Room 424 [late evening]

[momslilassassin]

His headache had finally cleared up, so Ben was trying to catch up on his robotics work this evening.

Well, that was his story, anyway. It wasn't like he slept more than a few hours a night. The door was closed, though, so the sound didn't carry down the hall.

[OOC: For the girl.]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"There wasn't time to get to bacta," Ben said, hiding his blushing cheeks by focusing far too hard on getting out of his shirts.

Which would explain some of the faded sores on the front of his chest, too. He didn't really think about those.

He yanked the shirts over his head and turned around to show her where a lightsaber scar the length of his forearm sliced across his back. There were other scars as well, from shoving himself too hard into a rock wall to slow his fall, from being tortured by a droid on Coruscant, but he was hoping she wouldn't notice those.

"It's not so bad," he said.

He was lying.

[weetuskenraider]

"Kriffing hells, Ben," Tahiri breathed; you'd think the first time she got to see her boyfriend this way ought to be far less traumatizing, but that was their galaxy for you. And no, she hadn't missed out on the other scars. She reached out tentatively toward the scar on his back and hesitated, glancing at him.

[momslilassassin]

His bit his lower lip, but nodded.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri let her fingertips brush very, very gently against the scar and leaned forward to rest her forehead against his shoulder. "I can't believe someone would ever . . . how I could ever do this."

[momslilassassin]

"Different you," Ben said, voice tightly controlled. "I just didn't want this to catch you by surprise."

[weetuskenraider]

"Very different me." Tahiri's voice was tight, too, for a different reason, as she looked at the marks on his chest. "Force, no wonder you didn't want me touching you."

[momslilassassin]

"It was a long couple of weeks," Ben replied. "It's war."

[weetuskenraider]

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "I know how that goes. I would never do anything like this to you. No matter what she did."

[momslilassassin]

Ben reached out his hand to brush against the scars on her forehead. "I know. It took a while to convince my reactions to believe me."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri moved her hand to touch one of the scars on his chest. "I'm glad they listened to you. How are you going to explain this to anyone else who notices?"

And now she was getting a little blushy.

[momslilassassin]

He forgot to breathe for an entire different reason now. "Tell them to mind their own business."

[weetuskenraider]

"I don't want them staring at you anyway," Tahiri said, though she was doing a fair bit of that herself now.

[momslilassassin]

"I hope they don't," Ben said, kind of missing her implication. "I haven't exactly taken my shirt off in public since I got back."

[weetuskenraider]

"Or in front of me," Tahiri added. Wow, was she ever blushing, and trying not to think about it. "For good reason, but . . ."

[momslilassassin]

"You're blushing," Ben pointed out with a small smile.

[weetuskenraider]

"I am?" Well, yes, she was, and Tahiri laughed nervously. "I sort of wasn't expecting this part of the conversation."

[momslilassassin]

"I'm sorry," Ben said, instantly apologetic. "I didn't mean to pile onto a bad day."

[weetuskenraider]

"No, dummy," Tahiri said. "It's just awkward for . . . completely different reasons."

[momslilassassin]

Ben blinked. "Ohhhhhh." Then his face matched his hair. "I'll get dressed again."

[weetuskenraider]

"You probably should," Tahiri agreed, though her tone wasn't completely certain. "Before both our faces catch fire or something."

[momslilassassin]

"That would be a deeply stupid way to die," Ben said, reaching for his undertunic. "I'm sorry, I was so embarrassed I exploded."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri finally managed to look away, laughing softly. "So let's not do that."

[momslilassassin]

Ben slid back into his undertunic and reached out to tweak her nose. "You can breathe normally now," he teased.

[weetuskenraider]

"I was not that bad," Tahiri objected. Yes, she had been.

[momslilassassin]

He leaned back against his pillows and tried to pull her close. "You really were."