#kotfe

"Nothing? Are you joking?" Cantik grabbed at Lana's arm, gently parting her damaged sleeve to touch the wound. Lana rolled her eyes as the flow of the Force shifted between them, like a hum settling into her bones as Cantik began to heal her.

"We are still going to Asylum, unless you know something you've neglected to tell me?"

"I know something you're neglecting to tell yourself. This guy is a liability. He can't fight Arcann. He can't even fight a padawan." Cantik's fingers were as rough and calloused as ever. Lana frowned at them, though she knew the expression was lost on them.

"He is what we were searching for."

"Sonnas is what we were searching for! This guy isn't even a good enough smuggler to turn a profit! We need to figure out something else." The healing flow of the Force slowed to a trickle as Cantik tilted their head. Their chin was always tipped too low to give the illusion of meeting anyone's eyes, but their posture, as always, was aggressive enough to convey a glare nonetheless. "Except you don't care, right? You have your Outlander. Just a figurehead. This guy Kerrish will be easier to order around than Sonnas, too."

Cantik was going to have to invent true insults if they wanted to make Lana angry. She tried to pull her arm back, only for them to tighten their grip and return to healing.

"The Force has directed us to him," Lana said. "You heard what he said. Sonnas was dead all along. He is who we were chasing."

"No, we were chasing Sonnas!" Cantik insisted. Their voice threatened to tip over into a shout even as they smoothed their fingertips across her burnt skin. "And you felt what you wanted to feel, just like me. There is nothing special about this man in the Force. If you're going to try and pull off this - this con to the galaxy don't you dare start with me."

"I am conning no one," Lana snapped. Cantik was doing a wonderful job angering her and she refused to waste it. She tore her arm from their grasp and turned, ignoring the lingering shock of pain as she raised it and blasted a stream of lightning into the opposite wall. There. She was still strong. None of this had set her back. Not Sonnas Zimado, not his brother, not Cantik's anger, and certainly not a small injury like this.

"I won't go along with it," Cantik warned.

"And what will you do instead? I am still the one with connections, a plan, what few resources anyone can muster in these times. Will you throw yourself at Arcann with your lightsabre, flinging rocks until one hits him in the head?"

Cantik flinched. Lana braced herself for a deluge of personal insults, but they just tossed their hands up, stepping back from her personal space at last.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Go ahead, get this Zimado killed. He's not half the man Sonnas was, so what does the galaxy care?" They turned and stalked out, slamming their shoulder into another figure as they did - Kerrish Zimado. Lana pressed her lips together to hold in a sigh, wondering how long he had been in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt, but..."

"Come in," Lana said. "Tensions are running high. You will learn not to put too much stock into what Master Aredas says."

"Working on the Gravestone, they never struck me as someone who exaggerates their opinions."

Lana had to bite down to stop this sigh from escaping. She had thought Kerrish was more clever than Cantik gave him credit for. She wished it did not manifest in such a clear-eyed view of Cantik themself.

"You are not here to discuss the Barsen'thor, and their opinions are not mine," Lana said. She took Kerrish by the elbow, drawing him in. "How may I assist you?"

"How is your arm?"

Lana chuckled under her breath. And Cantik thought this man was so unlike his brother. "I am quite all right. Cantik is an accomplished healer, when one does not mind being flayed by their tongue."

"I'm sorry," Kerrish said.

"You did all you could." This was not so hard to handle. A gentle soul, fretting over his capability; he would be happy to receive something tangible to do in order to help.

"No, I didn't," Kerrish insisted with startling vehemence. Lana had watched him closely in their time in the swamp, and never had he sounded so... was anguished the word? It covered some of his passion, but perhaps not all. "I could have done more. You wouldn't be hurt at all if I just -"

He closed his mouth with a click, green cheeks darkening as he averted his eyes.

"I know your past," Lana said. "And I know you have no sense of the Force. You did more than enough in that fight."

He did not answer. Lana sighed. Her arm was starting to burn again. She had not let Cantik finish healing her.

"Perhaps we can return to discussing the time you missed," Lana said, perching on a crate to make him more comfortable. "I only regret that I do not know anyone you may have a personal interest in. I could investigate, when we arrive at Asylum. Friends, lovers..."

The question startled him so much he stumbled in his standing position, and began to flail his arms as he spoke.

"No, no, I - I have friends, actually, I have a crew. But nobody like... that."

That was a vehement response for a simple inquiry. Lana tried not to laugh, patting the crates next to her.