Private What the Water Gave Me

[Makai Dashiell]

THE SLICE

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : Myra Arceneau Dashiell

"Hmm, well lucky for me you and Phoebe are the only two family members that know about the Slice project."

Which meant no initial questioning. Makai would have to tell the collective group but it seemed a rip the bandage off situation. Perhaps at Life Day if the conversation turned to it. Given the length of the project and everything involved it was going to take some time to get things off the ground. Once they got back to the Tranquility he would begin shopping around for a space station. Then the real work would begin.

Hand squeezed hers as they crested the hill, speaking of Ukatis and a festival. Had he ever visited the planet? The half-Galan was uncertain but he did know it was an agriculture based planet. Perhaps a little poking around in addition to date night for ideas on how to feed an entire population.

"An excellent idea. A little time away before we won't have that luxury. I feel like Phoebe hasn't really spent one-on-one time with you Ma in awhile so it will be perfect. I look forward to an evening without our tiny terror chastising me in Huttese." There was a small nudge of her shoulder. "Not to mention an entire uninterrupted conversation from said tiny terror."

TIRTHA COVE, JOIOL - LIFE DAY CELEBRATION

With a house full of family - and apparently one random boy - Makai had found the perfect excuse to slip away from the activities ; cooking. A full menu was in swing at the beachside mansion, a standing nerf rib roast, twice baked tubers, roasted vegetables, various desserts. Not that the living room was far from the kitchen and not that he couldn't hear all the activity contained in the house. With Phoebe and Kellan already having opened their gifts this morning, it was more the adults talking shop now with the half-Galan praying his father remained on his best behavior. His mother couldn't attend - busy with the Kai side of his family and his grandparents, so at least there was one potential set of tension off his plate.

Piping the innards of his tubers back into their carefully cut skins, he could hear Phoebe excitedly bouncing around, enthralled to having at least two grandparents to be spoiled by. Not to mention her cousin as a partner in crime.

"Pop-pop, ...I made you something!" Phoebe was bounding back into the living room after disappearing, two items in her little hands. She came to a stop near her grandfather. A friendship bracelet with bright beads. Ever since her trip to the Slice the young girl had been cranking them out. El-Three and Thirty-Seven already had four a piece. "All by myself too!"

Danger Arceneau | Judah Dashiell | Balun Dashiell | Kiran Arlos | Persephone Dashiell ​

 

[Judah Dashiell]

After cleaning up wrapping paper, Judah took a seat on an armchair in the living room with the others. Where he was immediately pounced upon by Kellan with a toy in hand, wanting the item to be assembled and in working order so he could play with it. A small, handheld hover device he had picked up for his grandson. Lights and the promise of it following the user around had seemed enticing enough for him so it should appeal to a young boy.

Package was open next to him and the object charging as he read the instructions, chatting every so often with Danger. In typical Life Day fashion the kids were running around so it was more paying attention to them instead of one another. Eyes squinted a little at the paper instructions and he adjusted the length away from his face, idly wondering if he needed corrective vision surgery or if was just plain old age coupled with being woken up at the crack of dawn by excited kids.

Probably should have stopped at the first lowball of whisky too.

Phoebe came bounding in with a trinket for himself, brightly colored in young kid fashion. Putting down his instructions, he slipped it on his wrist, sitting proudly next to his intelichrono.

"A perfect fit. Looks great Phoebe, thank you." Judah lifted his wrist to look at it a little better. "You've got your mother's talent for art too, great use of color."

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

Through a lot of convincing, Persephone was able to invite Kiran over for Life Day. It had taken a great deal of presentation skills and a small bit of guilt tripping that Kiran was an orphan and had no where to go. The teenager was allowed to come, but with a great deal of rules. Kiran was staying in a guest house away from the main house and he had been assigned her adoptive father's droid, Thirty-Seven, to oversee his every move. The boy couldn't even use the bathroom with Thirty-Seven standing nearby and asking if he was still in there.

Gifts had been open and it was that hazy time between breakfast and gifts and a weirdly timed early dinner. With not much to do, the pair had retreated to the den to watch a holo. With the little kids running around watching something in the main room would be disaster. Especially if there ended up being a curse word.

Camped out on the couch, Persephone sat on one end, far away from Kiran. Zee was in the room as their monitor, judging them silently. Or not so silently at times. Popcorn and drinks sat between them, with Persie shoveling it in despite dinner being around the corner. Teenage metabolism for the win.

"Who would have known Zombie Cheerleader Slumber Party is actually a decent comedy. A total riff on all those cheesy horror movies that come out every year."

[ A real gas, Miss Persephone. A shame it didn't win any awards. ]

Kiran Arlos​

 

[Balun Dashiell]

DASHIEL FAMILY LIFE DAY EVENT
WEARING: Click here.
FEATURING: Kellan Dashiell (NPC).

Life Day was...An interesting concept.

People used it as an excuse to get together and celebrate time with family and friends. Corporations used it to advertise their goods and earn credits, commercialising the holiday that was originally about honouring life and blah blah blah. Balun, however....-Well, frankly, he had always struggled to get into it.

It wasn't for a lack of trying, mind you. It mostly came down to his resentments towards his earlier years before the Dashiells. The Jedi had always felt like a family that had been forced upon him, and so he hated that fact right up until the day he left them. The Dashiells, on the other hand, were exactly where he needed to be.

...Yet Life Day still brought back memories of the other Padawan running about, laughing and carrying on while he watched, alone and resentful from a distance. It was a self-inflicted wound, one that he knew now that he wouldn't still bear had he the mind to have swallowed his pride back in his younger days and just accepted things for what they were. Only, how different would things be today, had he done so?

"Pop-pop, Mimi....I made you something!"

Pheobe's voice stirred Balun from his remunerations as he stood with his back to the wall, a glass of golden liquor swirling slowly within the glass held in his right hand. It was only his first, but he was already beginning to feel as though he was tempted for another.

How long had it been since they were all here together as a family like this?

His gaze crossed the room towards Kellan, who had seated himself atop Judah Dashiell 's lap, harassing the old man for help with the hover toy, the Life Day gift Balun's father had bought for the kid. It was a rare respite where Kellan wasn't causing a ruckus alongside Pheobe, the two partners in crime who fed off of each other's juvenile energy and amplified each other's mischievousness.

Makai had managed to escape the chaos, using the responsibility of cooking as a means to save himself from the unending terror of the younglings. Balun's brother wasn't just older, but wiser too. Not that Bale would ever admit it to Makai. He likely already thought as much too eagerly. Aside from his brother, Danger Arceneau was in sight and being assailed by the dubious little Pheobe, a rare but always a pleasure to see again; Perhaps less so for Judah, depending on whether or not his father had put his foot in it or not. Apparently, Judah was about as good with women as Balun was, which wasn't saying much, but it also explained where Balun got it from and gave him someone to blame it on.

Most surprising of all, astonishingly even; rumour had it that Persephone Dashiell was around here somewhere. And she even had a boy-toy no less. How the hell she managed to pull that one off, Balun had no idea, but he was both impressed and sympathised to both Persie and the poor bastard who had to meet their family. The guy was going to wind up traumatised by the end of this evening!

Swigging back the last of his whiskey, Balun, who hadn't said or done much of a great deal of anything, decided it was time to move and find the bottle with which to fill his now-empty glass.

Jedi Master: Ala Quin
Major Faction: The High Republic
Sub-Faction: Jhaessa Prime
Conglomerate: Dashiell Incorporated™
Subsidiary Company: Dashiell Retrofit™​

"Speech"
'Thought'​

 

[Kiran Arlos]

Persephone Dashiell
​

Kiran kept his back pressed into the far corner of the couch, shoulders tucked in like he was trying to take up as little space as possible. The cushions were too soft, the room too warm, and the faint whirr of Thirty-Seven's servos reminded him every few seconds that this wasn't really relaxing, it was supervised downtime.

Still… popcorn helped.

He reached into the bowl between them, careful not to brush Persephone's hand. Lest he invoke the wrath of Zee and Thirty-Seven. He shoved a handful into his mouth. Salty. Warm. Way better than ration bars. He chewed slowly, eyes fixed on the holo as the cheerleader on-screen tripped over a severed arm and screamed in a way that was so over-the-top it circled right back around to funny.

A snort escaped him before he could stop it. He coughed and covered it by grabbing his drink, pretending he'd choked instead of laughed.

Okay. He hadn't expected that.

Kiran shifted slightly, stretching his legs out a fraction more than he had before. Zombie Cheerleader Slumber Party was silly. Loud. Ridiculous. But it was supposed to be. No moral lessons. No tragedy. No reminders that everyone you cared about could disappear overnight. Just fake blood, decent acting, and jokes that landed more often than they should.

He stole a quick glance sideways.

Persephone was completely at ease, curled into her end of the couch, popcorn disappearing at an alarming rate, eyes bright with amusement or so it seemed to him. Like this was normal. Like inviting someone over for Life Day and watching a sill holo in the den didn't require permission forms, rules, or a droid tracking bathroom breaks.

The droid's voice chimed in, dry and unimpressed. Kiran smirked despite himself.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath, barely louder than the holo's soundtrack. "That's kinda the point."

He grabbed more popcorn, this time without hesitating, and leaned back into the cushions. For a few minutes, just a few, he forgot where he was supposed to be, who was watching, and how temporary all of this probably was.

The zombie cheerleaders burst into song on-screen.

Kiran groaned, but he didn't look away. "Oh, gods no...." Kiran looked over to Persie and he laughed. "Don't look at me, you picked it."

 

[Myra Arceneau Dashiell]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x | Tag: Makai Dashiell Judah Dashiell Balun Dashiell Persephone Dashiell Kiran Arlos

Myra was Life Day incarnate as she swept into the den in a wash of festive color, greens and reds layered with embroidered gold catching the light as she moved. A floppy red hat dipped low over her brow, and the oversized ornament earrings at her ears chimed softly with every step.

She smiled immediately at the sight of Persephone curled on the couch, popcorn in hand.

"There you are," Myra said warmly. "I was starting to think you'd vanished into the holiday chaos."

Then she noticed the boy. The Heiress came to a sudden stop, a bit perplexed, a bit confused, but not shocked. Oh no, not when it came to random folk in her house.

And while Myra's smile didn't fade it did shift as she took him in properly, proping one hand at the curve of her bright red and white leggings.

Huh, she locked in on that unmistakable mop of curls.

"Oh," she said lightly, grey eyes blinking once before giving a polite nod.

"Hello… you are new."

She then promptluy cocked a hip to the side, head tilting as her eyes flicked back to Persephone and then returned to Kiran, curiosity plain but not unkind. Her grey eyes lingered on his curls for just a beat longer, then she smiled again, amused.

"You aren't another surprise Dashiell, are you?"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Interacting with: All Ya'll this is a speed post
| Dress x | x | x | x | x | x | X | X |

​

Danger was late.

And a bit angry, but hell, that's what happened when chaos with work and the fall of the Alliance meant that Arceneau Trade was working overtime on trying to maintain the flow of trade throughout all the affected sectors from the Core on out.

Glancing at her chronowatch, looked like she just might be a few hours late. Meaning she was already wasting precious grandbaby time.

Yup, someone was going to pay for this, as emerald fire shot through the Queen of Trade's eyes.

Even on the fastest ship, there was only so much she could do.

Maybe she should start looking into those supposed path engines she heard from a little mynock, the Manalorians might be looking into.

Or maybe she could use one of Locke and Key's gates to cut down on the time.

 

[Persephone Dashiell]

"Singing is mandatory. This is a cheesy teen movie."

Put on by the Cresh-Wesk Network, it was no surprise. All of their shows and movies were fairly teen cheesy - Creekdale, Sabrina the Teenage Dathomir Witch, Ruffy the Vampire Slayer. Persephone had yet to see one that wasn't campy. Grabbing another handful of popcorn, she was about to go into more detail when Myra walked in.

Persephone arced a small eyebrow at her adoptive mother. The woman looked like a fashion nightmare - leave it to Myra to take Life Day to the extreme. Persie was much more a festive sweater type person but beyond that.....either way, the teenager wasn't going to say anything. No doubt it would lead to some type of chore.

"No, this is Kiran."

Servos shifted. Zee felt this was his shining moment.

[ I see you have not been reading my daily reports Mistress. ] Disappointment entered not only his tone but posture. [ Kiran Arlos is the boy Mister Dashiell questioned here on Joiol before he joined Miss Persephone at the fair. It was known to be a date. I have yet to see any romantic overtones in their interactions. If there are, it has slipped my programming. By my estimations if there are romantic overtones, I suspect they will not last with Miss Persephone's acceptance into the University of Agamar. ]

Leave it to Zee to be very blunt with his observations as a droid.

"I asked Makai - he said it was fine. Kiran is staying in one of the guest houses and Thirty-Seven is his chaperone."

[ This is correct Mistress. Kiran has not left my optical sensors - even to use the facilities. ] Thirty-Seven knew no personal boundaries. He was used to following Makai everywhere. [ I can assure you no teenage pregnancies will occur on my watch. It would be a disaster for Miss Persephone and the future impact of the greater Dashiell family. ]

Growing red-faced, Persephone wanted to sink into the couch cushions, not even looking Kiran's way.

Kiran Arlos | Myra Arceneau Dashiell ​

 

[Kiran Arlos]

Persephone Dashiell Makai Dashiell Myra Arceneau Dashiell Balun Dashiell
​

Kiran froze.

Popcorn halfway to his mouth, back suddenly very straight, every muscle in his body locking as if he'd just been caught sneaking into a restricted hangar. His eyes flicked instinctively toward the doorway, then to the droids, then, very briefly, to Persephone, before snapping back to the holo like it might save him.

Teenage pregnancies.

Stars above.

He slowly placed the popcorn in his mouth, face burning so hot he was convinced it had to be visible. His ears rang faintly as Thirty-Seven continued speaking, each word landing like a blaster bolt to his dignity. He had been interrogated before, real interrogations, with real stakes, but somehow this felt worse. Much worse.

He swallowed, hard.

Kiran forced his shoulders to relax, hands folding together in his lap like he was suddenly twelve again and sitting in front of a social worker who already didn't trust him. He kept his voice carefully neutral when he spoke, pitched low and respectful, the way he'd learned made adults less suspicious. And then he couldn't help but he laughed.

"Hi, Ma'am," he said, inclining his head toward Myra with a small nod and smile. He actually stood up and bowed. "I was invited, by Persephone. I am just a poor orphan boy, with nowhere to go. I'm Persephones friend. It's nice to meet you."

Which was technically the truth. Very carefully the truth.

His gaze stayed forward, fixed on the frozen image of a zombie cheerleader mid-song, but his peripheral vision caught Persephone shrinking into the couch. He felt bad that things were being made awkward for her. Hated even more that the droids were dissecting their lives like a statistical model. He finally glanced sideways at Persephone then, not long, just enough to catch the red creeping up her cheeks, and offered a small, crooked smile. Half apology. Half sorry, you're stuck with me.

He then sat back down again, reclaiming the popcorn bowl with a little more care this time, and stared stubbornly at the holo.

On-screen, the cheerleaders hit the chorus again.

Kiran sighed quietly. Mandatory singing, indeed.