Bankor

There were plenty of open tables. Niall sat at an empty one.

With a sigh, he stirred some of his food with his utensils. He knew he needed to eat, but the brutality of the Mandalorian attack left him a little shaken. He stared listlessly at his food, trying to gather the enthusiasm to eat it.

Another person slid into the seat across from him, a sweet, spicy scent clinging to them. "Hey," said a familiar voice, "You don't look like you're doing so hot."

Niall glanced up instantly. His expression brightened upon spotting the familiar face. "Mmm. Indeed." He said. "Ironically, it is at least in part due to the heat. Alderaan is much more temperate than this place. Although I suppose it has its deserts."

He leaned forward a little. The scent she wore was an intriguing one, teasing at his senses. "How have you been, Luth?" He said, offering her just a hint of a smile. "I haven't seen you since the night before planetfall."

Luth nodded and sighed. "It's pretty sweltering... Not as bad as Tatooine, though, so there's that," she said, offering a smile. A shrug at that. "SIS stuff. You know how it is."

Niall grimaced. "All too well. Ah... anything you can talk about?"

The grimace became a smile. "Ah yes, Tatooine. Our special place." He joked. Where she had shot him. "Actually, it makes me think back on the time we spent at my summer home. The lake was cool, remember?" He sighed. "That sounds rather nice right now, doesn't it?"

"No, not really," she replied with an apologetic expression. At his joke of "our special place", she winked and made a finger gun at him, looking for all the world like flirting from the outside, but making a similar reference. She broke into a sigh and closed her eyes. "Yeah... I'd like to retire with somewhere with plenty of water... a lot of room to swim. That would be nice. Some place with cool water and a cool breeze to cut the heat in the warm season."

The finger gun made him laugh softly.

Niall's eyebrows went up. "There's always next summer. You'd be welcome back. Swim as much as you like. Teach me a thing or two." He made a face. "Actually, that's been part of Vera's training for me. Or at least it was, before this campaign started." His uniform fit him as well as ever, but he did appear to be a bit healthier, more fit since she'd seen him last.

"It's a great full body workout," she replied with a nod. "I'd like to come visit again. I enjoy the opportunity to hang out with you, too. The planet I grew up on, there was a lot of water near us. Before we were old enough to work, my sisters and I used to make little rafts out of scrap we could get ahold of."

"Oh?" Smiling, Niall sat back in his seat. He looked notably more relaxed than when she first sat down. "That sounds lovely. I did a bit of rafting myself when I was younger. Hurt myself, showing off." He chuckled softly at the fond memory.

"How well did they hold together?" He asked. His voice was gentle; he didn't know if talking about her family was difficult.

She chuckled. "Well, they were cobbled together by kids from scrap, so about as well as you'd expect. It floated, but your ankles were underwater as it did if you stood on it."

Niall chuckled softly at that. "Well, no wonder you're a better swimmer than I am. It sounds like you started at a young age."

He sighed, finally beginning to eat a bit of his meal. "Maybe that's another thing you'll have to show me. I can get a raft, but I rather like the idea of putting one together." He sighed again. "I suppose we've got to get through all of this, first."

"Yeah. IT's just a matter of practice, though," she assured with a smile. "That sounds fun. But that means you're not allowed to die, all right?"

One of Niall's eyebrows went up, even as he smiled. "It's a deal. But you know, that goes for you, too. No dying."

He tilted his head, looking at her. "I've got a mission later today. The team's already set. But I may have other things later." His lips quirked. "If you want to personally make sure that I'm not dying."

"Deal," she replied with a smile in return, reaching across the table with her hand open to shake it. "No dying."

Once the shake was done, she sat back and nodded. "I may take you up on that. Keep me apprised of your plans."

"Will do." Niall gave her a vague acknowledging wave.

He paused, taking another bite of food, swallowing. "Luth," He began, "-you strike me as the sort who tries to do things on her own as much as possible. Am I right?"

She paused and watched him for a moment, before shrugging. "I guess so, yeah."

Niall nodded slowly. "It makes sense. You've been in deep cover a lot. I imagine that you have to depend almost entirely on yourself."

He gave her a smile. "Just keep in mind, if there is something you need, you can feel free to ask me. I do hope you know that."

"If I think of something you can do, I'll let you know," she replied, giving a small half-smile.

"Good." Niall nodded. "That includes if you just want to talk to." His lips pressed together. "Although, I suppose you can always talk to Arali. How is Arali, anyway?"

She sighed. "Don't know. I haven't seen her since I got back to camp."

"Oh. Hmmm." Niall frowned thoughtfully.

After a few moments, he offered her a hesitant smile. "Ah... perhaps it's none of my business, but..." He chewed his lip a moment. "Everything okay?"

"Between her and I? Everything's fine when we last spoke... It's not uncommon for work to keep us apart for long periods of time," she reassured. As for everything else, it's terrible.

"That makes sense." Niall said encouragingly. "Between SIS and the Jedi order, I imagine the two of you are quite busy."

He hesitated a moment, and then went on. "If it helps... I quite understand. There's someone very dear to me. But I hardly ever get to see her. Twice in the last two years." He sighed. "It's not easy, is it?"

"Yeah..." She sighed and leaned her chin on her hand. "And if the Jedi decide that I'm a problem for her, well..."

Niall was silent for a moment, a look of shared concern on his face.

"What happens then?" He asked.