Dating: Mandalore Edition

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth gave a small nod. She hadn’t realized there was still actual Vong in the galaxy. Sure, she knew the tech existed and was utilized by people but… Actual Vong were still a thing? Yikes… She could tell it was probably a lot for him to tell her. Really, she somewhat regretted asking. Duped by the Vong and experimented on… She shook her head at the anger it brought up inside her.

She squeezed his hand. There would be other times, perhaps, to discuss such things. But, perhaps they should focus on the positives of their lives for now. Both shared something personal. [member="Cleru"] intercepted her kiss on the cheek with his lips. Those lips… Her body tingled for the short kiss.

“We gotta do it, then,” she said with a grin and a nod, “I love traveling. And exploring the ruins from long ago. Seeing what used to be there. Plus... My ship has a fairly nice kitchen,” she giggled quietly. That kind of went above and beyond climate. Granted, how in the world she was ever going to find time to do it for the next year or so she had no idea. But she'd figure it out. She always managed time somewhat efficiently.

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

"Oh? A nice kitchen? My, you sure now how to tempt a man." Exploring ruins. Traveling. Seeing the galaxy for what it was. All of that sounded amazing to Cleru. He smiled brightly, nodding at the idea. A vacation would do him rather well, especially if it meant he could spend more time with [member="Beth Cadera"] . The faintest of a grin took over his features as he glanced to the woman in his arms again.

Yeah, he'd like that.

As if to confirm it he leaned over, again brushing his lips to hers. He most certainly would like that.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth positioned herself so she could see [member="Cleru"]'s face better. Instead of resting her head on his shoulder, she more or less used her arm to hold her body up, so she could look into those red eyes. Her cheeks blushed at his comment, ears perked up fully. “Into my evil clutches, muahaha,” she said with a big grin, with a small quiet laugh.

Anything to spend more time with him, really. She didn’t quite mind what activity it was. Whether that was exploring, baking, or sitting in weird, personal places and just talking. She had so far only enjoyed his company, from the Masquerade to now. Her thoughts were cut off as his lips connected to hers again and this time… She didn’t pull back. Her free hand moved to barely caress his cheek as the kiss lit fireworks inside her heart.

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

They still had a little while till the treats were done, and Cleru was more then content spending the time waiting in [member="Beth Cadera"] 's company. Small talk about the planets they'd go to, plotting out the various trips. He smiled and laughed. This was the most fun he's had in a while, and they weren't even doing much. That was just how much he enjoyed spending time with the Mandalorian.

Soon enough though, the time for pastries came about, and he grinned wide at his companion. "Right, so. About those danishes."

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth enjoyed the time spent in her little hideaway in the library. Similar to the balcony at the palace on Csilla, this was Beth’s little getaway that no one – except [member="Cleru"] knew. Beth lost track of time as their conversations continued about trips, and planets, and about each other. All those little pieces of knowledge about one another that made a friendship, or perhaps a relationship.

Then, he mentioned the danishes. Beth perked a brow, and like a lightbulb went off. “Oh! Yeah! It’s probably been an hour, hasn’t it?” She said with a chuckle. She had completely gotten lost in him. With that in mind, she carefully slipped towards the ladder and went down. It was a bit harder in a long dress like hers. There, at the bottom, she’d wait for Cleru to get down before taking his hand and leading them back to the kitchen.

“Are they ready to dig into or is there more that needs to be done,” she asked as she looked at the near perfect and absolutely delicious looking treats.

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

Cleru chuckled as [member="Beth Cadera"] seemed to have forgotten. He smiled wide as she left first, though not before he caught her at the top of the ladder. Another brief kiss. If he could, spend spend his time kissing her, but they had plans this day. He followed her down afterwards, gladly taking her hand again as they went back to the kitchen. Sure enough, his danishes had finished cooling, and with a grin he plucked one from the trey. He held it up for Beth to take a bite of, winking.

"It's a favorite of mine. I hope you enjoy."

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth picked up the smell from the delicious goodies a few seconds after entering the kitchen. It seemed that the lizards were also fairly intrigued by the goodies. A few side way glances, some were clearly wanting their own tastes too. To be fair, though, Beth was relatively unaware of what the lizards were doing. Her attention was almost exclusively focused on @Cleru.

She leaned forward, carefully, and took a bite of the Danish. She was very careful, though, mostly to ensure she didn’t accidentally get any of the treat on her dress. That would… Not have been an easy fix. She savored the taste, particularly the filling as she chewed it up and swallowed. “That was… Much better than I even imagined, and I imagined it would be amazing to begin with,” she admitted as she reached her hand out to take the treat. Man, how did she get lucky for a guy who could bake so good too? Mmm.

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

Cleru made a good number of pastries for the soul purpose of treating the lizards who had allowed him to use their kitchen and invade their space. He just wanted to make sure [member="Beth Cadera"] got the first. He held out the pastry fully expecting Beth to take it from him, but that didn't seem to be the case at all. A deep red blush formed on his cheeks as he watched her, his red eyes wide with surprise.

When she did take the treat he cleared his throat mostly to clear his head. "I'm uh.. Glad you liked it." He really was, but he really hadn't expected that.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth had clearly misread that sign. She saw the blush form on @Cleru’s face, along with the wide-open eyes. It was cute, though. That made her feel even more gushy despite her embarrassment for misreading that signal. Yikeees. Beth gave a nervous smile as she held the one bite missing Danish in her hand now.

“Um, sorry,” she let out a quiet nervous giggle, “I… They were really good.” And with that, she simply started nibbling more on the treat instead of continuing to talk. She couldn’t talk if she had her mouth full, right? Too bad she could still see, clearly, without any problems. It didn't seem to be a bad blush or anything, but Beth wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. And perhaps she had made it even more awkward. Yikes, Beth.

A moment later one of the cooks tapped Cleru on the shouler. “Wesss have somesss now, yesss?”

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

Was he staring? Cleru blinked as he suddenly realized that yes, he was. He let out his own nervous laugh as he glanced to the tray of pastries, nodding very very fast. Something to distract him from what had been going through his head. "I'm glad." The chiss went rigid as he felt the tap on his shoulder, his head snapping right to the cook who addressed him still with the blush on his face. "Huh?"

Right. He made them for all of the cooks to be able to eat. The blush faded as he smiled, nodding his head. "Of course, yeah. Take your fill. Consider it my thanks." A warm smile returned to his face as he watched the lizardmen pass around the treats. There was nothing that felt better then seeing folks enjoy the food you make. Well, no. He snuck a glance over to Beth and reached out to take her hand in his again.

That was the best feeling.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth gave another nervous smile to @Cleru. She hadn’t meant to break him like that. But, she did, somehow. The blush on his cheeks that still hadn’t gone away confirmed. “You’re really cute,” she said softly after a few seconds. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say, considering his nerves.

The lizard that tapped his shoulder seemed unconcerned with his blush, although the rigidness made him make a small hissing sound. Not so much threatening, just as a reaction to the general mood. Nonettheless, “Thankssss,” he’d say as the treats got handed around to the folk. They seemed to really like them, too.

Beth smiled, less nervously, as Cleru’s hand intertwined with hers again. Gosh, she would never get over the feeling of his skin against her. The connection it felt. “Well… We have a couple hours before the reservations kick in,” she mentioned idly as she watched the cooks eat on the danishes with joy. She could show him around, probably mostly her area of the place. Or perhaps into the city some.

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

His blush darkened slightly more as [member="Beth Cadera"] called him cute. He'd been called a number of things in his life, but cute was new. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about it, but it definitely made him feel good. Not that it could be explored further with the interaction with the Lizards. They seemed to enjoy them, which made him feel rather proud. He wasn't sure if their flavor pallets would be the same.

"A couple hours huh? Well. We could go back to that spot in the library, talk some more. Or, you could show me around? I'm all for doing anything, so long as it's with you." He lifted her hand again, much as he had at the ball, locking his eyes with her own and kissed the back of it.

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth was growing to like more and more – something she hadn’t really thought possible. Nonetheless, here they were. His blushed cheeks, her own warm cheeks which were surely pink too. Although, her cheeks had probably stayed pink the entire time, in truth. The lizards were enjoying the treats much, and really were no longer interested at all in Beth or @Cleru.

She gave a nod as she looked at a clock on the wall. Yep, a few hours to do whatever they wanted. Then, the club… Which would be her singing a few songs before they could have dinner. Well, he could start eating. She’d wait till’ afterwards, anyway.

Beth held her breath as he lifted her hand, eyes locked, and gave it a kiss. Gosh, how could he make her feel so… Mushy and gushy all the time? “Hm, we could take a walk through Sundari? There isn’t that much to do but there are some pretty sights in this big ole’ desert.”

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

"As I said Beth, anywhere with you." The warm smile was back as the blush faded from his blue face, replaced by the confidence he had been showing. He stood straight up, glancing to where his jacket was hanging. Just for a moment he let go of [member="Beth Cadera"] 's hand to put it back on, then immediately intertwined their fingers again. It didn't feel right to have his hand empty.

"Though, where better to start out world tours then here?"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

She gave a small smile to [member="Cleru"] at his comment. Anywhere with her? And the way he said her name… She took a breath as she exhaled. It was intoxicating, really. Of course, a piece of her still believed this may have just been too good to be true. Great cook, sweet, kind… All the perfect attributes. She watched as he put his jacket back on.

Then their fingers were intertwined. She gave a giggle at his comment about starting their tours here. Fair, it would be new for him, she supposed. “Alright… Hm. We should check out memorial park. It was here before the plague, but got rebuilt after the civil war about 10 years ago. And then there is the University, where I take classes. And then there is the city in general. Which is full of bars, training, armorsmiths, weaponsmiths, and all that fun stuff.”

Either way, she began to guide him out of the palace – the same way they came in. Luckily for them, Beth required no armored guard detachment around her. No one had yet tried to assassinate her, so she guessed it was just assumed she would be fine. At least they wouldn’t have any awkward stares. “So, this is Sundari,” she said as she made a motion with her hand at the top of the Palace steps. “Pretty big. Lots of skyscrapers and stuff.”

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

As she started listing off the different places they could go to see Cleru gently placed a finger on her lips to give her reason to pause. Outside the kitchen it was easier for him to interact with her away from prying eyes. Not that he thought the Lizardfolk were snooping. "You know this planet pretty well. I guess I didn't mean a literal tour. I want you to show me the places that matter the most to you within the city. I want to know you."

With that said he followed [member="Beth Cadera"] outside, his red gaze glancing over the city. He had briefly looked at it on his landing, but his nerves had him completely unfocused. "Yeah, lots of skyscrapers."

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth’s eyes widened as Cleru placed a single finger over her lips. Her cheeks burned, her ears perked harder than usual, and worse a small, nervous giggle escaped. She hadn’t expected him to do that. Whether she was embarrassed for her rambling or something else, remained to be seen.

But his reasoning made sense. Places that mattered to her, that was fair. Not just a general, literal tour of the city. She gave a little nod with a shy smile as they moved throughout the palace and outside. Really, there was three places she spent almost all her time at on Sundari – the university, the hospital, and finally the palace. There really wasn’t much time for elsewhere, and when she was younger she usually stayed in the Palace.

But, there was one park that she had found. Really, it was a huge, domed garden/arboretum. Not too busy of a place, but beautiful, peaceful and generally a beautiful walk with plantlife not only from Mandalore but from all over Mandalorian space. With her goal in mind, she waved down a hover cab that was flying by. “I know exactly where to go,” she said as she hopped into the cab, motioning for [member="Cleru"] to follow behind her.

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

He watched her expression in silence, his red eyes scanning just in case he might of gone a bit too far. The nervous giggle was a new, if cute, addition to her flustered resume. But when her eyes sparkled as she thought of a destination his gaze relaxed. They were still figuring each other out, but it was getting clearer by the minute just how enamored he was with [member="Beth Cadera"] .

Cleru stepped into the cap just behind her, opening the door and such like any gentleman would. How could he not? He was interested in the daughter of a nation's leader. Though, he'd of done it anyway. "Where to? Or is it a surprise?"

 

[Gaia Sunaris Cadera]

Beth had mostly recovered from his finger experience by the time the cab came. [member="Cleru"], as expected, opened the door and helped her into the cab. Such a gentleman. Add that to the list of how near perfect he was. Maybe he wasn’t even real and Beth’s overworked brain had finally lost it. Probably not, but just maybe.

“It’s not far,” she teased with a grin. “The Arboretum, near the Sundari Hospital,” she said to the man driving the cab. And like that, they were off. “It’s a beautiful garden. Kind of like a… Man made oasis, in the middle of the desert,” she said after a few seconds. It only took a couple minutes for them to arrive. And as they landed, Beth hopped out carefully with Cleru.

She made sure that she connected her hand with his as they walked up towards the entrance of the domed garden. Assuming Cleru again held the door for her, she’d whisper a quick thank you as they entered the expansive garden. She took a deep breath at how fresh the air was. “This, this is probably one of my favorite places in Sundari.”

 

[Mandalorian Prophet]

It was pretty on point to assume he'd be there opening doors and such for [member="Beth Cadera"] . It was just a result of his training as a spy. Of course, holding hands in public wasn't part of that training, but it didn't stop him in the slightest. Any time he spent with the Mandalorian would have to be hand in hand. At least, as much as possible. He nodded his head as she explained the oasis. It must of left quite a mark on her if she was her favorite.

"Is it the beauty it holds, or is there another reason you treasure it?"