We are Family, You and Me

[Gray Raxis]

Gray had gotten his interest peaked when he had gone through his father's files on his datapad recently. The thing had mentioned the name Vassara Raxis on it and there were a lot of files following the woman's actions around the galaxy up to the time his dad had died. He didn't understand this. Was his father cheating on his mom at the time? He couldn't believe that to be true, or he didn't know what he would do. He had looked into the whole affair to find out what was going on, and that was how he found himself where he was now, The Raxis Homestead. He had been here before for a party, and almost gotten himself shot to death. Of course that wasn't by the host, but it still happened.

Gray had rented a speeder to get here and parked the thing in a good spot before heading to the door. He came dressed in his gray shirt and pants trimmed in dark blue, leather boots, and leather duster. His blaster pistol was strapped to his right leg as usual as he walked to the door.

Gray took a deep breath before saying to himself, " Alright Gray, try to handle this well. Don't screw this up like you usually do. Just be yourself... okay maybe not that. Be charming. Be smooth. Just don't get yourself shot at this time like you did last time.... You can do this." He straightened out his duster impulsively before he noticed he was wasting time. He stopped himself and then knocked on the door lightly once. He waited a moment before he frowned at himself and knocked on it solidly enough it actually could be heard by someone other than him.

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gray Watcher"]

Jack was inside, practising his sword work. The Besk'ad whipped and whirled through the air as he struck his invisible foe. His eyes tracked thin air and his arm surged, delivering twin thrusts forwards an then his feet shuffled back. The ryhthmn of the dance was soothing and repetitive. It was only one of many combos he used, but ultimately the most effective. It was easier to block or dodge a slash than a thrust.

Then the dust fell from the wooden door as a raucous thump echoed around the room. He wasn't expecting company, and Dak was over some Ordo girls house. He smirked as he imagined the trouble the teenager was getting himself into now.

With a swift movement he sheathed the sword and snatched his dull white shirt from the bed. It slid on over his sweaty body and he stepped through the living room to the door, whipping it open. It was Grey, someone who'd caused a bit of stir at his party.

Why was he here? Jack had no idea, but he wasn't an ass so he smiled and stepped back waving his hand.

"Ah Grey. C'mon in."

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray heard the footsteps when Jack was heading to the door, which was the only reason he didn't knock again. He felt anxious, very anxious. He had never done something like this before, and wasn't entirely sure how things were going to go. Usually he had an idea how things might play out, but this time around there were too many options for him to even consider. As Jack opened the door, Gray's heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest from the surprise. He knew that Jack was about to open it, but he couldn't help the way he was feeling. He needed to calm down some how.

Gray tried to give as relaxed a smile as he could as he said, " Much obliged." He stepped into the room as he finished speaking. Much obliged? What was he, his dad? He couldn't help those slips when he was this nervous, and him noticing wasn't helping much either. He looked around the place and had to admit it looked nice. He thought it looked nice at least, but he didn't have much experience with what homes were suppose to be like.

Gray said as he idly looked around, " Is there somewhere we can sit down? I have some business with you Jack. It ain't goin' to be pretty nor proper... Sorry, it might not be so pleasant." There he went again.

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gray Watcher"]

Jack raised an eyebrow. Business? This late in the day?

Still like was said, he made a habit to be a gracious host. He didn't hate the man, he was unsure of what to make of him. Grey was rather new to the Mandalorian ranks. Much newer than Jack and with almost Zero history that was known among the clans.

then again who was he to talk. He was an Orphan child with not clan nor house. Just some weak tie to the Ordo's.

Jack shook his head, getting the sticky politics dislodged from his brain and nodded, pulling out a chair at his wooden table for Grey. He could feel the man's nervous energy rolling in waves about the room. Hell Gray was making him nervous.

"Cool it Gray, you're freaking me out man."

Across the kitchen he walked, opening cabinets and fetching two tea cups. Water began to boil, and he took some Ujj cake from the preservation unit, placing it on the table. Then at long last he sat, leaned back with his hands on top of his head. His brow wasn't furrowed this time but his expression was quite concerned.

"What's got your tongue in a twist Ner'Vod."

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray took the seat that was offered to him at the table. He needed to sit down right now and do just as Jack had asked. He closed his eyes as he rested his elbows on the table. He placed his hands flat against each other and slid his nose between them. He focused on calming himself down. He had to do this plenty of times during his life, and just like those times he felt his nervousness seem to just disappear in an instant. He didn't know if this is how it happened for others, but he was who he was.

Gray opened up his eyes and looked at Jack as he got sat down. Gray reached into his duster and pulled out a datapad. He set it onto the table with the screen flipped around so it was the right way for Jack to read it. He slid it over to Jack as he said, " Take a look at this. I want you to notice the pattern in all of the data that is stored on here."

Gray would just wait for Jack to go through it all before he said anything. It was all on Vassara, her kids, and even Althea. It all followed their actions for years up until the time of Gray's dad's death and even some that had showed up from sources after before they found out what had happened to him. Gray figured it wasn't going to go well. It hadn't gone over well for him either when he looked at it for the first few times. He grabbed one of the cakes and began to nibble on it as he just waited for what he knew was coming.

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gray Watcher"]

When Jack laid eyes upon the data his eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling as they shot up. This was it, key data of a puzzle he'd been putting together for a very long time. Alcuin had given him bits, Jorus, Anija, Kiber and Vahn had all known her as well. What they hadn't been able to reveal to him was the family tree.

Jack had just recently met his twin sister [member="Alys Raxis"], so this was a strange sight indeed. For a second he paused and then his fingers flipped through the files, moving some into their own screens. He hummed a small tune as he did it and then placed it flat on the table. This was a breakthrough, no doubt about it.

"Alright then. Your Old man was Victor Raxis. Never heard of the fella, but these public records you have here are impressive."

Jack rose from the table and retrieved the tea from the stove with the cups. He poured one for Grey and one for himself before disappearing to the bedroom. When he came back he held up a small chip and nodded.

"This is my Mothers Codex. A list of all the known family and individuals she interacted with. Her starmaps, the places she went, the things she did. The missing part is her death. This is only a copy she left stashed in this ol' place. The real Codex was never recovered."

He set it on the table. Grey was still acting weird.

"Drink the tea. It's from a bark on Endor, should calm you down a bit. I use it to relax."

Then he plugged the chip into the datapad.

"Let's have a look shall we?"

 

[Gray Raxis]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

Gray was a little surprised that Jack was so calm about all of this. He had expected something with more outburst to it, maybe some furniture to go flying, or even for him to be asked to leave. He hadn't expected him to just act like, like this. He took the tea that was offered to him and took a drink of it. The stuff did a lot to help calm him down. He needed the extra help to go along with his trick from earlier. He felt his muscles finally relax on him, which was good because the tension was beginning to make them ache.

Gray looked at the datapad as it had the chip plugged into it. He wasn't sure what to expect anymore. Maybe the thing would reveal some deep, dark secret? Maybe it would shed more light on his dad's past for him? Or it might just be nothing but empty words and pointless files. He didn't know, but he could tell they both needed to look at the thing.

Gray took another drink of his tea before he said, " No point dilly dallying. Lets take a peek and see what we see."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gray Watcher"]

When the chip went in Jack sat back and waited to see what he would find. He'd already gone through it himself and began to talk through the jumble of files, connecting them to the public dossiers on the datapad Gray had shown him.

"So your old man is Victor. Public files show that Victor was a Brother of Arthur Raxis, whom married Allie Raxis."

He paused stroking his chin. That was one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle, everything else after that clicked into place. His mother, Gray, Victor, Arthur, Allie.

Then their was his sister and his aunt.

"They both worked for Alderaan shipping before the war. Killed in the war. Your old man is a mystery but that makes him a Great Uncle of mine, which means you Gray."

Jack took another sip of the tea, letting the earthy flavour settle on his tongue before swallowing.

"Are something like my Uncle Once removed."

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray listened to Jack relay the information he had. He got a weird feeling that something wasn't adding up right though. He frowned as he said, " Mind if I look through the that?" He didn't wait more than a moment before he picked up the datapad and went through it himself. He had gone through the files enough that he was familiar with the ones from the pad, so he mostly needed to look through the ones on the chip. He went through it by skimming the content, but also following that odd gut feeling he was getting about where the right places to look were at.

Gray suddenly stopped flipping through it as he got to a certain file. He held the datapad out and said, " My dad is Victor Raxis, but not the Victor Raxis you were looking at. The Victor Raxis you saw was your mom's uncle, and the name sake of my dad. Jack, my dad was your mom's brother, your uncle. We are cousins..." He didn't know what to think on this. He had a cousin? An actual cousin? He had always thought his dad was an only child. He had never mentioned having any brothers or sisters at least, and his mom's only brother died when they were both little. This was all too new and fresh for him right now. Why had his dad kept all of this a secret?

[member="Jack Raxis"]

OOC: Did the link work correctly?

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gray Watcher"]

"Ahh ok."

Jack took another sip of the tea and then smirked.

"We got a Jedi, a Merc, a Mando and a Pirate in our family tree. Never met Coryn, he's another cousin or something. Just recently met Alys. She's a Jedi."

He paused and then winked.

"Welcome to the Raxis family cousin."

 

[Gray Raxis]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

Gray smiled at Jack as he spoke. Right after the last line was spoken, Gray suddenly started to laugh and tears welled up in his eyes. He kept this up for several minutes and just couldn't seem to stop himself. He finally managed to say after awhile with tears rolling down his face, " Sorry 'bout this Jack... Family has been something I haven't had in a long time. It, it just kind of hit me hard...."

Gray finally managed to stop himself and regain some of his composer after he finished speaking. He wiped away the last of the tears and said, " Thanks for welcoming me cousin. I look forward to all of the trouble we can cause together." He raised up his cup which was empty by this point and said, " To family?"

 

[RC 212]

[member="Gray Watcher"]

"Aye to family. Come see me if you want to learn about the Resol'nare and become a Mando."

Jack clinked his cup and threw it back.

(End)