A/N: Once again, I apologize for the long delay. However, thanks to nanowrimo, I have four more chapters roughed out, and once I clean them up, I'll start posting the rest of them. For those of you who are wondering, this fic isn't finished, and there will probably be eleven or twelve more chapters to this story.
Common Ground
Chapter 11 – Stormy Weather
It was the feel of Morgana's warm, soft skin sliding against his own that nudged Carth awake, but it took him several drowsy seconds to realize that she was getting out of bed. Spurred into action, Carth draped his arm around her curvaceous waist, pulled her back against his body, and decided that waking up with Morgana in his bed was far more enjoyable than waking up with a hangover and idiot friends in his bedroom. In fact, it was pretty damn fantastic.
Morgana chuckled. "I was trying not to wake you, but I have to go. Class starts in an hour."
"Trying to sneak out of here, were you?" Carth buried his face in her hair and nuzzled her neck; the soft sigh that fell from her lips made his blood burn. His strong hands slid over her body, while his own responded to her nearness. "Skip it, and stay with me this morning," he murmured.
Morgana groaned. "I can't. I'd love to stay, but I have to teach a class. Besides, they're going to announce the winner of my grant this afternoon."
Carth didn't let up on his assault; he just changed tactics and appealed to her practical side while nibbling on her ear. "Let me drive you to class. That'll give us more time to…" His voice dropped low as his hands wandered, and he told her exactly what he wanted to do.
He smirked when he saw the flush creep up her cheeks, and when she didn't protest further, he knew he'd won. For the next hour, he basked in his victory before dropping her off at the university. Over an hour later, he watched her rush to her class, grinning.
Life was very, very good.
For the second time ever, Morgana was late to class. She walked down the steps of the lecture hall amongst the knowing glances and smirks of her students, wishing that she were anywhere in the galaxy but in this classroom. Breathless and embarrassed, she piled her datapads on the podium as though she were building a wall between herself and her students, mentally cursing all handsome pilots and their unfair methods of persuasion.
Thinking of Carth and the reason why she was late for this class turned her cheeks from bright pink to deep crimson, which in turn increased the speculative stares of her students. After several extremely long and drawn-out seconds where Morgana seriously contemplated running for the door, by some miracle she blurted out the first few words of her lecture.
Eventually, the familiar routine of crunching numbers soothed her enough for her stumble through the class, the way she always did. As she brought the lecture to its close two hours later, she swore silently to herself that once this term was over, she was never, ever going to teach another class, or allow herself to be so distracted by a man that she'd ever be late again. But then she knew she wouldn't have to, since today was the day she was going to get her grant, and after that, she wouldn't have to indulge lazy, pretentious and arrogant professors ever again.
Morgana stifled a reflexive sigh of relief when her students started filing out the door, but the usual unwinding of tension that happened when her lecture was over didn't come. The announcement was going to happen in just an hour, and she couldn't contain her excitement.
By the time she'd neatly stacked her datapads and packed them away carefully in her satchel, Nabat was rushing past the line of exiting students, practically twitching, a huge goofy grin plastered on her face. Frowning, Morgana wondered why her friend was here; usually they didn't meet until after her seminar class in the afternoon.
But before she could ask, Nabat strolled up, her dark eyes taking in every detail of Morgana's appearance, and although it was a struggle, Morgana managed not to fidget under her friend's open scrutiny. Instead, she opted to try for calm indifference.
"Ana," Nabat drawled in a casual tone that told Morgana she was in for an interrogation, "aren't those the same clothes you wore yesterday?"
Any attempt at a prim calmness shattered when Morgana flushed, feeling for all the world like she was seven and had just been caught tearing her father's speeder apart again, and stuttered, "I- Ah-"
Because of Carth's extremely effective methods of persuasion, she hadn't had the time to go home and get a different set of clothes the way she'd planned; she'd had to settle for sending them quickly through the 'fresher at his apartment. But at least they were clean. She'd assumed that no one would even notice, since most of the engineering students who were her peers usually had their heads buried in engines and equations. Nabat was a different story entirely.
Nabat let Morgana fumble for some kind of explanation for a few seconds before her smile grew even wider. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the reason you disappeared all day yesterday and didn't come home last night, would it? Possibly something to do with that pilot of yours?"
Drat.
Morgana knew it was impossible to fool Nabat about this, but she really didn't want to reveal all the details of last night, even to her best friend. It was private and special and unbelievably wonderful, and she didn't want to share it with anyone other than Carth.
"Maybe," Morgana murmured, desperately trying to think of a way to put off the inevitable assault of questions. But Morgana rebelled anyway, even though she knew that Nabat wouldn't be satisfied until she at least threw her a bone.
Nabat rolled her eyes. "Maybe," she mimicked, before her control broke. "Come on, spill it. Did you finally sleep with him or not?"
Morgana lifted her chin and plastered the coolest and primmest look that she could muster on her face. Sadly, the effect was completely spoiled by her bright red cheeks. It didn't help that she could still feel his strong hands on her skin and the way he made her feel like the most special woman on Corellia.
Still, it was aggravating to be grilled, even by Nabat. Taking a firm grasp on her quickly retreating patience, Morgana answered as firmly as she could. "Nabat, that's none of your business."
Unsurprisingly, it didn't phase Nabat even slightly. "You finally slept with him, didn't you?" Nabat's question, which was more like a declaration, was so loud that Morgana could practically feel the heads of the lingering students still in the classroom snap to look at the two of them. Morgana simply gaped while her friend practically shouted, "It's about damn time!"
Horrified by Nabat's loud exuberance, Morgana tossed her book bag over her shoulder and headed for the hall, ignoring the open interest that her students didn't even bother to hide. Undaunted, Nabat dropped into step right next to her.
"Why don't you just say that a little louder? I don't think all my students heard you," Morgana hissed.
In typical Nabat fashion, she simply ignored Morgana's indignant frown, waving it off with one red hand. "Who cares what they think?" Nabat's knowing grin returned, setting Morgana's nerves, which were already frayed from the unexpected attention, on edge. "I was wondering when the two of you were going to finally get around to jumping each other. I thought the two of you were going to explode. I don't think I've ever seen two people that sexually frustrated before."
Morgana made a small choking sound. She had thought she'd concealed how badly she'd wanted him over the past weeks rather well…but apparently not. Nabat continued, smirking. "So… how was he?"
Face burning, Morgana picked up her pace in the futile hope that her friend would take the hint and leave her alone. Unfortunately, she was almost a head shorter than her tall friend, and Nabat didn't have any problem keeping up.
"Nabat! I'm not going to tell you that!"
If Nabat had eyebrows, Morgana was sure she would be waggling them now. Instead her lekku curled in an extremely suggestive gesture while Nabat nodded sagely. "Pretty fantastic, huh? I thought he would be."
Despite her burning mortification, Morgana couldn't help but laugh. Nabat was so enthusiastic and gleeful that she couldn't keep hold of her irritation for long. "Yes, he was fantastic, okay? Absolutely spectacular." Nabat opened her mouth to bombard her with more questions, but Morgana cut her off. "And I'm not telling you more than that."
Nabat was not so easily put off, and predictably, Morgana's admission only fueled the nosy Twi'lek's desire to know all the sordid details. Through the entire lunch hour, Nabat pestered Morgana with embarrassingly specific questions about size, stamina and creativity that Morgana did her best to ignore and evade. Even though she constantly repeated that it was none of Nabat's business, that didn't stop her friend from trying.
But Morgana only listened with half an ear anyway; her jittery nerves and excitement over the upcoming announcement that was only minutes away occupied the majority of her attention. The seconds seemed to drag as she pushed food that held no interest for her around her plate. The anticipation coiling in her belly was nearly unbearable, but Morgana's daydreams about what she could do with the grant money, as well as Nabat's irritating pestering, helped take her mind off her nerves.
Finally, it was time to head over to the auditorium, where the annual grant winners would be announced. To her surprise, Nabat joined her, stating that there was no way in hell she was going to miss her best friend's most important moment. Even though Morgana didn't say so, since she was still annoyed with her friend's embarrassingly frank cross-examination, she was still touched by her friend's support.
The two of them settled into the cushy auditorium seats and waited for the announcements to begin. It seemed to take forever as students and professors trickled in bit by bit, and Morgana quashed the urge to fidget. However, she couldn't stop her hands from involuntarily wringing, and the nervous knot in Morgana's belly seemed to get tighter and tighter with every passing second.
Her agitation was obvious, especially to someone who knew her as well as Nabat. The Twi'lek grabbed her hands to stop the wringing and shot her a reassuring smile. "Hey, relax. Everyone knows this grant is yours, Ana."
But it wasn't hers yet… at least until they made the announcement. Morgana knew that her work was leaps and bounds above her peers, and she comforted herself with that thought. This moment was both exciting and terrifying, and she wanted it to be over as soon as possible, so that she could finally put the plans she'd been dreaming about for years into action.
Even so, she couldn't stop herself from wringing her hands, nor could she focus on Nabat's constant chatter, at least until Nabat said, "Hey, isn't that Brell?"
Nabat nodded to the door, and Morgana's eyes raked over the bruised and battered man that limped into the room. For a second, she didn't recognize him. But with a shock, she realized that Nabat was right. Underneath the healing cuts and bruises was Brell's handsome face.
"I wonder what the hell happened to him." Nabat's eyes lit up with glee. "Ooh. Maybe your pilot kicked his ass!" The glee quickly turned to stern accusation. "Why didn't you tell me? I've been waiting for that for years! I wanted to watch, dammit."
"No. Carth didn't… I mean, he couldn't…" The words died on her lips as she started to put the pieces together: Carth's bruises, the fact that he'd gotten into a barfight, and everything began to make horrible sense.
No. Carth wouldn't have lied. Brell must have been in a speeder accident. Or fallen down the stairs…
Except that it was too coincidental. They both had wanted to fight, and now they were both bruised and injured. And the truth became crystal clear.
He lied to me, and I'm a stupid, stupid fool.
Gleeful curiosity overwhelming her, Nabat bolted out of her seat and began to pester some of the other grad students who were sitting in the auditorium for the dirt on Brell's injuries. Morgana just sat dumbly in her seat as an icy fury settled over her.
He'd lied. Not directly, but by omission, and she'd been stupid and foolish enough not to see what was right before her eyes.
When Nabat returned, the gossip poured from her lips, confirming Morgana's angry conclusion. "Okay. Word is that he went looking for your pilot last night and totally got his ass kicked." Nabat shot a speculative look over at Brell, and a malicious grin twisted her lips. "Although Brell's denying the whole thing. He probably doesn't want anyone to know how big of a pansy he is. Or sully his good boy reputation."
Morgana was too furious to even respond, but she didn't have to because Professor Obrin took the podium. The program began and the announcements started, and five minutes later, Morgana's life completely fell apart.
For the balance of the morning and the early afternoon, Carth couldn't seem to wipe away the goofy grin that was plastered across his face. All day long, he simply grinned like an idiot, not even caring very much when his friends decided to rib him during lunch in the officers' mess. Dustil bugged him incessantly all throughout lunch for all of the gory details of what had happened yesterday, and when Carth refused to kiss and tell, stomped off in indignation. Jordo, thankfully, was far more reasonable, keeping his reaction to knowing smiles and a congratulatory remark. Despite the sarcasm, both of his friends seemed to be genuinely happy for him, even if they were annoyed at him for skipping another swoop race yesterday, in order to spend more time naked and alone with Morgana.
Which was what he was hoping to achieve at the moment. He knew that the announcement for her grant was today, so he was hoping to catch her after her afternoon class, and spend the last few hours before he had to go back on duty celebrating with her, and so he'd sped back over to the university and waited outside the doors of her seminar class.
But when her afternoon seminar let out, Morgana didn't come out the door with the other grad students. Carth took a quick peek inside the room, where her stuffy professor was engaged in an extremely heated argument with Brell, of all people. The engineer's still bruised and battered face turned crimson as the argument heated up.
"I can't believe you, Professor. How could the grant board do that? It's completely unfair."
Outraged that someone had questioned his brilliance, the professor puffed out his chest and responded, "Our decision was hardly unfair. It was based on a variety of factors. Past performance, future project potential, socialization…"
Brell's temper completely snapped. "That's fracking banthashit and you know it. There isn't anyone who's worked harder or done anything that innovative in the last twenty years."
The professor began to drone on about things that Carth couldn't even begin to follow; Carth decided that he'd caused enough trouble in that direction already, and retreated before Brell could notice him.
But now he was worried. Morgana had been absolutely adamant about going to her classes, not only because the announcement was supposed to be today, but because she seemed to genuinely find it difficult to enjoy skipping them. He couldn't imagine that she would skip a third class in three days, unless there was something almost life-threatening in the balance. Panic began to set in.
He made a quick stop at a public comm terminal and punched in the codes for her house. She didn't answer, but a very worried-looking Nabat did after almost a minute and a half.
"Hey, Nabat. I-"
The Twi'lek didn't even wait for him to get his greeting out. Her ghost-white image had barely flickered to life when she cut across his words. "Carth, you need to get over here right now."
Fear twisted into a giant and heavy lump in his belly. "What happened?"
"It's Morgana… she…" – her lekku twisted into a knot at the base of her throat – "…she needs you right now."
"Is she okay?"
"No, she's not okay." Nabat's eyes darted to the side, as though she were doing something clandestine against Morgana's wishes, although why Morgana would object to Nabat talking to him, he didn't quite understand.
Panic got the better of him, and he gripped the sides of the comm so tightly, the plaststeel creaked. "Dammit, is she hurt?"
"No. Not physically, anyway. Just get over here as fast as you can." With that cryptic remark, she cut the comm. Carth just stood frozen for a few seconds as he wracked his brain, trying to figure out what could possibly be that bad, before he started jogging to his speeder.
Horrible scenarios flashed through his mind, of relatives dying or someone attacking her, so that by the time he got to her house, he was in a full-blown panic. Sloppily parking his speeder on the side of the street, he sprinted up to the house, where Nabat was already waiting for him at the front door.
"She's out back in the garage. But, Carth, wait-" But Carth couldn't wait any longer, because he had to see for himself that she was okay. So he charged almost at a full run around the house to the garage, ignoring Nabat's warning shouts from behind him.
He burst into the garage, breathless, to see her sitting on a stool next to her workbench with her face in her hands. Carth's stomach plummeted as he took in Morgana's trembling shoulders and hitched sobs, and he swore that whoever made her cry like that was going to have a date with his fists.
"What's wrong? What happened, kitten?" he asked as he rushed to her side. When he cupped her face in his strong hands, she unexpectedly jerked away. It was the last reaction he expected, and it confused the hell out of him.
Her red-rimmed eyes bored into him, and the silent accusation was written all over her face. She wiped her eyes with the back of one of her shaking hands, and he could see her struggling to pull herself together. Carth's protective instincts flared up and made him want to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her until everything was better. It also made him want to give whoever made her this upset a serious ass beating.
"I lost the grant." It was like she was completely numb, and she spoke to him in a toneless and even voice. "They gave my grant to someone else"
Carth's confusion and panic and anger melted away in a burst of relieved laughter. "Is that all?" He let out a breath and raked a hand through his thick hair. "Frack, Ana. I thought something horrible had happened to you."
Cold fury burned in her eyes as her face went from completely distraught to icy disdain. "It is horrible! I've lost everything that I've worked for!"
He reached for her again, but she hopped off the stool and backed away. Confused as to why she kept pulling away from him, he fumbled for something comforting to say. "Ana. It's not that bad. You're brilliant. There will be other grants, other opportunities-"
"Not like this one there won't be. This was a lot of money, and a one-time chance for me. I could have funded my dream projects for the rest of my life with it. And I blew it. I blew two years of working sixteen-hour days, because I was busy worrying and mooning over a thug like you."
Morgana said it in such a calm and matter-of-fact way that her words cut right through his soul, and he couldn't do anything except stare at her, hurt and stupefied. His temper finally kicked in.
"What?"
She shook her head as more hurtful things poured from her lips. "I knew that getting involved with you was a mistake, but I was stupid and ignored my common sense. I can't believe that I wasted time on you, when I should have been spending more time on my project, making it better, polishing it up."
"You can't mean that. You can't mean that we're a waste of time. That… that I'm not as important as one stupid fracking grant to you!"
"You hit him." The contempt in her voice and on her face made him physically ill. "You got into a fight with him, like some street thug, after I asked you not to. How could you?"
Carth almost backpedaled, but then his temper got the better of him. He crossed his arms over his chest, deciding that he had nothing to apologize for, even though somewhere in the back of his mind, it was beginning to occur to him that she might have a point. "He had it coming."
"What are you? Twelve or something? What's the matter with you?"
"It's not like he's innocent. He came looking for me! Brell wanted that fight as much as I did."
"That's not the point. You lied. You lied to me. You had all day yesterday to tell me and you didn't!" For a second, her icy composure cracked, and he could see the pain that he'd inadvertently caused flash through her eyes. But then it was gone again as she found control, and she blasted him in that hurtfully cold and calm voice. It would have been far, far better had she broken down and yelled at him.
"I feel like such an idiot. Here I was worried about you because you were hurt, and it was really because you were fighting with him like a schoolyard bully."
"Look, I know you're upset, but I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that you're so upset. I should have told you yesterday, but I was afraid you wouldn't understand why I had to do it, and I didn't want to spoil anything-"
She jerked as though he'd just slapped her, and ice dripped from her voice. "Is that why you didn't tell me yesterday? Because the truth would have screwed up your chance to get fracked?"
"It's not like that, and you know it! You mean everything to me." How she could possibly believe that, especially after what they had shared yesterday, he didn't understand. It was more than just sex — he was absolutely crazy about her, and it hurt like hell that she couldn't see that.
"You're not sorry that you did it. You're just sorry you got caught." Carth didn't know what to say to that, because there was too much truth for comfort in that statement. "I thought you were a nice man, but you're worse than he is. And I wasted my time on you. I should have been working more, but instead I was spending time with an unruly child."
"How can you say that?" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly, his frustration getting the better of him. "How can you say that what we have is a waste of time?"
Morgana shook him off and lifted her chin, her mouth settling into a thin, hard line. "Because it is. Because being with an immature liar isn't more important than my future."
Carth's next words shocked the hell out of both of them. He didn't even realize that it was true, until he spoke them. "But I love you, dammit! Doesn't that matter at all?"
Silence fell between them, and her face grew even more hard and blank. "No, it doesn't. Even if you hadn't lied, I shouldn't have spent time with you. I should have focused on my project, and not had my head in the clouds like some kind of stupid lovestruck schoolgirl. But that you lied made it so much worse. Just go away, and leave me alone."
Grinding his teeth in sheer frustration and anger, Carth simply stared at her in disbelief. But the warm and caring woman that he'd come to love was nowhere in sight; instead, a cold and angry woman stood before him – someone he didn't even recognize. Despair and frustration clawed through him and he clenched his fists, and suppressed his urge to put his fists through the nearest wall.
In the back of his mind, he knew that this was partially his fault, but he'd poured his guts out to her, admitted that he loved her, and she didn't even care. All she cared about was that stupid fracking grant.
"Fine. If your stupid grant means more to you than I do, then I'll go. But I love you, Ana. Too bad all you love are your engines."
Hurt more than he ever thought possible, Carth squared his shoulders and stalked out the door, cursing loudly but not looking back.
