for_everyone | (no subject)

(no subject)

The ship does land in one piece. As she'd suspected from the moment she saw it, the stolen ship is a rare Imperial shuttle made for stealth. She leans easily into these controls, quietly whipping through space, even after it became apparent that the patrolling TIEs had been ordered to find the ship's escaped prisoners. Hera had dodged among them, evading their scopes and radars, as she flew the shuttle far out enough to make the jump to hyperspace. In the end, it was only one unfortunate fighter that managed to catch sight of her.

The shuttle's weapons systems are nothing special, she learned. But they did the job.

The jump to Batuu was only about three hours, even with the slightly roundabout route Hera decided to take. The girls, fortunately, seem to be accustomed to space travel. Occasionally they whisper to each other, but otherwise, they tend to stay quiet unless Hera speaks to them. About an hour in, Hera recommends that they get some sleep, and the girls don't object.

It's midafternoon at Black Spire when they reach the planet. Hera is careful on her approach, avoiding likely lanes of traffic – she doesn't want to run into questions about the stolen shuttle she's flying. But then, most who visit Batuu aren't the type to ask questions. But she still chooses to land the shuttle in a clearing, surrounded by dense forest, about five kliks downriver of the outpost.

As the shuttle touches down, she turns to the girls. "Are you all right?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She tilts her head, her lekku brushing against his hand.

"Buy my drink?"

Kanan feels a shiver spread up his arm at her touch, and takes a quick, deep breath.

"Sure," he says, clearing his throat for a second, because his voice definitely didn't crack there. "Guess I'll get one for myself, too."

You know. To show willing.

"Uh. Once I finish my first one."

Hera grins up at him, and playfully bumps her shoulder to his.

"And is there any chance you brought some clothes more like what I usually wear?"

Because she is getting pretty tired of this woven skirt.

Kanan instinctively starts thinking through what he's got on hand right now, then shakes his head a little, because that's . . . probably not what she meant. Except --

"If coveralls are good enough for now, yeah, I've got something. Flightsuit's are going to have to wait, I didn't think I was going to need one planetside."

Alas.

"Coveralls sound great."

She takes another sip from glass. "This helped me out, but I'll be glad to be rid of it."

"Uh," Kanan says, hesitating for a moment.

"Do you want to take care of that now? I'm pretty sure this place has a 'fresher, so . . . "

Otherwise he can scout out a better place to change?

"It can wait until I finish my drink."

She picks up the garnish that came with it, and offers it to Kanan. "Want the bone?"

Kanan takes it gingerly, turning it over in his hands for a few moments.

"It feels lighter than it looks, so, uh. Definitely not a real bone."

He takes a careful bite, and it is also a lot more crumbly than he was expecting.

Whoops.

Edited 2019-05-30 02:22 (UTC)

"Sorry, I could've told you that," she says, reaching out to shake some of the crumbs from his beard. "You've never had a Bloody Rancor before?"

"I've never run into one as a drink, no," he says, leaning into her hand a little bit.

(Hey, she can see the crumbs, which always helps in getting rid of them.)

"Is it a special occasion kind of thing?"

"It's an I've had a really long, hard..."

She goes quiet a moment, and then, "... I've already lost track of how long it was, kind of thing. It doesn't happen often."

"So not a good drink, then," Kanan says, setting the bone garnish back down and resting his hand on Hera's waist, holding on.

"Can I have a taste, anyway?"

"If you want."

Others really need to learn that when Hera says this, it may not be a good sign.

Still, she lifts the glass to Kanan.

Kanan knows that, honestly he does. But this taste means something to her, and he . . . wants to have an idea.

Even if it's probably going to make his lips purse and his eyes water.

"I promise my sip will be small," he says.

"Of course, love," is all she says.

"Thanks," he says, only a little wryly.

And then, carefully, he takes the smallest of sips from her glass.

Yeah, he was totally right about the eye-watering.

"I think the bartender made it especially for me."

Or to Twi'lek tastes, in any case.

As she's already pulling a bottle from her bag, "Want some water?"

He tries not to give in, but water --

Kanan at least manages not to grab for the bottle, so that's like a victory?

"Yes, please," he says, more fervently than maybe he wants to.

And --

"Thanks."

"You don't have to try everything I have," she points out, handing him the bottle. "I don't eat every weird thing humans do."

Discretion being the better part of valor, Kanan takes a sip of the water, swishes it around his mouth, and tries to subtly spit it back into his initial drinking glass. Then he actually takes a real drink, swallowing heavily.

"Yeah," he says wryly, after that. "I know you don't, and there's a lot of stuff that's weird there. But . . . people don't really expect me to, so I kind of . . . want to."

He scrubs his hand through her hair, momentarily almost grateful for the mask that hides the bulk of his face from her, despite knowing that she'll read him anyway. They know each other so well by now.

"And, uh. I just want to know what the things you enjoy taste like."

So. Yeah. Weird or not, he's gonna try it.

Hera listens, and after a few seconds, she rests her head on his shoulder.

"You could always order one for yourself."

The bartender would mix it for humans, if he was the one asking. "But if I'm flying us out of here, I shouldn't have anything else."

"I mean, I could," Kanan says, leaning his cheek against the top of her head.

"And if you really need me to, I guess I could finish yours. Or I could spot you a meiloorun juice? I think I saw that on the menu."

He wants to get her out of here, sure. But he also kind of . . . wants to give her something nice before they get back to the efforts of escape and . . . everything.

And they can take the juice to go.

"I don't need your help with mine," she says.

"But a meiloorun juice before we head out might be good."

"I'd say I'll go get it, but -- "

Kanan raises one hand for the bartender, calling them over so he can place the order.

"This way I don't have to go anywhere."

The meiloorun juice is returned in pretty short order, not least because it's not a very complicated drink, but the small flat dish full of a gelatinous green substance, little popping balls, and a drizzle of colored candy rocks is a definite surprise.

(Apparently the bartender found their display of affection cute. Kanan can't see their expression to tell, but Hera probably can.)

Edited 2019-06-03 01:16 (UTC)

"Looks like we got a gift with it."

Hera tentatively pulls the flat dish closer, her eyebrows raised as she examines the blue-green gelatin and colorful candy flakes. "Want me to try it first?"