Ask Private Lessons

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

”I guess it just comes with being one,” she teased back, feigning innocence as she blinked up at him with wide eyes. Water sloshed around her as she got up in a kneeling position, pressing her front to his back and wrapping her arms around him. Reiel tucked her chin on one of his shoulders and pecked Carrick on the cheek. “Gotta bite back the pain if you’re a Mando… fighting’s in the Creed, and getting hurt is normal.”

Her expression fell, fingertips brushing softly against the skin of his chest. Physical pain was something she hated when she was a kid, but now it felt like a lifetime ago when she thought of that. Maybe it was for the best that she had been adopted into the Creed when she was already considered an adult — she would have whined and cried endlessly had she received the grueling training Buir had subjected her into had she been a little kid back then.

But just because she was already an adult and a Mandalorian through and through didn’t mean that she had already been used to pain. Maybe she did, when it was inflicted upon herself. To those she cared about, on the other hand…

Shaking the thought off, the smile on the small Mandalorian’s face returned as she slightly pulled away from him. Alone with him, her face never failed to adopt a perpetual blush to them. It embarrassed her before, baring this kind of vulnerability around him. But he had earned her trust so she shed the embarrassment and just kept on being open to him. It didn’t stop her from feeling shy every now and again, however. She might have been a Mandalorian warrior, but she was still a woman, damn it!

“...and I always end up being helpless when we do it your way,” Reiel shot back with a pout, but the words held no heat in them. She was equal parts amused and flustered, the pout on her lips remaining at the smirk he graced her. “Like that one time you tested a pair of handcuffs on me.”

Ducking her head to hide how redder her face suddenly became, Reiel let out a soft curse in Mando’a when the bottle of shampoo she’d retrieved slipped from her grasp. It fell on the water with a loud splash, and the small Mandalorian had to stifle a giggle at her sudden clumsiness.

“Not your back, your hair,” she told him as she picked up the shampoo. Reaching for the showerhead, Reiel let out a childish cackle before spraying Carrick with water all of a sudden. At least they shared the experience of having their first joint bath — she just didn’t expect that all it took for this to happen was for her to get stabbed. And it had been a while since she let herself indulge the little kid in her. In between her duties as his chief of security and being the grandchild of the alor of Clan Crowholde, Reiel knew that she had a reputation to keep and uphold.

She’d only ever allowed herself to act like this around her sorcerer because he let her. Maybe that was one of the reasons why she loved him.

@Nefieslab

 

[Carrick]

Carrick had never really had an experience like this before but having Reiel pressing up against his back while in a bath was unpleasant at all. Different but not in a bad way. He hummed slightly as she wrapped her arms around him and leaned up to rest her chin against his shoulder. He shrunk down a little bit, shifting his body, so he was closer to her height so it was less awkward for her.

He hummed a little bit as she spoke into his ear about how being a Mandalorian meant being ready for a fight at any time, how it meant that pain was a constant companion. Reaching up, he cupped her cheek with one hand while the other took one of her own and gave it a little squeeze.

“We’re more than just the role we play though Reiel.” He spoke up with a small frown, which twitched at the edges as he fought a smile, “Otherwise I’d probably be some spineless political creature rather than who I am.”

He didn’t really like hearing that Reiel defined herself as a Mandalorian more than she was a person. Now, of course, she didn’t actually say it that way but he was a political creature and a former Jedi Knight. Through the Force he could feel her emotions about the topic and through her word choice he had an idea what she meant versus what she actually said.

Though it did seem that she felt more feminine, more like she was free to be a woman rather than a weapon-toting warrior, when she was with him. Well, he was happy to help her explore what it felt like while she was with him.

“Don’t recall you having any issues with my handling of that situation at the time…” he teased her, reaching behind him to place a hand on her outer thigh, letting his fingers gently stroke her skin there, “In fact I seem to remember you finding yourself very much enjoying being helpless – being at my mercy.”

Still, he let her push her hands through his hair with the shampoo. Sighing a little bit, he relaxed ever so slightly as she started to, well, pamper him.

“Magic fingers, you’ve got there Rei…”

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Carrick's hair was soft.

Of course she knew that already, all those times they spent together in the privacy of his apartment whether if the implications of her hands on his hair were either to grab chunks of it when the two of them were being intimate (Oh, shit, begone, impure thoughts!) or simply the enjoyment of running her fingers through those dark locks in between quiet moments where they shed the identities they each had to put up in public. A soft smile crossed her lips as she listened to him speak of the roles they played, humming in agreement as she began to shampoo his hair.

Not before squeezing his hand back, of course. Reiel also liked holding Carrick's hands. She could list down a lot of things she liked about him, and wouldn't be surprised to discover new additions with each passing day.

The teasing and the hand on her thigh were more than enough reasons to demand a flustered blush out of her, though.

"It gets tiring restraining criminals and bounties, as well as threats to your safety, you know," she complained with a pout, but her tone was anything but a protest. With a snicker, she took his compliment in stride before lightly dragging her fingernails on his scalp and muttering, "And besides, I really wanted to know how it felt like being restrained by you. I already told you that you can manhandle me, right?"

Reiel knew that she was playing a dangerous game right now. However, she wouldn't mind losing, though – but only to Carrick and no one else.

"Last time I checked," she commented airily, "I'm not the one blessed with magic fingers–"

The small Mandalorian cut herself off, pulling away before sliding down further into the water until half of her face was submerged in water. Both hands flew up to cover her mouth, her shoulders shaking with a barely restrained laugh. Water sloshed around them as she continued to stop herself from bursting out laughing at her horrible comeback.

Wait. That's not even a comeback, at all! And just as Carrick was finally starting to relax...!

She rose from the water a little, her whole face red and her eyes bright with mirth. Hands lowering from her mouth, she grinned sheepishly up at Carrick.

"That one's awful, isn't it?" she commented with a giggle, slowly pulling herself up again to a sitting position so she could resume what she was doing.

No, she most certainly wasn't lulling him to a false sense of relaxation just so she could catch him off guard. Well, she'd done it unintentionally by showing up bloody in his kitchen. She couldn't be called sexy in Mando standards when the blood covering her was her own, after all!

@Nefieslab

 

[Carrick]

Hmm he supposed she had a point there.

His Mandalorian did do an awful lot both for him and as part of her side job (he believed that she had internally made the switch herself from being primarily a bounty hunter to primarily being his head of security) it was true. She deserved some time to relax as she saw fit - he made a mental note to discuss getting her some vacation time with the HR guides that had been assigned to him as senator. Had to make sure that she got time off to relax after all, right? He'd be a pretty terrible boss otherwise.

Carrick chuckled a little bit, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to relax.

"Oh I remember what you've asked me to do to you very vividly." he assured her with a smirk, "Don't think for one moment that I've forgotten."

Of course she immediately broke away to break down into peals of laughter at her own terrible flirting. It was bad enough that even Carrick himself had a little chuckle about it, shaking his head and letting her relax into her laughter before raising himself up in the bath enough to turn round to face her and sit back down again. Seeing her laughing and smiling was enough to bring a smile, completely unbidden to his face.

With her ducking down in the water her hair had gotten wet and he had the sudden urge to move a few of the strands out of the way of her eyes. The thought, so sudden, caught him by surprise. It was so sly, so... domestic that it was outside of anything he had ever done before. Outside of what Carrick had come to accept at his comfort zone and, for a few seconds, he floundered as to what to actually do before he decided to distract himself from the wholesome and domestic by substituting in more sexual energy.

Reaching out, he took a gently hold of her chin and raised her head before leaning in to kiss her. Would this also be considered wholesome and domestic? Maybe but he felt less... feelings about it. It didn't require him to question himself.

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Reiel never doubted for a second that he forgot. In a way, her words just served to remind her what he did and could do to her – in more ways than one. Amused laughter still dancing on her lips she met Carrick's gaze with a smile as he turned around to face her. Seeing him relaxed and with his guard down was always a treat to the small Mandalorian. As much as she liked him when he was facing the masses as the unshakeable and charismatic Senator of Tinnel IV, seeing him at ease in the privacy of his residence made her happy as well. Being a politician was a challenge, that much she knew, and she admired him for being able to keep his patience when faced with problems set up by any bastard who wished to see him struggle for the position he earned.

Something gave her sorcerer a pause for thought. Head tilted a little to the side like a curious loth-kitten, Reiel carefully righted herself to a sitting position, hands clasped over her thighs and ever mindful of her healing stab wounds. The bacta had so far done a good job, but she gave the medal to Carrick's use of the Force to heal her earlier. The thought made her blush. For him to spare Force energy or whatever to try and heal her injuries...

And just like that, another piece of her fell even harder for him.

A hand on her chin prompted Reiel to raise her head, eyes fluttering shut when their lips met. Tilting her head to deepen the kiss, one hand found the back of Carrick's neck, the other settling on his chest and sliding down, down to his stomach. The hand stole deeper south, fingers lightly grazing against the skin of his thigh. He seemed to be thinking about something, and having no way to read his thoughts she settled with teasing him further, her own thoughts now far from the innocent bath she had initially planned.

Pulling away briefly from the kiss, Reiel shot her sorcerer a mischievous smirk, the hand on his thigh teasingly dragging blunt fingernails upwards.

"What's this? Is my sorcerer..." a teasing giggle, brown eyes alight with mischief "...finally falling in love with me? Or is he being seduced by his Mando's feminine wiles?"

There was no hint of needing a serious response to her initial question. She was teasing him, nothing more. Reiel wanted him to truly fall for her, she would be a hypocrite to deny that. But she didn't want to force him into loving her – that was never an intention. It didn't cross her mind, even. If Carrick would come to share what she felt for him, then that's beyond good. Perfect, even! But if he didn't? That's alright, too. She could deal with the heartache, she's a grown woman.

But she intended to treasure every moment she had with him. Mandos harboring relationships with outsiders were looked down upon by the strict followers of the Creed. She was glad that she and Carrick both agreed to keep... whatever this thing between them was as a secret to the public.

She intended to treasure every moment she spent with him. And she would.

@Nefieslab

 

[Carrick]

Carrick wasn’t one to hide from the parts of the Galaxy that didn’t quite align as he wanted them to because it would be a weakness to let things go by like that. Letting out a slow breath, he was beginning to realize, to accept, that he was feeling things towards Reiel that were beyond the thoughts he had before. They were still there, of course, but there seemed to a sense, a feeling, that ran underneath the surface of all of his dealings with her.

Dealings that had, by his own admission, started as something based purely on cold practicality. But that simply was no longer the face, now there were emotions becoming steadily more involved in their interactions and he had fought against them for awhile. The companionship that she brought was something he didn’t think he needed in his life but he had been proven wrong and he liked it now.

Was it so far fetched to believe that something else could come from it?

That the relationship that was only ever supposed to be a means to an end actually meant something to him on an emotional level?

“Maybe.”

It was blunt, it was simple and it was devoid of any doublespeak or lie.

He knew, intellectually, that he could use the fact that Reiel had feelings for him to his advantage and if he strung her along, pretended to be as in love with her as she was with him, then he could get her to do anything. But there was a corner of his spirit that rebelled at the very notion of using her like that, of weaponising something like that.

It was only now that he was really willing to accept that it was because a part of him was opening up to the idea that he could return those feelings. That they weren’t something to be avoided as his uncle had taught him, not something to be wary of as the Jedi had taught him and not a weakness that would be burned as Tevos had taught him.

Carrick reached out and hooked an arm underneath her knees, the other holding her around the shoulders as he stood, carrying Reiel with him.

“That’s enough of the bath.” He decided as he started carrying her back to the bedroom, completely uncaring that the two of them were still dripping wet, “It’s time for bed now, Cyare.”

@Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Knowing Carrick, all Reiel expected from her teasing him was for him to tease her back, in a harder and much more effective form that would undoubtedly leave her even more flustered than she already was. With him she always did bite more than she could chew, and the repercussions were always something she never minded facing. He always did make her feel things, but above all she simply wanted to love him the way she knew he deserved to be loved – barring even its most physical forms.

She had no intention of falling for an outsider, if truth be told. If she didn't find a suitable Mandalorian to fall in love with, then she thought that she would be better not loving anyone at all. The flirting she did way back when she first met the ex-Jedi was simply made out of the need to distract others from the impending danger they faced. Reiel wondered where her own emotions went way out of her control – was it during the time she spent together with Carrick, or when they were apart? Or maybe it was the combination of both?

Time together and apart made her certain about one thing, and it was that she had well and truly fallen for an enemy sorcerer her Buir warned her about. As cheesy as it sounded Reiel couldn't just stop herself from examining and acknowledging the way she felt for Carrick. Ignoring her feelings was so unlike her, and while she never forgot to use her head for a lot of things her heart just insisted to be taken into consideration.

Maybe.

It was just one word, but it was spoken with honesty and simplicity that it caught the small Mandalorian entirely by surprise. She could do nothing but to stare up at him with wide-eyes, lips parted as words practically fled her and her mind gave up on attempting to construct a reasonable response.

Maybe.

It was just one word, and it felt so far from the dreaded "No" she had always been preparing herself for.

Maybe.

Reiel could only allow herself to be carried, heart beating wildly against her sternum as a pair of strong arms lifted her from the tub, carrying her out of the bath and back to the bedroom. Mind still reeling from her sorcerer's response, the small Mandalorian realized a little too late that her back had already met with soft sheets beneath her and Carrick above her. Trapped beneath him she lifted her hands to cup his cheeks, brown eyes locked with pale blue irises she knew she would never forget.

Thumbs brushing tenderly against his skin, Reiel offered Carrick a small but soft smile. She pulled him down to her, forehead pressing against his in a soft and gentle keldabe kiss.

"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum," she whispered, the words carrying the full weight of her feelings towards him. She would never love anyone the way she loved him, a certainty Reiel Mal was well and truly aware of. It was either Carrick would truly come to feel the same way she did for him, or he didn't. Oddly enough, trapped beneath him as she was, the small Mandalorian found acceptance in never receiving what she willingly gave should he find himself realizing that he couldn't love her the way she loved him. She knew it would break her heart – and there was no doubt that it would – but she'd made peace with being fine with that outcome.

Reiel Mal had the capacity to be a selfish woman, but she wasn't and chose not to. It was not the Way, nor was it a part of the Creed she followed. That was just... how she was.

Still smiling softly up at her beloved sorcerer, the small Mandalorian lightly pressed her lips against his and muttered, "Destroy me and care for me."

@Nefieslab

 

[Carrick]

Carrick was a political creature these days and that meant he lied - a lot. But this was something he wasn't able to bring himself to lie about though he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was how the whole topic of emotions related to such things were raw after his own experiences? Or maybe it was just due to a naive belief that some things should be above politics?

He was sure he would have received a lecture about it from his uncle but, well, he wasn't learning at his uncle's knee anymore. No, he was beyond that now and he needed to remember that. The way she looked at him when he said the word, when he spoke the truth?

That was doing something to him and he would freely admit that.

As he was carrying her, losing himself in his thoughts, he felt her hand reach up and touch his face. Turning his face to her, he smiled a little bit. It was a tentative smile but he was enjoying himself more than he expected so it was still true. Chuckling ever so slightly when she gave him a traditional kiss, he couldn't help but add.

"You'll have to translate that for me someday."

Of course then she immediately reminded him that she was not all sunshine and innocence. No, his Mandalorian was a wicked, wicked, woman and he remembered a very important thing - he was very much okay with that.

/End Thread?

@Forsythe Crowholde