Star Nomad Cast (starnomadnpc) wrote in starnomad, @ 2015-07-19 09:04:00 |
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Something about Jacen Solo caused Lyric's senses to shift. Instead of the hyper awareness of everything around him it seemed his energy shifted to Jacen and the way his eyes followed Lyric as he moved, the way others looked at Jacen and keeping note of anyone who might seem the slightest bit more aware of who this was beside him. His own personal safety and concern, which was one of the driving points of his life, seemed an afterthought now as he walked half a step ahead of Jacen to keep him the slightest bit obscured. If lyric was first he drew more attention, a towering mess of hair and height to draw it away from Jacen is someone wanted to look. But it was all small changes as he attempted to keep them both from notice. It took effort to focus though because all he wanted to do was hold Jacen with a smile that felt at the same time natural and unnatural to him. The strange giddiness fell away as they made their way onto the falcon. Instead of emptiness as the other members of the crew were occupied with their own missions there was Han Solo standing before them with a dark shadow across his eyes. "Who are you working for, kid?" Lyric's smile disappeared and he pulled his arm away from the easy way it was slung across Jacen's shoulders. He watched Han carefully as his mind quickly flipped through possible answers. "I work for you." His answer was careful, his voice plain and emotionless. Han's expression only darkened, a storm that Lyric had the immediate urge to run and avoid. But there was no escape, not when this was his only ticket off this planet that he knew next to nothing about. "I don't allow people to lie to me on my ship. So I'm going to ask again. Who are you working for?" Han stepped forward, pulling up to his full height. Lyrics shoulders hunched forward, bringing himself closer to the floor. The light happiness that Jacen felt as he walked back to the Falcon with Lyric was something he hadn't felt for a very long time. He wasn't certain he'd ever felt it, and it all seemed too good to be true. Lyric loved him and even as quiet as the statement had been it had fell against Jacen's heart and softened it. There was very little he could have done to improve the hour he'd just spent with Lyric even had it been spent in his own bed at home rather than a ratty cantina on an Outer Rim grey port, which probably meant that he should have expected something to go all too wrong. As it was, as Jacen walked back to the Falcon he was focused mostly on Lyric. The other boy walked beside him, and there was a protectiveness in his posture that Jacen probably should have felt affronted by, but in reality it brought a small smile to his lips because he knew it was coming out of the concern - even the love - that Lyric felt for him. And despite the fact that they'd had the last hour together the only thing Jacen really wanted to do was to get through the pre-flight check-list as quickly as possible so the two could retreat to their bunks and slide next to each other again. It was this thought that was on his lips as he stepped up the ramp into the Millennium Falcon, and this thought that was in his mind as his Father's words -- and more even than the words his tone behind those words - brought Jacen up cold. Lyric's arm had slipped from his shoulders, and Jacen instantly felt the loss of it, but it brought the situation back into sharp focus. While at first he had thought perhaps his father was joking, the realization had swiftly followed that he was not. In fact Jacen hadn't seen his father look this serious for a while. Irritation pushed up, and Jacen clamped down on it, although as he glanced towards Lyric and watched the boy who had been a moment before confident and easily happy, sliding into what Jacen was beginning to recognize as a defensive posture, the irritation threatened to bubble into anger. And anger would help nothing, not here, not now. He reached out to draw on the Force keeping his voice calm as he directly addressed his Father: "Dad, what's going on here?" Han's hand went up, blocking out Jacen for a moment as he kept his eyes trained on Lyric. Whatever it was about this kid, he had Jacen pulled in deep to whatever his plans were going to be. But there was too much at stake with this mission as doomed as it was and all the stakes happened to involve everyone left in the universe that Han actually gave a damn about. It was dangerous ground that this conman was treading in as far as Han was concerned and he needed it out in the air now to keep him from dumping this kid here. "I'm not talking to you, Jacen." Han's voice stayed steady but the anger was blossoming behind each word as his teeth grit against one another. There was nothing that Lyric could think of that warranted this kind of reaction. His mind quickly raced for ways to try and curb the rising tide of anger that was bubbling to the surface of Han's voice. Should he make eye contact? Should he not? Even a quick glance showed the rage that was at hand and Lyric had no idea what he had done to bring this. "I don't know what you want. I'm not working for anyone but you." Lyric's shoulders fell in more, bringing him closer to Han's height out of instinct. He was too big, too noticeable in this ship, and all he wanted was to disappear. "What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Han snarled hot and quick as his back straightened and shoulders squared. Whatever this kid's game was he wasn't about to let it drag down Jacen and Leia, to hell if it drug him down as well. "I saw you out there. Just who's been following us?" The action caused Jacen's brows to furrow together slightly as he glanced at Lyric, and then back at his father. Even without the Force it was easy to see that his father was angry, but what had caused it? For an instant, his stomach twisted as he wondered if there had been something he'd missed. He'd known Lyric for such little time and the thought had occurred to him before, but as soon as the thought came Jacen put it aside, because it was fed by fear, and an unreasonable fear considering the boy who had just shyly confessed his love - there was very little Jacen was more certain of than this. But as Lyric literally shrunk before his eyes, and his Father seemed to only get angrier, Jacen found himself stepping slightly between the two, his turn to step into the role of protecting Lyric and pay back a bit of what the other boy had offered him all the way back from the cantina. Jacen extended his own hand in front of him in something that was attempting reconciliation, a determined look on his face as he tried to think what Han might have seen that could have possibly brought this reaction. Jacen had been with Lyric the entire time, the two of them had walked around a bit, and Lyric hadn't spoken to anyone else in the cantina - or anywhere so far as Jacen knew - and there had been the brief tryst in the alleyway... The knot that had started from unreasonable fear, slid back into place, but this time the dread didn't seem quite so unreasonable and Jacen fought to try to figure out the words to keep this from exploding up in front of them. "Dad, I don't know what you thought you saw, but it's not what you think. Lyric is with us." Whatever this kid had done to get Jacen on his side so quickly Han had no idea. From what the kid had told Leia they had only known each other a few months. And here Jacen was, defending him while the kid was meeting up with people in back alleys that he was way more familiar with than a kid who had supposedly never left Coruscant should be. Han tried to control his temper as he looked down at his son but how Jacen didn't see that this was a problem, that he hadn't kept a close enough eye on this conman he'd dragged across the galaxy, well Lyric had skill Han would give him that. "Jacen he's not. I know what I saw. And he's going to tell us just who he's working for before it ends up getting one of us killed." Lyric's eyes looked straight to the ground as he tried to think but instead his mind was spinning in place. He never had this problem, he was always so good with words. But usually he could escape. The Undercity might be a maze but it was a maze he knew and that Han would have never been able to track him down in if he had managed to escape. Here though? Here he was helpless, with Elix out with Leia where he couldn't even grab her and make an attempt at escape. Jacen stared at his dad. What the hell had he seen? Or thought he saw? But there was nothing that Jacen could think of that should have caused this reaction. Even the alleyway - well if his dad had seen that then surely they would be having a different conversation altogether and it wouldn't be one about whether or not Lyric was on their side. Unless... his dad had seen but hadn't seen Jacen. Jacen wasn't an idiot and he wasn't lacking observation skills. He knew that Lyric used his height to block Jacen from view. He had seen it even moments before as they had walked back to the docks and the Millennium Falcon. Lyric was as well aware of the bounty on Jacen as Jacen himself was and Lyric had always been protective in the Undercity and apparently on strange planets. He had thought he'd been paying attention despite everything they had been doing but perhaps less so than he thought he had. And it wasn't impossible, in fact it felt fiercely possible, that maybe his dad thought he had seen something. He straightened his shoulders and looked over at his dad, not backing down. He had been with Lyric this entire time and there was no way that Lyric was betraying them. His father had been looking for reasons to dislike Lyric since before he'd come on board the ship and he had been against Jacen's request from the beginning. And it hurt more than Jacen wanted to admit how little his father seemed to trust Jacen's analysis of Lyric. He wasn't naive and he wasn't a kid and he knew Lyric. He knew him better than his Dad realised. "And I'm telling you he is with us," Jacen said his face the opposite of flushed and the look on it resolute. "I have been with him this entire time and there is nobody that he has met with nothing that he has done -- I don't know what you saw but I know Lyric and I know he's a good man." There were times when Han wanted to shake Jacen. As much as he loved his son, he wasn't listening. Whatever it was about Lyric that blinded Jacen Han really didn't want any piece of it on his ship. Yelling at Jacen was easy, at the tip of his tongue as he tried to keep his temper in check but felt it rising regardless of that attempt. "He's a conman and he's playing you along with the rest of us!" his words came hot and quick, and he took a small bit of satisfaction in the barely imperceptible flinch Lyric gave as a response. That was probably the first real reaction he'd seen from this kid since they met. Staring down at Jacen, his frown grew deeper as he pointed angrily towards Lyric. "We've got the lives of the Jedi in our hands, along with our own I'll remind you, and you're risking it for a kid that's running around behind our backs." Jacen felt rather than saw Lyric's flinch and his frown deepened as his father's words were flung in his direction, the accusations against Lyric and against Jacen himself weapons sacked against the calm Jacen had tried to pull together. He prided himself on not giving into anger or frustration but his father's lack of faith was a rotted place within that calm threatening to spread further and spoil it all. Not ten minutes ago he'd been happy. Lyric had been happy. And now his father wouldn't even tell them why he'd decided to mistrust them both. "Dad, just stop." The words were wound tightly, a spring waiting to be loosened, but at the moment far more calm than he could have believed possible. "Do you have no faith in my ability to discern people's motivations and intentions? I know what's at stake here. Or do you think I've missed it somehow between the bounty on my head and the nearly dying half a dozen times in the past year alone?" A knot in Jacen's stomach tried to keep in a year of hurt and frustration at his father's behaviour. Whatever diplomatic ability he usually had was long past retrieving - this was too personal: Deeply personal and the tension wouldn't hold. "You didn't even know where I was for months. You didn't care enough to let mom know you were on the same kriffing planet as she was. You walked out on us in the middle of a war and you didn't bother contacting any of us and now you're going to sit here and try to tell me that I'm the one risking things? You haven't even told us what it is you think he's done! You aren't giving him anything to respond to except vague, baseless accusations." Jacen's attack hurt exactly like it was supposed to. When he wanted to, despite the peacemaking, he could have just as sharp of a tongue as his mother and Han often forgot that. Ordinarily his son showing backbone about something that wasn't standing back and watching would have been cause for celebration. But instead it was turned against him and all he could feel was the spiral of shame and anger that did nothing to endear him to Jacen's point. "You aren't the only one fighting a war, Jacen." His voice rose up cold and stern as he looked down at his son. Whatever his mistakes had been he was here now and he'd been trying to make things right. He'd been trying to make them right before he'd found his family again, before he was worth going back to them to begin with. But try explaining that to the son that was staring up at him with every bit of accusation that Han already gave himself. "But this is still my ship whether you like it or not. And you're the one bringing in kids that skulk in back alleys to meet up with whoever they've had following us around the damned rim!" The words had an instantaneous cooling affect on Jacen's temper as the realisation that it had been something on this planet, it had been Lyric... and it had been him. But somehow his father had missed that he was there entirely and now he believed that it meant Lyric was meeting up with other people. Jacen ran through things to say. He hadn't been ready to tell anyone about him and Lyric and he couldn't really say why... Maybe because inviting other people into what he and Lyric had meant complications beyond what he wanted. Like this. This was a complication beyond what he had wanted but one that he didn't see any way out of. If he just told his dad he was with Lyric...? Or he could point out that Lyric really didn't have access to any way to let someone know...? Or ...? His face was pale as he brought his eyes up to meet his father's. Whatever anger he'd had a moment before he tucked away, burying it instead under the control a Jedi ought to have. Possibly he was going to need every piece of control because he had no idea what his father would say or do. Absolutely no idea. And considering the circumstances and the accusations Jacen couldn't imagine that it would be accepted with a smile. "Dad, that was me," he said around a dry mouth, desperately wishing for Lyric's hand in his but maybe he was wrong about what his father had seen. "Lyric hasn't left my side since we left the others. He's here to help us. Not hurt us." Lyric's eyes snapped up at that little confession, the quick chill of dread cooling his face as it processed through. There had never been a discussion of telling Jacen's family and honestly Lyric had assumed it would never come up. Of course he had never anticipated falling in love with Jacen or following him around the galaxy either. While Lyric might not know much about family or how it worked he did know that Jacen had not been intending to bring them in on whatever it was that they had. His hand reached out, a soft brush against the small of Jacen's back as a reassurance that he was there. But it was also that it was all right for Jacen to pull back, that he didn't have to do this. Those weren't words that he seemed to be able to say, his tongue thick and dry in his mouth. For Han though, he paused, staring at Jacen for a moment that was far too long before looking at the cowering boy behind him. He turned away for a moment, trying to put a thought in place as he looked out at the falcon and wondered just where in the seven hells Leia was because he had no idea what he was supposed to do with this. Hands on hips to try and steady himself he turned back and looked at Jacen. So much of him looked like Leia. There was that pale, stubborn set to his jaw that Han knew far too well and honestly as much as it drove him nuts it was part of what he loved about Leia, what he loved about his kids. But this? What was he supposed to do with this? "That was-" Han paused again, looking up to the bolts and metal above them to try and find some kind of answer. Lyric's touch on his back as fleeting as it was gave Jacen strength - how much strength in the past few months had he gained from Lyric? He turned his head back to find Lyric's eyes for a moment. They hadn't talked about this. They hadn't ever talked about this. That Elix knew was a given, but Elix was Lyric's family and there had never been any discussion of telling Jacen's. Then again Jacen had never realised that Lyric could fall in love with him. That he would grow to love Lyric. And despite the seriousness of the moment he couldn't help the smallest of smiles directed at the boy behind him. The corners of his lips turning up to perhaps offer some encouragement of his own back to Lyric. The smile faded as he turned back to face his father, but the feeling of strength Lyric gave him didn't fade. If anything it made him realise that however badly this might go the two of them could get through it. And who knew how bad it was - Jacen had no idea what his father had seen. "Me," he filled in his Father's sentence and then tried again, softer with less anger and hurt, but just as intently as before. "Dad, trust me, Lyric doesn't want to see any of us hurt anymore than you do. I know him. Please believe me." There was a light in Jacen's smile that calmed Lyric. He had no idea what it was about the other man that gave him so much power over Lyric's emotions but for some reason Lyric simply kept coming back. The urge to run and hide lessened because if he ran then Jacen would be left standing on his own and that thought was unbearable. So instead Lyric's eyes came up, watching Jacen as he tried to keep the awe from his face and instead settling into his comfortable preternatural calm. Leia needed to be here, be the one that was in his shoes and dealing with this entire situation. Han was at a complete loss. This revelation wasn't anything that Han would have suspected, spinning what he had seen in an entirely different light that he wasn't entirely sure he knew how to process. Not on his own, this was something that Leia could handle or even Chewie would have had a better idea of just what in hells to do right now. That thought burned through his chest and so Han decided to do the practical thing and ignore it. "What were you thinking." Han finally snapped out of his silence, looking back at his son with confusion and anger mixed with disbelief. He had no idea how he was supposed to feel right now which really was about normal these days. "You've a bounty on your head, so you decide the brilliant idea is to bring your-" his words paused, a violent gesture towards the kid that was basically acting as his son's shadow right now. "What, did you two decide you wanted to try and make it easy on them?" Almost without thinking Jacen stepped back towards Lyric as his father's words hit him. In every way it had been easier to refute Han's assumptions about Lyric. Jacen had known they were untrue but this? His dad had a point, one that Jacen had been scolding himself for not moments before. Unfortunately that didn't make him feel better about having it thrown back in his face right now. He pressed his teeth together & looked back at his father. If he'd wanted to pull attention off of Lyric's loyalties he'd done that but now it was elsewhere and it hadn't really pulled it off of the two of them, simply focused elsewhere. "I- No," he protested back, uncertain what to even add to that when in retrospect he realized it had been risky - it had ended them here after all. "That wasn't -" he glanced at Lyric trying to put together an argument that might actually work. It was utterly unfair that his father, his father who was hardly known for always making risk free choices was sitting here scolding them about this. "You're missing the point." "Oh I'm missing the point?" Han found himself on more solid footing for once since this conversation had started. It wasn't like Jacen to be reckless. Honestly if anything his son thought about consequences too much, to the point where Jacen was more likely to give into inaction than action. It wasn't something that he understood but it was at least something that Han thought he had known about his son. Instead now it seemed that he didn't really know even that about Jacen. "It was my fault." Lyric spoke up, his voice barely catching Han's ear with how quiet it was. And right now he really didn't want to hear anything from this kid, no matter what this situation actually was. How he had gotten Jacen to believe him was now all too clear but Han still hadn't decided that he trusted him. Pointing at him sharply, Han shook his head. "I don't want to hear whose fault it was. I'm not an idiot, it takes more than one person for- whatever it was I saw." His eyes fell back onto Jacen because while he apparently didn't know Jacen at all at least this was somewhat more familiar. "The point is we're in space where pretty much everyone wants us dead, especially you. And you decide that's the perfect time to go fooling around in an alleyway like some strung up idiot?" The comparison hurt, but the flinch it brought was so slight as to be almost unnoticeable. It hadn't been Lyric's fault exactly. Not really. Once again his dad was fairly on the credits with the fact that it had taken both of them. Jacen had flirted and Lyric had responded. His cheeks flushed hot, unnaturally pink against his otherwise still pale skin. "I don't know, I mean, why not?!" Jacen responded snarkily. The words had bubbled up and almost instantaneously he regretted them because they were far from reconciliatory but some part of him didn't regret them. He was tired of never meeting his dad's approval whatever he did. The other part of him just wanted to say he was sorry and apologize and apologize until the problem went away. But Jacen suspected this one wouldn't go away so easily. "I'm not going to stop living because someone put a price on my head. I tried that! I tried sitting in an apartment and visiting the senate and worrying constantly about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm not going to stop loving Lyric because someone out there wants me dead." Lyric's shoulders stiffened as he stared at the back of Jacen's neck. In the cantina Jacen had avoided specific words even if Lyric knew they didn't truly matter. Their feelings on each other were clear for Lyric to see at the very least and he didn't need Jacen to justify his own emotions. He cared and knew that Jacen cared in return. But hearing him say it, to his father of all people, Lyric barely resisted the urge to pull Jacen in close, sheltering him within his arms and daring Han to come closer. Instead he simply stood in Jacen's shadow and tried to keep the small smile from his face, with any of Han's chastisements meaning nothing. "There's nothing to love about getting caught with your pants down in a back alley!" Han roared back just as quickly. He hoped the two of them weren't stupid enough, or at least not Jacen. However the hope was thin from the enthusiasm he'd seen in the alleyway. There were already so many risks they were taking, adding in something as pointless as that when they could have stayed hidden from the galaxy was dangerously reckless. "Whose pants? Did someone find pants?" Elix's voice chirped brightly as she walked in, pausing and looking around at the scene unfolding before her. "Uh... what's going on?" Elix's voice distracted Jacen from heated words, if not from a fresh wave of heat to his cheeks. It was impossible to not feel embarrassed with his father's words, despite the fact that he felt no real shame about his relationship with Lyric. The fact that he knew what he and Lyric had done was reckless didn't help, and no matter how much defiance he could pull up - and Jedi or no he was still a teenage boy and he could find defiance a plenty - it didn't quite shield him from the shame that his father's words uncovered.What had felt edgy and exciting an hour before, and what ultimately had led to an exchange Jacen couldn't regret, felt dirty when his father threw it back in his face. Words he wouldn't say now churned just beneath the surface as he tried to pull control back together. Elix was with his mother. At least she had been and Jacen didn't have to turn around to feel his mom walking behind Elix: Kriff it. If there was one thing Jacen wanted less than the current situation it was to have the entire family and Lyric in on the conversation. The only bright side was that Jaina and Anakin weren't around to witness it. It had been impossible not to hear Han's last words and Elix's good natured response served as good an introduction to the fact that they were here and had heard them as anything. Leia could feel the tension between the three men and she recognized as well as anyone would Han's frustrated stance. And Jacen - her eldest son stood with his back to her, but she could see as much as feel the embarrassment and anger in the tension of his shoulders. She could guess a few things from Han's words, but assumptions rarely did anyone any good. She stepped up, leaning slightly heavier on her left leg and dropping a hand gently on Elix's shoulder to steady herself as much as to steady the younger girl. "Han, what's the trouble?" It was reckless and Lyric knew it, he had known it while it was happening and still couldn't seem to resist the normally all too loud survival instincts in the back of his mind. It was hard to speak up and argue when Solo was irritatingly correct. Elix's voice didn't help solve anything though Lyric could only hope that maybe with the presence of the calmer Solo parent that maybe this situation would deescalate. It was a weak hope but there nonetheless. Clearly Jacen was a bad influence on him. Elix's hand quickly reached up and found his own, Lyric wrapping his fingers tight around hers as she slipped up to his side and peeked over at Han around Jacen. As much as he and Jacen were a team, he had been with Elix far longer and knowing she was immediately there without knowing why let him lift his head up and look over at Leia. Han's frown deepened, crossing his arms over his chest as his wish was granted and here Leia was. "Why don't you tell her what the trouble is, Jacen?" Dislike coiled in his chest like a monster waiting to be unleashed as Jacen stared at his father. Perhaps he should be grateful that his dad was at least allowing him to control what he told his mother, but Jacen had no doubt that his father would be perfectly capable of jumping in and correcting him should Jacen leave out something that Han thought important to share. His eyes darkened, dangerous for a moment before he breathed in and pulled everything in tight. He knew his cheeks were still flushed, but it couldn't be helped as he turned around to face his mother. If there was anything that gave him hope it was that his mother usually understood him, but Jacen didn't know if she would understand this. He wasn't certain he even completely understood the way that Lyric made him consider - enjoy even - things he would have never considered before or with anyone else. He swallowed and met her gaze uncertainly. "Dad saw Lyric with someone," he hesitated, his tongue moistening his lips as he looked out the direction that Elix and Leia had just come from for an instant desperately wishing he could just grab Lyric's hand and walk away from this moment, this ship, even if it meant sorting through life on nothing at all, it would be less hateful than the situation he currently found himself in. "He accused Lyric of selling information. But Lyric was with... he was kissing me. Lyric and I -" Jacen's voice faltered and the next words came out softer: "I love him, Mom. We just - we weren't thinking." Practiced politicians could get through any surprise without a twitch to their face, but as Leia fixed her eyes on her son's face she realized this was not as much of a surprise as it ought to have in all rights been. She hadn't known, and had you asked her, she couldn't have guessed, but from the moment Jacen had come to her asking her for her assistance she'd realized that he considered Lyric a close friend. That he might have fallen in love... she looked over at Lyric, past them both to her husband who's frown told her clearly enough that this had been a surprise to him, and not a pleasant one. She stepped forward and placed her hand on Jacen's cheek for a moment, giving him a small smile. "A lesson I suspect has been well learned here." She glanced over to meet Lyric's eyes as well. Given the fact that so far no one had been shot this was actually going pretty well by Lyrics estimate. Not that he had been privy to many conscious of this type but in general people seemed to be less than understanding in his experience. They didn't have the look of anyone getting killed and despite the brimming anger clear on Hans face he didn't seem about to throw his son off the falcon either. Elix's cheek pressed against his side as she watched everything unfold, her hand tightening around his. Lyric had a habit of discussing just about everything with Elix. There were very few parts of his life that he kept secret and Jacen had crawled out of those precious few secrets and fully into their lives. Maybe lyric hadn't told Elix how he felt but he had a feeling his girl had already known. She was smarter than most people gave her credit for. So he looked back at Leia, matching her gaze even as he wanted to look away. But instead he reached out, taking Jacen's hand gently for just a moment, allowing him to pull away if he wanted. It was enough to say he was here though, that he wasn't going to go away. Of course there was the calm and ease that Han knew far too well from Leia. When she need to keep her cool there was no one more measured. It was why Han trusted her in these situations, a smooth politician that had her heart in all the noble places that never did her any good. As he watched the little scene unfold though he watched everyone carefully. No matter what Leia was saying now, no matter if it was what Jacen needed to hear, it didn't change the fears that clawed at him. This kid was from the Undercity and within a few months already had Jacen declaring his love. Maybe for some kids that would be normal but this was Jacen, who hesitated on everything, and they were all in the middle of a war where mistakes like that couldn't be made. "We need to get out of this port." Han shot in, voice gruff and annoyed as he turned stalk out. He neede to get away from this, some time to think and maybe see if there were a few more channels he could run this kid's name through. Jacen had no idea what he'd been expecting from his mother. He suspected that her calm hid a large number of questions that would get directed his way later on, but for the moment the simple words were exactly what he needed to hear. He nodded his recognition that yes, there had been a lesson learned - definitely been a lesson learned here - because he still didn't know how this was going to shake out with his Father, and Han's obvious irritation as he stalked away just reminded Jacen of that fact as he found his Mom's eyes again. "I was about to say the same thing," Leia said calmly, looking at the three of them. "We've been fortunate thus far in that nobody has noticed we're here, but Elix and I were able to get some information that may be helpful, and we need to move before someone does notice. I'm going to go find your Father, Jacen - you three know your typical pre-flight routines." Leia dropped her eyes to the hand Jacen held with a familiarity and ease that said he'd held it many times before. She knew he hadn't known Lyric that long. Lyric had all but said as much and she hadn't felt as if he was lying. Her expression remained neutral, but the tone spoke business as she lifted her eyes back up to her son's. "We'll talk later, Jacen. But for now let's get ready to break atmosphere." As Leia stepped away from the three of them Cakhmaim slipped up the ramp and into the ship. Jacen hadn't even realized the noghri was there, but of course his mom's guards had been out with her. He shouldn't have been surprised by that. But as Leia and Cakhmaim left the room, the full emotional weight of everything he'd just said pushed down on him and the nerves he'd felt since Han had started ranting at Lyric threatened any sense of calm he had left. Lyric's hand was firm against his, and Jacen didn't know if he wanted to grasp onto it forever, or simply run. None of it had been things he wouldn't have said to Lyric... but the public nature of them gave them weight that created a lump in his throat. "Lyric -" he started but he had no idea where to go from there. He was well aware of Elix on one side of Lyric, one of her hands in Lyric's, while his took the other one. There really wasn't time to try to sort through the perfect thing to say. Ignoring his mother's instructions was only likely to make things worse when that inevitable follow-up conversation came. "I - we should get to those things." Stalling did nothing but delay the inevitable. They had to break apart, to go through the motions of preparing to jump back into space as much as lyric hated the idea of leaving solid ground. As much as he knew they had to, that stalling would only lead to more possible pain, he held onto Jacen's hand for a few moments longer. More important than breaking away was the pain and worry creased in Jacen's eyes. Instead he pulled Jacen gently, guiding him into Lyric's space. Whatever sadness he could take and shoulder from Jacen, he would do it in a heartbeat. If Jacen would let him would be another story. "I love you." His voice fell soft and gentle, leaning in to bump his head against Jacen's. There was a soft huff from his side and Lyric smiled just slightly as he looked down at Elix before finding Jacen's eyes again. "Sorry. We love you." The huff from Elix and the words from Lyric brought a smile to Jacen's face despite himself. He found Lyric's eyes and held onto them, his lips turned up in something hopeful and he glanced down at Elix, taking the hand that was free and reaching out to place it on her head with a smile. "You two..." he smiled at them both, his look holding the deep affection he couldn't find the words to say. Despite the fact that there was still a desire to run, to pack away his emotions into something resembling the strictest of control, there was warmth as he looked at Elix's bright eyes, and felt his shoulder against Lyric's. "All right," he pulled himself out of the moment, but this time with the hope that his parents would be able to see what he had. That they could look at Lyric and Elix and see ... family. He dropped his hand from Elix's head with a fond squeeze of her shoulders, and then turned his gaze to Lyric. For an instant he held it and then squeezed Lyric's hand before he dropped it again. "Let's get this ship back up in space then shall we?" |