Private First Night

[Rik Perris]

Location:
A Modest Apartment Block
Theed, Naboo
----------------
Late afternoon
----------------
Eenia Vahn

The air was turning crisp in Theed at the bookends of days, recently, and in the stark handful of months since his arrival in Confederate space he had yet to do anything to make more solid his intent to stick around, after signing with the Knights Obsidian upon 'stepping off the boat', so to speak. Today that was changing, as he unlocked the door to his first place, alone; assigned quarters in temples and on carriers over the years since beginning his Jedi training weren't the same thing. What was the same was a large measure of what he was bringing into the place, which was relatively little, until he could figure if he wanted to have anything sent from his parents' place on Corellia. For now, just the two duffels stuffed to brick - expertly packed - and what few items he had accumulated in his short time in this realm of the galaxy were what he had to settle in with, for now.

A mild grunt was the only sound from him when lifting the two duffels again, one going over the shoulder and the other hanging from the end of an arm in a firm grip, only to be left on the floor when crossing a few steps beyond the threshold of the place he was to call home, which was minimally furnished, a mostly empty bachelor suite, before he turned around to go back out the door and fetch a box. Coming back in, he used it to prop the door open to let the place air out for a bit after being unoccupied, while unpacking just a few things, and thinking about food. He'd be good and ready for a meal in an hour or so, but wasn't thinking of cooking.

Not on the first night... everybody did that, right?

Fishing into the sturdy box for a 'pad after ten minutes of figuring out where some thing would go, he switched it on, and was greeted by the wallpaper he'd set what felt like eons ago: one of him on the ladder to an X-Wing cockpit in full flight gear, helm underarm, and the rollie he flew with in its socket. He was smiling, it had been his first day with the squadron. Memories of... all things left in the past. His choice, but he still wished that droid could have come with him.

"Miss ya, Jenks. You could've been a great rollie."

Reminiscing with the image for a few moments longer, Rik turned around and sat on the box, settling his back against the door, and started to tap out a message to the fam. Most of the unpacking could wait.

 

[Eenia Vahn]

TAG: Rik Perris


Returning to the apartment had not been ideal for Eenia for days now. After her little tantrum, and her visit from her friend Nick, it had just felt best to be away from the walls she called home more than she was within them. However, she couldn't exactly sleep outside, and eating out time and time again wore on her finances. But it was more than the aforementioned issues that had kept her from home. Too many things were tied up in the apartment. Too many memories, which were most certainly not what she wanted to deal with any time soon.

But, she had no choice in the matter this evening. She had to return home, to get a few things, and so Eenia found herself trudging the halls, almost literally dragging her feet as she made her approach. There was a moment where she caught movement from the corner of her eye, but at first she paid it little to no mind. However, a wave of familiarity washed over her and made the blonde pause, then half turn to look upon this movement with a creased brow and curiosity.

It took a moment for names, faces, and places to all line up correctly, but once they did? Nia turned herself around fully to face this other body. "Rik?" she questioned, eying him over just once as she backtracked the few steps she had made past him. "Are you moving in?" she added to her inquiry. Curiosity was evident in her gaze, and while they may have only had the one class together, it was an impressionable one for sure.

There was not a whole lot that had physically changed about him since she saw him last, though the same could not be said for Eenia. The brightness of her eyes was more dim, and the usual bubbly energy she had was not present. She had certainly been through hell lately, emotionally at least, but in this very moment her curiosity far outweighed those deep, nagging emotions. Having another person she was at least familiar with couldn't hurt anything. It could only help at this point.

 

[Rik Perris]

TAG: Eenia Vahn

It had been a little longer than usual since he had last sent a real update to his parents and siblings, and though there wasn't much of anything new, he knew they would appreciate hearing from him, nonetheless... and if he were to be honest, he was a touch concerned with the coreward moves the Maw had been making, especially after the attack on Coruscant. If he were honest, it made part of him regret his choices, choices that put him where he was now, even though they had been the right choices in standing by his convictions.

His mouth assumed a line and he tried not to dwell much further on that line of thinking. Uprooting in the face of the changing landscape of the galaxy had been a part of their lives and his, more than once, and if necessary, he knew they would make the move again. Still... but a voice cut through his drain-circling thoughts, calling him by name, and Rik sat up from his lean against the door and lowered the 'pad to his lap, his head and gaze turning aside and upward to find an attractive and familiar face standing at his door. After outright staring for a bare moment, rifling through memory, the name came to him.

"Eenia?" He rose from his box-seat and turned to her, an honest, mild smile growing, "yeah, just got my access today. Figured I'd..." he gestured with a thumb back at the mostly empty apartment, "...get a place since I plan on sticking around."

He tossed the 'pad with a force-controlled throw into the open crevice of one of the duffel bags, and turned back to the blonde.

"How's it been?" And yet, the more he looked at her, the more he felt the urge to back out of that ask - he'd gotten a fair measure of her in their training with the Lord Commander, and something seemed off, as if a piece of the concept of her he'd walked away with was absent. "wait... scratch that. You hungry? I was thinking of hitting that Seoularian fried tip-yip joint a few blocks over for dinner... how about we fill each other in over tip-yip and drinks?"

Plus he would be glad for the company. Having someone familiar nearby made the prospect of living alone more comfortable. Maybe he wouldn't end up talking to himself too much.

 

[Eenia Vahn]

TAG: Rik Perris


It was almost amusing that recognition took a moment. Eenia had watched the expression on his face, the moment of processing, digging through, and then realization. And it actually caused a slightest uplifting to one corner of her mouth in some resemblance of an amused smile. She watched as he stood, noting that in this more personal space that he seemed taller. Was he taller? Or was it the lack of needed focus that really let her take in the things she had been oblivious to before? Whatever the case, she had needed to look up at him once he stood, and then behind him briefly when he gestured towards his apartment.

This caused Eenia to glance briefly over her shoulder and across the hall. A few apartments down on the other side was her own place of residence, and after a moment of thought she looked back to him. "Well, at least you'll have a neighbor you're familiar with." And that went both ways. She knew the faces of the people who lived on the floor, some of them at least, but that was the extent of it. Granted, she hadn't been in her own apartment too long before she had been swept away to live elsewhere - but that was a dark thought, and right now she did not want to traverse down that path.

So of course he asked.

That question made that lifted corner of Nia's mouth fall again, and caused her to sigh slowly through her nose. It was a question she was on the fence about answering for anyone; people did not understand this change, or why this situation she was in now had affected her so badly. And really it was an explanation she had no desire to get into. Too many times she had been in this same predicament, and it had taken it's toll. Luckily, Rik seemed to catch onto her distaste for the question.

When he asked about food and drinks, Eenia's stomach growled in appreciation of the thought. How long had it been since she had eaten today? She couldn't seem to recall. "That actually sounds like a good idea." she stated, though her mind tipped more towards drinks while her stomach was already pining for food. "I haven't really stopped long enough to eat much today." she did admit, and then she gestured towards his apartment. "Just let me know when you're ready and we can head down there."

This also prolonged her return to her own apartment. So it was a win-win-win all the way around.

 

[Rik Perris]

TAG: Eenia Vahn

"I was gonna ask... wow, just down the hall, huh?"

A light, easy grin filled in the lower third of his face. The past few months hadn't been social by any stretch of the imagination, so if he were honest with himself, he was itching to hang out with someone as much as she was itching to avoid her apartment. When she accepted his invitation, it was as if his week brightened a few notches. This was even better than he thought things might turn out, and he could use a distraction from the realities in his own thoughts, too.

"Great! Just give me..." he paused, as if to think it over - he needed a quick run through the shower, "...ten minutes? I wasn't planning on doing the rest of my unpacking until tomorrow."

He turned to head into the apartment, grab a towel and a change of clothes.

"It doesn't look like much yet, but you're welcome to wait in here, or... I'll meet you out front?"

 

[Eenia Vahn]

TAG: Rik Perris


The genuine expressions from Rik were actually kind of infectious. It was kind of nice to feel like she was wanted around. Of course, Rik wasn't the only person who wanted her around, she was made aware of that, but still. It just felt nice, and it riled a smile that almost echoed her old, genuine expression. The bubbliness was missing, and the vibrance as well, but it was still a step in the right direction.

"I think I'll come in and wait," she stated to him with a nod. She let him go inside first and then she followed.

The apartment was set up much like her own, just backwards since it was on the opposite side of the hall from her own. "You have a better view than I do." she told him, which wasn't true of course, but it was just a way to keep conversation going before he disappeared to get cleaned up. Admittedly, she should have gone to her own apartment and threw on a change of clothes. Hers were still clean, but she wasn't dressed up or anything of the sort.

Oh well. Rather than say anything more to distract Rik further, Eenia found a place to sit down and wait. Going out would be good for her...or so she hoped.

 

[Rik Perris]

TAG: Eenia Vahn

Seeing her return a smile that was a little more her was a small relief. That he might've caused it felt good.

"Alright, cool."

He went into the bathroom only to set things down, and poke his head out the door again when she commented on his view, "it's better than the view of any bulkhead on any ship," he shot back, a little ruefully, lingering in that thought for a moment or two before disappearing into the tiled space, again. If he felt anything about a beautiful woman sitting on the clean, bare mattress in his apartment, he kept it to himself. Enough locker rooms on carriers during his albeit short time as a combat pilot were co-ed, and to top it off, he hadn't been raised to make anything more of it than what it was, plus having two sisters played into it, for certain... and yet... he felt he could understand an inkling of what drove his father to paint as he did, looking at her.

At any rate, the other part of being bunked with over a dozen other pilots, numerous Jedi, and living with four siblings at different points over the years was being well-versed in the art of a quick shower; seeing as he wasn't in any such situation, soaking up the warm water for a bit longer than he might otherwise and letting the rather decent water pressure work at his back, neck, and other slightly tired muscles through his arms was worth the extra couple minutes. Another few minutes to towel off, pull on clean clothes - a plain white t-shirt and jeans - and straighten out his hair, Rik emerged while shoving items back into pockets and flashed Eenia a modest smile.

"You ready for some grub?" came the obvious question while he slipped feet into shoes and shrugged on a nerf leather jacket his grandfather had bestowed upon him, one pilot to another, "I know I am."

He only hoped this could help her feel a little better, whatever it was that plagued her thoughts, as he went to the door and looked back at her; even if she might decide it was none of his business, it was the least he could do, to be present.

 

[Eenia Vahn]

TAG: Rik Perris


That was actually probably a good point. While the view actually wasn't better than the one in her home, it was certainly more better than the one of some bulkhead on a ship. The fact made Eenia make a face and nod in agreement to the thought. She wasn't overly fond of flying in the first place, though perhaps that was because any time she few anywhere, it never ended up going very well for her. Whatever the case, she waved a hand at Rik, shooing him to go and get his shower, and once he had disappeared from view, Nia's attention drifted around the apartment.

He would definitely need some décor, which was an odd thought for her to have, because she had personally destroyed most of the very same in her own apartment. But, this was not her apartment, so perhaps that was why it was easier to see that it needed a touch of this and that here and there. Or...perhaps it was the fact that Rik was only just moving in and the apartment was bare bones at the moment. Either way, it had her wandering slowly around the square footage, never invasively close to the room containing her showering friend however. And by the time he emerged again, Nia had returned back to the window as if she'd not moved at all.

The blonde's more petite frame pivoted just enough to face him, and another one of those soft almost smiles lifted the corner edges of her lips. "You know, I think I actually am." she answered his inquiry, nodding just slightly to add emphasis. Truth be told, he would have no idea just how significant even a slight appetite was for Eenia, and she preferred to keep it that way. So without more than him going to the door and tossing a backwards glance at her to prompt her along, Nia made her way out of the apartment and waited only long enough for him to lock up before she headed down the hall and towards the lift that would take them to the first floor.

"So, what's caused you to decide to put down roots?" Nia asked him once they were inside of the lift. "If that's not too personal a question to ask, of course." He didn't have to tell her if it was something he didn't want to discuss. Which again, was something she understood all too well.

 

[Rik Perris]

TAG: Eenia Vahn

He lingered at the door only a scant moment while locking up. It had been a rare thing that he would need to do this - by the time he was old enough to have his own key to the family home, there was almost always someone home already, particularly when his parents had retired from active duty, with all of his siblings still small. This was different , but then he was quick to catch up and tail her into the lift, the doors closing in his wake. Her question came almost as soon as they were enclosed in the much smaller space, descending to ground level. The answer was both simple, and... not.

He shook his head, "it's alright," and slipped hands into the pockets of his jacket, "I didn't see myself leaving this place," he began after a couple moments, "actually, the southern systems were home for a while when I was a kid," part of some of his earliest memories, "we moved around a lot; mom and dad were fighter pilots."

He glanced sidelong at her, then turned his head slightly, and down. That was being the tall guy.

"Like me, but I'm the only Jedi in a family of pilots," two families, in fact, that went back generations, "I guess that's part of it, too," he supposed, with a small laugh, "wanting to find my own way."

Yeah, that was only part of it. He rolled his shoulders, and turned his gaze back to the lift door as it opened, and he wasted no time in stepping out of the lift and into the open air, turning to face Eenia, walking backwards.

"I wanted to get into demolitions when I was a little guy, and join the army, but the Force had other ideas," a vague touch of worry ghosted across his features, quickly erased by a characteristic smile, before he slipped a hand out and held it up, calling a small flame at the end of a finger, with a snap, turning his hand this way and that to examine the little fire before snuffing it out, "kinda funny, but I think I'm ending up right where that little guy wanted to be, anyway"