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The crew of the Mantis were looking forward to their day off. Just the night before you had landed on a lush forest planet. Far enough from the nearest settlement that no one would notice your presence but close enough that those who wished to visit could. You sat at the dining table and picked at your breakfast and listened to Cere and Greez discuss their plans for the day. There were a few errands Cere wanted to run while they were close to civilization, even on days off there were things to do, and Greez was going on about the local cantinas and cuisine. Your plans for the day were quite simple, you planned on doing absolutely nothing. Days off were rare and you planned on enjoying it cozied up in a soft blanket with a hot drink in hand and finishing that terrible romance novel you had started ages ago.
You cleaned your dishes and then made your way to your room to grab the few things you would need for the day. You were then stopped by a grinning Cal, “Hey, (Y/N)! excited for our day off?” You could see BD-1 climbing up his back as he spoke. He trilled in a happy greet once on Cal’s shoulder.
You took a moment to pat the droids head before you answered, “Oh it’s going to be great to finally be able to do nothing all day!”
“So, you don’t have any plans for the day?” he asked cocking his head to the side.
“Nope, not really I guess,” you replied with a shrug.
“Great!” His excitement caught you off guard. You certainly thought it was great, but you were getting a funny feeling he was excited about your lack of plans for an entirely different reason. His grin only got bigger as he began to speak again, “Cere was telling me about this festival they hold today in the nearby settlement every year. She didn’t remember much about it except that it’s a festival of colour!” He stopped talking again and a light blush rose on his cheeks, “I have, uh, a few spare credits and um, we should… I mean I was wonder if you’d like to go check it out with me.” His blush only got worse becoming a shade much closer to that of his hair. You and Cal had become fast friends when he joined the crew of the Mantis so it wasn’t odd for you to spend your free time together, but the way he was acting was just a little odd. It almost seemed like he was asking you on a date.
An involuntary blush covered your face and you sorted everything out in your mind, “like a date?”
Cal slowly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to hide how flushed he was, “Um… Yeah, like a date.”
Your other plans or lack of were immediately forgotten. You’ve had feelings for Cal for about as long as you had been friends but had kept them to yourself for a few reasons. One of them being the fact that telling anyone that you were in love with them can be a terrifying thing and the other being you didn’t want to risk your friendship if he didn’t feel the same. Yet here he was asking you on a date, you swore this was like a dream you had once. How could you say no? “Can you give me twenty minutes to get ready?”
“Yeah,” he replied grinning like an absolute fool. Cal stepped to the side letting you past him and then watched you disappear into your room. BD-1 trilled next to his ear excitedly saying something along the lines of “I told you so.” Cal looked over his shoulder at the small droid, “Yeah, you did buddy, guess I shouldn’t have been so nervous after all.”
Cal waited outside of the Mantis, the breeze was cool but not cold and the sun was bright warming everything in its light. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up to the sky his expression peaceful. He looked almost meditative when you stepped out of the starship. A gentle tap to his should was all it took to get his attention. “Ready to go?” he asked with his usual goofy smile.
You took his hand and held it down by his side. “Of course! I just hope you know where we’re going because I don’t.”
Cal was worried he was going to implode when your handheld his but once he took his eyes from the sky and looked at you, he knew he would. You looked much like you always did but the way the red lipstick accentuated your lips caused his breath to catch in his throat. He took a moment to try and regain his composure. “You look nice,” he said slowly.
“You really think so?” You looked down at your feet in an attempt to hide your blush but also the giant and quite a dorky grin that had been caused by his simple compliment. “I thought it might be nice to dress up a little, it turns out the only nice thing I had was some makeup I bought at a market ages ago mostly on a whim. I probably look ridiculous and you’re just too nice to say anything.” You reached up to wipe the lipstick off with the back of your hand, but Cal was quick to stop you but taking the hand with his.
“You’re beautiful,” he reassured, “Now let’s get going before we miss all the fun.”
You could hear the sounds of cheering and laughing long before you could actually see your destination. With each passing moment, you found yourself more and more excited. What would a festival of colour entail? What sort of food would be there? What exactly was causing the locals’ laughter to echo through the forest?
When you arrived in the small town you were not disappointed. The streets were lined with vendors selling anything and everything. All of the space not filled by vendors were easily filled by the sheer amount of people that had gathered together for the festival. You saw Cal eye a vendor selling various colourful drinks. “Wait here,” he said quickly before approaching the stall.
You felt something hit your arm, it didn’t hurt but it did grab your attention. You glanced down quickly and saw a green powder covering the point of impact and some of the surrounding skin. Off to the side, you noticed to youngling giggling and pointing at you. They were covered from head to toe in various different coloured powered. You slowly approached them and crouched down to their height, they were still laughing but looked as if they were getting ready to run. “Do you two think you can answer a question for me?” you asked in a soft voice. The younglings looked at each other for a moment before nodding eagerly. “I’m not from around here and I was wonder why you two are so colourful?” you asked.
“The colour festival!” the younger of the two chimed.
You looked to the older child for a slightly better explanation. “It’s a game we all play,” said the child slowly, trying to formulate the words to properly answer your question. “Everyone throws dye powder at everyone else. It’s lots of fun! The guy over there sells the best colours!” The youngling quickly gestured to a vendor a little further down the street.
You thanked the younglings and then promptly ran off to find their next victims. You glanced over your shoulder at Cal, he seemed to be intently listening to the vendor talk about his different products. You reached into your pocket and felt the few credits that were in there. You didn’t find much but how much could a fistful of colourful powder cost.
The dye powder had turned out to be surprisingly cheap so you had bought as much as you could carry. This particular vendor packed the powder into soft balls that were meant to burst upon contact. You returned to the spot Cal had left you, it seemed like he was finally making a decision. You watched him pay the man and grab to of the small cups filled with a lavender liquid. “I didn’t realize drinks were so complicated,” he said with a small laugh as he returned to you.
Before he could offer you your drink you put your evil plan into action. You threw the soft dye ball you had been hiding in your hand at his face. Cal stared blankly at you for a second, it didn’t look like it had hurt him, he just looked confused. He coughed quietly when he accidentally inhaled some of the bright blue powder that covered the right side of his face. You doubled over in laughter.
Cal, on the other hand, was just very confused. What had you thrown at him? Whatever it had been you found it pretty funny. He looked around and then noticed the entire crowd was covered in a mess of different colours, including you. He saw a clear bag filled with various coloured dyes sticking out of your pocket. He began to laugh too as the realization hit. “Do you have more dye?” He asked grinning mischievously.
You nodded and pulled the bag from your pocket matching his. He handed you the drink he bought for you and you both downed it one gulp. Cal’s entire face scrunched up at the taste of the liquid and you let out a rather loud cough you shuddered violently. “What was in that?” You asked grimacing at the after taste.
“I don’t know, I couldn’t even tell what language the vendor was speaking, Now hand over some of that dye, you’re not the only one who gets to have fun.”
“Truce!” you shouted, and you rounded a corner. You had run out of the dye you had purchased hours ago, and you had just used the last of the loose powder some locals had given you.
“No truces!” shouted Cal in response. You could hear getting closer, so you began to run again. Unfortunately, you didn’t make it very far until you felt a strong body tackle you to the grass. You wriggled underneath Cal, trying to escape. He used your current position to his advantage and dumped his last fistful of dye on your face finally getting revenge for you stunt earlier. “Well, I guess a truce wouldn’t be so bad,” he said with a cheeky smile. He rolled onto his back next to you.
You only shot him a playful glare. You both lay there silent trying to catch your breath from the last few hours of near-constant running. You couldn’t help but be impressed by the quality of the dye though. Despite the sweat, you were both covered in a rainbow of colours. You shifted around so you were facing Cal, he was watching you intently, yet he seemed deep in thought. His gaze moved to meet yours, “can I kiss you?”
The question caught you off guard. The thought of him kissing you was far from unwelcome; it was something you had wanted for so long. You just hadn’t expected it. “Yes,” you answer quietly.
His hand gently cupped your cheek and he placed a tentative kiss against your lips. He waited a moment and kissed you again, firmer this time, more confident. When he ended the kiss, his lips were tinted red from what was left of your lipstick and curled into an absolutely infectious smile. You spent the rest of the evening grinning at each other like love-struck fools.