Jovan: The Layover

[Stashia Yachenka]

The first and most foremost emotion she was likely to feel was confusion, and an underlying sense of fear. This was a highly abnormal situation already, made more so by the strange woman who now lectured her.

"... Who are you?" was the most the Kroskovan could manage, already taking a half-step away from the woman. If she had to defend herself, she needed room to do so.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"I was a Jedi. Once. A long time ago." She couldn't hide the flash of anger in her eyes, but it faded quickly. "You have nothing to fear from me, Stashia. I only wish for you to know your options. The whole galaxy lays before you at this junction. To be forced down one path without knowing the others even exist would be a tragedy."

[Stashia Yachenka]

"Options?" She said curiously, brow knitting as she relaxed her stance, but did not allow her guard to fall. This one was a former Jedi, or so she claimed. It might be good to get as much information as possible from her, even if she has her own agenda.

"I have orders. Options are go to Ossus, or becoming traitor."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena smiled thinly. "Such are the orders from the small minded. You can follow your orders, of course. Or you can join the Jedi because you think it is the right thing to do. There are, of course, the ways of the ancient Sith lords, those who followed the dark side of the Force to its inevitable end, using their power to carve out great empires and bend the galaxy as they saw fit. There are rumors some still exist... But if they do they are small, weak copies of the greatness the Sith once knew.

"As for me," she said, "I have made my own path. The Empire has a long history of the murder and misuse of Force Adepts. I oppose them most vehemently - with every fiber of my being. I do not tie myself to the Light, nor the Dark, but make use of all my abilities as necessary to protect those adepts who have been given no choice. And this, Stashia, includes you. An order is no choice at all, not when we are talking about the Unifying and Living Force."

[Stashia Yachenka]

Stashia Yachenka, Lieutenant, recipient of the Kroskovan Medal of Merit, the best pilot in all of Kroskova, likely all of Midloth... felt very small. She fought the growing weakness in her joints, her tail drooping as she was beset by the knowledge of just how wide the Galaxy was, how much bigger than herself this all was.

Jedi, Sith, Adepts, Empire, Unifying and Living Force? What had she stepped into. By Garfife what had she stepped into."I..." she stammered, pink eyes searching for something to hold onto, something that felt real despite all of this madness. "I do not know what I should do."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Follow your orders," she said. "Go to Ossus, Stashia. But as you learn their ways, retain your skepticism. Know what you are committing to, before you commit fully. If you wish to ask me questions, you can reach me at this number." Lilaena held out a data chit with a comm number in its memory.

She looked down the station, and then back to the mongoose. "I'm sure your layover will be over soon. In the meantime, I think someone is looking for you." She smiled as Stashia took the chit, and when the pilot looked away she let herself disappear into what foot traffic there was nearby, her purposes complete.

[Anauri Rabeak]

Anauri's pink eyes stared at his beer, knowing that it could make him feel better, if he drank enough of it. Slowly they rose. Bottles of harder liquor lined the back wall, in front of the mirror behind the bar. There he considered himself. Was he so old that his time had passed? Did it matter that there was an age difference, if he loved her? And, even if it wasn't love, was a fling too much to ask, especially with a girl so pretty, and so obviously interested. All he could see in himself were his flaws, his damage and imperfections. Leave it to a space whale to point out that he was still a man, under all his war wounds.

Paw grasping his glass, Anauri lifted it and took a swig, before setting the half-empty vessel down, and slapping a few credits down next to it. Then he was out of his seat, standing beside the Herglic as he dug for something in his pocket. A twenty-credit chit was placed before, her, and the older engineer smiled.

"You know what? You're right. If I don't try, I'll never know," he said. "Drinks are on me, for that. And... you're in charge of engineering, for the rest of the night. Thanks for the penguin tailk." He suddenly winced, then laughed and shook his head. "I mean pep talk. Enjoy your drinks."

With that, Anauri took up his jacket and exited the bar, back onto the promenade. Civilians and non-Alliance craft always docked at Spire One, which was fortunate as it was in the same direction that Anauri needed to go to buy a box of... party favors... along the way, stuffing them into his jacket pocket. Crowds on Jovan had grown ever thicker as he and his team had helped bring the station on line, and make it hospitable to those who chose to brave it as a place of business, or a new home. His badge of office helped clear some of the standabouts out of the way, and in little time he made it to the docking bay, where he saw an older style of Kroskovan shuttle, and a black-furred beauty standing near it.

"Stashia!" Anauri called out, waving his paw as he drew near. "Still waiting on repairs?" he then asked, glancing at the shuttle, and praying she hadn't only used that as an excuse to get away from him in the bar.

[Stashia Yachenka]

Her ears went from their flattened position upward at the voice, that wonderful, grizzled voice. Her head all but snapped to find him, a momentary look of panic on her features from what had just happened and the now missing woman she had been talking to, this... Lilaena De'Ville. She rolled the data chit over against her paw pads before pocketing it into her gray flight jacket. It could be useful.

She rushed to him then, throwing her arms around him, clinging to him like an anchor of safety. "Re, I am thinking that I need good drink. Yes, very much needing good drink." She'd explain it all to him in time, or well... most of it. She still wasn't sure what to make of the mystery woman. But the missing pilot, the mounting concern, this she would explain. Orders be damned for that moment. She did not feel safe traveling with her sitter. Let command be upset.

"Things are... much more difficult than I expected." Her body language and tail told everything even if she didn't about the bundle of nerves she had become in such a short time since leaving his company.

[Anauri Rabeak]

It was not the greeting Anauri had expected, but he accepted it nonetheless. His own arms wrapping around her waist to hold her and still the nerves he could feel emanating from her, he stood, wondering what the hell had gone wrong in the last fifteen minutes. "It's okay, he assured her, reaching a paw up to stroke the back of her head before the pair slowly separated.

There it was, already, that sharp, sweet pheromone scent, but this time it was different, twinged with insecurity. Had she changed her mind? No, couldn't be, not from how she had greeted him, he told himself.

"What's wrong?" he asked, nodding to her ship, and its open door. "Does your pilot need assistance, in there?"

Of course, the vodka, and the private place to share it in were still very much on the table, but, being an engineer, he couldn't resist his immediate curiosity.

[Stashia Yachenka]

"Незаконнорожденный сын кота." She spat on the ground in frustation as she stared at the open door.

"No, he is not on board. I am not knowing where this идиот has gone." She groused loudly. "He has left work half done, console is split apart, wires everywhere - no sign of him, no message on how to reach him." She pulled herself a bit closer to the older male, the scent of him already doing much to improve her mode, tail swaying with growing ease at being in his presence.

[Anauri Rabeak]

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Anauri assured her. His paws rubbed the small of her back, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as long as she needed to in order to feel safe.

Deep inside of himself, Anauri could felt old emotions rising to the surface, ones he never thought he'd feel again. But why was he feeling them for this woman he barely knew? Was Garfife blessing him, or was it some nasty trick being played on him by what remained of Garamond's spirit? Either way, there was something else afoot, something he could not abide: a ship left unfixed.

When he felt her ease away, Anauri reached for his comm. "Security, this is Chief Engineer Rabeak. Please be on the lookout for a Nehantite male. Should be the only one on the station other than myself. When located, please detain him, and alert me."

That done, he nodded toward the ship again. "Come on, let's see what's going on, here."

Inside, it was a disaster of pulled wires, exposed panels and a console laying on the floor. To most, it would appear that something had gone seriously wrong, but to an experienced engineer, who had seen his fill of lazy stunts, it was something worse. A sham.

"That fucker..." he growled. There was nothing wrong with the panel. Every wire and connection had been cleanly separated at their proper junction box, and two minutes worth of reconnection and testing proved that there had never been anything wrong in the first place. "You've been had, Stashia,' he announced, scowling at the half-completed mess. "Nothing wrong, your pilot just made it look that way."

Reaching for his comm once more, Anauri's voice was decidedly less pleasant than the previous call. "Security, this is Chief Engineer Rabeak, again. When you find that Nehantite male, put him in the brig, minumum six hours. Willful disabling of a spaceworthy craft. Fine his ass for taking up a parking space, too. Nobody pulls this shit on my station."

There was something about solving a problem with a spacecraft that never failed to get Anauri worked up, and as he looked back to Stashia, his raised pulse went higher. His tail swishing in just the right way, he found the ability to smile, and said, "So... drinks at my place still sound good?"

[Stashia Yachenka]

She watched him work, intrigued by how quickly, how immediately he had diagnosed the problem, even if it was that there was no problem. When he finally spoke again to security, the treacherous male who had abandoned her on this station was being flagged for a night in holding. Good. Let him rot. She would send a report to her own superiors informing them of the situation, that she would acquire new transport to Ossus, and would be stuck on board the station until she could arrange such.

Her temperature had risen several degrees as she'd watched his tail move and dance, and flicked hers back in response. When at last he turned, smiled and made the wonderful offer of drinks, Stashia found that words no longer properly conveyed her sentiment. She was against him in an instant, muzzle locked against his in a delightful warm kiss. That tiny instinctual voice that had not shut up since she had left him in the bar finally relented, and she felt herself relax against his thick form, tail swaying in delight.

[Anauri Rabeak]

The older male's pink eyes went wide with surprise, at first, with that kiss.

Hoo, boy, this one is forward! Maybe we should pace our-

Immediately, Anauri stopped paying attention to the voice in his head, and let his heart and instincts take over. Eyes closed, he returned the kiss, softly at first, then deeply as his arms pulled her tight. He barely knew her. He'd likely not see her for months, at the earliest, but... everything felt so right. In that moment, he abandoned himself to his impulses, strong paws sliding down her back to grasp and squeeze that backside, pulling her deeper into that kiss until it parted, both Nehantites panting.

"I think we'd better hurry back to my place. There's rules about having sex in parked craft, here in the bay," he murred. Another kiss was unavoidable, but after that he found himself taking Stashia by the paw, and leading her back through the promenade, past the shops and bars, to a turbolift where they shared yet more kisses, despite an onlooking Cizerack officer, until at last they reached the crew deck. From there it was a short distance to his apartment, and he fumbled with his keycard before finally finding the slot and gaining entry.

"My humble abode," he announced, bidding Stashia inside, then peeled off his jacket as the door closed behind him. "So... drinks first, or...?" he asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

[Stashia Yachenka]

She wanted to suggest the Vodka, open it to pry the mood, but her pheromones and instincts had decided that she was pried enough. She pushed against him forcefully, a low growl in the back of her throat as she nipped at his neck wantingly. It was mere moments later their bodies crashed to the ground, and sheer luck that they managed to get the door shut before the show became public.

The rest of the night was a blur, he gave her a tour of the apartment, and she availed herself upon him in every room.

An alarm beeped somewhere across the room, his bedroom a disheveled mess of their passion. She pulled herself up from against his chest with a startled look, a morning alarm usually meant that she had overslept and was late for morning inspection. She blinked a few times as the night came back to her, wry grin spreading over her lips from the memories and she pulled back the covers, expecting to find Re's face, and instead revealed his legs. She flopped backward and pulled the covers the other direction, finding his face, somehow still sleeping through the noise and smiled brightly as she watched him breath for a few moments.

It had been exactly what she had needed. Her body free of the tension and stress that had been building since getting her assignment to go to Ossus. She leaned in and let her muzzle wander against his own, hoping to stir him with the warmth of her kiss.

[Anauri Rabeak]

A deep and throaty murr resonated from the male's throat, and his paw slid up to find her cheek even before he had fully come to. Gently, his eyes opened, and he smiled. It could have been but a fantastic dream, but as he looked into the eyes of his lover, Anauri knew it had been so much more. Sliding closer in he bed, he let one arm wrap around her waist to draw her close to him once more, the warmth of Stashia's black fur feeling so right against his body, and with his other paw he reached out and slapped his offending alarm.

"Mmm, good morning, beautiful," he murred again. "I don't think they'll mind if I'm a bit late for work, today. I know I won't mind," he chuckled, nuzzling her before licking her neck.

Any thought of work was as far from Anauri's mind as the Dagobah system.

[Stashia Yachenka]

She murred back in appreciative sensation to the paws pulling her closer to him, offering more of her neck to his deliciously skilled tongue. "Good morning~" She sang out softly against him, quite pleased with the idea that she didn't have to give him up so quickly. "Mmmm, while I am liking this very much." She gave a soft rumble of approval, "I am not wanting to keep you from work - even if you won't mind." She smiled at him, peppering his chin with soft kisses. "I am here for several days now I am thinking. Must still find new transport to Ossus, I have no desire to go anywhere with that идиот pilot after such a stunt."

She stroked her pawtips through his fur, tracing his scars appreciatively. It was the sign of a hard worker, the sign of a male who could bare the weight of the world. It was a roadmap that she desired to learn every inch of.

[Anauri Rabeak]

"Mmm, don't blame you," Anauri said between kisses up her jawline until he found her lips. "But... I may have a solution," he smiled after that. "I have my own ship, and I've got some leave built up. What if I took you to Ossus?"

Without warning, Anauri rolled onto his back, his strong arms grasping Stashia to come with him, grinning up at her as she lay above him, now, straddling his hips. "Though, my ship only has one cabin, and a single bed. Think that'll be a problem?" he asked with a playful wink.

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

The commlink on the bedside table began to vibrate, rattling the polymer surface and creating a buzzing din that begged to not be ignored.

[Anauri Rabeak]

His question would have to wait, apparently, and Anauri growled as he reached over to his bedside table. Arms not quite long enough, he tapped and pushed at the commlink with his clawtips before a final surge of motion pulled it into his grasp. One paw stroking Stashia's back, the other holding the comm, he sighed, and pressed the button.

"Chief Engineer Rabeak. What's broken, this time," he grumbled, not even having checked to see who was on the other end.

[Stashia Yachenka]

She would have been all too happy to answer his question by continuing their adventures from the night prior, murring in appreciative delight at the position he had managed to wrangle them into when his comm buzzed and he was forced to draw his attention away. She didn't want to interrupt his call, she really didn't.

But she was going to. Her face turned up mischievously, ears perking forward in playful anticipation as she braced her paws against his chest, fingers digging in and slowly began to rock her body, her wide and wicked grin beaming down at him.