Private Elevated Episodes: How I Met Your Mother - Jungle Rehash

[Quietus]

That remark got a second audible crack of laughter out of Quietus.

A lightsaber. That was all she could think about in a place like this? Well, she supposed perhaps that was what most Force Users knew when it came to crystals - and it may have been the only exposure to Force-Sensitive Crystals for Aver. Hmm.

She smiled, looking out into the cavern as it absolutely hummed in the Force with the resonance of her own power.

That's right young Padawan, close your eyes and focus, she gestured vaguely to the cavern, find your crystal in the Force.

Quietus could clearly remember making her very first lightsaber under the tutelage of Lord Daritha on Onderon. Those days were filled with some of the few fond memories of her own youth. She still had that lightsaber and it still used that crystal, though it had not seen use for several centuries.

It's been so long since I used a lightsaber ... don't think I've ever seen you use one either.

 

[Aver Brand]

A breath of amused air escaped her nose as Aver shook her head. Still, who was she to disobey her mate – her wife?

Her mouth quirked into a proper smile as she closed her eyes, half-invested into the joke.

Unshackling her presence in the Force was always… an experience. First a rising struggle against the implant in her spine, then the break as she reached out all at once, engulfing the space like a cresting wave. It was a sensation that tingled all over her body, right down to the tips of her fingers.

She licked the back of her teeth and exhaled.

Feth, she missed her old job sometimes. Still.

“Mm, no. You wouldn’t have,” she murmured into the quiet of the cavern to avoid the echo. Her lips twisted into a bittersweet expression, “It carries bad memories.”

Built at a time when she was still three, not one; when she thought she’d stay that way until the heat death of the universe.

Idiot.

Her shoulders slumped with a sigh, and the severe edge of her presence dulled.

“I don’t think you’ve ever even seen me fight,” Aver added with a sharp laugh, cracking one eye open to look at Qui. What a strange thought, to know that the one mainstay of her life was completely absent in her… love.

Huh.

“Besides, a blaster and Sa Sevai get the job done ninety percent of the time.”

 

[Quietus]

If there was one thing more elusive than a true smile or admission from Aver Brand, it was experiencing the woman delve into her respectable well of Force powers. For those fleeting moments Quietus remained silent in all aspects, still even in her breath, as she allowed the rush of Aver's intangible presence flood over herself and throughout the expansive caverns. The curiosity of the crystals made itself known as the colors shifted from a pale green-blue to a stark red.

Quietus didn't know crystals well enough to find the appropriate amount of excitement in this revelation, but it did seem quite curious to her. Something worth investigating further ... or at the very least worth turning over to someone who knew better than she. She made a mental note to get in touch with Dissero at a later date.

You're right, she admitted quietly over their connection, I haven't. And you have not seen me, either.

A deep, slow breath in, exhaled then through parted lips as a reverent sigh, fighting means so little to me anymore. I've seen you survive, adapt, change - far greater a representation of character in my opinion.

She knew Aver could kill. She knew aver had killed a lot, and likely still did on her own time. Aver's skills in ending life was not part of the many things that attracted her to the woman.

 

[Aver Brand]

And she was right on that count, too. They’d fought, sure. When they first met. A couple times where Aver misjudged her hunger and Qui her willpower.

Whenever they called upon their capacity for violence, it was in service of affection, not anger. Not exactly the picture of domesticity, the pair of them. Domestic something – in someone else’s eyes, yeah, probably.

She raised an eyebrow at the coruscating crystals. “Guess red is still my color, huh.”

What had Qui called it way back when? Eau de Sith? Thirty-odd years gone and she’d not washed it off. Some things you just couldn’t.

Aver flexed and relaxed her jaw, working through the thought. Not the easiest to swallow, all things told.

“So what do I do now?” she asked, tilting her head towards the glowing walls of the cavern. “I’ve always used the artificial shet, so…” her broad shoulders raised and fell in a lazy shrug, “show me your ways, oh wise Master.”

In an uncharacteristic show of self-restraint, she kept the cheeky correction to herself.

 

[Quietus]

Couldn't keep that silent thought to herself though. So little was kept secret between them anymore. Quietus wanted to express that she didn't think the color meant what Aver thought it did. These crystals had been excluded from the realm of the galaxy that included Lightside, Darkside, and all manner of alignment and proclivities. The natural position of them was more a true reflection of the energies they reflected. Red could mean literally anything.

Or maybe it meant nothing? Maybe differing wavelengths of energies resulted in differing hues.

Theories to test. Correction; theories for Dissero to test.

Quietus offered her mate a side smirk, glancing up at her sopping crimson hair, Red looks good on you.

So what do I do now?

A question that caught her off-guard. Oh. Quietus blinked - it had been some time since she'd translated knowledge into guidance in a more traditional way. She knew what to do, knew how to locate the appropriate crystal, new how to meditate and refine them, attune them to her. All things that came innately after a great deal of practice and repetition.

Well, the idea is to find the crystal that best resonates with you and your presence in the Force. It's ... almost like coming across a familiar face in a crowd. Something you recognize as already knowing. In a cavern this vast you may come across many of these, some stronger than others. You have to open yourself to them, create a flow of your energy, follow the sensation of familiarity.

 

[Aver Brand]

Everything looks good on me, Aver allowed that smug, petty little thought. Force knew the moment needed it.

Or she did, anyway.

The scowl that twisted her features next was a familiar one. Already knowing. Ygdris Val was a creature of many talents yet few virtues, and patience didn’t count among their scant number.

She steadied herself with a long exhale. “Well, I can see why we always used the artificial shet.”

Efficiency and expediency were the name of the game – for a long time after Aver had left, even. She wasn’t so stubborn as to deny the truths that stared her in the face, though. Like the long-term return-on-investment of not treating people like shet. Or the benefits of listening with your mouth shut. Or, occasionally, allowing for some spirituality in an otherwise starkly pragmatic lifestyle.

Despite the years of adventuring through the Dreamsphere together, Aver still felt almost pornographically vulnerable as she closed her eyes and reached out once more, with feeling. Purpose now lined her expression as she furrowed her brow with concentration.

Where her firsts were full of ritual pomp and circumstance, decades later found the mercicle standing in a freezing cave in the ass-end of the galaxy, building her last lightsaber in a wet t-shirt and sodden jeans.

Some Sith Lord she’d turned out to be.

 

[Quietus]

Silent once again to let Aver work, Quietus turned her attention outward toward the cavern, watching the crystals shift slowly from one shade of red to another. Stark crimson to a deep blood hue. Bright and brilliant fire to a pale blush. All the facets of Aver Brand's Force presence, changing with the tide of her own thoughts and feelings.

Those same thoughts and feelings readily leaked into her own mind, causing that acidic green gaze to turn back to her.

No one is judging you but yourself, Ygdris.

Bare feet drifted over wet stone, carrying her further into the cave to follow a path that wound through the various pools of water. Pausing at one, she stopped at the edge to look down into the clear depths of the water. The crystals grew even below the surface, lining the bottom of the pool in clumps and clusters. It was in that lagoon that Desdemona felt the first prickling of her own familiarity. Down in the middle of all the red was a single green prism singing clearly to her.

She dove in without a word.

 

[Aver Brand]

Yeah.

They were always privy to each other’s thoughts now, and the moods and whims besides. And it wasn’t physical distance that could separate them so much as the spiritual sort could. Each of them enmeshed and subsumed in the flow of the Force, reverberating thousandfold along the corridors of the caves, they were both interwoven and miles apart at the same time.

An’ I ain’t exactly kind, am I?

Aver could feel the distant spark of curiosity from her mate followed by the splash of water and a chill down her spine. She smiled and picked her own feet off the ground without a sound, eager to let the ensuing quiet settle on her shoulders like a cloak.

Didn’t need to look to see where she was going – the cave was brimming with so much power it was nearly blinding anyway. She let the sensation wash over her, clear and sharp like the icy lake they’d plunged into earlier. Instead of resisting she merely rode along with its currents, trusting her feet to take her where she needed to go.

Other whispers tugged at the edges of her mind as she drifted along the cavern, fingers brushing along their sharp planes as she passed them by. None were so intense as the one calling out to her from a distance, however, all the way down what seemed an endless corridor.

She opened her eyes.

Purple?

Who woulda thunk?

 

[Quietus]

Funny how audacious and pompous Aver could be, and yet in some instances she really didn't give herself enough credit.

Quietus emerged from the water with a deep gasp for air and a clump of green crystals in hand. She hoisted herself out at the edge of the pool and sat there catching her breath. Despite the chill of the water, the crystal clump felt warm in her hand and emanated a curious sense of belonging. It felt rather akin to an item she'd honed and used for years, knowing it as well as she knew her body. The connection it had to her went so far that it almost felt as if she'd blood-traced it.

Purple?

This gained her attention and she looked up, instinctively knowing where to look for the woman she had a blood bond with. Purple.

You were expecting something else?

Quietus set her own stone aside and made an effort of wringing the cold water from her hair.

 

[Aver Brand]

I...

Hadn’t known what to expect, really. Force-resonant crystals were lightyears from her area of expertise. Far as she was concerned, they were the next best thing to Life day decorative lights – actually, scratch that. They were better, because apparently you didn’t even need to plug them in.

That was Aver Brand – always so environmentally conscious.

And currently staring at the purple rock like it might lunge from the wall at any second and bite her head off.

Fuck if I know. What do I do with it?

It was pulsing, for fuckssake. Rhythmically. Like breathing. Or a beating heart.

She curled her lip in a mild bout of disgust and immediately banished that thought.

 

[Quietus]

You ... accept it and invite it to you.

Squeeeeeeze. Fething hell how did this water get so cold when it was so damn hot on the surface? She gave a sudden jolt of shivers, trying to shake them off.

And then you break it out with your mind.

Carefully.

As a Padawan she'd been handed a pickaxe, but after her Masterhood the thought of just bashing it out of place didn't seem terribly conducive to maintaining its integrity.

 

[Aver Brand]

“But it’s a rock, Qui,” Aver mouthed, pleading with the thin air.

The second part of the instructions, at least, sounded more reasonable. And doable. If there was one thing she could do, it was precision.

Her short fuse and intimidating stature led plenty of people to believe she viewed problems as nails and herself as the hammer.

Most of those people were dead.

Aver pursed her lips. Invitation first.

With a long breath, she honed her presence in the Force to a fine point, withdrawing from the rest of the cave and abandoning the myriad crystals to their natural colors. The scintillating formation in front of her remained stubbornly purple, however, with specks of blue and red swirling underneath its polished surface. Reaching out with her hand as well as her mind, the mercenary placed an open palm against the largest of the crystals.

The heat of a lazy afternoon under the Onderon sun warmed her to the bones, and she had to inhale sharply to stop the noise stuck in her throat. It took all she had not to pull away. What fucking right did a fucking glowing rock—

Aver screwed her eyes shut and rooted herself to the cavern floor.

She worried her teeth until she could taste blood. The iron bloomed on her tongue, grounding her as her lungs expanded again with the brisk air.

To her own surprise, she’d managed to keep her hand in place. Still cupping the crystal. Hadn’t crushed it either.

Good job. Gold fuckin’ star.

With a sardonic smile, the mercenary relaxed by degrees into the warmth of the purple crystal. Enough to let herself enjoy it. It was fucking cold down here, and she was still soaking wet. She was just being practical, really.

The fine Force manipulation was the easy bit, after that. When she finally pulled away it wasn’t out of rejection, but instead to convince the stone around the crystal to kindly let it go. Hairline faultlines appeared at her bidding, and moments later she was already marching back towards her mate, cradling her newborn lightsaber crystal in her arms.

 

[Quietus]

Ney, replied Quietus languidly as she picked her own back up to examine it. It's glow had waned while it sat on the ground next to her, but at her touch it flared brilliantly again, it's a gemstone. The different bracts of crystal lattice from the main body spouted outwards in a wild array that she found rather pleasing. It wouldn't stay that way, of course, not after refinement, but for now she appreciated it in its natural, raw state.

She looked up after a time at the sounds of Aver's approach and gave her collected crystal a curious look, then smiled.

Well done. That was the easy part.

It only got more complicated from here. At the very least they both would walk away with crystal pieces large enough for producing multiple, usable lightsaber crystals in the end.

Now let's get the feth out of here.

 

[Aver Brand]

Not that the mercenary didn’t appreciate the occasional wilderness getaway with her adventurous mate. The peace and quiet were a glorious balm for overwrought nerves and overworked muscles. Getting her brains fucked out daily definitely helped with the stress. The clean air and sunshine did wonders for her complexion, too, and the fresh game was a riot for the palate.

HowAver.

The creature comforts of an advanced galaxy were near and dear to her withered heart. Warm water showers. Electricity. Quantum-entanglement communication. Holonet.

Hand-quilted, repulsor-supported, organic cotton emperor-size mattresses.

Presently lazing face-down on one such specimen in the spacious cabin of her ship, Aver was not at all discontent to be returning to the other jungle she called home: the spiteful symbiosis of civilization and metal spires known as Point Nadir.

AUTOPILOT ALERT: YOU ARE <TWO HOURS> AWAY FROM YOUR DESTINATION.

Aver groaned and rolled over.

Feth, she kept forgetting to swap out the VI audio.

Regrettably but undeniably awake, Aver rubbed the sleep from her eyes and propped herself up against the headboard. The blanket, as usual, was conspicuously absent, piled instead around a vaguely humanoid lump on the other side of the bed.

She nudged the shape with her foot and abused the Force to summon water across the foot-wide chasm separating her from the glass.

“Wake up, you hog.”

 

[Quietus]

By now it was a well known fact that Desdemona Shamalain did not like to travel through space. She didn't cope well with the confined spaces or the metallic surfaces. The lack of natural moonlight or fresh meat, the drudgery of having exactly nothing to do most of the time - it was like caging a wild beast.

Literally.

Her few comforts were that of hibernation, meditation, and intimate recreation. Three guesses which comfort she was currently partaking, the first two guesses don't count.

A muffled noise sounded from the humanoid lump. Aver had started using a secondary blanket to save her from the blanket-hog, but somehow Qui had ended up with both. She was going to blame that one on the previous night cycle's wrestling match on the mattress. At least Aver could have all the pillows she wanted - Qui never used them.

Content within her cocoon of layered comforters, she made no effort to wake up but her stomach did growl.

 

[Aver Brand]

But Aver didn’t want pillows. She wanted blankets.

Life, as ever, was unfair.

“Darling. Honey.” A beat. “Baby.”

Being awake was becoming less terrible by the second, if only because she now had another victim to share in her misery.

In good and bad and all that.

She crawled across the frankly preposterous bed, leaning over her favorite humanoid lump in the whole wide galaxy to whisper the sweetest words known to man, garhan, or firrerreo.

“If you join me in the shower, I’ll let you have a sip… princess.”

She was gone the next instant, laughter and blanket both tailing her out the door.

 

[Quietus]

The bundle of blankets curled tighter with each subsequent pet name. There was an audible growl and this time it didn't sound quite as innocent as a stomach. But promises promises and stolen blankets did not make for a peaceful waking. Aver's laughter and tromping steps away from the bed were accompanied by a loud THUMP as Quietus hit the floor.

"AVER."

That also echoed after the silver-skinned, red-headed woman.

Moments after the hot water started running she was pinned into the corner of the shower.

Highly inappropriate shower scene to follow.

 

[Aver Brand]

Considering their tumultuous lifestyle, neither woman would still be alive if they didn’t learn from their mistakes. Thus no knees were buckled in the writing of this post, and if some crimson swirled down the drain, it was only what little her mate hadn’t taken in recompense for the rude awakening.

The pair emerged from the shower slaked, naked, and smelling of lilac. Aver was only marginally drowsy from the bloodloss, yet in considerably higher spirits for the punishment Qui had ever so lovingly exacted from her flesh.

A great trade, if she did say so herself.

After throwing on a ratty t-shirt no self-respecting crime lord would be caught dead in, the mercenary disappeared into the kitchen to recoup her strength with the breakfast of champions.

“What kinda tech are we gonna need for the crystals, by the way?” her voice rose over the sound of hissing oil and the heavy chop of a knife. Probably one of Qui’s many sharp gifts. “I can call in to get it prepped ahead of time.”

 

[Quietus]

Quietus decided to ride out the remainder of her high in the luxury of a fleece bathrobe, tending to the present mess of her hair. Rarely did she emerge from such altercations with Aver with sleek and kempt locks. Tangles needed sorting, braids needed rebraiding. It was a chore but someone had to do it.

Depends on what you want to make the hilt from, she replied while carefully tugging free a stubborn, wet gnarl of platinum, and went on to list various options and components.

If you want secondary focus gems we can find one of Dissero's local shops.

 

[Aver Brand]

That prompted a pause in the rhythmic fall of the blade.

Dissero doesn’t have a shop on Nadir.

It was a statement. Because phrasing it as a question would invite doubt about the unrivalled knowledge she held of her own domain. And once that shit got its foot in the door, you could never kick it out again.

Like an annoying relative.

Anyway, and the chopping resumed, more forceful than before, something that doesn’t get fucked up first time you bang it around.

Pragmatic, beautiful in its severity, and pretty much indestructible.

Phrik it is.

Let it never be said she didn’t put something of herself into her craft.