Chapter Eighteen – Inyri
Adra watched her friend nod slowly at her 'announcement'. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to go around the squad as if she were perfectly fine, only down with a case of Ryloth flu, or other, that was for sure. Nicola appeared to be thinking the idea through, but then she nodded, a grin formulating on her face.
"Well, there's something I never thought you'd willingly go for. You sure Face didn't convince you to tell them?" Nicola grinned wickedly at the last part, but the question seemed genuine.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, it's well known that you and I aren't going to be set off from whatever notions we get," she replied.
Both pilots sat silently for a minute before they broke out laughing. Willful could definitely be a term used to describe the two of them. After the laughter ebbed away on the air, Nicola and Adra stood, moving towards the door of the office. Adra was pleased to note that outside there were no eavesdroppers attempting to get in on what they were saying. The thought of she and Nicola beating the tar out of them probably had something to do with it.
* * * * *
"Inyri?" Face looked almost perplexed at the thought.
"Yeah, Inyri. Like, Inyri Forge, Inyri Larse, and so on." Face still looked skeptical. "What! It's certainly better than your idea."
A grin popped up on her husband's face and he nodded slightly. "True, I suppose. This must be one of those 'I'm actually going to be a father and this isn't a joke' cases. You're sure it's girl?"
Adra glared hard at him. "Face Loran, you know the answer and how I got it very, very well. Yes, it is a girl. Yes, for the thousandth time."
While he contemplated her answer once more, Adra went back to looking for a glass of something that didn't contain alcohol. Lomin ale might work. Water would probably be better. Face interrupted her again, only this time it was by wrapping her in a hug from behind. Giving up her search seconds later, she rotated one-eighty in her husband's arms, looking up the few remaining inches to see his eyes. They were smiling as much, if not more than, his mouth was managing. A minute or a second later, Adra felt the gentle press of lips on her own. While they only lasted a few seconds, the kiss still sent the heat washing over her skin. She grinned up at him before precariously placing her forehead on his chest.
"And I think I should tell the rest of the squadron... It's not going to take them forever to figure it out; we're an Intelligence unit, after all."
Through the all-powerful Force, Adra felt first Face's surprise, then something that could only be described as a grin. She felt his arms tighten in a quick hug once more before they released her. Adra picked her head up, looking at Face's expression.
"So I take it you have no objections," she commented quietly.
"None whatsoever. Besides, it gives me a good reason to pull a prank on the first person who makes exasperated or other remarks," he grinned.
Rolling her eyes, Adra hit him lightly on his chest. His expression changed to one of mock penitence. "Face Loran, you are the worst actor I've ever met." With that, she turned and walked towards the door, leaving Face gaping in her wake. Behind her, she heard Face jump to his feet. The moment her hand moved to press the control panel, she was turned around abruptly. Adra burst out laughing, try though she might to keep silent.
"Am I really?" Face asked, a well-practiced pout marking his features. "Were my holovids that bad?"
Adra stroked her chin with thumb and index finger, appearing to contemplate the answer. "Well..." she began. Face grinned, the pout long forgotten. "I dunno... I mean, you yourself are a pretty good actor, but flyboy? How the Sith you ended up doing holovids for Imperials is beyond me. So yea, your holovids were that bad."
"Are you sure you wanna say that?" Face hit the control panel himself as he said it. Rushing out the door before she replied, Adra made sure there was definite room between them, the prospect of tickle torture not high on her 'to do' list.
"Yea, I'm pretty sure, Face. I usually mean everything I say sarcastically."
He gaped at her, mouthing soundless words. Instead of walking off, Adra turned and took a step back to him. Putting one hand behind his head, she pulled it down to her and kissed him softly. Seconds later, she pulled back. "Don't worry, hotshot, it won't go on your permanent record." Winking one eye, she turned again and proceeded down the hallway towards the lounge.
The room wasn't as loud as it could've been, but that wasn't to say it was silent either. Nicola was sitting with Asyr and Gaeriel, talking about whatever you could that wasn't debating with the politician. Asyr was probably working her way towards 'annoying' by now. Bror was conspicuously absent, as was Tyria. And Jade, obviously, wasn't there, but Adra didn't need her to be; she already knew. Cloud, Kell and Ryok were settled around the circle of chairs that took up the major part of the room, Elix also in on their conversation. The fact that Elix was there and obviously participating in the conversation led Adra to believe that they weren't talking about explosives. Next second, Ryok's expression hardened. That in itself was enough to make her draw the conclusion that they were speaking of Rogue's Aerolin Kast. Deciding it probably wouldn't be a good idea to just hop up on a table and announce her news, Adra started over to where Nicola sat. Face walked in at that moment and quickly plopped down into the discussion with the explosive experts and Ryok.
"Hey Nicola," Adra greeted her friend as she sat. Nicola looked up, her features showing plainly that she was grateful for the interruption. "Look, him that has the awards has suggested, and I guess I agree with, the idea that I tell the rest of the squad what's up. So I guess I will. Asyr, since you're the only one in this 'group' of girls that doesn't know, I'm pregnant." That much said, Adra took a breath, waiting for the pilot's reaction.
"I knew it!" Gaeriel almost shouted the words, but managed not to. Adra cringed as she saw the explosive experts look over. Gaeriel, however, looked ecstatic. Why, she had no clue, but if it made the politician happy, all the power to her. All she would have to do after that was find a boyfriend. Asyr, on the other hand, was sitting there, gaping blankly at Adra.
"You're what? When did you guys get hitched?!"
Adra stared hard at Asyr, unable to see how the pilot hadn't known. Well, if you hadn't checked the rosters in the last ten days, then you might not. And if you hadn't looked at any notices put up by Intel. But Adra didn't really care. She wasn't in the mood to argue or debate anything so instead she just nodded. "Of course we are. If you actually read the rosters once a week, you might know these things. I haven't been listed as Adra Tallon for ten days now." She laughed slightly, as that truly wasn't a lengthy amount of time. Nicola grinned at her, just pleasantly.
"You know, you can't expect Asyr Sei'lar, of all people, to check the rosters as often as the rest of us do. She's never done more than lead a flight."
Adra smiled at her friend's sarcastic tone. Gaeriel was still babbling on about congratulations and so forth, Asyr merely blinking over and over again. Nicola grinned and gestured to the other group in the room.
"So is it your duty to tell those guys as well? Or are you going to be making sure Face tells them."
Before Adra could respond, Asyr asked a quick question. "Wait, you've been married for like...a week, right? And you're already pregnant? Adra, don't you think that's just a bit quick?"
Adra could've died laughing. Asyr definitely didn't use the Force much, even if she was a Jedi Knight. "Asyr, let me put it to you this way: what is the only thing most male pilots think about? Let's just say some of us are actually the people they take to bed with them."
Asyr's expression cleared reluctantly and she nodded. "I see. Well, that's...er...great I guess. Congratulations." She paused, then as an afterthought, "I really need to start using the Force more."
Everyone laughed at Asyr's expense, but were cut short as Kell Tainer stood up and shouted, "You what!"
"That answers your question, Nicola," Adra whispered quietly. "However, I think I'm getting better at telling people that I'm going to have a kid than Face is. He couldn't even tell Wedge." Shaking her head as if she were truly upset, Adra grinned. "I suppose I should go back him up."
With that, she stood up and walked over to where the group of male pilots was sitting. Cloud was grinning insanely as she walked over and calmly sat down in Face's lap. "Tainer, sit down," she said absently. Before she could say more, Cloud did.
"So this is what Tyria meant. She said that if you threatened to tell Kell about her and I before we did, she'd spill the datacards on you, and this is what it was."
Adra raised an eyebrow skeptically before nodding. "Yep, that makes sense. I figured she'd be the one to use it as blackmail. Unless we're talking about Wedge or Janson or Hobbie." Scowling darkly at the names, she shrugged. "But yeah. That's right."
Elix, in his usual fashion, remained silent throughout the conversation. Next to him, Ryok was blinking rapidly, mouth slightly agape, as he tried to digest the information he'd just been enlightened to. Kell had taken his seat once more and was now glancing between Face and Adra. She raised an eyebrow at him, encouraging him to say something.
"What's the matter, Tainer, tusk-cat got your tongue?"
He stuck afore mentioned tongue out at her sarcastically, before he shook his head. "No, I'm just trying to figure it out. You've been married for what? A week? Ten days?"
Using the same tone of stupidity in which she was spoken to, Adra replied, "Uh, yeah. Uh, think about it. You're not that innocent. There's a good reason we female pilots call all of you male pilots 'flyboy' or 'hotshot'. On the ground, you usually have one thing on your mind, excluding explosives, and that's when the next time you can get a girl in bed is."
Cloud muttered something indistinct that could've been 'not true', but Adra didn't press the subject. Elix shrugged and shook his head while Ryok looked thoughtful. Kell was nodding his head ever so slightly, saying something that sounded like 'true, true'.
"Glad to see you've got everything filed and stored in those microorganisms that you call your brains. Anyway, that's all for now. So go blow yourselves up or whatever."
Elix and Ryok grinned appreciatively while behind her Face laughed softly. Kell looked offended but it was Cloud that spoke. "No, I think those of us who aren't your typical definition of 'flyboy' are going to see their girlfriends. I.E., me."
Kell glared at Cloud as he stood up, but didn't make any attempt to stop him from leaving. After another minute, Ryok went off to the lab, no doubt to create more explosives. Kell and Face started up a conversation and Adra returned to where Nicola, Gaeriel and Asyr were sitting.