It had to start somewhere...

[Aurelia Wayne]

A few days later...

"This is ridiculous."

It was the tenth time Aurelia had said that, not that Jamit was counting, as they whisked across the district from an on-site meeting back to headquarters. Traffic was impossible, and to make matters worse, her 'link was failing to sync and transfer her notes back to her private server. Such technological failures drove her crazy since those were what her father had been so good at pioneering. It was largely what WayneTech was known for!

"I know," Jamit said apologetically. "I'm sure it will sync soon."

She rolled her eyes and stuffed the device back in her bag. "Ridiculous."

Jamit eyed her, but held his tongue. Aurelia had never been one to appreciate prying into her personal business, so he wasn't about to start now, even if he thought she needed someone to talk to. He looked at his own datapad, then gave her another covert glance as the boss pulled out her 'link again to check it. She sighed heavily and put it away.

[Nikole Nystrom]

"Why the hell won't my transmission go through?!" ranted Nikole as she tried to reconfigure the settings for the fourth time. "Are you sure we're out of range of that damn solar flare, Katja?"

"Calm your tits and YES, Big sis. Geesh. Nothing's wrong with communications. It's probably something on her side causing the issue," grumbled the young Morellian. She had to listen to Nikole's complaining for over an hour, obsessed with talking to her new squeeze. It wasn't that she didn't understand where the desire was stemming from, but Katja had done everything asked of her to try and alleviate the anxiety. They even scheduled certain drop points out of hyperspace to accommodate the transmissions.

Sighing in resignation, Nikole glanced at the co-pilot's seat where her sister was sitting. "I'm sorry. You're right."

"All good," she said and leaned over to pat her shoulder. "I get the crazies with the bond stuff, but you do need to chill. You'll talk to her soon. 'kay?"

Leave it to Nikole finding her mate that piqued Katja's curiosity. The young woman was intrigued that her hard ass sister found a soulmate and it brought them closer, talking mostly about her new found love, but that bridged into other topics. Including how Katja met a handsome bounty hunter while partying around Coruscant. "Alright. I'll give it a few more minutes before we have to jump into hyperspace. We need to remain on schedule."

[Aurelia Wayne]

Back at the WayneTech building, Aurelia sighed with relief that her desk console was operating properly even if her comlink had gone haywire. Piling her things on one corner of the desk, she gave a thankful nod to Jamit who set a caf and a water in front of her before he left.

"Gods, let me connect this way until I can get home. I hope I didn't miss her altogether this time!" Aurelia whined, waiting and glaring at the display.

She downed the caf, then sipped the water, waiting.

[Nikole Nystrom]

She glanced at the chrono and sighed. "Damn. Alright, Katja ... we're going to have to ..."

But the console lit up suddenly with an incoming transmission. The source, Coruscant.

"You should totally see your face right now. It's probably hurting from smiling," chuckled Katja.

She blushed at that and slapped her arm. "Quiet you."

"Can I meet her?" she asked, accepting the call.

"No!"

"Why not?!"

The connection was made and Aurelia was greeted by the two sisters bickering back and forth.

"Because I rather you meet her in person."

"The 'net is pretty damn close to being in person ya know..."

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia chuckled and cleared her throat.

"Did I comm at a bad time, Nystrom sisters?" she asked, her tone light and teasing. Auri, too, was grinning from ear to ear as she listened in. "Should I try again later after this dreadful delay?"

[Katja Nystrom]

"Aurelia!" Nikole said in a panic because Katja was going to jump on this in a hurry.

Katja planned this because she accepted the call! "Hello Aurelia! I'm Katja and it is sooooo nice to meet'cha! And this is totally awesome because we were just about to leave."

Nikole buried herself behind her hands, hoping that this didn't get to embarrassing.

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia's first thought was, How can Katja be that old?

She recovered from that perplexity, at least, momentarily, and scooted closer to the camera and screen. "Well, hello... Katja! Nice to meet you too. Is... Nikole there? Available. I mean, available. Of course, she's there."

[Katja Nystrom]

"Hmm, I dunno. I mean, she's sitting here next to me with hands covering her face. Maybe I need to take a message?"

"KATJA?!"

She ends up laughing, doubling over.

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia laughed and shook her head. She could well imagine that Nikole was mortified by this!

"Well... tell her that I'm sorry for the technology backfire this evening. My comlink's turned against me," she lamented, grinning because she knew Nikole could hear all of this. "I'll get it fixed and make sure to be awake for the next check-in."

She paused a beat, then spoke again.

"You will let her know, right?"

[Nikole Nystrom]

"Will do. I ..."

"Wait Aurelia!" Nikole pressed against Katja's side so both of them could be seen on the Corellian's end.

"See? She knows!" she cackled and got up. "I'll leave you two be. Next time though, I get to actually talk to my sister's mate. Later."

Out of view, she leaned down and kissed her sister on the cheek. "She's hot. Good going on the primal connection."

And with that, Nikole's eyes widened and flushed bright red, stunned silent.

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia may not have been able to see the exchange, but she could definitely hear them. She smiled wider, hearing Katja's approval but the "primal connection" comment was nearly as puzzling as the blonde sister's age. The Corellian filed this under another detail to ask about, later.

For the moment, she took another drink of water and waited for Nikole to finally join her on the link.

"Nikole...? Are you still there?" she asked.

[Nikole Nystrom]

Nikole truly hoped that Aurelia hadn't overheard that. So either she didn't or her mate was being kind enough to not ask any questions right now.

"Y-y-yes! I'm here!" she forced herself into view and smiled. "Sorry about that. My sister's been harping on me since we left Coruscant to meet you."

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia leaned in and smiled, reaching out as if she could trace Nikole's features with her fingertip. Even with the connection, she could see that Katja had made Nikole blush, and Auri thought that was adorable.

Chuckling, she said, "Well, I hope it was all she imagined by 'Net. Katja definitely seems to have an abundance of enthusiasm..."

And age to her credit. I thought she was a child. What's this about?

But, she didn't ask.

[Nikole Nystrom]

She smiled and envisioned Aurelia touching her as if she were physically here, knowing that it would calm her nerves after Katja's teasing. Nikole missed Aurelia so much and it barely had been a week. The distance was becoming excruciating, as her panicked reaction had indicated. It were to only get worse too but the daily communications helped abate it for a considerable time. Katja and Kalyn helped distract her with either a sparring match in the cargo hold or a healthy debate on the latest book the twin sisters were reading.

"Katja has more than you could probably imagine," she said with a nervous grin. "I'm certain it was a good start, but expect her to be at the beginning of every call now that she's met you."

[Aurelia Wayne]

"I'll be sure to keep my clothes on at the start of each call then," Aurelia replied with a knowing wink.

She was kidding because she wouldn't do that to Nikole, especially when there was a chance that her sisters could spot her! But, it was a fair reply with the warning that Katja would want to check in now too.

"How are you, Nikole? I'm so sorry about the tech failure. It was driving me crazy."

[Nikole Nystrom]

"I uh ... uh ... Right. Good. Good idea," she agreed, despite the image it provoked. She blinked away the budding desire and smiled in understanding. "It was driving me crazy too. I yearn to see you again as soon as we end our calls. I'm doing much better now ..."

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia smiled, happy to hear that she felt the same... even if she felt bad that Nikole would've been as anxious as she had been before!

"I can't wait to see you again, in person. Touch you. Kiss you." She flushed, eyes shining. "I've been distracted all day, waiting to talk to you now."

[Nikole Nystrom]

Her eyes darkened with promise. "I want those things too."

It was her turn to reach out at the projected image of her mate with a longing that couldn't be tamed now. "My sisters try to distract me, but you are all that I can think of."

[Aurelia Wayne]

Aurelia smiled at that, trying to lean into Nikole's touch. She sighed softly when that was, of course, impossible.

"You'll reach Corellia soon, thank the Force. I'll make sure Vega knows to supply you with anything you need for the return trip. For you three or your ship," she said. "So you can have a quick turnaround."

And I must clear time to make sure I can meet you when you land here, she thought.

Aurelia had never felt so obsessive about someone she dated; if anything, she'd been woefully indifferent! This was a strange behavior pattern to realize in herself, wanting to be so involved emotionally and be so physically present.

[Nikole Nystrom]

She pulled her hand back and folded it with the other upon the console, but Nikole remained leaning forward to be as close to Aurelia as she could, or at least tricking herself that she was far closer than the light years between them.

"I'm not entirely sure it will be that quick of a turn around. I did promise Katja a day on Corellia when we accepted your offer. She's excited to be going home, but I promise it won't cut into your timetable," she said. As much as the desired burned to see Aurelia again, she couldn't break a promise to her sister. All of them were going to make the trip back to Corellia special and that was before Nikole found out who Aurelia was to her!