Bankor

Niall laughed too, louder and more easily than he had before. "Nicely done, Lyseil. Ten out of ten for form." He said. "And don't worry; we've got plenty of popcorn left."

As she settled back, Niall put his arm around her again. "I'm trying to remember how old I was when I saw this last. Sixteen, maybe?"

After a few moments, he nodded. "Okay, my turn. I'm ready." He tilted his head back, opening his mouth.

"Yeah? I think I try to see it occassionally, hmm... but it might've been a few years since I last saw it too. It's funny, because the movies are like really old, but they're still great!" Lyseil couldn't help herself from a bit of an excited squirm as the theme music played in the scene.

"Oho? Think you will have better success... or that my aim will be better this time?" Lyseil grinned and readied the popcorn between her fingers to take aim, scooting a little away from Niall's arm to give him room to move as well. The popcorn went up in a lazy arc, aiming more for Niall's eye than his mouth.

Again, Niall laughed softly, his spirits lifted by Lyseil's exuberance. And possibly her squirming; he shifted, letting his arm slide more comfortably around her. He nodded, shifting again as Lyseil prepared to launch.

It wasn't entirely clear whether Lyseil's aim was better, or Niall's reactions were worse. Either way the popcorn made a perfect arc, almost seeming to hang in the air for a moment, before landing right in Niall's hastily closed eye.

"Ack!" He squawked, twitching, his hand coming up to cup at eye and popcorn alike. The piece of popcorn fell away, but still stung. He looked at Lyseil, one hand cupped over his eye. "I think I'm the one who needs the practice." He said, smiling ruefully.

"Sorry!" she blurted out quickly at Niall's squawk! "You're ok... right?" Lyseil leaned closer, her hand reaching up to gently touch the one Niall had over his eye.

"Maybe we both need practice... I seem to have terrible aim," she said, not quite stopping a weak chuckle.

Which was good, because Niall certainly wasn't holding back his own chuckling at all. "Are you sure?" He asked. "It seems to me that your aim is quite good. First my head, then my eye."

Actually, the feeling of her hand on his, as his rested on his face, was rather pleasant. His arm around her slid to her shoulder. "Mmm. At this rate, I'm going to end up with my head covered in butter." He studied her face, his grey... eye sparkling. "And you're going to be spotless. It doesn't seem quite fair."

"Uh-oh," she grinned, gently taking away his hand to inspect his hidden eye. "Maybe not fair, but... goodness, such poor manners it would be to ruin a lady's dress! Errr, I mean, clothes!" Lyseil hastily corrected, as she was not exactly wearing anything fancy.

Niall's lips quirked. "I assure you, milady." He said, slipping once more into his stronger cultured Alderaanian tones. "I shall be on my best behavior." Regardless of what she was wearing.

He let her peel his hand away. The eyelid underneath flickered briefly before opening. Niall tilted his head, just a little, angling his face to match hers, the better to allow her to study his eye. Except for a tiny bit of wetness, it was the same pleasant grey as his non-bombarded eye.

"What do you think?" Niall murmured softly. He suddenly became more aware of just how close they were...

"Hmmm..." she gave it a very serious look, though a smile slowly formed on her lips. "You'll live, captain."

Lyseil snickered briefly, giving Niall's shoulder a gentle slap. "Silly, you actually had me worried I had hit your eye."

Niall's lips quirked again. "Oh, good. I shall trust your judgement on the matter, Doctor Panteer." He murmured.

He huffed laughter as she slapped his shoulder. "Hey. Salt stings. Don't make light of my injury."

He grinned at her. "Well. We should get back to it, shouldn't we? If we spend all the time on my eye, we'll miss the movie." His gaze briefly flickered towards the screen, then back to Lyseil. "And if I'm not mistaken, there are some good parts coming up."

"Mhm!" she just smirked at his 'injury', giggling as she settled back into their previous position. "Well, all of this movie is pretty good, but yes-yes, the ancient death-trap is a pretty great scene! I've yet to find one of those in the places I've seen... maybe I just haven't visited the right places for archaeological expeditions...?"

"Yes, that bit." Niall squeezed Lyseil's shoulders a bit as the hero crept forward, stepping carefully along the hallway. A single misstep, and... darts shot from the wall, only narrowly missing Han as he dove forward, out of the dangerous room.

"Perhaps not. Although..." He glanced at her. "Perhaps you'll get the chance. These monks, and this fortress. It all seems a bit like something out of one of these movies, don't you think?" He nodded towards the viewscreen.

Lyseil couldn't help but grin a little at the scene. She'd seen it many times, but it was great every time.

"Hmm... a little? But, I suspect a lot of its defenses might be before the monks settled in there - its structure looked a lot more like a military fortress, I thought." Her lips pursed in thought at the meeting earlier. "I'm more concerned with the... ah... enemy."

"Perhaps." Niall said. "Still, perhaps there will be pit traps, swinging logs, that sort of thing." He sighed. "In truth, I rather hope not. That sort of thing is a lot more fun to see on the screen."

He looked back to Lyseil again. "Oh? What do you mean?" He asked, his voice soft. There were all sorts of reasons he was interested in hearing her take on things.

"Weeell... crazy jungle-cannibals afflicted with some sort of plague? Not exactly rakghoul-plague from what we know so far, but it still gave me the chills just thinking about it when she spoke of them," Lyseil shuddered. "I think I'll take the poisoned darts and giant boulders instead then. Or the Mandalorians."

She sighed, hugging a little at his arm around her. "Still, it will be good to help them. The monks, I mean. They're a strange lot, but their aid might be very helpful as we move forward later, and they deserve our help too - just because their enemy isn't Mandalorian doesn't mean they're not in need either."

Niall glanced at Lyseil, his expression turning thoughtful for a few moments. "Yes." He said. "I'd quite agree. There's something especially scary about corruption. Something that turns a person into something they're not. I can't think of many worse fates."

Feeling Lyseil hug at his arm, Niall was all too happy to squeeze her a little closer. She felt warm and alive against him. Comfortable. For just a moment, he thought about the last time he watched a movie with a young woman, but he quickly pushed the thought away. It didn't seem right to mix thoughts like that.

"Quite right." Niall agreed. "It's a good thing to remember, as soldiers, as members of the Republic military. We're not here to kill Mandalorians. We're here to help people." He sighed. "I'm not sure everyone would see the distinction. It's an important one, though."

Lyseil nodded. "Yes!" she was enthusiastic. "Exactly - we help everyone. Not just those who happen to live in cities and fight one enemy. These people are also fighting an enemy, and need help."

The movie continued; Han switching the golden idol with his bag of sand, which didn't go according to plan.

"It's hard to choose who to help though... almost feels like the hardest thing here so far, that you can't help everyone, but... I have faith in Commander Malcolm. He's a good man, and a hero."

"Good to remember." Niall repeated, his voice soft. He shifted, his cheek briefly brushing against Lyseil's hair.

He was silent for a few moments, watching the film. "That is hard. It always feels that there's more to do, isn't there?" He turned his head to look at her. "Is that a problem you have, too? I've been told such about me in the past." His lips quirked. "I wonder if Commander Malcolm feels the same way. I rather suspect he does."

"That I can't help everyone, you mean?" she asked, pausing thoughtfully. "... Yeah... It's... one of the hardest thing about the military. Along with the fighting. The feeling of not being able to help everyone."

Lyseil sighed, settling against Niall comfortably. "We did good today, helping the Major and her squad. But I always think about what else I could've done. Lieutenant, she... I think she thinks of people like me in logistics as people who just see numbers and work from that, but, it's really hard to see the numbers every day, you know."

"Mmm, indeed. Not just the military, I think. It's something I thought about back on Alderaan, too. Rather a lot, in fact." He sighed pleasantly as she settled against him.

The mention of numbers, though, made Niall turn his head, regarding her curiously. "Numbers? Oh." His expression softened. "I see. I'd never thought of that. I've lost people in my command, before. I wondered what that would mean to someone who never met them."

He tilted his head, briefly pressing his lips to the top of hers, quick and comforting. "You're a good person, Lyseil Panteer." He said softly.

"Yeah... I mean, I don't know most of them, but still... I know that every casualty I see on the reports, I know that it's someone who's not going home. Someone who's going to be missed," she sighed softly. "I've never lost someone like you have though."

The feeling of his kiss on top of her head made her silent, as she wasn't quite sure how to process it at first. In the end Lyseil smiled; relaxed and at ease. "... I try to be. Thanks."

She hugged him tightly with both arms, resting her head against Niall. "You're a good person too, Niall Organa. You're nice and considerate."

Niall watched, his expression gently curious, as Lyseil processed. Finally, it seemed she settled on a response. Niall smiled in return. He closed his eyes for a moment as he felt her arms squeeze tightly around him. It was nice. Pleasant. Comfortable. That seemed to be how it was with Lyseil.

"Hmmm." Niall smiled. He shifted himself, allowing for Lyseil's new position, his arm resting comfortably around her waist instead. "Just like you, I try to be. I certainly hope I am. I..." His lips pursed briefly. "I do think about your feelings, a lot."

"... You do?" she looked up at him now, amber eyes curious as they looked first at his eyes, then lowering slightly to his lips. Her own pressed together softly. "I mean... it's not like we're really a couple, right? You have someone already, kinda, and... we're just hanging out and being friends, yes?"

"I do." Niall said, smiling. "How you feel matters to me a great deal." The smile quirked. "Even if we are just hanging out and being friends. My friends matter to me a great deal, you know." He sighed, thinking back to earlier that same day. How his friends looked out for him.

His gaze refocused on her. "I just want to make sure that..." He pursed his lips. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm not entirely sure..." His lips quirked again. "Perhaps its my own feelings I should be concerned about."

Lyseil gave an easy smile now. "I think that's how we both feel, Niall. That we don't want to hurt eachother, or others." That's what I like about you. "As I said before, I don't want you to rush into something you'll regret - something that might hurt the one you care about."

She put a hand on his cheek to emphasize her words. "If us doesn't work out... well, I'll be sad - I won't lie about that, but... I think we could still be friends? You're fun to be with, after all. And I like you. But... I think you need to figure out what you want first?" There was a soft chuckle from her, and she bopped Niall's nose. "But I won't wait around forever!"

With that, she felt some of that tension being eased away a little, bit by bit. "... Sorry, I've kinda been thinking on it all sorts of ways all day since Z was poking at that particular hornet's nest. I guess it made me a bit more worried and... confused, I guess?"

The mix of tenderness and playfulness, from cupping his cheek to bopping his nose, was rather endearing, Niall decide. He laughed softly, his grey eyes lighting up. "Of course." He said. "It wouldn't be fair to make you wait forever. I do need to figure out... something." He sighed.

He gave her another smile. "And I do hope we can be friends, regardless of what else happens. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed spending time with you. Like this." He nodded towards the screen. "It's just so... nice."

His expression softened. "If you're confused, I encourage you to talk to me. Allow me to clarify one thing immediately." He reached up, gently taking her hand, although perhaps that was just to forestall additional booping. "I care about you, too."