Hello all! This is the prologue to me new FF Less than three. I hope you enjoy!
Prologue
Nava's cantina was filled with male soldiers, all in republic uniform and all drunk, they all sat in a circle drinking and telling war stories, but there was one. One different one, one soldier unlike the rest, any other person would assume he was not a soldier. Jarvis Dakaar knew better, she had seen her share of soldiers torn from the sights of war. After all she was the bartender and after years of serving people there poison you start to figure out exactly why they want it.
He wanted Derallian Bourbon and he wanted it neat, the drink of a man who wanted to drown out the pain of losing someone. Maybe a spouse? A child? A sibling? Either way he had lost someone and he was very good at hiding it. If she had told anyone that they would ask how she knew that and she would say it was hunch. A true hunch but hunch none the less. He obviously wasn't here for woman but here to drink and to only drink. Again how would she know that? Because he shied away from any woman who tried to talk or touch him, of course that was also a hunch. The man was handsome and he knew it, his dark brown hair was slicked back and was a lot longer than the rest of the soldiers and he had strayed from the tradition uniform and wore tight pilots pants and orange pilot's jacket. Now that she looked closely at him he was better looking than she first thought. He had a slight scar on his chin and a slightly bigger one on his lip.
"Do I have something on my face?"
His deep voice brought her out of her small daze.
"No, sir." She turned away from him and wiped the counter.
"Sir, huh? You're making me feel old, coming from a young girl like you." She could hear the smile in his voice.
Young? How old does he think I am? She thought as she turned around to face him. "Not my intention. It's just a habit to call soldiers sir." She poured him another drink, "Plus I'm not much younger than you."
"Oh? No younger than me? How do you know I'm and solider?" He raised an eyebrow at her and took sip at his fresh drink.
"27 and you most definitely are a soldier." She smirked.
He squinted at her, "34 and I am, but how did you know?"
She laughed, and poured herself a drink…She could talk for a little while, the bar was settling down. "It's the way you carry yourself, the way you walk and the way you talk. Your face."
He gave a short laugh, "My face?"
"I'm a bartender, Handsome, I've seen plenty of soldiers in this bar who all have something in common. Loss. You have the same facial expressions as they do."
He didn't say anything.
"Have I offended you?" That wouldn't be a surprise she's offended more than her fair share of soldiers.
"No. Not at all, I'm just surprised that all." He took a large swing of his drink. "What's your name, beautiful?"
"Jarvis." When she said it he smiled. It suited her perfectly, short and simple, unique and sharp. She loved her name. "How about you?"
He kept on smiling, "Carth Onasi."
"Well Carth, it's getting' late, and the cantina is clearing out. Don't you think you should head back to your ship?"
He laughed, "Trying to get rid of me?"
She shook her head, he sure is playful, "No sir, just looking out for you. You're an old man and old men need their rest," she laughed at his wide-eyed expression. Then she said something that surprised both him and her, "Unless you would like to wait for me outside? We could have a few drinks at my place?"
For Carth time stopped as he thought of his answer. What was she proposing? Carth studied her for a minute. She had a very serious face, she had the look of someone not to be trifled with, but she was beautiful and there was no doubt about that. Long raven hair, bright green eyes and body to kill. She had a few scares on her face, one on her eyebrow and another on her lip; it matched the one he had on his. Her lips were full and plump but not too big or small; her nose was small and perky. She had delicate features but her eyes looked tired and worn. There was no doubt that she had short temper, he knew this because she had nearly broken the arm of a man who tried to touch her and thrown a glass at another, but she moved with grace and ease. More like a ballerina. She was short and had curves in all the right places. She was the opposite of all the other woman he had been attracted to and now that he thought about it this was the first one that didn't resemble Morgana. As messed up as that sounded he only bothered himself with women that reminded him of his wife, only because when he slept with them it was easier to imagine them as his wife. But this woman, with the curves and the silky voice…He just couldn't find it in him to say no.
"Sounds like a plan, beautiful."
He finished his drink and left her with a smile, he had no idea what to expect as he exited the cantina. He had no idea if it was going to be like all the other times, where he would go home with a beautiful woman, sleep with them then sneak out in the dark of the night. He had no idea if she was the same as all the other lonely woman and he had no idea if he wanted to do this with a woman he couldn't imagine as his wife. She was beautiful though, and had a way about her that was intoxicating.
Doesn't help that I'm also a little intoxicated, His brain quipped at him, and he tried to shush it. What am I gonna do? I don't think I can do this. I can't just leave. Of course if I did what are the chances I would see her again? Not very high, I could just sneak off.
He considered this, but he didn't leave because deep down he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay; he wanted to see what this beautiful woman would do.
"Carth?" Her voice rang through the cold air and he heard her footsteps in the snow.
Now was the time for a choice. Stay or Run.
"Over here!" He came out of the dark his hands in his pockets.
She smiled, "Ready?"
He held out his arm for her to take, "Shall we?" She laughed at him, "Lead the way, beautiful."
As they walked in the snow together Carth's mind began to gather questions, questions about her and who she was. He only knew two things about her. Age and Name, and who knew if that was even true.
"Got something on your mind?" She had perfect timing.
Should he ask her? What was he going to ask? Did he really want to know more than he knows, would that complicate things?
"Always do."
She laughed, "Ooh, cryptic." She stopped in front of a small apartment near the hangers, "You always this mysterious?"
"Sometimes."
She searched under the door mat and pulled out a key, "Well this is it. Make yourself comfortable." She took her coat off as she walked in and threw it on the couch as she made her way to the kitchen.
Carth looked around while she wandered around the kitchen; the apartment was small, and oddly shaped. It was very clean and nicely decorated. He couldn't see much, the only light coming in was from a small lamp in the kitchen and the moon shining through a large window.
"What would you like to drink?"
He thought for a moment, "You wouldn't happen to have that whiskey I was drinking at the cantina would you?"
"You're in luck; I snatched a bottle last night."
He sat on her couch, ready to relax when he saw something that caught his eye. A picture, one of her and another man, a very handsome man too, his heart sank a little. Carth has slept with many lonely women and many lonely married women but for some reason this one hurt a little bit.
"That's my brother."
Carth let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Then he frowned, why did he cared if she was single or not? She was just another lonely human. Just like him. Carth shook his head, and continued to look at the picture. She was younger, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old, but she looked nearly the same and she was still beautiful.
"Where is he now?" He regretted the question as soon as it slipped off his tongue.
"He was soldier; he died on Telos"
She had that look that she was telling him about, the look of took a large swing of her drink, and Carth was sure that it had burned all the way down.
"I'm sorry." Carth couldn't believe it, she was more like him than he imagined. Telos.
"Don't be sorry." She frowned a bit, "It's been two years, I can't wallow in pain forever. I can't pretend he's with me forever. It's not healthy."
Ouch. He thought, but she's right.
"What was he like?" He asked quietly, putting the picture of her brother down.
She looked from him and into her cup of dark liquor, "He was a good soldier, he was smart and funny. He never gave up on me and he was my hero. He was loyal to the republic and never gave up on me."
He stared at her, "I'm so-"
"Don't. Enough with this sad stuff. Let's drink." She said as she took a swing out of the bottle.
"Okay, beautiful."
~ • ~
6 bottles of whiskey later and things were a little fuzzy, okay more than a little fuzzy, but Carth didn't want to move. He was enjoying himself. He liked to watch her move, she was graceful and lucid in all her movements, the way her hips swung back and forth, or the way she bent over to pour him another drink and he could see down her v-neck t-shirt. Her skin looked silky smooth and her hair was shining in the moonlight. He wanted to touch her, but Carth stopped himself. He was tipsy but he didn't to do anything he would regret. Not that he would regret touching her. He was doing fine ignoring all her sexy movements, until she spilled her drink all over her white shirt.
Suddenly he was very thirsty.
Jarvis on the other hand couldn't believe she spilled her drink all over her chest, but she was drunk and the way Carth was looking at her was making her feel tingly inside. He wanted her and she wanted him, they wanted each other…6 bottles ago. She wanted him and what woman wouldn't! He was gorgeous! And when he took off his jacket he revealed a tight t-shirt and chiseled chest.
Jarvis couldn't take her eyes off Carth and he couldn't take his eyes off her. Carth couldn't help himself, and his next move surprised even him, but he was so thirsty for her and he couldn't help himself. Jarvis couldn't help but watch, wide-eyed as he moved closer to her. She watched as his head moved down between her breasts and watched as his tongue came out and followed the trail of whiskey. She closed her eyes and let him continue, she felt him continue up her shoulder and up her neck. She moaned as he nipped at her neck. The sound made Carth lose all restraint.
He looked up at her and the sight of her closed eyes and her parted lips made him want her more, and there was no denying that she wanted him.
"Where's your bedroom?" He asked, his voice was rough and husky.
Jarvis' eyes shot open and they were blazing with lust. "This way." She reached out her hand and he took it. No hesitation.
Carth has had plenty of one night stands but never with a woman this intriguing. This felt like more than a one night stand, he felt something with her that surprised him, scared him and aroused him. Some sort of connection or bond. It could be because of the small things they had in common or it could be something more.
Jarvis had felt this feeling once before, though she could not remember where but it was familiar and it felt good.
It was something bigger than them. It was something that they would learn more about in years to come.