Junction Sun & Starlight: Evening Gala

[Judah Dashiell]

"So the student is teaching the master? Plus a master willing to learn? This sounds like a rarity."

Judah was partially teasing her. He was also thinking of Balun and how he couldn't picture his son trying to learn from his student. If he was being honest with himself he suspected that his son teaching anyone was a disaster. Apparently the Jedi thought otherwise.

"I can grill, yes. Don't act surprised. I'm more surprised you can - don't picture the Jedi temples of old, or even current, a welcoming place to smoke some meats or light some charcoal."

An amusing thought to him really but most likely not for her. He was picturing brown-clad Jedi debating the best wood to use to roast some nuna legs. Given he was certain they had cafeteria services, a even more hilarious thought. One he would keep to himself, he wasn't sure if Iandre Athlea was as sensitive about her Jedi status as Balun Dashiell .

"I would invite you over to showcase my skills but I find that incredibly forward of myself. A bit of roguish behavior. However." Judah drew out the word, partially because he was unsure of himself. "We could go out for dinner. I'm sure there is somewhere to your liking that grills."

A small pause.

"I'd like to consider it a date, not business related."

 

[Iandre Athlea]

For a second, everything else just faded away.

Iandre looked at Judah, honestly caught off guard. It wasn't the dinner invite. It was how plainly he'd said it. He could've dressed it up as a meeting or just a casual meal, but he didn't. He just said what he meant. And there was something in that she really respected.

Her first reaction was the old one. To pause. To wonder if she was really ready. To ask herself if opening up again was smart after everything.

But then, just like that, the feeling passed.

She'd spent months learning you don't conquer grief, you just learn to carry it. She'd walked away from the life she thought would never end, made peace with not knowing who she was turning into. Somewhere along the line, she swore she wouldn't let fear control her. She knew where that led.

A warm smile spread across her face as she held his gaze, something easing deep in her chest. "I think..." She laughed softly, almost at herself, before finishing the thought. "...I'd like that." The words came out sure, and she let them sit for a moment before adding, "A date." The phrase felt strange on her tongue, pulling another quiet laugh from her. "It's been ages since anyone's asked me on one."

"Judah," she said, a faint smile tipping the corner of her lips a little higher. "I'd love to have dinner with you."

For the first time in longer than she could remember, thinking about what came next didn't feel frightening: it felt like hope.

Judah Dashiell

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber

His eyes softened after she spoke.

Return the favor?

He thought about that phrase for a moment before he slowly shook his head with a soft smile.

“You certainly have not been neglectful. Not all gifts are intentionally given.”

He gently moved her in a circle deftly moving his steps with hers, maintaining a lead that kept the pace of the music before them.

“If you were neglectful, well, I doubt we would be here right now.”

A small smile lifted his lips as he looked at her.

“You give yourself too little credit.”

His thumb gently brushed over her finger, a small way to ease her into the moment, the smoke silhouettes maintaining their own dance with the rhythm of the music.

“But, I will not say no to a surprise from you. I think you should know though, you have given me far more than most people. And I know it's genuine because you don't even know that you do it at times.”

Another slow side step as he maintained their own space on the floor.

“An ear to listen, a hand to help me up when I fall and a voice for advice. Many times I had fallen or strayed away and you helped correct me.”

His smile softened along with his voice.

“If you were neglectful, I doubt I would be who I am now. I doubt I would be here and I doubt I would have the same intentions with most things thrown my way.”

His eyes found hers as he stared deeply.

“Ki Hadzuska W'ana”

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

The lantern light danced across the smoke as Seren listened to him, the golden silhouettes continuing their graceful circuit around them while the crimson ones matched every measured step. The illusion was beautiful, but it was no longer what held her attention. That honor belonged entirely to the man standing before her.

She held his gaze as he spoke of gifts never intended, of conversations and quiet moments that had somehow become anchors during the loneliest chapters of his life. Every word seemed to peel back another layer of the man she had first met beneath winter lanterns and snowy skies. She had spent so long believing that the meaningful things people gave one another had to be tangible, carefully chosen, deliberately offered. Yet here he was, thanking her for simply being present.

A quiet breath escaped her.

"I think..." she began softly, her smile touched by both warmth and humility, "...perhaps that is why I never recognized them as gifts."

Her fingers remained comfortably intertwined with his as they continued to move together, neither rushing the dance nor the conversation. "None of those things ever felt extraordinary to me. Listening to you. Helping you when you needed someone beside you. Offering advice when you asked for it." She shook her head almost imperceptibly. "I never weighed those moments. I never kept score. I did them because they were for you."

Her amber eyes never left his.

"And perhaps that is what makes a gift what it is." A faint smile found its way back to her lips. "Not something wrapped or planned months in advance, but something freely given because caring about someone simply makes it feel natural."

The music carried them through another slow turn, the smoke dancers flowing around them like memories brought to life. Seren watched the golden silhouettes for only a moment before returning her attention to him.

"Ki Hadzuska W'ana," she repeated quietly, the words carrying a tenderness that matched his own. "If I have helped shape the man you've become... then you should know the same is true of me."

Her smile deepened.

"The woman standing here isn't the same one who stepped onto that sleigh or accepted that first dance." She gave his hand the gentlest squeeze. "She exists because, little by little, you changed her as well."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Kat Decoria]

​

Outfit: Dress Shirt and Slacks
Tag: Vaux Gred | Sylor

Kat took a good sip of her drink, she was glad to not see the familiar face of Allyson Locke around, Kat doubted that she would have been quite as comfortable seeing her ex so happy and in love with her wife as Kat liked to portray herself being. It was bad enough that she was drinking Corellian Whisky, a beverage that Allyson got Kat into drinking. It was something that she couldn't help but picture Allyson drinking at times. It was also tough not remembering the times they had shared drinking the very good vintages that Allyson was determined only a true enthusiast of the whisky would allow to touch their lips.

Lost in her thoughts, Kat was caught a little off guard when someone actually approached her. Kat determined to collect her swiftly offered a friendly smile to the other woman. The other woman was clearly a Mandalorian, carried herself with the obvious disposition of someone far too uncomfortable without some sort of armour adorned to her. It was amusing of obvious the Mandalorians could be when out of their armour. Open books was the phrase that always came to mind. There was another Mandalorian that Vaux had been talking to, and Kat gave a friendly wave to him as well. Open invitation if he wished to join the conversation.

"I can tell that you are probably a woman who prefers talking battle tactics and some sort simulation, can't tell if it would be war simulations, combat simulations or flight simulations." Kat chuckled lightly, a little soothing of the awkwardness that was coming from Vaux. "The gala is fine, not my typical place to be. I live a far more inelegant lifestyle." Kat mentioned with a smirk on her lips, "but free drinks and a chance to admire some beautiful ladies, such as yourself, hard to refuse an opportunity like this." Another soft chuckle, as Kat gestured to a server that she needed a refill.

Looking over to Vaux, "what is your poison?"