Private Stomachs A-Growlin'

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

"I'm not, I'm pretty great." Colette said and blew a happy little laugh through her nose. If one of them had to be the confident one then she found no issue in being that person. "But hey, Shan, look at me."

She stood up so that she could be next to him, kneeling on the ground to move her hand from his so that she could let it cup his cheek with a gentle brush. She gave him a gentle push to guide his attention back at her and away from the floor and to gently get him to look straight into her eyes. He needed to hear this, and to feel this:

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you, always. That's what friends do, that's what I want to think lovers do too." She shook her head gently as she spoke, her voice as soft as she could muster it. "This is my first partnership too, and I'm really scared as well, but to make it work we have to trust each other to talk about these things, okay?"

"That's what I've seen Valery and Kahlil do, and while I don't ever want to have eight kids of my own," She laughed a little to lighten the mood. "I still think they might be onto something, okay?"

"Trust me, you're fine. I love you."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"I mean...I am talking about it. So that does mean I trust you...I just...don't trust myself if that makes sense? Normally, I'm fine with just nodding to people. Saying what they want. But with you, I want to say more than just what you want to hear. I want to say what I mean as well."

The Mirialan took in a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Steady his thoughts and his emotions. Taking a few moments to let himself figure out what exactly he wanted to say to Colette before nodding to himself.

"It's so that when I tell you how much you mean to me, how you are always a bright light in my life and that you are someone that makes it worth waking up in the morning. That you're someone I want to spend my life with and that I want to have a family with you. Eventually. Not now. Definitely not now. There's too much stuff going on right now."

An awkward laugh was all he said afterwards, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Feeling ever so slightly embarrassed about it all...but still happy to have said it at the end of the day.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

"I don't even know if I want that kind of family yet, but yeah… Not right now." Colette said and pulled Shan in to place a small peck of a kiss on his lips before she separated with a weak smirk. "But, it sounds like what you're saying is that we can work through this together."

She grinned.

"I'll just have to put you in positions where you have to speak your mind."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"I think just having a bunch of cats works great for a family." Shan joked a little bit with Colette, returning the little peck and just resting his head against Colette's shoulder, closing his eyes and letting out a small sigh.

"I'd like to see you try to put me in a position like that. It'll never happen." He teased her, before just letting silence fill the room so the pair of them can just think.

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

"Oh yeah?" Colette asked with a dare flashed across her perked up brows. "I'll put you in any position I damn well please if you keep talking to me like that."

Shan knew that she was competitive, this must have been a precision strike on his behalf. Colette couldn't help but grin as she let the silence linger for a while longer before she gave the silly boy a kiss on his cheek and took her seat opposite him at the table again to continue eating the last few morsels left on her plate.

"So…" She eventually chimed up to break the silence. "Sith auction. I think you said you had even more?"

 

[Shan Pavond]

"You can try." Shan responded back to Colette, sticking his tongue out to tease Colette some more. It was fun like this. They were both just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Of course, he didn't doubt for a second that Colette could probably beat him in any form of fight...but that didn't stop him from teasing.

"Eh...Just told you the real meat and potatoes of it. Oh. She made me wear a suit for it. It was so damned itchy. And sorted my hair out. I had to look presentable or something." He scratched at his neck, ass he relieved the moment of wearing the suit, wrinkling his nose afterwards. "She also threatened to make me stuck in it if I talked back. But part of me felt like she wasn't being serious. I dunno."

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

Colette remembered the last time she had seen Shan in a suit. He had seemed absolutely miserable before they snuck away to fix it. To not just have to do that with a Sith but also be taunted about it…

"Think there's a saying about idle threats and something like idle minds…" Colette muttered. "Basically you're a moron if you do it."

"Did you have any other big adventures or was that the one?"

"... I mean, I'd tell you what I've done but I'm not sure small-town squabbles and lost cattle interest you that much."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"I mean. Anything to do with you interests me Colette."

Shan said rather matter of factly as he rested his chin on his hand, staring off out of the window, trying to figure out if he had any big adventures. There wasn't really much if he thought about it.

"Erh...I tried to teach someone how to heal. It was weird. I felt all responsible. I don't like it. I'm not meant to be teaching people or being all...adulty."

He shook his head at that, breaking out into a brighter grin. As much as he said all of that, it was pretty fun.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

"I mean, no but also yes?" Colette smiled. "You are supposed to be responsible, but you shouldn't have to feel adult just yet. Neither of us do."

"Buuuut… We're also force sensitive. It's our duty to find out what we can do for others, and help others do the same."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"Yes. But this was like...someone else who was Force Sensitive. It felt...weird. Like I was a Knight teaching someone. I don't know if I like it." Shan shook his head afterwards at that. He knew he was meant to be responsible, but there was a difference between being responsible and looking after someone who was younger than you. Sure, when he helped look after the Noble kids, they were like family. But Zaiya had been a stranger to him...

"It just...feels strange. To be teaching people younger than me. Passing knowledge to the young ones. Well...not young ones since she's technically not part of the Order...but still." Shan shrugged his shoulders afterwards. It was a strange experience. Part of him liked it. It made him want to become a knight sooner rather than later...

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

The concept of being wary of a stranger was one of those things Colette hadn't grown up with, at least not to the same extent as Shan and a majority of others in the galaxy. On Ophus it had always been phrased as cooperation or death or 'the greater good' to see to others as you would see to yourself.

"Order or not hardly matters." Colette shrugged. "Especially if it's for healing."

"I don't know that it's strange, at least not to me. You knew something, you shared something. Either they learned, or they didn't. If you had to be a knight to teach others, I'm pretty sure we'd never even heard of Jedi after Order 99."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"Yeah...but I've never felt like I've had anything worthy to teach. Loads of people want to learn how to fight. But barely anyone I've met has ever wanted to learn how to heal. I used to think I was "broken" for not wanting to learn how to fight." Shan sighed at that, rubbing the back of his neck, shrugging his shoulders afterwards though.

"Plus I was told I shouldn't be healing anyone since I'm not "medically trained" a while ago now. Really shook mee up if I'm being honest..." It was true. Shan had almost put himself off healing completely because of that moment.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

Colette's nostrils flared, her lips pursed and her brows furrowed. Her grip around the fork paled just the slightest as she listened to what Shan was saying.

"And do I know this person?" She grumbled like the thunder of a storm that had only just begun to rear its ugly head on the horizon. "Are they a Jedi?"

"Have I met them before?"

 

[Shan Pavond]

"It doesn't matter. I haven't interacted with them since." Shan waved his hand almost dismissively. It was dealt with, at least to him. He didn't want to get Colette all heated up, as much as he enjoyed how protective she could be about it. "And I know they were wrong now. Even if they might have been a Jedi working in the medical wing, I know they were wrong."

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

Deep breath.

"Well, alright then…" Colette muttered. "But if they say something so stupid again, and I hear about it, I won't even hesitate to respond."

Medical wing. Jedi. Healer. Colette put it to memory anyway. Nobody shot Shan like that while she was still around.

"They were wrong, and it's good that you recognize it." She still mumbled and shook her head. "I can't believe just how wrong they were."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"It's fine. I just find it hilarious now. Healing is the one thing that is...well...me. You take away healing and I'm just a random person."

Shan shrugged his shoulders. Of course, that was selling himself a bit short, but he didn't mean it in a bad way. It was more...he thought of his interest in healing as what made him unique. He just leaned over to give Colette a soft peck on the cheek, smirking as he decided to tease her.

"...You're cute when you get mad by the way."

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

Huh? Wait, what? Colette felt an unexpected tension lift from her shoulders as Shan's lips pecked against her cheek.

"When I'm— Oh, I wasn't…" Yes she was. "Okay, maybe—" Her lips thinned. "I didn't even realize."

"I just don't like that they got under your skin. I should…" All things considered Colette was taken aback for a moment. "I never quite realized how ready I was to beat the hell out of that person. And how fast I got there."

 

[Shan Pavond]

"It's fine. I can understand why you felt that way. I just...I trust you not to actually beat someone up for me." He reached his hand over towards Colette's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze as he was trying to reassure her.

"I feel the same when you get upset. But I'm sure you trust me not to hurt someone just because they've hurt you." THough then again, Shan wasn't sure if he wouldn't hurt someone...Nah. He probably wouldn't.

Colette

 

[Colette]

Shan Pavond

"No promises." Colette chuckled and began to rub her hand against her neck. "Yeah, like that. I trust you not to hurt others because of me too."

"If anything I'm pretty sure we're both more likely to hurt each other for others if it came to it."

"Uhh, the triage as you called it. Saving the many over the one."

"... Sorry, it's just something that I can't stop thinking about."

 

[Shan Pavond]

Shan stayed quiet. For once, he thought Colette was wrong. His entire life had always been focused on saving other people, but for once in his life, he had something that he'd rather protect over the many. He'd want to look after Colette as much as he could. He just rested his head against Colette for a moment, reaching down to take her hand and just rub his thumb against it.

"...I have something that you can think about. I rode a Mantessan panthac the other day against Braze." He smirked at that, breaking out into a grin afterwards. "Used the Force to build a bond with it and just...rode it around New Cov. Knight Si was trying to train us in Ataru."

Colette