Di Nuovo

[Madalena Antares]

OOC Note; happens while Madalena is still in Scherezade's body but using this account for comfort.

Gowns were tossed all around the Nutcracker, a variety of colors and fabrics that clung like second skin adding to the colors that generally made the interior of the ship. Madalena lay on the couch in the room she had changed and turned into sort of a living room, Baal's head on her lap, looking at her with his big green eyes.

Madalena was tired. It was nearing on the end of the year, which meant everyone and their mother had a ball to throw, and she'd attended each and every one of them, some as a representative of the Confederacy, and some because of friends. It was not something she could ever imagine having happened to her, but she was completely and entirely partied out.

Her hand rested against Baal's head, but her eyes were glued to the ceiling. It was a season of joy and festivities, but she felt anything but. The fight she'd had with her brother some days ago was still fresh in her mind, and t was making her completely miserable. His return was meant to be a happy celebration, but instead there was distance, few words as possible, and then…

Madalena turned on to her side and grumped. She had cried the first days, and that was thankfully now slowly going away. With another grump, she picked Baal up, noting how much heavier he was becoming after the most recent growth spurt, and cuddled him on the couch, closing her eyes. She had no intention of sleeping, and did not fall into a nap, but a small rest was maybe what she needed.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

While Josh had been busy with his affairs as of late, what with the status of Grandmaster Nooran being up in the air, he hadn’t forgotten Madalena’s semi regular visits to the Rest. So this time, he wanted to surprise her. Checking in with her to subtlely ensure she was in the area, Josh and Jason had flown to Geonosis on the newly christened Maekrix ship. With Jason enjoying the new digs once he got over his initial anxiety over sleeping somewhere new, the ride had been smooth enough. Landing on Geonosis, the capital of the CIS and Knight’s Obsidian headquarters, Josh had gotten through to coms and explained his intention to surprise Maddy. Now that his arrival was kept a secret, the Master of the Order was directed to her quarters.

He was antsy about bringing Jason here to where Sith were located. He doubted every person here was as kind as Madalena. But he doubted they’d touch a hair on Jason’s head with he and Madalena there. And it they did, well… Josh did not fear killing it it was to protect Jason. He’d give up his code in a heartbeat if Jason made it necessary. A father’s love overrode all things. But Jyoti knew this when she appointed him.

Finding her ship with the directions, Josh and Jason - accompanied by R4-J6 and Josh’s HK droid as a means of communication if need be for any other language speakers on the CIS side while HK was there for obvious Jason-related reasons - would walk up the ramp and Josh would gingerly rap on the hatch.

[member="Madalena Antares"]

 

[Madalena Antares]

Eventually, lying down had been replaced with sitting down on the couch, Baal still on her lap as though he was a puppy a third of his size and not a Loth wolf destined to be taller than her and more than halfway there. But Madalena was not one made for sitting still for so long. Lack of movement annoyed her, and soon enough she was noticing that she was getting jumpy.

Rising from her place (and carefully putting Baal down, earning a happy lick from him), Madalena changed into her rubbing gear. Normally, she loathed going for runs in the middle of the day since the planet's sun was harsh and the climate too dry for human comfort, but she wasn't in the mood to head towards the Citadel and potentially stumble into other Obsidians.

Just as she was about to head out of her bedroom, she heard the knock. Frowning, the sithling reached not with her Force preence, wondering who that was.

For the first time that day, Madalena finally smiled. The door opened wide and she flung herself downwards towards Jason, giving the little boy the biggest hug she could, one hand waving a hello to Josh. Only when Jason was finally released from Auntie Porgianna's grip, did she move to Josh and give him a hug as well.

Baal, knowing not to scare little children, was hiding inside the ship, still out of sight.

"Best surprise ever," she said with a small smile to the two of them before asking, "what's Jason's stand on big animals? I have a Loth puppy, and by puppy I mean he's about twice Jason's height. But he's good with kids and he loves people and his fur is soft and he absolutely loves to lick and play!"

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The blonde would smile big as Madalena would open up. "Hello there!" He chirped when she would appear. It seemed by the smile on her face that she knew he was here already... Next time he would mask his presence. Better surprise that way. Jason and the droids didn't have one yet, so he didn't have to worry about masking them.

Josh would smile as she went for Jason. "Aunty Porgianna!" (The presently three year old) Jason cried out as he would hold out his arms to lean into her hug giddily. Josh would laugh a bit at that, and receive Maddy when she would turn to him as well, hugging her tight. "I've been wanting to surprise you for a little while, since you visit so often" Josh would reveal. "Just needed to find a good time to head out to Geonosis. Was a hell of a time to get them to agree not to tell you" He teased, laughing in turn. Then Maddy would ask about if Jason would be alright with a large animal, and she would affirm that it was safe. "Loth wolf, huh... Interesting" Josh mused aloud, taking a moment to think on the matter.

"Well... I've been taking Jason to see some of the Rest's animals lately, so he's a little more accustomed to bigger animals than before" He spoke. "Suppose we could give it a shot. He likes them well enough. Just so long as they're gentle."

With that, he motioned to the droid on his right. "You've met R4 before, though haven't been properly introduced. He's my personal astromech droid. He tends to pilot the Dragon and the Maekrix, and I bring him along if there's a chance I'm going to deal with possible languages I don't know. Going to CIS HQ, I thought he'd be good to bring along. I've had him since I was a child, so he's my partner of sorts" He would explain. "And on my left... Is HK. I built him from scratch a few years ago and he's why I picked up the droid tinkering hobby. He's usually around whenever I take Jason somewhere, as added insurance."

Josh had also explained to HK that Maddy was Scherezade but not Scherezade and he was commanded to not mention Scherezade. The command was meant with confusion and predictable snark but the droid had ultimately agreed.

 

[Madalena Antares]

"Kiddo," Madalena whispered, and gave Jason a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry sweetling, I didn't know you guys were coming. I don't have any presents ready."

Turning to Josh, she smiled again. "I sure am surprised. But the good kind of surprised." Hell of a time to get them not to tell her? She just shrugged at the notion, not really knowing what that was like. Madsy rarely bothered to go through official customs so when they happened to other people she almost never knew what to say anyway. The 'verse was her oyster and a smile was enough to get into the places that mattered.

Then there was the matter with Baal. Madalena crouched to a knee to be on eye level with Jason, and sent a quick message to her Loth pup, letting him know it was safe to come out. Slowly, Baal came into view. He looked like a normal wolf, all right, but big enough to reach just past Madalena's hip bone, and she wasn't exactly short herself. His eyes were green, the same green that Madalena had, but without the glow. His fur was as black as night. And on his face was the goofiest expression a wolf could ever had, almost as though he was smiling and trying to make silly faces as the kid.

She said you are called Jason, the Loth spoke telepathically to Jason, but the Josh and Madalena could hear it as well. Madalena's eyes widened at it. He had never spoken before! She knew from Dia that it would be a possibility, but so far he had been so spent that she had assumed he was either a late bloomer or she was doing something wrong. But there he was, speaking Basic as if he'd never done anything else in his short life. My name is Baal. I may be big but I am much younger than you, Jason.

Baal came to a stop in front of Jason, and then lowered himself until his stomach was against the ground. If you want to, you can ride on my back. There are countless of adventures waiting for you inside.

Madalena looked at Baal, her jaw almost dropping to the ground. And then she looked at the other two droids, regained her composure, and waved. "Looks like we're about to have a great big party inside," she tried to laugh, still weirded out.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jason didn't seem to mind, Josh had likely already explained that to him, and odds are had promised they'd all get ice cream later anyway. They would watch as a large creature would walk out toward them. It was the first time Josh was seeing a creature of it's kind, and he could admit being a little nervous having it around Jason. But he wasn't expecting it to speak to Jason telepathically, or for them to be able to hear it. Jason would jump up and let out a squeak in surprise. Clearly nervous at it speaking, he would quickly scramble behind his father. Soon enough though, he would peek out as the creature continued to speak.

Josh was perplexed by this, but didn't speak for the time being. Only placed a hand on Jason's head to tell him it was okay. He would trust Maddy's judgement here. The creature was clearly intelligent. Finally, Jason would slowly move forward and begin to climb on the creature's back ever so slowly. Josh sucked in a breath, still kind of getting over his own nerve in regards to this.

He looked toward HK then, and noticed that the droid had been bolstering their blaster the entire time, and staring at the creature. While it likely could not hear what was going on, he knew that the creature was effecting Jason. Josh could tell. And he was on strict orders to protect Jason at all costs. An order Josh knew that HK took very seriously. He may be a trigger-happy, sometimes immoral pile of scrap, but HK had been part of the family since before Jason was born. Protecting Jason had become HK's primary mission, and he knew that HK's primary mission was something it had very much attached itself to.

 

[Madalena Antares]

Once Jason was on top of Baal's back, Baal slowly stood up, giving the kid time to adjust to his movements. While Jason couldn't see it, the rest of the people (and droids) could, an utterly expression of delight on Baal's face. He walked away from them, heading towards the inside of the ship.

"Guess this is our cue to go in as well," Madalena said with a smile, still having a hard time ripping her eyes away from her talking Loth wolf. Quickly though, she glanced at the droids. "No shooting allowed inside my ship," she alerted them, and looked to Josh, "it's a small ship and bolts or slugs are likely to ricochet. If you want him to go practice, I can hand him a guest pass for the training hall in the Citadel."

Motioning for anyone who wasn't going to the Citadel to follow her in, Madalena turned around and led them.

The inside of the Nutcracker revealed something that no one would have ever been able to guess from its exterior. Every wall that could be seen was covered from top to bottom in murals, forest and juggles, rivers and lakes. The painting job was of highest quality, and the nature presented seemed to breathe along with the onlooker. The colored skies were such a specific shade of blue, with various minor changes in color to enhance its depth and feel of real. It was, quite literally, like stepping into another world. And among the trees and branches and grass, were a bunch of animals. Rose Goblins could be seen crawling in unexpected corners, wild horses could be seen from afar, and black owls rested close to the ceiling. Other animals were hiding in shadows as well, not all of them nice or pleasant, yet all of them filling in the gentle web that was the life of Endelaan, though she had never mentioned the name of the magical kingdom she and her brother had conjured of their imagination to Josh.

Madalena was smiling with pride. She had wanted to show her work to Josh for a while now, but they'd never gotten around to it before now.

Baal came to a stop in front of the painting of the Princess. She stood in the woods against one of the walls, her long brown hair billowing in the wind. There were no distinguishing features on her face, save for her eyes, that glowed with green fierceness.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Madalena turned to Josh.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh was completely, utterly perplexed by what he was seeing. Not only was the creature allowing the child to ride on their back, but seemed to be completely enjoying it too. It was a startling thing to see a wolf of any kind do. He needed to do a bit more research on Loth Wolves, he decided... Maybe having one around the house would be an interesting idea, if Jason took well to them. He'd been looking to find Jason a... Furrier, pet for some time now. Porgbert was great but very skittish and Jason was a very warm and active child around animals.

"Aye" Josh responded as Madalena would suggest it was best they headed inside as well. She would offer a shooting range to HK, but HK refused to put down the blaster until the Loth Wolf and Jason were out of sight. "It's not that" Josh would explain. "His primary objective has been programmed to be protecting Jason. Something that he takes very seriously."

HK didn't seem to hear either of them as the droid would stroll into the ship to go after the wolf and Jason. More or less exemplifying Josh's point.

Once the lot were inside, Josh was honestly amazed by all the mural work that Madalena had done within the ship. While he'd had a new ship crafted with some awesome bells and whistles, and had re-purposed the comms room to be more homey, he hadn't considered doing anything with the walls or anything of the kind. He'd have to consider some home decorating ideas. Either way, he was quite impressed.

"Aye, I'd appreciate that" Josh answered when Madalena would ask if he wanted anything to drink. Josh would study the wolf for a moment when they came to a stop, then. He was curious, of course. Curious about what they were like, and their usual behavioral patterns... He'd have to ask when he got the chance.

 

[Madalena Antares]

"It's good that Jason is protected," she smiled and looked at Josh, "but maybe you can lower his protections around me and Baal then? As long as there's nothing else in sight or on his radar, I'd rather he not shoot my puppy."

Once inside, Madalena turned around to look at Josh's expression as he saw the murals.

"I've been waiting for a long time for you to see this," she smiled softly, "I usually work on them when I can't sleep because of the nightmares. I even found a little shop in Theed that sells the perfect paint supplies, so I do more stops than usual on Naboo to get more and more of them. Though I think I'm going to have to progress into canvas or sketch books once I run entirely out of space."

Motioning for Josh to follow her to the kitchen, Madsy rumbled through the cupboards. Baal was still showing the paintings to Jason, ignoring the presence of the murder droid entirely, "Water? Soda? Coffee? Tea?" she asked, "what are you in the mood to drink? No liquor aboard."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"No worries, he's been programmed and trained to be careful when analyzing potential threats" Josh would promise. "He used to be a protection droid for just purely myself, when I first built him. As HK droids are typically programmed to be assassin droids, and ones that don't tend to have a whole lot of patience in regards to who they shoot, it's definitely been a long period of trial and error. But I wouldn't program him to protect Jason until I was absolutely sure that the programming had been finalized, perfected and tested over and over again. I even swallowed my pride long enough to have the SJOs techs help me out with it. As much as HK has been my personal project... When it comes to Jason, I gotta swallow my stubborn pride a little."

Apparently Madalena had wanted him to see these murals for awhile. Interesting. How long had she been working on them?

"I might have to make more home trips if you stop at Naboo frequently" He joked with a light chuckle. Considering his duties at present, though, he didn't know if that was possible. As much as he'd like it to be. Perhaps when things settled down a little bit and positions were adequately set. At the moment, they were in a time of transition and needed him on deck as much as possible. Which Josh understood, of course.

"Soda. Is there any juice for Jason?" Josh would inquire. No liquor aboard? Had she given it up? No, he definitely saw her with it at the last party. Interesting…

[member="Madalena Antares"]

 

[Madalena Antares]

Madalena nodded as Josh explained about the assassin droid. She knew some bot HK's, but droids weren't particularly a forte for the Sithling, so she knew she was going to have to go with Josh's decisions on the matter without being able to offer an argument of any sort. Still, she knew the effects that a giant beast could have on its surroundings. Baal did look threatening to those who did not know him. The last thing she needed was for HK to decide that he was a threat to the boy, though if there was even the slightest chance of it, she wouldn't have let him out of the guest room in the first place while Jason was around.

"Don’t bother," she smiled as she opened the cupboard and got a bottle of soda out, pouring it into a tall glass for him, "I stop by just long enough to get the supplies and then I hop off-planet again. I'm still not enough of a Naboo fan to stay there longer than absolutely necessary."

Grabbing another tall glass, Madalena walked to the fridge and pulled a large can of orange juice. It wasn't the same thing as having freshly squeezed around, but since she hadn't known how long it'd be before her best friend and his son showed up, she preferred to keep that on hand for the surprise visits. Just like there was still a single tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer for Jason.

Taking a seat, Madalena looked at Josh. "So what have you been up to since that…" she grinned, "since you met Daisy?"

Baal, in the meantime, began to trot around the ship, still carrying little Jason on his back. He would know to adjust his speed by the way the child reacted, taking him through a flurry of murals of forest and lakes. Children were to be made happy, and that was exactly what Baal wanted to do with the child.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

She said not to bother and Josh shrugged his shoulders in turn. Well, alright. If that was what she wanted. It was a shame, he liked going to Naboo and would happily go there more if she gave him an excuse to. Home was home, after all. But she preferred places like... Zeltros! Oh well. So he shrugged his shoulders and just nodded his head in turn.

When Madalena brought the drinks and asked about Daisy, he squinted at her. "Yes. I did. You introduced us" He reminded her. "Then we were drugged. I still haven't had a chance to meet Daisy for real, we're working on it. She's a busy girl" Josh would explain. "Seems nice enough. Seems like someone I'd get along well with. Just need to talk in a better environment."

Jason meanwhile, was hanging on for dear life but seemed to be enjoying himself either way. For one so long, he seemed to be adjusting fairly quickly.

 

[Madalena Antares]

"Yeah, I heard about the drugs," Madalena said with a frown, "though after I heard about it I guess I hoped in your case it would help. I've been thinking about setting the two of you up together for quite some time now. You could use a woman like her. And she could use a guy like you."

No tact at all. Madalena had been open about it for a while now, though she hadn't really pushed it until it came to that party. It was just a shame that so many other things had happened at that party. Things that were a major part of why her mood wasn't as happy and uppity as it usually was.

"Maybe you should call her up and ask her out?" she offered with a wicked grin, forcing thoughts her brother out of her mind, "she likes fairs and green places and crap like that. Maybe she'd enjoy Naboo with you."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

“Truthfully, I’ve had someone in mind for some time” Josh would answer, scratching his head. “I’ve been seeing someone on and off but we never really made it an official thing until recently and didn’t really bother to talk to people much about it. We’ve been fairly quiet on the matter” He would reveal.

While he did appreciate her attempts to set him up and Daisy was fun to be around, it was a bit late to try. He did hope to get to know her better though.

“Though now I might try and set you up in turn...” He joked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

 

[Madalena Antares]

Madalena blinked, her glass pausing mid-way towards her lips. Josh had someone? She racked her memories, wondering if she'd missed any mentions of that. She'd never have attempted to set him up with anyone had she known and- No. He… They had been quiet on the matter.

"You should have told me," she pointed out, "what if I need to go now and break Daisy's heart because you couldn't at least tell me something was happening but you needed time before you could elaborate on it?"

She hoped to the Force that Daisy hadn't fallen in love with Josh now. Or developed a crush. The two girls hadn't talked about it yet, but she did not want to go now and break Daisy's heart. For some stupid reason or other, people rarely treated Daisy with the basic respect she deserved as a person. Madalena did not want to be responsible for making sure it was given only to be taken a breath later.

"Sure," she shrugged to his offer, "but none of your Jedi friends. I'm not big on the whole Sith-Jedi star crossed lovers thing."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"We really only finished things out at some point after the whole drugging deal" He would elaborate quickly. He would feel horrible if Daisy was hurt by all this, and a frown spread across his features. But what could he do? He hadn't spoken much to Daisy since the whole drugging thing, and considering the circumstances of their meeting, he didn't blame her for the small contact. "But I figured it was obvious, considering you've been around the two of us quite a bit."

He let out a sigh. It was a pickle now. But Daisy was under the effects of the drug just as much as he was before, and she didn't seem like the type of person to fall in love so quickly. It had been part of what had tipped him off to the both of them being drugged.

He didn't even seem to make any jokes toward setting her up now, the air had been sucked out of him after that.

[member="Madalena Antares"]

 

[Madalena Antares]

"It wasn't obvious to me," Madalena answered, and finally took a sip from her drink. "So who's your new paramour? Do I know her? Does she know I'm going to slit her throat if he treats you or Jason like chit?"

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Ra" Josh answered calmly, a bit surprised that it hadn't been obvious. Events, parties, the dinners, all the time the three of them had spent together and she hadn't noticed? She'd even implied she knew. It was a bit weird to him that she now didn't seem to realize that something was going on, nor even could place a name despite all the evidence toward the contrary. But it was what it was, if she hadn't been able to tell before now, then it was what it was. It was out in the open now.

"Is that an issue?" He would ask then, looking toward her with a curious eye.

 

[Madalena Antares]

Ra? Ra that she had teased him about? Had teased her about? Sure, she'd implied, but she hadn't been totally and completely serious about it. Sometimes it was just fun to make Josh feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Not an issue, just weird," she admitted, "you don't seem very hot for each other."

At least, that wasn’t what it looked like when Madalena was around. But maybe it was because she was around and they preferred to keep it more private. Madalena tried to recall how Josh had been around Shmi before things went sour, but she couldn't call a memory up. Oh well.

"I'm happy for you," she said genuinely despite that, and moved to hug Josh, "and I hope it works out wonderfully. But if it doesn't because she pulls something Shmi-style, please let her know I'll be killing her in a very long and painful way."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"I would go into detail but it’s a bit TMI. Honestly we’ve been a bit touch and go since our second meeting” Josh would admit with a casual shrug. “It started as a casual, occasional half fling but the more time we spent together outside of a sexual environment, things just kinda...”

He moved his hands about a bit.

“Happened. Even our admittances were a bit unorthodox and out of the blue, just kinda cropping up while talking about how to help her handle her problems with control. But, I dunno. Maybe we’re just like that?” He remarked, still unsure of what to make of it himself. “I love her dearly, I can say that. Even if it took awhile to come clean on it. She’s been a wonderful partner and a brilliant role model and comforting presence for Jason.”

He smirked lightly as he hugged her. “Fine, fine, yes you can. Though I doubt it will be necessary.”

[member="Madalena Antares"]