Private Menagerie

[Makko Vyres]

"We have to go see the loth-cats, right now!"

Makko gave an enthusiastic nod. He then looked slightly embarassed at wanting to head on to more cute animals.

"...Would you still like me, even if I was a spider?"

He tried his very best not to react to the question at all. He could see where Shan was going with it, but he was genuinely fascinated to see how Colette would respond.

"Shan has Sewer Rat, I have Lula II, and Colette seems to like cats…what about you? Do you have a favorite animal? One that isn't a creepy spider, I mean."

"Oh they're not my favourites," Makko laughed. Even if Colette said they were a part of nature he wouldn't want to hold one at all.

"I've never really thought of having a pet," Makko admitted. He scratched just behind his ear looking slightly embarassed. Some piece of him that had grown up on the back streets of Denon thought he should be telling everyone he would want a venemous snake as a pet. Of course, Cora had seen his fascination with getting to rub Lula's belly so that ship had sailed.

"Used to see stuff on the holonet when I was jacked in though...always wanted to see a vulptex. Instead of fur they have like...crystrals. They don't have one here. I. Checked."

 

[Colette]

Makko Vyres / Corazona von Ascania / Shan Pavond

Would Colette like Shan even if he was a spider? She leaned in on him and waddled into his arms for a moment.

"Of course!" She said. "It's what's in here," Colette tapped her finger on Shan's forehead before she leaned away again. "That's what I care about. If you still have your mind and personality, of course I would."

The quartet continued towards the loth-cat enclosure and the closer they got, the more excited Colette seemed to get, and once one of the cute little critters began to poke their heads up she almost let out the girliest shriek any of them had probably ever seen (much less imagined) her making.

"Look at them!" She said and turned to Shan to practically throw him into the glass of the enclosure. "Their big cute little heads and their lizard-like little paws, and the fur poofing on the tail, and the— the—"

"Did you know they are expert hunters? They have these claws that can tear apart smaller things like rats so that they can eat them with ease. They can stalk prey for ages!"

Deep breath. Frown. Colette's shoulders sunk.

"Just too bad that they are solitary." Colette frowned. "They can be domesticated but that doesn't feel right."

"But there are OTHER cat races, and they ARE especially domesticated." Colette said and got back to her excited self. "I once almost adopted a kitten on Alderaan after the person that I had helped offered one as payment because I had really managed to bond a little with the mother."

And then she frowned again.

"... But I didn't know if Valery would be okay with it so I had to say no…"

 

[Shan Pavond]

"Don't worry. As long as you don't bother spiders, they won't bother you." Shan said rather simply, shrugging his shoulders. Creepy crawlies didn't scare him that much. Though he wasn't surprised that Cora wasn't a fan of them. Nobility and all of that. Though Shan did blink at the mentioning of Sewer Rat, trying to figure out what he was going to say in response to that.

Luckily, he was able to focus on Colette freaking out over Loth Cats, and Makko talking about Vulptex. It gave Shan time to think to himself as he stared directly towards one of the Loth Cats, closing his eyes...as Colette practically pushed him up against the glass. Okay. That ruined his concentration slightly but he was able to regain his focus as he just...reached out towards the creature through the Force. Keeping his eyes closed to keep his focus, and trying to connect to the Loth Cat. It wasn't a technique he had tried much, but he had thrown himself into studying it once he had been to New Cov.

The Loth Cat tilted its head for a moment before it hopped over towards the glass. Slowly but surely, before it headbutted the glass gently into Colette's direction. Blinking slowly in her direction before it seemed to just hop away as Shan let out a small sigh, rubbing at his forehead. "...That was...harder than I expected. Trying to connect to an animal is harder than I thought." He sighed to himself, before glancing over towards Colette and the Mirialan threw his arm over his fellow Padawan for a moment.

"I'm sure Valery would be fine with you having a pet. I know the kids would love it. And if she doesn't allow you to have one...Well, we can say it's my cat. Say that they're a...learning assistant. Helping us to learn how to connect to wildlife." Shan broke out into a cheeky grin at that. He wasn't normally one for trying to "trick" authority figures but if it got Colette her cat...then Shan would trick anyone he needed to.

Makko Vyres Corazona von Ascania Colette

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"A vulptex, hm." Cora looked thoughtful for a moment, catching the little note of regret in Makko's voice. She squeeed his hand and gave him a small smile, wondering how much experience hehad with animals, aside from feeding on admittedly obese racyon treats in order to gain access to her belly.

"My friend Dreidi Xeraic has a vulptex. Maybe she can introduce you?"

Colette's answer to Shan's question made her smile. Force, they were cute together. So genuine and loving.

The tribal Padawan became endearingly animated while talking about cats, and Cora looked on as Shan tried to connect with one of them. It seemed to work, given how one of the Loth-cats nudged the glass in front of Colette. She smiled, then voiced her agreement with Shan.

"I don't think it would be a problem, as long as you take care of it. Which I know you will." She smiled over to Colette. "They have a racyon and a porg, and didn't seem to mind Lula when I lived with them." Cora winced suddenly, recalling how Lula had taken a swipe at the Noble's racyon, Fuzzy. "Er, so long as she behaved herself."

Makko Vyres Colette Shan Pavond

 

[Makko Vyres]

"My friend Dreidi Xeraic Dreidi Xeraic has a vulptex. Maybe she can introduce you?"

"What, really? Oh that's..."

Despite the way he had changed, Makko still didn't want to look so enthusiastic about a crystal fox that anyone would call him uncool.

"That's awesome. Please," he said.

He watched Shan, feeling the Force move around him in a way he didn't understand.

"It might be hard," Makko said to Shan, "but that's pretty cool."

As soon as an opportunity presented itself, Makko would turn his datapad towards Cora. He thought they were very sweet, but a turn of phrase had put a thought in his head.

"Imagine spider Shan wooing Colette," he whispered.

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond / Corazona von Ascania / Makko Vyres

Oh… Oh that was certainly unexpected. Colette kept from pressing her whole face against the window that separated her from the cat much like the kid from before had. Her heart was racing with joy, she NEEDED this creature to be happy.

And then it head-butted the glass and the girl got confused for a moment. She looked back at Shan who was clearly the mastermind behind this small interaction between her and the loth-cat. He would even admit to it and Colette gave him a gentle smirk.

"If you plan on getting me one, you should still talk to Valery first." She said and gave the boy a peck on his cheek. "She has heard a lot about it too, I am sure she will appreciate another voice on the matter."

She turned to face the other two.

"Oh yeah, did you look at the diet plan I sent you for Lula?" Colette asked Cora and looked at Makko in case he could back her words up. "The one with exercise suggestions and healthy foods?"

 

[Shan Pavond]

"I just...reverse engineered it. Master Valery taught me how to protect my mind from others. So I just...did the opposite." Shan roughly explained it, breaking out into a small smile at the peck. "Just...tried to get my feelings across to the Loth-Cat. Let it know how much Colette is fond of it and its kind. All of that was its own choice." He did raise his hands up somewhat defensively. He didn't want either of the three of them to think he was manipulating the poor creature.

Though he made a mental note to talk to Valery about getting Colette a cat. As much as he was willing to go behind her back...he felt like it wouldn't end well for them. He tilted his head at the mentioning of Lula. The Mirialan wasn't too familiar with Cora's pet, but the idea of it having to go on a diet plan? That wasn't something he'd have ever believed to be something you could do with an animal...then again, knowing Cora, she'd probably have been pampering her pet.

Colette Corazona von Ascania Makko Vyres

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's nose crinkled. "I don't want to imagine spider anythi-"

She paused seeing the silly little image on Makko's datapad. One hand covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. An elbow of admonishment gently nudged Makko in the ribs.

"Oh, uh- ahem." Cora cleared her throat as Colette brought up a message she had sent weeks ago. One that Cora had seen, but admittedly…ignored for the time being. She was absolutely going to respond, yes! She'd just been…busy.

"I did, of course." She nodded perhaps a little too rapidly. "Lula may have an extra pound or two, but she's just...got a lot of fur, is all!" Cora waved a hand dismissively.

Retrieving her own datapad, she tapped and scrolled before tilting the screen towards Shan.

"You don't think that my darling Lula the second is fat, do you?"

Makko Vyres Colette Shan Pavond

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Oh yeah, did you look at the diet plan I sent you for Lula?"

"I just...reverse engineered it. Master Valery taught me how to protect my mind from others. So I just...did the opposite."

"Oh, uh- ahem."

"Ahem," went Makko too, slipping the datapad away.

His eyes widened in guilt as he looked to Colette. Was a racyon not supposed to be that shape? She was an awful lot of fur and Racyon's he'd seen at the Ukatis festival had been round little things too.

Now he felt guilty for sneaking Lula treats behind Cora's back. It meant he got to rub the fluffy belly with all the childhood glee he had missed out on in life.

"Yeah you should ask Valery. Then keep asking her!"

Makko was hardly going to be the one to suggest following the rules quietly. He still thought it was nice that Colette got to live with the Nobles.

"I've never been able to touch the mind of an animal like that Shan," Makko said. "Impressive."

"And we should get a photo together!" Makko suddenly announced, seeing a face-in-hole board ahead of them.

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond / Makko Vyres / Corazona von Ascania

There was a sharp glare for Shan. She would have no respect for him if he dared to lie to Cora just to make her feel better. The glare then moved onto the woman in question who clearly had ignored Colette's concern for her animal.

"Alright, well," She said and put her hands on her waist. "When Lula dies a slow and painful death from a heart attack in a year or two it will have been pretty much entirely avoidable."

Blunt as ever, but animals were just one of those things that mattered deeply for Colette. Luckily, Makko broke the tension and Colette managed to get herself out of the mood. A… photo? In that thing?

"That's… A man in swimpants and a dolphin, but the hole is in its mouth, and… How does that… Eh???"

 

[Shan Pavond]

There was no way Shan was planning on lying in the first place. In fact, Colette wouldn't even need to glare since as soon as Cora showed Shan the photo, he blurted out straight away. "Yes. She is. I'm surprised she's still alive right now. That's more than just fur. From a medical perspective, I'd honestly be quite worried if she was a patient of mine." Okay. Maybe he was being a bit too harsh...but he was simply looking at it from a medical perspective. And hey, when it was for animals that couldn't make choices for himself, of course Shan was going to be a bit more blunt than usual.

"You pretend to be the Dolphin." It made enough sense to Shan as he cleared his throat...and then made some very...poor attempts at a Dolphin impression, mostly to try and get a laugh out of the group. Raising the mood was his goal right now, since well...talking about Lula had lowered the mood ever so slightly. At least that was how he saw it.

Colette Corazona von Ascania Makko Vyres

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"She's not that…"

Cora frowned. She thought that Lula was adorable, but Colette and Shan had concerns over the racyon's weight.

Now that she thought about it, her namesake - the OG Lula - had been a semi-wild racyon that hung around the Ascania estate when Cora and her siblings were much smaller. While the children fed her table scraps, Lula the first was an active hunter and very lean.

Pudgy Lula had been a wedding gift from Duke Something or Other, and Cora focused as much of her attention on pampering the little creature in order to love something.

"Maybe she could stand to lose a few pounds…" Cora sighed and put away her datapad. That didn't mean that she wasn't going to stop dressing up Lula, of course.

She giggled when the silly picture cut-out came in to view, snorting with sudden laughter at Shan's dolphin impression. With a hand over her mouth, Cora waved them towards the display.

"Go on, get over there. Makko will take your picture!" She volunteered.

Makko Vyres Shan Pavond Colette

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Alright, well," She said and put her hands on her waist. "When Lula dies a slow and painful death from a heart attack in a year or two it will have been pretty much entirely avoidable."

Makko's eyes widened at how blunt Colette was. She was clearly concerned for Lula's health but it still caught him off guard. Given how well he knew Colette, it shouldn't have. Makko knew how to speak his mind, but he had been trying to be more diplomatic about things.

"Yes. She is. I'm surprised she's still alive right now. That's more than just fur. From a medical perspective, I'd honestly be quite worried if she was a patient of mine."

Damn, in for the kill.

"Maybe she could stand to lose a few pounds…" Cora sighed and put away her datapad.

"I'll stop feeding her treats," Makko said. He had fed her more treats than Cora had noticed and now he felt guilty.

Makko shook his head and laughed at the conversation.

"Go on, get over there. Makko will take your picture!" She volunteered.

"I think I'd rather holovid Shan Pavond dolphin impression and share it," Makko said, sliding his datapad from his pocket to line up the shot.

"And smile Colette!" he called out. "We'll get someone to take a picture of us all here too," he said.

 

[Colette]

Corazona von Ascania / Shan Pavond / Makko Vyres

Smile? Fuggedaboutit. Colette gave her finest little wacky face instead. Eyes crossed, underbite exaggerated, brows dancing all over the place. It made for a strange dynamic in the photo, but as anyone who told Colette to do something she didn't want to do would know: "smile" was not a thing she did on demand.

She stepped out of the weird hole once Makko had snapped the photo and wrapped her arms around Shan for a moment behind the placard to give him a quick hug. The others might have known about sea animal noises. But as a girl of the desert, Colette did not. For all she knew, that dolphin sound was really on-point.

"That was great." She said and separated. There was no particular reason for the hug, she was just happy to be there and that she was able to have a good time in spite of where they were.

"So, uh…" She said as they stepped out to the others in the group. "Despite everything, I'm actually having a good time." Colette admitted. "Thank you."

"Now, I want Makko in the dolphin hole and Cora at the man-in-underwear hole." She said and took Makko's datapad. "Chop chop."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"At the end of the day though...It's better for her to be overfed, than underfed." Shan tried to at least somewhat comfort Corazona. He didn't want her to feel too bad about the state of her raycon. Even though Shan wasn't a huge fan of having obese animals, it was much better than them being underweight. In his eyes, it was easier to remove an excess, than it was to add something that wasn't there.

It was easy enough for Shan to smile at the smile. He was nearly always in a constant smile when he was with Colette. Makko and Cora only helped him to feel even better as he just posed for the photo. He made sure to return the arm hug to Colette, not holding it for too long. Colette was like a cat to Shan. Fine with the physical contact, as long as it was on her terms, and he wasn't going to complain about that whatsoever.

"Now it's Makko and Cora's turn. Makko has to give his best dolphin impression like me though." The Mirialan kept a bright grin on his face as he stepped over towards Colette's side...and then to try and get somewhat of a smile out of Cora and Makko, Shan just raised his hand behind Colette's back and made little bunny ears behind her head.

Colette Corazona von Ascania Makko Vyres

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora lifted a brow at Makko's admission. She was just pleased that he'd taken to Lula, and that Lula, as she did with most humans who gave her food, had decided to tolerate him.

"I could start by reducing her treat intake. But when she gets hangry, I'm dropping her on your doorstep, Colette. Or Shan."

There was an unmistakable note of good humor in her otherwise dry tone.

When Shan and Colette posed for the picture, Cora couldn't help another giggle at the silly face Colette made. Seeing her hug Shan made her smile, too. "I'm glad." She beamed. "The zoo turned out to be a good idea!"

None of them really spent enough time doing normal things that people their age did. It was nice to get out and not have to worry about training, war, and diplomatic crises for a few hours.

"Alright, alright," she and Makko hustled toward the cutouts. She felt awkward sticking her face into some cardboard. "Make sure you get my cute side bec-pffft!"

Shan's bunny ears made her laugh, and the shutter snapped at the exact moment to capture a most unflattering expression; one eye closed, the other opened, cheeks puffed and lower lips pursed together at a slanted angle.

"How does it look?"

Makko Vyres Colette Shan Pavond

 

[Makko Vyres]

He was trying not to make it seem like be was a audience to Colette and Shan. He was invested in seeing what happened between them, but they needed their own space on the date.

They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Each interaction a little more natural. People just needed some time with something to enjoy. He made a little mental promise to pick out some other ideas to share around the group.

Valery had pointed out how little Makko had experienced. He'd been clubbing hard, watching bands and had barely travelled beyond the boundaries of his district.

Makko took up his position in the board.

"Looking good," he said, glancing down at the painting of the man Cora stood in.

"Make sure you get my cute side bec-pffft!"

The best bit about using his datapad was that Makko could immediately see the photo taken.

"It's...er...not your best," Makko laughed. "Oh boy. Colette take another cos we look happy in that one but Cora will bury it."

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond / Corazona von Ascania / Makko Vyres

Colette did not try to cheer Corazona up from the talk. In part because Shan was already covering it, and in another part because it would risk Cora eschewing from what was right for her pet. Sometimes lessons *had' to be difficult, and sometimes they most certainly did not. In this case though, Shan was already on dampening duty. Colette was just bound to tear up the scabs as it were and risk spilling some more salt into them if she joined in as well.

And in a sense it was true what Shan was thinking — or so Colette most likely would have said herself if she had been aware of the fact that he had thought it — about Colette being like a cat. She had, after all, grown up around but mostly outside of a group that was hyper fixated on genetic purity and had repeatedly been told that she would never be allowed a partner because of circumstances she could do nothing about.

She had been raised from a very young age to accept that while she could form friendships with people, that was all that she would get out of life. Her culture would deny her any and all romantic opportunities, and the closest she would ever get to having a child of her own would be to tend to those that belonged to other women in whichever clan she was handed over to.

Needless to say, she wasn't a stranger to kindness but affection was almost alien to her.

The second that she pressed the photo button was the same that Corazona laughed at whatever was going on behind Colette, capturing the former princess in a sneeze-like state before Colette turned around to see what the big fuss was all about and seeing, well, nothing.

Turning back to the screen she was already halfway through uploading the picture to the group chat before Makko chimed in. Her eyes wandered up from the screen to meet Makko's eyes for a moment before she began typing.

<"It's beautiful, she would never let us live it down if we sent this… Which is exactly why we should send it… ">

The girl hit send and Makko would have to do his thing if he wanted to stop it from reaching the group chat. Regardless of what happened she would open the camera again and take another photo.

"You look strangely normal." Colette commented and took a much better second photo of the two. "You know, for being what we are…"

The girl's lips split into a teasing grin.

"Right, Shan? You can barely tell she's a princess in this one!"

 

[Shan Pavond]

Cora's response to Shan's bunny ears made his day, if it hadn't already been made. A grin just spreading across his face as he rested his head against Colette's shoulder afterwards, letting the second photo be taken without any interference from his this time. He didn't want to mess up the second photo at least. It was going to be cute for Makko and Cora, and Shan didn't want to cause them any problems on their date. Yes. It was Cora and Makko's date. Shan and Colette were just...having a day out together. Hanging out. Yeah. Totally.

"I dunno. I mean, Cora always has a bit of that haughty noble look around her." The Mirialan teased, breaking into a grin once more as he looked downat the photo and rubbed his chin in thought. "Though...I can see it. She looks a bit like a pauper in this image. In fact, Makko seems to look like royalty. Dolphin royalty. It's the Porpoise Prince and the Prissy Pauper." Shan nodded to himself, keeping a grin on his face. This wasn't something he had ever actually expected to be able to do when joining the Jedi. He expected to stick to missions, helping others. The idea of just doing something for comfort and fun...hadn't crossed his mind.

"In all seriousness though, you two look great. I'm glad to see you're both enjoying your time here. You deserve it." Which was true, in Shan's eyes at least. Cora had helped him through a lot, so he thought she deserved as much happiness as she could, and whilst he wasn't as familiar with Makko, if Makko made Cora feel special, well he was a great guy. Plus if it wasn't for those two, Shan wouldn't be...hanging out with Colette right now.

Corazona von Ascania Colette Makko Vyres

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Bury it? How bad is it?"

Cora forced her voice through the clenched teeth of her smile, determined to have a decent photo of herself and Makko in…

…the silly cardboard cutouts. Did it even matter then?

Colette snapped a few more photos, and the deed was done.

Princess? Pauper? Dolphin?

Cora blinked, then rolled her eyes and waved Shan's comment away.

"I may be prissy, but at least I - oh, that's a good one." She commented, leaning over Colette's shoulder to see the most recent photo she'd taken. Cora still hadn't seen the first.

She glanced over to Shan and smiled. "I'm glad you guys agreed to this. It's nice, being able to get away from training and war and complicated politics and just…being together. We all deserve a break.”

Cora looked from Shan and Colette over to Makko. There was something warm and earnest in the smile she wore for him, so happy just to be able to inject something normal and benign into their relationship for once.

"We should- ooh, hold on." Cora retrieved the datapad from Colette and flagged down a passing employee.

"Excuse me, would you be able to take a picture of me and my friends?"

Makko Vyres Colette Shan Pavond