Episode III: Phone confession [Public]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[The phone line is picked up rather suddenly, as if the speaker didn't know he was going to be talking on the phone a second ago.]

Kaylee, I think you're beautiful. You're confident and fun and the fact that you know more about machines than I do turns me on.

I like you a lot. A lot.

[Suddenly the line is silent except for a small puff of breath. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on. Then the phone is promptly hung up.]

[Call him back and ask him what the hell that was all about?]

Comments

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee is flattered. And also very surprised to have this randomly blurted out over the telephone lines.]

Uh, Luke?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Deep breath and a resigned sigh.]

Hi, Kaylee. Look, before you ask, I don't what happened. I don't know why I did that. It was as if something or someone was controlling me.

Alright. That sounds crazy. I can understand if you're angry and you have every right to be. That was extremely inappropriate of me to say over the public line and I'm so, so very sorry.

[And if a hole in the ground could just appear so that he could crawl inside of it and die, that would be great.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

N-No, it's okay. Was surprised, is all. I mean, it ain't the worst thing a person could hear 'round these parts. Woulda preferred in person but... it ain't a bad thing.

'Sides, only fair after the other day, I guess.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Fair enough.

[Though he's let out the breath he was holding Luke still feels like a prize idiot. Still, Kaylee seems pleased. Or at least, not angry. And that's a plus.

And now Luke doesn't know how to proceed. The proper thing to do would be to apologize again and hang up and let things settle down. But yeah, this is Luke we're talking about here.]

So what do we do now?

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Well, uh, we should probably talk about it face to face rather than like this. I guess.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Uh, duh.]

Right. Good idea.

Uhhh, the park? Meet there, I mean.

[And that would be his heart thudding in his chest. He hopes she can't hear it.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Okay, I'll see ya there. Better'n tryin' to work it out like this.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

See you. [Click.]

(A little bit later, at the park)

[Luke's been pacing since he arrived, eyes darting around trying to spot Kaylee. He's a bit nervous.

... okay. He's a lot nervous.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee waves once she's into sight. She is happy to see him, even if this is a bit strange.]

So... hi.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Hi!

[And here come the nerves again. Luke can plunge head-first into a 10-to-1 battle and almost certain death but talking to a girl makes him feel ill.]

Ummm... now that you're here I don't know what to say.

[Guh. That was dumb. His heart's thudding again. Luke closes his eyes and lets out a long breath to calm himself.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Well... what you said before on the phone was... pretty good, actually.

[She giggles nervously. She's never been a shy one, but this is still all rather sudden]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Oh boy, yeah what he said on the phone was probably a side effect of the town messing with him. He can feel himself about to say something else really dumb but suddenly he stops and looks Kaylee in the eyes, and makes a decision right then and there.

She deserves better than a stuttering, nervous wreck. If Luke's going to do this he's going to do it right.]

You're right. I should have said all that to you in person. And I have no excuse not to say it to you now.

Kaylee, [he forces himself to look her in the eyes because she deserves nothing less, even though it's taking all his willpower to do so] everything I said over the phone is true, though I suppose I could have been a little less crude about it.

And I couldn't give you a reason why I would deserve someone like you, so I won't try. I just wanted you to know.

[wrench_and_ruffles]

Hey... there's something to be said for honesty. And I definitely like you too.

[Friendly, attractive, heroic... lots to like. The way he made sure to check in when everything was going to pieces. The way his first reaction to Mayfield was to rush into trying to fix it. And he's just so earnest]

I think... I think we should give this a try.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Oh, Luke is a happy man. You see that big grin? Sign #1 that Luke is happy.]

Good! Uh, I mean great!

[Shut up, oh my god, shut up. Eloquence. Use more words. Or better words. Or something.]

But uh, I was hoping I could take you to dinner first. I mean, you never know. I could be a slobbering drunkard with no table manners. You'd want to make sure, right?

[Whew! Saved it with charm.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Ooh, his happy is even cuter than his blushing!]

Dinner'd be nice. Pretty sure if you ate like Jayne I'd've figured it out already, but dinner sounds real nice.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Her thoughts comfort him and he's starting to feel a little braver. He happens to think that discussing this while taking a stroll through the park is a nice idea so he gently guides her in the direction of a nature trail, and even feels bold enough to put an arm around her shoulders.]

Jayne? Is she a friend of yours from home?

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[Kaylee giggles at the point of constant confusion]

He's a merc on my ship. Real good at what he does... not so good at polite.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

He? Really? Jayne? [Luke laughs with her and shrugs. It's not like people don't have funny names where he comes from.]

Yeah, I haven't known many polite mercenaries, either.

You wouldn't happen to be free tonight, would you? [Patience is definitely not one of Luke's virtues.]

[wrench_and_ruffles]

I am!

[Probably a little too enthusiastic, but she's always liked to be upfront about things]

Really ain't much to do 'cept for tinkerin' and that ain't goin' anywhere.

[That's right. She'll pass up mucking with engines for you.]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Perfect. [That's okay. Her enthusiasm matches his own.]

You know, sometime I want you to show me what you've been working on. It's hard not to notice the technology around here is pretty lacking. You could probably help out a lot of people with some handy inventions. I've been thinking about doing that myself.

[wrench_and_ruffles]

[She might be dancing around a bit. Inside her head, at any rate.]

The heater was pretty handy when the power went out. Mostly I've been seeing how much I can get the car here to do. It ain't much, but it gives me somethin' to work at.

Phone

[kettchmeifyoucan]

You know what, Luke? I'm not sure who this Kaylee is, but you go for it!

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Laughs, somewhat relieved to hear Wes.]

I am, I am!

It's just... Wes, I don't know what came over me. I couldn't stop myself.

Would the town make me do something like that?

[kettchmeifyoucan]

If it can make you think you hold an annual barbecue when you've only been here a couple months, I'm sure it can do all sorts of strange things.

Just... trust me. There are reasons you are better off taking up with this girl.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

...

This doesn't have anything to do with Leia, does it?

[He sounds vaguely annoyed.]

[kettchmeifyoucan]

Uh... kinda.

[Trying to be vague here]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

[Sigh.] This has absolutely nothing to do with Leia. The last thing I want is for Kaylee to feel like she's some kind of rebound. Which she isn't.

I know what you're getting at and I know about Leia. She sat me down and told me the other day.

[kettchmeifyoucan]

Well... that's one less source of awkwardness at least. Guess it's not entirely surprising she would look after it. This time thing and all.

Still, the advice stands, go for it. Anything to make this place better, right?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Yeah, I know.

But do you ever think about how long we're going to be here? And what's going to happen we leave? All you can do is assume that anything we have here is only temporary. I'm not sure if I like that. Maybe I'm wrong to want to start something with Kaylee.

[Sigh.] Or maybe I'm just thinking about it too much.

[kettchmeifyoucan]

Luke, how long have any of us ever known we'll be anywhere? Especially those early years. You can't be afraid to live because of a little uncertainty. Life we lead? We need to grab happiness wherever we can find it.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

You're right. I'm thinking about it too much. It's just... I want to do this right. Things have been crazy and we're finally in a place where we don't have to worry about the war for a while-- well, I suppose things are a little different for you.

I'm almost expecting stormtroopers to appear out of nowhere at any second. Sometimes I can hear warning sirens go off while I'm dreaming. Things have been going almost too smoothly with Kaylee. The only hitch so far has been this phone thing and all things considered it's been almost too good to be true.

I don't want to screw it up.

[kettchmeifyoucan]

Really, don't question it when things go smooth. We've got enough to worry about as it is. Even without the stormtroopers. You managed to find something happy, just go with it. This is about feelings, not thinking anyway.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Alright, alright. [He laughs.] You know, I think someone in my family was a worrier. I must have gotten it from somewhere.

[kettchmeifyoucan]

I will honestly tell you I know nothing on that front.

[Well... no, Vader doesn't really strike him as a worrier]

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Good. At least that bodes well for any more familial surprises in the future.

[kettchmeifyoucan]

[Ooh... boy. Well this is awkward. He is not going into that other bit.]

Was your aunt a worrier?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Nah. Uncle Owen was the worrier. If anything, Aunt Beru was the voice of reason in the family.

I'm not related to either of them by blood, though. Eh, I suppose Uncle Owen rubbed off on me a little bit.

[His tone's quieted down. It might be apparent that this topic saddens him a bit.]

[kettchmeifyoucan]

They were family enough. They were the ones there to make you into a worrier.

[Because... it's going to come up sooner or later]

[of_alderaan]

Luke.......

You do realize you've told everyone in town that now.

[last_ofthe_jedi]

Ugh, I know! You don't have to remind me.

[Deep sigh.] This is crazy. It's not like I made the conscious decision to even pick up the phone. I think the town's making me do things.

[of_alderaan]

Just making sure you've realized that.

What were you doing before you picked up the phone?

[last_ofthe_jedi]

I... don't remember exactly. I was in the kitchen, I think. Oh! I was cleaning up a spill. That vase, I don't know where it came from. Maybe Touko got it out. I knocked over a vase of flowers. It didn't break or anything, I just cleaned up the spill and put more water in it.

And then I felt the overwhelming urge to make a call on the public line. I couldn't stop myself. I didn't even know what I was going to say until I said it.

Weird, huh?

[of_alderaan]

Very.

[There must have been something.]