"Heeyyy!!"
Pulling out from under his hand, Tak straightened her jingle tauntaun horns.
"You're gonna mess up my horns!"
"Heeyyy!!"
Pulling out from under his hand, Tak straightened her jingle tauntaun horns.
"You're gonna mess up my horns!"
I finished a swallow of grog with a coy grin, then a look of mock astonishment.
"You're not about to tell me this is the first time a good looking girl like you has ever been asked out for a good time, are you?"
With a shake of my head, I continued.
"They've got underground geothermal lakes. Minerals in the water are good for the skin, everything helps you relax. If that's not enough, you can get a masseuse after a swim. I'm the first to admit I'm not the most cultured guy, but a day or two over there goes a long way to help you forget the troubles on your mind."
Cirr hoisted Tak up again, this time minding the horns.
"You want a sjip, huh? Rreally?"
Blue eyes darted left and right conspiratorally.
Song and dance and food and so many other good things! It was all far too much for Cleo to contain. Life Day had come to represent so many things and a celebration was so much needed. And there she was, smack right in the middle of a group of others dancing... spinning, twirling, letting the long green and red scarf trail behind her as she attempted to prevent it from catching on fire or on other people as she kept close to whoever was playing the pretty music.
She knew a song they didn't, she bet. Her mom had sang it to her on Life Days past when she was just tiny before she had died, and it was a real pretty song and it was stuck in her head and it was all that wanted to be in there. If she could only get her hand on a candle, then it probably would have come bursting out of her. Because the song needed a candle. But that was okay, she hadn't sung it since she was little and it probably wouldn't have been so good. So instead she kept it in her head and continued to dance around the fire that was oh so good feeling.
The snow and frozen grass was crunchy under her feet and that was great too. It would all have to do, and she liked it.
Blinking in surprise as Jamo expertly dodged her frozen missile, her emerald gaze widened further at the sound of the Commander's voice echoing from across the way. As such, she noticed at the very last second that he'd chucked a snowball straight at her head - one, she noted that she didn't have time to avoid entirely. All the young woman managed to do was turn her head so that it thwapped solidly against the upswept curls of her ponytail.
It disintegrated and dripped chunks of ice and rivulets of cold water down her neck and beneath her parka. Carré bit her lip to stifle her squeak as she darted behind the nearest tree to avoid the next flying sphere.
Fluffy? Well, it could be worse. At least he hasn't called me snookums yet today.
Carré did manage to grin at him as she replied, flicking the last of the ice from the back of her neck that she could reach. "Got a point there, Jamo. Now...not that I'm surprised that the Commander has such excellent aim, but I demand retribution for the fact that I have snow and ice slithering down my back. Shall we?" She arched a brow and tossed the waiting snowball up and down with one hand.
Her own eyes lit up like blinking lights on a Life Day tree. Did she want a sip?! Of course she did! She'd seen Dama and Dad drink this stuff all the time, and they always seemed to really like it... and since they never let her have a drink, it was probally cause they wanted to keep it all to themselves.
A vigorous nod, and the little Lupine smiled wide.
If Dama knew she was sharing a fancy-drink with Cirr, she'd have fits! Of course, there was no telling what Dad would do.
The thought did little to nothing to deter her however, and Tak scooted closer to Cirr.
"Is it good... ?" she whispered.
Cirr smiled a knowing smile.
"Well, jI thjink jit's good, and jI thjink jI know a thjing orr two about what's good, so, surre."
Cirr eased the pungent booze closer to Tak, ready for her predictable reaction to the freedom fighter's hooch.
She could smell it from where she sat, and it curled her nose hairs for sure. But still, it might've smelled kind of bad, but it had to be good.
Carfefully she climbed back into the big Cizerack's lap, situating herself more comfortably while shifting the glass so that it rested in front of her.
She looked back over her shoulder at Cirr.
"Is there a certain way I have to drink it?"
Cirr shrugged.
"jI dunno. Ljike blue mjilk jI guess."
Not exactly the best course of action for a beginner, he knew.
Sanis was not incorrect in his presumption, but Saricia never had time to consider the coy looks of boys and accept invitations for a 'good time'. Each promise of good fun, even if there were no expectations of something more, had been turned down. Family came first, and the young Lupine took that law seriously. Fingers idly play with the metal cup handle as Sanis continued with enticing lures of promising relaxation.
"It sounds lovely," she admitted truthfully, "But I'm not sure if Master s'Ilancy would allow an off world excursion. We have much to do on the Wheel."
It was an excuse in the replace of fear. She wanted to go, her heart was curious as to Ryloth and the handsome pilot standing before her, but the newness of the situation was perplexing and the Lupine reverted to old habits.
“Already got myself a wingman,” Jamo said, tossing a nod off towards a male Zeltron who slipped through the crowd towards them with an absolutely devilish smirk on his lips. Iyar 'Flipper' Thiled wore a parka of his own, in a shade of blue so luminous that it was a wonder the rest of the party didn't have to wear shades whenever they so much as glanced in his direction. Apparently the Zeltron didn't know the meaning of the word discretion.
“So I'm afraid you're flying solo on this one, puffball.”
Carré gave him a look and Jamo shrugged.
“Hell, if you're gonna have a decoy, might as well go all out.”
With that, he shoved Iyar into the line of fire and grinned as gleefully mischievous laughter spilled from the Zeltron's lips. Jamo turned to plan his next attack and went wide-eyed when a girl whirling by caught his hands and swept him up in a column of dancers who were galloping their way through the crowds.
“Came to make sure you didn't burn the forest down with that pipe of yours,” he replied, his voice dry at first but that hint of a smile there to remind Tionne that there was some life in the Captain yet. When her hand fell away, Barton turned again, finding himself restless in the open space. It was such a drastic change to the deck of the Knightfall, and even to the streets of Cloud City he had called home for so long. He looked into the darkness of the woods.
“I bet you could walk for hours out here and never see another soul.”
"Let me tell you a few things about Lok s'Ilancy. She never turned down an opportunity to see the sights. Before we got organized, I kept her on the lam."
I smiled, closing the distance between us a little.
"Besides, you've got the best escort in the Rebellion to take you there. You can't do better than that. I'd like to show you a bit of the galaxy and get your feet wet."
It was surprising information to say the least. She had learned of her Master's connection to Sanis, but Saricia was taken aback at her assumptions. And then taken aback by a casual step forward by the Smuggler.
"You know, there are others that would argue that statement Sanis Prent," she said, finding some strength in her words while some of the shyness subsided. The argument on the Wheel with him and Rogue Squadron was quite memorable.
Blue orbs looked past the Smuggler towards them with a thin smile, "Maybe we should ask them?"
The Knight snorted, retrieving into her hard shell plastered with sarcasm. Her hands fell idly to her side; having found nothing effective to do with them, Tionne reached into her jacket, retrieving her pipe once again. The tip found its way into between her lips and soon enough, the sweet scent of tobacco mixed with herbs encompassed her slender form. Drawing in a lungful of smoke, Thanewulf tilted her head back in relief.
''You worry about my pipe, while you left a dozen drunk flyboys next to a huge bonfire. Yes, I am truly a hazard to wildlife.'' the redhead remarked cynically, turning away from Barton to gaze at the snow-covered arboretum that lay before them.
''You need to get out more. That ship of yours...it's a good ship. But this is life...'' she said, taking a few steps outwards into the wilderness, then turning to Henning, hands spreading - ''This is freedom. Freedom of body, freedom of thought. This is what we need to fight for. A feeling you have in your chest right now...to be felt in every corner of the galaxy.''
There was an uncanny gleam in Tionne's grey eyes, as the hand that held her pipe turned upside down, the ash littering the snow beneath.
''To be felt, freedom needs to be consumed. You have learned how to run, Henning. Let's see how well do you chase.''
Turning sharply on her heel, Thanewulf dashed forwards into the woods, copper hair flagging behind her. Her senses stretched outwards through the Force, the pulse of the forest now her own.
It was funny, how you could tell the spooks and specialists by just looking at them. They were the ones slouched over the bar nursing tumblers of liquor, or lurking at the fringes of the party with a jaded glint in their eyes. Maybe they had just seen, and knew, too much to let go the way the likes of Rogue Squadron could. Mentally, Starborn shrugged. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, to turn up the collar of his jacket against the cold.
“Seems like everyone's hitting it hard tonight. You're gonna be lucky if you get half a dozen before the rocket-jockeys drink the kegs dry.”
"Nah..." Charles let her eyes wander from Starborn over to one of the louder groups of pilots, some parading around in their flight uniforms as if hoping to be called back into action at a moment's notice. You know, despite being drunker than all hell. A gentle subtle shake of her head came just shy of being accompanied with an eye roll as she looked back to Dashiel.
"Rate they're going they'll all pass out or go find some quiet spot on the fridges with a partner before they run out."Despite her statement, Charles tightened the grip of the mug in her hands as if one of the rocket-jockeys might have stumbled their way over to her and attempted to relieve her of it. No such move was made, but the thought couldn't help but imprint it in her mind.
"With any real luck, their COs will have them running some obnoxious drills tomorrow while they're experiencing the day-after blues."
She took another deep drink and let her gaze look down into mostly empty container. "Then again, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Major Wagyx-hole Glayde went and pulled that on Dorn tomorrow. Probably take the opportunity of us being planet side to make us run a few miles up a hill or some skrag."
Charles paused for a moment and lowered the mug slightly before looking back to Dashiel and let a slightly lopsided smile form. "I probably shouldn't be saying that type of thing around you, huh? Force forbid it got out that little Second-L-T Tur'enne was mouthing off about another superior officer. Bunch of rodders upstairs might think it's a grand idea to demote me and transfer me to mess duty or something."
The smile turned into a smirk as she changed the tone of her voice only into a slightly silly-dramatic tone. "And then, dear Blue Sauce, whatever would I do with myself if they didn't let me go on missions with you anymore?"
Carré shook hear head and tried to suppress the grin that threatened to break her nearly perfect 'look'. Failed completely as she burst into laughter at the sight of Jame swept wide eyed into a dance while Iyar pranced around in a jacket so blue she suddenly wanted her sunglasses to shield her eyes.
Days like today she wondered at her own sanity.
Shielded for the moment by the blinding spectacle that was Flipper, Carré knelt in the snow and packed together several snowballs. With one in each hand, she peered around the tree and quickly fired her two snowballs behind Iyar and straight at the Commander - one at his head, the other at his chest.
Two more found their way into her hands as she waited, and watched, trying to not be distracted by the nearby group of dancers.
“That's just too damn depressing to think about.”
Starborn shook his head and hid his smile in his drink. He had to admit, getting paired up with Tur'enne hadn't turned out like he'd expected. She had a mouth on her, but his father always said that Command could put up with sass if it meant the job was done; Dash he supposed SpecForce was no different.
He hadn't had the pleasure of meeting any of Tur'enne's colleagues, but he knew the branches reputation. They were the best of the best, usually up to their necks in the thick of it, doing the dirty work that the idealists of the Alliance didn't have a clue about. It would take a certain type of person to be able to deal with that, Dash thought, and he didn't suppose getting on well with others was part of the psychological profile.
His eyes wandered aimlessly across the crowds, touching for a moment on a small group tossing a chance cube, alternately cheering and booing.
“They've got another assignment lined up for me, but no explanation until after...” he waved his mug vaguely towards the revellers: “This is all over. Didn't want to harsh the party buzz, I guess,” he added, his last words laced with sarcasm.
She'd never had blue milk at all, but if it was anything like the opek milk she'd always had on Cathar, then no doubt Cirr's drink would be delicious!
One last lingering look at Cirr, and Tak reached for the glass, gripping it both hands. Sure, it smelled strong, but Cirr said it was like drinking blue milk, and blue milk had to be like opek milk. Which meant that it would not be bad at all.
Despite her protesting nose, the little Lupine brought the glass to her lips and took a long gulp.
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