Save Tonight [Yasha]

[Ria Misrani]

Vaynai​

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Three Shores Boardwalk​

[member="Yasha Mantis"]​

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"See? That wasn't all that bad." Alvarex mentioned to the 'mighty adorable' Mand'alor. Not too far from the Treasure Pyramid Hotel and Casino was the Three Shores Boardwalk, which in all fairness was a boardwalk. It extended quite the distance with restaurants, shops, and bars that lined up on one end and the ocean on the other. Piers jutted into the ocean as boats returned with a combination of freight and tourists, the sun was still fairly high but had slowly began its descent. "Now I don't know about you, but I am starving. Ladies choice, I'll pay." Alvarex gestured at the many choices that seem to be before them.

No doubt that his family wasn't too far away in fact he could almost hear the faint bit of laughter of his mother. He suppressed his urge to shudder and then asked, "you know, I didn't get to ask before but, how's Adara?" He had only ever met the infant once but still the son of Kaine Zambrano thought to ask. Sounds of music floated down the boardwalk, live entertainment it seemed. Hands behind his back, force of habit he presumed. The sound of the wooden planks beneath his form groaned at the weight but their age seemed to whether it all.

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[Yasha Cadera]

“I did win at drowning you, and your flailing arms were pleasant.” Yasha looked at [member="Alvarex Zambrano"], attempting to smooth the smile off her face.





“Although I think I burnt my toes. Sand is hot… when you wear temp-controlled armour in perpetuity, things like hot, cold, windy, wet… disappear.”





Barefoot on the boardwalk, Yasha hopped on the guard rail and walked effortless upon the three inch strip of wood. She stretched her arms above her head with a groan and let them flop back down. Her hair was still damp from the water, drying in lazy curls under the white hood.





“Is this the part, where I go ‘you think I’m poor or too dainty that I can’t buy my own food, grr arrr rawwwrrrr female huffle-huff!’? ‘Cause I’d rather say thank you and have a meal in a well defended location.” Not that [member="Keira Verd"] wasn’t close and unseen, nor that the Mand’alor was truly alone in this place. “That would be the ultimate luxury.”





The pier was emptying as they walked, people filtering away from the Emperor’s son and the Mand'alor. Yasha sniffed the air for something which would delight. Mandalorian cuisine was thrifty and spicy, enough to blast the nose and sear the palate. Tonight was a chance to taste something different, and do so in the company of one who made her forget.





Until he asked about her daughter. Yasha glanced out to the water.





“Adara? She’s…” Safe? Well tended? The infant monster that scared half the Mandalorians senseless? “She’s gaining a healthy amount of weight. The formula Empress Salara sent us is doing quite the trick. It’s like Adara’s finally in ‘normal baby’ zone. She’s with Tamar and my parents in Concordia.”





Hopping down from the guard rail, Yasha leaned her forearms on it and searched the waves. They were tranquil, constant and chaotic. The breeze blew her hood down, but Yasha didn’t fix it, her hair rustling in the wind.





“I’ll be honest. We found my husband Kaden injured on Dxun. My doctors did amazing… he woke up a few weeks ago and held Adara in his arms for the first time. We argued, and his heart gave out. I'd thought he was dead, and then he was. He's buried on my family’s property north of Keldabe.” Yasha pressed the back of her thumb against a moist eye, brushing away honesty’s precipitate. A deep inhale was taken, savoured and hissed out.





Yes, today was a beautiful and necessary day.





“When you and your sister called, even Ambrose was like, ‘yep! Let me grab your coat!’ I really needed this, and you’re being epic. Adara’s getting Grandpa Gray and Grandma Baiko cuddles and I get holos every day. Think I should thank your mother now, or wait until after stealing bites of your dessert?” Yasha’s lovely face passed from momentary grief to the joy of new hope, putting a bright grin on her face as she pointed to a restaurant on the side.

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‘Mic Mac’s Seafood Palace’​

“That one. It smells almost as good as you do.”

 

[Ria Misrani]

"Ha ha, yeah I bet it was huh?" Alvarex returned in jest, "ah well, we'll just have to be more careful about that next time, won't we?"

He smiled, blue eyes twinkled in the natural light of the day. The Epicanthix watched as the mighty adorable Mand'alor popped up onto the rail, andoninstinct he reached out to either catch her or help her down. But then as she continued on the rail, he relaxed but at the same time. His eyes kept focus waiting to act if anything happened, last thing he needed was an intergalactic incident. He could hear the headlines now Son of Dark Lord lets the Mand'alor fall. Followed by all the gasps from the gossip columns. "No, this is the part where I am a decent person." Alvarex winked, he wasn't sure just what all Yasha came from but he definitely was not going to shove wealth in someone's face. At least not on purpose, and then she spoke of Adara.

A hand to his chest, "ah, good, good - excellent. I am happy to hear she's doing well."

Yasha dismounted from the rails and took the moment to lean up against them, and so Alvarex moved to lean one elbow along the rail. Body turned to where they had walked from eyes focused on her, "my condolences." Were the first words from his mouth, "losing anyone is hard, let alone a spouse."

The Blackblade smiled softly, and then scoffed with laughter. "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure she'll appreciate one or the other. Just glad that we're able to help." Distractions were good, they were good when they were needed. Finally, Yasha pointed out a place, 'Mic Mac's Seafood Palace.' Alvarex nodded in acknowledgment and walked with Yasha into the so called palace, but if you asked him. It looked nothing like a palace and they should change their name to 'Mic Mac's Seafood Shack.' But that was just his personal opinion.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Will we?” Yasha smirked, kicking at the back of his shoulder, while she stood on the rail. The mighty adorable Mand’alor had a dancer’s grace far removed from the bloodshed she’d doled out. Amber met blue for a flash, Yasha’s face softening further at the sight of him. She turned her chin back to the rail, tip-toeing along it and conducting a gracious flourishing bow.

“Tis most decent of you, Sir-Prince.” Before de-railing, Yasha dipped into a hand stand, her legs akimbo as she hand-walked along the rail, then dismounted.

“Me too. My ad’ika is growing and I’m finally able to breathe… I never believed in the Force, just an excuse for mysticism… Spending my childhood with Mand’alor the Undying and my father, the Force was a disease or gene that needed snipping… that day you held Adara… There she was, being fed a meal I couldn’t fathom. It was the first time I couldn’t deny the Force exists.”

Tucking her hair behind her ears, Yasha exhaled with a hiss and leaned over to bump shoulders with [member="Alvarex Zambrano"]. “Thank you. It’s okay… I’m okay. Kaden got to hold his daughter, and now he’s in Manda. Paradise in the collective oversoul is a fair bit better than struggling here as a cripple.”

The two walked into the chintzy seafood ‘palace’, to paper garlands of shells and starfish, the walls painted with murals of seascapes from across the Galaxy. A holographic mascot dressed in the outfit of a ‘king crabnik’ welcomed them in Huttese, Basic, Epicant and Mando’a, doing a happy little dance on its’ spot. A server of twi’lek origins grabbed a couple of menus, and with a look up, up, up, uuuup to Yasha and the outrageously tall Alvarex, pointed behind her to the booths.

“Aaaaaaaaah you’ll fit in the booth.” The server said, guiding them to a booth set beside a floor to ceiling aquarium with fauna from Naboo. Three lazy squids and an underwater ‘frog’ swam round the mostly empty tank.

The snort which purged out of Yasha Mantis’ lips was chased by a wide grin as she giggled and put her forehead to Alvarex’s shoulder.

“This is perfect.” Yasha walked on, and slid into the booth.

“We have wine… ah… here.” The server took the wine menu, wiped it with her cloth and set it back down, before abruptly turning around and running straight back to the kitchen yelling none-too-quietly, “Ohmigodsohmigodsohmigodslookwhowalkedin…”

 

[Ria Misrani]

"Perhaps," he kept his answer vague, "that is me, the decent Sir-Prince-of-the-Reach."

A hearty chuckle followed and was soon softened by the talk of Adara. Alvarex bowed with respect to the Mand'alor. "I am only grateful that we were able to help, and with talk like that you sound like a Corellian. Who only believe that the Force is some, how do they phrase it? Hokey religion? The Force is quite real, it moves around us - it is a living and active thing that flows like a river. " Alvarex then quieted down to listen to Yasha speak of her late husband, Kaden.

Once inside the palace they were greeted and seated near a tank of sorts. The decor of the palace was gaudy at best in his opinion but he had been told by his friends that such places were some of the best to dine at. So he had hoped that they were right, and if not he was sure he could summon a cook from his family's personal employ. He was more impressed with the mascot's linguistic capabilities than the decor. "Then I am glad it pleases you so." He struggled slightly to get comfortable in the booth. And once he had settled in the server acted strangely, the Prince frowned and pushed any other thoughts to the back of his mind. He did not care for what was ordered, he'd go along with whatever it was Yasha ordered. "Why do I have a feeling someone recognized us?" He asked Yasha plainly.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“My gratitude, Sir-Prince-of-the-Reach. I suppose it sounds better than Salt-and-Pepper-Prince.” Reaching up, Yasha brushed a strand of [member="Alvarex Zambrano"]’s hair away from his eyebrow, and pursed her lips. “Joyce was incorrect. There’s no salt. Only pepper.”

Tugging her hair behind her ears, Yasha glanced upward at the bantering Prince. His eyes sparked across her skin like the lightning from her war hammer, his skin softer than she expected for a man of war.

“Others have told me the same. It’s less believable when I grew up dead to it, incapable of any instinct or sensation. After seeing what your father and you did for Adara… I cannot discount it. Quite the opposite, it makes me wonder what the Force is like.” Despite her many internal guards, Yasha felt the softening of her edges, wary attitudes falling away for the delight of pleasant company. The server returned with a bottle of Naboo Blossom Brut, unwinding the cage and pulling the cork loose with a loud ‘pop’! She poured the effervescent wine into two flute glasses and set them down, grinned, turned an about-face and scurried away. Yasha raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

“Probably something to do with your gregarious height and your father's recent conquering of the planet… or our collective bodyguards coming through the back. Take a break, Tuulu!” Handing Rex his flute, Yasha clinked hers on it and took a sip. “I could hear his ‘gam."

“Cheese it!” Tuulu's voice was chased by a rumble in the kitchen stealing the relative quiet of the back. Yasha peeked over the edge of the booth, shook her head and covered a chuckle with a hand on her forehead.

“Oh boy. Sorry about that. Chose this place for the smell. Can you smell that? Mmmmh! I think we hit gold… Yes, this place does please me. It’s adorable. Poorly defended, gaudily designed, improper in serving staff etiquette… all I can do is laugh internally… and try to get comfortable in this booth. Kad Harang, who designed this, midget Ewoks? Toygarians? It was a Toygarian wasn’t it?”

Wriggling in the booth, Yasha finally pulled her legs up on the seat, one stretched all the way out, the other with her knee propped up for her elbow. She leaned carefully against Alvarex’s shoulder, peeking up to see if he thought anything negative of the simple act.

“Do you mind that I use you to get comfortable, Sir Prince of the Reach? Or… are you concerned about those silly gossip columns on the Holonet picking up a quote-unquote cozy moment between some random Epicanthix beach floozy and the Royal Sir Prince? I wear armour and a helm shaped like a wolf. The idea any of these people would know my face is slim to none.”

 

[Ria Misrani]

"Ha, well, I won't be the one to tell my sister she's wrong." Alvarex said with a bit of laughter. Who was he to correct one of the Zambrano women? No one, the God-Prince watched a moment as Yasha tugged her hair behind her ears. His eyebrows lifted when she wondered what the Force was like. He leaned into the booth and thought on the question or phrase rather. "It's part of you, much like breathing the Force is everywhere and while most who are not sensitive to it are unaware of its presence. It does not make it any less real, or there, but the Force is just a tool a means in which to accomplish something. It can be quite easy to allow yourself to give into the darkness. But, conversations for another time I suspect."

Alvarex chuckled, "perhaps but normally my presence even on recently conquered worlds does not create quite a stir, well, normally." If they were back on the Reach, he could have a better understanding of it. Outside of it he did not, and then there was a flute to be clinked he followed suit at best he could. He defintely could see the humour in this that was for sure, "ah perhaps some small crea- you know Toygarians are notorious for creating such small seats."

"And no I do not mind, gossip does not concern me. Royal gossip fuels the tabloids, people sell them, others write them while I may not be inclined to agree with them. They serve their purpose, and as for you, you are welcomed to take comfort. I shall endeavor to ensure that you are comfortable." He gave a smile as he set the flute down, alcohol wasn't really his thing. He knew it was socially acceptable to have it but overall he was quite alright without. "And what a wonderful and most beautiful face you have." Alvarex was sincere in his words a bright eyed smile followed up as he leaned in the booth.

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“A warrior afraid? How fantastically cute for a man of your caliber to be afraid of your own sister. Come now, Alvarex. Shall I hold your hand? Perhaps the addition of a Mandalorian in your cohort is all you need. We can take her. Of that I am confident.”

The bold approach to comedy might have gone vastly unnoticed but for the punch Yasha threw to [member="Alvarex Zambrano"]’s shoulder. A lopsided smile took her face, casting off the cares she held too close to her person. The cares and affairs of state vanished under this new act of social bonding, and even as Alvarex had his eyes on her hair, Yasha tipped down her chin.

“Darkness does not require the Force to steep within and lose oneself... but you make the Force sound both threatening and nothing to worry about at all. It’s a strange thing, you calling it a tool. You sound like Gray and Australis. Comforting to hear a similitude, I suppose.” Sipping her brut, Yasha refilled her glass and took the allowance offered.

“Dash their heads against my hammer, I tell you.” Yasha murmured and fidgeted in the booth, pursing her lips. “Hold this.”

Handing her glass to Alvarex, Yasha ducked under the table, lifted the base cover and unscrewed the bolts holding it to the floor. Her hand reached up to pat at the table, dumping the bolts onto the closest bread plate her fingers found.

“I am not being defeated by a Toygarian’s sense of scale!” Yasha pushed the table a few inches out, popped back up onto the booth seat and wiped her hands on a napkin. “There! I refuse to allow us to have an uncomfortable dinner. You are not allowed to bash your knees on a table.”

Leaning back into his side, Yasha took her flute and sipped the bubbling beverage. Alcohol was a daily part of a Mandalorian’s life all things considered, and Yasha was a proof of the rule. Being more accustomed to the tihaar hall in her Palace or the kip in a war tent than any other places, a meal without the celebratory liquors was unheard of. Or, meant battle was far too close to enjoy a meal. Pulling the knee closest to the seat back up, Yasha once again propped her elbow upon it.

“Perhaps then your presence beside a wonderful and beautiful Mandalorian is enough to pique gossip’s interest... word must have gotten out.” Never accused of being shy, Yasha met the glance in Alvarex’s eyes with one of her own. Challenging his admonition of beauty with one of her own. “What shall the God-Prince do to ensure the happiness and comfort of the Warrior Lady in his company? One who is unused to such praise? Most men would be terrified to call me beautiful, lest their heads be dashed upon my War hammer.“

The server reentered with a tray of spiced and boiled crustaceans, vegetables and tubers arranged on sharing platters. She put the plates down and blinked... and looked at the bread plate with bolts on it, looked under the table, back to the plate.

“Aaannnnndddddd that’s a first. Wow. Okay.. umm... I’ll get you a new plate and... gee you must be some kind of strong, Lady-I’ve-Never-Seen-Before and Man-Who-Definitely-Isn’t-Who-I-know-He-Is. Ehheh... right!” Once again swerving on her feet, the Twi’lek rushed back to the kitchen.

“Like that? Was that acting casual? I mean holy phrik that’s totally...” Her voice cut out as a gurlanid growl cut her off. Yasha’s head peaked up.

“Oooohhhh I know what’s going on.” Sparkling Amber eyes rolled as Yasha laughed, stifling the sound by pressing her forehead into Alvarex’s side. “Ambrose is trying to give us privacy. He’s making sure I can relax. Ambrose has watched over me since I was eight years old, in the Death Watch battle camp. Mmmmh! This smells delicious.”