Twinsitting

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Eilen awoke with a jolt, her breath somewhat heavy. It was quick to calm, but another issue quickly arose: She couldn't see anything. As her head moved, she felt something solid brushing against her thinly furred face. Her ears twitched uncannily, or at least one did, while the other was firmly pressed into a pillow. Eilen tried moving an arm, but found it stuck under something. She probably knew what it was already, and she didn't dare move it yet. No real concern crossed her over any of this; it felt quite normal, by now.

Intent on removing the obstruction on her face, Eilen's other hand inched upward, finding what could only have been the paperbook she was reading before she passed out. With a quiet groan, the half-Bothan slowly dragged the book to the side, though she immediately regretted it. Her vision went from too dark to too bright in an instant as her face was suddenly exposed to the sunlight through the window. It was an almost involuntary reaction to swipe her free hand downward, shutting the blinds from a distance.

All across her body, Eilen suddenly felt subtle hints of motion as her partner stirred, having sprawled halfway across the furred girl in her sleep. Now that her girlfriend was actually awake, the half-Bothan carefully slipped her arm out from beneath her. An arm pulled itself from behind Eilen's shoulders in turn.

"You alright?" Her girlfriend's voice was still exhausted, and yet she sounded as soothing as ever.

Eilen faintly nodded. "I had a nightmare, about... having kids," she half-lied. She never thought her own voice was remotely pretty, and tired as she was, it just sounded weird. "Ugh..."

An amused chuff met her ears. "Sure you did... Come here, hun." Without lifting her head, the woman's sprawled limbs tightened around the furred girl.

Eilen felt a light grin spreat involuntarily across her face, but she felt the urge to move around, somewhat. "...I need a drink," she finally muttered, after soaking in a little more of her girlfriend's loving energy. The head pressed against her chest nodded slightly.

After a brief silence, Eilen rubbed her eyes further awake and unwraveled herself from her girlfriend's loving, lazy clutches. Their days typically started late, but while her partner could be out again in moments, Eilen herself wouldn't be able to sleep again for a long while. Her partner's book from the night before was the only thing in her way; the half-Bothan made sure to slide it back to her as she slipped out from the sheets. A light thud sounded behind her as her girlfriend's hand slid off her and onto the bed. Eilen's jaw stretched wide and her shoulders hunched as she yawned, pushing out the last of her exhaustion before starting her day.

With a light sway and a loose bobbing in her step, the hybrid made her way through the tall doorways to her kitchen. As a dark thought from her sleep crossed her mind, she shook her head briefly. Water sounded incredible, at the moment. Eilen ran a hand through her hair as she fetched a cup, pulling a mix of dyed and naturally colored strands of hair out of her face. She almost didn't notice them fall back over one of her tired eyes as the cup slowly filled.

Feeling somewhat devoid of energy, Eilen peered into her fridge for an extra snack to go with her drink. Funnily enough, while it had a number of items available within it, nothing quite looked appetizing at the moment. Anything in her head that seemed like a good idea was nowhere to be found. It slowly became clear that she should probably make a run to the store, soon. For now though, Eilen accepted her mild hunger and settled on her water.

Just as she leaned against the counter and started sipping her drink, a cheery noise played from a datapad resting nearby. Eilen scooted along the counter, her claws tapping the floor with every short step, and then cranked her head around to see the screen. A notification marked a message just then from Ruka Tenbriss.

>>Rise and shine, Hermanita. Sorry for the short notice, but is there any chance you can watch the twins for me today? Some Lotus business came up, and Cora's meeting with the Council about whatever. I’ll pay you for the trouble.

Eilen's head lazily tilted the other way. A quiet groan slipped through her closed lips, though not out of malice. She was supposed to fly a shipment off-world today, and wasn’t planning on being back for another two days. Granted, there was room on the Galewing for two five-year-old kids to romp and play comfortably, but she'd have to abandon the side excursion she’d planned after today’s flight to head straight home after the shipment was delivered. That, and she’d have to fly all the way back the next day, which was admittedly somewhat daunting. Though, Eilen’s personal plans for the trip didn't really include any vistas she hadn’t seen before, and the job itself was fairly simple - nothing too dangerous on this job for a pair of five-year-old kids.

Thinking on it, Eilen figured she could probably just take her swoop out for a ride through the countryside this evening after dropping Ruka's twins back off, as a trade-off for the otherworldly evening plans he’d have to cancel. Her girlfriend could even join her for that ride tonight, and depending on her own schedule, maybe come along for the flight back to continue the job. All the extra back-and-forth flying suddenly didn’t sound so bad.

That might be fun… Maybe Ruka can spot me the extra fuel costs, too.

Nodding to herself, Eilen sipped further on her water and turned back to the datapad. She didn't think of herself as a great babysitter - or even a decent one, for that matter - but Ruka's kids knew her well enough, and if he needed to be somewhere, she had no qualms with helping him out. Surely, she could handle his little twins for a day. Accepting a fate of helpfulness and higher responsibility, Eilen sighed, and began typing a response.

>>Sure! But just so you know, I've got a job today, too. I’ll see what I can do, but...

---

“We’re going on a starship?!” The excited look on Safir’s face only grew.

With a package held up on her shoulder and a cart of supplies to drag with her other hand, Eilen’s dull voice was further weakened by a hint of strain. Two children sitting on the cart didn’t much help. Nevertheless, she kept up a cheery girn. “You are absolutely right!”

“To another planet?!” Safir spoke slower, but no calmer.

“Yyyyep.”

“Wow… Can we go now?”

Eilen’s head sunk slightly with a small eye roll. “We’re going just as soon as I…” The hybrid took a moment to drop her grip on the cart and heave the package off her shoulder. “...get all this stuff on the ship.” She set the package down gently on her ship’s cargo pad and exhaled in relief.

“How long does that take?”

Turning back to the cart, Eilen took a deep breath, trying to keep a grin on her face. “Just a little longer, now…” With another heave, she hauled the supply cart onto the pad. She took a moment to relax her arms, resting them on her hips, then looked to the children sitting atop the supplies. “Alrighty, time to come down. Who’s first?”

Safir held his tiny arms toward the furred lady. Eilen took his hands in hers, keeping up a positive face.

“Aaand down you go!” She gave the child a quick lift and gently lowered him to the ground. “Wait right there, Safir.” Eilen gestured to the center of his feet to make her point clear, then looked back up. “Alright Esme, your turn.”

The pink-haired girl didn’t hold her hands out to Eilen just yet. Esmeralda simply stared through her large glasses, looking the half-Bothan up and down with an expressionless gaze. Eilen blinked blankly, hesitating for a moment with her arms stretched halfway to the unmoving little girl.

On the ground, Safir had more to ask. “Miss Eilen, why are you so big? My Papi said I can get big if I eat all my meat and veggies,” he stated the thought in a slow, matter-of-fact tone. “Do you eat more than he eats?”

Eilen took a deep breath, not really sure how to answer that question. Moving along, the hybrid reached forward to pick up Esme herself. “Maybe you’re right,” Eilen stated encouragingly. “I did eat everything my parents put on my plate.” Whether or not that statement was true didn’t seem to matter. She hoped she was at least setting a good example.

Safir jumped as Esma was set down, as if to try and seem taller. “Can I get really big like you?”

Eilen’s ears twitched. “Heh… Maybe.”

“Prolly not,” Esma stated firmly, still staring at Eilen as the furred lady stood straight.

The half-Bothan hesitated again, her head dropping half and inch. “...Anyway, time to board!”

Esma’s eyes widened slightly in anticipation. Safir’s grin somehow grew wider. Unable to stifle a chuckle, Eilen lifted a hand and gestured for them to turn around, pointing toward the boarding ramp. Without further hesitation, the twins turned and ran toward it.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Eilen called after them.

Seeing the kids start running up the ramp, she turned her attention to the loading pad’s lift controls and sent herself and the supplies up. The Galewing hissed and creaked as the pad raised, a timeless telling of its age, but all cargo was lifted and secured in moments. The cargo bay sealed itself beneath the pad, and Eilen made for the small ship’s living quarters.

The children were already inside, looking up and around at everything. Esme had found a secure spot in the center of the room to just spin in place and stare, while Safir was running up to the chairs, the table, and up to all of the doors for an up close and personal view of all the ship’s features. Stepping in nearby, Eilen made sure to lock the door to the cargo bay, then shifted over to shut the boarding ramp.

Upon noticing her presence, Safir stopped in his tracks. “How did you get here already?”

“She went in with the boxes,” Esma told her brother.

Eilen couldn’t help a small grin at their enthusiasm. “Well, kiddos,” she announced, spreading her arms, “this is my ship. It’s called the Galewing, and it was my… father’s, before it was mine.” She nodded quietly to herself as the kids only partially paid attention to her. “...This is where I grew up... So!” At that, Eilen clapped once, drawing their full attention. “Get comfy, because we’ve got a long flight today.”

“How long?” Safir inevitably asked.

“Preeetty long,” Eilen muttered as she stepped across the quarters toward the cockpit.

“But how long?” Safir pressed.

Eilen sighed. “...About four hours.”

“Whoa…” The boy’s reaction was more of a breath than a word. “...That’s a really long time.”

Esme stood silent beside him, her attention falling back to Eilen, now staring at the furred lady’s tail as she walked away. After a moment, she spoke up. “Is there food?”

“Um--” Krif. “There will be, don’t worry! Eheh...” The half-Bothan briefly felt dread at the thought of having to choose between trying to cook or feeding them less healthy premade meals. It was a problem she’d have to solve soon, but for now, she had to consider the ship’s lift-off. Stepping through the doorway to the helm, Eilen looked back at the kids and motioned for them to follow. “Come on, we gotta buckle up for take-off. And you don’t wanna miss the view!”

Safir looked at his sister, then sprinted after Eilen toward the cockpit. Esme waited until Eilen and her fluffy tail were out of view before following after them.

---

At the helm of the Galewing, Eilen leaned back in her seat, chewing a bite of a sandwich. The flight was going pretty smoothly; nothing of interest or out of the ordinary to report. It was just a moment to relax, something she already needed after only an hour of flight with these children.

Though the furred lady had tried to keep them still by pointing out the great vistas outside the viewport, the 5-year-old twins had barely sat still while they flew over the rooftops of Estle City and ascended to the sky. The moment the ship had jumped to lightspeed and Eilen said they could walk around, they had burst from their seats and hadn’t stopped running amok on the small freighter since. It had taken this long to get them to calm down and finally make some food.

Eilen reminded herself to thank her girlfriend for restocking the Galewing’s pantry with easy-to-make foods. Safir had gobbled his sandwich down without a second thought, and was now comfortably slumped back in the seat behind her. Esme had plopped down in the co-pilot’s chair, and seemed to be… well, Eilen wanted to think she was enjoying her sandwich, but the little girl was mostly just staring at her while she nibbled at it. Every time Eilen was reminded of the child’s unfaltering stare, her ears twitched slightly in uncertainty.

Safir suddenly pulled himself back to his feet, and approached the helm. “How do ships fly?”

“...Um…” Though she appreciated his curiosity, Eilen had to stop and think about how to explain aeronautics and astronautics to a child. Before she could even formulate a response, however, he was climbing into the co-pilot’s seat with his sister, with more questions on the tip of his tongue.

“Do you use the Force to do it? My Papi uses the Force to do lots of really really really cool stuff. He can make stuff float, and, and other really really cool stuff. And Papi said you have the Force too, so do you make the ships fly with it?”

Eilen could not help the soft, yet amused grin that was spreading across her face. She shook her head lightly. “That’s not how the Force works. The ship… Well, I fly it with all these buttons and switches, here.” A hand gestured over the main console, then rested on the steering mechanism. “All of those control the engines, and those make the ship fly. To do that, the engines--”

“Does every grown-up have the Force?” Safir interrupted.

...Huh. That was not a question Eilen expected. She knew Ruka’s kids weren’t Force-sensitive, and it showed on her face that she didn’t know how to explain it.

Funnily enough, Esme did it for her, with a shake of her head. “Dad and Papi said only some people have it.”

Eilen’s ears lowered, once again unsure if the little girl’s bluntness was really the best way to explain things. Though, maybe for Safir it did. Like magic, he was already looking back over the console.

“How many buttons is there?” he started. “Do you have to know all of them?”

Eilen blinked, trying to regain her positivity. “Uh yes, I do! I can tell you about them, if you--”

The half-Bothan suddenly cut herself short and dropped her sandwich on a nearby panel as Safir put a foot on the main console, reaching high to try and to reach some switches he had spotted on the ceiling. Her long arms quickly reached over Esme’s head to pick the boy up and gently place him back on the seat.

“Please don’t stand on the con… buttons.” Though Eilen was trying to sound firm, there was a hint of nervousness in her voice. “You could…” She was going to describe the dangers of a sudden sharp course alteration in the midst of hyperspace travel, but stopped herself upon remembering that these were tiny kids. “...break them. Easily. Never, ever step on buttons and switches, alright?”

Safir was only half-paying attention. “How do you push those buttons if they are on the roof?”

Eilen stared briefly at the child, then raised an arm to the ceiling, thudding the back of her hand against it. “...Like this.” Truth be told, if she were much taller, she’d wouldn’t have been able to stand straight in the Galewing’s cockpit.

Both of the twins followed her hand with their eyes. Esme kept her gaze locked on Eilen as the furred lady sat back down, while Safir turned back to face all the bright and shiny buttons. With nothing more at the moment to say, the half-Bothan sighed, and grabbed her sandwich again.

“What’s krif?” Safir suddenly said.

Eilen froze in the middle of her bite. Her eyes darted toward the children, already fearing how she would have to explain to Ruka why his children were cussing at him. After an awkwardly long hesitation, the furred lady slowly lifted her teeth out of her food. “That… is a very bad word, and you really should not say it again. Where did you hear that?”

“Your shirt has it,” Esme said.

Oh. Krif. Eilen had forgotten up until now about the patches she had stitched into her flight suit. Most of them were harmless - band names, racing circuits, some artwork - but a couple were, putting it lightly, mildly offensive to some. The half-Bothan suddenly realized that her ‘KRIF HAPPENS’ patch was directly facing the twins.

Eilen stifled an annoyed groan at herself, and gripped her sandwich in her teeth. Off went her flak vest - not like she needed it here anyway - and down came the suit’s fastener so she could pull her arms out of it. Making sure the patch wasn’t openly showing, she rolled the suit’s torso down to her belt and tied the sleeves together around her waist. Thankfully, she’d worn a fairly blank sleeveless shirt beneath her gear today; one of her punkier shirts might have made a bigger problem out of this little slip-up.

Noticing the children were staring intently at her, Eilen finally pulled her half-eaten sandwich back out of her mouth. “Do not say that word around Dad… or Papi.” Her words were certainly more firm this time. “All three of us will get in trouble for that.”

Esme continued staring at Eilen, eyeing her exposed torso up and down.

Safir nodded. “What if you get in trouble because it’s on your shirt?”

“I…” Another question Eilen didn’t quite know how to answer. “...I will worry about that when it happens.” Without thinking about it, she snapped a hand into a finger-gun. She hoped he was content with that answer, and in hindsight, hoped he wouldn’t start doing finger-guns to Ruka.

For the moment, Safir seemed to accept the thought, and relaxed. Eilen slowly lowered her hand and slumped back in her seat. They still had a long time ahead in hyperspace, and she’d need to find some way to entertain them once they started moving around again. Eilen finally took another bite of her sandwich, nearly finishing it.

In the middle of chewing, the half-Bothan caught Safir in her peripheral vision leaning over the console again, his hand hovering over several buttons. A quick panic went through her as she thrusted a hand forward to lock the controls before he pressed anything.

“Hey!” She still had food in her mouth. “I shaid don do that!”

Esmeralda didn’t much react to the furred lady reaching over her again, but she had another thought to share. “Don’t choke, Miss Eilen. You’re not supposed to talk with your mouth full.”

Eilen’s ears fell horizontal as she dragged Safir back into the seat. A faint groan escaped her after gulping down her bite of food. The flight still had a long way to go.

---

“Your shipment looks good, Miss Jath,” said Rakks, looking up from his datapad at Eilen. At half her height, the lead handler almost had his head turned vertical to speak to her. “Everything checks out. Start getting this the rest of this stuff put on the hauler, and we’ll see to it you’ve got accommodations.”

“Uh, actually,” Eilen interjected, “I’m in it for the long ride, today. I have fly back before tonight… So, if I could just get my commission and the first portion of my fuel reimbursement, that would be best.”

Rakks gave her a funny look, more than just the slight distortion in his face from leaning back so far. “You do know you’re scheduled to fly a shipment out of here tomorrow afternoon, right? Those packages won’t even be here until then. There’s no leaving early, and there’s no paying for any more fuel.”

The half-Bothan nodded back down to him. “I understand. I can promise, I’ll be back tomorrow. I just need the credits I’ve already made, if that’s okay.” Her arms folded as she tried to add any thoughts to better appeal to him. “Think about it - Y-you won’t have to cover anything extra for me to stay planetside overnight. You’re actually saving credits, and all it takes is parting with my take right away.” Eilen offered a soft grin, for whatever it was worth.

The handler tilted his head in consideration. “...Eh, alright. I’ll go run the numbers. Just make sure everything is loaded on the hauler.”

“You got it!”

With that, they parted ways. Eilen let out a relieved huff of air and brushed her hair back as she walked back across the docks to her ship. Just gotta knock out that errand, fuel up, and then… try to keep the twins relaxed on the flight back. Okay, I can do this, nothing to it! Nothing to… it…

Eilen felt her heart suddenly sink lower than her ears. She’d told the kids to wait at the ship, but as she approached the Galewing, they weren’t there. Ah, karabast.

Her pace quickened as she went up the boarding ramp and peered inside the ship. Unoccupied. She dropped right out and stood tall, looking left and right for any sign of a child. Through crates and cargo planted all around the area, there was no one at all in sight, hardly even a droid.

Oh no, no no no no no… “Safir?!” she called aloud. “Esmeralda?!”

No response. Eilen breathed heavily for a moment, then clenched her eyes.

Okay, okay. Calm. Don’t panic. Don’t… panic…

The half-Bothan let the sounds and feelings around her fade as she reached out with the Force, searching for any sign of children around her, anywhere. Through deep breaths, she began to sense the crates, the cargo all around her, the dock droids laboring about. A good start. The air moved between them, carrying sounds of machinery at work from all directions. Between the fading machine sounds, the faint noise of conversations held far off in the distance. People speaking and lifting, their hearts beating. Some hearts beat faster than others, and two… two in particular were trying to slow down. They were so small, and standing together.

Gotcha...

Eilen snapped her eyes open and hurried to where she’d sensed what had to be the twins. Turning tail around some crates and heaving herself over some smaller objects in her way, the agile pilot made haste toward their position.

The moment she reached them, Eilen slid around a final palette of cargo, spotting Esmeralda with her back pressed against it. She gasped as the furred lady appeared.

As she panted a bit, Eilen sighed in relief and ran a hand through her hair. “Esmeralda, what are you doing over here?!”

The girl held a finger to her lips. “Sshhh!”

“No-- Hrrng…” Eilen straightened herself out with a lightly annoyed groan. “No shushing. Where’s your brother?”

Esme shook her head, not speaking a word.

“Esmeralda, I need to know where Safir is, right now.” Though her voice was growing stern, a sense of worry was building up. “Is he okay, Esme? Did something happe--”

Eilen suddenly saw it coming, but only made it worse as she quickly tensed up and tried to pull her tail down. Something clamped onto the end of her lowered tail, sending an involuntary discomforted squeak from her furred throat as she tried to yanker herself away. The laughing boy clinging to the end of her thickly furred appendage seemed significantly more amused than she was.

“Esme, I got her!” Safir shouted in excitement. “I got her, I got her!”

Her shoulders bunched and her knees tense, Eilen stood still and took one deep breath, trying to calm herself. “...Safir, please let go,” she spoke quietly, but firmly.

The boy complied and joined his sister’s side, still giggling to himself. A look of pride was stuck on Safir’s face, while Esme’s gaze was only slightly less blank than usual.

Eilen groaned, annoyed, but relieved. She stood straighter, trying to conjure at least some form of authority in her appearance. “...Listen, you two. You had your little fun, but you… You can’t just run around without a grown-up in a place like this. There could be… dangerous strangers around, or other bad things, okay? You scared me half to death before I found you, an-and that’s just… That’s not a good thing. Just please, please don’t go running off by yourselves again. Got it?”

By now, the twins’ looks had lost their excitement. They each nodded quietly.

“...Okay.” Eilen sighed once more, then slowly lowered herself onto her knees. Her voice grew softer. “Come here.. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you two.”

Esme and Safir quietly looked at each other, then inched forward and embraced the furred lady. Eilen sat there with them in a group hug for a few seconds, huffing out her worries. She somewhat felt bad about possibly crushing their spirits, and tried to find the right words to keep the two a little more positive - just not wild.

“It’s okay to go play in… cool places, like this,” she added, softly, “but you have to make sure your parents - or babysitter - say it’s okay, first.” Eilen took another deep breath, having finished her words for them..”..Alright, come on,” she finally said, releasing them. “I have a job that I have to finish, and I want you two to stay very, very close to me while I do it. Okay?”

“Yes, Miss Eilen,” the twins said in unison.

“Okay… Good.” A small, soft grin etched its way onto her face. “Let’s go, then.”

At that, she began walking back toward the Galewing, glancing every few seconds to see that the children were close behind.

Unsurprisingly, Safir soon spoke up. “Can we still play a little bit?”

Eilen’s head lowered slightly. She scratched her hair, not wanting to disappoint them in spite of her concerns. After all, she’d been one to run amok and have fun in places like this when she was merely a child. The half-Bothan finally came to a compromise and spoke up, slowly, “Only as long as you stay close, and within my sight. Got it?”

The excited grin returned to Safir’s face within moments. He and Esme were running circles around Eilen by the time she returned to the ship.

---

The twins had tuckered themselves out again, which Eilen was thankful for, and sat quietly in the shopping cart the furred lady was pushing. What space remained in the cart was slowly accumulating the handful of groceries missing from the half-Bothan’s fridge and pantry back home: Mostly fresh meats, a small assortment of grains, fruits, and vegetables, and some drinks other than water, with a few high-energy snacks and some junk food thrown in the mix. Safir’s gaze was locked on each new item Eilen grabbed off the shelves to put in the cart, while, to no surprise at all, Esme’s stare was fixated on Eilen herself, who was doing her best to acclimate to the unfaltering gaze.

“Is this food all for us?” Safir asked as the cart rounded a corner.

Eilen shook her head. “This is actually food for my house. I looked in the fridge this morning, and there wasn’t anything left.”

“You guys ate all of it?” the curious boy asked.

The furred lady nodded. “Sure did.”

“But doesn’t all that food make you fat?”

Eilen’s brow and ears twitched together. “Eheh… Only if you eat it all at once.”

“Oh… So how does it work, that, lots of food makes you all big and strong, if lots of food makes you fat?”

The half-Bothan couldn’t help but chuckle. Her head shook lightly as she reached over Safir’s head for a pack of insta-bread servings. “Um… Well, it just depends on what sort of food you’re eating. There are some foods that have… lots of protein, and good vitamins, and… other stuff that’s good for you. Lots of those foods will make you healthy and grow properly. Other foods… like, um… snacks, candy, chips, fatty foods and such - too much of those can make you fat.”

Safir nodded along as she spoke. “...How much is too much?”

“Uh, well, it depends.” Eilen shrugged. “It’s different for everyone.” Hoping to avoid getting into health subjects she could barely comment on, the half-Bothan turned to the other twin. “Esme, you’ve been quiet. What’s on your mind?”

Esme stared back at her a few second longer before finally speaking up. “...Why don’t you look like a girl, Miss Eilen?”

Eilen felt her face scrunch slightly in awkward embarrassment. She suddenly regretted this decision. “...U-uhh…”

“Oh yeah,” Safir started, “girl grown-ups have long pretty hair and boobs and make-up and girl clothes and stuff.”

Without really thinking about it, Eilen’s eyes jutted down for an instant at the flat chest beneath her sleeveless shirt. That shirt and her pilot’s jumpsuit, with its torso tied at her waist, certainly weren’t there to make her look pretty. Her ears twitched left and right as she gently ran a hand through the short, tangled mess of hair on the back of her head. This inquiry by the children was a level of awkward she didn’t know how to respond to.

It suddenly occurred to Eilen that she had stopped pushing the cart. Shaking her head back to its senses, she tried to say something. “...I… Well… Hmm... “ A few starting words finally came to her, and she inhaled deep to order them properly. “...No one really needs to look a certain way, kids. And, um… there are some things you just can’t choose about the way you look. I look like I do, just because... I do.” The half-Bothan shrugged with a shaky grin.

Esme tilted her head the other way. “So it’s okay for a girl to not look like a girl?”

Keeping up her shaky grin, Eilen nodded briefly. “For sure. That’s… That’s totally fine. If you wanna… get a short haircut, and wear hoodies or tank-tops or whatever, I think you can.”

“Can I now?” the little girl asked.

“Uh--” Eilen didn’t want to do anything drastic. These were Ruka’s children, afterall. “Mmmmm… Maybe you should talk to your Dad and Papi about that,” she said, with a hint of an apology in her tone.

“Aw… Okay.”

Thinking on it more for a second, Eilen’s expression tilted crookedly in consideration. “...Well… Ehh, maybe it can’t hurt to look at some boys’ sweaters today, right?” At that, Eilen rounded the cart around another corner and began pushing it out of the store’s grocery department. Her shopping was practically finished, anyway.

The faintest smile appeared on Esmeralda’s face. Beside her, Safir piped up again. “Can I look at shirts like Esme’s?”

“Don’t see why not,” Eilen gladly replied.

Although she was happy to help the twins broaden their youthful horizons a bit, the half-Bothan felt a tinge of regret when as they started getting uppity and excited once again. She had always had a love for thrills, herself, but having to manage a pair of innocent and fragile children - someone else’s children - with that degree of excitement between them, was starting to drain her. Eilen took a deep breath and tried to compose herself to put on a smile while she let the twins look through some sweaters. Yet, at least part of her grin was genuine, as she couldn’t help but feel a bit happy to be brightening the kids’ day.

As the cart rolled between a few racks of sweaters, Esme began pointing at a few that she liked. Eilen picked each off its rack in turn for her to see more clearly, though each time, the little girl found herself simply staring for a few seconds before shaking her head. That was, until Eilen picked up a green one with a hood she had indicated. For that one, Esme reached forward and happily took it from her.

“Alrighty, good choice,” Eilen said in a positive tone. She started pushing the cart toward a fitting stall. “You can give it a try right-- Hey!!”

Esme hadn’t bothered waiting, and was already tugging her shirt off to try on the sweater. Whether he was eager to trade with her or just following her lead, Safir was doing the same.

“No! Nonono, no, please-- please don’t do that here!” Wearing a look of concern, Eilen found herself leaning over the cart trying to pull each of their shirts back down as she spoke. “Th-there are… perfectly good places for trying on clothes in the store, aaaand out the middle of the open is not it! Eheh… Just… hold on, for a minute.”

The twins merely exchanged glances as their respective shirts were pulled back down over their bellies. As Eilen post-nervously twiddled her thumbs and brought the cart near the fitting stalls, Safir grabbed his shirt again and yanked it over his shoulders.

“Oh yeah!!” the child shouted before he could be stopped.

Eilen’s face contorted into a mix of embarrassment and frustration, as did the mix of unintelligible noises that escaped her in response. Rather than trying to get Safir to cooperate, she quickly pulled him out of the cart and gave him a push toward the fitting stall beside them. “Don’t come out unless you have everything back on!” With a deep breath to calm herself, Eilen turned toward Esme, and carefully lifted her out of the cart as well. She handed the girl her sweater, and let her run in after Safir.

With that, Eilen turned and pressed her back against the stalls’ outer walls. Her hands covered her face as a quiet groan seeped out.

---

The Galewing was parked. A fuel line connected it with a pump beneath the station. Her hands somewhat dirtied from rigging it, Eilen stood just off to the side, stretching her shoulders forward with her fists resting against her hips. Her eyes rested firmly on the fuel gage, so very slowly waiting for her ship’s tank to reach its max capacity.

Eilen felt tired, which was honestly out of the ordinary for the middle of her afternoon. A decade ago, she was spending these hours hopping between rooftops and swinging sticks around with her master. That, or following up on a mission assignment with a bag of bombs strapped to her back and twitchy fingers ready to screw with the next device she came across. Even when she was on a simple flight job these days, she was typically finding some way to keep herself physically active between the piloting, before settling in for the evening with a good book and some music. The seat of her swoop and the arms of her lover seemed like the best thing in the world to ask for, at the moment. Today though, the half-Bothan was spending her afternoon with two children literally climbing all over her, and a four-hour flight home still stood ahead of her.

On her back, Eilen could feel the squirming of a child who couldn’t resist climbing to vent his rekindled excess of energy. Just behind her, the hybrid’s tail hung loose, only moving by the will of a small pair of hands that seemed to be entertained by playing with the furry appendage. Safir and Esme had only rested briefly before fully rejuvenating their insane levels of children’s excitement, and their babysitter for the day was taking the full brunt of it.

Though her gaze remained locked on the fuel gage, waiting for it to finally max out, Eilen twitched and winced at every tug and pull Safir had on her back and shoulders. Supporting his weight and squirming motions wasn’t too hard for someone of her agility, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. Still, Safir was having fun climbing around her, and as long as he didn’t hurt himself, that was okay enough to let it pass.

Every few seconds, Eilen’s loosely hanging tail twitched ever so slightly in a different direction. Left, forward, up, back… Esme had finally worked up the courage to poke at it and, once or twice, grab it. As long as it was captivating the little girl’s attention while the furred lady waited to leave, Eilen didn’t make any effort to stop her.

With every noise they made, Eilen’s ears twitched - raising, tilting, dropping. She had stopped paying attention to just about everything else, by now. Only the sounds of the twins and the slowly rising fuel gage mattered to her. A long, heavy sigh escaped her as the gage neared its final mark. As tired as she was getting, she couldn’t wait for it to finish.

---

The sunlight, still barely peeking over the horizon as it set, shone its light into Eilen’s home as the doorway opened. The furred lady let out a breath of relief as she stepped in after her long day. It was quiet inside; she was the first home from her day.

Awesome.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Eilen dropped her bag by the doorway. Off came her belt and all its pouches and small attachments without a second thought, which fell just beside the bag to rest. While she was bent over, she pulled at the fasteners on her boots, and loosely kicked them off without much of a care as to where they flung. There was enough space around the doorway to avoid hitting anything. Her flight suit’s sleeves were pulled apart from her waist just afterward, leaving nothing left to keep it attached to her.

The hybrid slowly dragged her feet toward the bedroom, her body loosely bobbing and her head rocking side to side with each step, not making much effort to keep herself fully held up anymore. Eilen’s flight suit slipped off her hips and slowly dragged its way down her legs as she walked. Once it was at her ankles, she stopped briefly to shake one foot the rest of its way out of the material, then swiftly kicked her other leg forward and back to throw the suit aside. Now clad in just her sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts, she could properly crash for a short rest.

Upon reaching the bedroom, Eilen unceremoniously flopped face-forward onto her bed. She hit the mattress with a light bounce, and let her legs from the knees down hang loosely over the side as she took just a few second to go limp. A long, exhausted groan went straight into the blanket her face had planted itself into. It was good to be home and, more importantly, kid-free.

I will never be a mother. Urgh.

While she had no regrets about her child-free life, Eilen truly hoped Safir and Esme had enjoyed their day with her. Their bouts of excitement that came and went seemed to suggest it. Though, she had a feeling though that Ruka might be asking her before too long where they learned a bad word. Maybe why they were trading clothes, too, though he in particular might not think too much of that. Whatever the case, they were home with him now, and Eilen was glad to be free of them. She never minded helping where she could, but the half-Bothan certainly wasn’t the sort who could do this every day. As far as Eilen was concerned, Ruka was a champion for managing those twins.

That was her last thought of it for the day. Eilen rolled herself onto her back and inhaled a deep, refreshing breath of air. All she had to care about now was what to do when her girlfriend got home - or rather, where to fly off to on that ludicrously fast bike resting in the garage. A ride out through the empty fields beyond civilized borders, beneath the stars, the hurling winds flowing through her fur, with her favorite face in the world looking back at her, and just a bit of adrenaline from it all - maybe a little more than a bit - to thrive off of for anything they wanted to do after. That sounded like a good way to unwind.

Until her fair lady returned home, however, Eilen decided it would be a good chance to catch up in advance on the sleep she would surely lose later tonight. With her hands resting on her belly and her knees hiked up, the half-Bothan got comfortable. Though, her fingers and toes jittered just a bit in anticipation for later, making it just a bit harder to pass out yet. “Hmm…”

Turning her head to the side, Eilen noticed her book from that morning still sitting by the pillow nearby. It hadn’t moved an inch, and judging by the ever so slight curl somewhere in the middle of its pages, it wouldn’t be too hard to find where she’d last left off. A soft grin crossed her face as she picked it up and resumed reading, up until she was out for her short rest.

---