Siskeen Stopover

[Tmoxin Temi]

​

After Ruusan, Tmoxin and Derek traveled back to Siskeen. The accords were tiresome, and the redheaded Hapan felt that she’d go cross eyed if she had to put her signature on one more piece of flimsiplast. And while she used to enjoy those types of high-stakes political gatherings, watching and participating in all of the pomp and posturing, the entire ceremony just annoyed and exhausted her.

Does he notice the change?

Derek was there on Ryloth after all, not just watching but becoming a Mandragora along with Tmoxin. She did not remember much of the ritual and when it had been explained to her that at one point, she’d been wrapped up in a giant spider’s web…

“That’s quite enough,” she’d snapped at the unfortunate Initiate who'd reminded her of the strange sacrament.

But debarking the Sovereign Stingray, tired and hungry, she asked Derek, “Should we go out to eat or just order in?”

[member="Derek Dib"]

 

[Derek Dib]

The trip to Olanet was filled with silence. Not the uncomfortable silence you tried to fill with small talk but rather the contemplative kind, at least for Derek. The Galaxy was filled with problems and the governments refused to see it. Instead the infighting and bickering filled much of the momentous occasion that was the Accords. And it wasn't just the Silver Jedi, the Galactic Empire, the Galactic Alliance, the Sith Empire, or the First Order. The Confederacy had her own issues.

He wanted to make a better place of the Galaxy, better then the one he came into. Better for the next generation. Better for his children. And yet time and time again he realized that seemingly the Galaxy was a clock. It advanced and advanced but invertible everything was reset and history repeats itself. Sometimes he just wanted to throw his hands up and surrender. But he just couldn't.

During the course of the trip he watched Tmoxin. She wasn't the same. Of course, to be honest, neither was he. The events on Ryloth had altered Derek and he hasn't had time to figure out just how yet. Running a system had enough difficulties in itself. Trying to figure out his place seemed a distant second in the grand scheme of things.

He had asked Lucian, his ever present shadow, to get clearance so they could land at one of the local Spaceports of Atlantica, capital of Olanet. As they disembarked he shook Lucian's hand.

"We'll be fine. Don't worry."

As Lucian frowned and opened his mouth to object, Derek silently patted his chest reminding the royal guard that the Viceroy was armed once again. Setting his lips grimly Lucian nodded and went back up the ramp. A small smile tilted his lips as Derek moved down to join Tmoxin. Reaching out he gently took over of her hands in his.

"It's been a long day, and several long weeks before that. Why don't we play a game. I'm just a man named Derek and you are just a woman named Tmoxin. Let's walk through the city being normal for once, grab a bite to eat, and talk to each other as if the Galaxy isn't at war, as if the weight we both carry won't crush us, as if there is hope for the future."

He smiled down at her and leaned in to brush his lips over hers. He wasn't so foolish to think that they were going to pause life, and he was well aware that they were going to discuss matters of import, but he didn't want to wear the facade of Viceroy and Nightmother as they spent precious time with one another.

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

Derek seemed distant, and if Tmoxin were more rested or less preoccupied, she may have worried more about this. As he promised a night of normalcy and she felt the caress of his lips on hers, the Hapan gave her lover a half-smile. Envious almost at the ease of it, Derek appeared to easily compartmentalize the weighty blocks that she felt weighing upon her. But perhaps it was could be simple. In her youth she would have found it much easier.

The kiss caused a subtle ripple of electricity to zip through her body, and as the pair walked down the glittering streets of Atlantica, the redhead felt slightly manic all of a sudden like the remedy for her tiredness was to embark on some kind of hedonistic spice binge. They were not in that sort of neighborhood in the capital, so Tmoxin opted to swerve to an upper echelon cantina which seemed to serve both alcohol and food.

Once seated she proceeded to order a double Corellian whiskey, grinning at Derek and covering his hand with hers. “Who needs food when we’ve got good service, great spirits and the finest company?" She stroked his knuckle with her index finger, the electricity coming to the surface, the instability he felt back on Ryloth and even on Ruusan. The Mandragora had changed her and tonight, the Viceroyal would find out just how much.

If it had also changed her kiffar companion, would it be for better or worse?

[member="Derek Dib"]

 

[Derek Dib]

As they walked through the city he moved at her side. Worry tinted his eyes as he looked upon the Hapan he had begun a relationship with. Initially she was a Master with influence in the Confederacy as well as the private sector. He was merely a man fighting for a cause. But in so short a time he found himself thrust into a political position of importance while she had become Nightmother of an entire order, chosen by the benefactors called the Patrons. So much had changed, and yet his feelings for her had only grown.

Following her into the Blue Silk, a high end cantina and grill, they made their way to a table near the bar. The bartender was near enough to take their orders, Tmoxin's double and his own Alderaan Ale, before they had privacy once more. Her hand lightly caressed his on the table top and he felt a static shock flow from the contact. A small smile crossed his features at her words.

"I'm not entirely sure about the finest company aspect, but I have looked forward to stealing you away."

He paused at a loss of words. His worry for her was evident on his face. He had seen the change affected by the Patrons, the cocoon, the blood and fire and tattoos. He had seen the wildness in her eyes that the cultivated and refined Hapan Master would never had revealed before that night on Ryloth. He knew she had changed, almost on a cellular level, and he was concerned for her.

"How are you? Really?"

Anything more he would have asked was interrupted by the arrival of their drinks. As the server left, Derek gripped the tall glass and took a deep draught of the emerald ale. The markings on his back burned lightly causing him to press his lips together. Covertly his red eyes passed around the lightly populated cantina but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Looking back to the redhead he wondered if perhaps being so close to the Nightmother had a reaction within the others of the Mandragora. Curving his lips he gave her a small smile.

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

“What about you? Governing a planet brings its own special breed of stress, assuredly." She'd led armies and companies, but never ruled an entire world and because of that comparison, could only imagine the demand of his work. "I hope you’re doing okay under the pressure.”

She knew that he was, or firmly assumed so. Perhaps it was her Hapan confidence, or even disregard over her partner’s feelings, but Tmoxin chose to be with Derek because he challenged her, because he was her equal. At times that meant assuming he would handle conflict the same way she would, yet assuming was not the same as asking.

As he drank from his glass, Tmoxin could feel - physically and mentally - the burning upon his back, the Mandragora filigree. Instead of indifference, the Night Mother felt a sudden intrigue to examine it, to touch it even. Without realizing it, her fingers had dug into the back of Derek’s hand, a painful pressure, polished red nails impeding upon his rough skin.

Realizing what she’d done, she quickly withdrew her hand. “I suppose that’s your answer about how I’m doing.” Nervous laughter filled the void. Otherwise she was afraid she’d rip off his shirt right in the middle of Blue Silk and trace the Doashim markings, causing him pain or pleasure, but nothing in between.

[member="Derek Dib"]