There's a conversation with Doc near the end of his companion dialogues-I posted a screenshot from it on Tumblr, which is linked in the AO3 version of this fic-and it cracked me up when I played it (just recently, because I am the Slowest Gamer Ever and I have yet to finish all the class storylines and I haven't even started any of the newer expansions, but I'm working on it), so I figured I'd expand on it a little. I mean, the Jedi Knight had to say something to Kira about it, right? Title is from "No" by Meghan Trainor, which is a great song.
"So, Kira," the Jedi Knight says casually, which is a warning sign all by itself because she's never really casual about much of anything even when she's not trying to be proper and responsible in front of the Council. "I was just checking up on everybody and I happened to spend a few minutes with Doc—"
"Sorry to hear that," Kira says.
Jalissanda's lips twitch like she really wants to laugh and is trying equally hard not to. "He seemed a little too preoccupied to flirt, for once, so it wasn't bad. He did mention something kind of interesting, though."
…busted. Damn. "He wasn't being gross and he said something that was actually interesting? You sure we're talking about the same Doc here?"
Jalissanda does smile faintly at that but doesn't take the bait. "He told me about one of his past relationships, only now he seems to feel a little bad for the way he abandoned the poor girl."
"Well, he should," Kira can't resist saying (not that she tries very hard).
"Oh, probably," Jalissanda agrees. "The interesting part, though, is that he'd just come from a chat with you when he was seized with this urge to…rethink his past relationships, as he put it. Isn't that funny?"
"Actually, yeah, because if he thinks graduating from 'total asshole' to 'asshole who occasionally remembers women are people' will give him a better shot with me, he's even more deluded than I thought."
"It's funny," Jalissanda says patiently, "because I don't believe he made the obvious connection, but it sounds almost as if someone with Jedi abilities was nudging his mind in that direction. I can't imagine that's possible, though, given that everyone on this ship knows how the Jedi Council frowns on such frivolous uses of the Force."
"Yeah," Kira says weakly. "Weird."
"On the other hand," Jalissanda muses, "he's been on this ship long enough that a little decency or thoughtfulness might have rubbed off on him. With the two of us turning him down at least a few hundred times each, I suppose it might have finally occurred to him that he's not the Force's perfect gift to women as he's always believed." She nods to herself, and for the first time Kira really wishes her master weren't a Miraluka, because being able to see the look in her eyes could be pretty helpful right now. "Yes, that must be it. Jedi are known for being good examples of moral character, after all."
"Doc is also known for being about as emotionally sensitive as durasteel, too," Kira says, "and worse at picking up hints applied with anything less than deadly force." She really doesn't know why she said it, because it's a tacit admission that she did in fact get tired of Doc's inability to hear the word "no" and dealt with that by giving him a mental shove in a more productive direction, which is…yeah, not an especially responsible use of her powers. Even if it was extremely satisfying and Doc deserved it.
"The Force does work in mysterious ways," Jalissanda says solemnly. "Anyway, I was actually looking for you because See-Too brought in a box of stuff a few days ago and I haven't had time to deal with, so I meant to ask you to look through it."
"Oh," Kira says, blinking at the abrupt change in topic. "Um—yeah, sure, I'm not busy. Do you want me to…do anything in particular with whatever's in there?"
Jalissanda shrugs. "Keep what you like and put the rest in storage. Let me know if anything looks valuable enough to be worth selling."
"All right," Kira says slowly. It's not an unusual request, exactly, but it's also not something she's been asked to do before, mostly because nobody on the ship has enough possessions to make inventory management really necessary, let alone burdensome enough to delegate.
Jalissanda goes to her quarters to meditate or something, and Kira gets the container from C2-N2. It's small and lightweight enough to sit on the little dejarik table by the holoterminal, which only makes her more puzzled; a big shipping crate might need its contents sorted, but there can't be much in this one.
She shrugs and pops the lid. Inside are a couple medical samples Doc will probably want, a chunk of resinite, three fancy-looking bottles of alcohol, and—
A first edition Galactic Encyclopedia? The exact thing she'd wanted to add to her collection the last time they were on Coruscant and couldn't find in the limited time they had, which Jalissanda definitely knew because Kira had offhandedly mentioned her disappointment? And the alcohol, when Kira takes a closer look at the labels, is the really good stuff—the sort of thing that would also make a top-notch gift.
Kira sits down and laughs. "Got it, boss," she says, grinning. "Message received."
