What Happens in Hyperspace... [Poludnica]

[Mara]

(((…stays in hyperspace, haha. (It sounded better, and more generic, than my previous title idea). Anyway, I might be going out on a limb here with this idea… but I wanted to come up with something that might force them to talk to each other. Plus it just helps me in my overall scheme to wreak havoc on Pak. ;p Let me know if you need me to edit, though, to make it easier for you to reply…)))


[…from I Was Told There Would Be Cake]

Thud!

Pak groaned as he slowly came to his senses and felt the hard surface of his cabin floor beneath him. He had landed on his front, his arms and hands squeezed beneath him as they had flailed out instinctively to brace the fall he hadn’t realized was coming until too late. Trying to deal with the most immediate issue, he tried to right himself but discovered he was all tangled up in the sheets from his bed. Slowly but surely, though, with a few wrong turns, the Balosar eventually wiggled himself free and turned around to sit up straight. Leaning his head against the side of his mattress, he shook the remaining sleep away and tried to remember what had got him into this situation this time.

There could be no doubt that it had started with a dream. It always did. Sometimes they were calming, and he hardly moved a muscle the entire night. But most of the time they would become frantic, and he would end up crying out or injuring himself somehow. And all of them were related to Shen in some way or form. His dreams about the Miraluka woman whom he had lost were a double-edged sword. He always enjoyed himself while he was in there, whether they were memories of the short time they had spent together or just fantasies of a future that never came to be. However, they always eventually ended up in knowing tragedy, causing him to wake up, sometimes violently. Pak both dreaded and anticipated his nighttime visions.

This most recent one, he couldn’t really remember. That was always the downfall of jerking back into wakefulness. The memories of the dream faded away with the sleep he had been enjoying just moments before. All the Balosar could get a sense of was a blurry image of Shen herself, red hair surrounding mask-covered eyes. Pak groaned again and rubbed his eyes hard to help bring his mind to the present. Continuing to think this way would only serve to bring him back to the clutches of sleep and his dreams, or just shove him prematurely into one of his moments of depression. He couldn’t really think of why exactly but knew it was important to keep his senses clear.

Lifting himself to his feet, he went looking for just the right potion to help him out. Slapping on the glow panel, he started rummaging through the startling spacious cabin, at least in comparison to the others. He found and tossed aside three or four empty bottles until he remembered the one he had stashed in his safe. Again, he couldn’t really recall the reason behind it, but he unlocked it anyway. Immediately, a smile of relief crossed his features as he removed the bottle of Corellian whiskey, un-stoppered it, and took a long drag. Pak’s light blue eyes closed in satisfaction as the liquid began soothing him immediately. Now he could down to the business of… of whatever business he was in.

And then suddenly it came to him, as he was going over the past few days in his mind with the added clarity of the alcohol. Coruscant, a blonde woman named Golda, passage to Nar Shaddaa. With a much-belated glance, he turned his head towards the direction her cabin was. He briefly closed his eyes and hoped he had woken her up, wished he knew whether he had called out loud or not before falling out of his bed. Of course, there wasn’t much he could do about it now, and he shrugged and took another gulp of his whiskey. What was done was done. The Balosar would just hope she was a heavy sleeper, and his nighttime issues went unnoticed. After all, she had chosen the furthest cabin.

A look at his wall chrono told him it was still quite late—or early, depending on one’s point of view—according to the Coruscant standard time he had everything in the ship set by. It was a military habit he hadn’t quite dropped. Pak figured that he had probably only been asleep for a couple of hours at most. But not wanting to return to the possibility of another dream for that night, he moved back to his cot and set it back to a vague semblance of rights. He had learned over the years to be able to function on little to no sleep. Perhaps he’d just wander into the galley for a snack or go hole himself up in the cockpit for a while, letting the soothing lines of hyperspeed travel keep him company.

He kept the whiskey in one hand as he went to the door and darkened the room again, opening the door into the hallway. Pak noticed then that he was still clad in only his shorts, and he glanced back to the corner where he knew his clothes were laying in a pile. Then he looked down to the closed door behind which Golda was sleeping. Making the rather quick insight that if she hadn’t woken up so far, she wasn’t likely to do so anytime soon, he just shrugged to himself and left his cabin, along with trousers and shirt, behind. Suddenly feeling hungry, now that he was up and about, he decided he’d just make a quick bite and disappear into the cockpit or back to his cabin. No harm, no foul.

And so, sipping from his bottle, he padded slowly towards the galley in his bare feet. Not bothering to turn on the full set of glow panels, he went to a familiar cabinet with the directness of a being that was used to taking this path many, many times in the dark. The only light to aid him was a soft glow coming from the small running lights out in the perimeter of the hallway. Stooping by the opening, he set down his whiskey and started flipping through the leftover military ration bars from days gone by, pulling out a few to take with him for a late-night snack. This time of night, Pak didn’t really feel like taking the time for anything more complicated than pre-made food.

[Poludnica]

((Was ok, gave me stuff to work on ^^ I hope I got the ship's layout right...))

Stiffling a yawn, Golda turned off a stream of warm water. It had been several nights without a proper sleep. Another long hours of rolling on her bunk, unable to shut off a sense of anxiety. Even her medicine couldn't deal with growing tension. In those short moments when her mind was calm enough to sink into depths of blissful darkness, there were dreams born of guilt and worrisome. After waking up her hand, as if led by an autopilot, would go to a datapad in search of messages from home. Was he healthy? Were there problems? Was there enough money? She lived expecting a catastrophe to come crashing down. And it had been only few days...

Most of a time, Golda just stayed in her cabin, sneaking out mostly for short meals and to use bathroom. Having a stack of old holovids helped to pass a time. There were few the woman could watch over and over, oddly enough one of them featured her mother in a prominent role. There were moments in her life, the golden haired woman couldn't look at the cheesy love-story, seeing her mother smiling which never happened in home but things change. No point in holding a grudge, especially for someone who had died not so long ago.

The jumpsuit was damp from the water Golda didn't wipe properly from her back but she barely noticed it. Leaving both of the feet bear the woman gathered all the belongings including a small towel and few bottles of various washing trinkets. Wet hair clung to her back leaving a trail of water on dark navy blue material. Another thing that didn't really bother the woman. It was almost surprising giving her apprehensive nature, how many things were left alone unnoticed, including a puddle forming on the floor.

The doors that led to the bathroom opened and Golda stepped outside, leaving behind steamy interior. Cool air breezed through long, blond streaks almost causing the young human to sneeze. She held it back, not wanting to make a noise that would awake the captain. Her tries were not needed obviously as few muffled noises came from the kitchen area. Startled, Golda froze in place taking few heartbeats to realize it could only be the Balosar.

Wondering what made the captain to stay awake this late, she decided to check it. Maybe some problems with the ship...Maybe she wasn't the only person unable to sleep. Curious and slightly bored with monotony of last few days, the woman silently tiptoed toward the source of the sounds. First thing she noticed was a faint smell of liquor, which seemed to be ever present. Her nose wrinkled, though maybe a drink wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all the Balosar could probably drink and pilot at the same time.

”Oh...” The woman yelped at the surprising sight. The captain was nearly naked. Aside from a pair of shorts, the man was as naked as a nature made him. After a moment of initial shock, Golda snorted a short, uneasy laugh. ”That is awkward...” She said and looked away nervously.

[Mara]

(((No worries… besides what I have in the brief description in the ship app., it’s pretty much up in the air, haha. But I can throw a link in here, anyway… Ship link: Crimson Reqiuem)))


Shutting the cabinet and looking at his small pile of ration bars lying on the galley floor, Pak realized he had nowhere to put them. He briefly considered going back to his cabin and at least grabbing his holster to carry his food for him but disregarded the notion. There were only a half dozen, and they were small; surely he could just curl them in his free arm while the other held his bottle of whiskey. No reason to go back to the living quarters area quite yet, no need to accidentally awake his passenger, though she seemed to have been sleeping soundly anyway. So he stuffed the bars into his hand and pressed them against his bare chest to keep them from falling out and reached for his whiskey.

He was standing up out of his crouch, carefully, with his bottle arm held out for balance when he heard a female voice cry out somewhere behind him. Despite his military training, he acted more on instinct than anything else and in a rather embarrassing way. Startled within an inch of his life, the Balosar yelped himself, in a somewhat more strangled, gurgled version, “Aaahrrggh!” and almost fell back over in his fright. The ration bars squeezed out of his arm and fell around him like confetti. If it hadn’t been for his tight grip on the bottle of whiskey and perhaps a subconscious need to protect it like a child, that probably would have dropped as well and shattered glass and alcohol all over.

Pak spun around to find a figure silhouetted in the doorway to the galley. The light coming in from the hall was soft enough, and he had been in the dark room long enough, that his eyes could easily see that it was his passenger standing there. Adrenaline still coursing through him from the small shock, he didn’t even think to consider why she was there. The only fact that mattered was that Golda was indeed there. He had missed her comment about finding him in such states during the commotion but could now see that she had her head turned away from looking at him. Glancing down, Pak’s face flushed, and he self-consciously lowered the bottle of whiskey and held it in front of himself with both hands. With his white shorts, he must have fairly glowed in the darkness the galley.

“Uh…” The Balosar felt the need to say something, explain himself, but there was nothing there. In the meantime, while his mind probed around for something appropriate and not at all offensive, he sidestepped over to the small table in the corner. Pak set down his bottle of whiskey on the tabletop before modestly dropping down to his hands and knees to gather up the ration bars that had shot around the room. He kept his eyes on the floor; he hadn’t had a long enough look at Golda before he had reacted and hadn’t any idea how the woman was clad herself.

Clearing his throat, he grasped for words. “Er… can I help you with something?” It sounded lame to Pak’s ears, but he had needed to say something, anything, to break the awkward tension that had settled over the galley and around them. His antennapalps were almost vibrating with the thick soup of emotions in the air. Something had prompted Golda to get up in the middle of the night and start wandering around the ship. That much was obvious; she would still be in her cabin otherwise. Pak would just deal with it quickly and hopefully send her on her way, and forget this whole mess ever happened. Hopefully.

[Poludnica]

((Thanks! Sorry for short, have busy last weeks of May ^^ ))

The picture was hilarious. Like in some kind of slapstick, the captain turned around, startled. The food rations were thrown in the air. Golda watched silver candy bar rain falling down on the floor in faint streak of hallway light. A chuckle escaped her before the girl turned away, embarrassed by the sight. With a corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a bottle coddled against the man's chest. This was what for the captain came here? This and candy bars of course.

Not sure what to do, she just stood listening to the sound of food rations being gathered from the floor. For a second Golda wondered if not to help but the Balosar was still half-naked. It would get very awkward, really fast, especially when she was blushing feverishly. The woman crossed hands on her chest clad in a blue jumpsuit with still visible droplets of water on it.

”I think...I shou...” The girl started, but the captain had faster wits. She turned her head, forgetting about any modesty. ”Oh no, no...I was just taking a late shower. Couldn't sleep.” Nervously Golda pulled away few streaks of wet, blond hair. The woman wondered why she actually bothered to follow in here. ”Didn't want to cause troubles.” An apologetic smile graced her lips. She hated this feeling of bothering someone even if it was clearly an accident.

The moment of tensed silence made her to fidget a bit, not sure if it was polite to just go away or wait for some kind of conversation. It was always hard for her – casual talks, chit-chats. Sometimes she believed to be incapable of such simple interaction. It was stressful wondering all the time what to say. Especially around men.

[Mara]

(((No worries.)))


Having finally scooped back up all his dropped ration bars into his hands, Pak carefully stood back up and sidled back over to the small table, keeping his gaze away from the figure of Golda as she answered him. Hopefully the piece of furniture would modestly hide him as well as the darkened room. Needing a few moments to calm his racing heart and adrenaline before he could reply the woman and deal with the situation, he let the bars fall onto the tabletop and reached for his bottle of whiskey. He took a couple good draughts, enjoying the burn of the alcohol as it went down and closed his eyes briefly. Slowly but surely, his body was relaxing, still a bit tense, but he was feeling much better than when she had first scared the living daylights out of him.

Feeling recovered enough to comprehend her speech and speak fairly intelligently himself, he set down the bottle and lifted his head to look at her. He nodded in understanding. “Ah.” It was a perfectly reasonable explanation that Golda hadn’t been able to sleep, and Pak was completely willing to accept it. There was no reason not to. The Balosar had been there himself before, many times. Though, try as he might, he always eventually fell asleep anyway, too exhausted to keep his eye open any longer. What was odd was the way she spent her time; he had never taken a shower in the middle of the night, just because he couldn’t sleep. But maybe it was just her individual way of coping with insomnia.

“I know the feeling. Sometimes sleep is hard for me, too.” Pak quirked a smiled and nodded to his whiskey. “Though, the alcohol helps with that most of the time.” He watched her a moment, seeing now that her hair was a bit damp and that she was fully clothed. Subconsciously, he slouched a bit more behind the tabletop in response. “Oh, and it’s no trouble. Don’t worry about it. I’m just not, um, used to passengers wandering the ship at night.” A short laugh. “They usually tend to stay to their quarters. Or if they do get up, I don’t notice. Sometimes I sleep up in the cockpit.”

He shifted his weight from foot to foot then, unsure of how to continue. The Balosar had tried to make the woman feel at ease for having stumbled upon him in the dark with almost no clothing on. Nervously, he cleared his throat and looked away from Golda’s face. His eyes found the ration bars sitting in front of him, and an idea sparked him. Pak slid into his polite—though awkward, considering the circumstances—host mode, and turned his gaze back on Golda with a smile. “Er, are you hungry? Thirsty? This is the galley after all. I mean, since you’re awake…” Pushing the ration bars off to the corner of the table, he added, chuckling softly, “I’ve got some real food in here, too, somewhere.”

Nodding his head towards the doorway where she stood, he said, “If you could switch the lights on?” He wanted to add something about perhaps the darkness of the room hurting her eyes, or that it’d be easier to see each other with the light panels on, or maybe that they could keep each other company till morning, but he decided against it. Pak figured saying anything of the sort might just make the situation they were in even more uncomfortable than it was. Even so, he was trying to make the most of things and act as normal as possible. Standing around talking in the dark was far from usual. And if she chose to decline his offer of food in favor of returning to her cabin, he might just make himself something more substantial, now that he was farther awake and not even close to sleeping again this night.