Private Rage Therapy

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble

Ghruna still eyed him suspiciously. Even as her body language gave away her enthusiasm for anything that was not her cell. At least, her body language would have been relatively easy to read for most people.

Ghruna gave a sharp nod.

"Walk that off and food. Yes."

 

[Aris Noble]

"Food it is. We'll stop by the kitchen." It should be fine, probably, to bring her by the kitchen. It wasn't the mess hall at least. Perhaps he had too much sympathy for an enemy, but he lead the way none the less. Terrible as he might be at fully realizing body language, he'd be a complete fool to not think she wanted to enjoy more time outside a kitchen.

"Do you enjoy hot food?"

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble

Ghruna fell into step beside him, her heavy boots thudding against the corridor floor. The promise of actual food and time outside the cell lifted her mood more than she wanted to admit. She rolled her shoulders, crimson braids swaying, and gave a low, rough chuckle at his question.

"Cooked food?" she asked, her thick Maldrani accent curling around the words.

"I prefer it rare. Still warm and bloody. Nothing better than sinking your teeth into fresh meat that fought back a little first."

She shot him a sideways glance. A teasing grin pulled at her lips. For a moment she wondered if the joke landed too close to threatening, but she did not take it back. Let the pretty Jedi wonder.

 

[Aris Noble]

"A fresh hunt is always best. Midvinter has been a wonderful place to get such meals." He chuckled though, a genuine sort of small laugh.

"Spiced foods. Spicy. Burn your mouth but not from heat. My people love spice. If you can feel your tongue, it's not enough."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble

Ghruna’s grin widened at his words, a low, approving rumble escaping her. She had tried some mild humour and it seemed to have landed. Given that typical maldrani humour was incredibly crass or violent, she had rarely managed to dial it down to something that worked.

"Midvinter sounds like a good place. Is that where epicanthix live?"

She glanced sideways at him as they walked, still surprised by how easily he laughed. The sound was annoyingly pleasant, and it made her stomach do a stupid little flip. She quickly looked ahead again, cheeks warming just slightly.

"Spiced food that burns the tongue?" she said. "I do not think I have had something like that. But if my mouth goes numb I will blame you."

 

[Aris Noble]

"No, it's where I ended up making a home. A world of endless winter." The cold never bothered him anyway, so he was smiling at the thought of home. Of what he built with Zaiya, with Thurion Heavenshield . He laughed again though, glancing to Ghruna with- was it a grin? Outside of battle his expressions were much more muted, but there was likely a grin.

"It's a warrior's passage to be able to handle more spice." A challenge? A challenge. Once they were in the kitchen he spoke with one of the cooks. Who immediately looked at Ghruna with surprise and suspicion. Whatever issue might have been there was tempered by Aris's presence at least. He'd motion for Ghruna to sit at what was likely an employee table.

"I ordered a spiceless variation for you."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble

Ghruna slid into the seat at the employee table, her large frame making the chair creak slightly. She listened to him speak of Midvinter with open interest, the idea of an endless winter world sounding surprisingly appealing. She imagined warm fires.

"Endless winter and fresh kills," she said, a rough grin tugging at her lips. "Sounds like a world worth bleeding on. Better than these warm, soft temples."

When the cook brought the food and Aris mentioned a spiceless variation for her, her blue eyes narrowed in mock offence. She leaned forward, crimson braids falling over one shoulder.

"Spiceless?" She gave a low, rumbling laugh, though her cheeks warmed a little at the way he had grinned at her, awkward as the expression might have been. She boldly leaned forwards across the table. Her body language would have been easy to read for a maldrani as aggressively flirtatious.

"You think I cannot handle your burning spices, pretty Jedi? I am Maldrani."

She reached over and boldly swapped the plates, pulling the spiced version toward herself with a challenging glint in her eye.

Maldrani did not have particularly spicy food. Her mistake was evident within three motions of chewing. Her eyes widened and tears gathered in the corners.

 

[Aris Noble]

He tried not to laugh. Really tried his best not to laugh. She wasn't aware, so it wasn't fare to her, considering she had no idea what these spices would be. But seeing the payment for hubris front and center? There was a soft sound like laugh to escape his otherwise stoic expression. He took a bite of his spiceless variant, much to his disappointment.

He did like the heat.

"Don't drink water, it'll make it worse. Have some of the bread, it'll lessen the effect."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble

"Why wouldn't it help?" she asked, allowing just a little panic to skip through. If her pointed ears had gone slightly red with embarrassment when he had pinned her, they were flaming now.

She sat a little straighter. With the most decorum she could muster, she swapped their plates back.

"It is just pain," she told herself as she reached for bread.

Ghruna did not make eye contact.

 

[Aris Noble]

"Water just spreads out the spices. Means it'll just burn more in your throat. Bread and such absorb and dilute." Aris had the trying not to look like he was pitying her smile on his face as she swapped the plates. He made no comment on it, instead just getting into eating his now spicy plate with as little reaction as he possibly could.

He didn't want to add to her embarrassment with how happy he was to be eating the heat again.

"Pain is a type of lesson, I suppose."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

She made eye contact again. It was a brief accusatory stare. This was his fault.

Chewing the bread helped, but not enough. Pain flared across her lips in waves.

"Why would you eat this?" she asked.

"Does it not hurt your species?"

Aris Noble

 

[Aris Noble]

"It hurts. But the flavor it brings out is exquisite, once you can handle the heat anyway." That, had him snicker. Her glare brought that out, if only because he had warned her prior. "Eventually it stops hurting too. So." He shrugged.

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble
Weeks later

Ghruna sat in the co-pilot's seat with her long legs folded as best they would fit against the console. She was irritated by the ankle tag she wore. It was a cold, ugly weight against her skin. Every so often she rolled her foot just to feel it bite. It was a reminder she was still a prisoner, even if the cell had been swapped for her own quarters in a low seuciry site. Even if she was carrying a lightsaber.

The weapon was training-grade. It was non-lethal. It felt a little bit like another leash.

She kept her eyes on the viewport rather than on Aris. Looking at him too long was dangerous. Weeks of training had not made that easier. She had learned to shove the thoughts down hard. They were the ones that rose when he grinned in a fight or stood close enough that she could smell him. He had a mate. He had shown her nothing but patience and distance. That was enough.

Her tail flicked once against the seat, then stilled.

"This town," she said at last in her Maldrani accent. "You have not told me what we are walking into. Only that they need help."

She glanced at him sideways, then away again, jaw tight.

"If it is a fight, then good."

It was bravado more than anything. She didn't know what she wanted. She shifted her ankle, scowling at the tag.

"I still hate this thing. It itches. And it makes me look like livestock."

She settled back, arms crossed over her chest, trying to look like she was only bored.

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris was, as ever, quiet. He was fine with the silence of the trip, calm and patient as ever. Perhaps even distant. There was much he would help Ghruna with, but the surge of her heartbeat whenever she looked his way only confirmed that it was something he never could. "It shouldn't be a fight. Our duty is to help people and only rely on violence as a last resort to keep others and ourselves safe." Was the Jedi answer. Still, he smirked just a bit.

"But shouldn't doesn't mean won't. Be ready to defend yourself, but don't lash out."

That was the only real line he had with this. Especially considering where they were heading. Midvinter. His home now, asides from Niv Hani.

"There's reports of a feud between the locals and some out of system travelers. They've been there for weeks, and there's been some minor issues. Minor that's reaching it's boiling points. Accusations of theft and sabotage. We're to figure out the core of it."

He paused though, glancing to Ghruna. Then to the tag. He idly tossed over something. A datachip.

"While we're on world you don't have to wear it. It won't look good to people that you've an ankle monitor." The excuse he spun so she could get some releif from being tagged.

"Just don't try to run is all I ask. This world is very dangerous to those not used to the cold."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

"But shouldn't doesn't mean won't. Be ready to defend yourself, but don't lash out."

Ghruna rolled her eyes and tutted, but it was mostly for show. It had been weeks since she had been anywhere interesting.

Ghruna caught the datachip one-handed and stared at it for a moment as if it might bite. Then she bent, hooked two fingers under the ankle tag, and waited for the lock to click.

When it came free she set it on the console carefully, rolling her foot once, twice, just to feel the skin without the weight.

"Good," she muttered, but she decided not to show the gratitude she felt.

"And you would not survive Malthyl for a day," she declared.

"Malthyl has mountains that freeze the blood if you stand still too long. You have met my father. He is little more than a snack to what lives in those mountains."

She lifted her chin. Her pride had been dented by being captured by the chirping bird. It had taken a smaller knock when the colourful little jedi had raised her voice. That she had claimed such a fine warrior...


"Sounds like someone is lying and someone else is ready to bleed over it." She let out a short, humourless snort.

Her tail gave one restless flick against the seat, then stilled. She kept her eyes on the viewport, on the white world rising toward them, and not on the quiet man beside her.

"Tell me what the people are like before we land. I do not want to insult them by accident. I am good at that."

 

[Aris Noble]

"That sounds like somewhere we'll have to go." There was almost excitement in his voice. To those who truly knew him though, it was just that. A challenge. A world that could freeze him? That challenged her father in ways that would leave him as naught but a meal? How could he not feel that pull of a thrill?

Such emotion was fleeting though for the man.

He had the droid pilot set about the landing sequence, nodding his head in agreement to her assessment. "The people of Midvinter are a proud and hardy folk. The type to speak softly but carry a big stick. If their honor or people are threatened, they will fight to defend it." Living there with Zaiya Ceti had brought him a larger understanding of what it meant to accept peace. Thurion Heavenshield had been the example he needed in that regard. To rule as a king, but not dominate as a tyrant.

He hoped that for Ghruna it could offer the same needed perspective.

"If you're susceptible to the cold, be sure to get a cloak."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

"That sounds like somewhere we'll have to go." There was almost excitement in his voice.

She looked at him, briefly, in outright surprise. Ghruna still wasn't very good at coming to understand people. She shouldn't have been surprised by his eagerness.

"First one to die loses," she muttered under her breath with a smile on her face. They all had to survive alone and make their first hunts.

"I will... Get that cloak," she admitted. She stood up, ducking to avoid catching her horns on the roof of the cockpit. Again.

"If they are accusing outsiders of theft, how will we help? Catch and execute the thieves to regain their trust?"

 

[Aris Noble]

"It sounds like neither of us will end up loosing in that regard. We'll have to figure out a different way to find a winner." Death wasn't something he expected either of them to succumb to, regardless of where they went. They were, ultimately, pretty hardy. He bit back a chuckle for her sake as she did end up getting the cloak.

"Find who is the thief and learn why they stole. Death can be a necessity depending, but we shouldn't seek it out first. If we understand why there was thievery, we can help to prevent it in the future."

Ghruna

 

[Ghruna]

Aris Noble

"If they don't have hands they won't steal again."

Ghruna pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders and pretended she had wanted it from the start. The fabric was too thin for her liking, but it would do. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her shiver.

"Fine. First one to solve the theft without breaking anyone’s bones."

She had agreed not to lash out, and she meant to keep her word.

"I will try it your way. Find the thief. Learn why this happened."

The cloak slipped. She tugged it back into place with more force than needed, tail giving a short, irritated flick under the hem.

She settled against the bulkhead as the shuttle began its descent, watching the white world fill the viewport.

"Where do we go first?"

 

[Aris Noble]

"People can get cybernetics. That way of thinking doesn't work these days." In a way it might make them more likely to steal, both for the payment for said cybernetics and the strength of said cybernetics. The ship started it's landing process as Aris stepped from the viewport. He took a moment to think, his eyes distant as ever when he was plotting a route in his head.

"We'll go to the Valkyri first, figure out what was taken and when. And why they think it's the traders. Once we've that information we can go from there."

Ghruna