Private Held in the Currents of the Force

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra smiled as he described the little engineer. Ornery seemed like exactly the right word. Somehow, despite all the muttering, cursing, and disappearing into vents, she had never truly felt threatened by him. Exhausted? Certainly. Amused? Constantly. Threatened? Not so much.

"I think that's a fair assessment," she agreed, a quiet laugh escaping. "He strikes me as the sort who'd complain all the way through saving your life."

Watching Syn settle onto the seat, his posture finally relaxing after everything they had endured, she felt some of the tension leave her own shoulders as well. The room grew wonderfully quiet, filled only with the soft sounds of the living ship and the comforting certainty that, for once, they weren't running toward the next danger.

"How long until we arrive?" she asked, her voice softer now. It was an innocent enough question, but part of her found herself hoping the answer wasn't too soon. After everything that had happened, the thought of returning to ordinary life felt strangely...premature. She wasn't quite ready for this little pocket of peace to end.

Her smile lingered as she looked toward him.

"It's been a very long few days." A quiet warmth settled into her voice. "I'm finding I don't mind having a little more time before the galaxy starts demanding things from us again."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"As long as we want, the engines are better then most and traveling is at Alema's leisure." He said it and looked a little as the ship had a flash but didn't speak as it acknowledged it. He was looking at her though and just sat there. "But we can take the time. The bed is much like the ship in how it adjusts to need rather then be a singular thing. It makes for being able to sleep and work out pains in the body easier as it can adjust itself for if you are hurting." Syn said it before he was checking on some more parts of it and what they had. Only maintaining the sash itself there when he brought a hand up and ran fingers through her hair. "Take all of the time that you need."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

His fingers drifting through her hair drew a slow smile from Lyra. There was something wonderfully calming about the way Syn spoke, as though time itself had become optional aboard the Alema. After days of uncertainty, danger, and unanswered questions, hearing that they didn't have to rush anywhere felt like permission to simply exist.

"That sounds..." she said quietly, her eyes drifting toward the bed before returning to him, "...like exactly what I didn't know I needed."

For a moment she simply stood there, watching him. He wasn't asking anything of her. He never seemed to. He simply gave her the space to decide for herself, and somehow that made the decision easier than it had ever been.

Closing the distance between them, Lyra reached up and gently rested a hand against his cheek. Her thumb traced the familiar curve of his jaw before she leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss against his lips. When she pulled back, it was only far enough to smile.

"You told me to take all the time I need," she murmured, her forehead coming to rest lightly against his. "I think... I'd like to spend a little of it with you."

Her fingers found his hand, intertwining with his as she gave it a gentle squeeze.

"No ancient mysteries. No hidden valleys. No giant spiders. No rescues." A quiet laugh escaped her. "Just us... for a little while."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"I do not know, the ancient mystery all have tried to solve is why beautiful women make men seek to overcome befuddlement in their presence." He said it with a grin at her though and the ship flashed as if it was face palming before he spoke again. A small look at her. "But we shall enjoy ourselves, however you wish, even if I have to massage the tension and pain from the last few days from each muscle and limb." He said it but remained there as she was close. The room shifting mostly to make it so it could accomodate two people instead of just him while he didn't have to look around. His sash remaining there for a moment but he leaned back and allowed her a place she could lean in and relax her muscles and body.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra laughed softly at his attempt to explain one of the galaxy's great mysteries, catching the flash from the ship out of the corner of her eye. Apparently even Alema had limits to what she was willing to tolerate from her master.

"That sounds divine," she murmured, and there was absolutely no hesitation in the answer.

She eased into the space he had made for her, settling against him until her body rested comfortably along his. After everything they had endured, simply being able to relax against someone felt like an indulgence. Her head came to rest against his shoulder while one hand settled lightly against his chest, fingertips tracing an absent path over his skin as the last of the tension slowly began to leave her.

For a while, Lyra was content to remain there, enjoying his warmth and the steady presence beneath her hand. Her fingers wandered upward eventually, brushing along his shoulder before slipping gently into his hair. The touch was affectionate and unhurried, her earlier embarrassment about their lack of clothing having faded into something far more comfortable now that she had decided exactly where she wanted to be.

"I could get dangerously accustomed to this," she admitted with a contented smile, turning her face toward him before pressing a lingering kiss against his cheek. "Although if you're genuinely offering that massage, I'm definitely not going to talk you out of it."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"I would not offer it if I was not willing to follow through with it." He said it and there was a small rumble from his chest of contentment and enjoyment as she was that close for the moment itself. "Lay down on the bed and I'll get the gel." He said it but didn't move until she would and Alema only spoke. "I'll fabricate some, you would think nine hundred years of life that the prospect of a girlfriend would get boring." He looked up. "Never, it is the ultimate experience and moment. When you have the interests of someone else over yourself. It allows you to grow stronger." He said it while being there and had a small grin on his face though while raising a hand to the one on his chest.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra felt the warmth in his answer settle somewhere deeper than she expected. Girlfriend. Alema had tossed the word into the conversation so casually that it took her a moment to realize Syn hadn't corrected her. If anything, his answer had embraced the idea completely, and Lyra stared at him for a heartbeat before a smile slowly spread across her face. For all the trouble she'd had finding the words herself, apparently Alema had managed it without even trying.

"Girlfriend..." she repeated softly, testing the word before a quiet laugh escaped her. "I suppose that answers my question about what we are." Her hand turned beneath his, fingers slipping between his before she gave them an affectionate squeeze. There was no uncertainty in how she felt about him, only that familiar difficulty in actually saying it aloud. "I like that." She paused, cheeks warming despite herself before adding more quietly, "Quite a lot, actually."

At his instruction, she finally drew away and moved toward the bed, settling onto it as the surface shifted beneath her to accommodate her weight. Her attraction to him had hardly been subtle from the beginning, no matter how badly she'd stumbled whenever she tried to express it. After everything they'd finally admitted to one another, though, she didn't feel quite the same need to hide behind embarrassment. She looked back toward him over her shoulder with a warm, teasing smile as she made herself comfortable. "All right, then. You made the offer, and I'm holding you to it."

She relaxed into the bed, folding her arms comfortably beneath her head while she waited for whatever Alema fabricated for him. "Although nine hundred years and you still sound that pleased about having someone in your life?" Her smile softened as she considered what he'd said about placing another person's interests above his own. "I think I like that about you. You haven't lived so long that something like this stopped mattering." After a moment she laughed softly, glancing toward him again. "Meanwhile, it apparently took Alema all of three seconds to say something I've been tripping over myself trying to figure out how to say."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

The seat's surface was cool against his back as Syn rose upright without strain lifting Lyra, one hand resting under her while the other extended toward the fabricator. Alema manifesting as a soft whir in the air, the whisper of mechanisms cycling through their sequence, and when the container arrived he pulled it to his palm as he felt it first, then the subtle texture of the cap's ridges against his fingertips. He turned it over twice, familiarizing himself with its weight and shape, then uncapped it with a careful twist that released the oil's scent into the space between them, clean and faintly astringent, like crushed leaves after rain. He moved her and brought her down to the bed.

He poured a measured amount into his left palm, the liquid pooling there with a faint tickle against his skin, then set the container down on the bed beside him, his fingers finding its edge to ensure it would not tip. His hands began their work, the oil easing the passage of his fingers as they moved outward along her shoulders, following the slope of her muscles with pressure that he adjusted based on her. He was there for the moment and allowed the force to move into his hands and then outwards so that she would be able to feel it and relax. "Alema has a habit of saying things that should be said but might not be."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

The moment his hands began working across her shoulders, Lyra understood exactly why he'd sounded so confident about the offer. Her eyes slipped closed as the tension gathered over the last several days began to ease beneath his touch, helped along by the subtle warmth of the Force. A quiet sound of appreciation escaped her before she could stop it, and she relaxed more fully into the bed.

"Maker...you really weren't exaggerating." She let out a contented breath, resisting the temptation to simply forget the conversation entirely and enjoy what he was doing. Alema's earlier choice of words still lingered in the back of her mind, though, particularly because Syn hadn't objected to them.

After another moment, Lyra turned her head slightly toward him. "Speaking of Alema saying things that maybe should be said..." A hint of that familiar uncertainty crept into her voice, not because she was uncertain about Syn, but because actually putting these things into words continued to prove far more difficult than rebuilding an engine. "You didn't exactly disagree with her when she called me your girlfriend."

She smiled into the bedding, cheeks warming despite herself. "So...do you disagree?" she asked, then added after a small pause, "With the girlfriend and boyfriend part, I mean." There was something almost amusing about how nervous the question made her after everything else they had already admitted to one another. "Because I don't."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

He looked down at her for a moment as she asked the question. "I do not disagree with her or you." He said it while he remained there and continued to work with the force going through his fingers so that he was enjoying it for the moment. "I am uncertain only on what you would wish to do? More engagements and dates are possible but next time perhaps you should pick the adventure. I'll work to avoid us going into secret valley's and hidden temple." That got a small grin from him though while he was looking over and AAlema spoke. "If she is going to be on the ship more often, she might need her own toothbrush and there is only one kind of milk on this ship."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

The answer settled the last of Lyra's uncertainty far more easily than she had expected. She relaxed beneath his hands, a smile spreading across her face as the warmth of the Force continued to follow his fingers through the tension in her muscles. Somehow, after all the trouble she'd had putting what she wanted into words, Syn had made it sound wonderfully simple. They were together. Whatever came next was something they could figure out together.

"I think I'd like that," she said, her voice softened by both his answer and the massage. "More dates, more time together...all of it." A quiet laugh escaped her as she turned her head enough to look back toward him. "And I'm absolutely choosing the next adventure. Apparently leaving that decision to you results in giant spiders, mysterious doorways, getting stranded in hidden valleys and adopting tiny engineers."

Alema's contribution caught her completely off guard. Lyra blinked, then buried her face against her folded arms for a moment as a laugh escaped her. A toothbrush. That sounded ridiculously domestic after everything else they had just discussed, and somehow that made her cheeks warmer than being naked beneath Syn's hands had managed.

"Maker, Alema. We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for approximately five minutes and you're already moving me in." She lifted her head again, still laughing, before considering the second half of the ship's announcement. "Although I'm almost afraid to ask what you mean by there being only one kind of milk aboard."

Her smile softened as she settled back down, one hand reaching behind her until she found Syn and let her fingertips brush affectionately against his leg. "The toothbrush might not be a terrible idea, though," she admitted, quieter this time. If Alema was already assuming she'd be back, Lyra couldn't exactly argue. "I was planning on coming back."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

THe ship flashed for a moment as the voice came. "I only fabricate one kind, it is used for the organic systems with some of the extracted agenaamniod it is... Beneficial for my systems. If you want a different brand you will have to buy it and monitor its freshness otherwise." She said it flatly as Syn hung his head a little. "I do not think she would let the milk spoil." He was speaking and the ship remained there for a moment. "No perhaps not, she is more likely to just leave crumbs everywhere or touch the consoles with sticky fingers like someone I know does after eating." THe jedi master remained quiet as he was there but din't deny it.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra's head came up immediately at Alema's accusation, her expression shifting from curiosity about the strange milk to outright offense. "I am NOT some child who's going to leave crumbs everywhere and smear sticky fingers all over your consoles!" she protested, directing the complaint toward the ship around them. "I happen to take very good care of ships, thank you very much."

Then she registered Syn's conspicuous silence.

Lyra twisted around enough to point accusingly toward him. "You," she said, suspicion immediately replacing her indignation. "She's talking about you, isn't she?" His complete lack of denial was answer enough, and the offense she'd taken at Alema's accusation dissolved almost immediately into laughter. "Nine hundred years old and you're touching the controls with sticky fingers?"

She shook her head and settled back down against the bed, still grinning as she relaxed beneath his hands again. "All right, Alema. I promise that if your milk isn't to my liking, I'll buy my own, monitor the expiration date like a responsible adult, clean up my crumbs, and wash my hands before touching anything important." Her smile widened as she reached back to affectionately brush her fingertips against Syn. "Apparently I'll also be supervising him."

The teasing faded into another contented sigh as Syn continued working through the tension in her muscles. The sheer domestic absurdity of the conversation finally caught up with her, and another laugh escaped. "Maker, I went from wondering whether I could even call you my boyfriend to negotiating refrigerator space and household rules with your ship remarkably fast." She turned her head slightly in Syn's direction, warmth settling beneath the humor in her voice. "I'm beginning to understand what dating you is going to be like."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"Wait until you realize clothing optional for cathar usually means highly suggestive." There was a look as Syn spoke in small defense of himself. "I have never seen an issue with such things." The ship made a flash. "You don't see anything.... but that is why I am here. To also tell you that Barinthus left a message. he has been roaming around Gallos and helping them with their temple." He looked up and gave a nod of his head. "He is strong and brave, he will be beneficial to the vivarium temple there." The ship didn't argue but was sending drones out as one of them was on the wall and looked at Lyra but gave a nod to her terms.

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra stared at Syn for a moment after his observation about Cathar, then slowly shook her head with an amused smile. "You know, I'm starting to think your definition of normal is going to require an adjustment period." Considering they were still very much taking advantage of Alema's apparently relaxed attitude toward clothing, she wasn't exactly in a position to criticize too much. "Although I'm beginning to suspect you're perfectly happy with the clothing-optional part."

Alema's response earned a laugh before Lyra could stop it. The ship had delivered the remark with such effortless precision that she almost felt bad for Syn. Almost. "Okay, that one was good," she admitted, turning her attention toward the drone on the wall when it acknowledged her earlier terms. She pointed toward it with a satisfied little nod. "See? Alema and I are already reaching agreements. You'll be the problem between us."

The mention of Barinthus and Gallos shifted the conversation enough that Lyra's teasing softened. She didn't know either well enough to contribute much, but the warmth and confidence in Syn's voice when he spoke about him wasn't difficult to recognize. "You sound proud of him," she observed, relaxing again beneath Syn's hands. "If he's helping them build up their temple and you trust him there, it sounds like he's exactly where he needs to be."

She let herself settle more comfortably into the bed, enjoying the pressure of his hands and the lingering warmth of the Force moving through tired muscles. After a moment, a mischievous smile returned. "Though I'm filing away the Cathar information for later." A quiet laugh slipped into her voice. "Nine hundred years apparently comes with a truly alarming amount of very specific knowledge."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"Not very specific, I fought in their trials and blood circles for dominance. My father believed I needed to be trained by the greaterr hunters in the galaxy at the time so I went where needed to be taught and establish claims for rule." He said it while being there and Alema spoke. "DOesn't hurt that the cather parts of him are visible in coloring." SHe spoke and Syn moved over when he finished and lounged there for a moment longer but he only spoke with a small grin. "And I am proud of him, my son has shown great skill and restraint among the jedi even with many of the enclaves and temples closing and reopening at random."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra shifted comfortably once Syn finished, rolling enough that she could face him rather than continuing to speak into the bedding. The mention of his father caught her interest first. Nine centuries meant Syn had accumulated more history than she could really comprehend, but she realized that most of what she knew about him concerned the life he had built rather than where that life had begun.

"Your father sent you to train with the greatest hunters he could find?" she asked, curiosity warming her voice. "I'm starting to understand how you ended up with such an absurd collection of skills." She smiled before reaching over to lightly trace her fingertips along his arm. "What were your parents like? You've told me pieces about things they wanted for you, but I don't think I've ever really heard about them."

His pride when speaking about his son brought another question almost immediately, although Lyra hesitated before asking it. Now that they had decided there really was an us, learning about the people who mattered to him suddenly felt considerably more important. "And your son," she continued more softly. "What's his name? What is he like when he isn't impressing his father with his skill and restraint?"

She gave him a slightly sheepish smile, aware that she had opened a door that could potentially encompass centuries of family history. "Actually...how much family do you have?" A quiet laugh escaped her. "Because nine hundred years makes that a much more intimidating question than it would be with almost anyone else." Her fingers remained against his arm, the touch affectionate as her expression softened. "If we're doing this, I want to know the people who matter to you. Not all at once, obviously. I don't think even my memory is that good."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"My patenbts were questionable. I know my mother was a miraluka captured by the sith, my father if you want to call him that was leader of the sith eternal and empire possibly. No one is sure but sithspawn are made with the force." He said it while being there. "But I did learn a great deal of skills and have continued to throughout the centuries. it is a small benefit." He said it but was there as he finsihed for a moment and he raised an eyebrow. "His name is Barinthus and he and his sister are the only family I have. You have met what the others who would call me brother are like. They are twisted and savage creatures."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra listened quietly, her expression changing as the pieces of Syn's beginnings came together. Captured by the Sith. Possibly created rather than born in any ordinary sense. A father who may have ruled an entire Sith Empire, and siblings who had become the very sort of creatures she had already encountered. None of it seemed remotely compatible with the man lying beside her now, and that contrast left one question sitting rather prominently in her mind.

"Then how did you turn out good?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice rather than disbelief. Her fingers continued their slow path along his arm as she considered him. "Because from everything you're telling me, you weren't exactly given the easiest beginning. If the others became twisted and savage, something made you choose differently."

The mention of Barinthus and his sister softened her expression. "So Barinthus and his sister are it." She smiled faintly, realizing just how different their experiences with family had been. "I'm an only child. Both of my parents are still around, too. Dad hauled cargo most of my life, and Mom was a pilot before she retired. They're the reason I ended up knowing my way around a cockpit and an engine before I had any business being near either."

Lyra shifted a little closer, resting her hand more comfortably against him. "I suppose meeting your family is going to be a little easier than I was imagining a minute ago." A hint of amusement returned before another thought followed it. "Although now I'm wondering what Barinthus and his sister are going to think when their nine-hundred-year-old father suddenly introduces a girlfriend."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"I spent a hundred years in a jedi prison, despite what some might think time moves at the same for me as anyone and there where the force is voided, where senses are deprived it can become a snails pace. Eventually a jedi started coming to see me, she didn't offer, she didn't try and turn me. We simply spoke, there is something to be said for sitting there in a cell for decades and then having someone simply to talk to." He said it and talks about her family and how his children would respond to her were... interesting. He thought about it for a moment. "My children are not prone to surprise as much or shock. They would take the news well or at least their manners would mean they go a few planets over or talk to me in private if frustrated."