Private High Society

[Tavian Djo]

They had not continued on walking and Tavian now felt rooted to the spot. At least there weren’t too many people on this part of the beach. They were mostly alone.

“Well, you are a serious girl,” Tavian replied frowning, even though in the depths of his eyes mirth still seemed to dance.

“It means we could keep seeing each other, like this.”

He took her hand in his and lightly squeezed her fingers.

“And this.”

Gently, he kissed her forehead.

“And learning more about each other. I think we both know how our families might feel or what they might want, but to me only what we want matters.”

Mostly true. If his mother brought her will to bear on them things could be… strained.

“And we wouldn’t see other people. Is that something you want?”

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Silence stretched between them as she considered. Persephone was certain such a thing would only last for six to nine months given Tavian Djo 's family and position in life. She lived on Kalinda, went to school, went on archaeology expeditions. The Pal'da would be entering naval service for the Hapan people. Three months apart. Given both of their schedules Persephone suspected they would meet roughly four to six more times after Tavian was pressed into service.

Doomed from the start. Perhaps easier to handle when she knew this was just a mere....fling? Summer romance stretched a bit further? Wouldn't be the worst thing in the universe.

She didn't dare to voice her thoughts out loud, fearing Tavian would be dramatic and drown himself in the ocean. She had never met someone her age of the opposite sex who was so head in the clouds. Perhaps a benefit of growing up in a royal family.

"Sure, we can give it a try."

 

[Tavian Djo]

“Good.”

Sure.

A wonderful and reassuring word, filled with hope for the future. Tavian thought as he smiled wanly. He pulled her along and started walking down the beach again, slipping one hand into hers.

One day she would trust him fully he hoped, unguarded. Until then, he would just have to keep proving himself to her. That was fine. She was the one person right now not trying to give him a destiny, or a calling.

“Persie, what do you feel when you are afraid of the water? Will you really not join me in the shallows over here?”

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

“Persie, what do you feel when you are afraid of the water? Will you really not join me in the shallows over here?”

Stopping dead in her tracks, she looked at Tavian Djo as if he was the most idiotic person in the universe. Right now in her eyes he was. A complete idiot. She knew saying 'yes' to a courtship was a massive mistake and it wasn't ten minutes in where she was questioning her own sanity in this situation.

"No, Tavian Djo, is a complete sentence."

Persephone was growing upset, mostly at herself. It was short sighted of her to think a prince had ever heard the word 'no' before. He acted as if he could get what he wanted on a whim. That certainly did not include her. If he thought otherwise he was about to be rudely awakened.

"If you have to know I don't like the open water because I grew up in the underworld of Taris. My mother was a whore and an addict. I didn't see the sun until she died and I was left abandoned, traveling to the surface on my own to find a way out. My life was hard, not the mommy didn't buy me the yacht for my sixteenth birthday hard."

Fire in her eyes, she poked his arm.

"I've made great progress in therapy and I won't let someone like you destroy all I've had to work hard for. If I say no water, I mean no water. It is not a discussion. This is my life and I will not consult a committee on how I wish to live it."

 

[Tavian Djo]

"Oh."

He had never, ever seen her this upset before and did not know how to respond as she prodded him in the arm with her finger and unleashed her trauma as if it were a splash of bucket of mixed ink to destroy his idealized canvas of her.

"I'm sorry," he replied, the depths of his green eyes looking very sad indeed as he stood there, "I didn't know. I just wanted to know and... I'm sorry, I should not have pushed you about it."

Tavian wondered what he had expected. Just a fear of water, the way one might be afraid of arachnids or heights. Not what she had just shared. And yet in only a few words, Persephone had told him more about herself than he'd learned in all the rest of his time with her.

"That does sound like it was hard and... you're right. I have no frame of reference for it. For my sixteenth birthday I did get a star yacht. But I want to know, I want to understand. And more than that I just want to be here for you, with you. I'm sorry, I did not know."

He chewed the inside of his cheek.

"Will you forgive me, Persephone? I feel like I ruined our moment. I'd like to make it up to you."

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Seeing the pity in his eyes annoyed her even more. It was one of the reasons she kept her childhood experiences private. People looked upon her as if she was some charity case and it felt Tavian Djo was now doing the same. Hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose as he stated he was sorry again and then on to explain he got a yacht for his sixteenth birthday.

Not quite helpful. She was half-tempted to ask if his parents had got the color he wanted.

"I...no. There's nothing to make up for, the moment is gone. " Shoulders slumped a little, disappointed. She just wanted to travel back to her apartment at this point. Get in her vessel and fly back to Kalinda. "I should be heading back to High Republic space anyway."

 

[Tavian Djo]

"Persephone... please don't go. Walk with me more?"

He held out a hand to her, but did not force the distance between them anymore than that. In her eyes, he saw that she wanted to run. Tavian supposed he would wish to run as well given their exchange, but if he ran every time life made him uncomfortable where would he possibly go? Would he just move through places, never truly setting roots? That seemed his current destiny if the Mandalorians managed to retain their hold on Hapes.

Tavian's jaw tightened at the thought, because he selfishly knew that the moment she left he would be back to spiraling about Hapes again and he had no idea where it would lead.

His whole world was collapsing. He just wanted a moment of peace and happiness. But his whole life that's what he'd had wasn't it? Was this some karmic balancing from the Force to set things right?

The boy swallowed.

"I really don't want to leave things like this. Will you let me write you? While I'm in training?"

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Persephone didn't reach for his hand. She wished she had some pockets to stuff her hands into but that was a bit difficult in a swimsuit. Instead she motioned for him to walk. She would follow begrudgingly but there was no desire to hold his hand. There was an overall feeling of dejection, the feeling that anyone remotely interested in her were all the same.

Maybe it was her. Had to be. Something to think about later on when she was alone.

"That would be fine." She was assuming his training would start after this. Odd that it would still occur under Mandalorian rule. Or occupation. Persephone wasn't too knowledgeable of military operations. "Training occurs soon, I take it?"

Tavian Djo​

 

[Tavian Djo]

"Likely as soon as I get back," Tavian nodded. The sand felt warm under his toes, the breeze cool against his skin and in his hair.

"It will be an accelerated course aboard the new Queen's mobile fortress," he frowned, "Not the Mandalorian one. One of my line, the Djo. It's all confusing now. We have three Queens, technically. All crowned and all still living."

Tavian looked out at the surface of the ocean. "You ever hear of the three body problem? Three stars cannot keep the same orbit. No such thing as a trinary system. It always ends in annihilation eventually. I can't help but feel the same way about the queens. For now Revali and Djo are working together against the Mandalorian's appointee, but how long can that really last?"

The Hapan boy pursed his lips.

"No matter how far I try to run from politics, it seems to have a way of hunting me down and dragging me back in kicking and screaming."

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Persephone had many questions. Mobile fortress sounded like an armed fleet. If the Mandalorians were occupying the Hapan territory, had they not discovered the fleet? Was there not a systematic killing of noble children yet? Considering the group had crucified citizens and officials in the Diarchy territory not long ago Persephone wondered the status of the Hapes Cluster.

Yet in her eyes Tavian Djo was too sensitive to ask these questions to. Even now he was spiraling over politics and the prospect of three Queen Mothers. That was the least of concerns in her opinion. If she was in charge there would be a temporary truce to drive out the invaders - a resistance movement. Instead they - or at least Tavian - were worried about a future that may not occur.

"You'll have to either embrace it or run away. I don't see any other option."

 

[Tavian Djo]

"I guess so," Tavian sighed, nodding, "What- uh."

He paused, wondering if he was about to walk himself into another minefield, yet desperately wanting to change the subject.

"What happened to your book, by the way? I saw you had it taped up. Did you buy it from a used store?"

One of the things he appreciated about Persephone was that she seemed to have a similar need for authenticity. It would make sense in his head if she'd purchased it seconhand, although that was a curio. The fact it was an actual bound book at all was interesting. Most would just read on their datapds, assuming they read at all.

Tavian knew that while most in his circle were forced to read the friends they made outside of it tended to consume media solely through holovids. Reading a written story was almost anathema to them.

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

A change in subject. Either he was tired or she hit far too close to the mark with the predicament Tavian Djo found himself in. Persephone could only offer limited advice. She wasn't entirely certain Tavian could survive on his own, like a house loth-cat locked away and unable to hunt. Tossing him into the thick of the real world would be a shock to his system.

Carefully they started walking again, although her hands stayed firmly to herself.

"Hm..I may have bought it used. It can be difficult to find printed and bound copies of things." Datapads were typical but she preferred to feel the material in her hand. Maybe it was her upbringing but she preferred the tangible. "Oh. The electical tape. I hated to do it. Not too long ago some nerf herder completely ruined the book I was reading on the beach. The entire plot."

Persephone scoffed at the memory.

"So I taped my book so no one could ruin it for me. Apparently he was attempting to flirt. Not sure how ruining the one thing that was bringing me joy is flirting but I guess everyone has their own angle."

 

[Tavian Djo]

"They what?"

Tavian stopped walking for a beat, a frown crossing his expression as he looked at her, aghast. Slowly, his footsteps resumed, padding in the heat of the sand.

"Flirting by ripping up your book? That... that doesn't even make sense. How did they expect that to work?" Tavian shook his head in disbelief. "Wait a moment, you said they ruined it and spoiled the plot as well?"

A disgusted expression twisted Tavian's lips.

"Was this person out of their grade schooling?" A short laugh left his lips. "I'm sorry they did that. To tell you the truth, I was surprised you had a hard copy at all, living in the holonet age and all. Everything is so impersonal and distant. It's nice to feel something real. To hold it."

Was he still talking about the book?

Tavian swallowed.

"Anyway I promise I'll never tear up any of your books. Or spoil their endings."

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Perhaps she didn't speak correctly. Tavian Djo jumped right to the conclusion someone had literally ruined the book by destroying it. She was speaking ruined as to the contents inside, the plot.

"No...not physically ruined. The contents, the plot. The electrical tape is so no one knows the title or author or any identifying details. This way I can read in peace and quiet in public. I didn't think you were going to spoil any books. Don't look like the type. If you stick around I'll take you to the place where I buy them."

Shoulders shrugged. She had traded in that book once it was ruined. There was no sense in keeping it since it was all but unreadable at that point. Eyebrow raised as Tavian went emotional again, clearly no longer speaking of the book.

"Authenticity is difficult to find these days, I agree."

 

[Tavian Djo]

She still had those blast doors up. Tavian wondered if they would ever fully come down around him. Maybe when he could go five minutes without accidentally misunderstanding her meaning. He smiled wanly.

"Bold of you, assuming a Hapan boy can read."

Laughter shone in the depths of his seafoam eyes.

"I would love that though, the bookstore. That would be nice. After training. I guess we should be getting back to our chairs before someone thinks they are open."

* * *

The next few weeks saw Tavian return home. Although what 'home' meant seemed open to interpretation these days. It certainly was not the Hapes system, which was now infested with Mandalorians. Instead, he started his training on the mobile headquarters of the Hapan Resistance, which was an enormous station that perfectly resembled the structures of the Fountain Palace.

The first week was an ordeal run by hard-nosed veterans of campaigns against the Maw and Dark Empire, which saw Tavian think that he would rather be anywhere else. Every night his body touched down on his cot amidst the hall of other trainees, sore from constant abuse to the point of numbness. All the screaming and physical labor was meant to drive him to a breaking point and Tavian shed not a few tears crying himself to sleep only to wake up in hell all over again.

The next week found a slightly different pace and he was able to write a letter.

"Dearest Persephone,

I'm sorry you haven't heard from me in some time. No datapads allowed. Training is proceeding and that is perhaps the only nice thing I can describe about it. Not a day passes that I do not wish we were exploring ruins instead. But I know that this is what Hapes needs from me right now. I will not let them break me. I hope to see you once I am through this and out the other side.

Yours,
Tavian."

Persephone Dashiell

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Persephone had gone back home to Kalinda. University work waited for no one. She had an odd mix of classroom work and practical application that could range from working in the basement cataloging items to going out into the world where her Professor sent her. Kalinda University didn't have a large archaeology department and much of the work was hands on. A small comfort in her eyes, at least she was learning more than going to a well known university.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

As for Tavian Djo she hadn't heard a thing.

She wasn't surprised. Mostly. From what Zee had told her Naval training often meant silence in communication. There would be no way to send messages back and forth. There were multiple assurances from her droid that waiting would be the only solution. She suspected Tavian had no idea what was in store for him before hand, so she couldn't be too upset.

Zee didn't have many solutions. A holonet message printed out but both had decided it would require relying on someone to actually get it done. In her eyes it was better to send nothing at all. Either their fledging courtship would survive the silence or crash and burn.

Persephone would wait and see until then.