Private Heaven Is No Feeling

[Mykel Dawson]

A touching moment of healing and amends was tinged sour as that insufferable voice cut through his mind again, Mykel despising its praise. For my sanity, just be quiet.

Blessedly, silence returned.

With his head clear, he turned his full focus back to her. She seemed to catch onto his meaning of 'favorites' without further elucidation. This time around, he was grateful for how perceptive she was.

However, he couldn't help but indulge in the fantasy of what could have been. It was cruel really, only finding a light like hers now. If only he was older. If only they had crossed paths sooner. Maybe. At least in this moment he had her.

"Why thank you," he replied softly with a small smile, much preferring her praise over the old haunt's in his head. (He could have sworn he heard something akin to a prissy hmph though.) "I like to think I picked up a few things from Master Vexis." His old master was back on the Alliance frontier again in the Unknown Regions, the Consular lending his gifts for diplomacy to help stitch back together a fragile Federation on the brink. "I'll see how well I apply his lessons on Fondor."

He chuckled at her invitation for dinner, as he had been thinking about how to broach the topic of lodging. Even if he hailed his crew now, they wouldn't return to the region until the next cycle at the earliest, probably currently well on their way unloading supplies for the new Enclave.

"Dinner sounds lovely after dodging black holes all day....but something in your tone suggests your sisters may prove a greater challenge."

How many siblings did she have again?

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Dinner at the Ascania manor was held at a long dining table. With the Viscountess unwell and the Viscount deceased, both chairs at either of the table's heads were vacant.

Mykel was offered a spot next to Cora, who sat next to the empty chair that her father would've occupied. Next to their guest was Marilla, a shy teenager with golden hair and large green eyes. Beside her sat the youngest of the Ascania siblings, Emile and Argenta.

Across from Cora, dressed in a rather extravagant silk gown, was nineteen year old Fatine, who had inherited her mother's dark curls and hazel eyes. Fraternal twins Lukas and Anselma occupied the next pair of seats.

Three of the Ascania siblings - Dominick, Volkhardt, and Lysander - did not join them at the table. The former two were in the military, and the latter…

Cora did not want to delve into a description of where his path had taken him.

"So," Fatine prompted Mykel, bejeweled finger tapping against her fork. She had lovely features, sharper than Cora's, and had the impression of knowing how to use them. "Are you single?"

Cora set down her knife with a decisive clank and shot her sister a glare.

"Y-You can't just ask that!" Marilla managed to pipe up while simultaneously crumpling back into her seat, a healthy flush splashed across both pale cheeks.

Fatine, who now rested her elbows atop the table and laced her fingers together in front of her, rolled her eyes. She ensured that all could see.

"Oh, honestly. You two are such stuffy old maids!" She drawled. "Times are changing, dear sisters-" Fatine returned Cora's icy glare with a glance of her own, warm and bold with amusement. "A woman should be able to approach a man nowadays, don't you agree?"

"Not at the dinner table," Cora grumbled, dabbing quickly at her lips with a cloth napkin. "You're going to make Knight Dawson uncomfortable."

Mykel Dawson

 

[Mykel Dawson]

Following a humorous briefing on all the idiosyncrasies of her sisters, with a special focus on the second eldest sister Fatine, they shifted to lighter topics. He took the opportunity a little more about his homelife, finding kinship with her also being the eldest sibling, with a pair of lovely but also very annoying sisters to boot. At least in that sense he could relate to her when it came to family matters.

While Cora could no longer stand, she had recovered enough with his aid to give him a small tour of the garden on her hoverchair. This time around, he allowed himself to fully enjoy the sights and smells of the lush foliage. Before they finally retired to the manor proper, he finished planting her saplings for her, leaving his mark on her personal plot.

There was still some time before dinner, so he was provided with a well furnished guest room to freshen up. However, now away from Cora, he spent a good while just staring blankly out the window as he sat on the edge of the bed, deflated.

He had tried to make something positive out of the revelation of secession, but his spin ended up doing nothing for the pain. It still felt like a double tap when compounded with the fresh schisms among the NJO.

The final scales had finally fallen off the eyes of the young knight as he saw his heroes and mentors for the flawed individuals that they were. Not bad people by any means, but also no one he should ever place on a pedestal again.

Trust in no one...trust only in the Force.

His father's words reverberated through his head as he began to accept them. With a long exhale, he brought up his legs up into a lotus position and began to meditate. Finally shedding away the idealizations of a sheltered youth, accepting the messiness of the world around him. When he acknowledged the storm, he could learn to navigate through it.

In time, he would levitate from the bed in newfound enlightenment.

Inadvertently, Cora had provided him with her final lesson.

---

As he was now off-duty, Mykel slipped out of his traveling gear for a more tasteful personal outfit from his pack after a quick shower, nothing too ostensions but classy enough by Core fashion standards. His silver pendant hung around his neck as his sole accent, the jewels shimmering softly with the glow of Ashla's light. Normally tousled hair was now slicked back with few loose strands tactfully left curling over his left eyebrow. A sweet cologne of cognac and warm apple notes now wafted from his skin.

Cora had told him to expect some sauciness at the table, but he didn't expect Fatine immediately charging out of the gate like a rancor. Her crassness already had sweet Marilla flustered and a more stern Cora set off in a way he hadn't seen before. Siblings certainly had a way getting under the skin like no other, growing up knowing every weakpoint.

Mykel himself looked unbothered, meeting her hazel eyes with his own steely hues, letting her hang on his silence just long enough to tease.

"Should I be?" He asked, expression still serene but tone playful to undercut her aggression. Are you worth it?

While Mykel was indeed a Jedi Knight, he was also a man from the Core who had attended years of university away from his enclave. As young Ukatian women were now just feeling their way through the infancy of dating culture, he was already well immersed in its most sophisticated expression. While no Casanova, even an Ukatian aristocrat as stunning and haughty as Fatine was light work.

Corazona von Ascania