At Least We're Not Related
Despite Galvin defining his first mission for the Abyss Watchers as a fiasco, his cousin Ciaran had actually been serious about paying him. And as she had confessed over bowling, she'd be more than happy to funnel some jobs his way when he asked, on the condition he not attempt to murder their grandfather while on Coruscant or Abyss Watcher business. Considering the prices Ciaran attached to her jobs, Galvin certainly wasn't about to rat out the galaxy's greatest humanitarian for nepotism.
He had spent a solid month on Zeltron blowing off steam though, as was his custom when finding one of his female cousins by accident like that. Finding a
male cousin like that warranted a several month binge on his homeworld, but he had only been that unfortunate once before. In his defense, Wookies looked remarkably androgynous to the untrained eye.
Once Galvin had finished his pilgrimage, he sent out a call to his cousin to see what she had for him. A lot of it was stuff he could do on the way back to Coruscant anyway. Apparently some information leak needed plugged before he could scurry off to CIS space. His worst mistake was trying to betray Ciaran. His second was making a bee line for his destination in the fastest ship as if Ciaran didn't have any agents between Coruscant and Separatist space. Like him. Or the entirety of the CNS. Apparently hiring him had eliminated any need for the CNS to explain why they'd shot him down though, and Galvin wasn't about to say no to more credits in his bank account.
Then she had him pick up and experimental ship from Sienar Systems for delivery to Coruscant so she could look it over and provide feedback about future designs. At first Galvin was a bit worried, what with the ship being experimental and all, but his doubts were washed away as soon as he started flying the thing. The ship handled like a dream, had more systems than he could reasonably fiddle with on the way to Coruscant, and goddamn if it wasn't comfortable.
He almost felt sad when he touched down on the planet since it meant he wouldn't be able to keep using the thing. As he was exiting the ship, a Tortuga woman sprinted into the hanger and began climbing on the ship.
"Hey hey! What do you think you're doing?" shouted Galvin.
"Huh?" she started, turning to identify the speaker. "Oh, you must be the pilot. I'm Cheriss, the one Lady Ciaran sent to look over the ship. And oh my Force does it look nice."
"Not as nice looking as you." said Galvin. Unlike most Zeltron his first instinct was violent passion, but romantic passion was still a close second.
Despite the compliment being incredibly basic (Galvin wasn't really trying since he wouldn't put it past Ciaran to find another one of their cousins and recruit her just to torment him), Cheriss still became incredibly flustered.
"Oh um… do you really think so?" she managed to stutter out.
"Of course. I'll have to thank Ciaran for sending such a radiant beauty for me to behold." Cheriss was actually giggling now. "What say you and I get to know each other a little bit better over some drinks later tonight, huh?"
"Okay. Where should we meet?" Fuck. Galvin hadn't thought he'd get this far. He hadn't even had to play the 'I'm a mercenary/bounty hunter, look how dangerous and mysterious I am' card.
"How about I pick you up here later? It can be our special place." Galvin could have kicked himself. He had been saving that line for somewhere a tad more romantic than a fucking hanger.
Apparently some random hanger was romantic enough for her though. "Okay! I'll go get ready." said Cheriss as she ran off, presumably to get ready.
XXX
It wasn't that Cheriss was unused to people hitting on her. She was aware that her body was conventionally attractive, and while the bare midriff was for the emergency ejection of her actual body, it certainly didn't drive men away. But she was always aware that the attraction was purely for a physical form that wasn't her own. But Galvin was Lady Ciaran's cousin, which meant he likely knew she was a Shard. It was her first real chance at an actual romance.
"Cheriss, did you manage to finish those- oh." started Ciaran as she entered Cheriss's room and saw the shard picking out fancier clothes than usual. "Ohhohohohoho. What's the occasion dear Cheriss?"
"I… have a date." said Cheriss carefully. Ciaran's antics were humorous, but Cheriss had a distinct impression they were less enjoyable on the receiving end.
"Well you have fun." said Ciaran, backing out of the room with a disturbingly large grin on her face. "But afterwards… we will talk."
Cheriss shuddered and hurried to where she was meeting Galvin. The hanger was far from romantic, but just the gesture of having a special place was exciting to her. Galvin had managed to beat her there, wearing a pair of bantha leather pants that looked too tight to be comfortable and going topless save for an open vest that ended just past his chest.
"M'lady." He said with an extravagant bow. Cheriss laughed at the absurdity.
"So where are we going? I don't see a transport." Which made sense, since he had taken the experimental ship to Coruscant, leaving his personal one with Sienar Systems.
"Luckily for you, I happen to know the best bar on the planet. And as I was planning to spend my downtime there anyways, this hanger happens to be within walking distance." said Galvin, offering her an arm.
The drinking was fun, both for the stories Galvin had aplenty and the discovery that a Shard's body did in fact absorb alcohol through contact. Shards were also apparently lightweights who couldn't hold their liquor, and the two had to leave a bit earlier than Cheriss would have preferred. Then again, she was so drunk Galvin had to practically carry her home, so her judgement probably wasn't the best in retrospect.
"Well, here we are." said Galvin. "Home sweet home I guess." He didn't remark on the fact that Cheriss's home was in fact just her lab at the Abyss Watcher's headquarters.
"Psst. Galvin." Cheriss whispered, despite the fact that there was no one else in the halls. "Want to see something secret?"
"My lips are sealed." Galvin played along and whispered back. He had been around the block enough times to know that girls did crazy, sexual things when they were drunk, and he knew that Cheriss was completely wasted.
Cheriss reached down slowly, hands gliding over her stomach. Galvin knew exactly what happened after that from experience, and it wasn't for the woman's stomach to open up, revealing a bunch of gently glowing crystals. "Tada!" said Cheriss loudly, apparently not caring that this was a secret. "It's my real body. I don't show it to just anyone you know, so you'd better appreciate it."
Galvin blinked. And again. Out of habit, he defaulted to the question he always asked when what he had expected happened. "Are you in anyway related to Silas Cata?"
"Nope. I don't think Shards and Humans even
can reproduce. How would that work?" said Cheriss, giggling at first before getting contemplative about the reproductive capabilities of her species.
"I wouldn't put it past the bastard. He'd find a way." grumbled Galvin. "Still, I suppose that's more than I usually get." Galvin squatted down and kissed the rock in Cheriss that apparently
was Cheriss before standing back up and walking to the quarters Ciaran had put aside for her family, stopping only for a second to wish Cheriss farewell.
XXX
AN: One last omake for double digits and good luck. I can now turn an impossibility into a guaranteed success. Or I could if it weren't for this glass ceiling imposed by the good doctor to bring balance to the quest. General idea for this one came from
@ConfusedPotato so thanks for that.
