Private Children of Shiraya: Ruins of Ardor

[Cybelle Elyance]

N A B O O
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren
Age: 20
Location: Spritegate Shore (Morning After)
_________________________________________________________​

Cybelle let her head rest against the spare pillow with an almost mischievous smile. It was touched with goodness—But was obviously something only she knew. When hazy eyes met her own, she let her finger slip from the bridge of his nose to run the back of her knuckles feather-light against his jaw. His contentment was palpable and Cy was loathe to interrupt. Instead, she merely snuggled down into the soft blanket with a little shimmy while holding his gaze. His greeting drew a little chuckle while she tucked her hands between the pillow and the side of her face. "Hi there." , she returned, all at once, feeling a little too important and a little too self-conscious in the way Bran watched her.

As if she were the most precious thing in the universe.

She bit her lower lip and after a few heartbeats managed to find words to break the silence in the warming Nabooian sunshine. "I brought you breakfast."

Everything in her knew that she should have gotten up, right then, but there was something far too alluring about a quiet morning together. They had done so much soul-searching in such a terrible place the day before that the healing tenderness of the Shore was almost magnetic. It prompted a feeling of peace. A place where the light always found a way—No matter how dark the shadows became.

"There's toast…", Cybelle trailed off, quietly, as if speaking louder might break the spell. It had to be some sort of force-born magic, after all. How could Brandyn be here? When had that happened? Dark eyelashes dusted against the tops of rose-hued cheeks after a moment. As much as she wanted to—She couldn't keep his gaze forever. Something deep inside, unmentionable, might break if she did. "And fruit. Juiced namana… Just something light."

Slowly, the young Knight turned so that she was laying on her back. Her left arm hid her eyes for a moment while straight silken hair fanned about her like a halo. Her right knee came up to bend at a slight angle that revealed clothing that was far less severe than her typical attire. An unadorned sundress with a sheer pale green covering and soft brown leather leggings beneath it. A jade bangle remained ever-present on her wrist. It was the key to her armor, though, few people knew that.

No one questioned a pretty girl and a piece of jewelry.

The need to check with him, again, about their encounter from the night before lingered in the back of her mind but Cybelle wouldn't drop that bombshell when he was half awake. Later. Still. It made her itch. Doubt manifested in the pit of her stomach in a way that she wasn't used to. Cybelle was so sure of herself, in all things, but this. The studious nature he had observed wasn't only reserved for when she was trying to keep herself from falling into him—But when she was on a mission.

Cybelle was both herself, sweet and caring, while at the same time being a fully responsible and serious Knight of the Jedi Order. It was a strange dichotomy but it was a state of being that she had adapted during the Cataclysm. She couldn't fall apart on the field. If she didn't feel…It made things simpler.

Easier. Black and white.

Brandyn was a wrench in that. Undoubtedly a welcome and necessary one—But a wrench all the same. While she typically wouldn't have wanted to feel anything at all in the under dark of his family Estate, the Padawan had her feeling way too much. Bursting from it. Too much for words, too much to express, and too much to work through in twenty-four hours. And so, she laughed. It was a light and airy sound that expressed both her amazement and the languid way she could exist in his presence and just be.

She could just be Cybelle. And just Cybelle, seemed to be enough for him.

It was wild.

"I'm sorry about last night. I wasn't trying to ambush you with...", she trailed off and kicked a stockinged foot in the air a little to symbolize John and Gianna. Coming back to the Shore for her was always a good feeling. It made things make sense. Cybelle hadn't thought that it might have been a touch awkward for him, considering, they were both consenting adults. "That. They just worry."

For obvious reasons.

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: Borrowed bed clothes
Equipment: N/A
Location: Sprite Gate Shore
Tag: Cybelle Elyance


The way she bit her lip told Brandyn that she felt self-conscious, but did so in such a manner that also saw his heart sigh. She changed the subject. But there had been no subject, had there? He blinked a few times as she spoke, discussing the meal that she had brought. It all sounded great, but he had not taken his eyes off of her yet. Hunger was the least of his concerns.

"Of course you did," he said with a smile, upon her mention of bringing breakfast. His voice was still a bit deeper and catching on the after effects of sleep. He became very aware of how much he needed the refresher.

There was so much to discuss. But so little he wanted to say for fear of breaking the peace, and spoiling the time. Cybelle though had other ideas, and even as she finished wistfully speaking of breakfast, Brandyn considered making a move to kiss her forehead, but she moved - rolling over just as he was about to surrender to his impulse.

She seemed to be thinking, her eyes were not content with setting on any fixed object. Brandyn glanced over her form, admiring the ease to which she brought charm and grace with her.

"Sorry?" Brandyn laughed, more than he intended to but sincerely nonetheless.

He pushed himself over, reluctantly relinquishing his view of Cybelle for a second, as he dropped his bare feet on to the rough hewn, but time worn wooden floors. He stood, feeling slightly awkward in the nightgown that had been provided, and only mildly sure that Cybelle would not provide some false compliment to tease him for his appearance.

"You don't have to be sorry," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Perhaps he should have been more considerate to her in the moment, but in retrospect the awkwardness of the night before was his fault not there's. "The Shore has always been one of my favourite places...for reasons," he said, with a glancing wry smile thrown her way, "it was good to meet those responsible for it, and...for you. You are Force-blessed to have them in your life. And I am honoured to be welcomed under their roof."

Brandyn wandered behind a partition, and took to quickly changing out of the borrowed night clothes and back into his robes. It was only part way through this that he paused for a second to realize how quickly he had just done with without thought of Cybelle's presence being a hinderance. He smiled at memories of a water soaked younger man standing fixed to a spot on Cybelle's bedroom floor instead of getting changed out of wet clothes.

"Remember that day?" He said, without really considering how it ended for the first time in a very long time, "when you let me change in your room? I stood in the middle of the room the whole time you were gone...not moving...just totally shocked...and dumbfounded that I was there. I had done nothing until you tried to enter the room again. Shiraya...I was so embarrassed."

After a short time, a still barefoot Brandyn emerged still in the midst of doing up his belt. He looked up, cheeks flushed red with a small amount of the embarrassment of yesteryear. With a sharp intake of breath, Brandyn stepped over to the bed, and offered his hand to assist Cybelle in getting up. "Breakfast. A slight debrief with Master Aegis...and then I will be ready to depart. Are you sure...you want to come with me?" He said, granting her an out if there was any sense of regret from yesterdays promises.

​

 

[Cybelle Elyance]

N A B O O
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren
Age: 20
Location: Spritegate Shore (Morning After)
_________________________________________________________​

"Growing Padawans need to eat.", reflexively, Cybelle teased, for a scant moment falling in to childish banter that Bran might find achingly familiar. It also pushed her out of her shell and into some sense of normalcy. She couldn't remain on task when he sounded the way he did. Looked at her, the way he did. Cybelle could feel her heart thudding in her chest even as she hid her eyes from him with her arm. Stealing the other half of his bed was…Not likely her brightest moment.

The chuckle he gave about her apology made her feel a little bit better. Some small part of her deeply wanted Brandyn to meet the people she considered family for selfish reasons that she hadn't even understood till morning. Having the three people that mean that most to her in the galaxy in the same room, at the same time, breaking bread? It felt too wistful to be true. So, cliché—But Cybelle had secretly loved every moment of it. Seeing Bran at their dinner table?

Made everything real. Tangible. He wasn't a figment of a lonely imagination.

The young Knight had to chuckle just slightly, however, at the sight of Brandyn in an off-white sleeping gown. The Shore was a simple place but she was fairly certain there were nightclothes that were more of a shirt and pants variety. He'd probably just looked in the wrong drawer. Brandyn dismissed anything being wrong and Cybelle turned on her other side without thinking so she could watch him move around the room. The complimentary words caused a blush to steal across her cheeks and she had the grace to appear sheepish. She was…Warmed. Gladdened, that he liked the Shore. "…They are pretty great. My life would be…"

"I don't even know what it would be without them. Probably, some ward of the Hapan Court until I came of age."

Cybelle realized about two seconds too late that Brandyn was intent on changing when she was in the room. Behind a partition or not a sudden feeling of fight-or flight gripped her through and through. She sat up and faced the other way, quickly, in an effort to keep from glimpsing even a silhouette that she should not. "I remember…", the auburn-haired Hapani struggled out through cheeks that had begun to burn brighter than a red speeder with embarrassment. As a youngling Cybelle hadn't thought twice about it. Years later? An adult? "I think we've traded places."

Admitting, her unintentional awkwardness. If he couldn't tell already.

At being offered his hand there was very little hesitation. Just because her face felt like it was burning off didn't mean that she was ashamed of it. It was simply a natural reaction that she couldn't help anymore than the tide could disobey the call of the moon. When her fingers wrapped around his she felt a little jolt. A pull—That started at her spine and ran through her with enough force that her free hand found his opposite arm to steady herself.

For a moment she didn't entirely hear or understand what he was asking her.

One moment—He was helping her up. The next? He wasn't touching her enough in the slightest and it was maddening. The much shorter woman leaned into him slowly and tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist. The embrace was loose enough that he could escape if he wanted, but he would find her curling into him as if he were a treasured pillow. Head against his chest, beneath his chin, and the tips of stockinged toes resting just slightly over his. "I know that the mission matters."

"I'm not…Ignoring it. Shirking it…My head will be in it. A hundred percent."

Cybelle was trying to find the words that might explain or justify the fact that she couldn't keep her softer feelings inside. She had so many days to make up for. So many things to learn about Brandyn that she had never gotten the chance to. His favorite color, dish, or animal—Even his preferred class of starship. She might have been able to guess as younglings…But now? It had all changed.

"…I don't want to leave the Shore but I need to go with you. The thought of you being so far away feels…So bad. I don't know how to explain it.".

Her words weren't quite accurate. She did need to go with him. But, she also needed to BE with him. It was a subtle difference that had caused people to go the distance for a millennia. To move mountains. To go against everything, they'd ever known because their perspective had been forever changed. She didn't just want to feel him from a distance, but, catch him when he fell. Be caught—When she inevitably tripped on nothing.

Share in joy. Share in sorrow.

Share…Everything. Just like they did when they were young.

"There's no one else I want to see the galaxy with. The only way I'm staying behind is if you decide you don't want me."

The words were muffled against his chest. Stubborn, blunt, and a little petulant—With a slight edge of anxiety that he could very well change his mind. Cybelle was slowly giving up on being too close. It was fast. Too fast. But, a little bit perfect at the same time.

Thinking about it made her heart ache and she frowned. She sucked at trying to word her feelings…Instead—She leaned up on her tiptoes to steal a kiss on his cheek. Immediately, flushed, she dropped back down and nestled back against his chest.

There. That was better.

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: Standard Jedi Robes
Equipment: Standard Lightsaber
Location: Sprite Gate Shore
Tag: Cybelle Elyance


The embrace. The kiss on the cheek. Her words. It all caused his heart to ache, and his mind to fire in multiple directions. By his own admission, Brandyn had always had a hint of the privileged rich kid attitude and outlook to life. He had always assumed the best for life. Never planned for the worst. His desire to be a Jedi was matched only by his presumptuousness that he was allowed to want it and pursue it. But here, in his arms, for the first time in his life, was something - someone - that Brandyn truly felt he did not, and could never, deserve.

"And I don't want to rob you of a place like this. A family...like this. I feel...selfish...wanting you for myself. Just a little selfish...anyways," he said, finding himself looking away from her to avoid what actually felt like tears starting to well up.

He squeezed her a little tighter, and nestled his cheek into the top of her head, looking away through the window for some sort of wisdom that he could not naturally find within.

"I don't know. What this all means. It is very fast...even for me," he said, letting slip a little of his past that perhaps should have been left out of the conversation for now.

How had his life changed this quickly? He had come to Naboo with nothing to lose. His own life being at threat due to his Jedi service had never been a major calculation. But all of sudden. There was a sinking feeling of fear in the pit of his stomach. Losing her. Lost time with her. The thought was unbearable already. Perhaps it was better that she stay here?

No.

Despite what monsters may lurk beneath the distant waters of times to come, Brandyn would not give her up. Not ever.

Turning his face back to her, leaning away a little just to try and grab a decent view, Brandyn lifted his hand to guide her face upwards.

"Let me make one thing. Abundantly clear," he said, eyes trying to search for that one spot that would within her soul he could connect with to implant the following idea completely, "Don't ever. Ever again. Suggest that I do not want you...by my side..."

Brandyn added the last few words with a red flush of his cheeks.

"...I will always choose the path that leads to you."

And with that, he leant down (awkwardly given their embrace) to kiss her properly.

​

 

[Cybelle Elyance]

N A B O O
Tag: Brandyn Sal-Soren
Age: 20
Location: Spritegate Shore (Morning After)
_________________________________________________________​

"You're not stealing anything from me. The Shore isn't going anywhere. Neither is my family."

Cybelle truly believed that. When most other communities and smaller villages crumbled on Naboo during the Cataclysm and even Theed was set on fire—The Shore remained relatively untouched. The young Knight believed with her whole heart that Master Aegis would always keep it safe. It was one of the few places in the galaxy that didn't place any undue burden on its surroundings. It gave far more than it took. The petite brunette kept her ear to Brandyn's chest.

From that position, slender and hidden against him, his heartbeat soothed the rough edges of her worries. The fight-or-flight feeling had faded into something far more tender. Warmth. Care. An achingly intense sensation that in the circle of his arms—She was safe. It wasn't something Cybelle had ever considered to be all that important. Nor, so enticing. At his mention of things moving quickly he would feel her head nod against him. She was…Inexperienced. Not ignorant. "I…wouldn't know."

She could assume that they were moving quickly by virtue of common sense, but did Cybelle really comprehend it? Not entirely. This was the fate of Jedi that spent too long following the old ways. Thinking over feeling. Locking their desires in a deep dark place where they might never see the light. To love all—And none. When passion finally did come to call? They were lost to it.

Cybelle, was lost to it. To him.

For a split second when Bradyn sought to guide her face up from its hiding place she resisted. Why? About a dozen reasons. Starting with her rosy cheeks and ending with a tingling nervousness about what she might see if she did. Good and bad. Regardless, she relented. His eyes found her, perfectly sincere, and the Knight stopped fidgeting. Bran had his moments. When he was playful—When that spirited, brazenness, blurred and melted into something serious.

He seemed serious now.

"I'm sorry Bran…I-I won't.", she promised, breath stolen, by a familiar phrase.

<<"...I will always choose the path that leads to you.">>
​

Cybelle could remember it like a dream. She was certain those words had been spoken before but was soon swept away by a kiss that sealed that particular vow. She would do her best not to question her place in his life, nor, find some undue value in the jewels around him that left her little more than a shiny pebble. Her grasp on his waist loosened just slightly so that her hands could curl in his robes. She returned his affection, lips touching, delicate as butterflies blown by a warm summer wind. Touching, not touching. Moving close—Gliding away.

The anxiety in her settled. Fear. Cybelle was startled to realize that it was fear that made her so cagey when they got this close. When they spoke of the future. Whether it was because it was too fast or because her own future had been a complete mystery up until now, she wasn't entirely sure. Cybelle had always missed him. Always. But this? In her wildest dreams she wouldn't have expected that either of them would have been here. Now.

Kissing at the Shore.

The young woman pulled away hesitantly. It was clear that it wasn't what she wanted to do. Her gaze lingered on his and Cybelle gently reached up to trace invisible laugh lines around his mouth. The hazy softness in her eyes began to fill up with something darker, more solemn, but no less precious. There was a soft smile that lingered at the corner of her mouth. A moment of indecision. A breathless moment—That took every ounce of her willpower not to give in. To kiss him over, and over.

"Breakfast, Bran. You should eat something...", she murmured teasingly, reminding him, that his toast was quite cold by now.

Cybelle backed up a little but still hadn't let go.

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: Standard Jedi Robes
Equipment: Standard Lightsaber
Location: Sprite Gate Shore
Tag: Cybelle Elyance


He felt a little bad after her insistence that she would do as she requested and not question whether he wanted her with him again. It had felt right to affirm that, but now he wondered if his intensity and firmness with the request had been too much. Maybe it was exactly what she needed? He wasn't sure now. All he knew is that her eyes had not changed their song, but perhaps even deepened their melodious whisper.

Their kiss had been impassioned, but still tempered with reservation. It was understandable. They were Jedi. She a Knight and he a Padawan. If he had leant any time to that angle of consideration, it was possibly an unseemly arrangement in some people's eyes. But the Sal-Soren name was not one unaccustomed to relationship based gossip. He had gotten wind of enough of the underlying dislike from the Nabooian nobles as to his parents decision not to marry immediately, but live for years in their unmarried state - and Baros a Corellian too.

Even as she clung to him a little more loosely, Brandyn felt not inclination to break their embrace. Not for cold toast. Not even for hot toast. Moments after her gentle brushing of his lips, Brandyn felt his own hand proceeding with a thoughtful rub and scratch of his increasingly whiskered face. Momentarily, he entertained the thought that Cybelle may have pulled away from 'the moment' not because of breakfast, but because he was likely a scratchy devil to be that close too.

"Food," he said, in a croak induced whisper that was cleared with a quick grunt, and an awkward waggle of a eyebrow.

He did not let go either, preferring rather just to hold and enjoy the time with Cy. Instead, his palm found its way from his face to hers, cupping her face and gently stroking her temple with his thumb. "Cy...belle...El...yance," he said slowly, each syllable getting its own beat. He blinked a few times, sensing an emotional response that he had not expected. A sadness over lost time, stolen time. His hand ran through her dark, soft hair, pulling it gently behind her ear.

He looked away for a moment, feeling embarrassed by what he now realized were tears begin to pool.

"Right...let's eat...we have a busy day...busy days ahead," he said, hands grappling with hers, and entwining with her fingers for a time, as he broke their embrace. He offered a gentle kiss to her knuckles as he brought her hands towards his face, and then let go. Eye contact was avoided, obviously.

Brandyn pushed down the growing resentment towards his father that had been starting to threaten the lightness of his being in this moment. What was done was done, what was now was now. And yet. It wouldn't dissipate completely.

"Come on. We have a long way to go."

​