Juran grabbed Corso as they were finishing getting the hold settled. "Ryli's on the holo for you."

Corso grinned and then paused, "But I should help with this."

"Nah, we got it, go talk to her."

Corso clapped a hand on Juran's shoulder in thanks and headed to the terminal.

Ryli's body was sort of shifting as she waited for him and he watched her for a moment before he stepped into range.

She smiled at him. "Hey."

"Hey. What's up?" he asked.

"Are you on your way back?"

"About to leave. Everything okay?"

Ryli's face looked kind of abashed. "I sent you that list; we can go over it together when you get back."

Corso felt himself blush and nodded. "I'll take a look."

She looked behind her, "Risha just got back; call me again soon, okay?"

"I will." He looked at her a moment and then said, "I love you."

She flashed him a grin and said, "I love you too," before she cut the connection.

Corso hunted for some privacy on the ship and found it in the crew quarters. He pulled up her list and started at the top.

By the time he'd gotten four suggestions in he was blushing so badly he was relieved he was alone. He shifted uncomfortably, as his raging erection wasn't helping. The thought of Ryli in lingerie was driving him to distraction. Something he bought for her, something only he saw her in. He had the sudden urge to find a shop right away. He had no idea what color would look good on her, but he could probably ask Risha or, less embarrassingly, Juran.

His eyes drifted to the sixth suggestion. He gulped.

They'd have to talk about that one. He wasn't real comfortable with the idea of being tied down. He tried to see a good side to it, but he enjoyed touching her too much. His eyes flickered to her note and he got a sudden mental image of her tied to the bed. He was torn on that one. On one hand, tying her up like that so she couldn't tease him and get him all worked up was appealing, but on the other, he didn't feel real good about actually tying her up. If she liked it though, he could try it. She did write wrists only. He swallowed hard, the rest of the list was bound to be worse.

He looked back at the list. Blindfolds weren't terrible. He could stand that. He'd mentioned his fascination with tasting things off of her, so that was no surprise. The next one surprised him. She wanted him to be more aggressive? That wasn't too crazy. He couldn't push her around, but chasing her around the ship sounded fun. They'd kind of done that already that morning after she told him she loved him. Yeah, okay, chasing her sounds like a lot of fun.

His eyes hit the last one and he was so mortified, he almost fell over. She wants to watch you do that?

Juran called him and he shut the list down quickly, stumbling towards the door.

"Everything is settled away," Juran told him. "We're on course back to Nar Shaddaa now."

Corso nodded and blushed, "Ah, Juran. You're probably not the best person to ask this question, but would know what size Ry is?"

"For clothing?"

"Yeah, and uh, some colors that would look good on her?"

"Nope, I'm terrible with that stuff. Geo might be good with it though."

"D'you think maybe he'd help me with a quick trip into town?"

"Ask him. Actually, come join us, I want to talk to you about some stuff."

"Sure thing," he followed Juran down the hallway of the oddly shaped ship to the room they seemed to use for hanging out. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"It's just me, Geotre and Adla, my tech, right now. Adla is on Nar Shaddaa for a few days with a dancer he knows. I hire the rest as I need them."

Juran poured them all drinks, handing Corso a shot glass also and they sank into the chairs. Corso took a sip of the glass and looked at it, "That actually tastes nice, what is this?"

"A blend of stuff," murmured Geotre.

Juran poured them all a shot, which he made them do. He poured them a second and made them hold it up in a toast as he said, "I want to do the normal, if-you-hurt-her-I'll-kill-you speech, but I don't think you would. If you do, yada yada. But I'm glad you're the one who ended up with her and here's to you two."

Corso grinned and tossed the shot back with the other two.

Juran poured them another shot and then sighed, "And now I want you to tell me everything that happened with that son of a bitch."

Corso swallowed the shot quickly and sipped from his drink as he quietly started to talk about that day. How she'd been taken, how he'd found out where she'd been taken, walking in on her standing over Damiar in her ripped clothing.

Juran's hand tightened on the glass at that. "I forgot how much he liked to make her cry. He'd rip something she bought special just to see it."

In order to deal with that comment, Corso held his glass out for another shot and Juran poured one for all of them. He tossed his shot back, followed by Juran. Juran gestured for Corso to continue. Corso talked about getting her back to the ship and how afraid he'd been that she was in shock. He let his story trail off and they all sat there. Juran looked haunted and Geotre had a fierce look on his face.

"The one thing I don't understand, Juran, is why she stayed. She's so strong, but she stayed."

Geotre spoke up at that, his soft voice seeming loud in the space. "Because you're convinced they're the only one who will love you."

Juran and Corso both blinked at him, but then Juran caught Geotre's hand and kissed it.

Geotre smiled at him and went on, "Did Juran ever tell you how we met?"

Corso shook his head.

Juran poured them all more shots. Geotre paused to do his. "I wasn't as bad off as Ryli was, nothing close to what she went through, but I was in an abusive relationship also. Juran ran into me one night at a bar and we got to talking. He says it was love at first sight," Geotre smiled affectionately at Juran. "But it took me longer. He took me that night to the hospital, came back to check on me the next morning and helped me move out."

Geotre paused and then shrugged, "I was reluctant to date him after I met Ryli."

Corso was confused and the alcohol was definitely making it's way through his system. "Because of Ry? Why?" He had a momentary amusement at the rhyme.

"I felt like he was rescuing me because he couldn't rescue her."

Corso blinked at Juran, who shrugged back at him. "Took me awhile to convince him otherwise," said Juran, pouring them all another shot and grinning. "And there's a chance he was right. Doesn't make me love him any less."

"But my point here," said Geotre. "Is that you believe you deserve what's happening to you or you think they love you or there won't be anyone else or sometimes you just give up." Geotre took a sip of his drink, "Sometimes there's other reasons, but she did get away and she did find you." Geotre patted Juran's hand.

Corso nodded, his eyes blurring for a second with tears. He was definitely drunk and he thought that she should have added 'getting drunk together' on the list. He could easily handle some of those other suggestions with a few drinks in him.

"Thanks, Geo," Corso said.

Geotre nodded and ducked his head. Juran leaned back against the couch. "Didn't you want to ask Geo something else? I vaguely remember.."

"Oh yeah, I was hoping you could help me pick some stuff out for Ry."

"What kind of stuff?"

The alcohol made Corso far less embarrassed, although he did still blush, "Well, uh, I wanted to get her some lingerie. I have no idea what colors or size I should get her though and I didn't want to ask Risha because she'd make me embarrassed about it."

Geotre thought a moment and then nodded, "I could help you. I know a few places on Nar Shaddaa, but you'll have to check her clothes for the right size. Colors though, that's not hard."

Juran offered, "She does have a lot of purple in her wardrobe."

Geotre nodded, "Or black, to match her tattoos. I wouldn't do green unless you can hold it against her skin. Ivory or blue would work. Reds are going to be tricky with her skin tone also."

Corso looked down into his glass. "I like purple or black," he said. He gulped, "Actually, ah, we've been talking about making a more permanent connection, when she's ready."

"Like getting married?" said Juran.

"No, you know how she feels about that." Juran made a face. Corso hesitated, "Not sure what we're going to do. I just wanted your approval first, kind of." He talked more quickly, "Not like your permission, but-"

"I know what you mean and you've got it." Juran nodded. He added thickly, "I'd like to be there, when whatever happens, happens."

"I'll try, Juran. It's up to her now."

"You've been so good for her," Juran said.

They clapped hands on each other's shoulders and then Corso looked over to see Geotre roll his eyes. "A couple of drinks in you two and I feel like going out with Risha and Ryli would have been less sappy."

Corso nodded sagely, "It probably would be, Rish isn't much for sappy."

Geotre giggled and rolled his eyes again. "I'm going to check the course."