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holocamLate afternoon, and Tarc had just finished eating in the mess hall with the Rogue and Yellow Aces pilots. He liked eating with them; they were noisy and messy, sort of like at home, but different and funny enough that he didn't feel nostalgic.
Now, he was in Tam's quarters on Wolam's shuttle, preferring the ship -- cramped and disorganized as it was -- to the room he had on base, adjoined to the Solos' silent, empty quarters. He sat on top of the bunk, squinting at the pages of a holocam manual he'd found in the main workstation area, comparing the diagrams inside with the 'cam in his lap dubiously.
There was a knock, and Tarc looked up to see Tam leaning against the doorjamb. "Can I come in?"
Tarc blinked. "It's your room."
"Oh, yeah." Tam smiled and stepped inside, then pulled over an upturned plasteel box and sat on it. "Listen, Tarc, um...when the Solos get back, I guess you'll be going with them whenever they leave Borleias permanently, right?"
"I guess," Tarc answered slowly, frowning. He hadn't really thought about it. But yeah, he supposed he would -- he'd go with the Solos, on that beat-up freighter of theirs, with the weird dangerous little aliens watching him all suspicious-like. Away from Tam and Wolam, and bored again, and maybe they'd even make him go to that secret base place with the kids and make him stay this time... Not that he wasn't grateful to them for rescuing him, he was, but still...
"OK," Tam said, and he frowned thoughtfully. He was biting his lip, and he seemed like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how. And then, apparently, he decided to just go ahead and say it: "Do you want to come with Wolam and me instead?"
Tarc blinked. And blinked again. And then he grinned, a wide, happy grin, and said, "Yeah! Yeah, I do, that would be astral!"
Then a sense of distress overwhelmed him -- it was a joke, wasn't it? Tam wasn't the type to make jokes, especially not nasty ones like this, but that didn't stop Tarc thinking for one awful second that it was. It was just a terrible joke, and Tam was just getting his hopes up, and he'd laugh nastily now and say, "Tough!"
But he didn't -- instead, he mirrored Tarc's grin, and stopped fidgeting with his shirt sleeves. "You do? OK, good, yeah. I'll need to ask the Solos," he added, but his grin remained. "And if they say yes, you can come with us. OK?"
Tarc nodded. "So you can keep teaching me how to be the best holocam operator in the galaxy, right?"
"Second best," Tam corrected him with a wink.
Tarc smirked, but didn't argue -- he'd just prove Tam wrong in a few years.
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muse: Tarc
fandom: Star Wars NJO
words: 473
Now, he was in Tam's quarters on Wolam's shuttle, preferring the ship -- cramped and disorganized as it was -- to the room he had on base, adjoined to the Solos' silent, empty quarters. He sat on top of the bunk, squinting at the pages of a holocam manual he'd found in the main workstation area, comparing the diagrams inside with the 'cam in his lap dubiously.
There was a knock, and Tarc looked up to see Tam leaning against the doorjamb. "Can I come in?"
Tarc blinked. "It's your room."
"Oh, yeah." Tam smiled and stepped inside, then pulled over an upturned plasteel box and sat on it. "Listen, Tarc, um...when the Solos get back, I guess you'll be going with them whenever they leave Borleias permanently, right?"
"I guess," Tarc answered slowly, frowning. He hadn't really thought about it. But yeah, he supposed he would -- he'd go with the Solos, on that beat-up freighter of theirs, with the weird dangerous little aliens watching him all suspicious-like. Away from Tam and Wolam, and bored again, and maybe they'd even make him go to that secret base place with the kids and make him stay this time... Not that he wasn't grateful to them for rescuing him, he was, but still...
"OK," Tam said, and he frowned thoughtfully. He was biting his lip, and he seemed like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how. And then, apparently, he decided to just go ahead and say it: "Do you want to come with Wolam and me instead?"
Tarc blinked. And blinked again. And then he grinned, a wide, happy grin, and said, "Yeah! Yeah, I do, that would be astral!"
Then a sense of distress overwhelmed him -- it was a joke, wasn't it? Tam wasn't the type to make jokes, especially not nasty ones like this, but that didn't stop Tarc thinking for one awful second that it was. It was just a terrible joke, and Tam was just getting his hopes up, and he'd laugh nastily now and say, "Tough!"
But he didn't -- instead, he mirrored Tarc's grin, and stopped fidgeting with his shirt sleeves. "You do? OK, good, yeah. I'll need to ask the Solos," he added, but his grin remained. "And if they say yes, you can come with us. OK?"
Tarc nodded. "So you can keep teaching me how to be the best holocam operator in the galaxy, right?"
"Second best," Tam corrected him with a wink.
Tarc smirked, but didn't argue -- he'd just prove Tam wrong in a few years.
-----
muse: Tarc
fandom: Star Wars NJO
words: 473