"Uh… mornin, Captain!" Corso could tell that his stretched-out mouth wasn't exactly smiling, but it was the closest he could manage. "I'm just, ah, makin' some adjustments to Grabber."
Fortunately, Vacy had at least pulled on a pair of trousers underneath her nightshirt. Her arms were folded tightly, her stance wide and challenging, and her eyes narrow in suspicion. Or maybe anger.
Corso wasn't sure which of those would be worse.
"No, Riggs," she said quietly, and Corso gulped. That quiet tone meant things were worse than she thought. "Don't play dumb with me."
With a sigh, he stepped to the side, looking guiltily at the combo-harness with Grabber and Ms. Puffs. "Uh. Well. See... when we were facing off with that bounty hunter, you said… about his equipment, and I saw this, and I figured hey, it might come in handy. Be kind of useful. So I kind of picked it up? Since you said it'd be okay..." That not-a-smile was back, and he realized he was babbling. He reached behind his head, scratching nervously at the back of his neck.
Her tone was cold and crisp. "I never said any such thing," she clipped out.
Corso threw his hands into the air, eyes wide. "You did! You said I could have it before we sold it for scrap!" There was a note of desperation, and he cranked it up a bit, because surely she wouldn't get really honest-to-goodness angry about this, and maybe if he could make her grin a bit she'd be okay.
"I did not!" she snapped back, jabbing a finger toward him, eyes flashing. "I said 'maybe,' for one thing, and I was talking to him, not you, and – and it was WITTY BANTER."
Was she sputtering because she was frustrated or because she was trying not to laugh? He decided to play it close to the vest for now. "C'mon, Captain," he wheedled. "It'll be soooo useful. When we're fightin' a buncha gangsters or droids or whatever, I can zoom right on in there, keep their attention while you pick 'em off from cover." His voice trailed off and he watched her expression carefully.
Vacy took a slow, calming breath and lowered her voice. "Riggs. Those things are illegal in populated areas."
He sighed, looking down at his boots. In a small voice, he retorted, "only if you use 'em…"
"Which you are NOT going to do." Vacy cut him off. She set her jaw, vowing to resist the urge to give in… despite the soft sadness in that lower lip of his. Dammit,!"This whole planet is a gorram city, Riggs! It's not like they've got some kind of untouched grassland a few klicks east of the spaceport where you can go fly around and not kill anybody besides yourself."
Corso looked up again, his dark eyes pleading. "Well... can we go somewhere else?"
"Like where?" she scoffed in reply. "Coruscant? Back to Mantell?"
He rocked back on his heels, popping his knuckles one by one. It took him a little while to muster up the courage to look her in the eye. "... Taris?"
Vacy blinked. And then – she couldn't help it – she burst out laughing. "Only you, Riggs. You are the only person in this entire galaxy who'd risk getting infected with the rakghoul plague so he could go play with his new toy." Still laughing, she stepped forward and pulled him close, wrapping her arms around him and patting his back.
And then she froze.
All the humor wiped from her expression, Vacy stepped past Corso, brows pulled together, looking down at something on the floor. "Riggs – your armor." She looked from it to the open crate beside it, then back to the armor, then back up at him. Her expression carefully veiled, she regarded him evenly. "That was why you took your armor off and we hung out on the barge. It was so you could get the crate delivered and put away before I got back to the ship."
"Wait – what?" Corso looked down at the crate, and his eyes widened. "Captain – no – it wasn't like that at all, I swear!"
Vacy's expression didn't change in the slightest. "The jetpack isn't legal because it isn't safe. Get rid of it." She turned on her heel and headed for the door.
Corso reached out, grabbing her elbow. "Captain, wait!"
She looked at his hand, her brows arched in disbelief. Then, still freezingly calm, she looked him in the eye. "That wasn't a suggestion, Riggs." And she yanked her arm away and walked out.