Private Shadows in Silk

[Alyssa Kydd]

Another hanger clacked, and Alyssa emerged wearing a short, navy utility dress with silver paneling and a mock flight badge stitched on the side.

"Look," she said, striking a fake heroic pose, "commander of the 'SS Regret Nothing.'"

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer nearly spit out her drink.

"You actually look hot. Like... legitimately command-level hot."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"I know," Alyssa smirked, winking. "But I needed you to say it."

They fell back into browsing — moving from dresses to boots, trying on oversized shades and jackets with useless zippers.


It was dumb. And perfect.

[Later – Side Lounge, Boutique Café]

They each had fizzy cocktails and bowls of Corellian shrimp crisps, and were lounging in a corner booth surrounded by the hum of soft jazz.

"So…" Alyssa started, "tell me what the hell's been going on."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer hesitated. She twirled her straw, the laughter from earlier cooling into memory.

"I was taken."

A long pause....

"Zori Galea. Sith Empress. Nightmare illusionist. Long story short… I almost stayed. She made me believe the pain could be gone. Made me feel… loved. Even kissed me."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa blinked. "Stars, you don't hold back."

 

[Sommer Dai]

"Not anymore."

Sommer took another sip, her gaze drifting to the street outside.

"And Andrew... he saved me. Again. But I ended it. I had to."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa placed her hand gently over Sommer's.

"Ahhh.. Right... The tech slash armored hero guy....Well.....Sometimes, it's harder to leave the dream than it is to escape the prison. If that makes any sense. Does that make sense?"

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer met her eyes.

"Totally.....You always know what to say."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"Please. I've had time to practice — in between smuggling sketchy spice converters and pretending not to be Force-sensitive."

They both laughed again — but deeper now.

 

[Sommer Dai]

"You ever think of staying somewhere?" Sommer asked. "Settling down?"

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa shrugged. "I think of staying wherever you are, sometimes. You're the closest thing I've got to steady orbit."

 

[Sommer Dai]

That stuck. Sommer felt it echo in her chest.

"I'm not asking for forever," She said.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"Good. Because I'm not leaving till I try on that jacket," Alyssa grinned, pointing at a gold-trimmed pilot's coat.

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer laughed again, softer this time.

Maybe peace wasn't a place.
Maybe it was a person.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Location: The Gilded Veil – Upper Lounge Balcony, Late Evening


Kael sat at the VIP overlook booth, sipping something older than most of the staff and watching the new band do a stripped-down acoustic set. The crowd was full, the lights dimmed to seductive copper, and the scent of roasted spicefruit mixed with starblossom incense gave the room a false calm.

This is what it's supposed to feel like, he thought.

And that's exactly why he didn't trust it.


Just as he motioned to the server for another drink, a pair of footsteps approached from behind.


Slow. Deliberate.


Not staff.


He turned as the woman arrived at the booth — elegant, cloaked in velvet that shimmered under the ambient light like crushed obsidian. Her hair was tightly coiled into an elaborate twist, and a red shimmer adorned her lower lip.


Not someone who belonged here.


Yet she looked like she owned the place.

"Kael Virex," she said, her voice smooth and regal. "We haven't had the pleasure. I represent a mutual acquaintance."

Kael raised a brow. "Let me guess. Therin Vos?"


She didn't flinch. "Lady Vos regrets she couldn't come herself. But she's… quite pleased with how you're managing the Veil in Sommer's absence."


Kael leaned back. "And let me guess again — you're here to offer something I should smile and nod at while you plant a tracking bug under the booth?"


She gave a small laugh. Not fake. Not nervous. Just amused.

"No, no. Just a message."

She leaned in slightly, her perfume a mix of heavy rose and ozone. "Therin's offer still stands. Influence. Protection. Expansion. All in exchange for a little cooperation. The Veil doesn't have to be vulnerable… if it becomes hers."


Kael swirled his drink once before setting it down with care.

"Let me make something clear," he said quietly. "I'm not Sommer. I don't run this place like it's a throne. I run it like it's a freighter—chaotic, underfunded, barely legal—but mine."

"And while she's gone, I'm the captain."

The woman tilted her head.

"That wasn't a no."

"It wasn't a yes, either."

"Interesting."

She slid a small data disc across the table.

"One-time access. Use it if you change your mind. But I'd suggest sooner rather than later. Therin doesn't like long silences."

She stood gracefully, offering a final nod before vanishing into the crowd.


Kael sat there, fingers tapping the edge of the disc.

"Stars," he muttered. "This place really does attract all the worst kind of executives."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Moments later


He slipped the disc into an isolated datapad, just to see what the game was. The message was brief — Therin herself, smirking on a holo.

"Sooner or later, Kael… all debts come to the surface. All allegiances are tested. I suggest you know which side you're on before the fire starts again."

The message blinked out.


He stared at the screen in silence.


Then, after a pause, he keyed in a secure call.

"Arq," he said when the comm clicked. "I wanna run something by you. An issue. And this one wears velvet."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Location: En route aboard Alyssa's Freighter, Designation: Starseam, Outer Rim Trade Corridor*

It was the kind of quiet you only got in deep space.


The freighter's engines hummed low, and the stars outside stretched like rivers of light. The Starseam cruised smoothly on autopilot, its course set toward a private archipelago system known for mineral springs, no questions, and long nights.


Sommer leaned back in the co-pilot's seat, her feet propped on the console, jacket off, and a warm caf in hand. She stared out the viewport, letting the stars fill her eyes.

"You always did have good taste in escape plans," she said, smirking.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

From the pilot's chair, Alyssa grinned.

"You're welcome. The springs on Juno's Reach are volcanic-fed. Natural salt healing pools. Not even the Alliance puts trackers out there."

 

[Sommer Dai]

"Sounds... almost too peaceful," Sommer teased.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"We'll ruin that quickly, don't worry."

They shared a laugh. No tension, no pretense.

Just orbiting the edge of something… quieter.




Later, the freighter's interior lights dimmed to a soft golden tone as the ship drifted in regulated cruise mode. Sommer wandered barefoot across the smooth flooring, nursing a second caf. Her hair was pulled up in a quick twist, neckline relaxed, and her guard finally lowered.

Alyssa was stretched out on the long lounge bench, a toolkit on her stomach, fiddling with a miniature holo-drone shaped like a manta fish.