"It's barely a scratch!" Kanan hoped his blatant bluffing was working as he tried his best to walk normally through the galley. A swagger was off the cards, right now just quick and upright would suffice "I'll slap a bacta patch on before I hit the sack"
Hera had blocked the corridor, her face said she meant business. "Who do you think your kidding Jarrus?"
It had been nearly a full cycle since he first met Hera back on Gorse, since their paths had collided, since he signed up as 'crew'. Hera and been implicit in those first few weeks: flirt all you want Jarrus, but I'm off bounds. He'd found it refreshing, after years of drifting thought planets, towns, bars, women. Women. It had always been a game, not one he'd ever wanted to play, but one that seemed to find him none the less. Women had reacted to him consistently, the charm he learnt along the way, but the rules were simple, always, always, leave before the game stops playing. There was no game with Hera, he still flirted, sure, but it was more in jest now days, a small reminder of a part he used to play.
"Who do you think your kidding Jarrus?" Her arms were crossed and she had cantered a hip out to one side, and while her body language said she wasn't going to take no for an answer, there was worry in her eyes. She pointed to the counter, where the med kit was open "I'm already set up, Chop?" The astromech was holding a lamp, which he blazed on and gave a few disgruntled bleeps which Kanan clearly understood meant "Dont take all day meat bag!".
He had gotten the wound picking up the cargo that afternoon, he'd run into some local trouble while Hera had gone to get the Phantom. Some Rodians had tried to ride off with a crate and Kanan was having none of it, the ensuing heroics had left him with a gash on the top of his left thigh. "Are you going to take your pants off? Or am I going to have to do it Kanan? Drop them Jarrus!" He sighed "Fine, just be gentle sweetheart" Hera's face finally cracked a smile "Of course dear, would I be anything else?" He unbuckled his belt and kicked his boots off at the same time, the blood had congealed and the fabric had dried and stuck to his leg he could feel it ripping as he swiftly yanked them down. Hera watched as he tried his best not to wince, but as he looked up she was frowning. "What's that face for? You could at least have blushed a bit, tried to boost my ego?" Hera looked impatient, "Kanan, what's up with your left side, did you get sliced there too?" He sighed again "That one is really just a scratch, I swear!" But Hera had already closed in on him and had started unbuckling his shoulder armour. He gave her an eye roll and pulled his shirt off in one go. There was a deep scratch just above his hip, not nearly as bad as his thigh, which he could feel had now re opened and was bleeding down his leg. This time there was no frown from Hera, rather than study his wounds her gaze seemed to linger on his naked torso. Were her cheeks a little darker? "Rrrrrrrrrccckk" Chopper swore loudly! She looked a little startled "Aright, calm down!" She levelled her gaze with Kanan "I think I'm going to have to close the leg before the bacta, glue should do it, but I'll check for any fibres from your trousers first, ok, lean against the counter?". Kanan made a vague salute, "Yes captain". Hera rolled her eyes and smiled, and then sunk to her knees...
And that's when things got... tense. You don't live with someone for a whole cycle and not have the odd occasion where you see each other in your underwear. Night time trips for a drink of water. Entering and exiting the fresher. A 3am emergency alarm procedure because a small asteroid or piece of space junk hit the long range scanner and your up and out of your bunk and in the cock pit in whatever you were sleeping in. It happens, but you keep your distance, you keep it brief, you do not to stare and you act normal. Standing in just your underwear while your ship mate, your exquisitely beautiful ship mate, examines the top of your thigh under bright light isn't any of those things. Just the thin fabric of his underwear and 6 inches of air separated Hera's face from his crotch. Kanan was hyper aware of her warm breath tickling his skin. He looked down, the view almost made him loose control. Her head tails hung down her back, the ends curling as she concentrated, her long dark lashes fluttered as she studied the wound. From this angle her eyes looked almost closed, if she leaned forward, her lips... The force. He closed his eyes and went through a pre meditation ritual, and retreated into the calm for a few seconds. Control. That's what he needed right now. A deep, steady breath. He opened his eyes and tried not to look down again.
"Looks pretty clean in there, I'll get the adhesive in to help stabilise it before the bacta." As she reached up for the tube she brushed against his hand, which he'd rested on the counter. His skin burned with the contact, did she feel that?
She gently laid her hand on his thigh splaying her fingers either side of the gash, the adhesive stung, a welcome distraction from the friction he could feel building inside, from the contact of her skin on his. Hera placed one hand high on his inner thigh and the other in the outer side, her long fingers just grazing the bottom of his ass, and applied light pressure. He tried to measure is breathing. The air seemed to still and could feel the warmth and the pressure of her hands gripping his leg. He knew he shouldn't but he looked down at her. She was always the professional, even in this situation, with him nearly naked, touching him almost intimately... But did she look a little hot, flustered? Her head tails twitched. It felt as though her hands were burning into him, could she feel that connection too?
Hera looked up at him "Sorry if it hurts, it's deep. Your lucky it missed your artery." She caught her lower lip between her teeth, "We had a pretty good haul without that one crate, you should have let it go." That's it Hera, he thought, when in doubt talk, it had broken the tension. "Those punks were asking for it, but I didn't think it through, I wasn't looking ahead. I didn't anticipate that low wall jutting out." Hera released his thigh and reached for the bacta patch, she placed it over the area and started smoothing the edges down. Thank the force the conversation had started up again, the small light strokes would have been doubly agonising in silence. "Kanan you were fighting two guys on top of a moving speeder! And you won! For someone who 'didn't think it through' you did pretty well." Kanan wiggled his eyebrows, "Is that a massage for my pride as well as my thigh, Nurse?" Treatment over Hera stood, level with him again she smiled and shook her head "I'll get Chopper to play med droid next time!" Chopper grumbled and sped off.
Kanan made a move to leave, Hera shot her arm out placing it squarely on his bare chest "I'm not done." Her touch lingered on him as she grabbed a smaller patch, this time placing it over the scrape on his side. Now it was Hera's breath that seemed to hitch and she swallowed hard. There was centimetres between them now as she smoothed the edges of the patch down, her movements slowed, he realised she had moved the hand she had placed on his chest lower, it rested lightly on his stomach. Close up he couldn't help but think how flawless she was. Her eyes were again, downcast, the curve of her lips drew him in, they were hypnotic. He looked up to find green eyes looking back at him. His brain spluttered out. There was nothing in it at the second other than Hera. Purrgills could have been gnawing on the hull, but for those few beats, neither of them would have noticed. Neither of them made a move closer, but Hera's gaze drifted briefly down to his lips and back up. Kanan was paralysed, he wanted to move, to place his hands on her waist and close this small gap between them, but there was a line, an unspoken boundary he wasn't sure he wanted to cross. He loved her, from the first moment he heard her voice, he knew that he would follow her. But this life was good, damn it, she was the best friend he'd ever had. Why was he stalling? Although not fully functioning, some small part of his brain screamed: this is your chance Jarrus, and your not going to take it?
"Ggggrrrruckkkkkkkk" Chopper banged on the galley door, both of them whipped round to look at him. "Gggggrrrrackackackr" Hera smiled "Stop yelling, I've finished. And no Chop, I didn't put his leg on the wrong way! What are you talking about?" Thank the force that moment had passed without incident, he'd gotten away with it pretty smoothly all things considered, right? Hera walked to follow Chopper, stopping in the doorway to look back at Kanan, her eyes flicked over him, down to his crotch and back up, he barely registered he was still in only his underwear, his brain had started working again apparently. A smile was still curved on her lips "Chopper says you'd better get your pants back on Jarrus". And she turned and left. As his brain re started he realised the truth as he looked down, there was no mistaking how effected he was by that moment, that's for sure! Holy Karabast! There was no way she would have not seen the 'situation' down there!
He rolled his eyes and ran his hand down his face. He picked up his clothes from the floor where he'd left them, thinking back to his life pre Hera, all smooth talking parts he'd played, all the women who had succumbed to a well played bluff. It's a good job he didn't play those games any more, Kanan was pretty sure if he did, he'd stopped playing a few months back, and he definitely just lost that round.