A Family Life Day [Past]

[Riamah]

Ra-

She kept quiet the whole time, but did roll her eyes at the description of the droid.

"Some are just programmed to be that way. Dumber than the boxes they came in..."

Drones could never become free droids, but they were tools. Knowing what this one was used for, she actually approved of the reaction Nick had.

"Krest is a major thorn isn't he? He sent somebody to kill me, but that obviously failed. Yet he had hopes to use you. What's the difference between you and me?"

Jair-

Walking over to Jason, she squatted down and brought something out of her pocket for him.

"I have a gift for you too. Go on and open it."

Inside he would find a pin with an image of himself and Josh that was painted. Not an actual picture of them, but a small portrait of them together. Both smiling and looking at each other.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh smiled widely at Nick’s sudden beeping amusing Jason. He wasn’t sure if Nick had even figured out that this was his nephew yet but Jason at least had found a reason to like him... So far. But what interested Josh was just how much more... Animated and emotional he had become, ever so slowly. It was nice to see. Perhaps there was hope for him after all.

Josh looked toward Ra, nodding his head as she would seem to cite she would accept the explanation on account of the droids just being mindless drones that were built to not be able to ever develop proper sentience. “Used to be a nice dude, Krest was, worked with him when he was a Templar. Sounds like he’s not the man I knew these days.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, who’s the kid?” Nick asked in the background when Jair would step forward to give something to Jason. Josh would smile, then. “This is my son, Jason.”

Jason would take the gift, mouth agape in wonder at what could be inside. Pulling it open, he would gasp and begin giggling as he seemed to recognize the contents of the portrait.

“What do you say, Jason?”

“Thank you!”

 

[Nick Dragovalor]

So this was Jason? This was his nephew? He supposed by how much he coddled the child, he should have known. But Nick had never had the chance to have a childhood, the Sith had taken away all of his years, how would he know?

“Got it, thanks.”

He looked toward Jair as she handed Jason the gift. The child’s laughter and sheer joy made him lower his head a bit as he looked from him and back to Josh and Ra. Was this the kind of life he might one day be able to live? Probably not, he supposed. He wouldn’t know the first thing about it.

 

[Riamah]

Jair-

After giving the gift to Jason, she stood up and took her seat next to Nick at the table and turned to Ra.

"Krest wanted to use me as his pawn and turn me into a Dread Master. You see my skills rest in mentalism. That is why he wanted me. Unless you also have the same skill set, I don't think he would have the interest. I do know we were both trained as assassins, so he even had uses for you, Miss Numare."

They had crossed paths before a few different times but this was the first they had actually met and spoken.

"It is nice to meet you finally."

Looking in the direction of Josh, she nodded.

"I have helped him to turn his back on the Sith and he no longer one."

Smiling at Jason when he said thank you, she almost wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair. Keeping her hands to herself though, she just smiled.

Ra-

"I am aware of who are as well. Lady Isemt of Commenor. Nice to meet you."

Being an observant person, she certainl saw the look Nick gave to Jairdain. Looking between the two of them, she wondered if they had a future together. She supposed time would tell. It had taken her quite a long time to realize what she felt for Josh.

"So it seems the three of us were once Sith. Is is all because of Josh that we changed?"

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Interesting. They’d both served under Darth Krest in some manner before. He wasn’t sure what to think of that. It was sure feeling... Sithly in here. Either way it seemed Krest was no longer a Sith thanks to Jair. Interesting, that. Perhaps he would get a chance to reintroduce himself to Krest one day.

Though Josh blinked a few times when Ra mentioned he was responsible for all of their changes. What?

 

[Nick Dragovalor]

What mattered to Nicholas was that a Sith was taken care of. Even if he’d probs turn back before long. They usually did. Letting out a sigh, he listened to the girls talking about how one person had changed them all. “Mhm” mumbled in agreement. It seemed he had done this a lot.

His head turned to Jason then. Then he looked to Josh. “Is he Force Sensitive?”’

 

[Riamah]

Jair-

The two women finished their conversation and Jairdain turned to Josh. Picking up on his surprise, she nodded in agreement to what Ra had just said.

"It does appear you helped us both, Master DragonsFlame."

Turning to Nick, she shook her head.

"There is no way he will go back to being Sith. I have made sure of that."

Not going into any further detail, Jairdain had done some poor choices in her life. One of them being bringing Krest back to life. Their connection though allowed her to control him to some extent.

Ra-

Falling back on her natural habit of keeping quiet, only her eyes flicked between the others as they spoke. Until any of them spoke to her again, she would be quiet. Not wanting to answer the question Nick asked, she figured it would be better to have Josh do that.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jair insisted that Krest would no longer be a Sith, and both brothers stared at her a moment before just nodding their heads in turn. When Nick asked his question though, Josh frowned in turn.

“Not as far as I know. He has yet to show any real signs of it” He would admit. “You almost sound like you don’t want him to” Nick pointed out but Josh shook his head in turn.

“No. I really don’t.”

 

[Riamah]

Ra-

She remembered Josh telling her of a few times when Jason had shown some aptitude to using the Force, but remained silent. If he didn't trust his brother enough yet to tell him the truth that was up to him.

Lifting an eyebrow at the answer Josh gave, she could understand why. He would likely get drawn into the war of light and dark. That wasn't something he wanted for his son and she could appreciate that.

Jair-

Her attention was on the conversation between the brothers, but she was next to Jason, Turning to him, she leaned over to whisper something to him.

"What has been your favorite part of today?"

 

[Nick Dragovalor]

Nick quirked a brow in turn, honestly surprised. Arguably one of the most powerful Force Users, arguably of this entire age, didn’t want to pass his talents into a child who could be even more powerful? It seemed preposterous. Wasn’t his job to safeguard people by any means? He was potentially hiding a huge weapon!

“I don’t understand” He would speak up. “You have this potential powerful asset if trained and you don’t want him trained? What kind of Jedi are you if aren’t doing everything to protect people, no matter what? I thought you were all for the Order?”

Was he not the Jedi that he had been led to believe that he was? People kept praising him for his compassion, his loyalty and his willingness to do anything for the Order. Was that all a lie?

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh stared at his brother with sad eyes yet he could not blame him for thinking that. The way he had been brought up, the Sith way of things... Of course he’d wonder that.

Jason, blissfully unaware of ongoing events, was just waiting for the food to arrive as he played with toys while Jair asked her question.

“Hmmm...” Jason mused, tapping his chin like he’d seen his father do a lot. “Uhh... The presents!”

Josh chuckled a bit when he heard that. “The hesitation indicates it was a close race” He joked in turn.

 

[Riamah]

Jair-

Both women looked up with Nick spoke, but it was Jairdain that reacted.

"Jason is so much more than a weapon, Nick. He is a human just like you and your brother. Never forget that. You also aren't sith any longer so try and stop thinking like one. I know that will take a bit of time."

Chuckling when Jason finally answered her, she nodded.

"I hope you enjoy every one of them."

Ra-

"Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?"

Her own stomach decided to let out a growl at that moment and her cheeks colored slightly. Covering her stomach like she wanted to keep it quiet, she waited on the answer.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jair had gone so far as to say he was thinking like a Sith, which earned a glare from the redhead. Nick got that Jason was a human but didn’t Jedi always weaponize powerful children from a young age for the good of the Jedi Order? Now he was insinuating they do what the Jedi had always done and now they were getting offended. His glare spread toward everyone in the room at that thought.

------

Josh didn’t expect Jair to speak up, and he let her remind Nick of what was what. Josh let out a sigh and held out a hand to stay her down.

“I’m not mad at him. I think even some Jedi would think that” Josh would admit. “But should Jason show any Force Sensitivity, he will be expected to be trained to control and use that power. But.... With it will come the expectation for him to become a Jedi. A path I am all too familiar with. I want Jason to have the choice to do as he likes. Not with pressure or expectations... I want him to have the childhood I didn’t get to have.”
He looked toward Ra then.

“The cooking should be finished soon. I’ll check up on it in a moment.”

 

[Riamah]

Jair-

She had known grown up the same way Josh and most likely Nick had. With her people, children were allowed to be kids. So the manner in how the Jedi sometimes appeared to work did not cross her mind. Right now it wasn't fixated on being diplomatic but she had not intended offence by her comment.

Picking up on the emotion that went with the glare, she held a hand out to try and reassure both of them she hadn't meant anything mean.

"I'm sorry."

Falling silent when Josh spoke, she nodded. Her son Marcus had shown some sensitivity, but he wasn't going to be as strong or powerful as she was. Who knows what would happen with Jason. Only time would tell there.

Ra-

"I think you're doing a great job at that, Josh. It was something both you and I didn't have the opportunity to do and hopefully he will appreciate it when he gets older. Maybe even pass it on to his own children. "

In their time together, they had gone on a few adventures with Jason and she looked forward to more.

"Need any help?"

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He looked to Nick then.

“I know how you’ve been indoctrinated, I know how you grew up. And because of that, you should understand more than I do the importance of being free to choose. Because neither of us got to. That gives us no right to say he doesn’t either. He deserves a choice and we are in a position to give him one.”

He looked to Ra then and smiled as he got up.

“Of course.”

 

[Nick Dragovalor]

He was silent for a good while.

He’d just gotten a good stern talking to after all. Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, doing his best to assuage the anger that was naturally conditioned to take root when things went awry. He knew he was right. But he didn’t know how to say it.

Nick looked to the kid then. Was he jealous that he was being looked after by someone that let him choose? Perhaps in a way, he was.

 

[Riamah]

Ra-

Her eyes went between the brothers as they spoke and nodded in understanding. The three of them had grown up in different ways, but were still almost the same. None of them had the opportunity to be kids. That opportunity was being given to Jason and Nick didn't seem to what to understand that.

Standing up with Josh, her stomach growled again. Blushing slightly, she tried to cover it with a hand and quickly left the room without saying anything.

Jair-

Once Ra and Josh had left the room, she turned her attection back to Jason. Even though she was physically blind, somebody needed to keep an eye on him.

"What else did you get today?"

Wanting to include Nick, she held onto Jason's hand and turned her head to appear to look in his direction.

"Maybe sometime I can tell you about my life before we met and what happened after we parted."

That is if he was interested in knowing.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh heard Ra's stomach growling and he couldn't help but laugh in turn. Once the two of them were alone, while Josh kept an eye on Jason from the corner of his eye, he would turn and take Ra's hands, pulling her into a playful kiss, shooting her a cheeky grin. The meats were about done, he noted, and he would make strides to turn them over so they could finish on the other side. Letting Ra keep an eye on the heat on them, he would begin grabbing the smaller plates and then getting the bigger plate from there, so there was a big plate for everyone to take servings from and smaller plates for them to each serve to.

"Are you nervous?" Josh would ask Ra, then. "I suppose this is the first time we've had a sort of family dinner with more than just, well, you know... The three of us? I wasn't sure how you were going to handle it, personally."

 

[Nick Dragovalor]

When asked, Jason listed a few things off in a series of babbling that almost wasn't comprehendible with how quickly he was speaking. Nick meanwhile, would consider Jair's words. He wasn't sure about what to say. Instead, he would merely nod his head as he would continue to stare at the kid for a moment. This kid deserved to live a more free life, his brother had said. A life where he got to choose... Unlike the two of them. Was that fair? Was that fair that he had to suffer and be chained, and this one should be free?

He supposed so...

 

[Riamah]

Ra- She smiled at the quick display of their relationship with the private kiss and gently squeezed his hands back. Watching what he was doing in the kitchen, when he asked her to keep an eye on the meat and heat, she moved it around a little to make sure they cooked evenly.

When he brought the plates out, she started putting the cooked meat onto the larger plate. Looking up at him as she worked, she shook her head.

"Not too nervous really. I already know Miss Ismet and your brother. While we might have had a rocky start, I think it's working out fine. How is he settling in?"

Picking the platter up, she stood up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheeck before heading back out and setting it on the table.

Jair- She listened to the child babble and laughed. Her ear for picking up words worked well for her and she continued to entertain him until the others returned with the food. She had picked up a little on what Nick was feeling and attempted to sooth things through the Force.

Things will be fine, Nick. Just have some faith.