All recognizable dialog has been reprinted without permission, and I don't own it! ;)
Nar Shaddaa VI: Past Imperfect
The next morning, aboard the Lucky Strike...
When Corso woke up, the faint vibration beneath his body alerted him to the fact that he was on the ship and the softness under his cheek let him know he was reclining on his bunk.
Those were good things to know.
What wasn't so good was the fact that he couldn't quite remember how he'd gotten here. Well, that and the fact that it felt like a ronto was trying to stamp on his skull.
Okay, that's the last time I drink wine, he thought with a groan, hoping that Bowdaar wasn't in the crew-cabin to see his sorry state. Corso rolled on his side and reached for a pillow, thinking to cover his eyes and try to fade into blessed unconsciousness for a little while longer, but when he reached, reached and kept reaching – like the bunk was much bigger than he remembered – he knew something was really not right.
As he was trying to convince his eyes to crack open, he heard a feminine murmur and felt the bunk shift. The sound made his heart fall to his stomach, which was really bad because it was a rolling mess down there. When he did force his eyes to open, (after taking a second to be thankful of the dim light), he realized he wasn't in his bunk in the crew cabin.
He was in the captain's room.
And he wasn't alone.
Tannith was curled beside him, clutching one of her pillows to her cheek and still fast asleep. Even in the low light he could see that her makeup was smudged and her hair was tangled, but she was clothed. They both were, though he distinctly remembered wishing it was otherwise at more than one point last night.
Corso let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as more memories of the Garden started to trickle back: the sweet Corellian red wine that didn't taste that strong; Tan dancing in his arms, her body moving against his; the pulsing music and flashing lights that disoriented his senses; more wine; Tannith stumbling, him catching her and seeing the heat in her eyes as she asked him to kiss her...
It had been a kiss that left him hard and aching and wanting more, but he remembered their decision not to take things any farther than a dance, and he thought they'd each stuck to the resolution, given their mutually clothed, if rumpled, state.
It was the right decision not to take that step last night, when they were both drunk and not in their right minds. "Drunken gunplay" was fun and all, but he wanted their first time to be memorable. He was sentimental that way.
He was also old-fashioned, so he'd been told by guys like Skavak on more than one occasion, just because he thought that there should be more than sex between a man and a woman he cared for. And he cared for Tannith, more so than he'd ever cared for any woman, even Mellie.
Corso frowned at the name and the accompanying memory. He hadn't thought about his ex-fianceé in a long time, and even now he felt a weal of regret at the notion of how he'd left the dark-haired girl from back home. She was sweet and deserved better than what I gave her.
But the past was past; he'd learned it was necessary to put it behind him so he could move on with his life, especially when he had a distinct feeling that his future was lying beside him, snoring softly into her pillow.
For a second he was torn between leaving and letting her wake up in peace – and hopefully saving her from any embarrassment – or staying here and enjoying her presence, which was almost enough to make him forget the ronto stomping on his brain. Then Tan gave another murmur and her face turned towards him though her eyes remained closed. Corso smiled.
Who the hell was he kidding? He knew, undoubtedly, that he'd always choose to stay by her side.
Although...
A glance at his chrono showed that it was still pretty early, so he slipped out of bed and padded his way to the door – barefoot – to make his way through the silent ship to the galley, where he set a nice big pot of caf to brew. He grabbed two bottles of water and enough painkillers from the medbay for both him and Tan before heading back to the captain's cabin.
She was as he'd left her, and before he slipped back into her bed, Corso took a moment to pull the sheet over her torso to give her a bit more cover. After downing some painkillers and chugging his water, he laid against the other pillow and closed his eyes, hoping to drift off in spite of the damn ronto barreling around his head.
But even as the ronto's antics subsided, sleep didn't come. Thoughts of the past and present fluttered through his mind, along with questions about the future. What he shared with Tannith was still new and unfamiliar in a lot of ways and he wasn't sure what the next step was supposed to be.
Eventually he slipped into that hazy space between sleep and wakefulness. When he felt her moving again, he turned to see that she was watching him with those blue eyes of hers. For one moment he wondered if she'd be pissed that they'd slept together – well, not like that, but literally – then she yawned.
"Is that caf I smell?"
Stars, her voice was rough. Corso nodded and leaned over to bring up the second water bottle and the rest of the painkillers. "Here," he said, offering them to her as she sat up and wrapped the sheet around her torso. "These'll help in the meantime."
She thanked him and downed the meds and water, then smoothed out her hair and blinked around the cabin as if seeing it for the first time. "Did you...sleep here?"
"Far as I can tell," he replied, sitting cross-legged at the edge of her bed. "I don't think anything...uh...happened though."
"I think you're right." She sipped her water and ran her eyes across him, seeming lost in thought. "I don't remember much from last night."
"That makes two of us." He thumbed towards the door. "The caf should be ready in a few minutes. I think I'm hungover enough to actually want some of that Kor Vella stuff you love so much."
She chuckled and swallowed the last of the water. "It will help get you moving, though it won't do much for a headache. Thanks for playing medic, by the way."
He nodded. They sat quietly for a moment until he cleared his throat, causing her to look his way. "So you're...okay with me bein' here?"
"Of course I am," she replied. "I trust you, Corso. I know you wouldn't take advantage of me, and Force knows I haven't been exactly subtle about wanting to get you in bed. I mean..."
Her cheeks pinked and she trailed off, studying the empty bottle intently. Despite himself, Corso couldn't help but give a small smile at her words, though he schooled himself to appear calm. "The ship's quiet. Somehow, I think we're the first ones awake."
"Ugh. I feel like I could sleep for another week," she said, wincing. "Do you remember what time we got back?"
"Late." He frowned in thought. "Or early, dependin' on how you look at it."
Tannith smiled, but said nothing, and they sat without speaking for another minute or so while he considered how to say what he'd been thinking. It was no secret he sometimes had trouble finding the right words, so he'd found the best way to approach a situation was to just go for it.
Corso took a deep breath. "Tan, there's somethin' I want to run by you, if that's alright."
"Can it wait until I've had at least a tiny bit of caf?" She sounded a bit apprehensive.
"It won't take long," he said. "But if I don't say this now, I don't know when I'll get a chance."
"Okay." She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and regarded him expectantly.
He took one final second to collect his thoughts, (the rolling feeling had returned to his gut, but he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the hangover), before speaking. "I don't quite know how to do this with a lady like you, Tan." At her look of confusion he elaborated. "Court you, I mean."
Her eyes widened. "Court me...? Like...for marriage, one day?"
"No...sort of...you know, formally acknowledge our relationship," he said, sitting up and taking her hand in his own. "I don't know how it is on Corellia, but on Ord Mantell we had rules about this sort of thing. With my fianceé, I got permission from her father first, then had a few chaperoned dates between our families-"
Tan's hand tensed beneath his palm, and she shook her head rapidly, as if she was trying to clear it. "Wait...since when do you have a fianceé?"
Kriff. I probably shouldn't have mentioned Mellie right out of the hangar. "It was a long time ago, after I got back from the Peace Brigade, but before the Seps came..."
He trailed off and Tan nodded, though he couldn't quite read her expression. "Anyway, Mellie was from a neighboring farm; her family and mine had been long-time friends, and it was always kinda assumed that she and I would get hitched one day."
"Assumed?"
Corso nodded. "It's just how things worked, back home. Mellie and I didn't have much say in it all, but at the time it wasn't such a bad thing. She was...nice," he added, speaking quickly as Tan's lips had pursed in what he hoped was just curiosity. "We were kids, you know? When you're seventeen, everything's intense. We...uh..."
Heat crept from his neck and into his cheeks, reaching all the way to his hairline. He hadn't really meant to go over this particular aspect of his past, but here he apparently was.
Tannith's tone was dry. "Screwed like Lepis."
"Something like that." He sighed. "Like I said, we had chaperoned dates, but we were both...resourceful. We found lots of opportunities to be together. Alone."
Tan looked at him for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Corso...I don't mind that aspect, but I am pretty curious about the whole 'fianceé' part – specifically where she is now."
He wanted to tell her, but suddenly the words wouldn't come and he realized why he hadn't thought of Mellie in so long. Memories of the dark-haired girl were closely tied with memories of his home and family, all gone, and it was less painful not to dwell on them.
But the past had a way of rearing its head, especially when the future was in question. "I don't know where she is, now. I never saw her after my family died." Corso knew his voice had gone quiet, and he felt Tan squeeze his hand. "My whole world blew up and I just...ran."
"You left her?" Tannith sounded startled. "Corso...tell me you at least sent a note or something."
He shook his head and felt her hand lift from his. Neither spoke for a second before she exhaled; he glanced up to see that she was rubbing her forehead. "It's too early for this," she muttered, slipping off the bed and heading to the door. "And I need some fragging caffeine."
Corso's stomach sank. She was pissed; she was walking away. "Do you want me to leave?"
She paused with her hand on the door-panel, and gave him a startled look. "No...I just need some caf. I'll be right back."
Despite her words, he could read the tension in her body and knew she was upset. His better sense told him to let her go and give her space to think, but it was early and his brain wasn't working so well, and his instinct to fight for what he loved was too strong to ignore.
Corso got to his feet and stood before her. "I wish I'd let Mellie down more gently," he said earnestly. "But...what I felt for her wasn't even in the same galaxy as how I feel about you."
This was said as he met Tan's eyes again, and he noted that they briefly widened. "Not even close," he added. "I know it's different here, and I know we both want more, but this is the only way I know how to do this, and I want to do it right. Tannith Tainn, may I have permission to seek your hand?"
He held out his hand, palm up, fingers outstretched, a symbolic gesture that was as deeply ingrained in him as a love of open sky, and watched as she looked at it. For a long, long moment she simply stared, then she met his eyes.
"I don't like what you did, that you left this other girl like that," she said quietly, and his heart began to race. "Not that I wish you'd stayed with her, but it...it doesn't sit right with me."
"Me either." The ronto returned, only now it was stomping on his stomach instead of his brain.
Tan sighed, and he watched the edges of her mouth curl upward a tiny bit. "But a really amazing guy once told me the past doesn't matter as much as the present, or the future." She lifted her own hand and rested her fingers in his. "And it's not fair of me to judge you for something that happened so long ago. What matters is that you're a good man, Corso Riggs."
"Glad you think so," he replied, willing his heart to slow down. "So...?"
Tannith laced their fingers together. "We're a lot less...formal on Corellia. If 'courting' means roses, love letters, and sneaking kisses before we're supposed to, I'm all for it."
His breath caught. "So...that's a 'yes'?"
She rolled her eyes even as she moved closer, wrapping one hand around his waist while keeping the other joined with his. "Yes, it's a 'yes.'"
Relief swept through his entire body, quieting the ronto while somehow increasing the pace of his heart. "I'll work on the roses and the love letters." He brushed his lips against hers. "The rest I think we can manage..."
The kiss was brief; neither of them had apparently brushed their teeth last night before drunkenly stumbling into her bed. When they parted, she gave him a wry look before reaching for the door-panel again. "Okay, after this I definitely need some caf."
The door slid open. She stepped through, but paused at the other side of the threshold to look back his way. "Are you coming?"
Corso stepped forward to his customary place at her side. "Lead on."
A/N: Hopefully this isn't too repetitive after the "Sparkles" conversation, but it seems like Corso (in-game) wants to sort of formalize the relationship, so I wanted to bring that in. My understanding of the whole courtship thing in this context is that it's more like a "we're officially dating" convo than a "we're engaged to be married" decision.
There's also the question of Corso's fianceé, which I think is an interesting development, (talk about a "record scratch" moment!) one that I will follow up with later on. For those of you not familiar with the game, the name "Mellie" is not canon; his fianceé is mentioned, but never named.
I tried not to make this overly-angsty. :P Please let me know how I did!
Thank you for reading!
Next up: LOL'ing in the GFFA. (Not quite, but I couldn't resist the text-speak.)