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​

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Starfall Serenade

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

Her words died in the middle of a tease.
The moment the blindfold fell, she went still. Suspended. As if some hidden current had lifted her up by the ribs and kept her hovering between breath and speech. Her presence lit the space beside him like the flare of a sunrise caught on crystal—wild, beautiful, and uncontained.

Aadihr didn’t dare interrupt.

He let her wander to the edge of the viewing platform, tracking constellations, naming the shapes with that brilliant, eager mind. His hand remained half-lifted until she reached for it again. Fingers tangled with his like it was second nature.
It was.

She looked so very alive in that moment. More than he’d ever been. More than most ever got to be – at least from his perception. Maybe it was a more intimate view of her presence from the bond that formed.

He watched the storm with her—but not with his eyes. Not with any sense that would’ve shown him the colors, the fire, the movement. The meteors streaked like glass echoes through the Force, distant and pale. The dome around them shimmered in soft gravitational hum. The stars remained quiet, sharp-edged. Beautiful in theory. Cold in truth.

Only she moved.
Her aura poured violet and gold and soft heat. Her joy burned bright enough to color the whole void. And for him, that was the miracle.

She doesn’t even realize what she looks like right now.

Not the dress. Not the light on her cheekbones.
The presence of her.

But then she approached him again. Her glove slipped off. Their hands touched again—skin to skin—and something bloomed between their palms.

A warmth. A tether.
And then—clarity.
The Force rushed open like a door unbarred. His breath caught.

A vision wasn’t forced into him—just offered. Psychometric Memory. Emotion. Sensory imprint. Her sight. Her awe. He felt the stars not as coordinates, but as color. As breath. As longing. Meteors streaked overhead in luminous sweeps of silver and rose, leaving trails on the backs of his thoughts.

For a heartbeat—

He saw.
He felt it in his chest more than his head. A roar without noise. Colors he had no name for. A sense of infinite movement, and yet absolute stillness. Her experience, filtered through the Force. No translation. No filter. Just wonder, raw and uncut, shared between their clasped hands.

Aadihr turned slightly toward her, lips parting in silence. Not a smile. Not quite. But something like it—rising slowly, as if startled by its own presence.

His voice came quiet, roughened. He was going to say something cheesy... Like "thank you," or "that was wonderful" or something about his eyes opening for the first time, but it all felt too... Insincere when compared to what he had experienced. He could only smile. And deflect, slightly, to preserve him through from closing with unguarded emotion.

After a long while simply enjoying the moment, he replied with something playfully stupid. It wasn't the most romantic thing, but it was very... him.

"Is that really what my robes look like? I see your point, I probably should refresh my wardrobe."
He laughed a bit at the break in tension, but it returned as soon as he noticed her gaze was still fixed, her emotions sincere.
He was the one who watches. He wasn't used to being seen.

Azurine Varek​

 

[Azurine Varek]

In Your Light

MUSIC

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

Azzie's lips parted, a breath caught somewhere between a laugh and a gasp. She blinked slowly, her mind nearly having to reboot from the whiplash of shared starlight to a comment so disarmingly him. Stars still painted streaks across the sky behind him, burning so brightly it felt impossible that anything could outshine them. Yet somehow, in her eyes, he was just as bright.

"Honestly?" She teased, her voice laced with dry amusement and a flirtatious tilt. "I didn't want to be the one to say it, but your wardrobe does kind of look like a monastery tried to wrestle a vagabond and lost half the time. It's not a total loss, though; this one is rather nice and doesn't have scruffy, frayed edges."

She wasn't teasing to push away. It was a dance, and one she never wanted to end. In the playful words, she could feel it—his uncertainty, that quiet attempt to sidestep sincerity before it made him too visible. His emotions bloomed around her, a kaleidoscope of admiration and something deeper, something that hummed with gentle promise.

A meteor traced a golden arc overhead, and Azzie pressed her body against his side, listening to the soundless whoosh of burning ice and rock. Her arms looped around his, fitting herself against his side like she was always meant to be there. "Just so you know," she whispered near his ear, her voice barely more than a breath, "I think you look most handsome when you're just being you."

She didn't say the other truth aloud, though it rang in her soul with clarity. Even if she stood in the center of a thousand worlds, shoulder to shoulder with faces and futures she hadn't yet known, Aadihr would still be the only one she saw. His presence was a gravity all its own, pulling her and steadying her in a way that no star holochart ever could. The way he existed beside her made everyone else dim by comparison. The strangest part was that he didn't seem to realize it. Maybe he couldn't, but Azzie saw him in every possible sense of the word.

I would be a fool to let someone like you just walk right by. A fool not to... to love you...

The silence that followed was soft rather than awkward, almost sacred. She let it linger while the meteor shower continued to unfurl above them like the galaxy itself had chosen this moment to weep stardust just for them. Her fingers remained threaded with his, skin brushing skin, pulse brushing pulse.

Azzie tilted her face up toward his, close enough now to catch the edge of his breath. "I hope I didn't overwhelm you," she whispered after, almost bashful now that the haze of wonder had passed. "I just… I didn't want you to miss it." Under it all, there was a reverence to the way she held his hand as if she'd never let go unless asked to.

The stars could keep falling. She already had everything she needed.

Aadihr Lidos​

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Starfall Serenade

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

Her teasing lilt was familiar. Disarming. But the words behind it landed deeper than she’d know.

Aadihr turned his face slightly, not away—but just enough to mask the flicker of heat that passed across his expression. Not embarrassment. Not quite. Just… a fragile moment folding in on itself before it could bloom.

He could feel the sincerity in her voice. The weight behind her playfulness. The way she shifted closer, not to pull him in, but to be with him in the space he’d left open. Her warmth settled against his side. Not heavy. Not invasive.

Just—true.

When she spoke again—so softly it trembled against the edge of his hearing—his hand tightened around hers by reflex. His breathing slowed, quieted, as though afraid to disturb the gravity between them.

"That’s not fair, Azzie," he murmured at last, voice lower than before, nearly lost in the rush of falling meteors above them.

"You say things like that and expect me not to fall apart?"

A pause. Then, faintly—

A smile.

He exhaled through his nose, head bowed ever so slightly as though in reverence, or disbelief, or both.

He wasn’t used to being seen.

He wasn’t used to being wanted—not for wisdom, or patience, or steadiness—but simply for who he was beneath all of that. Beneath the blindfold, the robes, the quiet. The soul that still felt like it wasn’t meant to be held too close.

But she did.

And somehow… it didn’t break him.

It steadied him.

He turned toward her then. Slowly. She was still looking up at him—eyes bright with leftover starlight, skin kissed by the glow of the storm. His hand lifted and hovered, uncertain, then gently found her jaw—his thumb brushing just beneath her cheek.

There was so much he didn’t say. So much that hovered on the edge of his mouth like a prayer he hadn’t earned yet.

But he said something.

Something small. Honest. Whole.

"You didn’t overwhelm me."

Another pause.

"You brought me back."

He didn’t pull away. Not yet. He stayed beside her as the stars kept falling—one hand still entwined with hers, the other still resting softly against her face.

Let the galaxy move. Let the meteors burn. Let the silence hold.

She was the only thing he could see.

Azurine Varek​

 

[Azurine Varek]

In Your Light

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

"You say things like that and expect me not to fall apart?"

"I've never exactly been one to shy away from speaking truth. I thought you knew that by now." Azzie found herself chuckling faintly while her eyes wandered outward to the stars beyond. She knew full well how much trouble her mouth could get her into. It wasn't necessarily that she didn't have a filter, but rather that sometimes she didn't quite know when to drop it into place or that she'd forget to do so at times if she hadn't adequately been prepared to need it.

She wasn't a true empath, not in the way that Zaiya or Mahsa were. Most of the time, she observed emotions rather than experienced them, recognizing their distinct patterns once she had learned and memorized the underlying constants. The only exception came through the touch of psychometry, where emotion surged too vividly to ignore. With Aadihr, though, that had changed. She didn't need to see to know what he was feeling because she'd feel it from him herself. It should have been overwhelming, yet it wasn't.

The raw tenderness of his words hit her like a low swell of music that reached straight into her chest and stayed there, humming. Azzie's heart, traitorous and wild, slammed into her ribs. The weight of his hand against her cheek was too grounding to move from. A corner of her mouth lifted into a soft, genuine smile.

She reached up, fingertips brushing his wrist before sliding along the inside of his forearm, savoring the warmth against her cheek. The sleeve of his robe formed a thin barrier, separating the metal of her prosthetic hand from the warmth of his skin. He wasn't merely looking at her, but allowing himself to be seen. It made something low in her stomach twist with yearning, flutter with tension so electric it felt like fire beneath her skin.

What were they now? They hadn't actually talked about it. They hadn't established any specific boundaries. There was all the time they had spent together on her ship, and there were no titles, no promises—just these endless moments woven between responsibilities and glances that lingered too long. There were jokes. There were flirts. Brushes of fingers in passing making her knees weak and leaving her wondering...

Azzie tilted her head just slightly into the cradle of Aadihr's palm and whispered playfully, "Do you want to crack into that wine bottle I know you brought with you, or is there some other beautiful reveal we're still waiting on?"

Aadihr Lidos​

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Starfall Serenade

Spoiler: MUSIC

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

Her fingers brushed his wrist, then followed the curve of his forearm like she was committing it to memory. There was nothing showy in it, just a quiet admission: I want to be close to you, still. It settled in his chest like a weight and a blessing all at once. Aadihr exhaled slowly and lowered his hand from her face, the contact unbroken until the very last instant. The space left behind ached with warmth.

"Well... Not wine, exactly..."

Instead, he turned and crouched at the edge of the platform, reaching beneath a folded wrap of cloth by the pack he’d brought. A dark bottle emerged. Thick glass. Familiar ridged shoulders. He cradled it gently like something old, sacred, and personal. In a way, it was each of those things.

Iridonian whiskey.

The good kind. The kind distilled by hand in desert wind. Or so the old Zabrak with the prosthetic legs had said.

He stood again.

"Last surprise, I promise," he said quietly, holding the bottle in one hand. "Just this. And a few things I've been wanting to say."

He stepped back to her and sat beside her—not ceremonially, just comfortably. Shoulder to shoulder. Knee to knee. The stars still rained down, casting shifting shadows across their faces.

A pause. Then—

"I know we’ve never really said it out loud," he began, voice low, steady. He turned the bottle slowly in his hand. Not nervous. Just… thoughtful.

"I... I spent years learning how not to want anything that could be taken away from me."

A long breath. No bitterness. Just shake of his head to dispel memories.

"But you’re... You've been an anchor, You’ve kept me from losing myself. Even when you're gone, even when things seem hopeless, I know that I can't let go of everything, because I can't let go of you. I choose not to."

He turned toward her fully now. No masks to hide behind, no shields to deflect

"So here it is."

He offered the bottle out to her, almost like an offering, or an apology.

"I want this to mean something. You and me. Not just moments between assignments or when the room is quiet enough for us to pretend, I want the arguments, the heartbreak, the fear and the pain. I want it all, as long as it's with you. I want the titles, the labels, the cheesy moments that I used to cringe at."

Aadihr had to swallow hard to clear the sudden lump from his throat.

"I want to be with you – officially."

His voice warbled, then steadied again.

"You already have my trust. You already have my loyalty. And Force help me, Azurine, you have my heart. I don't want to pretend that’s not true anymore."

Silence, again. Just waiting for her to meet him there—however she wanted to. He didn’t need grand gestures. Just her hand in his. Her voice. Her yes, or even her wait. He would. As long as it took.

Azurine Varek​

 

[Azurine Varek]

In Your Light

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

Azzie's eyes landed on the bottle, and immediately a sparkle of aurora-shifting violet hues flew through them. Excitement and surprise, accompanied by a near disbelief, ran through her. "Is that... Aro-Voa Bluth Whiskey?"

Her hands flew forward to inspect the bottle, her grin growing that much wider. Written in Iridoni with big, bold letters across the bottle and spelled with heated canyon terracotta glass: Aro-Voa Bluth, aged 75 years. The Aro River was one of the few consistent drinkable water sources on Iridonia, and the canyon it ran through, Aro-Voa, could actually support farmable land for plants with the natural inclination to survive the acid and dust storms the planet had.

"My dad used to keep a bottle of this for gatherings and special occasions... I never actually got the chance to have any before I left Iridonia, and it's not exactly a common carry for most cantinas." Her laugh held a bittersweet chime to it. As much as Azzie attempted to keep the tears away, a couple managed to slip down her cheeks before she could stop them. It left her to dab at her face with the back of her hand all the while hoping that he didn't notice and that it didn't do too much damage to the makeup she had on.

Azzie wasn't sure if Aadihr knew just how much of an impact such a presentation would have on her; maybe he did, but what might have been seen as small or inconsequential to others made her eyes shine and her soul light up like a supernova. She was at a loss as to where he got it, or even how. It meant so much to her.

Her heart thundered in her ears as Aadihr continued; words settled around them like stardust. Her lips parted, but no sound came. What syllables could possibly convey the ocean that had just crashed open inside her chest? So many words that he had already said, except—

I love you...

It had been there for so long now. A precious feeling in its silence. A slow, steady pulse beneath everything they'd shared. She'd fallen for the way he listened like words were holy, for the compassion in his presence when her own feet faltered. She'd fallen when he refused to flinch from her fire, when he never asked her to be smaller, or quieter, or less. Anchor, he'd called her. The truth was—he had become her still point. The gravity beneath her chaos. So many times it had been him who kept her feet on the edge. The only thing that could somehow temper the wildfire in her heart into a warm, hearth fire.

"I—" The air between them felt electric now. Her thoughts spun wild, disorganized, and tugged in every direction. For one who was so used to stating things without remembering to place up a filter, Aadihr always had this way of stealing those words right from her throat.

"I love you," she said, quiet and yet more sure of it than anything in a while. "I think I've been in love with you longer than I've had the sense to name it."

It felt almost like finally exhaling after years of holding breath in the void of space. Their fingers laced together, giving her the opportunity to take the bottle from his hand and set it down while her other hand came up to cup his cheek. Her thumb brushed the line of his jaw, across the fabric of his blindfold, and into his hair. He'd laid bare his soul; she responded in her love blazing with a clarity that only the Force could fathom.

Aadihr Lidos​