Log Date:
	4/8/97

Log Cast:
	Paul Nighman, Jessalyn, Shenner

Log Intro:
	Shenner knows of no award for Most Confusing Corellian in the
Galaxy, but what with the way things have been going between her and Paul 
Nighman, she is extremely close to bestowing such a title upon him. After
telling her over a sunset picnic dinner that he does not want to hurt
her by encouraging her into any kind of relationship between them, he
has unexpectedly returned to the NR base... and proposed to either take
her to Mandalore with him, or else come and get her afterwards if she'll
wait for him on Yavin with Jessalyn. Deeply bemused by his abrupt
turnaround, but overjoyed at the same time, Shenner has promised to think
about what she wants to do. During the next day, as she wrestles with the
simultaneous urges to act completely normal and go completely to pieces
at Paul's renewed presence, Shenner watches Paul busying himself with
his studies, and thinks hard about what she wants to do... not realizing
that one decision has already been made for her, since General Calhoun
has departed for Kashyyyk....

----------
Paul comes virtually bursting into the barracks at a run, his eyes bright and 
  excited. He looks around the room and spying Jessa, dashes over to her and 
  pulls her up into his arms and spins her around excitedly. "Jessa! I got a 
  ride! I got a ride! I'm finally going to be able to start my search of 
  Mandalore!" he crows triumphantly.

As Paul yanks Jessalyn up into his arms, she gives a start and stares at him, 
  looking flabergasted. "Oh, that's great!" she tries to add enthusiasm to her 
  voice, forcing a smile onto her pallid face. "When are you leaving?"

Paul grins into Jessalyn's face then hugs her fiercely. "It's okay Jessa, they 
  wanted to leave right now, but I told them that I had a date that I couldn't 
  cancel." He draws back, smiling into her face tenderly. "I'll be leaving 
  tomorrow morning."

"You're leavin'....?" comes a low tenorish query, from across the room. 
  Shenner has come in practically silently from the bathing rooms, clad in her 
  big green robe, her hair damp.

Paul whirls around at the sound of Shenner's voice. He smiles at her, his eyes 
  bright with excitement. "Well, depending upon what you've decided, either 
  -I'm- leaving, or -we're- leaving," he tells her breathlessly.

Jessalyn
The deepset eyes of this young human woman are rainforest green, and are lit 
  from within with humor and compassion whenever she offers her dazzling 
  smile. Shining dark red hair falls in unruly silken waves around her 
  shoulders, framing her features with their wide cheekbones and smooth, pale 
  skin not as fragile as most redheads'.
She is wearing a dark green, long-sleeved shirt beneath a velvet black tunic 
  that is belted at her narrow waist. The full sleeves are cinched above her 
  pale, slender wrists. A blaster is holstered to one thigh, and your eyes are 
  drawn to her best feature, upon which she wears a pair of tight, dark green 
  pants tucked into knee-high black leather boots, both complementing the best 
  pair of legs in ten parsecs.

Paul_Nighman
Paul Nighman is a tall and lanky Corellian, 6'3" with a lean, rugged, and 
  muscular build. His face sports rugged features and a cleft in his chin. He 
  is generally on the unshaven side - a sort of perpetual five o'clock shadow 
  look - unless he has made a distinct effort to clean himself up. His hair is 
  light brown with gold highlights, and there is one unruly swatch that has 
  the tendency to fall over his brow. His eyes are expressive and hazel in 
  color, with a green sunburst around the pupils. His skin has a naturally 
  tanned look to it and in general he is robust and attractive. He has long 
  muscular arms with scars and nicks crisscrossing them. His hands are 
  smiliarly large and strong, laced with thin scars. His voice is deep, warm, 
  and gravelly.
Paul has a fairly basic attire that he tends to wear most of the time. This 
  includes a light beige shirt, unbuttomed to about mid-chest, with breast 
  pockets and the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows. On top of this 
  he frequently wears a brwon leather jacket that has numerous pockets on the 
  inside of it. When he is being less casual, he often wears a medium green 
  vest/jacket with brown trim and black lining. Tan breeches mold his legs and 
  a brown leather belt adorns his waist. He has tall brown leather boots, and 
  only those with the most discerning eyes can tell there is a knife concealed 
  in his right boot. Hanging from the belt and strapped to his left thigh is a 
  blaster holster, equipped with blaster.

Jessalyn glances between them both, clearly overwhelmed. "Oh.. you're... 
  both..." she trails off, and takes a step back from Paul, watching the 
  exchange between them worriedly.

Shenner's gaze flicks to Jessalyn, and she murmurs, "I.... I got... more 
  options than I thought I did...." The kid looks rather dazed all of a sudden.

Paul's hands catch Jessalyn's as she tries to pull away and turning back to 
  her he frowns slightly in concern. "Well, I told you that I was going to 
  invite Shen along if she wanted to come," he replies softly, his enthusiasm 
  dropping off somewhat.

Jessalyn nods slowly at Paul's soft words, and her smile widens. "I know, 
  Paul. And I'm glad you asked her." Swallowing hard, she looks over at 
  Shenner with a reassuring expression, giving Paul's hands a squeeze.

Paul returns the pulse, and without letting go he looks back at Shenner. "Well 
  Shen, I'm afraid you're going to have to make a decision ... 'cause either I 
  head out tomorrow morning or we do." He watches the girl carefully, giving 
  Jessalyn a quick side look and another small reassuring squeeze.

Shenner looks between the two, an uncertain smile wavering across her face. 
  "Uh, well... ain't even seen the General..." She shoves a hand through her 
  hair, making it stick up in damp spikes atop her head. "Calhoun, I mean...."

Paul grins at Shen. "Hmmm, well if you're coming, you'll either have to blow 
  him off or hurry up and track the man down," he teases lightly.

Jessalyn blinks at Shenner. "Oh, dear. You didn't know? He..." She bites her 
  lip. "He went to Kashyyyk."

Paul looks back to Jessalyn and shakes his head. "Man, things are happening 
  really fast all of the sudden."

The girl blinks. "Oh...." This clearly comes as a surprise to her, and she 
  saws awkwardly, "I-I'd been kinda talkin' with him about... hookin' up with 
  the NR, see, before..." And her gaze shifts inexorably to Paul. She grins 
  unsurely, watching him.

Jessalyn looks tired and distracted, and she slides her hands into her 
  pockets. For a moment it seems as if she might say something to her younger 
  friend, but she merely bends her head and moves back to allow the two to 
  more freely discuss the matter.

Paul is practically twitching with energy, but the keeps passing his glance 
  between the two redheads in his life.

Shenner adds, "He didn't leave me no message... he get called away or 
  somethin'?" Shenner blurts. "See, uh, he was thinkin', maybe I-I-I oughtta 
  be stationed with your or somethin', Jessa, I was thinkin' myself before 
  about just joinin' the army, as a soldier, I mean, but then Paul talked to 
  me and..." What she says last abruptly slows out of that ramble, and 
  softens, as she eyes the man. ".... you really want me to come?"

Feeling superfluous, Jessalyn moves to Paul's side, squeezes his arm, and 
  whispers, "I'll see you later, I'll just go for a wlk.." And with that she 
  tosses Shenner a warm smile. That distant look begins to creep back into her 
  eyes as she turns for the door.

Paul listens to Shen ramble on for a moment and then she asks -the- question. 
  Paul gives Shen a serious look. "I wouldn't have invited you otherwise," he 
  replies, "but I also think that going with Jessalyn is a good idea." As 
  Jessalyn passes him to leave, Paul reaches out an arm, catching one of hers 
  and frowning. "Jessalyn, wait," he murmurs, "please?"

Jessalyn gives a start, blinking largely at Paul. "I just figured that you two 
  need to discuss... this...." she says uncomfortably, but manages a smile. 
  One of her hands has curled into a tight ball, as if she is holding on 
  tightly to something held inside the palm.

Shenner's brow crinkles as she says plaintively to Jessalyn, "Don't go....?" 
  Her tone makes her sound very young.

Ignoring Shenner for the moment, Paul takes a step closer to Jessalyn, his 
  gaze loving and concerned. "I'm taking you out to dinner," he intones 
  firmly. He touches her clenched hand gently.

Jessalyn's shoulders wilt a little, and her eyes soften as she focuses her 
  gaze back upon the two more clearly. "All right. I didn't mean for you to 
  think I was running away..." She looks at Paul sheepishly, a hint of color 
  finally rising into cheeks that have heretofore been deathly pale.

Paul smiles into her eyes warmly. "No, no, that's my trick, remember?" he 
  teases her gently, tugging on her hand gently back toward the bunk.

"And mine," Shenner mutters, sheepishly.

Jessalyn chuckles. "And Luke's. We should start a club." She smiles at Paul as 
  he pulls her back to the bunk with him. "All right, dinner. I'm actually 
  starting to feel hungry now."

Shenner blinks, looking slightly taken aback. "You're... gonna go now? To 
  dinner, I mean?"

Paul turns his head curiously at Shenner's comment, his expression puzzled as 
  he has no idea what she is refering to. He turns back to Jessalyn and grins 
  encouragingly. "Huh, I think I should be the founding member," and then 
  looking back at Shenner he says, "Well, maybe it would be a good idea for 
  you to consider your options without any pressure one way or the other?"

Jessalyn follows Paul's gaze toward Shenner as she goes to lean against the 
  locker, and after a moment she looks down into her open palm, frowning 
  slightly and looking distracted.

Shenner studies Jessalyn a moment, then offers, "I'd... be happy if you two 
  could.... be happy with one another, if you're both about to leave off to go 
  somewhere. I don't really wanna choose to leave either of yah, you know?"

Paul smiles at Jessalyn and then smiles back at Shen. "We are happy with one 
  another Shen, everything between me and Jessalyn is aces." He gives Jessalyn 
  another loving look and a smile. "It's just that everytime we get to talk, 
  we either have a fight or get interupted ... so since we aren't fighting 
  anymore, I promised her a nice private dinner, just the two of us." He then 
  frowns at Shen's dilema. "We aren't asking you to choose between us, but to 
  decide what it is that -you- want to do ... and remember, if you go with 
  Jessalyn, it's not like you won't see me again ... I'll come to see the both 
  of you just as soon as I'm done. And of course, if you come with me, then 
  you'll see Jessalyn again as soon as we're finished." he adds thoughtfully.

Jessalyn glances at Paul and smiles slightly, looking pleased, but at a loss 
  for words herself. She bites her lip, draws breath to speak, and then 
  frowns, not knowing what else to say.

Paul looks to Jessalyn and then back to Shen. "Tell you what, we'll go have 
  dinner, you get dressed and do some thinking ... you don't have to decide 
  everything while we're gone, just consider your options ... and then when we 
  get back, we can talk about it, alright?"

Shenner swallows a little and nods to you both. "Yeah... I, uh..." She glances 
  down to her hands, and adds ruefully, "I better rebandage my hands anyway."

Paul frowns in concern. "Why don't you wait and I'll do that for you when I 
  get back ... you really can't do it on your own ... it's a two hand job."

Jessalyn rubs her hand across her forehead, looking pale again. She stuffs one 
  hand into her trouser pocket and seems to rummage around, then lifts her 
  chin, looking expectant.

Shenner blinks a little, and looks for a moment as though she might argue, her 
  gaze remaining on her hands for a minute. She then looks up, and asks you 
  both shyly, "You'll talk with me when you get back?"

Paul straightens and crosses his heart somberly. "I promise," he intones 
  gravely.

Shenner half-grins, and then looks to Jessalyn hopefully. "You too?"

Jessalyn bites her lip, and nods to Shenner. "Of course, dear. I'm not going 
  anywhere for a while."

Paul beams at the resolution of the matter and says, "Well, alright then!" 
  Offering a hand to Jessalyn he says, "Ready?"

The young girl nods, then grins crookedly at you both. "Y'all go have a good 
  dinner, then, hey?"

Jessalyn takes Paul's hand, straightening her shoulders. "Yes, I'm ready," she 
  says quietly.

Paul takes her hand gently and then grinning at Shen quips, "Alright, we're 
  off to battle some sushi! We'll take down as many of the enemy as we can and 
  be back before breakfast," and with that, he tugs on Jessalyn's hand and 
  head out of the barracks.

Jessalyn has left.

Paul_Nighman has left.

----------
Postlude:

	Shenner found herself disturbed as Paul and Jessalyn departed for
their dinner... and couldn't quite figure out why.
	On the one hand, she was sure that the two having a meal together
boded well for their friendship; Shen knew that she couldn't stand to
see Paul and Jessalyn fighting, and any measures they could take to help
that stop were good as far as Shen was concerned. But on the other hand...
they hadn't asked _her_ to come with them, and wasn't she their friend, too?
	The young bardling settled down to wait for the two adults to
return. Restlessness kept her fretful -- she couldn't play her guitar or
the flutes with her hands in bandages, nor could she play the new ocarina
that Paul had given her. She tried to pass time by studying the files on
music on her datapad; the files on joining the NR she deleted, troubled
by the unexpected departure of General Calhoun.
	And as the night dragged on and Paul and Jessalyn still did not
return, she finally went to bed, unable to get rid of the notion that
Paul's colleague Dr. Canto had unintentionally planted in her head... that
perhaps Paul and Jessalyn cared for one another....

[End log.]