Corso watched her face as she realized the other two were just around the corner in a private room. She looked disappointed for a moment. Well, Risha was right about her being a romantic. His heart lifted. Maybe this stupid idea wasn't so stupid after all.
He pulled her chair out for her without realizing what he was doing, but she just sat down, murmuring a thank you. He flushed and was suddenly grateful for the dim lights.
Risha ordered without asking any of them and dishes started arriving.
Over dinner, Risha and Ryli shared a few stories of close calls they'd had on their nights out and Ryli told a story or two from before she'd met any of them. She told a story about her, Juran and Jenra from long ago, which nearly got them all shot, but rescued a hold full of slaves. He saw the pain on her face when she talked about Jenra and he saw the anger when she talked about the slavers. He shared a story about his time on Ord Mantell as a soldier, making them all laugh at his training days.
After what felt like a short time, dessert arrived and wine with it.
Ryli swirled hers around her glass and sipped it. "Oh this is great, Risha, well done."
"How do you know about wine?" Corso asked.
She shrugged, "I don't know a lot, but royalty on a lot of planets will pay good credits for fancy wines. It helps to know a bit about what's good or not so you can make sure you get what they want."
"I never thought of that." Corso admitted.
"I know bits and pieces about cloth, medical supplies, wine, you name it. It's good to be able to price a haul quickly and charge what's appropriate for it."
"Where do you learn that sort of stuff?"
"The holonet or just smuggler talk. I can teach you some basics if you'd like."
He made himself nod slowly, "I'd like that."
Bowdaar excused himself shortly after that and Corso sat with Risha and Ryli, blushing at some of their stories, but not saying a whole lot more. He noticed that Risha kept the wine to a minimum, which he was grateful for.
Then the meal ended and he was escorting the two of them back to the ship. They all walked onto the ship together and Risha walked around the other side of the ship to change.
He and Ryli stood awkwardly in the hallway for a moment.
"That was good food." He said, trying to think of something better to say.
"Best I've had in awhile." She paused, "Did you want me to show you some of the stuff I look for or were you headed out again tonight?"
"I did, if you have time." He swallowed.
She paused by the holoterminal and began to run through some places she looked up stuff to stay current. He inched closer to her, paying close attention in case she asked him a question. She looked up and realized he was right next to her. Before she could stop him, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Her hands went up to his chest, but she didn't push him away or try to say anything and then she was kissing him back.
Then they were stumbling towards her room where clothes came off and he started to kiss along her jawline, her hands melted over him and he didn't need to think of anything else to say.
At some point later, Corso lay on the Captain's bed, his arms crossed behind his head, the sheet tangled around his legs and her body in such a way that he'd have to rip the thing in half to be able to stand up. Ryli was curled against him, her head on his chest. He wasn't sure if she was awake, but they hadn't spoken. The silence wasn't uncomfortable; it felt right, just laying with her quietly. She sighed and ran her hand over his chest for a moment.
"I'll never be a good housewife," she said quietly.
"I never asked you to," he said, just as quietly.
"Isn't that the dream, though? The farm, the kids, the wife?"
He reached down and tilted her head up to look at him. "You're the dream. I'll take whatever else comes with waking up next to you."
She groaned and rolled away from him.
"Please stop talking like I'm perfect."
"You are perfect!"
She sat up, leaving the sheet on the bed and started looking for her clothes, shaking her head.
"Corso, the only way this'll work is if you see me as a person. A person who makes mistakes and has flaws." She sighed, "Last night was..." a faint smile ghosted over her face, "great, but we come from two different places and right now, I don't see a way to negotiate this gulf between us."
His heart dropped, how had this gone south already?
"Wait! Uh, how do I change then," he stumbled over his words, "I mean, I'm trying here, Captain, it's a lot to take in."
She pulled her shirt over her head and looked at him from across the room, "I don't know, more life experience? I thought all the stuff we'd been through would have forced you to see me clearly and if you still had feelings after that, we could have worked with it."
He knelt on the bed, falling briefly over the sheet, "You're stubborn and sometimes you make bad decisions. You drink too much..."
Ryli laughed, "Corso, that wasn't license to list my faults."
She knelt next to him and put her arms around his waist, "I'm not saying this can't work out. I'm just saying that the pressure to be an angel for you is going to drive me away eventually."
He put his arms around her, "Okay. I get your meaning."
Her hands tightened on his back and he was unable to stop himself from drifting his hands up under her shirt. She grinned at him and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Call me Captain the way you did last night."
His voice almost gave out, but he managed to say huskily, "Anything you want, Captain" as they fell back onto her bed.
