Private Save It For The Morning After

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Talking with Thelma
Tag: Thelma Goth

The back door of the club flew open with speed, and along with it exited Silas and Thelma. The girl, who was in a rush to get out of the embarrassing scene had dragged him by the top to the cold atmosphere of Coruscant. Within moments, Silas snapped his head at her and gave Thelma a stern stare "Thelma! what is the matter with you!" he said out loud before pulling her hands away from his clothing "You didn't have to do all that because of a mishap, it was only a bit of fun!"

Silas sighed and straightened out his clothing again, trying his best to look somewhat presentable again "You can't keep running away like this. You did it at the ball and now in the club? is there something you're not telling me that I need to know?" he asked more softly, keeping a few steps away from her to give the girl some much needed space. Silas knew she liked him and considering it came from Thelma herself he had every right to believe that. Since the first time, he set eyes on her Silas was nothing but hooked. It was just a matter of what was happening between them.

"Is it because of me?"​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“I-I’m sorry,” Thelma stammered, releasing her hold on Silas’ shirt. They had exited into a narrow alleyway next to the Club. A cold breeze blew through, tousling her hair and making her shiver.

She hugged her arms for warmth, her shoulders hunched up to her ears as she weathered his angry outburst. None of this was supposed to happen. “I panicked,” she said. “All I could think about was getting out of there—getting both of us out of there before… before things got any worse.”

"Is it because of me?"

“No!” she exclaimed, shaking her head vehemently. “I mean—I just—It’s not you, it’s me, okay?”

She was so tired of keeping secrets. Every fiber of her being was practically screaming at her to just tell someone. But what if she told the wrong person?

“Can you keep a secret?” she asked.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Talk with Thelma
Tag: Thelma Goth

“No!” she exclaimed, shaking her head vehemently. “I mean—I just—It’s not you, it’s me, okay?”

Silas seemed to frown slightly at her words, almost guilty from being annoyed at her when he went outside with her "Oh... what's wrong Thelma?" he asked warmly, noticing that she was shivering from the cold environment of Coruscant. If he had a jacket, he'd have no hesitation to offer it to Thelma. However, right now he just wanted to make sure she was alright.

"Whatever is said in this alley won't leave here Thelma, you have my word," Silas said honestly, looking her directly in the eyes in concern "As long as it helps you feel better I will take it"​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“It’s more than that,” she said, shaking her head. “If you tell anyone else, I could get in serious trouble. My life would be in danger.”

Maybe it sounded like she was exaggerating, but her tone was desperate. Whatever she had seen, whatever she had experienced, it had fostered a genuine fear of exposure and its consequences.

Swallowing, she lowered the volume of her voice to almost a whisper. “You probably already guessed that I’m not human. But what I am… it makes things more complicated.” Pausing one last time to look around and make sure nobody else could hear what she was about to say, she decided to just get it all out in the open.

“I’m a Psy-Pire. I feed on memories. I can live on regular food, but it’s never enough, and I’m always still hungry. That’s why I keep to myself and stay away from other people—because it’s hard to stay in control around them. It’s why I’ve been trying to avoid getting close to you… but it’s been harder to do that lately.” She averted her eyes, avoiding looking at him. “We just keep getting thrown together, you know?”

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Talk with Thelma
Tag: Thelma Goth

"It's that serious?" he said to Thelma with his same look of concern, reaching over to grasp her hand again to make sure everything was alright "Tell me Thelma, you can't keep it bottled up inside forever. I did the same, and trust me it almost drove me into the ground," he said softly, wanting her to feel comfortable in such a stressful situation. Hesitantly, Thelma began to speak and open up to him. To say the least it wasn't something he was expecting at the very least.

Listening to every word closely, she soon revealed the stark truth of her not being human but instead a Psy-Pire that feasted on other people's memories. Silas didn't seem to show any emotion as she explained, but by the end a noticeable frown crossed his lips "You were hiding that all this time?" the boy said in a saddened tone, looking straight into her eyes. Unexpectedly, Silas pulled her into his chest for a hug and held onto her tightly. She was clearly taking a risk by telling this him, the least he could do was let her know everything was alright.

After a short time, he held onto her shoulders and pulled her away "Look at me Thelma, everything will be okay" the boy said reassuringly, knowing he also had to reassure himself with a question "But there's something I need to ask you. Please be honest alright?" Silas asked, taking a nervous breath at what he was about to ask

"During our time together, did you ever feed off me?"​

 

[Thelma Goth]

She had been keeping it all bottled up inside for so long that speaking the truth felt like a dam had burst inside her. Suddenly she wanted to tell him everything, her whole life story, as if she were being interviewed or giving confession. Words threatened to fall from her lips like water in a stream, bubbling forth from a newly discovered spring.

She watched Silas’ face. At first he seemed to have no reaction to what she was telling him, but then he frowned and seemed to grow sad.

"You were hiding that all this time?"

“Yes,” she replied breathlessly. “I had no choice. I was afraid I would be rejected otherwise, or worse. There are people who would hunt me down and kill me if they knew what I was…”

It was then that Silas pulled her into a hug. Thelma was so surprised by the gesture that at first she didn’t know what to do. Gradually she relaxed and returned the embrace, burying her face against his chest.

But then he pulled away, holding her by the shoulders at arm’s length. He commanded her to look at him, so she raised her head and met his gaze. He reassured her everything would be all right, and posed the one question she had hoped he would never ask. The guilty expression on her face gave away the answer long before she spoke.

“Once,” she whispered. “I tried not to. But when you kissed me, I lost control. You don’t remember it.”

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Talk with Thelma
Tag: Thelma Goth

Silas gently held the back of her head and let her head bury into his chest. Reassuringly he stroked it and gave her some time to gather himself. To say the least the both of them had grown qui,te a strange relationship, but Silas knew there was more than that hidden away in their hearts they were shy to admit.

"Don't worry, if anyone tried to hurt you they'd have to go through me first" he said warmly to Thelma who was probably worried about him thinking she was a mindless monster. Even with that in mind, it wouldn't stop Silas from caring about her. She was a fellow Jedi, and they had to stick together and have each other's backs. Although, when she admitted that memory had been taken a concerned look spread across his face. If one had been taken from his time with his mother and father, he didn't know how he was going to react.

"Thelma... what did you take," he said more sternly, wanting to know exactly what she took right here right now.​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma rested her palms over his hands, fingertips gently tracing the curves of his knuckles. There was affection in her gaze, cautious but present, as he vowed to protect her. Then her brow furrowed as he asked her what memories she had taken.

“I made sure that you wouldn’t remember my feeding from you. I have to do that with everyone I…” She swallowed, quickly changing the subject. “Um, I also took a memory involving food. I take those because they usually don’t mean all that much to people. But this memory was a strong one. Iris got you to try spicy food for the first time, and you had a really bad reaction to the taste.” She caught herself smiling at the stolen recollection and quickly stopped, staring down at the ground.

“And I made you forget that we had kissed. I thought that was for the best, even though it was a nice kiss.”

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Talk with Thelma
Tag: Thelma Goth

Even though he did want to know what she took from him, he wasn't going to be forceful with the girl. She looked distressed and sorry as it was, there was no point making the situation worse for her. It was bad what she did, but he needed to hear her out to see what really happened.

Nodding slowly, he listened to what she had to say. She was honest with what she had done to him, and with that came relief. If it was something to do with his parents, that would have been something hard to forgive. But a memory of tasting a particular food for the first time? that could be redone. His parents on the other hand could not be brought back from the dead to relive those memories again. Thelma also said they had kissed, which would have been his first proper kiss. It was a shame he wouldn't remember that...

Silas did look disappointed with what Thelma had done to him. Although, there were ways they could get over this and make sure it didn't happen again. Thelma was a kind and thoughtful girl, she was no monster by no stretch of the imagination "Hey... thank you for telling me the truth" he said softly, his hands lifting to rest on her face "I can get them back eventually" Silas said with a reassuringly squeeze looking into her eyes with a look that showed forgiveness.

"Who cares what the others think of you? I know who you truly are Thelma, a monster isn't one of them"​

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Who cares what the others think of you? I know who you truly are Thelma, a monster isn't one of them."

Thelma laid her hands over his, leaning into his touch upon her cheek. "You're welcome," she murmured at his thanks, then blushed as she realized how awkward she sounded. Still, she was glad he forgave her and relieved that he wasn't upset.

For a few moments she was so taken with Silas, so swept up in his comforting words that she wanted nothing more than to believe what he said was true. Deep down she didn't consider herself a monster either—but she was afraid of monsters all the same.

"I don't care what people think of me," she said. "I mean, mostly… But the danger is real. Vampire hunters wiped out our whole coven, killed my entire family. I survived because I ran away to Coruscant, to the Jedi…"

She still didn't know if Max had made it. The last time she saw the Jedi Master, he had thrust a disk into her hands containing documents that would allow her to join the NJO, and warned her to tell no one what she was. She'd already broken that rule.

Her grip on Silas tightened at the memory. "It feels good to tell somebody," she whispered. Turning her head, she pressed her lips to his palm.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: Coruscant
Objective: Talk with Thelma
Tag: Thelma Goth

"You're welcome,"

"Hm, I should count myself lucky," he said with a short laugh as he felt her hands go on his, her face leaning into the gentle grasp of his hands. He was happy she found comfort in the words he spoke, because there was nothing better than easing the mind of the troubled, especially Thelma's. She deserved to be happy as much as he was, the least he could do was help her get it back.

"You know, I share a similar story to you. My family was killed by the greed of men, who wanted nothing more than to fill their own pockets. Instead of running to the Jedi, they were the ones who found me..." he said with a slight frown from the remembrance of those cold and hopeless days held up on the gangster's ship "Later on, I even found out some dark truths. Thankfully, Master Valery has been guiding me through that" Silas didn't want to reveal all right now. That would be left for another time.

"I'm here for you Thelma, alright? we're both in the same boat" Silas said warmly as he felt her lips kiss his palm caringly. Looking at her silently, his hands gently made her look at him. Thelma had taken away a good memory, but now was a chance to create a memory that would last a lifetime between them, it was now or never.

"Why don't we fill that empty memory?" the padawan whispered, glaring back into her eyes with wonder. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he moved his lips closer to hers, interlocking them to commence a slow yet passionate kiss.

No one had made him feel this way before, Thelma truly was a special girl. ​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“I feel lucky to have found you,” Thelma said earnestly. “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to tell anyone the truth. If you can’t be honest, you’ll always be alone.”

Silas told her a little bit more about his past. Like her his parents had been killed, leaving him an orphan for the Jedi to take in. He alluded to some “dark truths” he had discovered, but didn’t divulge any more than that. She didn’t push the subject.

“The same boat,” she echoed softly. That explained it. She was drawn to him because they had something in common, a shared trauma. It was the key that had allowed her to open up as she had with no one else ever since she arrived on Coruscant, alone and without a single friend.

"Why don't we fill that empty memory?"

“The spicy food—?” She broke off as he kissed her. Green eyes widened in surprise, then fluttered closed, a soft whimper escaping her. She wrapped her arms around him, her lips moving pliantly against his. The muffled sound of music from inside the club faded into the background.

Silas Westgard​