Star Wars: The Xenobiologist and the Exiled

Chapter 4

Preparations

A gentle silence hung in the air in Chesmi’s office. It wasn’t a bad silence. Not in the least. It was a silence of focus as Chesmi’s fingers flew over her keyboard, writing out a detailed outline of all her findings. Lovande sat to her right, watching her with a slight lovestruck look in his eyes. She had such prose when writing about her findings. It made sense, though. This essay would be given to Gavdan, who would then bring it to the attention of the leaders of the New Republic. Chesmi had mentioned the possibility of presenting her work to them.
Lovande had no doubt she’d have that opportunity. She was brilliant, charismatic, and strong. There was nothing she couldn’t overcome. Not even the poachers they’d run into a few weeks ago. She was an unstoppable, perfect force.
Chesmi sighed and stretched, her elbow joints cracking a bit.
“Well, I think that’s a good stopping point for today. If I keep going, we could be here all night. I don’t know about you, but I could use a good meal and maybe a pastry to top it off. How about we hit Dex’s Diner, then Maive’s Bakery on the corner for pastries?”
“You’re speaking my language.”
“No, this is speaking your language,” Chesmi said in cheunh.
Lovande tried to hide the smile and laughter that was building, but found no success. He doubled over, catching himself on her desk. He took a deep breath, gaining his composure back.
“That was a great comeback. Not even my brother has said anything that clever.”
Chesmi could see the sadness behind his eyes. She placed her hand on his shoulder, offering reassurance.
“Hey, you alright?”
“I’ll be fine. It’s as you said: mourn what you can no longer have, but cherish the memories.”
She smiled as she stood up, then took his hand.
“Come on. Let’s go get dinner and pastries. Maybe we’ll buy a dozen to last us. Chocolate glazed with chocolate mousse in the middle?”
“I was thinking we’d go a little wild and get the meiloorun chocolate filling instead.”
“Oh, daring today, aren’t we?”
Chesmi pushed the button to call the turbolift. Lovande pulled her close, his arms wrapped around her lower back.
“More than you think.”
He kissed her deeply, drinking in everything about her. The scent of her perfume, the softness of her skin, and the warmth of her body. Nothing in the entire galaxy could possibly-
“Ahem.”
Chesmi and Lovande pulled out of their kiss and turned their gaze. Kaeya was standing there, arms crossed, and a sour expression.
“Kaeya, can I help you? We were a little busy here.”
“If I didn’t interrupt you’d probably get busy. How’s your essay, Chesmi?”
There was something very off about Kaeya’s tone, but Chesmi elected to ignore it. Jealousy made people do idiotic things.
“It’s going just fine. We’re making a lot of progress and hope to have it completed by next week.”
Kaeya continued staring, her eyes darting back and forth between the two.
“So, when did you two become a thing?”
Her emphasis on the word made Chesmi roll her eyes.
“We’ve been bonding for a while. It was only recently we started courting.”
“Hmph. Would’ve been nice if I’d been notified about you leaving.”
Lovande narrowed his eyes.
“You don’t always need to know where I am. It’s unnerving you think you do.”
Kaeya simply scoffed and left. Chesmi rolled her eyes again and boarded the waiting turbo lift. She watched the doors close and felt the lift start its descent. She also felt Lovande’s hands around her waist. She smiled to herself.
“I hope you pay no mind to her, Chesmi. She’s clearly just jealous. She’s a perplexing human.”
“Oh, she’s more than that, but don’t worry I’m not worried about her. I’m just mad she interrupted us.”
Lovande held her closely.
“We can make up for the lost time once we get home,” he whispered in her ear.
She giggled and blushed.
“Dinner first. I’m still starving.”
“Fair enough. And pastries are important. We’ll leave a bookmark for our kiss. That way we know where we left off.”
A quick stop by the diner and patisserie later, Chesmi and Lovande had arrived home, both eager to dig into their food and pastries. Chesmi opened the little to-go box and eagerly dug into her meal. She’d chosen Dex’s specialty for that week, some sort of sandwich. She hadn’t actually looked at the ingredients, it just looked and smelled so good she couldn’t resist. It tasted even better. She sipped her Jawa juice and looked over at Lovande, who was already halfway through his sandwich.
“And I thought I was the starving one. Are you even tasting it?”
He shot her a look from the corner of his eye, a smile hidden behind his sandwich.
“Maybe I’m eager to enjoy my pastry. How’s the Jawa juice?”
“Dex nailed the mix tonight. Want some? I’ve seen you eyeing it.”
“Maybe I’m eyeing the beautiful woman holding the drink.”
Chesmi tilted her head, smiling.
“Are you really eager to get to the pastry, or is it my lips you’re eager to get back to?”
Lovande almost choked on his sandwich. He turned to her, his face a shade of purple.
“You have a lot of audacity saying that.”
“Your reaction tells me everything.”
Lovande nodded in defeat, then took one of the pastries from the box and shoved it in her mouth as she went to speak again. She stared at him, the pastry sticking out of her mouth. She took a bite and held it in her hand, still staring at him.
“Who’s got audacity now?”
“You asked for that.”
“I did not. I simply stated the obvious.”
He looked at her, smiling.
“Eat your pastry, ruzihn vur.”
She leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek, shooting him a teasing look as well. He returned the look, then pulled her close and kissed her. He could taste the pastry on her lips. It was about to be a beautiful night.