Scene 24 – Interlude: On the Brink

[Warning – kind of lime-y. Nothing explicit, but if you're not comfortable with allusions to physical intimacy, go ahead and skip this scene.]

Vacy didn't often waste time on men who were exceptionally popular with other women, because the ones she'd spent any time with had proven to be exceptionally selfish as a result. All the skill and experience in the galaxy didn't matter a whit if it wasn't put to good use, after all.

She was pleased to discover that for whatever reason, Darmas did not follow this pattern. He seemed honestly curious – even excited – about discovering what pleased her. He watched her expressions closely, and his eyes would light up when she gasped and writhed under his touch. Eventually, Vacy gave up trying to turn the tables on him, and just surrendered to the pleasure of his attention.

He was in excellent shape, given his apparent age, and his skin was remarkably smooth and free of scars and other markings. Not like mine, she mused as they lay together. As the pounding of her heart finally began to ease into a more normal rhythm, she nestled against him, trailing her fingertips along the line of his shoulder and down his arm, smiling when she saw the fine blond hairs stand up as his skin prickled at her touch.

They lingered in the refresher, lathering each other up and embracing under the heated spray, until, finally exhausted, they emerged and dried off.

Vacy squealed when Darmas popped a towel at her. "Hey, now! That's hardly a gentlemanly thing to do!" she protested.

He stepped close, pulling her into his arms and nibbling kisses along the side of her neck. "Yes, well, you seem to bring out the rascal in me, I'm afraid," he murmured.

She laughed, kissed him hungrily a too-brief moment longer, and then stepped away, heart pounding, cheeks flushed. "I've got to go," she sighed. "We're staying on a friend's ship, and she's probably already worrying about me." Vacy rolled her eyes. "I'm facing an interrogation already, and if I miss breakfast, I'll never hear the end of it."

Darmas nodded. "Don't have that problem, myself, but I won't keep you." He gave an exaggerated sigh, putting a hand to his forehead. "Though I shall pine for you every moment you're away, my dear."

Laughing again, Vacy shook her head. "Darmas, you're impossible."

He reached out, catching her hand in his, and lifted it, kissing her knuckles lightly. "And you, Vacy, are exceptional. Never forget that, no matter what." He smiled quietly at her. "I'm going to shave – can you see yourself out?"

She nodded, and when he returned to the refresher she took just a little longer to finish dressing and lace her sandals before heading out.

It was often hard to tell the difference between pre-dawn and sunrise on Coruscant, given the haze that permeated the atmosphere, but by the time Vacy meandered lazily down the boulevard toward the spaceport, the sky was bright and the lights from the towering buildings had long since winked out.

She was humming to herself as she ambled past the potted plants in the spaceport on her way to the hangar where Arri's ship was kept. And if she drew a few stares, so what? She was always so cautious, never drawing unwanted attention, and she wasn't doing anything wrong – what did it matter if she behaved a little oddly?

Still humming, Vacy keyed in the code and followed up with the biometric scanner. With a hiss of compressed air, the door to the Defender unlocked, and she twisted the latch and pushed it open. Stepping inside, she pushed on it, and the hydraulics pulled it back into place with a heavy metallic thunk.

And Arri was standing at the top of the stairs, her arms folded and her eyes snapping.