Private It's A Fig

[Iris Arani]

Valery had given birth. She was still being hunted, but her now Fiance had come back from the dark. For all intents and purposes, the danger that kept Iris in hiding had passed. Which meant she was free to go where she wanted. The rooftop. A place where she could paint in peace, see the colors without wholly being consumed. And, maybe, see Arlo Renard again. She still didn't know what she wanted with.. Anything. She wanted to be a Jedi, but what kind? She wanted to live a life, but how? She loved Kai, but what did that mean?

Painting was easier than trying to figure out the answers, or so she told herself. Now? Now she was staring at a blank canvas, frown on her lips. There was no hurry for her to figure out the answers, she knew that. But.. She wanted to. At least one of the questions.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai was hanging upside down, suspended by a thread-thin web. Locks of white hair spilled over the band of his headphones, music drowning out the sounds of the city. His eyes were closed.

At least, until he sensed Iris approaching. Her presence in the Force was familiar, instantly recognizable, bright... and mildly terrifying.

She was on the roof of the Terrace Apartments, probably painting. As usual. He sighed. He'd tried not to let her confession of love change anything, but it had. In small, subtle ways, it had changed everything, coloring all their interactions together with a new context.

Righting himself, he took hold of the web and launched himself upwards, landing on the edge of the roof as casually as he could manage.

<Hi Iris.>

He didn't know any more than she did what to do about it all, but life goes on. They'd figure it out eventually. Right?

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

She'd started to learn how to see specific people through the colors. The familiar shades, how they dyed the other hues around them, that sort of thing. It was a lot harder than she figured it might be. Everyone left an impression, but their moods changed how that impression looked. The similarities between how a person looked one day and how they looked the next were too few for her to recognize someone unless she really knew them. Or at least knew the similarities in the sea of colors.

Arlo Renard was one of those people. Iris's gaze lifted as he landed on the edge, blinking.

Oh. Everything had changed.

It hadn't changed when she told him, sure. But now? Especially after Stobar, she could see it changed things. Her gaze shifted back to the blank canvas. <Hey, Kai. Just swinging by?>

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Nah, but you're cute.>

For a moment he paused, wondering if she would take it the wrong way, then quickly dismissed the thought. This was Iris. Iris was oblivious even among oblivious people. She wouldn't even know that there was another way to take it. In fact, she probably didn't even understand what he meant, and didn't care enough to think about it for longer than a few seconds.

He approached her from behind, stooping to peer curiously over her shoulder at the blank canvas.

<Did you just get up here?>

Arlo Renard​

 

[Iris Arani]

Wrong way, right way. Iris didn't really take it any way. She just tilted her head, curiously peeking back towards Arlo Renard as he stepped over. What she'd do that warranted cute? Did she look small or helpless or such? She hummed softly, then turned her gaze back to the blank canvas.

<No, I've been here for a little while. .. I dunno what to paint.>

 

[Arlo Renard]

Iris was so unaware of the world around her, she probably hadn't noticed how close Kai's head was to hers when he stooped to see her canvas, their cheeks almost touching.

<If you can't think of something, could I try?> he asked. <I've never painted anything before.>

If she would permit him, he'd share the stool with her and take up the brush.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Oh, he was right there. Close. She blinked slowly, watching him. Wait, why did she care? She never cared before, had she? Her gaze lingered on Arlo Renard for a moment, nearly missing what he was saying. Despite him talking in her head. That's what caused her blush. All this time they'd been hanging out, and she never once tried to get him to paint? Or offer it?

Her gaze shifted to the canvas again before she nodded, offering up the paintbrush.

<Yeah, here.>

 

[Arlo Renard]

It was a tight fit on the stool, if they didn't sit one on top of the other or Iris elected to stand instead. Kai took the brush from Iris and looked at the canvas, then the paints, studying them closely. Then, after mixing the pigments together to create a dark, almost violet shade of blue, he dabbed it against the canvas.

<Anything happening with you?> he asked Iris.

A dot was all he had made so far. With a flick of his wrist he swept the paint in a small circle, and worked outwards from that center point.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris sort of scooted to the side to make enough room, though there barely would be anyway. The thought to stand certainly didn't cross her mind, nor did the idea of sitting in Arlo Renard 's lap. Instead she leaned forward, more curious on what he was starting to draw.

Nothing, yet. Just a small spiral.

<Almost died on a mission with my master. .. I think I did, actually. But she brought me back. You?>

 

[Arlo Renard]

<You almost died? Where?> He drew another circle, thickening them so that the color was richer, and added small flecks of white until the blue began to look a shade lighter. A thin outer ring at the edge of the circle remained dark, however. <And she brought you back? How?>

Iris usually wasn't very forthcoming, and he had to prompt her with questions in order to learn more. But it was all right. Made their conversations a little more interesting.

<Nothing much has happened on my end.> He paused as he switched to pure black paint, and began to draw with it. Thin, curved lines enclosed the circles; he pushed the bristles of the brush apart to create a fan effect, sweeping outwards. <I guess that comes with not having a master to get me in trouble. I just train, and study, and think to myself...>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

<Stobar. We were there to watch the formation of a new government. Really boring stuff. Then a bomb went off. I got hurt, she got captured. Then I escaped to the vents. Where a snake came and bit me. Learned I could pull poison, heh. Then I cut through the vent and took a shot that was meant for Master Noble.> There she paused, setting a hand on her abdomen, where she'd been shot.

<I don't know what happened. Just.. I remember drifting like I was going to sleep. Then I was awake. And okay.> She shrugged. Whatever happened, she wasn't awake for.

<You should try to get one. I'm sure Master Noble could help, if you want?>

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai smirked at her dismissive attitude toward the mission, and how it had quickly been proven wrong. <Things are never what they seem.>

Still using black, he planted a long, slightly curved line between the two circles, rounding it off at the bottom. He paused and glanced over as Iris laid a touched her abdomen, curling his free arm around her waist to cover her hand with his own. <Fully healed now?>

Another line, this one horizontal, below the sloping one. It was shorter, but wavier... or perhaps curvier is a better term for the line of a human mouth.

<I've tried, Iris. No masters want me. Master Lashiec is the closest I've been able to manage, and she's more of a sponsor than an official master.> The sting of this lack had dulled over time, but it was still a sore spot with him. Among other things.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked. Her gaze lingered for a moment on where Arlo Renard 's hand lingered on her own. Just quietly watching. <There's more scars, but that's all.> Then she frowned. Her gaze shifted up to him, studying his face for a moment.

<I think there's someone out there who will take you. Don't give up.>

 

[Arlo Renard]

<That may be so, but I haven't found one yet.> He kept his arm around her, holding her close. <And like I said, maybe it's not so bad to be masterless. I get in enough trouble on my own.>

The point of a chin and the curve of a jaw were swiftly framed by dark hair. Again he used the bristles of the brush to make the strands that fell over the eyes and on either side of the face he was painting. Then he cleaned the brush, and started mixing red and white... more white... a quick glance toward Iris to match the tone, and he was satisfied. He began to fill out the face with a fair complexion, smiling to himself, wondering if Iris would ever figure it out.

<Anything else?>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

<Mm. Maybe. Is there much trouble with training, studying, and thinking to yourself?> She wasn't trying to tease him, and it sounded like a genuine question. Or, felt like one, mentally. Her gaze shifted back to the canvas again, watching Arlo Renard continue to paint. Then blinked.

Oh. He was drawing her.

<No, not really. I've been thinking, or trying to. On all sorts of things. .. Thinking is hard when you're not used to it.>

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Yes. If you think too much about things, everything will start to bother you. Even the little stuff.> He added a redder tone to the drawing's lips, lightly stroking Iris' bare arm with the fingertips of his free hand. <But I don't just train, study, and think all day long. I do other things too.>

His fingers wandered up to her shoulder, tracing circles underneath her sleeve. He couldn't help but laugh at what she'd said.

<Can't relate. I've been thinking too much ever since...>

His movements slowed to a stop, fingers curling closed in the hollow between her neck and shoulder, the brush stilling against the canvas. Then they resumed.

<Since I was taken by the Sith as a baby.>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

<What do you do?> She hadn't been paying much attention to what Arlo Renard was doing with his hand, taking comfort in how it felt but not really thinking about it. Now she was. There was no ignoring it as it shifted higher. It was subtle, but she shivered.

Weird.

<That's what.. The Jedi saved you from, right?> She sent the image of Dagon Kaze , though she didn't use his name. She really needed to learn his name at some point.

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Trouble finds me in the oddest places.> He set down the brush and looked at Iris, comparing his work to the real thing. <Especially at home, now. I don't live with other Jedi anymore, though I still go to classes. Home is different. More chaotic, more dangerous.>

What had begun as a deliberate experiment was running a little off course. He had only meant to bait her with his touch and his words, not reveal his secrets. But maybe it was time for that, too. He was keeping too many things from her as it was.

<Dag,> he named the image she sent him, his fingers brushing her throat up to her jaw. <Yes. He saved me from the Sith. But the Sith who took me was already gone by the time Dag came... I'd been changed forever, and set loose to wreak havoc. I was in the wilderness for a long time, half-awakened, until Dag woke the rest of me up. Made me see the stars, and the knowledge of good and evil...>

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

She took a shivering breath, her eyes closing for a moment. This was new. Very new. Iris opened her eyes after a moment, glancing up to Arlo Renard with.. Well, confusion. Curiosity. She was more focused on what he was saying, but that was getting noticeably harder for her to do.

<Is that why you wear the ring?>

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Yes.> He held up the ring on his finger, watching it glint in the sunlight. <To hide what I was made into, from those who wouldn't understand.>

She shivered in his arms. He touched two paint-splattered fingers to the inside of her wrist.

<Your pulse is racing. Are you scared?>

Iris Arani​