What Goes Around Comes Around, Payback’s a bitch... [Alliance Only]

[Lysander Odakota]

Lysander had been spending a lot of time out and about on Coronet as well as idling other moments at the Alliance Base itself. He’d been given permission by the Council to absorb himself into the Alliance workings like ‘Brin’ had. Taking on the identity of one ‘Gunnar Trell’ had amused the Guardian mightily. Literally playing the little brother was an irony he could appreciate. Especially since the identity he had quickly concocted for ‘Gunnar’ gave a decent excuse as to why he’d went and attacked ‘Brin’s’ man-friend Mac. Mac, who had joined the Alliance as well, or so Lysander’s continuing stalking habits had told him.

He’d at least been nice enough not to bother Mac anymore. He’d bide his time for Shay before he did anything more rash.

He’d arrived back at base from one of his longer stints in Coronet, feeling relaxed and bizarrely in character. He didn’t have the perfect switch to and from personas that Shay had--it was harder for him to alter his way of thinking and behaving on whim--but he was good at what he did.

It didn’t take anyone telling him as much for Lysander to realize Shay had turned back up around base while he had been gone. He instinctively felt her through his bond to her. Even in character, it wasn’t something he could turn ‘off’. That part of being Jedi would definitely stick with ‘Gunnar’ especially when ‘Brin’ was around. Even keeping his Force vibes on the down-low as he was, Shay was far too familiar to him.

Fully intending to go and complain to her about Mac--despite the fact that he, himself, was over it and had come to the idle conclusion that Mac was an okay guy--he headed off to the hangar bay where he could feel her subtle presence. She was probably with the Lucidity.

He was dressed in undeniably casual clothing--a slightly dirty white jacket slung over a dark shirt and rough blue pants. His blaster holstered at his hip and eyes a good deal more wild looking than they did when he was in proper “Jedi mode” ‘Gunnar’ came across with the air of a bit of a troublemaker who had himself more or less under control. A middle-aged man, perhaps, who hadn’t overcome a childhood sense of adventure.

:: Oh, Shay-face, little brother is home, :: he projected to her, his mental voice full of eager hum as he took his first few steps into the wide hangar. He had left word for her whenever she came back, to inform her that little brother ‘Gunnar’ had decided to join her in the world of being a hired hand for the Alliance. Lucky her, they were Telosians together now.

[Shay Marin]

I swear, starship maintenance is better than meditation, as far as clearing my head goes. Few things made Master Marin more at peace with the universe than mucking her hands about in the workings of the Lucidity's systems. Every circuit, every power coupling, every micron of the vessel's infrastructure were intimately familiar to her now after over a decade of ownership. She could practically take this ship apart and put it back together blindfolded by this point. Such familiarity was reassuring on a deep and primal level. Jedi were cautioned against forming possessive attachments to any object other than their lightsaber, but Shay could not deny the connection she felt to her transport and secondary home.

At present, the Jedi's graceful form was perched upon a large packing crate beneath the courier's port foreward aerofoil, garbed in worn boots, khaki cargo pants, and a black cotton tank top. Slender arms defined with lithe muscles were lifted above her head as she tinkered with the forward stabilizers. A black cloth headband held her layered blonde hair out of her face, a few smudges of grime marking her fair complexion to show where she had swiped away the occasional bead of sweat or scratched a pesky itch.

Few Alliance personnel frequented this particular hangar bay, since none of the ships berthed here were military craft. Most were privately owned vessels belonging to various members of the rebellion. They were kept docked here in order to help protect the identity of said members. 'Independent contractors' were required to keep their boats here as well while they were in-system, all out of an interest of operational security. The Centurion's Blade rested on its landing struts at the other end of the bay from the Lucidity, half a dozen other craft of widely varied make filling in the space between the two ships.

One specific vessel docked directly off the Lucidity's forward bow was drawing more than its fair share of attention at present from the handful of visitors to the bay. While the make of the Living Force was unremarkable--Aurek fighters were relatively common rides among 'civilian' pilots--the fluorescent pink color it was currently sporting was anything but. The gloss of iridescent sparkle in the garish paint job didn't help matters any.

It had been quite some time since Shay had pulled off a particularly elaborate prank. She'd almost forgotten the rush it gave to her. Not only had she lacked the opportunity, but she had also lacked the need; Shay never messed with someone in such a fashion without due cause. It had also been a long time since Master Marin had reason to prank her little brother Lysander. Gandon was the usual target of her humorous forms of revenge, given the decade of practical jokes she still had to get back at him for.

The stage had been set; now all she could do was wait for her target to walk upon it. That was the reason she'd chosen to focus her maintenance efforts on the side of the Lucidity closest to Lysander's bird. Shay had every intention of witnessing Lysander's reaction to his redecorated Aurek fighter up close and personal. She expected the show to be an exceptionally entertaining one. There was no malice behind her anticipation of Lysander's shock and dismay. Master Marin didn't get mad, after all, but she most definitely got even when the situation called for it.

Shay did not resist the wicked grin that spilled over her lips at the 'sound' of her little brother's mental call. Pleasure at his presence mixed with intense amusement as she transmitted her own thoughts back across the spiritual link they shared. ::About time, Ly-Ly. Head on over, I'm fixing up the old girl. Hope you don't mind seeing your big sister all greasy and disheveled.::

[Lysander Odakota]

::Wouldn’t be the first time,:: Lysander replied with a smile, unable to help the absolutely positive reaction to hearing Shay’s voice in his head that flitted across his consciousness. He noted a certain tinge of amusement in her aura now and wondered what that was about, but he was sure he would find out soon enough and didn’t dwell on it.

With the positioning of equipment and other ships in the hangar and the relatively dim nature of it as it was, Lysander didn’t notice the state of his poor starfighter until he was literally upon it. He had made his eager way towards the Lucidity his mind not even on his own bird, only on Shay.

For half a second as he came into Shay’s view, it was clear that he didn’t recognize the Aurek as his own. His gaze first went to Shay then his initial response to the bright pink ship was a sharp glance that clearly conveyed the thought of ‘who the hell would do that to their starfighter?’ But then it dawned on him. This was where he’d left his fighter last time he’d taken it out.

That atrocity was the Living Force, and not in her usual silver and maroon glory. All his attention went there now and he blinked as if the color would clear as a figment of his imagination. But when it didn’t, the Guardian staggered under the ‘weight’ of the shock. He was still very much in ‘Gunnar’ mode and thusly was unconsciously putting more outward visibility to his emotional reactions than he normally might have. Lucky Shay, she was getting more than she could have possibly bargained for in reaction to this. He dropped to his knees, not trusting himself to keep his feet any more, his eyes locked on the sparkly paint job with nothing short of horror dripping off of his emotional state.

He whimpered, the sound pained, but not in a way that it couldn’t be seen as laughable by an outside observer. No real harm had been done here, but Lysander’s pride had just taken a good smack at the sight of his bird all dolled up like she was.

It took him several long seconds, but he found his voice long enough to state, “You talked to Mac,” as it dawned on him who had done this and why she had been so cruel. He didn’t look at her, still seeming to be in shock at the sight that was starting to hurt his eyes.

[Shay Marin]

With an effort of will, Shay restrained the snickering that threatened to erupt as she awaited Lysander's approach to her position. Laughing before her little brother had caught sight of the atrocity that was his Aurek's paint job would take away some of the surprise, which was just about the last thing she wanted right now. Oh no... she hadn't spent so many credits and so much time in 'convincing' the hangar bay techs to do her dirty work to risk ruining the payoff now. The Jedi Master could be exceedingly devious when she set her mind to it.

One of the privileges of being able to touch the Force as a Jedi could was the ability to observe another's reactions from the 'inside' as well as the outside. This was especially the case when it came to someone like Lysander, who Shay knew as well as she knew herself. Not only could she accurately read every nuance of his expression, but she felt every fluctuation of his emotional state in almost intimate detail. The combination made her little brother's display of shock and horror all the more entertaining.

"You talked to Mac."

There would be no point in attempting to play innocent; as talented as she was with lying, there could be no hiding her guilt from someone she was Force bonded to. Lowering her arms from her work, Shay slid off the edge of her crate, a smug smile tugging on the corners of her lips. "I did indeed." Holstering the hydrospanner and microcaliper on her toolbelt, 'Brin' began to saunter over towards the kneeling man at a deliberately slow pace. These sorts of moments were highly prized by her quirky sense of humor, and she intended to draw them out as long as possible.

As she walked towards Lysander, the blonde woman pulled a wad of cloth from her pants pocket and began to absently wipe the grease from her fingers. "We had a very... interesting conversation about you. As I recall, it had something to do with you starting a fight?" Shay still had some cognitive difficulties in coming to terms with what had happened. While both men were proficient in the use of violence, they each possessed a generous store of restraint--Lysander more so than Mac, admittedly. Thinking of them brawling like a pair of common street thugs... well, it just didn't compute in her brain.

Master Marin came to a halt a few steps away from her best friend, planting her hands on her hips in a deliberately arrogant pose. It was all for show, of course, part of her 'Brin Trell' identity. The Telosian spacer was big on cocky displays and expansive gestures. The gentle chiding in her tone was pure Shay, however. "Correct me if I'm wrong, little brother, but didn't I specifically tell you to leave him alone?"

[Lysander Odakota]

"I did indeed."

“But did you... did you have to...?” Lysander’s voice was weak from his shock as he attempted to question Shay’s way of getting back at him. Surely nothing he was done had earned him this!. Okay, maybe it did, but that didn’t lessen the horror he felt. His ship and his ‘saber. Those were the only two things in the world that he was possessive over on any level, and here was number two on his list, bright pink. Of all colors that no ship should ever be...

She came walking over, casual, and even without looking at her he knew where she was. She spoke again and finally he managed to turn his eyes away from the retina destroying monstrosity before him.

"We had a very... interesting conversation about you. As I recall, it had something to do with you starting a fight?"

A definite grimace of guilt crossed the younger Jedi’s visage. Oh right, he’d started it, huh. And Mac would have made a point of pointing that out. At least, Lysander would have done so himself had Mac been the one to start it. In fact... “Well, I threw the first punch, yeah... but he deserved it!” He pulled himself back to his feet and faced her, eyes wide in self-defense as she put her hands on her hips in a very obviously ‘Brin’ pose.

Who knew what Mac had told her. What details he’d given. Surely Mac hadn’t given himself up for the ‘too much information’ bit, right? Or was Mac really more noble than Lysander was wanting to pin him as?

"Correct me if I'm wrong, little brother, but didn't I specifically tell you to leave him alone?"

“You know me better than that,” he stated, letting himself pout openly as Gunnar. Then he was whipping back around to face his Aurek, fighting back a whimper again. Somehow in the seconds he’d turned away, he’d forgotten just how painful that sight was. “Force, sis, why’d you have to bring her into it?” he asked, stepping forward a few steps to run a worried hand over the pink hull of the fighter, as if testing the truth of it again. “Augh.”

[Shay Marin]

"But did you... did you have to...?"

Shay's grin widened at Lysander's stumbling words. She'd definitely hit a nova crystal mine here in terms of provoking a reaction out of him. "Of course I did. Can't let that kind of thing slide, y'know. It would give you ideas about me going soft or something," she quipped wryly. What a non-Jedi would no doubt find strange was the fact Shay was sympathizing with Lysander's plight even as she reveled in it. How could she not empathize with him, when she loved him so dearly? Long practiced in juggling multiple mindsets at once, Shay could feel conflicting emotions simultaneously without any cognitive dissonance.

"Well, I threw the first punch, yeah... but he deserved it!"

One hand lifted from a hip and raised towards Lysander open-palmed in a warding gesture. "Oh, believe me, I know that," Shay assured him, cutting off any further protests down this particular line of rhetoric. "He told me about what he said. Well, okay, not the details or anything, but the general gist of it." A brief grimace marred the angular lines of her face. "Considering the guilt that was practically rolling off him in waves when he confessed, I'd wager I'm better off not knowing exactly what he told you." Her ravenous sense of curiosity was currently being held in check by her dignity. What would be the point of learning precisely what intimate details Mac had revealed to her best friend? She was embarrassed enough about the whole tangled mess as is.

"You know me better than that."

Chagrin warred with familial affection on Shay's face. Reasonably certain now that her hands were clean enough for physical contact, Master Marin brought her fingers to rest across Lysander's nearest shoulder. "I do." She knew how protective the Guardian was of anything and anyone he cared about. While she had hoped Ly would honor her request for him to leave the Corellian be, she wasn't all that surprised that he hadn't. "Doesn't mean I'm happy with what you did." The gentle squeeze she gave his shoulder made it clear her love for him had not grown any less for her disapproval.

"Force, sis, why’d you have to bring her into it?"

The Sentinel released her grip on the Guardian as he approached his vessel, touching it as though to assure himself that what he saw was real, and not some hallucination brought by overwork or mental trickery. "Because I had to make my point somehow," she stated plainly. "And there aren't a lot of things you care enough about for me to make my point with." ::What else was I supposed to do? Make your lightsaber pink? I may be eccentric, but I'm not outright blasphemous, Ly-Ly,:: she transmitted telepathically, her emotional state a bizarre mix of light-hearted flippancy combined with deadly seriousness.

"Cheer up," she couldn't help but add. "I only bribed the tech crew to keep them from repainting your bird for a week." Only a big sister could so expertly combine reassurance with rubbing salt into a wound. "She'll be back to her stately self before you know it." As a matter of fact, Shay had taken the liberty of purchasing silver and maroon hull enamel along with the abomination of a color she'd had to special order. Not that she was about to tell him that... yet.

[Lysander Odakota]

"Considering the guilt that was practically rolling off him in waves when he confessed, I'd wager I'm better off not knowing exactly what he told you."

“Ohoho...” Lysander growled in response to that, clearly not liking the memories that came up with that. He wanted to complain about that, but now was not the time. Instead, he settled that giving Shay a look that clearly conveyed, ‘you definitely don’t want to know’ and the pain he felt at being the one among them who did know.

At least Mac had enough sense to feel guilty for giving up his intimate moments whilst in the presence of his woman.

And now Lysander had the decency to feel chagrined as Shay quietly told him off for what he’d done. He should have been better than to track down Mac and corner him like he had. It made things harder on Shay--something Lysander never really wanted to do. She loved them both, and to pit her between them...

Well, she wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. Next time he met up with Mac, he’d be nothing if not cordial. Well, as Gunnar he might not be perfect, but as Lysander, he’d be as close as he could ever manage. He liked Mac... He hadn’t liked Mac during that fight, definitely, but afterwards and thinking over all that had been said and done...

Mac was a good guy. His joining the Alliance was further proof of that.

Running his fingers further over the hull of his starfighter and giving it a scrutinizing frown. It was a scarily good paint job. Whoever had done it knew what they were doing and there was no way a quick wash was going to get rid of it. No, it was going to have to be stripped and repainted... and soon.

He winced inwardly as her mental words reached him. Thank the Force she had enough sense to not touch another Jedi’s ‘saber. That was just one of those things that were very, very much off limits. Ships, on the other hand, weren’t so sacred. Guess that’s what Lysander got for being possessive over the hunk of metal and wires.

"I only bribed the tech crew to keep them from repainting your bird for a week. She'll be back to her stately self before you know it."

He spun on her, eyes going wide. “A week?” He looked horrified, and he very well was. He wasn’t going anywhere until his bird was fixed. No one, no one would see the Aurek outside this hangar in this condition. “But what if I need to leave?!” Complete mortification and he had to steady himself with a hand against the hull once again.

“And what are you doing to Mac for all of this? Huh? You do realize not only did he decide to tell me nice little details, but,” his voice dropped to a hiss that only someone standing as close as Shay could possibly hear, “he seemed to think it was pretty funny to draw up his own mental images to share with the telepathic Jedi.”

[Shay Marin]

"A week? But what if I need to leave?!"

An amused smirk formed on her lips as she drank in the sensations of this latest wave of scandalized terror coming from her little brother. Shay spared a second to give herself a small mental pat on the back for seeing to that particular detail of her stunt. "Then you'll be able to take comfort in the fact that the bad guys won't be able to stand looking at your bird long enough to get a target lock," she retorted in an undeniably smug tone. "I'm pretty sure that shade of pink fries sensors as well as retinas." The Jedi Master had to admit she was gloating just a little bit, and she couldn't find it in herself to feel bad about it either. What was a little gloating between adoptive siblings, after all?

"And what are you doing to Mac for all of this? Huh? You do realize not only did he decide to tell me nice little details, but... he seemed to think it was pretty funny to draw up his own mental images to share with the telepathic Jedi."

The blonde woman's tone dropped to the same near inaudible register as Lysander's. "You do realize the way you said that makes it sound like you were already snooping around in his head to begin with," she teased, prodding the center of the Guardian's chest gently with an index finger in a scolding fashion. "Lucky for you I know better than to think you'd do something like that," Shay soon assured him; the last thing she wanted was for her best friend to believe she'd even so much as suspect he'd committed such an act.

The Jedi Master soon found a fond smile quirking up the corners of her mouth despite her best efforts to look stern. Really, Ly-Ly's far too adorable when he's absolutely mortified like this. Maybe I should've brought a holocamera or something... "Yes, I imagine he found it all quite hilarious... at least until you hit him." Shaking her head at the both of them, Shay dropped her hand away from Lysander's front, bringing it to rest on her hip again.

Shay's voice returned to a more normal conversational volume as she continued onwards. "Don't worry, little brother... Mac already got his." Some of the mirth faded from her amber eyes as she recalled the previous night's events. The two of them hadn't spoken since she'd walked out on him. This caused Shay to harbor some small amount of concern as to precisely how sore the Corellian was with her chosen method of teaching him a lesson. He'd understood full well why she'd done what she had, but that didn't mean he'd been anything approaching pleased with her about it.

Both her hands came up this time, forestalling any questioning by Lysander before it could initiate. "And before you ask... no, you don't get to know what I did." Shay's lips acquired a wry twist as she anticipated her little brother's objections to being kept in the dark. "Trust me on this one. I'm looking out for your best interests here." The 'big sister' seriously doubted Lysander would want to know the details of how she'd wound her lover up only to ultimately leave him aching and unfulfilled.

[Lysander Odakota]

"Then you'll be able to take comfort in the fact that the bad guys won't be able to stand looking at your bird long enough to get a target lock. I'm pretty sure that shade of pink fries sensors as well as retinas."

Immediately he was assaulted by the mental images that came with such a concept. A flock of pirates all wheeling away into space as the pilots clutched hands over their eyes while their targeting systems screamed about system failure. Yeah, that was a great strategy--real noble. About as noble as winning a fight because you’re a bothan and your opponent happens to be allergic to your fur and can’t breathe. Lysander had seen that before. It happened. It was a disappointing way of winning, truly.

That, and no one would be impressed by a pink Aurek, even if that Aurek did wipe out an entire syndicate by itself. Lysander was sure of this and found himself not very keen on the concept.

"You do realize the way you said that makes it sound like you were already snooping around in his head to begin with. Lucky for you I know better than to think you'd do something like that."

With a huff, Lysander retreated from Shay’s prodding finger. Of course he wasn’t head-snooping. That just wasn’t something one did unless one had a really good reason for it. Bad guys deserved it from time to time. Being Shay’s man friend hardly made Mac a bad guy. Mostly. But at least Shay had faith in him for that--he doubted Mac would have given him the benefit of the doubt. In fact, that was probably why the smuggler-gone-Major had projected like he had, not noting that things could be picked up without the telepathic recipient intending to.

Not bothering with the ladder that lead to the cockpit--the Aurek was quite low to the ground as far as starfighters in park went--Lysander hefted himself up and perched beside the cockpit of the fighter, coding the release for the hatch.

"Yes, I imagine he found it all quite hilarious... at least until you hit him."

Even as he inspected the cockpit from his perch--he was making sure the color of his fighter was all that had been fiddled with, protective of his bird as he was--Lysander shot his best friend a wry look.

“For one, he was asking for it. For another, I think he was still enjoying himself quite a bit, what with having gotten me to attack first.” He left out the implied ‘he got a Jedi to attack first’ as he was speaking at normal volumes and didn’t want to alert anyone who might be listening. “I think he stopped enjoying himself at all, though, when I’m pretty sure I gave him a concussion. Kicked him a little, er, harder than I intended.”

He gave her a very abashed looked even as slid into the cockpit of his fighter now, glancing over the controls from inside. Everything looked in order. He hadn’t expected Shay had screwed wit the interior--the pink seemed to please her enough--but checking had never killed anyone.

“He definitely wasn’t happy when he called in his vornskrs, at least. I wasn’t too happy either.”

"Don't worry, little brother... Mac already got his."

He opened his mouth to inquire, standing up from the interior of the ship.

"And before you ask... no, you don't get to know what I did. Trust me on this one. I'm looking out for your best interests here."

With a frown at being put down so quickly and efficiently, Lysander sat on the edge of his fighter, as if preparing to hop down entirely, but stayed where he was. He stared at Shay as if to read her, then shuddered faintly to himself. If she was not telling him to protect him, he could only guess that it had something to do with... well... personal details. He didn’t need any more of those, definitely.

“Force, sis, between you and your man friend my poor innocent mind is going to be perpetually and completely corrupted in no time. And I like my innocence.”

[Shay Marin]

"For one, he was asking for it."

The 'colors' of Shay's amusement registered across the Force bond deepened as she watched Lysander inspect the cockpit of his fighter. She knew full well what he was checking for--namely, any sign that she'd inflicted her urge to redecorate on somewhere other than the hull. In this case, Ly's suspicions were groundless; she hadn't asked the techs to do anything other than redo the paint job on her behalf. However, the fact that the Guardian felt the need to check proved he was fully aware of what she was capable of accomplishing when she set her mind to it.

"Granted," the Jedi Master agreed without hesitation. Shay may be in love with the snarky Corellian, but that didn't mean she looked at him through a rose-tinted viewport. If what Mac had said to Lysander was half as bad as she suspected, she wasn't all that surprised that the ultimate result of the 'conversation' had been her little brother losing his cool. Disappointed, yes, but surprised, no.

"For another, I think he was still enjoying himself quite a bit, what with having gotten me to attack first."

'Brin' canted her head to one side as she seemingly gave that statement a good think. "Hmm... I could see that being his goal at the time, yeah. Force knows he'd tried enough times to get me to lose my temper..." The unspoken thought contained within her statement was the fact that he hadn't been able to do so despite his best efforts. Shay wasn't about to pass up the chance to slip in a bit more of her subtle form of scolding. "More likely he was just trying to get you to leave him alone, though. That's what he was usually trying to pull back when he used to get all insulting with me." The contrast between how the two of them had been on Taanab and how the two of them were today was as different as Hoth and Mustafar.

"I think he stopped enjoying himself at all, though, when I’m pretty sure I gave him a concussion. Kicked him a little, er, harder than I intended."

Both her pale brows went up at that minor revelation. "Oh really?" she inquired, in unconscious imitation of the subject of their discussion. "Now that part is something he apparently 'forgot' to mention." Shay could see it all now, clear as day, exactly what Mac's defense would be were she to try to pin him down on this particular issue. 'A concussion doesn't count as a serious injury' my ass! Force, knowing him he probably didn't even get any medical treatment for it either! Damn stubborn man... I wish like hell that he'd stop keeping things from me.

"He definitely wasn’t happy when he called in his vornskrs, at least. I wasn’t too happy either."

"No, I imagine not," Shay replied, granting her beleaguered little brother a few moments of pure commiseration. She'd never understood the source of Lysander's fear of canines, but she accepted it as part and parcel of her best friend's psyche. The strangest thing about his phobia was the fact that the Knight's former Master had been a Bothan of all things, and his first apprentice a Shistavanen. ::I didn't tell him about you not liking dogs, for the record,:: she commented telepathically. ::Though depending on how you reacted to Tysk and Sam that particular spukamas might be out of the bag already.::

"Force, sis, between you and your man friend my poor innocent mind is going to be perpetually and completely corrupted in no time. And I like my innocence."

For some reason this last sentence startled a bout of bright laughter from the Jedi Master. "Man friend?" she emphasized between chuckles. "I like that one, little brother. I think I'm stealing it. Force knows I've had a difficult time coming up with any good term for describing our relationship." Well, to be honest, saying she'd had a difficult time of it was like saying Manaan was kinda damp. None of the 'established' terms for romantic partners were entirely accurate in applying to them. 'Lovers' came close, admittedly, but that word tended to emphasize the physical portion of their 'relations' over the emotional. To Shay's mind, quite the opposite was the case, at least from her perspective. She wasn't certain precisely how Mac felt about that particular balance, because in truth she'd never brought herself to ask.

A sudden passing thought had 'Brin' sauntering over closer to the flank of Lysander's craft, quirking a curious brow at him. "Y'know, you seem to have an awfully accurate idea as to what there is to be corrupted about for someone who claims to be innocent. Are you holding out on me, bro?" Shay wasn't actually being serious in her accusation. Surely Ly wouldn't have kept something that... well, significant from her... would he?

[Lysander Odakota]

”Oh really? Now that part is something he apparently 'forgot' to mention."

“Yes, really,” Lysander stated. “I guess I’m not surprised he didn’t bring it up. I, uh, can’t imagine he was very proud of getting my foot to his face. He’s lucky I didn’t knock him out, really.” He shook his head at himself even as he concluded that there was nothing out of the ordinary in his cockpit.

With the thought as to whether or not his odd phobia of canines was known to Mac yet, Lysander wasn’t sure. Of course, it was entirely possible--Lysander hadn’t been able to help flinching at Tysk and Sam more than was a Jedi’s fair share. He hoped whether or not Mac had figured it out wouldn’t ever have reason to come up. He also hoped to never see either vornskr again. Once was more than enough.

"I like that one, little brother. I think I'm stealing it. Force knows I've had a difficult time coming up with any good term for describing our relationship."

Smiling brightly at the fact that his phrase had been accepted by Shay, Lysander couldn’t help but be amused. “Yeah, yours isn’t exactly a relationship that fits into the normal constraints of society. But what more or less could I possibly expect from you, hm, sis?”

He watched as she came in closer, standing essentially right in front of him, but lower thanks to his perch just outside the cockpit of his fighter. The curious brow quirk had him wondering what was coming next, and he definitely didn’t have to wait to find out.

"Y'know, you seem to have an awfully accurate idea as to what there is to be corrupted about for someone who claims to be innocent. Are you holding out on me, bro?"

Despite the fact that the accusation was meant only in jest, it didn’t sound like that to Lysander. The investigation into this realm against his innocence took him abruptly off guard. Panic shot across his face--an unfortunate side effect of the fact that he was still almost fully immersed in Gunnar’s personality mode--before he could think to note the playful tone to her words. Realizing he’d made a mistake, he stiffened, forgot where he was, and overbalanced. With a slight flail and a muffled, undignified squawk, he topped backwards into the cockpit, which mercifully had just barely enough room for him to fall back into without clocking his head on the side.

“Ow,” he muttered before speaking up. “It’s just guesswork!” he protested.

[Shay Marin]

"Yes, really. I guess I’m not surprised he didn’t bring it up. I, uh, can’t imagine he was very proud of getting my foot to his face. He’s lucky I didn’t knock him out, really."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Shay proclaimed, in a tone that would be described as 'testy' were there not so much sheer affection underlying it below the surface. "A skull as dense as duracrete did." Amber eyes lifted to the arched ceiling of the hangar bay as though in a plea to the everpresent Force itself, before she shook her head in no small amount of frustration. "Damn stubborn man... if I wasn't so patient a woman I probably would've clocked him myself by now. Maybe I should've hit him harder during our staged fight on Nar Shaddaa..."

She shifted her gaze to focus back on Lysander with a sudden intensity. "Now, you're not hiding some serious injury he gave you from me, are you? Please tell me you have a little more sense than that," she quipped wryly. While Shay could see the Mac-logic behind his leaving out certain facts about the fight--he probably just hadn't wanted to worry her--a Jedi Master most definitely didn't need to be protected from the truth, to say nothing of being coddled.

"Yeah, yours isn’t exactly a relationship that fits into the normal constraints of society. But what more or less could I possibly expect from you, hm, sis?"

Smirking up at him, Shay absently tugged off her stretchy cloth headband, fingercombing through her short hair to fluff it out again. "I'll admit, I'm not exactly anything approaching 'normal'. You definitely have me beat there, if only by the narrowest of margins." Lysander wasn't an Investigator himself, but he was more than capable of the work. He'd better be; after all, Shay had taught him most of her own tricks. What went hand in hand with the ability to do Investigator work was the need to hold certain rather... liberal viewpoints as compared to the rest of the Order, not only regarding one's behavior but one's fundamental beliefs as well.

"Ow. It’s just guesswork!"

As she took in the sight of her preternaturally acrobatic little brother actually losing his balance, her eyes widened in first shock, then interest. The brief panic that Shay had spotted flitting across Lysander's features immediately before he'd topped back into the cockpit only made her all the more intrigued. Somehow she'd struck a nerve without meaning to this time around. "And I'm an Alderaanian princess," she retorted sardonically.

Bare arms folding across her chest, Master Marin pinned her best friend beneath a 'You're not getting out of this one' sort of stare. "Alright, out with it. And don't try to play coy with me, Mr. Innocent... I know there's something you haven't told me about now. Either you come clean or I will make the upholstery match the paint job, don't think I won't!"

[Lysander Odakota]

“Maybe I should've hit him harder during our staged fight on Nar Shaddaa..."

“Maybe,” Lysander agreed with an underlying tone of a snicker in his voice. The idea of Shay hitting Mac... it was a good one. At least in a not-so-serious kind of way. If Shay had a serious reason to be angry at Mac, Lysander doubted it would be so laughable or ideal for her to beat on him.

"Now, you're not hiding some serious injury he gave you from me, are you? Please tell me you have a little more sense than that."

“I know when I need to see a doctor, sis,” Lysander assured her with a nod. “I was fine. A little beat up, but nothing I couldn’t have managed myself by falling out of bed in the morning or something.” Okay, so it had been a little worse than a tumble, but any directed attacks like those coming from Mac were bound to do some bruising. But really, in the end, Lysander was pretty sure he’d come out on top in the injury department.

"I'll admit, I'm not exactly anything approaching 'normal'. You definitely have me beat there, if only by the narrowest of margins."

“It’s those narrow margins that keep me safe from your more dastardly ideas.” He raised an eyebrow at her and stifled a laugh. There were plenty of situations that Shay had ‘been there and done that’ over that Lysander could only begin to imagine. However, as Shay was about to learn, perhaps the margin was even more narrow than she had previously anticipated.

"And I'm an Alderaanian princess.”

After his unfortunate falter, Lysander managed to get himself back into a less compromising position. Oh kriff, she didn’t believe him and he was afraid he might have already backed himself into a corner. Shay knew him too well.

Didn’t mean he wouldn’t try and flee this situation, however. Not literally, mind... yet.

"Alright, out with it. And don't try to play coy with me, Mr. Innocent... I know there's something you haven't told me about now. Either you come clean or I will make the upholstery match the paint job, don't think I won't!"

If he hadn’t already know he wasn’t getting out of this one easily, the look Shay pinned him with made it more than obvious. Attempting to clean his aura and his physical presence of anything bordering on guilty--and mostly failing--he managed to slide off his fighter, feet hitting the ground lightly. He slunk slightly away from Shay with a shrug. “Much as I don’t want pink upholstery, there’s nothing to tell, honest.” He made sure to keep facing her, as if afraid that if he turned his back on her he’d get nothing short of pounced.

[Shay Marin]

"I know when I need to see a doctor, sis. I was fine. A little beat up, but nothing I couldn’t have managed myself by falling out of bed in the morning or something."

Shay made no attempt to hide how dubious she viewed his description of just how badly he'd been hurt. She knew from personal experience (both as an observer as well as a target) just how hard Mac was capable of hitting someone. "Uh huh. Well, while you might be downplaying things, at least you're not fracking keeping a concussion from me." Strange as it might sound to someone who didn't know her well Shay would've been just as upset over the idea of Lysander having his braincage rattled as she was over the knowledge of Mac's injury. Sure, Lysander had the Force and its healing powers on his side, but she didn't deal well with the idea of anyone she loved being hurt, despite their relative ability to 'cope' with the damage.

"I'd go to the infirmary and try to scare up any records of Mac having paid the nice Alliance medics a visit... but I think that might be a bit too stalker-y even for me," she concluded with a smirk. "Besides, then Liam would no doubt get all on my case about doctor-patient confidentiality or something." Her potential apprentice took the duties of his position as seriously as Shay took her own. "He'd have every right to, but still..."

"It’s those narrow margins that keep me safe from your more dastardly ideas."

The woman standing on the ground put together a pretend pout for the benefit of the man sitting on his starfighter. "Hey, you like my dastardly ideas," Shay protested with vehemence, all mock offense. "Or at least, you like them when they're not directed at you. You thought the whole bit with the fishy chair was comedy gold, as I recall." As a matter of fact, the Jedi Master had called upon the 'services' of her best friend in order to pull off a particularly complicated prank on her former master, on more than one occasion in the past. "You're so mean to me sometimes, little brother," she quipped, throwing in a fakey sniffle for emphasis.

"Much as I don’t want pink upholstery, there’s nothing to tell, honest."

With a groan of disbelief, Shay literally facepalmed at her adoptive sibling's response. "Frack it all, you're acting just like Mac now. Physical retreat from the situation and everything. Only difference is he's a better liar." Folding her arm back down against its twin, she proceeded to follow after him as he tried to subtly slink away. "Apparently you two are more alike than I thought. Out with it, little brother. You know I won't leave you alone until you 'fess up. Who taught you all your stalking skills, after all?"

[Lysander Odakota]

"Besides, then Liam would no doubt get all on my case about doctor-patient confidentiality or something."

“Speaking of, I need to meet this little man of yours.” He could always go hunt down the Alliance doctor himself pretty easily, but that was one of those times when Lysander felt Shay should probably be with him. There was only so much ‘hi you don’t know me but I know who you are’ stuff he could do on his own before people started to expect it from him.

You're so mean to me sometimes, little brother."

“I am not,” he stated with a slight pout of his own. She was right, though. He did like her dastardly ideas until they were used against him. He supposed most everyone felt like that, though. Her pranks and more vicious ideas were, after all, nothing short of brilliant. It was people like Shay that kept life at home as a Jedi from becoming dull. She was the sort to find a way to feed the rumor mill. Just like this pink ship thing was bound to hit the Alliance rumor-mill. He was sure they had one and it was likely just as eager to spread news as the Jedi rumor-mill. Unlucky for Lysander, now the Alliance and Jedi rumor-mills were going to blend and work together.

"Frack it all, you're acting just like Mac now.”

With a gasp, that statement made Lysander stop in his flight, jaw dropping slightly in his disbelief. “I am not!” he countered automatically.

”Physical retreat from the situation and everything. Only difference is he's a better liar. Apparently you two are more alike than I thought. Out with it, little brother. You know I won't leave you alone until you 'fess up. Who taught you all your stalking skills, after all?"

He started moving back again, a simpering smile crossing him. It was far too late to cover his tracks. Shay was onto him and he was definitely not being so good at lying right now. Didn’t mean he’d make this easy, though. This was not something he’d wanted to talk with her about, ever. That’s why he’d stayed quiet, despite their typical ‘share everything’ notions.

His retreat was taking him towards the Lucidity and a likely cornering but he wasn’t paying that any mind right now. “Really, it’s no big deal. Nothing to tell, nothing at all. It’s all in the past and definitely not something I plan on having happen again.” Definitely no denying it now, though, with those words. His hands came up to ward her away even as he kept moving back towards her ship.