Chapter Text
A loud clang! from the kitchenette took Melshi out of his thoughts. He sat up on the bed at once, curling his toes in his socks. “Keef?”
He only heard a faint muffled mumble in response. No one sounded hurt, but the last thing Melshi needed was for one of them to finally die doing something incredibly stupid. They'd made it this far, so what would be the point? Although, considering the state of their lodging, he wouldn’t be surprised if something had spontaneously fallen apart.
Melshi shifted up, making his way to the kitchen as fast as his sore feet could, looking to see what had evidently crashed to the floor. Instead, he was met with a pleasant floral aroma that filled the room.
"Are you okay?" Melshi asked, curiously looking around for Keef, who he found mildly cursing, bending down on the floor.
"Dropped something," he said, jerking his head in the direction of pots, trying to shove them back into a tiny cabinet. "Nothing broke."
"Hmm," Melshi hummed in agreement. "But are you okay?"
Keef nodded, returning to the stove, adjusting the heat slightly.
Melshi couldn't even remember many people doing much of that, proper cooking, that is. Most people used those instant packets in his home world. Though, he supposed that was just part of an economically and politically unstable home world.
A larger waft of clean steam filled the room as Keef lifted the lid on one of the pans. He couldn't contain a grin at that. "Cooking. My specialty, when I have the time. Though, I rarely do."
Melshi took another deep breath of the sweet aroma before Keef sent a glass across the counter, swiftly gliding on the glazed stone surface and just stopping before the edge. There was a reason Keef didn't have much time to cook, and Melshi reckoned it had something to do with his addiction to the thrill of uncertainty, whether he was actively seeking it or not.
In a swift motion, Melshi took a sip, realizing that the drink must have been the floral scent filling the air. "What's in it?"
"I hope you're not allergic to anything," Keef said amused. But then he paused, perhaps to wonder if he should actually be concerned, to which Melshi took another sip from the glass to reassure him that it was probably fine.
"It's tea," Keef decided to clarify.
He might have gone on about what was in it, but the sweet flavors were overwhelming, giving Melshi a buzz at the tongue he still hadn't gotten used to since they'd crashed on Niamos. Real flavors.
“While you were out I took the liberty in buying food,” Keef had continued, almost mumbling to himself. “Thought a proper meal would be a nice… reset, I guess.”
“Grounding,” Melshi finished. At that moment, a loud grumble from outside sounded and, for a brief second, the room filled with white light. Melshi noticed how Keef winced as the crack of lightning sounded from outside. For an instant, the baton of a guard was behind them and the lights of the prison flickered on.
A beat of silence passed between the two until Keef eventually said, "food should be done in 15 minutes if you're hungry."
Melshi’s automatic response would have been ‘you didn’t have to’, a phrase he had said a lot over the past 24 hours they’d been on Niamos. Keef never let on if parting ways ever crossed his mind. Melshi knew, of course, that it probably had. If Keef wanted to split their separate ways now , he would've done so.
Keef always had a sense of agency, and he always had a plan. Even while working in the most terrible conditions, his mind was always turning.
But perhaps they were similar in that sense. Melshi knew that even though they hadn’t split ways now, it would happen eventually, and that this period of silence in the eye of the storm was quickly passing. Melshi had a bigger storm to deal with, and that would be the Empire. People needed to know . Now was the time to fight back.
This was where he and Keef would have to say their goodbyes.
Melshi always hated goodbyes.
Having to say goodbyes to his mother, his brothers of the revolution, and now a friend.
But he needn’t dwell on that too long, considering walking was such a strain on his feet. For now, he could enjoy this domestic bliss.
It wasn’t until he felt Keef shift closer to him that he realized how deep inside his own ramblings. He must have been idly pacing. Or perhaps he had gone to refill his glass. Whatever reason, Melshi had somehow made his way to Keef’s side by the stove. He couldn’t pinpoint the moment he had gotten so close. Close enough to smell the mellowness of the shampoo the two had been using and the aromatics of whatever it was Keef was stirring in the pan.
Perhaps this sensitivity was a product of living off of such little color in life.
"Taste this."
Before he knew it, he had a small spoon shoved towards him. Keef urged him to take it as thunder grumbled outside.
Melshi's tongue initially burned, and keef helpfully added "careful, it's hot," after the fact. Though, the dull pain couldn't keep him from laughing even though he couldn't pinpoint what he was laughing about. It was either from the absurdity of the whole situation or the fact it felt uncomfortably right . It was like getting a taste of what life would be like had the cosmos not been on edge.
Perhaps he was just being overly poetic, but after getting another go at taste testing, he could only describe the flavor to be what freedom tasted of.
“It’s good,” said Melshi. “Great, actually. What is this?”
“A recipe from my mother,” said Keef. He seemed as though he wanted to say more, his eyes focused and his mouth parted, yet his voice never came. He returned to the dish, adjusting the heat one last time. Thunder sounded again, and for a second time, time stood still.
It wasn’t until Keef was plating the dishes that Melshi realized the last time he’d eaten anything made by someone else for him must’ve been since he was a child.
“Were you close to her?” Melshi asked in the midst of the silence sitting between them.
Keef furrowed his brows. "Hmm?"
“Your mother. Were you close to her?"
A strange look crossed the other man's face, clenching his teeth as the storm groaning outside became muffled in his tense moment of silence.
"The last time I spoke to her we had a fight," he finally said. He took a contemplative sip of his tea, and then turned to Melshi. “That’s where I’m heading to next.”
“Back home?”
Keef sank down a little, but then shook it off. “What about you? Do you have someone… waiting for you?”
Melshi shrugged. “No. The Empire’s taken everything I got. After this, it’s about spreading the word, I suppose. Carrying on with the cause.”
“The cause? What, you were a freedom fighter?” There seemed to be a lifeless sneer, as though he was trying to convince himself of something.
“Something like that. I came from a planet that was already at war with itself. Then the Empire came in and all hell broke loose. I had a group fighting for the rights of people like me. People who worked day and night, creating crafts the ones in skyliners couldn’t dream of achieving. This group, they were my family. Most of us were picked up by the Empire, tossed into prisons like…” Melshi threw his hands up with a gesture and continued, “y’know, and we were mostly separated. I’ll bet they’re all sitting in something just like it, or even worse. I’ve gotta find them.”
Keef appeared almost to be stunned, locked in place and unmoving. “I suppose someone has to be the one to make a difference.”
And Melshi couldn’t believe it. “You say that as if you have never made a difference. That you’ve never fought for anything.”
“I haven’t. Nothing important. Not really.”
Melshi let out a hollow laugh. “Is the freedom of five thousand men not important?”
Keef seemed to take a moment to take that in, but ultimately held up his own. “That was bound to happen at some point. It just so happened that I was in the middle of it. If it wasn’t me, it would have been you.”
“No one could have convinced Kino other than you, Keef.”
This time, lightning struck too close. The whole of the living room lit up with a blinding light, the crackle seconds behind them. The room stabilized and Melshi could see Keef’s hands on the back of his head. He met eyes with Keef who quickly adjusted, forcing himself to relax. Seconds later, the humm of electricity ceased as the room went dark.
“… convenient,” Keef sighed. In the darkness, Melshi could hear Keef shuffle away from the dining table and move towards the bedrooms.
Melshi waited patiently where he was until he saw the soft glow of a torch light and heard the clatter of small holos set on the table in front of him.
“This shitty place doesn’t have a generator?” Keef complained quietly. Lightning struck and once again, the two of them stood still, stunned without pain, but numbness. “I think your door is jammed shut right now until power is restored. You can sleep in the other room and I’ll take the sofa.”
“You’re being ridiculous.” We’ve not just spent days gripping onto a feared final breath to sleep on deteriorating sofas. You didn’t just spend half your credits for a room with two rooms to not sleep on an actual bed. Although, his reasons were left unspoken.
Keef just seemed to pout, turning away with the dishes and bringing them to the sink. “The water is running, at least.”
“Mate, you cooked dinner. You’re not doing the dishes too.” Melshi brought over two holos, lining the blemished appliances blue. Thunder was rolling, louder than before. The rain became a full downpour as the wind tested the durability of the glass windows. Keef once again tensed up.
It made Melshi wonder if he too was freezing, stunned by the images of white. “The bedrooms are actually pretty quiet. I hadn’t realized it was storming until I came out here,” Melshi suggested, watching Keef carefully.
“You aren’t sleeping on the sofa. Your body needs more rest than mine. All of the bacta patches were in the other room, so whatever sores you have will be exposed.”
“We still have the pain meds,” Melshi tried, ushering Keef away from the sink. “Plus, I never said I was sleeping on the sofa, either. That mattress is big enough for the both of us. I can sleep over the covers and you can sleep under."
The thunder continued, yet Keef was still in the kitchen.
“Your hands are shaking. You shouldn’t have your hands in that water.”
So they were.
He then felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, warm and grounding.
“Maybe we should both rest. Leave the dishes.”
“It’s just one more… and… done.” Melshi threw his hands up after placing the last dish aside to dry. He could hear Keef roll his eyes.
“Come on.”
Melshi nodded and followed Keef through the dark. Placing the holos around the room gave a rather peaceful yet eerie ambience. The storm outside had been reduced to deadened white noise. Keef had taken the right side of the bed, stubbornly sitting on top of the covers.
Melshi knew that trying to reason anything else would have been a lost cause. “So,” Melshi declared in the silence. “Keef the cook?”
Keef looked over at him. It seems their roles had reversed. In their old bunks, it had always been Keef keeping the rest up, asking questions, disturbing Kino’s peace. Melshi had learned long since that his nonsense would only get so far. But now it was just the two of them. Two talkers that knew almost nothing about each other.
“Keef, the escapee. Keef, the criminal. What else are you, Keef Girgo?”
“A liar.” It came out bluntly with no humor to the sentiment.
Melshi huffed out, “aren’t we all? That’s one reason we’re criminals, come now. Tell me something new.”
There was no response. But Melshi wanted to fill whatever empty space there seemed to be between them ever since they had arrived. Before they parted, Melshi wanted to leave on good terms, perhaps with the intention to see each other again. But he was having a difficult time gauging where Keef stood.
“I’m serious. I know nothing about you, other than you can be a leader when needs fit, and your cooking skills are formidable. Or did you need more of that wine in that sauce you made?”
With that, Melshi got a dry laugh. “You don’t need to know anything more about me. I’m not as interesting as you seem to think I am. I’m just a person, trying to live. Same as you, same as the guy around the corner.”
“It’s always the quietest voices that have the most powerful actions. What you don’t say says a lot about you, Keef.”
He got a shrug from that. “If you are looking for real inspiration, you should talk to this kid I met. He was- well…” Keef trailed off. There was sadness in his eyes, blue from the holos reflecting in glazed eyes, but he soon shook it off, rolling over to reach under the bed.
Keef tossed a small pad onto Melshi’s side.
“He was writing a manifesto. You’d be into this kind of stuff, I think. You should give it a listen.”
Melshi opened the journal. Immediately, a young voice started to speak.
“Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.”
Melshi closed the journal. “And you say you aren’t a revolutionary.”
“I’m not. But he was.”
“He sounds like a kid.” Melshi had meant that to be a simple observation, but it seemed to strike a nerve for Keef. “Did you know him well?”
“No,” said Keef. “I fear that is what haunts me the most.”
Melshi didn’t know what came over him, but he found himself wrapping his arms around Keef. Melshi had almost pulled away when he felt Keef tense up even more. He feared he had just made the wrong move. But just as he relaxed out of the embrace, Keef bowed his head onto his shoulder, breathing slowly.
The moment seemed too brief. Before he knew it, the lights of the holos had gone off and the two of them were laying silently, side by side in the dark. It had almost felt like a goodbye, as silly as that sounded. But Melshi ached for more. It almost felt unfair to have such little time. But Melshi also knew that this was how the real world worked. Tomorrow they were to part company.
Still, if it helped him sleep, he could imagine seeing Keef again.