Junction Sun & Starlight [ME][TSO][THR][TSC] | [Empty Hex][Dahrtag][Iphigin][Phu]

[Guinevere Cavello]

​

As he slipped an arm around her shoulders, Gwen caught the faint scent of him, clean, warm, so familiar. It made her glance up, really look at him for perhaps the first time in years.

Had he always been this handsome?

The thought startled her.

Maybe she had simply never allowed herself to notice. Ever since she was little, her future had been spoken for. She belonged to someone else, or so everyone had always told her. Stay away from boys. Be careful. A husband wouldn't want a woman who had been with other men.

For most of her life, she had accepted it. She had wrapped those expectations in fairy tales and convinced herself that somewhere at the end of the path there would be a grand romance waiting for her. A prince. A happily ever after.

Now she knew better. Marriage wasn't a love story. It was an arrangement. A duty. There was no Prince Charming waiting for her.

And yet…

There was Elian.

He had always been there. Through every triumph and every disappointment. Quietly loyal. Steady. Dependable. Like the hero of a story she had somehow overlooked while searching for a prince.

As he spoke about his struggles, about trying to keep his head above water while everything around him seemed determined to pull him under, Gwen felt her chest tighten. Her problems suddenly felt small by comparison. She had lived a sheltered life, protected from hardship and loss. Meanwhile, Elian had endured more than anyone should.

What right did she have to complain about an unwanted marriage when he had already lost so much?

She wished she could take some of that burden from him.

Turning toward him, she offered him a small, sad smile.

"I'm always here for you, Elian," she said softly. "I wish I could make things better. I wish there was something I could do to ease even a little of what you're carrying."

Her eyes lingered on his.

"You've been there for me my whole life. Honestly…" She swallowed against the sudden emotion in her throat. "You're the only person I truly cherish."

Elian Abrantes

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Tags: Aselia Verd | Courtesy tags: Ria the Cat | Quinn Varanin | Seris Mataan
Wearing: [X]

The sun had nearly lulled Adelle into a doze when something frantic in the Force came charging towards her. Her eyes flew open a second before weight and the pain of small claws digging into her thighs for purchase landed on her. The next second, the creature was gone, a small feline of orange striped fur streaking past others and weaving between Quinn and a redhead before it disappeared.

A feline with a peculiar collar.

Ria?

Adelle tipped her glareshades down and scanned the shoreline for the ‘Not-cat’ as Phantom called her, and as she had later found out for herself. If Phantom had been here, Adelle would have asked if she could go check on her. That sprint from Ria had been distressed, if Adelle had learned anything about felines.

But surely Ria’s droid was here, if she was. Adelle remembered the moment in the bar, when the feline had mentioned falling asleep somewhere and getting transported somewhere else. Then again, maybe not. Still, if Ria was truly in trouble, the collar that allowed her to speak would be of some use. And Adelle had no idea where the poor feline had gone.

She leaned back on the lounger, Ria’s panic in the Force fading. Well, if anything else happened, Adelle would go help. For now though, she intended to enjoy the sun.

No sooner had she relaxed again than a shadow fell across her. The familiar Force presence drew a small smile from her even before she opened her eyes. Aselia stood next to her, confident and wearing a bikini that inspired a myriad of thoughts. Her girlfriend’s fingers trailing along her skin sent thrills down her spine and did not help rein in Adelle’s wandering imagination.

"You look very peaceful," she said, the corner of her mouth curving. "I almost brought a datapad, but I figured you might throw it into the water..." Her eyes cut sideways to Adelle. "It's good to see you relax; you work too hard."

“I would never,” Adelle protested, but without any true strength to it. If having a datapad was how someone relaxed, so be it. She did doubt that Aselia would have actually used the datapad to relax. “It’s . . . hard, unlearning old habits. I’m trying to do better at balancing things.”

Aselia turned to look at her and Adelle couldn’t help but tease her.

“Enjoying the view?” she asked, a mischievous smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “Y’know, if you take a holopic, it’ll last longer.”

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

​

Outfit: Beachwear
Tags: Aiden Porte

Dreidi shook her head with a chuckle, "well, unfortunately it is coming whether you like it or not. But I am sure that you will be as prepared as you can be. I always thought you would be a good father some day." There was a soft smile on Dreidi's lips as she looked over to Aiden.

Taking a sip of her drink, Dreidi thought about being fine, about the meaning behind that. "I am already doing more than just fine. Dating was never a top priority of mine. I was always bad at it, I never could capture the hearts of those I eventually found myself desiring as well as some others can." Shrugging her shoulders, there was plenty of people who were masterful in the art of flirting and seduction. Dreidi just tended to approach life with just desiring to get things done.

"Perhaps, Naboo felt too stiff, too formal for me. Dathomir always has a raw honesty that is far more appealing." Dreidi leaned back a little, feeling the sun on her skin, "but having somewhere called home is always important. Being lost in the galaxy was never fun for me." Dreidi confessed, remembering how things felt after the fall of the Confederacy.

"How are things with you? Have you spent much time with Aileni? I haven't spoken to him in a while since he has been so training focus."

 

[Elian Abrantes]

Guinevere Cavello
​

The way she stared, the way she looked at him. No one had ever looked at him like that before. And for the first time in his life, he truly didn't know what to do. His eyes locked on hers, listening to the words she said. They were friends for years. Constant, strong, and unyielding.

"It's okay, its......" Elian found himself stumbling with his words now. He felt a not in his throat, he wasn't sure what was happening. "It's okay. It's not your burden to bear, that's mine alone."

"You've been there for me my whole life. Honestly…" She swallowed against the sudden emotion in her throat. "You're the only person I truly cherish."

"Thank you, so much Guin.....I'll be here as often as I can." Elian said a smile, and while he stared at her, he so badly, wanted to move closer. To close that distance, if this would've happened prior to all this eventful chit that happened to him. He gladly would've, even with the knowledge that she was betrothed to someone. Things were different now, he was different. While still slightly the same in nature, he had caused damage.

He cleared his throat and looked away from her. "I'm sorry, when you look at me like that....." Elian raised the glass to his lips, finishing what was left, before setting it to the side.

"I know what I want to do, I just cant. Not because of you, but because of me. I've caused enough damage to my family and myself because of my actions. I can't jeopordize you, and yours." Elian withdrew his arm from around her, as he relaxed a little bit.

He would reiterate what was said before. "I can be here for you as often as I can. You can count on that."

 

[Guinevere Cavello]

​

Her brow knit together as she watched him stumble over his words and shift uncomfortably in his seat. A moment ago they had been talking easily, and now he seemed nervous, almost flustered.

What had changed?

She was still young, perhaps younger than her years in some ways. She had never been allowed to date or spend much time around boys her age, and the subtleties of these interactions often escaped her. There were entire conversations hidden beneath words that she had never learned how to hear.

"I'm sorry. When you look at me like that..."

His voice trailed off.

She frowned, puzzled, watching as he pulled his arm away and finished the rest of his liquor in a single swallow.

"How do I look at you?"

Elian let out a quiet breath and shook his head.

"I know what I want to do. I just can't..."

The answer only deepened her confusion. "What is it you want to do?"

For a moment he didn't respond. Instead, he offered one of those small, gentle remarks that always seemed to reassure her, and despite her lingering questions, she found herself smiling.

She knew he meant every word.

Elian was the only person in her life who truly cared about her, not for what she could do, not for what she represented, but simply for who she was.

"Elian, there's nothing you could ever do that would jeopardize me. You're the only person in this galaxy who means this much to me."

Elian Abrantes

 

[Arris Windrun]

Direct: Mercy
CC: Lysander von Ascania Varin Mortifer Seren Gwyn Naniti Rayia Si | OPEN
​

Ugh. Anything but this - that's how Arris felt.

Being about 80% cybernetic, if not greater, meant going to the beach was tantamount to attending her own roast.

'Careful, don't get sand in your joints!'

'Won't the water fry your circuits?'

'Don't get in, toaster, these people want to live!'

But she owed Mercy after ditching her at the bar in 1313, for killing Vestra Tane, and for 'failing' to mention they arrived on Humbarine right in time for the Covenant to pull off a coup. Hell, she wished she could've taken credit for the rogue Mandalorians, too. That would've just been funny. But all that teasing came with a bill, and eventually, Mercy had to be appeased.

She wondered if Arris Windrun was going to join them or if she was still grumbling on Coruscant.

So yeah... the Talusian joined them. She could grumble anywhere; it didn't have to be Coruscant.

Her arrival was announced by muffled feet in the sand. Her dark cyber body was contrasted only by the ghostly pale flesh of her head, eyes obscured by the messy strands of her raven hair. It was her, alright, Arris Windrun in the metal. Her shadow cast over where Mercy sat, and she looked down as the Titan slurped her tiny drink.

"That umbrella's doing a lot of work to make this awkward. So - here I am, kindest woman in the nether damned galaxy, here to ease its day."