Private The Kind of Day You Remember

[Aren D'Shade]

Empress Teta never truly slowed. The city moved in layered currents, foot traffic weaving through itself with practiced ease while speeders traced steady paths through the air above. Voices blended into a constant, low hum that never quite resolved into silence, a rhythm that carried everything forward, whether anyone paid attention to it or not. Aren stood just off the main thoroughfare, positioned where the flow thinned enough to breathe but never fully stopped. Her posture was relaxed, but her attention moved quietly through the space around her, not searching for anything in particular, simply aware of the way the city shifted and folded around itself. She read the movement the way she would a system, noticing where people hesitated, where paths crossed, where something small disrupted the expected pattern.

Her hands rested loosely at her sides until one lifted, brushing the edge of a datachip she hadn't realized she was still holding. After a moment, she slipped it into her pocket, letting it go without a second thought. This wasn't work, and the distinction mattered more than she would ever say aloud. She let the city breathe around her, let herself settle into the rare feeling of being somewhere without a task already shaping her next step.

Her gaze shifted when she caught a familiar break in the rhythm of the crowd, something quicker and less measured, something that moved with its own momentum and never bothered pretending to blend in. She didn't need to look twice to know who it was. Jett's presence cut through the noise in a way Aren recognized instantly, not disruptive, just unmistakably hers. Aren didn't call out or move to intercept her. Instead, she adjusted her position just enough to make herself easy to find, a quiet kind of anchoring that didn't pull or direct but made it clear she was there, steady and waiting.

When Jett reached her, Aren's attention settled fully, and for a moment, the constant motion of the city seemed to soften at the edges. Her gaze moved over her, not critical and not assessing, simply checking in the way she always did, making sure Jett was steady, comfortable, herself. "You're early," she said, her voice calm but carrying a warmth that hadn't been there a moment before. She let the words linger, then added, "Or I am," with a softness that threaded through the space between them.

Her attention drifted briefly toward the line of shops stretching along the street, fabrics catching the light, small tech displays humming quietly, vendors calling out to passing customers. It wasn't a place either of them usually spent time, which gave it an unfamiliarity that felt almost welcome, like stepping into a part of the city that didn't expect anything from them. Then she looked back to Jett, her focus returning with an ease that made the rest of the noise fade again.

"Was there something you wanted to see," Aren asked, her tone open and unhurried, "or are we deciding as we go?" She gave her the space to answer, not rushing her, not filling the quiet that settled comfortably between them. "If we're not on a schedule," she added, her voice gentler still, "then we can take our time."

A brief pause followed, and when she spoke, the warmth in her tone deepened again, subtle but unmistakable. "We don't get many chances like that." She remained where she was, steady against the city's movement, but her focus stayed with Jett completely now, patient and present, ready to follow wherever the day took them.

Jett Vox

 

[Jett Vox]

Jett hadn't been out of her Mandalorian armor for months, and without it she felt naked. Instead she wore spacer pants and a simple black tanktop, which had been among the limited outfits she had left. The only thing left of her armor was the wrist-part of her gauntlet which contained her whipcord and flamethrower. It had been a shock to her to find out that it was modular, but there were plenty of things about being a Mandalorian that still surprised her. She reckoned it would be a while before she ran out. Jett stared up at the catwalks and shifting bodies that made up the population and architecture of Empress Teta, the first ecumenopolis she had been to. It was overwhelming. Like vertigo, except the dizziness came from looking upwards.

"I didn't know when you'd be here, and I didn't know if I'd make it on time," Jett replied, her voice breathless with awe. In spite of their relationship, Jett and Aren weren't that different in age, with the older girl only being not even five years her senior. So enrapt by the constant motion around them, Jett almost didn't notice the small motion of Aren hiding away the datachip. "What's that?" she asked in mild curiousity. "You didn't get me a birthday present, did you?" and then she answered her own question. "Oh right, I never told you guys my birthday was coming up." She dismissed the datachip from her mind. Surely Aren would tell her if it was important anyway.

"There's so much here, I wouldn't know where to start! How does a place like this get built anyway? Is there even a surface to this place, or did they build the whole planet? Shock, it's just so big." Jett said the last under her breath. Her father would have scolded her for swearing, but Jett didn't know that 'shock' wasn't an expletive in the wider Galaxy. It was just something her dad had made up.

"I could use some new clothes. I don't really have much except for this," she gestured to her current outfit, and then shoved her hands into her empty pockets. "What do you want to do, Aren?"

"We could tie a couple off, drown our sorrows, get tanked, wasted, huh...? Huh...?" She teased, nudging Aren with her elbow and a mischievous grin on her face. "It might help me deal with all this noise. What do you think?" Her voice had that ever-present Concord Dawn accent that some older Mando's still had. The ehh and ahh in place of the 'ey' and 'ar' sounds. The same accent a lot of old Clone troopers - the ones who survived this long - had.

Aren D'Shade