Climb Every Mountain (Slender)

Raasha's honesty was one of her most attractive traits to Bekk, and her answers always had a way of soothing his admittedly high strung nerves. If she didn't say she had an ulterior movement for the story he believed she would've been up front about it. Honestly, the zabrak didn't know if he could match her this trait of hers if the situation were flipped, but he liked to think he would. Raasha deserved the truth if she asked, Bekk just hoped it wouldn't be something too pointed.

"Well...I mean..I assume you're alone in Cover City, right? I just figured being there without your friends and family would be kinda lonely. I know it was for me. I'm still glad you agreed to go to that cantina with me. In the back of my head I think I figured you could enjoy the company as well." Bekk admitted, looking down while keeping up the pace, but speaking loud enough to be heard over the wind.

"You know when we get to Corvala I'd like to treat you to that dinner and a drink I still owe you. We should have to time to really enjoy ourselves in the city for at least one night, hopefully." He continued, with a sort of unease in his voice as first, then got more firm as confidence kinda built up.

What the hell did he have to be nervous about? This wasn't a date, just a dinner with his best friend. Sadly, his mind may have rationalized this, but he still felt a bit of sweat start to form despite the cold.

"I can't wait!" Bekk fired back with a wide smile up at his friend. In this instance her outstretched hand felt almost as inviting as her pleasing features always did, and he quickly reached out to accept the aid. Between the staff and her surprising amount of strength, the zabrak managed to join her above the slick slope within moments. He went to flash another smile, but a particularly chilly gust of wind to the pearly bones forced him to stop just short of a grin.

Onwards and upwards Bekk followed Raasha's lead, doing his best to stay by her side, only falling a few steps behind when he'd nearly stumble. At one point a sizable rock below the accumulated powder did cause him to fall flat into the slush, yet that didn't slow him down for more than a few moments. The process of getting up honestly could've been faster if he had taken a second or two how stupid he'd just looked.

"I'm OK, I'm OK." The zabrak stated as soon as his face was clear of the snow, waving one hand dismissively and using the other to dust himself off. Having doused his bare head within the cold slush caused a violent shiver to run up his spine, but otherwise his discomfort in this instance went without being pointed out.

"OK, back to hitting the trail?" Bekk calmy inquired, while stooping to retrieve his staff, then fell in beside his friend like before.

Finding the slush suddenly became stairs on the mountainside was surprise for Bekk to say the least, but nagging feeling in the back of his mind that surfaced was more pressing. At first the sensation was more an ambiguous sense of foreboding, yet as they kept ascending it gradually shifted. The zabrak felt like he was returning home after a long trip before he even laid eyes on the village.

"..wow.." Was all Bekk could respond to his friend's declaration, being equally amazed like something like this was on a mountain top and that every brick seemed to ooze with the force to him. Jedi undoubtedly had a hand in construction of this place, and deep down he felt as if he now stood on hollowed ground.

While Raasha moved to mess around with the nearest house, Bekk tried in vain to use his fledgling powers to pinpoint if another Jedi lurked here at the summit. Sadly, his heightened cognition began to fade the longer he tried to actually concentrate. Trying to flex his telepathy seemed to be pointless at the moment, so he simply stopped trying and followed his friend inside.

Between the enclosed space and the near euphorically hot springs, feeling began to return to places on the Zabrak was beginning to think would never get excited over a slap again. Disrobing was a long and more drawn out process for Bekk than Raasha given his jumpsuit having to be fully removed to even remove your boots. However, within a minute he joined his friend on the edge in his boxers, with a lyerec stalk being slowly chewed up.

"This place is nothing short of amazing..." Bekk stated, with reverence plain as day in his voice, closing his eyes and leaning back a bit to get comfortable. "I can just sense the effort and craftsmanship the Jedi who helped build this displayed. Are there any still up the mountain like this?" He continued, less than optimistic about whatever answer Raasha replied

Whether it was the undisturbed vibe the buildings gave off or the lack of a presence he though for certain he'd noticed if a Jedi was lurking nearby, Bekk kinda figured what the answer was going to be before Raasha replied. No Jedi here either. He couldn't blame his fellow force wielders for not hanging around though. As awesome as a mountain top hotsprings village was, it seemed like a likely place for a reclusive, mystical warrior to hide out away from prying eyes.

Just for the sake of being thorough you'd think The Empire would've at least leveled the place from orbit on the off chance a not particularly smart Jedi was around, but apparently not. Still, Bekk was obviously more then happy to find a secluded resort of sorts into of a charred crater at the summit.

"Makes sense." Bekk stated plainly after finishing the stalk, while curling his toes as the water's warmth eased their pain. Maybe the cold on his head had distracted him from a lack of comfort elsewhere, because his feet had really been hurt when they came out of his boots. It made sense though, given they were mostly designed from protection and relief from standing fatigue. Climbing a mountain in them sounded rather daft when you really thought about it.

"Two hundred years...wasn't expecting it to be quite that old. Your family really has had long ties to the Jedi." Bekk rambled off idly while watching his tattooed toes below the surface. "Are we the first ones to visit in quite awhile?"

"...and I wouldn't have minded spending a week or so here in paradise with you, if we didn't have pressing business in Corvala. I think it would've been a great time." He added with a grin and a disappointed huff, before pushing off the wall to slide fully into the spring.

Raasha's further explanation really helped clear up the last things he really wasn't clear about regarding the springs. It made a lot of sense that the Jedi really just added to what was already standing, he imagined it was the least they could do for the aid in saving their lives. The zabrak made a mental note as he leaned back to float along the surface to add a building or two himself later, when he could return as a full Jedi to visit the village.

Upon his friend's mention of calm, Bekk closed his eyes and tried to lose himself in the serene environment, all for the hope of prompting his connection to the force to work its magic. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. The village seemed to awaken little by little as he floated on until it once again felt like he was surrounded by one living organism.

Besides hearing the splashes from his submerged ears, the zabrak felt his friend through the force as a...luminous being of sorts, while she seemed to venture further into the springs. He was happy to just float where he was, but following his friend via the force felt like perfect practice while he had the springs backing him up. With a aquatic backflip the zabrak disappeared beneath the surface, then began rhythmically kicking towards where Raasha seemed to glow so brightly in the force.

She resembled what he could only describe as a radiant star as he approached from just below the surface, and was really breathtaking to behold. Without thinking Bekk outreached a hand as he drew close enough he expected to be burn by the rays she gave off; however, instead of touching the inside of a celestial body, his fingers gently grasp a handful of soft but toned flesh and blood one.

The last dregs of air Bekk had been holding onto were ejected from his mouth via a bubble producing exclaim, and he breached the surface with a sudden gasp of relief to gaining a fresh lung full. Sadly, the joy of not drowning wore off in seconds as he floated less than a foot away from his friend, with clearly no means of escaping this situation. He had no idea where he'd actually touched in the few seconds of contact, but he ventured she hadn't wanted to be touched regardless. The dread just mounted further after the zabrak noticed the area of bra that had been above the surface before was gone, and he guessed she'd ditched her bottoms too....

"Err...uh..mm..I.uhm.." Bekk rambled off, avoiding eye contact, while also trying to avoid imagining how bad this could evening could go from here. "Followed force..beautiful light..wanted to touch..temporarily stupid..really really sorry." He blurted next, stammering from one bullet point to the next, still avoiding eye contact as if her gaze would turn him to stone after this debacle.

Bekk was about to give his explanation a more eloquent second attempt, when Raasha gripped the sides of his head. A hundred horrible fates flashed through his vivid imagination in perhaps a second, and he'd formed his lips up to immediately plead for his life, when his friend abruptly used them for something else...

The zabrak's eyes seemed to widen to several times their normal placid expression as what had just happened registered in his mind, and remained just as wide when Raasha pulled out of the kiss. Bekk seemed to remain frozen in her grip however, lips still puckered and cheeks still flushed, as if in a trance over what just happened. When released he dropped below the surface without wading to keep himself up, but seemed to snap out of his brief catatonia after a quick noseful of water.

He averted his face to cough and snort a few times before turning back to Raasha with an expression somewhere between confusion and amusement. "...uh, Raasha...thanks, for the kiss." He lead out with, trying to quickly come to terms with his apparently obvious affection for the woman.

"Between you saving my life, showing me great hospitality, teaching me how to shoot....and overall being the best friend I've ever had, you're very attractive to me. Incredibly so." He continued, forcing himself to keep his eyes zeroed in on hers while he spoke. "While we were both drunk at the party I think I called you beautiful too, it's kinda hazy...but I meant it."

At this point Bekk had long since gotten over being mildly vexed at having his dietary preferences brought up, so his friend's herbivore question received an amused chuckle and a wide grin as a response. Raasha was probably the only girl who'd ever teased him about something that wasn't a mean spirited joke at heart, besides her grandmother, and this side of her honestly an even further turn on.

The zabrak felt mentally limbered up between the good chuckle and a pleasantly carefree environment, so he decided try something a little brash for his normally conservative side. With a quick push forward Bekk caught his friend in another kiss, taking cues from her to make up for inexperience. The moment was brief, and he only flashed a quick smile before moving over to lean his back against the pool's edge along with Raasha.

"You know, when we get to Corvala we could make our dinner date a real..DATE date, you know. I know I'd like that very much."