Private Lessons of the Heart

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

Reina had lost count of how many shots she had taken, as she held her head in hand, swirling the colourful liquid around her new glass. There was so much going on in her head. In her heart that she didn't understand. She had loved her birthday for once in her life. It had made her finally feel special for once in her life. Seeing everyone having fun, people taking the time out of their day for her. She couldn't have believed any of it, if she hadn't experienced it for herself. It was like a miracle to Reina. She had finally felt wanted. Felt like she wasn't just an outcast in the Jedi and it had made her feel so good.

So why had she felt so bad when she looked at Everest and Tigris? Reina enjoyed being around the both of them, separately at least. Tigris reminded her of a stronger version of herself. A version that Reina eventually wanted to be like. Strong. Confident. Yet...that wasn't what Reina felt when she looked at Everest. No. Instead Reina felt weak. Vulnerable. Small. But...she liked it. It made something in her chest feel warm. Warmer than when she drank like she was right now. It was part of what she had been testing. If it had been possible that she had been getting drunk from just looking at her best friend...

"...Well. That idea's went up shitscreek."

She was still aware enough of her senses to know that this wasn't the same feeling. Her senses were dazed. Her thoughts ever so slight sluggish...but this was not the same. With Everest, her thoughts were always active. Always thinking about something around Everest. Be it about the Echani, be it about Reina. Her mind never stopped thinking. Her heart never stopped racing. But...none of that was happening right now. Her heart was at a steady pace, whilst her thoughts had drawn to a sluggish stop. She held both of her hands against her head, fighting the urge to let out a growl of frustration.

"What the kark is wrong with me? Why do I feel like this..."

Her anger was bubbling up to the surface. Her frustrations. All of it coming to the surface. The colourful liquid in the glass slowly starting to bubble indirectly from Reina's emotions as she rested her head against the counter of the bar, trying her hardest not to cry. She liked the feelings she felt around Everest...but she didn't like this strange pit in her stomach whenever she saw Tigris and Everest. What was it? What was wrong with her?
​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

The music was too clean. Synth strings masquerading as soul. Amelia hated that. She hated Coruscant, period — too many lights, too many towers pretending to reach heaven when they couldn’t even see the sky.

But she was stuck here.

Shore leave, they called it. Several of her Wildfire crew had roots on this spinning heap of metal and smog, so they made port. Let the kids breathe. Let the ship sleep.

Amelia drank instead.

She nursed her third glass of Mandalorian red and stared at the scarring in the bartop, counting every little burn mark like it might give her an answer.

Where the hell had Alana gone?

Was it something she’d said? Or hadn’t? Maybe the silence between them had gotten too heavy to carry. Or maybe, Amelia had done what she always did. Pushed too hard. Or not hard enough. Left the door cracked, but never opened it.

The thoughts wrapped around her ruthlessly, sending pangs of hurt to her heart in ways she had truly never felt before. She had been through more breakups than she could count, but none of them felt like this. And all because she was probably too stupid, too loud, too reckless, too scared, too whatever, to actually act where it counted the most. And now the opportunity was gone, probably forever.

Coward. You're a fucking coward, Zin.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, swallowing hard the lump in her throat, absolutely refusing to shed tears. But it didn't stop the awful pain that just wouldn't leave her heart, no matter how much drink she tossed back.

This... fucking sucks...

She didn’t notice the girl at first. Just a noise. A confused exclamation. A shot glass slammed down hard in the far corner. It dragged her gaze up. The redhead in the booth had that kind of presence — not polished, but feral. Something raw and electric simmering just below the surface. Her eyes were bright but wrong. Wide like a woman burning through something she didn’t know how to name.

And she looked young.

Not just in age. In pain. The kind that was fresh. Bleeding.

Amelia watched her for a moment longer, then sighed through her teeth, swiped her drink, and stood up.

"Fuck it."

She didn’t ask. Just slid into the opposite side of the booth, dropped into the sticky seat like she belonged there. Didn’t crowd. Didn’t smile much either. Just settled in with the air of someone used to sitting beside ghosts.

"Hope you don’t mind the company," she murmured, voice low but easy. "Didn’t feel right leaving you over here alone, looking like the galaxy’s kicked your ribs in."

She sipped from her glass. Bright emerald eyes calm. Measuring, but not invasive.

"You alright?"

A pause.

"You don’t have to answer. Just figured—sometimes it helps. Sitting with someone who won’t ask you to explain the whole damn war."

She leaned back, quiet for a beat, then offered a faint, tired smile.

"Amelia, by the way."

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

Further proof as to how dulled Reina's senses were. She hadn't even sensed the woman sitting down until she had and started talking to Reina. She hadn't expected someone to come and sit over to her as her eyes squinted, focusing on the woman in front of her. She looked...similar. Not so much in a familiar way. Reina was sure she had never met this woman before...Oh. That's it. Her hair reminded Reina of her own. And the expression on the woman at first seemed similar to Reina, until Amelia offered a faint smile.

"...The Galaxy has done more than kick my ribs in."

Normally, she wouldn't have bothered doing what she was about to do, but she stretched her leg out from the booth to rest her prosthesis against the booth table for a moment, as to prove how the Galaxy wasn't exactly the kindest thing to her. With that, she then slide the leg back under the table, taking another big swig of her drink, feeling the burn as the liquid rushed down her throat. Shuddering to herself for a moment. It was a nice feeling. It was what she wanted right now but she couldn't quite figure out if it was what she needed. Her eyes still focused on Amelia. What was it that the woman needed? Why was she sitting here?

"I'm...chasing something. That I can't find. Not right now. A warmth. I thought a good drink would help me feel the same...but it doesn't. It warms my throat. My stomach. But...it doesn't warm my chest.. Not in the way I'm looking for."

At least that was a sign of growth for Reina. In the past, she'd have told the stranger to kark off. To keep her nose out of other people's business, but she was getting more and more willing to listen to people who were willing to put the time of day in for her as she let her eyes finally start glancing around the bar. It was only then that it hit Reina. She was doing what she hated seeing other people do. She was drinking in her own sorrows, trying to search for an answer at the bottom of a bottle which caused her to rub the bridge of her nose as she finally let out a frustrated growl.

"...If you're looking for some kind of conversationalist buddy, you've picked the wrong person. I'm not good at talking to people. I'm not good with people full stop. I don't understand them."

​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia didn't flinch when Reina showed the prosthetic. Didn't stare either. She just nodded slowly, like she understood. Like she didn't need the story to know it cost something.

"I'm not good at talking to people. I'm not good with people full stop. I don't understand them."

Her gaze dropped to the table for a moment, the bottom edge of her glass catching the low light, casting warped rings across the scuffed surface. She turned it slow between her fingers.

"Same here, babe."

It was quiet, like a truth slipping through the cracks. There was no flinch in her voice, but something settled behind her eyes. Something old and bruised and trying not to make a scene about it. She looked at Reina then, and there was knowing in it. Not pity. Not curiosity. Just... a mirror, held up soft and sideways.

"Warmth's a bastard like that," she said after a pause. "Goes missing when you need it most. Can't fake it with liquor, no matter how much it burns."

She smirked faintly, but it was a tired shape on her face. Like the act of holding it was more effort than usual.

"I used to think drinking made things hurt less. Now I think it just makes the silence louder."

Amelia leaned back in the booth, one arm draped over the top like she wasn't trying too hard to stay casual, like the weight in her own chest hadn't doubled since Reina said the word warmth. And here she thought it would be a good distraction from her own woes. She swirled her glass, then looked over at her again, this time gentler.

"But hey. I'm not here to shrink your head." She tilted her chin a little, eyes lidded, steady. "Just thought you looked like someone who might need a bit of company. And if I'm wrong... I can piss off. No hard feelings."

She didn't want to admit that the mere sight of her reminded her of herself, in so many ways she couldn't even comprehend herself. A beat passed. Then her voice dropped just slightly.

"But... if there's something stuck in your chest — something you don't know how to say — I'm a damn good listener... when I shut up." She shrugged one shoulder. "No judgment, or pressure."

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

For the smallest moment, Reina's eyes softened when Amelia said she wasn't good with people either. It seemed like she knew what Reina was talking about and in a way...that was comforting. And so for less than a blink of an eye, Reina's lip curled up into a small before she stared back at her drink, taking another swig of it..

"I just...I don't get it. This warmth. I've spent my entire life...thinking I was cold. Frozen. That I'd never be able to feel actual warmth..."

Her eyes glanced up over towards Amelia, and narrowed for a moment. A serious gaze almost seemingly piercing into the woman. Reina may have been young and inexperienced with a lot of things. But that tired smirk? The effort it required, as if Amelia was trying to hide something or put a brave face on...It pissed Reina off right now as she spoke.

"...If you're going to put on some kind of brave face, kark off. I don't need that. If I'm going to talk about how I feel...I need to know the other person isn't trying to mask how they feel."

And with that, Reina let silence fill the booth for a moment. It wouldn't be a surprise to her if Amelia had prepared to start leaving but that's when Reina spoke up again. In a softer voice, swirling her drink in her glass once more.

"...I don't get why seeing two people I'm friends with together...makes me feel cold. It makes me feel like I have some kind of twisted pit in my stomach. I'm fine when they're by themselves. But...when I see them together...I don't get angry. But...I don't know how to explain it. It's not like...I want to yell at them or get angry. It's more...like I want to hide. From them. From the world. I don't get it."

​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia didn’t move for a while. Not when Reina snapped. Not when the silence stretched. She just sat there, her fingers loosely cradling her glass, the edge of it resting near her lower lip like she was thinking of taking another sip and forgot how.

The words stuck. Especially that last part—'like I want to hide.'

Amelia knew that one too well.

"...You’re not alone in that," she said finally, her voice low. Honest. No smirk now. No mask. Just the sound of someone trying to meet Reina where she was, even if it meant laying a bit of herself bare too.

She looked over at her, studying her a moment.

And then, with a quiet exhale:
"When you say together... do you mean like… as an item?"

It wasn’t mocking. It wasn’t pushing. Just a careful question, held out like an open hand.

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

"I feel like I'm alone in a lot of things. Like everyone has their own bantha-poodoo sorted out...and I'm stuck here, being left behind whilst I try to figure out what's going on in this stupid head of mine."

For someone who used to think she had her stuff together...Reina was slowly but surely realising how wrong she had been. There was so much stuff Reina still had to figure out in the Galaxy now that she was a Jedi. Now that she was actually starting to live for herself, instead of going through day in and day out doing nothing special. Her head lifted however at Amelia's question, tilting her head in confusion...

"An...item? Do you mean...like dating? Because...yeah. They're dating."

Reina didn't understand the concept of dating being called an "item". In fact, she barely understood dating herself. It was something that hadn't really passed her mind. Why would it? She didn't love anyone that way.​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia’s brow furrowed just a little, but not from frustration—more like she was quietly fitting puzzle pieces together in her head.

"Yeah," she murmured, her gaze lowering to the table. "I meant dating."

There was a pause—brief, but weighty.

She ran her thumb along the rim of her glass, then looked back up at Reina. Her voice was careful. Not assuming, but… searching.

"I guess I’m just wondering if maybe… it's jealousy?" She paused, but didn't look away.

"It doesn’t make you a bad person, you know. It just means… you want to feel wanted like that too."

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

Jealousy. Reina understood what the word meant. Or at least what it was supposed to mean. But this was how it felt? Like her stomach was getting all twisted and pulled apart whenever she looked at Eve and Tigris? Her own brows furrowed, in confusion and a little bit of frustration as she turned her attention to her drink.

"But...why am I jealous of them? I'm not jealous...when I see other people together. It's...only when I see Everest and Tigris together."

That was what confused Reina. Maybe she needed to be more precise. Perhaps there was some kind of hidden detail she was missing. She rested her chin on her hand for a moment, staring at her reflection in the drink, her eyes staring back at her.

"It's...specifically when I look at Everest. I don't know why. When she's by herself...She makes me feel warm. Warmer than most people do. But when she's with Tigris...It hurts. And I don't know why."​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia swirled the last of her drink in the glass, her eyes never leaving Reina's face.

"Mm," she murmured, almost to herself. "Okay. Okay…"

There was a long beat of silence, then she leaned in slightly, her voice quieter now. Careful. Like she was stepping barefoot into sacred space.

"…Sounds like you like her."

Her tone wasn't accusing — just observational. Then she tilted her head, watching Reina's reaction with a faint, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Like… like like her."

Another pause. Her expression softened more as she added, slowly:

"…As in, maybe... you wish it was you in Tigris' place?"

She gave a little shrug, a not-unkind gesture, as if to say hey, no judgment.

"I've seen that look of yours before, kid. The one where it hurts to see someone happy, but only because you wish you were the reason."

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

Reina stared at Amelia for a moment, with a look of pure confusion...yet it was clear that the cogs behind her eyes were slowly turning to figure this all out. Piece by piece the puzzles were starting to fall together as she thought about it all.

Her face flushed for a moment, only enhanced by how much she drank as she did imagine herself in Tigris' place. If it was her that Eve was so close to, if she was the one that Eve looked at the way she looked at Tigris and the thoughts made her smile for a moment. An honest smile, with a small warmth behind her eyes before she let out a long sigh.

"I...That makes sense. A lot of sense. I think it's more than just...liking."

Reina mumbled quietly, her voice slowly softening at the realisation. It all made so much sense. The anger and frustration she had been feeling was slowly starting to fade, as she whispered, mostly to herself but loud enough for Amelia to hear anyway.

"I think...I love her."

A small beat of silence came next as Reina thought about it. She loved Everest. That's why she felt the way she did. She had the answers she wanted...even if it might not have been an answer she wanted. Either way, a small smile slowly spread across her face as she leaned back in the booth for a moment.

"That...makes thinks easier now. I was panicking because I didn't know what this feeling was...but now I do...so...it's not bad."

It might have came across as a surprise. But to Reina, it was a relief. It meant something wasn't wrong with her. And...she cared enough about Eve that she didn't want to try and ruin what her best friend had. Jealousy would be hard to deal with, but now that she knew what it was...It wouldn't feel like she was being stabbed in the gut everytime she looked at the two.

"...I never told you my name. I'm Reina by the way."​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia let the quiet stretch. She didn’t jump in right away, didn’t offer platitudes or push for more. Just watched Reina with those stormy, tired eyes of hers — eyes that had seen their own fair share of moments like this. Recognition settled across her face as the younger woman finally said it out loud. Not just a crush. Not just a passing ache. Love.

And stars, didn’t she know what that looked like.

"Reina," she repeated softly, turning the name over like something important. Her drink hung lazily in her fingers, untouched now, forgotten. "That’s a good name."

There was a pause, then she cracked a dry smile — not mocking, just weary, understanding.

"Love makes fools outta all of us, so they say," she said, voice low, rough at the edges. "But it doesn’t mean you’re broken. It just means you’re still human."

She tipped her glass in Reina’s direction, then finally took another sip, letting it burn. The moment felt thick with something— not tension, not anymore. Just the weight of shared truth.

"For what it’s worth?" She shrugged a shoulder, her tone quiet, real. "Knowing what it is — even if it hurts — is better than driving yourself mad trying to outrun it."

A breath. Her gaze flicked away for a second, as the scent of silver hair and the soft, vulnerable gaze of beautiful crimson eyes flashed in her thoughts, before disappearing back into the recesses of her mind.

"Trust me on that..."

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

Reina hesitated for a moment when Amelia said that loved show that Reina was still human. It was true in a way. It showed that she still cared about people. That she was warming up to them. She just held her hand to her chest for a moment, as she then looked up towards Amelia, frowning at the woman's expression. It was clear to Reina, the woman who was normally so blind to other people's emotions, that Amelia was going through her own troubles...Perhaps similar to Reina's.

"...I think I've trusted you by already telling you all this. But I'll trust you more...I'm not...worried anymore. It hurts less now that i know what it is. I was worried about it...but this makes things easier. I know Eve won't pick me. But that's fine."

For someone who has seemingly accepted that the person they love won't love them the same way back, Reina seemed surprisingly...happy? It wasn't something wrong with her. It was something that was normal. That other people went through. All she really had to do was get rid of the jealousy she felt. She didn't want that to get in the way of her friendship with Tigris and Everest.

"...Thanks Amelia. For helping to explain this to me. Emotions are dumb a lot of the time but...it helps to know how to get through them"​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia’s expression softened the moment Reina looked up. There was something in the younger woman’s words — fragile, but brave — that tugged at something deep in Amelia’s chest. She saw herself in that kind of honesty. That ache buried under the need to understand. That lonely clarity you only got after enough pain had burned everything else away. She set her glass down. Quietly. Carefully. Then leaned forward, her voice low, steady.

"You’re handling it better than most would," she said. "Better than I did once, that’s for sure."

A small, crooked smile tugged at her lips — one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Knowing someone won’t love you back the way you want… it’s a hell of a thing to carry. But choosing to stay, to keep loving in your own way? That’s a rare strength, y'know."

She paused, letting the weight of it settle between them. Her gaze held Reina’s — not probing, not pushing, just present.

"And you don’t have to get rid of the jealousy overnight," Amelia added gently. "Feelings don't work like switches. You just… let them pass through you. Like a storm. Don’t let it drown you, but don’t pretend it’s not there either."

Damn, when did I get so wise. Must be getting old.

She sat back then, just a little, exhaling slow through her nose.

"For what it’s worth, emotions are dumb. But I can tell you’re not."

There was something steadying in her presence. Not polished or perfect — gods no — but real. Like someone who’d fallen into a hole or two and figured out how to climb her way out.

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

"Everest means too much to me for me to...hold in all of this pain and frustration. I don't want to hurt her. Especially since...since she doesn't know. She's...helped me feel alive. Made me realise how to live, instead of just survive."

Reina swirled her drink around once more, but actually didn't sip from it. Now that she had the answers she needed, she didn't have to look down the bottom of the bottle to find them. She didn't believe she was as strong as Amelia was making her out to be. Reina was stubborn. That was all. Everest was her best friend and Reina wouldn't leave her for anything. If Everest fell to the Dark Side, Reina would be right there following her. Sure, some people would say that's not good. That Reina's acting like some kind of lost puppy...but she owed too much to Everest.

"I mean. I'm pretty dumb. I struggle to read. I run into fights I don't need to. But I'm...good at dealing with storms. I've lived through plenty. Fought through plenty of them. This is just...the first one that I can't see. I can only feel it."

Finally, Reina lifted her gaze once more to look at Amelia. A frown gracing her face as she took in the stranger who had been helping her. It was clear that the woman had her own struggles, yet was taking the time out of her day to help Reina with hers. Reina wanted to help as well...but she didn't know how to.

"...I'm also experienced at saving people from drowning themselves. So...if you ever need a lifeline."

There. A small comment. Nothing special. Nothing amazing. Just...an offer.​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

"Lucky girl," Amelia said quietly, not looking away. "Having someone care that much about her."

There was no envy in her voice — just something distant, almost wistful, like the ache of a song half-forgotten. She fell silent for a moment, watching the swirl of her drink as the dim bar lights caught the rim of the glass.

"Storms don’t care if you’re smart or not," she said after a beat, voice low and steady. "They just test whether you can stand in the middle of them without breaking, y'know."

Her gaze lifted, locking with Reina’s again. Steady. Grounded. No judgment — only recognition.

"You stood in yours," Amelia murmured. "Even if you couldn’t see it. That counts for more than most ever manage."

Then Reina’s final words landed — unexpected but certain, like a hand gently offered through fog. That was what finally made Amelia exhale a single, soft laugh. Not loud. Just breath and surprise and something that sounded suspiciously like gratitude. She let the silence hang for a beat, then spoke softly with a faint, crooked smile, voice lower than before.

"Heh. You... don’t wanna hear my sorry story."

The smirk deepened slightly — still teasing, still warm — but beneath her attempt to hide the hurt, her emerald eyes remained shadowed. "I’m just here for the drinks and the company. So far, you’re not bad at either."

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

"She's the lucky one. Whilst...I'm the unlucky one. I know...I'll always love her. Even if I don't want to anymore..."

Her own voice trailed off for a moment as she stared off into the distance, a small dulling to the spark in her eyes. As much as she was happy to know what this feeling was, it was no surprise that she was still at least somewhat hollow inside at the thought of it. Yet she shook her head for a moment, turning her attention back over towards Amelia...before gently gave the woman's leg a soft kick from under the table, frowning at her.

"I wouldn't have asked, if I didn't want to know. It doesn't take a scholar to realise that. So I'm asking because I want to hear your sorry story."

Whilst Amelia's smirk deepened, Reina's gaze just intensified on the other woman. She wasn't going to give Amelia a chance to squirm away from this. No, when Reina put her mind towards something, she was going to do it. For now, she leaned back, folding her arms along her front with a small frown.

"I have all day anyway. No-one from the Temple is going to realise I'm away. As long as I'm back eventually. Just go ahead."​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia groaned quietly and gave Reina a half-hearted glare, nudging the toe that had kicked her under the table with her boot.

"You're annoying, you know that?" she muttered — but there was no bite to it. Only the dry, tired affection of someone who didn't really mean it.

For a while, she said nothing more. Just sat there, shoulders sagging slightly, rolling her drink between her fingers. Then her eyes lowered to the table. Her jaw shifted.

"I don't know what good it'll do," she said softly. "But… alright."

A pause. A breath. And she began.

"We met by chance. Typical story. Wrong place, right time. I'd just finished a job with my crew, some smuggler route disruption thing, I think. And she just came up on our ship sensors. She was... Force-sensitive. Sith, actually. I didn't trust her. Thought she'd try to use me. Or gut me." Amelia let out a short, bitter laugh. "Honestly, maybe a part of me wanted her to."

She stared ahead, but her voice lost focus — growing distant, like she wasn't quite in the room anymore.

"But there was something about her. Something that didn't match the rest. Her eyes... The way she talked. Like the galaxy hadn't chewed her up yet. Or maybe it had, but she was still soft somewhere, under it all, even though she tried to hide it. And like, she was trying to be better. I don't know." She shrugged. "I left. Figured that'd be the end of it. But then we met again. And again. Always by accident. Or maybe fate was playing a joke."

A long pause.

"Eventually… one night, we didn't walk away. It was quiet. Just us. We didn't... talk much."

The memory of that night still made her cheeks turn a soft pink, and her heart swell with something foreign. Amelia went quiet for a moment, her expression unreadable. Something was turning behind her eyes — something raw and half-buried.

"I was... scared after that," she admitted. "Scared of what I felt. Scared of... what it meant to let her in. So I froze. I didn't chase her. I didn't ask her to stay. I figured she'd come find me again. But... she didn't."

She swirled her drink once, then set it down without drinking.

"No word. No trace. I've looked everywhere. I even checked the damn Sith rosters, like I'd actually find her name. Stupid, right?"

Her voice cracked, just a little, but she didn't let it show beyond that.

"I think I missed my chance. Or I scared her off. Either way... I'm the idiot who let something good slip away because I didn't know how to hold it."

Her heart hurt now. Actually admitting it all out loud, acknowledging it, didn't make anything better. It just affirmed how shit the whole situation was, and how awful she felt. She looked at Reina now, the corner of her mouth twitching up in a weak half-smile.

"Happy now?"

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Coruscant
Tags: Amelia Zin
Lightsaber - Pequod
Leg - Anchor

"I had...someone who's a Sith that I wanted to rescue. I think she's far too gone now. She'll only hurt me if I focus on her...so I need to focus on myself...and maybe Eve a bit more."

Reina muttered to herself quietly. Yet as Amelia spoke, and seemed to be going off into a world of her own, Reina moved. From her side of the booth over towards Amelia's side to sit next to her. If anything, maybe Reina should have been more wary of someone who apparently had spent time with the Sith. Someone who was apparently a smuggler but that wasn't the kind of thing Reina cared about. She wasn't the kind of person to fuss over little details like that.

"There's nothing wrong with being scared. With wanting to care for yourself. It's always...good to shield your heart. It just seems like...sometimes people find their way in. Through the cracks. Everest did that for me. She thawed me. Caused my walls to melt and then made her way in, without even meaning to..."

Urgh. Why was she sounding so poetic? It made her want to vomit. Reina nudged Amelia's drink with her own glass for a moment, mostly letting the silence fill the booth once more, minus what Amelia was already saying. She had no clue who it could be that Amelia was talking about. Reina didn't know any Sith that might have vanished, as much as she was starting to wish that every damned Sith in the Galaxy vanished, nothing of value would be lost in her opinion. Perhaps that was too cruel of a thought for her...but she didn't care. Not anymore. Not after what they did to Everest.

"What's better? To have a chance and lose it? Or to never have a chance? You're lucky in a way Amelia. She might not be in your life anymore...but that means you'll be able to move on. Everest...is a key part of my life. I'll always see her. I'll always have these feelings for her. I know I'll need to move on some day...but I don't think I will. I think...I'll just make room in my heart for someone else. But...there will always be that space for Everest."

Reina could almost feel Amelia's pain. It made her regret asking. Not because she didn't want to hear it, but she didn't want to make someone feel bad. At least not someone who had been fine to her. If it had been someone else, Reina wouldn't have cared. She was fine with physical pain but causing someone emotional pain...Reina sighed to herself, looking over towards Amelia.

"...Kark me. I...Would a hug make things better? I doubt it but...people like that when they're upset right? Having someone be there for them?"​

 

[Amelia Zin]

Tag: Reina Daival

Amelia blinked, caught off-guard by Reina’s shuffle to her side of the booth. She gave her a sideways glance, lips twitching faintly.

"You always this chatty when you’re drunk?" she muttered.

But she didn’t pull away. She listened. Reina’s words — clumsy, honest, accidentally poetic — hit harder than expected. Cracks. Melted walls. Room in the heart. All the things Amelia had tried to outrun. She'd built her life around not letting anyone in deep enough to leave a mark. Except one had. And then vanished.

When Reina clinked her glass against Amelia’s, she let out a breath, surprised at just how vulnerable she was being right now. It wasn't... right.

"Maybe you’re right," she said, her voice quieter now. "Maybe I was lucky."

She didn’t sound convinced.

Then came the offer. The hug.

Amelia paused.

She scoffed — or tried to. But it came out softer than she meant it to.

"A hug?" Her brow arched as she glanced over. "You really offering me a frickin' hug?"

But she didn’t say no. Instead, she leaned back slightly, rubbing the side of her face with a tired hand.

"Stars, I need a stronger drink to survive the rest of this night..."

She looked back at Reina. And after a beat, her voice came a little lower. Less guarded.

"…But I won’t say no. Just... don’t make a thing out of it, alright?"