I don't own any of the characters used herein, and a simply putting my own spins on things.

5 times tattoos made Corso look at Tial different and the one time Tial reconsiders Corso.

.1.

Corso stood in the small front room of the shop, eying the various decorations hanging on the wall. He saw a Mirial flag pinned above the counter and a collection of what looked like antique stone pots lining a series of shelves along the wall. There were shimmering holos of mountains and expanses of desert that he was willing to bet were shots of Mirial, if the area they were in was anything to go by.

He and Tial had just finished up in Black Sun Territory and were considering turning in the night verse continuing trying to close in on Skavak verse going to have a few drinks (Corso's vote was for that option), when she'd gotten a holo from her sister, Leta. Tial had walked away from him to take the call, leaving him to trade dirty looks with Darmas, then declared they were done dealing with Skavak for the evening. She'd said good bye to Darmas then hauled Corso over to the nearest taxi.

They hadn't gone back to their room, or even that district, but had instead gone to what Tial called the Miri district, obviously so named because it was densely populated with Mirialans. The streets had been lined with green and yellow faces and he had stuck out like a sore human thumb. Wandering the streets with her while she looked of this shop had been...uncomfortable, as he'd felt like everyone was staring, wondering what he dared to do in Their District.

He wondered if that was how Tial felt most of the time, surrounded by humans.

They'd entered the small shop and found Sergeant Aric Jorgan sitting in a chair in the front room, looking amazingly uncomfortable. He'd nodded an acknowledgment to them before informing Tial that her sister was in the back waiting for her.

"Do you know if Tymar is coming?" Tial had asked, eyes gleaming. The only time he ever saw her look that excited was when she was detailing the ways she would torture Skavak when she got her hands on him.

Aric shook his head. "He said he was too busy with his master."

"Too busy?" Tial's eyes narrowed for a moment, full lips twisting into a scowl. "Fucking useless."

She stormed past the curtain into the back, clearly angry. Corso could hear voices, Tial's sharp with her anger and Leta's a soft rumble, but couldn't make out the words. Then silence that stretched out for what felt like forever. Corso eventually found himself in the chair next to Aric, staring blankly at the wall.

"You should have brought something to do. From what I understand Mirialan markings can take a bit of time." Aric didn't look up form his holopad when he spoke and his voice was toneless in a way that was, actually, kind of unnerving.

"Is that what's going on?" Corso asked, frowning slightly. Had Tial rushed him down here so she could hold Leta's hand while she got a new tattoo?

Aric's eyebrow went up in a way that made Corso think he was being judged. The fact the Cathar couldn't be bothered to look up to address him added to the feeling. "Mirialan tattoos are symbols of a life well lived. They begin receiving them when they reach 'maturity' and then get new ones with every great accomplishment. Having a witness for the additions is important because it legitimizes the accomplishment."

Corso hadn't known any of that, of course. He had thought it strange that the few Mirialans he'd seen all shared a taste for facial art but he'd never really put that much thought into it. It did make him consider Tial and the marks she wore across her cheeks and down the center of her forehead. Each was a bar pattern, formed of two rows of black triangles carefully fitted together. He wondered what they all meant.

He knew she'd had an interesting life before landing on Ord Mantell but he'd never considered that she wore the evidence of that life on her face.

.2.

Taris was probably the worst place Tial had ever had the misfortune of visiting. As if being on the utterly depressing dustball wasn't bad enough by day, but being out at night was a totally different ordeal. Even if she ignored the pirates, the Imperials, and the natural wildlife that still left the issue of Rakghouls. They roamed Taris freely, acting with almost human-like intelligence.

She'd heard stories of how they herded men, surrounding them and slowly backing them into areas they couldn't escape from before striking. They tore their luckier victims apart, eating even the bones and leaving nothing but ribbons of flesh behind. The less lucky ones were left alive, infected with the plague, and eventually becoming Rakghouls themselves.

The very thought made her flesh crawl in disgust. Tial couldn't even begin to imagine how Corso thought she was going to fall asleep out here, in the middle of nowhere, where groups of those monsters could be lurking just out of sight. She'd wanted to head back to the nearest outpost but they were far out and, as Corso with his stupid logic had pointed out, it would take hours to get anywhere.

Corso had started a fire and started chattering about camping out with cousins and friends in his youth, seemingly unaware of the fact that they're weren't in some field on Ord, but on a grassy patch of grass on a vaguely toxic planet that was overrun with man eating monsters. She'd prefer to be in a busy city dealing with gangsters any day.

She said as much, tone more snappish than she would have liked. Corso just smiled at her, cheerfully ignoring her anger. He set the camp up for the night, reminding her that the tent was built to withstand the claws of animals. She just pouted.

"Captain." Corso finally finished and came to stand in front of her, smirk far too amused for her liking. She let out a quiet hmph and looked away from him. He sighed and crouched down to her level. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you Captain."

Tial narrowed her eyes, hating him in that moment more than she'd thought was possible. She hated a lot of things about Corso, actually. She hated how attracted she was to him, she hated how he was always able to break her out of a bad mood, she hated how he always made sense and never let her do anything dangerous unless he got to walk into it first. She hated how he touched her and the way he confessed to wanting to be with her when he got drunk but refused her when sober. She hated that he said he wanted to take care of her and, worst of all, meant it.

He must have sensed that he'd won their little 'argument' because he flopped next to her on the ground. The fire cast strange twisting shadows on his face but he seemed at ease, as if they weren't likely in unimaginable danger.

"So, farm boy, what we do now?"

"Well," He drew the word out with that drawl of his and Tial's stomach clenched. Hatehatehatehate. "S'pose this is the part where we tell stories."

She crossed her arms over her chest, fully aware of how childish she probably looked. "I don't know any stories."

Corso reached for her and she didn't flinch away, a marvel in and of itself. Instead she sat still, stiffening up more than she would have liked, as calloused fingers brushed over her face. He lingered over her markings then moved his hand to the other cheek, thumb brushing over the tattoos there. She felt her face growing hot but told herself it was the fire.

"What do these mean?"

Tial swallowed thickly but didn't try to end the contact. She tried to focus her brain on the question (anything except how warm Corso's hand was!). "What do you know about Mirialan markings?"

"Not much." He admitted. "Just that you add ones when you do something big."

"Sort of." She reached up, pushing her the dark red hair bangs from her forehead. Her hair was growing long and it was impossible to deal with at the moment, so it fell in one single braid down her back. She touched the two triangles right below her hairline. "These were the first ones, when I turned fourteen. My father and Tymar both came back from Tython for the ceremony and to give their blessing to my 'ascendance into womanhood'."

Tial frowned at the memory. Tymar had left for the academy the year before, after this own fourteenth birthday, and had come back a completely different person. So stoic and withdrawn in his plain brown robes. It had hurt her to have her big brother so distant from her after so much time apart.

It hadn't gotten any better when Rynard, one of Tymar's former friends who'd become interested in Tial when Ty had left for the temple, had come by to witness. He'd made some joke along the lines of 'too bad you won't be around to keep all the boys away' and had earned himself a black eye for his trouble. Tymar had been sent to his room until he could 'learn to control his emotions' and would remain there for the rest of his trip.

That had pretty much ruined the day for her. Leta had stood at her side, holding her hand as the woman they'd booked to do the markings began her work. The first ones were always the most detailed and Tial's had been no exception. Family markings were passed down from the mother's side and for her that meant double triangles. The left one had small circles at each peak, meant to represent the all-encompassing nature of the force (Years later she would hate that element but, sadly, her mother's family had been Force worshiping traditionalists) The right triangle had a small oval lying against the right side, the marking of her father's family.

Without Tymar the whole ritual had felt strangely hollow. Growing up Tymar had been their father's child and Leta had been their mother's shadow, but Tial had never related to either of her parents. Instead she'd worshiped her older brother, thinking him the center of the universe. Instead of feeling like an adult when the marks were in place she'd just been sore and disappointed.

It would take years for her to learn that there was no magical switch, or tattoo, to adulthood. She wasn't sure why she kept up with the stupid tradition but she did. After the first set she'd followed the pattern of her mother's family, adding a pair of triangles to her forehead and under each eye with each 'major' event, thought she hadn't had anyone witness them.

She trailed off, smiling wanly. Corso was looking at her in the way some people regarded a particularly difficult math problem.

"It's not a very good story." Tial muttered by way of apology.

Corso's answering smile was so sincere it hurt. "I liked it."

.3.

Corso was surprised when Tial sent him a message saying to meet her at the tattoo shop in the Miril District but he went anyway. He figured that, with everything that had happened recently hanging over them like a dark cloud he could really afford to deny her requests.

Skavak was dead and Tial's name was swiftly gaining notoriety with all the wrong people. She'd had to fend off two Bounty Hunter attacks in as many weeks and it was making her edgy. Worse than all that Leta had called to tell them that Elara had been hurt during of their missions and the knowledge that her sister's girlfriend was in bad shape really seemed to be dragging Tial's mood down.

There was also the small matter of passionate drunken sex that they were steadfastly ignoring, and had been ignoring for some time. Ignoring as best they could anyway, which wasn't all that well when you got down to it. Tial was jumpy around him and anytime they touched or even came in close proximity she became like a wild animal, falling over herself to skitter away.

It was his fault. Too much to drink, too much want, and a little bit of jealousy had potentially ruined their friendship; the thought made him physically ill.

Tial was waiting in the front room of the shop, talking to an older Mirialan man. She flashed him a shaky smile when he came in.

"Thanks for coming kid." Her hair was loose, a waterfall of red ripples. He never saw it like that anymore, not since that night, and his fingers itched with the urge to reach out and bury his fingers into it. "I wanted to add more, in celebration of ending Skavak. I...well, I couldn't have done it without you so I wanted you here."

He nodded, more honored than he could have communicated at the moment. She flashed him a nervous smile then, with a nod at the man behind the counter, headed back behind the curtain. Corso made to follow but the man held up a hand to stop him just short of the curtain.

"I rarely let humans back there." He was staring at Corso with deathly serious blue eyes. "Only when they're getting the markings of marriage or intent."

Corso knew about the Markings of Intent. After Taris he'd spent some time on the holonet, learning more about Tial's people. The Mirialan were a matriarchal society and so most things were passed down from the mother's family. When a man intended to marry a woman in their culture he was basically becoming part of her family and leaving his own behind, so he'd get the woman's markings on his hands or inner wrist.

Corso frowned slightly. "Does that mean you'll only let me in if I let you tattoo me too?"

"And face her wrath?" The man actually laughed. "She was very insistent. Just something for you to consider, young man."

"I'll do that."

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The next 3 parts tomorrow!