Falling

Chapter VIII

"Y'know, Red, I never asked."

The ginger looked up from his toolbelt to glance at the girl a few feet away as she welded some parts.

"And I get it's a touchy subject, but bear with me." Nima took a moment to move back and wipe the sweat from her brow despite the cool air, smearing grease across her forehead. "Where exactly are you from?"

Cal tensed slightly at the question. He should have expected this eventually. He had forgotten about it for almost two years. Despite the fact they didn't interact much, he had grown to somewhat trust her, but now with this question...

"I'm not asking for specifics," she clarified, focusing on her toolbelt to search for a screwdriver. "I just wanna know what planet. See if I've actually heard of it. Because I've told you before, I don't travel much."

"Corellia," he blurted, surprising himself, but he kept his expression as level as he could. "I'm from Corellia."

In truth, he didn't remember his home planet. He could barely recall a memory. But it was the first planet that made sense, at least to him.

Nima nodded slowly, not looking at him as she returned to her work. "Never been."

He let out a breath of relief and pulled out his welder. His eyes flickered over to her one more time before he resumed his progress. "What about you? Where are you from?" He noticed a pause and turned. "Nima?"

She had stopped her work and was staring at her station blankly before blinking. "I dunno."

His brows furrowed. "You never asked your parents?"

She visibly stiffened. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "Can't."

"Why not?"

"Why do you need to know?"

He jumped at her sudden sharp tone, frowning. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine." She forced herself to relax and took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter."

Cal hesitated before going back to work.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the shift.

—

She had been avoiding him since then, only exchanging a word or two when he spoke to her. He tried to at least have small talk, but she would wave him off completely. It hurt to know he had done something to upset her, but... he wanted to understand why.

This wasn't the first time she closed up on him. She had done it many times before. But this seemed to be worse than the other moments. By now, she would have apologized for her behavior and told him to forget about it, and things would have been back to normal.

She still refused to talk to him.

He felt horrible. He wanted to help her, or at least say something to make her feel better. He wanted to understand why parents were a sore subject. He didn't care what others told him, didn't care that they were warning him not to push it too far. But he had to know. She was one of the only people he was willing to let his guard down around. It was only fair that she did the same, right?

Cal suddenly perked up and looked down the passenger car where people were entering. He watched as Nima entered the car and sat a ways away, slumping in her seat and rubbing her eyes.

It didn't take long for her to feel him staring.

He expected her to tear her gaze away or at least glare upon seeing him, but instead, she simply adjusted her posture and sat upright. Taking that as a safe bet, he got up from his seat and shuffled over to sit next to her.

He offered a small smile even though she wasn't looking at him. "Hey."

She hummed, crossing her arms over her chest.

The boy did a quick scan of the transit car before leaning closer so he could speak in a hushed voice. "Nima—"

"Drop it."

"I just—"

"Want to help. I know. You've said that."

He frowned, knowing her words were meant to dig under his skin... but this time, they didn't. Instead, they encouraged him to give her a once-over.

She was exhausted. The bags under her eyes were clearer than they were last time, and her lids drooped but refused to close. It was clear she was nearing the point where she was going to fall asleep on the job, something that could cost her her life.

It always pained him to see her overworking herself like this. He hated how she would try to push past her limits no matter how many times she was told to take a break.

Was he the cause of this? Was she only burning herself out to get her mind off of memories that she didn't want to remember? Was he the reason she was doing this to herself?

Cal thinned his lips. He knew what he was about to do was probably no good, but he had to say something. He hesitated before reaching over and placing his hand on hers. He waited to see her tired gray eyes before allowing himself to squeeze her fingers.

"Talk to me."

Get it off of your chest. Don't torture yourself like this. I want you to feel better. I want you to take care of yourself. I care about you. I miss you. He hoped all of that was conveyed in the three words he spoke. He hoped it was enough.

She stared at him then let out a huff and ripped her hand away. "What do you want me to tell you? Huh? What do you want to hear? That my parents have been scolding me when I didn't have a job so I had to lie about my age to get one? That I never made enough money to pitch in? That I woke up one morning to find that not only were they gone but the money was, too?"

He listened to every word, his heart aching at the last revelation. Her parents had left her here.

And she knew they weren't coming back.

She glared at him for a few more seconds before throwing her hands up in exasperation. "There. Now you know." Her voice broke, her stare wavering as she tried to remain stoic. "Happy?" Before he could say a word, she tore her gaze from his and wiped her cheek furiously.

He didn't know what to say. He hardly remembered his own parents before being taken to train as a Youngling. He could barely visualize his mother's gentle smile or his father's intelligent eyes. How could he possibly comfort her?

There was really only one way he knew how.

Cal wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. He felt her tense and couldn't help the small tug at his lips.

"Well, who needs them?" he murmured soft enough for her to hear. "They don't know what they lost." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Now it can be you and me. Two loners keeping each other company. If you're okay with that." He hesitated. "You shouldn't feel the need to be alone, Nima."

She grunted softly and let her head fall on his shoulder. "Mkay."

He chuckled and let his thumb rub over her arm in an attempt to soothe her further. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you when we get to our stop."

"Not tired."

He grinned playfully. "I know. Just shut your eyes for a couple of minutes, okay? It'll make us both feel better."

She hummed absentmindedly, enjoying the feeling of his fingertips running up and down her arm. That plus the slight rocking of the transit and the soft lull of other conversations...

Cal smiled when he felt Nima's body fully relax and rested his head atop of hers.

He wasn't supposed to form attachments. That's what he had been taught for years, practically his whole life even.

But he'd be lying if he said he didn't like this feeling.