Private After Hours

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Rik Perris

"Plenty." Jonyna answered, her posture stiffening. "It's why I became a vigilante in my younger years. Survived the purge through the kindness of others, and saw the rise of the first Empire." She frowned, tearing off a piece of steak with her teeth and chewing it with vigor. "...I saw the Empire become a monster. Spent a decade of my life trying to fight against it..."

She looked down at her food. "Then I ended up here. The war was over, we won. But I didn't get any of the glory. Just another footnote in the history books. It was...humbling." She let out a chuckle, her cute laugh showing through for the first time. "When I was younger, that probably would've bothered me. I wanted so badly to be remembered as the hero who took down the Empire. Then I get put in the ice, and some farmboy who's daddy was special swoops in and takes all the fame. But now? It's...weird. I didn't mind it. Because I look at it like this: I've made it farther than even the jedi that my people's history does remember did. I'm a jedi master now, a council member. Sylvar didn't even get that before she died. My place in history is secure. Now...I'm just fighting the good fight because it needs to be fought. Because it's obvious. Will it ever end? I dunno. Maybe. But...for now, I'm protecting the people in front of me. Standing up and inspiring those under me. And making it so the little kitten still inside of me is proud of who she became. What about you? You think the little boy deep down is proud of you?"

She asked it with such innocence, such honest humility, as if she was asking a simple question to a friend. And yet, she was more than just curious to find an answer. It was a test, a quandary designed to gauge what kind of person was before her.

She thought he was cute, but...Jonyna had always been one with a very rigid moral compass, even when it came to her own sexuality.

 

[Rik Perris]

THE KITCHENS
NJO TEMPLE
CORUSCANT

That Jonyna had become a vigilante in the past was, in a way, another piece of common ground between them; it was and objection to the ills surrounding her youth, much like how it had been for him, and it told him a bit about her character as she continued on, and he continued working his way through his wrap.

It made Rik that little bit more interested in making a friend of her, cautious as his slowly mending heart made him of anything that laid beyond friendship... but that laugh? That sweet little thing stirred his affection despite it all. Oh, that was something he could stand to hear more of.

He'd have to figure how to make that happen; the warmth that sound brought to his smile couldn't be helped, and her next question dug deeper still. Rik thought about how he would answer it, while chewing another bite of his wrap. That boy was the foundation of who he was.

"What was instilled in that boy by his folks and his late master, is just about everything that drives me, Jonyna," plain honesty, that, "the rest came with time and maturity." He took the last bite of his wrap, chewing thoughtfully, "And I may be Corellian, but I'm not so proud that I can't admit to stumbling at times over the past," he blew out a hefty sigh, "just about thirty years, and I've learned from those times. I always do."

Rik picked up the dirty plate.

"So, I think he's proud that I don't abandon him or our principles and beliefs," he gave Jonyna a rueful smile, "He's why I'm reluctant to date anyone right now. I'm... not the kind of man to jump into pursuing another relationship to get over the previous one." Or to assuage any loneliness - that's what friends were for. He slotted the plate into the mostly empty dishwasher, "I have to... I want to be able to give it the time, attention, and affection it deserves. That's just who I am, how I was raised."

But none of that stopped the attraction he nonetheless felt towards her - Libido didn't give a bantha's ass about much - or his interest in her friendship.

Jonyna Si​

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Rik Perris

"Good." Jonyna said with a goofy smile. "Never forget that." She paused as he mentioned relationships. "...I'm desperate for one." She admitted.

Was she really gonna put her heart on a plate again and hand it to a stranger? She'd already had it dropped twice.

She couldn't let that put her down. She couldn't let her heart become closed off. It was too painful to close that door. It went against everything she believed in. And so, once more, she opened the door. She pulled her heart out and offered it to those she didn't trust.

"Twice now, I've been in long term relationships that I thought would last forever. First the man who I thought would help me start a new order of the jedi. The man who helped me become a Knight in the darkest era of our culture's history..." She paused, looking down at her food and forcing herself to hold back a sniff of tears. "And when we came out of the ice, when we were presented with a world we had always dreamed of...we drifted apart. He wanted to become a scholar, pick up where he had left off before the Purge. I...wanted to continue the fight. Finish our fight to restore peace."

She took a moment to wipe her eyes, taking a bite of steak. It was comfort food at this point. "Then I met another Cathar jedi. Another man who I thought I could love....and he disappeared. Haven't seen him in 6 months. One day we were cuddling in bed, him whispering to me he'd be with me forever...the next he was just...gone..."

She finally swallowed a lump, and let out a few tears. "But...I can't let that hurt me, ya know? Can't let that keep me from loving. I want to find the person I can commit to, ya know? You should too. Don't let your heart harden, it's not worth the pain."

Her tone was almost...unrealistically genuine. She'd seen so much, so much pain, and...

She chose to be kind. She chose to keep her heart open.

She couldn't be cruel. She couldn't be bitter. To her, it was the only honest way to live.

 

[Rik Perris]

THE KITCHENS
NJO TEMPLE
CORUSCANT

When Jonyna started to go into the matter of her own relationships, Rik wasn’t quite sure how to take it, except to listen. He could understand that degree of loneliness - he’d begun to see his own as the root cause of why he was now in the midst of recovering from heartbreak, and in part believed that he might have come on too strong… and that maybe he’d pursued someone too dissimilar.

But here? There were too many common threads to ignore, and he wanted to know how far down that went. He felt that pull already, and… it alarmed him. He was wary of following a similar pattern as before, but… what he didn’t expect were her tears as she continued to unravel the details of her heartbreaks. That yanked on his compassion hard, got twisted up in his growing attraction, and began to fill him with the urge to do something, and he wrestled with that feeling that challenged his stance.

Rik’s eyes flicked away from the sight of her - he didn’t want to be cruel but… he was careful, perhaps too careful, about inviting in what he was far from ready for. He looked down at his hands, one clenching and releasing.

[ Fuck. ]

Then he walked the small number of steps over to her, slipped a hand onto her shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze; he could do this, right? This was okay, wasn’t it? Friendly enough?

“I could never,” he assured softly in the low tenor, “Isn’t in me to give up on something that important.” Rik gave Jonyna a firm smile, “But if it helps, I know how harrowing and deep that loneliness can feel.” He breathed a gentle sigh out his nose, and that smile softened, “Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?”

Jonyna Si​

 

[Jonyna Si]

TAG: Rik Perris

Right. Friends.

Hold yourself back Jonyna. You could kiss him right now, but what would that mean? Nothing. It'd mean nothing.

Ugggggh, but he's so pretty...and you're so...lonely...

"...I think I'd like that drink now. Still up for that? I just..." Jonyna couldn't help but hug herself. "...I do need friends."

She needed companionship. "...you wanna go back to my ship instead? I got a personal bar there. We could sit on the couch, get some drinks...listen to some music..."

Alright Jonyna, skip the first date. I mean, you're basically on it right now anyways. Just invite him to your house, listen to your records.

Gosh, you are desperate at this point, aren't you?