Riptide

[Kaile Vera]

C A R T A O
Space Port
The Messa

---

Kaile was not feeling too hot.

In fact, maybe those frozen cheese burritos were not the best idea ever. There had been more than once the past few days that Kaile tossed her cookies. By now, she was sure there was nothing left in her belly that could possibly be hacked back up again.

Ohstarsthatwasalie---

The sound of retching followed the distinct and horrible taste of bile. The strawberry blonde had originally though that throwing up was the worst sensation ever in the 'verse; but she'd been wrong. Oh soooo wrong.

No. It was that body draining dry heave that did one in. The one where all you can do is feel the flex of your diaphragm as the 'verse decided to dig right into your belly and claw it right out of your throat. Feth, it was terrible. Just terrible.

So there Kaile sat, cradling the durasteel throne of the Messa's refresher. Her hair was a mess, tuffs sticking up here and there. Her skin blanched, a few dark undereye circles, and a little bit thin for wear.

She was here to pick up Kurt from his week getaway, but she ended up coming a day or so earlier. Mainly because the Lorrdian had been feeling pretty wretched and it made more sense to just try and work through whatever she had than end up stuck somewhere, leaving Kurt high and dry.

Kaile sent him a transmission earlier, telling him what hanger bay and docking pad she was at. Hopefully he would be here soon.

How she was feeling meant she was in no position to pilot anything.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

To say that his vacation had gone to plan would probably be the biggest lie he’d ever told...well, save for that one time with Hannah Aurelios but that didn’t really count.

All in all the entire trip had gone a little bit topsy turvey. His original intention had been to simply come visit Jamie here on Cartao, stay a few days while hiding from her Master, and then book it back towards The Starport. The plan had been simple, easy even, but of course things had gone in a completely different direction.

At first it had been great, he and Jamie had gone to Spira, spent a day and night on the beach, explored a little...and then things went awry.
Though his memory was still a little hazy Kurt knew that things had gone somewhat bad during their bout of exploration. The whirling haze of activity that had happened next went from good, to bad, to good again, and then back to really bad when it all came together with Jamie finding out she had a half sister from an affair her father had.

The trip hadn’t entirely been a disaster, but Naboo? Well, Naboo hadn’t exactly been the brightest moment in it.

Kurt and Jamie had left her homeworld after the incident, heading back to Cartao a few days before. Here they had rented a small vacation home within one of the smaller forests. It had been a bit removed, but given what Jamie had just found out that had been for the better. Kurt had spent every waking moment trying to get Jamie to smile, distracting her and making sure she knew she was loved.

Eventually he had succeeded in that, and ultimately Jamie had decided that the best thing for her to do would be to return to her training. Thus Kurt had made the call to Kaile, and the two of them had parted ways with a kiss and a few tears.

Now Kurt wandered onto The Messa backpack lost, clothes a little worse for fare, and his feet sore.

The Pilot plopped himself down on the couch, letting out a loud groan. His eyes closed for a moment, and then he noticed a distinct absence. “Kaile?”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The reply would be a pathetic whimper.

Oh this was soo not good. Maybe it was that burrito? No, she’d been feeling pretty nauseous lately and odds were she picked up some sort of bug on her last trip to Neimoidia. Rumor had it that there was some sort of outbreak there, and considering the status of her belly and its ornery state, odds were she had picked it up also.

The sound of the toilet flushing would signal the strawberry blonde’s location. Along with a, “Yeaah…” Face pale and a bit green, the Lorrdian was not feeling up to snuff.

“That you, Kurt?”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Ah, bathroom. That made sense. There were few other reasons Kurt could think of why Kaile wouldn’t want to greet him at the Door of The Messa. He wouldn’t question as to what was wrong or if she needed help.

Bit too awkward.

“Do you want to get underway?” He yelled out into the ship. The question was a valid one, generally Kaile didn’t swing towards motion sickness...but if one was already sick flying around really fast in a space ship certainly didn’t help.

“Or would you rather I wait?” Kurt continued as he got comfier on the couch. “Either is fine, but we need to get underway today.”

Kurt couldn’t stick around for much longer.

He had spent quite a bit of money on the trip to Spira, Naboo, and then Cartao, he needed to take a job and earn some money before they went off venturing again.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Youcango!" the faint sound of one rather exhausted Kaile wailed out through the refresher door. A bit muffled, but at least it told the pilot that she wasn't dead. Not dead was good!

Kaile knew that Kurt had to get underway. His trip to stop by Jamie's meant that he spent the bulk of his savings to take her out somewhere pretty. Now that he was back, they had work to do. Her stipend already went towards food for the month and they were still waiting to see if anything would actually sell from that bunker they found; which considering there were still active clones there -- Kaile gave a grimace -- meant that it made things a lot more difficult and tricky.

For the Lorrdian, they still very much felt like real people. It didn't matter that they were blanks. At the end, they got out of there with the prototype interceptor and a few extra goodies that they'd stored prior to the clone free for all. Kaile ended up getting a blaster shot to her hip, and that was a doozy to just get fixed. Thankfully, it was just a graze and nothing more serious than that.

Giving one last flush to the toilet, Kaile bemoaned having to get up. Okay, this is the easy part. Just gotta get up. It took her another two minutes to do it, and by then, she already felt the rumble of the Messa's engines roaring to life.

Kaile knew that this time had been important for Kurt. To spend time with Jamie that is. The few weeks after they left the island, it was pretty easy to tell that he was falling for her. He was changing. It both saddened her and gave her a bit of joy. She wanted Kurt to be happy. It seemed that whoever this Jamie was did that.

At the same time to be honest, there was more to it than just that. It was a little nagging voice at the back of her mind, one that made her think back to another ship. Four days. Green eyes. Asmus.

Kaile set her hands palm down on the sink. A part of her wanted to go to her room, pick up her datapad and just type something real quick. It would be so easy. But as soon as she had that datapad in her hand, when she saw his holonet screen name and that tiny white box to send a message, Kaile found herself deleting what she wrote and shutting the datapad off.

It was for the best, she supposed. After everything that happened with Kurt, Kaile knew that there were things she could do and things she couldn't -- shouldn't.

Asmus Janes had his whole life ahead of him. Playing tag across the spacelanes with a girl he could never really know the truth about wasn't in it.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He shrugged. Kaile didn’t sound too great, but if she said it was okay to go, then it was okay to go. Before he crawled up into the cockpit however, and after he managed to peel himself off the sofa, Kurt wandered into the small kitchenette that decorated the left side of The Messa.

The Courier quickly picked apart the small caf machine they had in the corner of the room, plucking the caf grounds out and replacing them with a few ground tea leaves that Kaile had bought some time back. He nodded to himself, placed a cup under the small water nozzle and then smiled. “There’s tea when you’re done in there.”

He called out to her before quickly heading up the ladder towards the Cockpit.

Unsurprisingly, there was an almost immediate sensation of being at home as soon as he plopped himself down in the pilot’s chair. Kurt felt an instant connection, like everything was right in the world. It made sense really, the place he felt most like he was control was right here, in the cockpit of his ship.

A loud sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips, then slowly he began The Messa’s startup protocols.

Quickly his deft fingers reached over controls and switches, pulling the engines back online and lifting the landing ramp. It was good to be home.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

A good scrub with the sonic toothbrush and Kaile’s mouth never felt better. She even indulged in a quick wipe down of her face with one of those fancy scented moist towelettes she stashed the last time they visited on Cloud Nine.

Staring at her reflection, she was a little pale and maybe a bit worse for wear, but not too shabby. A sudden stretch of her lips and she gave an empty smile as if her force herself into feeling better. It didn’t quite take, but considering she was already feeling icky, she figured as much.

A few minutes later, Kurt would hear Kaile coming up the ladderwell to meet him. A warm smile would reflect in her eyes at seeing his lanky frame on the VT throne. Hopping to her feet, she came up to his side.

“Hey you!” she said in greeting, giving him a light smack with the back of her hand on his shoulder in good will. A wag of her brows and she flopped her body onto the co-pilot’s seat.

“How it go?!” Kaile wanted to hear all about it!

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

It was a hard question to answer, especially given that the trip had been entirely filled with ups and downs like one wouldn’t believe. He could answer that it went badly, that it went well, that it went like a rollercoaster. In the end however he decided to answer with how he felt about the entire trip.

“It went well.” After all, it had. He and Jamie were still together, still in love, and everything looked like it was going to be at least...somewhat smooth, at least until the next time they saw each other and had that discussion.

“A little up and down.” Kurt shrugged. “I met her parents, her dad seemed to like me...her mom not so much.”

He would leave out what had happened after the meeting, that wasn’t his story to tell after all and he wouldn’t violate Jamie’s privacy like that. “Good trip though.”

It had been overall, he certainly didn’t regret the few good moments that they had. Even the Manka Cat incident was starting to grow on him slightly, if only because he was totally going to embellish it later to make it seem like he’d fought the thing to the death.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

To say that getting a straight answer out of Kurt in that particular moment was being too generous. He said one thing, but the few seconds before as he mentally ran through the various ways to answer that question was telling enough for the Lorrdian. There was mild confusion, wariness, a bit of tension but overall a mild satisfaction there that told Kaile that he meant it. It had gone well; just likely not the way he expected.

Curiousity turned into a mild wince at the mention of the parentals, her lips pulling back in a slight suction of air. Kaile never had to deal with parents or having to make a good impression, but just by reading Kurt, she figured it was important. Honestly, she didn't know much about Jamie. Kurt hadn't really told her much about her background, save that he met her on a delivery and that she was training on Cartao-- which for Kaile could mean anything.

"Soo...what happened then?" What happens if the mother didn't like him? A thought went back to what Asmus had told her of his mother and her wanting him to do things for the family. Expectations. Did Jamie have the same?

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He shrugged. “I told her some jokes.”

Ones she didn’t like.

“The woman was like a brick wall though, staring at me like I was some kind of foreign invader.” Luckily, or unluckily, Jamie had come barelling down the stairs right after Kurt had been about to speak again. He wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen now, but he knew that one day he’d likely return. “Jamie said it didn’t really matter, apparently her Mom just doesn’t like poor people.”

Kurt was pretty poor after all. “Her Dad liked me though. I made him lose money on the first Boonta Eve I competed on, apparently he bet against me.”

The Courier chuckled to himself eternally pleased.

Whenever he heard that he’d made people lose money on a bet it made him happy, mostly because it meant that they’d underestimated him and he proved them wrong. There was a certain joy in that, one that he couldn’t really describe or put into words. His fingers clutched the controls of The Messa, pulling the ship up into the air.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“Oh…”

The confusion in Kaile’s face would be evident when he joked that perhaps Jamie’s mom didn’t like poor people. The whole concept was a little bit foreign to her, then again, after hearing a few things about Asmus and his family… maybe it wasn’t so crazy to believe after all?

“Why would it matter?” she asked him, frowning as she brought her legs up and bent her knees. Tucking her chin on top of them, the strawberry blonde slid her arms around her legs and held them close. It was odd to think that someone would not like Kurt. He may be a bit of a rascal, but he had a good heart.

The Messa gave a turn port, and while Kurt’s attention was at the viewport, Kaile kept her gaze upon his profile. He was happy that he was recognized as the Boonta Eve Champion, so that was good right?

Then again, maybe that reputation didn’t quite look good for Jamie’s mom at all.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I guess that meant he was impressed with my abilities." Kurt shrugged. "He bet on me the following two years and made money, then Jamie told him about my service record...though not the end of it, and the fact that I had a job and such."

That apparently been enough. "It was enough to make him respect me, and according to Jamie that was enough. Now her mom just has to come around."

And Jamie had to talk to them, but again that was none of his business to share.

He was happy enough with how things had gone overall in that regard, aside from the dramatic ending of course. If he put that away then the trip had actually been pretty preferable. He thought for a moment more, and then turned to Kaile with a big smile. This was the part where he would embellish a little.

"I fought a manka cat!" 'fought'. "Saved Jamie and everything."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"That wasn't what I meant," Kaile began, wanting to ask why Jamie's mother didn't like poor people. However, that was quickly shot off to the side when the pilot said he fought a Mankacat. Her hazel eyes grew as wide as saucers, and her head inched forward in surprise.

"What?!" she exclaimed, a bit shocked. Kurt could tell some tall tales, but she could see that there was a portion of truth there.

"What happened?" wait, where did a Mankacat come from? They have Mankacats on Cartao? Kaile was so surprised that a flush of color ran to her cheeks. At least the nausea was at bay.

The Messa gave another shudder as they hit atmo, pushing past to head off into the black. They would prep for a hyperjump next, then it was off to see what new job Kurt could take.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

They would need to head to the central hub for Sif, see what jobs were available. Normally Kurt could just call in and ask, but...well he needed something big. Usually those jobs weren’t exactly advertised, most of the time they were just simply assigned, but Kurt needed money, so he would go and ask.

Simples as that, really.

“We decided that Cartao wasn’t the best vacation spot, so we headed to Spira.” Spira was a well known vacation planet that wasn’t too far from Cartao, that was why they had picked it in the first place. “We went camping, and then exploring, and that’s where we encountered the cat.”

He began the story truthfully, that had all happened after all, but now he would slowly begin to shift in the more...embellished portion. “The thing was wild, crazy, we accidentally stepped into it’s territory and almost immediately it attacked. I’ll tell you Kaile, I’m not often a man who feels fear, but staring into that things jaws as I thrust my knife into its side...I couldn’t help but be a little bit afraid.”

She would of course be able to tell that he was...enhancing the story a bit, but she’d also be able to tell that there was a hint of truth to his words.

He had the scars to prove it after all.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile's eyes progressively were getting larger and larger as the tale continued. At one point her face seemed to blanch paler than she already was, chocolate eyes dark against her face.

"You actually wrestled a Mankacat and killed it??!!" she cried out, her hand over her mouth in shock. That was soo dangerous.

"Oh stars, are you okay? Were you hurt?" Kaile was always the sort to be concerned for others, and Kurt was no exception. Her knees fell away from her chest and feet struck the ground, as if intending to look for herself.

"That is so dangerous!! Didn't you have your stun blaster??!'

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I did, but the creature knocked it out of my hand!" He actually had no idea what had happened to his blaster. That was one of those annoying blanks in his memory that still persisted even now. He knew that he'd dropped it sometime, but he couldn't remember when, why, or how. Of course that didn't really matter, in the end he had made it out with Jamie and both of them had lived. Though he'd gotten out of it a little worse for wear.

As they passed through the atmosphere and into space Kurt half turned to Kaile, able to get a bit more lax at the controls.

"I have the scars too." He turned his back to her and lifted his shirt slightly. She'd see the three slash marks that dug across his back, raised bumps that traced from his shoulder nearly all the way back down to his hip. Fierce, but healed now thanks to an intensive treatment of Bacta and Jamie's care. "He got me good, but in the end decided it wasn't worth the chase."

He wouldn't try to say he killed the thing.

In all honesty Kurt bore no ill-will towards the Manka Cat that had mauled him, after all it had been he and Jamie that had wandered into its territory and poked around. Plus both he and Jamie had made it out of the forest and off Spira perfectly safe, aside from that there wasn't much else that he could do or ask for, he was happy enough that he'd simply made it out alive. It was like meeting a Krayt Dragon on Tatooine, you were thankful that it didn't eat you and happy that you saw it.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"OhmystarsKurt!!" that prompted a sudden wail from Kaile, who shot herself off onto her feet to cross over towards where the pilot sat at. Immediately she was motioning for him to get up so she could inspect him personally. She ignored the wave of nausea that came to her, and if Kurt saw her then, he'd likely think it was due to the brief flash of his scars.

"Let me see! Does it hurt?" never mind that they were trying to jump into hyperspace. Kaile's concerned was kicked up a notch at that. Now it wasn't about listening to how his trip went, but more on making sure he was doing fine.

"What about Jamie?!" her eyes were practically bulging, hands moving to try and lift up his shirt even with him still on the VT Throne.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"It's fine now." Kurt said honestly. The scars would be there for the rest of his natural born life, but that didn't bother him so much. The story was a good one and would probably earn him a dozen drinks down the line. He pulled back slightly as Kaile moved to touch him, a slight giggle bursting from his lips as her soft fingers tickled along his spine.

"She's alright." The Courier continued with a smile, stilling himself so Kaile could take a closer look at the scars. "She passed out when she tried to do something...forcey with the Manka Cat, but I carried her clear of the thing and we managed to get outside the jungle. That's when it swiped me."

It had been painful.

"We managed to get to a hospital though, and boom, here I am." There had been a bit more to the story, but there was no need to tell Kaile about him nearly bleeding out all over that boat.

The story was a good one yes, but it also hid the harsh truth of nearly dying. It wasn't something that Kurt hadn't really thought about, but it was glaringly obvious. That island had very nearly been his death bed. If the Manka had struck him just an inch deeper he would have been toast. Kurt knew that, Jamie probably didn't, but there was absolutely no need to tell Kaile either. The two of them would just worry about what could have been, but that wasn't necessary.

Not when everything turned out alright.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kurt's lighthearted nature did not sway Kaile's concern. In fact, her fingers gave a slight tremble as the warm tips went grazing over his skin. Oh, he was right ticklish as he was wont to be. There wasn't a part of Kurt that she didn't know intimately, and his ticklish nature was one aspect that had been rather amusing for them both.

As it was, her face became paler at the true extent of the damage.

"Kurt.." her voice fell an octave, swallowing hard at the puckerd scars that lay before her. They were dark red, a sign of new scars. Whatever medical care he received had certainly saved his life, but the damage...

"Are you able to feel this?" she inquired, her fingers sliding over the ridges of skin.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Yep." Kurt said. "Not as good as I used to, but it's there."

He shrugged. "Not like it matters much anyway. Whose gonna be touching my back?"

It was clear that the entire ordeal didn't really bother him all that much. The scars would be there for a while, probably forever, but they didn't seem to bother him. The nerves were mostly intact, his spine was whole, what more did he need to know about it. "It's fine. He and I both made it out alive."

The 'he' being the Manka cat.

What more did there really need to be said about it? The experience wasn't any more traumatic then half the things he'd experienced in his life, certainly not more then running from dozens of stormtroopers in a bunker, certainly not more then shooting down dozens of Sith Fighters. He didn't care enough to dwell on it, certainly not enough to think about what could have been. The past was the past, better left there then anywhere else.

"It was a fun trip." Kurt said as he turned to kaile. "What did you do?"