Survival With A Pyne

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"Raise." Cenric knew exactly what that would mean, and before Mariya could even answer he drew another card. "Pants."

The expression that flashed across his face was there only for a second, but it was one of clear glee before instantly switching back to something more neutral. The three cards now settled easily in his hand, Cenric half leaning back in his place on the Acceleration Couch as he took on a rather relaxed demeanor. His cheeks were now a bit more permanently flushed, though whether that was because of Mariya or the alcohol coursing through his system was hard to tell.

Still, he managed to keep his eyes up, that was something. "I'll understand if you want to fold, Princess."

He really wasn't good at irking people, in fact this was the first time he'd tried. Mariya could jab at him from a dozen different angles but Cenric wasn't clever enough to do so, thus he had to keep poking at this one thing he knew bothered her.

The Padawan hoped he was putting on a good show.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The brunette pointed to her feet with an empty look in her eye, entirely unphased by his raise. "Socks. Again." Had he forgotten he lost the last round and that she was still wearing them? She had more to gamble still.

Lightly she pushed the two cards in her hand towards the center of the table and clasped her hands together.

"Hope you've got quite the hand there. You'll be in a jam otherwise. I only need two cards. I call."

He'd have to make a decision now. If he folded and withdrew he'd only lose the pants. She was curious to see just how bold he'd try and be this time around. Judging by how hard he was trying to unsettle her it was clear to her that he was trying to get her to slip up and somehow give him a tell of what perhaps her cards might be. Every good Sabacc player had their tricks, and ways to try and gauge someone, but Cenric was still a first time player, and she was confident that he was simply trying to goad her by using the word she hated to be called, rather than actually look for a tell.

"Your move."

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

"Ha!" He said with a bright smile, then placing down his cards in front of him. What he revealed was somewhat surprising, the first one was something most people called 'The Evil One' a card worth negative seventeen. The second was a negative eleven.

Ordinarily that meant he had busted, but the third card he'd drawn was exactly what he'd needed; a five.

The brief moment of elation that had crossed his features had been genuine. Cenric had needed that last card to bring himself around to a victory. He'd been bluffing before that, hoping that Mariya would simply fold and give up the round. When he'd drawn the card however he had wanted to goad her into doing exactly what she'd done. Despite himself the Padawan felt incredibly proud of himself, even though he had yet to see Mariya's cards at all. "It's okay."

He said with a smile.

"You can just give up now." Stretching Cenric smiled, half reaching for...and then missing the bottle of wine.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya had a positive sixteen and a five to equal twenty one. She flipped the two cards over one at a time, slowly. Though as she did, knowing she had lost, she decided to tell him what she already knew, and that he obviously knew himself. "Your third card saved you from bombing. It never left the position you picked it up in." She placed her index finger down on the table atop the five. "You got lucky. Nothing more." But if he thought for a moment that she was going to call it quits he was sorely mistaken. The girl had been forty thousand credits in the negative once, only to come back at the end and win the Sabacc Pot. This was child's play to her.

Without standing the girl leaned forward, pulling off her socks and allowing them to fall to the floor.

If he expected her to stop there, and then refuse anything further, he was about to be sorely mistaken. Without even a lick of hesitation the smuggler grabbed hold of the bottom of her shirt and pulled it free and clear, throwing it over and across the table into the Jedi's lap. Still leaning back in the seat with her legs over the table she now sat, nothing more than the upper and lower undergarments covering the necessities, both a notably matching shade of purple and lace trim.

"I don't give up, Cenric."

Somehow it sounded more like a challenge than just a statement.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Well.

Now he really wasn't certain where to look anymore.

Before it had just been her lower body, shapely legs and curved re- Cenric decided to cut off his own thought process as he felt his eyes slowly lower. This time however when he looked up the reaction was noticeably slower, his gaze panning over her near naked form for a second as his teeth bit down on the inside of his lips. The bright red in his face, whether from alcohol or Mariya, was now a constant fact of life rather than brief flare. The Padawan tried hard, his hardest in fact to just keep his eyes on Mariya's.

At least then he couldn't be accused of leering. "We'll see."

Okay. She had come this far. She was half-naked but...well that wasn't too bad right? He had seen girls in their bathing suits before, and although Mariya's undergarments were certainly more...Cenric glanced down one more time swallowing hard, then refocused himself on her eyes.

This wasn't any different than swim wear. That was why she hadn't given up. Surely that was it. She had mentioned she liked swimming after all. The padawan cleared his throat, shuffling the cards and tapping the deck as he dealt. This would be it, this would be the round where she would have no other choice.

"Your bet." He said, focusing hard enough on keeping his eyes in the proper place that he didn't even move the shirt she'd tossed at him.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“Something wrong?” She asked, watching the intense flare of red all over the Jedi’s face. “You’re looking rather ill.”

Mariya and Jamie were similar in quite a few ways, modesty was most certainly not one of them, however. Where Jamie was the type to shy away from anything mildly revealing Mariya was entirely comfortable. This was nothing to her, but given the ever increasing discomfort Cenric was displaying over just a little bit of skin she had won this game several hands ago.

This wasn’t a game for winning cards, it was a game of amusement.

Mariya looked at the hand she was dealt, then to the Padawan. “Bra.” She said without hesitating.

”You?”

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric stared at her. She had said it, but what else was she going to do? The only other clothes she had left was...the padawan fought his own eyes. Keeping them firmly on his cards of Mariya’s eyes. He had to keep himself focused.

This was his chance to win. ”Socks, I'm fine.”

She was okay sitting like that, but anything else? No she would give up the game and quit before she actually complied with the water. That was what he was banking on anyway.

He drummed his fingers, thinking and then slowly speaking. ”So fine in fact I'll raise.”

Cenric pushed things hard now, knowing she couldn't go much further. With a confident practices smile he reached for his cup of wine and drank a little bit more.

”Pants.” This would surely be it. She would quit if he won this round.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“Fine, huh?” She leaned closer towards Cenric, her arms resting on the table partially angled so that she held her cards yet the cleavage beneath her top was on full display. “What’s with the rosy cheeks then?” She peeled up the cards she had been dealt once more and took a quick look. “Guess that puts me all in.”

She smirked, “Or maybe all off.”

Mariya reached forward, pulling a card from the deck and quickly checking it.

”I suppose we’ll see here in a moment, wont we? What’s your move?”

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]


Cenric stuttered slighty, shifting on the couch as she leaned forward to display her...he swallowed hard. ”Its the alcohol.”

Yes. That was it.

”I'm not a drinker.” He insisted. ”It gets to me a bit faster. You just worry about yourself.”

He sounded more than a little concerned, and in truth he was. Cenric was pushing this so far because he was sure Mariya wouldn't cross that last line. He was sure that she would give up when it came to it. Yet how she acted now...leaning forward and trying to force him to look.

He was starting to doubt his plan. The Padawan swallowed hard. ”H-here.”

Cenric didn't sound so smug now, and he flipped his cards over to reveal a total of eighteen.

As he did his eyes floated down, something he couldn't quite help. Not towards the cards that he had laid out, but towards Mariya.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

She shook her head, drinking straight from the bottle of the wine, now that her glass was empty. “You’re also not a liar.” She declared, tipping the bottle back before setting it back down. “You can’t dupe a professional liar. It’s my trade, in case you’ve forgotten.” Mariya looked at the cards he flipped, an eighteen.

The brunette wiggled her nose as she stared over the table.

”Well.”

The girl flipped the cards one at a time. The first card, a negative nine followed a negative ten. The card she’d just drawn was flipped last, ever so slowly to draw on the Jedi’s anxiety and anticipation as heavily as was humanly possible.

A negative eight. A total of negative twenty seven. A bomb out.

Had she done that intentionally? Who in their right mind would chance on a negative nineteen?

Someone who wasn’t playing for the cards.

Mariya reached behind her, arms folding back to release the clasp. She then paused for only a moment to linger on the act. Maybe Cenric thought she was going to back out at the very last opportunity. To quickly redress and tell him it was all a ploy and that he’d beaten her fair and square, and that somehow he was a master Sabacc player.

“That’s that.”

But that was hardly the case. Her fingers tipped the straps on her shoulders to the side and allowed the clothing to fall away. The brunette then stood up from the couch, pulling at the fabric over her hips until that too fell to the floor. With not even a moderate attempt to cover herself she proceeded to sit right next to Cenric.

Perhaps now he would understand he had actually lost.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric stared at her.

There was no other way to put it. His eyes followed the trace of cloth that fell away, moved along every curve of her body as he took all of her in. There was no subtlety to how he looked at her, no hiding it. As soon as she pulled the last scrap of purple away Cenric couldn't help but look everywhere he wasn't supposed to. His jaw fell open, his fingers curled involuntarily around the shirt that she'd thrown at him.

”H-” Cenric attempted to speak but he found his voice lost.

Even as she sat herself down besides him he couldn't peel his eyes away. They slowly slid over her body until they were finally able to meet her gaze. He tried to think of something to say, but the only things that flashed through his mind were wildly inappropriate.

He was stunned, plain and simple.

The Padawan felt his mouth dry up, and his thoughts running wild. Every spec of his skin had turned that shade of red, and slowly he was forced to shift his legs slightly.

”I-” Again his voice died in his throat. ”You…”

Nervously he pulled his eyes away from her, spotting the bottle of wine and desperately reaching out for it.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The brunette could have predicted his response motion for motion. The immediate panic, loss of speech, the inability to move, like a nerf in the landspeeder lights. He froze up harder than a carbonite bath. It was pitiful, really, and for a moment she almost felt sorry for him for toying with him like she had.

The poor guy thought he was winning a card game, all the while Mariya was playing an entirely different game, one of the mind.

And there was really only one winner here, and that wasn’t Cenric.

”Is gawking like that in the Jedi Code?” She teased, though doing nothing to avert his eyes away from her. Anything but modest, Mariya let the boy stare. The stuttering really got to her though, and she couldn’t help but laugh, the maniacal scheme coming through right then and there.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Cenric wrapped his hand around the bottle of wine, not even bothering with the cup he still had on the table.

When she spoke He looked at her again, and once more he found himself lacking the willpower he needed. His eyes slid up and down her form, landing on the bright smile that bloomed on her face as she laughed at him.

It was clear now what she had meant to do this entire time.

She hadn't wanted to win, she'd just wanted to make him as uncomfortable as possible. In truth she had more than succeeded in the goal. He could feel the heat of his face, the slight tingle of his lips, every part of his mind screaming at him to stop being such a fool. The Padawan wanted to drown his sorrows, and thus he took a long swig of the wine. A sigh escaped him as he pulled the bottle back from his lips, eyes floating back to Mariya.

”I think we're long past the code.” The Jedi said finally, but he did not sound sullen.

Instead he sounded determined, and if Mariya looked closely she would see vengeance in his eyes. She had wanted to shock and embarrass him, so he would try something to do the same to her. It was a foolish stupid thing, but in all fairness he had been drinking.

With reckless abandon Cenric reached out, and then gently pulled Mariya into a kiss.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

That was not at all something she had expected or anticipated. He had done everything thus far by her calculations. She’d taken advantage of his innocence and immaturity in both drinking and self expression, but it seemed like he had either perhaps had a bit too much alcohol in him, or he had misread the situation and made a move that she wasn’t looking for.

Mariya fell into Cenric, bare skin against him as he kissed her. The girl placed her hands against his shoulders, and after only a moment without reciprocation pushed back and away, freeing herself from him, her eyes flaring in both surprise and uncertainty. She’d taken the teasing too far, of that she was now sure. He’d gotten the wrong idea.

”Oh...” She said as she stepped back. “That’s...” She shook her hand at him and then quickly grabbed the mess of clothes on the floor and in his lap. “No.”

It was partially her fault and she knew that, but she wasn’t looking for that.

Quickly she backed up, clothes in hand, and headed for her room.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The Padawan suddenly slumped against the couch as Mariya pulled herself away and scrambled to cover herself.

He didn't move as she ran, his face half twisting in a mix of surprise and dismay. His plan hadn't been exactly to go for anything, nothing beyond the kiss anyway. He wasn't fool enough to think she would ever want that from him. Cenric hadn't meant to offend her or make her run, he had simply wanted to make her feel the way that he had felt.

It seemed that he succeeded in that. ”Mariya-”

Cenric started to speak, but he cut himself off as he realized he had absolutely no idea what he was going to say. He had just wanted to get back at her, and now that he had a pit formed in his stomach.

He frowned as he heard her door shut, sitting there in thought for a moment.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The moment she got into her room she slammed the door closed and secured it, leaning against the cold hatchway, head tilting back. Eyes closed, she could not believe what he’d just done. He had read her all wrong, thought she wanted something more. Her lack of modesty was mistaken as desire.

This had been a bad idea after all.

Now what was she going to do? Stay locked in the room for the rest of the trip?

She’d pushed Cenric further than she had intended and he’d crossed the line. It wasn’t his fault, really, but Mariya was very particular about that sort of intimacy. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed, or afraid, she simply didn’t throw herself at whoever over a card game. The difference to her was substantial. Now she just wasn’t sure what to do.

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

For a few minutes Cenric didn't move. He wasn't entirely sure how long he simply sat there, but every minute that passed the pit in his stomach grew worse and worse.

He hadn’t wanted to humiliate her. Certainly hadn't wanted her to react in that way. She had pushed him far, yes, but he felt bad about what he had done. This entire time they had been playing two different games, and it seemed that when Cenric had tried to switch over to hers he didn't quite understand the rules. He sighed slightly, placing the bottle of wine onto the table and spinning it around for a moment.

The pit in his stomach grew deeper as he stared at it and Mariya’s cup.

He knew what he had to do.

Wobbling slightly Cenric pulled himself up off the couch, using it's back as a way to steady himself. The alcohol was still running through his system, but he knew that if he didn't do what he needed to it would eat at him. With some effort the padawan moved down the hall, in his right hand he still clutched her shirt.

Reaching her door Cenric paused a moment, taking a breath before gently knocking. ”Mariya?”

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The heavy door vibrated against her back as Cenric knocked on it, having not moved since she had arrived. He called out her name. For a moment silence hung in the air, response held. She bit into her lip, a sharp debate ongoing in her mind as to whether or not to simply ignore the Jedi.

Maybe he’d cut down the door if she did that...

He did still have that blasted lightsaber, and he was a little drunk.

”Go away Cenric.” She said, “Leave me alone.”

[member="Cenric Marus"]

 

[Cenric Marus]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

He didn't cut down her door, but he didn't go away either. The pit in his stomach was still there, and he doubted it would go until he got to say what he wanted. ”I'm sorry.”

The Padawan meant it, he really hadn't wanted to offend her.

”I didn't mean to-” No, that wasn't right. He had meant to miss her. ”I didn't want to-”

He stopped again, frowning at his wording before he continued. ”I was just trying to get back at you for what you did.”

Cenric leaned his head against the door.

”I know I'm not the kind of guy that you would…” Cenric paused for a second, not wanting to single her out. ”Anyone would want to do those things with.”

Sure he was decent looking, but he was a Jedi, obnoxiously noble, and in general a pain to be around. Or so he had been told more than once.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

She stayed quiet for a long time. Long enough that he would likely consider her to be ignoring him. From the other side of the door Mariya pulled at her hair. She was faced with two equally awkward decisions: Continue to ignore the Padawan until the trip was over, and somehow pilot the ship while doing so, or open the door and talk to the Jedi.

The brunette sighed, feeling a wave of guilt pour over her for how she reacted. Even though he crossed the line it wasn’t inherently his fault, at least not entirely. She was well aware, but that didn’t make the situation any better.

But now what?

“Don’t use self deprecation against me Cenric.” She hated that.

The girl had only a few of her clothes that she’d managed to pick up, but it was enough. She gathered herself together, undergarments and her pants. At least somewhat presentable. Turning around she opened the door, the release quickly sliding the hatchway upwards. Mariya cast a look toward Cenric, still half dressed.

[member="Cenric Marus"]