Private Go on Say it, I'm Stupid Right? [Lothal]

[Braze]

TAGS: Aliris Tremiru

It felt like only yesterday that Loomi and Aliris Tremiru had met up with him on Lothal, but that was far from the truth. The Force had pulled him back to this planet time and again. His last visit had led him to meet both Sable Varro and Corin Trenor .

He had been quietly relieved when Aliris finally woke from her coma. So when he heard she intended to return to the place where it had all happened, it caught Braze's attention.

He had a long journey ahead of him. And truthfully, he had been avoiding her since the incident with Maple Harte . Apprehensive barely scratched the surface. Life as both a Shadow and a Temple Guard had kept him moving, always one step ahead of having to face what lingered.

Still, he came. He arranged to meet Aliris at the Tree House.

He arrived early and set the table himself. The space was simple and calm, tucked beneath a canopy of leaves where filtered sunlight dappled the weathered boards. He had taken care in the meal, even if he would never admit how long he spent planning it.

A woven basket held fresh bread, still warm and wrapped in a linen cloth. Sliced fruit rested on a wooden tray, tart meilooruns, sweet jogan, and a few soft berries he had managed to find in the markets. There was a small bowl of spiced root stew, rich in aroma and comfort, paired with roasted vegetables drizzled in a light herb oil. A carafe of cool water, lightly infused with citrus, sat in the center beside two simple clay cups.

The table was quiet, waiting. Everything laid out with purpose.

All that remained was her arrival.

He donned a simple black cloth mask hiding his new... features uncertain how she might take to them.

​

 

[Aliris Tremiru]

​

Keep moving forward.

It was what Aliris focused on more than anything else. Keep moving, keep growing, keep learning. Keep mending her body so she could stand on her own again with her head held high. She had to focus on that, focus on the next day and not linger in the now. In how weak she felt, stumbling around, unable to help lift the heavier burdens those she cared about had to lift.

So distant she got. From Loomi . From Braze. It was a foolish thing to do, she knew, but she still had. Even when Braze now asked for her to come by, she felt distant. She wasn't back where she wanted to be yet.

Aliris still arrived, though. She stepped in, quiet as a mouse before taking a seat at the table to look over the food. Her expression remained tight, focused as if this was something far more than just talking with her friend again. ".. Hey, Braze."

Braze

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Aliris Tremiru

"I'm glad you could make it."

The sound of his voice came through the vocoder beneath his mask and prosthetic that was hidden beneath the black mask, except it wasn't quite his voice. Not like she would have remembered it. It sounded... off. Robotic. And younger somehow. The inflection and tone weren't quite right.

"I'm sorry I haven't given you the time you deserve,"

he said. "There's much I have to do, and many more miles to go before I can rest... I wish I could spend more time with you; but things are different now...War with the sith has been tearing my friends and family apart and I need to do something more about it. I know there's no way for me to make this up to you... so... "

He moved softly, pulling out the bench at the table for her, gesturing for her to take a seat.

"That said... I'm going on a long trip soon. With Master Corin Trenor and @Phy."

He paused. "I want you and my uncle Jalen Kai'el , and Loomi to have the tree house while I'm away."

He trailed looking about the room and the various little hanging wind chime she made from bits and bobbles as well as pretty rocks.

"There isn't much to this place... but there's a garden now, and a stream. I hope it can offer you some peace of mind. A place to get away... when everything feels like too much."

He said it gently, his 'voice' buzzing faintly, the wrong tone hanging in the quiet like a memory half-forgotten.

 

[Aliris Tremiru]

​

There was a lot more going on here than she'd realized. She was still picking apart a piece of bread as she listened to Braze. His voice, that wasn't his voice. Robotic. Was it the mask he wore that had done it? Why was he wearing a mask like that? She mulled over that thought, but it was what he actually said that brought her brow to furrow.

"So you're heading out to die?"

Braze

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Aliris Tremiru

"Not my intention..." Braze trailed off, stepping around to sit across from her. His voice came quieter now, more measured, less clipped, but still with that faint mechanical edge.

"I hold many positions within the Order. That means I have many duties. Some of them... will inevitably put me at risk."

He paused, then added, simply:
"One of my recent assignments left me... presently disfigured."
He paused settling his green gaze on her.

"Where I intend to go is to find the man who raised me. He's been taken, and I owe it to him to try and save him from whatever fate he's fallen into."

None of this was easy to admit to Aliris. But he'd been practicing—at least getting the important parts out.