Private Typhoons

[Colette]

Valery Noble

The bear rested in Colette’s hands for a moment and she couldn’t help but stare into its beaded eyes. Her thumb ran up and down along its soft shoulder as she thought back to what it was like for her growing up. These had been real creatures for her. Not in the sense that they were a figment of her wild imagination but that she had a real cat as her bedtime friend. The softness of the bear made her miss the old girl despite the fact that she had passed nearly six years ago by now.

A melancholic smile spread on Colette’s lips as she handed the Eddie bear back to his rightful friend. She snapped out of the mood as the triplets began to chime up again like a tidal wave. First one started off, then the next joined in, and the third because of the other two.

“That would be great, Vera.” Colette said and smiled at the kid. “I prepared three bottles in the fridge. You give Aurra hers, I’ll get the other two.”

“... Do the triplets like anything in particular on the telly-vision?” Colette asked and turned to the sister-of-knowing. “Or maybe music? It’s nearly around bedtime, isn’t it?”

 

[Valery Noble]

Training Room

​

Tag: Colette

"Do you want a plushie too? I have plenty." Vera smiled after she had seen how Colette was looking at her bear. To her young mind, it meant that Colette also wanted a plushie of her own, and she was happy to give her one. By becoming Mom's Padawan, she was family to the little Noble now, and that meant being there for each other.

That's what mom and dad always told her.

But with the triplets making it very clear that they wanted food, she also shifted her attention to them and nodded. "I can do it." She smiled happily and took one of the bottles, before she sat down and carefully pulled her little sister close. Valery had shown her how to feed them in case it was needed, and this was one of few things where she'd be completely calm and serious. No matter what, she'd protect her siblings.

She was the big sister.

"Mommy hums a song before bed time." Vera remembered it vidily — it was a melody that Valery had somehow remembered from her time on Keshi. Her mother used to hum it for her, and now she did the same with her own kids. "It goes something like..." Vera began to hum the calming melody, but it didn't take a good ear to hear she wasn't exactly in tune.

"It doesn't work if I do it..."

 

[Colette]

“Oh, that would be great.” Colette nodded in response to Vera’s question and grabbed two of the bottles from the fridge. “I used to have a loth-cat that kept me company when I was a child.” She told Vera and helped Adam with his bottle. “She was a very old, but very respected guardian amongst my people. She must have known I was born outside of the clan, because no matter where I went she would always be right around the corner with a watchful eye, just like your mother.”

The last child got their bottle and Colette gently sat herself down in the couch to ensure they didn’t fall off of it or anything like that. Vera tried to explain that Valery hummed for them to get them to sleep but that she couldn’t muster the right tone for it.

“It’s because you are using your upper throat for it.” Colette said and smiled. “A bit like when you try to pretend meow, right?”

Colette placed a finger on her throat, right below her jawline.

“What you’ll want to do is to try and push your voice a bit further down a little.” She then lowered the finger to point right above her collarbone. “Like you are pretending to be your dad, or one of those horns on old-timey boats.”

“You know,” Colette let out a deep ‘hmmm-hmmm’ for Vera to mimic. “Just pretend you are about to laugh like a boat. Use your lungs to gently breathe out while you do it so that the sound is more gentle and smooth. Try it.”

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Training Room

​

Tag: Colette

"I have a loth-cat plushie. You can have it," Vera said while she listened to the story, and that connection between the creature's protectiveness and her mother seemed to make her smile. Whenever she was scared or in trouble, Mom always had this way of showing up at the right moment. Whether it was just a nightmare, or something in the real word. She knew it had something to do with Force-bonds, but it never stopped being special.

Vera was really missing her mother right now.

With her siblings fed soon after, they went back to being quiet on the couch. It was the perfect moment to get them to sleep, but she struggled with the Keshian melody. Colette, however, seemed to know a lot about it! So after carefully listening, she nodded, "Mkay, I'll try," she said and her next attempt was much better. The first two notes were at the right pitches, but she was clearly still struggling a little.

This wasn't something she'd learn from one moment to another.

"Hmm..." Vera whined. "Can you do it? Or they won't sleep without mommy or daddy here."

 

[Colette]

“That’s really good, Vera!” Colette gleed with the child and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll give it a try.”

She let in a deep breath and slowly exhaled with a hum as if to find the right spot in her throat and to sort of let it know that the time had come to perform. While the performance wasn’t top-notch, it would still seem to pass for the children.

One by one it would seem that their heads sunk in slumber, whisked away to a peaceful dreamland on a road paved by lullabies and food. For good measure, Colette kept the song up for a while longer before she carefully picked them up and carried them over to their beds. The couch was soft, but it was not a good place to sleep when you were about half its size at best when lying down..

Now was the time to see to it that Vera felt just as comfortable as the triplets did. With the fort complete, the choice of snackies acquired, and the loth-cat in her arms, Colette laid down in the fort next to Vera.

“You’re a good sister, Vera.” She mumbled as the onslaught of her exhaustion allowed itself to be felt at long last after a dutiful few hours of seeing to the needs of what was by all accounts now her siblings by choice. “I’m really proud of you.”

Maybe it was the plushie making it happen, but the memories of that old beast really made Colette feel safer than she had in a long while. A good reminder of the importance that a guardian had on the soul.

Colette yawned as she cradled its soft fur.

“What are we watching first?”

 

[Valery Noble]

Training Room

​

Tag: Colette

"Really?!" Vera bounced happily at the compliment, and seemed just as excited to listen to Colette. This little melody was something she'd always remember vividly and with how well Colette performed it, Vera was also instantly reminded of her Mom again. It made her go completely quiet while she watched her siblings fall asleep.

"Just like mom..." she muttered softly while she laid down and waited for Colette to bring the babies to bed. Once they were all settled and fast asleep, she returned with the loth-cat plushie and joined the young Noble in the pillow fortress. Normally, she'd have perhaps still been bouncing with excitement.

But Vera was exhausted as well.

"You're a good sister, too," Vera then replied, and the way she said it really made it sound like she meant it seriously. Of course, she knew that Colette wasn't her actual sister, but as far as she was concerned, she practically was. Colette cared about her, protected her and she just knew that she'd always be there if she needed help.

That's what being sisters was all about, right?

"What are we watching first?"

The question remained unanswered, as Vera curled up with Eddie and gently shifted with her back against Colette. The chaotic little Noble had fallen asleep, and it would take a while before she'd open her eyes again.