Sunshine and Seaweed

[Doctor Azure]

From what Lor could see in orbit around Naboo, the recent Techno Union takeover of it hadn't made it any less green and sunny than it'd been before. Smiling at the viewscreen, he waited for Rawnie to wake up before he went and piloted them into the atmosphere. It was definitely a sight he wanted to share with his sleepy fiancee.​

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Even if they hadn't literally come here just for seaweed, Lor would've eventually brought Rawnie here. Naboo was one of the most beautiful worlds he'd ever been on, even though Chroma Zed and Mandalore both held their own charms. He smiled at the thought of the two planets he could call home now. No matter how comfortable he'd gotten with the freezing north of the Mandalorian homeworld, Chroma would always be the place he loved the most.​

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He closed his eyes, still smiling, as he leaned back onto the pillow next to her and waited.​

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[member='Rawnie Tal'verda']​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Naboo. Rawnie knew the world well. A frequent employer of her mother and a friend of the family, had been married to the previous Queen. She was dead now. Died right after her first term was up. Refused to run again. Her mother had been away for a while when the former Queen died. Said she needed to take some time to make sure her friend didn't lose his mind completely. Death effected some people so badly...

Now the glory days of Naboo were over. The Techno Union had swept in, not even a month after. If Rawnie cared more about politics, she might have seen how wise this was of them, to jump in while the planet was still in mourning. She might even have been impressed. But to her now, this was just another pretty planet. She liked it here though, even if it was a bit too warm and sunny. The food was great and the people were pleasant. Her jobs when she came here for that reason, were usually simple. Security work, maybe track down a minor criminal here and there, but nothing major. And she was always paid well for it.

The blonde opened one eye just enough to make out the blue of her fiance next to her. Without a word, she reached out to draw him close.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor smiled at Rawnie's sleepy movement. He moved closer so her arm could come around him, and gave her a slight nudge with his cheek. She was always tired like this in the mornings, no matter what they had or hadn't been doing the night before. He put a hand on her cheek and watched her wake up.​

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"Morning, visahot... You wanna turn around a little so you can see the view?"​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

The blonde rolled over without any argument. Naboo. She knew it at once. There was nothing like it in the Galaxy. Nothing at all. She smiled, turning all her attention back to lorane.She scooted closer again, holding him tight.

"So I guess it's time for our honeymoon then?"

And seaweed. Especially the seaweed.

She felt her stomach grumble at her again, reminding her once again that she'd failed to keep her dinner down last night as well.

Who knew being pregnant was this hard?

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor smiled back at Rawnie's grip on him. Well, now she was definitely awake. His hand moved to hold her again, and he let a couple of minutes pass until he heard her stomach growl. Gently picking her up with him, he sat up in their bed.​

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"Well, how about we get you some of that seaweed first, and then we see about romantic stuff, huh?"​

​

As much as he was excited that they were going to have a baby, he knew the past couple of weeks had been hard on Rawnie. Hopefully, fulfilling the odd seaweed craving would help her.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She'd been weak. Rawnie hated being weak. She hated relying on others. She hated that he pitied her. She hated how much his doting on her didn't actually tick her off. She really should be shrugging off his help. Refusing every kind gesture. But instead she found herself smiling. It was pathetic.

"Alright. Can't wait. Mom said its good for morning sickness too."

She never relied on people this much. She was even taking advice from her mother now! Had hell frozen over?

"So what romance do you have planned for us exactly? "


[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor felt Rawnie tense up a bit before he saw her smile. Something was definitely bothering her, but it was possibly a question to ask when she was in a better mood. He looked into her eyes and slowly smiled back.​

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"Well, depending where we go, there's a lot of parks to see..."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Parks? Like... a real date? Like pretty scenery, lakes, maybe a picnic? She tried to imagine it. Walking hand in hand, rifle strapped to her back, white armor.... She shook her head. The idea of it was far too silly. Maybe she could ditch the armor today...? It would make her feel so naked though. Ugh. Normal romance was weird.

"S-sure," she stuttered, "Sounds great."

When she'd come here before, it had been for work. To come to a planet like this for pleasure was so alien to her...

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Normal romance between them was weird... Lor found himself wondering whether or not he should finally forgo the several guns he usually kept strapped to his clothes, and if he'd need the coilgun today, and the tech gauntlet... The stutter in Rawnie's voice showed that it probably wasn't just him. He gave her another little nuzzle.​

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"If it makes you feel less... exposed, you can wear my coat. Maybe find a shooting range sometime in the next couple of days and make some nobles go all wide-eyed."​

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There. That sounded like a date to him.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She was grinning again. That was a date to her. Nothing more romantic than wearing his clothes and shooting things. She really needed to at least buy herself a few shirts of her own. He had to be tired of her stealing his all the time by now.

"I would like that," she answered, squeezing his hand, "You really know how to show a girl a good time, don't you? I bet all the girls back home just loved you."

That actually made her a little curious. How many other girls had he dated before her? Not that it would make a difference. She'd dated people before him. Well. She dated one person before him. But that was in the past. What little remained of that were memories of a childhood friendship.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor gave Rawnie a little kiss as she grinned at him again. While there was a tiny bit of his mind that rolled its eyes at the two of them and their idea of a date, the rest of him was almost ridiculously happy at the prospect of spending a couple of somewhat quiet days with his fiancee.​

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"Not really. On Csilla, I was a gutter kid. Even in medical school, 'scruffy mad scientist' wasn't exactly the sexiest thing out there. I've been on dates after I moved to Chroma Zed, mostly because I spent a lot of time shooting spicers and slavers."​

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Of course, he knew exactly who Rawnie's last boyfriend before him had been. Malcom frakking Renolds. At least it was easy enough to dislike that guy. He was a real piece of work.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

He was like her, in a lot of ways. She understood what it was like to have almost nothing. Still knew what it was like, although she was way better off now than she had ever been. When she was a kid, almost none of the kids from the other clans really wanted anything to do with her, or if they did, it was just to ask about her father. It was just her and her brother for the longest time. The only two children in the village. Then she met that Malcom Renolds boy. She still remembered the day. He laughed when her brother called her a snow witch and Rawnie had broken his nose.
After that, they played together at least once a week when she went with her mother to the next village to trade.

It wasn't until Rawnie was fourteen that she started to grow into herself, blossom. From a tiny little ball of white fur, into a woman. It was practically overnight for her. One day, she was sparring with one of the boys her age and everyone just seemed to notice. After that, it was all way more attention than she wanted. She stopped training with the other kids her age. Started going off on her own. Malcom was the only one she let come with her.

Di'kut...

But that was done. It may as well have been a different life all together. Now they were separate. Their paths had split a long time ago. She'd abandoned her feelings the day she saw what he did for a living.

"Well, Lor'ika," she giggled, "I would have been into you. Blue is, after all, my favorite color."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor raised an eyebrow as he snuggled Rawnie into his chest a little.​

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"Do you really think either of us would've been happy now if we'd met when we were younger? I was a trigger-happy little maniac who stole things. Now I'm just a trigger-happy maniac. It's a step up."​

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He smiled at her, just to show he was joking, and let out a relaxed sigh.​

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"You've definitely made me like gold and white-colored things a lot more than I used to."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

He was so much taller than her. She sometimes forgot until she was right up against him. The top of her head barely came up to his chin. She had to stand on the tips of her toes to kiss him. She was little Rawnie still after all.

"White and... gold?" she pulled lightly at her hair. Was he talking about the color? Maybe. She always hated her hair color though. It was too light. Made her stand out. "So! About that seaweed?"

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

After a few seconds of watching Rawnie awkwardly play with her hair, Lor was glad that she changed the subject. Another insecurity of hers that he'd eventually break her out of, he hoped. But the subject she'd changed to was probably more important.​

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"Let's go get some clothes on, then. You could probably holster your rifle inside the coat, if you want. The shattergun, too."​

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That was an insecurity he hoped neither of them would break out of. He absolutely hated to step foot outside of the house, or their Bluebird without a gun, and usually those Rodian-made repulsor throwing razors.​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Alright. So no armor today! She could just wear what she always did when they had to go somewhere casual. She pulled on leggings, one of his shirts, a white one and her ammo belt. She could follow his suggestion and holster her weapons in his jacket. That was the last thing she put on. She always felt incomplete until she had that wrapped around her body. His scent. She would always love it.

"You ready cyar'ika?" She asked, pulling her boots on.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

What Lor was wearing wasn't exactly his normal clothing... For once not wearing multiple layers of clothing, he simply put on a black shirt and jeans, and his jet boots. Over that was something that was more like a suit jacket than his normal combat one. But he had several belts hooked together, holding holsters for almost all of his slugthrowers.​

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"Okay, yeah. I'm ready."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie eyed the holsters with some concern.

"Is all that necessary?" She asked, raising a pale eyebrow at him, "I mean, it's just a date. I'd think one gun would be enough..."

Not that she had much more room to complain. She'd brought her verpine shatter gun as well as her knife. Still. He looked great. She had never seen him dressed so casually outside of Bluebird.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor rubbed the back of his neck, a little bit sheepishly. Honestly, he hadn't ever been on a date that hadn't ended in shooting somebody off the girl he was with. And, well, he carried a great deal of hidden weaponry with him at any other time. He grinned and gave Rawnie a shrug.​

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"I'm not even going to go into why that's the exact opposite for me. Your personal blue madman isn't exactly one for subtle deterrents."​

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He took a step towards her and put his arm around her.​

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"Besides, I've been waiting forever to finally find an excuse to wear this jacket. My first successful attempt at armoring myself."​

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[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Well, that was that. She wasn't going to argue the point any more. If he felt comfortable then so did she. There was nothing more attractive than confidence, after all. Besides, he was so skinny, people probably thought he was a pushover. A few extra firearms in view certainly couldn't hurt.

"Well, it suits you," she complemented, "Does that mean I get to keep this one now?"

She was teasing, of course. Much as she liked his jacket, if she took it forever, it would lose all significance. The jacket was important because it belonged to him and he trusted her enough to hang onto it.

[member="Doctor Azure"]