Title: Something to discover: Sleeping Arrangements
Setting: VotF
Genre: L/M Romance, VotF missing Scene
Disclaimer: This is not written in order to make any money with it. I do not own anything belonging into the Star Wars Universe.
Summary: Getting rest on the Chiss ship
They were in Hyperspace for about two hours now and Mara was supposed to sleep, but she was freezing in the cool air of the Chiss craft's cockpit.
The fact that the air-condition on the ship kept the cockpit temperature on a standard level of 18.0° C, had not really helped to dry her clothes, everything felt still damp, not to talk about stiff in certain places.
She promised herself to dump her whole outfit into the nearest garbage container at their first stop towards home, right after taking a long hot shower and getting hold of something clean and dry to wear; but there were still another few hours to go and she got the feeling that this might be very long and unnerving time indeed.
Mara leaned back against the headrest and tried to relax; moving again, she turned a little bit more to the side and dropped her gaze to the middle between the two seats, where the fingers of her hand were intertwined with Luke's.
He was sound asleep; relaxed, his legs propped up with his feet resting on the console; his head turned to the left, facing her, and his arm was stretched out between the seats in order to hold her hand.
She assumed his clothes must be even more wet still considering the fabric was not as top-of-the-line than the material of her jumpsuit, but right now he seem to be totally oblivious to this, unconsciously stroking the palm of her hand with his thumb whenever she shifted or just moved her fingers and smiling unconsciously whenever her she returned the caress.
They were in this position for more than an hour now, Luke in a deep slumber – finally confirmed by a cautious mind probe – and Mara, - shivering in the cold air - being unable to draw back from his hand and move under the blankets on the bunk they had discovered in the back of the ship.
The situation grew more and more irritating with every minute, first it had only been her damp jumpsuit, then her shoulder started to throb whenever she shifted even the tiniest bit and, if this had not been bad enough already, now she needed to go the fresher.
Mara's practical mind already screamed at her to get going.
Honestly she did not know what was wrong with her; this could not be more difficult than pulling away from their first kiss while standing in the cold water of the underground river.
Counting on Luke, if she had not done so, they might still be the there probably. They almost certainly would, if the circumstances had been any different lately.
Mara forced herself to access her opportunities again.
There was no way to delay this for much longer; the need to go to the fresher could not be ignored anymore.
Brushing aside the cold and the clothing situation she might just return to her seat right after that, but Luke's hand might not be available to hold anymore; just as after leaving their underground river, it had not been possible for her again, to get her lips as close to his' as they had been while standing in the icy water.
Maybe she should just consider moving to the cabin in order to get some real sleep, but somehow she doubted that she could enjoy the warmth of a blanket and the softness of the bunk's mattress with Luke still being out here sleeping in his damp jacket and jumpsuit while sitting in the uncomfortable copilot's chair.
This would not be fair, right?
She hesitated shortly, then, after taking a deep breath, she leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on his forehead; and while carefully extracting her fingers from Luke's hand, she decided to just fetch some blankets for both of them from the bunk and come back.
------------------------
She sensed him awake, while still being in the back area of the ship. Mara felt his search and then the slight mental caress, and; while reflexively returning it, she suddenly felt very self-conscious about her attire.
Being in the fresher she had come to the decision, that the best thing to feel more comfortable was stripping out of her damp jumpsuit and wrap her self into one of the blankets instead, but what she did not need right now, was Luke being overly concerned about the bruises clearly visible on her now bare legs.
She had briefly considered removing her undershirt either, although, without the fabric of the jumpsuit on top of it felt nearly dry anyway, and keeping it on had prevented her from taking a closer look at the discoloration of her shoulder caused by letting herself fall to her right side back in the cave.
Tightly holding the ends of her makeshift cloak over her chest with one hand - the other one clutching a second blanket - Mara stopped and watched him from the doorframe of the cockpit.
"Hi, aren't you cold wearing that still wet excuse for a jacket of yours?"
He turned around in his seat and gazed at her with a dazed expression on his face.
"You have beautiful legs." Was there really awe in his voice?
He blinked, trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes; his eyes that were fixed somewhere between the fabric where it fell open in front of her and the floor.
Mara decided to ignore her warming cheeks.
"Yeah right, especially now that they are tinted in black-and-blue. ... Come-on Luke, loose your jacket."
When his mind turned more wakeful and he realized he was gawking, his blushing certainly added to the 'always the innocent farm boy' reputation. For her, acknowledging this was somehow comforting.
His gaze returned to her face, meeting her eyes for a short moment.
"Okay, talking about the colors, I have to admit that there is a slight mismatch with the green of your eyes, but otherwise…"
Being full aware that he was not the only one being self-conscious here, he just could not resist dropping his eyes again playfully for a second.
He turned sober. "Looks nasty… I guess the pilot's chair is not really the most appropriate place to sleep for you? Why don't you stretch out on the bunk? "
"It is okay, the bruise on the shoulder is worse, but no need for a healing trance right at the moment!"
Mara got impatient.
"… and now stop teasing and strip out of your jacket, it will dry much faster this way and you can use the blanket to get warm. By the way, I have searched the cabinets again for some spare clothes, but nothing. Guess the blankets are the only 'bonus' equipment belonging directly to the ship, while the pilots have to bring everything else they need on board whenever they head out."
Talking about babbling, this time she was not only annoyed at herself, but it embarrassed her for sure. Hopefully it didn't show.
Luke chuckled, but did not loose the concerned edge from his voice.
"Your shoulder …? Let me take a look!"
"…. Get out of that jacket now, Skywalker!"
He finally complied, stood up, wriggled out of the garment and tossed it onto the navigator's seat.
"No 'bonus' equipment … huh …? I take it; this thing does not possibly have a med pack hidden somewhere? Well, I'd assume that usually they just make sure that everything is added freshly, right before starting on a mission. … Anyway, let me see your shoulder now!"
Mara was not sure how to punish herself about accidentally mentioning that particular bruise.
"Too bad we did not have the time to inform them about our departure in advance. I'm sure they had replenished all necessities, if we had send in a 'required supplies' list one or two days in advance."
He took a step forward.
"Hey, give Parck some credit here, the ways he had things organized they had most certainly made it in less than 8, maybe even less than 7 1/2 hours, if the list hadn't been too picky."
Luke gently gripped the front ends of her blanket and tugged her closer; he took the second one from her and dropped it on the armrest of the pilot's seat.
Seizing her hand that was holding her provisional cloak, he started kissing her fingers. The blanket fell away.
She tried to suppress a shiver; the air was cold, then he started stroking her skin – colored in a mix of light green and purple – tracing the charred edges of the hole in her undershirt, the only visible reminder of the earlier injury caused by the Chiss's weapon.
"I'd not been too picky in this case; maybe a lunch pack and just a fresh shirt had been nice. The sooner I can throw this one away the better…."
She really had to see that babbling would not become a permanent habit.
He placed a kiss on her bruised skin through the hole. "You should keep that shirt ….. As a memory …"
Her head dropped to his right shoulder. "Hmm …?"
Luke repeated his action, his right hand sneaked around her waist while the fingers of his left traveled up and down on her right side, stroking her bare arm.
Mara had to admit his treatment helped to depress the aching; she was not sure if he was really using a force induced pain suppression technique, though.
Maybe it was something in his low voice?
"You know, like a holo, people usually store, for demonstrating to their children and grandchildren that their bed time story actually really happened…."
She shivered again and forced her head to come up. Feeling his warm breath on her cheek now, she turned slightly to face him.
"Yeah, and in order to keep it as authentic as possible, I'd better never have it washed. I am sure our folks will be just thrilled when I show it around while telling the story… Oh well, I might even get a better feedback when allowing them putting it on. "
"You know my idealistic way of thinking …"
It was amazing what dark of a blue his eyes seemed to have turned into, looking into them being this close.
He kissed her lips.
She could not suppress trembling; probably because he caught her be surprise. Didn't he?
Anyway, the sensation was much too short; brushing his lips gently over hers a last time, he pulled away a bit in order to look into her eyes again.
He picked her blanket from the floor and he started to wrap it around her again.
"You are freezing … and you look tired, come one move to the bunk. I will check on the ship and see that I maybe can take a nap in my seat. "
He placed a kiss on her cheek and steered her gently into the direction of the cabin.
She was very tired, indeed; in the end this was the only justification for the annoyance suddenly dwelling up in her mind.
Mara took a step away from him.
"Listen Jedi, why can't you ever stop smothering me in your over protectiveness. You are as exhausted as I am, you probably have as much bruises as I do and don't tell me than you feel even less cold than me. We were in this together the whole time, so what is the reason for me sleeping in the bunk while you are using the chair? I told you before I am fine; no need for a healing trance or any other special treatment…"
"Come on, since we have a bunk available there is no reason for not using it…..do you suggest that I go, fine; I'll do …but…"
Luke glared at her in surprised irritation. She didn't expect this, did she?
His eyes were small slits under knitted brows. What was going on?
Then it dawned on him.
The expression on his face turned slowly from frustration to unbelievable amazement.
"Mara …Love …?"
Her eyes grew wide. "What?"
This time he really managed it to take her completely by surprise. She could not really comprehend how quickly she had ended up in his arm again, blanket and all.
He nuzzled his face into her hair and held her tighty while thinking about a reply that would help to overcome the awkward situation without mortifying her.
"Listen, Love…"
She closed her eyes nestling her face at his collarbone; he had said it again …
"I am sorry Mara, you are right, we are both terribly exhausted and to be honest, now that I am thinking about it, I can feel every bone in my body aching."
"Do you want to know what I would like to do most, right now?" His voice had turned down to merely a whisper in her ear.
"Hmmm … tell me …"
"You know everything is so new, to have you in my arms, to be honest, I just do not want to let you get away from me more than a few centimeters at maximum…look…. I … Do you think there is enough room for two in that bunk? I would like to hold you in my arms while sleeping?"
"Oh ..." She raised her head and tentatively caressed his cheek with her fingertips, while trying to find her voice again.
"A few centimeters only … huh…? Not really practical for a longer time…"
"Being practical is your job in our engagement… Do you think there is? Space for two…, for sleeping…, ah, you know what I mean, don't you?"
Luke peered at her suddenly nervous, his cheeks a little flushed.
"Yes there is! For the two of us anyway…the bunk is rather spacious, at least for a ship like this"
She was amazed how easy this was finally.
"…and do you think you can cope with having me in your bed? While sleeping, I mean…"
"It seems to be that, a few hours ago, I made a commitment that will allow me to have you in my bed quite often in the future, and not only for sleeping then, I hope; so let's see that I get used to this as soon as possible."
She reached up, placed both hands on either sides of his face and pulled him in for a kiss, feeling him smile against her lips.
"I guess I told you before that I am really getting used to your practical approach on things, let's get familiarized to sharing though."
------------------------------------
In contrast to earlier assessments, the bunk was a really tight fit with both of them in it.
While snuggling into her back, Luke wondered briefly, if this wasn't probably the most impractical thing Mara had ever agreed to do. Or was it that he was the one who had agreed here? It didn't matter in the end.
"Luke…about that I didn't want to be put into a healing trance."
"Hmmm….?"
He could feel her uncertainty when she started to talk.
"I just want to be aware of your touch; I would be oblivious to it when being in a trance I guess! You know, since I joined Karrde's Organization, I never had someone that near to me while sleeping… was just easier this way…."
She hesitated.
"Don't get me wrong, I certainly acquired all kind of experience while being on the job as an assassin and later when being stranded in the Outer Rim…. Just necessities to survive or to accomplish a mission … it was even nice at times."
She frowned at her own evaluation, resolutely pushing certain memories back into a normally hidden place of her mind again.
"It was just the actual 'sleeping in another person's arms' part was always unnerving. So I avoided it completely later when I had a choice."
He did not really know what to say.
"…and how do you feel right now?"
"Don't know how to describe it …warm, secure, comfortable…. Exactly in the place I want to be…. Is this okay for you?"
He swallowed, his throat felt tight suddenly.
"If you had asked me two weeks ago, I had never thought about getting into this place ever, but now it feels like I am exactly were I was always supposed to be; where I always wanted to be. I am very okay, with you being in my arms; kind of euphoric knowing that you feel secure being here. "
"Sounds good, I think I am able to sleep just fine now…and I think I will really keep the shirt, as a memory of the first night when I slept in your arms ….Good night, Luke"
He kissed her neck and nestled his face into her hair again. She was really an amazing woman; spending his life with her would be an adventure even in peaceful times, but this was really something he was looking forward too.
"Good night and… I love you, Mara Jade!"
Somehow he was sure she'd recognized this statement, although she already slept soundly.
FIN