Inevitable {Tech}

Chapter Nine: Infatuation

"Yeah and they eat these birds called Nunas," Cass sat cross-legged on Wrecker's back as he did push-ups, and relayed the information she had read a few hours before. "And there's even purple ones too, but those only live on Garel."

"I wish I could hold one," he grunted in between his moves. "They look so soft but...I'm never fast enough to catch one."

"Maybe we could get Hunter to buy one and we can keep it on the ship," she leaned down and whispered.

"Easier said than done, I think Crosshair might kill the thing," he shook his head.

"They can actually be trained, you know. We could teach it to snipe or something," she joked, though Wrecker was seriously considering it.

"Sounds good to me!" he cheered and raised one arm in the air for a high five.

She laughed and slapped her hand against his, then Wrecker continuing exercising. Tech was next to wake up and walk out of his room, already typing away on his data pad.

"Hey Tech, how'd you sleep?" her voice softy rang in his ears.

"Normal, I suppose," he stashed away his data pad and met her eyes. "And you? Are you feeling any better?"

Cass wanted to say no, for she only slept about fifteen minutes. Was she still exhausted? Yes, but that wasn't Tech's question. Her eyes glanced at her door, and she remembered the reassurances of Echo, and briefly of her master.

"Yes, much better," she looked back at Tech and nodded.

"Good," his shoulders relaxed a bit and he walked over to the pair. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a bag of dried pallie fruit, and offered some to Cass. He motioned for her to scoot up higher onto Wrecker's shoulders so he could join her.

"Is this something you do all the time?" Cass chuckled as Tech crossed his legs, their knees touching. He nodded nonchalantly and poured some fruit into her hand.

"Yes actually. Though it's usually Crosshair sitting where you are," Tech explained.

Tech watched Cass pop some of the berries into her mouth, and she exhaled happily when the flavor set in. He observed her and was relieved to see she was finally eating something. He felt compelled the make sure she was okay. He had laid awake that night, his head zoomed around thinking of her. Those thoughts began to replay as he observed her sitting quietly, tapping away on her own data pad with one hand and munching on berries with the other. He subtly tried to peek at the wound on her leg, and saw that the gauze had not darkened in color overnight, a good sign.

"I saw that you sent me a Jedi manuscript," he tapped away and looked back up to her. She nodded and held out cupped hands, to which Tech gave her another handful of berries.

"Yeah I thought it would be something you'd like to read. I don't know how much of it you would understand but, maybe we could read some of it together?" she mumbled in between bites, avoiding his eyes. "It's uh, been a while since I've read it," she lied.

"I would be delighted," he nodded and adjusted his goggles, he felt his face begin to heat up slightly. "I was able to look through the first couple chapters, and I was pleasantly intrigued."

Cass' face lit up and Tech mirrored her expression. "I'm glad you think so," she replied softly. She leaned over so their shoulders were touching, and she pointed to the data pad in his hands. Tech kept his eyes on her the whole time, memorizing every movement of her lips and hands as she spoke.

"And this chapter here, it talks about kyber crystals and the unique way they resonate with the force. I thought you might like that part," she leaned away and met his eyes.