Private Tarrying by the Tarn

[Cotan Sar'andor]

No Padawan.

No droid.

Nothing to do.

No need to wake up as early as he had been the last two months.

Cotan was in heaven.

Or, at least, as close as he could ever come while still alive. A couple months ago, his ship had gotten its first ever extra member beyond himself and his droid, with the girl who was sent to him with a request that he be her master. That had been quite a shock itself, and dealing with all the misconceptions the girl had about the rest of the galaxy had been even more shocking. Thankfully, she'd been adapting well, so Cotan's job wasn't nearly as hard as it might have been when it came to training the girl.

Even more shocking, [member="Asha Hex"] managed to get ahold of him a short while after Rhia had joined the ship. Soon enough—mainly at Cotan's worried insistence—Asha had taken up residence on the freighter herself, bringing the population up to four. After the course of some strange events over Tatooine, Cotan had decided that he and Asha definitely needed some time to themselves, free of an apprentice who was still adapting to the modern galaxy and modern Jedi, and free of a droid that was overly inclined to cause trouble for its owner.

Eventually, the quartet was able to make a trip to the Jedi Praxeum on Eira Pechal; after working out an arrangement with the people running the place, Cotan was able to drop Rhia off to learn with some of them and meet new people, and left Kiss with her so that the droid could provide her some surety of companionship.

Then Cotan and Asha had blasted out of there faster than a smuggler running from a First Order patrol ship.

The first day had been spent moving things around from the first mate's cabin; most of the plants had been spaced around the ship, adding some necessary life to the otherwise bare interior. Cotan's own cabin had been cleaned and organized, with other items being moved into it or into other areas around the ship, giving it a much more homey atmosphere than it had previously possessed.

The second day had been spent fairly lazily, with nothing much to do other than float around in deep space, the autopilot function of the ship taking over the hyperdrive and engines to make sure it got around properly. Now, on the morning of the third day, Cotan knew that they'd be seen approaching the first destination of the short trip. One that he'd somewhat surprised himself in picking, while keeping it a bit of a surprise from Asha.

He hadn't been on Atrisia in years, and as much as he liked the scenery—and would hopefully be able to make himself enjoy it—the thought of going to the planet gave him some trepidation. The events that had occurred the last time he'd been there were ones he'd much rather be able to forget. Such things could never happen, however; beyond that, there was something left behind on the world that he needed to retrieve, and he hoped that making a small excursion of it might make for a good day out, assuming he could keep his memories in check.

Looking at the mess of red hair on the pillow beside him, before glancing back at the rest of the woman it belonged to, he decided that, whether he'd be able to maintain his bright and cheerful demeanour or not, everything would be fine so long as she was around.

Cotan lazily let himself drop back down into the bed. He knew that soon enough the alarm would start going off to wake the pair up. An eight a.m. alarm, thankfully, compared to the one he normally had when Rhia was around. Normally, if he woke up before his alarm, be it for eight or five, he would just get up and turn it off and go busy himself with something else. But for right now he didn't have anything he had to be busy with.

With that happy thought, Cotan closed his eyes, waiting either for Asha to wake up and try to wake him up, or for the alarm to go off and signal that it was time for the day to start no matter what.

 

[Lief]

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Unknown Location, Force Knows Where // Onboard Cotan's Ship​

Waking Up? // With [member="Cotan Sar'andor"]​

♫ // But Love The One You Hold​

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Sleep had become somewhat effortless since switching bunks.

It was hard not to stay in bed longer than they were meant to when there was such warmth, the feel of his embrace, it soothed away the nightmares and made her feel invincible. Of course, it helped that there was nobody else onboard the vessel, but even so, in the days leading up to their little bit of alone time, when Rhia and the droid remained on the ship, she'd faced similar.

Only now it had been made official. Her bunk had been cleared out, the more communal belongings set about the ship, such as the various plants which Azrael adored, and Rhia seemed intrigued by, while her personal items - of which there was honestly not too much - was brought into Cotan's cabin.

The little Zelosian would no doubt have a heart attack when she returned, but she'd slowly come around to the idea since she'd first caught them asleep. No thanks to that treacherous Kiss.

And so Asha arose slowly, softly, her eyes the last thing to truly come to as they fluttered open. She turned her head, aware that she was beating the alarm by at least a few minutes, and glanced over at Cotan. He wasn't asleep, she could sense as much just by looking at him. Leaning over she pressed her lips against his temple before leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"Good morning, sleepy..."

Part of her wanted to remain as they were, it wasn't as though they had anything they needed to do, there was nothing stopping them from having a lazy day.

Nothing but the unexpected rumble of a stomach. But breakfast could wait a few more minutes at least.

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Mmmph."

Cotan opened one of his eyes back up to look at Asha, trying to act as though he'd only just been woken up. Unfortunately for him, Asha could use the Force too, and knew he'd been awake for a few minutes before her. Let alone the fact that she knew his face well enough to tell the difference between 'sleepy Cotan' and 'acting-sleepy Cotan.' He rolled over onto his back, opening both eyes.

"Guess I'm not the only one to beat the alarm." He rarely ever was, of course, but that wouldn't stop him from commenting on it.

He shook his head and reclined against the headboard, yawning. "Why is it that when I don't get enough sleep, I'm tired, but when I get more than enough sleep I'm still tired?" he jokingly complained, reaching out to grab one of Asha's hands. "You'd think getting more sleep would mean you feel more rested, but all that ever happens is it makes me want to stay in bed more. Too much of this and I might just start sleeping by the day rather than by the hour." Not that he'd ever have the chance to do something like that.

He reached out with his other arm, wrapping it around Asha's shoulders and pulling her in closer. Even if he didn't have plans for the rest of the day, he'd be content to sit like that until it was time to go back to slee—

That thought was promptly pushed from his head upon the feeling of his own stomach rumbling. Right. Food. Cotan waited for the feeling of hunger to subside before speaking up again. "Do you think we have enough left over from last night to eat for breakfast?" he asked, glancing back down at Asha. "Cooking feels too difficult right now. I don't want to expend that much energy this early."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

"Is that a surprise?" she asked, with a small grin, scooching closer to Cotan now that he was well and truly awake and settling her head down against his chest. "Since when do either of us sleep for particularly long?"

Asha glanced toward the chrono, and then pouted slightly, turning her face so that it was hidden against him. Then, with a muffled tone, she did her best to speak. Of course it was easier said than done with her face smushed.

"You know, we could just sleep. Or stay in bed. Or pretend we don't have to do anything... Do we have to do anything?"

To be honest she didn't even know where they were, much less where they were headed or what the plan of action was. It was strange not to have a kid about the place, or a nosy droid, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't nice.

A breath of fresh air.

Asha peeked up when she heard his grumbling stomach, and smiled. "I think we could make it enough. Or, if you'd like, I can make us some flatcakes."

That smile turned into a grin, Asha had refused to make flatcakes since the incident with Rhia... At least she could somewhat laugh about it now. Only when the girl wasn't around. Then the reminder was much too real.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"What? Just lay in for the day, when that's basically what we did yesterday? We're supposed to be at the first stop of the trip today!" Cotan made an attempt to look indignant, but his tone was too light and cheerful for it to really work. He sighed, enjoying the moment of Asha curling up into him. It didn't last very long before she popped her head back up, and started grinning at him. "Flatcakes? I don't know, Asha, what if I end up having to spend the day in the sickbay this time?"

Not likely, given the gusto with which he'd devoured his the last time after he was sure Rhia was well taken care of. As well as the differing physiology between himself and Asha and his Padawan; last Cotan checked, he wasn't a Zelosian, so he'd likely be fine. Barring some extreme act of malevolence from the universe itself. "Not a bad idea, though. With Rhia gone we can have all the sugar we want!"

He could almost guess the reaction in Asha's mind to that. Wrong take-away, Cotan, was what he guessed she'd be thinking. Or maybe just mentally laughing.

The blanket over himself was tossed back, freeing his body to leave the bed, which meant that the only thing preventing him from doing so was the redheaded girl that was nestled up against him. "Not a bad idea at all. How about I make us some tea while you work on the —" He was cut off by the sound of the alarm in the small room, his expression changing from content to rueful nearly instantly. Nearly instantly the alarm shut off, Cotan prodding one of the buttons via the Force. Far too lazy to just shrug Asha off of himself and do it with an arm.

"I hate that thing."

[member="Asha Hex"]

 

[Lief]

Asha grinned rather sheepishly when Cotan made his case for them not sleeping in, and shrugged her shoulders as best she could given the way she was lay.

"What is the first stop?" she asked, after a few quiet moments; it wasn't often that Asha wasn't clued in on where they were going in general, the adventurous spirit she had felt both excited and threatened by the lack of knowledge. She was far too used to being in control of her own life that the past year or so, between the events on Nar Shaddaa, her recovery, and subsequent return to the Galaxy, it was difficult for her not to try and reclaim those reins she'd had for most of her life. But her near-death, poor health, and present living situations couldn't always afford her such independence.

Still, Cotan had purposely kept most of the details of their leisurely trip to himself.

"I wouldn't make you lay in the sickbay," she told him, nestling down further against him and the comfortable bed, "Besides, I've seen you eat your fair share of sugar, mister."

When the blanket was thrown back she felt a sudden shiver run along her spine, and groaned internally at the shift in temperature. Nope, all she wanted to do was stay put... But she knew that wouldn't be possible, not least because of the blaring alarm which rang through the cabin.

"I guess that settles that," she pouted, yet even so she didn't quite bother to move.

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

hey wow would you look at that time to try and remember how to write 2018 cotan

"Asha, I know I'm strong enough to carry you, but trying to start that from this position might prove difficult," Cotan joked, before wriggling his arm free of her embrace. Not that he particularly wanted to do so, of course, but they had a day ahead of them, and this time it wasn't just one to be spent lazing around while the ship was in hyperspace and Kiss was losing his little droid mind at how lazy they both were. He rolled over, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up quickly.

No point in putting it off any longer than necessary, otherwise he might lose his nerve to actually get up.

He gave Asha another moment or two to get up herself, before hitting the pad to open the door and making his way out into the hallway.

They at least should be coming out over their first stop today, assuming he'd planned the route right. He normally did. "Do you really want me to tell you where we're landing?" he asked once Asha stepped out of the room as well. "Or would you like to keep it a surprise a little while longer?"

He paused.

"Also, I don't eat that much sugar, miss Hex!"

Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Though she didn't particularly want to, Asha rolled off his arm all the same and buried her face into the pillow. Just a few seconds more... And yep, alright, she was ready. It helped that she'd been deprived of the blankets warmth, of course, without that she'd probably have just fallen back asleep.​

​

No matter, she slipped out of bed and stretched a long stretch before padding across the room to gather up something suitable to wear. Or what she presumed would be suitable, given that she remained in the dark. Did she shower first, or make breakfast? Decisions, decisions... ​

​

Either way soon enough she was out in the hallway, and pondering Cotan's question. "Uh... You know what, I'm in a suspenseful mood today. Keep it a surprise. I'll even avoid the cockpit." Asha liked to watch the worlds come into view, but a surprise wasn't a surprise if you could make guesses now was it? No, no it wasn't.​

​

Walking through the ship, she set the clothes down on the sofa and then made her way into the kitchen.​

​

"No, but you wish you could," she smirked, as she set about gathering up the ingredients required to make the flatcakes. Pretty easy in truth, pantry staples they always had on hand. Maybe that was why she'd suggested them. Less faffing, less thought. It meant they could hurry up and get started with their day. It felt as though years had already passed as is, with how long they'd lingered in bed.​

​

"Just, take a quick peek at what I pulled out to wear, warn me if it's far from suitable?"​

​

Standard attire for Asha, an explorers get up if you would. Linen shirt, trousers with a bunch of pockets ready for plant clippings and specimens, a not-too-heavy-but-waterproof jacket. You know, the usual for someone who liked to go on adventures on unknown worlds.​

​

As basic as it was, she always managed to pull it off. Maybe it was because her untamed red hair really popped against it.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Well, what can I say? You're going to feel really silly when we come out of hyperspace over Hoth."

Not that they'd been travelling anywhere near long enough to get to Hoth from Eira Pechal, even with a good hyperdrive. "It should work alright, though. Might want a bit thicker jacket since we'll be up in the mountains, but everything should stay fairly temperate." As she started making flatcakes, he set out a tea kettle to boil, and dug out the tea leaves and a pair of small infusers. Nothing anywhere near as special as what Asha normally did for tea, but this early in the morning Cotan needed some strong black tea, not a special blend.

"What fruit do we still have? Blumfruit, Sihan peaches, Mandalorian oranges...?" Normally he'd be better at keeping track of that sort of thing, but he generally bought fruit fresh every time he landed somewhere, which he hadn't done in multiple days. "If we have the oranges, I'm sure I still have some orange liqueur from Naboo, if you wanted to get fancy with your flatcakes."

Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

"Mm... I don't knoow," she responded to talks of fruit and fancy things, "I suggested flatcakes because they're eaaasy..." Glancing over her shoulder at him, she grinned a little. Batter made, she moved on to the next step though not before thinking more on what he'd said.​

​

"Jacket, got it. Also, why don't you fetch me some of those peaches... At the very least I can sugar-poach some slices to go on top." A quick and mighty delicious compromise, mhm. Who needed liqueur this early in the morning anyway? Ignore the fact that the alcohol would burn away, Asha didn't want to think.​

​

Thinking hard.​

​

First round of flatcakes entered the pan, and she stood around aimlessly while they cooked. She couldn't really stray away, or they'd burn, but she couldn't faff with them either. Nope... Patience. Patience was what was required. Too much patience, argued her grumbling stomach.​

​

Feth, even the peaches seemed like too much work.​

​

Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan blinked once.

Well, I was really asking if we still had any at all, considering you're the one that was looking through the pantry, fridge, freezer, and all so much a couple nights ago.

All the better reason for him to do the checking, though. It was his ship, after all. His foodstuffs that he bought with his money. "As you wish, miss Hex," he replied airly, reaching out to muss her hair before heading back to the refrigerated section of the cargo hold. He knew, for sure, there weren't any in the actual refrigerator in the galley, as he'd been through it already fairly recently, and he wouldn't have asked if they'd had any just sitting around on the counter.

No, he had to search for his morning fruits...which appeared to be quite lacking. No blumfruit, only a few Mandalorian oranges, a single sihan peach; a disappointing arrangement, until in the process of looking through he managed to find the other fruit Sapella was known for. "Huh. Hindian pears? Good thing I found these before I forgot about them completely." It wouldn't exactly be what she'd suggested, but caramelized pears in with the flatcakes...or even just eating the pears alone.

Naboo boy loves pears.

The oranges and the peach, meanwhile, could be saved for their trek later that day. So, he returned with a few pears split between both of his hands, relying on either the Force or his feet to get the doors open. "How does caramelized pears sound instead?" he asked once he made it back, holding up one handful. "These are all we have very much of now." It wouldn't really take nearly as many as he'd grabbed to get all the flatcakes settled, either; he really did grab one handful for the flatcakes and one handful just to eat on their own.

Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Though he took a moment to comply with her request, Cotan was soon off in the cold storage leaving Asha to finish up with the first batch of flatcakes. She flipped them, waited a little while longer, then plated them up next to a bottle of carbosyrup. Horribly bad for you, but delicious all the same. Certainly not a healthy breakfast, but who was here to judge them?

Nobody.

Exactly.

He returned a short while later with pears, not peaches. Asha grinned all the same.

"Even better. I've never been a huge peach person, to be honest with you." Cotan had just seemed excited by the idea of them. Pears, though? Pears were good. She took one of them from him, cleaned it, and then set it aside while she pulled out a small sauce pan and set about making the sugar syrup. Sugar, water, some sort of liquid glucose it was easy really, She even put in a couple of sprigs of fresh herbs she'd been growing in a small kitchen terrarium for good measure.

The type which went well with sweets.

Once it was bubbling she put in the prepped pear slices, and let them soak in the syrup.

By this point a couple more flatcakes had been made. Soon enough, everything was being plated up, pears and all.

"Hope you're hungry," she stated, as she brought both plates over to the table. One was more stacked than the other. "I'm sort of still in the cooking for three mindset... Whoops."

Cotan Sar'andor

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

By the time Asha said she hoped he was hungry—and he, meanwhile, had gotten over the revelation that she wasn't big on peaches—he'd already devoured one of the pears entirely. Core and all, eating from the base of the fruit, just a stem sitting on the table before him. Or, at least, mostly devoured; he glanced up from his contemplation of the stem and their glasses of tea he'd prepared, a look of dull surprise on his face.

Though whether it was due to her already being done, or the question she asked...

"When am I not?" he asked, with all sincerity. Even with the pear he'd consumed, the smell of the flatcakes and caramelized pears with them had his stomach growling noticeably. "You really are far too good to me, love."

Asha Hex cotan eats his pears and apples from the butt up

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

When wasn't he hungry?

Good question, actually. Had she ever managed to overfeed him? Nope. Not that she'd ever handed him such a large stack of food before, she wasn't one to overeat nor overfeed. But still.

She slipped into the seat next to him, so that she could reach out and take his hand on a whim, and used the Force to pull the bottle of carbosyrup over to them. Just a small drizzle was enough for her, not least because of the sweetened, softened pears which topped the flatcakes, and then she was tucking in.

Truthfully, she was hungrier than she realized.

"Nah" she replied, after swallowing her first mouthful of food, "I'm exactly as good to you as I should be, as I want to be. Mhm." Another bite, then she shifted in her seat to look at him. "Ugh, I'm dying to know what the plan is but I also don't want to ruin the surprise." Part of her wanted to rush through breakfast, but she knew that would only end in indigestion so she let out a huff and instead focused on the task at hand.

Eating. Not wolfing it down, but eating it like a lady would.

Not that Asha had ever been referred to as a lady before.

Cotan Sar'andor

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"You did tell me to keep it a surprise," Cotan reminded Asha over their food. He doubted it would be much of one—someone as well-travelled as Asha had to have been to Atrisia before—but now he wasn't going to spoil it whatsoever. As well, contrary to the jokes she'd made at him earlier, given the pears that were adorning his flatcakes he didn't even need to use any of the carbosyrup. And there were still two unsliced pears between them.

Of course, with all he flatcakes, he might not get around to them like he thought...or at least he'd be having a fairly light lunch. His stack was half again as large as hers, after all.

He fell silent for a moment, just settling into eating as he thought through he day. A relaxing hike through the mountains with Asha would certainly be a good thing, but unlike the rest of their little vacation, this was the one location where he had different motives than just spending time with her; he was rather hoping that her senses would prove useful for the day's goal.

Before he knew it, he'd made it through half his stack of flatcakes.

"Well, differing opinions on how good is too good aside, I do think we'll see some nice scenery." And perhaps not-so-nice; he doubted the fortress had been entirely dismantled yet. There was too much there to hunt down and catalogue, and it wasn't exactly easy to get to, even with airspeeders. "Maybe even find hidden, ancient, lost treasures. Who knows?"

Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

"... Treasure..?"

Asha glanced up from her meal, eyes sparkling with mischief, as the mere notion of unearthing previously lost and forgotten treasure was made. How long had it been since she'd actually sunk her teeth in to a little adventure, for the sake of it, for the fun of it? Too long. Far too long.

Of course, regardless of that the notion of seeing somewhere nice and scenic was as always very appealing to her. Traveling through space was all well and good for one who had never been born on a planet to begin with, and the more extreme worlds had their own beauty, in their own way, sand, and magma, and water... But nice scenery?

Usually that meant life. Verdant, vibrant life.

Asha was already making plans to cast off her shoes at the first chance she got. Grass... Flowers... Oh she hoped there was both.

She didn't even realize she'd eaten the last of her flatcakes, so lost in thought was she, until her fork scraped against the plate. Cringing at the sound, she pushed the plate away, set the fork down, and then hopped up out of her seat. Thicker jacket...

He'd encouraged her to find a thicker jacket.

Without a word she scurried further into the ship, in search of something a little warmer to wear.

Cotan Sar'andor

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan smirked, shrugged without comment, and kept to finishing off his breakfast. He couldn't give her too much more to go off of, lest he switch over from having piqued her interest to having lost it entirely. He had to keep her imagining, guessing, focused, on her toes, and wrapped around his finger, at least for this part of the trip. For the rest of it, he would gracefully allow them to switch roles, short of how they were still on an itinerary that he had picked.

Although, if at some point she decided she wanted to change it, then really all they had to do was make sure they got back to Eira Pechal at the right time. Just languidly floating in hyperspace with Asha wrapped around him to stay warm certainly seemed like an attractive prospect...But, he didn't have long to contemplate that thought and what the two of them might be able to get up to with so much time on their hands as an alarm started coming from the cockpit. He swallowed the last bite of his flatcakes, put the dishes in the sink, and—just for good measure—grabbed one of the extra pears before heading to the cockpit.

Just as he sat down the ship came back out of hyperspace, floating over one of Atrisia's continents. Not the one he needed, however; that one was...a ways starboard. Nearly morning. "Well," he mused to himself. "It looks like we'll have a long day." He pulled on the yoke, taking the ship in that direction. Luckily, for a planet such as this, much of the transmission of ship data and the like could be automated; it only took a few moments before he was given a specific hangar bay to go and land in the city of Jar'Kai, funds already pulled from his account.

So, lazy as he was, he activated the ship's autopilot and went back to see if Asha had found the jacket she was looking for yet.

Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

She felt the shifting of the ship as she pottered around the bedroom, grabbing items from the dresser. No, no, no...

None of it felt right. Either it messed up her outfit - wait, when did Asha start caring about how she looked? - or it was too far to one extreme or another. Drats. That was until her eyes fell over one of Cotan's jackets.

A glimmer in her eye.

She took it up, put it on, and turned this way and that and then nodded her head. Oversized, sure, but like that was going to stop her. She folded up the sleeves, closed the zipper, and turned to leave just in time to see Cotan heading her way. All at once the confidence she'd felt putting it on shrank away.

"Uh... All set?" she asked, hoping that he wouldn't notice...

Cotan Sar'andor

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Alright, Asha, looks like it's just before sunrise where we're about to la—"

He stopped, one eyebrow raising at the sight before him. Asha, in her hunt for a decent jacket had found...

"Honestly, I'm surprised I still own that old thing." The flat-black look wasn't really his style—leather in general was rarely his style—but as often as his jackets, shirts, and other articles of clothing tended to get damaged in his line of work, it made more sense to keep a lot of extras around than it did to get rid of anything old. And in this case, it worked out well for his girlfriend too, which was always a plus. "You should keep it. Looks nice on you, and I'll be able to bring you along to the Life Day party back on Demonsgate without getting any weird looks."

Well, he'd likely get weird looks anyways, actually showing up with somebody, but she'd fit in among them all more with a jacket like that. Tried and true Outer Rim aesthetic. "...Where did you find that, anyways?"

Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Asha used his trailing sentence and the momentary pause between his words to slip in a response she hoped might be distracting enough to keep him from mentioning the jacket. Didn't work, of course, but oh well.

"Before sunrise? Does that mean we can stand around and watch it rise? Hopefully there's a nice view of it..."

Nope, didn't work at all.

Funnily enough he didn't mind that she had it on. If anything he was surprised it still existed. Told her to keep it, and she beamed in response. On the one hand it sort of took away from the thrill of stealing it for a day, but on the other... Huzzah! Wasn't it every girl's dream to own one of their boyfriend's jackets? She nestled into it and beamed a grin at him.

"Consider it stolen" she informed him, before shrugging, "It was in the back of your closet. It's comfy. Still smells like you."

Reaching out a hand to offer toward him, she stepped over to where he stood. "We about ready to land? I'm eager to see where we are..."

Cotan Sar'andor