HOUSE VERD ESTATE, MANDALORE
Shortly after the Summit...
The personal abode of House Verd lived and breathed in a way it rarely did, its halls stirred into motion by voices, footsteps, and the low hum of systems that spoke of recent arrivals and unfinished business, while the Sun Parlour stood at the heart of it all, a warm and intimate space framed by sweeping transparisteel that opened onto a breathtaking view of the Mandalorian capital, its spires and landing lanes glowing beneath a sky brushed with dusk.
It was there that the gathering waited, a knot of familiar presences fresh from the heels of the holo-summit with the Imperial Confederation, the air still sharp with the aftertaste of politics and restraint, and it was there that the Mand'alor arrived last, the doors opening only long enough for him to pass through before he gave a simple nod to the guards stationed there, his voice calm but unmistakably firm as he ordered them to take a well-deserved reprieve, on his dime, an instruction that carried both gratitude and finality.
When the doors closed behind them and their footsteps faded, something shifted.
For the first time in months, the Mand'alor became Human.
His helm was set down upon the coffee table before the couch, beskar meeting polished surface with a soft final sound, and then his armored form followed, descending without ceremony onto the cushions, heels finding the arm of the couch as his arms folded across his chest. A long, exhausted sigh escaped him before both hands came up to cover his face, his groan thick with disbelief as he finally spoke, voice muffled but unmistakably his.
“Why are they so dumb?”
His hands slid down his face in an exaggerated sweep just as a new shadow crossed his vision, and when it cleared his older sister stood there, already shaking her head as she dangled a cool bottle of tihaar just out of reach. He took it from her without a word, the exchange practiced in its familiarity, even as she chided him with the tone of someone who had seen this exact outcome coming a mile away.
“I told you to take aspirin before that call. I told you.”
Aether tipped the bottle back, taking a few generous swigs before lowering it, his reply coming quick and sharp in the way only a younger sibling could manage.
“How I was supposed to know they wouldn’t know their ass from their elbow? I know they’re imps, but come on.”
An alabaster hand descended from the cushion beside his head, patting his brow with a gentleness that carried silent sarcasm, the kind that needed no words to say exactly what it meant. He did not need to look to know his godmother sat there, composed as ever, a dignified glass of tea held in her other hand, and when her wintery voice finally reached him it was cool, precise, and devastatingly fair.
“They did align with the Diarchy....I wouldn’t accuse them of being intelligent.”
“She...does have a good point.” came another voice, and across from him the poised form of Adelle, Jedi-turned-Mandalorian, held her bottle of tihaar like a lifeline, her composure carefully maintained in the presence of a woman who, to Aether, was godmother and auntie, and to her was the Empress of the Sith Order herself. Proximity alone was enough to make the moment hum with tension, even without a single Force ripple to mark it.
Aether opened his mouth to fire back, ready with a retort that had been sharpened by the last several hours, when a thunderous belch erupted from beside Adelle, loud enough to rattle the mood right off its axis. Renn Vizsla followed it with a puzzled look around the room, as though genuinely unsure of what had just happened, before asking with complete sincerity, “Did you all hear that?”
The Mandalorians laughed, the sound rolling through the Sun Parlour like a pressure valve finally released, while the Empress blinked once, unamused but unmistakably present.
It had been a long day, and Aether knew with a certainty earned through scars and history that many long days still lay ahead, but as he sank deeper into the couch, surrounded by this strange, sharp-edged, fiercely loyal family he had built and inherited in equal measure, the truth settled in alongside the fatigue. They would figure it out, as they always did, together, even if it cost a small fortune in aspirin and the occasional bruised ego along the way.
