Party Favors

[Srina Talon]

Location: Naboo [[member="Aryn Teth"] Residence]

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The white-haired Echani could only stare up at the man that held her pinned with mild defiance. There was a myriad of emotions that slipped through her like a river. They didn’t belong to her, but, they also didn’t make any sense. She could feel what he felt to a degree but that didn’t mean that everything translated correctly. Mostly, Srina felt confusion. When he finally spoke her body had unintentionally tensed, as if to prepare for a blow, but none came. Instead his hand came to her face…

So gentle. Sometimes he touched her as if she were made of glass. Or snow. Something that could be easily broken or melted. As if she might disappear.

He repeated the question and she blinked slowly. Her elegant brow creased just slightly as she tried to figure out exactly what was happening. One moment, she’d had him in a headlock, and the next he was pinning her because he’d cheated. Only, it wasn’t a cheat? Some of the walls that she had raised in response to being asked so suddenly seemed to come down. She softened. There were very few people that saw the less militant side of her. Aryn was one of them. “I do not understand.”

The former-Jedi sounded so certain. So positive. She hadn’t heard him say anything with such clarity since they’d first brokered negotiations on Sullust. It felt like so long ago. His kiss came to calm the storm that was rising in her heart. He settled her, soothed her, without even seeming to realize that he’d been perilously close to tugging on her less than light sided nature. Srina could feel herself melting beneath him. She forgot about the hard ground at her back or the light rain that had begun to fall in response to her almost-tears.

When Aryn gave her a moment to breathe, a moment to respond, her mind was whirling. Her right hand moved to find his as she threaded their fingers. Silver eyes were bright, luminous, and full of things that she didn’t know how to communicate. “Try it…”, she breathed her tone halting, almost pleading. “…Just once.”

What did she want? The word would float through his mind on a mental breeze touched with hesitance and a healthy dose of apprehension. Her eyes told a different story. Srina rarely asked him for anything. This was different. Non-negotiable. “…Say it…please, Aryn?”, the young woman spoke up again, this time, her voice so soft he might not be able to hear her. If a strong gust of wind came it would carry her words away. The only word he would see, or feel, from her was small. Short.

Wife.

Just…Once—before the floor opened for the possibility for him to change his mind and rescind the offer. She leaned up the slight distance between them and let her lips slide briefly against his. Her kiss was light, more of a search for truth, and assurance than anything else. “Call me your wife Aryn Teth…And I will be.”

 

[Aryn Teth]

Aryn Teth

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Aryn Teth's Residence, Lake Country, Naboo, Chommell Sector, The Mid Rim​

Interacting With: [member="Srina Talon"]​

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Aryn Teth watched as Srina first balked at his request, as she tried to build up her walls for the possibility that he had asked the question as some cruel trick. He watched as those same walls suddenly and quickly began to come crumbling down, as she heard the finality, the surety in his voice. Aryn knew the inner workings of her heart, and he knew that she never let anyone aside from himself see her as she was now, so overwhelmed with emotions and drowning under the sheer magnitude of this moment.

He knew he could hardly get any closer to her, his body pressed against her own and his hand gently resting upon her cheek, he could feel the beating of her heart and the raising and lowering of her chest with each and every breath. However, she still felt too far away, like he needed to be closer, when she leaned up to kiss him gently it caused him to relax, but only barely as his eyes flicked over her face, taking in every single aspect of her being as if he would never see it again as it was.

He supposed he never would. Before this moment, before what she was asking him to do, he had always viewed her as Srina Talon, his lover and partner to be sure but her own woman, a Sith and an Exarch of the Confederacy. But as his wife? Certainly, she would still be all those things, but they would no longer be living for themselves. His life would become hers, and hers would become his. Most certainly, this meant he would be dragged to even more Confederate events and formal dinner than he was already, but it meant that surely she would need to know more of the secretive parts of his life he now kept to himself.

He didn't even need to hesitate when it came to the decision, in mere moments he overrode the image of the old Srina, and replaced it with this new one, of his wife.

"Then you are my wife, Srina Talon. Regardless of ring, ceremony or announcement, from this moment on that is simply what you are to me." He promised, his gaze intently focusing upon her eyes as if he was now seeing them for the first time all over again. Gently, he leaned down and pressed another kiss against her lips, savouring the taste of their new first kiss, and the beginning of the rest of their lives.

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Naboo [[member="Aryn Teth"] Residence]

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The soft pitter-patter of Force-induced rainfall filled her ears. The form of Aryn above her blocked most of the water from actually touching her, for now, but that would change once the ground became soaked. The soft earth at her back was comforting. The scent of the evening air made her feel just a little less light-headed. A little less exposed and confused. “No trick…”, she repeated slowly. Her voice was little more than a whisper and he would soon realize that she was speaking more to herself than to anyone else. “No game.”

His eyes were so intense. So blue. They pierced her deeply enough that she almost had to look away. She didn’t. Somehow, couldn’t. An autonomic fight or flight response was causing her pulse to quicken almost as much as the gentle caress he left to her cheek. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her lips and it made her want to lean up for another kiss.

Srina had never expected to be here. Not ever. Her heart had never ruled her in any way. From the cradle, she had always been a serious child, rarely fussing, or causing a stir. She seemed not to feel anything at all. From joy, to disappointment, to sadness—it all just rolled away from her like water. One day, she supposed, she would find someone to share her life with. It was her duty to mate and reproduce accordingly. Srina had simply never expected…This.

Frequently, her mind returned to Sullust. When she’d first arrived to the conclave of nations at the side of the Vicelord she had felt a vague sense of disinterest with every individual in the room. Her voice had poured through the meeting hall without thought, or consequence, because she was not a politician. Srina Talon was a warrior. In the end, she’d decided that she was little more than a footnote to far more powerful men playing an extremely dangerous game.

Then they’d crossed paths in the consulate. They’d fought. He’d wormed his way into the very essence of her being and she hadn’t even noticed until it was too late. Even then, she couldn’t have anticipated this. She’d never thought that he would be the one to change her. To make her care for more than the next battle. The next fight.

His voice both warmed and chilled her. The word wife from his lips left her feeling elated and yet profoundly terrified. Her voice was caught in her throat, trapped, when he made his promises and swore himself to her. “Aryn…”, she breathed his name softly, sweetly, before his kiss stole away rational thought. It swept away her fears, her apprehensions, and left only a growing feeling of warmth in the lowest point of her belly. It was familiar, but, tinged with excitement that was all too new.

Srina reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her response would be more than words could ever convey. How could she ever put everything she was feeling into a comprehensible sentence? It was impossible. Instead, she leaned into her only love, her husband, and let him feel the emotion running through her. It was far from innocent. Affection was hewn into her every movement. Unlike her general disposition of shrewd indifference, her kiss was heated, fiery, and endlessly passionate. The world fell away, bit by bit, and Srina forgot all about the fact that they were clearly in the open.

Having him so near comforted her in ways words never could. Her fingers slipped, moving down his spine, before she pulled him closer, until the space between them was well and completely gone. So much skin to skin contact was even better. She could feel his heart beating against her chest and the sound of it filled her head. Filled her heart…

‘I love you.’