Chapter 22.

Last edited on February 25th, 2014. Cheers and enjoy, as always.

Two Months Later…

Torian eyed the snow, he did not care for Hoth with all its ice and cold. He cared for it even less since the Imperials had only given Raidre and her crew one thermal shield for this weather. They were four but they only got one shield. He leaned on the side of the cock pit window wrapped in all the clothing he owned in an attempt to keep warm, but all he could think about was that somewhere out there, Raidre was running around. Yes, she had Gault to back her up, and he was solid, but he was also a wimp with this weather. She never told him, but Torian knew that when she went out with Gault or Mako, Raidre would pass them the thermal shield and take the cold upon herself. He hated it when she went out without him.

He was starting to hate her going out without him regardless of the reason.

He inhaled deep as he closed his eyes, he could still smell her scent on the pilot's seat. He pulled away from the area and made his way back to the galley in an attempt to change his mind, but the only distraction he could find was Mako sipping on tea.

"Going stir crazy already?"

Torian grunted and sat down across from her, arms crossed on his plated chest. His armor kept him warmer than all the clothes and covers combined. Mako brought her warm beverage to her face, hands wrapped around the cup to maximise her intake of its heat. She sipped at it, the liquid barely gracing the tips of her lips before her eyes focused back on Torian.

"Okay, spit it out?"

Torian frowned at her, opening his eyes and looking up.

"You never come to see me unless you want me to distract you from something, what is it?"

Torian couldn't help the look of surprise, when had Mako bothered paying attention to what he did? He blinked twice before answering, buying himself time to decide on his words. Women could be, difficult.

"Not thrilled by the cold."

Mako quirked a brow at him as she rubbed her hands around her cups, as if the extra friction from the motion would make her hands any warmer than the near to boiling hot beverage could.

"That's not it."

Torian shrugged as he opted to close his eyes again, letting his chin rest on his chest plate.

"Galley's the warmest room on the ship."

He couldn't see her nod, but he felt her agreement.

"Fine."

Mako sat in silence, which was rare for her. But then again, Mako's peace with Torian was tentative. Ever since he had shot her down she'd felt awkward around him. He was so quiet and tended to keep to himself. It had made it very hard for her to get to know him. She eyed him now, attempting to nap in his chair. Torian was a stoic warrior, he almost never lost his cool… Except maybe that time on Balmorra when Raidre had come back with a nasty tear of her right quads? Mako smiled as she recalled the fight, Torian had come so close to decking Gault in the face. If she had learned anything about Torian and his Mandalorian culture is that they took responsibility to a whole new level.

As Mako thought about it, the only times Torian seemed to lose his cool. It had always been about Raidre. She eyed him now, silent and as relaxed as he ever got when their captain was not around. Truth be told, if Mako had to peg it, she would say Torian was in love with Raidre. She didn't think it was anything personal, but the most she ever saw Torian talk was when Raidre was around. He only ever shared when she was around, and even that wasn't all that much. He had become that quiet and calm presence on the ship. You always knew he was around even though he rarely said anything. He was a real specimen of manhood, he could have any girl he wanted and she was happy for Raidre, but why were things moving so slowly between the two of them? Mako sighed as she accepted that she couldn't understand the dynamics of their tentative relationship.

Mako stood and poured him a drink of the tea she had made. He never looked up or eyed her. At first, he always sat with his back to a wall and his eyes on everyone. It was only recently that he had started relaxing that habit.

Raidre had laughed when Mako had brought it up. Apparently this was normal behavior for Mandalorians, it struck Mako as being exceptionally suspicious to the point of paranoia.

Mako set the mug down in front of Torian, who opened his eyes, he inhaled and his eyes met hers. Mako knew better now, if she wanted Torian to touch anything, it had to be spicy. Really spicy. Lucky for her, Raidre had this awesome recipe for a mulled cinnamon apple tea, which was just spicy enough for him without killing her. That and the recipe was easy enough for her to follow.

"Drink up."

Torian nodded and unfolded himself. "Thanks."

Mako sat back down and began to take actual sips of the tea, its warmth was beyond welcome.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?"

Torian only gave her a brief glance before shrugging and bringing his focus back to the beverage. "Them."

Mako snickered. "You're not seriously going to try and convince me that you're worried about Gault, are you?"

Torian made a face as if to say:"Yea, you're right, that would be stupid." But he never actually said anything. Mako sighed and took another sip.

"You realize a conversation requires two people to talk, right?"

That got a reaction out of him, she couldn't decide whether it was surprise or shock or just both at the same time. One thing was for sure though, whatever his expression was it looked uncomfortable.

"What do you want to talk about?"

That was the most open he had ever been with her, Mako seized her opportunity. "Tell me about yourself."

Torian frowned. "Not much to tell."

Mako pouted. "Come on! You're not even going to try?!"

Torian looked so dead-pan. "Nope."

Mako rolled her eyes as she exhaled loudly. "So then why are you still here?"

Torian smiled, and it annoyed her even more because Mako knew that he found her cute, and apparently for Mandalorians, it wasn't good to be thought of as cute.

"Warmest room, Mako."

"Tuning you out now!"

Torian just chuckled as he took a sip. Mako groaned and pulled her datapad out and began to browse. She lasted all of five minutes before she sighed.

"You're distracting me!"

Torian actually laughed at her. Mako was too busy being shocked that he could laugh to be annoyed by it.

"You're not very good at this."

Mako frowned as she shook the shock out of her mind. "Why are you still here?"

Torian laughed again. "Warmest room?"

Mako sighed. "If you're going to hang out, the polite thing to do is to talk to the person you're with."

Torian sighed. "Something on your mind?"

"No."

Torian just gave her an intense stare. Oh, he knew!

"Mako."

Mako pouted and held her tongue… For fifteen seconds before spilling the beans.

"When does the sun set on Hoth?"

Torian frowned and checked his chrono, which caused those little lines between his brows to appear, they only showed up when he was genuinely worried.

"In ten minutes."

Mako nodded. "They should have been back by now, no?"

Torian stood without another word, Mako followed as he stalked into the cargo bay.

"Torian, what are you doing?"

Torian was pulling out his kit for outside as she hovered around him.

"Going to look."

Mako frowned. "Without the thermal shield, you can't stay out there for more than 25 maybe 30 minutes tops…"

Torian frowned at her. "How long have they been out there for?"

Mako bit her lower lip. "A lot longer than that."

Torian looked away as if that was answer enough, he continued to gear up, Mako fidgeted not knowing what to do. She had brought it up because she was worried, but it worried her that he was just going to go out there to look too. Mako was debating what to do when the cargo bay opened and Gault walked in. Mako held her breath, but the doors closed behind the Devaronian.

"Gault."

He looked up and removed his helmet. "Yes, Mako?"

Mako felt panicked now. "Where's Raidre?"

The tension was awful. Mako felt fear for the first time since she had teamed up with Raidre on Hutta. She was also eying Torian because she had never seen the muscles of his jaw dance underneath his skin as they were right now. She could feel the anger just radiating off him and that too was scary because this was not typical Torian-behavior.

"Answer."

Gault laughed to ease the tension. "Well, you see-"

Torian didn't bother listening to Gault's explanation, the Mandalorian stood and pulled Gault's layers up to look at the shield generator at his belt. Once he saw it, Torian snarled. Mako had never heard him do that. Torian ripped off what looked like the Imperial Thermal shield. Mako gasped.

"You left her out there when you have this?!"

Mako's hands came to her lips. "Gault, when did you get separated?!"

Gault looked real uncomfortable now. "The Wampas ambushed us-"

"When!?"

Mako and Gault both were silenced as they heard Torian raise his voice for the first time since their having adopted him into their 'family'. Mako took Gault's shoulders in her hands.

"Gault, he needs to know."

Gault sighed. "Maybe an hour ago."

Without another word, Torian marched out with the thermal shield on. The two watched his departure, guilt etched on Gault's face while worry knitted Mako's.