Moira Denic, smuggler, ships captain and gunslinger, awoke to the sounds of groaning and low cries. The first night back on board her ship and she still couldn't get a decent nights sleep. Grumbling, she stood from her bed and headed towards one of other cabins - one of only three occupied cabins on the ship. The Soaring Dream was a Corellian XS Stock Freighter that had been modified to an extreme that designated it an illegal war ship. The good news was that most of its upgrades were hidden behind rusty and tarnished casings. Moira slapped the door activator and strode right into the cabin. On a bunk lay Corso Riggs, tossing and turning and mumbling and groaning. Moira stopped and bit her lower lip. Part of her wanted to wake him and make sure he was okay but the other part just wanted to wake him and tell him to shut up.

While they were on Coruscant, things had become slightly strained between them. For one thing, Moira had gotten a lot of action. There was Darmas Pollaran and the odd Theron character - it was a good time. Corso had tried to 'protect her' as he put it and they had argued. She realized that it was how he was raised and that he would need to work on that. At the same, he realized that she did not appreciate his over protectiveness and was doing his best to keep his old fashioned and over protective tendencies to himself and Moira truly appreciated that. Even so, the vibes of disapproval that radiated off of him every time she had left him to go on a rendezvous with another man still put her in a fowl mood. Combine that with a lack of good sleep and Moira had to resist throttling Corso in his sleep. Sighing, she left the cabin and went to grab a glass of water and some sleeping pills for him just in case he wanted them.

When she returned, he was still tossing and turning and it looked as though he had broken into a cold sweat as well. The sheet and blanket had been pushed down around his waist, revealing that he slept, at the very least, bare chested. Moira stopped to appreciate the view of his very well sculpted musculature for only a moment before waking him. "Corso? Corso - wake up. Come on, Riggs, wake up and have some water."

Sitting bolt upright and gasping, the big mercenary looked at her with wild eyes and yelled, "Help them!" before he realized what was going on. Then he blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Oh. Hey Captain. I didn't wake you, did I?"

Moira forced him to scoot over and sat down. "No, I woke you;" she replied, not entirely truthfully. "Here, drink this and I brought a couple of sleeping pills if you need them."

Corso smiled and took the water, sipping before saying, "Thanks, Captain."

She nodded and patted his shoulder. A shiver went through him and he said, "It's a little chilly in here. Can you, uh, toss me that shirt over there?"

Moira smirked and didn't move. "Why don't you go get it yourself, Corso?"

He turned a dark shade of red and said, "Well, you see Captain, I really don't sleep with any clothes on. It wouldn't be proper for me to walk around all uncovered like with you in here."

Moira giggled and said, "Don't worry, Corso. It wouldn't bother me at all."

Corso chewed his lip and sighed. Moira remembered why she had come in and asked quietly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Corso shook his head fervently. "That's alright, Captain. I don't want to keep you from your sleep. I'm amazed that Risha didn't come in here and holler at me to keep it down. She must sleep like a rock."

Moira didn't budge. "Corso, the truth is, you did wake me. At first I was a little irritated but right now, I'm just concerned. You may annoy the ever-living hell out if me but you're still my friend and I know that I can always count on you. Come on. You don't have to tell me but you DO have to find a way to convince me that you'll be alright."

Corso began to think of how he could do that. It only took a moment for him to realize that the easiest thing to do would to just spill. "I was dreamin' 'bout my family. I wasn't there when the Separatists came and got them. I was out on the plains keeping the rontos in line. I only realized somethin' was up when I saw the smoke. My ma and pa and brothers and little sister were jus' lyin' there on the front lawn as the house burned down. In my dream, I saw the whole thing - the Seps shot my pa and brothers and did worse to my ma and sister before killin' 'em too and settin' the house on fire. It's like I was right there. The Seps were laughin' at me as they did it all and sayin' how I couldn' stop 'em."

Moira was deeply touched by the story. She herself had a similar one. On a little-known mid-rim world, she had lived with her fiance and was pregnant with a child when the Empire attacked. A squad of Imperial soldiers came in and shot her fiance before repeatedly raping her. She had woken up in the local med center and was informed that her fiance and the unborn child were both dead. It was what had sent her to traveling. She had taken their savings and sold everything and bought the ship before dumping the rest of her credits into modifying it and getting a license as a freighter captain. She hadn't told Corso all of this though and she didn't plan to. Since she had started as a smuggler, she had several crews but the problem was that finding people you could trust in the fringe was hard.

Corso was wiping sweat off his brow and laughed self deprecatingly. "I know it sounds kinda childish and all."

To his surprise, Moira patted his thick forearm and said, "Not at all, Corso. I know what it's like to lose someone. I'll be right back."

She stood and left his cabin, going to the liquor cabinet in the galley and pulling out some expensive Corellian brandy. After grabbing a pair of glasses, she headed back to Corso's cabin and was surprised to find that he had thrown on some clothes while she was getting the drink. He wore sleep pants and a sleeveless shirt. Moira looked down at herself, wearing a rather revealing black night shirt that only went down to just above mid thigh and had tiny straps, she looked up and said, "Well now I feel under dressed. Can't you at least take the shirt back off so that I don't feel so indecent?"

Corso was about to say something but his jaw shut with an audible snap and he shook his head. Moira sighed and went over, sitting next to him again and handing him the glasses. "Hold these a second. Take it from me, the best way to help you sleep through nightmares is a little bit of drinking."

Corso chuckled and held the glasses. Once each had a generous amount of the dark amber liquid, Moira stoppered the bottle and set it down beside the bed before kicking her legs up and bustling Corso over more. "Scoot. How are we both going to be comfortable if your hogging the bed."

Corso chuckled and said, "Sorry, Captain. Didn't realize I'd be sharing my bed tonight."

Moira cocked a dark brow. "Ahem, 'your bed', Corso? Unless I'm mistaken, this, and every other bunk on this ship, is owned by me. I am just generous enough to allow you to use it free of charge. I think you should be saying 'thank you' for that, don't you?"

Corso stifled a fit of chuckles at her imperious nature and instead, took her hand, kissed it and said, "Well thank you, Captain, for allowin' me the free use of one of your wonderful bunks aboard your wonderful ship. I am eternally grateful."

Moira patted his cheek and said, "That's better, Farmboy. Now scoot and give me one of those glasses."

Corso obeyed with a respectful nod of his head. Moira raised the glass and said, "To sound sleep without dreams."

Corso clinked her glass and took a sip of the liquid. It was good, burning pleasantly all the way down. Corso nodded his head. "Good stuff. Of course, you gotta be careful drinkin' it or you might make a mistake you'll regret later."

Moira nodded. She could attest to that from experience. The number of drunken hook ups under her belt were somewhere in the tens or dozens and some of them had ended badly too. Pulling a face at the thought, Moira took another decent gulp and said, "You know, Corso, aside from that little tidbit, I don't know much about you. What do Ord Mantell ranchers do - aside from herding nerfs and rontos and the like?"

Corso was enjoying the feel of another mouthful of the liquor as he answered, "Lot's o' stuff - we would race speeder bikes, land speeders, air speeders and even the rontos sometimes. We'd go huntin' and fishin' and have dances and parties too. I wasn't ever much good at that, though. I got these big ol' feet and they always seem to get in the way."

Moira giggled and reached down, grabbing the bottle and refilling first her own and then his glass. "You seemed to be doing alright on the Esseles during our little stay there. Besides, if you didn't like dancing, why did you go?"

Corso grinned wickedly and said, "Three reasons, really; one, the girls were always decked out in their nice clothes and lookin' good. Two, I never went to a dance where I didn't get into a good brawl and I sure did love a good brawl. Three, if you knew the right people, you could get the best moonshine around. My cousin Rona always knew the best bootleggers and got us bottles of shine for free."

Moira began giggling again. "But what was so good about the girls if you didn't dance with them? Did you just stare creepily at them while they did or what?"

Corso suddenly blushed a little and sipped his brandy before saying, "Well after a enough shine, dancing doesn't seem like a bad idea. Not only that, there were always a dozen or so couples sneaking off - not that it happened often for me. I usually stood guard while Rona and some other fella were doing their thing."

Moira cocked an eyebrow and said, "'Usually' - suggesting that you had your times of sneaking off with girls, right?"

Corso blushed again and said, "I did a time or two, yeah."

Moira emptied the rest of the bottle into their glasses and laid down. "Are you gonna tell me about them, Corso?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't seem proper to tell you stuff like that, Captain."

Moira got up onto one elbow and looked at him. "Corso, I'm lying on a bed with you and wearing nothing but a nightshirt. Now that isn't exactly what you'd call proper is it? Besides, I'm not exactly a person you'd describe as proper anyway."

Corso nodded and leaned back against the confines of his bunk and finished his drink. A pleasant buzz permeated his mind and he shrugged. "Couple times, I went off with this girl from down near the lakes. She was considered one of the best looking girls in the area - red hair, few cute li'l freckles, always stayed in good shape, too. Anyhow, she convinced me to leave off watching for Rona and we snuck off and hid in one of the speeder garages."

Corso was blushing now and looked very uncomfortable. Moira wasn't letting up though. She wanted to see what kind of reactions she could get from the man. "What did you two do in that garage, Corso?"

Corso looked down and muttered, "Well what do you think we did, Captain? I was young, drunk and eager and she was pretty and willin'. It don't take a genius to put two and two together."

Moira giggled and sat up. "Did you undress her, Corso?"

The farm boy turned mercenary began to look very uncomfortable at the low, sultry timber of Moira's voice. "Did you run your big, rough hands over her smooth, soft skin? Did you make her catch her breath and shiver when you touched her bare body?"

Moira sat up and straddled Corso's hip, resting her forearms on his broad shoulders while her hands were loosely clasped behind his head. Leaning forward, she whispered in his ear, "Did she touch you and cause you to grow tense under her hands?"

Corso didn't have the chance to answer before Moira suckled his earlobe and nibbled it. He gasped and managed to say, "Captain, this really isn't a good idea. I feel like it wouldn't be right. I feel like I'd be takin' advantage of you while you were drunk."

She giggled against the side of his head and said, "Corso, you're drunk too. How do you know it's not me taking advantage of you? Besides, don't you want to take advantage of me? All the memories must have made you restless. Hmmm... just thinking about you and me sneaking off for some mischief is making me restless."

When Corso had traveled and had been propositioned by women, he was usually able to politely decline thanks to how his ma and pa had raised him. This time, he was struggling. Captain Denic was by far and away the most beautiful and desirable woman he had ever met in his life and, though they had only known each other a short time, he really liked her. The fact that she was wearing nothing but a nightshirt - NOTHING - made it even more difficult. Taking a deep breath, he gently took her hands from around his neck and placed them together before kissing the back of the top one. "Captain, I can't do this right now. It's not about bein' protective or nothin' like that. I just don't feel right about it on account of how I was raised."

Moira was honestly surprised. It had been years, YEARS, since a man had told her 'no' once she was ready to bed them. She didn't know whether to keep trying anyway, to get offended or to just let it go. After a stunned silence, she decided that the latter was a better idea. She was a little tipsy and so was he. She could try to get him another time. Smiling, Moira sighed dramatically and dismounted him before lying back down. "Fine but I'm too drunk to go back to my cabin so I'm going to bunk with you."

Corso tensed slightly and Moira laughed quietly. "Corso, I don't molest members of my crew. I promise I won't take advantage of you until you're good and ready for me too. In fact..." and she looked into his eyes, smiled seductively, "...I'll make you ask me to before I do."

Corso chuckled breathily and Moira lay down snuggling up under the blanket, Corso doing the same. After fifteen minutes, he began to twitch and fidget and Moira growled, "Corso, you are beginning to make me contemplate shooting you. What's the problem?"

"No problem, Captain - just trying to get comfortable;" said Corso. Moira was really beginning to feel insulted. No man had ever said that he was uncomfortable in a bed he was sharing with her. Suddenly, she remembered - the farm boy usually slept naked. "Corso, if you need to take off your clothes to get comfortable then just do it already. Don't argue, don't protest and don't object or, so help me, I will take a knife and cut your sleep clothes off."

Corso hesitated and Moira gritted her teeth. "Corso..."

Hearing the danger in her voice, Corso got up and stripped down to his undershorts before lying back down. "See, was that so hard?" murmured Moira sleepily. She would get him yet. It was just a matter of time and perseverance.

Corso woke fairly early and, though he was still a little tired, quickly dressed and headed to the galley to cook up some breakfast for the three of them. Risha wasn't far behind him, wearing a not-so-long silk robe and not bothering to tie it and some kind of lacy something or another under it that Corso had to concentrate not to stare at. "Morning, Riggs. What the hell are you cooking and where did you get the stuff for it?" she asked as she stretched and yawned, using one of her small hands to delicately cover her mouth. Corso glanced at her and smiled politely, saying, "Morning, Miss Risha. I managed to cobble this together from the stores that WEREN'T expired. Soon as the Captain wakes, I'm gonna need to talk to her about resupplying more than just the liquor cabinet."

Risha glared at him for a few moments and Corso asked, "Sorry, did I say something wrong, Ma'am?"

Her glare intensified and she said, "Yes, two things now. I am not a Miss anything and if you ever call me Ma'am again, you will regret it. I'm Risha, got it, Riggs?"

Corso nodded and said, "Understood. I'll call you Risha and if you would call me Corso, I would appreciate that to."

Risha's glare changed to a pleasant smile. "Fine. Corso it is. So, Corso, what exactly are you making for breakfast?"

"Nerf sausage, topato hash-browns, scrambled chiklit eggs and I even cut up the last four juma fruit that weren't moldy and rotting;"

Risha nodded her head appreciatively and said, "Sounds fantastic but why did you cut up the juma fruit?"

Corso chuckled as he emptied the pan of eggs into a bowl and added a light sprinkling of seasoning. "Well that's on account of the fact that I wanted to be sure that they weren't rotting inside."

Risha chuckled and said, "Well that does make sense. Where are you from, Corso? I haven't gotten to talk to you much yet."

Corso placed the topato hash-browns on a platter and set them next to the eggs as he replied, "I was born and raised on Ord Mantell on a ronto and nerf ranch. I spent the majority of my life there, though not all of it. Did some traveling around the galaxy here and there;"

Risha nodded. "How'd you become a mercenary working for Viidu?"

Corso shrugged and said, "That's a bit of a story. How about you, Risha? Where are you from?"

Risha chuckled herself and said, "I'm from Dubrillon. My father and I were involved in some shady business deals that went south a few times and I was left on my own at a fairly tender age. Since then, I've been traveling the galaxy learning what I can and doing what I can. Maybe I'll give you more details when you and I get to know one another and little better."

Corso nodded and in through the door came Moira, covering her mouth and yawning, still wearing nothing but the nightshirt. Corso felt slightly beset as two very attractive women sat rather scantly clad in the kitchen in front of him. Softly whistling an old song from home to keep his mind off that fact, he began dishing out the food. Moira smiled up at him and said, "I'm very impressed, Corso. You never struck me as a man who knows how to cook."

Corso flashed a grin and said, "My ma told me that if there was a time I was alone, knowing how to cook well would keep me alive and my wallet less empty. Dig in, ladies. There's more than enough - though I gotta say, Captain, most of the food stuffs are expired, rotten or moldy. We should probably get some on our next stop."

He suddenly cocked a dark eyebrow. "Wait... where is our next stop, Captain?"

Moira and Risha shared a private look before she said ever so nonchalantly, "We're heading to Taris, Corso."

Corso's eyes went wide and he choked on a piece of juma fruit, coughing and setting his plate down before managing to dislodge the fruit and spit it down the sink's disposal unit. "Taris, huh? Wow... never thought I'd be going anywhere near there. Well, Pa always said that you never know what a place is really like until you go see it. What are we doin' there? When do we land?"

Moira and Risha looked at each other and the latter shook her head. Moira sighed unhappily and knew that Corso was not going to like this one little bit but it really couldn't be helped. "Look, Corso, you know I appreciate you helping me get my ship back and that I doubly appreciate you sticking around to help me out but this is a bit of a sensitive thing and the fewer people who know about it the better. I really hope you can understand that."

Corso's face deadpanned and he nodded. "I see. Well I won't say that I'm not disappointed but you got it, Captain. I trust you." Even if you don't trust me, apparently; he thought to himself gloomily. They finished breakfast in silence and Corso went to the cockpit to check course settings and run the ship through preflight checks. Risha cocked an immaculately groomed eyebrow. "You trust him with your ship?"

Moira growled and speared a piece of fruit. "I trust him with my life. It doesn't sit right with me, keeping him in the dark and the only reason I'm doing it is because of how big this payoff is supposedly going to be. I don't like it and I KNOW he doesn't like it."

Risha leaned back and said, "Look, Captain, you can make it up to him later but until I know that I can trust him, we leave him out of the loop. We agreed on this already when we talked about Nok Drayen's treasure and how to get it."

Moira nodded, "I get that but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Anyhow, I'll figure out how to make it up to him later."

She put her dishes in the sink and then headed to her cabin to get dressed in more appropriate clothing. Before getting clothed, Moira looked at herself naked in the mirror just as she had every day for years since her fiance and unborn child were killed. Moira felt the need to remind herself that she was not a victim. She was a strong, beautiful, independent woman who could take care of herself and who didn't let the past dictate how she acted in the present. Unbidden, the lean, grey eyed and dark haired face of a friend - Jedi Knight Alias Ordo, came to her mind, saying that she was 'holding on so tight and denying it. Letting go would be allowing yourself to fall in love again, to allow someone to love you back for the wonderful woman you are.'

Moira felt tears start to overflow from her eyes and she sat on the bed, trying to regain her composure. Just like that, all the looking at herself naked in the mirror and reminding herself that she was fine evaporated. As the tears rolled down, she murmured to herself, "But who in the universe would love someone as broken as me? And who could I love after... after..."

And she wept again, like she had a thousand times before. After she had cried out all her tears, Moira dried her eyes and dressed herself, putting on makeup to cover the red rims of her eyes and she smiled a sultry smile at herself in the mirror. She was a strong, beautiful, independent woman who could take care of herself and didn't let her past dictate how she acted in the present. With that final thought, she slapped the door panel and strode out into the corridors of her ship, a sway in her hips as she headed towards the cockpit. Look out, Galaxy; she thought to herself smugly. Here comes Captain Moira Denic.

Updated 08.24.2016