The Falcon's Cage

[Cerie Moreau]

She stopped a scant few inches from Ben, one hand balled into a fist and the other grasping the neckline of his shirt. Paying fares be damned, he'd poked a little too hard, and she was more than ready to poke back... until Shuvin brought back that glorious memory of the holo of Ben and Jesse - the holo of a very... VERY... drunk Ben and Jesse. They were falling all over each other, and a Darth Vader impersonator was in the background with a 'Sith Tome'. It was a strange thing, but that mask seemed to convey a distinct sense of exasperation.

A Cheshire cat's grin creeped into her expression, and the blonde loosened her grip only slightly, letting her fist ease into a teasingly gentle palm pat to Ben's chest.

"The Sith Lord officiated, Ben," she purred evilly, "... it's absolutely binding."

[Ben Merasska]

"I'd like to think I'd remember my own wedding thank you very much!" he yelped out.

"I think you should be happy she's stuck on you, Cap'n," Shuvin hummed with a finger to her lips. "You ain't getting any younger, fer sure, and hoo wee Jesse is fit! She got the damn thing turned into a painting Ben. A painting!"

Ben whimpered at the memory. The woman had hung the painting in her study, just behind her desk. Arrayed alongside were her other, less fortunate husbands. Honestly, why did everyone forget that last part? The woman might not have a part in the deaths of her other husbands, but the fact that every single fracking one was dead was not something he was not going to forget.

"Can we please change the subject?" he sighed. "Preferably to one where we're not talking about the woman who's just as likely to shoot me as kiss me?"

[Shuvin Undhi]

Shuvin grinned. "Well, all this started when you took too much joy out of how frustrated Mr and Mrs Imperial-Pants were gettin' at the insinuation they were Mr and Mrs Imperial-Pants. Honestly, this is his business, so whether he wants a crowd to weigh in or not is up to him."

Everyone looked at Vance, who seemed to be as staid and unperturbed as any Imperial they'd ever seen.

"It seems a bit late now to be exercising restraint on respecting my and Cerie's boundaries," he said. The statement was met with a slight wince on Shuvin's part and a slight smile from Ben. "Unless everyone decides to have a conscience now, I don't see the point in trying to make it a secret."

He glanced at Shuvin, who smiled cheerily back, and then at the two Cizerack women, Cerie, and Ben, who met his eyes with a look of satisfaction on his face, but quickly schooled it into sympathy when he noticed Cerie turning back to look at him.

[Cerie Moreau]

She was quickly starting to wonder if this was such a good idea at all. That maybe this was some long bad decision that just kept on going and going and going. Originally she felt it was going to be a simple ferry mission with the promise of good credits. Now though, she was starting to second-guess herself. Had she made the right choice to pressure Ben into this?

Pursing her lips, she let go of Ben completely, and ambled her way back to sit beside Vance. A sideways glance to him, and she let her eyes go from Shuvin, to Ben, to the Cizerack matrons. Finally she looked to her hands that she'd rested on the table, idly cleaning already-cleaned fingernails.

"How about we take the wedding talk off the table, yeah?"

Her head angled to the side, and she let out a long breath.

"Deal?"

[Parriaanaa Rasurraanssar]

Parri knew how to read a room, and she instantly stepped in to soothe over the bumps in this road, so to speak.

"Off courrsse, dearr. No morre sspeak of nuptjials wjill be had."

She turned her eyes to the Imperial, giving him a nod of understanding and then to the poor freighter captain. He seemed to be a man torn, trying to salvage an image of authority while playing defense in a shockball match that did not favor him one bit. Poor boy.

"Ourr quarrterrss," she continued, "... perrhapss mjy ssjissterr and jI sshould know wherre thejy arre?"

[Ben Merasska]

Ben glanced at Shuvin, who gave him the slightest shake of her head in response. He didn't respond, but only turned to face the Cizerack women and smiled.

"Sure. This way, please."

He led the ladies out of the galley and back to the entry ramp, which had been closed since they had entered.

"So, as we don't have any passengers aside from you, the choice of cabins is both of yours. Cerie's is that one, mine is closest to the cockpit here. Shuvin's is in the back of the Ring Corridor. We have cabins here, if you wish to share, beds fold down from the wall, if not then just take one of the others, though I don't know which one..."

He paused, his eyes unfocusing, before he shook his head.

"...What's his name in there is taking, so let's just avoid any mishaps with that now, yes?"

[Cerie Moreau]

With Ben going off to show the two sisters their quarters during the trip, Cerie let her shoulders slump in relief. She cut her eyes to Shuvin, in some hope that the young Togruta would understand. For the moment, Vance was partially ignored.

"Is he going to be like this the whole trip?"

Oh, she had come to know Ben well enough during her time aboard Alderaan, but some things she was still trying to suss out, and this was most certainly one of those things.

[Shuvin Undhi]

Shuvin smiled, an expression so wide and bright and nice that the galaxy imploded from niceness.

"Of course he is," she said, proving that one could never trust one's eyes. Cerie blanched. Shuvin felt like she had to keep talking. "Don't take it the wrong way though. He's not mad at you, Cerie. It's just..."

She shrugged. "Ben's got a whole host of mynocks in his landing struts. Every once in a while they start chewin' through an actual wire, right?"

She smiled, with genuine kindness, at the Imperial Captain.

"He can't pretend this mynock ain't there."

[Vance Felline]

He could count on one hand the number of times he'd been graced with such an expression. It made him feel abashed, somehow; whatever the reason, he turned his gaze down to his hands on the table and took a deep breath. After a moment, Undhi's hand had covered one of his. He glanced up.

"Don't need to be feelin' guilty Cap'n Feline," she said. He frowned.

"It's Felline," he said, pronouncing the final 'e' as 'eh'. "My forebears hailed from Naboo; at least on one side. Family legend of a princess in the tree that I'm sure every family makes up at some point. At the very least pronounce it as 'Fell-een', like most others?"

"Sounds like you got yourself a fair bit o' ribbin' in school, eh?" Undhi giggled. He smiled, if a bit wanly.

"A fair bit," he allowed.

"Okay folks," Ben's voice filtered through the internal speakers. "We'll be taking off here soon. Should take about a day or so to get there once we're in hyperspace."

He looked at Cerie, feeling an anxiety he wasn't quite sure he understood in the pit of his gut.

[Cerie Moreau]

Still in her own quagmire of thoughts, Cerie tamped them all back down once more as she heaved herself up to her feet. Ben's voice over the ship's comms was enough to jostle her back into action, and the blonde reacted accordingly. She shifted back into relaxed posture, now that the attentions were gone.

"Come on, I'll get you to your bunk," she offered, giving a furtive glance to Shuvin.

Hopefully her Togruta friend would make sure that Ben didn't pop off with any more smart-ish remarks over the intercom.

Out of Vance's line of sight, she mouthed a very obvious phrase to her younger friend: 'Make him behave'.

And before the Imperial captain could discern her quick action, she reared back up with a smile.

"It'll be a quick trip," she offered.

[Vance Felline]

He stood, bowing slightly to Shuvin, who smiled brightly and waved her hand at him.

"Shoo," she said, winking. He wasn't sure if she was winking at him or at Cerie. He maintained his composure until entering the corridor, where he slumped and sighed deeply in response to her attempt at comforting him.

"I apologize," he said to her, pitching his voice low to nearly a whisper. After all the talking and stress of the past hour, the quiet that now pervaded the ship seemed to be almost an unnatural, accusing thing. "I did not know that my presence would cause this much strife. I suppose that I should have, in retrospect."

[Cerie Moreau]

The relative silence of the corridor was a glorious relief, but his words only brought her crashing back into the here-and-now with thunderous finality.

"It's just how it goes, here," she fumbled, hoping he wouldn't entirely pick up on her weak explanation.

"Small ship and all, you know." was it possible for him to know such a concept? "... it's not an Imperial star destroyer," of course it wasn't, "... so word gets around fast."

She felt foolish, in the moment, and her pace slowed to a stop. Cerie shut her eyes tightly, allowing herself a moment before going on.

"You and me... we had a good time. well, I had a good time. I honestly hope that you did too. I mean, I know I can get a bit wild during love-making... "

She was getting chatty now, and that was only making things probably - ok more-than-likely - uncomfortable. A huffed-out breath then, and the blonde turned away to look down the the way. The corridor veered off to the right, and she opted for her best exit strategy.

"Let's get you to your bunk."

[Vance Felline]

Vance cleared his throat and nodded while smiling wryly.

"I believe it is less what was done, and more who did it, Cerie," he breathed. "If I were almost anyone else, the circumstances would be wildly different."

They stopped at a door, which opened into a cozy little cabin, with a bed, a desk, and even some amenities such as a refresher and toilet in the back.

"I'm..." he stopped just before entering, turning to face and look at Cerie. "I..."

He laughed awkwardly. Did she want to enter? If she did, what did that mean? Did she want to... do it... again? Why was he being this bashful in his own thoughts? He wasn't a blushing modest virgin!

"I was about to ask if you wished to enter," he said finally, "but thought it a bit absurd to ask that question on your ship, given I haven't even entered myself yet."