The prisoners had been in hyperspace for four days now, without
knowing where they were going. Valin Halcyon sat with Taren as he could
sense nighttime approaching, keeping a firm hold on his temper. The
slavers had just been in the cell, taunting Lainey and the twi'leck woman,
Aeshari. As soon as they left, Aeshari pulled a calm Lainey close to her,
attempting to console her. Lainey tolerated it, trying to act her own age,
and could probably tell that it was Aeshari's way of dealing with it.
Their relationship had a fortunate benefit - Aeshari had been willing to
give Lainey her bracelet, thinking it would cheer her up. Valin and Lainey
had been working on building their lightsaber for a day and a half now.
Valin glanced at Taren, who had his good fist clenched, his lips pursed tight. His broken arm was doing a lot better, with the aid of Lainey sitting up with him at night to heal it. Valin had had to help him with the pain the first few nights, but it wasn't as strong now. Lainey tended to avoid him during the day, most likely trying to not get too attached. Valin could see that she was though, and the moment she realized it herself, she was likely to back off. So the question was if Taren felt anything for her, because he stood to be hurt the most from the emotion. From how angrily Taren reacted towards the Slavers, Valin unfortunately suspected that the man did care.
Taren must have felt Valin's eyes on him, because he turned to face him, and spoke up softly. "I have a younger sister her age."
To hide his surprise, Valin cocked his head. "Oh?"
"Yes," Taren answered, slowly tightening his fist. "And if I ever heard a guy talking to her like that, I'd kill him."
Valin nodded his understanding. "You're close to her?"
Taren winced. "I haven't seen her in over thirteen years."
"Is she..." Valin began, but was interrupted before he could finish his awkward question.
"Dead?" Taren asked, then shook his head. "No." He sighed. "She's training to be a Jedi."
Valin blinked, Taren's hostility toward the slavers suddenly explained, and, quite possibly, Helaine's attachment to him. As casually as possible he asked, "Interesting. What's her name?"
"Helaine," Taren said after a moment. "Mom and Dad took it hard, you know. We haven't done anything with her room. They don't want to, it'd be like they were accepting she was...gone."
Or may as well be dead. Valin nodded, at a loss for what to say. He had thought that Lainey was falling in love with him, which she was, in a way. Force, how could he tell her that her brother was on board? How could he not? Even though she'd probably react with less trepidation to a sith.
Taren had more to say. "Princess Vana met her once. Said she looked just like our mom, even acted a little bit like her too." He smiled slightly. "Guess the Jedi can't suppress everything."
"Guess not," Valin agreed.
"You're Corellian, aren't you?" Taren asked, shifting to get a better look of him.
Valin nodded. "I am."
Taren paused thoughtfully. "They don't separate the Jedi from their families there, do they?"
"Nope."
"It works for them too, doesn't it?" Taren asked, not waiting for Valin to answer. "Wonder why it doesn't for the Coruscanti?"
Valin shrugged, unable to answer how he would like to. He was posing as a non-Jedi, and shouldn't have had reason enough to give it a lot of thought. "I guess because they're out to save the Galaxy, where the Corellian don't leave their system," he answered finally, hoping it sounded indifferent enough.
Taren nodded, slowly closing his eyes. He winced as he slightly moved his arm. "You ever meet a Jedi?"
"Few times," Valin replied carefully. "You look tired."
"I'm okay," Taren yawned, leaning heavily against the wall.
Valin was already starting to see the family resemblance in him and Lainey. "Well, you can't expect your arm to heal without getting rest."
Taren sighed, slowly slumping to the floor. "You sound like a healer."
"I've seen too many," Valin laughed, watching Taren relax. His arm was already healing at an accelerated pace without treatment, and he didn't want to think about what would happen if the slavers decided to examine it. Hopefully, he and Lainey'd have their lightsaber built by then and have control of the ship. If not, they were in for a very rough trip.
***
An hour after everyone had fallen asleep, Valin crept across the floor to Lainey, and gently tapped her shoulder. Lainey groaned irritably, and rolled over onto her side, still asleep. Valin almost felt bad about waking her up. They'd had little time for sleep lately, and she was allowing herself even less than him. But lightsabers didn't build themselves, and went quicker with two Jedi. He winced slightly at what his father would think of that.
Lainey had her arms across her eyes, and was mumbling at him to go away. He tickled her neck, and she swatted his hand away. Laughing softly, he said, "Lainey."
"[i]What[/i]?" She growled at him out of pure annoyance. So, the Coruscant Jedi weren't completely infallible, not even Lanelle Caine's apprentice.
"Time to get up," Valin said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet.
Lainey rubbed her eyes. "Why?"
"Everyone's asleep," Valin said, guiding her toward the refresher. "And we have a lightsaber to build."
"Right," Lainey said, considerably less disoriented. Valin opened the refresher door and called for lights, freezing the door so they could use its light to build. Lainey kept glancing toward Taren, thinking Valin wasn't noticing as they sat on the floor. He brought the lightsaber out from under the refresher sink and handed it to her. They were working on placing the gemstones, a process which was a lot less clumsy using telekinesis rather than fingers.
Refreshing herself with the Force, Lainey set to work on it, but the process was slow as she was distracted by concern for Taren. Valin nudged her. "Careful, Republic Jedi."
"Hmm?" Lainey asked, her tongue poking out slightly as she concentrated.
"You feel for Taren, don't you?" Valin asked gently.
Lainey stiffened. "Concern, yes, because he is injured."
Valin nodded. "Right." He leaned against the wall, placing his head against his hands in an effort to look casual. "If you choose to go Corellian, I'll find you a good master."
"[i]Valin[/i]," Lainey warned, sparing him a glance. "What are you trying to get at?"
"Just that you [i]do[/i] feel for Taren, and you're only making it worse for yourself. I have no personal problem with it, but your Order does," Valin stated pointedly.
Lainey shook her head. "I'm just not letting him suffer. There's nothing wrong with that," She retorted, but she wouldn't meet Valin's gaze.
Valin nodded. "No...except if you were discovered, it could jeopardize our entire escape plan."
"I'm careful," Lainey said, uncomfortable. "I'd do it for anyone."
"Except Taren isn't just anyone, is he?" Valin asked softly.
Lainey worked on positioning the crystals. "Everyone's unique in the Force."
Now that was a philosophy class answer. "Maybe I should take over staying up with him at night."
Her head snapped up. "Why?"
Valin took a deep breath and rested his hand on her arm. "Lainey, he's your brother."
Lainey froze completely, and dropped the crystal out of place. "What?" She quickly started trying to replace the crystal with shaking fingers.
"I talked with him earlier about his Jedi sister," Valin replied, moving his arms around her shoulders to help her place the crystal. He mused that this would be a rather awkward position for them to be caught in. His thought became reality, when the doors to the cell opened. 'Blast,' Valin thought, before catching Lainey's eyes. Thinking fast, he pulled her close to him and kissed her lips. Lainey pulled instinctively away but he pressed her against the wall, dipping her back as he took the lightsaber and slid it under the back of her shirt.
The guards laughed harshly, telling him to enjoy her while he could. Lainey tensed even more in his arms, and he rubbed her back, sending an image of what he was trying to do through the Force. Slowly, she started to relax, clumsily moving her lips in response to his. She even tried running her fingers through his hair, but much too quickly, he hoped it looked passionate. The guards were examining the other prisoners for selling points, but were amusedly content to leave Valin and Lainey alone.
Valin released her mouth to let her breathe, and moved down her neck. Lainey scrunched her shoulders up in response, drawing more laughter from the guards. "Come on, let's leave them alone. Force knows, they only have so long," The taller one said, and they exited the room.
The moment they were gone, Lainey thrust the lightsaber in Valin's hands and moved quickly away, keeping two meters distance between them. Her cheeks were flaming red and she couldn't meet his gaze. "Sorry," Valin offered, fingering the lightsaber.
Lainey shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, then quickly shut it. After a few moments, she tried again. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Valin said, watching as she scooted quickly back over to Aeshari. He silently hid the lightsaber back underneath the sink, feeling bad for having shocked her so deeply. If there was one thing he wasn't supposed to do with a Coruscant Jedi, it was kiss her. But they had needed a quick cover, and it had been the most logical cover. Placing his hands behind his head and smirking slightly, he figured that she wouldn't have been so troubled if she hadn't liked it.
(OOC: Anyone reading?)
Valin glanced at Taren, who had his good fist clenched, his lips pursed tight. His broken arm was doing a lot better, with the aid of Lainey sitting up with him at night to heal it. Valin had had to help him with the pain the first few nights, but it wasn't as strong now. Lainey tended to avoid him during the day, most likely trying to not get too attached. Valin could see that she was though, and the moment she realized it herself, she was likely to back off. So the question was if Taren felt anything for her, because he stood to be hurt the most from the emotion. From how angrily Taren reacted towards the Slavers, Valin unfortunately suspected that the man did care.
Taren must have felt Valin's eyes on him, because he turned to face him, and spoke up softly. "I have a younger sister her age."
To hide his surprise, Valin cocked his head. "Oh?"
"Yes," Taren answered, slowly tightening his fist. "And if I ever heard a guy talking to her like that, I'd kill him."
Valin nodded his understanding. "You're close to her?"
Taren winced. "I haven't seen her in over thirteen years."
"Is she..." Valin began, but was interrupted before he could finish his awkward question.
"Dead?" Taren asked, then shook his head. "No." He sighed. "She's training to be a Jedi."
Valin blinked, Taren's hostility toward the slavers suddenly explained, and, quite possibly, Helaine's attachment to him. As casually as possible he asked, "Interesting. What's her name?"
"Helaine," Taren said after a moment. "Mom and Dad took it hard, you know. We haven't done anything with her room. They don't want to, it'd be like they were accepting she was...gone."
Or may as well be dead. Valin nodded, at a loss for what to say. He had thought that Lainey was falling in love with him, which she was, in a way. Force, how could he tell her that her brother was on board? How could he not? Even though she'd probably react with less trepidation to a sith.
Taren had more to say. "Princess Vana met her once. Said she looked just like our mom, even acted a little bit like her too." He smiled slightly. "Guess the Jedi can't suppress everything."
"Guess not," Valin agreed.
"You're Corellian, aren't you?" Taren asked, shifting to get a better look of him.
Valin nodded. "I am."
Taren paused thoughtfully. "They don't separate the Jedi from their families there, do they?"
"Nope."
"It works for them too, doesn't it?" Taren asked, not waiting for Valin to answer. "Wonder why it doesn't for the Coruscanti?"
Valin shrugged, unable to answer how he would like to. He was posing as a non-Jedi, and shouldn't have had reason enough to give it a lot of thought. "I guess because they're out to save the Galaxy, where the Corellian don't leave their system," he answered finally, hoping it sounded indifferent enough.
Taren nodded, slowly closing his eyes. He winced as he slightly moved his arm. "You ever meet a Jedi?"
"Few times," Valin replied carefully. "You look tired."
"I'm okay," Taren yawned, leaning heavily against the wall.
Valin was already starting to see the family resemblance in him and Lainey. "Well, you can't expect your arm to heal without getting rest."
Taren sighed, slowly slumping to the floor. "You sound like a healer."
"I've seen too many," Valin laughed, watching Taren relax. His arm was already healing at an accelerated pace without treatment, and he didn't want to think about what would happen if the slavers decided to examine it. Hopefully, he and Lainey'd have their lightsaber built by then and have control of the ship. If not, they were in for a very rough trip.
***
An hour after everyone had fallen asleep, Valin crept across the floor to Lainey, and gently tapped her shoulder. Lainey groaned irritably, and rolled over onto her side, still asleep. Valin almost felt bad about waking her up. They'd had little time for sleep lately, and she was allowing herself even less than him. But lightsabers didn't build themselves, and went quicker with two Jedi. He winced slightly at what his father would think of that.
Lainey had her arms across her eyes, and was mumbling at him to go away. He tickled her neck, and she swatted his hand away. Laughing softly, he said, "Lainey."
"[i]What[/i]?" She growled at him out of pure annoyance. So, the Coruscant Jedi weren't completely infallible, not even Lanelle Caine's apprentice.
"Time to get up," Valin said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet.
Lainey rubbed her eyes. "Why?"
"Everyone's asleep," Valin said, guiding her toward the refresher. "And we have a lightsaber to build."
"Right," Lainey said, considerably less disoriented. Valin opened the refresher door and called for lights, freezing the door so they could use its light to build. Lainey kept glancing toward Taren, thinking Valin wasn't noticing as they sat on the floor. He brought the lightsaber out from under the refresher sink and handed it to her. They were working on placing the gemstones, a process which was a lot less clumsy using telekinesis rather than fingers.
Refreshing herself with the Force, Lainey set to work on it, but the process was slow as she was distracted by concern for Taren. Valin nudged her. "Careful, Republic Jedi."
"Hmm?" Lainey asked, her tongue poking out slightly as she concentrated.
"You feel for Taren, don't you?" Valin asked gently.
Lainey stiffened. "Concern, yes, because he is injured."
Valin nodded. "Right." He leaned against the wall, placing his head against his hands in an effort to look casual. "If you choose to go Corellian, I'll find you a good master."
"[i]Valin[/i]," Lainey warned, sparing him a glance. "What are you trying to get at?"
"Just that you [i]do[/i] feel for Taren, and you're only making it worse for yourself. I have no personal problem with it, but your Order does," Valin stated pointedly.
Lainey shook her head. "I'm just not letting him suffer. There's nothing wrong with that," She retorted, but she wouldn't meet Valin's gaze.
Valin nodded. "No...except if you were discovered, it could jeopardize our entire escape plan."
"I'm careful," Lainey said, uncomfortable. "I'd do it for anyone."
"Except Taren isn't just anyone, is he?" Valin asked softly.
Lainey worked on positioning the crystals. "Everyone's unique in the Force."
Now that was a philosophy class answer. "Maybe I should take over staying up with him at night."
Her head snapped up. "Why?"
Valin took a deep breath and rested his hand on her arm. "Lainey, he's your brother."
Lainey froze completely, and dropped the crystal out of place. "What?" She quickly started trying to replace the crystal with shaking fingers.
"I talked with him earlier about his Jedi sister," Valin replied, moving his arms around her shoulders to help her place the crystal. He mused that this would be a rather awkward position for them to be caught in. His thought became reality, when the doors to the cell opened. 'Blast,' Valin thought, before catching Lainey's eyes. Thinking fast, he pulled her close to him and kissed her lips. Lainey pulled instinctively away but he pressed her against the wall, dipping her back as he took the lightsaber and slid it under the back of her shirt.
The guards laughed harshly, telling him to enjoy her while he could. Lainey tensed even more in his arms, and he rubbed her back, sending an image of what he was trying to do through the Force. Slowly, she started to relax, clumsily moving her lips in response to his. She even tried running her fingers through his hair, but much too quickly, he hoped it looked passionate. The guards were examining the other prisoners for selling points, but were amusedly content to leave Valin and Lainey alone.
Valin released her mouth to let her breathe, and moved down her neck. Lainey scrunched her shoulders up in response, drawing more laughter from the guards. "Come on, let's leave them alone. Force knows, they only have so long," The taller one said, and they exited the room.
The moment they were gone, Lainey thrust the lightsaber in Valin's hands and moved quickly away, keeping two meters distance between them. Her cheeks were flaming red and she couldn't meet his gaze. "Sorry," Valin offered, fingering the lightsaber.
Lainey shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, then quickly shut it. After a few moments, she tried again. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Valin said, watching as she scooted quickly back over to Aeshari. He silently hid the lightsaber back underneath the sink, feeling bad for having shocked her so deeply. If there was one thing he wasn't supposed to do with a Coruscant Jedi, it was kiss her. But they had needed a quick cover, and it had been the most logical cover. Placing his hands behind his head and smirking slightly, he figured that she wouldn't have been so troubled if she hadn't liked it.
(OOC: Anyone reading?)
