closed ☾

[noch]

WHO: Merrin and Cal
WHERE: Aboard Cake Dance, somewhere in the skies between Sh'ka and Temba
WHAT: Dubious piloting, gift giving, and getting glitter in places glitter does not belong
WHEN: The general vicinity of a few days ago to now
WARNINGS: None (yet?? will update if anything comes up)

The little black-wrapped package stayed in the hallway outside Merrin's room at the hotel for indeterminable days before she finally returned from Sh'ka, their project in the other city nearly complete. She'd picked up the package on her way inside, brushing her fingers over the small brass plate embossed with her name and then setting it aside—somewhere safe. The necklace inside she'd tucked away, for later.

It's still tucked away in her pocket now as she guides Cake Dance into the air and sets their course for Temba. She'd come to pick up Cal (and various equipment) in Sh'ka and ferry him back, which marks only the second time she's gotten the chance to take the ship out for a spin and test her piloting datapoint—it's also the second time she's flown anything at all period, which is probably obvious by the jerky ride and narrow misses that she sails through with her usual confidence. But hey, at least they don't crash.

Once they're high enough, the autopilot (blessedly) takes over, and she leans back in her seat. "Greez makes this sound more difficult," she says, sounding pretty proud of herself.

Comments

[out_of_order]

Romance is still something he's not quite sure he's worked out, and even his strange little taste of an alternate life hadn't offered him too much more by way of knowledge or experience. He's just happy that they'd gotten to this point. Push him too hard and he might consult Tony.

There's a cough at her line of questioning, not that he can hide a grin with that all too familiar expression or the tone accompanying it. "Probably not," Cal admits. "But I've been thinking a lot about it. And while I can see the potential for dangerous situations, I don't think it's impossible to avoid. I think trust is a key part of that. Not just in the Force, but in who you love."

[noch]

She nods while he speaks, her expression thoughtful. In the end, she doesn't particularly have to understand the Jedi on this point, just her Jedi. And as long as he's thought about it... well, she trusts Cal can decide what's best for himself. Maybe later she'll have to find out what these "dangerous situations" are all about, though.

"Who you love?" she repeats, her eyebrows raising again. But there's a mischievous glint in her eye—she really, really can't help teasing him. "Is there more you want to tell me?"

[out_of_order]

It's hard to put things into words. The more he tries to explain, the less adequate it seems. As she teases him again, Cal almost frowns, but he finds himself shaking his head, smiling in spite of himself.

"Actually..." he says, making to lean in as though he means to whisper whatever more he might have to say, but instead he turns his head to lightly catch her lips again in another kiss. Actions speak louder than words anyway.

[noch]

To tell the truth, she was hoping just to fluster him a little—she certainly hadn't been expecting more. It's enough to hear the words between the words—that he trusts her with his heart, dangerous situations and all. She supposes she should be touched that she's on the same level as the Force.

And it's true that actions speak louder than words. There's another brief smile in this kiss, for his feint, but it fades as she lingers, bringing her other hand up so that she's cradling his face in both hands. Her fingertips curl around the nape of his neck as she slants her mouth over his, a little more insistent this time.

[out_of_order]

Is he getting better at this? Cal still isn't quite sure, leaning a little more into an emotional lead. Merrin meets him more than willingly, and it's enough to ease the anxiousness that had briefly built up before he'd made to kiss her. Her hands are warm on his face, fingers tickling the back of his neck. He finds his own hands slipping around her to pull her closer. It's a blissful moment where there are no thoughts past the young woman in his arms.

And then there's a startled electronic shriek that erupts from somewhere just beyond their little private world, forcefully pushing back the boundaries of that focused bubble to remind them where they were. A shimmering stream of glitter spews from one of the dispensers, BD-1 hopping about on the floor, skittering back to avoid a further dusting of the notoriously clingy stuff.

[noch]

Too blissful to last, apparently. BD-1's high-pitched shriek actually manages to startle her, and she jumps in surprise. It doesn't take very long to figure out why he's screeching, considering the small pile of glitter—red hearts this time, which is a little on the nose—on the floor and clinging to BD-1... well, all over, really.

Since the crisis isn't life or death, she sighs, tension leaving her, and leans her weight on one hand. "I think maybe he is too curious," she says, with a sort of exasperated fondness. Then she adds more sternly, this time directed at BD-1, "You interrupted." The droid lets out a very contrite-sounding woo.

[out_of_order]

Cal's reaction nearly mirror's Merrin's as he startles as well, gasping in surprise before he looks over to see what his little friend's gotten into this time. He runs a hand through his bangs as he takes in the mess, but he's unable to keep a laugh from escaping him as the situation itself sinks in.

"A little," he agrees, smiling crookedly as he looks between Merrin and BD-1.
"Well, I guess we now know what that button does at least." He gets to his feet, stepping around to review the mess with a shake of his head. "I'm not even going to ask why."

[noch]

"I doubt we want to know." This whole ship is a mystery probably best left unsolved, honestly. She doesn't bother to get up and follow Cal to help clean up or anything—instead, she's perfectly content to sit here, one leg casually crossed over the other, and watch the two of them figure things out on their own.

She also found out what those two extra nozzles did the hard way, so... "At least he didn't press the other one. It has glue," she informs him, sounding quietly amused. Yes, glue with glitter. It's somehow even worse than just the glitter.

[out_of_order]

Well, it explains the random shimmer of glitter just about everywhere, kind of. Cal holds his hands out for BD-1 to hop up so that he can do his best to dust the little droid off. "Definitely due for another oil bath. Or was that your plan all along?" he asks, smirking a little as he brings BD-1 over to the edge of the seat Merrin still occupies. The droid hops onto the back of the sofa, shaking off his feet in a futile attempt to dislodge more glitter.

"Glue, huh? How'd you find that out?" Cal suspects he knows the answer to that as he looks at Merrin, arching a brow at her with one of those looks she'd usually give him.

[noch]

Is it crazy that she finds him teasing her like this to be so endearing? Maybe. Maybe she just finds everything he does endearing at this point, which might be even crazier. But despite the knowing look, she doesn't appear to be the least bit fazed. "On my own," she replies, sounding almost prim. He knows exactly how she found out, but that doesn't mean she has to admit to it.

Next, she turns to BD-1, still shedding red glitter hearts onto the sofa. "You should go explore the crew quarters now. Or the cargo bay," she suggests, casual as can be. "There are no glitter dispensers there, so it's safe." Is she trying to get rid of the droid? Yes. Absolutely yes.

[out_of_order]

Merrin would always win in keeping a straight face, it seems. Cal tries but he ends up ducking his head at the beginnings of a snicker before he shakes his head. No, he's not picturing just how Merrin had found out about the glue dispenser on her own, not at all.

BD-1 gives another shudder not unlike a wet dog, dislodging a brief shimmery shower of loose glitter. His little antennae droop a little as he gives a plaintive hoot. He's being banished just because he made it all shiny? Cal tries brushing off the glitter on the droid's head, making a slight face as he rubs at his fingers. "Oh, he didn't mean it. Although I think I'd rather not have him poking at random buttons in the cargo hold," he notes.

[noch]

Cal!! She's trying to get a little privacy here!! She shoots her Jedi a sour look, eyes narrowed, silently hoping that he catches on. She thinks she finally understands what Tony meant about human relationships and endurance.

Her Binary is still rudimentary at best, despite her efforts to learn it, but the sad tone of BD-1's beeps fights half the battle. And then there's Cal, looking like a kicked baby rancor... the two of them, she swears, feeling some icy corner of her heart start to melt. "I know. I'm not banishing anyone," she explains in her usual matter-of-fact way. "But there is still time before we arrive in Temba." Lots of time, actually.

[out_of_order]

Judging by the wince, it seems Cal does catch on, if only after that look. But it's hard for him to just dismiss BD-1 given all the two had been through together. To be fair he wasn't sure they really wanted to leave the droid to his own button-pushing devices when they were in flight, even if everything was nailed down in the cargo hold.

"I know, let's get you set up to recharge, huh BeeDee? Then we won't have to worry about it once we're back in Temba," Cal suggests, glancing briefly at Merrin with the faintest quirk of a smile. That'll keep BD-1 out of trouble and give them some time.

wrapping this up in the shoddiest way GOODBYE

[noch]

Ah, there we go. She returns the smile, the same sort of faint quirk, certain that Cal has things well under hand now and she doesn't need to intervene. Much as she loves BD-1, she's not looking for another interruption—not that she has anything in particular in mind, really.

But they do have some time to kill until they get to Temba, after all.