[D5 EM] Ocean Man (Aquarium)

[Eir]

Still examining the strange and bumpy skins of the starfish, "did you and Fang used to travel together?"

[Corvin Zell]

After a moment, Corvin shook his head. "No. Just while I was on Ithor. And a little bit after." He sighed. "Master Kleben and I went on all sorts of dangerous missions. I could bring him into that much danger." His jaw tightened; it had clearly been a difficult time for him.

[Eir]

"Dangerous like what?" Eir's attention captured, she turned around, leaning on the rail to look fully at the Knight.

[Corvin Zell]

He glanced at her, eyes narrowed. After a moment, he shrugged. "He and I worked behind enemy lines a lot. Our skills meant that we could survive in dangerous territory, hit hard targets, fade back into the wilderness. That sort of thing." He flicked his hand, drying it, waiting for her reaction.

[Eir]

Eir's glowing eyes brightened, the pale blue irises glittering, her lips pursed, "woooah, like Shadows? that's so awesome. I mean," she looked down, trying to contain herself, pressing her lips together, "I mean, it was important work," she tried to recover.

[Corvin Zell]

Corvin considered this for a few moments. "Yeah, it was pretty awesome." He nodded agreement.

He chuckled softly. "It was also important. And simple. Don't know if I'd say I miss it, but..." He shrugged.

[Eir]

Still looking at her feet, “we owe a lot to you. Me, the Jedi, the Republic; if not for you, well, who knows what might have happened to us.” Eir’s cheeks turned red, burning hot, her ears shading pink.

[Corvin Zell]

Grimacing, Corvin shrugged. "It was my job. I did what I had to do. We all do." He turned back to look out over the pool, watching the marine life swim about.

"It suited me well, too." He added, his voice still rough. "I was good, but I believed in what I was doing, too. So did Master Kleben. I think that made us even better at it." If he noticed her blush, he didn't comment on it.

[Eir]

With a deep breath, Eir shook off the mood. After all, the next exhibit was the otters! The large enclosure was pungent, hosting an extended family of the sleek critters with their adorable paws. A staff member was inside the enclosure, two of the younger otters had gotten into a scrap and were being checked for injuries.

[Corvin Zell]

As grim as Corvin tended to be, no one with any heart could be grim in the face of otters.

He smiled, leaning against the wall with folded arms. Eir would be able to see his eyes flicker over, doing his own check for otter injuries.

[Eir]

If otters could pout, one of them definitely was, sitting up and holding its paw close to its chest. The staff member declared the first otter fit, releasing them to go play, and it scampered off and dived into the water. Amusement lit the togruta’s eyes as the otter held out its paw, and she chuckled, “that isn’t going to work this time,” but she took the paw and examined it carefully, “I saw you, you started it.” The staff member checked the young otter from head to toe, “no sympathy fish today, off you go.”

Relieved, Eir dashed down to the lower level where the tank had a transparisteel wall to water the otters underwater. She leaned as close as she could to the glass without touching it, the otters swimming in big loops.

[Corvin Zell]

Corvin chuckled softly at the antics of the animals.

He followed down below as well, watching the otters, watching Eir watch the otters. "Animals know how to be content." He said, his voice low and gravelly. He continued to watch, almost but not quite smiling.

[Eir]

As the otters took a game of tag, Eir grinned, "yeah," Corvin's comment would come back to her later, standing at odds with the words of a Sith. One of the old creatures swam up to transparisteel and looked directly at Eir. She raised a hand and uncertainly waved, and it waved back with a paw, eliciting a peal of laughter from the girl, almost bumping her head on the 'glass', watching as it made for the surface to take a gulp of air.

Eir raced back upstairs. The otter was lazing on its back and, when it saw that she had followed, it drifted towards the enclosure's edge and kicked water in her direction.