Private Starfall Serenade

[Aadihr Lidos]

Starfall Serenade

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

Aadihr's hand reached for Azurine's with quiet purpose. Not particularly urgent, but certaintly eager. Fingers brushed metal, then warmth. A light tug.

They’d taken three lifts and crossed two docking arms by now, and he hadn’t said where they were going. The hush of repulsors, the slide of security doors, the occasional click of his pike on steel—these had replaced conversation. Instead, he let silence make space for anticipation.

As they neared the final threshold, he turned slightly, his blindfolded gaze fixed gently on her. He saw her more clearly than any light could allow.

From a pouch at his hip, he withdrew a length of soft cloth. Deep blue. Worn edges. Clearly handmade.

"Your turn."

He extended it with both hands. Not demanding. Not teasing.

Just offering.

"It won’t be long. I promise. But if you see it on the way, it’ll ruin the magic."

And I want to give you that, at least once.

He waited for her to tie it, or allow him to. And once she did, he gently guided her forward with a hand at her back and his voice low beside her ear—his steps precise, her pace matched perfectly.

"One more turn. Two steps. Good."

He smiled, unseen. In short order, they had arrived.

"Alright, Azzie... You can look."

He began to assist in untying the blindfold.

Azurine Varek​

 

[Azurine Varek]

In Your Light

Outfit: Dress | Glove | Right Arm | Talisman | Purple Bracelet
Weapons: Lightsaber 1 [x] (Hidden in arm compartment)

"You couldn't have given me any kind of clue? Oh, come on, you know surprises drive me up a wall." Azzie teased, her voice light with a giggle sounding almost bell-like in the inflection of her accent.

Attempting to pry any information out of the Miraluka knight over the past couple of days had been an exercise in futility. Still, no one could blame an overly curious young woman for trying. She'd even started casually needling Aris Noble —just a few offhand questions between sparring and idle conversation. Had Aadihr mentioned anything weird? Any plans or side trips? Dropped any suspicious breadcrumbs? Aris, frustratingly, either knew nothing or was too good at pretending.

Aadihr hadn't let her fly to wherever they were heading, entrusting the route entirely to a pilot droid despite her spirited objections about being more than capable. According to him, this wasn't about ability. She had considered "accidentally" hacking into their nav-logs. She didn't, but only because she was pretty sure she'd be caught by his mastery of perception. Three lifts. Two docking arms. One maddening stretch of utter ignorance, and it nearly drove her wild.

Now here she was, fingers absently tracing the edge of the talisman at her neck before fidgeting with a stubborn lock of black hair that refused to behave. Though she knew he couldn't physically see it, she'd let Master Valery Noble help her decide on an outfit given how little she knew of the plans. The dress flowed in layered shades of sky blue, midnight, and warm sunset orange, covered in twinkling iridescent color-shifting sparkles, and fell longer at the back in a soft train. Everest Vale had insisted on doing her makeup, too, and she'd relented, on one condition: her traditional tattoos stayed visible.

"Well, thank you, good sir! What a charming little mystery," she declared with playful dramatic flair, brushing her biological fingers over the fabric he'd given her. The hue matched her dress suspiciously well. Just how many details had he run past Valery or Eve that they'd coyly refused to share?

Her voice softened as she stepped close enough that she could practically feel his heartbeat, gently placing the blindfold in his hands. "Would you do the honors?" Her fingers lingered against his before she turned, trusting him to tie it in place.

With the soft cloth tied over her eyes, every step echoed louder, her boots syncing with his in rhythm. The silence between them deepened her anticipation until she could almost taste it. What's so special that he needs all this secrecy? she wondered, every nerve ending tingling. It was like a puzzle, and that alone took everything she had not to ask dozens of questions. She took a moment to attempt to focus her own radar in the way that she'd been learning, but with her eyes covered, it was fuzzy. She'd need to put more work into it.

"Are we there yet?" she prodded, drawing the words out. "How obnoxious do I have to be to get at least a clue—because I could start singing. Though honestly, that's cruel and unusual punishment, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Aadihr Lidos​

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Starfall Serenade

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

He stood behind her. Close, but not touching.

"Are we there yet?" she prodded, drawing the words out. "How obnoxious do I have to be to get at least a clue—because I could start singing. Though honestly, that's cruel and unusual punishment, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

For a breath, he lingered in that stillness savoring her frustration teasingly. At last he reached up to gently undo the knot at the back of her head. The cloth slipped free, and her vision returned.

And then—

The stars opened around them like a temple.

No walls. No ceiling. Just a clear dome overhead, and the narrow platform beneath their feet that seemed to float on nothing. All else was void, glass, infinity. Constellations painted themselves across the dark. Nebulas burned in radiant ribbons. Twin moons hung like ghostly watchers over a nearby world.

And then the sky moved.

The meteor storm began slow—single streaks falling in elegant arcs. Then more. Dozens. Bright trails lighting up the heavens in golden bursts. Some blazed across the stars and vanished like exhaled wishes. Others lingered, burning slow, casting light across the transparent floor beneath them.

It was beautiful.

But Aadihr did not watch the sky.

He had never seen the stars.

Not in the way she did—not in color or brilliance. To him, the meteors were glass shards falling through black water, inorganic and distant. No heat. No flare. Just silent movement. Stillness. A kind of beauty, maybe… but empty.

She was the only thing alive in that dome worth waching.

When the blindfold slipped from her eyes, her aura ignited in the Force. Violet and orange light bloomed from her chest like twin suns rising at once, pulsing in time with her breath. Vibrant hues radiated from her in soft tremors, casting ripples through the air as if the Force itself were holding its breath to admire her joy.

Her colors danced.

Next to her, his own presence—muted, restrained, dented like worn steel—reflected some of her warmth. A quiet mirror of saturation. Vicarious awe.

I’ve never seen anything like this.

Not the sky. Her. Every time he saw her like this, it felt like the first. Her light never dulled, even after all this time. Without a word, Aadihr stepped forward—slowly, gently, and reached to take her hand.

Azurine Varek​

 

[Azurine Varek]

In Your Light

MUSIC

Outfit: Dress | Glove | Right Arm | Talisman | Purple Bracelet
Weapons: Lightsaber 1 [x] (Hidden in arm compartment)

Yet, the silence continued. Azzie's lips turned down into a partly performative pout, shifting her head to face where she assumed Aadihr was based completely off of his bright aura. Her sight, blindfolded, was unfocused at best, but there was something about his light that was stunning in a way few others were. It was like a soft lamp glowing with homecoming, sparkled like stars on a cloudless night, and gave off the warmth of a steady embrace. For a moment, she found herself lost there with all words escaping her mind. Until his hand brushed her shoulder and pulled her curiosity back to the restless mystery at hand.

"You've got ten seconds before I start singing some Iridoni rendition of one of the more vulgar Sleemo songs. Test me, I'll—"

She felt the fabric of the blindfold brush across her cheeks, and the view opened up. Her words caught in her throat, the planned end of her teasing sentence dying right along with them.

"We're in the... Corellian system." She started thinking out loud as if no one was listening while she traced her fingers through the air along telltale constellations. "If the Ivax nebula is there, then—" Eventually her finger came to land, pointing towards one particularly large glowing sphere. "That should be the galactic center. Well... at least before the anomalies. I'm still trying to work those out…"

She almost missed the first streak, spotting a flicker out of the corner of her eye and whipping her head in that direction. Azzie was suddenly glad she'd decided to go with the silver flats instead of partial heels. Immediately, she strode to the edge of the railing in a bounding manner that could have resembled a child in a toy shop, leaning over as far as the dome would allow. Fires of wonder danced and played through the amethysts of her eyes while the stars fell all around them.

"How did you—"

Azzie's hand gripped onto Aadihr's the moment she felt it, her fingers lacing between his while her eyes wandered the natural show of light that she was allowed an unobstructed, front-row view of.

The galaxy bloomed with streaks of silver fire, each meteor tracing a glowing arc across the dark velvet expanse like sparks from a divine forge. No two follow the exact same path, yet together they weave a tapestry of motion and color as if the heavens themselves were performing a silent ballet. Some flares burned pale blue, others glowed gold or rose, their hues dancing against the backdrop of distant constellations.

"It's so beautiful..." Her voice trailed off as her arms found their way to wrapping around one of his. She knew full well he couldn't see the specifics the way she could, so while keeping her eyes on the massive stretch of flashing meteors, she thought to try to translate it into words. A show of affection in wanting him to be a part of it. But how do you describe something like this to someone who was born without eyes?

She didn't know if she had the words to give... so instead, she removed the glove from her hand before interlocking it around the skin of his once again to try to project the memory as she'd seen it to him instead.

Aadihr Lidos​