Nar Shaddaa

Shaisha's Apartment

To taste the lips of Lady Luck tonight (I want to, so much)


Cole stretched. He was pleasantly sore and more than a little bruised and scuffed. He rolled onto his side and let his eyes wander lingeringly over Shaisha. His attraction to the pureblood still surprised him, for the fact it existed at all, let alone the intensity of it. He'd always found women enjoyable to look at, but from the moment he'd laid eyes on the female Sith, his reaction had been much more visceral. I wonder what might have happened if I'd laid eyes on Jo'ren before her? he mused, idly.

It was getting late. The massive male pureblood had already left. But there was still some time before his transport departed.

Shaisha rubbed her neck as she sat up straight.

Looking over her shoulder at Cole, she gave him a wink as she noticed his longering gaze. "You were saying I should not make promises I could not keep...?"

Smiling lopsidedly, "we have time," Cole stated over confidently, "I plan on making the absolute most of it." He pulled himself up and shuffled closer behind her, taking her braid and beginning to gently unbind it. "Unless you have somewhere to be, deviless," his fingers were agile and careful as they moved through her tresses, loosening tangles without pulling.

"Does this luxury, two-story, lagoon-pool-having apartment also feature a proper bathtub?"

"I have nowhere else to be for a couple of more hours," she said, closing her eyes as she let him undo her hair.

"Surprisingly, it does not. Guess that's going to be something to report back," Shaisha added with a chuckle, "why? Did you have something in mind?"

The deep red locks had a natural curl to them, though with a softer wave than the hair of the blonde doctor.

"Damn, I swear there can't be more than three bathtubs in the whole galaxy. Shame, a hot soak would have been nice." Cole drew his fingers through her silky locks, combing them with his hands, "you have the most beautiful hair, deviless."

He was silent for several long moments, "where's your brush? Hair this lovely deserves to be brushed."

She tilted her head slightly as she looked around for the brush, and upon spotting it, raised her hand and pulled it into her hand with the unseen strands of the Force. "You looked comfortable there," she murmured, casting a smile over the shoulder as she passed the brush to him.

"Never been much for soaking in a tub myself... remember doing it when I was younger though..."

Cole settled himself and began drawing the brush through her hair. "Maybe it's one of those things that sounds good because you never get to do it. Then, you get in the tub and it's just water and you can't remember why it seemed like such a good idea."

He chuckled and brought one hand around Shaisha to stroke her breast before returning to brushing, "but I could see how it might be nice."

"Mhm..." she breathed deeply in response. "Sometimes it does sound nice."

"So, uhm... what will you be doing after tonight?" She still hoped he would change his mind, but she understood that it might be too sudden a change for him.

Cole murmured thoughtfully as he continued to brush her hair, he'd done a considerable amount of soul searching over the last two days. It had all but occupied his every waking moment, and he'd changed his mind at least a dozen times.

"There are still some things I need to do for myself,” like make sure I won’t be stranded in Imperial space when you’re tired of me, "before I could," he trailed off with an awkward shrug. The steady rhythm of the brush paused as he ran his hand through his curls. "You don't seem too fond of Remmington," he observed, "what's his story?"

She nodded gently. "... I can understand the sentiment of needing to figure things out for yourself." Shaisha reminded herself that they hadn't known eachother that long, and it was perhaps too premature of her to hope for a friendship with the navy doctor. Still, the brushing was... soothing. Reminding her of how her mother used to do the same the time she was home.

The pause did make her look back at him. "That's an interesting change of subject," she mused, looking off in the distance. "Can't say he's done much to give me a good impression... he was part in hurting a friend of mine once. But that's not really my story to tell, to be honest."

"Ah," Cole replied and tactfully declined to press the matter, "he's ambitious, I'll say that much," and it's entirely unclear whether the doctor is respectful, disdainful, or wary of that fact.

"Shaisha," she would be able to hear the frown in his tone, and he finally set aside the brush. Gathering her long hair with both hands, he twirled the tresses and brushed them forward over one of her shoulders. "When was the last time you let someone just hold you?"

"Most Sith are," she shrugged a little though unsure of what had brought on this particular subject, and it made her feel a little guarded.

At his question, she felt uncertain, perhaps even a little confused. "... I... don't know, really. I mean, it's not like I don't let people hold me, but..."

Cole gathered the pureblood up in his arms and moved to make them both comfortable against the pillows. One arm cradled her shoulders, his body curved around her, her legs draped over his thigh. He pressed his face against her soft hair, his other hand resting gently on her hip.

"I only ask because he approached me today. Said he had a job offer." He inhaled deeply, "and while I'm not considering it, I wonder if others might. I wanted your opinion, I respect your opinion, and you know him better than I do."

"Seems like you're catching a lot of attention, Cole," she snorted a brief chuckle, resting against him as her breath eased into a calm rythm.

"Can't fault them, really, seeing as you're very talented with what you do, and that you... are very insightful. Though I can't really say I know him well. Believe it or not, if not for that aforementioned incident with a friend of mine, I wouldn't even have known he was at the Academy at the same time as me, yet he keeps talking to me as if we know eachother or something..." Shaisha rolled her eyes. "I find that very annoying. But... thank you, for wanting to hear my opinion. I appriciate that." She managed a relaxed smile as she looked at him, though a teasing tone crept into her voice. "I mean, if you were going to go with someone else in the Empire but me, it would be Jo'ren, no?"

Gently caressing her flank, Cole smiled, "you mean I can't just chain the two of you together?" The rhythm of her calm breathing was soothing, there would be times he would miss that sound.

His tone took a more serious turn, "I know I can't go with you right now, deviless, but that doesn't mean I'm leaving you. The galaxy's not big enough for me to forget."

"We Sith are pretty big on breaking chains, so I wouldn't recommend that solution," she laughed softly. "And I think both Jo'ren and I have too much we want to do before we get tied down with someone."

As Cole turned a bit more serious, Shaisha on the other hand looked thoughtful as she considered his quiet words. "... Guess I will have to hunt you down in the future when I find I miss your good company too much," her voice was half-teasing, half-serious, "I wasn't joking when I said you were insightful, you know... I will miss having you around to remind me of how different life is outside of my own experiences."

"And I'm going to miss having you around to remind me what having fun looks like." Cole's hand moved up her body, touching the obsidian pendant and tracing the silver chain up to her neck, trailing his fingers up her throat and lifting her chin towards him.

"Life will be so dull without you nearby," and he kissed her.

"Hopefully I've at least been enough of a bad influence on you..." her words drowned out as his lips met hers, even as she tried to shift her chin out of his grasp.

Much to her annoyance, she found that the brushing and the cuddling had made her feel calm and docile, and abruptly she pulled away from the kiss with a rough turn of her head.

Not expecting the movement, Shaisha's left spur caught Cole on the jaw and he winced at the sudden, if not unpleasant, pain. He brought his hand to his face and and his thumb came away bloodied. Taking her by the chin once more, he roughly turned her face back to him.

He drew his thumb across her lower lip, smearing hot scarlet blood against the dark crimson skin. He kissed her again, forcefully, and she tasted coppery and primal.

Her tongue flicked across her lips as she felt his thumb leave a warm trail, and while there was still some resistance as he kissed her again, instead of pulling away a second time she took control of the situation instead.

Breaking away from his mouth, her lips quickly found the cut on his jaw and kissed his wounded skin with surprising gentleness, staining her lips and tongue with his blood.

Cole groaned at the gentle touch, his arm tightening around her shoulders, hand going to her hip to hold her close. His head rolled back slightly, exposing his throat to the lithe predator in his arms.

Licking away the excess blood, she leaned her head against his throat. "Uhm... that's a first..." she brought up her hand to touch the spur along her jaw that had been the cause of this.

With a gentle sigh, Cole rest his cheek against her hair. He chuckled softly, "you're a dangerous woman, deviless," and I like that about you, very much, he mentally added.

"That nickname of yours still makes me chuckle," she added with a grin and hugged him closely. "...You think it will leave a mark?"

Cole's left hand twitched reflexively, "I think it will." The cut was no more than two centimetres long, a small tear below the corner of his mouth, over the jawbone. "Do you think it will make me look rugged?" he deadpanned.