Private Grief

[Cassus Akovin]

He couldn't find her.

It was like falling asleep, where the mind slowly darkens, the thoughts losing coherence and sensibility. Then, just on the cusp of losing conscious awareness, you think you're alone and startle yourself awake, eyes wide open to check that the person sleeping across from you is still there.

Except he couldn't startle himself awake. The dream continued. It was dark. Thoughts foggy. He was alone.

...

No, that wasn't quite right. Across from him was not his mother, or anything to do with him. Her name was Daiya , sitting beside Zenitha Chuma. Cassus was tormented by the thought that the only time he ever let his guard down, she had conspired something revolutionary... dangerous. Now it seemed, their situation was reversed from the trios last encounter on Belazura. Zenitha was the cause of his ache, where once it was his doing that caused her to grieve earlier than she would have otherwise.

Daiya in the middle, but he held massive doubt she'd ever lend him sympathy the way she had for Zenitha.

He didn't want sympathy.

He wanted to burn a path through Belazura and find her, skin a cat along the way, then fix his mother once and for all. Cassus was tired of his emotional vulnerability, he was tired of dread and fear, he was tired of his burden stealing every thought in his mind.

It was refreshing then, not to have any, sitting still in Aren D'Shade 's safe house. Hands clasped, face neutral and cold.

So cold.

 

[Daiya]

[ M o o d ]​

"When's Aren coming back?"

Hours ago, she had been forceful and convincing, looming large on a building-sized holoscreen. Now the Belazuran heiress sat small, curled up in a chair with her arms wrapped about her knees. She was so young and helpless, Daiya observed. No, not helpless entirely, that was the wrong word here. Vulnerable. Even Zenie knew it, it was painted on her every word and deed.

"She should be back any time now," Daiya offered her friend reassuringly. Zenie made a sound that made the teen think her friend wasn't buying it. Daiya couldn't exactly blame her, but her statement wasn't so much of a lie as an omission. Aren hadn't exactly said when she would return when she left, so technically she could return at any moment, though Daiya had no reason to think that would happen. The Sith lady, a fact the girl had only learned today, seemed to have her own motives and schedules. Until the woman reappeared, the girls were at her mercy in the safe house.

Not just Daiya or Zenie, either. Tawrro was standing guard, concealed as well as a Wookiee could be outside the safe house. And for some reason, Cassus was there as well. Daiya wasn't quite as certain how important it was to keep the boy safe, per se, Aren had simply offered him the invitation anyway. The Darkwire agent wasn't being callous, she knew her longtime frenemy had just seen his mother arrested by the Corpos. Whether alive or dead, his mother was lost to the Pool Boy now, and a part of Daiya felt concerned for him.

Daiya just had a lot of concerns weighing on her mind right now.

Chief among them was the girl sitting across from her, hugging her legs. The chilly reception at the beach, and CorpSec's immediate response, had put a damper on her younger friend's normally-high spirits. The exuberant child she had witnessed on numerous occasions was absent now, lost in the thousand-lightyear stare of Zenie's hazel eyes.

"When she comes back, we'll eat something, okay?" The suggestion was meant to get Zenie's mind off of the obvious. CorpSec was, no doubt, looking for them. They had to find a way into the spaceport and offworld soon, before the net closed and Zenie was arrested and carted off, never to be seen again.

Daiya didn't really have to feel anything from Zenie to know what was going through her young mind, the vivid fears and scenarios. That had been her nightmare not too long ago, too.

"Yeah."

Alright, an answer was better than nothing, monosyllabic or not. Daiya hid her mild amusement at Zenie's clever avoidance, wondering if this is how Tawrro felt about her sometimes. "And remember what you told me, about how you and your dad would have picnics on the floor in your living room?"

No words this time, just a nod.

"Well, we can push all the furniture to one side and do that here!" Daiya tried hard to sell the pitch, banking on familiarity being an aid. It was something she remembered Tawrro doing for her at first. "We can use some bedsheets for a blanket, and have our own picnic."

"Okay." The little Belazuran's tone was lighter now, and Daiya saw her head lift off her knees. She gave Zenie a warm smile, and got a small one in return. Better than nothing, she wagered. Zenie seemed to have taken interest in it, anyway, and Daiya was eager to re-enact some parts of her friend's old life with her. "Can we put some models at the edge?"

"Some models?" Daiya asked, trying not to sound too eager to respond. Zenie's engagement was a positive sign, and the teen was more than a little curious about what her younger friend meant now.

"Dad used to have these origami killik models that he'd put on the edge of the blanket, too." Zenie explained, shrugging her shoulders. She had unhooked her arms, now they rested lightly upon the chair.

"Killiks? Like from Alderaan?" Daiya asked, and Zenie nodded an answer. The girl couldn't fathom why they had such a tradition, but she was willing to do whatever it took to make Zenie feel more at ease. "I'm sure I can find some flimsiplast and we can try to make some!"

There it was, a real smile from Zenie now as she tossed her head eagerly, leaning forward with her hands on legs that dangled from the chair now. Daiya grinned at her friend, then offered one more idea. "We could enlist Cassus, too, what do you think?"

Zenie sat back in her chair, a thoughtful look on her face. She cocked her head, then nodded it, haphazardly trying to compensate for its angle. The result was so comical that Daiya let out a giggle, prompting one from Zenie, too, as she continued the silly gesture. "Yeah, he needs a good picnic."

"Everyone does," Daiya said, giving Zenie a sage nod, and sending her back into a round of giggles. Raising her voice now, she called out loud enough to carry into the room where the boy had planted himself. "Cassus? Come here!"

@Cassus Akhovin Aren D'Shade​

 

[Cassus Akovin]

He watched her get taken, carried away, out of his reach, out of his control. The boy had nothing, and all he could do was remember the snarling face of the animal who did this injustice to him. He could care less that Luminous Sun had come and put an end to the potential conflict, or that Zenitha and Daiya held refugee status until Diviak Manfloon said otherwise on his planet. The one Darkwire handed to him on a silver platter with his name on it.

There was a loose end to the plot, and now he wasn't the only one suffering the consequences of that mistake. If only Cassus had been more ruthless, if he had killed Zenitha and Daiya, rather than leave them traumatized, then this wouldn't have happened. His mother would be okay, recovered, healthy again. In his reach.

"We could enlist Cassus, too, what do you think?"
"Yeah, he needs a good picnic."
"Cassus? Come here!"

His name caught his attention, and now the boy actively listened to what the girls were saying. They needed him for something, and like a puppet on strings he felt obligated to meet them where they were. Getting up, and walked almost stiltedly towards them until he could look down into their eyes.

"Yes?" He asked simply, his mind foggy and dark.

 

[Daiya]

[ M o o d ]​

Cassus was in a bad place. She could see it written all over his face, his body, his mannerisms. The cocky hunter she had met last time on this planet was gone, and in his place was someone else. Daiya grew quiet as he approached, the gaiety shared by the girls suddenly feeling out of place. Her face grew sullen, and then hard. It wasn't fair, every time the girl had a chance to enjoy herself with Zenie, Cassus was there.

Why did he always have to mess it up?

The pool boy's simple response as he approached pushed the girl's mood ever more sour. With Zenie, it had been easy to distract her from the gloom that loomed over her. And for such a young spirit, the little heiress was surprisingly resilient amid so many losses and setbacks. The younger blonde reminded Daiya of herself then, aimless but constantly reaching for direction, knowing that at some point she was going to latch onto the way forward.

Cassus' dark expression gave no hint of light in his hopes. He seemed hollow and untethered now. Adrift. Would that she had Tawrro's wisdom, Daiya might have known how to lift him up, too. He had managed it with her, years ago. A fleeting thought crossed her mind, to bring the Wookiee into the room so that he could get involved now. To rescue her from the encounter she had just set up with Cassus, and was now dreading. But she didn't know if the boy would even respond to the old soldier's ministrations, even if Tawrro was willing to give them.

"Hey you," Daiya ventured carefully, trying not to let all the lilt out of her voice. She struggled, and feared that it was too obvious that she was. A brief frown crossed her face before the girl let it slip into a silent expression of concern. She couldn't understand just why she cared so much about Pool Boy's wellbeing anyway!

Zenie tossed her head back and forth between Daiya and Cassus, puzzled by the new source of tension in the room. She seemed to focus on Daiya for a moment longer, looking for guidance perhaps, before snapping her head towards Cassus. "We're going to have a picnic, and you're invited! We'll have sandwiches and fresh meiloorun, and then maybe something sweet afterwards. What do you think?!"

A relief passed through the teen, unknotting a few of the creases in her forehead. Thank the stars for Zenie, she would have been lost without her younger friend there. Showing her the way. Trying to piggyback on the setup, Daiya added, "It'd take your mind off of things for a while, at least."

Cassus Akovin​

 

[Cassus Akovin]

"It'd take your mind off of things for a while, at least."

There was a brief exhale from the boy through the nose, as if in slight amusement, and he seemed to be completely deflated. The corners of his mouth curled for only a moment as he took a seat with the pair of girls. His mind was empty, but he tried to put on the façade that his mind needed to be emptied further of its darkness... though ultimately he failed.

"Yeah, you're right." He said weakly.

The boy would lend his hand with carrying or retrieving anything for their picnic without saying much. Then, once everything seemed close to set up, he decided to speak again.

"Did you accomplish what you wanted?" There was a clear tinge of bitterness in his voice. It wasn't directed at either of them specifically, but more so both of them, together.

Daiya