9. Drinking Songs

"Took you long enough, sheesh!" Mission complained as I opened the door. "What have you been doing for the last two hours?" Carth and I looked at each other and grinned. "I don't want to know." She sighed. "I'm just glad I convinced Z to knock on Bastila's door. There's no way I'm dealing with them." We stopped in the corridor outside Bastila's and Canderous' room, Zaalbar was yowling incessantly.

"I told you to stuff it, fuzz ball!" Canderous yelled as the door opened. He and Bastila were obviously rushed. Zaalbar took the insult well. I was relieved that the entire crew had an understanding of each other.

"I know what you did…" Bastila taunted me. "Is that 'taking it slow'?" I blushed and put my arm around Carth.

"That, sister, was a year of pent-up frustration." Carth grinned at Bastila, who looked shocked and slightly disgusted to hear it coming from Carth.

"In two hours?" Canderous laughed. "You should really work on some things, Onasi."

"It was just the beginning." Carth vowed.

"That's more like it." Canderous and Carth smiled, satisfied.

"How are you feeling?" Carth asked me, gently.

"A little weak." I replied, "and it's only partially your fault."

"Dinner should help." He assured me.

"I'm counting on it."

"Mission!" Jolee exclaimed happily as we reached the terrace. "You made it back!"

"It wasn't easy," she smiled, "but someone had to get them."

"I thought the fleet emphasized punctuality, Captain." Dustil remarked snidely.

"Watch your mouth, son." Carth grinned. "I'm not a captain yet."

"You know it's only a matter of, oh, a few days." Dustil laughed. "As soon as you get somewhere they can give you the medals, they will."

"Yeah, I got the message." Carth sighed. "As soon as we figure out where we're going, I'll contact Admiral Dodonna."

"Dantooine would be a nice place to raise kids." Jolee grinned, waving for the waitress.

"Let's not go there first, then." I smiled. "I'm not itching to have kids anytime soon."

"How about Telos for a year, then Taris, then Dantooine?" Juhani suggested. "Everyone gets what they want, has to deal with what they don't, and it's not permanent. Besides, it's reverse alphabetical order. It's logical." There was general agreement. I was relieved that Juhani had found a solution. I looked at Carth.

"Do you want in on this, son?" He asked Dustil.

"I'm not travel-weary like you are, Dad." Dustil replied. "I want to get out there and see the galaxy. I promise I'll come visit, though."

"I'd like that." Carth's face went soft as kolto and a satisfied smile crept across it. Soft spots are that much better when they aren't exposed all the time. He and Dustil talked about Dustil's training as the rest of us sipped our water.

"So, Mission, you mentioned Griff before." I stated.

"Yeah!" Mission seemed half-excited. "The Republic is willing to let him come with us because he's family, you know. They'll put him to work. Maybe this will teach him."

"I hope so." I sighed.

"He'll meet us on Telos. I'll send him a message first thing in the morning." Mission seemed excited to give her brother a chance. Griff wasn't a perfect role model for Mission, but she was dealing with it well. Canderous interrupted my train of thought when he bellowed in appreciation of the freshly-arrived drinks.

"I'll want a refill next time you're here." He warned the confused young waitress. Bastila nodded, laughing. Dinner was as breakfast should have been: lighthearted and joyful. Jolee would bring the Council our decision. With that resolved, merriment took over. Carth let Dustil have a few sips of his Corellian brandy. Canderous' booming laugh frequently interrupted conversations. I sipped some Cinnagar wine delicately. I didn't want to get drunk. I was still wary of having another episode, and I wanted to remain in control. I was drowsy but happy as fruit was brought out for dessert. Canderous was completely drunk by this time, and let everyone throw fruit at him, trying to catch it in his mouth. Carth tossed a grape at mine, but HK shot it out of the air. I thought Carth was going to throw a fit, but he just laughed and made sure HK's blaster was set on stun. Dustil and Mission threw things at the droid, which he enjoyed shooting. The restaurant manager wasn't too happy about it and we had to shut HK down. Canderous and Mission began singing a "love ballad" they'd learned in Taris which was, of course, bawdy. Jolee, to my surprise, joined in immediately. Apparently he'd learned the song in his adventuring days. I almost expected Canderous to get up and start dancing. Dustil picked up the choruses pretty quickly and soon everyone, even Juhani and Bastila, was singing loudly. The manager told us to keep the noise down. After a few minutes, silence bred boredom; so Canderous challenged Carth to an arm-wrestling contest. Canderous had a racial advantage, what with his Mandalorian strength superior to Carth's human strength, but the Mandalorian was so drunk that Carth was able to hold his own. They were in a virtual stalemate.

"Alright, then, the women stand in!" Canderous slurred. I rolled up my sleeve.

"What?" Bastila asked, confused. Canderous sat her down across from me, positioned her elbow, and clasped her hand in mine.

"Now WIN! Show me you want to be an Ordo!" He thumped her on the back.

"I know you can take Bastila." Carth said, Corellian ale on his breath. "If you lose, Ordo will never let us hear the end of this."

"You're forgetting Bastila's role in gloating." I concurred.

"All right, here are the rules: no use of the Force, elbows stay on the table, left hands stay underneath. And… go!" Mission pounded the table, signaling the start. I pushed Bastila's hand with all my might. She pushed back, her face wrinkling.

"You look just like a kinrath pup." I snarled good-naturedly.

"Do you ever think up new insults? You look like a rancor's backside." She shot back. A chorus of "ooh!"s came from the small crowd.

"It still fits, you chewed-up bantha corpse." I retorted. Carth laughed.

"You… Gammorean…" Bastila couldn't think.

"Give it up, Bastila." I laughed.

"Never." She grinned. I pushed her hand harder and it wavered toward my side of the table. All of a sudden, Canderous was behind Bastila, adding his strength to hers. Before anyone could call out, Carth's hand was on mine, his elbow next to mine, pushing with all his might.

"No more additions to the match." Mission laughed. "It'll become a dog pile."

"You'll get tired soon, Republic."

"After you pass out." Carth countered. "Give it all you got on three." He whispered to me. "One." His grip tightened. "Two." We took deep breaths. "Three." I pushed as hard as I could and we got a couple inches on Canderous and Bastila, who countered with a strike on their own.

"This isn't going to work, guys." Mission sighed. "Just give up."

"After you, sissy." Canderous smirked at Carth.

"Ladies first." Carth rasped. Bastila looked as tired as I felt. I took a deep breath and pushed with all my might once more. Carth followed in turn, then Canderous and Bastila. "Sooner or later, you'll get tired."

"All right, kids, time to end this." Jolee said finally. The struggle ended abruptly – Jolee had put them in stasis. "Bastila, Ciara, pull them to opposite sides of the room." I dragged Carth to a chair far from where Zaalbar and Bastila were dragging Canderous. The two men were frozen stiff, but began to move again quickly enough.

"What the hell?" Carth tried to stand, but I pressed his shoulder down firmly.

"I won." Jolee beamed. "Now get to bed."

We left the restaurant after midnight. Zaalbar had to haul Canderous home, as the Mandalorian was only partially conscious and no one else could carry him. The general mood was still upbeat and boisterous. I reveled in it, feeling like I was walking on air. Carth had calmed down about the arm wrestling.

"I just get competitive." He explained, stumbling a bit over the syllables. I grinned and put my arm around him, leading him back. He had a hard time walking straight. "You're beautiful, gorgeous." I laughed. "I mean it too." He leaned forward and kissed me. I liked Corellian brandy for the first time in my life. "You're making it hard for me to be a gentleman."

"You should go to sleep, handsome." I lay him down on the bed. He was asleep in seconds. I undressed him carefully and tucked him in. I climbed in next to him, wrapped my arms around his torso, and fell asleep just as quickly.

Light burned my eyes when I woke up. I had a bit of a headache, but my thoughts instantly turned to the massive hangover Carth must have. He was already up, but I didn't hear the fresher. I sat up and found him in the sitting area drinking caffa and looking at messages on a datapad. "Good morning," I mumbled, walking over to him. "Would you pour me a cup?"

"You bet." He smiled brightly. Apparently he was more of a morning person that I'd thought. He filled a mug with caffa and brought it to me. "How are you feeling?"

"A little hung over." I took the mug and drank. It soothed my headache a bit. "What about you?"

"Not too bad, especially considering how much I drank." He put the datapad on an end table and focused his attention on me. "I wasn't going to drink that much because I'd wanted to talk to you last night."

"What about?" I asked between gulps of caffa. The hot drink filled me and made me feel better. It was like kolto for hangovers and mornings.

"About everything." His eyes shone. "The voyage, mainly."

"So not about getting married?" I shot him a suspicious glance.

"If it came up…" He feigned innocence. "Actually, I'd want to talk about what happened yesterday in terms of 'taking it slow' before we talked about getting married. Don't get me wrong, it didn't change my mind, I think we could use some clarification and it's a more immediate matter."

"You tried to discuss it with me last night." I laughed. "You said I was making it hard for you to be a gentleman."

"Damn, I can't blame it on your droid this time." He smiled. "I understand if you're not comfortable with what happened yesterday. I got carried away." He blushed and looked at his boots.

"You're making me wonder if something happened that I didn't know about." I cocked my head a little. "I thought we were just kissing…"

"Well, it got pretty involved." Carth confessed.

"I didn't mind." I said soothingly.

"I'm just afraid of it going too fast," his eyes stayed on the floor, "and ending badly. I didn't want to scare you or pressure you."

"I wasn't scared. It was a big step, but it was okay." I smiled.

"Good, now I can sleep without getting scared." He said sarcastically.

"Shut up, bantha breath."

"Oh! My man-feelings!" He cried, putting a hand over his heart melodramatically. I shook my head, laughing. "All kidding aside, you're really okay with it?"

"Yes I am." I affirmed. "It was fun, but I'm glad you felt like we could talk about this. As amazing as you are, I want to savor this."

"So do I. It's not always easy." He sighed.

"You think this is easy for me?" I raised an eyebrow. "I want to do stuff I don't know about with you!" Carth laughed. I put my empty caffa mug down, feeling much better. "I trust you." I said, my hands on his shoulders. A mischievous look flashed across his face. He stood up suddenly, flinging me over his shoulder. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The room shook around me as he walked across it and let me flop onto the bed.

"Pre-emptive strike." He explained. "You were going to say something about looking like hell." He kissed me lightly and hurried back to the sitting area.

"Do you think you're funny?" I inquired, slightly disappointed. He'd got my hopes up. He couldn't torture me by talking about kissing, throwing me on the bed, then running off, could he? I tossed a pillow at him. He turned around and only just dodged it.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked playfully.

"Expressing my frustration." I said matter-of-factly. "I said I trusted you, so you throw me over here and leave me?"

"You knew I was up to something. You trusted that it was part of the plan."

"I hate your plans." I sighed. He lay down next to me.

"I'm only having fun." He grinned. His grins were even better just inches from my face.

"Just don't kiss me and run away." I scolded. "That was mean."

"Sorry." He kissed me again. "I got a bit giddy."

"Can you stay put when you're giddy?" I teased.

"I don't know." He grinned. "I'll try my best."

"Good." The kiss I'd been anticipating came, but I was still confused. Why were our conversations always so disjointed and confusing? Why couldn't we have a normal, predictable relationship? Why did we always talk about stupid things, then kissing somehow? Didn't normal people talk about sunsets or flowers? Why was I thinking about this stuff when I had the man of my dreams kissing me like there was no tomorrow? I focused on the sensations of my lips on his and, sure enough, the questions flew from my mind. Carth really had his passion in check this time; I could almost feel his restraint. He moved slowly and I savored every second. His slightly parted lips relaxed and grazed mine, going from one corner to the other, then landing on my cheek. I nuzzled his face with my nose, then wondered what had compelled me to do so, but he kissed my cheek reassuringly, so I figured it wasn't all weird. Pins and needles filled my insides. I could almost feel my brain melting to the back of my head. He moved from my cheek to my neck again, but I managed to kiss him behind the ear first, which made him stop. I gently kissed down his neck to his collarbone. He moved his face back up to mine.

"This isn't easy." He breathed. My insides tied in knots. Was it really me that was making it that difficult for him? Then again, he wasn't making this easy for me either, so why wouldn't he feel this way about me? I hated questions.

"No it isn't." My face screwed up slightly. I couldn't wipe the smitten look from my face. "I'm not thinking clearly."

"You know, that's exactly what part of me wants, but I'm not giving in."

"You're so cute." I grinned and kissed him playfully. I wondered briefly what we were supposed to be doing today, but dismissed it. I'd rather spend time catching up with Carth. Eventually, we'd talk, maybe. What was I ready for? My hormones said I was ready for anything and everything Carth could offer, but I wasn't so sure. I'd never kissed anyone a few days ago, but on the other hand, I was an adult. Maybe after a cold shower we could discuss it. I was ready to give in to anything. I rolled him onto his back, straddling him. Our kisses got longer and deeper. My fingers itched to pull his shirt off. His hands lingered at my waist. Again, the future of my sex life lingered when an interruption came. Carth was getting an urgent com transmission.

"Dammit." He sat up, smoothing his hair and adjusting his shirt. "Hello, Admiral Dodonna."

While he talked, I lay on the bed, musing. I could use a few minutes in the fresher, but I wondered if Carth would wander in after me, then I wondered if I'd mind. I had completely zoned out when Carth smacked me in the face with the pillow.

"What was that for?" I demanded, more startled than hurt.

"Did you hear anything I said?" He asked, excited.

"No, sorry." I smiled. "What is it?"

"You know how Dustil was calling me 'captain'? Well, he wasn't ambitious enough. I just got news that I'm being promoted to admiral." I stood up as fast as I could and hugged him tight.

"That's wonderful!" I was so proud of him. "Will you get to stay and do the rebuilding stuff still?"

"Of course." Carth beamed. "I just have a big decision to make first."

"What's that?" I wondered.

"Well, I could just pass it off on you. Would you rather marry a commander or an admiral?"

If I was ready to get married, I felt ready for anything. I grinned. "Commander." I answered. "You were a commander when I met you, and I want to marry the man I fell in love with." He picked me up and spun me around. "Let's go get us rings."

"But it hasn't been weeks!" He teased, putting me back on the ground.

"Yeah, well, I've been thinking about taking it slow." I smiled. "I don't know if it's for me."

"I still don't want to rush you." His tone was sincere, but joy still glinted in his eyes.

"It's more appealing keeping up with you than it is feeling like I'm holding you back."

"You're not holding me back," He corrected.

"What are you ready for?" I asked. "Don't worry about influencing me. I want to know what you want."

"You."

"Oh good. I want me too." I grinned. "I mean you."

"Now?" He raised an eyebrow and didn't try to suppress his mischievous grin. My hormones screamed, "YES." I hesitated. He smiled bigger. "It doesn't take a Jedi to read minds, gorgeous."

"Maybe after breakfast. We've got a lot to do, Admiral. We have that fancy dinner with the Council, talking about what happened, ring shopping, wedding planning, not to mention partying for the Ordos and for you."

"We'd better get moving." Carth grinned.

"In that case, I'm getting in the fresher. Yes, I mind if you join." I interrupted before he could make more than a noise. "Because if you do, I'll never come out." I dashed off. Our future was unfolding before my eyes and I was looking forward to it.

(standard disclaimer goes here...) Thanks to all reviewers! You people give reason to my writing!