Junction Sun & Starlight [ME][TSO][THR] | [Empty Hex][TBD][Iphigin]

[Kasir Dorran]

Cali Ziiva
Objective: Dancing maybe? Hoping for snacks. Prepared for violence.
​

Something instinctive bristled at the nickname, even if he still couldn’t articulate why. “Kasir,” came the correction. His tone was low enough the music probably swallowed it whole. Then again, raising his voice had never been necessary in his line of work.

Fingers closed around the chilled glass like another serrated ceremonial dagger. The examination of it was precise. One suspicious sniff brought summer.. syrupiness? Whatever it may be, this was also too bright, too foreign. The smallest sip imaginable followed, lips barely brushing the rim. “It’s.. kind of sweet.” Words floated on the breeze. Brows furrowed anyway; sweetness meant different pastries, things he actually understood. Perhaps his palate was calibrated solely from bitter dark chocolate and dry rations.

Either way, the cup remained in hand. Maybe that was one of the secrets of blending in when out in the open like this. Holding a drink. Pretending he belonged here, like camouflage in a way.

Memory dredged up their first encounter. It hadn’t really been that long since the Sith decided to jump the Black Wall again into Republic space. “I wasn’t trying to shake chocolate out of you, I just.." Another slow blink. "You hid things in your hair before. Or I thought you did. When you were smuggling things on New Cov. Most systems consider that illegal."

The winter chill of fingers twitched when her hand reached for his. Something nudged his spine. He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t know how to resist at first. One finger, then another slipped, until his palm fell back into the air.

Questions were processed like a tactical assault. The Sangnir began to calculate the spatial awareness required for the dance floor before sighing. "Enjoying isn’t the word I’d use, but I’m managing." He looked out at a crowd swaying erratically, his gaze lost. Most could probably even appreciate the golden horizon. "I’ve survived far worse environments than this. So far."

The concept of idle chatter hadn't so much as grazed the Sangnir's consciousness. "Zero. Why should I generate data where none is required?" Then the final strike. "My instincts don’t translate into music. If I dance, someone will get hurt." Not that he’d ever been opposed to violence.

"So," barely a breath. "What did you want to do next?"

Clearing his throat, dark orbs darted down to her feet, then tentatively back up to her bright gaze. "Are you.. were you intending for me to join you? In the dancing?" The thought sounded more perilous than a room full of armed mercenaries. "If it involves chocolate afterwards, I suppose I wouldn't object. That would make it highly logical."

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

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

It was the third time he had been on a tropical beach. But a first time he had witnessed black sands. It was quite different for him and the volcanic elements within the granular minerals seemed to speak to him. They were all standing upon the ground that had been destroyed and rebuilt over and over several times over the course of years.

But, it was not the only destructive force that would grace the presence of this beach.

Varin had his arm hooked with Seren’s as they walked the beach. The waves quietly crashed along the shoreline, various carrion called to one another as they waited for some poor soul to leave their food lying about.

Though they did not walk alone on this small trek to the party ahead. Joining with them were his battle brother, Lysander and the Empress of the Core herself, Mercy. The mountainous woman towered over the three of them practically blotting out the sun.

Varin was still not used to walking on shifting sands beneath his feet and the exposure of his legs just felt…wrong to him. He never liked shorts, but it would have been weird if he decided to wear his armor to a beach gathering.

He learned his lesson of wearing armor in sandy places like Korriban. It was…not optimal to put nicely.

Varin’s gaze pointed towards the mass gathering along the beach. Lounges, swimmers, small bars littered about the beach, familiar faces and unfamiliar faces alike all socializing in their own way.

Probably the most uncomfortable thing about the event for him was the fact he left his weapons. He always had them with him, and without his saber or his blade, he felt…further exposed. But he buried that feeling deep and remained focused on the upcoming events of the day and night.

The waves slowly ran up the sands, covering his feet with the oceanic chill of its natural temperature, the hissing of the waves grew once it came in contact with his flesh and a slight sigh left him when he realised it.

“Beaches tend to just not like me I see.”

He spoke more to himself than anyone else before a quiet chuckle left him. Oddly enough, he seemed more…upbeat for the day. Why, Mercy may have even seen him smile at one point before getting to the event.

Truth was, though he sometimes seemed to dislike the beach, he actually liked it. A lot.

Seren Gwyn | Mercy | Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

The beach was beautiful; Seren would admit that much without hesitation. The black sands glittered beneath the morning sun, each grain catching the golden light pouring across the shoreline until the entire coast seemed suspended somewhere between volcanic ruin and paradise. The contrast was striking, dark earth born from destruction meeting impossibly bright waters that stretched toward the horizon. Perhaps that was why she liked it; there was a certain honesty in landscapes that survived catastrophe.

Her arm remained comfortably linked through Varin's as they made their way along the shore, the rhythmic crash of the waves accompanying the distant music drifting from the gathering crowd. She could feel the subtle shifts of the sand beneath her bare feet and the unfamiliar warmth of the sun against her skin, a sensation she had spent enough years without to appreciate properly.

Unlike many of the guests, Seren had not dressed to attract attention. She never really knew how. Instead, she wore a flowing, sleeveless dress of deep sea-green that gradually faded to lighter shades near the hem, the fabric light enough to catch the ocean breeze while retaining an understated elegance. The open back revealed sun-kissed skin rarely visible beneath her usual heavy robes, while silver embroidery traced subtle patterns along the neckline and waist, reminiscent of curling waves and climbing vines. Her dark hair had been left mostly loose for once, with only a small portion gathered and pinned at the back by a simple silver clasp shaped like intertwined leaves. It allowed the rest to fall freely over her shoulders, the sea wind occasionally scattering stray strands across her face.

The overall effect was softer than the imposing image many associated with her.

It was less Sith and more simply Seren.

The atmosphere around them felt unusually light, elevated by the music, the setting, and the remarkably rare sight of Varin smiling. That alone felt noteworthy enough to warrant documentation. Her glowing amber eyes shifted toward him as another wave rushed up the shore, hissing against his feet before retreating back into the sea.

The reaction earned her a faint smile.

"I believe the beach is attempting to make your acquaintance," she observed, amusement threading gently through her voice. "Though judging by the steam, the relationship may be off to a complicated start."

As her smile lingered, her gaze drifted across the expanding party, taking in the easy laughter carried on the wind.

For once, there were no missions, no crises, and no looming disasters demanding their immediate attention.

There was just a beach, good friends, and a day she fully intended to enjoy, for however long the galaxy allowed such moments to last.

Varin Mortifer Lysander von Ascania Mercy

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Seris Mataan //: CT-312 //:
//: Attire //:

A vacation was something she desperately needed. To be away from the eyes of the High Republic Senate and their Jedi was a reprieve the Queen needed. Things had been turbulent, more so than she had wanted. In her mind she was just a visiting sovereign interested in the way the Republic functioned. Instead she was met with animosity and fast talking politicians. But at least for the most part it was behind her.

She had decided to not return home right away. Instead, she chose to make her way towards the Commonwealth — a place where she was able to indulge and relax. Here no one judged her for anything, no one followed her or tried to pin something on her. Here she was just able to be Quinn, the the Sith Princess, the Queen of Eshan — whatever she wanted.

Carefully she had laid out her towel, the umbrella tilted just enough so she could get some sun while avoiding any burning. CT-312 was close, despite being in Sith territory, the Commonwealth functioned on their own set of standards and rules. The last thing she needed was someone here wanting to drag her into the streets and call her a monster.

312, made her feel safe. She was enough.

Quinn leaned back on the small rest she had propped up, her legs long and her shoulders and arms exposed to the elements. A pair of dark sunglasses lingered on her nose as she read the pages of her favorite Lady Velvet novel. There was a time that she wondered if she could have a romance like the one in the book. A dangerous romance between a Jedi and a Sith, unfortunately, she found herself with something a little more one sided.

Her heart ached thinking about it, but she was doing her best to follow her mother’s advice. Guard her heart, and give it to someone that was worth it. Frowning, she didn’t fully understand the concept, but she was going to try.

At least the novels were substantial enough.

She heard her name in the distance, through the familiar pings of others that were connected to her. She hoped that they would reach out to her unlike the last time.

Eyes glanced up from the pages, after hearing her name. Looking up, over the top of the book she raised her brows over the sunglasses. “Oh?” She closed the book with a small smile as she let her eyes respectfully look at the copper haired Mandalorian. She felt a lump in her throat tighten, as she tried to swallow. Quinn let Seris talk as she let the moment pass her and when she found her voice she laughed.

“Brothers?” She echoed as she was thankful the sun made her skin flush with the heat.

“I’m unsure if it works on brothers, I only had sisters growing up.” Quinn stood carefully as she adjusted the swimsuit and pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her small nose.

“I’m happy you came, I didn’t know if you were going to be able to with how far it was from home.” A smile as she stepped forward and hesitated wanting to lean in for a hug, but the young Queen was unsure if it was appropriate or if Seris wanted it. Either way, she smiled and offered a bit of the towel to sit.

 

[Aether Verd]

Wearing:
Armor - Darksaber - Mask of Mandalore
Beach Bum Attire
.​

BEACHFRONT, GILARIA

Officially, everything was per the usual.

If the prying eyes of the Galaxy dared to settle on Mandalore, the Sole Ruler would be widely visible on the capital. Within his Court of Iron, he would be attending meetings with the Clan Alors, organizing the Great Heathen Army, and overall preparing his people for the next conquest. There would be confirmed sightings of him. Numerous souls would be able to report that they personally rubbed elbows with him. Everything was, quite literally, as it should be.

Of course, that was the official story. Unofficially?

Mand'alor the Iron's beskar'gam was indeed being paraded about Sundari conducting business as usual. The meetings occurred without a hitch. His will was made manifest across his Empire. Yet the one in the driving seat was not Aether personally - but rather his sibling. The Mand'alor's will had been provided to him directly in advance, freeing Aether to make good on something that he desired. For this one day, he would follow the roar of his thundering heart. And where it led was somewhere...sandy.

The conversation leading up to now had been...nerve-wracking...

Aether didn't just decide to pop over to the other end of the Galaxy on a whim, mind. There was indeed a method to his madness. More specifically, there was a woman whose presence in his life was something he...wanted. As time moved ever forward, the seldom moments of tea breaks between great battles, or aiding their people together...they were beautiful, but he wanted more. It had taken months for him to come to terms with it. Even longer for him to put words to how and what he was feeling. Thus, he approached the Healer wearing his heart upon his sleeve.

He had never asked anyone on a date before. The word hadn't been part of his vocabulary until now. Yet he asked for her presence all the same. This wasn't to be like the time they spent together on Zeltros, as friends. Aether laid it clear, albeit nervously, that he was...very interested in her. And that this request? It wasn't coming from the throne of Mandalore. It was coming from the man she met in the caverns whilst taming a storm. It was coming from the man who defiled tea with copious amounts of sugar and honey.

Aether did not receive an answer right away...nor at all to be honest. The shock that claimed Persephone's face was so much that he cleared his throat and quietly excused himself. But, before leaving, he said simply that if she came, she would be with him - strictly off the clock. And he had a plan in mind to prove how serious he was about that fact. Thus, when the day arrived, the Mand'alor truly felt...naked. He sat upon the shining beach of a distant world, a small walk's distance away from the ongoing festivities.

He could hear the DJ's set faintly in the distance, rumbling apace with the soothing noise of the ocean. Aether almost couldn't hear either over the nerves which were running rampant. For one, he was metaphorically twiddling his thumbs, hoping that the platnium-haired woman decided to join him on the beach. For another...he had literally left his beskar'gam on Mandalore. True to the occasion, he wore a pair of teal swim trunks and nothing else. To say that he felt exposed without his armor was the understatement of the century.

Nonetheless, he was here.

Nonetheless, for her, he would wait.

Persephone Halcyon

 

[Kaivaan Raaf]

Kai pulled on a loose-fitting shirt, a Duraweave-and-cotton blend, and ran a hand through his black hair. He glanced toward his cousin Iskendyr, who was busy spritzing cologne. "By the Balance, cousin, do you intend to drown women in this—" He narrowed his gaze and swiped the bottle from the nearby table as the boat glided across the golden water, the surface so steeped in sunlight it seemed for the moment to be liquid gold. "—Barbarian Elixir?" He raised a brow, took in a deep breath of it, and exhaled with visible suffering.

"It's one of the best brands in the Commonwealth," Iskendyr stated smoothly, running a hand through his own blond hair. "Nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom-"

"Grapefruit." Kai let his accent drawl the word out. "You're literally citrus and cinnamon."

Iskendyr grinned and, with a quick pull of the Force, plucked the bottle back from Kai's hand. A swift flick of his wrist, and he spritzed his cousin lightly.

Kai coughed and very nearly shoved him off the boat. "Hells, cousin. Do you wish for me to suffocate?"

"Suffocate? Have you gone absolutely daft? We're in the open air, and you will survive." Iskendyr struck him playfully on the shoulder, then hooked an arm around his neck and pulled him close. "Look at that. One of Maravaila's finest resorts, black sand, golden water. Better than those crowded Qosantyran beaches, if you ask me."

Kai sighed, reluctant, like a man resigned to his fate. "Cousin, I live on a tropical island with our grandmothers, where the sand, may I remind you, is actually sand."

"This is sand too. It can be different colors, you know. It was engineered to help with erosion and heat, given how bloody hot it gets here." Iskendyr caught his expression and lifted a finger before Kai could speak. "Don't look at me like that. I read, you know."

"You do?" Kai's shock was theatrical, entirely feigned. "Color me surprised."

Iskendyr opened his mouth to fire back, but the boat's driver cleared his throat and announced that they were approaching the jetty.

The jetty rose to meet them in pale weathered wood, stretching out from a shoreline that was every bit as absurd as Iskendyr had promised: black sand catching the light in flecks of mica, the water beyond it glassy and gold, and behind it all the low white sprawl of the resort tucked into the green. Staff in crisp linen waited at the end of the dock with cool towels and taller, colder drinks.

Kai regarded it the way another man might regard a firing squad.

The boat eased against the pilings with a soft bump, and Iskendyr was up and over the side before it had fully stilled, landing on the planks with the easy grace of a man who had never once in his life been uncertain of his welcome anywhere. He turned, arms spread, the sun catching him like it was on his payroll.

"Tell me this isn't paradise."

"It isn't." Kai stepped onto the jetty with rather more care, one hand braced on a piling, his expression that of a man testing ice for thickness. "It's a resort. Paradise wouldn't have a bar tab."

"You wound me." Iskendyr clapped a hand to his chest. "Genuinely. Here I am, dragging you out of that crypt you call a villa, into sunlight, fresh air, the company of people who do not exclusively converse with holocrons."

"The holocrons," Kai said gravely, "are better listeners."

"—and this is the thanks I get." Iskendyr fell into step beside him as they started down the jetty, and after a beat slung an arm around his shoulders again, steering him forward as though Kai might otherwise turn and swim home. "You'll thank me by sundown. I promise you."

"I will thank you," Kai allowed, "if I am not made to do anything. No watersports. No volleyball. No-" he gestured vaguely and with deep distaste at the shoreline, where someone had already produced a ball, "activities."

"You're going to get a tan whether you consent to it or not."

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged. You're very pale, cousin, it would be a mercy." Iskendyr grinned, ducking the half-hearted elbow Kai threw at his ribs. They had done this their whole lives, the shove, the jab, the dodge, and it landed now the way it always did, more brotherly than the family tree strictly accounted for. "Come on. I'll get you something with fruit in it and a little umbrella, and you can brood at the ocean like a tragic poet. You'll love it. It plays directly to your strengths."

Kai opened his mouth, found he had no real rebuttal to that, and closed it again.

"That's what I thought," Iskendyr said, entirely too pleased, and pulled him on toward the sand.

Persephone Dashiell | Caelan Mataan | Open​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Mercy Varin Mortifer Seren Gwyn Rayia Si​

The black sands of Gilaria fanned out before him. Each step pressed heat into the arches of his feet. Memories of pale beaches from years past felt like a different lifetime; this shore resembled the charred aftermath of a collapsed star.

Varin and Seren sauntered forward, their entwined limbs and effortless levity. That scene alone should have softened the edges around the horizon. Mercy's presence was at his other side, a reminder that even here, on a beach, in swimwear, power traveled with them akin to a shadow.

Stripped of armor, cloaks, and whatever regalia, only simple black trunks remained. Without those familiar alloys holding the frame in check, he could feel a phantom tension lining the trapezius muscles. The Sith's nervous system had not received the message for this calm premise, so he just kept scanning with a sharper gaze.

A persistent hitch lived in those relaxed stride. The blonde's internal frequency was still tuned toward commands. They always echoed somewhere in his mind. Whatever liberty this was felt like nothing more than illusion. Directly ahead, there was a riot of color and noise. A babel of vendors, bodies, and so many languages beyond one's comprehension.

Beneath everything, there was one specific shape missing from the peripheral. A presence he had grown used to check for, only to find the space beside him empty. As he had come to learn in the Core, duty and the shifts of politics were indeed the cruelest of masters. They scattered lives like chaff before a gale.

Still, the act of surrender was possible. Perhaps the warmth of the black earth could bleed into the soul, or perhaps the bass of the music might unspool weary knots.

When Seren's amusement touched the air, he stepped into it as well. "You always seem a little lost when the galaxy isn't actively on fire." Well, a partial truth. A glance slowly shifted toward Mercy. His former master had been back from Brosi for some time, but aside from that singular incident on Alderaan, their paths had rarely crossed. "You warned me about half the galaxy, but you never warned me about diplomats in swimwear. I feel unprepared," came the observation. Of course, the remark was trivial, a bridge to keep silence from taking root, as the bar drew near.

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Skadi Lightbane​

Aerik stepped from the ferry onto the jetty and immediately understood why people traveled across the galaxy for places like this. The water stretched farther than he could see, broken only by distant reefs and the occasional white wake left behind by another vessel approaching the resort. Sunlight moved across the surface in shifting bands of gold, and the air carried warmth unlike anything found on Dromund Kaas. There was no rain, no oppressive humidity, and no scent of wet stone or ancient forests. Instead there was salt, flowers, and something sweet he could not identify. It felt strange more than unpleasant.

The warmth settled across his shoulders, and Aerik found himself reaching instinctively for the cloak he was not wearing. Most of his usual wardrobe had remained packed away. Skadi had already informed him that arriving dressed like a Sith apprentice would make them stand out more than either wanted, and the compromise left him in lighter clothing than he normally preferred. The loose shirt stirred in the ocean breeze, and Aerik still was not sure what to do with himself when no one expected him to train, fight, endure, or prove something.

His gaze moved over the beach while music drifted from farther down the shore. Guests laughed near the water, servers moved along the sand with trays of bright drinks, and no one seemed concerned with anything beyond the warmth of the day. Aerik looked back toward the ferry as Skadi appeared with the rest of the arriving guests, and his attention caught immediately on the fact she was not looking at the resort.

She was staring at the ocean.

The sight pulled a real smile from him before he could stop it. The Valkyri looked completely taken by it, and for once Aerik knew something she did not. He waited until she joined him, then looked back toward the water with her.

“It does not end,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact, as though explaining something practical. “That is the strange part. You keep thinking eventually you will see the other side, but you don’t.”

A breeze rolled across the water and lifted dark strands of hair from his forehead. Aerik watched another wave fold itself toward the shore before he looked back at Skadi.

“The first time I saw it, I thought there had to be land somewhere beyond the horizon. There is, but you just cannot see it.”

For all the battles they had survived together, and for all the complications they had somehow managed to create between them, this was the first time Aerik had seen Skadi experience something entirely new. There was no danger in it, no expectation, and no role either of them had to play. She was simply standing on a jetty in the sun, staring at the sea.

His expression softened.

“Come on,” Aerik said, nodding toward the beach below. “If we are staying here for a week, you should probably meet the ocean before it sneaks up on you.”

The warning sounded serious, but the amusement in his eyes gave him away.