Tales of an Empathic Metamorph - Chapter 9

A cool breeze rolled over Alevia’s bare legs and she huddled sleepily under the small piece of leather that covered her shoulders and her torso. She clamped her eyes shut against the encroaching dawn and pulled the make-shift blanket over her head.

“Forty-three hours of continuous night on this fracking moon and I wind up having a hangover at dawn,” she mumbled to herself as she called upon the Force to help remove the toxins from her blood and finally cracked her eyes open.

She was lying on the small blanket they had purchased and was positioned in the center of the platform her pilot had brought her to sometime in the previous eight hours, but Atton was no longer with her. She sat up, slightly confused by his absence and realized that the small blanket she had been huddled under was actually his jacket. She pulled it up to her face and buried her nose in the soft coat. She smiled as she breathed in Atton’s familiar scent mixed with the smell of the old leather.

She glanced around the platform again and noticed that in addition to the pilot himself, his clothing and boots that had peen piled next to hers were also missing. But, he’d left his jacket and that was a pretty definite promise that he’d be returning soon. She slipped into it and pulled it tight around her waist as she stood and crossed to the edge of the platform.

She gazed out at the moon’s rising sun as it tried to break through the many buildings in the distance and the cool breeze grew stronger as the early morning rays warmed the air in the urban canyons. The wind twisted through her loose hair as Alevia sat near the edge of the platform, pulled her knees up to her chest inside Atton’s jacket and thought back to the previous evening’s events.

The first time she had gone to bed last night she never would have guessed that the man that had accused her of crawling in his head just a week prior would be seeking her out and confessing all of his past sins before the night was over. Of course, he wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for that dream and her subsequent exodus from the ship.

Her dream had revived the restless feeling that had been so constant when she’d been in exile. That feeling always awoke in her the need to hunt, to overpower some poor soul, not with weapons, but with her body. There was something highly rewarding about setting your sights on some random stranger, and moving in for “the kill” so to speak. Their reactions to her and her own physical responses to them were one of the few things that had reminded her that she was still alive.

One thing was for sure, she’d never felt so content after a cantina hunt before. That in itself was somewhat disconcerting. In the holovids after a night like the previous one, the dashing young hero would sweep his beautiful conquest up into his arms, take her to his ship and they’d fly off together to live happily ever after, somehow overcoming all obstacles in their path. This was not a holovid, however.

This was the real world. A world where the after effects of her mistakes haunted her every day and the restlessness always came creeping back in. Her only consolation was that Atton was just as broken as she was. Hopefully he would understand.

She heard the soft clanging of feet on the ladder in the access tunnel and she turned toward the hatch just as his masculine hand set a container on the edge of the hole before hauling himself out of the passageway. As his back became visible she smiled. She rarely saw him without his jacket on, she realized, at least not when he was wearing other clothes. His long torso was exaggerated slightly by the low slung holster he wore over his hips. Even through his tunic, she could make out the well defined muscles of his arms and back and his dark pants accented his backside perfectly.

He reached the top of the ladder and turned toward her, catching her intent gaze. She blushed involuntarily and he raised an eyebrow at her in curiosity.

“I don’t think I’ve ever caught anyone checking out my ass the morning after, before.”

She grinned as she lowered her head onto her knees slightly embarrassed. “I thought you didn’t stick around for the morning after.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” He nodded his head as he stooped over and picked up the item he’d set on the edge of the hatch.

“And yet, here you are.”

“This isn’t the morning after,” he said as he settled next to her on the edge of the platform and opened up the container. The rich smell of caffa wafted towards her on the breeze.

Her eyes lit up as he handed her the jug. She took several long gulps and gave a grateful sigh as she handed it back to him. “No? Then what is it?”

“This is the morning after the make up sex, after the two week long argument, after the make up sex, after another argument, after three weeks being stuck on a backwater space station with no privacy, after the morning after a day of some of the best sex of my life.”

She could help but chuckle. “You’ve got a point.”

“Yeah,” he said dramatically, “I’m afraid what we have here isn’t anything like either one of us has ever stepped foot in before. Even as dysfunctional and screwed up as it is I’m afraid we’ve gone well past fling and straight to “relationship”.

She clasped her hand over her mouth muffling a mock cry of distress and he nodded his head. “I know.” He took a swig out of the jug of caffa. “It caught me by surprise too. Though, really, we should have suspected it after the last round of make up sex.”

She grinned and leaned on his arm. “Relationship, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so,” he said with a sigh, “even though I’m sure neither one of us is actually cut out for one.”

“You got that right.” She chuckled as she grabbed the jug of caffa back from him and took another long swig.

He glanced at her sideways and she saw a slightly disappointed look slide across his face for an instant, but it was quickly hidden under a lustful grin. “You look good in my jacket,” he said as he reached out and teased the bare toes that stuck out from under it.

She let her bare legs drop out of the jacket and wrapped it tightly around her waist again possessively. “Your jacket?”

“Of course it’s my jacket.”

“You left it here.” Her eyes flitted to his, a coy expression on her face.

“Yeah, silly me, thought you might get cold. But I see now I should have just let you freeze.”

She giggled. “You want it, come and get it,” she challenged him as she hunkered further down into the jacket and threw him a lusty look.

“Now really, Levy,” Atton said casually as he let his eyes drift over her legs. “When have I ever had any trouble getting you out of your clothes?”

Her jaw dropped in surprise. “I was going to let you wrestle it off me, but after that little comment, I think I’ll just keep it.”

“Mmhmm, of course you will.” He turned toward her and reclined on his elbow as he ran his fingertips along the inside of her leg. She let out a small appreciative noise and involuntarily loosened her grip on the jacket. “Now, why don’t you take that jacket off and let me warm you up the old fashioned way,” he crooned as her body responded to his touch.

She let the jacket slip off her shoulders, exposing her chest to the cool air. She’d had the distinct impression that he had every intention of coaxing her out of his coat and then making up some excuse to stop his advances and leave her there aching for him, but by the time her body responded to the cold in addition to his touch, all thoughts between the two of them had reverted to pure instinct.   His touches were slow and tantalizing and Alevia's desires built until she couldn't stand it anymore.  All at once she reversed their positions and began to attack him with a voracious appetite, teasing him mercilessly as she peppered his muscular body with ravenous kisses.

Sometime later, their bodies still entwined, each trying to catch their elusive breath, he nuzzled her hair softly and whispered, “Damn, Levy, what the hell was that about?”

“Hell if I know. I think I was… hungry.”

His low chuckle tickled her ear. “You can have me for breakfast anytime.”

She giggled. “Thanks, flyboy.”

“My pleasure.”

They lay in silence for quite a while until she finally let out a long sigh. “I guess we’d better head back to the ship. I’m sure they’ll be worried.”

“I comm’d them while I was out getting the caffa,” he reassured her, “ though Bao did say you’d received a message from someone at the Exchange. I guess they’ve finally gotten tired of you undoing all their hard work.”

She sat up and pulled her legs up to her chest again. “I wish we could just stay here. This makes sense, up here.”

“It can make sense back at the ship, too.”

She shook her head. “No. Nothing makes sense there. Everything is jumbled. I can’t sort out my own thoughts. It wasn’t so bad these last two weeks when I was able to ignore you… but I won’t be able to now.”

“Can’t say I’m sorry about that.”

She smiled. “Me either.”

“So all that you said last night about loving me and spacing Bao-Dur was just the liquor, huh?”

She jerked her head around and stared at him like he’d grown another head. “I said no such thing.”

“Sure you did. You said it between rounds.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared hard at him, trying to remember the specific sequence of events so she could disprove his assertion. “We didn’t have a second round last night.”

“Just because you don’t remember it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, babe.”

“I wasn’t that drunk,” she insisted.

Atton shrugged as he started fastening his shirt back up.

“Listen,” she said with aggravation, “I don’t care how drunk I was, I would never say anything about spacing Bao.”

“Ok, maybe that was a paraphrase.”

“Of?”

“I think your exact words were, ‘Damn it, I don’t want Bao, I want you.’”

She blinked. That did sound awfully familiar. She chewed a fingernail absentmindedly as she thought about the conversation. “As I remember it,” she began slowly, “you brought him up. Asked me if I thought about him when I was with you.”

“So?”

“Well, that has a whole different meaning in that context!”

“Does it? You never did really answer the question.”

“Yes, I did! When I’m with you, all I want is you.”

“And when you’re with him, all you want is him, right?”

She shrugged. “You know, you shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.”

“I might not wanna know, but not knowing won’t make it any easier.”

“Yes, when I’m with him, he is all I want.”

He sighed. “You’re right, I didn’t wanna hear that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, you’re not. If you were, you’d change it. But what do I care? Like I said last night, I’m still here because I think what you’re doing is important and I think I can help you. The incredible sex is just a perk of the job, right boss?”

She flinched at his sudden change in demeanor. “Yeah, I guess so.” She bit back the words that welled up in her throat – assurances of her affection for him, that he wasn’t just another screw. But as much as she might want to say those things, he was right. If she was really sorry, she’d give up Bao-Dur for him or vice versa. And she really couldn’t conceive of doing either.

The hum of sabers and the sharp trill of blaster fire echoed in the cargo hold. Alevia crouched against the port wall observing her two students as they wielded the two lightsabers they had acquired on Nar Shaddaa. They were attempting to deflect blaster fire from the young red head who sat cross-legged on a plasteel cylinder at the front of the room. Occasionally Alevia would jump up and walk behind Atton or Bao-Dur and press lightly on an elbow or hip that had slipped out of the form, but her primary focus was reaching out to them through the Force and augmenting their knowledge with her own. At least these bonds were good for something.

“Mira, start using both blasters now and pick up the pace of the shots,” Alevia directed.

“Sure thing.”

As the onslaught of blaster fire nearly tripled in intensity Atton and Bao-Dur needed to rely more on the Force to be able to block the bolts, but neither was doing a very good job of letting go of their sight.

“Come on boys,” Alevia instructed as Atton cursed when another bolt hit him in the leg, “stop seeing and start perceiving.”

Atton flung an irritated glance at her. “I’m perceiving a sharp pain in my thigh right this minute.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “The blaster’s on its lowest setting. Don’t be such a baby. Back at the temple they had the younglings doing this at the age of four, wearing helmets with the blast visors down. Do you want me to put a blindfold on you?”

“Only if you’re using the stun cuffs too, babe,” he said with a wink.

Mira paused her firing and scrunched up her face. “Are they always like this?” she asked Bao-Dur.

He nodded morosely. “Always. Except when they’re not speaking to each other, of course.”

“Wow, that sounds like a match made on Ryloth.”

Alevia gave them all a patronizing smile. “Children, focus.”

“Children, General? I’m not any younger than you.”

She sighed. This wasn’t going well. She had only taught younglings at the enclave on Dantooine during her apprenticeship. She wasn’t in the least prepared to train two adult men with their own well established fighting styles. Especially not considering the emotional attachment she had to both of them.

“Sorry, Bao,” she said as she rubbed her face in frustration. “What is it that you want to get out of being a Jedi?”

“I want to be able to help you, General.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean… what kind of things do you foresee yourself being able to do?”

“Well, I’d like to be a better fighter, though I’m not really sure I’m comfortable with this,” he answered as he waved the lightsaber he was holding through the air. “Since the war, I’ve gotten pretty good at using my arm as a weapon. I think I might be better suited to learn more hand to hand combat.”

Alevia nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. “How about you, Atton?”

“Eh, I’m not sure. I’ve always been a blaster man, myself… but I kinda like the way this feels.”

She nodded again. “All right, I’ll make you both a deal. As soon as you can manage this little exercise for five minutes, without being hit, we’ll start focusing in on the things you want to learn. Sound good?” They nodded. “Okay, let’s try this again, shall we? And this time, I do want eyes closed.”

Once Atton and Bao-Dur had reignited their sabers, Alevia nodded at the younger woman, and the two students were being barraged in blaster fire again. This time, with their eyes closed and Alevia’s mental nudges they began to trust the subtle tingling of precognition and Force sight.

“Excellent!” Alevia declared as she clapped her hands together. “I think you’ve finally got it, boys.”

The two stood panting in the middle of the cargo hold as Mira slid off the cylinder. “Well, if that’s all you need from me, I think I’ll go see about some lunch.”

“Sure, Mira, thanks,” Alevia smiled at the younger woman slightly.

“No problem, Allie. Anytime you want me to shoot at these poor saps, I’m happy to.”

Alevia’s smile broke into a grin as the redhead left the room. She liked this girl, which was unusual since Alevia generally only barely tolerated females, especially non-Jedi females, in general. She had been more than a little annoyed when she had returned from Goto’s yacht only to find the person who had drugged her and complicated the meeting with The Exchange had apparently taken up residence in her main hold. But, since Mira had helped Atton and Bao-Dur find Goto’s yacht and rescue her she’d proved herself to be useful and Alevia couldn’t think of a compelling reason to forcibly remove her.

In the two days since they’d left Nar Shaddaa Alevia had come to realize that Mira was a nice addition to the crew. She had been a little hostile at first, but once they were on their way to Dantooine it hadn’t taken long for the boredom that accompanied hyperspace travel to kick in and the two women found themselves passing the time talking about all sorts of things; from the Mandalorian war, to Nar Shaddaa, to men and their general short sightedness when it came to women.

The best thing about having her on board was that somehow her lively temperament had helped fill in some of the rifts on the ship. It was probably just her restlessness, but she had already managed to cross the invisible boundaries that existed. Alevia had caught her in the cockpit a couple of times playing pazaak with Atton and in the garage a time or two watching Bao-Dur or working on her own blasters. She had also had no hesitation in claiming the bunk next to Alevia’s as her own.

That had thrown Alevia at first. Atton and Bao had never even suggested that they thought they should sleep in the dorms and she had begun to think of it as her own room. When Mira moved in she thought about re-directing the younger woman to the port dorm to aggravate Kreia, but she decided pretty quickly that they’d all be better off if Kreia had few as disturbances as possible.

Alevia turned her attention back to the men who were beginning to catch their breath. “You two are doing pretty well. Go get some lunch and we’ll see about individual lessons afterward.” They gave each other an awkward glance as they lowered their sabers, but neither of them headed for the door.

“Hey General, you should eat too.”

She shook her head. “I missed my meditation with Kreia this morning. That was a mistake I think.”

Atton snorted. “I don’t know why you listen to that old witch as much as you do, Levy.”

“She has a lot to teach and I still have a lot to learn… and re-learn.”

“Whatever, just… be careful. You know she’s using you."

Alevia nodded slowly as she turned toward the door. “But what she’s using me for… I haven’t figured out yet.”

Link to Chapter 10 http://hawk.kotorfanmedia.com/node/8197