Efnir and Nomi 7

Nomi and Efnir gather all the Jedi-related evidence from the ship, pack it into bags and head to the hotel together. They others may think the are taking a romantic get-away, and maybe that would be easier and more fun, but the two of them know better. There are pressing matters to address.

They arrive to their room, which is quite well appointed for a far-rim hotel with limited access to resources. Having been one of the oldest establishments, it has parts that are old-fashioned, but the money and time have been put to good use to maintain and build an elegant establishment attempting to offer core-world setting. Nomi runs her fingertips over the gilded edge of a sideboard. The gilt has been worn and possibly scraped from it over the years and is mostly visible in the grain of the wood only. She doesn't look at Efnir. Being better attuned to her emotions than others, he has the sense that she is worried and doing a lot of looking inward. He also has the sense it was hard for her to tell him what was happening and ask for the help she needed and she had gone along with his plan to separate from the others for a bit, but she was nervous about it. He also senses guilt of some kind, but it's not clear from what.

"Are you upset?" She asks quietly, still running her fingers over the smooth, soft wood.

“Did Damasa even explain what she would be doing or was this another unilateral decision on her part? At least with Nawah it ended up being something she was looking for and has had training before, apparently. But what she did to you was reckless and if there was a council to enforce it, illegal. No matter her affiliation. Connecting someone to the Force without then taking the responsibility of training is just…well… as I said, reckless.”

He sighs. “There I needed a little vent. As it is all that no longer matters because I will help you and we will make this good for you. It is really a wonderous thing, you will see, I know it.”

Efnir reaches out and the mattress floats over and plops on the floor by the window which he opens for a bit of air which also lets in some sounds of sea and city. “We will probably be sitting awhile so good to get comfy if you aren’t used to this. All the younglings used to have little pillows.” He sits down cross-legged and looks back over where Nomi pokes at the sideboard. “This is best approached with a focused mind and free of distractions. Take what time you need, then we can see how far we can go with the rest of the day. I think you were already feeling some of a connection earlier when you were taking about ‘feeling all this’ so we can build on that.”

Nomi shakes her head. "No, she didn't explain, she just did it. I would have... I think I would have told her not to." Nomi purses her lips, her chin jutting out and eyes narrowing in consternation. "I have obviously not been trained to maintain balance in all things in my life. I am angry and joyful and sad. And hot and cold and happy. And all of these things in abundance. And I make choices because of how I feel and... " She turns away from the furniture to face him. "Efnir, if I have to change to correctly handle the Force, will I still be me?" The subtext to her question being will you still like me?

She slips her feet out of her boots and pads barefoot to the mattress. "I... So you're not upset... With me? Because now I'm..." She shrugs helplessly.

“Upset with you? Of course not. Listen, we are always changing. Didn’t you change to become a spy? To shoot a blaster? Be a captain? This is just learning another set of skills. You will be you. As Master Yoda would say, the Force flows through and connects everything, so it was there, just now you can notice it. Like someone pointing out a song in the background that you were too busy to hear before. Maybe that helps?”

Efnir pats the mattress across from him. “Now if you are ready to try I can teach you some ways to do this in a controlled way. Maybe we can even see if you have a bit of a talent. Not everyone has a natural inclination and are simply able to touch the Force at times. Things like moving objects, sensing thoughts and feelings and everything else you have seen us do would just have to be learned. So don’t be disappointed if that is the case.”

"An unnoticed melody..." Nomi says quietly. She takes a deep breath and shakes out her hands. Her eyes flutter closed as she visibly relaxes. "You are a wonderful person. And I'm not just saying that because you make out with me," she says as she finally sits down cross legged in the spot he'd indicated.

She tilts her head to the side and looks at him as she leans forward. One of her lek pokes him in the chest. "You know, I think this is the most optimistic you've been since we landed on this horrible planet. And thanks for helping me."

Efnir watches her settle down. “Mostly since figuring out that these visions were darkly twisted possibilities rather than what will be I have been ignoring them. On that topic, keep in mind that this place has a dark nature. I will try to feel as you explore your connection to the Force and break things off if it seems to be steering you down a dark path. Not that you need to be afraid, remember we all draw on it at times. But keep a sense of caution for now at least.”

“Ok, now take some deep breaths and find an inner calm. Then reach out with your feelings. Feel your breath. Feel the mat beneath you. Can you try to extend out? Feel me here nearby. Can you sense my breathing, my pulse? Feel all the details of the room, the scratched and scuffed floor, the fading and flaking paint. Ride the sounds of the ocean and city out the window. Surrender to the Force and let it guide you. When you feel comfortable, see if you are drawn to try to use it in a certain way.”

"I'm glad that it's better. I was worried about you."

Nomi stops delaying since flirting, humor, and general attempts to sidetrack are getting her nowhere. She closes her eyes again, takes a deep breath, lets it out and tries to relax and clear her mind. She's heard about this of course, people have discussed the merits of such activity around her, but she's never engaged actively in any attempts to meditate. She eschewed the lessons that Master Quiet had given and it hasn't come up again since. Not until now. After a moment Nomi sighs and opens her eyes. "How do you people just clear your mind of anything? How am I supposed to stop thinking about all of the things that I have to do and all of the people that I have to take care of and all of the danger that we are facing when I am not doing anything else?" She shakes out her hands again and runs them down her lekku, flicking all 4 limbs at the end as though shaking off the energy and the thoughts.

"The only time that I am not thinking about other stuff is when I am playing my music." She looks at him. "Or when you are absorbing all of my attention of course, I don't want you thinking I am thinking about a bunch of other stuff then. ok!" She sees the stern look Efnir gives her. "Inner calm, inner calm... (hope I don't fall asleep)." She mutters the last quietly under her breath in a disgruntled way. After a moment her breathing becomes more regular and deeper. Efnir can sense her reaching out and then she starts to hum a low, quiet note. He can tell she is following his directions even as she continues the little humming noise and as he instructs her to sense different things the tone modulates a bit as well. Her connection grows stronger and still humming, she smiles.

Nomi opens her eyes and her senses pull back toward her, but don't close off. "It does sing. Do you hear music or did you just make up that metaphor for me? I don't really feel drawn to use it a certain way though. It's almost like I am waiting for something else to happen, like a second melody to join the first."

“When I meditate to calm my mind I hear many things more clearly but not music I guess. Just life and feeling the web of connectedness around me. I made that analogy up for you but if you hear music, go with it. If humming helps you it might not be conventional teaching but I don’t think it matters at this point. Let’s just go with what seems to work. First let’s keep practicing on reaching that mind state that lets you feel your connection more clearly. When that feels comfortable then we can work on it with some distraction. This is going to take some time so we will just have to see where we get today, then have a good meal and rest up to get back at it tomorrow. I am not sure what it you mean by joining in specifically, I am trying to keep a sense on you and also feel the flow of the Force while you are meditating. This time just talk me through what the Force guides you to when you surrender to it. What do you see, what do you feel to do?”

Efnir skootches forward a bit so their knees touch.

Nomi looks down at Efnir's knees. "I thought we were going to leave the distractions for later." When he starts to move away she stops him with a hand on his knee. "No, it's ok, I was just kidding. Mostly. I like having you close." She closes her eyes again, taking deep breaths and concentrating on Efnir's contact, trying to feel the Force, not just the physical connection, but the living connection between her and another being.

After a moment she puts her hands on their knees and wiggles her fingers, asking for him to put his hands in hers. She doesn't open her eyes, continuing to concentrate.

"It's hard to describe. It's like all the living things and all the universe have their own parts to the melody." She hums a couple notes. "That's you." She smiles at him, eyes still closed. "I guess I feel like maybe I could follow, get to know it better, get better at hearing it. But I don't really feel called to do anything. Maybe I don't have any special abilities? Maybe I can just sense it only? Maybe I just need to work on the feeling it all for longer. There's a lot to listen to."

“Yes, good. You don’t need to do anything just feel it, let it flow and just go with it if you are feeling like you could follow. This connection will always be there but with usual life it will fade to the background. Meditation will make us more aware of it. Maybe tomorrow we could try to use it but for the rest of the day just explore this new sense.” She can tell that Efnir is also meditating and can feel like things almost want to move around on their own once he does.

“When it gets later if you are still maintaining this I will get you for dinner. It can be easy to ignore your hunger with good Force time.”

Nomi surprises herself. She is able to maintain a meditative state, flowing with the Force, for about an hour, before she has to go to the bathroom and get something to drink. She tries not to disturb Efnir as she eases off the mattress, stretches her protesting legs and goes to use the facilities. When she is done, she returns to her same spot, nudging her knees up against his and slipping her hands into his. She re-enters her meditative aspect and does her best to maintain this for the rest of the day. Her stamina is not so great as his. By dinner time her stomach has started to rumble and she is struggling to maintain a hold on her new senses, only continuing to try because he said to, not really because she wants to. She opens her eyes and watches him half with her vision and half with her sense of the force. She had admired him before: his strong will, patience and loyalty, and his ethic; but now, having a subjective grasp of his connection to the Force, which appears quite deep in her senses, she has a new awe. She smiles as she watches him, content to just stare for a while as he meditates, though her loudly growling stomach is a bit of an embarrassment.

Without moving or opening his eyes Efnir states “no need to be embarrassed you aren’t used to this kind of thing. Also no need to sneak I’m not asleep.”

He then smiles and opens his eyes. “Hopefully you found it easier to touch the Force now. Remember the goal here is not to make you an expert meditator but to try to get you at least comfortable making the connection and a good mindset. Anyway, it is obviously time to eat. Let’s go.”

He then holds out a hand to help her up from the mattress. On the way to the door to the room he asks “so after we fill our bellies what do you want to do with the rest of the evening? Keep working or take a break?”

Nomi's embarrassment deepens just a bit as he tells her that she doesn't need to be, but his smile tempers this. "That's good, because I don't think I could be an expert in the next few hours. I can see why a person is supposed to start at this young. I'm not sure my knees like it." As though in agreement, as she takes his hand and starts to stand, one of her legs gives way and she has to catch herself. She hops around a bit and shakes her leg out. "It's so asleep," she says with a frown and a grimace. "ooof."

She limps with him to the door, each step becoming a bit stronger as the circulation is restored in her leg and the pins and needles feeling fades. "To be honest, I think I need a break. At least from sitting with my legs crossed."

A droid seats them at one of the roof terraces tables for two. After plucking one of the flowers from the table vase and tucking it into her wrap, Nomi takes in the view. She carefully does not look over the edge and down, but looking across the expanse is just fine. The sun is starting to set and the gas giant is becoming more visible, with swirling green, red and white patterns across its surface. "What color is Iktotchon?" Nomi asks Efnir.

“Yellow with streaks of red where the gas storms blow which then makes for some orange auras. I remember sometimes there can be reactions that make for what looks like green sparks. Those were random. The gas giants can make for some nice skies but inevitably there will be an eclipse and those get really dark. I wonder how often that happens here? I bet Vic could calculate it from the orbit.”

Efnir gazes off in the distance after a modest helping of the special of the night, then casually slides his plate over. Nomi looks down and realizes she didn’t even notice she had finished off her plate already.

“Kind of nice to have a few days without any urgent matters when we aren’t cooped up on the ship. You said you wanted to have a break tonight, anything you had in mind?” He looks back over, seemingly unaware about commenting on a ‘few days.’ “After walking around town today I can’t say there is much local culture for tourists to enjoy. Unless you like ship repairs and modification I guess.”

"You don't want it?" Nomi is surprised to feel like she could easily eat the rest of Efnir's plate and then dessert besides. And she's not surprised he knows this, but still feels it's sweet of him to care for her this way. She eats the remainder of his food, trying not to be self conscious about eating when he is not.

"I hope you get a chance to see your home world again, if you want to. As to tonight, I am sure we could find something to do. Vocho probably has the whole list of nightlife spots somewhere. You might be able to get away with hitting the cards here if you want to try, just seeing as they may not know an Iktochi. Or they may not care. But I am honestly fine with just staying in with you." She laughs. "Maybe taking the chance to bathe in actual hot water with scented soap. We could see if they have any holorecordings we want to watch. I'm sure nothing current, but I bet Vocho has a library of classics."

Efnir replies “There isn’t really anything on Iktotch that would pull me there and I am content to know the Emperor is leaving it alone.

“I think all those things sound fun, and the only one I have done before is bathe, though how you described it it sounds like a different thing. The Jedi Temple was not really a place for youth fun times. We will probably be in a long time tomorrow so keep that in mind, but whatever sounds best to you to rest and recharge is good for me. Desert?”

"How did you...? Of course you knew." Nomi picks a milk cake with some kind of local, purplish berry. She offers some to Efnir, to share, but eats anything he doesn't want. She has a sweet tooth to satisfy, after all.

"I suppose it's always just been a refresher for you? Mostly I think baths are more likely on planets with a lot of water. I saw a tub in the room when I was there earlier. You fill it up with water as warm as you like and then just sit in it for a while, it's relaxing. Then you wash. I once 'worked for' a human woman on Coruscant who would take a bath every other day. It was one of those luxurious things only someone with a lot of money and time would think or know of to do. But if you have the opportunity, it can be very nice.  It's not like I've gotten to do it more than a couple of times."

"We could do it all. Go out and find a game of Sabacc to play a few hands, watch a holovid and have baths. And then sleep in. Oooh, I haven't gotten to sleep in for ages."

“Deal. Tonight sample whatever ends up being available and sleep in. Then more practice tomorrow. After that we can see what sounds good.”

Efnir pays for the meal and they head down to the hotel lobby. “I think you might need to pick; I wouldn’t recognize any titles or know if they are good. I think that was the concierge over there? Then we can patrol the city for games of chance, unless you want to wait on picking a vid until afterwards? Wouldn’t make much sense to pay for a holovid only to not get to watch it due to getting tossed in jail or on the wrong side of hooligans for gambling.” When she looks over with a bit of a startled face, obviously wondering if it was a Vision he shakes his head. “Not a vision- well, not one of those I can tell are true.”

Nomi shakes her head, "Then I am definitely picking something out before we go, all the more to help us remember we have something to come back here for tonight." She leads him to the concierge and asks about holorecordings and is given a directory to browse. Nomi lingers over the romantic comedies and considers the action adventure but settles for a vid she had heard about once that was supposed to be very funny and have a happy ending, but not too sappy. She asks for the data chip to be sent to their room for later.

Taking Efnir's hand Nomi leads him out of the hotel looking for a likely place that they can find a Sabacc table to join in. Hopefully one where they don't recognize Efnir right away and tell them to get lost. While Nomi doesn't have the underworld street-smarts her sister or Brawln might have, she is guileful enough to spot what they are looking for. She explains the rules as they go, and it is a lot to remember, but as long as they don't get into too high stakes of a game, it won't matter anyway in the end. Nomi suddenly stops and narrows her eyes as she looks into a cantina playing tinned jizz music. She confidently leads Efnir into the establishment and toward the back, where it is dark and a little bit smoky and where there is a table with three beings holding cards. She walks right up and says "Room for two more? We can buy-in," with a genuine smile and a flash of credits. The three look Nomi and Efnir over, not blinking an eye at the Iktochi.

"Sure thing sweetheart. The buy-in is 25c each. You two played much?"

Nomi laughs and sits down at the table placing 50 credits worth of chits on the table. "I really, really want to learn and my... friend said that the only way to learn the best is to play for real. So I am hoping you'll go easy on me." Nomi realizes belatedly that she and Efnir have never had that conversation about labels, when you call each other by your first name to everyone that you talk to you don't refer to each other in titles. It hadn't been an issue before. Listening to her, Efnir detects suggestions of fatuousness and inanity in her voice and the way that she is gesturing and moving her face that she has never shown before and which, frankly, he knows she lacks completely. The three males at the table however seem taken with the idea that an airhead who has never played Sabacc before has bought in at their table. It probably doesn't hurt that she is a good-looking Twilek, even if she's not wearing a low-cut shirt and short skirt. They hardly give Efnir a second glance as they deal in the two newcomers.

Efnir doesn’t mind being ignored; when out in public like this he prefers it. He tries to remember all the details of play to make an effort but it does not take much to notice he is playing very conservatively. This ends up working out well enough in the end, as he ends up 25 credits which he then gives back to Nomi to cover his entrance fee. She would be able to tell that this was likely the plan for the start, and the small sum wouldn’t be worthwhile for the other gamblers to care enough about even if they noticed. While they played he was also feeling for if she drew on the Force in any way, to see what she could do when interacting with others since that was what caught his attention initially yesterday.

Nomi continues her airhead ruse while they play, maintaining attention to her, though it becomes pretty clear that the other players don't have attention on Efnir's possible ability to see the future. She's funny and charming and frequently makes a confused face and shows her hand "is this any good?" She especially seems to do this in ways that help Efnir such as one time when he bets above his hand and is about to lose quite a few credits she says "Having the card called the Idiot is a good thing, right? And then I want to match 2 and 3 pictures?" She smiles happily at the answer. The rest of the table folds and then she concedes the hand to Efnir, never showing her cards. Once more when Efnir has a rather good hand, Nomi's comments encourage the other players to bet high and Efnir wins well. Apparently she can read Efnir's tells.

Nomi braeks even and they leave on good terms with the other players an hour or so after sitting down.

She takes Efnir's hand as they walk out of the cantina. "Well, did you have fun?" She asks. He never sensed her using the Force during their time at the Sabacc table. Thinking about it, Nomi was acting like someone other than herself and while she is very good at lying and pretending from being a spy that's not really who she is anymore or who she wants to be. When he saw her reaching for the Force before it was while she was being genuine and working to help another, something which seems to align more with her sense of good and he may have to observe her doing something like that again to encourage her to reach for the Force.

“I don’t know that I would call that fun. I was too worried about getting found out and it starting something unpleasant. Did you have fun? Was it what you were looking for? I noticed you put on a mask again.” While they walk through Avernus his eyes are constantly scanning around for possible dangers in the streets at night. “Are we heading back now or did you want to find some other game first?”

Nomi is noticeably disappointed. "I'm sorry. The whole point of that outing was for you to have fun. Maybe I should get some Sabacc cards and we can just play with the crew. And maybe we just stick to cultural outings. I think we both enjoy that more." She notices him keeping a vigilant eye.

"Let's head back to the hotel where you can relax. This isn't what I intended the night to be." She sighs. "I'm sorry I put on that mask if it made you feel uncomfortable. I guess, I just..." She shrugs. "I didn't feel like being me was the way to have that interaction come out right. It seemed like I should present them a face they might interact with more easily, to, um... Keep their attention off of you. And also, part of Sabacc is about lying. Does it? Make you uncomfortable, I mean, when I put on some different face?"

“What? It was for you to get out and relax and recharge! You don’t need to worry about me; sitting in meditation all day exploring the mysteries of the Force is kind of my thing. But gambling in a setting where the others wouldn’t mind unintentional cheating and I won’t get jailed or beat up or thrown out could be good. It was a little thrilling I guess to try something new and forbidden. It does not bother me when you go pretending. You obviously got skilled at that stuff with the spy work. Like watching a show on the net or an actor on stage. I could just tell the difference and was not sure if you were doing it out of habit, or need, or amusement. This place is still dangerous so it might have been needed for cover.” He shrugs. “I have been told I have a good poker face and now I have a better idea what that means. Actually one of the younglings who told me that initially at the Temple tried to make me think it was because of the horns.”

They turn to head back in the direction of the hotel.

"I wasn't worried about you, I just picked it because I thought you might like to try it... I frequently do things because I think you might like them... If I were to pick something just for myself to relax I would have asked for a back rub and to cuddle and watch a romantic holovid with me. I just didn't want you to be bored. But now I feel silly. I'm glad there was at least a little thrill. And maybe I enjoyed play-acting a bit." She smiles and slides her hand from his and up to his bicep as she squeezes his arm. Nomi gazes at Efnir a moment. "I... Hm... Nevermind." She blushes and looks away.

"Maybe your poker face has something to do with the horns, but I think you have just schooled yourself not to make expressions you don't want to. You do have some tells, though. You look at me more when your hand isn't good and the others more when it is, for example."

The streets are quiet, offering a feeling of a peaceful night.

Efnir looks over wondering what it was she was going to say but leaves it alone. They walk back to the hotel, luckily un-accosted by thieves, con-men or murderous pirates.

On return to the room it has been straightened up, mattress back in place on the bed, and on the floor nearby is the tub. It is nothing overly fancy or gaudy, possibly second-hand but knowing this place more likely simply built. It is sized for 2 and has its own power for a heater and water jets if desired. Steam rolls off the water surface and dissipates over a stack of towels next to which is a pitcher of flower-scented oil and a bar of soap. A holostick sits next to the decent sized holoprojector by the far wall.

Looking over the adjustments to the room, Efnir asks “Well maybe this plan of yours will go more or less how you drew it up.” He then walks over to pick up the bar of soap and gives it a sniff. “Ah, this isn’t too fragrant I think it is all coming from that” and gestures at the pitcher. “What did you end up picking to watch? The list of names didn’t mean anything to me.”

Nomi perks up. "Meaning you're going to give me a backrub?" she asks. Then, suddenly feeling a little shy, she gestures at the tub. "This, um, is pretty fancy for a bath. The air jets are a nice touch." Avoiding looking at Efnir, she crosses to the holoprojector and picks up the stick finding the end to insert into the projector and does so. "It's a funny one. Or at least one I have heard is funny. I haven't seen it myself. It was popular on Corelia when I was there a year ago and I was tempted to watch it, but I never found the time." She shrugs. "Spying is busy work. Not a lot of chances to go to a vid theater. Though I am sure I have seen more than you, so I guess I shouldn't make any claims to deprivation." The intro screen displays a cast of humans with token members of non-human species, which is not unusual for a big production holovid. Nomi turns around and jumps when she finds Efnir looking at her. "um..." she bites her lip. "Should I press play now or wait until after we get in the tub?"

Efnir replies “well you are well positioned to do so. I am not sure how import the beginnings are but I would think we will have some divided attention getting settled in the bath. Maybe that’s fine, but it is also easily started by me once we are settled in.” He wiggles his fingers towards the projector. “Your choice.” He begins to disrobe. “If you want a backrub I can give you a backrub. Is that what this oil is for? Or is it for the bathwater? Maybe they assumed we would need it for a droid? This is definitely going to make me feel like one of the Temple droids getting dipped and soaked in the oil baths in your workshop. Ha!”

Nomi shakes her head. "Oils would just float on top of the water. They must be for after, for moisturizing the skin. Maybe for massage..." She gestures at the projector. "I'll let you start it when we are ready then. Um..." Nomi averts her eyes from Efnir as he starts to undo his robe. Certainly she has seen him without clothes before and he has seen her, but with her extra sense it has somehow become different, newer and more intense. "Um... I'll be right back." Nomi grabs one of the towels and disappears into the refresher.

Behind the closed door she leans against the wall and puts her hand to her chest, trying to still her racing heart. What is going on with her? She feels so nervous it's like she has never been around a boy she likes before. Of course, she has never liked anyone as much as she does Efnir, but she never expected to be acting or feeling like this. Some deep breaths later she has calmed herself enough to cross to the little sink and brush her teeth, taking that much control of herself helps. She splashes cold water on her face and wrestles with the zippers on her clothes as her hands shake. When she re-opens the door she has replaced her clothes with the towel and takes a step but pauses in the doorway having to regain her composure, possibly coming off as standing there so Efnir can get a good look at her in a towel. She has closed her eyes and is breathing through parted lips. After a little bit she opens her eyes and crosses to the tub where Efnir has settled in. "Well, how does it feel? Your first bath. Not too hot?"

Efnir chose to go ahead and get in the tub while Nomi was out and so watches as she comes back in towards the tub. “Oh it isn’t my first time washing in a tub or pool or similar, though it has been awhile since we just had showers in the Temple dorms. It is just my first time with it being an... experience.” He gestures around. “The temperature was maybe warmer than I would have chosen personally at first but I adjusted well enough. Hopefully you don’t find it not warm enough, but if we need to we could turn it up gradually I think. You were able to find some calm there in the middle of your feelings. That is good. It is similar discipline when working with the Force. An unexpected lesson.” He smiles and watches, waiting for her to join.

Nomi looks embarrassed, again. "Yes, well, I have a lot of feelings. You'd like I'd be better at the whole 'finding calm' thing. Could you...?" She gestures for him to look away while she gets out of her towel and climbs into the tub. While it is built for two, it is not a huge space for two, meant to be intimate rather than friendly. "When I mentioned a bath earlier I had not been thinking about it as a two person... experience." she says, mimicking his description of the situation. It is impossible to avoid their bodies touching as she settles into the warm water. Nomi closes her eyes and takes a steamy breath. "The temperature is just fine. It feels nice," she lets him know.

“Would I like it better? Sure, in general. That is part of the whole point of this. Learning to feel the Force and maybe start to use it, but safely. You would eventually be able to use the Force one way or another, either consciously or instinctually. But if you use it from a place of strong emotion that can more easily lead to the Dark side, because anger and fear are strong and can drown out reason. Don’t expect to master this in an evening, but you should at least know why we train in these things and what some risks are. You are just starting this journey and I just want to make sure these first steps are in the right direction and you tied your shoes.” He then reaches out towards the projector and she hears a faint button click and the vid begins. “Now this was meant as a break and relaxation from all that so let’s watch.”

Nomi blinks in confusion and after a moment says "I meant to say 'you'd think', not 'you'd like. I got caught on my own tongue, I guess," she says. "Thank you for helping me. I'd be lost without you." Nomi reaches down under the water to find Efnir's hand and hold it and just as she does so she looks sharply up at him with a surprised and confused expression on her face. "I felt that!" She says excitedly. She wiggles her fingers toward the projector just as he had done earlier. "Like, it felt like if I wanted to I could interact with what you did. Not with the projector, but with the way you were touching the Force."

“Oh really? Let’s explore that more tomorrow then.” Efnir settles back and lets her hold his hand while watching the holovid. It is funny and they share some laughs. It is nice to be able to take in some entertainment like this compared to being on the ship for extended time. After a time he stands up to soap up then holds it over in case she was ready for the same.

She smiles at him, half dreading that he would have started in on a new lesson right then and there and then realizing that he does know when to quit, which is a good trait. She sits back to take in the movie and soak in the warm water, letting it relax her muscles and help relieve her never-ending tension. When Efnir decides to wash, Nomi does so too, basically ready to be done in the tub since she is feeling pruney and a bit dried out on the inside despite sitting in a tub full of hot water. She rinses and gets out to towel off, paying token attention to the movie and in an attempt at modesty, keeping her back to Efnir. Nomi drinks a bottle of water and hands one to Efnir when she is done. The holovid still plays and she stands there with a towel wrapped around herself for a moment before asking Efnir, "Are you going to get dressed for bed or go as you are?"

TO BE CONTINUED