Fic: Perfectly Normal 4/7, PG
Title: Perfectly Normal
Rating: PG
Category: humor, romance
Timeframe: New Republic; one week after VotF
Summary: Luke and Mara discover that being a couple includes facing unexpected challenges.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Click-clomping as discreetly as she could manage, Mara followed Luke, who followed the maitre'd. They wound through the restaurant at a dignified pace, passing tables nearly hidden by clever architecture, artfully arranged greenery, and the occasional green-tinted curtain, their existence hinted at mostly by the low murmur of conversation from within - and, of course, the aroma of the food.
Mara found herself mentally identifying each scent as she caught it: shaak steak with crushed spices, warm bread - that dark crusty kind she particularly liked, with a type of cheese spread on it, she was sure - tangy asper root, the dry scent of Chandrilan green wine. She had skipped lunch earlier, and now despite her irritation over the lost reservation and ensuing wait, Mara decided that she would happily forgive all if dinner tasted as good as it smelled.
After a longer walk than Mara would have believed possible in the compact-looking restaurant, they reached a table surrounded on three sides by greenery-draped lattices. It wasn't quite as elegantly hidden as many other tables they'd passed, nor as quiet - subdued though the sounds were, she was certain by the occasional clank of metal on metal that they were near the preparation area. Still, the abundance of plants muffled the sound well. Surely it wouldn't be a problem. In all other aspects, the table looked lovely. It was made of a type of glass that sparkled rather than shimmered, the edges were etched with an elaborate scrolled design, and it was sized for two, lending it an air of coziness.
Luke looked at her with cautious hope in his eyes. "Looks promising."
"It does," Mara agreed, almost cheerful again. Maybe this night would turn out all right after all. Smoothing her skirt gracefully, she slid into one of the polished blackwood chairs, Luke making a belated attempt to hold it out for her as she did so. Mara shook her head at him, amused. "I'm not that fragile, Luke."
"I'm trying to be romantic," he pointed out. "You could cooperate a little."
"I'll cooperate later," Mara said, sending a wave of promise across their bond. "Sit down yourself so we can place our drink orders."
He did so, but as he turned back toward the maitre'd, they found that he'd already disappeared. Mara frowned. "So far, the service here stinks."
"It'll get better," Luke said with an air of grim determination better suited to the battlefield than a high end restaurant. He didn't need to say, It had better.
Mara reached across the table to pat his hand. "It's okay. The company's still good."
Luke smiled at her, some of the tension in his shoulders bleeding away. "True. Finish telling me about work. What were you saying about Shada and Shirlee?"
"Oh, right," Mara said, brightening. "Well, several of the ships were in port at one of the outposts, and Aves had this brilliant idea of pitting the men against the women in a sabacc game."
"Strip sabacc?" Luke interrupted, waggling his eyebrows lecherously. Mara slapped his arm.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. Even Aves wouldn't be foolhardy enough to suggest that one. And you'd better not be thinking about Shada or Shirlee or anyone else on the losing end of a strip sabacc game."
"I'm not," Luke protested.
"Mmm," Mara said suspiciously. "Anyway, what Aves didn't realize was that Shirlee used to make a living as a sabacc hustler. So she and Shada and H'sishi all lost just enough rounds to make Aves and his cohorts drop their guard, then she dropped the heavy end of the hammer on them. Cleaned them out. The men wound up hand-detailing the Starry Ice's hull. Shirlee and Shada and H'sishi are still going around looking smug."
Luke laughed. "I knew I liked Shirlee Faughn. Aves should know better than that. You'd think all his time working with you would teach him not to underestimate the potential sneakiness of a woman."
"Flatterer," Mara said with a grin. "What about you? How goes the academy?"
"Not bad," he said. "Tionne has a new idea for teaching the youngest students . . ."
Luke finished that story and another, and Mara told him of Karrde's plans to overhaul half of the ships in his fleet. Luke pointed out that the Kuat driveyards had a new modification available for the type of cruiser Karrde often employed, and Mara promised to pass the information on; then the conversation trailed into a slightly uncomfortable silence as each of them looked at the other and around their table.
"Um," Luke said. "Am I going crazy, or have we been here kind of a long time?"
"We've been here kind of a long time," Mara said, sighing. "Suppose anyone even knows this table exists?"
"Someone must," Luke said, looking grim again.
Just then a slightly tarnished serving droid whirred up to their table. A few dents glimmered darkly in the low light, and a prolonged squeak preceded its words. "G'evening, gentles. Drinks tonight?"
Mara felt her eyebrow rise. She glanced at Luke, who visibly sighed and gestured vaguely toward her. "Gannesa juice, please," Mara told the droid.
"V'good," the droid wheezed. "Sir?"
"Same," Luke said.
The droid made a noncommittal clanking sound and whirred off again. Luke looked at Mara, and she patted his hand comfortingly again. "It's okay, Luke."
"This place had such good reviews," Luke said apologetically.
"Well, the atmosphere is lovely," Mara said, determined to find something more positive to focus on. Luke was looking decidedly less cheerful than he had when they had first arrived, and for all his show of grumbling about going out, she knew he'd actually put a lot of effort into arranging this evening for them. It wasn't his fault that the local lizards didn't stay out of the walking path, or that the restaurant didn't live up to its reputation. She glanced at the vines that wove their way through the trellis that separated their table from the rest of the dining area. "What sort of plants are these?"
"I don't know," Luke said, glancing at the vines in his turn. "Nothing I'm familiar with. Pretty, though."
Mara fingered the leaves behind her, noticing that the stems and lower leaves were beginning to gray. "What do you suppose is wrong with these--what--" Mara yanked her hand back, but the tingling sensation followed. She looked at it more closely, and found several tiny arachnids scrambling madly around on her flesh. She shook her hand violently, shaking the arachnids off, and stood to examine the plants behind her more closely.
"What is it?" Luke stood, concerned, and came to look with her, then jerked back at the multitude of tiny arachnids that were now swarming from the base of the vines. "Stang! How many of those things are there?"
"A lot," Mara said, eyeing them. She poked a prominent vine stalk carefully, then shook more arachnids off her hand and took a step back. "Well, I guess now we know why this plant is withering."
"Well, we're not going to sit here with them," Luke said, a slight shiver running through his shoulders. "Are you sure there aren't any more on you?"
"Pretty sure," Mara said, tamping down the smile that threatened. Luke's dislike of bugs still amused her somewhat, understandable though it was, but she wasn't any more anxious to share the table with the arachnids than he was. "Getting another table seems unlikely, though. Look how long it took us to get this one."
"They'd--ow!" Luke jumped.
Mara spun, hand reaching instinctively for the blaster that wasn't there, then jumped herself as two glasses' worth of gannesa juice splashed her as well as Luke. "What the--"
The serving droid tilted its head at them in a nearly human gesture. "P'rdon, gentles," it said, and extended an arm to retrieve the glasses from the floor and set them back on the serving tray it carried in the other hand. The glasses promptly fell off again with a clatter, the tray being held at an alarming slant due to what appeared to be a snapped stabilizer in its carrying arm. "P'rdon, gentles," the droid wheezed again, and repeated the performance. Mara and Luke watched silently, arms held out from their sides as the gannesa juice dripped slowly off them. Mara blinked juice out of her eyes and looked at Luke, who stood as still as a statue, watching the droid.
"Mara," Luke said very calmly, "how much would you say two gannesa juices cost? Eight credits? Ten?"
"Something like that," Mara said, watching him warily.
"My bribe covers it, then. And then some." Still dripping, Luke stepped around the droid, carefully picked up Mara's bag, shook a few stray arachnids off, handed it to her, and took her other hand. "Remind me to leave my own detailed review of this place on the HoloNet after we get cleaned up."
"P'rdon, gentles," the serving droid whirred, dropping the glasses yet again.
"Shut up," Luke said, and led Mara out of the restaurant.
Rating: PG
Category: humor, romance
Timeframe: New Republic; one week after VotF
Summary: Luke and Mara discover that being a couple includes facing unexpected challenges.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Click-clomping as discreetly as she could manage, Mara followed Luke, who followed the maitre'd. They wound through the restaurant at a dignified pace, passing tables nearly hidden by clever architecture, artfully arranged greenery, and the occasional green-tinted curtain, their existence hinted at mostly by the low murmur of conversation from within - and, of course, the aroma of the food.
Mara found herself mentally identifying each scent as she caught it: shaak steak with crushed spices, warm bread - that dark crusty kind she particularly liked, with a type of cheese spread on it, she was sure - tangy asper root, the dry scent of Chandrilan green wine. She had skipped lunch earlier, and now despite her irritation over the lost reservation and ensuing wait, Mara decided that she would happily forgive all if dinner tasted as good as it smelled.
After a longer walk than Mara would have believed possible in the compact-looking restaurant, they reached a table surrounded on three sides by greenery-draped lattices. It wasn't quite as elegantly hidden as many other tables they'd passed, nor as quiet - subdued though the sounds were, she was certain by the occasional clank of metal on metal that they were near the preparation area. Still, the abundance of plants muffled the sound well. Surely it wouldn't be a problem. In all other aspects, the table looked lovely. It was made of a type of glass that sparkled rather than shimmered, the edges were etched with an elaborate scrolled design, and it was sized for two, lending it an air of coziness.
Luke looked at her with cautious hope in his eyes. "Looks promising."
"It does," Mara agreed, almost cheerful again. Maybe this night would turn out all right after all. Smoothing her skirt gracefully, she slid into one of the polished blackwood chairs, Luke making a belated attempt to hold it out for her as she did so. Mara shook her head at him, amused. "I'm not that fragile, Luke."
"I'm trying to be romantic," he pointed out. "You could cooperate a little."
"I'll cooperate later," Mara said, sending a wave of promise across their bond. "Sit down yourself so we can place our drink orders."
He did so, but as he turned back toward the maitre'd, they found that he'd already disappeared. Mara frowned. "So far, the service here stinks."
"It'll get better," Luke said with an air of grim determination better suited to the battlefield than a high end restaurant. He didn't need to say, It had better.
Mara reached across the table to pat his hand. "It's okay. The company's still good."
Luke smiled at her, some of the tension in his shoulders bleeding away. "True. Finish telling me about work. What were you saying about Shada and Shirlee?"
"Oh, right," Mara said, brightening. "Well, several of the ships were in port at one of the outposts, and Aves had this brilliant idea of pitting the men against the women in a sabacc game."
"Strip sabacc?" Luke interrupted, waggling his eyebrows lecherously. Mara slapped his arm.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. Even Aves wouldn't be foolhardy enough to suggest that one. And you'd better not be thinking about Shada or Shirlee or anyone else on the losing end of a strip sabacc game."
"I'm not," Luke protested.
"Mmm," Mara said suspiciously. "Anyway, what Aves didn't realize was that Shirlee used to make a living as a sabacc hustler. So she and Shada and H'sishi all lost just enough rounds to make Aves and his cohorts drop their guard, then she dropped the heavy end of the hammer on them. Cleaned them out. The men wound up hand-detailing the Starry Ice's hull. Shirlee and Shada and H'sishi are still going around looking smug."
Luke laughed. "I knew I liked Shirlee Faughn. Aves should know better than that. You'd think all his time working with you would teach him not to underestimate the potential sneakiness of a woman."
"Flatterer," Mara said with a grin. "What about you? How goes the academy?"
"Not bad," he said. "Tionne has a new idea for teaching the youngest students . . ."
Luke finished that story and another, and Mara told him of Karrde's plans to overhaul half of the ships in his fleet. Luke pointed out that the Kuat driveyards had a new modification available for the type of cruiser Karrde often employed, and Mara promised to pass the information on; then the conversation trailed into a slightly uncomfortable silence as each of them looked at the other and around their table.
"Um," Luke said. "Am I going crazy, or have we been here kind of a long time?"
"We've been here kind of a long time," Mara said, sighing. "Suppose anyone even knows this table exists?"
"Someone must," Luke said, looking grim again.
Just then a slightly tarnished serving droid whirred up to their table. A few dents glimmered darkly in the low light, and a prolonged squeak preceded its words. "G'evening, gentles. Drinks tonight?"
Mara felt her eyebrow rise. She glanced at Luke, who visibly sighed and gestured vaguely toward her. "Gannesa juice, please," Mara told the droid.
"V'good," the droid wheezed. "Sir?"
"Same," Luke said.
The droid made a noncommittal clanking sound and whirred off again. Luke looked at Mara, and she patted his hand comfortingly again. "It's okay, Luke."
"This place had such good reviews," Luke said apologetically.
"Well, the atmosphere is lovely," Mara said, determined to find something more positive to focus on. Luke was looking decidedly less cheerful than he had when they had first arrived, and for all his show of grumbling about going out, she knew he'd actually put a lot of effort into arranging this evening for them. It wasn't his fault that the local lizards didn't stay out of the walking path, or that the restaurant didn't live up to its reputation. She glanced at the vines that wove their way through the trellis that separated their table from the rest of the dining area. "What sort of plants are these?"
"I don't know," Luke said, glancing at the vines in his turn. "Nothing I'm familiar with. Pretty, though."
Mara fingered the leaves behind her, noticing that the stems and lower leaves were beginning to gray. "What do you suppose is wrong with these--what--" Mara yanked her hand back, but the tingling sensation followed. She looked at it more closely, and found several tiny arachnids scrambling madly around on her flesh. She shook her hand violently, shaking the arachnids off, and stood to examine the plants behind her more closely.
"What is it?" Luke stood, concerned, and came to look with her, then jerked back at the multitude of tiny arachnids that were now swarming from the base of the vines. "Stang! How many of those things are there?"
"A lot," Mara said, eyeing them. She poked a prominent vine stalk carefully, then shook more arachnids off her hand and took a step back. "Well, I guess now we know why this plant is withering."
"Well, we're not going to sit here with them," Luke said, a slight shiver running through his shoulders. "Are you sure there aren't any more on you?"
"Pretty sure," Mara said, tamping down the smile that threatened. Luke's dislike of bugs still amused her somewhat, understandable though it was, but she wasn't any more anxious to share the table with the arachnids than he was. "Getting another table seems unlikely, though. Look how long it took us to get this one."
"They'd--ow!" Luke jumped.
Mara spun, hand reaching instinctively for the blaster that wasn't there, then jumped herself as two glasses' worth of gannesa juice splashed her as well as Luke. "What the--"
The serving droid tilted its head at them in a nearly human gesture. "P'rdon, gentles," it said, and extended an arm to retrieve the glasses from the floor and set them back on the serving tray it carried in the other hand. The glasses promptly fell off again with a clatter, the tray being held at an alarming slant due to what appeared to be a snapped stabilizer in its carrying arm. "P'rdon, gentles," the droid wheezed again, and repeated the performance. Mara and Luke watched silently, arms held out from their sides as the gannesa juice dripped slowly off them. Mara blinked juice out of her eyes and looked at Luke, who stood as still as a statue, watching the droid.
"Mara," Luke said very calmly, "how much would you say two gannesa juices cost? Eight credits? Ten?"
"Something like that," Mara said, watching him warily.
"My bribe covers it, then. And then some." Still dripping, Luke stepped around the droid, carefully picked up Mara's bag, shook a few stray arachnids off, handed it to her, and took her other hand. "Remind me to leave my own detailed review of this place on the HoloNet after we get cleaned up."
"P'rdon, gentles," the serving droid whirred, dropping the glasses yet again.
"Shut up," Luke said, and led Mara out of the restaurant.