Title: dans le bleu

chapter rating: T (Teen)

word count: 2,344

original written date: 3/15/210

Summary: Every girl wants to play dress up. And every girl wants a cowboy.

It's been two months and counting since Ahsoka has become Bane's hostage, and it's just about driving her stir crazy. When he comes back to his ship one night with a strange proposition for her, will their relationship change for the better, or worse?

Ahsoka had been through every cabinet, closet, and cupboard in the bounty hunter's living quarters, but couldn't seem to find anything that would hint to the combination on the door. He had punched it in quick before leaving for the night, and that's just what he did; leave. He went to go do whatever he did during the night hours, which Ahsoka only presumed, was less than savory activity. He had said, "I'm going out," and that was that. To be honest, she was surprised he even said anything at all. Usually he just grabbed his coat and his hat and that was it. But tonight, a whole three words.

She had been his 'hostage' for a whole two months now. She used the word 'hostage' lightly because it wasn't a terribly 'hostage like' situation. He just dragged her along with him, and locked her up inside his ship whenever he went out. It was bizarre but as long as her life wasn't in danger, she would ride with it and see how it played out. Patience. The jedi way.

Out of boredom she opened his fridge. She had already gone through it a good number of times since he left, but what would one more look around hurt. It was the same old crap in it now as there was an hour ago: beer, beer, more beer, a plate of bones for some reason, and an old apple. It didn't look edible. She took a bite out of it anyway, and then put it back. She couldn't really do anything to him without her light saber, and that jerk; he had pawned it while on Coruscant. So of course any little pleasures she could get out of annoying him she would take. Childish? Yes. But it was all she had left.

She fell into a spinning chair she found in the corner, and then rolled herself around the room. She had learned long ago that she and boredom did not mix. It was too early to hit the hay, she reasoned, silently loathing the bounty hunter for leaving her in this predicament. Was he trying to kill her with boredom? Was THAT his plan? She actually found herself considering it for a minute or two, but then dismissed it. Not because it was ridiculous, but because she was quite sure Bane never really had a plan.

She was trying to see how fast she could spin before getting nauseous when she heard the main door to the ship open. She glanced over at the blinking clock in the room's terminal, and found he hadn't been gone for a very long time.

She heard the familiar clank of his boots as he made his way to the living quarters. She twirled in the chair a little bit, but kept her eyes to the ground. The door swooshed open, sounding like a gust of wind, and in he sauntered, having to bend over a little to keep his head from hitting the door frame. He tossed his hat onto the bed, and then began to take off his duster, but before he did he had to place down what he was holding; the nashtah hide parcel with the big strap. He placed it down more gently tonight, as apposed to throwing it over in the corner of the room like she'd seen him do many other times. He stripped off the duster and tossed it on the back of the chair before finally looking over at her for the first time since he arrived.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, little girl?"

She gritted her teeth, her mouth becoming nothing more than a thin line. He really knew what buttons to push.

"It's eight thirty."

He ignored her, which was typical. He opened the fridge and grabbed a beer, and then proceeded to open it with his teeth, something she'd seen him do more times than she would have liked. She was hoping he would notice the bite taken out of the apple, her need to get back at him growing by the second. He didn't. He just closed the fridge and took a seat in front of the room's terminal, plopping his feet up on the table and turning it on. The blue light illuminated the otherwise dimly lit room, making it seem smaller than it already was. He didn't look over at her once. Ahsoka reasoned she could have very well been on fire when he came back to the ship and he would have greeted her in the same manner. And so began another evening like most of her others during the past two months. Ahsoka would stare at the wall of the Xanadu's cramped living quarters, pretending to be somewhere else.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when Bane suddenly switched the screen off. She guessed maybe an hour. She had been sitting in the spinning chair, just daydreaming about what she could be doing if she was back at the temple. Probably nothing incredibly interesting, although the idea was still much more appealing than being in the ship. She found it odd that her mind wandered into an extended version of her daydream, wondering what would happen if she started a food fight one day in the mess hall. She was so preoccupied imaging Barriss with pudding on her face that she almost didn't notice Bane get up and switch the overhead lights on. She blinked at the sudden intrusion to her eyes, and then shook her head, clearing her thoughts. When her eyes adjusted, she saw Bane much closer than she would have liked, pulling a chair over in front of her. Her first reaction was to back away, or in this case, roll the chair back a few feet, and she was embarrassed to find out her body acted on it. She thought she could control her instincts by now, and was a little disturbed by the thought that her subconscious still saw Bane as a threat.

He looked shocked for only a second, and Ahsoka had just enough time to think how strange that expression looked on him, before he frowned and bared his teeth in a growl, annoyed.

"Knock it off," he grabbed the bottom of the chair and rolled her closer to him, her body tensing up. She had no idea what he was doing, and that freaked her out more than she wanted to admit. "I'm not gonna bite." Here he bared his teeth at her, those sharp, yellow daggers. At first she thought he was trying to smile, but then he snapped them together once, loud, making her jump. He let out a throaty bark of laughter.

Jerk.

"Look here," he began to dig around in his pants pocket, just underneath the chaps and just above his holsters, which he still had on for some reason. His thin, boney fingers emerged holding a crumpled up paper. It looked like it could have been elegant at one point, like a wedding invitation or something, but now it just looked like garbage. A receipt or a wrapper or something. His face dropped for a second, taking into consideration how much of a beating it took. Then, as quick as that happened his expression cleared, and he held it out for her to take.

She looked at the paper and then back at him. She lifted her hand slowly and made a move to retrieve it, but as her fingers brushed up against it he snatched it back a few feet, holding it just out of reach. She looked at him, a little shocked, and saw he was trying his hardest to keep from smirking. But his eyes were dancing and held a teasing air.

"You can read, can'tchu?"

She huffed, and folded her arms over her chest. He chuckled, and held out the paper again. She turned her head completely away from him, aware she was acting like a melodramatic three year old, but way past the point of caring. He crumpled the paper into a ball, and tossed it lightly at her chest. It hit with a light thud and then fell directly into her lap. She snatched it up quick, opened it up, smoothed it out. She would admit, she was curious.

She could feel his eyes watching her as she read, which made it difficult to concentrate on the words in front of her. When she read who it was from, however, she found her attention could not be averted. She even read it over again a few times, her mouth hanging open.

"This... this is..."

"Mmm." He agreed. He leaned back in his chair and crossed one long leg over the other, his hands intertwined behind his head. He had produced a perfectly hand rolled cigarette from somewhere, and it was now dangling limply from his lips, unlit. " 'Dose hutts..." he clucked his tongue. "Formal when 'dey want to be."

"Where did you get this?"

He fished around in his breast pocket for a second, and emerged with a match. He flicked his callous thumb over the tip and it burst into a perfect blue flame.* He lit, shook the match dead, and threw it somewhere on the floor.

" 'Dey always have one of 'deir whores working on 'de inside..." He took a drag, blew out a long puff of smoke slowly, a little closer to her face than she would have liked. He removed the cigarette from his chapped lips, turned it over in his hand once, then put it back in his mouth. He let it hang there for a minute, and when Ahsoka was almost positive he wasn't going to elaborate, he continued.

"...wherever you happen to be. 'Dis particular bird works at Zuko's, just down 'de street. Also works for 'de hutts, apparently."

Zuko's. Ahsoka assumed he was talking about a bar. Or a gentleman's club.

He sat still for a minute, shifting the cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other.

"She worked me over a few times, too..."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Well, that solved that mystery.

He snatched the invitation back quickly, right before snuffing his cigarette out on the table.

"Will you go?"

Will he go. That was the real question. If anyone could throw a party, it would be the hutts. He got up from the chair slowly, made his way over to the large windows that covered one wall of the ship's living quarters and looked out at the docking bay.

"I never have in 'de past."

At this, Ahsoka found herself rising from her chair. She stared at the back of his head. This was getting interesting.

"Wait... they've asked you before?"

"Mmm Hmmm."

"How many times?" She was interested now, she couldn't deny it.

He grumbled. "Ever since I busted Ziro out." He straightened, clasped his hands behind his back. She could hear the smile in his voice. "I guess 'dey thought I did a bang up job."

Ahsoka was engrossed. The hutts liked Bane? Well, of course they would. He's exactly the type of individual they would like. She was even a little surprised they hadn't tried to initiate him yet. For all she knew, they had.

"This is a strange profession." He continued. "It shouldn't be glamorous, and yet..."

Ahsoka could see his reflection in the window, could see him furrow his prominent brow in a puzzling sort of expression. But the mention of his 'chosen career' brought her spirits down, and she found herself a little irked. Profession? She supposed theft and extortion could be considered a profession, but the more she dwelled on it the more irritated she became.

"So what?" she asked finally. "Either go or don't go. Why are you telling me?"

When she glanced up, she found he had turned his head from the window and was now looking at her, an unimaginably large grin plastered on his face. Her stomach flipped.

"Bane?"

He began walking toward her, and she involuntarily took a few steps back.

"I never fit in at 'dose kinds of 'tings..." he began, still moving forward, still smiling, except his grin somehow seemed wider, his eyes more narrow. Nothing more than plotting slits of red.

She backed up into the table, which caught her off guard. In that moment, he picked up his pace toward the young padawan, and made an attempt to grab her. She squeaked, and dashed to the other side of the table, the circular eating surface now the only thing between them. When she moved left, he moved right, when she moved right, he moved left.

"What are you doing?" She shrieked.

"Too noisy, too many people in your business..." he continued, elaborating his dislike for those certain types of parties. "However," and here, he put both hands on the surface of the table, and leaned across it, placing his face inches away from her own. She caught a whiff of his breath, spicy, with the lingering aftermath of nicotine.

"However," he continued, "I've never had 'de right person to accompany me."

The young Togruta's eyes widened. She didn't like where this was headed.

"Wh... where do I fit in with this?" She was afraid to ask, but her curiosity got the better of her.

His sinister grin was at it's peak, rows of yellow teeth twinkling like forbidden stars. She could practically see the gears turning in his head, his plan coming to fruition.

"You're going to be my date."

...

A/N: (*) Homage to the character Blondie from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.