Chapter Text
Mercilessly, the loud beep of an incoming message on his implant woke him up. Theron groaned, trying to make sense of where he was, before he quickly realized he was in his own apartment back on Coruscant. He was away on jobs off-world so often, his own apartment felt less like home than the rundown base on Rishi had.
He opened his eyes and blinked to allow the message to pop up before his eyes. There were only a handful of people who were on his ‘sound notifications on while he’s asleep’-list. One of those people was also on his ‘please, please, please, call me’-list, although any self-respecting man would never admit to having a list such as that.
So when the notification popped up and revealed the name he had been moaning in his sleep – another thing he would never admit to – Theron immediately sat up straight in bed and scrambled to get a holopad from the nightstand. He had the good sense to run a hand through his tousled hair, but probably still looked as if he just woke up, because he did. With a finger that trembled slightly, he pressed the touch pad to open the call.
The holo revealed the figure of the smuggler that had occupied his dreams so intensely lately. She was wearing a soft leather pilot hat that covered the top part of her striped lekku, but she was not wearing her usual mouth mask, so Theron could admire the shape of her lips and jaw, so sharply defined in the blue-colored holo. The light frames did not allow her bright pale red skin color to show, but Theron had seen enough of her in the last few months to picture it exactly in his mind. As his eyes devoured the Twi’lek in front of him, his breath chocked when he saw hat she was wearing below her neck.
Practically nothing.
A light-colored bandeau top covered her fully shaped breasts, but her shoulders were bare and her belly mercilessly exposed. The round belly button seemed to stare at him and Theron stared back, awkwardly wondering if she would be able to trace the line of his vision through the holo. Underneath the skimpy top she was wearing tight leather pants, set with lighter patches on the inside of her thighs, showing off her slender figure and broad hips perfectly.
“B-Bella Roido,” he said, too much in shock to give himself the cool, charming airs he liked to adopt around her.
“Shan!” she said, using his last name as she so often did. Her voice sounded slightly metallic over the holo, adding to the already sharp sound.
The smooth forehead underneath the hat wrinkled slightly in a frown. “Did you just wake up?”
“It’s the middle of the night,” he responded, self-consciously running another hand through his dark hair.
“Is it? What time are you on?”
“Coruscant, of course. Where are you?” he asked, not just to make conversation, but out of genuine curiosity. He hadn’t seen the woman regularly since their mission on Ziost had ended –badly. One time she had surprised him when she was passing Coruscant and one time they had met accidentally when Theron was meeting a contact off-world. Both times had been steamy encounters that made Theron’s belly tingle just thinking about it. Other than that, they had holo-called a few times but mostly kept to their own business.
Between their busy schedules, different time zones and bad connections (Bella didn’t usually do business on planets with good connection facilities) it was difficult to keep in touch. Maybe if he had asked her to be exclusive with him, he would have had more confidence to call her. But he had neglected to have that conversation. So all he could claim was a few hot encounters, a couple of kisses, and some professional history; Hardly enough to put a label on whatever it was they were having together. Knowing the man-hunter that she was, she probably slept with someone else in the meantime. Last time they spoke, she was calling him to meet up, but he was worlds away and on an important information gathering mission. He had to disappoint her, and he hadn’t had the courage to call her back after that.
“I’m in Wild Space,” Bella said, with emphases on the ‘wild’, which she pronounced seductively. Theron shifted uncomfortably, his eyes still fixed on the naked belly.
“Whu- what are you doing there?”
“Meeting up with a certain Darth,” Bella replied in the robotic holo-voice. “Unlike some, he does call me.”
Theron’s tired mind raced quickly. She was expecting him to call? Why did she never tell him she expected him to call? And more importantly, why would she meet Darth Marr wearing that. She was probably still going to change, right? Right?
“You- I,” he stammered.
“I’m kidding, Theron,” she broke him off, a mischievous grin on her face. Bella seemed to enjoy watching him struggle to get through this unexpected call. Seeing her taunt him gave Theron tingles in places he was happy were covered by the duvet. “He has a tip on the Emperor. Gotta check it out.”
“Would join you if I could,” Theron replied, happy the conversation was going back to work-related things that he could talk about without trouble. “Be careful, okay?”
“You know me, I never am,” Bella replied cheekily. She gave him a little wink, which drew Theron’s eyes up from her belly button to her petite face, drowning in her eyes which he knew where a deep, dark purple, although the holo did not show it.
“Gotta go now,” she said, reaching forward to shut off the holo.
“Bella, wait!” Theron stopped her, although he was not really sure himself how he was going to say what he wanted to say to her.
“Hm?”
“You’re not going to Darth Marr wearing… wearing that, are you?” he struggled through the sentence.
Her big eyes looked at him with a mock innocence that he didn’t buy.
“You like it?” she said temptingly, running her hands over the skin which Theron knew would be warm and soft. He coughed and moved awkwardly on the bed.
“I do. I just think maybe-“
“Ha-ha! You should see your face, Theron,” she interrupted his futile attempt. “You know, I think I will wear this to Darth Marr. I mean if you like it, he will as well, I reckon. I’ll give him a chance to stare at it as you have. And you can think about what happens if you leave a girl hanging after a booty call.” She didn’t say it angrily, or even with a disappointed tone in her voice. Bella said it as a challenge. She would enjoy the rest of her day knowing Theron would fret over who saw her in her half-naked outfit. He was not an outwardly jealous person, so achieving in making him feel irritated and jealous was her most savored victory.
“Bella-”
“Bye, bye, Theron,” she said with a wink and a grin, and disconnected the call.