Steal to live, kill to feel

[Byl Laprovik]

(Continued from Extreme Ways)

Byl.

That three-lettered word had been on his mind for a month. In the cold days of living on the streets in a nameless city on a nameless planet, it was the lifeline of identity that he held fast to. Even if it was a lie, he wouldn't abandon it.

James.

His mind hung onto every memory of her voice. It was all he had. A name and a voice.

The Alliance.

Somehow, his fate was intertwined within the Rebellion. It complicated his existence. If he had a death mark from the Empire, who knew more about him than he did? Possibly everyone.

His plan to reach Bespin had been flawed from the start. The ship he landed in was impounded, and without it, there was only one way to reach the tibanna gas giant. He'd stolen what he needed. Stolen food to keep him nourished. Stolen blankets to keep the bitter winter cold from numbing him as he scratched a temporary existence in a back alley. Stolen credits to pay for charter on any decrepit, flea-bitten transport that might light out for the outer rim mining planet.

A month later, and he was one of many dirty faces crammed into a ship. Most here were poor laborers, doing migrant work in the tibanna fields in hopes of providing for families elsewhere. When the ship finally came to dock at Cloud City, he bled into the throng of millions that called the city home.

His first act was to find a comm. The frequency he'd committed to memory a month ago. His lifeline. James.

[James Prent]

"Aw, krasst," James fumbled with her commlink and dropped it while thumbing it on, getting down on her hands and knees to retrieve it from under her bed. "Hello?"

There was static on the other end, but no one spoke. She frowned, pulling herself up using the edge of the mattress, and repeated her greeting. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

[Byl Laprovik]

"I'm here."

He pulled the neck of his tattered wool jacket up as a breeze whipped by. He wondered if she'd memorized his voice the way he'd memorized hers.

"I want to meet you."

[James Prent]

"..Byl?" She got a funny feeling in her belly, and she sat down on the bed. "Oh, okay!"

A trillion questions went through her head, but she kept them bottled up. Where have you been? How are you? "Um, well I'm at home, if you want to come here. Or we can go out. Whatever you want." She grinned, "Its good to hear from ya."

[Byl Laprovik]

He had to be careful now. Could he trust her? What if this was a trap?

"I've got a lot of things in my head and I need to sort them out."

He glanced over his shoulder, then looked at a hologram interactive map of the city.

"How close are you to the southwestern promenade? I need to meet where there are people."

[James Prent]

"Uh, I can get there in about twenty minutes... I think. Twenty or thirty?" It depended on if she could get on the first 'lift or if she had to wait in a line. James was on her hands and knees again, fishing under the bed for her shoes. Byl sounded all spy-like again, which was, lets be frank, hot.

She grasped the heel of one shoe as he replied, "What's closer?"

"Well, I'm closer to the northern promenade. I can get there in about five minutes, if there aren't a bunch of Ugnaughts in the way." James rolled onto her back, looking at the stained ceiling of her cheap apartment.

[Byl Laprovik]

"Five minutes."

He bit his lower lip. There was one problem. He had never seen her, or if he had, he had no recollection.

"What will you be wearing?"

It sounded daft. He wasn't sure what he would tell her, when he inevitably had to let her know that the only thing he knew of her was her name and the sound of her voice. What then?

[James Prent]

What would she be wearing? She looked down at herself and cringed, but she wouldn't have time to change. "I just got off my shift at Cloud 9, I'm wearing a white tank top and black pants."

There was more silence on the other end, and she slipped into her work shoes and scrambled to reapply some deodorant to try to get rid of that bar smell. "See you soon?"

She juggled her keys and wallet, hurrying out the door and closing it behind her.

[Byl Laprovik]

He let the comm die, and stepped away from the terminal. A peripheral tram station was about a hundred meters away. From what he knew, that would carry him up to the North district.

Again, he disappeared into the morass of anonymity.

Five minutes later, he was on the promenade, which had a wide open vista, broad walkways, and rows of shops and kiosks. He found an abandoned section of railing overlooking the lower commercial sector, and waited.

He didn't want to wait long. Even in public, he felt exposed. On the backwater he'd resided on for a month, he'd at least had the false illusion of being in the middle of nowhere. Bespin was small compared to many places, but in other ways, so vastly large.

[James Prent]

Emerging from a turbolift, James wandered for an extra minute or so just walking through the promenade and looking for Byl. Her mind racing (and her heart, because of the running she'd done to get there of course) she scanned the people around her and then finally spied him leaning against the railing, looking down on the next level.

He'd grown a beard. It looked good. James panicked, turned and checked herself in the reflection of a store window, and then walked towards him sedately. "Hey there, stranger." She smiled, feeling shy.

[Byl Laprovik]

He turned at the sound of her voice. That voice he'd played in his head over and over. For a moment, relief washed over him to see that she was real, and he cracked a rare smile.

"James."

He gave a once over.

"Just as you said."

Suddenly concious of his disheveled state, he rubbed the frayed hem of his jacket with a thumb and forefinger.

"Seems my plan for a quick rendezvous ran aground."

[James Prent]

He looked like he'd been living under a park bench. Dark circles under his eyes, frayed and old clothes. Her excitement in seeing him again was swallowed up in concern. James leaned on the railing a bit, smiling. "Its okay. In your line of work I imagine its hard to schedule time off."

She added, "I like the beard. Its a good look."

[Byl Laprovik]

He ran a hand against the scruff he'd accumulated in the past month. He wondered if she was being polite. He felt a bit of a mess.

"Would you like a bit to eat? Afraid I can't pick the tab in my state, but I'd like your company if you're up for it?"

Something was disarming about her. He didn't feel a threat around the corner. He wasn't sure if that was reassuring or concerning. The only thing he knew is that he needed to talk.

[James Prent]

She brightened, "Sure, I know a place." She wanted to take his arm and lead him, but hesitated, and stuck her hands in her pockets instead. "Its just a block or so down this way. East, I guess." James laughed, "I'm a little dumb when it comes to planetary directions. Better with star charts, to be honest."

He walked beside her, and kept looking from side to side in that way that spies did, to make sure no one was flanking them or getting ready to drop down from the ceiling with a vibroblade. She limped only slightly as she led the way down the walkway to a quiet lunch diner. "They have killer burgers here," she said, and he smiled a little bit, as though it was expected of him.

He seemed... distant. Perhaps he was in the middle of some kind of mission, and it was preoccupying his mind. Sliding into a booth, she sat across from him, and scratched an itch on the side of her nose. "So, its been a long time. Since the Dauntless?" James shrugged, "I hardly have a limp now."

He was being so quiet she felt like she was jabbering to fill the empty space between them. Embarrassed, she buried her face in the menu even though she knew what she was going to get.

[Byl Laprovik]

She spoke of things that she expected him to know of, and he knew that he had to deal with his amnesia immediately.

"James, I really don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it."

As famished as he was, he was more eager to dispense with the heart of the issue that had burdened him for the past month.

"Prior to a month ago, I have absolutely no memory. I don't remember anything."

He waited to see what she would say. He hoped this revelation wouldn't sever his only link to answers.

[James Prent]

She could feel her mouth slowly dropping open, so she closed it and was about to say something when the waitdroid in the center of the table activated.

"Greetings, gentles," it said tinnily, as the cylindrical droid rose to stand a few inches tall, its rotund body spinning slowly as it flashed a few holographic advertisements. "How may we serve today? Fluids? Edibles?"

James reached out with one hand and pressed on the top of the droid, sending it back into its nesting place inside the table. It burbled a bit, then was silent. "You can't ... remember anything?"

A hysterical part of her brain was thinking that this was exactly like a holo she'd seen once, and this was her chance to convince him that they were married, or something, but she concentrated and squished that little voice into goo. "Frell. I didn't think things like that really happened. I mean... in your line of work I guess..."

She let her voice trail off, and then she said, "Frell. I bet y' have a lot of questions." There wasn't a moment when she didn't believe him. He wouldn't lie to her about something like that.

[Byl Laprovik]

"I learned my name the day you called me."

At least, what he was told his name was. Despite his desperation to believe, he'd learned quickly that he had an instinctual disposition to avoid trust. His natural ease in a state of paranoia was in direct conflict with the feeling of sanctuary he seemed to find in James' presence.

Something she said struck him.

"You said, my line of work?"

[James Prent]

She looked around surreptitiously, and said softly, "Maybe talking here isn't the best idea. About your... work. Sorry, frell, I'm probably making this worse, aren't I."

The waitdroid cycled up again, and she smooshed it back into its place before it could start talking. "Um, do you remember the Empire? The Rebel Alliance?"

[Byl Laprovik]

"I know of them. There are things I know. Lots of things. Things I can't understand why I even know them. I just don't know anything I've done, anywhere I've been, anyone I've known."

He closed his eyes and lowered his head a little.

"I know enough to know that there are six good exits from where we're sitting. I know that the tram behind us makes a stop every six and a half minutes. I know there are two Rodians and a Bith six tables down and the Bith is ambidextrous. I have no idea why these things are in my head."

[James Prent]

She leaned forward a little. "Your name is Byl Laprovik. You work, or worked, for the Rebel Alliance. I know that you're in the Intelligence division, that you're a ...spy," she whispered the word. "But I don't know much more than that, to be honest."

She flushed a little, "I met you on board the Dauntless, a capital ship of the Alliance. I was gettin' some medical attention. ...Had a mishap on a backwater..." James scrubbed a hand through her hair, causing part of it to stand on end. "You helped me get set up here, on Bespin. Through a contact of the Alliance. But," she added quickly, "I don't think you knew the guy personally."

[Byl Laprovik]

"Byl Laprovik."

He tried the name on his tongue, wondering if the act of saying his own name would buy him some insight. It didn't. They were just words.

A spy for the Rebel Alliance. Some of the pieces started to fit. It explained a few of the strange skills he seemed to have. Thinking about his past month of scratching a living, he wasn't sure if he was reassured or unnerved.

"How long did we know each other?"

A part of him hoped that she was more integral to his past life than just a passing acquaintance.

[James Prent]

"Uh, a few months. I mean, we've known each other for about a year now, but I haven't seen you in a long time." James paused, and then rolled her eyes as the waitdroid popped back up.

"Gentles, please to be giving me your fluid orders." It sounded annoyed.

"Uh, two waters," she said. Then, to Byl, "Want to order some food now? It won't leave us alone until we do."

[Byl Laprovik]

He nodded.

"Minced dewback sandwich and chips."

The idea of a hot meal of greater than dubious quality was a foreign luxury to him, and he was grateful for it.

"A few months then? I take it we were friends by the way you called."

[James Prent]

James nodded, "Oh, yes. Friends." She bit her lip, unsure of how to classify their relationship. "Uh..." The droid turned around to 'face' her, and she said, "Nerf burger with extra bacon, hold the pickles. Regular fries, side of house dressing."

After it had cycled down into its holder, she continued. "We... spent a lot of time together. You were between missions, and you helped with my physical therapy." She flushed a little and picked at the chipped laminate of the table.

[Byl Laprovik]

He wondered where she would put all of that unhealthy-sounding sandwich, and hoped it wasn't something she made a habit of. Since she didn't appear to be teetering on the edge of a coronary, he gave her food cravings the benefit of the doubt.

"Well, judging by how you look, I'd say my efforts were successful."

He grimaced ever so slightly at his own cheesy turn of phrase.

"Anything more than workout buddies then?"

Was he expecting her to say something? That they'd freshen up from an hour or two of work, and meet regularly for a nightcap?

And even among his optimism, lay the wolf of his paranoia on prowl, constantly threatening to pounce on him and drag him back to the forest of his mistrust. He was distantly troubled by this.

[James Prent]

She blushed brighter, and was glad when a near-human server arrived with their ice waters. "Well, um, we... that is..."

James sipped her water. "We were just friends."

She looked up at him. "So, no idea what happened to you?"

[Byl Laprovik]

He shook his head.

"I came to in a small, one man ship. More like a pod, really. It was too cramped to even be a snub fighter. The computer databanks were purged, there were no personal effects in the ship."

He eagerly wet his lips on the cool water that was served to him. Pressing them together a moment to ease their slightly chapped condition, he continued.

"There were rations, flares, and a blaster on board. That's all I had."

It was frustrating to vocalize his own predicament. His jawline tensed a bit as he fumed at it.

"Just lucky you had my comm."

The wolf of paranoia stirred at that. Luck, or part of the plan? He looked in her eyes and the thought melted away.

"So, what is it you do now on Bespin?"

[James Prent]

"I'm a waitress," she said. He looked around, and she added hastily, "Not here. At Cloud 9... its a bar..." Her voice trailed off lamely.

"I guess you'll need to get back in touch with the Rebels, eh?" James thought about that for a moment and continued, "Oh, well... I guess you have no idea who did this to you, or even if someone did do something to you."

Her lips twisted downward, "That sucks."

[Byl Laprovik]

"I'm not sure if I should just yet. I have no idea who or what caused me to be in this predicament. What if it was the Rebels?"

He wondered if she knew just how constantly he second-guessed himself over things.

"I need to decompress. I need a sabbatical where I can assess the situation and see exactly what's happened, without exposing myself to more danger than I ought to."

And this was going to be awkward.

"If you're on the level, what I'm going to say to you is going to sound patently absurd. I'll understand if you take offense, but I need to say it if I'm going to be able to take what you've said at face value.

My first instinct is that you're trying to keep watch on me, and trying to do me harm. That I'm here at all is because I'm desperate for that not to be true."

[James Prent]

She stared a little blankly, trying to keep up with Byl's stream of consciousness. After he was done, she wasn't sure what to say.

"Well, I... I don't know what I can say that might make everything better." James' face was solemn, and a little sad. "I would never do anything to hurt you, if I could help it. I'm just not like that. And if you need a place to stay... or try to figure things out...

"My place isn't very big, but you're welcome to hole up with me." She flushed faintly, and then their food arrived.

[Byl Laprovik]

There was no defense to what he said. She bore it on and continued to offer support. If anything, she was still willing to listen to him.

"Thank you."

He nodded in appreciation. She had every right to dress him down for his suspicion, but instead extended her hospitality.

The food came at the end of it all, and he remembered his appetite. The dewback smelled deliciously of lumpy mustard, aromatic meat, and a good crusty loaf. He knew what it all should smell like to be good food, but for the life of him, could never remember eating anything of quality. Nothing in the past month would've sufficed that, surely.

"I'll look for work to put against the rent. I won't be an inconvenience."

[James Prent]

"Oh," she waved a hand vaguely, "Don't worry about it."

In the back of her mind she was trying to figure out a place where he might sleep, the bed! ahh!, but the smell of his dewback snapped her out of it. "I was wondering who ate minced dewback." She grinned, "You must not have ever had it before. Too reptilian for me..."

[Byl Laprovik]

"Isn't bad, this."

He blotted a corner of his mouth with a napkin before taking some water.

"Can't say I'd ever recall if I did or didn't, but it seemed like something I like."

But how did he know? Why were some little unconcious matters of memory second nature, and anything of real detail just vanished.

"You'd think I'd risk ordering something rubbish here, wouldn't you? I can look at the menu and have an idea about what I like and what I don't, but none of it's ever crossed my path, in my mind. If somebody stole my mind, that seems a little slapdash, doesn't it?"

[James Prent]

She carefully dipped a fry in dressing. "Yeah, its not like a total mindwipe, or whatever. I mean, you know how to read, and stuff."

James pondered that for a moment while she chewed. "Maybe you stumbled into something you weren't supposed to, and whoever it is just zapped ya to get rid of those memories." She shrugged, "I think I saw a holo like that once."

[Byl Laprovik]

"Maybe so. But why not just kill me?"

His brow furrowed as he pushed a chip across an errant streak of mustard.

"It's as if I'm needed alive for some reason."

He took a bite of the chip, and met James' eyes to share that morbid thought.

"When we spent our time together, who did we interact with? Who did we mutually know?"

[James Prent]

"Uh, well... Dasquian Belargic was your boss. He and Grace Van-Derveld were the reason that I was allowed to stay on board. It was rather... unconventional... the way I showed up at the fleet. So I knew him, and you knew him."

She grimaced slightly, "I didn't really know anyone else. I mean, the doctors, but that was mostly droids." She took a big bite out of her burger, chewing carefully.

[Byl Laprovik]

Pausing between bites, he interjected in regard to their mutual acquaintance.

"What are they like? Do you trust them?"

Another key bit to the puzzle eluded him.

"What about this place, Bespin? Do either the Empire or the Alliance hold sway here?"

[James Prent]

Did she trust them? After all she'd been through it was hard to trust anyone, but... "Yes. I'd trust them as much as I trust you." James hesitated, "But I didn't spend as much time with them."

She laughed nervously, "Now you're makin' me paranoid. Bespin is technically allied with the Empire, but its more of a lip service thing."

[Byl Laprovik]

He nodded and continued to eat his lunch. He needed to be careful not to be too distressing to her.

The Empire? He hadn't seen any stormtroopers anywhere on the city grounds, so he wondered if it was one of those self-governance charters.

"I don't want to distress you, so warn me if I get that way. I'm just considering options.

At any rate, do you know of any Rebel activity on Bespin?"

[James Prent]

She nodded. "Only the guy I stayed with when I first arrived. He's a doctor."

James brightened, "Maybe he can take a look at your head... y'know, see if there's something that can be ...fixed." She raised her eyebrows as she took another big bite of burger.

[Byl Laprovik]

"Maybe."

He wasn't sure if he was ready to let a Rebel head shrinker take a gander at him, especially if he wasn't sure about their intentions.

"What's the guy's name? I may want to meet him."

He tucked into more of his sandwich before the mustard softened the bread too much.

[James Prent]

"Barton Henning." James licked her fingers and wiped them on a paper napkin. "Actually... I think he closed his clinic a month ago." She made an uncertain face, "I haven't talked to him in a while. He used to come by Cloud 9 a lot, but not recently."

She picked up what was left of her burger, and took another bite.

[Byl Laprovik]

"No matter then."

He took another bite of his own sandwich, watching James as he finished his lunch.

"It's silly, but when all you know a person by is a voice, you spend a lot of time imagining a face to put it to."

He half smiled.

"It's good to finally get a chance to see you. You look like you sound."

[James Prent]

She flushed, and said, "I hope that doesn't mean I look squeaky." James laughed, and then hid behind her glass as she took another drink.

"Well, I'm glad you weren't disappointed." They were both pretty much done eating, and she keyed her account number into the waitdroid's interface, paying for the meal. She looked up a little shyly. "You look... just how I remember. A little frayed, maybe. We'll have to get you some new clothes."

[Byl Laprovik]

"I don't doubt I look a bit rubbish. I don't think you'd care to hear how I've spent my past month."

He rose from his seat, and waited for her to do the same.

"I'm working on your dole, James, so I trust you not to spend anything beyond your means."

He felt a bit ashamed at basically living off of her charity in the short term, but he'd done far more shameful things for money in that aforementioned month.

[James Prent]

"Oh, don't worry," she said, taking his arm and leading him from the diner. "I know a good consignment shop."

James patted his arm, feeling his tension almost as though it was her own. "But mebbe we should go back to my place. You can rest a bit." She paused, ready to steer him in the right direction but sensitive to his mood.

[Byl Laprovik]

He paused at that suggestion, still not sure if he was ready to fully trust. He looked into her eyes, and hope outstripped reason for once.

"I'd like that."

He smiled. Still a product of a life he didn't know, he quickly glanced about. There wasn't anything abnormal around them.

He walked with her to the tram that would lead them back to her apartment complex.

[James Prent]

He'd never held her arm before. Well, that wasn't precisely true. She'd had to lean on him while with the Rebels, on bad days when her injured leg ached too much to put her weight on it. Anyway, she was just trying to be comforting. Give him something to hold onto. Y'know, friend stuff.

After a short turbolift ride several levels down, they walked to a tram for another quick ride. He looked uncomfortable in the full car, and a group of Bith entered right after them, pressing her small frame against him.

James tried to figure out if she should fight for more space so she didn't have to lean on him so much, or if she should just enjoy it. His jacket smelled musty. The tram moved, everyone shifted with the momentum, and then it stopped at the next stop. There were just two more before hers.

The Bith group left, and then more beings got on. James stretched a bit with the extra room, smiling up at Byl. At 6'1" he towered over her 5' height. At her stop she tugged at his hand and pulled him out of the tram. "Almost home!" she proclaimed cheerily, and then a guy in dark clothes ran by her, bumping into her and knocking her down.

He kept going as James struggled back to her feet.

[Byl Laprovik]

Even in the crush of pedestrian traffic, he could see so much that was happening. The humanoid that bumped into James had lifted something from her pocket in passing. He quickly helped her to her feet, and asked tersely "Are you okay?"

His eyes already tracked to the dark-haired humanoid as he headed down the walkway away from the tram debark.

"Hey!"

Apparently, the mugger anticipated trouble, and turned around with a knife in hand.

[James Prent]

"I'm fine," James said, frowning and dusting herself off. Byl was already shouting after the guy who'd knocked her down, and heading after him.

"I'm... fine..." she said, then realized that her wallet was gone. "Hey!" She ran after Byl, then slowed, seeing the knife in the pickpocket's hand.

[Byl Laprovik]

He reacted as anybody would when a knife was drawn on them. The adrenaline was there, the fight or flight response, the very real fear of death, all of it.

But somewhere in all that, he behaved in a rather calculated and scripted way. If asked, he couldn't even explain what happened. One moment, he was accosted with a knife. The next moment he was wiping blood off one hand and handing James her purse.

"We have to go." He said forcefully, suggesting they forego any delays in getting to her apartment.

Behind him, the street tough wailed in agony, his arm broken and his own knife turned on him, put into his back at the shoulder blade.

Nobody on the street said a word.

[James Prent]

"Um, okay," James said, pocketing her wallet again. It was still full of her tips from her recent shift, and she was glad to have it back. She couldn't help staring at the guy on the ground though, even as Byl put his arm around her shoulders and walked her off in another direction.

A short, and brisk, walk later, she was opening her front door. "Well, its not much, but its home." It was a studio apartment, and she was lucky enough to have an outer wall that had a window with a tiny balcony where she could just barely see a bit of sky past the looming commercial tower across the way.

She edged past him and sat on the edge of the bed, which was made up with bright pillows into a seating area. "Um, thanks. For getting my wallet back..."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl walked straight to the sonic sink and started to scrub his hands, removing what residual amount of blood he didn't wipe off before.

"If you asked me what I did back there I couldn't even tell you."

He looked at his hands with a troubled expression.

"I just did it."

He looked up at her.

"I think I've done something wrong, coming here. It isn't fair to you."

[James Prent]

James shook her head immediately, before he'd finished talking. "No, no, don't say that. Where would you go?" At his lost look, she nodded, "Exactly. Don't worry about me, I'm not some wilting flower that needs to be handled with care.

"Your memory will come back. We have to believe that. And until that happens, I'm going to help you." She crossed her arms as she looked up at him, "Whether you like it or not." James stuck her tongue out.

"In the meantime, take your coat off and stay a while." She hopped up and helped him out of his musty jacket, wrinkling up her nose at it."

[Byl Laprovik]

"Alright."

He let her discard his grubby coat, and slid out of his undershirt as well. Standing shirtless, he looked down at his body, which was criss-crossed with a macabre collection of scars. Lacerations, pucker marks which looked to be healed blaster wounds, and an assortment of other such marks gave unspoken testament to what was undoubtedly a cruel life.

He frowned at the sight of it all.

"Don't suppose I'll be winning any beauty contests."

And yet she didn't dwindle in her hospitality. He hoped that she wouldn't, even as he still somewhat feared uncovering the life he'd lost.

[James Prent]

She hadn't seen him shirtless before. His well muscled body was scarred, but still ... well... beautiful. He was standing very close.

James hesitantly reached out, her fingers tracing a scar across his pectorals. Byl stiffened, almost flinching as she touched him, and she pulled her hand away.

"Sorry," she whispered, looking up at him.

[Byl Laprovik]

He didn't say anything, but gently reached forward to touch her hand with his own, easing it back to his chest. Her eyes were deep sepia and took him in with unfettered interest.

There were too many reasons in his mind to put up a front for her. He succumbed to none of them. It was the first irrational thing he'd considered in the days he could remember. Whether that was for ill or gain, he was enthralled by it.

He leaned in to kiss her.

[James Prent]

James felt almost electric as Byl leaned down, and stood on her tiptoes to meet his lips as he kissed her.

For a few long moments she lost herself in his embrace, his hands lightly touching her shoulders as she stood with her hands on his chest. Something deep inside her mind was trying to tell her that she shouldn't take advantage of him while he was suffering from memory loss, but she very carefully squished it down into nothing.

After a moment the kiss ended and she rocked gently back to the ground, her face a little flushed. James didn't move her hands, and when the silence stretched and Byl opened his mouth to probably apologize, she reached up and pulled his head down again, silencing him with another, deeper kiss.

[Byl Laprovik]

His hands moved down, cupped her backside, and hefted her up as they continued the spontaneous embrace. He eased her against the nearby wall, separating his lips from hers long enough to work down her jawline and neck, before meeting her again with a kiss as he eased her back to earth, still pressed up close with her against the wall near the bed.

[James Prent]

Head whirling, James felt her body loosen, becoming soft and pliant against him as he continued his attentions. The little voice in her head was drowned out by a flood of hormones, and the places his hands touched felt pleasantly warm.

Separating for a moment to breathe, she looked up into his eyes, searching for any kind of recognition in their icy blue depths. Byl's eyes were half closed, his body language speaking of basic human needs. His hands slipped under her shirt and she gasped, forgetting about everything but the present.

[Byl Laprovik]

He smiled at her surprise and drew the bottom of her shirt upwards and along her arms, so the neckline rested just above her lips, but kept her eyes covered. In this awkward position, he ran a hand up from her midriff and gave her expecting mouth a kiss.

"Be just a moment. I'm gonna draw the curtains."

He parted from her momentarily, making sure the curtains were shut fast, before returning to heft James over his shoulder before giving her a little toss on her downy bed.

[James Prent]

She squealed as he lifted her over his shoulder, and squirmed completely from her shirt once he tossed her onto her bed. Eyes bright, she breathed through her mouth, slightly self conscious in just her bra and leggings.

Byl joined her on the bed, and she put her hands up against his chest, holding him at bay, if just for a moment. "I... its..." James flushed, "Its been a while."

[Byl Laprovik]

Suddenly aware of his own impulsiveness, he paused.

"May well have been awhile for myself at that."

A half smile as he ran a few fingers through her tussled hair.

"Seems we both have an attraction to mysterious strangers though."

[James Prent]

James smiled softly, supporting herself on one elbow and leaning up to him to kiss him lightly on the lips. "You're not a stranger to me."

She kissed him again, her lips brushing his, and then ran her hands down his back, squirming to a slightly lower position so she could kiss his chest.

[Byl Laprovik]

He snaked an arm behind her back, finding the clasp of her bra as she kissed him. He thought about what she said, finding the sheer mystery of it all to be potent enough aphrodisiac.

"Well perhaps a good spirited reunion is in order."

Who was James Prent, other than who she said? Did it matter right now? He'd abandoned paranoia for hope, and he'd follow where that promised to take him today, and perhaps days after that.

[James Prent]

She shivered deliciously as he slipped her out of her bra, and then she was working the button on his pants and pulling them off, their bodies melting together in a surge of desire.

An hour or so later, in the refresher, James leaned against his back as warm water cascaded down against them. They hadn't said much, and still kept a companionable silence as they soaped up together. She gently scrubbed his skin, pausing every now and then to anoint another scar with a kiss.

[Byl Laprovik]

He adjusted the water temperature to keep a pleasant amount of heat in the wash. The space around them was steamy and pleasantly scented with the soap that frothed on their naked skin.

"Trying to kiss 'em away?"

He smiled with his back to her, fiddling with a container of lather as he applied it to his full beard.

[James Prent]

"Hmm?" James reached around, soaping up his chest and pressing herself as close as possible to his back. "I wouldn't change anything." She blushed a little as she said it, thinking about the past hour, and was glad he couldn't see her face.

"Well, besides the... amnesia." She wrapped her arms around him, hugging tightly. Would he have been so willing to fall into bed with her had he had his memory intact? There had been chemistry between them before, but not so much as a kiss had passed between them. But perhaps on a deeper level his body remembered her.

[Byl Laprovik]

"Part of me is afraid to look and see what I find."

He held a razor in his hand, turning it over a few times in the spray of hot water that beat down on his chest.

"Somebody who gets scars like this probably has regrets, whether he's playing for the good guys or not."

He made the first pass with the razor, holding the blade out to let a bit of hair catch the water and fall to the swirling drain.

"You've got me thinking about it. What if I just let it all go by the wayside?"

[James Prent]

She thought about his words, the only sounds the scrape of his razor against his beard and the water. What if he did just forget about who he had been and focus on being... whoever it was he was now? It was an interesting thought.

But who was Byl besides a soldier of the Rebellion? She'd seen glimpses of tenderness before, but overall he had been a hard man, and hard to get to know. James traced a pattern on his skin in the suds. "I think the past has a way of catching up with us all." She wiped away the soap, twining her arms around him once more without tangling up his arms as he shaved.

"But I think that Byl Laprovik is you. And that making new memories is very... therapeutic." She giggled a little at that. "I think... its up to you what sort of life you want to lead now."

[Byl Laprovik]

He thought about it all, still not sure. There was this anxiousness to know, but also a dread. Even as that question lay unanswered, he had a constant in her.

"Well, assuming I wipe the slate clean, that means I ought to in some way make an honest living doesn't it? All the sort of job skills I reckon I've still got point toward hazardous living."

He took her in again, after standing under the water to rinse his face clean.

"What about you, James? Planning on making something long term out of Bespin?"

[James Prent]

She hesitated, glad she was standing behind him and her face was hidden. "Not especially. At one time I was going to enter a... training program. With a Jedi."

Her voice was small and quiet, unsure how Byl was going to react now that he couldn't remember anything. "I didn't go with her though. There were... complications."

[Byl Laprovik]

"The Jedi?"

He looked back to her. He could see that he'd stumbled on something maybe she had labored to forget or at least not to drag out in front of him.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I understand. In fact, maybe that helps the both of us."

He turned fully to face again.

"We can both leave our past behind. All we have to think about now is the future."