Private Ice and it's complexities

[Kain Aldore]

Nearing the end of the Second Great Hyperspace war

The Slate Runner drifted aimlessly through dark space, from the outside carbon scoring was rampant, and both of the engines were sputtering. On the inside the picture was far worse. Kain huffed and took deep breaths, standing in the central hallway of his ship, barely hanging onto his green lightsaber which was plunged into a corpse. His left arm hung limp shattered and marked with a lightsaber wound on his forearm, he was also bleeding from his head somewhere which he figured wasn't great for his health, coupled with multiple glancing saber blows practically everywhere else on his body. On the floor of the central hallway lay two members of the Brotherhood of the Maw, both now dead, though they had put up quite the fight, enough to wreck his hyperdrive room.

Hitting the switch on his saber, the blade shut off as he stumbled back a few steps looking into the door of his engineering bay, which was riddled with saber burns. "Feth... that's not good." He walked into the cockpit and read several measurements, he was drifting out of the galaxy, which meant no hyperspace lanes and even less chance of a patrol picking him up. He sat and began to flick and press multiple switches and buttons, shutting of the sublight engines and turning off the interior power, minus life support and emergency lighting. His head rocked slowly backwards against the seat of his chair as he took a deep breath and thought about his next move.

He'd been rammed out of hyperspace, yeah how many people has that happened to? Though bad luck was typical for his at this rate. He'd been doing long distance hauling runs with medical supplies to worlds that were being hit hard by the war, he'd been on his way to Tython when realized there was a ship in the hyperspace lane with him, though it was too late at that point. they'd made collision and the next thing he knew he'd been boarded by members of the brotherhood of all people.

He looked down at his communicator and realized he'd been fighting them for the better part of an hour. He knew the shape his ship was in, he'd blew the airlock as soon as they'd docked, which kicked their transport a good distance away and while he could see it, it was barely out of reach for the young man, even worse, he was drifting in the wrong direction.

Kain stood and made his way to the med bay, hitting himself with bacta he took note of emergency supplies and food, of which he had around a month of. Though there was a better option. One of the devices he'd been transporting was a bacta tank. One designed to put it's user into stasis in the event of serious traumatic injury. He weighed the pro's and cons, this would be the only real choice for him.

Making his way to the cockpit he set the transponder on his ship to send out a distress signal "My name is Kain Aldore, I am an independent freighter who was knocked off course, if you find this ship, or better yet are a friend who receives this message I need help. I have a cryo pod aboard, I figured taking an ice bath is probably the only way to see planet side again... so well. Help would be appreciated" He sounded desperate, because he was. Once he got in the pod there would be two options, set a timer and cross his fingers he wouldn't wake up in dark space in a year. Or set it to an indefinite amount of time and have hope a savior would appear. He took the second option.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

The stars hung silent in the void, ancient and unmoved. Valery sat in the cockpit of her Jedi vessel, the subtle hum of systems at idle as she stared out at the starlight streaking past. The war had been over for years. The Second Great Hyperspace War, with all its fire and fury, had burned itself out in a thousand systems. And yet — some echoes took longer to fade.

A faint signal had come in hours ago. Garbled. Scarred with age and distortion. But she knew the voice. She'd know that voice anywhere.

The distress beacon was old. Likely ignored by patrols, or dismissed as war-era static. But not by her. Valery had spent the last cycle triangulating what little remained of the transmission's origin — working backwards, combing half-dead records and ghost lanes no one had traveled in years. And now...

Her ship dropped out of hyperspace with a flicker of light and purpose.

The system was barren. A stretch of dark space between star maps, deep and cold and forgotten. No known traffic, no planets, not even debris fields. Just black. Except for one blinking transponder.

"There you are," she whispered.

The Slate Runner drifted like a ghost against the stars, scarred and listing. Power levels minimal. No sublight. No response to comms. But still alive. Or at least... once. Valery stood from the pilot's seat, keyed in docking approach, and moved to gear up. Her lightsabers hung ready at her hips, but this wasn't that kind of mission. The war was over.

This was rescue.

She reached the airlock, checked the magnetic seals, then pressed a gloved hand against the hatch.

"I'm here, Kain," she said quietly. "You're not going to drift forever." The docking clamp locked with a shudder. The hatch hissed open. And Valery stepped through the breach, walking into the dark shell of a ship that time had tried to forget — but friendship had not.

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

Dusty the first word that would probably come to mind, then stale. The cool lighting was reduced to several steady low red emergency lights. The plexiglass that separated the med bay the airlock had been ripped apart some of the glass had clearly been melted my a lightsaber, the rest of the enclosure however seemed to be compacted backwards toward the airlock, which made the ceiling a little lower than it used to be, in all honesty it was a near miracle the ship still had it's structural integrity.

Immediately the chaos was visible, the mad bay was practically tossed though there weren't much signs of fighting inside of it. On the outside was where it seemed to take place mainly. T

here were saber marks on practically every surface, the couch that once sat in between two of the doors on the adjacent hall and been cleaved in half. The only other room that had carbon scoring around it was the engine bay door to the left or the med bay exit, if Valery Noble made her way inside she would see that outside of the pilot the ships systems were the primary target.

On the ground in front of the door to the cargo catwalk was one of the Sith, he lay on the ground with several of the bones fractured clean in half, what remained of his clothing after all these years had numerous scorch and what looked like the fractal patterns of lightning burns creeping around the cloth. His friend was a little closer to the center of the room , he had some of the similar lighting burns but they we're not as numerous. His clothing however was covered in saber strikes, and it seemed like one of the leg bones had also been cleaved in half.

Past the cargo bay doors there was a bright blue light that lit up the room. A bacta tank, and inside was Kain.

He'd always heard stasis was an odd experience for a force user, for most it was like bilking, one second to the next. He however would have this sporadic dream, it was him back at the Jedi temple right after he'd been knighted.

His master and he were loading supplies onto the jedi transport before they'd depart for the mission that lead to him leaving the order, he'd secretly already been questioning it. Not that he didn't like the jedi, but he did however love his freedom. Something that just wasn't as common in the middle of a war. He'd seen this a few dozen times at this point, but it was always a happy memory. However he suddenly felt something new, no not new, familiar, but out of place. What was that?

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery moved slowly through the broken corridor, the low red glow casting flickering shadows over the chaos left behind. Her boots crunched faintly over shattered glass and scorched plating as she stepped past melted bulkheads and the blackened scars of a fight. The smell was old — carbon and ash baked into steel, and something beneath that, the faint antiseptic tang of stale bacta. She paused only briefly at the sight of the Sith corpses, her eyes narrowing at the lightning-burned flesh and ruined armor. They hadn't gone down easy — that much was clear — but it was also clear who had survived. At least, she hoped.

Her breath caught in her throat as she reached the cargo bay.

There, bathed in the pale blue light of the stasis tank, was Kain.

Suspended in that hauntingly serene way, like time itself had decided to hold its breath. His features hadn't changed, save for the bruises of battle that lingered beneath the preservation field. He looked like he could wake at any moment, crack a grin, and ask if she'd finally stopped running headlong into danger.

Valery stepped closer, heart thudding. The relief hit her like a wave, powerful and immediate. After all these years, after the war, the chaos — she'd feared the worst. That he'd been another name etched into a wall somewhere. Another friend lost to the fire.

But he was here.

"You stubborn bastard," she murmured, the words barely more than breath as she placed one gloved hand against the glass. Her eyes softened. "You actually made it."

Her fingers drifted to the control panel, brushing away a thin layer of dust. With practiced care, she keyed in the override sequence, bypassing the auto-timer. The tank hissed, systems cycling down with a low mechanical groan, and the blue glow dimmed as the stasis lock released.

"You've been asleep long enough," Valery said quietly. Her voice wavered only slightly, the corners of her mouth lifting into a small, hopeful smile. "Time to come back, Kain."

And then she waited, watching the tank with steady eyes.

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

The warmth of that hot day in the hanger, it was cozy, until it wasn't, but it had been longer than he would remember since he left the order. Speaking of warmth, the blanket feeling provided by the bacta began to fade as the tank drained into it's reservoir, once it passed his head, his eye's shot open like a rocket taking several deep agonizing breaths, there was still a tube down his throat for oxygen, one he began to gag briefly before calming down.

He still had bacta in his eyes which was horrible truth be told, not only could he not see, it felt like they were being engorged so also not a pleasant feeling. The liquid fully drained, the glass of the enclosure raised upwards. Kain took a second to himself on all fours as he, slowly pulled the tube from his throat, coughing and trying not to throw up from the feeling. He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes clear, to the best of his ability. How long had it been? Who showed up? He figured skipping out on two or three years was worth a rescue.

Once he regained his vision, he saw a woman in front of him, her face was familiar, yet strange and hard to place. Kain stared up at the woman trying to find his voice. It was the smile that finally put a name to the face though. "Val?" He managed to force out with a broken pitch.

Valery Noble was the one to find him, in a galaxy of trillions, the odds were low, but never zero he figured. Yet he was right about one thing. There was a strangeness to her facial features and the way she carried herself. It was about now he began to realize that he didn't take a simple cat nap. It must have been a little longer than two or three years

"Heh... you got old." If the appearance didn't confirm this was him, the poorly timed and bad taste of a joke would probably do it for sure. Yet as he said it he teared up a little bit as he proceeded to realize how much of a stroke of luck it truly was for her to turn up, especially if this much time had passed. Trying to stand he wobbled a bit before gaining his balance, the upside to being in there was that physically he felt like a million credits. He didn't hesitate to limp over and embrace her even still covered head to toe in bacta. Though he wasn't exactly thinking about her state of mind, he was just happy to be back in reality.

Kain let go after a few more seconds, looking over to his clothing he'd left not a foot from the control, he could even see the effect of time on his shirt. He had the question. He honestly didn't even have the words for this situation.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery squinted the second the words "you got old" left his mouth.

A beat passed.

Then a slow, deliberate arch of one brow.

"If you weren't wobbling like a newborn bantha, I'd slap you for that," she said dryly, but her voice betrayed her — threaded with relief and warmth, it couldn't quite pull off the scolding she was going for. When he staggered forward and pulled her into a hug, she didn't hesitate — her arms wrapped around him instantly, steadying him, holding him tight against her. Bacta or no, she didn't care. She closed her eyes and breathed him in — the familiar, muddled scent of old battlefields and stubborn Jedi who never quite fit the mold.

"You're lucky I found you," she murmured against his shoulder, her voice quieter now, steadier. "I was starting to think you'd vanished for good." When he finally pulled back, she glanced down at her jumpsuit — now smeared in bacta slime — and wiped at it with both hands, making a face.

"Thanks for that, by the way," she deadpanned, giving him a pointed look. "This was clean five minutes ago." But the smile that followed was real — soft, full of memories, and far too rare in recent years. She gave him another quick once-over, checking for injuries, for signs of damage that the tank hadn't healed.

"You look like hell," she added lightly. "But you're alive. That's what matters."

A pause.

"I missed you, Kain."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

"Yeah well to be honest when those two boarded my ship, I thought it was over. And they worked me over too, one of them was a push over, baby's first lightsaber sort of thing. The other however, well lets just say if there were two of him we wouldn't be speaking right now."

He would finally crack that stupid grin of his, as he walked over to his clothing and began to slip back into it, it felt loose, had he lost weight? No probably not, more likely to be the effect of time, The flight suit still fit like a glove so that was a big relief, he then picked up that jacket of his, the leather was cracked in certain placed from the dry environment of his ship but it was held together , and as he put it on the small sense of normalcy washed over him.

"I missed you too, though it's- Hmm never mind. It's good to see you." Week's that how long it had been for him. His comment about Valery Noble 's age was less about her physicality, and more about what he'd noticed. They were around the same age during the hyperspace war. Yet here they both stood, a man in his late twenties and his friend who'd seen the effect of time without him. He was more upset about missing out of things than anything else.

Once he was dressed, Kain reached outwards to the small smuggler's compartment on the ship, the false wall opened and with the force as he summoned his saber and blaster, holstering them. He shot a follow me nod to her.

While he was off put by the time that past, his main concern now was for his ship, this thing was his livelihood and last memento from his dad, it at least needed to start up. He grabbed the rung of the ladder and started to climb up to the catwalk. It took him a second but he reached to top and looked into his ship. The assailants lay on the floor as he made a face that said Better luck next time sleemo. As he reached the cockpit and looked at the emergency systems a pit formed in his stomach. He had about two weeks of life support left before he'd need to change the power cells

"Val, has anyone ever mentioned that you have impeccable timing?"

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery tilted her head slightly when Kain cut himself off mid-sentence. That quiet never mind wasn't lost on her — especially not from someone like him. Her eyes narrowed, not suspicious, but curious, catching the flicker of emotion he clearly wasn't ready to share.

But she didn't push.

Instead, she followed behind him as he moved, keeping her pace slow to match his still-recovering strength. Watching him pull his gear from the hidden compartment — that familiar saber and blaster — it was like watching the past click back into place. At his gesture, she nodded and climbed after him, boots steady against the old rungs. When she stepped into the cockpit behind him, her gaze swept the consoles, flickering red indicators casting shadows over the worn controls.

Her eyes dropped to the warning about life support, then flicked to Kain's face as he made his quip, "Impeccable timing is kind of my thing," she said, smirking faintly as she moved to lean beside the co-pilot's chair, arms crossing over her chest. Then her expression softened, the teasing fading just enough to let the question slip through.

"You think she'll fly?" she asked, nodding toward the console. "Or do we need to call in a tow to the nearest Alliance port?" A beat passed, and she glanced sideways at him again — her tone a little lighter.

"Either way, let's hope we don't run into anymore trouble."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

Kain slid into the flight seat as he shrugged his shoulders. He honestly had no clue, if he had spare parts she'd be up and going within the hour, regardless of interior aesthetic damage. He flipped a few switches as a quite whine rung through the ship. "Yeah it's good to see you too old girl. She's not space worthy but I can definitely jury rig something so we don't need to wait out here for someone." The red lights kicked off as the daylight light strips lit up, he smiled, while the life support would need attention, the general ship power cell still had plenty of juice thanks to him essentially having it on silent running.

"I think if no one has found me at this rate, we should be safe from pirates and the like." He looked back to Valery while re routing power to different systems, as he proceeded with his plan to get his baby back to solid ground. He actuated the tractor beam and would set it to lock onto Valery's ship, then he would set the stabilizers to zero G, if someone were outside the slate runner and gave it a push it would float in the opposite direction disregarding mass.

"Okay makeshift trailer has been hitched to your ship" He stood from he flight seat wand began towards the air lock. He'd finally be getting out of here after, how long? "So... exactly how long have I been out here?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery let out a soft breath as the lights overhead flickered from red to white, the hum of life returning to the Slate Runner. Watching Kain move through the ship's controls again — confident, familiar, capable — felt surreal. As if the past had caught up and started walking beside her again.

She stepped aside as he made his way to the airlock, then followed at a slow pace, boots tapping softly against the floor. His question lingered in the air between them, inevitable and heavy. Valery hesitated just a breath before answering, letting her eyes sweep one last time over the battered walls, the ghosts they still carried.

"You've been out here for over a decade," she said gently. No sugar-coating. No easing him into it. Just truth, offered with the steadiness he'd always respected her for. Her eyes softened, voice quiet but firm, "The war's over now. The Second Great Hyperspace War — we won." She gave him a moment, watching his face as the weight of that settled. Then, a small, tired smile tugged at her lips.

"It wasn't easy. We lost a lot. Planets, people..." Her voice dipped slightly. "Friends. But the Brotherhood of the Maw? The Sith cults? The worst of the Empire's remnants? They're gone. Scattered. The Alliance held. The Jedi held."

A beat.

"Now c'mon. I can catch you up more later. Let's get you home first."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

Kain looked over to Valery Noble as she'd mentioned the time he'd been gone. Over a decade, he'd take one last look over the interior of his ship. Honestly he was impressed it decided to wait for that long. Then the reality began to sink in. Kain had no family left, outside of found family that is. Val was definitely in that category, even more so after today's events. Yet when Kain thought about it, life had moved on without him, and it hurt, he wasn't even sure who else he knew would have survived the events of the war.

Anxiety began to creep through him like a tingle up the spine as they entered Val's ship. He was pressing keys on his communicator sending messages to everyone he knew, it was only a handful or so to be honest. He always liked his circle small, so he hoped he'd receive that handful back.

When she mentioned that the war was over his anxiety dropped, he was still worried about his friends, but at least there was some calm in knowing they had won after years of fighting. That what they went through, what he went through, what Valery went through. It wasn't for nothing. "Hell. I always knew you'd be the one pulling through."

Speaking of the Jedi which wasn't something he usually liked to do, even though he was aware that the people he was involved with had been delt with, after all they were just other masters, and they had no right to ridicule his own post-mortem, esspecially over what had happened but right now he was just curious about Val, and how life was going for her.

Finding the co-pilots seat he felt the new saber scar on his arm giving it an odd look before putting the thought away.

When Valery mentioned home Kain's eyes widened "Oh chit my shop!" Kain owned the property, though that didn't mean it would still be in one piece after years of being away, he sent another message to a friend, hopefully someone that could check in on the place.

"Ya know what never mind, its probably fine. You know what I've been up to these past years. It's my turn, how has life been since i took my ice bath? Anyone special, oooh actually scratch that. How's Jedi Life? That much time is a long way in their ranks, from what I remember." He said that yet, failed to realize just how impressive his own progress had been, up until he bailed like a crashing ship at least. He also would have kept rapid firing questions, after all Kain had about a billion of them for her, but figured she may need to buffer in between.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery paused near the co-pilot's seat, arms folding loosely as she watched Kain settle in — his eyes darting with rapid-fire thoughts and worries, fingers already working the communicator like it owed him answers. She knew that look. That storm of too much too fast, trying to claw your way back into a world that had moved on without you.

And yet... he was handling it. In his own Kain sort of way. She grinned faintly, leaning a shoulder against the bulkhead.

"Always knew you'd be the one panicking about your shop after ten years on ice," she teased, raising an eyebrow. "Not the whole war ending. Not the galaxy surviving. No — it's 'oh no, my toolboxes.'" Her voice was light, teasing, but warm with the kind of affection only a long-time friend could offer without needing to say it aloud.

Then came the real questions — about her, about life. She tilted her head and sighed, brushing some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Life's been… busy," she said with a dry chuckle. "I don't even know where to start. After the war ended, I stuck with the Jedi. Helped rebuild, trained a whole new generation. They gave me the title of Grandmaster somewhere in there — which, yes, I'm sure you'll find a thousand ways to make fun of."

She shot him a look, then her smirk softened. Then she pushed off the wall and turned for the cockpit, flicking a few switches to start the departure sequence. The ship hummed beneath their boots.

"Anyway, I've got an apartment on Coruscant. Don't live there anymore — we moved somewhere quieter once the war ended. But the place is still mine. You can stay there while your ship gets fixed up. It'll give you a base to work from while you check in with whoever's left."

A beat.

"And," she added, glancing back over her shoulder at him with a smirk, "I'll even cook you a meal when we get there. You remember those, right? Actual food? Not ration bars and stale caf?"

She gave him a wink.

"Think of it as your 'welcome back to the galaxy' dinner."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

He reclined to the best of his ability sitting in the copilot seat, Cryo had felt like a really long nap, like when you accidentally fall asleep in the afternoon for only a few hours and wake up when it's dark out, thinking a whole day had passed. Kain was practically bursting at the seems since he'd been on his ship such long time, he wanted to feel natural gravity again, and couldn't wait to get some cheep, lower level coruscant street food in his system. "Hey, I'm glad the war is over and everything, but do you know how expensive a high grade plasma torch is? I can't exactly make cred's on my trade if I don't have the tools for it ya know?" He said that, but if he tried his hand at merc work he'd probably make a killing- literally.

Kain glared up at Valery. His relaxed face turned into the widest grin she would have ever seen on him, which turned into a borderline devious smile. "My apologies, I wasn't aware I was in the presence of the grandmaster." He bowed his body over in the jump seat stifling a laugh, and letting out a snort.

"Hey maybe with you in charge I'll actually consider rejoining the Order!" He'd said in in a joking tone, but after it came out of his mouth Kain realized there was some truth to it. He trusted Valery Noble which honestly was quite big for him, sure he'd get along with most people, but truly trusting them was another story.

He'd point at Val after she'd sat down and began poking buttons, simply nodding his head quickly. "Yes, that- real meat pleeeaasse" Throwing his hands up in a praise the force motion.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery was already buckling herself in when that snort hit her ears. Her head turned, slow and deliberate, and she arched a single brow — the kind of look that had made Padawans sweat and Senators backpedal mid-sentence. But the hint of a smirk tugging at her lips ruined the severity.

"Careful," she said dryly, "Mocking the Grandmaster is punishable by clean-up duty. For a month." She paused. "Maybe two." Her gaze lingered for a moment, softening. That grin on his face was worth far more than any title. It meant he still was Kain under all that rust. Still the same stubborn, chaotic, fire-hearted mess she remembered.

As the ship began to stir, the stars of the system peeking through all around them, Valery waited for him to take them out of there, while she put in the coordinates to her apartment.

"I'm glad you're taking the apartment," she said after a quiet beat. "You need a place to ground yourself again. Even if it's just for a few days." Her eyes remained fixed on the console, but her voice dipped — softer now, more personal. "Stasis does weird things to your mind. You think you're fine, like you can just jump back in... and then it hits you. In waves."

She flicked a switch, and stars stretched into lines.

"And I want you somewhere safe when that happens." Silence followed for a moment, filled only by the quiet thrum of hyperspace.

Then, she spoke again, "...Besides, I make a mean nerf steak now," she added with a sideways glance and a grin. "And if it helps, I can stay there for a few days with you, too. Just to make sure you're alright."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

"Valery, I want you to realize how bad of an idea it is to give me a mop." He brushed his hair back- slightly damp, as he slipped into a character with a low voice, placing his hands together like he was holding the mop, no more like he had a lightsaber in his hand "Beware Sith scum, I am Kain Aldore, formerly Knight of the Jedi order, currently the funniest person you'll ever meet, and soon to be the guy who will... MOP the floor with you."

He grinned a little relaxing back into the chair, it was good to see Val, he could never tell what effect those "Ion charged rabbit" moment's of his would have, but he needed a way to break that tension a bit more, after all for her, he just came back from the dead, and humor, badly timed, was the only way he knew how to shut off pain. He reached over and helped plot the hyperspace coordinates

He took more of a serious tone. "Yeah, I remember, we met shortly after you had your own extended stay." He didn't know how it would effect him, but he was concerned, he'd struggled with the dark side while he was a padawan, heck most of his life. That was before he came to see the force in a new light after a bit of training when his old master took him to a dark jedi to practice control. When he tapped into the darkness he could fight back, it was like people who drink caf but don't get that itch to go back for more, only when they really need it do they dabble.

He was worried the stasis might effect his ability to resist the urges like they were mouse droid signal beeps.

"Yeah well It shouldn't take to long for me to get the old girl going again." He paused sending the coordinates to the Navi computer "One Nerf steak practically breathing, and some company from the jedi grandmaster herself? Listen I know I'm reliable but, please don't promote me to Master, I don't think I'm ready for the responsibility" He said, hand hovering over the hyperspace control rod, looking to Valery Noble like a puppy waiting to be told he can go outside.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery let out a long, suffering sigh that was far too dramatic to be genuine, her head falling slightly to the side as she turned to give him that look again — all narrowed eyes and faux disapproval.

"You are so lucky I didn't bring a mop with me," she muttered, though the corners of her mouth were already tugging upward. "Because that little Jedi comedy routine? That's exactly how you end up scrubbing carbon scoring off hangar floors until your fingers go numb." A beat. Then, with a smirk: "And I will tell the Temple archivist you threatened to use a mop as a lightsaber. Again."

She watched him settle in beside her, something warm flickering in her chest. There was so much that didn't need to be said between them — not after everything. But hearing him speak seriously, remembering what she went through, meeting her halfway in it… it meant something. The humor helped, of course — Force knew he had the timing of a drunken astromech sometimes — but that was part of the charm.

When he mentioned nerf steak and her company, she let out a soft huff of a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Maker, you really are laying it on thick," she said, glancing over. "You keep talking like that, and I might actually have to promote you. Grandmaster Kain has a nice ring to it. Comes with robes. And meetings. Lots of meetings."

Her voice was teasing, but her eyes softened as she looked at him. "You'll find your footing again. Just give it time."

Then she nodded toward the controls, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"Now quit flirting with the hyperdrive and punch it, Kain. I want that nerf steak too, damnit."

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

"WOAH, there is zero reason for you to rat me out to that old book keeper, and meetings? Really? I've faced combat drops from space, trapsing around the jungle with you, getting ambushed more times than I care to admit, and at at least one questionable romance. I can assure you I'd do all of it again before meetings will ever be on that list."

He flicked a few more switches, stopping and giving Valery Noble a dead serious look when she mentioned robes "Haha Hah no. Do you think it's easy to look as good as I do? I am a rugged, ship flying, saber wielding badass with a leather jacket. Putting me in robes is an afront to my warrior spirit, and would be worse than the mop, I mean, you'd have younglings running up to me going" He made his voice pitch high this time, looking upwards to the bulkhead of her ship "Master Aldore sir, why are your robes always creased and wrinkly?" He went back to his normal voice looking at the ground "And I would say 'Well kids that's because I have zero desire to be here, and even less of a will to live now, than I did in the middle of a war.'"

He made himself laugh sometimes, knowing full well he was an idiot, but at this rate he was just trying to break Val's composure. He pushed the hyperspace control forward as they jumped, sitting back down, taking a deep breath. "Hey... thanks for this" His tone shifted back to the serious one he wore when not trying to break tension, or a persons composure. "Not just the rescue, but the place to stay, the food, and more importantly the words." He checked the rear sensor to make sure his jury rigged tow system was holding, and it was. "When I got boarded, realized I was dead in the water, and made the decision to go into stasis, I thought I'd be under for a few months at max, now I wake up to- this." He made a gesture with his arms and shook his head. "How do I even place that first step?"

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery's smirk was instant — the kind that curled at one side of her mouth and threatened to become a full laugh before she even opened her mouth, "A questionable romance? You?" she echoed, eyes narrowing with mock suspicion. "Now that I find hard to believe. Was she a Hutt? A Sith?"

She leaned back in her seat, arms folding casually as she watched him with open amusement. But when he launched into his dramatic reenactment of a youngling encounter, complete with a high-pitched voice and exaggerated despair, she snorted — an actual, unfiltered snort — and buried her face briefly in one gloved hand.

"Kain," she said, dragging his name out like a curse and a compliment in one, "You are so dramatic."

She let the laughter linger between them for a few seconds, because Force knew they both needed it. But when he pushed them into hyperspace and settled back with that quieter tone — the real one — her expression softened. The levity didn't vanish, but it dimmed, folded itself into something more earnest.

"You're welcome," she said, gently. "For all of it."

Then she turned in her seat slightly to face him better, her voice steady but softer now — personal.

"It takes time. For it all to settle. The galaxy won't make space for you. You have to make it yourself. And I don't want you running off the moment that ship of yours starts humming again." A pause. "Not because I think you can't handle it. But because I know what it's like to think you can when you're not ready."

Her gaze lingered, warm but firm.

"Why not stay a bit longer?" she offered. "With a friend. No robes. No meetings. No younglings asking about your wrinkly fashion choices." A playful glint sparked again. "Just… time. To breathe. To find your footing again."

A beat.

"Besides, we'll have a lot of fun together, won't we?"

She leaned back with a grin.

Kain Aldore ​

 

[Kain Aldore]

As Valery mentioned said questionable romance it was like Kain got a dose od PTSD, only it was coaused by a woman instead of a war Zone "No, a Hutt would have been interesting. A Sith tolerable even, no it was worse. She was a... a politician. He said it like it was the ending of a horror story one would tell a youngling, before snaping back to his usual demeanor "A Chiss ambassador to add, man she busted my choobies any chance she had."

He looked over in a triumphant smile as she snorted, mission accomplished. "Dramatic? Me? I think the words are irresistibly charming, and funnier than a womp rat with a thermal detonator, but I guess dramatic works too." He watched her as the chrono counted down it's estimated travel distance to coruscant.

Running off was his specialty, He'd ran from combat when he and his master were ambushed, he ran from the order when he was scolded, he ran from what he calls a questionable relationship but was genuine at times, he ran from the truth instead of going in search of answers to who his birth parents were. However he also ran head first into a war zone to free the slave population of a small moon, he'd ran through the jungle on Onderon with Valery, he'd ran back to retrive his Master's body after she was killed. He was good at running, regardless of the direction.

So when Valery Noble told him to sit still he placed his head back against the head rest inhaling deeply. "The galaxy never has had room for me, I always seem to fit in though, like a duracrete mural with cracks in it. I'm adhesive that slips in and does what it can to repair what I see." Which oddly enough described his experience as a mechanic to a T. "Val you should know better than most that I'm wired to move like a neutron star ejecting plasma out both ends. But You're right. I'll stay for a while, maybe even crash at the temple a few nights if we need to, you could even introduce me to some people?!" He didn't like the idea of going back after leaving the order four years prior, or technically closer to eighteen or nineteen now, but that time also provided change, a change that was evident from his friend next to him becoming grandmaster.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit: Combat Jumpsuit
Weapons: Lightsabers

Valery didn’t even try to stifle her laughter this time.

It came warm and easy — the kind of laugh that echoed off the bulkheads and softened the edges of every scar between them. A hand lifted instinctively to her brow, brushing back a strand of hair as she shook her head.

"A politician?" she echoed, wide-eyed with mock horror. "Kain, no wonder you're like this."

She leaned back in her seat again, still grinning. "But credit where it’s due — you are charming. And definitely funny. I mean, you’ve made me snort twice in one flight, which is honestly a new personal record."

But the teasing faded just slightly, not lost — just tempered by something real. A gentle glow behind her amber eyes.

"I'm glad you're staying," she said, voice quiet but sincere. "We’ll take it one day at a time. I’ll introduce you to some people — a few Jedi, maybe." She smirked. "You can charm them too. Or traumatize them with stories about mop duels and Chiss ambassadors. Either way, it'll be entertaining."

She gave him a sidelong look, her tone light but meaningful.

"And hey… we’ll make sure it’s not all heavy stuff. We’ll find ways to have fun. Even with the galaxy being what it is."

She turned her gaze back to the stars streaking past.

"It’s good to have you back, Kain. Really."

Kain Aldore ​