[MillietheWarrior]

Atin was too busy glaring at the woman to really care what she called him or what tone she took with him. He didn’t rightly understand women and their general strangeness. Not that he’d spent much time around them in general. The only women he’d ever met in his line of work were generals, and strictly off limits. Plus, they never acted like women in the real world. They were battle hardened soldiers, and he saw them as fighters and warriors rather than something soft and inherently female that he could lust after.  Atin didn’t rightly know how to treat women, so he treated them like he did everyone who wasn’t in his immediate squad; with indifference and annoyance. This woman was no different. Atin chose not to look at the way her clothes clung to her shapely body, and he chose, very consciously, not to notice her figure or the soft shine of her hair. Nope. She was a civilian, and he wasn’t about to get involved with someone who not only annoyed him, but shouldn’t be involved with him in the first place.

He was a firm believer of keeping out of civilian issues, and she was certainly an issue. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to just follow her lead and allow her to take him back to her room, but whatever it was, it was stupid. He intended to get out of here as soon as he could. Not only could this get him into heaps of trouble, but he was pretty sure he’d be missed at some point, and his brothers would go looking for him. That would be even more trouble. Atin decided he didn’t really want to deal with all that. He should leave now before…The ding of the coffee maker had his head whipping towards the sound so fast, he was certain he’d gotten whiplash. The strong scent of coffee wafted towards him, and as any man who spent most of his time living off stims, cookies, sugar and caffeine, he was instantly drawn to the smell. Keeping a wary eye on the woman, he stood, setting the ice pack on the table, before he headed quickly over to the coffee cup. He added a fair amount more of sugar, then grabbed the mug, all the while keeping his gaze steadily on the woman. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight.

Civilians, and women in particular, were tricky people. They weren’t honest, they weren’t good, and they had bad intentions. Or at least, that was the opinion Atin had formed of them over the course of his short life. It wasn’t about to change just because this woman had nice legs…Wait, what? No, it wasn’t about to change because she gave him coffee! That sounded better. Atin’s gaze darted to the cup, then back to her as he settled back on the couch. He took a long swig of the coffee then set it down hastily on the table. The woman seemed placid enough as she sipped her drink, and Atin decided now would be a good time to go. Before he could open his mouth, unfortunately, she stood, and Atin tensed sharply. What was she planning on doing? What he imagined she’d planned and what she did were two entirely different things. Atin felt his eyes widened, jaw slackening as she removed her clothing. He was quite certain his face had turned beet red, and he could feel the heat creeping up his neck all the way to his ears. He swallowed hard, but found he was unable to pull his eyes away.

“Shab,” he rasped, managing to look only at her face (With much difficulty). Without warning, he grabbed the pillow next to him and shoved it at her, trying to hold it up to hide her body. “W-what are you doing?” he demanded, trying to sound stern, though his voice cracked slightly. “You-you’re a woman! And you can’t undress in front of me! Are you insane?!” Still, his traitorous eyes slid along her body appreciatively, and he couldn’t help but admire her curves and soft skin. Wait, no! He would not fall under her spell…no matter how much he wanted to. “I-I…I don’t…It’s not appropriate!…it’s…It’s not!” But still…she was pretty…His gaze slid back to her, and he couldn’t help grabbing another eyeful. “What are you thinking? I barely even know you!”

[ToxicShadow]

'Elda couldn't help but to let out a very cute, feminine giggle. Atin's reaction was so much better than she anticipated. Such a tough man, so harsh and indifferent, and here he was, red as a beet, his words tripping all over themselves like his tongue was tied. It was classic. How could she possibly resist such a man? He may have tried everything to push her away, he may have spoken words that were filled with annoyance toward her, but he was an incredibly fascinating man, and handsome, too. There was just something about him...

"I'm sorry, but I can undress in front of you. I just did." If she had already done something, no sense in saying that she couldn't. It may have relieved him when she took a step back, righting herself, but now the pillow wouldn't be of much help to protect his eyes from her. Unless he closed his eyes or looked away, he was forced to see her body almost in its complete entirety. She stepped around the coffee table that divided them, scooting both of their coffee mugs out of the way, and sitting on the edge of the coffee table, directly in front of him. She took a chance and reached out for one of his hands with one of her own, just wanting to feel how his skin felt against any of hers. She leaned forward, pressing his hand to her cheek. Her smile was both sweet and terribly charming, a smile that had both melted and stolen the hearts of many men in the past. "You may already know more about me than anyone else in this world." Her words were just above a whisper. "I don't see anything wrong here."

She, somewhat unwillingly, let his hand go free, moving herself closer to him again, this time coming to sit beside him. She placed her hand carefully on his nearly bare shoulder. Had he not been completely covered in armor, she would have gone for his lap. How inconvenient it was for her. Still, she gazed toward his face, her own gaze becoming one of longing. Not necessarily longing for the "unspeakable acts," but... even just to be held by this man, that would do. He had rescued her, regardless of rather he felt anything for her then, and she had grown attracted to him from that very instant. She bite her lip. "Please, wont you stay? You... You don't have to do anything, other than that. Unless...You want to? You're very...welcome to." She was hopeful, either way, and completely inviting him in.

[MillietheWarrior]

Dear Manda above, what was she doing? She was…she was moving closer! Atin wasn’t sure if his face would ever be a normal color again. He was certain he’d be permanently red. “NO!” he shouted. "You-you can’t! It’s not right! Put your clothes back on, for shab’s sake!” When she stood up, he was presented with a rather startling and alluring eye-full of her less than clothed body. Oh, wait….what was she doing? She was coming closer?! Oh no, no! Atin looked for a way to escape, but the only way would be to somersault over the back of the couch, and he wasn’t THAT limber.

“Your uh…your chair is on the other side of the room. And uh, it’s rude to sit on tables?” he tried, hoping she might take a hint and scoot back over to her own seat…And put some clothes on while she was at it. What was she doing now? She was touching his hand! Personal space, personal space! His mind reeled, and he just stared stupidly at her, no longer feeling anything but shock and absolute confusion. Hadn’t he managed to frighten her off before? Why was she doing this? He could snap her like a twig, and she was touching him?! “Hey, hey,” he managed, tugging half-heartedly at his hand. He shuddered when she pulled it up to touch her cheek, and quickly jerked it out of her grasp when she let go, feeling like he’d been slightly violated.

When she moved to sit beside him, he scooted over so far, he nearly fell off the end of the couch. Her shoulder brushed against his and she turned to look at him.  Atin tried to avoid her gaze. “Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it. It’s freaking me out.” He’d seen that look on Darman’s face when he thought of Etain; he didn’t like it. “Stay?” He repeated, wondering why she wanted him to stay. “Do what? What are you talking about? Look lady, you’re freaking me out a little soooo…maybe I should go?”

[ToxicShadow]

"I'm sure that the table will be alright," she assured him. She was not at all concerned with the fate of an inanimate object. If it had to be sacrificed for her happiness, then so be it. Besides, even with her curvy figure, her waist was small and her body was petite. Compared to Atin, she really was just a twig, despite being more durable than she looked. The coffee table was more than sturdy enough to carry her weight, plus some.

"Anything," she breathed. The single word escaped from her mouth before she could stop it, but she didn't regret it one bit. It may have been against her rules to bring a man to her room but, then again, it was also against her rules to pursue a man after she claimed that she wouldn't. She seemed to be breaking all the rules now, but she couldn't stop herself. If she was going to break one, she was fine with breaking them all, even if it was only just this once. Just with Atin. Yes, just with Atin, the Commando, whatever that really was. Surely, even if he could break her in two, he wouldn't. She held more faith in him than that.

'Elda scooted closer to him, closing any amount of gap that he had created when he scooted away. She was determined to have her way, and not to have him go. "You're a man, aren't you? And I'm a woman. With that combination, there are countless possibilities." She reached for his hand again, this time kissing it when she brought it closer. "I told you, please stay. Don't leave." Her last words slipped from her mouth with more seductive tones, though the very last of them almost had a slight under current of pleading with him. "I wont... Well, I wont allow it." As she spoke, she lead his hand to touch her again, this time bringing it to her side, the area just below her breast. If just touching her face made him fumble even more, somewhere so much closer to something forbidden, well...

[MillietheWarrior]

Atin tried to clear his throat, tried to say something - anything - but his mind wasn’t working very well at the moment. All he could think about was how to get out of the room without breaking anything and how very nice she looked in just her skivvies. He tried very hard not to look at her, but he was certain that image would be burned into the back of his eyelids and brain for the rest of his short life. “Any-anything? Um…That’s probably not a good idea. I, uh, I don’t even know what ‘anything’ is, so we should all just go home…uh, well, I should go home, and you stay here…and we can forget this ever happened?” His stuttering was not characteristic of him, and neither was his flustered, embarrassed appearance.

At this point, he was certain his face would be red for the rest of his life. If not from embarrassment, then from remembering the way she looked with almost nothing on. “Um, is it hot in here? Or just me? I think that coffee was too hot. Yeah, that must be it.” Why couldn’t she just put some damn clothes on already?! “Yeah, and you’re nearly naked. So if you could cover up…” he fumbled around for a pillow, then settled on grabbing some of his armor plates and trying to plaster them on her. “Here you can use these. Just keep them. I can get more.” No matter how hard he tried, however, they just fell over. Atin groaned in exasperation, half drawn in by her words and half freaked out of his mind.  He slapped his hand over his eyes, grumbling under his breath. When she lifted his free hand, he assumed she’d put it against her cheek. Instead, he felt something decidedly un-cheek-like, and dropped his hand to look at her.

She’d grabbed his hand and placed it just below…well, just below something he wasn’t supposed to touch. “Holy-!!” the exclamation was out of his mouth before he could stop it, and he leapt so high into the air that he tumbled over the side of the couch, landing hard on his back, feet sprawled up against the side of it. He stared dizzily up at the ceiling, wondering what the shab just happened as he vaguely wondered what type of God hated him enough to put him in this situation. "I think I broke something," he groaned, letting his head 'thunk' backwards against the floor. Yeah...he broke something all right. His dignity.

[ToxicShadow]

"I don't think you drank that much of the coffee," she commented, holding back another giggle at his silly attempts to get around what was occurring. She had never once met a man, at least not a single man that she held any interest in doing anything intimate with, that resisted her so much. Atin wasn't quite resisting, not in how he had before she had removed her clothing, but he seemed to be at a total loss. How could a man not react to a woman all but throwing herself at him? Too bad for 'Elda that it made her want him even more. She wanted to get to know him and, from the looks of things, this was her best bet on getting him to stay, even if only for a little while longer. She even didn't move an inch as the commando tried to hide her behind a pillow or the pieces of his armor, but everything failed him. She couldn't help but to smile at that fact.

As Atin tumbled over the side of the sofa, 'Elda's violet eyes grew wide. "Oh!" She threw one of her hands over her mouth, nearly just as startled as he was. From her position on the couch, she could see his feet up in the air. She crawled across the sofa to the edge, putting her hands on the arm rest and peering down at him, having to bite her lip again, this time not to laugh at him. "Atin, are you all right?" Ah, he would probably reply with something huffy, but she just had to ask, it was habit. "If you broke something, I can help with that."

It was then, staring down at him, that 'Elda got another idea. Oh, to what ever lord he worshiped, he wasn't getting away. She left the couch then, but in a very unorthodox manner. She crept over the edge of the couch, right between his legs, sitting herself right on top of him. Before he even had a chance to react to that, she leaned in to kiss him.

[MillietheWarrior]

Atin was very certain that he could just lay there and sink into the floor. If he willed himself hard enough, he could turn into a pile of clone goo and just slide out under the door. Maybe he could crawl away and hide in the closet until she left? Atin had faced contingencies of droids. He’d face down super battle droids. He’d faced down drodekas.

He’d faced down sith and angry Jedi generals. He’d faced down a Null on a bad day and an angry Kal Skirata.  He’d face down armies, explosives, blaster fire, rubble, shrapnel, snipers, and everything in between. Now he was faced with a scantily clad woman, and he had neither the field experience, nor any idea how to deal with her. He was out of his element, completely shocked, confused and surprised, and he had absolutely no way of knowing what he was supposed to do.

They didn’t teach this in basic training! Maybe if he played dead, she’d leave him alone. Atin closed his eyes and tried to think ‘dead’ but it didn’t work. He felt her gaze on him, and when he looked up, she was staring down at him from the side of the couch. “Nothing...but my dignity is broken,” he growled, trying very hard to retain some semblance of pride as he glared up at her. He glanced at the door, contemplating escape. If he ran, he could get out. He might very well have succeeded in escaping, too, if not for the fact that he was suddenly being straddled by a scantily clad woman.

“What are you-” he began in a  snarl, but the sound died in his throat when she leaned down to press her lips to his. Atin was certain his heart stopped beating for a moment, or that he had a mild seizure. She was…kissing him?! Atin’s brain stopped, his mind refusing to cooperate as instincts kicked in and did what his good sense couldn’t as he reached up, wrapped two hands around her back and crushed her to him, kissing her back with bruising force. So much for retaining his dignity. It had just flown out the window, holding hands with rational thought and common sense.

[ToxicShadow]

'Elda let out a squeak when Atin pulled her into him with such incredible force. Indeed, should he ever want to snap her, there was no doubt in her mind that it was entirely possible. However, despite that she may very well walk away from this incident with sufficient bruising, she was busying herself with their kiss, which she insisted grew more passionate while she had the chance to take it. She was certain that he was no longer thinking rationally, but either on instinct or impulse or, possibly, both. With any luck, he would remain without his head, if only for the night. Yes, the night. She wanted him to stay, as if it wasn't already obvious from how many times she offered or asked him to.

Her hands moved to his chest, pushing herself up, to pull away from his kiss, hopefully he'd let her get away without too much of a fight. "I'm sorry that your dignity's broken, but your a fabulous kisser, if that counts for anything," she mused in a warm manner. Rather than trying to move his hands to touch her, she placed one of hers to his cheek for a moment, brushing her finger tips against it with a feathery light touch.

When she leaned away again, violet eyes began to scan over the armor that remained on the commando's body, 'Elda trying to make sense of it. She didn't have the slightest clue on how typical armor worked, but, hell, that looked like some sort of... clasp there, right? Yea, a clasp kept things on, so if she undid the clasps, the armor would come off? The woman then began to fiddle with one such thing, wanting to see if it really worked that way.

[MillietheWarrior]

Atin wasn’t certain but something told him that when he was back in his right mind, he’d regret all of this. Most likely in the morning. Yeah, that sounded about right. He’d agreed to stay the night, hadn’t he? Well, if he hadn’t, then he should have. Why was he resisting again? Something about not knowing what to do or some osik like that. He was pretty sure he knew what to do now, if only because his male instincts had begun to kick in, and did what common sense could and would not do. The kiss was deep, and strange, and exotic and like nothing he’d ever experienced before.

She tasted like peppermint and coffee, and he was certain that if he ever had any alcohol, that this was what it would feel like to get drunk.  His mind buzzed pleasantly, hands gripping with a crushing force, as if afraid she might space. There was no way she was going anywhere, whether she wanted to or not (And she certainly did not) but Atin was certain that somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn’t supposed to be here. Or…or something. When she pulled away, he felt suddenly empty and confused, and he looked up at her with a mixture of desire and surprise. Oh right. She needed to breathe.

“Huh?” he asked in response to her statement. “What about…what?” Then her hands suddenly found one of the clasps on his armor, and he snapped out of his daze. “Whoa, wait a minute! What are you doing?” His armor was his life; there was no way she was getting it off of him that easily. Not without a fight. He was vulnerable without it. He stared up at her in a daze, half confused, and half defensive. “You can’t just take my armor off.”

[ToxicShadow]

When she pulled away, she almost regretted it, especially with his expression clearly stating that he now desired her. It was what she wanted from the beginning, wasn't it? It was something close to that. She wanted to remain near him, if only to repay him, but she couldn't help herself but to be attracted to him. She felt as though...as though she wanted to keep him. In all seriousness, that seemed very irrational of her. She made her living off of wooing men into buying her things or taking their money. Yea, she could dance and she could sing, but she was definitely a con artist, in the end. If she ever tied herself down with a man, then her entire way of life would have to change.

Still, this man was the only man she had ever brought to her room, he was the only man who showed any true act of compassion toward her, even if he denied being good or kind later. So many little factors tumbled around her head. Hell, she just wanted to get to know him. Plus, it didn't help that her body was surging more and more with lust toward him. Either way, with longing, lust and all, she wanted him to stay. She'd never even been truly held before.

'Elda stopped fiddling with the armor's clasp, looking down at Atin as if she was innocent, though her words didn't sound so innocent, "I'm taking your armor off. I don't see why I can't, or why you shouldn't." She glanced down at herself, then looked back to Atin's face. "I'm wearing next to nothing, so isn't it just as well that you skim down a little? In all honestly, bare flesh isn't all that comfortable against armor." 'It actually hurts.' Atin was so worried about being vulnerable and unprotected, but that was the exact situation that 'Elda had put herself in from the start. She was more vulnerable than he could ever be. If she was wearing his armor and he was without it, she would still be likely to be more vulnerable than he was; and that was only physically. Emotionally, she had already began dropping her guard, too. She was the one pursuing him, putting herself out there for him, not the other way around. Couldn't he at least give her that much?

[MillietheWarrior]

His hands grasped her with enough force to bruise, but he lightened his grip when she pulled away. He didn’t think he could allow her to remove it. It was the one piece of himself that he had. A clone only had two things in his life; his armor and his name. That was something that you’d have to pry from his cold, dead hands. She may have to resort to violence to get him out of his armor. He stared up at her, wondering. He’d been taught that anyone could be an enemy. Man, woman, child…it didn’t matter. Anyone could hurt you. Atin didn’t like the idea of being hurt in any way, shape or form. His life was already short enough; he didn’t need to spend it thinking about a woman who had loved and left him. Like any Mando male, Atin would make a snap decision on who he’d spend the rest of his life with.

He wasn’t jumping the gun to marry this woman by any means, but he didn’t want some ridiculous one night stand, either. Maybe if she knew and understood that, she’d change her mind, and Atin would be free to go on his way. His other hand rose to grab her own, and he trapped them between one of his large hands, keeping them from moving or trying at the clasps again. “This,” he began, his voice a lot, husky growl.

“-is not a one-night stand. I don’t do that. If you and I become anything, at all, or do anything, at all, you need to understand that it would be permanent. I won’t wonder if you’re running off on me if I go away for battle. So ask yourself; can you live with the idea that one simple little mistake tied you down for the rest of your life? I won’t tolerate anyone else, and I’m not above….getting rid of them. I don’t share. So think long and hard before you decide, because this-” he motioned first to himself, and then to her. “-will be a permanent fixture. Forget about your desire and your lust, and whatever your  feeling right now and think. Think hard.”

[ToxicShadow]

'Elda's eyes desperately searched Atin's face for any sign of what he really thinking, trying to make sense of things. It was painfully clear that his rational side had returned to him and she feared that he would now be able to freely get away. She had to wonder if he still wanted to be away from her even after what had passed. It was all very breif, but she didn't fake an ounce of the passion in their kiss. She wasn't faking her feelings or her desire for him, in every way that she desired him.

When he took both of her hands in one of his, it was her turn to feel surprised. She looked down at their hands, hers held so firmly in his. She seemed so tiny compared to him. Her eyes went back to his face as he spoke, only she had to look away after he had gotten a few sentences in. She stared at their hands, enjoying how it felt to have him holding them, and doing so without it being impulsive.

Even after he finished, 'Elda remained quiet and still. She was thinking. She bit her lip, suddenly unsure of herself. Did she want to be with a single man? If that was what this became if she pursued him, would she be able to actually remain completely and utterly faithful? It would mean throwing away her tactics of conning men. She couldn't even do something as innocent as go on a dinner date that only lead to a hug at the end. She would, essentially, be cheating on him, even with something so simple. She couldn't bare the thought of being unfaithful to someone once she had agreed to commit.

Finally, when her eyes moved back to bore into his, the woman nodded her head, slowly. "I understand, she said softly, though firm in what she had chosen. "It wont be a mistake." She barely knew Atin but, as she had stated before, he already knew her better than anyone else did. He had already taken a glimpse into her real world by coming here. She wanted to get to know him and her desire was not strictly sexual. If she was going to be with anyone, why not him? As if to confirm her decision, she leaned down to give him a peck of a kiss on his lips, pulling back to offer a smile. "My real name is Esmarelda. I don't know who my parents are, except that neither of them were fit to raise me, so I have fended for myself all my life. Three months ago, the black cat in the picture on the TV stand, he died, and I have missed him ever since. He was my best friend, even if he was only a pet. Other than him, I have always been alone."

She stopped and she chuckled just slightly, feeling a little strange to admit any personal details about her life to anyone. The only being she had ever told that to had been aforementioned pet black cat. "Since you're a Commando and you just said that you'd have to go off and fight in battles, does that mean one day, if we're together, I may wake up to find that you've been killed?" Already, the thought worried and even frightened her. Receiving such news would be absolutely heart breaking.

[MillietheWarrior]

Atin stared at her, waiting for the realization of what he’d said to dawn on her. Could someone like this, who seemed so promiscuous to a straight-laced man like him, ever settle down? And what was more, could she settled for a clone, who had no money, no home, and nothing to offer her? He doubted it. Atin briefly wondered what had happened to the strong willed, stubborn man from before. He didn’t even recognize himself now. This was ridiculous. But that didn’t stop his heart from racing as she considered his words. He stared at their hands, following his gaze, and waited for the axe to fall as it surely would. Her words startled him though, and Atin lifted his gaze to scrutinize her closely for sings of deceit. He found none.

He was a man, like all his brothers, who had learned to decipher even the barest hint of emotion on someone’s face.  He blinked, and then frowned slowly, thoughtfully. “Can you say that in the morning?” he asked, no hint of anger or sarcasm in his voice; just genuine questioning. Her spiel startled him a little, and for a moment, he couldn’t say a word. But after a few tongue tied moments, he found his words again. “My full name is Atin Skirata. I am a commando that works for the GAR. I am a clone, and I have no money, no belongings, no home, and no rights. I have nothing to offer you but my word and myself and the promise that maybe someday I could give you something more. I know nothing about women, and even less about relationships. I’m stubborn and hard-headed, and you probably already know that. What I do know is that I will never desert you or leave you or lie to you by choice. I have no clue what I’m doing, but I’m willing to stumble through it if you’re willing to stay faithful. If you can live with that, then so can I.”

He fell silent, staring up at her as he waited for the barest hint of a reaction from her. Her next question startled him badly, and Atin just…stared. How did he answer that question gracefully? “Well…yes. It could happen at any time, although I do try my best not to get killed. We’re not immortal, and I can tell you right now that if the war doesn’t kill me, then my…accelerated aging will. I age twice as fast as a normal human. When you’re 30, I’ll be about 34. I’ll always be a step ahead of you. Can you live with that?”

[ToxicShadow]

“Can you say that in the morning?”

It was an inevitable and unavoidable question, really. Atin had gathered up his opinions about her quickly, especially based on her appearance. What he didn't know about her? She kept true to her word, with the exception of not trying anything with him. That was a special circumstance. "I wouldn't say something like that if I don't mean it, I can at least promise you that." Her words came with a warm reassurance, 'Elda not even having to rethink her decision once it was made.

As he retorted with his own spiel on his life and how things were, her eyes rested either with his face or with their hands, as he was still holding both of hers in his grasp. It was a lot to take in, probably more than anyone ever had to do in one sitting, especially with someone that they had only known for a few short hours. When the reality of it was pointed out, everything that was happening seemed absolutely crazy. They seemed absolutely crazy. They were both suddenly talking about the possibility of a life together and he was telling her about his life and the complications it held. She had no idea what he meant when he called himself a clone and, honestly, she wasn't sure that she wanted to ask. Did it really matter? Whomever he was, he was Atin, the man sitting right in front of her. Or, well, the man that she was sitting on top of.

"Atin, I don't really have a home either, so I'm okay with that. I just live in these hotels, nothing more." She smiled slightly, wanting to touch a hand to his face, but not wanting to pull either of her hands away from his. "I'm not after you just for sex or money or anything like that. If that was all I was interested in, I wouldn't have even acted on it toward you, not here, anyway. It is you that interests me." She shook her head, sighing, at last. "But you're going to have to have faith in me. When I say that I will be faithful, I will. When I say that I wont regret this, I wont. I don't go back on my words, with the obvious exceptions of bringing you to my room and going after you." Was it so difficult for him to imagine her being entirely faithful to him? If he couldn't trust her, then, yes, there would be some issues that would arise. So he better best believe it.

"I'm pretty sure that I can handle your, ah, accelerated aging; I'm not exactly normal, either. And, also, if you die on me and we're involved, I hope you know that you'll end up hurting me, so don't you dare think about dying on me." Her last sentence was spoken with a stern tone. "If you can accept that, and all of me, I can live with everything."

"I make a living by being both a singer and a dancer, and not always the most modest of kinds. However, the larger part of my wealth came from wooing men, conning them into buying me things or giving me money. Or, simply, I would steal it from them after spending time with them. No, I do not sleep with the vast majority of them, though I have slept with my fair share of men. However, in being faithful to you, I'll have to put that entire latter part of my, ah, career, aside. Other than that, I dabble in the art of voodoo and black magics. I have this strange... quirk. If someone spends too much time with me, especially intimately, they usually end up with good luck or they feel better, either happier or relieving physical or emotional pain. Yea... I was never too pleased at having to steal, but I figured that I could pay everyone back with that weird phenomenon. And, well, I'm also...sort of afraid to be alone...."

[MillietheWarrior]

Atin silent digested the information, his gaze staring past her ear and towards the ceiling. He seemed lost in thought, contemplating what this night had brought him: a stiff shoulder, annoyance, and a beautiful woman. He wasn’t sure if any of those were bad things at the moment. This strange and foreign concept had suddenly fallen into his lap, quite literally. Atin didn’t know what a relationship was, or how to sustain was. He couldn’t be there for her when she needed him, and there was no guarantee he’d survive his next mission. Everything was hit and miss with him in this type of a situation. What would he do when he was away? What would she do? More importantly, how would she cope if he was killed? Atin knew it was ridiculous to think that this woman, whom he’d met only a few hours ago, could maintain anything for him other than desire. But perhaps she could.

He wasn’t an idealist, or a dreamer; Atin was a realist, and he was as down to earth as they came. He knew asking her to commit to him immediately was ‘moving too fast’ and if he’d been any other man, living any other life, he wouldn’t have asked it. He’d have courted her properly (If she’d even been interested in him at all and vice versa) and then he’d have asked her to be his girl. As it was, he skipped the courting and the dates and went straight to the asking. He’d been raised to make snap decisions that could make or break a battle, save or destroy a life. This was no different. He analyzed the situation, and decided the best course of action, if he was going to proceed, would be to weigh and calculate all the risks, and then immediately leap into the fray. “Asking something like this…it’s not lightly. You’re honestly the first woman I’ve ever met who wasn‘t a commanding officer or taken, and certainly the first who’s taken an interest in me. I’m nothing special, I can promise you that. If you say you’ll be faithful, then I can live with that. I’m a man of my word, and I expect you to be a woman of yours.”

He fell silent, mulling over her words thoughtfully, before he sighed. “I’ll try not to die; I’d rather that didn’t happen too. But…it’s something that could happen. If aging doesn’t get me, a sniper or an explosion could.” He furrowed his brow at the strange information she presented him with, perplexed by her weird ‘abilities.’ he’d never heard of such a thing. And Atin had been to enough planets to hear a myriad of ridiculously strange stories. His hands tightened on hers in silent warning, and he growled, his eyes darkening. Whether it was from anger, hunger, or need was unclear. But he tugged her closer to him, faces inches apart. “That has to stop,” he murmured. “If you want me to stay, that old life will be gone. And if you can do that, then I won’t let you be alone.” He pulled her to him in another embrace, his free hand crushing her against him as he pressed his lips to hers hungrily.