I of the Storm

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie hadn't known pain to be pleasurable. Not until that stormy day on Mandalore. Now that she knew, how could she possibly forget? She smiled as he inhaled against her neck. Her scent? What scent? She didn't notice a scent. Maybe it was peppermint oil she used to help relieve muscle aches? Probably. She blushed a little, unwilling to give away her secret. Let him think that was just her natural scent. After all, she was also in love with his natural scent.

"You smell my pillow when I'm gone?" she giggled, "Miss me that much?"

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor smiled as he kissed Rawnie on the nose.​

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"Well, sometimes... But sometimes I'm just sleepy enough that my face is buried in a pillow."​

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Her giggling was cute. Even after all the scratching and noises and kissing, her giggle was still cute. He lightly kissed her on the mouth again and stayed close.​

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"I know you steal my coat when I'm not looking. It's adorable."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She didn't try to be cute. She hated that word. It reminded her of the boys she grew up with. Cute little Rawnie. She had to break a boys nose in order to stop those comments. She was seven, and they never called her cute again.

"I like your coat," she shrugged, "It, well, it smells like you too."

What was it with the women of her family and stealing their lovers coats? First her mother wouldn't go anywhere without Calico's coat, and now she'd taken to wearing Loranes every time he wasn't.

"Tell you what? If I have to go somewhere without you, I'll leave you something of mine. My scarf maybe?"

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor chuckled a little bit at the idea. Trading bits of each other whenever they were apart. It was kind of romantic, if the Chiss thought about it. He squeezed Rawnie and smiled at her again.​

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"Then you can take my coat and one of my guns if I'm ever away. Most of 'em are keyed for you to use, anyway."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

His guns? He'd taken the time to make them usable by her? That was... touching. She found herself almost close to tears. Of course it would take a gun to make her emotional. Theirs was a funny love. What partners they made.

And all she had to offer him was her scarf. Her scarf and...

She eyed the knife sitting on top of a table by the door. Her favorite knife. The one her mother had made her out of her first kill. She smiled, giving her lover a soft peck on the cheek. He could take her knife.

"I love you, you know that?"

Of course he knew. Didn't matter if he already knew. Reminding him every once in a while couldn't hurt. In case she died tomorrow, she had to remind him, had to tell him again. There was never enough time.

"Storms over now. Want to get moving, or should we just wait until tomorrow at this point?"

She could see the sun getting low over the snow covered trees outside. It got cold at night. If they left now, they'd have to spend the night in the village. Wouldn't be any trouble with that, of course. Rawnie often spent her nights with whoever had the space for her when she got back late with her kills. It just meant that her and Lor wouldn't be getting any more privacy...

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"I know, visahot."​

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Lor quickly kissed Rawnie back before he looked out the window. Then he looked back at her and smiled.​

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"Well... If I can sleep next to you, it doesn't really matter. You seem excited to get there, so I'm willing to get going."​

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He nuzzled her and nodded towards the sleeping form of Lord Cabur in the corner.​

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"Plus, I think playing in the snow with the old man there might be fun."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Alright. He asked for it. Of course, it was very unlikely that they'd be able to sleep together. Most of the huts only had room for one guest at a time. Of course, she could just ask for blankets and they could just sleep on the floor together. She wondered if he would be alright with that. Rawnie was used to sleeping wherever, the ground, stone flooring, snow. It didn't matter much to her, honestly. But Lorane might not be quite as used to it.

She stood up, leaving the blanket behind with him while she started to pull the tight leather suit back on, zipping it all together with practiced ease.

"Alright then. First, you'll have to meet my brother. Assuming he's around. He usually is. Wouldn't have left Cabur alone if he wasn't coming back soon."

Introducing her lover to her brother. That would be an interesting conversation to have. 'Su cuy'gar, Corrin. This is the partner I told you about. We're sleeping together now. Yup. He's a chiss. No, I don't know if we're getting married. He says he doesn't want to be one of us, so if we had kids, they probably would not be raised Mandalorian. Hope you don't mind that I'm ignoring the Resol'nare. He likes to shoot things though! You two have that in common at least.'

....Yeah. Maybe she should just keep introductions short.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor smiled and began pulling his clothes back on. The smile was a little bit of a facade, though, as he thought of meeting Corrin. Just the fact that he didn't respect the Resol'nare, or ever plan to, would probably paint both him and Rawnie in a bit of a bad light. But maybe he deserved that. He wasn't a warrior, and maybe he should've been called out on it before. Maybe he was about to be.​

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"So... should I be worried about Corrin taking offense at me not being Mandalorian?"​

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He buttoned up his shirt and pulled his coat on.​

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"Or anybody else, actually. Is there anybody on the village who'd feel that you're slighted by me? I just want to know whether or not to keep my hand on my gun."​

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[member='Rawnie Tal'verda']​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

The mandaorian bit her lip, strapping her beskar'gam on. There it was. The big question she'd been dreading.

"I... don't know," she answered, "They accepted my Mother. But then, she allowed us to be raised Mandalorian. She even made an attempt to learn Mando'a. We'll... avoid the topic for now, I think."

Until I know for sure what I can get away with.

She pulled her gloves on, feeling anxious. She loved her Lorane, but she was disobeying her very essence by being with him like this. By talking about children, marriage. Corrin would probably understand. He knew what it was like to feel like an outsider. They both did. He with his scary space magic, her with her clear echani heritage. And they were accepted and loved by the clan. But...

"Just... try not to start a fight with anybody. Or if you really have to, make sure you win. Nothing'll make them like you faster than winning a fight."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lorane gestured to his gauntlet and boots as he locked them on, his grin returning to his face.​

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"Win a fight if one starts, huh? Unless the guy's got a grenade strapped to 'im, I think I'll be good."​

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He sighed a little bit and wrapped his arms around Rawnie, as reassuringly as he could.​

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"I wouldn't mind raising our kids to be Mando'ade, you know... I just wouldn't be able to go for it myself, if there's any distinction."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

There was a distinction. A very clear one. Her mother had not fully adopted the ways either, but she was still accepted as one of them. If Lorane had no problem with their children being raised to be mando'ade...

She turned around and immediately threw her arms around him, dropping her other glove on the floor. She felt more relieved than ever before.

"Could we be married in the Mandalorian tradition?" she asked quickly, "Would you learn the vows for me?"

If the answer was yes, they she could make this work. They could make this work.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor leaned his forehead against Rawnie's and looked into her eyes, smiling a bit wider.​

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"Short of swearing myself to Mandalore, I think so... and, well, the fact that my sister would probably want us to get married on Csilla."​

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Yes, that was definitely something Serenna would insist on. If only to give a very obvious slap in the face to her rivals. Having her self-exiled brother and his Mandalorian woman marry in her palace, with her overseeing it, would be the ultimate statement of her liberal mentality.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She smiled back. It wasn't awkward to talk about marriage and children with him. He understood her eagerness, it seemed. Knew why she hurried. She leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Should we just have two weddings then? Or try to combine traditions?"

She could probably make that happen. Mandalorians weddings were very low key. Very private affairs. Rawnie rather liked that about them. She didn't exactly enjoy being the center of attention. Their weddings were short, intimate, with perhaps only a few other people involved to bear witness.
What did he have in mind then?

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor laughed and kissed Rawnie back before gently picking her up and spinning around for a moment.​

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"My sister would have us do the whole ceremony in Mando'a just to annoy the other nobles. You can talk to her about it as much as you want. We were both into Mandalorian stuff, but she always got into the culture while I pored over tech."​

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He held onto her and then looked out the window and smiled at the snow.​

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"C'mon, visahot, I think we deserve some playtime."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

It was far too easy for him to pick her up. She hated it, but she laughed anyway as he spun her around. Marriage. Did... did they actually have a plan here? Rawnie was still grinning when he set her down. She generally didn't do plans. Too easy to get hung up on them and get disappointed when they don't follow through. But this one, she'd do her best to see to it's end.

She bent over to pick up her other glove and put it on. Then she leaned in once more to give him alight kiss on the cheek,

"Alright, alright, cyar'ika," she said, moving across the room to collect her furs, her scarf and her helmet, "let's go."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor smiled as he pulled on his own gloves. Did that mean that he and Rawnie had a plan? That they would get married? The thought made him happier than he realized it would. His boots woke Lord Cabur as he walked towards the door, and the old strill almost jumped into his arms.​

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"Well, somebody wants to come with us... Who am I to say no?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie eyed the strill, but nodded anyway as she attached her furs to her armor like a cape.

"He's been cooped up in here too long anyway. Can't let him get lazy."

She put her helmet on, opened the door and walked out into the light flurry outside. So they had a plan. There had been no official proposal. Just a mutual understanding. It worked for her. For them. She smirked and she scooped up a handful of snow, crushed it into a ball, and tossed it at her love as soon as he walked out.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor almost ate snow when he came out the door. His blue face was half-covered in white powder. As dignifiedly as he could, he raised an eyebrow at Rawnie, picked up a small pile of snow, and hurled it at her. Lord Cabur seemed to be highly interested in eating the snow, but he didn't question that. Mostly because it was fun to watch.​

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[member='Rawnie Tal'verda']​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She squealed as he tossed snow at her, bending down to scoop more up and toss it at him. She was laughing. This was fun. Just like when she was a kid and Buir...

No. Don't think about that. She was having fun! This was fun. He was fun. If she had her way, he'd move in with her today, live in this little cabin in the snowy woods with her. Forever.


[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor grinned as he was hit with another snowball, and then jumped at Rawnie, tackling her into the snow. They rolled straight into a tree, which then proceeded to drop a foot of powdery snow on top of them. The Chiss didn't care, much. Snow wasn't the worst or coldest thing he'd ever been covered in.​

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"I think we've both answered this question, but will you marry me?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​