Joiner

[Carré Inirial]

Fingers rose to absently smooth through the curls cascading over her shoulders, coming away with the pins that hadn't secured her hair as much as she'd thought. Although, given the look she was getting, she didn't mind so much and made a distant mental note to leave her hair down more often.

Gradually, her brain kicked into actual gear instead of idling, and convinced her voice to cooperate once more after several more sips of juice. "A little bit of everything, really. Ships of all kinds, landscapes, my family house...but I love drawing people the most. I can lose myself in it for hours at a time. You learn the most fascinating things from people just by...watching them." Carré smiled, her cheeks a bit warm - though whether it was from the banter or her hangover, she couldn't say.

Biting her lower lip, she leaned forward and set the glass down on the edge of his desk, picking up a pencil and a small piece of paper. In the span of a few minutes, the pencil flew effortlessly across the page and recreated his X-wing in near-perfect detail. Shading as best she could to account for the painted details she could remember, Carré even added the series of nicks along the right side that hadn't been buffed out yet.

"Just to pique your interest." she eventually murmured, sliding the sketch across the desk to him and glancing up through her lashes.

[Kelly Perris]

He placed the glass of juice down on the desktop and reached for the sketch, pulling it the rest of the way to himself and picking it up with one hand to appraise it from a good vantage point, a smile warming over his face as he traced the fingers of his free hand over the details. It was good. Very good.

"Yasmin." He uttered just the one word, the gentle, warm smile now firmly set on his mouth. Kelly lowered the picture down, now in soft grip of both sets of fingers, resting the bottom edges of his hands on the desktop and looking up at Carré again. "That's her name, my fighter, after my sister." He lifted and waved the small sketch in the air in front of him. "This, you did beautifully."

He placed the piece of paper down on the desk and reached for his glass again. He could have said, and you're beautiful, too, but he refrained from such. It settled into his conscience a little that he just might have difficulty treating her quite like the rest of the squadron. What was the difference between her and Tera? They were both gorgeous, in their own ways. Why this one, why now?

"Where did you learn to draw? When?"

[Carré Inirial]

"Its a lovely name...and thank you."

Carré echoed softly, sitting back with her glass of juice. She shifted until she found a reasonably comfortable position, the fingertips of one hand lifting to touch her flushed cheek briefly. A sigh echoed in her mind and thankfully remained internal, glass lifting to her lips for another sip. The tip of her tongue darted out to catch a bit of pulp lingering on the edge, before Kelly spoke, posing another question.

"I never really took formal lessons, I always had the ability. For as long as I can remember, I've been scribbling on every available surface...including the walls of our house. And my father's office...he once complained he had no art in his office so I took a pink marker and drew him a Victory-class Star Destroyer. Wasn't entirely accurate, since I was only eight, but it was umistakable." She grinned sheepishly, trying to chase the wistfulness from her gaze at the old memory.

[Kelly Perris]

A look of evident amusement came to be on his face, half-obscured by the glass of juice at his mouth as he took in the last gulp from it. He breathed out a satisfied sound, the goodness of the juice having done something to chase away the effect the missing hours of rest were having on him. He hadn't exactly gone right to sleep after leaving the mess hall.

"Good memories. I think for the years that I did have to make such memories with my family - twenty-six of them - the good memories outweighed the bad by sheer quantity alone, never mind the quality. Everything is quality, everything has a certain something to it, the veil of time always makes what came before look sweeter."

Kelly placed the glass on the desk, peeling his fingers from it and moving that hand to clasp the other as if it were normal, unconscious and not at all an intention to keep his hands entirely to himself. He hadn't had such issues, really, since Bette.

[Carré Inirial]

He's ten years older than you.

What? Where'd that come from?

Did you pay *any* attention at all to what he said?

Of course I did...I'm just...

Preoccupied and trying not to stare.

Oh shut up. I can't...I can't *help* it.

Carré sighed faintly as she sipped the last of her juice, debating holding onto the glass. Instead, she left it at the corner of her desk where it had sat while she'd drawn, while she sat back and gave his words a bit of further thought, emerald gaze dulling a little bit as she gazed at him.

Fingers toyed with the loose curls of her raven hair, an absent minded habit she'd never been able to get rid of. "That's true...but time doesn't always dull the pain the way its supposed to. But it does serve a purpose. Reminds us that we're alive and that we need to live in the moment as opposed to just shuffling along."

[Kelly Perris]

Live in the moment. Damn, if only it were that easy. There were matters that complicated doing such right here, right now (just met her, just berated her the night before, I'm her superior officer, I'm... it wasn't this hard when I was just an FO, now was it?) and all things considered, it just wouldn't have been all that responsible. A reputation, an image to uphold. Deep-bred instinct, the way of Perris men for generation after generation even went against such quick action with regards to a woman. It made him feel a certain mote of shame in how he had acted for nearly ten years - there were causes, reasons, but no good excuse. Always trying to just bury the pain, bury it deep. What had happened with Leela, between them, before their posting to the Wheel, before her promotion, had only proven that he couldn't afford to push it down much longer.

How one did go about that was something he wasn't entirely certain of; perhaps Justinian would have some insight but... that wasn't happening. That was more awkward territory, the kind of... heart-to-heart he wasn't certain he wanted to be having with anybody, much less another man. No matter how best a friend that man was.

"And that's part of why we're here, isn't it, Instead of wallowing in our own grief? Now, speaking of being here, I have a few other things to sort out with you. More business, now that I can see your head's a little clearer."

Kelly pulled open one upper shallow drawer on the left hand side of the desk and pulled out a datapad, thumbing it on and flipping through documents, looking for a particular one. A satisfied smile crept onto his lips when he found it.

"Here we are." He turned the datapad around and slid it in front of her, standing halfway and leaning across the desk to point out what he intended for her to see. "Now, you have a couple options for rooming. I'm assigning you slot eleven - which makes you Rogue Eleven - and typically people bunk with their wingmates, but I'm allowing you the decision here, not only because you're female, but that the option is available in the first place."

He settled over the desk, arms crossing over themselves on the surface.

"There's Tera Uolmi - the only other woman in the squadron, presently. She wouldn't be your winger, but still, the option is available, if you wanted it. She's from Kessel. And then there's your wingman - that would be Yoree Neel. You ever see a tall, blue man with some boyishness still in his face, that'd be Yoree, the only Chiss pilot I know of in the entirety of the Rebellion's squadrons." He laughed. "He's a good man."

[Carré Inirial]

Huh...I could have sworn what you just sa-

Shut. Up.

A shift in her posture brought a slight movement forward, leaving her to perch on the edge of her seat as he stood. She rose to take the datapad as he slid it her way, a finger scrolling across the small screen. A delicate brow arched as she pondered the choice she was given, lower lip caught between her teeth briefly.

Carré entertained the thought of bunking with Tera for all of two seconds before she shook her head. Fingertips scrolled a bit further along the screen, pausing only as the commander continued.

"I think I spent too long with my brothers when I was little...I've always been more comfortable around men than other women, to be honest. Plus, I'd rather bunk with the person I'll be flying with...providing he doesn't mind me." she smiled, setting the datapad back down on the desk and sitting back once more.

She leaned forward slightly, elbow resting on her crossed legs and her chin in her hand. Emerald eyes lit up for a moment as a thought occured to her. "Yoree doesn't happen to have a Clawcraft, does he? I flew one once...at Carida. On a dare...there was a visiting delgation from the Ascendancy. I might have borrowed one of them for a little spin. Their sheer maneuverability is amazing." She'd have bounced in her seat at the thought if she'd had the energy, as it was, her voice, clearer now than it had been was bright with amusement at the memory.

[Kelly Perris]

Kelly sat back in his own seat, nodding in consideration of her choice. Yoree was a good man - he liked women, as most of the Rogues tended to do - but Miss Inirial would be 'much too young' for him. The Chiss would probably treat her much the same he would a kid sister, if he had one. Had he? The commander didn't know. Aside from his brother, Yoree didn't speak of his family at all. There was the matter of the Ascendancy being a bit allied with the Empire and that probably had a lot to do with it.

"I'm afraid he doesn't, so far as I've seen. Yoree and Evest gave up quite a few things to be part of the Rebellion. Knowing where the allegiances of the Chiss Ascendancy lie, I don't think I should have to go into what those sacrifices might have been. But, you've made a good choice."

He smiled, almost coming to a laugh.

"I'm certain he won't mind you. In any case, he wouldn't have a choice in the matter. He needs a good few smacks every now and then, just like everyone else in the squad. Don't be afraid to administer some yourself, if he gets oh... out of line. Good man, but a man nonetheless. And a member of this squadron. You'll learn what that means, with time."

[Irridia Solensis]

..........

[Carré Inirial]

"I think he and I will understand one another just fine. Besides, I learned to administer a fine smackdown on six older brothers. Was excellent practice for persuading boys to keep their hands to themselves at Carida and beyond."

Not that you want him to keep those hands to himself...

That's it...no more Glitterdust Drops and ale for you.

Oh stuff it, princess...you've suppressed me long enough. I want out...now.

Frak.

Carré smiled in spite of the warmth in her cheeks, tapping the fingers holding her chin across her lower lip. Her expression soon melted to one of concern as something occured to her. "Do you happen to know where they took my Interceptor? Haven't been allowed to see it since I got out of the brig two days ago. There's a few things stored on it that I don't want getting lost."

[Kelly Perris]

Would that she knew he was having relatively similar thoughts. He could certainly apply the 'I can't help it, I'm male, I have a healthy sex drive, so sue me' excuse if she happened to be a mind-reader, but it wasn't likely. No, this was just crazy. Sure, she was an attractive woman, sure she was Alderaanian, sure... He just pursed his lips thoughtfully, scratching his chin, which always seemed ever-so-slightly itchy the day he shaved it. Just that, locking everything else down.

"I don't have the slightest clue." he admitted, smiling almost, almost cautiously as if things threatened to show on his face too much. His eyes flicked back to her. "But, I can find out for you. My thought is that the spooks are just being cautious, paranoid more like, and just want to be absolutely certain you aren't a spy or something of that sort. More than likely, someone's just gotten their wish granted to tinker with enemy hardware that hasn't been terrorized to bits."

His eyes had wandered away again, to nothing in particular. If anything was apparent, it was that other thoughts were occupying his minds, ones not entirely applicable to the present frame of time. The commander tracked his gaze back to Inirial.

"You aren't a spy, are you?" He asked as if the answer was something he knew, a foregone conclusion, that if it had been a yes, she certainly wouldn't be sitting in his office right now. Kelly shook his head. "Of course not."

[Carré Inirial]

"I would very much appreciate if you could. I don't mind if they want to poke around in it, but I'm terribly attached to that ship for a ton of reasons."

Carré grinned, fingers tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Her expression flickered between the more than casual interest that was brewing, and the calm, collected façade she generally tried to cultivate when she wasn't wearing her temper on her sleeve. His following words elicited a soft peal of laughter, and a bit of a flush to her cheeks as shook her head.

"Ahhh...no. Definitely not a spy. You'd never even think it once you've liberated a couple hundred credits from me at the sabacc table."

Fingers wound together in her lap as she caught herself before she could steal the pencil and another piece of paper from his desktop. There was just something about him, she thought, emerald eyes tracing the lines of his handsome face. Something that gave her the urge to...draw.

Among other things.