Private Calm the Storm

[Daxin Veyr]

Daxin Veyr

Daxin felt the shift in her emotions the moment her blade connected cleanly. Frustration. That tight, analytical irritation when theory met reality and lost. He kept his own saber moving in smooth arcs, matching her pace without pushing too hard.

When she asked about the slipping he paused for half a second, resetting his stance. His voice stayed low and even between exchanges.

"It starts gradual most times. Like static building in the back of my head. Other peoples feelings bleed in and mine get louder to match them. Then it can flip fast. One second I am in control. Next second I'm not. I lose my temper and wake up in a hospital. Or someone else's bed."

He met her parry and returned it with a controlled strike, testing her guard rather than trying to break it. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as her blade found its mark again. "You are getting it. The direct line works better in real time. Tradition is nice until someone is actually trying to take your head off."

Her offer to map his instability and compensate landed somewhere between touching and a little funny. He could feel how clinical she was trying to keep it, like he was a problem to solve.

"Early markers," he repeated. "My shoulders get tight. If you see me talking less or smiling more, that is usually a bad sign. It means I am covering."

 

[Del Mirah]

Tags: Daxin Veyr

Categorizing his experience proved difficult as Del processed the concept of mental static. While she understood technical failure, the idea of external emotions forcing a blackout was a variable she couldn't quite calculate.

The mention of waking up in a hospital made sense for a physical altercation, but his comment about waking up in someone else's bed caused her face to flush a deep red. The implication was messy and lacked any professional decorum. She wondered how a loss of temper could lead to such a bizarrely specific outcome, but she decided that pursuing that particular data point would be entirely too compromising.

A flat, tight-lipped smile was her only response when he praised her direct line of attack. She kept her eyes averted, focusing on the mechanical hum of their sabers to ground herself.

As he described his early warning signs, Del's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "So your default settings are the early markers," she noted, her voice dripping with dry skepticism. "That is incredibly unhelpful. You already barely speak, and you have had that irritating grin on your face since I sat down."

The sequence ended, and Del stepped back to catch her breath, her chest heaving slightly from the exertion. She deactivated her blade and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, watching him with renewed scrutiny. "Are all Zeltrons like this?" she asked, her clinical curiosity returning to mask her lingering embarrassment. She had no prior experience with his species, but if they were all as brazen and unpredictable as Daxin, she wasn't sure the galaxy had enough order to contain them. It seemed like a massive design flaw for a sentient race.

 

[Daxin Veyr]

Del Mirah

Daxin caught the flush on her face the second the words left his mouth earlier. He felt the spike of embarrassment from her too.

"I...don't know," he said in earnest.

"I really haven't met that many zeltrons in my life," Daxin admitted. "I figured they spend more time learning to be..."

He offered a broad shrug, not knowing what that was. He just knew that with the Force as well, he let others people's feelings get too much too quickly.

"Guilty on the smiling," he said, changing topic quickly.

"The grin is pretty permanent. And yeah, I don't talk much when I'm focused. Guess that makes my warning signs terrible. Sorry about that."

He tilted his head, studying her with open curiosity now. The flush was fading but still there. It was kind of endearing how hard she tried to stay clinical about everything.

"Perhaps if I'm being a dick, just call me up on it," Daxin said.

He almost immediately realised he was setting her up for a joke where she might not try and land the punchline.

 

[Del Mirah]

Tags: Daxin Veyr

Puzzlement creased Del's brow as she considered the nightmare of his upbringing. Navigating the galaxy without a basic manual for one's own biology sounded like a recipe for constant system errors. While she hadn't been raised specifically among Mikkians, her mother had provided the necessary cultural and physiological data to keep her grounded. The idea of lacking that foundational support was objectively tragic.

She allowed him the reprieve of a subject change, noting that his permanent grin was a hardware feature rather than a software choice. Adjusting her expectations was the only efficient way forward; if the charisma was a passive species trait, she simply had to filter it out like background noise.

Maintaining a professional demeanor became difficult when he steered the conversation toward more informal territory. His brand of humor consistently triggered a physical reaction she couldn't suppress.

Professionalism is the only defense, Del, she reminded herself. She opted to meet his casual tone with a blunt, non-verbal gesture. Raising her hand, she extended her middle finger toward him with clinical precision. "There is your signal to 'call you up on it'." she stated, her face still slightly warm. "The message should be sufficiently clear to prevent any further confusion."

Accepting his promise of transparency felt like a significant milestone in their acquaintanceship She shifted her weight, the silence of the training hall suddenly feeling less heavy than before. "Another promise then?" she asked, her voice dropping some of its defensive sharpness. "I am aware that my social interactions are often categorized as abrasive or difficult. It is a common complaint among my peers."

She looked at him directly, her analytical mind already calculating the necessity of a mutual warning system. "Will you agree to provide the same signal if I am being too... myself? If my honesty becomes a barrier to the efficiency of the group, I would prefer to be notified immediately. It is better to have an offensive signal than to remain ignorant of a failing social dynamic."

 

[Daxin Veyr]

Del Mirah

Daxin watched her closely as she processed everything he had said. He could feel the quiet sympathy rolling off her, mixed with that analytical distance she used like armor.

Then she flipped him the middle finger with perfect seriousness and he froze for half a second before a genuine laugh broke out of him. He shook his head, the smirk blooming into a full grin.

"Message received," he said, still chuckling.

"Crystal clear. I will make sure to interpret that one correctly next time. People are going to think we really don't get along if we keep doing that."

There was real vulnerability under all that clinical talk. He could feel it.

Daxin stepped a little closer, not crowding her, but close enough that the natural Zeltron warmth in his presence was there in a reassuring way.

"Yeah. I can do that," he replied.

"You should always be yourself," he added, "But if you're going to really annoy someone ill give a sign."

He held her gaze for a moment, brown eyes warm and open. The smirk returned, softer this time.

"The honesty is refreshing so far. I respect that."

Daxin rolled his shoulders once and nodded toward the open space.

"Want to go again? Or should we call it for today?"

He waited, relaxed but clearly enjoying the strange new rhythm they were building.

 

[Del Mirah]

Tags: Daxin Veyr

Surprise rippled through Del as a genuine laugh escaped her, the first she had experienced in a long time. The absurdity of using such a brash gesture to bridge a social gap was objectively ridiculous, yet the thought of their peers witnessing the exchange brought a rare, lighthearted spark to her eyes. Most already considered her abrasive, so a public display of rudeness would likely just confirm their existing data sets. It felt strangely liberating to be silly, a luxury she hadn't afforded herself since leaving the structured comforts of home.

A sudden shift in proximity sent her heart rate spiking as Daxin stepped into her personal space. Her eyes widened, tracking his movement with a mix of alarm and fascination while he suggested she should always be herself. Tell that to everyone else, she thought, the internal commentary very defensive.

She maintained eye contact, though the natural warmth radiating from the Zeltron made her skin feel as if it were under a heat lamp. Her face deepened into a predictable shade of crimson, her analytical defenses crumbling under the weight of his unforced sincerity.

"I should... probably get ready for my next class," she managed to say, her voice slightly higher than usual.

The need for a strategic retreat became clear as the silence grew. She extended a closed fist toward him, a calculated maneuver to re-establish a physical boundary while acknowledging their new truce. The fist bump offered a safe distance, a small but significant buffer between her carefully ordered galaxy and his unpredictable presence.

 

[Daxin Veyr]

Del Mirah

Daxin felt the ripple of surprise and delight roll off her when she laughed. It was bright and unexpected, cutting through her usual tightly controlled emotions. The sound pulled a warm smile to his face.

Her higher-pitched excuse made him tilt his head slightly.

"Next class. Right."

When she offered the closed fist he looked at it for a beat, then bumped it gently with his own.

"Deal," he said quietly.

"You be you. I will be me. And we will figure out the rest as we go. I will see you on Life Day. Try not to overthink it too much before then."

"Go smash that class."

Daxin lingered for just a moment after she started to move, watching her retreat with a quiet chuckle under his breath. He shook his head once, rolling his shoulders as he turned toward the exit himself.

"Did not expect the fist bump."