Proceed with caution

[Loske Treicolt]

“At least a general.” She was getting lost in the idea of mirror images of her all armoured up when their waiter didn’t want to wait any longer.
Hurried, she rose to stand as did [member="Cedric Grayson"] with a chivalrous gesture. Before she completely shimmied out of the booth, she reached behind her to pick up her damp jacket, no longer completely sodden and looped into it before accepting the hand.

“That’s okay,” She murmured, stepping out to the street once more. “I’d much rather rest in an actual bed than a hard booth with terrible lighting.

Earlier you said you weren’t ready for the day to be over. You ready now?”

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Underworld food was good, but the droids were di'kuts. Cedric was learning a great deal tonight.

"I don't disagree." He glanced back into the restaurant, and exchanged what would have been a hostile look if the droid were sentient. The robot just stared back for several seconds, probably assessing a threat indicator or something, before turning about.

They'd been up and about for longer than was healthy. It was about time the adventure came to a close - the Imperium's demands awaited above. It still seemed far away for Cedric. He'd spent more time out and about with Loske than he had in months, truth be told. The man was not one for RNR.

His brow furrowed as he turned toward Loske, the light rain making his face a bit colder than he would have liked.

"There was one thing."

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Back in the rain.

Why didn’t they turn it off after an hour? Surely the civilians understood the weather by now.

Just one thing. That statement made her think of a million things. An involuntary groan resonated from her throat at the suggestion of a cliff hanger. Had she not been such an interrogative individual, she may have suggested the statement be revisited after they finally get some rest.

Alas, there’d be no rest for the curious.

“That’s the first cliff hanger you’ve ever introduced to our conversations. It's making me anxious.” She observed, hoping it wouldn’t become a trend with [member="Cedric Grayson"]. They were already complete opposites, if there were lures and baits strewn into their dialogue she’d lose her manufactured mind. The suspense had only been a handful of seconds, but it was already too much. She had to play into it.

“What’s the last thing of the day.”

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Cliffhangers had their place, now and then.

Cedric had withdrawn from the Force for the first time in a very long time. With it went that constant peace, and something of a lack of focus on reality. It was a bit alien, truth be told, but it would keep his anxieties from being sensed by the blonde, at least in the Force.

Truthfully he was a bundle of nerves. The whole adventure they'd undertaken left him exhausted, and all the rest had got him to thinking about things he would have normally ignored. With that came new considerations: general confusions. Were his assumptions incorrect? Was he about to make a fool of himself? Probably on both accounts.

But she was letting him hold her hand, so maybe his worries were unfounded.

"Well -" he paused, staring a bit awkwardly as he stumbled over his words. It was then that Cedric was struck with a rare moment of total clarity. A calloused hand rose to caress Loske's face as he leaned in to kiss her.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Was he insane? That was the last thing of the day? She was waiting with bated breath for something, when everything turned into slow motion.

This was not what she had expected, but perhaps what she had hoped.

Within milliseconds several, panicked thoughts than through her fragmented mind. And she didn’t know how to turn herself off from The Force. So that anxiety she’d felt a flicker of full on blossomed. At first, she was appalled at the location. Loske was a hopeless romantic and idealized her first kiss somewhere more whimsical and dreamy. Maybe her hair blowing in the wind. Or in the face of ultimate tyranny, on a battlefield or something. Either way, not outside some terribly run Coruscaunti diner.

But, that’s the way the story was unfolding, and she’d rather advance in chapters than try to command the authorship. Her covetousness of intimacy and appreciation for her relationship with [member="Cedric Grayson"] up to this point overrode her petty wants and she did nothing to reject the action. On the contrary, she may have even rose to meet him the remaining ten percent of the way.

Despite the rain, this was quite nice. And after a few seconds, they separated and she dropped back to the soles of her feet. Though, she didn’t think she was touching the ground. A little more floaty than she would have expected. Her body was fluttering and she gave his hand a shocked squeeze and an easy, loopy grin. Even if nothing felt easy.

“I’m okay with cliffhangers being part of the dialogue now.”

 

[Placeholder 0128]

There'd been more than a little bit of internal debate leading up to this moment.

Loske had grown on him throughout their travels, despite his better efforts to ignore such mortal distractions. While he did not look down upon Jedi that allowed themselves to develop such things, he'd come to the conclusion that they simply were not for him. Such attachments had caused him more than his fair share of issues in the past. It just so happened that he crossed the blonde's path after that. It had begun as simple training, but there was something about her optimism that drew him in. That mixed with abandonment issues toward family shared by both parties should have made it pretty obvious.

His eyes drifted open as they drew apart, a similarly pleasant grin on his face. "Thought that might be a bit convincing." The grin shifted into a playful smirk. Whatever issues Cedric might have had about pursuing blonde were dashed away. He was riding on a high unlike any painkiller he'd been issued out in the field. Now that he'd taken the plunge, it felt like it was a long time coming.

And he said as much. "I've been debating on whether I should do that for awhile now. I'm glad I did."

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

His decision was an inevitable one, it seemed. One way or another, this was going to end up happening. By his hand or hers.

“Me too.” Loske affirmed, happy to stand in the rain now. Although, likely not for much longer. [member="Cedric Grayson"]’s internal debates about action versus inaction probably meant there was a list of repercussions and rules to follow with this. A string of realities she’d rather not oblige just now. This was a moment of firsts, and she was happy to bask in that. The one perfect little kiss. She wanted to pluck the memory out and frame it. Too cautious to build much more on it, it should remain untouched. No matter how much she felt the want to place another peck in the frame.

What she was confused about though, and a subject she may bring up, was what next. She was still really tired, but this was her first rodeo. How long do they just stand here in each other’s next level company? The Jedi, ironically, was the one who’d been betrothed before. Also, could he keep training her now?

“I’ll be honest. I don’t really know what to do now. I’d been planning on just.... us walking back and going to bed but.. your concept of the last thing of the day is way more exciting than the first thing of the day.”

She looked confused. “Also. I sort of expected I’d feel our bond flare up or something or feel you...coming. Some sort of indicator.” She simpered “But I’m not getting any signals from you.” Her brow furrowed. “What’s going on?”

Oh good. Blabbermouth McGee was back in action. Bliss was only a temporary status.

 

[Placeholder 0128]

That was a surprising relief.

It seemed as if most of his worries had disappeared, at least for now. If this was going to be something, he'd have to come up with procedures, figure things out. Loske was not part of the aristocrasty, which could very well serve as a scandal. Or perhaps it wouldn't. She was helping to build the Imperium, perhaps they could spin a story off of th-

He blinked as he realized he was far overthinking things. Better to live in the moment. "Since you're being honest, so will I: I didn't think I would get this far, so I didn't bother to think ahead. Instincts a queen like that." He snickered, lofting a brow as she gave him a confused look. "Oh. Well, when you said to just enjoy it - I closed myself off to the Force. Maybe that dulled my presence. Here."

He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining the rivers of the empyrean flowing through him freely once more. The feedback was intense. Loske's giddiness poured over into him, and his likely did so in turn. The empyrean shifted about them in odd patterns. The skies above the seas were a deep vermilion, the waters a glassy orange.

Anxieties were replaced with a high only another person could bring about. "I was worried about being overwhelmed," he placed a hand on her shoulder as if to steady himself (though he certainly didn't need to) "Might have been a little over-worried." He paused, "Do you wanna go back to the hotel?"

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

She'd almost forgotten every other interaction up to that pivotal moment, but realized how much planning and forethought went into most any action [member="Cedric Grayson"] chose to enact. Making the choice to conceal himself wasn't unsurprising when he explained what he'd done, she just didn't realize that was something that could happen without her noticing. Then again, that wasn't something she was seeking out.

Apparently her word, and person, meant more to him than she'd suspected. This was incredibly astonishing. But hey, she was here, and this was a leap that was worth taking, one they'd apparently been balancing on the precipice for some time. Her life was changing at a pace she wouldn't have ever been able to predict, between the recognition of The Force, working more on the ground than before, and this spark. "Didn't realize you were into taking my suggestions."

Her tone and volume dropped, a mocking gravely accent stretching from her throat "Such power.."

Ah yes, the hotel. There'd been an invisible bubble around them, while the less-than desirable atmosphere continued. The underbelly of Coruscaunt was extremely deceptive. It pumped out faux oxygen, akin to the casinos as Canto Bright, so you never really knew what day it was. Blend that with the reality of being up for…fifty hours or so? And the shockingness of flow walking, seeing an ancient death staving ritual, slaying a Sith Lord, and a first kiss and boom - you get extreme discombobulation with exhaustion. This was…all very new and fatigue rarely resulted in anything particularly positive. In fact, had this been a few years ago, she may have vomited. Any sort of unaccounted for acceleration in emotions made her nauseous - even breaking the atmosphere outright of flight simulations. Her first few runs with Rogue Squadron, she’d had to have a little baggie.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” She admitted wearily. “As much as I’d like to be fiercely in tact, I don’t think I can take any more surprises, no matter how nice they may be. Mentally or physically.” And then there was a long drive back tomorrow…she didn’t want to be a defeatist but the girl’s bleeding heart was going to bleed out. “At least not without a nap of sorts.”

At this juncture, she supposed it would have been appropriate to ask how he was feeling, but gratefully that bond did the talking for him. And her. Which was probably a good thing, given the exertion required to get to this point.

 

[Placeholder 0128]

It was rare when one realized a memory was in the making. Often such recollections had nothing to do with conscious thought. They were added in via the mind’s own editing later, but Cedric was certain to preserve this. Memories were powerful things, often moreso for Force Sensitives. They were what he drew upon when wishing to channel the Light in its purest form. The Ashla was intrinsically tied to positive emotion, as such was its gift to sentient life.

The whole day was likely going to serve as a future source of motivation for the Jedi Master. He was keen on avoiding anything else that might make it more interesting. “I’m afraid I’d fall asleep if we got into another gunfight,” he admitted. He started off toward the hotel, though he never relinquished Loske’s hand.

“So, being serious for a second,” his voice was low. “If you want to do this - and I do - we need to be careful.” His voice was low as he explained. “For right now, at least. We’ll have to style you like a hero or something, play the propaganda machine so people are happy with it.” He paused, brow furrowing. “...Not that that’s really important. Just something to take note of before you take the plunge.”

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Feel brand new.​

​

That former moment had been nice. Just between the two of them. No concern about any of the onlookers, or rumour mills. It was perhaps [member="Cedric Grayson"]'s upbringing, and current position to bring that up straightaway, to have to fret about it.

Loske preferred to ignore it. Add power to the rumor mill? That was half-hearted. Whenever it was appropriate, and maybe not wasn’t the time, she’d add enough power to cause it torque apart and destroy itself, leaving only truth in its wake.

“Please don’t.” She finally said, after chewing on her cheek for a handful of uncomfortable seconds, crossing the chasm from bliss back to discomfort. “If it’s a plunge, that’s fine, but can it be a kiddie pool? Try it out just in this,” she gestured between them with her free hand “depth first? I’m fine with publicly being your Padawan for now. Cross the other bridge when we get there.

I’d rather not say anything than lie.

Besides, if you’re worried about stories, I’d be more concerned about the interpretation of your distraction levels. Balancing two new things could bring some destruction to your reputation. You need to feel focused right now, otherwise there’ll be more room for doubt from the people that pledge themselves to the Imperium’s vision.”

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Loske made several good points.

Cedric paused to consider them. He was always one to think ahead, plan things out so that everything would fall into place when the time came. It occurred to him that he was doing the same for whatever this was, and that was likely a very unwise path to take. As she said - a bridge to cross later on.

"Kiddie pools are more aesthetic, anyway." Cedric gave a light shrug.

She continued. He drew in a quiet breath, eyes darting to the ground for a moment as he mulled over her question. "Got me there. Don't worry, my eyes are still on the Imperium's future," he looked back to her, cracking a thin smile. "I'm pretty good at balance. Kinda part of the whole Jedi thing."

Taking cues from Loske, Cedric opted to veer away from the more dour topics. "My father must be rolling in his grave."

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Using her free hand still, she wiped some of the rain from her brow in a vague attempt to stay dry-ish. Thankfully Bleab's directions had meant they didn't have to tromp through too many avenues, just a couple of blocks.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]'s attempt at levity was a strange one, given the earlier conversation on him having all these expectations to live up to, and having a child-bride selected at toddlerhood.

"Why? At least I'm blonde."

 

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"I suppose that was always the most important point." He snickered as they made their way out of the streets. Bleab greeted them with an apathetic state, and waved his oddly shaped hand about with about as much enthusiasm as one could expect from a man running a hotel in the dingiest corner of Coruscant.

"It was pretty good." Cedric answered the unasked question that Bleab hadn't formulated himself.

"Cool." Bleab glanced back down to his datapad, evidently not very keen on conversation. Cedric gave Loske an exaggerated wince as he stepped on by, making his way back over toward the elevator. "So," Cedric intoned as the elevator dinged, sliding open. "Where should our next adventure be?" He took on a conspiratorial tone. "Since this one's turned out so well, after all. Maybe a bit of training out on some world with a beach once I can get the House of Lords to agree on a constitution."

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Bleab couldn’t have cared less if they stayed in Kovie’s hotel or not. Kovie has been stingy in her will so he owed the patrons no particular service. The fact they insisted on talking to him, incessantly, was irritating. He found great solitude in the knowledge they were only staying the night. And the night was almost over. In a handful of hours they’d have to check out.

“That sounds pretty tedious.” Loske admitted. “I was thinking on the drive here..” she elevator dinged to a stop. Evidently not many other people were around to occupy it. She entered, resting her hands on the railing behind her and leaning forward “That maybe I will go to Kiffu. See if I can flow walk that concept lab, see what happened and why I couldn’t access my powers as readily as Isar.

Not exactly a beach but.. maybe an adventure? And sand? But.. maybe it’s a me thing. Ocean shores sound better shared.”


[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

He gave her a light shrug.

"That sounds like a good idea. You'll get far more answers to any questions you might have than you'd get otherwise." He admitted, arms folding about his chest as the elevator dinger its way on up to their floor. "If you want to go on your own, that's entirely fine. I know I've spent a good bit of time with you lately, but I can still survive on my own."

He wasted little time in stepping off the elevator, and walking on toward their rooms.

"That's up to you though," he added, "You thought about going to see your mother?"

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

She chuckled at his explanation. Obviously, she enjoyed his company, it wasn’t a desire to get away that had prompted her suggestion to go alone. “It’s not that.”

Then he brought up her mother. That was the zinger. They had peculiar relationships with their families. On the bright side, Loske didn’t have to worry about meeting [member="Cedric Grayson"]’s parents. She uh, kind of had to worry about him meeting hers, and what might happen. He’d been forgiving with her —- sins of the father and all that. But confronting the individual he’d been conditioned to resent was... a little early in this relationship.

“It’s that. I.. I wasn’t specifically planning on it but, the flight logs would record I was there. Might need to at least say hello. That might be weird for you. More than it’s weird for me.”

 

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Loske was full of good points tonight.

He understood her immediately. Loske might not have known Kiskla particularly well, but there was a dark history between that woman and the Graysons. As far as Cedric understood things, Kiskla's decision to send his father off into the depths of the One Sith had been the initial catalyst for the man's fall. He could forgive Loske for that - truly there was nothing to forgive, she had no part in it. Her 'mother' was a different story. Cedric had never come across Kiskla Grayson (whom oddly enough was technically much closer to his age than Loske), but he knew well enough to be wary of her.

The Jedi Master had never set foot on Kiffu.

"That's probably for the best. Maybe now that you've started Jedi training you and your mom will have something in common," he paused,chewing on his upper lip as he danced around the unpleasant issue. "It's probably best I didn't meet her, at least for now. I've no idea what she would feel about me, and I certainly don't know how I feel about her."

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

“That’s a Hope.”

That result was expected. The mission to Kiffu wouldn’t be inherently dangerous, and while [member="Cedric Grayson"] may have been intrigued about the learning, there was much pleasant for him on that planet. Truth be told, she couldn’t guarantee there’d be anything pleasant for her there either. She couldn’t hold it against him, and she’d only brought it up by way of validating her idea being good or not.

At this point, they’d meandered down the hallway enough to reach their opposing rooms. Pausing outside, she reached out to take his hands in hers, small smile planted. “We can forgo meeting the parents. Easy enough.”

Especially since uh, he didn’t have any. “I’ve heard nice things about Dremulae. I was there once, on a mission with a Jedi Master Karr. He’d probably be pleased I’m finally getting trained as a Jedi. He was as incessant as you were on Metellos.”

 

[Placeholder 0128]

"I'm pretty sure my dad's a god tied to Ession these days. You can meet him later - he doesn't do well with unexpected guests." That was only half of a joke. His most recent trip to Ession had been an eventful one; one that had been far more emotional than Cedric would have liked. The planet was as dead as he remembered, but there was a new power. The remnants of his progenitor haunted that dead world - it fed upon the echoes of destruction that constantly screamed across the planet's surface.

Cedric was uncertain whether his father was the dominant ego in the mass of spirits that made up [member="The Mephirium"]. There was much research to be done, and so long as Ession lingered within the Sith Empire, none could be undergone. He still didn't understand just what the entity was, let alone what it wanted.

"Maybe we should give Dremulae a visit. Ashla knows I've grown a bit tired of seeing skyscrapers everywhere. - maybe reach out to Master Karr too. He's one of the greats." He couldn't help but crack a flustered smile as she took his hands. It was silly, but he felt like a kid whose crush had finally decided to pay him some attention. For all the darkness that the galaxy surrounded the Jedi Master with, Loske had served as a near constant source of positivity. Her influence had drawn him from his dour state to something...well, better.

It was then that the darker parts of Cedric's mind came to play. After having fulfillment stolen from him so many times, he could not help but wonder. There was no family left, save for [member="Talaya Rade"], and the gods knew he worried for her every day. Was it wise to extend himself to yet another? If he lost his sister or Dak, it would be devastating. The others he could move on from - was adding another person onto that small list the right move? What if she were captured? What if she were killed?

Loske likely would have sensed his sudden dread immediately. It was not doubt - his feelings for the blonde were quite real - but an illogical terror of the unknown. It was far easier to follow the Jedi Path without attachment: was he compromising himself?

Cedric squeezed her hands. "I just have one request," he sighed, relinquishing his hold on her so that he might slip his arms about her waist, drawing her close. His voice was quiet, soft even as he spoke. "Don't get yourself killed doing any heroics. I can't do that again." He met her eyes. "You do that, and I'll refrain from any reckless heroics on my end. Deal?"

[member="Loske Matson"]