"A suite? How much ya wanna bet it's a torture chamber?" Mara asked as they were going to their quarters.
"I dunno, maybe they will give us a suite. After all, we're sorta going to be their 'seconds-in-command'." Luke said.
"Hmm. Maybe."
"Quiet!" the guard that was holding the pittin ordered. Deedah was trying to bite his fingers off, but he was wearing gloves so it wasn't very effective. Nevertheless, he was getting very annoyed with the critter.
"Want me to hold her?" Luke offered.
"No, I can handle it," the guard said, trying to get her to release her teeth from his finger.
"Obviously," Mara muttered under her breath.
The guards in front stopped, and one punched in the code for their room. The door opened, and they pushed in a scantily clad Luke, a perturbed Mara, an angry pittin, and an overwhelmed Artoo, and then they left. Artoo whistled at the sight of the suite.
Mara and Luke's mouths gaped open as they beheld their new "quarters." There was a huge living room, complete with a dark blue sofa, a dark blue couch, a dark green love seat, and a dark green recliner. Next to the recliner was a small table with a lamp on it. In front of the love seat was a low, wide transparisteel table. There was also a holovid, which all the furniture was turned to face. Towards the back, on the right, was a small but complete kitchenette. To their left was a large viewport with a magnificent view of the stars. In the back, there was a small hallway which led to the bedroom, and beside the hallway was a picture of Tatooine's twin suns at sunset. There was, unfortunately, only one bed, and there was a small quaint bedside table to each side, complete with a small tasteful lamp on each one. Two large hand-crafted dressers completed the room, and to the side was a small 'fresher. The bed was decorated with a lovely mix of greens and blues, and over the bed was a lovely painting of a seaside landscape from Mara's planet. There was also a small viewport located to the left of the bed.
The pittin made herself instantly at home by curling up on the recliner, still saddened by the death of her mistress. Mara sighed and clunked herself down on the couch. Luke looked around for a minute, taking in his surroundings, and then he sank onto the recliner, only to jump up quickly after being bitten by an angry Deedah. He refrained from mumbling vivid obscenities and settled with giving the pittin a mean look. He sat down on the loveseat instead. They were all quiet for a while, surveying their new environment.
After a few minutes, the door whooshed open, and a Stormtrooper entered carrying an Imperial uniform for Luke to change into. In a metallic voice, he said, "Tomorrow morning we shall have more uniforms sent to each of you, and you will be expected to wear them. Tomorrow, you have the day off, except around midday when a few people will come and perform an operation on you and give one of you some sort of antidote. Later tonight, you'll be sent some dressclothes and nightclothes. There's going to be a banquet and ceremony honoring your joining the Imperial ranks and being promoted to Grand Admirals. You are required to attend and wear your complete dress uniform." The Stormtrooper's tone left no room for argument. He turned sharply on his heel and left the room, the door closing behind him.
Luke grabbed his clothes and swiftly walked into the bedroom, glancing behind him a bit red-faced.
Mara, not wanting to let him get away so easily, decided to pick on him again. "Hey, farmboy, I think you should just wear those boxers to the banquet."
Luke halted in the doorway and turned around, giving Mara an evil glare. "Just shut up, Mara."
Mara laughed. "Oh, has your ego been wounded?"
"Not as much as yours will be when I'm through with you."
Mara raised an eyebrow. "Oo, I'm scared."
"You better be," Luke growled, going into the bedroom and shutting the door. At least, he tried to, but Mara suddenly appeared behind him.
"What are you doing?" Luke asked Mara, perturbed.
"Simply trying to get a better look at the bedroom and all of its accomodations."
"And you just happened to get a sudden urge to look at it all when I'm ready to change?"
Mara replied with a twinkle in her eyes, "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way."
"I'm sure...Well, in that case, I am gonna go change in the 'fresher, that is unless you have a sudden urge to look at it as well," Luke replied, giving a harsh look that had too much softness in it.
"What are you suggesting?" asked Mara with a look that implied that she knew very well what he was suggesting.
"Well, if I went in there, would you have to have a look at it as well?" Luke asked, a little exasperated.
"Maybe, it depends on how much I wanted to see it."
"Okay..." Luke quickly walked out of the room and tried to enter the refresher before she had a chance to follow. But Mara was too quick for him, and she was right behind him every step of the way. "I guess that's my answer..." He sighed. "Look Mara, I really need to change, don't you have the decency to let me?"
"What's wrong? I did have to take your pants off, what's wrong with me seeing you put them back on?" Mara gave Luke an innocent look.
Luke was quiet for a moment, using all his concentration to keep from going red again. Then, with an unreadable facial expression, he replied, "That was a different situation."
"No, no different. Only different in your mind." Mara gave a sly look to Luke.
"Have you been taking 'Quote-of-the-Day' lessons from Yoda?"
"He wasn't supposed to tell you," Mara exclaimed with a grin.
"All right...Well, maybe this will make you leave me alone." Luke put his arm around Mara's waist and pulled her to him, and as he reached down to kiss her—
"Mrow!" the pittin called out as she leapt onto Luke's bare back. Luke let out a hiss of pain, let go of Mara, and flung the pittin halfway across the room.
"Stupid pittin, I'm gonna smash your brains out!" Luke walked towards it with his hand raised, only to stop when Mara placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her, "What?"
"Don't hurt it, at least not yet," Mara said in a low voice. "It did make me leave you alone."
Luke winced as his back started to throb. "It almost makes me wish I had left you alone."
"Well—" Mara started, but she was interrupted by the door chime. "That must be the Stormtrooper with my clothes."
"How about you answer, I change?"
"Okay, I'll be right back," Mara turned, picked up the pittin, and went to answer the door.
I'll murder that pittin if it's the last thing I do, Luke thought to himself. It always comes in at the wrong time...
Mara opened the door, and a Stormtrooper entered holding a lovely emerald green dress on one hanger, carrying a small box in his other hand, and holding a bigger box under his arm. He placed them at her feet then left the suite.
Mara bent down and picked them up. She hung the dress up in the bedroom closet, put the boxes on the bed, then waited for Luke to come out of the refresher. He came out looking disgruntled in his stiff-necked gray dress uniform, holding something behind his back. Mara smiled sweetly as she took her dress out of the closet, picked up the smaller box, and went into the 'fresher.
Luke sat down on the bed and pulled at his collar, wishing that he could just slice it off with the lightsaber that he didn't happen to have at the moment. He put his hat down on the bed, then he changed his mind and stuffed it under the pillow. Grand Admiral Thrawn hadn't had to wear a cap!
Luke walked into the living area and sat down on the loveseat, facing the hallway.
An hour later, Mara came out wearing a stunning emerald green dress, her hair pulled up with silver clips. The dress had a tight fit that drew attention to her perfect curves. The sleeves came down to a point on her hand, and the floorlength dress had a slit up to her mid-thigh.
When Luke heard Mara coming out, he'd had his mouth opened to complain about her taking so long to get dressed, but when he took one look at her the words got stuck in his throat. Clearing his throat numerous times, he finally managed, "You look...nice."
"It certainly took you a while to say anything..." Mara said with a slight smile.
"I was shocked that you were able to look like something other than what the gornt dragged in."
Mara simply shook her head at his pathetic attempt at recovery. She held up a hand with Luke's hat in it. "Missing something?" Mara asked.
"What makes you think that's mine?" Luke inquired weakly.
"I found it under a pillow in the bedroom," Mara replied.
"Maybe someone else who stayed in here before us left it there?"
"Okay, then, genius. Where's yours?"
"What makes you think that I have a hat?" Luke gave an innocent look.
"All male Imperial uniforms have them. Including yours. By the way, you do remember that you are supposed to wear the entire uniform, don't you?"
Luke bit the inside of his cheek and said, "Yes, I know." Grudgingly, he attempted to snatch his hat from her.
Mara pulled it to the side, turned, and walked towards the loveseat. Luke's mouth opened at the sight of the back of her dress...because there wasn't much of one, as it was extremely low cut. He swallowed, then followed her to the loveseat. He sat down next to her and began to beg for the hat. "Please, Mara, let me have it."
"What will I get for it?" Mara questioned, a playful smile beginning to form.
"Mara, c'mon, we gotta go!"
"Oh, all right...But you owe me one—well, more than one."
"We'll settle scores later, but I personally don't want to get detonated into a million pieces because of somebody's bright idea." Luke looked pointedly at Mara.
"I thought that—"
"Yeah, right. I'm sure you did. Talk later, move now." He thunked the cap on his head, not caring what it looked like since this wouldn't be a ceremony he would enjoy. He held out his arm roughly for Mara to grab.
"Well, you've certainly got the Imperial Admiral thing down." Mara said with a tartness added to her voice.
Luke sighed, "Mara, I'm sorry. I'm just not happy to be a 'loyal' Imperial subject."
"Well, we'll just have to do the best we can, won't we." Mara replied, the tartness still evident.
Luke looked into her cold green eyes. "Mara, I am sorry. I know this is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to Dagobah in the first place, so you wouldn't have had to come get me, or I should have taken a bigger ship, but we can't change the situation, and being hostile about it won't help any."
"I know that, but this is how I deal with tough situations: I get tough...even at the expense of hurting my closest friends."
"Is that one of the reasons you haven't completed your training? Because your "getting tough" also means dabbling at the edge of the line between the Light and the Dark Side?"
"Maybe," Mara replied, not wanting to answer him. "Let's go. We don't want to keep the crowd waiting, and, before you ask, I have been thinking about finishing my training," Mara said quickly.
"Okay." Luke held out his arm again, this time more smoothly.
Mara accepted his arm, and they began the long walk to the banquet hall.
