(D10, MM, Manka Cats Rule) Reading the Cards

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

(expecting, but will also be open to ship inhabitants)

The morning begins as many important days do...with a very small "prrt?" and tiny paws pattering across everything in their path, including people who were sleeping when they should be up playing, or fetching food!

Dhel mutters and rolls to press her forehead into Korvin's back. No more whiskers in her nose this way!

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin shivers a little as Dhel breathes against his bare back, but he doesn't move much. He's almost entirely asleep still, when little paws start testing his arm as a place that a cat could walk. Maybe lay down. Perhaps do yoga.

The increasing stimulation awakens the young man enough that he swings his arm to shake off whatever it is that's tickling him. The cat, nimble enough to avoid the slow shake of the arm, ends up standing on Korvin's hip, sizing up a move toward his head, while the blue arm ends up angled behind him. He seems to have unknowingly put his arm back to shelter Dhel, with his hand coming to rest on what might be her hip, her knee, or just a wad of blanket.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

A hip, and a solid enough touch to rouse the Bothan a bit more as she tries to bring her own arm around only to find it a bit tangled by this whole configuration. With a comfortable murmur, she shifts a bit, placing a kiss on his shoulder.

The movement was enough to catch Manka's attention, and the kitten drops into a wigglebutt crouch, intent on one tufted ear.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Very dimly, Korvin's sleepy mind starts to process that the footsteps and wiggling that he feels on his hip are probably not related to Dhel kissing his shoulder. But that thought remains pretty dim, and the more immediate thought that triggers some action is "Dhel. Kissing."

That appealing thought gets the long blue body rolling over to face Dhel -- sweeping up Manka and dumping her, some blanket, an elbow, and one of Korvin's hands into a loose pile between Dhel and the Pantoran.

The nagging feeling that something is amiss intensifies, but Korvin still hasn't opened his eyes to investigate.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

There’s a surprised squeak, followed by a muffled mew from within the tumbled blanket. Dhel’s awake enough at this point to prop herself up on an elbow, reaching to free the confused kitten from a fold of blanket.

Manka attacks her hand…probably in gratitude, right? In any case, that does occupy her attention for a moment.

With a small smile, Dhel leans in to kiss Korvin’s temple. Lightly enough to avoid waking him if he were still actually asleep.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

The man's face scrunches and he opens one eye to determine what the squeaking sounds mean, neither really asleep nor awake. Registering the kiss, and Dhel's smile, Korvin beams. With a sleepy breath, his eyes both open, and he takes in the cat... playing? with Dhel. His face scrunches again, not sure this is how cats should behave. As his eyes drift closed again, he rumbles, "Hey you. Be nice."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel chuckles, embracing him before rolling herself up to sit with the kitten in her lap. "That is pretty nice for her. She's too tiny to bother me through the fur." She runs a hand down his arm. "She could be launching those little needle claws at your nice soft skin."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin smiles at the touch, opens his eyes fully, and smiles wider at the view of Dhel.

"Hmm. Maybe that's why I've never had a pet. Safer that way," he chuckles, still only half awake and less than half serious.

He props on an elbow, pets the kitten briefly, then runs his hand down Dhel's arm. It's not a tickle, or overtly anything. Just connection.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"I'm a little surprised. I guess I figured they were a lot more common in the Upper where folks have the extra money to spend on them." Dhel leans into his caress, then flips a corner of blanket over the kitten again for Manka to fight with so she can have her hand back.

"So," she says, stroking a hand through his hair. "the refresher is kinda tiny, but sharing is possible...but maybe not so interesting as you'd like since there's going to be someone pounding on the door if we're in there long. Or you can head in while I get fuzzbutt here fed."

[Korvin Hikarrin]

The Pantoran gives a half-frown about pets. "Old Garden's technically in the Middle," he mutters, looking down. "But I guess my parents just aren't... pet people."

An immediate grin comes to Korvin's face at the thought of sharing, but the reality of roommates gives him pause. His face shows deep contemplation.

"Well, as long as the little one doesn't try to pounce us in there too, I think sharing is fine. I can keep my hands..." He trails off, smirking. "Ok, well, that's not true regarding you. But I can focus enough we don't anger the roommates." He sounds optimistic.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Oh? I guess with all the talk about rich kids, I kinda assumed it was all Upper families and that you were there." She grins teasingly. "Not like you've taken me to your house. Which is fine. Parents get all fussed about things."

She rummages in a small drawer and tosses a towel at him, pulling one out for herself as Manka works free of the blanket and starts picking her way across the vast landscape of the bed. "Manka won't go near the refresher, anyway." She takes him at his word regarding ability to get clear of the morning tasks in a reasonable time.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin shrugs. "There's a lot of money in Old Garden. Less ostentatious than the Upper City families, but still rich people. And pretty much everyone I went to school with was Upper City. Often the kind of people who like to remind you about it." He shook his head and rolled his eyes to recall them. "And my parents..." Korvin's face looks pained. "Never mind," he says, turning and climbing out of bed.

Wrapping the towel aground his hips, he mostly just watches Dhel, never seeming to lose interest in how she moves.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Dhel's busy wrapping her own towel and sidestepping the kitten, so she's not looking as she says, "you know you're lucky to have them, yeah? Lucky they decided that being around for you was more important than... well fighting a losing battle." There's a small sharpness to her tone, like something that's had her biting her tongue until words have been snipped into a small blade. "I know we can't really tell anyone what's up tonight. But...you could trust Dol or Drezzie with a note to hand them if you don't show up for a few days."

There's an apologetic look in her eyes as she closes the distance to rest her head on his shoulder, touch always meaning a lot more than what can be seen or said.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

He sighs, wrapping his arms around her as she leans in. "I know I'm lucky," he breathes. "They're good parents. I left a note for my sister, Kerrsa, in one of our old hiding places. She'll... It says enough. They'll understand."

Dhel could hear Korvin's heart rate increase a little, thinking about what it meant had happened if his parents ended up needing to see it. With a heavy breath he tries to push that line of thinking away, as they've done such a good job avoiding it so far. "Um, we should get in there." Realizing from his own tone that he's not distracted enough, he lifts her chin for a light kiss, followed by a second. Thus motivated he tries again: "We should get in there. I mean, unless we're, um, booting the cat out so we can..." And the hungry grin he gives her makes clear what that second option means.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"I..." It's a close thing, honestly. She's so used to responding to the wants of others, to making apologies physical. But there really is a bit of a schedule with this many people on a ship. With a protesting murmur, and one more kiss, she pulls back and tugs him toward the door with a laugh. "C'mon...unless you want to try arguing Phroth out of his time in there later. I know I don't."

<time skip>

Dhel sets a pair of chipped plates down, out in the common area. Breakfast is, unsurprisingly, omelette focused, with a healthy dose of some native fungus and aromatic greens folded in and a side of some tiny fish fried alongside the eggs in the ubiquitous blue of bantha butter. The caff is strong, and Dhel's adding hot sauce almost before she's finished taking her seat next to Korvin, dodging a kitten who smells foor. She sets Manka on the floor with one of the tiny fish...which will keep her busy for a short while, at least.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin smiled at her as she navigated everything, including the kitten under foot. He felt like he should be helping in some way, and he'd successfully distracted Manka for a brief time during the meal prep, but mostly he felt rather useless. It didn't help that he'd anxiously patted the currently empty holster on his thigh a couple of times.

Even with a shadow over the day, this morning had such a pleasant feeling of normality that he's loathe to talk shoot much, lest the beautiful illusion be broken.

As the plate comes he says, "Thanks," and, after observing the allocation of hot sauce, he applies a little to his own plate. After a couple of bites, he casually says, "So ion having something delivered here, sometime today. I'm sorry I didn't ask about it first." Guilt is forcing a more apologetic face, overcoming the hoped-for look of "no big deal."

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

Instead, Dhel offers the 'no big deal' look. "There's enough of us that someone's usually around. What is it?" She asks as she settles closer to him, running a casual hand down his back. Without waiting on the answer, she starts in on her breakfast, dropping another wee fish for the kitten.

[Korvin Hikarrin]

Korvin gives a sigh of relief and a rumble of happiness at the back rub. "Just had some work done on that new blaster. A friend of Tens', and they're dropping it off when done. And, well, couldn't really have it go... other places..." His hand that isn't holding a fork waves vaguely toward the rest of the city.

[Dhelih Dotaivi]

"Hmm...not something to drop off at home, then?" Dhel bumps his knee gently with hers. "Because they don't know you've picked up that kind of blaster?"

[Korvin Hikarrin]

"Yeah, I'm, um... trying to keep... activities of that sort away from them. My dad survived the imperial crackdown on independence advocates, and I don't..." Korvin bites his lip, realizing he'd slipped too close to the danger zone: the things that might happen tonight or after.

He looks down at his plate and scoots a chunk of omelette around. Trying to dig something positive from the hole he'd put himself in, he gets energized when he recalls, "My dad used to say, especially back then, that it wasn't his time. That his time had passed. But this," he says with optimism, "is our time."