Private Play Me a Memory

[Palm-Imer]

T I M E​

TAG: Gerwald Lechner
LOCATION: Stewjon.

Time was a broken thing. Ephemeral, eternal. Sometimes, Palm could swear it wasn't even there at all. That was how she felt, breathing in the crisp air of dusk as the last rays of sunshine which dared venture past the mountains hit her warm skin. Stuck in an endless, and yet too short, instant. It was as such moments when her mind wandered to places far away, to voices she could only remember and memories she would rather forget. How were the people she so diligently served? Where were the friends that had been lost? The person she used to be?

When had things changed so much?

Stewjon had been kind to her. Just like he had. A part of her had fallen in love with this planet, almost as much as she resented the feelings it sometimes brought. It felt like home, because it was a home. But not hers. The only thing that could make up for that dreadful emptiness was somewhere in the galaxy, answering a call that could never be refused. Duty. Meanwhile, her real home remained unreachable. Distant. An Ambassador never stopped serving, and the geminaie still kept to her responsibilities and journeys whenever it was demanded, but something felt off. It was the only way to describe it, truly. Deep within her chest, or in the whispers of a half asleep mind, she could always place that nagging sensation that something was strange, even if it all seemed perfectly normal.

Perhaps some time ago she could have named it, the Force would have showed her what it was. But it, too, was gone. It had left her. Palm had stopped trying to reach it, she had turned her sights elsewhere. Instead, she had focused on what was already within her reach. Gerwald's people had a many great deal of things to teach, and Palm was nothing if not a born student. Her body felt stronger than it ever had before. She was faster, sharper. The golden eyed woman had fallen into the routine of training, working, and thinking like it was all she had ever known. In little time, the furs and leathers of his people clung to her skin as though they had always belonged to her.

Just like that the sun was gone, and she was reminded that although broken and vanishing - time was still there after all. And now, it was time to go back to the roof that had sheltered her since her arrival. The geminaie ran through the woods, her feet knowing the paths by heart. The shapes of two large dogs followed her in the distance, Maro and Nekran had been her only company. A little piece of home, in another home. When they arrived, the night would proceed like all of them had. Food, a bath, and then more thinking.

For as soon as her head hit the pillow, she could not help but conjure a pair of ice blue eyes. They were all over this cabin, so sleep would not come to her.

Only a deep, but mellow, heartache. Like tears in the rain.
​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

H O M E​

TAG: Palm-Imer

Vapor forced itself from the snout of the large gray wolf as its muscles worked with every stride of his run. There was something that was always invigorating about the air on Stewjon, and in the forest Gerwald called home. War had kept him away from the planet for far too long, much longer than he had anticipated. Duty had called, and the wold had finally come to terms with the demands duty would place on him, and the fact his title would not allow him to run from it. He could run in these woods.

And he did.

Every breath took in familiar scents. The dew of the early morning flooded his nostrils. Wild game that would normally tempt him to delay his return for a fresh kill smelled of the river which he could hear in the background. The sounds of the night creatures finding their caves and holes as the sun would be rising soon filled the night sky. Yet, there was one thing, one scent, which told Gerwald he was close, that he was almost home. It was what drove him away from the chase of easy prey tonight.

Her scent was on the air.

Shad been running through the forest recently, and despite everything the wolf had tried to keep his mind clear, to hold fast to the promises he made, Palm continually flooded his mind. Thoughts of her safety always plagued him, and the distance only made them louder. The Skelmorn companion which ran the forest trail with him was a reminder she had her hounds to keep her safe, a remedy that Gerwald could only permit for so long. It was not her safety which plagued Gerwald the most, however. He simply missed her presence. Knowing where she was would never be the same as being where she was.

Their bond still wound around the predator, tightly. It was only made more apparent by the fact she had cut herself off from the force for fear of the darkness which would take her. Gerwald had witnessed what true darkness was capable of, and the lupine knew she could never be so evil. He should have returned to her sooner, his mind scolded him the closer he came to the cabin he had given her. His body, the places it still ached from his injuries, reminded him why it had not happened.

She was going to be upset when she found out, and yet Gerwald acted in no way contrary to who he was. Had the wolf died in battle it would have been protecting those under his charge. Would she fault him for that? They knew each other too well for Gerwald to be uncertain as to the answer. Palm would fault him for it, and yet admire it at once. It was the same sentiment they had reach about the other. Both would lay down their lives to protect what was theirs, and they promised each other as much.

Paws which had been enjoying the fertile soil of the forest soon morphed to feet and the naked form of the man stepped into the cabin. There very few Gerwald found himself comfortable seeing him in such a state as his mother had drilled into him that humans should never see him change. The armor helped in battle but this had not been battle. Whether she was awake or not, he did not care. She had seen him before, and as long as the force deemed they be together in any capacity, she would again.

His long legs carried him across the open space to where Gerwald kept a pair of pants for after his runs. It did not take long to slip into them, and despite the fact the sun was peeking through the window, the tired wolf found the one person he had been longing to see since duty had pulled him away from the sanctuary in his woods. The large beastly frame of the man slipped under the blankets and furs which covered the bed she occupied, a single, strong arm wrapping around her as his icy orbs fell behind the cover of his eyelids.

“It’s okay. You can sleep now. I am home.”
​

 

[Palm-Imer]

D R E A M​

TAG: Gerwald Lechner
LOCATION: Stewjon.

Her eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell with the soothing rhythm of her breathing, still unconsciousness would not fully take her. Instead, thoughts danced between that gossamer, thin line between reality and sleep. Present, memory, or imagination, they were only anchored by one constant. The one person that consumed them. Some nights had been nightmarish, others brought comfort. But most were just like this one, soaked with melancholy. Her heart clenched with worry, beating with prayers she said to no one in particular that he would be alright and safe.

All the while, her mind played glimpses of visions of following a grey wolf through the woods, memories of a deep voice ringing in her ears, the phantom feeling of strong arms wrapped around her. She missed him so deeply that most nights Palm did not bother herself with trying to tell these visions apart, she no longer cared to know if they were truth or dreams. They brought him closer, and that was all that mattered. The way Gerwald was rooted within the depths of her emotions and memories was the last reachable connection he had to him when he was away. And it had been too long.

Palm allowed herself to be lost in her own version of a dream, even if still awake. Her body would get enough rest, her mind and heart had surrendered to the constant, but necessary, lack of it. She did not know when he would be back, and had also stopped sitting by the fireplace in waiting. It only made it more unbearable. This place meant everything because of him, and when he was not here all it represented was nothing if not the ultimate display of his absence.

When he walked into the cabin, she did not hear him. His smell would not feel out of place within his home. The bed shifting beneath his weight or the arm that was draped around her would not lull her away from her trance because they merged perfectly into its comforting waves. Just one deep breath, and her body melted into his. Her slender hand traced his forearm until it rested over his own and laced his fingers with his, bringing it close to her chest, as though they had laid like this every night since her arrival on Stewjon.

It wasn't until he spoke that something stirred within her, pulling her brows into a delicate frown and bidding her mind to shake away the soothing fog it had shrouded itself with.

"I am home."
​

Just a whisper in the distance and yet too close. Golden eyes opened slowly just as the icy pair fell closed. Palm first saw his hand within hers, lips parting and her heart beginning a heavy drum within her chest. The geminaie turned, hair that had grown longer cascading down her back as her gaze reached the shape of a man they had not seen in what felt like forever but could remember better than her own reflection. "Gerwald..." His name rolled of her tongue as easily as always, even if she could not place the last time she had spoken it. A veil of tears that would refuse to fall brought a new brightness to her eyes - caught up in so much at the same time.

Worry, for she could easily see the trails of wounds that were not done healing. Resentment, for he had left her behind instead of allowing her to fulfill a promise she once made. To be by his side. Gratitude and confusion, he was here but Palm feared this was nothing but the foul joke of a wistful heart. And beneath it all, there was still that which she had always failed to hide from him. The word they both run from but in their own way worshipped. There were so many things she wanted to say. So many times she had envisioned his return and what her answer would be. But the wolf had never been predictable, nor had her heart. All it could do now was melt.

Her hand reached through the space between them to caress his cheek, before crushing that distance into nothingness. Palm's forehead rested against his, a single sob trembling through her body and a single tear running down her face as she nestled herself against him. "You came back."

He had returned, and now she was home too. It had been too long.

​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

H O M E​

TAG: Palm-Imer

Certain moments felt like a dream. Gerwald had lived many moments that had been nightmarish. They still visited him as he slumbered. There would no cure for the nights of endless torture at the hands of Darth Prazutis that he revisited, or the many times he'd failed to bring Naedira from her prison. There was one thing that he could always distinguish between a dream and realty, how Palm felt in his arms.

They had not pledged themselves to each other in anyway beyond what loyalty demanded. She was not his lover, yet he knew her more intimately as though she were. He was not hers to demand, and yet the wolf always answered her call. Their relationship was truly unique, undefined, and yet…

Gerwald refused to describe it further. He had always been afraid to. Duty demanded he keep every promise he had made, and speaking further of something may break another he had made. It was the tension he lived because his feelings were determined to love them both, and yet…

Palm stirred as his icy gaze fell behind the curtain of his slumber. A smile pulled at his lips when he finally heard her voice. The rustle of the sheets were a symphony to his ears as he felt the warmth of the softer parts of her body press into him. Her forehead touched his, prompting his eyes to open. He was home.

"For you… always…"

His baritone voice filled the room with the sound of a tired man. Bones ached from the injuries he still carried. There was a story to tell certainly, but the wolf simply needed sleep. If he could purr the lupine would have as he felt the hand of his warrioress caress his cheek. She was more than his student, more than a squires. They had given each other permission and trust where others may not. Did it make life awkward? Yes, but neither would have had it any other way.

He pulled her closer. Sleep would claim him soon, but not before the beast lost himself in the woman at his side. It was always a dangerous thing being so close, yet it was a place they refused to avoid. Before he could think, Gerwald's lips found the skin stretched across Palm's forehead. It was an endearing act, and yet it was also something intimate. He knew she would be upset about the coma, the new scars, and she would remind him that he'd denied her the ability to stand at his side. Palm could have, but he would not be responsible for her death. The Skelmorn had gone in her stead, another point of contention.

For now they were together. He was home, and she was where she belonged.

"We were forced to retreat," he muttered in sleepy whispers. "I failed."
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