Don't leave me tongue-tied

[Coren Starchaser]

There was always work to be done. And Coren Starchaser was really terrible at getting rest. He’d been out of Bacta for what? 5 hours? Enough to get some sleep with his body not being suspended and he was already plotting. He didn’t like sitting around. He had made a few discussions with the Ship Captain for the Dawn Treader, to keep the Wing in reserve and keep out of the fight. Remain around Laekia, but that didn’t mean he was going to. All his ships were here. That was interesting. They had options now.

Tachyon Rising had gone through some repairs, and ShortFin was kept here as the existence of the latter vessel was a secret. Coren wanted to keep her in reserve for when the time came to really do some damage to the enemy. Sith, Jedi, whoever. Right now? Coren was checking out the Flying Nuna, making sure she was ready for a mission. He hadn’t known Spark had disappeared off to Marna for the #NeverForgetDave Benefit Concert. If he had known?

He, well, he’d be hella nervous in that bacta tank.

Was it because there was that… thing with them now? Definitely. Was it also because Sage Bane was a blight? That too. But he knew [member="Spark Finn"] had to stretch her wings. He wasn’t sure when she got back, because he wasn’t aware she left. When he left the med bay, he did send a message out to her that he had a few things to do, and that he’d be checking on something in the hangar, you know, before he went finding her. He was a terrible… life-partner? Boyfriend? What was it?

It wasn’t that he didn’t want Spark, that was far from the truth, but it… he didn’t know what she wanted. And the galaxy needed fixing.

Too mission focused? Probably. But if the Jedi weren't going to do it... Who would?

"What are the ships lookin' like, Arsix? Anything need fixing?" More importantly, did Spark get his message?

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

The blond technopath eased the Flying Nuna into the safety of the Treader's hanger. Kaia had decided to stay on mission and do her own thing after the #DaveBenefitConcert. Made the flight less awkward for the awkward blond.

And if she timed this right, Coren should be just getting out of bacta in the next few hours. Her commlink beeped at her side. Speckled-face scanned the message.

#uhoh #HegotoutsoonerthanIthought #busted

With a hiss, the ramp lowered from the Nuna and the slicer came face-to-face with Blue Eyes as she strolled down the ramp. #yeahstillcute #goodkisser #I'mintrouble Coren wouldn't see the usual Spark, though. He would see a brunette who looked exactly like Spark, wearing a concert dress and contact lenses. She blinked, ready to get those contacts out.

"Heeeeeey Coren," she gave him a sheepish look. "I didn't think you'd be out for a few more hours, or else I would've been here. How're you feeling?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Well, someone had to stay behind and set up the resistance team for the Underground on Marna. The #DaveBenefitConcert was the best way, and Kaia was just staying long enough for her people to be safe. Then she’d be back in space. Had a few things to run around, she assumed. It would be fine. It wasn’t like she was recently captured by the Sith or anything. Or lost two fingers when a team member was captured and had their organs squeezed by another.

That was Coren Starchaser, Scourge of the Sith, even if he wasn’t getting any reward for his action and just helping htem dominion worlds. No, Coren was having a blast learning the Sith enough for him to kill them, for when the right circumstance arose. An invasion? Coren would hop on a team that wasn’t Jedi based that would go after the Sith. Maybe if the Silver Sanctum’s Jedi actually did their fething job, he’d side with that. Or the Republic, granted that would end in him going after everyone.

Yeah, he noticed the ship was still ticking, that heating exchange from the vacuum and the warmer hangar bay of the Treader. Still, what was Spark doing? No way the girl went for a joy ride. She was up to something. Never mind the loss of the glasses (not bad) or the blonde hair (he would miss that), but her stride, the fact she was leaving her ship. And jumping at him by her tone.

“Its no worries.” He smiled at her, approaching her, looking at the ship. “How’d she do?” Yeah, he had a feeling she went off and did something on her own. Was he going to be cranky with her? Have you seen her face? No way that could happen.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

She stopped next to Coren. "She did great, as usual. I...I had to take her out. Kaia went with me." Maybe adding in that she didn't go alone would help her case, maybe keep that Severus look off his face. "We went to Marna. There was an opportunity to infiltrate the sith network. There was another slicer there ([member="Cryax Bane"]) that gave some resistance but whoever it was had their hands full. I was able to get our usual up. We won't have any problems monitoring their communications or movements."

Finally, she took a breath. In her mind, everything made perfect sense. She just hoped he would see it that way, too. A brown strand of hair flopped over her eyes. "Oh, yeah," reaching out with the force, she technopath'd the off-switch to the projected illusion of brown hair. A mop of blond, messy hair was left.

Hesitantly, she reached out a hand and rested it on his upper arm. "I was careful. I promise."

#stillnewtoPDAstuff

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Great. Right, now Kaia was involved around Spark. Hopefully his kid had the foresight to send her ship to the world she was heading to. Leave in something that wasn’t what you arrived in, that was smart. The rest? IT had to come down on Spark. Was she remembering to time her jumps, follow a path and then come back here? Sure, the Dawn Treader was public knowledge, and leased to the LAA, but still, he didn’t need people coming after his home. Looking at the ship and then to his… girlfriend? He nodded. “Didn’t get seen?”

He knew that if she was anywhere near a computer system that she’d be fine. He wasn’t worried about that. But the Sith, that meant Sage Bane. That meant Coren would have to be doing some clean up on another world, but they had a few footholds now.

Good.

Glancing around the flight deck, the reserved one, for him and a select few families and their private vessels, he could see it mostly clear. When she grabbed his arm, a smile did hit his features Warmer than his tone. “You better be.” He winked. “I ain’t got it in me right now to turn the galaxy on its ass again."

He looked to the ship, still not sure how this whole... Coren in a relationship thing, was supposed to work. "You get scanned?"

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

He was worried. The technopath who was lousy at reading emotions picked up on that. Probably because it was the logical emotion he would be having now. "Yeah. The Nuna was scanned at one of the Underground midway stops. And no, I didn't get seen."

Hand came back to her side. He had a right to be worried but it wasn't like it was her fault. #sithhappen #sagehappens

"You may have turned the Galaxy on its ass but don't forget who blasted a Sith Lord off you. In the end."

She grimaced. She was trying to be funny. But it was all still a little...

#toosoon

"I should change. Get these contacts out."

And not get freaked out about where I just went and dredge up some shell shock.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Worried? Of course he was. Coren cared for Spark, a lot. And if one hadn’t seen his past, he was the type of Wing XO that worried about his pilots, both in the fray and out of it. He made sure their morale was up, they understood why they were doing things and took the time to rotate pilots to make sure no one was burnt out by any situation. With Spark though, that was amplified exponentially. At least she hadn’t been seen, and she checked in with the Underground, those were both good habits to get in.

When she moved her hand from his arm, he looked up at her, grabbing her by the waist. “Yeah, what would I do without my little white knight.” He winked and gave her forehead a kiss. See? He got nervous, he got protective, and the fact that she was able to joke? It meant he had done something right, and maybe Sage’s influence hadn’t hit that hard. Some was meant to be seen, he figured.

“We’ve got the flight deck to ourselves, whats the hurry?” Smiling, he looked at her. Part of him did want to hear about the trip, but he also wanted to check on her mental state.

And just to prove further that he is helliciously awkward.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

She smiled when she felt his arms around her waist. Was this the new normal? She looked sideways around the hangar, feeling color already tinging her pale-cheeks. He was right; they were mostly alone minus a few maintenance droids. Datapad remained clutched in one hand, her other hand came up to wrap around Coren's shoulder.

"Do you realize how dry contacts are, Coren Starchaser?" Blue-eyes blinked up at him, feathers of blond hair dipping across her face. She tried to keep her smile straight, the tremble from her voice. Voice lowered as she leaned into his chest. "Do you realize how hard it was for me to go out on mission - just now?"

No point in trying to hide anything from this Starchaser. He always could read her.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

This ship was home, though, well, home as defined by most Starchasers. Kaia, Jared, the Twins, well, he wasn’t sure of the first or the last two. Kaia was out doing her own thing, but he knew she was going to have to answer to the Admiralty of the Dawn Treader shortly. Was she going to remain with her people, or take her chances living among the galaxy? Coren preferred to have this place that he called home.

With this woman he was getting used to having around.

Looking down, he could sense there was something more to the statement about how dry contacts were. Then the other shoe quickly followed. He looked at her and pulled her in closer again. “You didn’t need to go. We’ve got other cells that are fully aware and capable.” Still, he could understand wanting to get out there again. Save the galaxy.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

"I gnowb," she mumbled into him, her face pushed against his shirt. She took a steadying breath. She remained in his embrace, her bony arm draped around his shoulder. She still had that datapad clutched awkwardly in one hand.

"I was too scared that I'd never be ready. I had to do it or I'd never get back out there. You of all people, I know you get that."

#stillalittlerecklessbutneveradmittingit

"But I promise I'll slow down for the next few days. Sound like a fair deal, Captain?" It had been awhile since she called him that. "But it's only a deal if you take it easy too," the blond gave him a pointed look.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Him of all people? Coren nodded. He was trying his best to not make it so much changed. He wasn’t sure how to work a relationship. He knew that he cared for Spark. He wanted her to be safe, he didn’t want her to risk herself in some asinine attempt to impress him. She already had impressed him, times over. She had jumped into his team of the Underground and with her and Rekha they’d gone off and started wrecking the Sith’s day one at a time. What he needed to do was just make a serious mark on any of them. He knew the galaxy needed that.

As much as they felt their cause was noble and power was pure, they had another thing coming.

“Yeah, I can get that.” He nodded to her, hands running up her back. And she was now bargaining with him? On his ship? “What, you mean like a vacation? Or re-watching the tapes of my battles and figuring out why I can’t break that bastard [member="Sage Bane"]?” Right, probably not a good idea to use his name.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

If she could steal a space-station, she could certainly negotiate with Coren Starchaser on his ship. She couldn't help the wince, though, at Sage's name. Fair face tugged into a frown. Arm tightened around the back of his neck, other around his waist, still awkwardly clutching that datapad and trying to pull him closer at the same time.

She stayed like that, for a moment, hugging him like one of them might disappear.

#gahstupidemotionsaboutlotsofthingsatthesametime

Finally, she eased back a little so she could look him in the face. "I mean vacation so you can give those internal organs of yours a rest. I rest. You rest. Deal?" Pale lips pulled slightly away from her frown. "Just remember, I can shut this ship down with a thought so there's really no negotiating."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

This was one thing that Coren Starchaser was touching new turf in. Yeah, he was married and she was gone, but that was a past life. In this life? He hadn’t even really… been with women. Well, anyone. At all. He made a few calls when he lost her, but he didn’t know the why behind it. Still, he knew that it probably wasn’t wise to argue with the woman, his woman? Nah, just the woman. The one he was after.

He could feel the datapad in her hand and Corey knew it was there each time and was making Coren say this, but first he was looking at her. Right, she could shut the whole ship down. This was the most useful power in this galaxy. “Yes, boss.” He smiled at her. “But I do have to ask… Whats on the datapad?” She hadn’t dropped it.

Just kept awkwardly holding it.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

Cheeks turned rosy. Maybe it was from the 'boss' and the pointed question. Totally called out on her awkwardness.

"I...uh," she pulled away, slowly untangling her arms and datapad from around Coren. "I was just holding it when we started to.."

#hug? #cuddle? #canoodle?

A finger went up to swat a strand of blond hair out of her eyes. "I just didn't want to drop it. Important mission data on here. Maybe I should go put it down so my hands are free?"

Oh chit, that sounded kinda, you know. She didn't mean it like that!!! Cheeks reddened further. She went to step further away from [member="Coren Starchaser"] with the intention of going back to her quarters.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Calling her out was a little bit of a sport between Coren and Rekha. Sure, he might do it a bit more, but Coren was still in that ‘throw rocks’ stage of flirting. And that meant teasing was right behind that. He laughed at her for a second when she started to blank, can’t really drop datapads, he understood that, but… Could at least move to put it down, or something.

Wasn’t that how normal people worked? But look at these two. Normal wasn’t exactly a word for them.

Shaking his head as she stepped back, he grinned. “Calm down, Spark, its fine, just teasing you.” He laughed. “Didja get food yet?” No, because you just came back from a mission.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

"No," she called over her shoulder, not looking back until she could get the coloring in her cheeks under control. Plus, she was already making a beeline for her quarters. The door slid open on command and she tucked the datapad safely into a built-in shelf in the corner.

The door remained open, assuming Coren wouldn't be too far behind.

Contacts were replaced by glasses, next. Much. MUCH better. She wondered if Coren just had a regular ol' trip to the Treader's cantina in mind or something...different.

"I take it you haven't eaten much since out of bacta, either?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Following her? Of coruse he would be. Had he known she was trying to clear any color from her cheeks, he would’ve called her out on that, because, well, Coren Starchaser. But the reason he was following her? Still hadn’t really come to grips with what had gone on. He and her had a talk, they were a thing now, but what did that entail? He was in bacta for the past few days, she ran out to Marna. As far as couples go, they were failing.

Which probably wasn’t bad. They were a pair who met because they were working in the same strike cell of the Underground. Had to keep it interesting, right? Date nights with this couple include slaying Sith and setting up cells to overthrow governments, followed by wine.

“Nah, haven’t yet. But.. I dunno, I figured we could…” He didn’t know… Order food to one of their quarters? Talk? Way to go, Coren, thinking it through.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

She faced him. If only she had picked up on the 'him not thinking it through' bit, then it would've been her turn to tease. #missedopportunity

Then again, maybe not.

"Maybe...what? I'm down for whatever." Hands were datapad free. #holler Freckled-nose scrunched up. "Wait. You didn't think this through, did you?" She grinned. "Smooth as ever Coren Starchaser. Real. Smooth."

Teasing payback was fun.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Sometimes you won them, sometimes you didn’t. For Spark losing the opportunity, well, she was taking the position of ‘co-pilot’ which also meant girlfriend, which meant that she was going to have plenty of opportunity to give him chit about something somewhere down the line. Coren did mean well, but he was also a soldier, and an explorer, he was a wanderer, his mind was always somewhere else.

Well, not always, but that was a digression.

“Vacation.” He nodded. A bit of a smile on his face, and his blue eyes looking down at her, he took a breath. This was the tricky bit, he wasn’t that far from his ship, he knew he could get there. He knew the Dawn Treader and Tachyon Rising both like the back of his hand, nevermind the ShortFin which he built from the ground up. Holding onto Spark, he flexed his mind, and the Force, and with no more than a whoosh the pair was off the flight deck and into his freighter.

He didn’t want to risk a larger move.

“So, have any destination you’ve been wanting to see?” The galaxy’s source code was basically broken for Coren now.

[member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

Slow blink.

Fast-blink. Fast-blink. Blue-eyes widened as she looked up into Coren's face. Fingers gripped his sides tightly and mouth became slightly ajar. "Holy fricken' kriff." More blinking. "How did you...did we....one second we were....and now....freakin' kriff."

Sandy-brows shot-up, even higher.

"When did this happen?" Hands were still gripping his sides tightly as if they'd end up somewhere else again. #teleport? #updatedSpacebookstatus