FYI, the series title and summary quote are taken from the song "Reasons Why," by Nickel Creek, from their self-titled album. These and any future song lyrics are reprinted without permission.
Also, I don't own Star Wars, SWTOR, or Corso. Sadly. :P Bioware, LucasArts and Disney (?) have that honor. :)
Reasons Why
Prologue
There were a ton of questions surrounding the newcomer to Ord Mantell, but above all else, Corso Riggs wondered just how the captain gotten that scar on her face. He was awful at guessing ages, but he thought she was in her mid-twenties, like he was. Old enough to have seen a fair amount of trouble, at least.
She looked...well, pretty wasn't really strong enough of a word, but it worked for now; her features were delicate, her skin creamy pale, her voice – even with its lazy Corellian inflection – was polished. Despite the dust on her coat and boots – or maybe because of it – every part of her seemed to shine, enough so that the scar just looked a bit out of place.
Not that it took away from her appearance, not at all. If anything it made her even...prettier.
She had a familiar way about her too, a mannerism that set him at ease almost at once, and her cocky comments made him want to chuckle. As it was, he nearly forgot what they were talking about when she asked him his name, and as he spoke to her and Skavak he mentally scolded himself. Thirty seconds after meeting her and he was already in too far, to the point where he didn't want to think about how his first word to her had been a distinguished and elegant, "huh?"
Captain, Skavak called her, so Corso followed his lead. Captain Tannith Tainn – Corellian, he thought, judging from her accent and her bravado, but there was something distant about her that was a far cry from any Corellian he'd met, and he'd met a fair few. There was a strangeness to her eyes, blue like the highest dome of the sky, but not just the color. They held the same depth, too. The same sense of...bigness, the kind that made a man feel small but not insignificant. It was the kind of feeling he got when he looked at the stars. Her eyes pulled him like a tractor-beam, even though he didn't quite understand why and was pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate his interest.
It was clear from almost the moment he met her that the blaster on her hip wasn't for show and he didn't miss the hilt of a vibroblade glinting in the folds of her jacket. No matter how she'd gotten it, the scar made him think that she'd seen a bit of trouble but walked away from it intact, which made him oddly pleased even as he realized that he wanted to think of her as "Tannith" and not "the captain," which was not a good sign.
The more time he spent around her, things only got worse.
In more ways than one, too, starting with her ship and his beloved Torchy being stolen. The other thing that got worse was the way he couldn't stop himself from looking at her, even if it was just a quick glance while they fought side-by-side. She could hold her own in a fight, that was for sure, but it was impossible for him to not keep an eye on her – just in case. You know...in case she got herself into a spot of trouble she couldn't immediately shoot her way out of. If that happened, he thought yeah, I'd like to be the guy that jumped in to help her out.
He couldn't help it. There was a part of him that always wanted to rescue a woman in trouble, even when she didn't seem to need – or want – a rescue. Even when she rescued him by pushing him to take the higher road, to make the harder, better choice when his vision was a haze of crimson and fury. Even when he saw the captain take down a room full of Imperials without so much as batting an eyelash, he wanted to help her.
Somehow.
At first he didn't know why he felt this way, aside from it being his nature and all. But he wasn't stupid – least, not like most thought he was – and eventually he figured it out.
When that scumsucker ran off with her ship and his Torchy, Corso watched her face twist into a knot of pain and suddenly it was a face that fit the scar it bore. The brassy Corellian air fell away and she looked a little too small, a little too fragile, to be standing on her own. Captain Tainn was not weak, not even a little, but in that moment he saw a softness to her and it brought out his more protective side.
Corso had lost a lot – more than most, less than many – but he didn't try to think about that stuff, instead choosing to focus his efforts on keeping this new person, a relative stranger, as safe as he could. It was why he'd given her Flashy – well, one of the reasons. Practically speaking, Flashy was better suited to a lady's smaller hands, and he liked knowing for certain that she had a decent blaster at her side.
The other reason – and there were so many reasons for anything he did when it came to the red-headed Corellian captain – was not even a little practical. It was downright silly and sentimental, but Corso couldn't help that part of himself, either.
So much of himself had been worked into Flashy that he thought when they inevitably parted ways and he never saw the captain again...well, he liked the idea of her keeping a little bit of Corso with her, wherever she went.
A/N: The following chapters will feature more "stuff" happening, which is why this one is the intro. I've got a lot of ideas for interactions between Corso and my smugger, Tannith, so stay tuned. :)
Many thanks to clicketykeys for her feedback on Corso! :D
I'll do my best to maintain a consistent update schedule, but Darth Real Life likes to fight for my attention. Normally, I write out an entire story before I post, but since this is a series of ficlets, they're being written as I play through the game and as ideas hit me. Luckily, FFN has a handy "follow" feature that should keep you appraised of any new updates, if you enjoy the fic. ;)
Thanks for reading! If you have any feedback, comments, or suggestions, I'm all ears. :D
Next time: heading to Coruscant.