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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 25, 2014 17:49:40 GMT -8
Nothing lasts forever, and in this case, Alexis was inebriated, exhausted, emotionally numb, and physically tired after an intensely passionate time spent involved in the oldest dance of nature. She had found in herself a physicality that she was unaware she had. And the result had been a night of experiential pleasure between herself and Ander, a level of mutual satisfaction that she had both accepted and returned with an almost savage abandon. At some point she fell asleep in Ander's arms, a deep, dreamless, recuperating sleep. She didn't wake up until nearly eight hours later when her internal alarm went off.
She lay there for a moment, gathering her wits and trying to piece together the events of the preceding night. Judging from her proximity to Ander, among other things, they had shared a deep level of intimacy. Carefully, so as not to wake him, Alexis slipped from under his embrace, gathered her clothes and padded silently off to the 'fresher unit which she found after a bit of exploration, figuring that at this point it wouldn't really be considered 'rude' to find it on her own. She speedily cleansed herself and got dressed. Returning to the common room, she picked up her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt. Dark brown eyes gazed at Ander's sleeping form for a moment, then she stooped and picked up the silver lightsaber hilt he had given her. As she straightened, there was a muffled thud as a slim volume bound in a deep wine-coloured fabric slipped from the inner pocket of her tunic and fell to the floor.
Alexis Karidian gazed at it solemnly: the reason she had left Yavin IV, the reason she had not been there when Dav had died... It was the reason Nathan had come hunting her, and the reason she was alive now. She had gone to Osarian to find it with the intent of giving it to Master Man'sell. She'd never have the opportunity. And she was more than ever aware that the past was irrevocably past.
She made for the door like a shadow, cringing as it whooshed open, and then left Ander's quarters wondering if alarms would go off at her unescorted exploration of an Imperial Star Destroyer.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 25, 2014 18:31:48 GMT -8
Alexis' stirring had drawn Ander from a deep, black sleep, though he kept his eyes closed as the woman slipped out from beside him. He needed time to remember and to think, and did not feel the waking hours were the best time to have a conversation about the previous night with anyone but himself. He listened to Alexis gather her things, stowing them on the chair opposite him, then heard the 'fresher unit activate as she quickly showered. Soon after, he listened to the quiet rustling of her clothes as she dressed, opening his eyes just long enough to look over the naked form that had been hidden from him in the darkness the night before. Cleansed and well light, her figure was much more attractive than it had been in the rumpled Jedi garb she had arrived in. Her hair was still wet, and hung from her shoulders in thick locks. He spied beads of water running down her spine and between her breasts as she pulled the clothes over her body, returning to the stoic Jedi woman she had been before becoming the inebriated, aroused animal she had been for him. He closed his eyes again as she donned her tunic and gathered her belongings, stopping just long enough before the door to retrieve something she had dropped. Ander listened as the door to his quarters opened and shut, her booted feet sounding down the corridor. Only then did Ander allow himself to wake fully, leaning forward for a cigarette and a glass of scotch. He briefly considered his drinking habits as he poured the liquor into the glass, then decided, as he usually did, that it didn't matter. His habits were his own, after all.
As he stood and made his way to the viewport, Ander heard his chronolink beep. Retrieving it from the caf table, Ander checked the incoming message. It was from the vessel's security hub several levels below the command deck. Tagira here. What is it? He asked. That woman, Karidian, do you want us to keep an eye on her? Came the reply. No, she's free to go about the vessel unhindered, just keep her out of sensitive areas. She'll be back with me before the day's over, no worries about that. Ander deactivated the chronolink and tossed it onto the couch, downing the contents of his glass before stretching. He took a quick shower in the 'fresher, wondering how much he might of enjoyed bathing with Alexis, without the alcohol running through their blood. After he left the shower, he refrained from dressing for a while, relaxing instead on the couch and going over intelligence reports his Black Operatives had sent from Corulag. There was an Imperialist movement growing among the civilian population there, and the Republic government was facing a lot of political opposition from the Imperials on the planet. Something on Corulag stank heavily, though none of their Operators had been able to dredge up any sort of proof that the Imperials were involved in the activities of the Sons of the Empire, a terrorist group backing most of the civil unrest. As he set the reports down and dressed himself in a fresh shirt and pair of flight trousers, he wondered what Alexis was up to in his ship, whether she might return before the day's end, and what Mai would think of what he had done.
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 25, 2014 20:08:19 GMT -8
While retracing her path of the night before Alexis felt a sudden tensing in the atmosphere. She wondered if this was the moment of calm before emergency klaxons sounded an intruder alert, and then she felt it pass. Carefully she kept her mind and thoughts away from Ander's quarters as she headed back to the hangar bay.
The sight of her StealthX exactly as she had left it the evening before went a vast way to cheering her up. It was familiar and it was home, though no sooner had she turned towards it than a nerve-shattering series of loud whistles forced themselves into her eardrums painfully. Wincing sensitively she couldn't help the smile that rose to her lips at the thought that an astromech had missed her. "Good morning, Arrr-Eight," she greeted him, "unlock the main cargo compartment please," she had a supply of nutritious although somewhat bland food on board the x-wing, probably three days of which was still remaining. Mechanically she ate a protein bar, and then a caf-capsule before resealing the compartment.
She unwrapped a thin piece of leather twine that was circled around her wrist and tied her hair back loosely as she contemplated what to do now. Back on Nar Shaddaa she had unwillingly been educated at a very young age about the mystery of life due to her inability to shield her mind from all the people around her. A refugee sector is usually not a forgiving environment for a child. A refugee sector on a Hutt world is even worse. Particularly for a Force Sensitive empath. But Ander hadn't hurt her.
She slowly circumnavigated the space around her snubfighter, examining it for surface damage or potential fluid leaks. Alexis licked her fingertip and polished up the red dragon painted in front of the dorsal s-foils. It looked brighter than it had after she had freshly painted it originally. Thinking deeply she un-clipped Ander's lightsaber from her belt and flipped the switch. It's green-white blade ignited with a 'snap-hiss' and glimmered in the light. A second later she shut it down and replaced it on her belt, as she laced up her leather flight-vest.
Alexis turned to leave, "Don't worry, Arr-Eight," she called to her friend perched up in his socket so he could chat with the onboard computer. "Just sit tight," she muttered to herself as she left the hangar. This time, instead of heading back the way Ander had taken her the night before, she turned the other way in search of the shipboard galley to see if she could find a proper breakfast.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 25, 2014 20:20:50 GMT -8
Ander spent his morning chewing on fruit and trying not to drink too much. With most of their force on shore leave, Ander was left with little to do, and seeking out Alexis had been an option nagging on his mind for several hours after she had left. He didn't have a communicator frequency for her, nor did he feel it appropriate to track her down using the vessel's security systems. So he let his day continue as it decided to on his own, reading over intelligence reports, coordinating future operations with GALSAF's various leaders, and committing time to physical fitness. This left him with the need for another shower, and after that he left his quarters garbed in flight trousers and a tan shirt, a piece of Nubian fruit in one hand and his datapad in the other. He walked through the halls meeting with the many leaders of his small vigilante army, ensuring equipment was tended after and casualties of previous engagements were recovering swiftly. Ander stopped by 2nd Battalion's barracks, and traded intelligence information with Lieutenant Coronel Hunter Ynoa, a human male from Corellia that had served with Ander on Yavin IV for several years. "I take it you got the reports out of Curamelle?" Ander asked. Ynoa nodded. "From Soviet and Hoover? Yeah. Funny situation, and I'm almost convinced the Imperials are involved, but without proof, I'm not sure what we can do." Ander furrowed his brow, reading over the report from Black Operator "Soviet" once more. "That's why they're there. To do what they have to. If that means silencing members of the Imperial command to maintain the Republic's political power there, then so be it." Ander's reply was blunt, and to the point, which was how he conducted business. Beating around the bush about what GALSAF's commandos did on a daily basis were terrible ways to go about helping the people of the Galaxy. All it did was to allow the bad guys to keep being bad guys. Ynoa shrugged. "I guess. Whatever they decide to do about it, I've already got support assets in the system." Ander clapped the man on the shoulder and continued on his way, reading over a message from Admiral Staton as he made his way to the chow hall. The fruit he'd already finished, and it hadn't been enough to sate his appetite. Suddenly his sex drive reminded him of the night before, and he couldn't help but let a smirk touch his lips. Suppressing the impulse his guilt forced on him to send Mai a text message of kindhearted words, Ander arrived in the chow hall and grabbed a tray before sliding into line with the rest of the commandos there. He wanted to focus his thoughts on the night before, but his subconscious prevented him from doing so. Dealing with the dismay of losing Dav and the rest of the Yavin Jedi Order on top of his own self-loathing and criticism simultaneously would have been too much for him at the moment. Instead he decided to lose himself in the pleasurable falsehoods he and Alexis had founded in their mutual attraction the night before. As he listened to their conversations with half an ear, Ander lifted his datapad and sent a message to someone else. Hungry? There's half a dozen chow halls on this ship, let's see if you can find the right one.
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 9:22:05 GMT -8
As this was Alexis' first time aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer she did not actually follow a beeline to food, instead wandering down corridors and looking in anywhere that wasn't locked. Reconnaissance. That's what it was. She could tell why they had formed the impressive backbone of the Imperial Fleet. It was just something that had to be looked at twice. Besides, while wandering she could avoid thinking about other things, like how it felt to kiss Ander.
~Enough. Move forward.~ Thus admonishing herself, she determined to do exactly that. She had reached an intersection and was determining which way to go, stretching out in the Force to gather data. She headed straight, but halfway through something flashed in the corner of her eye and a taunting laugh echoed in her ears. Alexis flinched, spinning on her heel and darting left in pursuit. Generally the being she had classified descriptively as the 'white lady' did not manifest herself in this fashion. Nathan had done his best, but malevolent Force spirits don't give up easily. And this one had a vendetta.
Alexis wished, not for the first time, that she knew this ship as well as her StealthX. As it was, she was relying on endurance, and she hadn't eaten in nearly thirty-six hours. Belatedly she twisted to the side past a couple of passing crewmembers, shouting an apology as she flashed down the corridor. Finally she slid to a halt in a larger corridor that seemed to be a fairly busy traffic thoroughfare. Quickly checking over her appearance she took a couple of calming breaths and opened her mind, reaching out in the surrounding city of auras and impressions. She found no trace of what she was looking for. Disappointed, angered, and frustrated she realized that while she had lost that, she did know where Ander was at this time.
She stepped into a large mess hall and blended into the crowd, joining what appeared to be an understood queue for the acquisition of food. Her comlink quietly pinged. She grabbed it and looked at the flashing indicator for a second then thumbed it on, at which point Ander's message was transferred into quiet audio format. The corners of her lips twitched in a half-smile as she replied in an undertone, Look behind you.
He was currently about five people ahead of her in line. She replaced her comlink in her belt and accepted from one of the serving-staff a plate of some kind of scrambled eggs and a meat she didn't recognize. Alexis was semi-relieved to note that they were in a common area as she was a bit concerned about the nature of the potential conversation over breakfast.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 10:08:22 GMT -8
As Alexis found herself stumbling through the many decks and corridors of the Basterd's Hand, Ander immersed himself in conversation with the commandos on either side of him. "So I've been wondering if the gear set up we're using is working or not. Credit for your thoughts?" Ander asked. The man ahead of him was a Nautolan, Jur Ysout, from 2nd Battalion. The other was a Bith from 1st ACSB, an LAAT gunship mechanic by the name of Jaxon Pollak. Ysout shrugged. "For a non-human, it works out pretty well. Everything's comfortable, moves easy, never gets hung up on anything." Ander nodded, pulling out his datapad to mark off the Nautolan's opinion on a short survey. He was about to turn to Pollak, but a message alert began to glow along the top of his datapad screen. He opened it and lifted an eyebrow in surprise as he looked up and down the chow line to spot the small woman, Alexis Karidian, standing five or six bodies behind him. "Excuse me boys." Ander muttered, grabbing his tray and stepping out of line to make his way toward the woman. "So you've decided to join me for breakfast, eh?" Ander asked, looking Alexis up and down briefly. "We can get you a change of clothes if you like. I'm sure the dirtied robes look is popular on Core Worlds, but out here...we prefer to be comfortable."
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 10:24:02 GMT -8
She bore the examination unflinchingly, though personally she thought it was rather impertinent. One eyebrow arched steeply as she balanced her tray on one arm. "That will not be necessary, thank you. I have a change of clothes in my fighter." She could have mentioned that she had not come here specifically on purpose, but it was a moot point by now. "I didn't intend to be sprinting through a ship of this size for the past half-hour. I doubt anyone would look like they stepped off a Coruscanti fashion runway in a similar situation."
Alexis quickly surveyed the area, she hadn't meant to come off as harsh, but there was a limit, and he had tried to put her on the defensive. She took a breath, then decided to try again, and held out her hand in greeting, "Good morning, Ander." There was a moment of hesitation as she decided what to call him, nearly going with 'Master Tagira' or simply 'Captain,' but she changed her mind at the last second.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 11:45:07 GMT -8
Ander's lips curled into a smile as Alexis explained herself needlessly. He listened politely, shuffling down the line with her, holding his tray out long enough to accept the offered portions. Alexis' voice, more pleasant now that they weren't mired in the emotional states they had been the night before, sounded behind him, and he turned to accept her greeting as they stepped out of line. Ander took a seat at a nearby table, where a Barabel sat with a Sullustan. He nodded his greeting to the pair, then looked to Alexis, sipping from a cup of blue milk bantha milk. He could see the slight confusion in her face as she addressed him, and ended the matter quickly. "If you want to be formal, you can call me Commander. But after last night I don't think that would be appropriate." He looked to the table's other occupants. "This is Hasska, and Berut." He introduced them. Both nodded silent greetings before returning to their food. "We're all on first-name basis here at GALSAF. No one's above, no one's below." He chewed thoughtfully on a piece of breakfast meat, then swallowed and drank from his glass once more. "How did you sleep?" He asked nonchalantly. "I take it the accommodations we provided were…adequate?" Ander looked at Alexis from across the table, a slight twinkle in his eye. He could see her more clearly now in the light of the chow hall than he had in his dimly lit quarters. She certainly was striking, her pale skin reflecting the light rather pleasantly and the deep pools of her brown eyes glowing with intelligence.
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 15:00:56 GMT -8
Appropriate? Alexis shot a look at him around the others in line. She was not at all sure that he was a good judge of 'appropriate,' actually, at the moment she'd probably rely more on R8 than her own judgment in that regard. Underneath his shiny exterior, the fussy astromech hid a top-notch processing core. Alexis slid into the unoccupied seat across from Ander and nodded in greeting to their silent table-mates. "This is an Imperial Star Destroyer, I'm pretty sure there is a chain of command in spite of the nice Republican ideals you have just expressed. When things go south, there is rarely time for a committee and a vote on the front line."
Alexis reached up and brushed a tendril of hair back behind her right ear before surveying the contents of her tray. Whereas Ander had blue milk, Alexis had a steaming mug of hot chocolate. She gently tilted her head to one side, considering Ander across the space of the table, "I don't know that I would call it so much sleep as an alcohol-induced coma. As for accommodations, they were ok I suppose." He'd chosen to adopt a bantering tone, so, she responded in the same vein of witty repartee, "The company however, or what I remember of it---" she shrugged expressively and speared a piece of fruit from the edge of her plate.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 15:33:08 GMT -8
Ander chuckled as Alexis threw his words back at him, shrugging as she recanted his companionship with indifference. "The chain of command still exists, we just don't rely on it to provide structure to our culture, only to pass down orders. Our people are intelligent enough to know when an order is best followed and best fought." Ander smiled briefly, continuing with his meal. For several long moments he simply ate, unsure of what to talk about. Every topic he considered seemed plain and insignificant. As Alexis fought against a lock of hair that continued to slip from behind her earlobe, Ander finished eating, only his milk left to consume. He laced his fingers and rested them on the table as the Barabel and Sullustan stood up and left with their empty trays. "Look, Alexis…" He began, pausing to collect his thoughts. "As long as you're going to be here, I'd like to find something for you to do. Now, I don't know if your training left anything wanting, before Dav…you know." Ander shook the reminder from his head. "Do you want to spend that time training? Informally…as a time-killer, you could say."
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 15:50:12 GMT -8
Alexis ate most of her breakfast in silence, a silence that seemed more like a stalemate than anything else. She registered the others leaving, but didn't pay it much attention till the tones of Ander's voice addressing her by name, brought a faint reddish tinge to her face. Luckily, it didn't stick around, but it took a bit more effort to actually meet his gaze. "I have to go back to Yavin, I know that much." She placed her fork neatly across her plate next to her knife, "I don't know how much you have cut yourself off from the Force, but I could be a danger to your ship," she dropped her voice, "to the crewers at least. I've seen someone I know is dead twice, and I do not know where it will end." Nathan and Dav both had hoped that the protective environment of a Jedi academy would cut her free from the past and a spirit that did not have her best interests in mind. But Alexis was convinced that the answer lay in Nar Shaddaa.
"You claimed to wish no further connection with the Force, or Jedi...how then could you train me?" She left it at a simple question, curious but unwilling to ask what he had in mind. After last night she was wondering if the best course of action was not to leave and put a large amount of space between herself and the Basterd's Hand.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 16:02:36 GMT -8
Now it was Ander's turned to feel confused. "I never said anything about training you. I only spoke of training with you. I have no wish to dive back into the bottomless pool that is the Force and its secrets." Ander said with a wave of his hand. He did not mean to appear disrespectful, though he knew in that moment he most certainly had sounded that way. He winced mentally, then continued. "I understand the issues you're having, Alexis. I think I made that clear enough last night." He leaned forward, his voice a whisper. "If you're standing on that knife's edge between control and chaos after losing your Bond, the last thing you ought to be doing is traveling alone." Ander took a deep breath; it would be hard to express to Alexis what he was about to say while sober. The night before had been much…easier. "I lost Tebana Sor, a woman I couldn't have been closer with if I'd tried. She was my family, my sister. A sibling in all but blood, as is my people's way. I lost her… Ander paused just long enough to lock his gaze with the deep pools of Alexis' eyes. "I nearly lost my mind. I-I did. I did lose my mind. Ander's jaw clenched as his hands drew into fists that strangled the air in silence. "I had no one…and I never recovered."
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 16:33:22 GMT -8
Ander's confusion was Alexis' relief. She would not have been comfortable with him attempting to take on a quasi-master role. That was behind her and she did not intend to go back. How she would technically pass her Trials, she had no idea. Maybe she would never pass them. She'd still learn of course, but it would be from people she met in her travels, and not a specifically designated individual. On the verge of retorting that she was definitely not the only person here with issues, he confirmed that in a revelation of his own closeness with Tebana Sor. That caught her off-guard. Brown eyes blinked as she inquired, "But, wasn't she Dav's wife?" This had all happened before her time, naturally, but that was what she had discovered. Force Bonds though were not always clear-cut. Master/padawan and husband/wife generally were an understood thing, but she hadn't really considered just how much further that went. "Ah. Sister." That made things a bit more clear in a conversation that seemed a bit murky to begin with.
Alexis wrapped her fingers around her mug savouring its warmth even as she enjoyed the contents. "I am not sure anyone ever does truly recover from things like that. But we all find ways to keep going, and hopefully we learn to value what we have, instead of taking it for granted." She knew she was speaking as much to herself as to him, but she had allowed herself to become overwhelmed with grief for too long now. The pain would always remain, sometimes sharper, sometimes hidden, but the time had come for action. She wondered if she and Ander would be able to find the friendship they had been forging before they had lost themselves in a whirlwind of alcoholic decisions and blind passion due to physical proximity and a common grief.
"Stop a moment," a vague sense of alarm was going off in Alexis' mind, something that Ander had said earlier, "What happened to Tebana?" she inquired compassionately. Force Bonds were broken in death, and unless she had missed something here, it sounded like this one had been dissolved by other means.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 16:41:14 GMT -8
Ander remained silent as Alexis expressed her confusion over his connection with Tebana Sor. After she reached understanding, and continued to speak, he listened. Alexis was intelligent, and logical, which Ander believed had saved her from breaking. It was a good sign, the ability to continue functioning as a person, even though a part of you was now gone. Ander spoke again only as she asked after Tebana, to which Ander could only shake his head in response. "I don't know. But Force Bonds, while powerful things, must be maintained. They must be nurtured. Much like one's connection to the Force, it must be looked after, or it will die." In these few last words there was nothing in Ander's voice but sadness and a bitter sense of regret. Not even he knew of Tebana's fate, though he knew what he had with her neither of them would ever have again.
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 17:02:12 GMT -8
"But there is more to them than that," Alexis broke in, "at least one cannot always see or plan where a Bond like that develops. It just begins, and then after that grows as people work together." She mused, considering this situation from another point, aware that she would take care for at least the near future not to provide a nurturing ground for any sort of Bond like that. She was in too much pain from the ones that had ended. But, what if there were other ways a Force Bond could be broken? She was not convinced that Ander was correct here. They just died off? Alexis frowned. There was bound to be information on this in the Jedi archives somewhere. There just had to be.
She took a deep drink of her beverage, burning the back of her throat in the process. Exactly how and why had Ander left Yavin anyway? He had claimed to feel unworthy. But someone like him didn't just wake up in the morning and realize that. Something had happened long before she had arrived there.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 19:16:43 GMT -8
Ander nodded. "You're exactly right. Mine and Tebana's developed over the failing body of a mutual comrade. We connected through the Force to save his life, and in doing so, the bond was born." Ander smiled to himself, remembering Tebana's words. She had more or less stated bluntly what had happened between them, and warned him that such a thing was not to be taken lightly. His mood soured as he remembered that he had done just that over the years; taken what Tebana had given him far too lightly. Ander could tell, as he gazed at Alexis over the rim of his glass, that she there were thoughts and questions growing on her mind. He didn't ask about them, however, leaving the other woman to her thoughts for a moment.
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 26, 2014 20:50:18 GMT -8
Alexis Karidian had serious doubts about whether or not Ander Tagira truly was a gentleman; however, he knew enough to leave her to her own thoughts when necessary. Residual awkwardness aside, she did enjoy his presence. Despite the fact that she felt sometimes like she was making no progress in life at all, she realized she had accomplished several things so far. Most recently was a successful run through the Death Wind Corridor from Ryloth to Roon with only a few incidents of hair-raising. Now there was something else to add to all she needed to do in the future. She'd have to find out more about the history of the Yavinite academy, and that was going to be tricky given the recent developments there. With the exception of Ander and possibly one other who had disappeared before the Mandalorian Jihad, the entire Yavinite crew was gone. In terms of Force Bonds in general, there were a few famous archivists and historians within the Jedi Order. Given the recent reshuffle of things on Coruscant, Master Raylia Venci was the one that came to Alexis' mind. She would know about Force Bonds and all the situations under which they could be created or destroyed. The problem would lie in tracking her down and getting her to listen long enough to ask the question. Alexis was sure she would have many more important things on her agenda.
All these things were occupying Alexis' mind, but not to the exclusion of Ander. Thinking about things can take a fraction of a second, but the perception of the time spent in so doing is relative, and therefore highly subjective. She tilted up her mug and finished the last of her hot chocolate before replacing it on the tray in front of her and looking over at Ander, "So, do you allow visitors on the bridge?"
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 26, 2014 21:30:12 GMT -8
Ander shook his head, giving Alexis an expression of mock disinterest. He was attempting to lighten the mood, which he felt Alexis had started by asking about the bridge to begin with. "Not usually…it's reserved only for critical command and operations personnel." Ander pretended to reconsider Alexis' question for a moment, then shrugged. "But for you, I think we can make an exception." He lightly slapped his hand against the table, then grabbed his tray and stood. He pulled his comlink out of his pocket and lifted it to his lips. "Staton, it's Tagira. I'm heading up with our guest." Ander waited until the Mon Calamari Admiral had acknowledged Ander's plans, then returned the communicator to his trouser pocket. He jerked his head slightly toward the door and held his hand out to take Alexis' tray. "C'mon, we'll go. You can see what the planet below looks like from the deck of an Imperial Star Destroyer."
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Post by Alexis Karidian on Jan 27, 2014 8:12:49 GMT -8
Alexis was not entirely comfortable with Ander's speech of exceptions for her since she couldn't shake the feeling that it was based on what had happened between them on the preceding night. Some awkwardness was unavoidable, but she was not sure where they stood with each other. Their friendship had taken a turn that she had enjoyed at the time, but was not sure about in terms of the future. For now at least she was grateful that he did not wish to be affiliated with the Jedi as it meant that they'd have a sizeable chuck of time apart from each other in which to sort things out. One thing was for sure: Alexis did not intend to drink in private with anyone again. "Thanks, but I've got it," she replied as she stood up and collected her tray. Ander had politely offered to take it, but she wasn't sure she really trusted him at the moment, and she preferred to keep her independence. "I suppose the current duty officer would have a fit if I asked to fly it," she said in a light tone, that while joking in nature, was also a change in subject.
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Ander Tagira
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Post by Ander Tagira on Jan 27, 2014 8:28:54 GMT -8
Ander reached for a piece of Nubian fruit from a stand by the line counter as they left the chow hall exit. He took a bite as Alexis expressed her concerns, not verbally, but in her body language. He let the sudden coolness in her demeanor go unaddressed for the time being. He had expected a certain verdigris to develop between them as a result of their previous night's experience, and dealt with it as best he could. Ander refused to conclude the night had been entirely a mistake, though he hoped to avoid relations between himself and Alexis from becoming too distant. He wanted a friendship, first and foremost. "The vessel's maintaining an automated orbit. But even then, it would require a deck of crewmen to maneuver the vessel." Ander stopped outside the main turbolift lobby, slapping the call button. "We've installed automation relays throughout a large portion of the Hand's systems, giving it something to fall back on in case the bridge crew are killed or otherwise incapacitated, but flying this bucket still takes a team." Ander stepped through the turbolift doors as they slid open with a hiss. He waited until they were inside and the doors sealed before speaking again. "Then again..." Ander took another bite from the fruit and tapped the command bridge selector on the control pad. He looked down at Alexis and shrugged as he said, with food in his mouth, "Flying a vessel like this on your own might be a good way to train Battle Meditation abilities."
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