill where there was a clear transition from scrubby saplings to widow makers; tall and short trees, alike, stood with the remnants of life and the obvious scarring of a recent burn. He was careful not to touch anything as he knelt, lest he end up living through it again.

The faint memory was quite enough for him.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

"Smooth flying with only a bit of turbulence," smirking, she unfurled her legs and relaxed her arms, sliding and stepping off his back. Soggy boots squish-squashed on the ground as she walked further up the solid land. Charred solid land.

Fingerless gloved hand pressed on a charred tree. The bark crackled and crumbled at her touch like it was paper. Pulling her hand away, she brushed her black-charred fingertips together. There was a roaring overhead from a ship.

They must be close to the starport.

"You ready for this? I'm thinking I should try to get back to the ship myself. Maybe you stay here? For once, I don't think I'm as wanted as you."

 

[Armaud Eden]

"Hmm..." He responded with some hesitation, verdant gaze following the trails of a distance ship coming into port. They weren't far from the starport, in respect to many things, but it still meant getting from the homestead through Baron's Hed, then to the starport. There were many roads that managed that route; some were more busy than others.

"I have to see what happened to Master Vandal..." He admitted with a downtrodden expression. Studying a burned stump for a moment, he nodded to himself as if he needed the mental push. "Gotta see what he did." Looking back towards Kins, he put on a nonchalant smile.

"Assuming they haven't ransacked the homestead in the meant time, Uncle kept a speeder in the basement with his Galactic Alliance gear...could be our means of transit between here and there." He aimed a finger just over the next crest. "Slip in through the back. If turbulence isn't your thing..."

He chuckled dryly and shook his head. "Maybe you should drive. I'm prone to distractions."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Armaud Eden"]

Let's revisit this when (if) we both have more time/muses.