Ben's shuttle [evening]

[momslilassassin]

Ben, who after two years on the island was used to the waves of emotion that happened towards the end of term, had been planning on taking a quick break to clear his head anyway, but the unmistakable feeling of death had hit him twice in two days had added exponentially to his need to go now.

And so, after leaving a slightly garbled message for Tahiri, he'd bolted for the shuttle without a thought in his head other than fleeing the pain for a little bit.

It was weeks like this when it sucked to be an empath.

[OOC: For the girl. FB until they take off. No squirrels in space, plz.]

Comments

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri counted herself as lucky to not be as empathic as Ben was, but she couldn't escape the intensity of emotion on the island today either.

It wasn't long after she got his message that she was at the shuttle herself, boots in hand (just in case) and a frown on her face.

"It's a bad day, huh?"

[momslilassassin]

He nodded hard, reaching out for her hands. After what he'd been feeling, he needed some kind of contact.

"Very."

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri went above and beyond, there, reaching out to pull him into a fierce hug instead. "It feels worse than the usual sort of end-of-summer leaving. I don't like it," she admitted, her voice cracking.

[momslilassassin]

"Ready to get away from it all for a bit?" he asked, clinging tightly.

[weetuskenraider]

"Please?" Tahiri asked. "I know goodbyes are important, but I don't like them."

Massive, massive understatement.

[momslilassassin]

"Me either," Ben said, tugging her up the ramp and into the cockpit.

He went through one of the fastest pre-flight checklists ever done when not under fire and shot the ship into the air.

Once they broke out of the atmosphere, he could finally take a real breath. "Better," he said shakily.

[weetuskenraider]

Some of the tension had eased out of Tahiri's eyes as well, and she nodded, unbuckling her crash webbing. "Much. Are you going to be all right?"

[momslilassassin]

He nodded. "Yeah, because I don't like feeling this shaky. I haven't felt like myself since we all got sucked into those other dimensions."

[weetuskenraider]

She moved over to wrap her arms around him. "No . . . me neither. And not having my lightsaber isn't helping with that, either."

Hanging onto him helped, though, and maybe, just maybe, Tahiri was going to bury her face in his hair.

[momslilassassin]

"Feeling a little exposed?" he asked softly, running his hand along her back.

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri nodded again. "I know I shouldn't be that attached to it, but I can't help it. I've got most of the new one assembled, though. I just need to check the wiring again --" because she really wasn't all that great with mechanical things -- "and find a crystal."

[momslilassassin]

"The crystal's tricky," he said. "I haven't really looked around here to find if they have any that would work. What did you use the last time?"

[weetuskenraider]

"I had to synthesize one," Tahiri explained. "I couldn't exactly ask Booster to drop me off planetside to find one, not with all the academy kids on board."

[momslilassassin]

"I've never tried that," he replied with a thoughtful little frown. "How long did it take?"

[weetuskenraider]

"A few days?" Tahiri guessed; that span of time had been a bit hazy. "I think you can get it done faster if you're willing to poke at it, but I wasn't really willing to get chemical fumes in my eyes for so long."

[momslilassassin]

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like an astral time," he agreed.

[weetuskenraider]

"Not really." Though it might beat running through a volcanic cavern to find flawed crystals that would later blow up and take your amputated arm with them. "I'll figure it out, though. Are you ready for this next round of classes?"

[momslilassassin]

This was why it was far better to be trained by a Sith! Jacen never made Ben do that.

"I think so," he said. "Have to get through the picnic first. If a Jacen shows up, I'm having a serious conversation with something that runs the universe."

[weetuskenraider]

. . . yeah, no.

"I'll come with you, if that happens," Tahiri promised. Because that was a conversation that could only go well, surely. "I don't think we've had that sort of surprise since Leia showed up, though, have we?"

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe I'm running out relatives?" Ben offered hopefully.

[weetuskenraider]

Yeah, thanks for that, Denning.

"Unless they come from the future?" Tahiri offered.

Yeah. That probably wasn't helping.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's eyes bugged out. "My kids?"

No, not even helping a little bit.

[weetuskenraider]

"Or great-grandkids." Keep continuing that amazing trend of not helping, Tahiri.

[momslilassassin]

Ben flailed more. "Tahiri!"

[weetuskenraider]

Flailing was an improvement over being crushed by everyone else's emotions though, right?

"I'm sure they'd be adorable," she teased.