Bankor

"I'm a little surprised you would pick me," Cole ran a hand through his blonde curls.

He shrugged. "I suppose there are others, like Zane, but you're the first one I've spoken with about any plans after all of this. I'm sure I'd have just as much fun getting drunk with you as I would anyone else. Besides, I still owe you a few dozen drinks for patching me up so many times."

Galen’s response was sobering, and Cole was reminded of the saying about not asking questions that you didn’t want to know the answer to. “Makes sense,” he half-shrugged.

"I think it would be fun." he added. "To see what clubs you prefer and what trouble we could get into."

“I never was any good at trouble,” Cole raised a hand to adjust his spectacles, but he wasn’t wearing them. He’d taken them off earlier at the Rec Hall. “Tried it once, it didn’t go so well.”

"I seem to be pretty good at it, so it should balance out." he chuckled. "Look, Doc, it's just a suggestion. We get along pretty well and I thought it would be fun to hang out. That's all."

Cole made a dismissive gesture, “it’s fine, I’m—
(fundamentally broken)
sure it will be fun.” He ran a hand through his hair and nodded, as if he could make it be true.

"How do you usually unwind, Doc? What do you do for fun?"

“When I’m on Coruscant?” he clarified, “last time I was there I spent most of my nights bar hopping.” That was only part of the truth, but he figured it was a large enough part.

"In general." he shrugged. "But, that's also good to know."

Cole gave a sort of self-effacing shrug, “I joined the navy when I was sixteen. There wasn’t a whole lot of time for recreation, and I didn’t particularly get along with my troop. I studied a lot. When I arrived on Nar Shaddaa, I was barely out of training. So, I went to Coruscant, visited a lot of bars, and then it was off to the Outer Rim with small frigate group and being cooped up for long periods of time with precious little for entertainment.”

He nodded. "That's another reason I dislike space travel. It can be extremely boring."

“Well, I have Pepper and Piper to look after now. I suppose mucking out their mess every cycle will be something to stave off a little boredom.”

"That's a good point. Navi is fairly low maintenance. Maybe I should find an additional companion."

The small puckmaren dropped down onto Galen from a branch somewhere above. Whether he was protesting or supporting the idea wasn't clear.

“Evening, Navi,” Cole said, finding the bottle Galen had supplied and drinking deeply.

The creature watched Cole for a few moments, before leaping away and back into the branches.

"Don't go far!" Galen yelled.

“You’re trusting. Aren’t you ever afraid he won’t come back?”

"Sure. But, I'm not going to keep him captive, especially one of the few times we're in his native terrain." he sighed. "He'll be back, though. I haven't seen any signs of predators that would risk coming this close to camp. And, neither of us wants to be alone for long."

"No, I don't suppose any of us do."

"I don't care much for crowds either, though. Where are you from, Doc?"

Cole lifted a hand and waved vaguely towards the night sky, "no where, really. I've heard a lot of definitions for what people call home, but none of them seem to apply."

"I can certainly understand that." he nodded. "Where were you born?"

"Aboard the medical frigate Hastram, the Brigadier Admiral was on deployment, and my mother was with him."

"So, you were born on a ship? Did you grow up on ships?"

"Mostly, yeah. When I was really little, it didn't matter much. Just another navy brat taking those small classes on ships. When I got a bit older, the Brigadier Admiral set mother and I down on Ruan so I could go to a proper school."