Bastion- Monday
It was a hard thing, moving to a new place. It was harder when it was sudden and you were now in charge of said place and you didn't know it very well. Jaina was trying to find some sense of normalcy, which wasn't easy when she had two people here she really knew and she had mostly left Jag to the running of the Empire so far and she was never not tired anyway. Since she'd been told she could request what she needed in the Palace to live comfortably, she'd requested a training area, but that wasn't done yet.
So while Jag was in meetings, Jaina sometimes decided to strike out on her own for a while, because she wouldn't be her if she didn't take the chance to go exploring. She didn't know the area that well, and she could even do ordinary things like run errands and feel like a real person for a while.
There was something nice about being able to wander and get a mental map of what was around and where it all was. It had always been Jaina's favorite part of getting somewhere new when she'd been in Fandom, or even when she was able to stop long enough to see anything during one wartime or another. She was on her way back towards the Palace, starting to feel okay for the first time in a while, when her danger sense began tickling at the back of her mind.
It wasn't immediate, so Jaina reached out with the Force to see if she could sense where it was coming from in the crowd without looking around. It was one person behind her who seemed to be keeping pace with her at an inconspicuous distance. Having a hood up had kept her from being recognized so far, but it wasn't as if it was the best disguise or anything, so she probably should have expected this. She kept walking like normal, but at the first opportunity turned the corner, ducking into a shop like she'd planned on going in. He didn't follow her in, but she could still sense him around, and when she stepped outside, he started following her again.
There wasn't much she could do about getting somewhere less populated, being in the capital of the Empire in the middle of the day, so she took a couple more turns to try and lose him, but he kept on her. She wasn't close enough to the Palace to lose him, and she was going to have to do this anyway, so she got as far as where the crowd thinned and then stopped and turned around, looking right at him.
It was a human man who looked startled that she'd caught him, so startled that he automatically lifted his blaster towards her. And then he looked startled when she didn't even need to raise her hand to Force throw him into the wall of the nearest building, causing the people that were around to scatter. His weapon fell, and she knocked that across the ground out of the way.
And even though the threat wasn't a threat anymore, now she was stuck dealing with this. There went the decent day.
*****
Jaina regretted bringing up the incident as soon as the words 'security detail' were mentioned.
"I don't need a security detail," Jaina insisted, continuing to put things away because she needed to keep busy with something for this. "I am the security detail. You used to use me as an excuse to escape yours!"
"I remember," Jag said from where he was standing against the wall, watching her with his arms folded across his chest. He looked calm, but Jaina knew otherwise. "And please don't think I'm not entirely confident in your terrifying level of skill when it comes to this sort of thing, but first, Force-throwing a private citizen in public should have some sort of official corroboration, even if he was a would-be attacker. Second, it's just what's done, and my team will insist on it. Once the twins are born if you'd rather go at everything alone, that's up to you, but until then, I have to insist, too."
"Being pregnant in no way affects my ability to defend myself," Jaina said coolly. "I have superpowers and a glowy sword, I'm fine."
"I'm not saying that at all." He'd perfected this rational tone with her lately, and it was actually pretty impressive. "But we don't yet know if this was connected to the Moffs and Sith, or just an ordinary citizen who mistakenly thought you were an easy target."
"Ha."
"I in no way want you to feel like you have to stay cooped up in this building, but we're going to have to make an announcement about this before long, and that will put a bigger target on you. The twins will need their own guards anyway, and would you please agree and make me feel better about all of this?"
Well. There went his rational tone.
It did get Jaina to drop her defenses, though. She'd been in his position before, and she knew how tough it was. "I'm sorry," she sighed, stopping her work to turn and face him. "I know I'm being a pain."
"But an adorable one," Jag said, pushing off from the wall to come closer.
"That's incredibly condescending."
"Yes. Did it help?"
"Tiny bit," she admitted, and walked over to give him an apology hug. "I know I'm being difficult lately."
"Mmm." He wouldn't deny it. He'd known exactly how difficult she could be for twenty years, and this wasn't anywhere close to how bad she could get when stressed.
"Was it this hard for you, when you first took office? Having to learn all this stuff, constantly being surrounded by people?" At the time he started as Head of State, she'd been in a hospital, and by the time she'd gotten out it seemed like he had it all handled, because he was Jag and that was what he did.
"No, but it was never going to be," Jag told her. "I wasn't leaving anything behind."
Jaina frowned, because she'd been trying very hard to tell herself she'd left everything behind a few times now, and that this wasn't any different.
"It gets easier," he went on. "You learn it. And you learn tricks to deal with it and preserve your sanity. Possibly just in time for our children to learn how to slip their security detail."
"So, what, two years?"
"Obviously taking after their mother," Jag said with a tiny smile. "I've heard the stories about you."
Jaina groaned. "Everybody's fired."
"So you'll agree to have a bodyguard?" Jag asked, sounding hopeful. "At least for the time being?"
She sighed again, knowing it was the smart thing to do even if she very much didn't want to. "Fine. For now. But I'm taking Tahiri."
"No, I've got Tahiri," Jag said immediately, shaking his head.
"Really? You talked me into this, and she was my friend first. Family, really."
"She was my bodyguard first, and as you're so willing to remind me, you have a glowy sword and superpowers," he pointed out.
Jaina pursed her lips, and then stuck her hand out in a fist. It was not the first time she'd tried to settle an argument with him, even though he thought she was crazy for it every time.
To his credit he didn't roll his eyes, but did put his fist out too, and then counted.
Jaina kept her hand in a fist, and was dismayed to see that he'd laid his own hand flat for paper. "Best out of three," she said.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. I'm maybe having too much fun writing all this.]
So while Jag was in meetings, Jaina sometimes decided to strike out on her own for a while, because she wouldn't be her if she didn't take the chance to go exploring. She didn't know the area that well, and she could even do ordinary things like run errands and feel like a real person for a while.
There was something nice about being able to wander and get a mental map of what was around and where it all was. It had always been Jaina's favorite part of getting somewhere new when she'd been in Fandom, or even when she was able to stop long enough to see anything during one wartime or another. She was on her way back towards the Palace, starting to feel okay for the first time in a while, when her danger sense began tickling at the back of her mind.
It wasn't immediate, so Jaina reached out with the Force to see if she could sense where it was coming from in the crowd without looking around. It was one person behind her who seemed to be keeping pace with her at an inconspicuous distance. Having a hood up had kept her from being recognized so far, but it wasn't as if it was the best disguise or anything, so she probably should have expected this. She kept walking like normal, but at the first opportunity turned the corner, ducking into a shop like she'd planned on going in. He didn't follow her in, but she could still sense him around, and when she stepped outside, he started following her again.
There wasn't much she could do about getting somewhere less populated, being in the capital of the Empire in the middle of the day, so she took a couple more turns to try and lose him, but he kept on her. She wasn't close enough to the Palace to lose him, and she was going to have to do this anyway, so she got as far as where the crowd thinned and then stopped and turned around, looking right at him.
It was a human man who looked startled that she'd caught him, so startled that he automatically lifted his blaster towards her. And then he looked startled when she didn't even need to raise her hand to Force throw him into the wall of the nearest building, causing the people that were around to scatter. His weapon fell, and she knocked that across the ground out of the way.
And even though the threat wasn't a threat anymore, now she was stuck dealing with this. There went the decent day.
*****
Jaina regretted bringing up the incident as soon as the words 'security detail' were mentioned.
"I don't need a security detail," Jaina insisted, continuing to put things away because she needed to keep busy with something for this. "I am the security detail. You used to use me as an excuse to escape yours!"
"I remember," Jag said from where he was standing against the wall, watching her with his arms folded across his chest. He looked calm, but Jaina knew otherwise. "And please don't think I'm not entirely confident in your terrifying level of skill when it comes to this sort of thing, but first, Force-throwing a private citizen in public should have some sort of official corroboration, even if he was a would-be attacker. Second, it's just what's done, and my team will insist on it. Once the twins are born if you'd rather go at everything alone, that's up to you, but until then, I have to insist, too."
"Being pregnant in no way affects my ability to defend myself," Jaina said coolly. "I have superpowers and a glowy sword, I'm fine."
"I'm not saying that at all." He'd perfected this rational tone with her lately, and it was actually pretty impressive. "But we don't yet know if this was connected to the Moffs and Sith, or just an ordinary citizen who mistakenly thought you were an easy target."
"Ha."
"I in no way want you to feel like you have to stay cooped up in this building, but we're going to have to make an announcement about this before long, and that will put a bigger target on you. The twins will need their own guards anyway, and would you please agree and make me feel better about all of this?"
Well. There went his rational tone.
It did get Jaina to drop her defenses, though. She'd been in his position before, and she knew how tough it was. "I'm sorry," she sighed, stopping her work to turn and face him. "I know I'm being a pain."
"But an adorable one," Jag said, pushing off from the wall to come closer.
"That's incredibly condescending."
"Yes. Did it help?"
"Tiny bit," she admitted, and walked over to give him an apology hug. "I know I'm being difficult lately."
"Mmm." He wouldn't deny it. He'd known exactly how difficult she could be for twenty years, and this wasn't anywhere close to how bad she could get when stressed.
"Was it this hard for you, when you first took office? Having to learn all this stuff, constantly being surrounded by people?" At the time he started as Head of State, she'd been in a hospital, and by the time she'd gotten out it seemed like he had it all handled, because he was Jag and that was what he did.
"No, but it was never going to be," Jag told her. "I wasn't leaving anything behind."
Jaina frowned, because she'd been trying very hard to tell herself she'd left everything behind a few times now, and that this wasn't any different.
"It gets easier," he went on. "You learn it. And you learn tricks to deal with it and preserve your sanity. Possibly just in time for our children to learn how to slip their security detail."
"So, what, two years?"
"Obviously taking after their mother," Jag said with a tiny smile. "I've heard the stories about you."
Jaina groaned. "Everybody's fired."
"So you'll agree to have a bodyguard?" Jag asked, sounding hopeful. "At least for the time being?"
She sighed again, knowing it was the smart thing to do even if she very much didn't want to. "Fine. For now. But I'm taking Tahiri."
"No, I've got Tahiri," Jag said immediately, shaking his head.
"Really? You talked me into this, and she was my friend first. Family, really."
"She was my bodyguard first, and as you're so willing to remind me, you have a glowy sword and superpowers," he pointed out.
Jaina pursed her lips, and then stuck her hand out in a fist. It was not the first time she'd tried to settle an argument with him, even though he thought she was crazy for it every time.
To his credit he didn't roll his eyes, but did put his fist out too, and then counted.
Jaina kept her hand in a fist, and was dismayed to see that he'd laid his own hand flat for paper. "Best out of three," she said.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. I'm maybe having too much fun writing all this.]