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

[Alistair Sterling]

Helena Cross

His chuckle turned into a genuine laugh when she came back with the third option.

It seemed miss Cross had some humor in her. Which was never a given, some of these types could be downright napalm, but that was its own joy. Especially if things turned explosive.

She turned to accept her drink from the bartender, offering him a crisp bill as a tip. She turned back, lifting her drink for a refreshing sip. "Nor good red herring," Helena added dryly.

Once Helena got her drink his attention shifted to the bartender as well.

"Tonic, Angostura, lime twist. A tall glass and plenty of ice." Sterling ordered, inclining his head to the keep, before returning his attention to Cross. "Oh, that's good, because I didn't pack my fishing line for this trip." The smile was sharp and from that line Helena would glean quite a lot about this Donovan Gunn character.

Someone who was assertive, forward and didn't play around in circles just to be coy.

"You're a long way from home, Mr. Gunn. What's the occasion? Naboo has beaches."

"In spades, yes, and they are quite lovely, miss Cross." Then a soft sigh. "But I am afraid I am on business. My client wishes to propose some business with a few of the attendants of the event and I have found that a sunny backdrop is great corporate lubricant."

The sigh turned to a smile yet again.

"And what is it that Helena Cross does?"

 

[Eurydice]

- tags open -​

Eurydice meandered along the shoreline like a shadow creeping at the frothed edge of ocean waves.

The diminutive Seer was swathed in dark fabric as she always was. This time, it was thinner. Gauzy, even. And a hat. A large-brimmed, floppy sunhat. It helped to protect her pale skin from sun damage.

Gaspar flew somewhere above her, drifting in lazy circles. Occasionally, he'd dive back down to pick at discarded food items that lay in the sand.

This was nice, actually. A sliver of a break from the usual darkness-and-doom that came with being an Acolyte. The Lords and Knights were some distance away, dispersed along the beach, occupied by their own dealings.

Eurydice stilled, letting the waves lap at her feet. She felt the push and pull, each surge dragging her feet further into wet sand.

There were beaches on Ukatis. Hard, jagged swaths of coastline that froze in the winter and chilled in the summer. Not like Gilaria. The sand here was fine and soft, the kind that could slip through her remaining fingers like silk.

It was a welcome change of pace from the harsh turns her life had taken.

 

[Helena Cross]

Helena lifted her sunglasses back into place and resumed her leisurely scan of the environment.

They cut back almost immediately at his overwrought drink order. Almost identical to hers, but with more instructions. And the bitters, of course. The drink of someone with a finnicky palate, perhaps? Or the drink of someone trying to look sophisticated? She considered what she had exposed with her own order. Simplicity, maybe. Someone wanting to keep a clear head?

Someone who worried that alcohol and sun might make for a volatile combination.

Helena realized he was looking at her expectantly, and remembered his question.

"Something similar," she replied. There was no evasiveness in her tone; it was more casual. And it had the benefit of being true. She was there on behalf of clients to forget a connection. She took a sip of her drink and leaned against the bar casually.

"I'm in acquisitions," Helena said. Her voice was lightly accented, though it wasn't clear with exactly what. "Valuation, mostly, but also disposition. My firm has a collection coming under the hammer and it was suggested that there would be some overlap between the clientele interested and... people who would enjoy this beach."

Helena Cross​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren listened to the exchange with growing amusement, though she wisely kept most of it hidden behind the glass she had accepted shortly after arriving. The sight of Mercy drinking from a tiny umbrella straw was already something she suspected few people would ever forget, but the Empress offering relationship advice while doing so elevated the experience considerably. Her amber eyes drifted briefly toward Lysander when Naniti's absence was mentioned. She recognized the empty space without fully understanding its cause, noting how some absences simply left a prominent shape behind that everyone quietly noticed, though she knew better than to pry.

Instead, her attention returned to the man beside her. "I am beginning to suspect your issue is not with water at all," she replied, glancing up toward Varin with a calm certainty that suggested she had assembled evidence for this conclusion some time ago. "The common factor in all of these incidents appears to be you. Most people fall into a river once, or perhaps twice if they are exceptionally unlucky. You seem to have developed it into a recurring hobby."

The corner of her mouth lifted slightly before she looked ahead toward the beach, watching sunlight dance across the dark volcanic sands. Varin's comments about peace, however, earned a more thoughtful look from her. That specific anxiety was something she understood perhaps too well.

"I think that feeling follows people like us," she said quietly as the music and laughter drifted over the sand from somewhere ahead. "After enough years spent waiting for disasters, eventually peace begins to feel suspicious. The difficulty is remembering that not every calm moment is a warning." Her fingers tightened lightly around his arm, adding a layer of warmth to her tone that suggested she was trying to convince herself just as much as him. "Sometimes a beach is simply a beach."

Then her gaze drifted back toward Mercy, taking in the tiny paper decoration and the complete seriousness with which the Empress appeared to be evaluating her beverage. A faint smile escaped her, breaking the heavy mood entirely. "Though I admit I am now curious whether the umbrella serves a purpose or merely exists to create confusion."

Mercy Lysander von Ascania Varin Mortifer

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Tag | Srina Talon​

​

Empyrean had shown up fashionably late - when you're only kind of the Emperor, nobody waited on you to arrive, so he could simply show up whenever. He timed it perfectly to make sure Srina was going to be looking in his direction, just so he could catch her eye. He even played up his place - as though he were talking to one of the waiters, that he even cared what they had to say. Every word out of their mouth was just noise.​

​

Just before she approached him from the rear, he grabbed two drinks from the man's silver platter and shoo'ed him away. Rhysion turned to Srina Talon with a wide grin, offering her one of the two mimosas. He wore swimming trunks, as he intended to get in the water at some point, but was otherwise dressed in a flowery robe that hid away his physique. His rebirth held no scars that he once kept as a sign of his slavery, but it was still better not to have to relearn how much sunburns hurt.​

​

"Must you even ask, my beloved?", he said with an over emphasized flirtation.​

​

"I would live in a cupboard if it meant staying with you.", he mused.​

​

"Do you know how long it has been since I've been to a beach? Almost two decades, I think. There never seemed to be any time for it, I was just too busy I think.", or too dead, but he didn't have to tell her that.​

​

"Now? I intend to swim. Do you have something you to need to accomplish here? Politics, business, war, a murder perhaps? I am yours to command - do with me what you will, I am but your humble servant." - The man beamed a great wide smile to her, closing the distance with her as he looked down to keep her gaze.​

 

[Rayia Si]

Mercy Lysander von Ascania Seren Gwyn
@Others (let me know if you’d like to meet)

---

Normally, Rayia would not have been caught dead at a function like this. Yet, if she was going to lead her people then she needed practice at events of a similar vein. The Felacatians of the Feral Queen’s Tribe would expect her to represent them publicly after all. And so it was that Rayia had shed her cloak and leathers in favor of a crimson dress that was curtailed at just past the waist to accompany a practical set of pants. The final piece of her outfit was a pendant of golden fangs and an old medal she had earned as a broach. Her mother was going to learn of this eventually, and well…it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that there wasn’t the smallest shred of Rayia’s core that wanted her mother to know she had found two of the Volusen on her own.

Any pang of pride however was shattered by the instantaneous reminder of why Rayia avoided functions like these as a norm. Oppressive rules of etiquette chafed against a desire for freedom. To simply exist in a space without being told what she needed to be or do. And that was before one even considered the very practical reasons why Rayia hated crowds. All the smells, sounds, and vibrations of motion intermingling and coalescing like waves upon her. Spiced ham and the fruity tang of booze mixing with the myriad scents of people all pressed together. The low whispers of muted conversations serving as a backdrop even more than the thrumming rush of waves did.

And the crowd? Inescapable. Thanks to her Felacatian senses, Rayia was acutely aware of each motion in her vicinity. To her left, a pair of women clinked glasses whilst laughing behind hands raised to their mouths. Behind her, a man was berating his chauffeur for daring to arrive five minutes late. The back of her neck prickled with every strike of the man’s cane on the chauffeur’s arms when he thought he was being subtle.

‘I’m drowning. And I’m not nearly buzzed enough for this,’ Rayia realized as she swept past a party guest on her way to the bar that had been set up near the shoals. A tall, blond man with stringy rivulets of hair that ran down his shoulders. A rather large mountain of a woman was seated nearby curiously appraising her drink. Rayia was rewarded with a cloying, iron-like taste almost immediately and Rayia’s ears perked up. It was a taste she had long associated with the Dark. There was little chance they recognized her, but it never hurt to be aware. Her tail rippled as she tuned in to the motions in her vicinity.

Rayia fought to keep her expression neutral, seemingly continuing to root around for one of the bottles on the nearby counter. Spotting a whiskey she thought she recognized, she clamped clawed fingers around its neck. Her brows narrowed slightly at the ochre glass and the engraved blue symbol of a sun marring its surface. “Oh, they have Sunflame? Fancy that.” She muttered under her breath, a tad surprised. The brewery’s batches tended to be small and as a result, the bottles were rather sought after.

 

[Taiia Mataan]

//: Allyson Locke //:​

Taiia returned the kiss without hesitation, one hand settling briefly against Allyson's waist before allowing herself to be led further down the shoreline. The warmth of the sun against her skin, the sound of the waves, and the simple fact that Allyson was beside her combined into something dangerously close to contentment. At Allyson's question, her gaze drifted toward the distant figure of Seris making her way down the beach.

"No."

The answer came immediately.

"She doesn't hate you."

If Seris hated someone, there was very little mystery involved. Her daughter had inherited many things from her over the years, but subtle hostility had never been one of them. Seris could be polite. She could be diplomatic. She could even be patient when the situation required it. But hate?

Taiia knew what that looked like a faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "She's embarrassed. Partly because of your behavior, partly because her brother was teasing her." Her gaze followed Seris for another moment as she disappeared further into the crowd. Taiia knew exactly where her daughter was going, or perhaps more accurately, who she was going to find.

Allyson's next comment about the resemblance drew a laugh before she could stop it.

"That is not the same thing." The protest came automatically. She already knew precisely which incident Allyson was referring to. "I stormed off because I was angry. And because you were being impossible. I also felt terrible for doing that to you if you recall." Her fingers intertwined with Allyson's as they continued walking.

"Seris left because her brother was being insufferable. And because she was embarrassed by both of you." Taiia considered the comparison for a moment before sighing the resemblance was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. "...though I admit the similarity is unfortunate."

A smile tugged at her lips despite herself. "She definitely is my daughter." Her gaze shifted briefly toward the distant shoreline. "She's losing a battle with her composure." she paused when the realization struck "Which, now that I say it aloud, is perhaps not the defense I thought it was."


​

 

[Kaivaan Raaf]

Persephone Dashiell

Somewhere between the jetty and the sand, Kai lost his cousin.

It happened the way it always did, Iskendyr talking, gesturing, extolling the resort's many virtues, and then simply continuing to do all of that without checking whether anyone remained beside him to receive it. By the time Kai registered the absence, Iskendyr was a good twenty paces ahead, still mid-sentence, still narrating the superiority of black sand to a stretch of empty air, drifting toward the bar with the serene confidence of a man who had never once looked back to see if the world was following. It always was. That was the maddening thing about him.

Which left Kai alone. On a beach. Smelling, against his will and his every objection, of grapefruit.
He surveyed the shoreline the way one surveys a battlefield, cataloguing threats: the ball, the laughing clusters near the water, the merciless open sun. His gaze tracked instead toward the trees, toward dry land, shade, distance, and found, set deliberately apart from all the noise, a woman with a book.

A kindred tactician. She'd chosen her ground well.

He angled toward the shade with the single-minded purpose of a man seeking cover, which was how he ended up rather closer to her than strict social custom advised before he'd thought through what, if anything, he intended to do once he arrived. Nothing. He intended nothing. He intended to stand in the shade and resent the daylight in peace.

Then he saw the cover.

"Lady Velvet," he said, before he could stop himself. The accent dragged the words out, one brow lifting toward something that was meant to be lofty disdain. "Bold choice. Out in the open. Where people can see."

It was a perfectly good opening salvo, and he might have left it there, with his dignity and his reputation as a person of taste intact.

He did not leave it there.

"Though I'll grant you it improves," he heard himself continue, with the grim momentum of a man already regretting it, "once the foundling stops pretending he's going to turn the bounty in. The whole moral-crisis subplot is the only part worth the paper. The romance is-" He caught himself a beat too late, or perhaps it was another Lady Velvet book he was thinking of, but the words already gone, and his expression cooled into something deliberately neutral, as though that might retroactively erase the fact that he had just demonstrated intimate familiarity with the contents of a Harlequin beach novel.

A silence. The wind moved the cologne politely off him and out to sea.

"...I've read a great many books," he said, with the wounded gravity of a man defending his honor. "Living arrangements, being what they are. There's very little else to do on the island." Why was he defending himself out in the open? By the Balance... he thought wondering if he'd lost all his sense in the moment.

 

[Seris Mataan]

Seris' smile softened at Quinn's answer. There was something reassuring about finding her exactly as she'd imagined she would be. A book in hand, entirely absorbed in a world of her own despite the beach around her. Somehow it felt very Quinn. Her attention lingered as Quinn closed the book and rose to her feet. It was only then that Seris caught the hesitation. The sort of thing most people would probably miss.

Seris didn't.

For a moment, she found herself wondering if Quinn was uncertain how to greet her. The thought was oddly endearing. The Queen of Eshan stood before her. Quinn stood before her. The distinction had never seemed particularly important. Before the hesitation could linger long enough to become awkward, Seris stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her in a brief embrace.

"I wasn't going to miss it."

The answer came easily.

The invitation could have arrived from the opposite side of the galaxy and she suspected she would have found a way regardless. Not that she was about to admit that aloud. Caelan was already insufferable enough without being handed additional ammunition. When she stepped back, a faint smile remained on her lips. Only then did she accept the offered space beside Quinn, settling onto the towel and stretching her legs toward the water. The sand was warm beneath her, the sea breeze carrying the scent of saltwater and the distant sounds of music drifting across the shoreline.

For a few moments she simply enjoyed it.

The beach.

The water.

And, of course, the company.

Eventually her attention drifted toward the closed novel resting nearby. "That must be a very good book." A hint of amusement touched her voice as she glanced toward it. "You closed it immediately." Her gaze returned to Quinn. "Which means either I've interrupted something good, or it was disappointing." The smile that followed was small but genuine.

TAG: Quinn Varanin
​

​

 

[Cali Ziiva]

Friends! Kasir Dorran
Objective: Have a Good Time

​

Kasir? Why'd Kasir say his own name? Cali didn't respond to Kasir saying Kasir. It might be embarrassing if pointed out.

The Zeltron beamed up at him as he tasted the 'kind of sweet' drink in his hand. "Yep. But do you like it?"

"Oh, yeah, well, no, I mean, I wasn't smuggling things in my hair, Kasir," the pink mane shook side to side, "I was smuggling the research data in my satchel. Well, I wasn't deliberately smuggling it. They were just really terrified of ya guys burning down the planet and the super important medical data getting lost." Cali paused and pointed at Kasir as she leaned forward slightly. "Ya know, burning down cities is not cool. Think of how much chocolate was lost that day." What? Jedi tried convincing Sith their actions were wrong because of the deaths caused every time and how many Sith were ever convinced, hm? None. None of them were convinced. But chocolate... everyone loved chocolate. Well, especially Kasir and her. They understood one another in this matter.

And, yes, she'd just admitted to sneaking the data out despite their encounter on New Cov. Would he care? Cali hadn't given it a second thought. It'd happened. Data was already somewhere else. Hadn't even come up in their fight, so it wasn't like she failed to disclose it. In fact, well, there were circumstances, but Cali's thoughts were already elsewhere by this point.

Kasir's calloused fingers slipped from her's, which only prompted a quick peek to make sure the man hadn't tried to slip away into a shadow. Well, physical contact required exposure. Fortunately, he'd get lots of it from a Zeltron! Uh, no, not like that.

A blank stare was returned when Kas said he'd been in worse environments than a beach. "You... Do I need to get ya a 'I Survived The Beach' shirt before you leave? Ya know, I could have a 'I Survived Vacay!' shirt made." Sith really did have it rough.

And what was that about data, anyway? Was that in reference to 'friends?' Cali totally had her work cut out for herself trying to get Kasir to open up.

"Well, everyone starts a little rough in the beginning," Cali replied when Kasir said people will get hurt if he dances.

Kasir almost had an out. Cali might have thought of something else if he kept looking pained at the idea of dancing. Then he said the words that doomed him. "Great! Ya know, they have some of the tastiest chocolate sundaes here too to cool down afterward. But, first, we gotta work up a little sweat, right?" Face-splitting grin acquired, the Pink One led the way to the crowd.

"Okay, Kasir, to get started, try swaying side to side. Maybe toss in some twisting at the waists. Not too fast! This isn't a competition of who flails around the most." A beat. "Okay, it is, but it's controlled flailing." A beat. "No it isn't, but it's coordinated chaos like painting with yer feet." That sounded better in her head.

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Aselia Verd



The black sand gave her pause.

Adelle remembered the rare black Gold beach on Corellia her mom had taken her to once a long time ago. The black and gold sand there had nearly burned the soles of her feet off but the water had soothed scorched skin. Until it had been time to run back for her shoes.

The Force came to her easily as she prepared to use Tutaminis to dissipate the thermal energy but when she actually set foot on the fine black sand, nothing happened. There was no heat. Adelle raised her eyebrows in surprise then pushed her feet further into the sand. It was one of the things she missed about her time in Corellia. Sand, and sun, and waves rhythmically washing against the shore.

She walked along the rather crowded beach, armed with a towel and sunblock cream, a pair of glareshades protecting her eyes. The Force was turbulent with the amount of Dark and Light presences. One with the weight of a black hole carried the impression of petrichor, ozone, and jasmine. Adelle clenched her jaw and forced herself to relax. The Commonwealth was well within Sith borders: of course the Grand Vizier would invite high-ranking Sith to an event like this. And for all the weight of her deeds that weighed down her presence, Empress Talon was… considerate and not at all an unpleasant person to be around.

All the same. Adelle made sure her own presence registered as no more powerful than the average person. Srina Talon might be tolerable but the other heavy presences were just as likely to be trouble as not.

The crowd thinned out a bit and Adelle found a pair of empty loungers beneath a wide umbrella in a shade of orangey-pink. She spread her navy-colored towel over one lounger and stuck the bottle of sunblock in the sand next to it. An attendant came by with a slim datapad and asked for her drink order then left briskly when she’d given it. Adelle settled on the lounger and basked in the golden morning light.

She hoped Aether had accepted the invitation. It had been formally sent to leadership across the Empire. Whills knew the man needed a vacation from everything. Adelle wondered who else had accepted. Warmaster Monroe wasn’t likely to, stick in the mud that she was. Would Itzhal show up or would his sense of duty bind him to his office with the Protectors?

There was one other person she knew had come to Gilaria. Adelle felt her heart hammer against her ribs as she tried to wait patiently for Aselia to join her.



Courtesy tags: Aether Verd | Persephone Halcyon | Srina Talon | Mia Monroe | Itzhal Volkihar

 

[Guinevere Cavello]

​

The beach was already alive with laughter and conversation by the time Princess Guinevere of Avalon arrived. Sunlight danced across the waves while colorful umbrellas dotted the shoreline, creating a scene that looked plucked straight from a storybook.

Gwen offered polite smiles and greetings as she made her way across the sand, though her attention wandered constantly through the crowd. Somewhere among the gathered guests was Elian Abrantes , and if fortune favored her, she might find a chance to speak with him alone.

A difficult prospect, unfortunately.

Just a few paces behind her strode Taza, ever vigilant and impossible to shake. The chaperone's sharp eyes swept over the beach with practiced suspicion, watching every person who approached the princess and every direction Gwen so much as glanced. In her culture Gwen was forbidden from spending time alone with a man, and very rarely was she even allowed to spend time alone with females. The only man Taza would let Gwen wander off with was her arranged fiancé Lancel Atria , and given that he wanted nothing to do with Gwen and they hadn’t seen each other since they met months ago she didn’t expect to see him today either.

Suppressing a sigh, Gwen adjusted the top of her dress and continued forward. Surely there had to be some corner of the beach, some fleeting moment of privacy, that Taza couldn't interrupt. She needed to talk to Elian alone and there must be some way to do that.

Or perhaps she would simply have to get creative.

 

[Katherine Holt]

Location: Beachside Bar
Objective: Soak in the Sun & Enjoy Some Drinks
Outfit: Link
Tags: Colette​

“Touche,” Katherine said, pausing for a moment to return the side hug. “But I figured you’d save that for the gala later this evening. Take it from someone that used to constantly run into a proverbial brick wall years ago, it’s good for the soul to take time for yourself; to enjoy something, anything.”

Albeit, for Katherine said ‘brick wall’ all those years back was actually made of beskar, adorned on very heavily armed Mandalorians. Which then bled over into becoming blinders when fighting the Dark Empire.

“Such as a few drinks, like this one.” Katherine mused, raising her glass before taking a sip. “Come on, you can at least have a drink.” The winged redhead grinned, only to twist into a faux pout when Colette opted for a bottle of water instead.

“Indeed, but at the same time I wasn’t expecting that situation to remain simple through and through.” She had been present for the initial talk, but only had heard bits and pieces of the follow up. Katherine looked around at those in attendance, those that were within physical view, and a few others she could sense; or rather was being allowed to be.

It was certainly a weird sight, to see such a wide variety of people in attendance, and no one was at each other's throats.

Colette’s words got an amused snort from Katherine, before taking another sip of her drink. “Were it so easy…” she muttered, again her gaze lingering around, before turning on her stool once more to face the bar.

Something told her that even if that did happen, the hell that would break loose would be far worse.

“Everyone’s playing nice right now, but I’ll bet there’s at least a few in attendance using the opportunity to eavesdrop and spy on others.”

Katherine glanced over at Colette, a small smile on her face. “So, how have you been doing?” She asked, that initial smile widening, a telltale sign that the redhead was about to tease someone. “Been seeing anyone?”

 

[Colette]

Katherine Holt

Right, the brick wall everyone talked about that Colette had yet to see. Work was just work and at the end of the day it was just part of her lot in life. It was hard to feel the weight of it when she wasn't sure what the weight was. Sure, the lives of others, but on a pragmatic level that issue would always be there whether Colette was at work or not.

Still, she supposed she could understand the sentiment. Katherine took a sip of her drink and Colette did the same with her water bottle. Alcohol had never been her thing, much less sweet treats and drinks. The former because it was far tamer than what she had grown up with and the latter because it was disgusting.

And yes, Colette herself was at least a little guilty of what Katherine was saying. The very least she could do was keep an ear out. She was about to point it out before the angel put on a playful grin.

"Uh, no." Colette chuckled. "I mean, technically I am seeing you right now. Comes with having eyes you know."

Her gaze fell upon the bar for a moment before she let out an equally playful groan of frustration.

"I guess, being a councilor I'm more worried that some of the esteemed guests at this resort would find a good way to use that. Doesn't feel right to put anyone in that danger, really."