W I got an apartment in Coco Town near the base. First time I haven't had a roommate in years. It's weird.

Y But it's still better than having roommates, right? I hate my new ones.

W Where do you live now?

Y I'm still in the complex they dumped us all in right after the battle.

W How come you haven't set up a new place yet?

Y Not sure if I'm going to stay on Coruscant.

There was a pregnant pause after that. Yana suspecting it was because he was typing a full speech to respond. She predicted the argument, but let him finish.

W Why?

She squinted a strange grin. Why did it take you so long to type that?

Y Because if I get the implant, I can't work as a data admin anymore. I'll have to find a new career. It might not be here.

W There's no way you can get the implant and keep your career?

Y No. Data admins cannot have any risk of being compromised. Implants are programmable.

W I want to hear your voice again but I vote not getting the implant if that's what it means for you to stay.

You're just being nice because you want to get laid, she thought. But she couldn't make herself stop this easy chatting on the datalinks every night. The only thing they did to program it further was assigning the handles of their first initials. Otherwise, it was a barebones linkup.

She hadn't even talked to him outside of the link yet, and they'd been talking for over a week now, almost every night, often for hours. The only assurances she had that it was Wedge Antilles on the other end was that he didn't ask things that Wedge Antilles would not to ask, such as details of her workday. He didn't ask things that Wedge Antilles would already know, such as personal information or status of the Jedi and how the wedding plans weren't coming along because the Jedi just didn't have time for that kind of fodder right now. And he knew all the things Wedge Antilles would know, such as who was who in the Rebellion, but not having all the important Imperials on the newsnets quite memorized yet.

Yana knew most of the spy craft tricks because it was part of her job to detect them. Even if it wasn't Wedge on the other end, this guy didn't know any spy craft.

Yana liked Wedge. She liked him a lot. And she wasn't sure why. He was a pilot. She kept trying to remind herself of that. Somehow it felt safer talking to him with this solid physical barrier between them. But she also knew that he was just another pilot. Wedge probably didn't realize it, but this data admin with top secret clearance on Yavin 4 had already sorted through plenty of random, local, rumor-mill-type data to see the evidence that Wedge Antilles was 'not looking for anything serious'.

And Yana was not looking for anything temporary.

So Yana decided she should probably break it to him sooner than later that she had no intentions of having a sexual relationship with a pilot. She shouldn't have waited this long, but it was time to drop the bomb.

She began to type-

W Wanna go out sometime?

Her heart thumped against her chest. Even if it was a ploy, her soul still swelled at the offer. She tried to keep her wits about her, tried to keep the usual Pilot-smooth antics from winning her over, but somehow his still worked. And he only had the reach of a datalink.

She was too wise to say yes, but she couldn't bring herself to say no. She struggled to decide.

W Too soon?

She chuckled and typed quickly, just to enter something.

Y No.

Y Yes.

W ?

Y No, not too soon. Yes, I would like that.

Oh crap, she thought. He got to you. You let him get to you. You let your shields down and he's flying right in.

W :)

"Fuck," she cursed at herself, laughing through one of two smooth words she could say out loud. Her cheeks pinked to look at that tiny two digit face smiling at her. Her heart flushed as her mind screamed. You were just reminding yourself the hard evidence you've seen about this guy! You were just reminding yourself why you don't date pilots! And you caved! Instantly! You caved!

W How about Benduday?

She put her palm over her mouth and tried to breathe.

Y Benduday's good.

They both paused for a long time after that.

W Want to do anything specific?

Y Like what?

W I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. Ha ha.

Y You asked, you pick.

You're in for it now, she sighed.

As shy as she was, as little as she dated in recent years, Yana was very observant about the follies and successes of others. First dates often set the tone of what kind of relationship it would be. Not giving the man clues was the best way to determine what he really wanted. The conservative ones who were in it for the traditional long haul would try to take you to church, or a fair, or the zoo. The seedy ones who wanted to get in your pants would take you to dinner and drinks. The ones in a real hurry to get laid would take you to just drinks.

Yana had yet to hear of a first date in which the gentleman actually did some research and chose a type of event in which the lady would be independently interested. (She heard of one who took his first date to a gentleman's club, as if the stripping dancers on a pole were supposed to give the first date ideas on what to do next... That didn't end well.)

Generally, the time of day they wanted to meet up was telltale by itself. The later the start of the date, the more likely they were going to try to get frisky at the early morning end of it. Finally, the ones who weren't sure about you either would take you to a function where other friends would be so neither of you had to face each other the whole evening. Yana suspected that last one was going to be Wedge's choice.

Y Should I wear anything specific? Dress up? Dress down?

W I don't know what we're doing yet. Lemme think on it. I'll let you know.

W But probably not.

W Antique Fair? Zoo? Owshka Square? Can give me a hint?

Yana closed her eyes and sighed with disappointment. Although they had few direct interactions, Yana and Wedge had been acquaintances for years. And the Rebellion was a small circle of whispers when it came to who was cheating on who. Yana knew full well that Wedge wasn't a Church/Fair/Zoo First Date kind of guy. At the same time, she knew of enough of his exploits to know he wasn't new to this game either. Yana suspected he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes with a trick pretending to be in it for the long haul.

And yet she still wanted this date. Yana cussed herself silently, admitting it. Wedge was really good at the Pilot-smooth antics.

W Would you rather dinner and drinks?

No, but not for the reasons you think. The truth was that Yana didn't care what they did. What she cared about was some clue if this was real or not. Her humor flattened, but he couldn't see that through her typed words.

Y Anything you want.

Shit! She thought, realizing how that could have been taken as an open invitation for the very thing she didn't want. She scrambled to think of something to say to backtrack it, but he typed first.

W Okay. I'll think of something.

W And I'll be sure to have you home before you turn into a pumpkin.

Grinning at the text, Yana began to breathe again. She settled deeper into her squeaky bed and shined green eyes up at the screen...

Y What time on Benduday?

...and the screen sent a dim glow down onto his shining brown eyes. Most of the lights were off. Wedge's apartment in the under levels got very dark if he didn't have them on. But he didn't notice because his face smiled up at that glowing little screen like he was talking to an angel.

He considered her question a moment, and typed.

W 1000?

"Because whatever the hell I figure out," he murmured aloud, "it sure as hell ain't going to be dinner and drinks."

W I have something to show you.

"Shit!" He hissed and sat up in a rush, trying to figure out how to roll back his words before she took it wrong.

Y Can't see through a datalink. Sorry. :)

Wedge chortled to read her words.

W Nothing inappropriate. I promise.

Y Ok.

"By the Force, I wish I could see your expressions through this thing." His breath exhaled and his chest deflated. He shook his head and whispered. "Please see that I'm being real. Please see that."

Y Kess and Luke still don't know about this. Do they?

His grin grew again.

W No.

W I didn't want you think I was doing this because they told me to.

Y Did they tell you to?

W They're bugging me pretty hard to comm you.

Y Still? We've been talking for over a week. You don't want them to get off your back?

He grinned to say it as he typed it.

W Nope.

Y ?

Wedge wasn't sure how to explain this, even to her. He considered it a long moment before trying.

W I'd rather have them bitch at me about comming you than bugging me to learn how it went.

Y Good point.

W Benduday. 10 morning. Everyday clothes.

Y It's a date.

Wedge smiled from ear to ear.

Y Good night.

W Sleep tight.

Y logged off

He let the data link drop to his chest and stared up at the blackness of his ceiling. He let himself get a little nervous, a little hopeful, and a little giddy, but then he sighed hard and settled with maturity and wisdom.

He whispered the words he so often heard through the comm in his ear, the words that made him sober up and settled down, and concentrate to get the job done right the first time.

"Maze test, level 2. Commencing in . . . three days."