Private Release

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

After several weeks in a medically-induced coma and a further couple of days emerging from the deep state of unconsciousness, Zoraya had been through the worst of her injury but some lasting effects remained evident, particularly as she tried, and struggled with, the simple task of writing her own name.

Sat on the bed with her back to the door, she carefully moved the pen over the paper but it was proving to be particularly difficult and she soon became frustrated and threw them on the ground but her frustration quickly dissolved into despair as she stared at the jagged letter on the page.

How had it come to this?

Before her hopelessness could take over, there was an unexpected knock at the door so with a frown of confusion she looked over her shoulder at the door and once she saw who it was, her eyes widened in surprise.

She would have stood up but with lingering balance issues it was wise not to and she didn't want to look weak in front of him, or anyone for that matter, though the latter was unavoidable in the presence of hospital staff. She placed her legs back onto the bed and moved further up, assuming he wanted somewhere to sit.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a much softer tone than the commanding tone that she usually spoke with.

Tlorr​

 

[Tlorr]

He'd heard about Zoraya's recent injury while deployed some parsecs away from Telos IV. Tlorr was, of course concerned for the wellbeing of the Imperial agent, not just because she was his wife-to-be but out of genuine worry. However, it was the will of his parents that actually brought the Chiss to see Zoraya today - keeping up appearances and all that.

Tlorr wandered through the ward in search of the half-Sephi Imperial, eyes glancing at every room number until he got to hers. Finally landing on the number for Zoraya's room, he stopped outside her door and let in a deep breath - he hadn't seen Zoraya since the announcement of their betrothal some time ago, and he knew he needed to mentally prepare himself for Zoraya's... complicated personality. With some flowers in his left hand, Tlorr raised his right and proceeded to gently knock his fist against the metallic door shortly before it smoothly slid open.

Her reaction was... to be expected. Despite his annoyance at her bluntness, he kept a straight face and proceeded to smirk at the Imperial agent. "What, I cannot check in on my betrothed?" he quipped, trying to break the eyes, his smirk remained and the Chiss raised the flowers in his hand slightly, gently rattling them as he did so "I got you some flowers." he stated, voice elevating a few octaves.

Tlorr cautiously approached the seat beside Zoraya's bedframe, placing the flowers on top of the bedside table before sitting down. The muscles in his face relaxed and his blood red eyes rested upon the features of his betrothed "Are yo--..." Tlorr was a little lost for words, he wasn't sure how to approach this situation, how to approach her. Dropping all facades, Tlorr decided to simply speak what he truly felt "How are you doing?" he asked, displaying empathy in his tone.

Zoraya Ives-Ayres

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Zoraya showed no reaction to his quip, instead watching him blankly. She had not wanted to marry him, let alone be reminded of their future wedding to be, but she wasn't about to snap at him for it despite his misplaced humour which was lost on the half-Sephi. She disliked his flippancy which got on her nerves but he was... tolerable.

After their initial less-than-warm greeting, her gaze shifted to the flowers in his hand. At first, her expression showed one of surprise and then confusion. Was he mocking her? She sought his gaze to try and determine his intentions but with how much both had needed to falsify their personal lives, it was difficult to tell what was genuine or not.

"Thank you..." She replied cautiously to the flowers being placed beside her. With intrigue, she picked them up and inspected them for a moment. After staring death in the face, appreciating the smaller things was not an outcome she would have ever expected but now she had been forced to take a new outlook on life then things were beginning to change for her - but not entirely.

Her hesitation to respond as she analysed him was evident. "I'm... Fine." She replied. How could she even begin to explain how she felt? She didn't fully understand herself yet but even if she did and was comfortable sharing it, she doubted he would care enough to hear it. "Look, this is nice but you don't have to be here. I know you were told to come here so I'll tell my parents you were next time I see them." She told him, placing the flowers back down.

Very few people had responded to her with genuine kindness in her time and when they did she would only shut them down. She was not weak and did not want to be seen as such, only now she was being forced to face her own vulnerabilities and it was an uncomfortable truth. It was not out of coldness that she reacted so harshly to others but detachment.

Tlorr​

 

[Tlorr]

Her response to, well, everything was nothing short of expected - however, he kept his composure as to not put her in an even worse mood. Tlorr was surprised at Zoraya's reaction to the flowers in her body language, the Chiss had expected her to ignore or disregard them, but as his red eyes scanned the half-Sephi inspecting the flowers he'd brought for her. "I wouldn't worry, I checked your records. You aren't allergic to them." he half-joked.

Zoraya's reply to his follow-up question was short and to the point, to be expected. Tlorr's demeanour shelled up once more at her response, causing the Chiss to straighten his body and sit stiffly in his seat. His lips parted to carry on a dialogue but she'd already opened her mouth to continue speaking, what she said managed to deflate Tlorr, internally, he had wanted to use this time to get to know her... maybe find some common ground and establish some sort of connection with her. However, it seemed the half-Sephi's emotional barriers remained propped up, now more than ever maybe after her injury.

The Chiss contemplated for a moment, even showing a little of it in his facial expression for the briefest of seconds, just before stilling the muscles in his face once more. Without a word, Tlorr stood up and moved toward the door fully intent on leaving but... something stopped him. His head dropped and shoulders slumped, hanging low as he stared at the floor.

Tlorr let out a quick sigh before raising his head and elevating his shoulders once more, finding his inner strength. The Chiss' blue face turned to look over his shoulder "Zoraya..." he addressed her before turning his body fully to face her "I know this... situation wasn't what either of us wanted." Tlorr empathised, taking two steps toward her. "But, we both want to please our parents and so, I know none of us are backing out of this arrangement." he continued, taking a seat beside her bedside, leaning over slightly to attract her attention with his bloodshot eyes. "If we want to make, I'm not sure, the rest of our lives at least somewhat bearable..." Tlorr paused, biting his cobalt lip gently, "Why can't we try and establish some sort of repoire? I'm really trying here."

Tlorr took a moment to let his words settle, for Zoraya to really ponder on what he asked, a few seconds passed and Tlorr leaned back in his seat grinning. A small chuckle escaped him as he looked away for a second, then returning his gaze to Zoraya "We could even bond over our mutual dissatisfaction for our families' high expectations."

Zoraya Ives-Ayres

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

His attempt at humouring her brought with it a stark reminder that nothing about her would ever be private again, including the specifics of her current medical status, not only because he would have the means of circumventing any safeguarding but even then he held rights to the information simply for being listed as a significant other. The thought made her frown.

As he began towards the exit, she lay on her side, facing away from the door. Alone on an unfamiliar world, a friendly face should have been a welcome sight but all it did was remind her of the situation she had been forced into and how her life was not really within her own control - something she became greatly aware of in the aftermath of the accident.

She looked over her shoulder at him when he addressed her, listening to what he had to say. Upon realising it was rather significant, she sat back up and swung her legs over the side of the bed towards him. His offer was not ideal but she couldn't fault him for it. After all, it made sense. There was no need to make their situation unbearable and despite his annoying habits, he seemed to display a sense of genuineness that she rarely saw.

Her features softened and she hesitantly nodded in agreement. She couldn't see herself becoming overly friendly with the Chiss but he wasn't her enemy. She had fantasised about standing up to her parents and rejecting any involvement in their political games but whether she acted on it was to be determined. Having had a lot of time to herself to think, she was starting to reassess her priorities and her parents' control over her was slipping but for now she would play their game.

"Yeah." She sighed. "They're not at all like my biological family." She revealed in a rare moment of disclosure, almost lamenting. Whatever remained of them was likely gone. The attempt she had made to contact her parents was left unanswered. "I don't care for their politics any more than they care about how I feel." She scoffed and shook her head at the thought.

Tlorr​

 

[Tlorr]

Tlorr prepared for the worst, prepared for that cold, stoic voice to reject his olive branch and wall-up, refusing any kind of help or sympathy. Only... she didn't. For the first time in a long time, his expression betrayed him, the Chiss' eyes widened in surprise at Zoraya's sudden... cooperativeness. In a moment of vulnerability, Zoraya revealed a small fact about her biological family - it piqued his interest, not out of sheer nosiness, but out of a desire to actually get to know the person he'd be spending what seemed to be the rest of his days with.

She also confessed about not caring about her adoptive parents' politics, although, Zoraya had made that pretty clear already. Several times. Tlorr felt the same though. "Mine are the same." he admitted without any hesitation "But you knew that." the Chiss added. Tlorr reflected for a moment, displaying it on his face as he gazed off into empty space.

Tlorr recalled on what his betrothed had said about her biological family. He had always known that Zoraya was adopted by the Iveses, it was common knowledge to everyone in Imperial space. What he didn't know though, was anything of her biological family nor did he have the clearance to follow up on his curiosity.

Concluding his pondering, Tlorr's red eyes returned to the fire-y haired ISB Agent and a look of curiosity befell the Chiss' expression. Lingering on her for a moment, a look of sympathy... or maybe empathy had replaced his look of contemplation. "If.... you don't mind me asking--" he started with caution "Tell me more about your biological family. You made it seem as if you were old enough to remember them." after uttering his request, Tlorr wondered if Zoraya would clam up once more. Hopefully he hadn't pressed upon a sore topic.

Zoraya Ives-Ayres

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

The strangest part about their betrothal was that they were familiar with each other but really knew nothing about each other at all. She had never had any interest in learning anything about him nor maintaining any sort of relationship and neither was she now but isolated and with only one friendly face to talk with, she was more inclined to tolerate his questions.

"Um..." She hesitated, considering whether to answer the question. "I lived on Thustra." That much couldn't have been too hard to guess given her appearance. There was a longer pause this time as she considered whether or not to tell him the whole truth. Embarrassed of her poor family who were little more than farmers, she had never told anyone aside from her adoptive parents. "On a farm." She added after extreme deliberation.

"I lived with my parents and two cousins. I had an older sister, Kiara, as well but I didn't meet her until years later. I haven't told anyone that but I don't really care, it isn't a big deal to me." She told him rather apathetically. "My sister was a Jedi before the war reached Thustra so she was already off-world when the Sith came. My cousins... not so lucky. They got captured to be trained as Sith. I escaped."

"Thustra is free of Sith rule but I have no reason to go back there." Her tone was a bitter one. "My family are either dead or missing." Her gaze shifted away for a moment and she awkwardly muttered an apology for shifting to such a morbid narrative.

Tlorr​