Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 6

Senna kept her eyes lowered on her task as she reached for the cup of caf she'd been nursing, taking a sip before going back to work on the disks. "If we can get into any of those bases, even if Wolffe isn't there, I'll bet we might be able to find a file that's got his location. And maybe I'll be able to find the location of that base I'm looking for," she said, teeth digging into her lip as she finagled one of the disks into what looked like a makeshift scanner.

Rex's heart fluttered. She's suggesting we stick together. "And where do you think we could find a location for any of those bases?" he asked, reaching over the counter to grab a mug off the stack behind it.

"There's gotta be someone who knows where one is. Might be time to consult with some of our friends in the rebellion and see what those resources can glean," Senna replied, pushing the caf press towards him without looking up from her work.

He glanced at the press skeptically. "You make this?"

She finally set the datapad down in a huff. "Why? You got a problem with how I make my caf, Rex?"

Rex poured himself a cup, trying to keep his face neutral as the smell hit him. She definitely made this. It's gonna peel the linings off my intestines. "No," he lied. "Just wondering." She didn't take her eyes off him as he took his first sip, trying to maintain a straight face as the bitterness beat his taste buds within an inch of their life, managing only a small cough. Senna smirked as she took another sip of hers without so much as a twitch.

"You had breakfast yet?" he asked, trying to hide the rasp in his voice and the watering in his eyes.

"Nope. Just a cup and a half of caf."

"Let me go out and grab you something," he offered.

"That's not neces-" Senna was interrupted by her stomach growling loudly. Rex raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'll be right back. You keep at it," he said, turning and walking out the front door.

---

Senna watched Rex's back disappear out the door before turning back to the task at hand. Guess we're going to pretend last night didn't happen, she thought as she watched the progress bar blink on the disk scanner. She was pretty sure she'd worked out the correct sequence to program a chain code onto the disk, but with as many roadblocks as she'd had this morning, she was giving this trial scan a fifty-fifty shot at best. She rested her face on the palm of her gloved hand, tapping the fingers of her other idly on the counter as she allowed her mind to drift back to the night before.

She'd been glad Rex had righted her to a sitting position because the way he'd looked at her would have made her knees buckle if she'd been standing. She could almost still feel the way his fingers had dug into her waist before sliding around to her back and pressing against her spine, pulling her closer to him. She'd almost given in and wanted to so badly, but she'd felt his conflict, as much as she'd tried to tune out his emotions. They'd been almost deafening, hitting her in waves like a storm beating a shoreline as she had hardly dared to breathe. She remembered how his pulse had been racing underneath her fingertips as they pressed against his chest, how hers was beating at the same rapid pace, unsure of which way the interaction would go but wanting so desperately to put an end to the rift between them. Senna had watched his tongue dart out to moisten his lips, an invitation she wanted to accept with every cell in her body, but she couldn't ignore the turmoil still within him. It wouldn't have been fair.

Sighing, she rested her head against the bar top, the cool surface calming some of the heat that had crept into her face. It has to be on his terms, when he's definitely sure. And when you are as well. She knew she hadn't been thinking much of her own feelings, but she was starting to consider them more carefully. I have to be alright if he doesn't come around or if I have to leave him again. I can't spiral the way I did the first time. Senna had spent months, drifting from cantina to shitty cantina, half the time barely aware of what planet she was on. It was always the same routine.