Such a Lovely Place, Such a Lovely Face

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Coryth Elaris"]

"There's really no point in not being prepared." He says with a laugh. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Mom taught me that." While it was never something she'd ever explicitly stated... her actions told him as much, as while she was telling him everything would be OK, she had always been planning for the absolute worst outcome, just in case.

Looking down at the coiled chain that almost appeared bronze in the dim light, and as her tiny hand placed it into his he gave a warm smile and tightened his grip not only on the small necklace, but on her equally small hand. Grinning, an arm slides around her waist to pull her in tight to his chest in a tight hug. "Thank you.", he murmurs against her hair, displaying yet again how physically affectionate he was as he buried a kiss into her temple.

Grinning, though, he leaves her go, taking the locket and putting it into the breast pocket of his fatigues. "I'll always come back, Coryth. Sooner or later. I'm like a bad cred, I just keep showin' up." Tossing her a wink and a laugh, he heads into the cargo bay. Nestled front and center were two old, Battle of Endor era Imperial speeder bikes, along with more weapons crates than she could care to count.

"Cargo bay. Got a cargo lift over there...", he points to the corner, "...but we've got plenty of storage space." The difference between the rest of the ship and the cargo bay was that he'd left the bay as it had been when he'd got it - full metal. No sense in sprucing up a place you use for storage; just a waste of credits, really.

"We've some of the other amenities too that one can come to expect; engineering and circuitry bays, turret control areas, et cetera."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"True," She said softly. "Just the level at which you are prepared for things, sometimes truly surprises me. It should not but it does." A warm smile came to her lips, "And it makes me feel a fair bit safer along side you. Since I know you can handle just about anything that comes your way."


Her eyes fell to him, watching every movement as he took the locket from her. For a moment she wondered if he would accept it, or try and refuse it. "You're welcome. I just, want you to have something of me with you. As I don't much to offer, that small thing I can. And it's brought me extraordinary luck, so perhaps it will bring you the same." Letting some of her empathic guards down, she radiated the happiness his acceptance had brought to her.

Something about his words, worried her. She did not let it show in her emotions, but her eyes... It was all there. She worried so much about him returning to her. "I truly, truly hope so Sarge. It's just hard, because I've lost so many people, good people, friends ... all people I cared so much for. They said goodbye to me only to never come back." Then the frown returned, "I worry so much, because I do really care Sarge. More than I thought I'd ever allow myself to about anyone again." Reaching out, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly.

As they came into the cargo bay, her eyes were on the Imperial Speeder bikes. "Those must be ancient. Wow." She hadn't seen something like that in person, save for a museum. "This place," She paused for a moment, her eyes still looking around. "Is amazing. Can see why you'd be proud to call it home. I .. I wish I had something like this for a home."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Finding her hand once again entwined with his own, he smiled warmly, lips curling upward ever so faintly. "You wish...?", he asks, "You do."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Her eyes met with his, and a little bit of pink spread across her cheeks. "I suppose I do. It's just ... something of my own like this, with so many memories of mine entwined within it. It's like if these walls could talk, I know they'd have thousands of stories to tell. That's the feeling I have. And this place, is your ship. And I know I'm welcome to be here anytime. Just, yeah ..." A sigh came, just missing things ... All the things she'd sacrificed to be a Jedi. Missing out on all those things that normal folks had. Things like what Sarge had. "I do appreciate it Sarge. I do. I just feel like something is missing in my life and I'm just not certain of what that is right now."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Giving her a knowing smile, he squeezed her hand and chuckled to himself. "You lack a purpose, my dear. Something to live for. We've all gotta find it, and you're still looking for yours. Be that another person, an ideal, or something else. You're still finding your place, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Turning towards her, he looks down at her, a wry smirk on her lips. "You've got a lot of living to make up for, that's all."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

She nodded slowly, knowing he was right. "I guess it might be that. I don't know. Things have been so strange without the Order in my life. I don't mind in many ways but they gave me direction and purpose. Now ... without them .. and being gone for so long, I've little idea of what to do, what to live for other than healing."

"But I suppose it's normal, and you're right nothing wrong with it but I feel a bit lost and helpless with it. I shouldn't but I do." She shrugged and return the smile to him. "I know, got a decade to catch up on and then some."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Pressing his lips to her forehead, he squeezes her hand and begins walking back into the hallway and towards the cockpit. "You let me know how you want to live and I'll see what I can do about it, yeah? We all get our feeling of being alive in different ways, and I'm all for helping you make up for lost time."

For Sarge, he was your quintessential soldier, really. He lived through sex. But he also enjoyed such things as going boarding down a mountainside, or simply reading. So long as he could enjoy a deep connection to anything, he was alright.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth gave a nod, eyes wandering with a sigh. She hadn't a clue where to take her life from here. From this point on, she just did not know. "Alright, darlin'. I'll do my best. Gotta find something, anything. I don't like feeling lost. Things happened last time I felt like this ... I need something. Some purpose, some direction. Something. More than others I think. Keeps the darkness at bay. Have to be careful on what I decide." She gave a small shrug.

"Not even sure the Protectorate is right for me anymore. But right now, its a means to a end. It keeps a roof over my head, gets me the basics. Don't need much more than that. I don't. But if not the Protectorate? I don't know where. I don't know my place anymore in this galaxy. It's so different from the one I left behind. Ten years gone, it all has changed. Alliances have shifted, things, people, places, all different." She pushed it off, it hurt her. More than she cared to let anyone know. Hurt to realize just how much she'd missed out on. Her life, ten years of it, stolen from her.

"But you'll know. Will figure it out. I have to." Lives depend on it.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Smiling faintly, he plopped himself into the pilots seat and tugged her towards him. "Well, Coryth...", he begins, trying to draw her into his lap with a happiness that seemed to know few bounds. By now, his smile was nearly ear to ear, and the holomap whined as it powered up. "I can't tell you where you'll find purpose... but a bunch of old buddies of mine are reforming an Alliance, and I may spend some time there."

It wasn't an invitation so much as it was a means of informing her of his plans. "Iunno, though, I've found that simply following my gut lands me in the right place at the right time, typically." With that, he pat her leg and took a slow breath in. The Protectorate ain't what it once was, and he couldn't quite place why that was.

But ultimately, it was what it was, and if she didn't fit, he'd not advise her to stay. "Anywhere you wanna go?" He asks, flicking a chin towards the map. "I'll take you wherever your heart desires."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth willingly let him pull her into his lap, he one of the few she ever let so close. To touch her in any manner. "Yeah, I know. Somethin' I got to figure out on my own. Who knows. Maybe it's time for the Jedi again. Maybe I can tell the Council where to stick it, get thrown out of Council meetings a few dozen more times." She chuckled. Oh, those were the good days, putting masters in their places. No matter what. She did not care about the consequences.

"Been having visions of meeting someone out in Fringe's territory. No idea who, or why. It's strange but it seems important. It's been becoming clearly lately. Means I'm closer to the event." She gave a shrug. Not often talking with Sarge about what she saw. Too much of it was death, war and destruction and not something she wanted to talk about. This seemed simple enough.


"I just ... let the Force lead me. It seems to always place me in the right place. Where I am needed most, and I think I need to be patient this time, let it lead me to the right place, the right time. Try not to force it." She was impatient with that, wanting to know all of it at once, and well the Force simply did not work that way.

She thought for a moment, "Take me somewhere, far from here. Where the politics don't matter. Where nothing matters at all. Preferably warm." She said softly. The place didn't matter so much, so long as she was with him.

"My only goal for the last decade has been to survive, and get home. Now that I'm here, I can finally dream again. Make plans. Have a real future. But it's been so long since I've been able to dream, been able to do more than just what it took to get me through the night to the next day. Seven long years on the road home. Now, home don't seem to matter so much as who I'm with."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"There's no place left in this galaxy that has no politics, Coryth. Every world has its rulers, and every world has a population who have opinions on those rulers. And we'll always get caught up in it...", he sighed, arms locking their way around her waist, keeping her tiny, petite frame as close to his as he could without making things uncomfortable.

Sighing gently, his attention shifted towards the map. "Alderaan is the only place that comes to mind - plenty of temperate areas to enjoy. The other option, the one I much prefer... is I set us adrift in space for a bit, and we can just wile time away doing whatever you want. Ask questions, share stories, I don't much care."

Slowly, mindful of her history, he set a light palm on her thigh and absently rubbed his hand up and down the top of it, mind clearly working through the possibilities; where they could go on Alderaan, what she'd want to know about him... everything.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

Coryth nodded slowly, he was right for the most part. Though she still had memories and coordinates of a couple strange worlds just outside Known Space, that lacked all of the politics, the governments. "Well, there are a few places, outsides the bounds of the space we know. But with such, comes unknown dangers. And, the few things the truly evil I've seen out there ... I'd take the safety here for now. For what is in this galaxy, that we know of, are kittens in comparison to what I've seen, felt and had visions of out there. I pray none of that ever comes to our home, our galaxy, for I don't think we stand a chance." Coryth seemed deeply saddened, that look in her eyes, the one that Sarge likely new too well, the look of one who'd seen far too much death, far too much evil. Seeing the future, was both a gift and a curse. And so much came with it, so much pain, and agony, suffering, and restless nights without much sleep torn away into worlds far from where she was, even centuries from now. A gift and a curse. It would always be both.

"Alderaan .." She couldn't recall ever being sent to such a world. Never. "Can't say I've actually been. But, if you say its the closest, then by all means, lead the way." She smiled softly, "Think we can do a little of both, visit Alderaan, and wander about the galaxy afterwards."

She tensed the moment his hand touched against her thigh but she willed herself to relax and given a moment the tenseness eased and she relaxed against him. It took considerable effort on her behalf to stay relaxed but with him, she did feel safe. Knew he wasn't going to hurt her. He'd proven that a while ago.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"There will always be something worse if you want there to be; the trick is to always believe there's more good than bad." Giving a chuckle, he gently squeezed her thigh before whistling faintly. A faint whine of agitation heralded an R6 unit rolling into the cockpit, beeping insistently about something.

"Alderaan, R6.", Sarge chides gently as the droid gives a low whine and turns, interfacing with the astrogation charts. An arm extended from the droids chassis, slotting into the computer as Sarge began flipping switches, leaning forward to do so as he had a bit of a weight in his lap.

A moment or two later, the background hum of the engines starting could be heard. "Whenever you're ready, R6.", he says quietly. His stomach plummeted as they rose, but it stabilized as the hangar doors began to open, revealing the black expanses of space before them.

Powering forward, the freighter rocketed from the hangar, angling to hit hyperspace as soon as possible. "I think you'll enjoy Alderaan. The most beautiful world I've ever been to."