Private Blood from a Stone

[Corazona von Ascania]

Fatine had brought a boy home.

It was a long time coming, really - and it wasn't the sort of thing that aristocratic families on Ukatis did. Matches were strictly made through parents, to the scion of another noble family, and courting was strictly observed. A young couple was never to be truly alone until their wedding night.

Even without their father's iron grasp around them like a noose, Fatine seemed insistent on pushing boundaries.

That told Cora two things; one, that her sister’s mannerisms, though initially borne through rebellion, were becoming something of a genuine pattern.

Two, Fatine must have really liked this boy. Never had she dared to bring a dalliance this far into the Ukatian countryside.

Cora hadn't been present for dinner, but house staff had kept her well apprised. The boy was polite, but quiet. He answered questions simply, and moved without fanfare.

The complete opposite of Fatine.

Right now, he was asleep in a guest room on the opposite wing of the family's chambers.

In the small hours of the morning, Cora sat at the head of a large dining table. She was alone, save for a pot of tea and a pair of cups.

One was poured - settled in front of her - and the other was not.

She'd awoken to feed Luciana, and remained awake long after the babe had gone back down.

Something told her that she wasn't the only one.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Ukatis - Von Ascania Manor

Equipment:
Nightwear | Cybernetic Arm

Ace had spent most of the night turning over on unfamiliar sheets, staring up at a ceiling too ornate and polished for his comfort. The guest room was larger than most places he'd lived in growing up, warm, quiet... safe. It had only made him more aware of how out of place he felt in it.

He'd learned to sleep lightly, to wake at the smallest noise, to expect trouble even when things were quiet. But this wasn't the kind of restlessness that came from survival instincts. This was something else.

Eventually he'd given up trying. The halls of the von Ascania manor were silent at this hour, his bare footsteps made almost no sound against the polished floor as he wandered without any real destination in mind.

His thoughts drifted where they often did lately. Fatine. What had started as something simple, had quietly grown into something else entirely. Something real. He liked it, but every time he let himself settle into that life with her, even for a moment, it became easier to forget the other one.

The Covenant. The infiltration. The lies. The violence. The slow, creeping blur between the man he was pretending to be and the one he actually was. A few hours with Fatine sometimes felt like none of that existed at all. Like he could almost pretend this was just… life.

And now he was here. In her home. He was aware that Fatine's, and Golden Boy's, older sister was somewhere in the manor as well. He'd only met her briefly during the Life Day season months ago when she was still pregnant. It was a short but polite exchange. Ace wondered if she'd even remember him.

His presence in the Force remained tightly contained as he moved through the halls. It was something he'd learned to do over time, to keep the constant current of anger he carried buried deep beneath layers of control. The dark side always clung to that anger.

But when he was with Fatine… it faded.

The thought passed quietly through him as he turned a corner and the dining room opened ahead. Someone was already there. Corazona von Ascania sat at the head of the long table, a pot of tea resting between two cups. One was filled, the other empty. Ace's gaze lingered on the untouched cup for half a second.

Then his attention shifted fully to her. He could feel her Thread in the Force now that he allowed himself to notice it properly. It was… steady. Composed. Like a deep river moving beneath smooth stone. There was warmth there, a quiet compassion that spoke of healing and patience... but beneath it all sat something harder. Endurance.

Ace remained where he stood in the doorway, his posture relaxed but still. For a moment he simply studied her.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

The words were flat, observational rather than conversational. Acknowledgment instead of greeting.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Ah.

Cora wasn’t made entirely of stone. A spark of surprise threaded through her expression, then faded into quiet understanding.

This was the dour young man from Luciana’s life day celebration. The one flanking her brother, standing among his cadre of acolytes. The one who seemed to be stewing in his own somber gravity, a grim pillar among the more festive soft lighting.

A Sith. But the depth of the Darkness felt from him, at least at this hour, was superficial. There was something tortured to him, though, something beyond the typical teenage angst that went with dating Fatine.

A survivor. Of what, she could only guess. The galaxy had no shortage of tragedy.

“I was sleeping,” Cora mused as she lifted the cup to her lips. “Until someone needed to be fed.”

And when she couldn’t fall back asleep, she stayed close enough to hear Lucy’s cries.

A small, pleased hum pulled from the back of her throat as she sipped her tea. Cora placed the cup back in its saucer with a motion that was both practiced and near soundless.

“Would you like to join me, Acier Moonbound?”

She gestured once to the chair beside her, watching him in a quiet, unobtrusive - but always present - manner.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Ukatis - Von Ascania Manor

Equipment:
Nightwear | Cybernetic Arm

Luciana.

Fatine had shown him holos of the infant shortly after Luciana's birth, holding the small projector out toward him with a quiet excitement that he hadn't quite known how to respond to at the time.

Ace didn't have much experience with babies, life had never really put him around them. But when the holos flickered to life and he saw the little bundle cradled in Cora's arms... impossibly small, impossibly fragile... something in him had stilled. He hadn't known much about children, but even he understood what new life meant. How precious it was.

The faint hum that slipped from Cora's throat stirred him from the thought. His eyes shifted back toward her just in time to see her lift the cup to her lips, the motion quiet and practiced.

Then came the invitation, the gesture toward the chair beside her. Ace immediately understood. The setting, the quiet of the room, the deliberate calm of it all… it reminded him a little too much of a "conversation" he'd had with A'Mia not long ago. Another person studying him from across it while asking questions that sounded harmless on the surface.

He didn't exactly enjoy the idea of being poked and prodded. Again. Still… the circumstances here were different. Corazona von Ascania was a Jedi. Whatever reason she had for calling him to the table, he doubted it carried the same sort of knife-edge intent as a Sith's curiosity. And this was Fatine's family. For her sake, he could at least make the effort.

Ace crossed the room without another word and took the seat she'd indicated. The chair scraped softly against the polished floor as he settled into it.

For a moment he said nothing, eyes low. His left arm rested against the table's edge, the metal fingers of the prosthetic flexed once with a faint, quiet whirr before going still again. Then he looked back toward Cora.

"Is… your baby fine?"

The question came with a trace of awkwardness he didn't bother trying to hide, but the concern behind it was genuine.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The invitation to sit wasn't loaded - at least not heavily. That didn't mean that the air between them was devoid of any gravity.

Only when Acier moved to sit did she let her gaze sweep along the artfully twined circuitry that comprised his left forearm and hand. A note of quiet sympathy touched her eyes at that - while there were cybernetic augmentation enthusiasts in the galaxy, Acier did not strike her as such.

Her lips pursed a little in faintly restrained amusement, and it lent her character something a tad more personable.

"She is fine, thank you. Babies need to eat every few hours, and the night is no exception."

The low, mechanical hum of Acier's prosthetic was joined by that of her own - a mechanical right hand as Cora moved to pour him a cup of tea. The porcelain was delicately set down before him, wisps of steam curling from the rich amber surface of the liquid.

Cora floated back down into her seat with all of the natural poise that her sister had learned and refused to use.

"Fatine doesn't bring young men to the family estate often."

Cora folded her hands neatly in her lap and smiled at Acier. It didn't quite reach her tired eyes. Not yet.

"Or at all, really. You must be someone special."

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Ukatis - Von Ascania Manor

Equipment:
Nightwear | Cybernetic Arm

Ace's gaze lowered slightly as Cora explained, his head dipping just a fraction in quiet consideration. Babies needed to eat every few hours. He hadn't known that before, but the explanation made sense when he turned it over in his mind. They were small. New. Their little stomachs probably didn't hold much at once.​

​

"Hmm."​

​

The low mechanical hum of movement drew his attention again as Cora reached for the teapot. Ace's eyes shifted briefly toward her right hand, noting the polished articulation of the prosthetic as she poured.​

​

It looked… newer than his. A little cleaner, more refined. Ace didn't feel sympathy when he saw it, but something closer to recognition... and curiosity. Had she lost it in battle like him? Or...?​

​

"Oh. Thanks."​

​

The words came bluntly as she set the cup before him, though the tone carried no hint of dismissal. Ace took the porcelain gently with his left hand, lifting it just enough to let a small breath pass across the surface before taking a careful sip.​

​

Then Cora spoke again. Apparently... Fatine didn't bring young men to the estate often.​

​

"Often?"​

​

Ace repeated the word quietly, his brow tightening just a touch as the thought settled. For a brief moment something uneasy stirred in his stomach, a faint edge of insecurity he hadn't expected.​

​

Of course she'd met men before him. Fatine was beautiful, magnetic, and the kind of person who pulled attention without trying. But then Cora corrected herself. The tension that had crept into his shoulders eased almost immediately.​

​

Someone special...​

​

Ace didn't answer right away. He set the cup back down first, the soft clink of porcelain against saucer filling the quiet space between them. His gaze lowered again, thoughtful rather than evasive.​

​

"I don't… get it either."​

​

The admission came plainly.​

​

"I'm… not fun to be around. And Fatine's… Fatine." He shook his head slightly. "I'm still wrapping my head around it. I guess."​

​

For a moment he said nothing more. The whole thing still felt strange when he stopped to look at it directly. Fatine had grown up surrounded by comfort, refinement, and people who actually in rooms like this. Ace had grown up somewhere very different.​

​

Two lives that probably should never have intersected, and yet... they had. Despite the distance between their worlds… he was grateful for her. Even if a quiet part of him still assumed that, sooner or later, she would grow out of whatever it was she saw in him. That one day she'd realize someone like him wasn't really the sort of partner she deserved.​

​

For now, though… she was here. That was enough.​

​

Ace glanced up again, his dark eyes settling on Cora's. He hesitated slightly before speaking again.​

​

"Does Fatine... usually see things in people?" His brow creased faintly. "The good things. Good parts. I mean."​

​

Corazona von Ascania ​