Private An Overdue Reunion

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Iris Arani

Briana stood outside the door of her old apartment in trepidation, having blindly made her way there after her brief stop at the Ronto Grill, her grip tightening on the paper bag that she held a loft.

Stop being dumb and just knock already. she chided, lifting her hand to do just that...

Are you crazy? Iris isn't going to want to see you after you bailed on them, on everyone. What's it been, six months, more? You wastefully neglected your friendships and weren't there for them while they marched off to war. The viciousness of her own inner thoughts sent a shock of pain through the young woman, causing her to drop her hand once more. But... this is Iris. She'll... she'll understand... right?

One deep breath later, when her hopes had finally overridden her fears and the smile returned to her face, she lifted that hand with fingers curled in, and knocked. A couple moments later and the door slid open, revealing her fellow Padawan, her dearly missed friend... The smile on her face widened a tad before fading, holding up the aromatic-bag - her peace offering, with one brow cocked. "Got time for an old friend? And maybe some Ronto wraps? Extra spicy?"

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[Iris Arani]

The apartment. Iris hadn't been there in a little while. With everything on Denon, she sort of just.. Stopped coming home. Not like there was anyone here waiting. She glanced through, frowning at the dust. Had it really been that long since she was last here? A month? Maybe two? With a sigh the Padawan went about cleaning. Now that Valery wouldn't let her back, this was going to be her home again.

She was in the middle of cleaning when a different color filled her mind. A color she hadn't seen in even longer. Iris blinked as she set down the duster she had, and immediately ran to the door. The moment it opened, Iris threw her arms around Briana's neck and hugged the girl with all her might.

"Bri! You're back!"

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Iris Arani


Briana stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, nerves losing their edge, blinking slowly as the relief washed over her and she finally acquiesced to the shorter woman, reciprocating in kind. Her arms wrapped tightly around the girls waist and held on just long enough before it would start to seem awkward.

As the pair pulled back, and before Iris could catch her, Briana wiped the back of her hand across her damp face. She hadn't expected to loose it so easily, having become more practiced at bottling up her emotions. "Small miracles, huh?" she grinned with a small sniff, giving her a quick glance over. "Can thank Val... came all the way to Hapes just to convince me to come back...You look well, do you mind if I come in? Foods going to start getting cold if we're just standing around out here."

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[Iris Arani]

Iris just nodded quickly, smiling and stepping back to let Briana in. Ah, she missed her. So much more than she thought. The Keshian rubbed at her eyes, rubbed away the wet sensation on her cheeks. This was the best. This was great! That's what she had to keep telling herself. She missed her friend dearly. The panic and fear, that wasn't her problem. Not in the slightest.

"Yeah. Yeah, food! That's okay. Food. Um.. You said something spicy, right? I love spicy. Um, set it there, on the counter."

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Iris Arani


"I did say spicy," she confirmed, that easy lopsided grin pulling at the side of her lips as she walked over the threshold, making a b-line for the kitchen to get everything together. "I'll get the food ready and bring it out to the common room." she stated casually, as if the months of absence had meant nothing, feeling the last vestiges of shot nerves drift away. "Unless you want to eat at the table?"

Briana frowned at the first plate she pulled out, a film of dust coating it, the one underneath not much better. In the time that she'd lived with Iris, she'd never known the girl to be neglectful when it came to basic cleanliness. A slight frown threatened at the corners of her lips as she took a better look at her surroundings, noting the dust that was accumulated on many of the surfaces, the cleaning bucket in the corner, and the distinct smell of chlorine - clear indications of a home that'd been abandoned by its residents. If Iris hadn't been here though... then where had she been? And what brought her back? Her brows furrowed slightly, taking a quick glance across the room at Iris before going back to the task at hand.

After a few minutes of scrubbing dishes and carefully plating their meals, Briana made her way over to the couch and offered Iris her plate of a spicy ronto wrap and fritzle fries. In Briana's experience, there was nothing better for a reunion of friends than partaking in some greasy comfort foods. "Ah, so - full disclosure? I decided to try a new place that just opened around here... they seemed busy, and they've gotten some pretty high marks of approval already... you'll have to let me know what you think."

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[Iris Arani]

"Doesn't matter where. I haven't been here in a while, so it's pretty dusty. Sorry." Because it was her responsibility to keep this place cleaned while they were both away. In her mind, at least, that's exactly what it was. Her responsibility. Along with everything else she needed to take care of. Iris let out an exhausted sigh as she found a spot to sit down. Relax. She really needed to relax.

"Mm. So long as it's spicy I don't really care or mind. Heh. I just want something hot."

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Iris Arani


"Then let's eat up while it still is - I'm starved." Leaving Hapes to come back to Coruscant had not been a short trip, and Briana gladly welcomed the prospect of not having to suffer through another bland ration bar.

Taking a bite of her ronto wrap, a few minutes of chewing...

Briana tried not to grunt with satisfaction like some uncouth barbarian, as if it'd been the best food she'd had in years... which was arguably not true, but certainly beat the cardboard that'd graced her palate the last week. Swallowing softly, she set her wrap down before taking another bite, having carefully been monitoring Iris.

The way she slumped, how her shoulders fell. "...I know that look." she told her carefully. That look, being the one where you're trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and are slowly being crushed.

Yes. She knew that look well. "I'm sorry that I haven't been here for you... but, I'm here now... if you want to talk about it."

Would she want to? It was naïve to hope they could pick up where they'd left off, to share their feeling and thoughts with each other, Briana knew that, but she let herself hope anyways...

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[Iris Arani]

"Wha- No! No. You have nothing to be sorry about. Life as been crazy, for all of us. Everyone. Master Valery has five Padawans now, did you know that? You, me, Kai, Cael, Silas. And now she's the Sword. She went to Kestri to train with the Mandalorian's, so I've been training Silas and Cael for the coming wars. Y'know? Gotta make sure they don't end up le me. If they do- No one should end up like me."

She took a bite, frowning some as she chewed her food.

"There's.. Yeah. Just a lot."

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Iris Arani


"She caught me up a little bit..." Briana admitted, her voice trailing off as she stared at the plate in her lap, moving around the fritzle fries and debating how to broach a subject that'd been burning in the back of her mind since leaving Hapes.

She'd been surprised when Valery told her about all of her new students, of the events that lead to her becoming the Sword and finding the Mandalorians, but she'd been caught even more off-guard when she'd learned that Iris had not only taken on the burden to train said students... but had been involved in a bit of some sticky business herself.

When she tried pressing for more information, some sort of an explanation, all she'd been told was to talk to Iris about it.

Looking at Iris, her expression, her body language... Briana knew that now wasn't the time for an interrogation. "They should feel lucky to have you in their corner," she reached for the fizzing drink next to her, inserting the straw and taking a long pull. "I know I do... Force knows where I'd be if it weren't for you." It'd been Iris' handywork that fixed her up after the incident with the Sithspawn, carefully clearing out the poison and potentially saving her from who knew what. Some days, she could still imagine the smell of that noxious miasma as it'd left her body.

"But you can't..." her lips pursed, knowing her own hypocrisy as the next sentence left her lips. "Don't let yourself get caught up in trying to save everyone, Iris... it's not your responsibility and you're going to drive yourself crazy trying. You can help them, guide them... but sometimes things just happen and there's nothing that you can do to prevent it."

She'd learned that last bit the hard way.

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[Iris Arani]

"I'm not trying to save everyone. I just- .. I want to help everyone I can, at least." Iris spoke more in a soft whisper at this point. Bri was right. She completely agreed. But.. She grumbled as she took another bite of her food, closing her eyes. ".. I don't know what to do anymore, Bri.. I miss just being in the colors, y'know?"

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

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Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Iris Arani


Briana gave Iris an empathetic look, understanding to some degree what she meant, in her own way. Hobnobbing with the nobility, attending frivolous Galas, it was far too easy for her to fall back into that lifestyle than she cared to admit, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't the easier route to take or lacked some appeal. Falling back into old comforts was a far less challenging alternative than facing the uncertainty of the future. "I know." she said, nodding slightly. "But you don't have to try and figure it all out alone, at least not for the foreseeable future..."

She raised a hopeful brow at Iris, "If you still want a partner that is. I was hoping to stay. For good this time."

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[Iris Arani]

"I.. I'd like that." There were a lot of other sides to it all, mostly the sleep walking she'd have to figure out how to avoid with Bri here in the apartment. But, being alone as she had been, Iris didn't want that. Not anymore. She kept the tired expression, but at least she was smiling again.

"I'd really like that."

Briana Sal-Soren