The Tie that binds

Carth smiled as he finally loaded the last of the furniture into the new house. It was beautiful. The house was spacious , with plenty of room for two people. Revan had requested a full kitchen and dinning room. He liked to cook and make the presentation perfectly. Carth was used to eating like a soldier so he didn’t understand. Revan was defiantly the more cultured of the two. There was a den that Revan had set up his office in. Revan was basically a Jedi crusader that bossed the republic big wigs around. May sound like a good job, but Revan always had to do lots of paper work.



All together the house was decked out with two bathrooms, a living room, a full kitchen, dinning room, a sitting room, a garage big enough to fit Revan’s speeder and the ebon hawk, a den a guest bedroom and two master bedrooms. Carth knew it was wishful thinking that they would share. Revan’s favorite part of the house was a fully open balcony with sliding glass so you watch the sun set. In fact he was out there now.



He had taken a break from unpacking and stood out on the balcony watching the sun fall below the tree line. Carth was awe struck as he watched. Revan’s hair blew softly in the wind even though he had tried to tame his mane with a pony tail. Carth caught a slight breeze that blew in from the open doorway and grabbed his signature jacket off the hanger. He walked out quietly and thought on what he was going to do. Should he? In a moments time, he decided. He placed the jacked around Revan’s shoulders without a word. Revan jumped a bit when he was touched but relaxed as soon as he knew it was Carth.



“Hey.” Revan spoke softly as he touched the jacket that had been placed on him. Carth smiled and stood next to him.



“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”



Revan’s cheeks puffed out as he huffed and Carth had to try not to laugh. He was so adorable.



“I wasn’t scared.” Revan retorted. “You simply surprised me.”



“I surprised you hum?” He asked nudging Revan. “Can’t you Jedi ever admit when your scared?”



Revan raised a slender eye brow. “Since when am I like other Jedi?”



Carth couldn’t hold it in and laughed. Revan laughed with him. There was nothing particularly funny about the statement but they laughed anyway. Carth pulled out the deck chairs so they could sit down out there. Revan accepted the seat graciously and smiled at the sunset.



“It’s nice outside.” He spoke to no one unparticular. “I didn’t think I had so much stuff but after trying to unpack it all, I stood corrected.”



Carth smiled as well. “You kept all the souvenirs from our trip. You should have known.”



“You mean the millions of light sabers that I took off the bodies of the dead sith?”



Carth instantly laughed. “Yes! Exactly! I still have no idea why you kept them.”



Revan shrugged. “I can’t bring myself to throw out a light saber. Someone worked hard on building it. It would be a shame to throw them away.”



Carth sighed. “Are you still carrying around yours?”



Revan touched his side with a nod. “I’m sorry Carth. I guess I’m just paranoid. I still carry it on my person…”



Carth shook his head. “I don’t blame you. I guess I’ve kept myself so busy that I haven’t even had time to consider being paranoid….Hell, the sith could attack at any moment and you’d be the only one who’d be ready. Now I feel like a bad solder…”



Revan smiled at him and it made Carth’s heart leap. “Don’t worry Carth. I installed top of the line security system and drones. Nothing is even getting close to this house without knowing about it…Oh! That reminds me…” he dug around in his pocket and produced a data pad. “This is the system layout. You can have this copy so you can bypass it if you need to. I programmed the drones to shoot dangerous wildlife that may get too close but it won’t shoot people. It will ask for ID confirmation and then go over it with one of us. If they make any hostile actions, they’ll shoot. If they cannot confirm I.D, I installed camera’s in my study that we can look through. If they are evil, we have them shot. Sound like a plan?”



Carth blinked and took the data pad. “What if they get passed them?”



Revan smiled and touched the hilt of his light saber. “Then they have to get pass me. No easy task, I assure you Carth.”



Carth frowned. “Hey. What about me! I’m supposed to be protecting you.”



“You’re here. That’s all I need.”



Carth blushed a bit at the statement and if Revan had noticed he didn’t say anything. “I’ve got to admit Rev, This system is quite impressive.”



Revan shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a talented individual.”



After a pause, Carth added, “HK isn’t one of the drones is he?”



Revan laughed. “My goodness no. I left him with Bastila to help her rebuild the Jedi consul. Did you know she’s rebuilding here? Right over those hills.” Revan pointed into the distance and Carth scowled. Great. Bastila was here….



“How did HK take it?”



“Not well…” Revan admitted with a small smile. “He was quite upset that we were finished fighting and even more so when I commanded him to stay with Bastila and help protect her.”



Carth bristled a bit. He still didn’t fully trust Bastila yet. Revan seemed to have such faith in her and it made Carth sick. Bastila didn’t deserve forgiveness in Carth’s eyes but to Revan she did. He knew her forgiveness was not the only reason Carth scowled at the sound of her name. Everyone knew she loved Revan but no one knew how jealous he was. It was foolish to even think that Revan would look at him that way.



After a while of sitting in silence, Revan touched his arm. Carth looked up startled into Revan’s visible green eye, the other hidden by a crimson eye band.



“Do you want your jacket back?”



Carth hadn’t heard him. The moment Revan touched him, he was lost. His body was on fire, starting from where Revan was touching him. They were so close that Carth thought about just leaning in and kissing him. It would be so easy to do. Revan always trusted people. He could easily invade his personal space for that one blessed moment and get a kiss from those tempting pink lips. What would happen after, he didn’t know but he came up with two outcomes. Revan would either submit to the kiss and kiss him back or Revan would use that deadly force of his and probably fling Carth off the balcony. At this moment, Carth was too scared that it would be the latter.



“Carth.” he felt Revan shake him back to reality.



“Hum?”



“Are you listening to me? I asked if you wanted your jacket back. You must be cold.”



Carth shook his head. “Nah. I’m fine. You keep it for now.”



Revan smiled and let go of Carth so he could snuggle into the jacket. He saw the piece that he had held against Revan’s eye that day. He had cleaned it and Revan had sewed it back on. With Revan snuggling into his favorite jacket, it made Carth’s imagination run wild again. He pictured Revan in nothing but his jacket, looking at him with a come-hither expression. He imagined the dream Revan crawling into his lap and snuggling against him instead of the jacket. Carth felt himself harden in his pants so he quickly expelled the image and crossed his legs. He blushed slightly and prayed to god that Revan hadn’t noticed.



“I can’t believe we actually did this.” Revan gestured to the house.



“Yeah…” Carth agreed uncomfortably trying to quell his hardness. Revan being in such close proximity didn’t help.



Revan turned to look at him and frowned. “Carth. Are you okay?”



Carth laughed nervously. “Y-yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”



Suddenly Revan leaned forward and Carth sucked in his breath as his face came closer. Was Revan going to kiss him?! He was not so lucky as Revan just pressed their forehead’s together. His heart was beating so rapidly that he could swear that Revan must be able to hear it.



“You don’t seem to be too warm. Are you feeling alright? Your face is all red.”



Carth panicked and stood up quickly and turned his back on Revan. “A-actually no. I’m-m not feeling too well. I’m going to head to bed.”



“Oh.” he heard Revan say in…disappointment? “Goodnight then.”



Carth didn’t look back although he wished he had afterwards. He rushed off to his bedroom and shut the door tightly. Then he let out a growl of frustration.



“I’m so…stupid!” He spoke out loud to himself and resisted the urge to bang his head against the door. Why did he need to be such a coward?! He looked down and saw his hardness pushing against his pants. He sighed miserably and locked his door, before taking his shirt off and crawling into his bed. He was determined just to will it away, like always.



He laid there in his self-pity, wondering briefly what he should do. His mind was jumbled with too many thoughts that all bombarded him at once. He noticed that his bed vas very comfortable but way too big for one person. He hadn’t gone into Revan’s room since he helped him move in his furniture. He wondered briefly how Revan had decorated and what it looked like. Most of Carth’s room was a sea of all sorts of blues. It had been his favorite color. Had been was the key word. Now the color of his late wife and the current object of his somewhat unhealthy obsession’s eyes, was his favorite color. He wondered what Revan would say if he finial just came out and told him. No…he valued their friendship too much to ruin it with these idiotic feelings…



Carth sighed again and looked at the clock. 1:30 in the morning. Had he really been brooding this long? He stared at the ceiling, trying to clear his mind so he could get some sleep. He still had a lot of unpacking to do tomorrow. Now that he was trying to sleep he simply couldn’t. His mind kept him fully awake. He sat up in bed and swung his legs over to the side. Maybe a midnight snack would help. He got up and unlocked his door before walking out into the hallway. He saw a light coming from den. Was Revan awake?



He walked toward the light and peered his head in. Revan sat at his desk looking through various papers. There were two things Carth immediately noticed. The first was that Revan was wearing his jacket still, the second was that his eye patch was off. It was the first time he’d seen Revan’s eye after the accident. It had a long scar right down the middle and a some small, not as prominate scars near the edge of his eye on each side. You couldn’t even tell his eye was blind! It was still the same shade of tempting green and he blinked both eyes at the same time. Despite the scars, Carth still found him agonizingly beautiful. Carth sighed to himself quietly.



But obviously not quiet enough….Revan suddenly looked up and spotted Carth in the hallway. Damn that Jedi’s acute hearing…..He covered his eye with his hand and looked around for his eye patch. His face was slightly red as he searched under the papers, one-handed.



“Rev. Stop that.” Carth spoke walking over.



Revan sighed miserably and slumped in his chair. “Great.”



Carth walked beside his chain and grabbed Revan’s wrist boldly. “Move your hand, Rev.”



Revan allowed Carth to move his hand, exposing his face to the taller male. Carth let go of him unwillingly when he moved his hand.



“I hate it. ” Revan mumbled just loud enough for Carth to hear. “I didn’t want you to see…”



“Your scars?”



Revan nodded numbly. “Their ugly. Just like my blind eye. I didn’t want you to see them.”



“Why not Revan? You don’t need to hide them. Your scars are just a part of you and you’ll always be the same to me! You’re still…” Carth hesitated. Revan looked up at him. His expression was plain that it was hard for Carth to read. Then again, Revan had a knack for hiding his own emotions and reading everyone else’s. Carth knew that he might regret this but he had to say something. “…beautiful.”



Revan couldn’t hide the face he instantly made. His beautiful green eyes widened a fraction and a soft pink tinge spread across his cheeks.



“Do you mean that, Carth?”



Carth nodded dumbly, not trusting himself to say anything else. He’d already said too much as it was.



Then Revan smiled. He smiled that one special smile that was only reserved for Carth and it made the pilot’s heart beat faster. God he loved that devilish smile.



“Thank you, Carth. That means a lot to me coming from you…”



Carth blushed slightly and turned his face away slightly. “So…what are you working on?” Carth changed the subject lamely.



Revan turned back to his desk. “I was going over a guest list.”



Carth blinked. “Guest list?”



“Yes. I was going to tell you out on the deck but you ran off to your room.” He paused. “Oh! Are you feeling better now?”



Carth had to think of what he meant for a moment. Then suddenly remembering his lame excuse to run off, he rubbed the back of his head nervously. “O-Oh! Yea! Yes, I feel better. Thanks. Now what were you going to tell me?”



Revan smiled and patted a pile of papers on his desk. “I was going to organize a housewarming party here for our friends. I was writing up a guest list.”



“Oh?”



Revan nodded. “We have the basics. Bastila, Jolee, Canderous, Mission, Zaalbar and Juhani. The droids are welcome to come of course. I sent the duel invite to Bastila and T3 likes to work of the ship so I just need to tell him to come up.”



“Sounds fine.” Carth tried to hide the anger at hearing Bastila’s name.



“Carth…I’m inviting your son.”



Carth paused. “Dustil? I thought you didn’t like him…”



“I don’t really…but he is your son and deserves to see where his father is living.”



Carth gave a half smile. “If you believe it’s best than I’m up for it…..speaking of which, you never told me why you two don’t get along to well.”



Revan smiled a bit slyly. “Hasn’t he talked to you about it?”



“He has.” Carth confirmed.



“So what did he have to say about it?”



Carth hesitated again. Dustil didn’t have nice things to say about Revan. For some reason, his son and his secret crush just did not get along. “Well…”



“Be honest, Carth.”



Carth swallowed the lump in his throat. The look an Revan’s face told him that he wasn’t getting out of this one. “Well.. Dustil thinks…you’re a bit…pushy.”



Revan raised an eyebrow. “Your being nice. Tell me what he said exactly. I can take it Carth.”



“I’m sure you can Rev, but it’s not nice shit. Really. Your better off not knowing.”



“I beg to differ. Tell me.”



Carth face-palmed. Fine. He was asking for it. “Dustil told me that he thinks you too commanding and sarcastic. He thinks that you need to cut your hair and stop being such an effeminate weirdo.”



Revan blinked. “He called me a weirdo?”



Carth scowled. “He didn’t use that word….”



“Tell me what he said.”



Revan’s voice held a dangerous edge to it. Carth sighed.



“Fine. He called you a dickhead. Happy? He’s called you ever swear I could possibly think of.”



Revan surprisingly smiled. “Do you really think I care what a snot nosed, pre-pubescent, whinny little brat thinks about me?”



“Clearly you do.”



“He still holds a grudge from when I first met him.”



“Rev…You told him to ‘get over it’ and that he needed to grow up. Revan, it was the first time you’d met him!”



Revan pouted and Carth couldn’t help but smile a bit…



“He shouldn’t have had such a bitch fest out with you! The kid is bloody eighteen. He needs to learn that he can’t blame daddy for everything.”



“That’s it. Don’t invite him, Revan. Your both just going to argue the whole time.”



“We wont.” Revan retorted. “Besides, I’ve already sent all the invites. Too late.”



Carth sighed. “Well, since you sent the invite, he probably wont come.”



“Oh, he will. He’ll come here just to spite me.” Revan laughed softly. “I must say, your son is a wiz at the force. He has great potential.”



“He’d be glad to hear that from you, Rev.”



“Too bad he’s such a little prick.”



“…..So close to a complement, Rev. So close.”



Revan smiled again and stood up. “Well, he takes after his father.”



Carth blinked with a frown. “I’m a prick?”



Revan paused before laughing. “No! No! Not that silly. I mean with the force.”



It was Carth’s turn to laugh. “Sorry, Rev. I’m no Jedi.”



“Of course your not. I probably wouldn’t like you if you were. I’m just saying that you radiate some force power. You have the potential to use it.”



Carth shrugged. “I guess so, but no thanks. Also, why wouldn’t you like me if I was a Jedi?”



Revan shrugged too. “Unless you were humble like Juhani, I probably wouldn’t like you. I mean, every Jedi I’ve met before her has been kind of a bighead and full of themselves, you know.”



“You mean Jolee and Bastila.”



Revan nodded. “Jolee manly because he is a cranky old cloggier who preaches even though he says he’s not and Bastila because….she’s Bastila!”



That made Carth smile. “Really? You don’t like Bastila?”



Revan rolled his eyes and moved out of the den and into the living room where he sat down on the sofa. “Of course I like her. She’s my friend but she has her moments.”



Carth would have given almost anything to have Bastila in the room as he said that. He sat down beside Revan.



“Then I defiantly wont become a Jedi. I wouldn’t want you to hate me.”



Revan smiled and rested his head on Carth’s shoulder. “That’s impossible, Carth my darling. I could never hate you.”



Carth’s pulse raced immediately. He looked down at his secret love only to find him lightly dozing against his shoulder. Figures. A potential moment to confess his feelings bypassed again…. He wrapped his arm around Revan’s shoulders and rested his chin atop his head. As he watched the sun rise, he wondered what the next few days would bring.