open open open forever D:

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

The Sensorium was (once again, for this particular occupant) reflecting the glowing opulence of an upper level in the Imperial Palace.

Mara Jade Skywalker's hair was swept up off the base of her neck and she wore a very flowy, light green dress as she leaned against a balcony railing, watching imaginary traffic sweep past her. Above, below, across, the speeders were just flashes of light.

Every so often, a servant or some nameless Imperial would wander by and she would tense, idly worried that her subconscious would prompt Stacy to bring in someone less savory. Like her former Master.

For now, though, it was just traffic and night air.

Comments

[craaazyisland]

He didn't look quite so sure about that. "Are you sure? If you're busy, I just- I was just going to pop in for just a second..."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

Her hand moved in an idle fashion as she shook her head. "I'm not busy, just...traffic watching. Thinking. I can do that anywhere and I can do that with someone in here too."

[craaazyisland]

Actually getting a look at the surroundings seemed to attract Steve away from the idea of running away. He slowly stepped away from the door and over towards the balcony, marveling at the city around them. This was sort of the first time he'd seen anything from Luke's, uh... "world."

"What's this place?"

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"The Imperial Palace...at the height of the Empire, from when I was around...eight, I believe. I went to my first party here when I was eight. Happy memories of this place only come from when I was a child, really."

[craaazyisland]

That didn't explain all the spaceships, but Steve wasn't about to ask about them and look stupid.

"It's pretty. The lights and the ships, I mean." Stunning conversation there, kiddo.

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"It is, yes." She glanced over her shoulder at the speeders flashing by again. "This is on Coruscant, one giant city planet. Traffic is nonstop and so it always looks like this, no matter what time of day."

[craaazyisland]

"Sounds like New York." Yeah, because she totally knows what that is.

"We don't have ships where I come from, so the idea of traffic that goes vertical is just... mind-boggling to me."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"Would you like to drive around this area? I can take you." Mara offered, her fingers gripping the balcony. "I think I could still manage to steal Tarkin's speeder like I used to."

[craaazyisland]

His expression looked slightly like she had just chucked a bucket of cold water in his face. "Huh? You mean like, in one of those?"

He didn't want to impose, especially if it meant stealing something, but his inner gearhead won before he could protest. "Uh... sure! If it's not a problem."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"Awesome." Mara flashed him a quick and toothy grin. "As long as Stacy doesn't decide that Tarkin needs to show up in time to catch us, this'll be a piece of cake."

[craaazyisland]

Steve just shrugged his shoulders, looking a little more at ease now. "Ah, run him over. It's just a simulation, right?"

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

Mara paused as she walked, clicking heels coming to a stop. And she grinned slyly. "It's not as if I didn't try to do that all the time when I was learning to fly anyway."

She beckoned him to follow her, still grinning.

[craaazyisland]

He shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried along after her.

"When did you learn to fly?" he asked. It wasn't as though flying small planes was equatable to flying spaceships, but he was curious anyway.

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"I sat on some pilot's lap when I was eight. They were so annoyed about it because I was just some little girl the Emperor ordered them to take up. I didn't fly on my own until I was twelve...but by the time I got my own ship, I was a pro."

She paused again, considering. "I had to learn a lot before I could learn the fun stuff, though."

[craaazyisland]

Steve nodded. "They started letting me actually use the controls when I was 15," he said. "I just got my junior pilot license last year... but I'm nowhere near getting my own plane or anything."

He smiled a little sedately. "And I'm sure a ship is nothing like a plane anyway."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"Maybe you'll pick up starship flying faster. Who knows?" Mara smiled back as she stepped inside a turbolift.

"Tarkin parks in...Hangar Besh." She murmured to herself, pressing a button on the lift's panel.

[craaazyisland]

"I don't know." He shrugged a bit, shaking his head. "I don't know if I'm allowed to fly real ships or not." His hands dug a little further into his pockets. "But it's cool to learn about them anyway, I guess."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"When someone tells you that you can't do something," Mara ducked to look at him with that sly little grin on her face. "You should always do your best to do it...unless it's gonna get you hurt."

[craaazyisland]

"Oh, I don't listen to anybody who orders me around. But it's not that." He made a vague gesture to the bandages wrapped around his forearms, the leftovers from his recent three-week stint in quarantine. "Flying's kind of hard on you. And I don't know if the docs would let me."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"Honey, you just need to fly my ship." She laughed, shaking her head. "Handles like a dream. More button pushing than yolk grabbing."



The fact she's even joking about letting you near her ship, let alone fly it, Steve, MEANS SHE LIKES YOU.

[craaazyisland]

"Okay, if you really don't mind some time-displaced Earth kid crashing your ship into the ground," he teased.

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

She pressed a hand to her heart and frowned. "Okay, maybe not. It's like my first child. I wouldn't let you crash Ben into the ground either."

They made it to the hangar and she jury-rigged the first speeder she saw (Tarkin's, of course. Luxury six seater.) and slipped into the driver's seat. "Hop in, kid."

[craaazyisland]

"I'm pretty sure Ben could beat me up if I tried," Steve mumbled as he slid into the seat next to her.

He thought about joking about driving, but given his comments about crashing into the ground, he knew it was a long shot.

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"Well if he beat you up, I'd expect you to try to beat him up back." Mara said as they lifted off and went out the hangar~ "But I'm not going to let either of you beat each other up. It's not fitting."

[craaazyisland]

"Oh, I would. But he's got Jedi powers and I've got a really shitty case of the flu," he pointed out. "I'm just planning on staying on his good side."

It was strange, the feeling of moving straight up in a vehicle-- a lot more freeing than comparatively bulky planes.