Private Not like the times before

[Aiden Rennek]

Coruscant

​

Another day wasted, another night spent at the bar, but this time is different - it's not like the times before. Or so he tried to convince himself, as he sat alone at the bar counter with this fourth pint of the night. The music and the crowd around him were nothing more than background noise and images that would fade before the night was even over, and tomorrow would be nothing more than a repetition of it all. The only difference was that he sat in a different cantina on a different world, but everything felt exactly the same to him.

Coruscant was supposed to bring change, a path forward, but some nights he wondered if the shuttle had gone around in a circle, and brought him to some other side of Corellia he had never seen before. It didn't matter though, nothing did anymore. He had pretty much given up hope, and how could expect anybody else to care if he no longer did himself? All that mattered now was to get to the next day, if there was even such a thing — everything blurred together to a point where he lost all perception of time.

But at least there were still some things to bring comfort.

"Another," he asked the bartender with a deep, unemotional tone.

"Coming right up," the woman replied with a friendly but somewhat worried smile before she filled up a new glass. It was set in front of him and like the four he had before, Aiden held it between his hands and let out a soft sigh. But right as he moved to take a sip, a figure moving behind him bumped against his back, causing the beer to spill over onto the counter. Aiden gritted his teeth, looked over his shoulder, and watched the human male walk away like nothing had happened. "Hey fuck," he said, his tone deep and angered. "You're paying for that."

It resonated through the bar in such a way that the bartender stopped working and looked with widened eyes, right as the man and his three buddies turned around. "You talking to m-" he couldn't even finish his sentence before Aiden's fist connected with his jaw. He slammed head-first into the bar counter as a result, and was knocked out on impact with broken teeth and a busted lip. The other three who remained were all smaller and much weaker than Aiden, but with them ganking him, it was going to be a tough fight. So Aiden tried his best not to give them any time to react, and slammed an uppercut into the ribs of another. But as drunk as he was, his movements were slower and not nearly as strong.

A hit against the back of his head sent him staggered through the cantina, but he was able to keep his hands up and threw another set of punches at one of the attackers. A third, however, circled around and while Aiden was focused on beating the hell out of his second target, a glass was shattered against the back of his head. It allowed the fourth to move in, and with a punch straight into his face, Aiden was knocked back, and landed on his back just outside the cantina, out-cold, bloodied and beaten.

The two Aiden hadn't been able to knock out moved back towards their friends to help them up, and quickly made their way out before any law enforcement could show up. They left Aiden out-cold in the rain outside, bleeding over the payment. Other patrons were either too drunk to help, or didn't care enough, and moved on to their next round of drinks.

Briana Sal-Soren ​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Aiden Rennek


Tonight was supposed to be about relaxation, making her way back from hers and Iris’ favorite restaurant, toting a goodie bag of takeout after spending a long day at the Jedi Temple. War was ever on the horizon, and it was up to them to find the space between, to keep life from feeling like it was always jumping from one crisis to the next.

As the night pulled on, Briana noticed that the streets of Coruscant seemed even busier than usual, the districts buzzing with activity as steady streams of patrons entered and exited the various Cantina’s that littered the block, even as the rain started pouring.

With all of the commotion and noise, it would have been no surprise if she’d missed the man lying hunched over outside one of the bars, and likely would have; seeing drunkards passed out in front of a Cantina wasn’t an unusual sight, especially not in places like Coruscant. Most of the time she would have continued on, let the local law enforcement sort things out, but there was a familiar buzzing that pulled at the fiber of her being and prickled over her skin, causing her to pause and take notice.

Briana had long ago learned to trust that instinct when it hummed at her, to trust the Force, and slowly made her way over to where he was laid out, wanting to get a better look and idea of his situation…

Upon closer inspection, the young Sal-Soren let out a shocked gasp.

“Aiden!?”

It’d been some five years or so, but the hazy image of the last time they saw each other floated at the edges of her memory, all spick and span in his new uniform, a bright-eyed fresh recruit, ready to join the Galactic Alliance military.

The frell was he doing out here?

In an instant she was on the ground by his side, her arms around his shoulders as she attempted to move him, “Shiraya almighty, you stink,” she griped, her nose crinkling in disgust.

Bigger picture, Briana, she reminded herself, grimacing as his blood continued to dribble away into the drainage gutter alongside the walkway. Gingerly, she pushed the hair that fell in front of his face away, revealing a big ugly split above his right eye that oozed red.

Closing her eyes, Briana placed a hand over the wound and focused, a hum resonating from deep within her chest as she gathered the Force, visualizing her intentions for those wounds she could see, and those she could not. The vernal energy of the Force near to burst, Briana offered it up to Aiden - feeling pain, his pain, recede, as his flesh miraculously sewed itself back together.

“Now, let’s get you out of this rain,” she told him, grunting indelicately as she bore the weight of his heavy-set torso.

Good thing their apartment wasn’t far.

​

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Coruscant

​

"Aiden!?"

It was the very first thing he registered since blacking out, and even though he still wasn't completely snapped back to reality, the voice caught his attention. With some difficulty, his left eye opened, confirming that what he had heard was actually true. "Bri..." he muttered, his voice deeper than the last time they saw each other, but very strained because of his current situation. The pale skin and lack of strength in his body hinted at what she likely already knew — he had lost quite a bit of blood, and the beating he took had crippled his body severely.

So while she slowly began to drag him away, his eye closed again and his mind started drifting off. But moments before he fell back unconscious, he heard one last comment from her.

"Shiraya almighty, you stink,"

A gentle smirk touched the corners of her lips, and only disappeared when he had blacked out completely. The healing she applied along the way restored some of his energy and healed up the bad wound above his eye, but it wasn't enough to wake him up. Only after reaching the apartment, and being placed down and cared for while he rested, Aiden would eventually open his eyes and look around the room, a little dazed and still very sore.

"Briana?" he asked, as he looked around and raised himself to a sitting position. It was always a weird feeling to fall asleep in one place, and wake up somewhere completely different, so he took a second to adjust, and rolled his shoulders... which resulted in a loud ripping noise that echoed throughout the entire apartment. Along his back and shoulders, his shirt had, much to his surprise, torn wide open, revealing the torso of a well-trained Marine, but one that was bruised and beaten to hell.

Wait, where's my shirt?

He blinked and then remembered — she thought he stank, so she must have changed his shirt after bringing him here. It really made him hope he hadn't just torn apart one of her shirts because that would be even more awkward.

Briana Sal-Soren ​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Aiden Rennek

Briana had been trying to wash out the blood that stained Aiden’s clothes, having tried soap and water, some of Iris’ surgical sanitizer, even resorting to some of the enzobleach that Hapans often used to try and keep things spotless. For all her efforts, she might as well have been trying to rub off a blaster burn, seemingly only making the stains brighter and redder. At least it no longer smelled of cheap booze.

She heard her name whispered from behind, and in the mirror above her sink, she saw Aiden sitting up from the couch… just in time to watch as one of her favorite shirts ripped apart.

Her lips pulled down, frowning. That was one of her favorite shirts!

Well. Not exactly her shirt… but one she’d stolen from Brandyn, and consequently refused to give back. It was the only one she thought might fit him, though it'd admittedly been a rather tight fit from the get go…

She shook off the thoughts that wanted to linger. He’s injured. Don’t be gross.

Wringing out the shirt, Briana threw it over the fresher bar and made her way to the kitchen, emerging a few moments later to greet her no-longer unconscious guest.

“Here,” she said, handing him a couple capsules and a large glass of yellow something, that smelt as unpleasant as it looked, as she took a seat next to him. “That should help with the hangover.”

Her attention fell to the bruises that littered his exposed muscled torso and the panes of his chest, before looking at his face again. Briana had always thought of Aiden as ruggedly handsome, but there was a quality behind his expression that made him look almost haggard, sporting deep lines that didn’t belong to the face of a young man in his twenties.

“...And you owe me a new shirt.” she quipped, allowing herself a smirk. “Really though, are you feeling alright? I did what I could to stop the bleeding, but, honestly? You could probably still use a dip in a bacta tank.”

​

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Coruscant

​

After calling out to her, Aiden raised his hands up to his eyes and rubbed them while he tried to adjust to the headache he felt rising up. Whether it was from the beating he took or the drinks before, he didn't know, but it felt like a train had hit him either way. With a sigh, he dropped his hands and looked over to notice that Briana was approaching. It froze him up completely because it was the first time in at least 5 years that he had seen her, and he wasn't the only one who had changed a lot.

She was always very sporty, competitive, and took great care of herself and her appearance, but somehow it had all elevated to new levels that left him at a loss for words just a second too long for it to go unnoticed. Perhaps it was the Jedi training or he was just remembering things wrong. He had, after all, been getting hit against the head quite a bit recently.

"Thanks," he muttered softly as he took the capsules and sniffed the drink. His nose wrinkled in response and he looked up at her with a Do I really have to drink this expression. But he knew better than to challenge her, and swallowed the capsules and downed the drink without saying a word. "It tastes even worse than it looks or smells," he joked after he finished up and got a better look at her.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be put in this shirt," he smirked and now that he was finally getting adjusted to everything, a smile began to form. He couldn't remember the last time it felt so bright, but seeing her again was definitely the best thing that had happened in quite some time now, and he wasn't afraid to show it. "I feel alright and I'll be fine. I just need to get enough rest..." he paused and sniffed his wrist, "Maybe a shower as well." He looked at her and grinned a little again, knowing that she had picked up on that too.

Then he paused for a moment and seemed to be lost in thought, "It's uh, been a long time. You look great, and it's good to see you again," he said, hoping it wouldn't come across as too much. He had lost all his squadmates in the war, his brothers in arms, so friends of the past were all he had left, and he had always been particularly fond of her. "I hope you've been well, all things considered?" The war wasn't easy on Jedi at all, after all.

Briana Sal-Soren ​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Aiden Rennek

She’d quietly noted the way his eyes drifted over her and his seeming lapse in speech, like his brain was jogging to catch up with his mouth, trying her best to school her own expression from giving away anything, despite being equally flustered to a certain extent.

Her careful façade broke the second he took a sniff of the monstrosity she’d just handed him, Briana giving him a pointed look in response to his, and trying her best not to snort. She was pleased when he managed to choke down the glass with little to no fuss.

“Brandyn called it…‘the exotic hangover medley’... it’s a medley alright, but nothing exotic about it. I’ll spare you the details of its contents.” she scrunched her nose with a soft smile, then relieved him of the glass. “It’s the worst, but it works.”

"Hey, I didn't ask to be put in this shirt,"

“You’re right. I should have just left you like that.” she arched a brow, “But I thought you might get cold. And because I’m such a great friend… I took the liberty of washing your clothes. I couldn’t get all of the blood out, but your shirt is drying in the fresher room. Feel free to use it…and all the soap while you’re at it.” Briana teased, biting down on her lip to keep from grinning too broadly, leaving momentarily to rinse out his cup.

“It's uh, been a long time. You look great, and it's good to see you again, I hope you've been well, all things considered?"

Briana dropped into the chair next to him, thinking for a moment on her answer as a calm silence passed between them. There were too many words, too much to try and cover in a single sitting. “All things considered,” she nodded, avoiding the honest answer. “Pretty good, I guess. Just found out from my mom that my little sister Breha Sal-Soren will be coming to Coruscant in the next few days. Managed to make Junior Legislator, if you can believe it. So, something to celebrate.” she inhaled deeply, and leaned forward on her knees. “I was surprised when I found you,” she tried to put gently, testing how much she could push the issue. “You always struck me as a straight shooter type.”

​

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Coruscant

​

"Exotic hangover medley?" A soft chuckle escaped his lips and he glanced down at the empty glass for a moment. "Seems about right. But if it helps, I won't complain." He looked back up again, this time meeting her eyes with a softer expression now that he no longer felt tense about being here. Even though Briana was special to him, it was hard to face someone like her when you felt you were at your lowest point in life.

But for now, the conversation remained light-hearted enough to where he felt somewhat like his old self, although a part of him was certain she could see right through the facade.

"I couldn't get all of the blood out, but your shirt is drying in the fresher room. Feel free to use it…and all the soap while you're at it."

He grinned and looked in the direction of the bathroom for a moment, "You really are an amazing friend, Bri," he said when he looked back at her, "So I'll make sure I don't stink as much as I did earlier in a moment, just for you" he teased with a wink to make sure she knew he had heard that comment. She then sat down and answered his question, which sparked a lot of memories. He remembered her siblings to some extent, although he definitely felt more drawn to Briana - in part for reasons he decided against being too open about right now.

"Good to hear both you and the family is doing alright and..." he stopped and frowned when she asked about him. For a few seconds, he silently contemplated various ways to talk himself out of this or to downplay what had happened somehow. But after getting his ass beaten into the ground so many times, he finally felt it was time to open up, and who could he trust more than Briana?

"I know, and I was." While there weren't tears in his eyes, sadness and pain were very much echoing out into the Force for her to feel. "I lost all my squad mates in an ambush on Selvaris. Every single one of them, except for me..." he began to fiddle around with his hands a little and sighed. "It's been hard, Bri, and I'm not sure I see a way out anymore."

Briana Sal-Soren ​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Aiden Rennek

Briana watched as his face seemed to pale and the lightest mirth that’d been in his eyes winked out, hearing his voice become raw as he explained to her what’d happened. It was a strong contrast to the lighthearted conversation of moments before. Her heart tightened for him- for the pain and devastation that haunted him.

She swallowed hard, fisting her hands in her lap to keep from touching him, uncertain if the gesture would be a welcomed one or not- the years that separated them making her hesitant. Instead, she reached out through the Force, through what she knew was safe, and sent a wave of warm, peaceful energy to cocoon him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that… I had no idea.” she murmured, going quiet for a long moment as she thought. “Confession for a confession?” she tried, reaching for one of their old, childish games that they used to play to attempt to open up.

“Things haven’t been good.” her lips tightened, “I was there on Naboo when all of those Netherworld portals opened. I watched it all burn and was helpless to do anything to stop it. On top of that, my father and Brandyn are both missing… and honestly? There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think it should have been me and not them.” it was the first time she’d ever confessed that silent guilt she’d been carrying, the first time she’d heard the words out loud. Her shoulders slackened some.

Finally, she reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it the softest squeeze. “That pain you feel? It might not ever go away… and you can either let it wreck you, let it get you killed like it almost did last night before I found you, or you can find a way to live with it. I know it might seem impossible,” Briana told him, gently, but with an authority that conveyed her experience. “But you take it one day at a time.”

Briana paused, “And you can always come here if you need help.”

​

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Coruscant

​

Opening up about personal issues was supposed to help, but Aiden felt strangely cold after telling her about what happened. Not at all because of her, but because the memories were too fresh, too painful. His gaze dropped down to his lap and his hands began to visibly tremble the way they had after he had survived the ambush. All the images rushed back into his mind at once, threatening to draw him into the type of panic attacks he has been drinking away for nights now.

But before it could get worse, he felt a sudden wave of warmth envelop him.

His widened eyes were drawn up to Briana's, and the more she focused on the comforting blanket of Force energy, the more he seemed to shift out of the state of panic. His hands were no longer trembling, his eyes no longer projected fear, and a grateful smile slipped through the cracks.

"Confession for a confession?"

A chuckle escaped him as he briefly glanced down at his lap again - he remembered this from the old days, and how they'd use it to try and get info out of each other. But in this case, there was a far more serious tone to it, so he looked up and listened intently to what she told him next. "I'm so sorry, Bri," he said right before she reached over and took his hand. While she squeezed, he let his thumb gently trace over the top of her hand.

And again, he listened quietly, only nodding along a little — until she offered her help once more.

"And you can always come here if you need help."

Fighting back tears in his eyes, Aiden leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a most gentle and comforting hug, although it probably still felt a little tight. She had endured something even worse than he did, and while it had been immensely hard, she pushed through in the end. It rekindled his hope that he could find a way to live with his trauma as well, one day at a time. "Thanks, Bri, this means a lot." He then pulled back enough to look her in the eyes again and smiled, "Let's not allow another 5 years to pass before we see each other again, hm?"

Now he really began to realize just how much he had missed her.

"Is there uh, anything I can do in return for the help? And don't say take a shower..." he smirked. "Maybe I can buy you lunch tomorrow? It's not exactly the same as dragging my unconscious body across Coruscant, but it's a start?" He was smiling a little again, and definitely hoped she'd accept the offer.

Briana Sal-Soren ​

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

Wearing: XoXo
Equipment: N/A
Location: Coruscant
Tag: Aiden Rennek

The embrace had been unexpected but welcome, her arms wrapping carefully around his bare waist, ever cautious of his bruising.

The Force fluxed around them, Briana allowing it to move against the shadows that not just threatened her, but Aiden as well, until everything that felt cold seemed to fade away, finding herself unable to remember a time when they’d felt so subdued.

An indeterminate amount of time later they untangled from one another, Briana finding herself glancing at Aiden’s square jaw and even squarer shoulders, his grim frown replaced by a warmer smile that looked more like the boy from eons ago than the man she’d brought home the night before.

Suddenly, and most uncharacteristically, Briana felt herself grow self-conscious by their close proximity and lowered her lashes, nervously fixing her brown curtain of hair behind her ear just before lifting her eyes once more. “Of course,” she told him gently, knowing that if it hadn’t been for several others extending her that same support, she would have likely ended up in a similar place as him - maybe worse. “It’s a start.” a smile pulled at the faint dimple in her cheek, amused by his jest. “Just name the time and place, and I’ll make sure to be there.”

​

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Coruscant

​

Without really knowing the Force had played a role in it, Aiden felt as if the embrace alone had really changed something about him. The weight he had on his shoulders, the bottled-up emotions — they were no longer a pain he carried with him wherever he went. He had found a first step forward, and reconnected with someone who could help him return to who he was, and so much more.

Now withdrawn from the hug, he offered Briana a smile and gently rubbed the side of her shoulders as her eyes fell down for a moment. He understood why, as he felt some heat rising up inside of him too, but this was something he'd genuinely never forget. She really was the first who he felt he could be open with. "You're a real life-saver, Bri," he added before he shifted back a little more, allowing her some personal space after the hug.

"Just name the time and place, and I'll make sure to be there."

The moment she accepted the offer, he felt his heart skip a bit, and an almost boyish grin of excitement formed on his lips, "I don't know Coruscant too well, so let's just meet at your favorite place at... let's say 1 or 2 in the afternoon?" He asked. Normally he'd try to play cool and confident, hide his excitement and all that jazz. But he just couldn't with her — this actually made him feel happy again.

"I'll make sure to wash up first, though," he said with a smirk before he got up and readied himself to head out. Along the way, he picked up his shirt, put it on, and stopped at the doorway to look at her over his shoulder one more time.

"See you tomorrow, Bri." He shot her a quick wink and finally stepped out of the door, so he could return to his apartment and prepare himself a little for the next day.

Briana Sal-Soren ​