In the four years Captain Zavvi had been a lone spacer, she'd never felt so stressed about her job. It wasn't like smuggling was a walk in the park, but she'd weathered its ups and downs as well as she could. But now it felt everything was piling right on top of her and was completely unwilling to get off her.
As she and Corso Riggs trudged through the sandy carpet of Anchorhead, her mind began to go over everything that happened to her in the last week. Her ship being stolen and nearly sold off. The loss of a cargo causing bounty hunters to chase after her wherever she went. The deaths of people who didn't need to die weighing on her conscience. A promise of a treasure of great riches that was little but words. The knowledge she'd ticked someone enough that he was willing to find her and kill her. The fact she'd been lured into traps that could've got her killed. The growing mouths to feed. The attitude of one particular farm boy that was slipping.
And these twin desert suns weren't making things an easier on the Twi'lek smuggler. She could feel the sweat sliding down her skin and clinging to the loose fabric of her clothes which she'd chosen in hope they'd help reduce the heat, but even they were struggling against such an onslaught.
And it wasn't midday yet either.
"Boy Captain...I could go for a drink." Corso spoke up, rubbing his face. "I can't believe a planet could be so hot..."
"That's because it's a desert, farm boy. And there's two suns." Zavvi answered wearily.
"Who thought it was a good idea to put two suns over a desert planet? That's just unfair." He complained.
"The planet probably became like this because of said suns." She said, his comments cutting through the insulation of her patience, a live wire buzzing with stress beneath it.
Luckily, Corso said little else on the matter after that so her temper remained cool. For now.
Another thought piled into her current bucketload of stress; the fact she seemed unable to refuse to help anyone. They seemed to see her as their saving grace, someone who'd put all the problems back together again. Sure, the credits were nice, but it meant wandering around in the absurd heat to find some astromech droid, pry it open and see who was controlling it, then track the thief down, and then beat them up to give them some stolen holocameras to return to their rightful owner. Usually, this job would be a snap and Zavvi wouldn't mind at all doing it, but in this oppressive climate? She was starting to regret her weak, soft heart.
That weak and soft heart that thought about that bloody farm boy. She'd thought he'd been nice, gentlemanly even, and that he was a person who could make working on her ship a lot easier. However, she'd seemed to have been blinded by his physical appearance or something, because so far he was doing his utmost to wind her up. The incident with his cousin was the last straw; anything more, and she though she might explode. She'd told him of his annoyances, and he'd briefly corrected them, but now they were slipping...
"Captain." Corso's voice sounded out to her.
"What?" She replied, her tone like a rock.
"Keep close, 'cos I saw slavers in the area. Wouldn't want them to grab ya when my back is turned."
There is always brief moment before an explosion. The sparks are lighting up, the fuse is coming to an end, and wisps of heat caress the unstable mixture...
"What did you just say?" Unlike the heat fraying her nerves, Zavvi's tone was cold as Hoth ice. Corso's eyes widened.
"I was just worried that the slavers would-" He began, but it was too late.
"FUCKING HELL, CORSO!" The Twi'lek bellowed, and he stepped back slightly from the force of it. "It's always the same with you, isn't it? 'Protect the ladies; they don't know a single thing about defending themselves'. Well listen, buster, I've been a spacer for seven fucking years and I've never, ever needed some ronto herder to take my hand and shoot the nasty men for me! Because unlike some people, I was brought up to be as tough and strong as any other man, and I was never, ever taught that I had to look pretty and swoon at the slightest nasty look because I had the misfortune to be a woman. My father is a military man, and he taught me how to fight and look after myself, and I will never be the underdog of some idiot, especially one who thinks ladies need a chaperone because they're a delicate flower who'll die as soon as someone steps on their toe!"
"I don't think that-" Corso tried desperately to intervene, to no avail. In fact, it only seemed to court more of her ire.
"You don't think that?! What kind of a pathetic 'save your ass' line is that? I don't think that, you bloody well do, don't you! 'Don't hit ladies, Captain', 'don't shoot Syreena'; it's like I'm listening to a fucking preacher! I don't need anyone to tell me what to with my life; I will live it however I damn well please, and if that includes beating a woman up because she's talking absolute shit, that's what's going to happen, and there will be no way you will stop me!"
"Captain, please!"
"You know, I don't know why I picked you up off Ord Mantell! All you've done is preach to me about how to be a 'lady', taken up room and increased my food bill by being another fucking mouth to feed! I'm sick and tired of it, and this job is stressful enough without you hanging around winding me up without fail every single fucking day! I've had enough of you!"
Corso watched in silent horror as she drew Flashy and Sparkles, but instead of firing them, she threw them down at his feet.
"I don't need your help, I don't need your lousy hand-me-downs, I certainly don't need your insufferable nonsense, and I don't need YOU. Go back to the Skylark, get your stuff and piss off. Tell Risha you've been fired for thinking your captain is useless. I don't want to see you or any evidence of you when I get back, or I will make sure you wished you'd died with your family." Corso flinched. "Go back to the fiancée you dumped out there on Ord Mantell. See if she'll take you back in after you ungratefully abandoned her."
She turned on her heel.
"Leave, and never return." She spat at him, before striding off.
Corso swayed on his feet, watching her go with his heart in agony. How? How much hate and vitriol had been storing up in her body and how had he managed to screw up so awfully to get such a backlash? Her retreating image because a sea of colour as tears blurred his vision, and Corso fell to his knees, chest tight. No, this couldn't be happening...it was just a nightmare; he'd wake up soon, wouldn't he? This was just some cruel, heartless nightmare...
But when he reached out to brush the sand away from the weapons he'd given her, when he felt their smooth metal and the coarse sand grains, he knew it was real. He'd lost her, his home, his livelihood again in one fell swoop, his heart starting to shear in two. He glimpsed her name on the hilt of Sparkles and fresh wave of grief swept over him, wracking his body with shakes and shudders. Her words thundered in his head, driving great spears of pain through him. He'd known she had a viciously vindictive rage, but it was mostly violent, never with words like this, and certainly never directed at him. She'd not laid a single hand on him, but Corso felt like she'd plunged a lightsaber deep into his chest slowly, letting his flesh sear and burn with every inch the blade slid through him. And then leaving him to bleed to death.
She hates me...She hates me... The knowledge was awful, just awful. I don't think of her as someone who needs her hand held, I swear I don't! If only I could prove it to her now...
As he lamented agonising turn of events, something registered, and he peeked between his tear-stained eyelashes at the blasters. It dawned on him; Flashy and Sparkles, the only blasters Zavvi ever used in combat were on the floor in front of him! In her rage, she'd purposely disarmed herself of the two weapons she was most adept at using.
Despair gave way to anxiety, and Corso quickly rubbed his tears away, snatching the blasters up. He knew he was liable to get yelled at again, or worse, but the mercenary knew there were slavers in the area, and defenceless looking Twi'lek would be a perfect target for them. He had to find her, before someone else did...
Zavvi was heedless to her surroundings, so full of churning fury and rage, the aura of it boiling off her. In her temper, she decided storming off into the far corner of Anchorhead would get her right out of the range of the farm boy (I hate him I hate him) and hopefully she could calm down and then he'd be gone and she'd never have to put up with him and everything would be fine and dandy (would it?) and she'd be rich and- By the Void how is it fair to be this hot?!
Despite her anger, the oppressive heat forced the stewing Twi'lek to seek shade, and she moved into a fairly dark alleyway that afforded a very good amount of shade; so much so, she briefly pondered on why no-one else had taken advantage of this area under her slew of curses about how hot the planet was. She didn't seem to notice it was blocked at one end.
Something moved, and Zavvi froze.
"Well, well...What have we got here, lads?" The smuggler swung around to spot a cyborg perched on a low wall, his cybernetic eye winking eerily in the darkness. "Looks like a Twi'lek...A pretty fine Twi'lek...And she's all on her own..." From around her, other figures began to emerge from the shadows, and she realized the reason no-one seemed to be in the shade was she'd inadvertently stormed into the Twin Suns' part of Anchorhead, and the locals had good sense not to venture here.
Her hands instinctively dropped to her sides, but her hands grasped nothing, fingers touching leather. Realization dawned; she'd thrown away her decent weapons back at Riggs in her fit of fury. Her fists clenched. Damn him to the Void, this is all his fault! But she wasn't defenceless, as every smuggler had a back-up plan. She just wasn't so good at fighting in close combat.
"Come on pretty, we can do this nice and easy..." One of the slavers weaselled.
"We're not doing anything!" Zavvi growled, pulling a grenade from her belt and tossing it towards one of the advancing men. Most quickly leapt to the side to dodge the blast, but one was caught in it and yelped in pain.
"Bitch! You asked for it!" Someone roared. Vibroblades were unsheathed, and they charged her. She quickly pulled out the vibroknife she kept hidden in her boot, dodging out to the side. She couldn't fight them, not without blasters and not in these numbers, so she could only hope to stay out of their way long enough to see an escape route open up and then bolt for it.
A Zabrak leapt towards her and she drove the knife into his side, enough to get him to back off. She darted from the hum of blade sailing uncomfortably close to her arm, vaulting over the low wall to put more distance between her and her attackers. She kicked a Mirialan in the face, with the unmistakable crunch of his nose breaking. She drove the blade between the ribcages of another, who gurgled as he fell. The Twi'lek glanced to where she'd come from, the bright sand and the heat it held now beckoning to her. She'd gladly fry than be packed onto a slave ship.
"Cut her off!" Screamed the leader, and the group surged. Now, she had to go now!
Zavvi began to sprint desperately towards the end of the alleyway, hoping some of her smuggler's luck was around to help her.
Unfortunately, one gang member was gaining on her, and reached out, trying to grab onto anything to bring her down. He caught the one of the two things trailing behind her; her lekku.
As his grip tightened around one, a shot of pain careened through Zavvi's vessels and her eyes widened with fear. He tugged back on the sensitive organ and pure agony screamed down her nerves, causing her to wail and her grip around her knife to loosen, dropping into the sand. Her stride faltered and they pounced on her, pushing her roughly to the ground. As Zavvi's head throbbed with an unimaginable burning sensation, hands grabbed at her, forcing cuffs onto her wrists as her arms were yanked behind her back. She cried out again as she was yanked up unceremonially by the scruff of her jacket and her other lekku.
"Didn't know they squealed so much when these things were pulled." Commented one, the smuggler biting her lip so hard it almost bled as he gave one of her headtails an experimental tug.
"Didn't you know? They have brains in there, you doofus! This one must be more sensitive than the others, so stop it!" That was the cyborg, the leader.
"Wonder if she's sensitive anywhere else..." Someone's hot breath was on the back of her neck and she wanted so badly to squirm, her skin crawling. Thankfully, the leader batted the creeper away.
"No! Treat her with some respect! Price goes down fast if you start that sort of thing!"
"If you wanted to treat me with some respect, you wouldn't've grabbed my lekku." Zavvi growled defiantly, forcing her chin up despite the aching feeling in her head.
"You've got a big mouth, whore. Should be grateful we didn't just kill you on the spot." Snarled a rather pugnacious young man. Zavvi stared at him stonily, before she spat in his face.
"Bitch!" The other gang members surged forward, and suddenly a knife was plunged into her right thigh, slicing skin and muscle, causing the Twi'lek to shriek.
"You idiots!" The leader shouted. "Now look what you've done! We'll never sell her off now!" The pain in her right leg was enough that she could barely stand, and the leader had to use his own strength to keep her upright.
"Someone's coming!" An urgent voice hissed, and stuffed a clump of rags into Zavvi's mouth, which tasted so foul that her stomach churned. The group huddled around their catch, turning towards the opening on the alleyway.
A silhouette filled the entrance, broad shouldered, a large rifle resting in his arms. A breeze stirred two strands of hanging hair. Zavvi's eyes widened.
"What do you want?" Snarled one gang member.
"Step away from the Captain, and I might let you live." Was the drawled response.
"We found her first." The leader spoke, pulling Zavvi back a bit, and she winced as her right leg threatened to buckle.
"I won't ask you again." He spoke, eyes ablaze. "Let her go, or I'll make you."
"Try us." The cyborg grinned, which changed to a scowl as the figure raised his rifle. "Get him!"
A blaster bolt hissed forth and slammed into the broken nosed gang member, catapulting him onto his back, dead. The gang members fumbled for their blasters as more shots rained out, taking out the unprepared.
Zavvi seized her chance and using the last reserves of her strength that agony hadn't yet eaten up, she bucked against her captor, swinging her good leg out to connect with the groin of the cyborg. To her relief he wasn't metal down there, and he crumpled with a cry. Her weak leg wailed as she tried to stand, and she decided that if she was going to go down, might as well use her body as a weapon. A man sprang towards her, trying to take up the role his leader had left, but she threw herself forcefully against him, knocking the wind from his lungs and cracking his head against the low wall as he fell. Zavvi rolled onto her back, and managed to use a combination of coughing, tongue movements and hooking the fabric onto the wall to work her gag free, spitting onto the sand in a bid to remove that awful taste from her mouth, which felt uncomfortably dry.
Corso, on the other hand, was a tempest of vengeful warrior, shooting those stupid enough to show their flanks, bludgeoning others who got too close. A brown Zabrak peeled off him to see to Zavvi, but a harpoon grabbed the back of his shirt, reeling him back in to be shoot in the head a couple of seconds later. Riggs hissed as a blade sliced skin, retaliating against the perpetrator before he glimpsed the cyborg leader slowly rising to his feet, looking towards his downed Captain. Corso knew against him she'd be at a severe disadvantage in her state. Turning, he blasted two of his attackers in the face, before he activated his jet pack. With a loud roar, it shot the mercenary towards the cyborg, the force of the two men colliding kicking up plumes of sand. Checking only to make sure the man the Twi'lek was slumped on was dead, Corso fired point blank into the cyborg's skull, killing him instantly.
The remaining gang members, seeing their leader was dead and the battle lost, decided to flee, plasma snapping at their heels as Corso punished them for their transgressions. A couple fell from his shot, but the lucky ones fled.
Corso quickly moved over to Zavvi's side, concerned at the large knife wound in her right thigh and the fact she looked exhausted and drained. He'd noted with grim satisfaction she'd injured a few and killed two before he got there, but now she was in need of help, despite of everything that had happened earlier.
"Captain, are you alright? What did that filth do to you?" He asked her, quickly searching in his pack from some bandages and kolto. It would do some to numb the pain, but he knew she'd need medical attention all the same. As he attended her wound, her light green eyes finally focused on him, shining slightly.
"You...came for me..." She murmured in disbelief. He tensed, wondering if she was going to give him an ear bashing when she felt better.
"You forgot your guns..." He replied. It was then he realized she was crying. "Captain..."
He picked up a discarded vibroblade and cut the cuffs off her before gently reaching out, wrapping his arms tenderly around her frame, picking her up as if she weighed less than a box of kittens. She clung to him tightly then, face buried into the crook of his neck.
"Let's get you somewhere safe, and find someone to treat your leg." Corso spoke softly, deep down inside cursing the fact he wasn't there when she needed him to be. If he had, she wouldn't have been so badly injured. Those monsters didn't seem to have done anything else to her, so she gave a silent thanks to the Force for that blessing at least.
As Corso carried her back under the unforgiving suns, the silence was thick and awkward around them, neither really knowing what to say to the other. That was until Zavvi moved her head to look up at him.
"Corso...Why did you come back for me?" She asked, voice soft and without malice.
"You left Flashy and Sparkles behind." He replied. "I don't fault your ability to fight, Captain, but unless you're a Jedi, going around some of these shady places without a blaster at your side is very dangerous." She shifted in his arms, suppressing a whimper as her leg complained.
"But...But I said such awful, awful things to you...You should've just left me-" Corso shook his head before she'd even finished her sentence.
"No, I could never do that, Captain. Some of the things you said were very hurtful...and it did upset me." She seemed to shrink in his grasp. "But I could never leave you if I thought you were going to be in danger."
"So...Were, were you actually going to leave?"
An awkward, sickening pause. Corso sighed.
"I didn't want to, and I've tried to stay if I could...But if you really, really wanted me off the ship that badly...Yes, I would've left."
That revelation hurt more than Zavvi thought it would, and for a second she couldn't breathe. A tear tumbled from her eye.
"No." She managed, a vice crushing her chest so hard she thought her ribs would break or she would suffocate.
"Captain...I'd do almost anything to make you smile, to make you happy..." Corso whispered back, sheer will preventing his vision from blurring. "If you want me gone after this, I-"
"You can't go!" The smuggler suddenly said, reaching up to take a fistful of his cortosis underarmour. He startled, eyes widening.
"Captain?" He petitioned.
"I...I..." She swallowed, starting again. "You still need to get Torchy back..." Corso gave her an incomprehensible look, as if he was trying to work out a rather baffling maths problem. It took him a minute or so to answer.
"Does that mean...?" She nodded.
"You can stay...if you can put up with me..." She murmured, and Corso's heart did a backflip, relief being dumped over him like a gracious bucket of cold water. I can put up with anything you throw at me, Captain, if you'll let me make this right. Corso thought to himself, and wanted to say the same to her too, but the words were lodged in his throat and refused to move. Zavvi's grip on his underarmour loosened, and he noticed her light blue skin seemed to be paling slightly, sending a fresh shiver of worry into his gut, and he quickened his pace.
"Hold on now, Captain, you ain't gettin' outta this in a hurry." He lightly chastened her, and a small smile crept across her lips.
Corso hadn't be able to stop fidgeting ever since he'd found a medcentre in Anchorhead and after having argued and pleaded with them to take her in, was now cooling his heels outside the examination room. He'd gone over Sparky, Flashy and Sparkles a dozen times or more, and he'd bandaged up the wounds that had been inflicted during the fight with the gang, but with that done, he was finding it increasingly difficult to just sit still and wait, his mind full of loud thoughts all clamouring for attention, not least if she was alright, what did they do to her, and most importantly, the fact he needed to talk to her.
Even it seemed all was forgiven in her rescue, her tirade against him was still near the forefront of his mind, and he was desperate to do anything, change as much as he could, if only he could have even a ghost of a chance with her. The mercenary knew he was in love with (or at least falling for) her, and that speech had almost broken him in two. He'd tried before, but it seemed he'd let himself slip, and now this had happened...He felt agreeing with anything if it would make her happy again.
Corso's head perked up when he heard the sound of the door sliding open, and he was on his feet in a second, looking his Captain over anxiously. Her colour had thankfully returned and she was looking a lot better, and though her trousers were stained with blood, he glimpsed white bandages peeking through the ripped fabric. It hurt to notice she had a little bit of a limp, but considering she could barely stand earlier, it was a terrific improvement. And knowing her, she would hide that said limp however she could.
"Are you alright?" Was the first question that tumbled out of his mouth. She smiled, and nodded.
"Much better now, thank you. Now I can at least walk and people aren't pulling my lekku to hell." That ruffled his feathers.
"They were pulling you around?" He frowned.
"Yes," she sighed, "I tried to run off, but one of 'em grabbed them and yanked me over." The Twi'lek shifted uncomfortably. "Think getting all your hair pulled, and then feeling someone driving hot pokers into you. That's what it's like for me if my headtails are pulled."
Corso looked at them curiously; they showed no signs of injury, though they did look a little worse for wear.
"Why do they hurt so much, Captain?" He asked. The young man had always been curious to see what they felt like, but had always been too shy to ask Zavvi such a silly question as 'can I touch your lekku please'. It didn't seem like something a gentleman would do.
"They're not for show; we Twi'leks have a bit of our brains stuffed into them as well as a lot of nerves in there. So it hurts if people are swinging off them, and mine are a lot more sensitive than a ordinary Twi'lek. There are other aspects to them as well, but that's for another time." She explained.
"I see." He looked at her leg. "What's our play, Captain?" He asked, and she blinked.
"What do you mean?" The Mantellian looked back at her, confused.
"I was wonderin' what we're gonna do next. Like if you wanted to finish off that job or not." He spoke to her. Zavvi sighed, shifting her weight.
"I suppose we should, but I'm no condition to fight like this, Corso. I need to be able to move in battle, and this'll take at least a day or two to be able to not collapse under me at the worst possible moment. We'll have to be careful." She said, moving towards the door, trying to suppress the urge to limp.
"Are we in any rush, Captain?" Riggs asked, and she hesitated.
"I'm not in any rush to go back out into the suns, if you're asking. Besides, it's just midday. We can wait until it cools a bit, I think. No-one'll dare travel far in this heat."
She made her way over to some chairs nearby, and though Corso hovered close, he didn't make a move to help her, in case she snapped at him. Zavvi noticed this, and knew immediately why he wanted to talk. He sat beside her, resting his hands on his lap. She waited for him to speak, his gaze was concentrated on his boots.
"Cap-" He swallowed, started again. "Zavvi." Her eyes widened. "I wanna let you know I'm really, really sorry about upsetting you. I know you're uncomfortable with the way I've been raised, and I've been tryin' to tone it down. But, I don't think it's workin', if I managed to upset you so badly." He took a breath, looking up at her with his head still bowed. "I just...I can't change overnight, but I'll give it a proper go, I promise. I...I couldn't bear to put you through that again."
Zavvi didn't really know what to say. First he'd called her by name, something he'd never, ever done so far, and then promptly apologised for making her upset and was telling her he would turn it around if she just gave him the chance. How could he just disregard the hateful, hurtful things she'd said and done? How could he just wipe it all away as if it didn't matter? How are you real?
"Corso, I..." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't deserve this, don't deserve a man as loyal as you. How can you just forgive me when I threw Flashy and Sparkles back in your face and...all the other things I said..."
He shifted slightly closer to her.
"I forgave you because, well, you were right about some things. I've...I've never met a woman like you before, Captain. Someone who could put a lot of folk to shame. Ladies where I come from...Sure, there were ones like Rona, but never any that were you. I see now that the way I behaved then...I can't keep doing it now. It's just hard to change, ya know? It's gonna be a while." Gingerly, he reached out, and rested his hand against one of hers, both resisting the urge to flinch.
"Don't change too much." Zavvi said. His eyes widened, and he blinked.
"What do you mean?" She took a breath.
"Corso, one of the things I really like about you is the fact you're different. You're not like all the other guys; half the time I'm wondering if they see me as anything else but a pair of tits above an arse. With you, I feel like a woman at least." She chuckled softly. "And sometimes you make me feel like an Alderaanian noblewoman, which...I don't think I'm cut out to be. But my point is, don't stop being a gentleman. I like it."
"You do?" Stars, the look on his face just wasn't fair.
"In small doses." She amended. "First off, you told me back on Taris a 'lady' is allowed to have blasters, so how about expanding that to 'ladies can hold their own in a fight so long as they have their blasters'? And, well, treat us as equals. We can be just as nasty as guys, sometimes more so. The galaxy's big and cruel, and it'll do whatever it can to snuff out anyone not tough enough to survive. Now, I know there's no other person I'd rather have at my back when the going gets bad, but if you keep with the 'I can't hurt ladies' routine, it will get you badly hurt. I'm not asking you to throw everything you are; that's not fair to ask you of that. But I just want you to see us as equals. That's all."
Corso nodded, his brown eyes watching her intently in a way that she knew he was listening.
"I understand, Captain. I'll do my best." He said, and she smiled wistfully.
"Thank you for trying." She replied, and unsteadily got to her feet, Corso rising next to her. "The day should've cooled a little by now. Let's go and complete this job, and then we need to take some time away from Tatooine a bit. This is a place were weakness means your bones whiten in the wastes, and I'd figured a few more years of my heart beating."
"Are you sure, Captain?" Corso asked, keeping close to her side as she walked, wincing sometimes at the dull ache gnawing into her. The smuggler looked back with a smirk.
"Just because I'm tough doesn't mean I don't know my limits, Corso. My father taught me a lot of what I know about fighting. He's done a lot for me."
"You said he was a military man."
"Yes. Republic, of course. We don't speak as much as we should, and it's a shame." She sighed, shielding her eyes from the glare as they stepped out into the afternoon.
"And your mom?" He asked. He noticed her brows furrow and slight flash of anger in her light green eyes.
"She's alive, yeah. We don't talk much." She answered, clipped enough that the mercenary wisely decided not to pry.
After a few moments of silence, Riggs looked back at his captain.
"You thinking 'bout gettin' a drink after this is over?" Zavvi smiled, shaking her head and nudging him gently.
"Oh farm boy, that sounds like a good idea, but I'd really like to get off this dustball for a little while and come back to try again later. You know, when I can actually fight on it again. We can always have a drink on the ship; in moderation, of course." She replied. "But I'm taking the shower first!" Corso looked away, feeling a blush heating his cheeks.
"S-Sure, whatever you want, Captain." Was his answer, trying to defuse his embarrassment. "But don't take too long, 'cos Risha'll chew me out if she thinks I'm tryin' stink up the ship. Why can't we ever go to a nice world, Captain? Somewhere I'm not expecting to get stabbed or poisoned or turned into a monster and I can come back and not have t' wash Force knows what off me."
Zavvi's laugh made his heart flutter.
"Don't worry, I won't take long. And it's Risha's fault we're not going anywhere nice! If I had my way, we wouldn't have gone anywhere near Taris! But," she rubbed her chin, "we did some good things there, so I guess it wasn't all for waste."
"That's true." He agreed. Zavvi's eyes suddenly widened.
"Oh, before I forget..." Corso stopped, wondering what she wanted to tell him, before he felt one hand on his shoulder, another gently tugging a hanging dreadlock towards her, and then her lips against his unscarred cheek. The Mantellian looked at her, and she smiled shyly. "A thank you for letting me keep my freedom, farm boy." And with that she flashed a grin and her armour closed, setting off again.
Entranced, the young man took a moment to savour the feeling, trying to commit it all to memory so he wouldn't lose it. He smiled warmly.
"Riggs, watcha standing around there for? You'll get boiled to death!" His captain's words drifted to him, and he quickly jogged up beside her. She shook her head at him, assuming the lead.
Though Corso wanted nothing more than to wash the events of the day away from his body, he knew one place he wouldn't dare wash, at least not yet...