For What It's Worth

[Nikola Ticon]

Sullust​

Jedi Temple​

​

To the best of Nikola's knowledge, there were never more than one or two Ticons in the galaxy at any one point in time. The family was simply too fractured, each member too much of a vagabond to even consider being in one location at relatively the same time. It was a rare event for him to speak with his older sister for more than a few broken conversations via the holocomm, and even then the exchanges were kept brief due to the busy lives they both led. But apparently there was another sibling younger than him that had just recently made their presence known, a younger sister he hadn't been aware of until very recently. Maybe family wasn't quite as distant as he had first thought.

Until this lost sister decided to show her face, however, he would remain in the training grounds, an area of the Sullust Temple that had grown to be a second home for him. It was better than wasting away idle hours in his quarters, and at least here he was not only allowed but expected to burn off any excess energy constructively. Running was a pastime he had taken to in the previous few weeks, as it helped to both clear his mind and keep him fit when he wasn't otherwise training with his Master or fighting for the Alliance. Besides, he was doing something productive, and that was all that mattered, in his mind. Still, even he had his limits. This is boring.

His circuit of the running track available slowed, and he conceded himself to the showers, emerging with damp hair and, once again, nothing with which to occupy his time. Waiting sufficed well enough, and so he planted himself by the entrance to the Temple, able to watch most anyone come and go within the biodome. When one looked past the toxic, unbreathable air and the volcanoes that dotted the planet, Sullust really wasn't that bad of a locale to call home. Granted, he would always prefer being out in the open to being confined with any space, regardless of how large it really was, but beggars couldn't be choosers. So long as he had nothing to do and nowhere to go, he would remain here. Hopefully it wouldn't bore his sister too much.

Tabitha. That was her name. Unlike the others within the family she had stuck around their homeplanet of Corellia until its eventual destruction. To the best of his knowledge she wasn't Force sensitive either, and more than likely didn't take too kindly to the harsh reality his older sister no doubt reminded her of. For all intents and purposes she was a civilian when compared to the rest of the family, unable to defend herself and unwise to the greater dangers that inhabited the galaxy. Ample time spent with the other two Ticons would grant her a different sort of outlook, and hopefully bring some kind of reality into her life. Of course, he would go about things a bit differently than his older sister. But she had to show up first.

[member="Tabitha Ticon"]

 

[Beowoof]

Well, at least she did not have to lug around both of her suitcases to visit this brother of hers she had just learned about. She had been told a brother existed, but no one had found a way to contact him. Judging by his choice of planet here, Tabitha could understand why that was the case. Seriously, who would want to live here? This place was so not on the list of galactic hotspots--unless that was in the literal sense. Good thing she had brought only summer clothes instead of early spring attire. How embarrassing would that have been?

All of this was not to say that she did not have a huge piece of luggage filled with a few weeks' worth of brand-name clothing as if there was no such thing as doing laundry on a world like this. She would obviously be walking among fashion heathens. Like that weird dude with all the tattoos who happened to be sitting on the steps. That was what happened to people who decided to live on Force-forsaken worlds composed mostly of molten earth and volcanoes--they went cray-cray. So what did she expect?

While not impressed at all with the young man's evident life choices, the blonde arrival was willing to give things a shot and approach him to see if he knew where her brother might be. This was the place she was supposed to meet him, after all. It was not like there was an abundance of these nice domes on such a nasty world, right? "So, like, I'm looking for this guy named Nikola Ticon. He's like, probably totally rad and looks kind of like me, except a boy. Duh. And, like, he definitely is not into crime stuff and body piercings, 'cause if he is, then, like, that's like totally lame and he needs like a total makeover." No, Tabitha Ticon really did not have much of a filter. Despite her Corellian upbringing, she could on occasion be a snobby brat. Actually, she owed that condition to unfortunately being raised outside the standard, grittier Corellian habitats and in the root location of what one many called Valley Culture. Whether it was for better or worse that her mother had sent her to live there before she died was still up for debate.

"...So, yah. If you know him..." Tabitha glanced around, not seeing much of a human presence here. She may not have an up-to-date image of Nik to spot him by, but she was fairly certain her brother was human like herself. That was usually what made people biologically related.

[member="Nikola Ticon"]

 

[Nikola Ticon]

A solitary blink was Nikola's only immediate response to everything that was said. Apparently his newfound sister liked to talk. A lot. That was something he would have to remember in the long run, not that he particularly minded. It was better than the stoic attitude that often accompanied the other members of the family, and he could get used to her bubbliness. Sometimes change was nice, even if it was presented in a manner most would consider blunt and forward, though in a different manner. It would be difficult to tell she was a Corellian if it wasn't for his prior knowledge, and he could see to a degree where his sister had been coming from when he was told about their sibling. Tabitha was certainly a character.

Running a hand through his hair he cracked a smile and laughed quietly, pushing himself to his feet and studying her for a moment. This conversation would be far different than approaching anyone else in the Temple, or most any individual he had encountered in his life recently. "Ticon, huh?" He raised an eyebrow with a smirk that had a playful edge to it. "You're looking at him. Sorry if I disappoint." According to the assessments made by this new arrival there were certain specifics of his appearance that weren't warranted, particularly his tattoos. It was never more obvious to him than in that moment the divide that separated the two when it came to their upbringing.

"You wanna come inside? There's not much to see when it comes to most of it, unless you're really into the whole Jedi thing, but the training grounds aren't half bad, and there should be a spare room near mine that you can stay in." Motioning for her to follow he turned and walked back up the Temple steps, having decided to give her his own muted tour of the place he had grown to call home. "That way's the library, and the mess hall is down the hall to the left. The common area's by there, and the war room is close to the archives, I'm pretty sure. Quarters are up ahead, which is where everybody sleeps. Training room's downstairs." There was much, much more, but he hadn't gotten that far just yet.

With an unspoken gesture of something close to a familial bond he took her suitcase and carried it for her. "Should probably get you set up with a room first, then we can go look around if you want." He led her to his room, the doors sliding open smoothly before them. Her bag was set down near the door, and he nodded towards the bed as a place for her to sit, taking his seat on the stool behind the drum set that was set up in the corner, absently tapping out a beat, drumsticks held in a loose grip. "So, what's been up with you lately? Sorry about not talking to you before this, but I didn't exactly know I had a younger sister. Hopefully we can learn to make up for that, huh?"

[member="Tabitha Ticon"]

 

[Beowoof]

Awkward... So Mister Tattoo Guy was actually [member="Nikola Ticon"], much to Tabitha's shock and momentary dejection. However, she was not one to let her judgmental attitude get in the way of family relationships as much as she might care to admit, and the blond blonde recovered from her bout of disappointment quickly enough to set out after her painted-up brother. She was not entirely sure why her family seemed to lack an innate sense of style that she obviously had picked up somewhere along the way, but her birth certificate said she was connected to these queer people by blood, so she had to just accept that much. So far they had been surprising upon first impression, and perhaps more surprising once she had gotten to talk to them.

Granted, she had only met her sister so far.

There was a shadow of feeling left out of some big secret upon hearing that her brother was a Jedi type as well, to be perfectly honest. Deep down, Tabitha was wondering why it was that she had been left out of receiving this sort of gift. So far she was not 'special' in any way--except in the fact that she was not special. Which somehow must have made her special. She was unique, to be sure. Odd, because the time she had spent on Corellia had been in the pursuit of fitting into her particular culture. Suddenly she was quite special indeed.

"Okay..." the youngest Ticon quietly agreed at a rare loss for anything frivolous to say. Everything reminded her of Keira so far--minus Nikola's mood--and there was this cloud of fear hovering over the meeting as he mentioned more war; training; fighting. It was ingrained into this family, apparently. Tabitha wondered how she had avoided that for so long.

With less effort now that her suitcase was being handled by someone more able, the short nineteen-year-old followed her brother to his rough-looking room, bare-bones and just as uninviting as Keira's quarters. What was it with her family? No taste whatsoever. The blonde shook her head and plopped onto the bed opposite Nik's stool before getting to actual introductions. "Well..." Nik would probably need to take a deeper breath than she was about to. "So I was on Corellia--home--and, like, they started evacuating everyone like, oh-em-gee, the Sith are coming blah blah blah. And they took us to, like, this huge ship and were like, 'You're staying here with us until we get this under control,' and like, 'Here, have these meals that don't taste good.' It was a total disaster.

"And then, like, the planet apparently blew up, yah. It was just this situation. And, like, who does that sort of thing anyway? So they decided to move us since we're totally never going back there, and I stayed on Loronar with these people who were, like, really nice and stuff, and I babysat and waited for the people to like, find you, but you never replied. But they found Keira even though she didn't respond either. (Like, do you not have your comm numbers right or something? Like, seriously, you should get that checked out.) And then I met her and we were both like, 'No way, I didn't know I had a rad sister,' and she was like, 'Yes way, and you've got like this brother too who is somewhere out there.' So someone did more research (Probably a clone dude. They have, like, fifteen bajillion clone dudes.) and found you on this place, and Keira was like, 'We found him. Go meet him.' And I was like, 'Cool.'

"And then I came here."

It was still a mystery as to how Tabitha Ticon worked.

"Oh, and you can call me Tabby."

 

[Nikola Ticon]

Okay, so maybe 'a lot' was a fair underestimation as to just how long of a time Tabitha could manage to speak in one continuous breath. Her introduction was more fitting to the beginning of an autobiography rather than any brief description as to just who she was, and Nikola found that he had to take a moment just to properly digest all that he'd been informed of. Most of it was composed of facts he was already perfectly aware of that were simply rehashed in a different light. Apparently living on Corellia for any amount of time hadn't done much in terms of her dialect and mannerisms, as she possessed none of the behaviors common of one hailing from such a rough and tumble planet.

But he wasn't one to judge, given that the Ticons always managed to be the misfits of whatever crowd they found themselves in. "You know, Corellia's still there. Just not in one piece." He couldn't speak from experience, given that he hadn't returned to the planet since its destruction, but supposedly the north pole remained habitable. However true that was, he knew things would never be the same. "People are still living on the planet. I doubt there's much of anything left, but they're rebuilding. Maybe we could all go visit sometime." Even as he spoke those words he knew it would never come to pass. Not as a family outing, at any rate. That just wasn't how they functioned.

"I'm glad you were able to stay with someone and stay safe." They had only just met, and already he was beginning to form some kind of protective bond. Then again, they had grown up together for some amount of time. No doubt these were the remnants of old feelings resurfacing. Not every member of the family was as callous and uncaring as they seemed, after all. "Hopefully you can find more of a home with the rest of us, though. Keira already told me you were staying with her on Cartao, and unless you wanted to live here on Sullust that'd probably be your best bet. We aren't exactly the greatest at keeping manageable living spaces." Or necessarily practical ones, for that matter.

After that story he supposed it was only fair that he return the favor. That was how interactions like this worked. "I guess it's only fair that I tell you what's happened in my life up until this point. I left Corellia awhile ago and ended up bouncing around for a bit until I found the Alliance, and I've stuck on with them for the past few months with no real problem. Now it's all Jedi training and getting ready to fight the Sith around every corner. It's better than doing nothing, but sometimes I'd like a chance at a normal life." He smiled as he looked to her. "Hopefully you can get that, Tabby." It only seemed right that one of them managed what had been the impossible for the rest.

[member="Tabitha Ticon"]

 

[Beowoof]

She doubted she wanted to visit Corellia if all that was left was at the north pole. She was a beach girl--and, besides, that just did not sound like a Corellia anyone knew, nor did it sound like a Corellia anyone would want to know. "Yeah, maybe... " the sister replied lowly, not exactly enthusiastic but not wanting to hurt her brother's feelings. She had already likely offended him not so many minute prior with her commentary on what she thought was physically responsible with regards to his body.

As hot and annoyingly unrefreshing as Cartao's atmosphere could be, it was really sounding good in comparison to whatever this furnace was. Sure, it was nice and cool inside, but a life entrapped in these tubes and domes? That did not sound fun, and for however nonexistent fashion was on Cartao, the young Ticon was certain it was even more nonexistent here. "Why don't we all live together?" If there was one thing she had missed all her life, it was some semblance of family. Sure, her girlfriends on Corellia--before it exploded--had been a relatively tight sisterhood. But it was not truly family. There was something lacking in it all, which was eventually proven when the blond bombshell vanity squad had separated without a word upon evacuation. She was suddenly alone beyond anything she had felt before. It had made it easy to attach herself to her caretaker family, but some sort of invisible strings had still tugged at her to seek out who was left of her siblings. Keira, she had already come to love in spite of her moody attitude. Nik--well, she was certain it would work out just as well between them. He seemed more receptive already.

"All the things we could have done together, you know? Bro and sis?"

[member="Nikola Ticon"]