Speak Me Softly - [Alaska]

[Harukei]

She had heard the whispers during the length of the flight, even with the slow rumble of the hyperdrive and slight shake the linear transport would suffer. Who could blame the different beings from who knew how many worlds, ranging from humanoid to small creatures to snoop and pry about what had happened or what had those who had shared the trip with them know of what had happened during the past few days. It was hard to overlook the demise of a politician, specially one that seemed to be devoted to the people.

However to Syrin it was nothing but a source of annoyance. Not at the fact that her handiwork was being spoken about. The Sith Knight felt a sense of pride for her latest kill, doing so in a subtle manner which had made the death of the man be more akin of natural causes. The bother would come due the fact that in her state of heightened senses, she could dare to close her eyes and rest, the hushed whispers of the rest would kept her from truly descending into a restful sleep.

Upon landing the first she would notice, was overpowering scent of the small oceans that surrounded the settlement built on reefs and sand bars, teeming with beaches. The humidity would strike her as well, as sweat would begin to permeate her skin, with beads of  sweat rolling down her forehead and brows. The minor discomforts were something she had to deal with. She had no choice but to lay low for a time. A necessary precaution she had begun to take after the first assassinations she had carried.

Even as much as she heated the concept of beaches, she supposed that there could be some calm in this world. The woman, dressed in her spacer guise would continue until she finally reached a small hotel. After paying the right sum of credits needed for her stay she would move slowly towards the turbolift, minding her own business, hoping to go unnoticed. After all, it wasn't likely that someone would recognize her.

[Alaska!]

It felt as though things were slowly falling apart. Months had passed since Maura had first set out on her journey to find her missing mother and father. Since leaving Alderaan, Maura had been to many planets, spoken to so many people. Each lead that she'd come across had lead to a dead end. As time had slipped away Maura slowly lost hope. She'd gone to all the planets that everyone said they would be on and found nothing. No trace of her mother and father and nothing to show for all of her work. Part of Maura struggled to hold onto the faintest hope that they were alive and safe. It was the not knowing that was the hardest part of it all. Were they alive? Dead? Captured? Maura's grip on hope was practically gone and that was how she found herself on the paradise that was Tibrin.

It was a beautiful planet with beautiful beaches. Maura had spent the day on the beach, laying in the sun and dipping in the edges of the bays. She couldn't go in too far or risk sinking under the weight of her leg. Part of her, a deep, dark part of her didn't mind that idea. With her parents gone there was no one left in the galaxy who understood her. Nora and Romny had learned a whole new language for her sake. With them she didn't need to try so hard to communicate but now they were gone. Laying on the beach, she'd stared out at the tide and thought. The Force gave her no answers despite her searching. Maura had closed her eyes and tried to process everything that was going through her mind. Maura imagined what her mother might have told her. In her mind's eye she could see her mother signing the words, "you must let these things go..."

But she did not want to let go. She'd spent her entire life with them. All that Maura knew was at her parent's home on Alderaan. Everything she knew was there and long gone. And what lie ahead was... unclear. Months ago, before her parents had left, the future had been clear but now things were...clouded. With a sigh Maura roll onto her back and got to her feet. Slowly, she gathered her towel and wrapped it around her hips. Lost in her own thoughts and feelings, Maura hardly cared if anyone saw her prosthetic leg. Maura made her way back to the lobby of the hotel that owned the stretch of beach. Her room was on the third floor so she bypassed the front desk and made her way to the turbo lift. She had the room for another night but after that...
What do I do after that? And after that?
Despair threatened to overcome Maura once more but she choked it down, swallowing hard. Trust in the Force... that's what mother would say. If only Nora was here to say that to her. Maura looked up in time to see the turbolift doors about to close . She reached out her hand and made some sort of noise. She rushed forward, swinging her arm between the closing doors to stop them. She slipped in none-to-gracefully. It took a moment for Maura to notice who the other person in the lift was. Her eyes widened with recognition.
"Syrin?"

[Harukei]

As the doors of the turbolift would begin to close and she laid her back against a wall. Her mind would begin to rewind the moments of the assassination mission she had carried. Every move and decision she had taken studied and considered to the most minute detail as she would silently deconstruct them one by one, deciding of whether the approach she had employed had being the best or had being too risky for a mission of the same characteristics. 

However said meditation would come to a halt. As the arms, head, torso of someone would stop the closing doors. The clinking sound of metal would be heard as the doors finally opened and the violet of Syrin's eyes would adjust to the change and recognize the individual that stood before her. It was Maura, as lovely as the last time she had seeing her when they parted ways after the contract that her cover persona had expired the following week after they had met. 

"Maura..." Was the only thing she could muster to utter.

Syrin felt paralyzed, dumbstruck even as she could not compute what to do in a situation like this. After all, she had not hoped to see the woman again, given what had happened during that weekend and how much she had allowed herself to open to someone whom she had rescued. It was only perhaps a spurt of the moment and a shock that she had encountered someone, as the next time she would know was that her arms surrounded Maura and her lips would find themselves against those of Maura. 

[Alaska!]

It was good to know that Syrin at least remembered Maura. On second thought randomly saying a person's name and having them not remember you would be awkward. Especially considering the fact that the two had shared a rather intimate weekend together. Syrin's eyes shown with recognition and shock. Her lips formed her name, Maura. She rather liked the way Syrin's lips said her name. And for the second time that day she wished she could hear another person's voice. Thinking about that loss stung a little and made the sadness Maura had hoped to let go return with a vengeance. She opened her mouth to say something... anything. Anything that would have ended the awkward silence.

Maura was quickly silenced when she felt Syrin's arms snake around her middle. A surprised gasp escaped before being muffled by a kiss. Emotionally confused, Maura hesitated but returned the kiss. Maura enjoyed the impromptu kiss, of course, though it came as a surprise. The weekend on Prazhi had allowed the two to bond quickly and open up to one another, but the sudden show of affection was a bit unexpected. Maura quickly found herself wedged between the wall of the lift and Syrin, which wasn't a bad place to be stuck between. However, she pulled her lips back, breaking the kiss. Maura twisted her head so that she could talk to Syrin.

"Good to see you too," she teased Syrin and gave a short chuckle. Maura's hand slid to Syrin's arm where her fingers traced tiny circles. Staring up into the woman's eyes Maura wondered how in all the galaxy they had found each other again. Of all the life forms she could so easily find the space trader but not her own flesh and blood. Maura had to swallow those feelings, push them into some deep place where they wouldn't cloud her mind. Maura forced another smile, pretending nothing was wrong. After all, she had just found Syrin again and that was something to be happy about. Maura's forehead rested against Syrin's. Inhaling deeply in order to center herself again she also took in the other woman's scent which also strangely calmed her. "Hope I didn't disrupt any of your important business."

[Harukei]

A part of her felt embarrassed. The emotional and physical outburst after she had seeing and recognized Maura after a second was something that was against her true persona. And even against that of the spacer that she represented during her missions. Yet strangely, such embarrassment was suppressed by the joy and peace that she felt when the woman was around. Such that all the preoccupations and stress from her station and missions seemed to melt away, at least for the briefest of moments. 

"Not at all." Syrin would say with a smile. Taking a moment to bask in her presence, her scent, her touch and warmth. In a way, her absence had being as if every color of the galaxy had being dimmed, every sound had lost its potency, even food had become a little stale after the two had parted ways. She had carried on and continued to do her duties without much complain, at first she had not perceive the changes but as time went on, that had become more latent and perceivable.

Syrin pecked the woman again before resting her forehead against her in an embrace that seemed to last for eternity. In fact if there was a chance for the moment never to end, she would have considered something that wasn't entirely bad. However as the turbolift stopped, its doors opened and more vacationist entered the cramped space, she separated the embrace the two had held. A pair of Twi'lek giggling after what they had seeing, while an Ithorian and a Talz simply ignored the show of affection the two human females had shared.

The sense of embarrassment came again as her cheeks were tinged with a light red as she avoided the looks of the most human-like beings. The Sith Knight would simply take a deep breath and held the soft hand of the woman. For a split second she would consider the attire, supposing that it was correct for a world like Tibrin. However she wondered if she had the capacity to swim, given the prosthetic leg. Syrin would close the gap between them. "My room is in the next floor, maybe we can talk there?" 

[Alaska!]

The moment was calm and quiet and it was rather soothing to Maura. With everything that had weighed down her mind this felt good.
"Not at all."
A smile spread across Maura's lips. "Good, cause I'd hate to get in the way. Especially since I don't plan on letting you leave me after a kiss like that." She let out a small laugh and leaned against Syrin again, not overly worried about seeing her lips again.Maura once again let things get quiet and did not dare speak and interrupt it all. Staying in this moment would have been wonderful, a wonderful distraction.

The moment was not their for long, though as they were quickly interrupted by other vacationers. Her face and chest turned red and she hid her face from them. Instead she opted to keep her eyes up at Syrin's face who remained pressed against hers. The interruption seemed to hardly bother Syrin. How did she even do it? Sure, she was blushing too but at least she looked less flustered than Maura felt. What was worse was that the interruption broke their close embrace. The other woman instead took hold of her hand. That would have to be enough for now, she supposed. However, out of the corner of her eye she spotted the Twi'lek pair who were still looking at them and giggling. This only made her cheeks burn more. It also made her far more self conscious of her metal leg, which she hastily covered up more with her towel. Logically, she knew that they were giggling over the public display of affection they'd walked in on, but the self conscious teenage part of her was still paranoid it had to do with her unsightly leg. Luckily, Syrin interrupted that too. She really was good at that.

"My room is in the next floor, maybe we can talk there?"
"Yes, please!" Maura reached out and pushed the number before Syrin could even blink. The turbo lift stopped rather abruptly, the light blinking at it came to a halt and slid its doors open. Without another word she slid out of the lift and into the corridor. Syrin lead them to the room and Maura was more than happy to follow. She might of had her own room this time but she'd rather spend her time with Syrin than sit alone in her room. Maura waited until they were in the room with the door closed to speak.
"Well, that was awkward," she chuckled, running a hand through her salt water soaked hair awkwardly.