Nadia Grell could not sleep.
It was a common occurrence as of late, she pondered idly on it as she stared up at the ceiling of her room, waiting for the subtle thrum of the Defender-class corvette's reactor to lull her back to sleep. Alas, she had no such luck – mere lack of sleep wasn't the only thing bothering her right now. Even though she had been a Padawan in training for almost two months, she sometimes still dreamt of that fateful day aboard Fortitude when the Sith attacked. It had seemed like the Rift Alliance would meet a bleak end aboard the Republic warship...
Until she'd arrived – Barsen'thor of the Jedi Order, Master Caylsto Skyforger. She'd cut a swathe through the droids and soldiers of the Sith Empire opposing her, and had, in a brief but vicious duel, struck down the Sith warrior in charge. With her help, the Fortitude had been saved from destruction, and the Rift Alliance's relations with the Republic had been salvaged.
Since then, she'd seen faraway corners of the galaxy, witnessed thing she could never even dream of. Similarly, she was elated to be accepted as Master Skyforger's Padawan. The young, but seasoned Jedi had proven to be an adept mentor, taking to her task with enthusiasm, and educated the eager-to-learn Sarkhai in the ways of a Jedi. And Nadia enjoyed learning. Her Master helped teach her how to control her powers, honing her skills and educating her on many more subjects, and all seemed well, despite her father's death...
Until her Master began to avoid her – they rarely spoke to each other, and when they did, Caylsto's sentences were clipped and terse. Beforehand, they'd travelled planetside frequently, seeing as her training required hands-on experience. Now, however, she more often that not spent her time twiddling her thumbs aboard Silver Night, the corvette that served as Caylsto's starship.
Had she somehow offended her Master at some point before? She had to find out. Easier said than done, however. For all her wisdom, Master Skyforger could sometimes be remarkably stubborn.
Eventually, Nadia had to admit she wouldn't be falling asleep any time soon. Grumbling to herself, she sat up, climbing out of her bunk and slipping her robe on to ward off the chill. Perhaps a late night snack would hit the spot right now. Quietly, she stepped out into the lower deck corridor, immediately hearing the muffled rumble of Qyzen's snore – clearly, he'd forgotten to close the door to his quarters again. It didn't take long to rectify that, but she soon hid in the shadows as someone walked down the stairs – barefoot, too, judging from the soft sound their footsteps made.
It was much to her surprise when she saw her Master round the corner, sleepy-eyed and wearing a shirt two sizes too big for her. Pressing a button by the door, she disappeared inside the small onboard kitchen.
Well, this is a bit of a godsend, Nadia reasoned. Maybe now she'd get her answers – this constant dereliction of duties wasn't the only thing she needed to talk to her Master about...
"Master." Caylsto looked up in alarm as she saw Nadia stand in the doorway. Biting down on her panic, she forced herself to calm down as she nursed her drink.
"Padawan." Nadia internally winced at the detached tone of the older woman, but soldiered on, taking a seat opposite of her Master. The amber-eyed woman's posture stiffened almost imperceptibly, but she said nothing.
"I guess I'm not the only one who can't sleep tonight." She ventured warily. Caylsto made a nondescript noise as she returned to her drink, leaving Nadia to fidget in her seat – truly, the tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife.
"I cannot go on like this, Master." Nadia suddenly spoke, steeling herself for the possible fallout. "Why do you avoid me at every turn? Have I offended you in some way? Have I failed some test? Please tell me, so that I can make amends." She pleaded, leaning forwards, while Caylsto simultaneously leaned backwards, frustration clear on her face.
"It's not something that you can fix."
"Why not?" Desperation flooded Nadia's voice – her world had come crashing down around her when her father died. Being a Padawan to a Jedi of considerable renown had brought some stability in her life. And now, the very same woman she looked up to threatened to take that away, too. "Why can't you explain it to me, then?" The Jedi seemed to struggle with words for a long moment before answering quietly.
"Because it's really not appropriate."
"What isn't? Why do you keep speaking in puzzles?" Nadia was more than a little irritated by now, her apprehension replaced by annoyance. "Most of the time you pretend like I don't exist, we barely ever swap more than two words; clearly you have an issue with me!" Gaining steam, she forgot that a Padawan was to respect their Master. But at this moment, hers was rather undeserving of such treatment.
"It's not what you think it is."
"Then please explain."
The glass in Caylsto's grip shattered, wet shards scattering across the table as the Jedi Master glared at Nadia, clearly angered by her persistence. Before she could even so much as make a peep, the redhead had leaned across the table, kissing her deeply, right on the lips before pulling away.
Nadia could only stare in shock as Caylsto sat back down. "Now do you understand?"
"Oh." That was all the young Sarkhai could manage, feeling very warm all of a sudden.
"'Oh', indeed." Caylsto muttered sourly, continuing before Nadia had a chance to interject. "These... feelings I have are taboo among the Order." Her voice, though collected at the beginning, rose steadily in volume as she spoke. "Emotions like love and passion lead to the dark side. Not to mention that a relationship between a Master and their Padawan is beyond scandalous! And I've been all but tearing my hair out, knowing I can never have you!" Taking a deep breath to calm down, she brought herself under control. "I'll arrange for a new master to take you in for tutelage. I can't concentrate on anything if I'm being tempted to do things to you that I have no right to. This'll be better for both of us."
"Master-"
"I don't want to hear it, Nadia."
"But-"
"My decision is final."
Nadia scowled at the stubborn woman before leaning across the table – and this time, it was Caylsto's time to be shocked as she was kissed in turn by the young Sarkhai.
When they parted, the older Jedi was well and truly speechless. It took several long moments before she could formulate a response. "You're playing with fire here, Nadia..."
The younger woman cocked an eyebrow, standing up and walking over to Caylsto. "Maybe I'm not afraid to get burned."
"Nadia... burn injuries and intimacy... not the best pairing..." Caylsto managed to stammer out as the woman in question sat on the table in right next to her, crossing her legs in a most come-hither manner as she did so.
"Can you do better, then?"
Now that was just plain disrespectful. But it was also a challenge. And Caylsto enjoyed challenges – those were all part of her life nowadays. Still, the logical side of her argued – and was losing badly – against this course of action. In the end, however, she decided it'd be something her future self would have to deal with.
It didn't take much effort to pull Nadia into her lap as they locked lips again, the lithe woman eagerly wrapping her arms around Caylsto. The Jedi in question returned the gesture, relishing the sensation of Nadia's warm body pressing against hers. Letting out a soft moan, she settled in the chair as Nadia straddled her – this close, she could smell the scent of whatever her Padawan washed herself with, and it was more than a little arousing.
Eventually, she remembered that breathing was a thing – gently, she pushed Nadia back, ending the kiss. Panting slightly, she looked up at the slender Sarkhai woman, who had a rather intense look of longing on her face. Caylsto was about to speak when Nadia locked lips with her again, and all rational thought left her mind. The kitchen was left behind, the two women doing their best to remain quiet as they left for the privacy of Caylsto's personal quarters...
Caylsto let out an 'oomph' as Nadia pushed her down on the bed,climbing on top of her and kissing her again – in response, she clumsily tried to undo the robe her new-found lover was wearing, with little success. Taking note, Nadia sat up, quickly pulling the well-worn robe off, exposing her pale-skinned body, clad in... black, lacy underwear. That was news.
Noticing Caylsto's questioning look, Nadia let out a small scoff, tossing her robe aside. "What? A girl can treat herself once in a while."
She wanted to remind Nadia that a Jedi was humble, and lived simply. But all that went to the winds as she beheld the beautiful woman straddling her. Still, a small voice nagged at the back of her head, telling this was a bad course of action.
She promptly told that voice to shut up and pulled Nadia back down...
Felix Iresso looked up from his meal as the door opened – Master Skyforger walked in, yawning as she did so. Nodding to her, he returned to the plateful of food in front of him. "Morning, ma'am."
"Good morning, Lieutenant." She responded sleepily, trudging over to the recaf machine and filling herself the biggest cup she could find. Yawning again, she took a seat, sipping quietly on the steaming mug of glorious, glorious recaf.
"Oh, something I wanted to mention – our systems seemed to be malfunctioning last night. Power surges all around. I'm guessing that damn Harrower back at Makem Te hit us harder than we thought, huh?"
Sithspit! Caylsto cursed internally, almost choking on her recaf. Of course her last night tryst hadn't gone unnoticed – electronics didn't respond well to Force surges, and she'd been making aplenty of those with Nadia. Making sure her composure wouldn't betray her, she responded. "Uh, yeah. I guess that's it. We'll have to get some repairs done as soon as possible."
"I hear that, ma'am." The Republic soldier scooped up whatever was left on his plate and greedily devoured it before depositing the disposable plastic plate in a garbage processor. As he left, he paused in the doorway, turning to face the Jedi, an amused smirk on his face. "And next time, you might want to make sure you cover up the love bites, ma'am." He pointed at her neck, still grinning.
The Jedi in question felt her blood go cold, turning to examine herself in the closest reflective surface, letting out an 'eep' as she saw the teeth marks Nadia had left on her. Wide-eyed, she turned to glare at Iresso.
"You will never speak of this to anyone. Ever." The man's grin grew exponentially wider.
"I wouldn't dream of it, ma'am."
Because I find myself hyped up on coffee far earlier than I have any right to be, because it's 2am, and because I'm actually mad enough to go through with this while my blood is 50% coffee.