Author's Note: Headcanon background for my male Smuggler Reev Aurell and his relationship with my female Bounty Hunter Tau'seret Rozenhart Aurell. Slightly NSFW for language. This will make reference to some events in both class' stories.
Some Nights A Gambler Always Wins
Chapter One
Reev Aurell remembers his not-a-wife-not-a-lover-not-an-Imperial-damnit business partner like she was just with him yesterday, flying around the galaxy and causing trouble with him. He remembers her loud voice that never lost its touch of rough charm, even when she was tending to his broken arm and trying to be gentle (he had stupidly gotten himself into a nasty bar fight on Nar Shaddaa).
He remembers her preferring the title: "Hired-Gun-And-Occasionally-Hired-Medic" over "Bounty-Hunter-And-Wanted Criminal." He remembers that wide smirk of hers whenever she teased him about his proper title: "Scoundrel" for a euphemism and "Asshole-From-the-Depths-of-Hell-Frozen-Over-Who's-Banging-Your-Wife-And-Stealing-Her-Credits—And-Her-Favorite-Desserts." He remembers pinning her to the wall of their ship, their dirty, always purring, Not-A-Piece-Of-Junk-Thank-You-Very-Much ship that made the both of them proud to be alive and free, oh-so-free, and telling her, "You're the only woman for me."
Of course, he remembers her laughing and feeling up his almost-but-not-quite-there muscles with her glove durasteel hands. "A Scoundrel is the only man for me."
Of course, he remembers that they were only teasing each other then.
He remembers the stealing and the conning and the lying and the occasional moment of charity, such as the time they felt bad for a brown haired teenager begging to get off of Nar Shaddaa after losing his two sisters to a Sith Lord. He remembers his hired gun suggesting that they keep the kid around or something; she felt bad for the kid. Reev wanted none of that. So they took the kid to Coruscant and they didn't so much as look back. They'd done their little bit of charity for the galaxy. But both of them knew that charity isn't profitable nor is it a proper, accepted currency in the Outer Rim and certainly not in Hutt or Imperial Space.
He remembers them always pretending to be husband and wife, newlyweds exploring the big, wide galaxy. Their goals were purely financial, he remembers, until that all changed when she approached him one night after recalibrating her two blasters, her jet-pack, and her flamethrower. It really was all spontaneous, none of that planned, linear romance. They never crashed together like some goddamn starship collision. It wasn't an explosion. He remembers one simple question that did catch him momentarily off-guard: "Hey, want to fuck?" to which he looked up from the open part of the ship he himself had been tinkering with, sat up, and saw her in all of her pure beauty. All naked curves, short blonde hair, scars and burns and danger and fire. It wasn't a big deal between them.
He remembers them both enjoying the sex but it never became the focus of their relationship. It didn't dramatically change things like it does for some people. It wasn't routine but it wasn't unusual for either of them to approach the other and ask the question and get a response.
He remembers their relationship changing so subtly that he wonders if it ever really changed at all. Change was never dramatic. Eventually the smuggler and the bounty hunter simply decided that while "husband and wife" or "lovers" didn't fit them, they happily agreed upon the title, "No-Longer-Platonic-But-Not-Going-Steady-Unofficial-Couple-That-Occasionally-Has-Sex-But-It-Isn't-Anything-Serious-Oh-Did-We-Mention-That-We-Sort-Of-Kind-Of-Love-Each-Other?" to be somewhat appropriate.
He remembers his Tau'seret wanting to be Mandalorian most of all. He never wanted to be anything as ambitious as Mandalorian, but he wanted to be notorious and dangerous and most of all he wanted her to be happy. They both knew what it would take for her to become Mandalorian: winning the Great Hunt. Of course, the Great Hunt would be no small task, and as much as they hated the idea, she needed outside help.
He remembers being contacted by a man named Braden through a friend of a friend of a friend's friend. Braden had heart of Tau'seret Rozenhart, recently choosing to go by Tau'seret Rozenhart Aurell, and her skills with two blasters. Reev loved to brag about her ability to shoot with her eyes closed and still be able to hit her mark with decent precision. Spectators in shady cantinas always loved it and she always kept the truth a secret until her Reev found her off-handedly using what he later learned to be the Force to levitate a piece of fruit.
He remembers laughing so hard when she realized she had been found out and worried he'd think her a freak. Of course, when he stopped laughing he calmly explained that some of his own family was Force-sensitive, but not himself. She took the opportunity to share about her sister Jae who had been indoctrinated into the Jedi Order at a young age. She explained that she didn't want to become a Jedi, so she refused the offer and decided to learn how to shoot from the Black Sun on Coruscant. He promised to never real her secret and without hesitating, she blurted out that she loved him. It was the same night that Braden contacted them about wanting to recruit Tau'seret.
He remembers being awed and a little dumbstruck by her revelation. That night they made love for the first time and continued to do so till the moment their ship fell from the sky and crash-landed onto Hutta. It was the only significant change in their relationship: the change between simply fucking and making love.
He remembers when they decided to ship off to Hutta, a week after they had been contacted by Braden. He punched in the coordinates and let the ship handle the rest for once. He hadn't been able to keep his eyes or his hands off her that night, to the point where he outright told her, "give me a second while I punch in these coordinates to that rotting piece of Hutt shit for a planet and then I'll properly drag you to our quarters where you belong—sprawled out ontop of me." She had made the sarcastic remark, "Always the romantic sort, huh Reev?" They laughed all the way to their quarters after their ship was on its way.
He remembers telling her that he loved her that night for the first time while caressing her cheek with her curled up against his chest. He hadn't said it week before because he forgot amidst all the commotion. He knew that she knew regardless of three little words that didn't mean as much as the expression itself.
He remembers the ship reporting to them that they would be arriving shortly. So they forced themselves to get dressed again and ready to land.
He remembers everything going just as planned, until the ship said something about DANGER! APPROACHING DANGER! DANGER! APPROACHING MISSILES AT SEVEN O'CLOCK! In fact it was at that moment that Reev realized that they hadn't received proper landing clearance anyways. But it was too late to react.
He remembers the impact of the first four missiles, the resulting explosions, and their home being torn apart in Hutta's atmosphere. At some point the ship began to fall apart as more missiles impacted with the ship's shell and they were separated by the blasts. The computer went on and on about danger in a shrieking voice.
Reev remembers watching his home die all around him. It was his home. He didn't have a planet to call home. But their ship was home. And he watched it burn.
He remembers not remembering much when he woke up stranded on Hutta's surface amongst pieces of flaming wreckage and toxic waste and fumes. His entire body was inflamed and he was quite positive that his shoulder was dislocated and his arm was broken. He stared out at the wreckage and then remembered. There was no point in mourning the remains then. He knew that there would be another time for that.
Reev remembers not finding Tau'seret amongst the rubble and debris. He found memories on fire, scattered moments hidden amongst the muck, passing visions like holovids with each step he took. She was no where to be found. He looked thoroughly but there was no point once the pain in his shoulder overcame the magnitude of pain in his chest. He would mourn his home and its fellow occupant some other time.
Reev left the burning wreckage and told himself to not look back.
He remembers wandering to the main settlement on Hutta that had a spaceport. Jigunna. He hid amongst the seedy crowd, presuming that his presence was surely not welcome. Someone on the planet, he presumed one of the presiding Hutts, had a grudge against him (not a surprise) and shot their ship down. He thought about finding this Braden and telling him that his champion (Reev already knew she would have won) was dead, but decided against it. He needed to get off-world fast. He unhappily needed a new ship and knew that he had to steal one on-planet. There would be no chance going through the Hutt Cartel's security he was a wanted man.
So he stole a cargo ship, a freighter that was nothing like their dirty, always purring, not a piece of junk, thank you very much ship that had at one time made him so happy to be alive and free, oh so free. Not it felt like a burden.
Reev was free, he knew it to be very true when he broke out of the hyperspace jump from Hutta after navigating under the radar. But he remembers feeling far from alive. He headed straight for Coruscant and decided that he needed a few drinks, maybe eight or nine, to help take the edge off. It did, a little. He spent a few days planet-side, wandering the streets of Coruscant and getting in touch with his Black Sun contacts. Reev and Tau'seret's mutual friend, the friend whom they had indirectly met through, needed to be told that she had died pursuing the one thing she loved and wanted so badly. They raised a shot to her that night.
He remembers having to begrudgingly work for the Republic and staying low for several months in order to stay alive in that volatile time period.
He remembers the job of taking Republic supplies, primarily weapons, to the front lines on Ord Mantell. He remembers meeting the kid and Skavic. He had been off the entire time he had been working for the Republic, and as a result, had grown naive to think that the so-called agents of the Republic could be automatically trusted. He had been a blind fool and he knew it. He'd lost another ship. It reopened the old wound.
He remembers drinking with Corso Riggs that night in the fort's cantina amongst military personnel. The kid knew better than to ask him why he was drinking so much, besides for the obvious reason of losing his ship. Riggs had been kind enough to drag him to a spare bunk in the kid's quarters for the night.
He remembers not remembering much of the previous night and the conversation. He hoped that he hadn't shared too much with the kid. Thankfully, he hadn't. He remembers sharing a meal with Riggs that morning after, each of them severely hungover. He could see her in the corners of his vision, all durasteel armor and blonde hair and muscle and curves. He could hear her voice if he tried hard enough. When he looked in the mirror, he saw himself for what felt like the first time. And in the corner of the mirror, he saw her.
He remembers hardly recognizing her. There were brutal, nasty scars on her neck and lower chin and a metal device on her forehead. She stood with her arms folded and a sad look on her face.
He blinked and she was gone.
It took the yelling of the cowboy kid to wake him up from his own dozing off. There were other things to worry about. There was a ship and a blaster they needed to steal back.