I took a deep breath after the Mandalorian signal cut off. Even Vila's laughter had slowly changed to silence, while her lekku shifted slowly as her grin faded, replaced by thinking. In the meantime, HK went back to check on Dhar and put him in a new set of clothes, then restrained him before my befuddlement on his mind wore off completely.
"Well," I pushed out a long breath and tapped the comm relay, "It is best if we inform Perra about this," I said, keying her line. "We will be off earlier than expected. Maybe she can hold down the fort until this thing is... resolved."
The feed snapped to life almost immediately. She appeared in a half-lit room, the dim blue haze around her face making her look even more exhausted than she probably was.
"Jedi Master!" Her voice carried an audible relief the moment we contacted her, "Tell me we are not—"
"You are fine," I interrupted her, "And I am not a Master... Anyway... We don't have much time, so I'll be brief. Dhar is coming with us. I managed to parley a monetary truce, at least until Mandalore himself decides otherwise."
She tensed at once, but she was too seasoned not to understand what that meant. Probably the man wasn't coming back... not that with all that was thrown at him as an accusation would have allowed him to stay in power either... including the data I was currently uploading to her, which proved our findings.
"I need you to handle the local front while we're away," I continued, keeping my tone clipped and already beginning to flick switches, preparing the ship to depart. "You'll tell Christophsis's remaining ruling families that Dhar was attempting to usurp his father and that we, Jedi, intervened. Tell them that the old man is safe under your guard now, and we are the ones who entrusted him to you. I am sending you the message we received initially, our so-called invitation, which was probably from Dhar. Look it over, modify it, and make sure to use it as proof that the old man asked for our help."
"Um..." Her brows furrowed, listening to me and receiving the data packs at her end, "That's… not the full truth."
"No," I agreed, leaning forward so my words cut through the static, "but it's the only piece they need to hear right now. Choose what you want or can share... If you tell them all, there is a high chance that a civil war will break out... Tell them anything more than needed, and it will fracture the people, I'm afraid. Dhar's schemes, the pirate funds, the Mandalorian demands... If I were you, I would leave it all out. Keep things simple. Okay? Keep Christopsis and its people safe. Do you understand?"
"..." For a moment, she only studied me, surprised, probably at the fact that a Jedi asks her to lie... But sometimes we must. Or at least, I believe so... I know what truth does to people and how they react when, as a kid, I could feel everyone's honest thoughts. We are not droids to only deal in evident truths... Sometimes, some grey is needed. She probably also knew that, so she inclined her head once, "Understood."
"Good," I smiled, "Keep the old man breathing. Don't let him 'accidentally' slip or get a dose of unknown medicine! We'll handle the rest once we return."
"I'll be with him," Her eyes flicked briefly to Vila, who was lounging in the co-pilot's chair, "And you're really going to Mandalore?"
"Yes."
"..." Her lips pressed into a thin line, munching on the simple answer. "Then may the Force be with you, Jedi... You're walking into the maw of a beast..."
"Maybe..." I chuckled, "But we are Jedi. It is just another day..."
And with that, the comm winked out as I cut the feed.
For a moment, I let my thoughts settle and review some details before opening a separate encrypted channel. This one ran tighter and more secure, directly sending it into the Yavin relays. It was tightly packed, just as an audio file.
"This is Kael Valtherion, reporting from Christophsis," I began, keeping my words concise to not bloat the data, "Situation is volatile but contained. There was a pirate crisis that had been exposed as an inside conspiracy by the local Dhrune family. Principal instigator in custody. Christophsis's leadership has been stabilized with the help of local allies. However…" I glanced at the Mandalorian fleet spread out on the sensors, attaching the battle details to the report, "…negotiations have bound me to accompany the prisoner to Mandalore for judgment before their leader. Vila Saresh and HK-O1 are with me. We depart now, under Mandalorian escort. I will send further reports once we are in Mandalore's orbit. Until then… may the Force guide us."
With that, I cut the channel as there was no need to say more. Outside, leaving the station's docking bay, the Mandalorian fleet shifted formation as we appeared. Their ships tilted as one entity, like a pack of Anooba circling us, even making Vila a bit nervous as I slid into their formation.
"Well," she said, stretching the word, twitching her lekku in annoyance, "looks like we're in the middle of a parade. How... welcoming."
[Correction: Procession. Observation: We are honored prey being escorted to the slaughter.] HK added, walking in on us.
"Optimistic as always," I muttered, setting the cruiser to follow their vector, "You two could be twins."
[Appaling Reaction: Me and a meatbag? Similar? Unacceptable.]
"What he said." Vila snorted just the same, pointing a finger at him.
I just shrugged, allowing the Mandalorian vessels to tether us into formation, punching in their hyperspace coordinates... and then we were off.
...
....
.....
While we traveled, it was time to relax a little. Dhar has been put to sleep, using one of HK's concoctions. Hopefully it wasn't a poison... but it shouldn't be. Even though he has a weird mind and foul mouth, I think I can trust him. No. I know I can trust him. So, leaving him in charge to oversee the ship and our travel, I retreated to my cabin to rest a little.
The shower inside was barely more than a converted refresher stall bolted to the corner of my room, its water rationing controlled by the ship's recycling system. Still, after hours of tense negotiations, which actually was just a fight, this was a better alternative than sitting in the cramped cockpit, all sweaty and such.
I stayed longer under the warm water than I should have, letting the steam rinse away the tension in my body, before finally shutting it off and dragging a towel across my shoulders. Haaah... it felt good, even if a bit wasteful. My head was clearer, and my body felt less sticky and icky. No Jedi meditation can live up to this! With that, I tied the towel around my waist and stepped back into the cabin—
—and froze.
Vila was sitting cross-legged on my bunk, one lekku curled lazily down her front, the other flicking with clear amusement as she watched. She looked entirely at home, as if she'd been waiting for me all along... Wait... Judging by her grin, she had been doing just that... Ah... Is... is that my shirt she was wearing?! But... but... I just threw that down... and... where are her clothes?! What?! Eh?!
"Force guide me... Vila!" I blurted it out, jerking the towel tighter around my hips, "What are you doing here?!"
"Hmmm?" Her grin spread across her lips, eyes flicking quite deliberately down and back up, not even looking into my eyes, "Relax, Kael. I've seen shirtless men before... Though…" She tilted her head, evident mischief sparking in her eyes, and I didn't need to reach out with the Force to know she was very much enjoying this teasing session... "Not quite like this."
"W-well..." Heat rushed straight into my face, as I felt myself turn redder than the armor of the Emperor's Guards... "You could've warned me you were in here... What if I don't put a towel on?!"
"I could have," she said sweetly, "but then I would've missed the fun part... Honestly, I hoped you didn't have one. I can't see the best part like this..."
I opened my mouth, but... I had nothing. I think I short-circuited like a faulty R2 unit... So I... I... just closed it, then tried to maintain some semblance of dignity by crossing to the locker for my clothes. Except she shifted just as I passed her, one knee brushing against mine, making me stumble like a... a... village idiot... Worse than that, her laugh followed me like a blaster bolt to the back... Ugh...
"Stop enjoying this so much," I muttered, not daring to turn around. But I still did, watching her, noticing that she may not wear anything under my own shirt...
"Not a chance." She leaned back on her hands, her lekku twitching with satisfaction, her legs remaining crossed over each other... but I think she caught where I was looking, "You're too easy to tease."
"N-no, I'm not!" I lied as I faced forward, and I yanked a clean tunic free, turning my back to change, which required me to drop the towel. Behind me, I heard her hum, doing it slowly and intentionally, and there was an appreciative tone to it the moment I let go of the towel... Which caused me to stiffen... more way than one... Damn it!
"Vila…" I muttered, wanting to climb into the locker and hide.
"What? You're the one flustered by a little attention, not me." She added, "It's just kinship~! Or skinship~! Relax~!"
"Hauh..." I sighed, tugging the tunic over my head, fixing myself up a little, and finally turned to face her. "Why are you in my cabin?"
"Hm?" She blinked at me as if the answer were obvious, "Because yours has the better shower."
"…That's it?" I asked, stunned... and even without any Force-powers, I knew that was a lie.
"That, and I'm sleeping with you tonight."
"Huh?" I nearly choked, "What?"
"Duh!" Her eyes flashed with amusement at my expression, "Don't look so scandalized, Kael. I said sleep. Literally. Why? You... Thought of something else? Ahahaha... Naughty, naughty!" She giggled, standing up and walking up to me, gently tapping at my chest, and looking into my eyes. "What did you think I meant...? Tell me~!"
"Nothing..." I rubbed a hand down my face, trying to ignore the heat still lingering on my neck, making me blush, "You can't just—"
"Yes, I can." She flopped back on the bunk after stepping back, stretching out like a cat claiming territory, opening her legs... she was wearing an underwear... Wait... was I... expecting her not to? Ahhh... Force help me! "Besides, I like it here. It smells like you."
My mind stumbled over itself at that... Again... I had no answer, not one that wouldn't embarrass me further, anyway. Seeing me look back and forth between her and the wall, her grin softened, and for a moment, her teasing gave way to something gentler, more genuine, as if she... wanted to be with me. Not just physically speaking, but just to be next to me.
"Relax, Kael. You're standing there so tight and stiff you may squeak when trying to move! I'm not asking you to... do anything you don't want."
"It's not that I don't want..." I blurted it out, without thinking, "It's... I... don't know... what to... or... how... I mean..."
"Hehe~!" She chuckled, which was so honest and cute that it made me shut up, "Me neither... so. Relax, okay?" She stepped up again, coming to me and hugging me, causing me to hug back, and we just stayed like that for a long time. "I just want a place where I don't have to be… alone. And right now? That's here. With you."
I let out a long breath... I understood what she meant, because I felt the same way... And I also liked her sweet scent.
"Okay," I said as we slowly separated. "But if you steal all the covers, I'm throwing you out."
"Don't worry!" She laughed again, bright and victorious, tiptoeing to kiss my lips, "I'll just use you as my cover~ I like your weight on me~!"