Private Serena Harth Solos the Galaxy

[Inanna Harth]

"'Baby fever', huh?"

"Shhh." She tapped a finger against his lips, though she smiled too. "Don't laugh. Family means a lot to us Shi'ido. Besides, I love babies. They're so cute and little and helpless, I just want to love them all."

Cato's touch upon her changed even before he made a suggestive remark. "Ooh, are you looking for something to pass the time?" she asked, playfully bumping her nose against his. "I don't know about you, but I just want to make love to you..."

Subtle as a tactical nuke, but hey, there was no mistaking her answer. Inanna wrapped herself around him and eagerly returned his kiss.

---

With a little guidance from her parents, Serena made her way to the beds section. Tapping her chin, she held up a finger. "Can I try them?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's what they're here for," Inanna answered.

Serena promptly ran up to the nearest toddler bed (a very cool-looking number designed to look like a starfighter) and climbed aboard. Rather than lying down as if to sleep, however, she stood up and started jumping up and down on the mattress.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato couldn't help but widen his grin as Inanna spoke of her love for babies. It was adorable in its own right. Not that he ever doubted it to begin with. She had been an amazing mother to Serena. That dedication couldn't come with a whole lot of love and experience, "They are pretty cute."

The tone changed quick, but Inanna picked it up and ran with it, "What else am I gonna do? Sleep?" His grin turned more playful as they bumped noses, "Yes ma'-" Cato was cut off by the kiss, and stumbled around with her in his hands, until he found stability in the form of a wall…

---

Serena gave the beds a quick scan before choosing, in Cato's opinion, the raddest one int eh room. Except she wasn't keen on trying them out for sleep purposes, but rather how good they were to jump on. Cato stifled a smirk and stepped forward, "Uh, maybe save that for after we've bought one? It's not really polite to jump on other people's furniture."

Dejectedly, Serena slowed to a stop, giving her father an exaggerated frown. "Try laying on it. See if it feels nice rest in." She did as such, the frown unmoving from her face. "What do you think?" She shrugged, clearly too defeated about not jumping on the beds to properly evaluate them beyond such low-effort vagueness. Serena was in shutdown mode. Cato turned to Inanna, still smirking at the display, but silently asking for her to give it a go.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna was already looking at Cato when he turned toward her, thinking about last night. Her tender expression was broken by a snort when she caught his eye. “This thing’s a starship, right? Why don’t you fly it?”

“It not a real ship,” Serena pointed out.

“Yeah, but why not play pretend?” Inanna’s clothes warped and changed shape, taking on the appearance of a flight suit. She walked over and sat on the bed. “Are you my pilot or my co-pilot?”

“Um. Pilot.”

“Okay. Who are we shooting at?”

“Daddy.”

Inanna laughed. “Why are we shooting Daddy?”

“Because he is, he’s in the way.” She pointed to Cato, who was indeed standing in front of the bed.

“You can't shoot people just because they get in your way." Inanna smoothed Serena's raven hair back. "Maybe if Daddy pretends to be an Imperial TIE fighter. Then it's acceptable to shoot at him.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Inanna was able to get some fresh responses out of Serena quickly. Presumably because she wasn't the one that asked her not to jump on the beds. Cato crossed his arms and watched the interaction with a pleasant smile, interrupted by a scoff of mock insult when Serena said he was the target of her blaster fire, "So that's how it is?" He joked, slumping his posture.

"Maybe if Daddy pretends to be an Imperial TIE fighter. Then it's acceptable to shoot at him.”

Not one afraid of looking like a goober in public, Cato obliged this hypothetical with a full on charade; He spread his legs wide and squatted, then stretched out his lanky arms parallel to his legs and raised his hands, giving himself the vague H-shaped figure of a TIE Fighter. Complete with spaceship noises.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Serena was delighted by her father playing along. Inanna meanwhile burst into laughter at the sight of him H-posing, barely managing to regain her self-control long enough to actually play her role. “Okay, we gotta chase him!”

She held Serena in her lap, grasping her hands as if they were gripping the starfighter’s controls, and tilted the toddler this way and that, pretending to dogfight. Serena supplied her own pew-pew noises, shooting at the enemy TIE-fighter.

“We’ve been hit!”

“Aaahhhhh!”

“We’ve got to get a clear shot and take him out! Use the Force, Serena!”

“How I do that?” Serena asked.

“Uh…” Inanna had no idea how to explain the Force, at least not in terms that a two year old would understand. “Concentrate!”

Serena squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her tiny fists around her mother’s fingers.

“Now, shoot!”

“Pew pew pew!” Serena exclaimed. “Did I blow it up?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato grinned broadly, soaking up the reactions from both Inanna and Serena. He shifted around slightly so as to not be completely static during their dogfight, trading a few shots. Serena "used the Force" as she fired again, and Cato paused for dramatic effect… then with an exploding noise, he stretched out his limbs in a star pose, signifying the destruction of his TIE Fighter. "Nicely done, ace," He bowed as if having just finished some classy theater performance, and stood back up to see an Ithorian family staring at him. He couldn't quite tell if they were bewildered or amused. The kid seemed to have enjoyed the spectacle though, laughing in high pitched stereo.

Cato just smirked and nodded, before stepping over and rustling Serena's hair, "What do you think? You like it?" Serena nodded eagerly, "Great. One and done, then." He checked the price again. Nothing they couldn't afford. "Let's get someone over to ring this up then." Cato picked up Serena off the bed and began to walk, nudging Inanna along the way, "How was that? Maybe acting is my true calling?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Yes, you did it!” Inanna smooched Serena on her round pink cheek before handing her off to Cato. Standing up, she glanced over at the Ithorian spectators, smiling shyly and switching from the flight suit back into her usual getup.

“I gonna shoot the whole galaxy,” Serena was telling her father excitedly.

“All by yourself?” Inanna asked.

Serena nodded. “I shoot all them, pew pew pew, before I go sleepy.” She rested her head against her hand as if it were a pillow. “And they all blow up.” She continued to imitate the noises of turbolaser fire and explosions.

"How was that? Maybe acting is my true calling?"

“Cato Harth, holo star?” She smirked. “Yeah, I can see it.”

“Mommy, Daddy,” Serena was tried to get their attention, pointing to another toddler bed. This one was shaped like a hot pink speeder, and the toddler was wriggling her way out of Cato’s arms in an effort to reach it. "I want that one!"

"I thought you wanted the other one."

"I want this and that one!"

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato raised his eyebrows in both amusement and concern at the claim, "Serena Harth solos the galaxy," He decreed, "That's one way to get peace and quiet for bedtime."

As for being an actor, it was a joke of course, but for a moment Cato couldn't help but envision himself on the big holo screen after Inanna's approval. Or maybe on a tv show like those daring heroes that inspired his time on Nar Shaddaa. He certainly had the stage presence, if nothing else.

Serena began to wriggle around, pulling her father's attention back to the present. She wanted another bed. He scratched his head, "We can only get one, kiddo. Sorry. Which one you want more?" Cato glanced at Inanna, chuckled, and shook his head.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Serena looked up at her parents pleadingly. "But—But I want both!"

While Cato chuckled, Inanna's smile disappeared. She may not have been able to sense danger with the Force, but she recognized the signs of an impending tantrum when she saw it.

Sure enough, the toddler's face scrunched up and she burst into tears, flinging herself against the mattress of the pink speeder bed. Her wailing inevitably began to draw the attention of other shoppers, but Inanna didn't pay the gawkers any mind. She was looking over at Cato. This was Serena's first major meltdown, happening in public no less, and she wasn't sure how he would react.

She sat down on the bed next to her, stroking Serena's silky black hair. "You want them both, but you don't need them both, baby," she soothed. "You can't shoot the whole galaxy in a speeder, anyway."

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

In his naivete, Cato had not quite accepted the possibility of a full on toddler meltdown. Sure Serena had her spats before, but as soon as she belted out her overreactive despair, he could only cringe in sudden realization. Awkwardly, he scratched his head, and trudged over to meet her on her level. The onlookers didn't really bother him, but it was still an uncomfortable situation.

"You can't sleep in 'em both, either. That's not how beds work, silly," He tried to appease her with a subtle chuckle. She sobbed a bit more, whether it was to accentuate her point further, or mourning a newfound realization that she could not in fact sleep in two beds at the same time, was hard to say. Cato sighed, and patted her shoulder, "If we spent money on two whole beds, we couldn't afford as many toys for you." Perhaps that would appeal to her senses.

"Which one you want more honey? Gotta make a choice."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Though it may have felt longer, the worst of the tantrum was over within just a few minutes. Serena sat up, wiping her eyes on her sleeves and complaining only a little when Inanna came at her with a tissue, cleaning up the tears and snot. Then she clung to her mother’s skirts, muffling her wordless whining against her knees when asked again to choose. Not even the possibility of losing out on toys seemed to help.

By this point, Inanna was beginning to suspect Serena wasn't upset that she couldn’t get both. She was only a little bit spoiled, after all. Instead, the toddler was having a crisis over being asked to make her first real major life decision. “Hm,” she mused aloud, casting a knowing glance Cato’s way. “Since you’re not answering, I guess we’ll just have to pick for you. What do you think we should get her, Daddy?”

“No!” Serena suddenly protested, lifting her head. “I pick!” She pointed to herself. “Is my bed!”

“Which one is your bed?” No answer. Inanna finally brought out her secret weapon: “If you pick one now, we may still have time to go get ice cream after this…”

Serena’s tawny eyes got big and she suddenly took off like a rocket. Inanna just sat and watched as she scampered through the aisles of child-sized beds, spun around and flailed in panicked indecision, before finally pointing to the starfighter she had first been drawn toward.

“That one!”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

At least it didn't get worse. Serena was out of tears within a few minutes. Cato felt a bit awkward that his efforts did little to actual defuse matters, but Inanna had a quick and simple suggestion to get them back on track. Serena refused to have the choice taken away from her, and with an extra promise of ice cream, it didn't take long for her to scramble back to the starfighter bed she first laid eyes on. Cato couldn't help but smirk, "Alright. The choice is locked in."

He looked around and waved over the nearest employee to ring up the bed, wrapping up the purchase with just a quick exchange. He signed his name, and offered a thanks, "They'll have it shipped to us before the end of the day." The Harths didn't exactly have a speeder it would fit it on, and it was too cumbersome to just carry back. "So… Ice cream? I'm sure somebody's selling some in the plaza just outside of here." Serena had a surge of newfound energy, bouncing up and down like she would take off at the first sign of dessert.

Inanna Harth​