"I can't believe I let you talk me into coming back to this rock Sith," Andronikos muttered angrily as he shaded his eyes from the Tatooine suns as he scanned the dunes for signs of life.
Turning to glare at the broken down speeder, he looked like he wanted to whip out his blasters and fire at it. "The next time you need one of these 'favors' make that Dashade do it." He focused his glare at the pale, slender Sith by the speeder and she met it head on.
"You've been all over this desert and back. It made more sense for you to come," she replied in a scathing tone. "Besides, how would I have known the piece of junk speeder you bought from that Jawa was going to break down?"
The telltale lashing of lightning at her fingers as she paced belied her stress level. Catching a stray movement out of the corner of her eye she spun around to fry a womp rat sulking around the rock outcropping they stood by.
She wasn't thrilled with the situation either. Lord, no make that Darth, Zash had sent her back here on some fool's errand. Sand People using Force power, what next? Sleens that talked? K'isha was pretty sure Zash was just trying to keep her occupied enough that she wouldn't notice the Darth's own rat like political moves.
A snarl curved her lips as she looked at the tall, dark-skinned pirate accompanying her. He may have towered over her but she held the power in this equation. The energy crackling at her hands usually intimidated others, but Andronikos didn't back down.
"You know if you didn't speed like a gundark was after you, the intake wouldn't have clogged so quickly," he snapped, running his hand over his smooth scalp. "This isn't Nar Shadda, you can't just ride until it gives and expect it to be fixed right away. In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of nowhere. And taking that last dune like you did caused my comm unit to fall off. There's no way we'll find it. We're stuck here Sith."
K'isha noticed he had focused his dark eyes on her and was pacing as well, mirroring her moves, ready to face off if it came to that. As much as she respected his battle ready spirit, right now she wasn't in the mood.
"You fly the ship, I'll handle the speeders." The frost in her voice could have dripped icicles even in the desert heat. As angry as she was, she still fell back on the haughty demeanor that was her best defense.
"It's also my prerogative to decide who will come with me on these missions. You're part of my crew, remember?"
He recoiled as if she had smacked him, and then shot her a steely look. "Doesn't have to stay that way Sith," he replied flatly. "Free to go whenever I want, wasn't that the deal?"
They continued facing off, neither willing to give an inch, when a low roar drew both of their attention. Attracted by their voices a large Wraid had come around from behind the outcropping to investigate. Seeing the pair of them in its territory, the enormous reptile charged at the potential dinner.
In a blurred motion K'isha pivoted and hit the creature with a strong bolt of electricity, almost simultaneously Andronikos whipped out his blasters and unloaded on it. The charred and smoking corpse fell heavily as the Wraid dropped, most likely not even knowing what hit it. K'isha looked back at Andronikos, who looked torn between wanting to stay upset and impressed with her skill. She understood it well; she felt the same way about him. If there was any common ground they shared, it was in lethal reflexes. Well, lethal reflexes and lethal tempers.
"This is getting us nowhere." He broke the tense silence first, but the anger had seeped from his voice and K'isha was willing to concede that he had a point.
"Agreed. Any suggestions?"
Andronikos shrugged as he went back to the speeder to investigate more thoroughly. He shook his head as he pulled the clogged intake from it and held it upside down to pour sand out of it, shooting her a pointed look. She spun around to survey the dunes herself as well as to avoid meeting his eyes.
The twin suns caused waves of heat to emanate from the sandy wasteland. The only shade came from sporadic rocky outcroppings, much like the one they had broken down by. K'isha gave the speeder another rueful look. Maybe he had point about that too, she thought, but was unwilling to admit out loud. She loved pushing a fast speeder to its breaking point, but that was probably a pleasure better enjoyed when they weren't so far from a repair point.
After her days in slavery, she relished anything that gave her a sense of freedom. Now if she could only get out from under Darth Zash's thumb, she could reach her full potential. She could feel complete freedom was waiting for her; she just needed to stretch out her hand and take it.
Lost in thought, she hadn't noticed Andronikos climb up some of the rocks to get a better vantage until the sound of falling stones heralded something more. She turned just in time to see him lose his balance. Instinctively she threw up a whirlwind, a new skill she had been taught the last time she'd been able to visit one of her trainers. The move was designed to stun opponents and something she was still working on so she wasn't sure what to expect. She was relieved to see him caught up in the wind just enough to slow his fall. He still hit hard enough to leave some good bruises, not enough to break bones and she moved quickly to check on him.
"Are you alright?" she asked with exasperation, reaching down to help him.
One minute they were at each other's throats, the next she found herself helping him up, such was the nature of their odd partnership. Andronikos has traveled with her for some time now and it seemed like they still didn't know what to expect from each other. There was an attraction that sparked, but he was part of her crew, at least for now, and that meant attraction couldn't be a priority. Soft crew mates meant dead Sith in her world.
Still, here she was standing next to his form on the ground, reaching out her hand to him. He looked up at her with surprise, most likely spawned as much from her extended hand as the fact that she'd prevented him from getting badly injured. An uncertain smile crossed his face as he took her hand and she assisted him up.
"Nothing that won't heal. Watching out for your crew again, I see," he said as he brushed the dust off of himself. "That's a new skill, haven't seen you use it before."
K'isha's eyes narrowed at the admission that he watched her and she saw his smile turn genuine. "Hey, how am I supposed to fight beside you if I don't know your moves? Make sure I cover any weak spots. Besides, I'm sure you've been watching me for the same reason."
K'isha wasn't sure why that last statement made her cheeks go warm. "I'm not sure I appreciate the implication that I have 'weak spots'." She gave him a wry smile, retreating back into regal mode to cover being flustered. "But yes, as long as you're still part of my crew, I'll watch out for you. Did you see anything useful up there?"
Andronikos pinned her with a sharp look, making her wonder what else he noticed beside her moves in battle. "There's sand, sand, and more sand," he sighed. "But there were some marks left by a sandcrawler, looked fairly fresh and multiple tracks. Most likely this is a regular route. I'd say we'd see one within the next day."
As much as she hated dealing with Jawas at this point she ride a Hutt's pleasure barge as a dancing girl if it got her a ride back to the spaceport. Then the enormity of what Andronikos was saying sunk in.
"So we're stuck out here for the night?"
She fought to keep her voice even as she thought about the potential danger. She wasn't worried about the wildlife - that was easy to handle - it was the climate that concerned her. The desert may feel as hot as molten beskar at noon, but at night the temperatures dropped to deadly lows. Andronikos's nod was calm though as he went to check their supplies.
"No trouble at all. Not the first night I've had to spend in the desert." He started rifling through the pack on the back of the speeder. "Got emergency shelter, plenty of water and rations."
He made a sour face at the food bars and the sheer boyishness of the look surprised a giggle from K'isha. She tried stifling it, but wasn't able to hide it soon enough, Andronikos picked up on the noise and looked at her with a speculative grin.
"I'll be damned, did I just hear a Sith giggle?"
He drew out the words slowly and K'isha drew herself up with a sniff, but the remembering the look on Andronikos's face threatened to make more laughter burst forth. She knew she was in trouble, once she started laughing it was hard for her to stop. She tried hiding her mouth behind her hand in an effort to regain her cool demeanor, but it was hard with Andronikos's gaze sweeping her up and down.
It was a curse of starting her training so late. While she was still young, she didn't have the discipline of other apprentices who had been born and raised into the Sith doctrine. That lack of discipline sometimes led to moments of immaturity that annoyed her trainers who couldn't comprehend her mischievous streak. She was certain that if the Force didn't flow so strong in her, they would have given up on her long ago.
"Sith do not giggle." she said, forcing a dry tone into her voice, "We may chuckle with malevolent glee, but not giggle."
She still had to press her lips together after the words left her mouth trying to suppress the laughter that threatened to bubble forth. Andronikos was looking at her appraisingly, and she knew he was trying to wrap his head around the concept of merriment coming from a Sith. Leaving the pack on the speeder he turned and approached her slowly.
"Uh huh. I don't know, sounded like one to me." His voice was low, with a texture like the fur of a Nekkar cat, soft and warm and she froze where she stood, feeling hypnotized by his easy movements and the rumble of that voice.
His gaze was intense as he moved closer, as if gaging her reactions. When he was close enough to touch her, he used his fingers to raise her chin and look at her face. His touch was hesitant, like he wasn't sure how she'd react to it. They had flirted a couple times on the ship, but this was the first time he had touched her like this. She remained still, even as he turned her face gently from side to side. His voice was draping itself over her like shadowsilk as humor started to gleam in his eye.
"Maybe they should giggle," he continued. "Eyes lit up with mischief, smile tugging the corners of their lips. Someone might even say they would look cute."
At the word cute K'isha couldn't help herself. Her Sith training said she should react with indignation but she clasped her hands over her mouth as her head bent down and shoulders began to shake with silent laughter. Andronikos started to chuckle too. He looked like he still wasn't sure what she found so humorous, but he was be willing to go along with the moment.
Before K'isha realized what was happening, pulled her into his arms like it was completely natural for him to share in her mirth. She buried her face against his chest while it shook with laughter, trying to quell the moment of girlish silliness that burst from her. Sith are not silly, she tried reminding herself, they are strong, powerful, they do not giggle.
She focused her thoughts on the Sith mantra and her breathing started to settle. As she inhaled she realized all she could smell was the scent of Andronikos holding her. It was a heady combination of sweat and blaster carbon, wrapped around something uniquely male that drew her in. His hands rested loosely at her hips, as if having her in close proximity would help him understand what she found so funny. She forced herself to take another deep breath to regain composure, then backed up enough to look at Andronikos, who gazed at her with a combination of humor and puzzlement.
"Sith do not giggle," she repeated firmly, but more quietly and with a soft smile. "They are also not cute. They have reputations to protect. I'm sure certain murderous pirates could respect the value of that."
He gave her a droll look as he nodded slightly and let her go. "The suns are setting; we should get that shelter up before the temperature starts to drop. At least the outcropping will help with added protection."
The moment gone they moved back into the roles they had grown accustomed to, but as they worked on setting up the small hard shelled tent K'isha thought she still saw Andronikos shooting her quick glances out of the corner of her eye, it seemed her moment of levity was making him look at her in a different light.
She had to admit, there was some satisfaction in seeing him off balance. He also seemed surprised that she worked efficiently along with him instead of ordering him to set everything up. She was stronger than her slight build would lead one to believe and used to physical labor, unlike some of the softer apprentices she'd met at the Academy. But usually if she and Andronikos were teamed up, it involved carving a path of death across a planet. To be building something together was something new entirely. They worked in silence at first, but the easy movements of working together seemed to inspire light conversation.