Private Family Drama

[Kahlil Noble]

This place was way more extravagant than Kahlil expected. The Jedi rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked about the apartment. It would do, to hide out in at least. And only because of Ingrid L'lerim kindness. He was finding himself owing the Empress more and more with each day. All because of his family. He let out a sigh as he glanced down towards Raya Najwa Zambrano . A sister he didn't exactly know, but one that survived the purge. And one that wasn't seeped in darkness like the rest of their family.

But not unscathed.

"So.. Do you remember me at all?" Right, that was a way to start a conversation. Honestly, he really didn't know how to speak to her. ".. You hungry?"

 

[Raya Najwa Zambrano]

Tis a new day, for being Raya. I wake up, an important beginning to any new day, and…

“Wait… this doesn’t look right…” The room is all wrong, “Where’s my stuff?”

Nope! This won’t do at all. I can’t have a proper wake up it’s Raya moment without the right environment! I shut my eyes, and the light and bright current floods around me, the room, probably further into the halls too. Happy kaleidoscopic colours, giant flower petals and the bedspread shifts from its’ navy blue to the rainbow and little green hills bedspread I love.
Course, something in the back of my head knows these are all only visual illusions, but with my stuffie collection in the corner, my sword and dagger collection Daddy gave me ‘on the wall’, it feels enough like it’s supposed to.


I throw off the covers and stretch, pad out and the illusions chase after me, guiding me into the bright colours and patterns I love.


“Oh! Hiya!” There’s a… silver haired man talking to me… “I’m Raya.”


He moves, and in the Echani way, I see him. The way he shifts the air, not dominating or claiming it but… as if there’s a sense of discomfort. Or strangeness. But, there’s also a familiarity to the man, he’s…

… he’s safe. Distant and… familial?


“Gooooood morning!” I rush up and throw my arms around his shoulders, my silver hair bobbing around in a mess of half-curls. “You get hugs, and food? Food… ooooo! Yes! We definitely need food, food is exactly what Will make this day even better… I know you’re safe, and you move like you. And… you move familiar.”

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Illusions? No, not just illusions. Kahlil simply stared in a stunned silence over the variously colored walls and newly added.. Weapons. Yeah, she was a Zambrano for sure. But was she truly altering reality? Or was it something else? There was a lot to talk about with Raya Najwa Zambrano , but for the moment..

"Familiar?"

The Jedi stared in confusion as he was hugged by the other girl. Yes, they were siblings. But Kahlil had never mingled with his family. Not like most. The only sort of interactions he'd had with his family was either begrudgingly accepting, or violent. Especially with Joycelyn. And yet, he smiled. There was something still off about Raya, but at least she hadn't been corrupted by the dark.

".. Right. I can cook us up something, if you'd like. Anything specific in mind you might want?"

 

[Raya Najwa Zambrano]

“Familiar… or Familial… un-harmy.” A mighty harrumph later, and I chuff with a sigh as I toss my arms around Kahlil again and pat his head. “The way brothers are supposed to feel. Or training partners Daddy says will get all their limbs lobbed off if they… achem…” I puff up and make a miniature Dad with my White Current light, wrapped in another large, puffy black hoodie-cape of doom. “… dare overstep with my daughter… achem. You move like you.”

One of the daggers opens eyes in the cross guard, winks at Kahlil Noble for the heck of it. Also, ‘cause it’s pretty funny. Daddy’s miniature self poofs with a gigantic ‘eeep’ into a shower of black and silver sparks.

“You can cook?!” My mouth hangs agape and I can’t help it, it’s the most wild thing I’ve heard in… “Are you pulling one on me? You! Cook! But what do the servants do?!”

I gasp, and my hands shake on his shoulders. “Do… do they… have… jobs?! How did you learn to cook? Is it some sort of Jedi power? Oh, I suppose that’s pretty stupid of me. What kind of food can you make? How do you check for poison? Do……”

I smush my foot into the carpet, push my lips to the side with a wince. “… um… doyouknowhowtomakefluffypancakes?”

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil still wasn't sure how to feel about the hugging, though the illusion of their Father had him stiffen uncomfortably. Raya Najwa Zambrano was far more comfortable with the idea of their father than he was. Watching the illusion poof as it did was kinda adorable, though. Adorable and Carnifex were a very, very odd mix.

".. Huh?" Oh, right. It'd been a long time since he last lived with his family. Servants were a normal part of life. He never needed for anything. Well, that wasn't true. But the material things he never needed. "I.. Taught myself. I don't have servants, or anything like that. And when ya cook for yourself you don't have to worry about poison."

His expression softened quite a bit as she made her request. He'd nod once before heading for the kitchen. "C'mon. I'll show you how to make fluffy pancakes."

 

[Raya Najwa Zambrano]

“You okay, buddy-dude? Y’seem tense.” Tension!? In a person who seeps safety? He must need more hugs, there might be a hug deficit! Oh gosh, “It’s okay. I’ll hug the ick out. It’s what I do. Hug it out… ”

Another looooong hug (for those are the best), and I skip backward into a field of smirking flowers which tangle along the living area.

“Heh, you’ve never lived with Zeza.” I love my half-sister Zeptepi Zambrano , but even if it’s a bowl of popcorn munchie crunch, if I leave it for a minute… okay if the twins leave it for a minute… one of the flowers unfolds its petals to play a scene from my eighth birthday. Milly and a cupcake from the tray presented to me. A couple seconds later, the thud. Daddy’s arm swoops in, scoops me up to his chest. The memory fades as the flower dries and petals fall, disappearing. “There’s always call to worry about poison. We don’t have a Milly… gosh, she will be missed.”

It’s easy to relax a little in a place like this. Nobody’s shooting at me, the only person in the room all tense but nice about it. Something I don’t know how to really hold onto much. But! This guy knows how to make pancakes, and nothing’s attempting to shiv me in the back, so…

“Honest and true!? Eeeee! I’m gonna learn how to make pancakes! What beast must we slay for this meal!?” I trot into the kitchen after Kahlil Noble , ready to engage in the battle of the panned cake… but… “Wait… where’s the beasts? Does this turn into a beast?”

From the hollow sound of the metal device, when I kick it, it doesn’t seem so. “Huh…”

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Huh?" Well, maybe it was obvious how tense he was. Her continued hugs only got a small laugh out of him, but he did seem to relax a bit. Raya Najwa Zambrano wasn't like the rest of their family at all, not that she was exactly normal. Something was off. As she displayed the scene from before, he couldn't help but flinch as their father swooped her up. For a moment he thought the worst. Only, he was being a father.

So he could still be a dad?

He actually smiled as the illusion faded and they made their way into the kitchen. "There's.. Nothing to slay. Just a couple ingredients." He snickered as he watched her, though worry took over as she kicked the metal device. A more nervous laugh escaped him as he gathered up the ingredients. "Though, don't kick that stuff. It's not ours. Ingrid was kind enough to let us rest up here for a bit, so we shouldn't damage her things."

With the ingredients on the table he'd pause, glancing between them and Raya. Then he'd take up the measuring tools. "So, we need a cup of flour, cup of milk, a couple eggs, n' some other ingredients I can put in there while you get that stuff. Put the milk and eggs in this bowl, and the flour in this one, alright?"

 

[Raya Najwa Zambrano]

More scenes opened from flowers which budded and expanded behind Raya’s back, a small Raya sprinting and leaping off the top of a grand staircase, being caught by her father’s arms, a tiny set of fingers winding around an Echani woman with Raya’s future face as they were lost on an alien world, her first lightsaber and the domineering father forging her first strikes against weakened opponents. All the flowers expanded and drooped, the petals falling into nothing as the young woman searched the kitchen, seemingly unawares of the images taking place.

“But must we conquer said ingredients? Threaten them to play nice with the other ingredients? Do we use magic?” I tap-tap-tap my foot against the metal box-thing, pull my foot back as Kahlil Noble warns me not to kick it. With a whisper, I gasp. “Will it explode?”

I back away slowly, sooooooooo sloooowly, licking dry lips. “Flowers. Flour… um… yes, I… I know exactly what you’re talking about. That white powdery stuff…” Digging into the ingredients, I read the labels on the bags, thank Force it’s in Basic… Cup. Half cups, “Quarter cups? Nope… the big one. The big cup in the little bowl, and the milk and eggs… ummm…”

I get down on my haunches, eye-level with the cup-thing for the milk. “Two cu-uups.. nope… one of… gotta… jussasec…” This is the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life. I cannot fail this safe-feeling comfy but tense dude. I can pour a cup of milk. My lips quirk to the side, eyes narrow as I start pouring a thin, thin stream of milk into the cup. “Waaaaait for iiiiiit… failure is death.”

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil set about getting the other items, as promised. Butter, vanilla, baking powder. That sort of thing. He was done fairly quick, not his first time making pancakes after all. Though that left him watching Raya Najwa Zambrano , head slightly tilted to the side. Had she really never done something like this before? "Nothing will explode, and certainly nothing about this needs magic."

Though it must seem like magic for someone who'd never stepped foot in a kitchen themselves before. He half smiled, though it faded as she mentioned death. There was a lot they were going to have to go through, but it was getting obvious that her upbringing was far from the joy she tried to make it out to be.