Private It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To [Complete]

[Queen of Devit]

She was careful to apply the sunscreen liberally, not wanting to get burnt. When she was a kid she had burned so bad her mother had kept her in the house for the rest of the week. It had been torture to see her siblings playing outside without her. That wasn’t going to happen today though, she would make sure.

Caelan putting the lotion on her was awkward and even more so when she had to do his back. This was the type of thing she had handmaidens for at home, all of whom were female. She did the best she could though, trying not to think about it while she rubbed the lotion in circles to absorb into his skin.

“Can your arm burn?” She wondered if the prosthetic had real flesh or if it was more protected. Mostly she was just trying to make conversation to distract from the awkwardness.

“I haven’t been fishing in so long. My dad took me once. We went to one of the Northern lakes.”

She frowned while saying this and realized it was painful to think about. Had she really been that wrong about her own dad?

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

She found it awkward and he found it exhilerating. To be able to touch her was joyous to him, even if it was just to put sunscreen on her. Sometimes little things were more important than larger things. Just being together, sharing a non-intimate touch, was nice. Plus he was certain she'd never seen him shirtless before, and, well, not as muscular as he was now. When he was a kid he was a scrawny thing. If nothing else, becoming a Jedi had turned him into a finely corded beast.

"I think it can, actually," he said, looking at his prosthetic. "My understanding of these prosthetics is that each is unique to the person they are made for. Both the muscle and synthflesh are lab grown to match in tone and everything."

He waited until she was done and then took his shirt to a short tree near the edge of the beach and hung it over it. The bottle of sunscreen he set in the crook of the limbs.

"I haven't fished in a while, either. Not since before my parents died. Everything's been too busy."

Reaching down, he began to pick up several different sizes of sticks and some dried leaves. One thing about a fire, you wanted a variety of stick sizes at first, just to get the flames going, and then you could add some larger bits of wood a bit at a time until the flames were roaring. According to the forecast, which he'd checked before they'd left, there was very little chance of rain, so he figured at least the first night they could sleep on the beach near the fire and watch the stars.

"Ever roasted fish over an open fire?"

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

They started to gather wood for a fire, which wasn’t too hard. The beach had some driftwood and the surrounding forest area was also a good source of sticks. Anavi was keeping count of the birds she saw, making mental notes for latter when she could try and sketch them.

"Ever roasted fish over an open fire?"

“Never, but we roasted marshmallows one time when I was a kid. I was too little so my mom wouldn’t let me roast my own though.”

Probably for the best because she had been a toddler at the time and toddlers were accident magnets.

“Did you camp with your family a lot?”

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

"No, but I wish I had," he admitted as he brought the pile of sticks out into the sand and started stacking them up. "Father was more interested in building homes than being outside, except when he took Kita hunting."

In the middle went the dried leaves and other kindling, then the small sticks. On the outside he made a tipi of slightly larger sticks and then set the remainder of what he'd gathered to the side. Drawing out his lightsaber, he ignited it. The blade, white with both a purple and blue outer glow, snapped into existence. This was, he realized, the first time she'd ever seen him utilize his blade. He carefully maneuvered it to ignite some of the kindling, just to get a spark going, and then deactivated it.

"That should do it."

Leaning down, he blew on the flickering flame a bit to make sure that it kept going. Fate came trouncing over and stuck out his little scomp and used his shocker to zap it and make more sparks fly up, which forced Caelan to fall back away, fanning at his face as some sparks flew into it. He wasn't mad, though, as he started laughing.

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

She hadn’t realized he already built his saber. She had not got to that part of Jedi training yet. Her mother wanted her training to be extremely slow.

When Fate caused trouble Anavi laughed with Caelan. The droid had a feisty attitude. “Are you okay?” She asked while laughing.

She sat her own collected wood down in a pile for latter. They might need to keep the fire going for a while she figured

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her, picking himself up and dusting himself off, grin still plastered to his face. "Just caught me off guard."

It was sometime in mid-afternoon so they wouldn't have to rely on the fire for light just yet, which was good. In the meantime, he spotted a nice long stick in what Anavi had found and snagged it up.

"This is a good stick to make a fishing spear out of."

It had two tines on the end of it already, they just needed sharpened. He jogged over to the airspeeder and opened up the side access where the supplies were stored in case they needed them, blankets, a tent if it rained and they hadn't built a shelter, sleeping bags, emergency food, and snagged a small knife from within. He'd need it to clean any fish he caught anyway, so might as well have it. Besides, there were probably carnivorous fish down there and it never hurt to have a backup to his saber.

Back at the fire, he sat down a short distance from it and used the knife to start sharpening the tines.

"What was your favorite thing about being royalty growing up? What did you like about it?"

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

Anavi sat down to watch him sharpen a stick for fishing. She was willing to help if he needed it but he seemed to know what he was doing. He also said he wanted to ask her questions so she figured answering them might be helpful too.

"What was your favorite thing about being royalty growing up? What did you like about it?"

“I liked feeling like I was helping my family. They used to call me a sweet little princess and talk about all the good things I could do to help our people.”

Her nostrils flared as she said it, realizing it had been a lie. Her family didn’t want her help it seemed.

“Other than that I guess I liked learning. We had access to a lot of material commoners didn’t.”

She started pushing the sand around with her hands, enjoying how it felt in her fingers.

“How about you?”

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

"When I was younger I would have said that I liked having everything I ever wanted," he said as he continued to work. "The more I grew, the more I realized that what I enjoyed about it was the fact it gave me the ability to help people because I had the resources to do so. Everyone can give time, but not everyone can provide the resources."

He finished carving the stick and set it aside, closing up the knife and sticking it into his pocket. What she said made sense and was pretty similar to him, which wasn't surprising. He'd always known she was someone that liked to help people, which made her stand out in her family. She had sisters, and he could have been attracted to them, but he wasn't because they were more self-focused than she was. No one like that could ever get attention from him. He didn't like people that cared more for themselves than for the people that looked up to them.

"How do you feel about the fact that you had access to more than the commoners did?"

These were deep questions, he knew, but he was trying to get to know her more deeply than he already did. That was part of the point of this excursion, for them to get to know one another.

"Do you think the crown on Kashir really has the best interests of the people in mind?"

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

"Do you think the crown on Kashir really has the best interests of the people in mind?"

“I used to. But now I’m not so sure. It seems like crime has been getting worse on the planet. The police are trying but I am not sure if they are in on it. When I was sent to the Jedi I thought maybe it was an attempt to get the Alliance to notice the issue. Now I don’t know what to think.”

Kashir was being ran by gangs and the ordinary citizens were suffering from property damage, theft and other criminal activities. Anavi used to think the problem was just complex and taking time for her father to work out but now? Now she had no idea what to think.

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

"I am suspicious of your father's motives in marrying you off," he said as he stood once more.

It probably wasn't that big of a secret that he was suspicious about it. All the questions probably gave him away. Not that he was questioning her involvement. He had zero belief that Anavi had any connection to criminal activity. Despite her family, Anavi was too good a person to allow herself to get involved. She had always shown a genuine interest in her people, which was more than he could say about her parents or her siblings.

"More suspicious that his first choice was me when he stood little to gain out of it considering we were already close friends. It wasn't as if us marrying would stop a war or something."

He hadn't had any such plans, though now he was starting to be suspicious it might come to some kind of intervention. He walked over to where she sat and crouched down beside her, setting his spear in the sand.

"I need to go catch us some dinner, but any idea why he would want to get rid of you?"

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

“My only guess would be the crime syndicates either want me gone or they want something from you. I think it’s weird he chose you. There are dozens of other worlds that would benefit Kashir more. We were already on good terms with your planet.”

She sighed and pulled her long red hair into a messy bun, getting it off her shoulders because of the heat and humidity.

“The fact that we are even here means my father is trying to play nice with you. Normally he would have sent an army to come get me by now.”

She wondered what it all meant. Was it possible they could find out and stop it so she wouldn’t be forced to marry? She didn’t know and just voicing the question out loud would be treason. She wished she could just run away and start a different life away from everyone, but deep down she knew that wouldn’t help her people.

“Do you need help catching fish?”

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

Could also mean her father understood the weight that Caelan now had to bear. Being a King was one thing, but having the Jedi and the Alliance behind him? Her father couldn't possibly afford to quarrel with them as well. He had to play nice because he was at the political disadvantage and that was intentionally being played against him. While true, Caelan was no mastermind of politics, he did know enough to be able to use what he had to get what he wanted when he needed to.

"I'm not worried about your father as much as who might be pulling his strings," he said, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. "But don't fret over it. We'll deal with it eventually. I'll catch some fish. Why don't you and Fate see if you can find any plants on the island that might accompany the fish in our dinner?"

Picking up the spear once more, he headed for the water, leaving her and Fate to explore together. It would be good for them to have a little time, and she could probably use a few minutes without him anyway. Wasn't as if he hadn't been asking her a lot of hard questions and dredging up a lot of feelings that might be upsetting. Her father was using her in some game and she was aware of it and that, he knew, hurt her more than anything. He wished it weren't so, but sometimes life didn't go the way they wanted it to. He didn't like her being hurt.

Wading into the water, he picked a spot that was deep enough and dove in, using his ability to control his breathing to suck in a big gulp of air and allow him to descend further than most skilled free divers could. He swam down into the tropical waters, scoping around the corals and rocks. There were plenty of small fish and other sea creatures, some shellfish and things of that nature. It was easy to see they'd have a variety.

He eventually settled on a decent sized fish that seemed to be predating on small shrimp hiding amongst the coral. He came up behind it, and when it turned, stabbed it with the spear, both prongs skewering it. A clowd of blood filled the small area of water, but he quickly swam away from it to avoid any predators, and headed back towards the surface and the direction of the shore, his price on the makeshift fishing spear. They'd have a nice fish dinner that night.

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

Anavi and Fate did indeed travel into the forested part of the island, looking for different plants but also just exploring. As she walked she talked to the little droid, not that she could understand his responses but more because talking out loud helped her process all the things that had happened that day.

“Today had been weird Fate. I wonder what my father is up to? Does he even realize what all he’s taken from me in this arrangement? I’ll never get to meet my soul mate and fall in love. Of course he had so many wives maybe he isn’t in love either.”

She heard Fate beep and just imagined what the droid was asking since she really had no idea.

“Of course I love Caelan but it’s a best friend love, a family love. It’s not the same. But it’s not all things I’ve lost. Really it sounds like I might have more freedom now than I did at home. I’ll get to study medicine. I won’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not anymore. Really it’s like trading true love for all the freedom in the world. And life isn’t a holo picture. Those romantic comedies aren’t true. This is real life. It just feels strange. I’m barely an adult and I’m already engaged.”

She threw a rock at a tree and covered her head as some fruit fell down. By now Fate realized she was just babbling to herself so the little droid continued to hop along, exploring too.

“Still though. I worry about running off and getting all this freedom and leaving Kashir in a crime infestation. Am I being a bad person?” She asked as she pulled out some big leaves and sat down, weaving them into a basket to carry the fruit she just knocked down.

“I guess the real answer is I don’t have a choice. There isn’t anything I can do to stop this choice my father made. All I can do is try and help Kashir as much as possible.”

She started putting the fruit into the basket. It was way too much for dinner but they could have it for breakfast she figured.

“What are you doing Fate?” She saw the little droid had stopped by a tree and she looked up.

“Oh wow. They are beautiful.” There were large flowers hanging from the tree, all in varying shades of pink.

“This place is pretty. Come on, we better get this back.” A bit latter she and Fate emerged from the forested area, her carrying a basket and Fate holding one of the large pink flowers.

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

He reached the shallows and was able to start walking, hair plastered to his head and speared fish in his hand. Anavi and Fate emerged from the bush, the former with a basket full of goodies, and the latter sporting a flower. A rather pretty flower. He made a note of that at the same time as he started laughing at the absurdity of a droid with a flower. Of course Fate took that as expected and fired a literal blaster bolt past Caelan's head, which only served to make him laugh more.

The fire was still burning, but he kicked another log onto it to get it going a little higher as he neared. Fate was being pouty now and keeping himself behind Anavi.

"Playing favorites, I see," he said to the droid. "I know she's more beautiful than I and you have a soft spot for the ladies, but if you aren't careful she might think you're recording her backside!"

"Bwoo-dweet, bwee-dwoop beep-beep bwoo-dweet bwee-dwoop bwoo-beep! Bwoo-dweet dwooo-beep, bwoo-dweet beep bwoo-dwoop dweet, bwoo-dwoop beep bwoo-dweet beep-dwoop bwoo-dwoop bwee-dwoop beep!"

"You do that and I'll sell you for scrap metal!"

He was smiling the whole time he said it, so Anavi would know he was just joking around. Fate knew it too, but he was still being pouty and sticking by her side. Caelan laid the fish out on a flat rock and began the process of cleaning it with the knife, which he'd pulled from his pocket. It was going to be delicious, he could tell. Very nice, white meat on the inside.

"You two have fun?" he asked, glancing up at Anavi. "I'm sure he thanked you for the flower, but I'll thank you as well. He does like what he likes. A peculiar droid he is, but he really is the best."

"Bwoo-dweet dwooo-beep bwoo-dweet beep-dwoop!"

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

“Don’t worry Fate. I won’t ever let him sell you for scrap.” She patted the little droid on the head and it gave Caelan a smug look, which made her laugh.

“I think your flower is adorable.” She reached up and pulled one of the elastics out of her hair and used it to attach the flower to Fate, so it looked like he had a flower in his hair, well if he had hair or course.

The droid strutted around and she laughed more. “Looking good Fate.”

She stood back up and indicated the basket. “We found a lot of fruit. There are also tons of wild flowers on the island. “

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

"Don't encourage him," he said, shaking his head. "He'll just get worse. Grandmaster Noble did that and he took forever to come down out of the clouds. He still goes to see her whenever we go to the temple."

"Bwoo-dweet beep-beep bwee-dwoop bwoo-dwoop!"

"You watch yourself. I know where you charge at night."

He grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at the droid, who raced off making beeping sounds that sounded suspiciously like maniacal laughter as he did. Caelan shook his head and finished cleaning the fish before skewering it on an extra stick and setting it to roast over the fire. Might take a little bit of time, but that was alright. Wasn't as if they had anywhere to be. In fact, now that he took a moment to think about it, this was the first time in a really long time that he actually felt like he could just relax and let his worried go away.

She mentioned fruit so he took a peak into her basket and sure enough there was a nice variety of it. Some of the ones he thought might season the fish nicely he set aside.

"Nice selection of fruits. Won't have to worry about getting scurvy at least."

He winked at her and motioned for her to sit with him as he sat and looked out over the ocean. Thinking about what to talk about was proving harder than he'd expected. The point was to get to know one another on a deeper level. They knew each other as friends, but if they were going to be married they needed to know each other deeper than that.

"What's your favorite memory from when we were younger that we are both in? What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of us together as kids?"

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

"What's your favorite memory from when we were younger that we are both in? What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of us together as kids?"

"Oh wow so many things. I remember my family used to see yours every summer when we were kids. We would alternate traveling either to Lazerian IV or to Kashir. Remember that one summer when my sister tried to get that boy from Devit to pay attention to her? She kept going down to his fathers shop everyday and we kept trying to tag along without her seeing us?" She laughed at the memory and shook her head. Her sister had been furious with them!

"That is usually what comes to mind. Me and you being the youngest kids and trying to get the other kids to take us seriously. Those were fun times."

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

He smiled at what she said. Yes, that did ring true.

"We weren't very good at being stealthy," he noted, chuckling. "Seemed like we always ended up getting caught, but it was fun to watch her try to get him to fancy her and fail miserably. The pout on her face still makes me laugh when I think about it."

Boy did she hate it when she didn't get what she wanted. And she was absolutely livid when she found out that Caelan and Anavi saw the whole thing, but that was part of the fun of it. What kind of kids would they have been if they hadn't tagged along to watch an older sibling make a fool of themself?

"We were trouble, but at least it wasn't dangerous."

Speaking of dangerous, the fire was still going and that fish was pretty much done, so he took it off and then used another stick to skewer half of it for her and half for him. Before he gave her any, he cut one of the fruits that looked like some sort of citrus and squeezed some of the juice over the fish. That should add to the flavor. Then he offered one to her and kept the other for himself.

"What's something about you that even I don't know? Please don't tell me that you hate fish. That'll ruin me."

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​

 

[Queen of Devit]

"What's something about you that even I don't know? Please don't tell me that you hate fish. That'll ruin me."

She laughed and shook her head. "Fish is fine. Umm I don't know. To be honest I'm not sure what you know about me." She took the fish he handed her and they started to eat their dinner while the waves crashed on the beach.

"Umm I started sketching after we stopped spending the summers together. All of my siblings were busy with other things so I used it to fill the time. Well that and binge watching romantic comedies on the holo streaming." She frowned and realized that was a hobby that was probably going to die very quickly. Now it just seemed depressing to watch them.

"Lets see... umm I still sleep with a nightlight on. My brothers tease me for that a lot."

Caelan Valoren

 

[Caelan Valoren]

The fish was actually pretty good. It didn't have that super gnarly taste that some saltwater fish had that just left a bad taste in your mouth, but that could also have been because he doused it with citrus. That tended to kick some of that taste to the wayside in most fish. Though that citrus really hit well, too. Added a really nice additional flavor to the already tender meat. He was going to have to remember that for the next time, especially since fish was his favorite thing to eat.

She mentioned drawing and he tilted his head to the side. He hadn't pegged her for the artist, but it kind of made sense when coupled with her desire for the medical field. Both were heavily focused on attention to detail.

"I'd love to see some of your art sometime if you're willing to show me," he said, holding his fish in one hand as he regarded her. "And that's a pretty deep admission on the light. It's not a bad thing, though. Some people just don't like it to be too dark when they sleep."

When he was indoors he preferred darkness, but outdoors it was rarely totally dark, so he was certain that he could get used to it. He tapped his stick of fish against his chin.

"I like to sing. I've probably never sang for you, but I enjoy it. Only in private, though."

No way was he going to be doing concerts. And he quickly popped some more fish into his mouth before she could decide to tell him to prove it. Not that he wouldn't sing for her if she really wanted him to, but, he wasn't exactly prepared for it.

---

ATTIRE: LINK | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Anavi Vandala ​