So you're not dead yet, as the Mandos say

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Marrow & Illskins
Location Unknown

Mara eased the door shut behind her and scanned the immensely disreputable shop. She'd never thought of Micah working in a place like this. A grudging internship in some planetary monarchy, maybe. But maybe he was more his own man than she'd expected. Her gut said he was here, and the Alliance grapevine concurred.

It had been a while, and she found herself almost unaccountably nervous. She'd dropped off the map after getting shot in the back at Lameredd. She'd opted for therapy and a job, the anxieties and mundanities of a normal life. As normal as you could get, anyway, while mapping Wild Space for Baobab Astrography, or running the occasional load of Corek guns to an Underground cell. Not the kind of life for someone who'd trained at the Jedi Academy on Yavin Four, someone who'd gone blade-to-blade with a Sith Lord, someone who'd been there at the founding of the Covenant. Daughter of the now-retired Master of First Knowledge; Padawan of the Barsen'thor; heir of the couple who'd built the Mara Corridor, and the alchemist who'd tried the same in the Unknown Regions. She'd been under pressure from herself to do great things, and that had made a normal life essential to a normal recovery.

In that time, Micah and Aela had pulled ahead of her. She'd defaulted in their tacit competition. Now they were considered Masters, rising stars, and Mara wasn't even sure if she wanted to get back on the nuna wheel. But she couldn't find answers or decisions without taking stock of connections she'd allowed to lapse.

"Micah?"

 

[Vexen]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

A shadow behind the counter stirred, separating itself from the gloom. White eyes appeared and held completely steady as they fixed on Mara.

“Mara?” a small voice would ask. It has been years since the wraith had seen Mara last. She hoped she hadn’t just embarrassed herself. Vexen didn’t like these shops. She was perfectly content with their small, dark and dingy nature. Sometimes she could even leave her goggles off. However, the artefacts triggered her natural Force sensitivity in a manner she didn’t fully understand. Very strange people visited these places. As much as Micah tried to encourage her to go out and new people, she was still very much attached to the boy and suspicious of strangers. Too many dark episodes in her past were linked to mistreatment from strangers.

“He’s out back,” she said quietly. Her species didn’t smile, as such, but even a human could recognise the more relaxed expression that appeared on her features. Even if it was only visible in the silhouette of her ears, and the shape of her eyes and mouth. At least being in the shops was better than being away from Micah. Ever since Jacen had tracked them down, Micah had been off fighting against the Sith with increasing frequency. Every time he left, she feared he wouldn’t return.

 

[Micah Talith]

Mara and Vex wouldn't wait long.

"Shortstack?" the low and surprised query would drift across the shop over to [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]. There stood Micah, granted while he had grown well over 1.85 meters, so the nickname in comparison to then and now made a bit more sense. He was now a young man, with scruff darkening the line of his jaw - no more short tuffs of an adolescent attempting to be a man grown. Yet the shaggy mop of brown hair and bright orange of his laughing eyes would mark him to be the same rascal from years past.

A wide grin split his face in two, and before [member="Vexen"] or Mara could object, the Talith strode over to his childhood friend. His arms would reach out to bring her in an embrace - Micah was never one for personal boundaries. Not when it came to those he considered to be an important part of his life.

"I thought the Maw swallowed you whole!" he would joke, but an underlying note of relief and joy at her presence was notably there.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

"[member="Vexen"] ?" Mara blinked and grinned, pleased despite the sadness that had gripped her since her injury. "It's been way too long. You're working with Micah now? How's-"

Her head snapped around as [member="Micah Talith"] came in and addressed her. A strangled "oof" and a flinch escaped her as he embraced her, but the flinch was more habit than due to any pain. The wounds had faded a long time ago, just not from her mind. Belatedly, she returned the embrace. Force, but he'd grown up. He had a beard now, even if the scraggly little thing did fit the disreputable, ramshackle store to a T.

"Near enough," she said as they broke apart. "Near enough. I've been...well, I'm sure you heard about Lameredd. It took me a while to heal up." She mustered a smile. What else was there to say? That she'd been pursuing a normal life as a defense mechanism? That she was now unspeakably wealthy and unsure how to handle it? "I got a job with my dad's map company, so I've mostly been making Wild Space runs and Force you're a Master now. How'd you pull that off? Is Aela...?"

 

[Vexen]

Vexen snorted in mock derision as Micah immediately crossed the space between them an embraced [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]. Always hand on, that boy. Not that Vexen minded when he was gently brushing her fur in an evening. Over the years she had noticed a change in the way some reacted to his fondness for physical contact, yet he always seemed oblivious. Though on that front she was quite aware of the changes in his mannerism whenever he spoke about a certain Ne'varro.

"Still a grump, yes," Vexen interrupted, stretching out her long arms as she stood up. Aela was definitely her least favourite of the siblings. "Would anyone like a caf?" she asked, heading towards the back of the room. The pair were childhood friends and probably wanted some time and space to get re-acquainted.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]


A half cocked grin would shine down at Mara, one free hand reaching up to push back the wayward mop of his hair.

"Caf? Juice? Water? I'm sure there is a Juma Juice somewhere around here," he'd add on top of the offer by the Defel, cheeky of grin and visibly excited by Merrill's arrival. Micah had always been the sociable one, fluttering off without a care from person to person with the sort of curious kath pup attitude that just somehow managed to make him worm his way into people's lives. He was the smart alek, the prankster. The one who would crack jokes just to ease the tension and see his friends laugh.

He wore his jovial expression freely on his face, and as his eyes swept over the half Zeltron, his grin grew only wider. "We can get you whatever you like, come on!" a hand would slip to her back, encouraging her to follow Vex.

"Yeah, heard about that..." there was a bit of a shadow that ran over his expression, darkening it so. He had been late in the game on that bit of news, by then Mara had gone off to recovery. His brows would furrow in memory, only to smooth over as he caught sight of her again.

"Aela?" a heavy snort and a rascal's grin split his face in two. "She's off an signed herself up as a Jedi Marshal for the New Jedi Order out by Sullust." a thought occured to him then, "New group gathering out there. Called the Galactic Alliance." he would lead her out to the back with Vexen. There was no getting away from Micah when he had a mind to being sociable.

"Jace came on by a month back and tried to sell it to me. Heard Cricket's father was now serving the New Jedi Order, so I figured I might catch up with her and whoever else might come poke their head in." warmth was in his eyes, and he couldn't help but try to muse her hair.

"Guess now the name fits, eh?" he gave an expected flinch, as if he fully expected the young woman to punch him on the shoulder for it.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

@Vexen @Micah Talith

"Stimcaf'd'be great, Vex, thanks a ton." For the offer and the moment with Micah, who now got her attention again. Mara skated by the issue of her injury and dubious recovery, going as Micah guided her.

"I heard about the Alliance. It's how I knew you were out here, as it happens. Kaili signed up with'em. Feth, but it's hard to think of little Kay as a Knight doing her thing all by her lonesome, but there she is. And wait up -- Alen Na'Varro joined too? How 'bout that. Dad always said he was a -- how'd it go? A demon, but a sensible one. That's got to be a boost for the good guys, having someone like that come over."

Out back was just as unprepossessing as the front of the shop. No hint that owner and shop boy were royalty who could basically print money. Mara grinned. "So what's a prince like you doing in a place like this? Come here often?"

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Vexen"]

They went stepping into a room even more brim full of knick-knacks and curios. Past a curtain of beads and weaving through various intricate Tashi trinkets, Micah's low chuckle and subsequent snort would sail over to the half Zeltron.

"I know I'm charming Short-stack, but not need to bring lofty titles into the mix," he would joke, flashing her a mischievous wink from under the mop of shaggy brown hair. Granted, now his back was a little straighter and he polished off his knuckles across a wider chest than Mara saw him last.

"Although, I guess I could get used to it," he fully expected a punch for his troubles, and it was easy to see as he anticipated having to move a few feet back as if to avoid one.

"Vex and I come and go. We spent some time out in old Moross Territory last when Jace managed to trace me down." he would tell her, leading Mara to a small alcove where a nook sat wedged in the corner. A gesture would encourage her to take a seat, as would an attempt to ruffle her hair as if old habits died hard.

"Kai is doing well last I saw her. And when I arrived at Sullust, things were certainly getting interesting." thick brows would waggle and rise, the dark shadow of the Defel moving behind them to gather the cup of caf requested.

"I caught up with Cricket not to long ago either," at that his expression softened, "Feels a bit like old times." bright orange eyes would settle on Mara. He didn't know what she had planned. He didn't know why she was here, nor did he know the intricacies of it all. However, he did know this.

He'd missed her.

"You should stay a while." he said with a genuine desire. There was more there to it, but for now, what he said simply said it best.

 

[Vexen]

Vexen gingerly placed two mugs on the table. The one placed in front of Mara was steaming. The shadow slunk back across the room once more, returning with a glass of water for herself. She slid up onto a chair herself, making herself comfortable before taking a long drink of water. Whilst she'd greatly enjoyed the sugary juices Micah tended to keep around they had also come with downsides. Vexen had lived off of scraps for the first decade of her life. Being permitted to laze about his shop and eat and drink as much as she wanted had make her distinctly squishy around the middle in the first year.

However, since that crash and the run in with those terrifying warp spiders she had started to look after herself a bit more. Whilst she wasn't the malnourished creature she had been, she also wasn't carrying too much excess body fat any more.

Her ears twisted back and forth as they talked, visible only as silhouettes against the background. Mara had grown a lot since she had last seen her. Vexen had never known the rest if Micah's family, or developed bonds with them as she had with him.

"Are you a prince?" she asked suddenly, not following the humour. She understood that Micah was more wealthy than most, but had never heard him given a title before.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]
[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"]
[member="Vexen"]

"Laura's still kicking around then, is she?" There'd been something in his voice just then...

"Oh, he's totally a prince," said Mara, dodging Micah's last comment with a grin and the punch he'd been expecting for a good few minutes now. "Can't you smell the royalty?" She inhaled deeply, smelling nothing so much as stimcaf and a shabby store. "The sheer grandeur? Pomp, circumstance, fame, fortune? My gosh, it's all I can do to resist his droit de seigneur right here, right now."

She chuckled at that more than she should have. Laughing at her own jokes -- a spacer habit, and she was nothing if not that. If you didn't laugh at yourself, you wouldn't hear laughter for a whole long haul or more.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] @Vexen

Another heavy snort, and Micah soon would toss Merrill a cellophane wrapped biscuit. The sweet, flat bread had rare chocolate bits scattered about it, one of the snacks he'd picked up during his last run to the store with Vex.

The validity of Mara's statement was a bit too close to home. One could say due to his great Oma's doing, he was some manner of royalty. However, that was a secret that was not his to relay. So instead, he would ruffle Vex's fur on the top of her head, giving her the same amount of affection he had shown the half Zeltron earlier.

"Don't forget 'dreamy'!" he'd say with a wry laugh, washing it away with notable amusement at Mara. "It has taken me this long to grow just as tall as Aela... might as well get something out of it."

Plopping down, he gestured for the young woman to join them. That crooked smile would grow wider. "So what's the plan?" he asked.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Vexen"]

That sobered her up, though she ate the cookie.

"Right now I'm flying scout and rescue missions for the Alliance," she said. "Informally, and mapping for Baobab. But you're right - it's just a placeholder." She sat across from him, on a chair that might have been used for a Bando Gora fertility rite at some point. "Just trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Take over Baobab like my dad wants? Study shipbuilding like my mom wants? Go out and-" Warden it up. "-patrol the hyperlanes? Find some way to use the mindbogglingly insane fortune I inherited?" She ran her hands over her face. "I'm a shareholder in Arakyd, Akure, and Silk. I don't much like it, but that's got responsibilities attached. Do I walk away like my parents did? Should I? Do I want to? If I don't, what would I use the money for? The Alliance? The Underground? Toys?"

A self-deprecating chuckle. "Finally get a decent ship? Keep nasty things out of auction houses? Start a company or a nonprofit - search and rescue, a little ship shop, maybe tackle Force crafting like my aunt? Sometimes I fething hate money. I used to want it all the time; my folks raised me poor. Now that I've got it, it's nothing like the security I thought it would be. It's like my life isn't going to be mine."

 

[Vexen]

Vexen half closed her eyes and flattened her ears to her head. Unfortunately it turned out that Micah was only looking to quickly ruffle her fur. She moved her head a few inches closer and looked at him poignantly. He didn't seem to take the hint.

Scratch?

She listened to Mara talking. Some of what she said made little sense to the Defel, but she got a sense for how this was plaguing the young adult's mind. Vexen idly wondered what it would be like to have direction from your parents. Or parents. Micah seemed to have a notion in mind for her. That was why he pushed her, tried to introduce her to knew people - as reticent as she was - and try to train her in the use of the Force. He seemed to know best.

Except for when he wasn't taking the hint.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]
[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Vexen's head would nudge against his arm once more, and he felt her stare as she again moved under his hand. A chuckle came, and his fingers went to search for the right spots the Defel enjoyed getting scratched. Blunt fingers scratched in affection, and it wasn't unlike any other time he'd do the same for Kaili - only she was more prone to flop over him and say 'scratch my back!' than the quieter demands made by Vex.

"I don't know," he told Mara honestly, his left hand rising in a wondering gesture. They knew back when they were young that Mara's parents were well off; at least, the idea they were carried. The Mara Corridor was named after the short stack after all.

"Why don't you start small and see where it gets you? Stick with what you know." he suggested, then a grin drew wider, "You could always make a bigger secret base, Shortstack." reminding her of the hidden sanctuary they had discovered, explored, and claimed as their. An old forgotten archaeological laboratory turned secret club house.

"Maybe make the largest, baddest, craziest shadow-port the galaxy has ever seen?"

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Vexen"] [member="Micah Talith"]

Force, but it was way too easy to forget a Defel was in the same room. And that suddenly acquiring a galaxy-shattering fortune changed, had to change, the way you talked with people. Her Zeltron empathy didn't pick up offense from Vexen's direction, just a kind of bemused detachment, and that was almost worse.

She forced a grin; in the moment, Micah needed a response. The conversation swept her along. "A whole secret base for just me and my friends? That's a little bit-" She cut herself off. "Well, there's better uses for the money. I once joked about using the whole fortune to clean the air on Trevel'ka, and Mom thought that was a dang good idea. Or there's this thing Kaili and I found..."

Even after years, the comet experience was still fresh. She didn't know what, if anything, Kaili had shared with her brother about that. "Anyways," she said, "I don't really feel like I'm looking for a life of special significance or whatever. I just figure, I've got the windfall, I've got to find the right way to use it.

"Anyways, I'm rambling. Show me what you've been making." She included Vex with her eyes, on the assumption that she'd picked up some kind of crafting along the way, if not been Micah's actual apprentice. You couldn't be around Micah and not tinker.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]
[member="Micah Talith"]

Her eyes were half-closed and her ears down as she enjoyed the simple gesture of a good scratch. Mara looks like she had good sharp fingers, she thought absently. Then there was a gentle twist of the head as she let Micah know she was done for now. Ears perked up and she met Mara's eyes for a moment.

"Folk likes t'pretend they have a big plan, follow it through and make it all great. It's kark. Stuff happens, you try and get by, try and be as happy as possible. Way I see it if you’ve got…” feth what was that long word? “Opportunities…” she said, sounding out each syllable tentatively. “…then go for one, but don’t look back if you change up and pick a dif’rent one down the line.

“Now you’ve done it, y’know he’ll go on all day now?” she added, with a sly look up at Micah.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

"Not quite what I meant there, Shortstack," Micah cut in with a chuckle, leaning back into his chair with the ease and lackadaisical flair that could only come from a man boldly stepping into the prime of his youth. The corners of his mouth twitched in humor, and his eyes gleamed bright that for a moment would rival the Tatooine suns.

"I meant for anyone and everyone." he clarified, but went along with the change of subject, perking up on the topic he was well interested in. Alchemy and Jal Shey imbuement were fields of study he'd explored young, not only with his uncle Dissero but his father as well. This wasn't even including the amount of travel the Talith conducted searching for fringe force organizations to learn and study from.

"I've a few trinkets or two," he said rather excitedly, his manner infectious and inviting as the Talith had before in his youth. Inclusive as well as friendly.

Hearing Vex toss her own two credits worth, Micah gave a mock gesture of affront. "Vex! You wound me!" a dramatic pause, then the sly mischievous addition, "Just a few hours or so, not the entire day!!" tapping the table, he surged to his feet, now on a mission to show off what he had crafted the last few years that Mara had been gone.

"Well I know you've an itch for all things sharp..." he joked, weaving past them towards the nearest counter. He sidestepped there, dropping out of sight as he took a hold of one particular item. Kalee's Judgement, the songsteel sword he had crafted for himself.

His mop of brown hair would poke up and slid over to the duo.

"Try to hold back your desire to run me through this time around, eh?" the amused quip would follow the toss of the leather scabbard and the alchemized and Force Imbued songsteel sword in Mara's direction.

[member="Vexen"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]