\ Carth \
Carth paused before entering the apartment. While he had scoured the lonely streets of Taris for food, he disguised the rapid pounding of his heart with equally hasty strides. Now that he was no longer moving, it was impossible to ignore.
She's awake. She's awake. She's awake, rang in his ear with each beat.
He hadn't spent significant time with a woman alone since... well, over four years ago. This would be an adjustment, but one he could manage. He was a solider. She was a soldier. They would keep it professional. Everything a means to a successful mission.
He shook his shoulders back before knocking, "Asira, I'm back. Are you decent?" His voice loud just enough to carry through the metal door.
There was no answer.
"Asira?" He waited what seemed like an appropriate amount of time before bursting in.
Their eyes met immediately, and he stopped short. The door nearly closing on the back of his jacket.
Asira stood, holding his spare shirt against her chest. She showed no signs of embarrassment that he'd caught her rummaging through his pack. Instead, a proud grin spread across her face as she finally replied, "Yes, if you're asking whether I'm adequately clothed. No, if you're asking whether I conform to basic moral standards."
"That, ah, riddle for me, sister?" It came out playfully though Carth was reeling from surprise.
"You asked if I was decent? Remember?" Asira asked coyly and laughed to herself. Still looking down and considering how she'd look in his shirt.
How did she escape his understanding so easily? Seven seconds in, and she already ruined his plans. She wasn't playing soldier. What's her angle? Figuring him out? Flirting? Just being feisty? No matter what, he could handle it. He had to.
"You want to be smart, do you?" Carth smiled and pointed at the greasy bag he dangled in the air, "Well then, you shouldn't shit where you eat."
/ Asira /
Asira didn't know the name of the food, but it was salty and fried. She held it in her hands, pulling the meat with her teeth, and tossing the bones in the empty bag. Mouthfuls slid into her belly with a comforting fullness.
Carth occupied the silence with ramblings about how they got in their current predicament. She held off smiles as he spoke the same phrases he'd written in the datapad. He was a predictable man. She liked that. It would be nice to rely on someone.
"Let me ask you something, though. Just what is your position with the Republic fleet, anyway?" His question pinged Asira back to attention.
"Navy soldier. Petty Officer 2nd Class." A lie. She couldn't afford the truth. She sensed he was off. He hadn't stopped fidgeting a single moment. Once to the point of dropping food from his mouth on the floor. Telling him she was counterintelligence would be... counterintuitive. Plus, it wasn't a complete lie. At one point she'd been an exceptional soldier.
"You know, you look familiar. Like I, uh... like I recognize you from more than just the Endar Spire."
She shifted in her chair, "I must have a common face." It was the first thought that popped in her head. Something a regular soldier might say.
He laughed and swooped his fallen hair into place. "Perhaps you're right. I've been a star-pilot with the Republic for years. I've seen more than my share of wars and even more of the faces that fight in them." The hearty laugh crinkled the skin around his eyes. There was a worn, war-hero look to him. He must have been flawlessly handsome in his younger years. And now he was a refined, well-aged man.
"I bet you collected a few interesting stories along the way. Anything worth sharing?" It was time to change the subject.
\ Carth \
"Maybe. But now's not the time for that." Carth said as he stood to clear their mess before laying on the bed across the room, placing one leg over the other and cupping his hands behind his head. He felt compelled to create some distance between them.
But Asira followed, settling at the foot of his bed. "Why not? It's late, and there's nothing else to do. I can be a good listener."
"You mean well with your questions. I'm just not accustom to talking about my past very much. At all actually." The lack of care in his voice had always been enough to dishearten the persistent women who tried to crack him over the years.
She stared at him. "I think I deserve to know a bit more about the man who's slept in my bed." Any trace of joking she might have had before was gone.
He owed her answers, and she was cashing in now. Surely, he could at least placate her with a story from his early years before…
Well, before.
Carth's mind scrambled through 20-odd years of duty and came up empty. Had he really let his bottled-up hurt push everything else from his mind? Maybe it was the realization his life had become one big distraction. Or the way Asira's intense sincerity burned in his chest. Words bubbled up, filling his mouth and spilling out when he opened it.
"Look, I suppose I... could. But only because I technically already told you."
"I think I'd remember that."
"Heh, heh. I doubt it. You were still knocked out."
"You told me a story while I was knocked out?"
"I, uh… Yeah. A few." A heat from his chest rushed up his throat and swelled in his cheeks. His whole body had to be pink. No way in hell she didn't notice.
"Then what's there to lose?"
She was right. Everything had already been lost. Blast, this frustrating woman.
"Damn it. I suppose I won't get any rest until I talk, will I?"
Perhaps good might come from this. He hoped a glimpse into the grisly past of an old soldier would be a warning. A warning that it was better not know him.
"I fought in the Mandalorian Wars before all this started. You know, Admiral Saul Karath? The commander of the entire Sith fleet? Yeah well, Saul used to be my commanding officer… he led us to so many victories, even when things looked to be at their worst. Then he betrayed us. I couldn't conceive of it. He… he couldn't be serious. I was wrong, of course… he not only left us for the Sith, he… he gave them the codes to bypass our scanners. I remember waking up as the first of the Sith bombers snuck past our defenses and began destroying half of our docked ships. I knew right away what had happened. I…"
He meant to stop there. But words continued to spill, and Carth was helplessly carried away by the unfolding flood. He told her the things he purposefully tucked away. The loss of Telos, his beautiful wife, his young son. And how much he missed them.
Asira didn't say much at all. Only asking a few questions and nodding her head along the way. Keeping her promise, she was a good listener.
"Ahhh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have rambled like that, even if you asked. I guess you're, I don't know... easy to talk to."
/ Asira /
"Nothing to be sorry about. It makes sense. I mean... I understand why it's hard for you to say those things out loud. But it's good to say it. Honestly, I'm just glad one of us can remember something." Asira stretched her legs off the bedside, sore from curling up at Carth's feet.
"Heh, who knows if it's good or not? Either way, I really think we should, ah... get back to sleep. You decided to finally wake up in the middle of the night, so tomorrow'll be ruined if we don't." He said, closing his his eyes before he finished talking.
"No way. I got enough sleep for a while. You sleep. I need to wash up."
"Fair enough. I'm right here if you need anything."
Asira hurried to the fresher, but took her time once she was in. The cool water was a welcome shock to her system, a jolt she hoped would help her remember something from before the nightmares. All it did was further stiffen her muscles. It was hard to think with no memories to be had. So she thought of what came easiest.
Carth.
His well-worn, hero look proved to be more than skin deep. She sensed an unwavering monument of goodness within him. She wanted to know him like she wanted to touch him, deeply and desperately.
When Asira left the fresher, he was asleep in the same position, arms crossed over his head, fully clothed. How he slept in that stiff orange jacket was a mystery.
She noticed Carth's datapad tucked under his bed. How sneaky. Like a girl past her bedtime, she hid under her covers as it powered on, opening to a page she'd read before.
It had been edited.
{ Human female, calls herself Asira. Navy soldier, Petty Officer 2nd Class. Mid-30s. Average height, fit build. Black hair. Eyes, deep green at edges, turn golden approaching center. }
Her heart skipped. He described her eyes with such sweet detail, veering completely from his otherwise reserved observations. Maybe Carth wasn't as predictable as she first suspected.