Private Evolution

[Marus Saretti]

Okay, she did take his hand, that was good, that meant everything was still good. She even giggled! Marus was still smiling happily as she pulled him along. She was so beautiful when she giggled like that. He followed along obediently, out to where Asha had her tea set up for the two guests. He was a little confused as to how she knew they were coming well enough to have the cups and all, but...well, it seemed everybody here had the Force, and the Force apparently made everybody have better senses who had it with them, so she clearly must have been able to sense that they were coming.

It made about as much sense as anything other than continuing to look at Rhia at that moment.

He gave Asha a small bow of his own—he wanted to look polite, and he'd at least figured out that bowing like that was the normal thing back on Kashyyyk, and these Je'daii people didn't seem too different in at least that respect—before getting tugged down to the ground in the process. "It's nice to be here," he replied to Asha, smiling at her.

Before her eyes narrowed. Uh-oh. When adults like her—she didn't look much older, but he could tell she was definitely the adult of the group—when adults like her narrowed their eyes at people like him and Rhia, that was almost never a good sign. But she just asked about the perfume. Marus breathed a small sigh of relief. "That? I bought it for Rhia!" he said cheerily, without a clue why Asha seemed so concerned about it. "Somebody was selling it on one of the worlds just past Kal'shebbol, I took a smell of it, and immediately knew I had to get it for Rhia here...all of it."

A small look of frustration crossed his features. Not entirely because of the realization that he'd spent three hundred credits on perfume for somebody he'd only known for about three months by the time he saw it, and he'd only been around her for half that time, but also remembering that he'd messed up buying the bottles. "Two of them were for men, though. I didn't look closely enough when I grabbed them, I guess." He turned, nodding back at the top of the miniature-temple structure that doubled as the entrance to the garden.

"We left the box in the fancy room back there, if you'd like to check...?" He still wasn't sure why she seemed so concerned about the scents. It was just perfume, right? Great perfume, but still.

Asha Hex Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

Rhia was also a little confused about why Asha was so hung up on the perfume.

She might have thought she wanted some for herself, but that stern expression told her otherwise. Nope, definitely didn't want it. Then what? The girl lifted the cup of tea to her lips, took a small sip as though hoping it might ease the moment, and immediately found her mind beginning to clear. As though a blanket was lifted from around her brain.

Rhia glanced down at their hands, still entwined, and then up to Marus, and then across to Asha. It wasn't quite like she was coming out of a stupor, she'd understood what she was doing in the midst of the haze, but with clarity of mind she suddenly felt overwhelmed by it all. Part of her barely even remembered coming into the gardens, though she certainly remembered what had happened within.

Oh, Force, she'd kissed him.

She knew that much for certain. She had kissed him. Sure he'd leant in, but...

Her cheeks grew red. She carefully removed her hand from Marus' and made to stand up. "I'll uh... I'll grab the box" she stated, before hurrying off to fetch it. She didn't take too long, but it occurred to her only when she was on her way back with it that she'd just left poor Marus open to questioning by Asha.

Oh, Force....

Oh Force indeed.

Marus Saretti

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Marus had bought it.

Marus had bought six vials of it, for Rhia.

Asha's brain felt as though it might implode, or explode, or downright melt. Had he known what he was doing? Why had he thought to buy her something like that? It was absolute madness, it, it...

She reached out through the Force, ever so gently, trying to get a read on the kid. Then a realization overcame her.

The damn kid was just a fool. He hadn't asked questions, hadn't read, hadn't realized. All at once the stern expression shattered, and with a shake of her head she tried to fight back a chuckle. Oh, this was a story to tell Cotan alright. But not until they understood what had happened, not until they'd come down from the effects a little.

"You realize that they're pheromone laced perfumes, right?" she asked, once Rhia had rushed off to collect the box. Asha had fixed Marus with her gaze during this time, and every now and then as the thought returned to her she shook her head. "No, of course you don't. Well, I uh... I'm sorry but I simply can't let either of you mess around with such things. It would be wrong of me. But, I'll refund you the credits?" Refund? That wasn't the right word, oh well. "Maybe you can just take her for lunch instead next time, hm?"

Rhia returned just in time to spare Marus any more awkward comments, and Asha immediately took the box and glanced around for something which would be indicative of how the perfumes worked. Yep, tucked away behind one of the central perfumes was precisely that, a black card that seemed to fade into the background of the packaging.

Her eyes ran over it, then she really had to fight to hold back her laughter.

"Good news, it'll wear off..." Though she realized in that moment poor Rhia didn't know what she was talking about. "Bad news... It only works if you already like the person. Sorry kids, cat's out of the bag now."

Rhia sort of just stared at her, utterly confused, then looked to Marus for further clarification.

Asha in response sipped at her tea, setting the box down to her side. Nope, no way they were getting them back.

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

Marus squinted.

His head cocked to the side again. He was still trying to process just what she'd told him. Honestly, he already knew he liked Rhia, and the perfume smelled wonderful on her, it was just...

...

"Huh?"

Rhia Kesyk Asha Hex

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

Evidently, Rhia had come back in the middle of a conversation. She handed over the box to Asha, sat back down in the grass, and then glanced between Marus and the woman with a look of pure confusion writ across her expression.

Even Marus, who had been here the entire time, was confused.

"I... Feel like I missed something important..."

 

[Marus Saretti]

"Pheromone-laced perfumes?" Marus repeated, still somewhat dumbfounded. Although, he at least had to respect the idea behind it; it had certainly worked extremely well on him. "I just got a sniff of one of the vials and knew I had to buy them for Rhia, I wasn't told anything beyond that." He honestly hadn't even realized there was any information given.

He just thought it was good perfume. Clearly it had worked its trick on him. And Rhia.

...That was the impressive part, actually.

Rhia Kesyk Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

Oh to be young again.

Asha shook her head, and finally let the chuckle she'd been suppressing escape her lips. Glanced from Marus to Rhia, and then to the box again.

"Pheromones," she stated once more, lifting up the black card and turning it this way and that as though somehow it would explain her point. "The perfume was laced with pheromones. It caused you to feel heightened attraction to one another."

Marus had begun to piece it together at this point, and the girl seemed to be catching up. That was good...

"A simple misunderstanding, though the vendor should have been wise enough to ensure you knew what you were buying." Asha decided against reiterating the whole it only works if you actually like one another part, she'd said it once and to harp on about it felt... weird. Like she was encouraging it somehow.

Which she wasn't.

She shifted the cup of tea closer to Marus through the Force, having already seen Rhia sip on hers and the effect it had. "Drink, it'll help the effects wear off."

What a morning... What a crazy morning.

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

"I mean, will it, honestly?" Marus was somewhat dubious about the idea that the tea would help the effects wear off. It seemed the shock of the moment had done a bit more for that, or perhaps just the time elapsed from being in the hangar bay to making their way out to the garden. How far had it been, anyways? Maybe the perfume was just slowly wearing off.

Didn't make Rhia any less cute, buuuut—

He took an obedient sip of the tea regardless, making a concentrated effort to not look over at Rhia. Even knowing that he didn't know the perfumes were made with pheromones, and even with what Asha had said about it only working if they already were attracted to each other...he doubted she would be the happiest about it all, and he didn't want to do anything that might invite embarrassment-growing-into-wrath upon himself.

Not that he imagined Asha would particularly allow such—she seemed happier to just laugh at the two, she didn't seem the type to let any potentially hot-running emotions take control of the situation—but it was still better to be safe than sorry for the moment.

Force, now what was he going to do? The gift that he'd gotten Rhia turned out to be something more than expected, and now it had been confiscated. Which meant he was now lacking in a gift to give her, something that had made her so clearly happy such a short time ago.

He took another sip.

He hated ending up empty-handed like that.

Rhia Kesyk Asha Hex

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

Suddenly it all clicked.

Rhia glanced between Asha and Marus and immediately noticed how the latter was decidedly refusing to look at her. Was he embarrassed? Feeling guilty? Annoyed that he'd been caught?

That last one hit her a little more sharply than the rest, and visibly winced with the connotations of such.

"Did... Did you know?" she accused, hastily as she could, afraid she'd lose her nerve and never ask it at all. She needed to know, had to know whether he would do such a thing. But even as she said it her brows knitted together and sense crept in. Rhia exhaled through her nose and shook her head.

There was no way Asha would be sitting here so calmly if she thought for even a second that someone had tried to pull a stunt like that. Besides... She'd spent a decent amount of time with Marus, only him and Ideon for company, it didn't... fit?

Cheeks previously flushed with the anger which had spiked at such a thought now softened into pink embarrassment, and she glanced down at her hands in her lap, ashamed that she'd even asked. Replaying the woman's words over in her mind, she blinked, and then only half looked up - at Asha, not Marus.

"Wait, you said... heightened attraction?" Rhia's voice was quiet, sheepish. She had to fight back the urge to look at Marus in that moment. Force had she been so blind?

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

"What?"

Marus couldn't keep looking away then; he turned around instantly, shock and hurt written on his face. He'd expected unhappiness at the situation, maybe some not-entirely-unwarranted comments at his expense for not checking, but to think for even a moment that he might have known and intended it?

But she wasn't even looking at him, and she seemed...just as ashamed as he was shocked. He glanced at Asha, then back at Rhia who wasn't even looking at him, and instead just seemed to be slipping back into mild embarrassment. What to do, what to do...

He shifted closer to Rhia, reaching out to take her hand with another reassuring squeeze. Everybody was shocked, surprised, probably a little bit wounded in pride if not having had their feelings momentarily hurt like he had; it wasn't worth being mad over or holding a grudge for a single comment born of worry.

Rhia Kesyk Asha Hex

 

[Asha Sar'andor]

She observed the pair of them a short while longer, sensing the spikes in their emotions but also the way in which they were both, independently, able to ride them out to a more reasonable - some might argue rational - state. Where initially she'd expected she might have to step in, she found no need. And so with that in mind she rose up from the grass, and nodded her head appreciatively.

This... Boded well. Trying to entangle herself within their business would not make matters any easier, and having a woman hovering around as they tried to make sense of everything likely wouldn't help either. Rhia wasn't the eight year old she'd last known her as, and as difficult as it was to walk away and leave her with the remnants of her confusion she ultimately knew it had to be done.

"Do me a favour, love, and see to it that teapot is returned to my apartment when you're done with the garden." As she walked past the pair of them she lightly patted Rhia's head, the way she had so many times in the girl's youth, and then she was gone. No doubt off to find Cotan to relay to him all the craziness of that morning.

Of course, it went without saying that Asha took the box of perfumes with her.

Marus Saretti

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

For his part, Cotan was still in the small maintenance tunnel he'd hidden in when Marus and Rhia ran past him. They had started off like two awkward kids, and then a couple sprays of perfume later and it took all of his self-control not to laugh so hard half the station could hear him. Now, though, he was absolutely laughing, after the message that Asha had sent him about seeing the pair.

He'd tried to warn her.

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

His immediate response, the shock and hurt she felt emanating from him, was enough that she bowed her head further in shame. She'd anticipated as much, but knowing couldn't even prepare for the inevitable. Rhia opened her mouth to say something, when she found his hand back in hers regardless. Confusion... Though she couldn't look him in the eye, she did glance at their entwined hands. Squeezed back.

Asha rose then, fussed her hair, and asked that she return the teapot once they were done. "Of course" she managed to squeak out, before the woman was gone. Then it was just the two of them, and every beat of her heart seemed to resonate within her brain.

She exhaled softly, bracing herself for the worst.

"I'm sorry" she finally said, "I didn't mean to... I didn't actually think you'd..." Rhia lifted her head, without having to be prompted, and glanced over at him. She owed him as much given what she'd insinuated, after all. "I know you're not like that. I just... It caught me off guard. It was wrong of me to voice that without thinking. I'm really sorry."

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

Marus listened closely, glancing around to be sure Asha had left, before looking back to meet Rhia's eyes. He frowned at her worry, but he kept squeezing her hand.

Glanced around again.

"That was weird, girl." He didn't exactly have any good way to respond to her apology, so he elected simply to not, instead just commenting on the entire situation...before taking a more playful route now that they were free of any elders, yanking her over and back into a hug. "This part, though, this still feels right. What do you think?"

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

It took her a moment to realize that he'd totally ignored her apology, and by that point she'd been pulled into the warmth of his embrace. Anything she might have said to try and get them back on track was lost the moment she breathed in his scent; it wasn't even laced with pheromones at this point, or if it was it was waning fast, no she knew his scent by now, it was warm and comforting and...

She realized that she hadn't answered him. A like for a like? Not intentionally so. Either way she shifted and hugged him back.

"Uh, I..." Her brain was gone again, off with the butterflies or maybe it was the birds in the trees, no matter, deep blush. "Yeah... Yeah, it does." Which was weird. Because they'd both been so damn awkward back in the hangar bay, and they'd been awkward when they were traveling together, and she got the feeling they technically should still have been pretty awkward right about now.

But they weren't. Well, they were because they were just awkward in general but... Not in the same way. She frowned as she contemplated that. Residual from the pheromones perhaps?

Welp if it was, she'd enjoy it while it lasted.

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

Marus, however, wasn't exactly good at enjoying silence.

"Is that firebud I smell in your hair? Beyond what's left of the...perfume..." Right. Asha had walked off with the box entirely. That meant he was left having come to bring Rhia a gift, but without a gift. "Also, is there...I...the box..."

Frustration momentarily beyond words.

"Is there anything you like?" he blurted out, before cringing and switching up the wording. "Sorry, I mean, what sorts of things do you like? To make up for how I...didn't really..." He trailed off again. It certainly wasn't a secret that he had just bought the perfume without thought, before turning around to deliver it. He hadn't been under the effects of any pheromones by the time he did that, it was just the thought that made the most sense. Fragile items, do not entrust to delivery service.

He fidgeted a bit uncomfortably with the thought, but didn't exactly move to complete the sentence either.

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

"Firebud?" She pondered the question for a second, then shrugged a little, "Might be, didn't really check the bottle to be honest. Is it awful?" She didn't know what firebud was but he'd singled it out so maybe it was a little... pungent. Great. And there was no more perfume, pheromone laced or otherwise. He fumbled over the next few words he tried to say, then his frustration spiked and her eyes widened.

She might have prodded him a little, tried to figure out what exactly he was getting at, but patience was sometimes better than rushing someone so she waited a moment, squeezed his hand again, and then listened when he spoke. A little more fumbling ensued, not quite so bad as before. The questions left her a little bit confused, though.

Rhia tilted her head a little to one side, and perked a brow as she peered up at him.

"I uh... Dunno? I mean, I like my sword, that's pretty cool, and uh.... What do people usually like?" She swallowed a tiny lump in her throat, stomach fluttering. It took her a little while longer to actually put two and two together, by which point her expression dropped.

"Oh... Chit. I'm sorry, you came all this way and Asha just---" Her head sank slightly, and she hid her face in her hands. "All that time..." And he still had a return journey to make. Force, she wanted to bury herself up to the head and hide behind a plant pot or something, pretend she wasn't there at all. "I'm sorry," she repeated, "Can I make it up to you somehow?"

Rhia would be lying if she tried to claim she wasn't glad he'd come all the same, but she bit back those words, nervous that she'd come off as ... weird? Was it weird? She didn't know, truth be told. "I'm glad I got to see you, though" she whispered, a quiet compromise. Once again she was reminded of just how long a journey he'd undertaken, by himself. By. Himself. Ugh, she felt rotten.

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

Marus furrowed his brow in confusion. She was good at making him do that.

"You're sorry? I'm sorry! I didn't even ask what those perfumes were about, and the lady who made them was saying weird stuff to the people ahead of me about things like her perfumes making somebody stronger, or faster, or protecting them from spirits, or digging up lost memories! And I just took a big whiff of one, bought all of them that I could get my hands on, and then immediately sped around to come and bring them to you without even thinking or looking for a label, and then we ran into Asha..."

He was clearly rambling out of both confusion and frustration by that point.

Rhia Kesyk

 

[Rhia Kesyk]

Oh, Force, he was rambling. Spiraling even. More or less rejected her apology, conjured up one of his own, talking about perfumes and strength and...and...

Dizzying. Oh so dizzying.

His brows were furrowed, confusion writ on his expression, and honestly Rhia wasn't even listening to the words anymore. Nope, she'd made the mistake of catching his eyes again, those blue eyes which were so easy to lose herself in...

Was he still talking?

She leaned up, even as his lips moved with words she'd long since given up processing, cupped his cheek, and brought her lips gently to his, cutting off whatever else he had to say all at once.

Marus Saretti

 

[Marus Saretti]

Oh. She was hugging him. That was nice. He hugged her back.

Oh. She was kissing him. That was nice.

From his position, hugging her there on the ground of the garden habitat, there wasn't much else he could do but pull her in and return the favour. Eventually, though, he did pull back. Not necessarily for breath—

Even if she did take his breath away.

—but to look back down into her eyes. "I actually really like the scent of firebud," he admitted. Hoping to assuage her momentary fears from a few moments ago. "It's...sweet, a little spicy. It fits you." That, however, that was a fairly ridiculous thing to say. Oh well, she was blushing, he was blushing.

It was blushes all the way down.

"...Interesting choice, leaving this garden all to the two of us. Did I see what looked like a stairway hidden in a fake rock outcropping a ways away? Where does that lead?"

Rhia Kesyk