Redefining "Me" - 10.241

[James Prent]

The open air restaurant boasted some of the prettiest views from the city, a wide open shot at the vastness that was the ocean planet of Dac. In the distance one could just barely make out the tips of the Seascape Mountains, the Hawaka Islands. It was the lunch hour, so the tables were full of Mon Cal and a few humans and other aliens. The native Quarren tended to stay in the lower levels of the great floating city.

Tucked away from the harrowing vistas, near a wall and facing toward the smooth curves and domes of Foamwander City, sat James Prent. She was pushing her food around her plate with a single chopstick, the other fallen to the ground and forgotten. Byl was off on a short assignment near the border. She worried about him, more than a little, despite his talents and honed skills. No doubt he would be perfectly fine. She poked at a deep fried tentacle until it fell off the side of her plate to the table. Perfectly fine.

He was always going to be okay. But after months of living on Dac, getting used to her new normal after a year on the run, James felt more and more like she was standing above a huge black hole. She was being pulled into it, a little more each boring and same day. Spaghettification was no doubt next, hopefully a painless process of becoming...something else. A noodle was swirled around on her plate.

Who was James Prent? Surely she was more than just Byl Laprovik's girlfriend. After so much time devoted to helping him discover the truth about his past, and then keeping house for him in their small apartment while he went on missions... James was beginning to wonder if there was more to her than him.

[Adia Issoris]

Even though Dac was a major member of the Alliance, humans were far from the dominant species. Outside of a few key ports and tourist attractions, Dac was left to it's native sea life and primary species of Quarren and Mon Cal.

Dac was, among other things, a hub for Alliance Intelligence. After another bout in the Corporate Sector, Adia had been recalled to Dac for debrief and voluntary reassignment. She needed to choose to decide to go back into the field or do something else. Adia still had her formal uniform on, but opened the jacket to the gentle breeze. A holstered blaster was on one side, and a holstered metal cylinder on the other. She ran a single finger across the top of the yellow-bladed lightsaber while her eyes looked for a seat. There were plenty, as it was past the lunch rush. She walked to the edge, where the balcony offered an amazing view of the Hawaka Islands. As much as her eyes would welcome such a view, she felt a disquiet. Adia made a slow turn, and noticed the young human woman alone.

On her journey over to James, she was able to make some assessments. The first was that James was clearly lost in thought. The second was that she was very troubled by something. She looked like she lacked a sounding board. Well, Adia could use one herself.

"Is this seat available?" She offered a soft smile.

[James Prent]

James was so far down her derailed train of thought that she didn't notice she was being approached until the woman was right there and asking if she could sit. She sat up abruptly, the uniform engendering trust, while the lightsaber hilt at the woman's hip made her feel ill at ease.

"Uh, sure. I guess." Her lips quirked up in a quick smile that didn't touch her troubled eyes. James looked down and grimaced at the state of her plate, hiding the largest wayward bit of seafood on the table with a hastily dropped napkin.

[Adia Issoris]

"Thanks. It's pretty quiet up here today." Adia observed and took a seat. The pile of food on her tray dwarfed whatever James had mostly worked her way through.

"I'm Adia." She offered a hand that was a little too big for her body. It looked lean and strong, with long fingers and short cut nails. James hesitated.

"James." She shook Adia's hand uncertainly.

Adia retrieved her hand and set into her plate.

"What brings you to Dac?" Adia asked between bites. The debrief had been nearly an hour long after a half-days jump, and she was hungry.

[James Prent]

"Hmm?" James had been distracted by the amount of food on the woman, Adia's, plate. "Oh. I, uh, live here. For now anyway." She gestured vaguely. "Alliance stuff."

Another hesitation while Adia took another mouthful of food. James cleared her throat a little. "And yourself? Do you live here too?"

[Adia Issoris]

Adia shook her head just before taking another bite. She chewed thoughtfully. James wasn't a spook, or she was the best spook she'd ever met.

"I've just returned from assignment." She explained, her formal Coruscanti accent slowly slipped back from over a year of being in the Corporate Sector. Right now she sounded like a spacer that spent too much time in an Imperial port.

"So do you do the Alliance stuff?" Adia asked. James seemed to be ambiguous about her whole situation.

[James Prent]

"Yeah. I mean, no." James shook her head. "My partner, he's the one who does th' Alliance stuff." Her lips tightened momentarily. "I'm jus'... here." Wind blew across the patio from the sea, ruffling her short hair. She didn't turn to look at the view. Sometimes it still made her nauseous to look at all the open space.

She smiled, focusing on Adia. "Retuning from assignment, huh? Debriefing always takes forever." She looked down at her hands in her lap.

[Adia Issoris]

"It does. I think the longest debrief I was part of took a week." James winced sympathetically.

"If you ended up with someone in the field I suspect you've seen your share of things, too..." Adia trailed off when she was hit with a rush of familiarity. She had seen this woman before.

"Have you ever been to Cloud City?" She asked, obviously curious.

[James Prent]

"Y-yes," she said uncertainly. "I ...lived there a while." James looked to the side, trying to think of a suitable way to make her escape, before looking back at the woman across from her. She seemed so... nice. And she was with the Alliance. So of course you want to trust her and spill your guts like you just got scooped up out of a diner on Nar Shaddaa, she thought sarcastically.

"Have you been there? Beautiful place," she found herself saying, before she could stop the small talk from spilling out.

[Karin DeLumiar]

"There you are," a hand fell onto James' shoulder from behind. "You forget your appointment?"

Karin's face leaned into James' view. Tilted to deliberately obscure her face from Adia's vision, she gave James a conspiratorial wink.

[James Prent]

Caught between a prying stranger and a semi-familiar face, James jumped up like she'd been electrocuted. "Ah, right, I did. Didn't! Sorry." She looked at Adia, who seemed bemused, and added another "Sorry!" for good measure while Karin towed her away by her elbow. She'd barely had time to grab her satchel, and was still trying to get it slung across her body when they rounded a corner and were out of sight.

"What appointment am I forgetting? Oh," James realized, her cheeks flushing. "Right. There's no appointment. Thanks for that."

[Karin DeLumiar]

"No worries!" Karin said cheerfully. "I read you as uncomfortably nervous so I figured you could use an evac."

She eyed James with a concerned frown. "You are okay, right? I didn't screw up anything important back there?"

[James Prent]

"What? Oh, no. No. I mean, I don't think so, anyway." James looked back over her shoulder like she was going to see the red haired woman sitting there looking disappointed, but of course there was a building between them now. "I think I go through life being uncomfortably nervous though, maybe you should follow me around."

She looked at Karin teasingly, "You aren't following me around, are you?"

[Karin DeLumiar]

"Hah!" Karin waved a dismissive hand. "You're not that interesting."

Suddenly aware of her exact words, Karin facepalmed. "I didn't mean- ffffffff, sorry James. That just came out wrong."

Karin ran a hand down her face, hiding the worst of her embarrassed blush until she could recover. "So, no, I'm not following you," she said. "Pierce ships out tonight on assignment. I ship out tomorrow afternoon, so we're meeting in an hour-ish to kill the afternoon together. Last chance we'll get until who knows when."

She sighed. "How about you? What've you got going on today?"

[James Prent]

James laughed off Karin's comment, happy that at least she wasn't alone in her awkwardness, and shrugged. "Got nothin' on my plate today. Or any day, really." She smiled tightly. "So, uh, enjoy your day? I've had a lot of 'last chance' days with Byl. In the middle of the 'until who knows' part right now."

[Karin DeLumiar]

Wait. So James was a military guy's girl who did nothing? All day, everyday? Karin could just imagine how nuts the poor woman had to be.

"You're with the right girl to make a new flightplan," she said, plucking her private commlink from her belt. "Hey Pierce, 's me. I just ran into James Prent - seems she's bored out of her mind and could use a diversion and I plan to give her one. When you get free, meet me at the races."

"So, I was going to save this but," the comm replied in Pierce's voice. "When you get there, tell Gorial what a washout you are."

A washout? Karin's brow furrowed. "Those words exactly?"

"Yup."

"Copy that. See you soon, Spooky."

A long-suffering sigh came from the commlink before Karin switched it off with a grin. "He hates that nickname."

"So, I'm not gonna force you to have fun or anything," Karin continued, shoving her thumbs into her trouser pockets with a confident smile. "But I'm pretty sure I can offer you a better afternoon than what you had in mind. You game?"

[James Prent]

Oh, no, I have stuff to take care of. Important stuff.

I wouldn't want to impose.

It's laundry day, you know how it is.

James shoved down all the lame excuses and existential terror she felt at having to interact with people, and said, "Sure." She smiled, and then frowned lightly. "What races are we going to?"

[Karin DeLumiar]

Karin just smiled. "You'll see. C'mon, we'll take my speeder bike."

As she led James in the direction of the street parking where she'd left her bike, curiosity nudged her. "So who was that woman?" she asked. "The one you were eating lunch with, I mean."

[James Prent]

"Hmm? Oh. Adia?" James shrugged. "I don't know her." Something in the back of her head said yes you do, but it only made her frown as she tried to remember. Why had she asked about Cloud City?

They reached the speederbike, and James blurted, "She's a Jedi" as memory flooded forward of the red haired woman among the refugees she'd helped during the time they'd been on Bespin.

[Karin DeLumiar]

The news that she'd been feet from a Jedi was kiss on the mouth accompanied by a simultaneous sock to the gut. "What!?"

Karin held up a finger. "Just- just stay right there," she said, bolting back the way they came. She rounded the corner to the open air cafe and scanned the tables.

The dark-haired woman was nowhere in sight.

The kiss faded, but the gutpunch remained. Karin turned and trudged back to the speeder bike, most of the spring in her mood lost.

James was leaning against the bike with a questioning look. "Sorry," she apologized when she got close enough. "I kinda have a thing for Jedi."

"A thing?" James asked.

"I mean, didn't your parents ever tell you Jedi tales as a kid?" Karin asked, straddling her speeder bike backwards so she could face James while she spoke. "Mine sure did. I used to dream of being a Jedi Knight and single-handedly defeating the evil Emperor. 'Course, that was before I knew Emperor Palpatine was evil."

"Wishing I was a Jedi was one of the reasons I asked for assignment to the Wheel, back when that was a thing," she continued. "I used to sit and watch for Jedi to board the Whaladon. I never got to meet many of them. Hell, the only one who ever took notice of me was Hobby. But I never saw one that didn't care about everybody. They all made me believe."

She trailed off, her mind trying to attach a better description to how she felt. "You ever know someone who makes you feel like there is a real best future? Like happily-ever-after exists and that you can get there just by following their example? That's how I feel about the Jedi."

Karin set her elbows onto the bike's half-height seatback and cupped her face between her palms with a sad sigh. "I wish we had more of them."

Her eyes searched for James' and found them. "If I could give my life and undo Order 66," she said with simple, perfect conviction. "I'd do it in a skip."

[James Prent]

Karin rattled off a bunch of things that James was only barely aware of, peripherally, as it were. The Wheel wasn't exactly a state secret anymore, but she just smiled and nodded while wondering if the other woman really meant the Jedi were riding a whaladon through space. Probably a ship name...probably.

Her infatuation with Jedi made James feel a little uncomfortable, and she shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I never heard Jedi stories when I was growing up," she said finally. "But from my experience with...Jedi...they're jus' people, Karin. People with power. I've seen their ability f'compassion...an' how flawed they can be." Her face darkened, and she looked off into the distance, Loklorien's face looming in her memory. Her face as it was - full of rage and anger - and also as calm and composed as a Calanic monk.

[Karin DeLumiar]

She'd seen James' faraway look a million times - on Pierce. The posture, the moody expression; it rang all the right bells. "What have you seen?"

Her companion didn't respond immediately, leading Karin to give James' shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, I know I'm no Chosen One, but I'm willing to help. If you're willing to open up, maybe we can talk it through."

[James Prent]

James laughed a little nervously, enduring the affectionate touch. "Let's jus' say I had a front row seat to the whole Battle of Ossus. I knew Lok - Loklorien - before. I know how fragile th' thread is that holds a person together, an' how easily it can be undone, y'know?" Her fingers rubbed together on her right hand, a non existent stim cigarette on her mind while her Nar Shaddaian accent thickened with her anxiety.

She shrugged, shaking her head a bit as if to clear it. "The Force scares the shit outta me, t'be honest."

[Karin DeLumiar]

She was so tense. Not just the shoulder, which Karin still had hold of, but everything about James just screamed anxiety. And it wasn't the first time Karin had seen that tension; at Jane's funeral, at the lunch tables earlier, hell, even on their walk here James always seemed off. Like she was on the watch for a vicious ghost that would leap out from the shadows and devour her unless she maintained constant vigilence.

It occurred to Karin to jokingly wonder if James' guts were made entirely of knots.

Karin let go of James' shoulder and made a mental note to try and make sure she had consent before doing something like that again.

"Okay," Karin said aloud, starting to vocally walk through what James had said. "So the Force scares you. Why does the Force-"

The logic of the situation started to settle in. Why would the Force scare James? There weren't a ton of reasons. She might've seen it in action, which didn't seem likely given how far away from any action James seemed to want to be.

But then she'd mentioned Ossus. Why would the girl of an Alliance spook be anywhere she could see that fight? She'd have to have a reason to be there, which meant she was either there already or she knew someone - General s'Ilancy, maybe - there. But that still didn't explain how she knew that person in the first place or why she'd stay in a position to get herself killed. Either James had a real strong sense of loyalty to people she trusted, enough to push through her anxiety and spectate a firefight, or...

Or. Or or or or or.

Karin's eyes scanned James from shoe to eyebrow. No. Surely she wasn't.

Was she?

"Are you-" Karin paused, fishing for a word that wouldn't come. "I forget what to call it, but can you- could you be a Jedi?"

[James Prent]

James nodded, reluctantly, inwardly berating herself. Here we go, trusting people you barely know with your whole life story in three...two...one...you should try just shutting up maybe.​ "An adept. Yeah. I guess." She grimaced. "It's only brought me pain. Like, literally."

[Karin DeLumiar]

"Okay," she said. "Wow, okay."

Karin found herself split three ways on how to react to James' admission. The first part of her wanted to squeal, grab the woman, and bear hug her. But, even if James hadn't come across as sketchy about personal contact, she saw her abilities as a problem. The 'fangirl' option would not be well-received.

The second option was to probe and ask questions, figure out the source of the problem and attack it. She was okay at that, but honestly Pierce was always better at the examine-correct approach. Besides, it kinda wasn't her way anyway.

Though maybe she'd ask Pierce to talk to James later on.

So Karin went with option three: trust. "So, that's pretty amazing," she told James. "And really sad, too. I don't know what's happened to you and if you don't want to talk about it, I don't want to know. But if you need a friendly ear or someone who's not gonna push you one way or the other to help figure things out, just know that you've got me on your side."

She leaned back, using the bike's handlebars as a shoulder and arm rest. "I guess what I'm saying is, it's up to you. If you want, we can keep talking about this. If not, the races are calling!"

[James Prent]

The urge came to spill her guts, to tell Karin everything: all her fears, all her impossible choices, her life story up until this point and why she was with Byl and, and ...

James shrugged, and smiled, forcing down her oversharing instinct. "I'd like t' go t' th' races, they sound great."

[Karin DeLumiar]

James' decision brought the enthusiasm back to Karin's demeanor. "Good deal!"

Karin hopped off the bike and fished along the seat edge. Her fingers found a spring-lock pin, which she pulled.

The bike's seat lifted, revealing a small compartment. Inside, a pair of helmets rested atop a pair of riding jackets. A quick look showed the jackets were mainly black, except for a pair of diagonal purple stripes across the front and back plus a few pieces of purple trim. The helmets had a matching color style.

Karin picked up one of the helmets and held it in front of James, eyeing the fit. "Mmm, looks a little big, but should do fine. Hold this."

Passing the first helmet off to James, Karin pulled the second helmet out and hung it from a handlebar. She then pulled out both jackets, again passing the first to James and keeping the second. "Gloves and a hair-tie in the-" Karin caught herself. "So, gloves in the pockets. You won't need the hair-tie."

When they'd finished gearing for the ride, Karin looked James over. "Not bad," she said. "The black and purple kinds fits you."

Karin pressed the seat back into place until it locked with a firm snap. "You should still hold on to me, but there's a lap belt and a pair of passenger stirrups to help keep you safe," she said, pointing them out.

With the two of them now ready to ride, Karin settled herself into the forward seat. She pressed a small thin cylinder into the ignition slot, then fit the bangle on her bracelet into a cavity atop the cylinder. One twist and the bike's engine woke up with a delighted purr.

As the engine came on, James heard a slight crackle by her ear. "The helmet comms run when the bike's on," Karin's voice explained. "The ride to Bayshore's about twenty minutes, so this'll give us a chance to chat a little on the way."

James wrapped her arms around Karin's waist. With a deft stomp, Karin released the kickbrake and the bike was off.

About half a minute out, Karin spoke up. "So, I gotta ask before this burns me up. Earlier you said you didn't really have anything on your plate. D'you mean to tell me you just sit around all day everyday? No hobbies, no interests? Nothing to pass the time?"

[James Prent]

James was grateful for the fact that she was hiding behind Karin on the bike as her face burned with embarrassment. "No, it's not - I do stuff. I just don't have a job." There was a pause, where Karin thankfully didn't pepper her with more questions, and then James blurted, "It's not that I couldn't get one, it's jus' at first I didn't 'cause we didn't know where we'd be staying, and then 'cause we didn't know how long we'd be staying, and now I guess it's just inertia holding me back. Going from ...well, waitressing is sort of a step down, y'know?"

[Karin DeLumiar]

Karin alternated between listening and driving. "So you were a waitress?" she asked when they had a clear stretch of road. "Sounds a bit bottom rung, honestly. I mean, it's not trash compactor maintenance, but I can't imagine getting any fulfillment out of it myself."

Deftly weaving through a set of slower landspeeders took her attention for half a minute, then she was free again. "Let's say you could do anything you wanted: job or hobby. What would it be?"

[James Prent]

"Well, like you said, my qualifications are bottom rung. I mean, I studied - it doesn't even matter," she said, rather glumly. "I don't know what I'd do if I could do anything. I've never been the 'go out and save the world' type. I'm just...trying to do my best by the people around me. For a long time that meant taking care of Byl. Gods, I sound so useless."

[Karin DeLumiar]

James reminded Karin a lot of herself ten years ago, only with a little less fire and a little more fear. "No, that's good, see? You've got an entire galaxy of stuff out there to explore."

The road ahead was clear, so she gunned the bike up to a higher speed. Scenery flew by, mirroring Karin's own passion for their topic. "I mean, so what if you're bottom rung today? Imagine where you could be ten years from now! Or a year! Hell, imagine where you could be tomorrow? You've just gotta start making some choices for yourself. The more I hear you speak, the more I feel like you're afraid of becoming. Who do you really want to be, James? 'cause the longer you wait to figure that out, the more regrets you're gonna have when you finally do."

[James Prent]

They rode in silence for a few minutes, and James finally found her voice. "I'm too scared to be a Jedi. I know it's the right thing to do, but I - Everything I've read or heard makes it sound like approaching it from a place of fear is a really bad idea. And I've seen what happens when Jedi go bad."

They'd reached their destination, and Karin brought the bike to a stop. James sighed, pulling her helmet off. "I don't want that to be me."

[Karin DeLumiar]

James returned the helmet, which Karin returned to the bike's storage compartment along with her own. "Nah, keep the jacket and gloves on," she warned James. "It'll help keep you dry."

"Dry?"

"I'll show you." Karin finished locking the bike down and beckoned James towards a small cluster of buildings.

The walkway between the buildings opened out into an almost carnival-like atmosphere. An interspecies throng clustered among a series of shops, food carts, and stands. Past the crowds, the street split and ran in either direction around a large natural bay; the height from. Rocky outcroppings stretched from the shore, neatly enclosing the bay and separating it from the vast ocean beyond. The light breeze occasionally turned strong, kicking salt spray into those closest to the bay's guardrails. A seafood smell hung in the air, but did not overpower the scent of the ocean's breeze.

"See those craft out there?" Karin pointed into the distance of the bay. "Those are refitted DS-9J Surface Combat Skimmers. Used to be piloted by clones during aquatic fights back in the Clone Wars. The Calamari and Quarren got their hands on some and liked them enough to adapt them for their species; the Quarren took double the interest the Cals did. Thing about the DS-9 series is the weapons are a big drain on the power. Once the oceangoers figured out that you double the engine power if you remove the weapons, they adapted the skimmers for pleasurecraft."

Karin's finger shifted to a wake trail out by the edge of the bay. "They navigate the course in two-person crews: you've got drivers and surfers. The drivers have to pass through the yellow rings and the surfers have to go through the blue ones. Miss a ring and it'll flash red. In time trials, that adds time to your score. In placement races, it disqualifies you."

The wake trail they were following vanished as the skimmer dove beneath the surface of the bay. "Oh yeah, and there are rings underwater, too. So, the surfers have to do jumps and the drivers have to do dives."

Karin's finger picked out a cluster of shops at the shore's edge; wetsuits hung from stands and vehicles stretched in a line out front. "They rent gear and skimmers if you want to go out. It's the perfect place to practice some courage if you're up to it. And if you're not-" here Karin pointed to the stands "- it's a perfect way to pass the time."

"Welcome to the Bayshore skimmer races, James. What's your pleasure: watch?" Karin grinned. "Or play?"

[James Prent]

James studied the spectacle, and said, "Oh, watch, definitely." She found herself grinning back at Karin. "I'm not a skilled enough driver to take part. Are you...?" She indicated the course, happy for the moment to put talk of the Jedi behind her.

[Karin DeLumiar]

Karin smiled and beckoned James in the direction of a food cart. "Girl, I fly a slim; that's an A-Wing in case you don't know flight-jockeyspeak. I've been flying or driving something for the past- gosh, has it been twenty years?" The raven-haired woman began ticking off fingers. "Yeah. Five years racing speeder bikes plus five driving speeders for the cell plus another ten in the cockpit. Time flies when you're flying, I guess."

The two women paused before the food cart and Karin considered the menu. "I know you just ate, but want to share some popped kernel crisps? My treat!" she offered James.

[James Prent]

"Oh, I meant..." James' voice trailed off as Karin continued to detail her flight experience, and instead she smiled at the offer. "I love that stuff. I'd say no, but I'd be lying."

She looked around. "Where's the best place to watch from? Are we still meeting...Pierce?"

[Karin DeLumiar]

A quick check of her wrist chrono showed that Pierce would be along in about twenty minutes. "He'll be here soon," Karin nodded, showing the food cart server what she wanted. "You can say hello if you like. He's really sweet once you get to know him. Most people prefer not to though."

She fished a couple of vendor tokens - fixed-value credit chits that the street cart vendors preferred - from her jacket's coin lining and passed them to the merchant. The merchant returned her change, along with a bag of light, fluffy, delicious white popped kernel crisps. She plucked a few off the top, held the bag out to James, and then popped them into her mouth. The taste of sea salt, a little curry spice, and that wonderful fluffy crunch was the perfect snack for the woman who'd skipped lunch to pack for shipout.

"Like I was saying," she said as she munched. "I can drive or fly anything; I've got the know-how. What I'm missing is the equipment. Aqua speeder rentals are expensive, and you can't go out without a proper wetsuit, including breathmask. I can afford one or the other, not both. At least, not without someone else chipping in."

Karin stared out across the bay, her mood dipping into "glum" territory. "Doesn't look like I'll get the chance this go-round, anyway. Maybe next time I finish a tour of duty."

"Oh," she said, remembering her earlier conversation with Pierce. "C'mon, I want to go say hi to Gorial. He's got a shop by the waterfront - it's a great spot to watch without getting wet. 'sides, you oughta get to know a few people around here."

[James Prent]

It was all... a bit much for James. She nodded and followed Karin as instructed, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried to take in all her surroundings without looking like she was trying to take in all her surroundings. It had been months here on Dac, and she was still jumpy at times, getting that feeling that something bad was going to happen and she and Byl were going to have to pull up stakes and run for it.

But no. They were safe here. She was safe. James looked up at Karin, realized the other woman had said something, and blinked. "Sorry, I missed that. What?"

[Karin DeLumiar]

James was in "womp rat in headlights" mode again. The girl did not handle surprise.

"C'mon," she said, passing the half-finished bag of crisps to James' left hand and taking her right one. "We're going to visit someone."

Karin (gently) tugged James in the direction of a stone path leading down from the main court towards the sea level where a small cluster of buildings stood. As they neared the water's edge, smells of salt, butchered marine life, and engines replaced the gentler aroma of food trucks and clean air. On the way down, she spied a Mon Calamari situating themselves onto a skimmer by the water's edge. Without breaking stride, she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled "Hey N'giliaf! Your last run cost me fifty credits! Quit sucking and manage those dives!"

The Mon Cal offered her a rude flipper gesture. Karin returned it with a blown kiss and the Mon Cal laughed before returning to his prep. She gave James a friendly nudge. "Never met that guy before, but I always figure acting like you belong somewhere gets you half the distance to fitting in."

The path leveled off and Karin led the way to a small, sturdy looking shop at the very end of the cluster. Navigating through some wetsuit racks out front got them into the shop proper, where the pair were greeted by a gruff-faced male Besalisk. "Well, Little Soft-Step!" he boomed, wide mouth breaking into a wider grin as he carefully maneuvered his bulk out from his shop counter. "Good ta see ya. And ya brought a friend!"

"Gorial!" Karin threw herself into a big hug. "Good to see you. This is James Prent. She's a friend."

"Ahh, pleased ta make yer acquaintance lady," the Besalisk offered as formal a bow as his four-arms would allow. "Welcome to me humble shop. You a race-lover like Soft-Step?"

[James Prent]

"Oh, I like them," James hedged. "I haven't really watched the local ones...much." She smiled. "Soft-Step? Sounds like there's a story behind that."

The wetsuit racks were only a little shorter than she was, and James peeked over the top of one of them, pushing the hangers aside so she could see through the rack.

[Karin DeLumiar]

Karin shielded her mouth with a hand, but spoke at normal volume. "It's her first time. And before you ask: yes, I'm being gentle."

Gorial laughed, a boisterous chuckle that exuded cheer equal to its volume in decibels. "Yer a silly one, Soft-step," he said, one hand tousling Karin's hair. He clapped her shoulder and despite Karin's height and strength, she tilted a little at the impact.

"So," the Besalisk began, letting his hand fall to his side. "I calls her Soft-step 'cuz that's how I tells her apart from her partner, see? First day the two of 'em come in here, I don't see 'em first, I hear 'em. And the way they walk, he's all heavy an' loud and she's all quiet an' soft. After I get ta know 'em, I calls him Stompy-Boots and I calls her Soft-Step."

"Speaking of Pierce," Karin said, remembering his earlier cryptic message. "In his words, I'm a real washout."

"Ahhhh," Gorial's huge eyes widened even further with understanding. "Well, if yer gonna be a washout, ya gotta dress not ta get wet."

Squeezing back behind his shop counter, he bent down. The sounds of rummaging found their way to the countertop, followed shortly by a package and Gorial himself. "Got this here for ya, little lady. Go on an' open it."

Karin's face went flat. "If this is what I think it is-" she cut herself off upon opening the box.

It was exactly what she thought it was and exactly what she wanted as well.

Pulling a custom racing wetsuit with the same color scheme as her biking wear out of the box, she held it against herself. "It looks like it's a perfect fit," she said, setting it back down with a sigh. "That ass! I told him I wanted to get this for myself!"

"Ah, yer fella didn't get that for ya," Gorial said with a headshake. "I did."

Karin screwed up her face. Nice as he was, custom wetsuits cost and Gorial wasn't rolling in money. "But- why?"

"Well, about eight months back or so, yer fella wanders in her by his lonesome, see?" Gorial began. "Tells me he's gonna spend some time out in the Inner Rim, near Folthos Seven. Now, I got a brother out that way and it's awful coincidental-like that yer fella happens to ask."

"It would be just like him to know you had family there before he said anything," Karin added.

"Could be, could be." Gorial nodded. "Still, I ain't one to look a gift trask too hard in the teeth. Seein's how I can't just hop across the Imp Border meself, I ask him to check in for me. Time passes and Stompy-Boots comes back with a holo-recording from 'im, plus a handwritten letter and this chrono. Belonged to me Pops, it did. The letter says he passed on and wanted me to have this. At first I think the coincidence is too high an' it might be a fake, but it's even got a little acid-stain on the inside like I remembers. Ain't no one but family would know about it. So's it must be real."

Gorial's eyes rested on the silver chrono wrapped around his wrist. He gently patted it, then returned his attention to Karin. "I looks Stompy-Boots in the eye an' I tells him this means more 'n worlds ta me and ta name himself a favor. He looks me right back in the eye an' says he don't need any favors, but if there's anyone he knows what deserve one, it's you. Knowin' what I know of ya, I cash in a favor with a guy at the place what makes my wetsuits. Got here just a few days ago."

Karin's eyes fell to the wetsuit, then went back up to Gorial, then to the suit, then to various spots on the floor. "I wanted- but this- Tell me I should be mad." she said finally, looking up at James. "I mean, should I be mad? Your guy's gotta have done something like this for you, right? How did you feel when he did?"

[James Prent]

She shrugged. "It's a present. He didn't get it f'ya because he didn't think you can get it f'y'self, he got it b'cause he knew you wanted it and he cares about you, obviously." James grinned. "Jus' say thanks."

Had Byl ever done something for her that she was capable of doing on her own? It was a confusing question. Their partnership had been born out of necessity. They had lived on the edge of the galaxy, one step ahead of all the people who were trying to find them. And in that time of strife and fear, they'd...found each other. He was there for her, and she was there for him. It wasn't a complicated dance, it was... it just was.

And being there for him meant watching him find his place back with the Alliance. A world she was not a part of. It was the separation that she'd always feared - he would get his memory back, and she would be left behind. Each mission he went on without her...

Confused by her dark thoughts, James turned away from Karin's expensive present and looked at the rack of suits behind her. Byl already was leaving her behind, she'd just been too terrified of the thought to give it space in her head to breathe. She couldn't just be 'the girl on Dac' waiting for him to return.

[Karin DeLumiar]

Karin frowned.

When she'd talked to Pierce about it, she'd stated in no uncertain terms that she wanted to get the wetsuit herself, no matter what it took. She wanted it to be fully hers, picked out from tip top to bottom. Her own time, her own money, her own decisions.

And now she had it without expending any of those things.

Even worse, it wasn't just the present that felt wrong. She knew Pierce was a liar and a disguise artist; the feeling that he had engineered a chain of events to get around her express wish seemed entirely possible. She felt manipulated, maybe even dirty.

Then again, that didn't wholly square with the man she knew. The one who'd spent years telling her everything about himself - secrets she wouldn't have told anyone if the secrets had been hers. And Gorial was the one who'd gone to effort and expense on her behalf, not Pierce. Pierce had delivered a letter and a chrono to a sentient who needed it.

Plus, black and purple really were her colors.

She would talk to him about it later; one way or another, the issue would be put to bed. In the meantime, she had a waiting Besalisk to thank.

"I love it, Gorial," she smiled at him. "And I accept it. Thank you."

"Ain't no trouble, Soft-step," he inclined his head. "We all do what we can fer each other."

"Yeah, we do," she said, turning her attention to James. Her companion was staring intently at a rack of wetsuits. "Hey, James, you okay? Change your mind about going out for a ride?"