Private Family and Friend

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Valaine Valentine
Location: Corellia

"It's nice to see you again Valaine. Thanks for coming with me. I didn't want to show up alone to this party my sister invited me to. It won't be as fancy as Naboo though. No fancy food to feed each other."

Reina chatted away with her friend, a small grin spread across her face as Reina acted as if the pair hadn't fought each other so long ago. As if the pair hadn't bitten a chunk out of each other. But for Reina? That had been water under the bridge. Valaine was a trusted friend of Reina. Would the Ersansyr come to regret that in time? Who knows. It had happened before, where she had given someone far too much trust than they deserved...but she was willing to risk that again.

"How have you and Kito been? I was thinking of asking if she wanted to go and do something together, but I feel like she doesn't really like me that much. You get what I mean?"

It wasn't entirely a surprise to Reina. From what Valaine had said, Reina and Kito were somewhat alike. That would mean that perhaps Kito didn't fully trust Reina. Not something that Reina would hold against her however. It made sense.

Either way, Reina continued to guide Valaine through the streets towards her sister's apartment. Reina didn't want to go. Not whatsoever. Parties had never been her kind of place, but considering it was Reina's sister asking, she couldn't say no. Reina wanted to try and rebuild the bond between herself and her sister. And it gave her an excuse to catch up ith Valaine. Make sure that everything was still going well between the two friends.

"...And are you doing alright? We couldn't really...get any closure about our fight."
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[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Reina Daival

Valaine had once more been invited to another party, and this time by Reina. She after all mentioned that if the redhead didn't want to go to one alone she could always just send her a message and the Sangnir would be her plus one for the night. Valaine was that type of friend after all; the one that'd more than happily fill in a role for others. She truly was a terrible Sith, if she could be called one at all...

"Hm?" came her voice as she turned to Reina as they walked. Valaine was wearing casual attire, not the fancy dress or braided hair that she had at the coronation on Naboo. Instead she was just wearing a favored grey hooded sweater and some comfortably form-fitting black pants. "Oh it's no problem. I put the offer out there didn't I?" she smirked lightly. "I'm doing fine though, just a little busy these days I suppose. How about you? Been up to much?" she asked in turn as she kept her hands in her pockets as they walked.

It'd been some time since she last had a chance to talk to the Ersansyr by herself, they'd been meeting at opposing ends or in additional company lately. The mention of Kito 's name had her raise a brow, did they seem like they were that close to others? They were very close of course, as close as friends could ever be, but did it come across like that? She smirked lightly, "She's not attached to my hip you know...? Could always shoot her a message to ask how she is yourself. But to answer; she's fine the last time I saw her. You should definitely ask her to hang out some time though, if she didn't like you she'd have made it pretty clear." she assured in response as she offered a datapad towards Reina, it was Kito's contact information.

She'd never met any of Reina's family yet, in fact she didn't really meet the families of any of her friends but usually there was good reason for it. She pondered briefly what Reina's sister was like, if she was at all like the Ersansyr, if she was older or younger, taller or shorter, the basic stuff really. Her main thought was on trying not to stand out too much though, because if this was more of a family-only gathering she'd certainly feel like an outsider.

"Oh, the fight." blinked Valaine as she recalled it. It hadn't been an overly long duel but it had been a relatively safe one. At least, she thought it was. "... You know, I don't actually remember how it ended." replied the Sangnir as she looked back to Reina. "But it's fine. We're both alive aren't we?" she added. It was clear that Valaine cared little for the battles between Jedi and Sith as a whole, she didn't even seem to consider herself on a side with the way she spoke about it. "Why? Anything you wanted to get off your chest?" she asked in return.

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[Reina Daival]

Tag: Valaine Valentine
Location: Corellia

"I've left the Path. I'm going down my own road now."

Reina shrugged her shoulders as Valaine asked what Reina had been up to. In the same vein that Valaine was a terrible Sith, Reina saw herself as a terrible Jedi. She had to go on her own path to see what she was. She did not see herself as a Sith, nor a Jedi. Neither of them truly fit who she believed herself to be, but the issue was she didn't know who she was meant to be.

Her eyebrow raised as Valaine explained that her and Kito weren't joined at the hip. They could have surprised Reina, with how close they had been during the Gala. How they had fed each other. Of course, Valaine had fed Reina as well but it hadn't felt the same as when Reina had watched the duo. In a way, Reina felt that little green monster inside of her chest. It wasn't as if she was specifically jealous of how Kito acted around Valaine, or how Valaine acted around Kito. Both of them were attractive enough, but Reina didn't feel that way towards the pair. If anything, she was just...jealous of having someone to be that close to. It reminded Reina of how truly alone she was.

"I just...don't know what Kito would like to do. I doubt she'd enjoy fishing. And I don't really have many other hobbies. Training is one I suppose."

As they got closer to the house, Valaine, thanks to her sangnir hearing, would be more than likely able to hear the sound of music being played. The kind of music that vibrated both through the ground beneath your feet and through your body. Reina didn't seem to hear it yet herself however, as she looked over towards Valaine as the topic of conversation was focused on their fight.

"There's a lot on my mind about it. It's something I've thought about often. We both bit a chunk out of each other. That's not something you easily forget about."

A small chuckle escaped her lips at that, as Reina reached a hand up to her neck for a moment. There wasn't much of a scar left, if anything, but the memory was scarring enough for her. It hadn't been dangerous, but it had still broken Reina's heart to hurt a friend of hers. It was nice to at least hear that Valaine didn't hold anything against Reina for it.

There was also the fact that Reina basically made an oath to be as much of a monster as Valaine would become, but that wasn't something you easily brought up in a moment like this. Instead she shook her head and turned off to the side to start walking up to the house. She expected Valaine to just turn off with her, as opposed to having to point it out.

Before Reina could even knock on the door, it was flung open as a taller but also somewhat similar redhead came out, dressed in a red leather jacket and wrapped their arms around Reina, pulling her in for a close embrace. Valaine would be able to see somewhat of a family resemblence. Of course, there were a few missing details. Reina's eyes were more vibrant, more iridescent compared to her sister. If it hadn't been for Reina being turned into an Ersansyr, it was incredibly likely the pair would have near enough been identical, minus for the fact that Reina's sister was older.

"There you are Raini! You took your sweet time. Oh. Is this your friend? What did you say her name was? Valery? Varry? Valaine? Where's my manners! I'm Alexis. Lex for short. Or 'Lexis. Either works. I'm Raini...I mean, Reina's sister. Though that's a bit obvious looking at us. I mean, we used to be identical, but looks like she got all of the good genes now."

Alexis ruffled up Reina's hair, a bright beaming grin spread across the Elder Pekerish sibling. Yet in this moment, the two couldn't look any more different from the expressions on their face. Whilst Alexis was beaming with joy, Reina was looking off to the side, her face ever so slightly pale. She hadn't properly told Alexis, or even her parents what had happened to her. In fact, Valaine would more than likely notice that uncharacteristically for Reina, she was wearing a scarf wrapped around her neck.
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[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Reina Daival

The Sangnir blinked in surprised. "Huh, you left it? So you're like, not training to become a Jedi anymore?" she asked she looked to Reina. A part of her was concerned that she might've had something to do with it. There was no doubt in her mind that the Jedi often had a sort of unshifting dogma when it came to anything outside of their own order, the type of stance on something that'd refuse to be moved, but perhaps that hadn't gotten to the redhead yet.

"That's kind of crazy news. What're you going to do instead? Just sorta like, chill?" she asked in return. A hum was given as she pondered if Kito would enjoy fishing and she was fairly certainly she likely did a lot of it already. "Well Kito's a survivor before anything else. She builds entire little cabins and calls them a camp, super self-sufficient. She probably goes fishing a lot already so you might have more in common there than you think." she answered.

The topic then shifted back towards their duel; Valaine remembered the bite at least, that was a pretty startling part of it after all. For the Sangnir to be the one getting bitten had caught her so much by surprise that it was doubtful she'd forget that part anytime soon, to that she could agree with. "I didn't even think that was something you'd do. Did you uh... Do it before you changed...?" she asked with a smirk of amusement as she pictured Reina just biting people during training.

As they came up towards the door Valaine waited for the knock to come, but the door itself opened first. She blinked in surprise. At first glance Alexis appeared a lot taller than her sister, and despite the fact she appeared excited and pleased to greet her sibling she couldn't help but take note of that less vibrant gaze, perhaps one stung by the tribulations of life in general.

The Sangnir offered a polite smile and a nod in response to the greeting. "Lex it is~." She chimed in turn, "And mhm, Valaine's right, it's nice to meet you." she grinned. A sideglance was given towards Reina as the Sangnir noted the scarf before turning back to Alexis. "I think I still see the resemblance pretty easily! How tall are you by the way? That's one 'good gene' Reina's lacking." she chuckled softly.

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[Reina Daival]

Tag: Valaine Valentine
Location: Corellia

"Well, it turns out my Master wasn't even trying to teach me how to be a Jedi. She wanted me to be a pacifist. Acted as if I was going to go down the path of being a merciless killer...But I can't be that..."

Reina's gaze only seemed to intensify on Valaine for a moment. If anything, it was because of the Sangnir that Reina knew she wasn't a monster. A hypocrite? For sure. But a monster? No. A monster would have killed the Sangnir when she was unconscious. Reina couldn't do that. She had broken her heart, sobbed her eyes out. Done anything but finish off a "monster of darkness". Though she tried not to focus on that thought, turning her gaze towards the sky as Valaine asked what Reina planned on doing next.

"Not sure. I still wanna learn. Not gonna bother with the whole Light versus Dark Fiasco. Learn what I can. It's how you use it. Not what it is...Don't tell Kito though. I feel like...she would not approve. Maybe I'll sign up for some mercenary work...Y'know?"

With that however, Reina nodded as she took in the information about Kito. Makes her own cabins huh? Reina normally camped out in the elements. Now that she could breathe underwater, it wasn't rare for her to camp out beneath the surface of some lake or river, in some little nook or cranny she can find...Of course, with a waterproof bag. No point getting some nice supplies if you were going to soak them through afterwards...

"Hm? No. Never really been a biter. I just...well...My teeth are suited for biting. Or can be. When I shift them...Also, you taste really nice. Your...blood I mean."

After putting a foot in her mouth, Reina broke out into an awkward grin, letting her teeth shift so that Valaine could see the shark-like shape they formed. Though...the flash of something came over Reina's face, as the colour paled and a look of...shame? Perhaps disgust washed over her, as she tore her eyes away from Valaine.

"And...and...I can...compare it to others. I...You know Atrisia?...I ripped someone's throat out. With my teeth. Couldn't get the taste out...for hours. I don't know...how you do it."

Reina left out the part about nightmares. The nights she woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming herself as some feral animal. It wasn't who she was. Never.

If anything, Reina couldn't be more grateful for Alexis' presence once they had arrived. Reina still wasn't comfortable with physical affection. Not all the time, but there was something about having her sister's arm thrown around her that was allowing the Ersansyr to relax...even if she did pout at Valaine's height comment.

"I'm still taller than you!"

"Barely, Lil' Sis. I'm around 6'2. You shoulda saw her when we first met. She was even smaller than this, I was nearly a full foot taller than her...And here I thought she was too old for a growth spurt."

Alexis' practically beamed with energy as she grinned from ear to ear, even as Reina looked more and more uncomfortable. She didn't want to discuss what had happened to her. How the growth spurt had been because of the experiment. She hadn't even explained how her leg had miraculously came back.

"Come in, come in. It's a house warming party. You two must be freezing your butts off out here."

"It's not really that co-"

With that, Alexis dragged Reina off into the house, expecting Valaine to follow right behind the pair.
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[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Reina Daival

One thing that Reina had mentioned before the door had opened had been how the Sangnir's blood tasted. It wasn't the first time that Valaine had potentially heard such a thing and originally she might've just passed it off as a potentially flattering comment, but to hear it again...? She had no idea what power was in her blood, what strength it could grant others if they consumed it, but it was something she'd certainly have to ask about if given the chance again; for now they were in polite company. At least, polite enough to not be discussing feeding on blood.

Valaine offered a light tilt of her head at something Alexis had mentioned, "Mm? 'Met'?" she asked. "Did you not grow up together?" she asked curiously. Regardless she offered a polite smile and nodded as she followed into the house, closing the door behind her. "Oh, a house warming party huh? Just moved in? Congratulations." she asked as she'd follow along.

She thought again on what Reina had said previously, particularly about 'getting used to it' in reference to feeding off of others. In truth Valaine had never gotten used to it, not in a way that she did it so casually. Back when she had first turned she had become a hungering beast, wracked in the agony and pain her kind suffered in the throes of starvation. She sated herself with the death of others, unable to control her impulses, and even though she was in a mindless raging state during her frenzies she recalled every agonizing second of what she did, every last pulse of life she felt when she murdered someone.

The Sangnir had never gotten used to feeding because of just that; anytime she fed on someone she was keenly aware of the threat that she posed to them, and that if she let herself indulge then she really would kill another. Despite being aligned with the Sith, despite being a creature that fed on the blood of others, Valaine had never crossed that line into discriminate killing, or even killing in general. It was always something that she understood would change her for the worse if she truly started to accepted it.

In that sense she could understand a little of what Reina was going through; you never forget your first time.

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[Reina Daival]

Tag: Valaine Valentine
Location: Corellia

"I was lost at sea as a baby. Always thought I told you that Valaine. For most of my life, I was raised with a bunch of fishermen...who might have also been pirates now that I think about it."

Reina tilted her head in thought at that for a moment. Though before she could say what she was thinking about, Alexis butted on in, with a wide grin plastered on her face.

"That'd explain your people skills Rei. Sometimes it feels like you'd rather punch someone than talk to them."

The Ersansyr's gaze flickered over towards Valaine for a moment, giving her friend an awkward smile. In a way it was the truth. Most people Reina would rather ram a fist into their face than waste words on them. But there were a few people who were different. Valaine was one of them. Someone Reina was willing to talk to. Someone she was willing to call her friend.

Either way, the trio headed further into the apartment with Alexis leading them into an elevator before hitting one of the buttons to ascend upwards. It was...a quiet elevator ride up, with Reina staying quiet herself whilst Alexis' eyes seemed to flicker between Reina and Valaine, trying to figure out how exactly the pair knew each other.

"Oh. Yeah. 'Fore I forget to mention it again. It ain't me moving in to this place."

That caught Reina off guard, as her gaze flickered up towards her sister. She had been told this was a housewarming party. But if it wasn't for Alexis...Then who was it for? Probably a friend of hers. With a small ding, Alexis dragged Reina out of the elevator, keeping her arm linked up with her sister, counting down the apartment numbers before they got to room 40.

"And here we go. Casa Pekerish! Or I suppose Casa Daival."

Wait. Daival? It seemed to be around now that Reina started to put two and two together. This wasn't a housewarming party for Alexis, or one of Alexis' friends. It was meant to be a surprise one for Reina. If it hadn't been for Alexis dragging her into the apartment room, she'd have been frozen in place. Instead she was shown a rather plain looking apartment, with large plates filled with various different seafood based delacies placed around...alongside some familiar faces stood around, with Alexis unlinking their arms to wander over towards Valaine instead.

"Ah! Wee Wind! How you've grown."

A large green Nautolan, wearing an eye-patch strolled on over towards Reina, grabbing onto the Ersansyr and lifting her high up into the air as Reina's legs kicked around in surprise. In the meanwhile, Alexis leaned down to Valaine, lowering her voice into a whisper.

"Tried to find as many of her old "family" members as I could. Thought it would cheer her up."

The eldest Pekerish child started to point out some of the other people in the apartment.

"The Nautolan? Apparently he's the "Skipper". Rei's named after his daughter. Don't think she knows that. There's a little Jawa, Jolt running around. 'Pparently he fixed up the ship. Sorry if you don't like seafood. The ship's cook prepared it all. She also doubled up as the crew's doctor."

Alexis pointed out a Selkath off in the kitchen who still seemed to be cooking. The entire time the older woman seemed to have a smile on her face...Though it slowly seemed to fade from her face as she turned her gaze towards Valaine.

"...Hey. I think you've known Rei longer than me. Has she seemed...different to you? Not sure if she told you about it...but she got kidnapped a while back. She told me she was fine...but she's different."
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