Private River's Whispers

[Ishida Ashina]

NABOO | SOLLEU RIVER​

"Mmm... sheesa got da hum, yeah, but only 'round da Solleu bend. Engine gets spooked if da water too deep. You crasha once, you get used to it."

"We will not be crashing." Ishida muttered, eyes fixed on the flickering diagnostic readout. Its battery display pulsed with the kind of unreliability that suggested maybe power, probably a death ride down river. She didn't like technology in a well-maintained form, she absolutely abhorred the sight of the algae-ridden, potmarked vehicle that she stared at now. It looked like it had been dragged from the bottom of the riverbed and half-heartedly dressed before being put back into service. Ishida circled it twice, arms crossed, reading its scars like battlefield's blueprint. It had dings in the hull, algae crusting around the stabilizers, a wobble in the left intake she was sure the Gungan noticed and hoped that they, his new customers, didn't.

She didn't like it.

Meanwhile, Castian chatted easily with the Gungan trader, catering for what seemed more for the sake of performance than price. When the price was settled, the Gungan got friendly.

"So," he said, voice sloshing somewhere between curiosity and amusement. "Yousa not just passin' through, eh? Lookin' for somethin' more… permanent?"

Ishida rolled her eyes and the Gungan tapped a clawed finger against the datapad, muttering something about how "serious faces spook good luck" then pointed off toward the soft blue haze of distant cliffs. The river bent that way. The air shimmered.

"Try da Chasm of Solleu. You take da humbug. Leave her full and clean or I charge ya double. If she hums right for you, maybe you find somethin' down there worth singin' about."

"Why the Chasm?"

"Old place," he said. "Deep deeeeeeeep breath of Naboo. Wind go in, truth come out. She hums what you hide."

Ishida's brows ticked downward and she made a noise of disgruntlement at the back of her throat.

"Still—Solleu nice anyway," he added. "Even if you don't like da whispers."

He handed off the keys and disappeared into the beaded shadows of his shop.

 

[Castian Vero]

Ishida Ashina

Castian was his usual bubbly self, chattering away with the Gungan trader, while also studying the vehicle. Where Ishida was seeing problems and issues, Cast was seeing opportunities.

"Oh, but I bet this 'un can go real fast, if we put our hearts to it..." Cast chittered while kneeling down and looking at it up close. The warm interested display seemed to do wonders with the Gungan. Which set his tongue loose and offered them a direction to travel towards first. Cast bounced back up to his feet with a grin as he watched the native walk back to his shop.

Then he turned towards Ishida.

"See! I told you. A few smiles, some interested questions and they already treat us as neighbors." His arm looped around Ishida's shoulders while he looked at the little boat-shaped thing.

"Let's get this one in the water and make sure we don't drown, yeah?" He kissed the top of her head and immediately went to get busy with it. Soon enough the dinghy was in the water and Cast was balancing on top of it like he was born in the river. He extended his hand to her, to help her inside, even though they both knew she didn't need his help.

Cast liked to offer anyway.

 

[Ishida Ashina]

Neighbours. A shudder coursed through her involuntarily and passed through the weight of his casual arm sling. None of her previous domiciles had neighbours. What benefit was there to more people in less space? It seemed pitched as a good thing, wherein fact it seemed the exact opposite.

She afforded no response while Castian took the lead figuring out if the water vehicle would sink immediately or not, and much to her relief (or actually, despair? If it sunk, this trip would be over), it did not.

One foot slid to the edge of the little vehicle and she reminded herself to accept the hand when offered. Something she'd been working on since Inosuke's return to her life.

The vehicle wobbled, clearly imbalanced with one of the intakes that verged on faulty, and Ishida grimaced. The display did not falter however, even though Ishida convinced herself that the battery would instantly die the moment they started puttering away from the shore. Just more suspense for later, she supposed. Something to look forward to.

"The map he gave," she plugged the route into her personal datapad, not trusting the display of the little boat, "It's a really long route. Although," she squinted. "There doesn't seem to be a shorter one. Solleu in, Solleu out."

Tilting the screen toward Castian, she edged away from the driver's seat. "You're driving, by the way. I accept no responsibility for this charming and neighbourly bucket of bolts."

---

Castian Vero

 

[Castian Vero]

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. It was clear that this was outside of the realm of comfort for her. Every fiber of her being was resisting this and yet... Here she was. For him? For them both?

Castian wasn't sure but he was grateful of her effort regardless. He didn't underline it though, didn't draw specific attention to it.

Instead his presence just warmed against hers.

Ever lasting, always present, that bond that had been forged over time.

"No, but that's a good thing." Castian pointed out patiently as he drew the map up and projected it between them. He took the wheel and started the vehicle right after that.

"It means we can take in the view. Come on, you can't tell me all of this isn't gorgeous."

Cast was used to Dantooine. Grass as far as the eye could meet and farmland. This was a whole new thing entirely.

"You know we don't actually have to have neighbors. We can just build high and put up a warning sigh."

A smirk there as his hand twitched and an illusion settled above them. She'd feel the trademark of his force use. Confident and free in it's application.

Currently it was crafting a warning sign in the air.

Stay away.The dog won't bite, but the lady of the house just might.

"How's that?" Tone and glance at her full of mischief.

Ishida Ashina

 

[Ishida Ashina]

"True." Ishida conceded, letting her eyes wander the shoreline. Rich, green, lush beyond measure. The planet boasted a health of soil and sunshine. And when she closed her eyes, she felt the life teeming around them. Natural, earthy, and growing. Alive with the kind of energy that she felt convinced when she opened her eyes new saplings would sprout on demand.

"I can't tell you it isn't gorgeous." When she opened her eyes, her gaze settled contentedly on him in the way that shifted the object of their discussion from the riverside to him.

"Mhm. Up high, with a good vantage point of —" she stopped mid sentence to look at the way the air changed shape and became thick with language.

No matter how badly she wanted to keep her stone-faced composure, the unnatural need to laugh poked through the cracks. Just once. Like a cough. The thin line betwixt her lips curved upward ever so slightly and a single brow arched. She gave him a pointed look to accompany her wry grin.

"We're getting a dog?"

---

Castian Vero​