Growing Fast by the Sea

[Kaziki Halcyon]

The Corroded Serpent broke atmosphere outside of Coronet City late in the evening in that hemisphere of the planet of Corellia, setting down at a private landing pad on a small and very exclusive star port. Kaz had appeared at the cargo bay doors with a couple of bags and dressed for senate duty all in rich materials. He'd conferred with several of the crewmen while two of the Antarian Rangers loaded his bags into the speeder truck which had been converted into a rich man's coach. Some appearance was being created for the benefit of an unknown onlooker. Nothing had been said to Kura one way or another about clothing or traveling conditions but she was waved over to board the speeder truck even as Kaz was turning to do so himself.

The ride was quiet as Kaz had almost instantly fallen into a meditation, laying on his back on one of the luxuriously cushioned benches in the back of the vehicle and obviously using the trance to get some quick rest. The ride took time, the windowless cargo area of the truck giving little in the way of information about direction or scenery. It was a largely smooth ride, though the vehicle wasn't designed with that in mind, and after a couple of hours it coasted to a stop. Kaz's eyes snapped open the moment the vehicle was no longer in motion, sitting up as the rear doors were opened by a pair of older human men in security uniforms, allowing Kaz and Kura to step out in front of a massive house. The sound of water lapping gently and rhythmically somewhere nearby though the source of the sound specifically was hidden in the depths of the darkness.



"Come, I'll take you to your room. If you get to sleep now you can be awake for the sunrise. It'll come from behind the house but the light on the water..." He made a sound that implied a level of continuously held appreciation for the experience and led her directly to a sumptuous and richly appointed room with double doors that led to a small balcony that look out into pitch blackness at that time of night.

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The day dawned and the sea sparkled like diamonds beyond the railing of the balcony, separated from the house by a small yard that ran straight out before dropping off sharply down a landscaped levy wall to a narrow beach. In the distance, North and South, the land curved out to sketch a crescent-moon shaped and likely shallow bay given the low motion of its surface. The southern section ended in what appeared to be a white, sandy spit of land with some patches of long grass holding it in place. The northern section was somewhat secluded by rock formations and some thick looking forestation. Some form of low growing evergreen grew in long patches all the way to the waterline in that direction but the hints of a secluded beach could be seen at the point from her room.

Coming up the beach from the South was a lone figure in shorts and running shoes but no shirt. The slowly growing figure resolved into the whip thin, wiry muscled form of Kaziki Halcyon doing something that most Jedi didn't do: working out. He came up the beach, cutting over the levee and into the yard, while working his hands like a training shock boxer. He paused, sorta, in the yard as he danced in a circle running his hands through a lightning fast combination after combination, changing directions from time to time as if working an opponent in the ring. His form was under a sheen of sweat, every muscle defined but lacking the bulk of the body builders often looked to for such definition. It was a swimmer's build, or a dancer, or lightweight boxer. Kaz's pace began to slow as he was winding down from his workout.

[Kura Nuhok]

The journey to Kaz's home was more comfortable than it had any right to be. Kura had been somewhat surprised at seeing the converted speeder truck, and had thanked her lucky stars that she had chosen to don her Togruta robes: after all, they were probably far more fitting to her current situation than her fighting garb.

Kaz had slipped into meditation lying on one of the benches, and the stillness in the Force had been palpable. However, try as she might, Kura couldn't quite manage to let herself go and meditate herself. It wasn't unusual; after all, she was filled with more than a little trepidation about the coming days, and it would take her a few hours to settle enough to effect a successful attempt at meditation. Instead, she just sat back, closed her eyes, and enjoyed a couple of hours just soaking in the relative calmness and stillness of the Force.

Kaz's house was breathtaking, and, before she could even consider the wealth that he must come from, he whisked Kura off to her opulently appointed room for the night, with orders to go to sleep early enough to catch the sunrise.

And sleep she did.

The daylight was barely tickling the skies as she awoke the next morning, refreshed and ready to take on the day. In the perfect state of mind to meditate, too. As was her habit, Kura dressed quickly in her fighting garb, and sat cross legged on her balcony, letting the early morning light slake over her as she let herself get lost in the Force. No disturbing visions this time, just a calmness and a serenity that she couldn't remember having felt for a little while now.

Finally coming out of her meditation, Kura stretched languorously, gazing down the beautiful, tranquil coastline that the early morning sun was just beginning to warm. She squinted a little at seeing a figure running along the beach wearing just shoes and shorts, and was a little surprised to see that it was Kaz. The light glistened on a fine sheen of sweat that covered his torso, showing off his fine musculature that had been unhinted at beneath his clothing. Smiling to herself, Kura slung her Togruta sash around her hips, before lightly heading down to the yard to meet him. She flashed him a bright smile as he arrived.

"You were quite correct in your opinion of the dawn light," she grinned. "It is incredibly beautiful here. The view is quite spectacular."

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz stayed up for a few hours after their arrival, setting his house in order after a long lingering absence. A few messages, some updates on a couple of projects, and finally bed. A few hours sleep and he was up again, leaving orders for breakfast and his intents for the day, then embarked on a morning workout. The details varied from endeavor to endeavor but the gist of it was to build power without building bulk, ensuring he had the physicality to not be brutalized by a stronger opponent without losing his speed or precision with his own technique. A lot of self-created resistance and filling in the gaps with extensive endurance training. Ending it all with a predawn run down the beach to the open point to watch the sun touch the sea for the first time that day.

Kaz had been to some of the most incredible places in the advertised galaxy, and a few off the beaten path along the way. He'd been to the resort worlds, the pleasure planets, and the worlds with tourist attractions that the entirety of their tourism income revolved around them. Never in his life had he seen anything quite so beautiful to him as the planet Corellia. He was biased, he knew, but it was the opinion he held. Nothing pleased him so much as standing on his home world and watching it be. He'd stayed warm and so he'd sprinted back, cooling down by throwing the combos in the back yard.

The young Corellian came to a halt when he realized he was being joined by his compatriot and fellow Jedi. She was wearing the... minimalist outfit she'd trained against him in on the ship. Still bouncing foot to foot rhythmically as he looked her over openly, he grunted in the same way he had the first time he'd seen the outfit causing the Force in his immediate vicinity to be briefly filled with something primal that he'd let go of rather than dwelling on. "I'm glad you took my advice and watched it. Corellia is the emerald of the galaxy and I have never been anywhere more beautiful than home."

He looked out across the water for a long moment, the Force drawing into him from all around as he absorbed the feel of his home world. Kaz turned back to her with his signature smile. "The other point is secluded, I have a hut down there we can work out of and get some training done without having to worry about random intrusions. This place is pretty private but I occasionally have business associates search me out here. Air, sea, land. It wouldn't do for Kaziki Horn to be spotted dueling with a lightsaber in his back yard by somebody loyal to the Sith Empire."

[Kura Nuhok]

Kura felt the disturbance in the Force as Kaz looked her over, the same grunt that he had made the previous time she had worn the outfit making a repeat appearance. She was starting to wonder whether or not he had a genuine problem with the way she looked. However, the disturbance in the Force wasn't that of disapproval. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it was very obviously something far more... basic. Something almost primal in its nature, in fact.

As was the look on Kaz's face, in fact.

Swallowing deeply as she tried to avoid allowing her own eyes to roam freely over Kaz's finely muscled torso, Kura felt a small ripple in the Force emanate from her, too: a sharp, detailed flash from her vision. Warm hand, bare skin. Incandescent smile. Feeling of... closeness. Suppressing the memories, she smiled warmly as Kaz boasted of the beauty of Corellia. "Yes, it is beautiful," she replied, an amused smile playing on her lips. "But it is manicured, created beauty. I see the beauty in places that are far more wild and untouched. Perhaps, one of these days, I will show you Shili."

Kura felt Kaz settle into the Force, and followed his gaze across the water to the little spit of land that his eyes settled on, nodding as he explained it was more secluded. "It most certainly would not do for you to be associated with the 'filthy Jedi'," she grinned, raising a teasing eyebrow in his direction again. "What will happen if you are seen to be associating with a 'filthy Togruta' instead?" The Togruta seemed to inspire fear in many, although, in the main, they were as peace-loving as most other race. The whole carnivorous thing seemed to put a lot of people off.

Taking a few steps towards the edge of the yard, looking off over the tranquil waters, Kura called back to Kaz. "What plans are there for today, Kaz? Is there anything that I should be aware of for our stay here?"

[Kaziki Halcyon]

"The yard is manicured, and I pay well to keep it that way. Order has its place in the galaxy as well, which is rather fitting since 'order' would agree with that assessment. However, the beauty I speak of is out there on emerald waters. One can't 'manicure' the sea, and Corellia has always been a very well organized planet. There are those who theorize the entire world was brought here from another location thousands of years ago, making the system itself what you would call... manicured." He chuckled as he made the word sound naughty, brushing his finger at her for calling out the lack of natural challenge on a world she'd seen precious little of.

"Remind me sometime and I'll show some wild that would make you feel right at home. Perhaps go tease a Sand Panther or something." He paused momentarily and seemed to consider her offer. "If the women all look like you I'm sure I could be convinced to make Shili a stop off point on one of our misadventures." Kaz wiggled his eyebrows at her teasingly and began his post workout stretching, leaning back in a way that made all his tightly compact muscles flare momentarily in his core region before bending forward in half to touch his toes. "You had your morning constitutional yet? Right about now breakfast should be hitting the table and I'd hate for it to get all eaten up before you get there."

Most of his stretches involved his legs, working the excess blood from the well worked muscles so it wouldn't pool and make him sore. It didn't take long and soon he was headed for the house, stopping by a garden table to retrieve a towel he used to scrape off the sweat of his workout. "You think Togruta are filthy? How very self-loathing of you." He was teasing her once again, using the act to avoid having the statement attached to him even in jest with the precision of a master word-smith. "Or are you suggesting you need a shower as badly as I do? That could be interesting... but then neither of us would get any breakfast. Oh, the galaxy that drives us apart." He chuckled and was, by that point, almost sounding like he was entertaining himself more than her.

"Nothing of import that I have scheduled. We'll get some things packed up in the pontoon boat after breakfast and be at the point by lunch. We can start putting together a working tactic for ourselves."

[Kura Nuhok]

Kura did all but shake her head as Kaz explained that he paid for his grounds to be manicured and well kept, instead giving him an almost indulgent smile, her sharp little teeth sparkling slightly in the early morning light. She didn't doubt that the water was beautiful, though, and inclined her head as he mentioned showing her some truly wild places. "I believe I would be content to have you take me out on the water," she replied thoughtfully, before raising a curious eyebrow at him. "Unless these Sand Panthers are edible?" It had been some time since she had been able to eat raw meat, to tear the flesh from the bones of her prey, and she could feel the need growing in her, not to mention her teeth dulling just a little.

Arcing an eyebrow at Kaz as he commented on the womenfolk of Shili, Kura shrugged lightly. "I am a somewhat ordinary woman on my home planet," she explained. "My appearance is commonplace. I have sisters, though, with more exceptional form." The next eldest of her sisters truly was a beauty, with distinct yet sparse markings on her face, headtails and montrals of almost pure white, and very few markings on her body. Slender and lithe, there had been competition for her hand in marriage since she had been a young girl.

Kura smirked as Kaz checked whether she was ready to go to breakfast. "I have attended to my most pressing needs," she replied, flashing him an innocent glance as she very much enjoyed the view that was presented to her as he stretched himself out. "I have spent the last hour or so in meditation to ready myself for the day."

Keeping pace, Kura walked with Kaz to the house, frowning in exasperation as he turned her tease on its head, using it instead to tease her about showering. "It would be a way to conserve water," she replied, an all-too knowing smile adorning her face. "However, we could not allow breakfast to pass without your attendance gracing the table... could we?"

They were almost at the house as Kaz outlined the very vague plan for the day, and Kura nodded her approval. "Is there anything in particular - aside from my lightsaber and robes that I would need to bring," she asked, all thoughts of teasing him thrown to the winds again. Of course, she would also need to bring the plants she had stashed in her pack - they needed attending to, and it was time that she told Kaz precisely what they were, and how - and why - she was able to devote herself so fully to her fighting.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz raised an eyebrow at the exception being if a Sand Panther was edible. Unless he was mistaken the animal was indeed edible though like most predators it wouldn't be the most appetizing meal in the universe as most such creatures tended to be tough and lacking in flavor due to low fat content. It was the first time her species' reputation had disturbed him in the slightest and, though it truly was slight, it was definitely a shift in the dynamic. "An hour on the water it is..." It had to be what he felt in the Force combined with her having become firmly placed as a Jedi in his mind.

He scoffed when she said she was ordinary looking, that her sisters were more attractive. "Many a fight has started with words like that," he quipped with one of his cousins from his mother's side of the family coming firmly to mind. "So, then. Sirens set to shipwreck hapless spacers. I might have to take a shuttle and spare my loyal crew... I'll need a local guide, of course, and an introduction to these sisters you speak of." Kaz watched her curiously to analyze her reaction to that last bit. Honestly, the young Corellian knew nothing of the culture's take on mating or dating.

"Ah, the joys of conservation... but you're right. What would breakfast be without me?" He led her in through a door that opened into a hallway that was largely unadorned. "All that will be there will be what you bring with you. Knowingly or otherwise. The dining room will be at the end of the hall, to the right, and up one level. Many of the crew and staff should be there already and I will be along after a proper shower... if I don't see you sooner. Until then." He paused by a door to give her one more too clever smile before disappearing through the classical heavy wooden, manual operation swinging door that was the norm for the estate.

[Kura Nuhok]

"Have I concerned you?"

Kura frowned slightly at Kaz's reaction to her question about the Sand Panther. Perhaps his reaction was normal, but still... She didn't want to have upset her partner. "Yes, it is true that my people - myself included - are carnivorous," she began, her eyes meeting his. "We hunt, and then we consume the flesh of our prey while it is still warm. It is the way of our ancestors, and how we have evolved." She reached out, placing a reassuring hand on Kaz's bare shoulder, in much the same way that he had tone to her in the cargo bay. She smiled warmly. "However, I am perfectly able - and willing - to eat what you would class as 'normal' food. On occasion, though, to maintain my teeth and my metabolism, I will need to hunt."

She smiled again, nodding reassuringly. "But, if it will make you happier, I will not hunt in your presence."

Kaz's reaction to the mention of her more beautiful sisters was, in fact, a typical one, and Kura allowed her hand to drop back to her side. "I am sure my father would be willing to discuss any sensible arrangement with you," she teased. "But first, you would need to prove your worth, and that would mean that you would need to participate in a hunt... and then share in the resulting feast." It tended to be that kind of tradition that would put off would-be suitors from other worlds. "My sisters shall remain on Shili for their entire lives," she explained. "I am the only one of my generation to be indentured to the Jedi Order."

The hallway into which Kaz led her was relatively plain, and Kura nodded as he explained that there was nothing at the hut. "Very well, I shall begin to make preparations once we have eaten." Kura felt her markings colour up as Kaz teased her once more about the shower, and she simply shrugged. "In future, we must discuss the conservation of water in advance, so that we may make plans," she replied innocently, her expression the only thing that showed a response to the tease. "Otherwise, I shall see you after you shower."

Nodding, she followed the stairs upwards, finding the dining room with little difficulty, and took a seat next to one of the Antarian Rangers. If she was to work with these people, she might as well begin to get to know them in a more social capacity than on board the ship. She smiled as she poured herself a glass of water: this was going to be a most interesting stopover.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

"No, just what I felt from you in the Force was something I'm more accustomed to sensing in the very worst of space pirates rather than Jedi. It was... disorienting for a moment." Kaz rather reassured her. "I don't begrudge you anything you need to do to take care of yourself. I enjoy a good medium rare steak myself, from time to time." Raw was something else entirely, he didn't even like sushi.

Kaz didn't comment on the rest of the bit about her sisters, merely giving a shrug and expression that suggested nothing was certain about the matter. For the right woman Kaz was certain there wasn't much he wouldn't do to attain her properly. Kura mentioned making plans for ostensibly sharing a shower and he tsk'd at her. "We're gonna have to work on your sense of adventure, my young apprentice. Some things shouldn't be planned, are best when done in the heat of conceptualization, and that would most certainly be one of them." She moved on and he dove into a steaming shower.

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Breakfast went the way it always did, though Kaz ended up seated away from his new partner, with joking and discussions about nothing. It was company policy around Kaz that one didn't discuss business or anything serious, really, at the breakfast table. A smiling start to the day was the only way to move forward. Siri was there, several Antarian Rangers including the two older one's who'd met them the night of their arrival, and a third female: a blond woman wearing the colors of the Antarians but not the uniform jacket that marked full fledged rangers. She seemed off her food that morning though she happily downed as much fruit juice as she could lay hands to.

Breakfast was all too brief, for as enjoyable as it was, and Kaz stopped by Kura's seat on his way out. "The boat and I will be on the beach directly behind the house, meet me there when you are ready to depart." And with that he'd disappeared, likely to gather his own things. When she managed to get out to the location he'd told her she'd discover that was absolutely correct as he was loading boxes and bags onto the small craft while the blond Antarian woman sat nearby talking to him. Their conversation ended as Kura approached, the blond standing and nodding to Kaz as she began back toward the house.

"Jedi Nuhok," she greeted Kura as they passed one another but did not stop. Kaz continued loading things onto the pontoon runner, his presence in the Force placid on the surface but roiling deep below while his thoughts were deeply guarded from any intrusion. "Kura, welcome." His voice was cheerful even if he truly wasn't, the oddity being in that it showed. Usually, even if Kaz were outright being deceitful, it was difficult at best to tell he didn't feel the way he was acting.

[Kura Nuhok]

"I am not your apprentice!"

The words that Kura called after Kaz as he left to go and shower rang through the hallway, and she had an almost indelible smile settling into place as she took her seat, surrounded by staff and crew from the house and ship. Siri, the Rangers, and a few faces she didn't recognise, included a sour-looking blonde woman who appeared to be off her food.

However, Kura simply enjoyed the company and the conversation, and the food itself was surprisingly good - the array of cooked meat, cheese and fruit was impressive, to say the least - giving her as good a start to the day as any.

"Very well," Kura replied, her mouth half full of a dark, dense meat as Kaz told her where to meet him when she had finished her breakfast. She didn't miss the blonde woman get up merely seconds after Kaz, following in his wake. She was very clearly unhappy about something, and Kura raised an eyebrow at the Antarian Ranger sat next to her, but to no avail. The man merely shrugged, and muttered something about "womens' problems", before bolting back a large mouthful of juice.

Smiling lightly, Kura finished her food in relative quiet, clearing her plate away before heading to her own room. She didn't take long to gather what few things she had brought with her; she had decided she might as well just take her pack in its entirety, although not before changing: she had seen the look on some peoples' face at breakfast, and it was probably best to cover up while in polite company. Togruta robes it was, then. Slipping her fighting garb into her pack again, Kura checked the room, and, to her satisfaction, it was as empty as when she had entered it.

Wandering leisurely down to the beach, Kaz was at the small boat, deep in conversation with the blonde Antarian, who, almost as soon as she spotted Kura's approach, briskly walked away, addressing her as "Jedi Nuhok". She hated that. "Please, it is Kura," she called after the woman's retreating back, shrugging lightly as she turned back to Kaz.

The disturbance in the Force around him was palpable, but she didn't need to rely on the Force to tell her that something was troubling her partner. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and there was a light flatness in the otherwise cheery voice. Dropping her pack on the sand at her feet, Kura frowned, cocking her head to one side as she observed Kaz for a few seconds. Something was definitely not right there.

"What is the matter, Kaz," she asked directly. "There is something bothering you, is there not?"

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz took a deep breath and let it out, releasing with it all the things that were weighing on him negatively before responding to her question. It was important to do since he had no desire to color his words with emotions that weren't necessarily permanent. Aggravation abated with time, frustration was momentary, there was no reason to let that alter the facts to sooth his own feelings. "Someone was bothering me... but I feel that it's been handled now. There was a misunderstanding regarding expectations vs. the reality of a self-created situation. Illusions, of various types, are my bread and butter so to speak but one thing I am always clear about is my heart."

He sighed and glanced to Kura for her physical reaction just in case it was differing from what he felt in the Force. That difference could tell a very long story for those who knew how to read such books. He then returned to what he was doing, the simple and repetitive act helping to further clear out the interference his heart was transmitting to his head. He'd done the right thing and would continue to do so if the matter came up again. It was time to let it go unless Kura pressed on for details, which he would give since he had nothing to be ashamed of. "You have everything you think you need for this little foray? Tooth brush, clean skivvies? Extra socks? A torch to read your comics by under the blankets late at night?" He turned a more genuine grin on her.

[Kura Nuhok]

So used to seeing Kaz cheerful and positive, it threw Kura slightly to see him off-kilter. More to the point, to feel him so off-kilter. She frowned lightly as Kaz indicated that it was something personal - and obviously with the blonde woman with whom he had been in discussion - that was bothering him. "Being true to your heart is what matters," she replied quietly, thinking of a number of times when she had not been true to herself, or to her heart, and how it had come to backfire on her.

Better not to allow herself to get involved in matters of the heart any longer.

Without even asking if he needed help, Kura started to assist Kaz in the loading of the boat. It seemed that he was taking rather a lot with him, so maybe they were going to be at the point for somewhat longer than she had anticipated. She was, therefore, glad that she had simply decided to bring her entire pack and its contents. Glancing upwards as Kaz teased her about having everything that she might need for their trip, Kura shrugged. "If I do not have everything I might require, I shall have to go without," she replied simply. Kaz's state of mind, though, was still of concern to her, and she pulled herself up to her full height.

"You can talk to me, you know," she said quietly, sincerely. "After all, are we not partners? Your problems become my problems, and vice versa, and if there is anything I can assist in, you should tell me."

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz sensed her recoiling from her own words, withdrawing from the thought of bothering with her heart at all, and offered counter advice. "I agree, it's the only way to be happy. Much better than avoiding the heart entirely. Can you believe the old Jedi Order actually made rules against such things? Who could have possibly believed a bunch of aloof, unattached, miserable Force users were good for the galaxy?" He played at incredulous because it would encourage her to agree with his line of thinking via the bandwagon affect. "Nothing more beautiful than a well wrought romance between two unsuspecting individuals."

She began to assist him and he started by pointing out the intended spot for the first item she grabbed. "Just keep it balanced or we'll end up in the drink, all of our stuff at the bottom. Some of the cases are waterproof but it's a pain to dive down for them." He continued on his work trusting her to be able to easily follow those instructions. It was interesting having another Jedi around, though she was older and for the moment seemed the less trained. That was just a matter of her being out of her comfort zone while he was hip deep in his and Kaz had every confidence she would impress him greatly on their next endeavor.

He chuckled at her response, seeing as he'd asked after underwear, in regards to just going without if she didn't have enough. He didn't comment back as it would quickly go into the realm of lewdness but it amused him greatly. He nodded when she informed him he could talk to her. Kaz knew that, a Jedi was good for such things and hard to avoid otherwise due to their unique powers of perception. It was damnably hard to lie to a Jedi though Kaz had long since learned the tricks to doing so as a matter of course for his abilities and skills. "The newer Antarians are just like anybody else without a real understanding of the Force."

Kaz paused for a moment to level how serious he was being. "She was awed by things that you and I find common place among our ranks. She became infatuated and in that infatuation came to me with intent. I admit I did my part to play out the scenario, at the time lazily presuming she knew what she was about, and we had intimate relations. She came to me a few minutes ago to inform me she's pregnant and that she guessed our 'relationship' had gotten a jump start. The problem being we have no relationship beyond the professional one I possess with the Antarian Ranger organization. Unsurprisingly, that detail wasn't something she wanted to hear."

"She wasn't fond of finding out she wasn't pregnant either. Small stomach bug common to first time visitors to Corellia, I used the Force to be certain. She accused me of trying to be a deadbeat, I explained to her what would have happened had she actually been pregnant, and it was an emotionally harrowing ordeal for everyone involved. She wasn't happy with the process either. Even now she's finding out that the other Antarians aren't phased by it in the slightest, but the oldest amongst them have known our family three generations and so aren't phased by her sobbing story." He sighed again. "It was never my intent to hurt her, of course."

[Kura Nuhok]

Kaz's words made it obvious that he had recognised the truth behind her words, and she shot him a mock glare. He was more perceptive than most of the young Jedi she had been used to working with, and she would need to work harder than she already was if she were to be able to successfully conceal anything from him. Not that she particularly wanted to, but still... sometimes, there were things that she really didn't want to share with anyone at all, no matter who they were.

"There must have been a reason for their rules at the time," she shrugged, easily hefting one of the cases up to waist height, casually and comfortably lifting as much as any of the men could. She glanced across at Kaz, a wry smile dancing on her lips. "So I am partnered with an incurable romantic? Is that the way of things?" She paused, winking lightly at him for a second. "Who knew?"

Kura nodded simply as she received direction on how to load the boat, and carried on. Manual work was no stranger to her, and, sometimes, the rhythm could calm a fractured mind. She could tell that Kaz was using the loading for that very reason.

If she were honest, she didn't really expect him to open up to her about what was wrong, about why he was so discomfited, and so, when he finally started to talk to her about what was going on with him, Kura didn't make a big deal of it, merely continuing to load the boat, letting Kaz speak as freely as he needed to. The pause, after his little explanation about Antarians, said it all. It was something of grave importance that was bothering him, and, as he continued to talk, Kura paused in her work, standing close to Kaz and listening, her head cocked to one side as she took everything in.

He sounded a little sad, although not necessarily regretful, as he explained the situation, and, after he finished, Kura stayed quiet for a few seconds, digesting everything. "It sounds as though you have done everything you could have - and should have - done in the situation," she replied. "It is better that she knew your true intentions from the start, rather than to bolster her hopes with false promises." Kura turned back to her task, and hefted another case into the boat with seemingly no effort at all. Almost abruptly, she turned back to Kaz.

"And yet you are saddened by something. Surely, a resolution in such a serious matter would bring gladness?"

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz caught her look and winked back. She'd be working at dodging his perceptive abilities for a long time if she thought to ever get successful on a regular basis. It was his natural talent, he was a trained Jedi, and most people, particularly Jedi, didn't train at lying well enough to fool someone like him. She went on to suggest there was a reason for the rules of the old Jedi Order and Kaz merely scoffed in return. "A reason doesn't necessarily justify all the foolishness attached to it. Theirs was rooted in a flawed perception of cause and effect... but that's a lesson for another day, my young apprentice."

He chuckled at her accusation of being a hopeless romantic. "I'm a literary soul, the highest form of all emotion is in a book. I grew up with the greatest literature in the galaxy at my fingertips so you might have to forgive me my ideals." Kaz merely smiled, looking at a point a million miles away though his eyes were directed at the sandy ground by his feet. It took a moment but he shook himself loose of the distant place he'd just reached out to just that moment. "Romance doesn't exist on Shili?" He asked innocently.

The young Corellian freed himself fully from the distraction and returned to loading his half of the boat. She absolved him, at least from her personal standpoint, and then called out his sadness as not being truly attached to the situation. She was right, of course. "The sadness is really gentle disappointment, not at what happened but rather at what didn't happen. She'd have been upset, regardless, but I would have taken nothing negative from the creation of a new life. A new Halcyon. Our line is important to us and its continuation, regardless of circumstances, is always celebrated in our house."

[Kura Nuhok]

"Not your apprentice..."

Kura tossed the words casually at him, knowing full well that he was using them to tease her, but it was a joke that would get very old, very quickly. And, until they knew one another's boundaries, he could end up dancing very, very close to a very fine line of annoyance. She twitched a small smile upwards as Kaz attempted to explain his stance on romance, and, if she were honest, it didn't really surprise her. Despite everything - the fact that he was a Jedi, the whole galactic struggle thing - her partner struck her as a gentle soul, someone who would much rather spend his time in the pursuit of nobler pastimes, than spend it stamping out evil.

"There is romance on Shili, yes," she smiled, shaking her head. "However, it is often an afterthought to the more pressing matter of survival." Her parents were a rarity: a couple who loved one another utterly, who had fallen in love of their own accord, rather than being matched to one another and her father having to "win" her mother according to Togruta mating practices. She smiled slightly at the memory. "My parents, though... they have probably set for me a good example as to what love and romance should be like, if you are lucky enough to find someone who you care for that deeply."

Kura blinked, the box she had lifted paused at her waist as Kaz admitted that he had been disappointed that the woman with whom he had had a brief dalliance wasn't pregnant. She frowned a little, genuinely confused. "Most would be ecstatic at such a situation, but you..." She paused, almost finding herself mildly impressed at Kaz's dedication to family, and his legacy within the galaxy. "You are a strange one, Kaziki Halcyon." She left that remark where it stood, and placed the box carefully into the boat. They certainly seemed to be taking rather a lot with them to the hut.

"There seem to be a lot of supplies here. How many people will be accompanying us," she asked. She truly had no idea what Kaz had planned for this sojourn on his homeworld, and she couldn't help feeling that she had better find out, sooner rather than later.

[Kaziki Halcyon]

"Just so..." Kaz responded absently and with equal casualness. It seemed his probes were starting to draw close to her temper. Properly played and he'd have her personality sketched out for if the time ever came to truly defeat her.

He loaded the last of the boxes as she vaguely touched on the concept of Romance amongst her people, the fact that she had no specific example of a tradition or social more that upheld the concept as one of value told him a great deal more than the actual words that she said. They were a practical people, concerned with perpetuation more than the subtle dance of courtship but had wisely put in some mechanism through which love could overcome the usual mode of matchmaking. Or at least it seemed they had if Kura's comment on her parents was anything to deduce by. "I will... or perhaps I already have. Love is sneaky like that. For all I know it could be Ophelia Solaris, though that would require some major paradigm shifts on somebody's part."

Other than being yet another totally self-involved Sith, the young woman he referenced also came from an Imperial loyalist family and none of their encounters had ever ended with anything other than a continuation of their vaguely hostile distance from one another. Yet, he couldn't help but feel her destiny didn't lie in darkness. He could sense her potential, her opportunity to escape the flawed thinking that made her so angry and impotent in the grand scheme of things, looming on the horizon. Somebody who knew it just needed to be there to tear her down so she could build a better perception...

"Unlikely, at best. However, love can be sneaky like that. Somebody you'd never consider suddenly appearing in a different light due to some act you thought out of character. A smile in the right light. One lingering touch. In fact, as Jedi, it might even come as a heads up in a vision." Kaz smiled to himself though he turned the expression on her halfway through. She mentioned that his reaction to the news of no pregnancy was unusual for most, though he had a feeling she meant most males his comparative age. "Family is everything. Without a family one has to struggle to remember what it is we fight for, and exactly what we should and shouldn't do to win that fight."

Kaz bowed to her in a sweeping and romanticized gesture straight out of a holovid at her accusation of him being a 'strange one'. His smile spoke volumes about his thoughts on the matter but his words were yet simple. "We strange ones prefer the term: unique." She asked about all the things they were loading on the boat and winked at her. "Remember, I promised you a few dirty tricks. I also packed a few challenges for you, since being pushed to our limits is how we push those limits. Brought a challenge or two for myself, as well. Oh, and food. We are going to need a great deal of nutrition through our training camp, of the right sort."

He looked her over briefly, nodding in appreciation at her robes though it wasn't the grunt producing inspection her training outfit seemed to draw from him. "Is that all you're bringing, there in the bag?"

[Kura Nuhok]

Kura merely raised an almost exasperated eyebrow at Kaz's assertion that she was his apprentice. So far, their training had proved to be all in his favour: used to fighting in tightly controlled environments, Kura had no doubt that Kaz could be caused to flounder out in the open. Together, they had the potential to form an incredibly strong partnership.

Kaz seemed to ponder the Togruta take on love and romance for a few seconds before advising her that love could hit when you least expected it, even going so far as to toss someone's name into the mix. Kura grinned. "Oh, so that is the way of things, is it," she teased. "Do I need to locate Ophelia Solaris and advise her that you are harbouring feelings of a sort for her?" It was an idle tease, but, at some point, maybe the need would arise to "assist" Kaz in his romantic endeavours. After all, despite his protestation that he was honest where matters of the heart were concerned, it would seem that, just maybe, he was holding something back from someone he seemed to care for.

However, his next comment - seemingly a throwaway one - stilled Kura in her tracks, and she blinked at him for a few seconds. Her skin paled as he mentioned a vision, even right down to the smile and the touch, before her markings flamed as deeply as the rest of her skin. The stripes on her montrals and headtails turned a deep, rich blue, and she had to wonder just how much he knew about the vision she had had on the ship.

"We should not hold too much stock in visions," she replied crisply, a slight shake to her voice, and she couldn't look Kaz in the eye. "They are but a glimpse of our own psyches, at times, and should not be taken too seriously." However, Kura had been severely jolted by the vision of Kaz, his hand warm on her bare skin, the smile one that was unmistakably one that would only be offered to someone close. She didn't want either of them attaching too much significance to something that had probably stemmed from nothing more important than her own overactive imagination.

Kura eventually turned her gaze back to Kaz as he expounded on the importance of family, nodding. "You would make good Togruta," she replied, a slight gruffness to her warm, husky voice. It wouldn't do to be thinking of family right now.

Finally, she managed to return Kaz's smile full strength as he explained the reasons for all of the gear they were stashing in the boat. "I am glad that you are well prepared," she grinned. "I shall, in future, leave strategy and planning in your most capable hands." Glancing down at her own pack as she hefted it into the boat, Kura shrugged. "I travel light," she explained. "This is everything that is important to me, and almost everything I own." She frowned a little. "Is that a problem?"

[Kaziki Halcyon]

Kaz raised his eyebrow in return, meeting her blow for blow in her reaction though he wasn't insisting on his words. Merely prodding her verbally to see how she reacted to it.

He snorted lightly before shaking his head, showing amusement at Kura's words and disappointment at the memory of Ophelia. "She is a noble of my generation here on Corellia. Even before the Sith recruited her she had all the proper personality traits for one of their number. It might have been a young man's fancy but I saw great potential in her if she could just be turned away from her anger, freed from her focus on self. Sadly, before I could attempt to create a situation where I would be able to affect such a course correction she was discovered by the Sith."

"She had a sister, with just as much potential, but she had no sense of subtlety... too much passion and not enough restraint. It got her killed before anyone could create the influence to moderate her enthusiasm with wisdom. What can I say... it was a long childhood." He shrugged off the things he couldn't change in that moment, knowing that things often changed with the fullness of time. "Talking down somebody still wrapped up in their own point of view the way I imagine she is would take an epic confrontation with a minimum of interference from third parties."

The alarms that went off in the Force had Kaz's full and undivided attention, even causing his right hand to twitch toward the doubled sheath he was wearing on the back of his swim trunks, hidden under the back edge of his light shirt, where his lightsabers resided in the casual outfit. It was only a twitch, however, as he zeroed in on the actual sense of alarm that Kura was feeling. Pale and then a furious flushing of her skin that left him in consternation for a long moment before he connected it with the phrase he'd just uttered. Her words that followed, tumbling out so very quickly, affirmed his suspicion.

It caused him to relax and fire off a relieved grin. "Somebody has seen a vision of their own future, I think. Perhaps not such a grand view as we anticipated? Fortunately, you are half right. While visions are no mere dreams the future is always in motion, always subject to the myriad of possibilities that separate the now from the yet to be. It's a cliche mostly, but we adherents of the Unifying Force have a tendency to keep our eyes on the proverbial horizon. The trick is to not let the vision dominate you, it doesn't have to come true but struggling against it might be the very thing that makes it so. If it is in regards to you finding love with someone you don't love just continue as you are... who knows, they might do something to change your opinion. Weirder things have happened... poor sod." He chuckled and stepped into the water that was lapping at the twin pontoons of the boat.

He would make a good Togruta. "You really think? I always fancied a good set of horns." Kaz leaned into it and the boat slid a bit more into the water, every inch making the progress that much easier. "Don't wash your hands of my favored tasks entirely, my friend. You have a unique point of view and the greater our spectrum of knowledge the greater the plans that shall come from it. Victory is in our celebrated differences, not in giving the job to the lone person who excels at it the most. Now, join your pillow case of valuables and we can be off."

[Kura Nuhok]

"So your affections lie with a lady of the Sith," replied Kura, amused that Kaz was clearly sniffing around over enemy lines. "I would never have thought that a Jedi of esteemed standing, such as yourself, would find such an attraction to a self-professed adherent of the Dark Side of the Force!" She was clearly teasing him, but couldn't help wondering just how deeply his feelings went, and whether this emotional entanglement might have a negative impact on his ability to complete their missions.

Kura took a hasty step backwards as Kaz's hand went to draw his lightsaber, and her own fingers went to her waist for a second, wondering what he had sensed within the Force that she had missed, only to realise, at the same time that he did, that what he had felt was her own disquiet at the vision she had seen. Her skin flushed an even deeper red.

"I... it was flashes, that is all," she replied quietly. "Flashes of things that I... I cannot be certain of their context." She didn't have to admit that it was something that possibly involved love for her. Her skin was telling that tale all too clearly. She just had to hope that he wouldn't realise that he had been the other person in the vision, and was the one to be causing her some rather disturbing thoughts.

She smiled slightly sadly as Kaz mentioned that she was a "poor sod" when it came to matters of the heart. "It was probably nothing of import," she replied softly. "I was most likely tired, and... No matter. Forget it." At least it showed the vision for what it had been - stuff and nonsense. "Poor sod indeed," she repeated blandly as she lifted the skirts of her robes and followed Kaz into the water. She nodded as he told her not to wash her hands of the tasks that he was better at than she was. "Then you must ask for my assistance if you ever wish it," she replied.

Doing as she was bid, Kura boosted herself into the little boat, positioning herself among the equipment as best she could, her eyes pinned on the little spit of land that seemed so close, yet so far away. "How long before we are there," she asked, shading her eyes against the sun glittering off the serene water. Kaz had been right - it was beautiful here.