Factory Judge
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Renn leaned one shoulder against the railing, the wood warm beneath his palm, the sea breeze tugging lazily at his open Palm-Tree ridden shirt. The laughter from the other Mandalorians on the far end of the yacht rolled across the deck like a familiar stormfront, loud, chaotic, and entirely predictable. Compared to that, this corner of the party felt almost… calm.
Adelle’s smirk held just enough bite to be genuine, and Renn returned it with a slight tilt of his head, as if acknowledging a hit well landed.
“Expert on Mandalorian courting rituals?” he echoed, the corner of his mouth lifting. “That’s flattering, but dangerous. You say that too loud and some fool on the other side of the ship will appoint me to another council.”
He caught the flicker of hesitation in her eyes when his stare had lingered earlier, and his tone softened by a fraction, not apologetic, but clarifying.
“If you’d crossed a line,” he said quietly, “you’d know. The Chancellor’s still breathing, the cat hasn’t declared war, and nobody threw you overboard. You’re fine.”
The effect of reassurance was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was delivering it in swim trunks covered in cartoon Basilisks. But such was life on Zeltros.
When she claimed to only catch grenades on battlefields, he huffed a low laugh.
“Good,” he said. “Means I don’t have to file a report for ordinance misuse at the beach.”
And then it was just the two of them, a spukami reclaiming her seat, the ocean stretching out in star-speckled indigo, and the faint scent of citrus drinks mingled with sea-salt.
He didn’t mind the quiet. Mandalorians didn’t always need conversation. Sometimes standing beside someone was enough.
But Adelle’s voice broke through the silence, easy, steady.
“Enjoying the vacation?”
Renn let his gaze drift to the waves far below. Lanterns from the yacht cast shifting trails of light across the water.
“As much as a man can,” he said. “It’s rare for my work to bring me somewhere the only explosions are fireworks and poor life choices.”
He sipped his drink, some Zeltron concoction that glowed faintly like bioluminescent algae, and added, “The galaxy’s heavy enough. Nights like this remind you it doesn’t always have to be.”
There was something thoughtful in Adelle’s posture, chin lifted slightly, shoulders relaxed, her scars catching faint reflections from the torches. He didn’t stare, but he noticed. A Mandalorian noticed everything.
Her next question pulled a real laugh out of him. Not a rumble. Not a smirk. A laugh.
“The trunks?” He looked down at them as if re-evaluating his life choices. “If I say no, the Zeltros delegation will think I’m rejecting a cultural gift. If I say yes…” He gestured at himself, a warrior in a floral shirt and basilisk-print shorts. “This becomes part of my reputation.”
He lifted his drink to her in mock salute.
“So congratulations, Bastiel. You’ve just witnessed the moment my dignity surrendered.”
His eyes, unshielded tonight, a sharp steel-blue rather than visor-black, met hers with a dry warmth.
“And you? Are you surviving the Mandalorian beach traditions, or should I alert someone to ready a medbay for cultural shock?”