Chapter Seven -- "Can I have a look?"

"Hey, Nace?" Carth asked his companion.

"Yeah?" came the muffled reply.

"You never told me anything about yourself, did you?"

The two had just returned from their eventful shopping trip, and had begun to unpack their purchases. Nace was in the 'fresher; she was providing the room with some much needed supplies, and changing into some less blood stained clothes. Carth could be found replenishing their food, making sure that the caffa was visible -- he didn't want another reaction like Nace's previous one.

"No, I didn't," Nace answered. "Would you like me too?"

Slightly taken aback, Carth said, "Yes, I would."

Inside the bathroom, Nace began to slip off her boots. "I'm not that exciting."

"Try me," Carth told her. He was just finishing what he was doing, and putting away their shopping bags.

Nace adjusted the tap, causing water to fill the sink. "Well, the best name you could come up for me would probably be a traveler or a spacer. I've seen a lot of planets, some that some people have never heard of. I also speak a fair number of languages," she took a cloth, wetted it, and began to scrub the stains off of her boots. "As far back as I can remember, I've wanted to explore the galaxy. There are so many things to see and people to meet!" Nace continued. She paused for a few moments, reflecting. "The biggest pull though, I think, was that I wanted to get away…"

Carth had finished putting away the two's purchases, and was now sitting in his chosen chair. "Get away from what?" he asked, intrigued.

Nace ignored his question. "I have a lot of stories," Nace told Carth. She was still scrubbing her boots -- the stains were being stubborn. "Maybe I'll tell you one sometime," she continued.

Realizing that Nace didn't want to reply his previous question, Carth asked another one. "If you liked traveling so much, why'd you join the Republic navy?"

Back in the refresher, Nace's face had begun to tint itself red. "I uh, I was… Enjoying myself in a shady cantina-"

Carth snorted. "I like where this is going."

Despite the bathroom door, Nace glared in Carth's direction. "I was… Influenced. Some, uh, colleagues and I were playing a few hands of Pazaak, and I was short on credits. Thanks to my influence, I figured it would be a good idea to bet my uh, my ship."

"Your ship?!" Carth was so surprised, he laughed out loud. "You bet your ship?"

"Hey -- I'm good at Pazaak! Besides, the ship needed some work…"

Carth simply snorted. "That's no reason to bet it on something like Pazaak."

"Anyways," Nace continued, "I uh, I lost the bet."

"That's surprising."

"Shh!" Nace exclaimed. "I lost my ship, and I had nowhere to go. I figured that, if I made enough credits, I could buy another ship, or at least a way off the planet. So I started looking for ways to make some money, and, while I was looking, I was approached by someone with the Republic. He asked me about my situation, and I told him. He suggested that I join the Republic navy -- I could fly and earn money at the same time. It seemed like a good idea, so I signed up," Nace continued, finishing her story. She had finished cleaning her boots, and placed them on the floor of the refresher. "I never thought that I would end up like this, though."

Carth nodded, forgetting that Nace couldn't see him. He thought about her story -- how could Nace have bet something so large and valuable as ship on something so trivial as a card game? From what he could tell, Pazaak relied solely on chance; there was little or no skill involved in the game. Carth didn't put much stock in such unpredictable chances.

Without Carth's verbal response, the two's conversation died, turning into a companionable silence. Alone in the refresher, Nace finished washing the blood out of the rest of her clothes, with a few exceptions. During the silence, she contemplated her story as well. She wondered what would have happened had she won that bet, or if she hadn't bet her ship at all. Would she even be in this situation? Her mind filled with possibilities.

Meanwhile, Carth had fallen asleep in his chair. His relaxed snores were quieter than the last time that they were heard; as a result, Nace couldn't hear them through the 'fresher door. She was surprised to see him resting in the chair when she came out of the room. Despite herself, and the surprise, she smiled slightly -- she thought that Carth looked cute while he slept.

With a lack of things to do, Nace did the only thing that she could -- go to bed. Resting on her mattress, she listened to all of the sounds in the apartment: Carth's quiet and peaceful snoring, and apartment residents' feet hitting the floor in predictable, auditory patterns. She closed her eyes, relaxing her body, then felt something strange. As she found herself on the border of consciousness and unconsciousness, she felt something close to a connection with everything she heard, and, everything she didn't. She could feel the desperateness of the apartment residents, and the carefree emotions of their children; in that brief moment, she felt closely linked to everything.

But the moment passed abruptly, and the connection faded. Confused, but half-asleep, Nace briefly wondered if she would remember this in the morning. Her musing thoughts were short-lived, however, as sleep finally took her.


Nace woke to the muted sound of water running. Confused, she silently wondered why the water would be going. She had been using it the night previous -- did she forget to turn it off?

As soon as it had occurred to her that the water might have been running all night, Nace leapt out of bed. She hurried to the refresher door, anxious to stop the liquid from pouring out the tap. Wrenching the door open, she was met with a surprising and unexpected sight.

Standing beside the shower was Carth, who had just finished tying a towel around his mid-section; evidently he had been washing. He was just leaning into the cubicle to turn off the tap when Nace had burst in, hair a mess, expecting the 'fresher to be empty. At the abrupt sound, Carth's head snapped to face her direction, a look of complete and utter shock evident on his face. It didn't take him a very long time to react.

"What the-" Carth began, hands scrambling to make sure that he was properly covered. "Nace, what the frack?!"

Nace's jaw dropped further than she could ever remember it being before. In shock, she pointed helplessly, first at Carth, then at the running water, then in Carth's direction again. "You-" she stuttered, her face turning a bright shade of red, "you -- but the, the water-"

Carth's face, a similar shade of red, had an open mouth as well. "Get out," he told her firmly.

Nace, seemingly unable to comprehend, just stared at him.

"Nace, get the frack out of here! Right now!"

Nace scurried out of the refresher, dying of embarrassment. Knowing that she would be unable to face Carth once he exited the 'fresher, she made her way slowly to a corner, hiding her head between the two walls. A few moments later, she heard a door open, then close, accompanied by footsteps; she assumed that this was Carth.

Evidently, it was, because the next thing she heard was his voice. "So, uh… you like what you see?" Carth asked Nace cheekily, a grin wide on his face. He spread his arms outwards, away from his body, giving her a better view.

Turning around moodily, Nace stuttered, "No! Yes-" Seeing Carth's amused face caused her to stumble even further. "No! I uh -- maybe!" Noticing that Carth was using all of his will to keep from laughing set Nace over the edge. Thoroughly embarrassed, she stormed into the refresher, yelling, "I'm going to have a shower!"

Not quite finished his teasing, Carth shot back cheekily, "Can I have a look?"

"No!" Nace screamed. She then turned on the water and started singing to herself rather loudly, preventing Carth from putting in another word.


Disclaimer:

I own none of this, except for Nace.

Note:

I hope you guys enjoy this... I certainly had a fun time writing it. ;)