Private Breathe (In The Air)

[Aeris Lashiec]

A warm smile spread on her lips from the compliment.

"Well, I am hanging out with a friend I haven't seen in a while." She said and extended her index finger. "I am outside the prison of a Jedi temple located on a planet-wide city..."

Long finger extended. "I don't have to speak for a whole Order for the moment."

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"For the moment..." he repeated with a hushed tone. They both knew how fleeting this moment was.

How short this night truly was.

"Hey, uh--" he began then ceased, "Nevermind."

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"What's up, D?"

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Dagon opened his mouth, then closed it again, rubbing his chin processing what he was about to ask.

"You ever, like... thought about family? No, not like us, like the Jedi but... you know, the different kind of family?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"Do you mean, you know, an actual family, Dagon?" Aeris shook her head with amusement. "Nah. Or well, I did once."

"Why?"

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"What happened-- oh." Alex, he figured. Well done, detective.

"Well, you ever thought like..." he paused, carefully weaving his next words. "... moving on?" he really couldn't find another way to ask it.

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"How do you mean?" She asked curiously. "Like, pull a Treicolt - or move on from Alex? Or...?"

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"Move on from Alex."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"I mean, I thought I did. But then, he sort of came back." And to that, Aeris took a chug of her drink. "But ultimately, yeah, I think so. Eventually."

"It was just... A very strong bond. I thought I had killed him, and instead I caused him to suffer. This time he killed himself to make me suffer. It was almost a full circle if you ask me."

"Only difference now is that I got the chance to burn his body and let his ashes spread in the winds. I was never afforded that luxury the last time."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Why are you asking?"

 

[Dagon Kaze]

His lips drooped into a faint sullen arch as he listened to her response. As good as she was in masking her emotions, the strain in the undertones of her voice made his ears quiver.

"I--" he began, eyes searching the floor for a long moment before he continued, rising to meet her gaze again, "--I don't know. I guess recently I find myself thinking about that." he shrugged, "Maybe it's Yula. She's always put emphasis on family, it's the way she's been brought up but-- ah, I don't know, Aer... this bond with her gives me strength in the worst of times but, like, sometimes it feels I have to choose between my duty as a Jedi and her."

His eyes narrowed to the side as he muttered lowly, "...'ve been much easier if she was a Jedi and understood."

"... ah, forget it. That's not at all what I've been meaning to say. I just... wondered, I guess, that maybe you need someone like that in your life too." he said softly.

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Dagon Kaze

A warm smile spread on Aeris' lips as she glanced over at Dagon. It was a nice thought that maybe some day she too would find the same thing that Dagon had, but for the moment Aeris also had to admit that she was content with where she was in the moment.

"I mean, we all do." She admitted and took another sip. Eyes lingering at the liquid and then the streets below before she talked herself out of seeing what would happen if she threw it down and let gravity do its thing. "I think I understand what you mean. You already know, but… I never knew my family, the Order was all that I ever had."

"I suppose in a way I see all of you as my friends and family in different ways. I certainly never actually feel alone when I am at the temple, just… Different."

"I push and pull at the seams because I want us, the Order, to find our own faults before those that would hurt us do. I just…" She frowned. "In the end I am scared of what it would mean if I lost yet another Order to the same issues as the last ones."

"Stagnation. Overconfidence. Too proud to see what was happening right before them…"