Strictly Platonic (Mara Merrill)

[Hylocereus]

Hylo’s face was a shade red as he sat in the restaurant. The truth was he’d been on Coruscant for some time helping out by setting up a vertical farm in one of the many towering structures. To get his mind off the situation he thought about the various gardens he’d planted. Most of the products in the large tower had been dedicated to feeding the many citizens of coruscant and yet to supplement the income he had to also had to plant a number of cash crops. Then there was also his personal garden he’d planted near the top of the tower. He liked that garden, the feel of dirt under his feet. The Green Tower, he heard it was being called by the locals. He thought about all the work that needed to be done and realised he needed help. That’s why he was here afterall.

The tower had been abandoned and he’d taken up residence setting up and doing as he pleased. Many of the lower city citizens had even helped him in setting up facilities and scavenging goods. Although Hylo wasn’t very rich he owned stock in a fashion company and was able to pay. In addition he had also helped engineer new medicines and had his name on a few botanical patents. This had helped him buy the needed supplies when needed and then use profits from selling cash crops back to said fashion company.

That’s when the trouble began. A man claiming to be the owner of the tower stepped forward and demanded compensation. Hylo needed money and he needed it fast. His friend Damian Starchaser, owner of Chase Fashion, offered him what he could, even putting to vote on the corporate docket to use company funds to buy into the project. Hylo had set up other operations for them in the past. In addition Damian had arranged for a meeting with [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] to discuss a possible business arrangement with her. As long as Hylo brought up these deals Damian agreed to allow him to take the meeting. And so he was where he was, in dim lit, private booth at an upscale restaurant. Damian even had Hylo bring a bottle of wine from his vineyard.

“I uh…” Hylo started as he stared at Mara. They had been friends for awhile, this shouldn’t be so awkward. “I’m sorry for this. You know how Damian is, keeping to that image of his. I wouldn’t have invited you to this place… not that I wouldn’t want to.. It’s just….”

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

In certain circles, [member="Hylocereus"] had a serious rep. This whole vertical-farming fresh-food-for-refugees thing was only the latest in a long line of unassuming stunts. He'd made quiet waves in pharma, going back ages. He looked and acted Mara's age, but privately, she suspected he was a bit older, maybe considerably older. He'd been the same naive kid years ago, in the early days of Silk Holdings, when he'd reinvented kolcta. Her father had distributed the stuff to the galaxy, back then. "Forever young," Jorus said sometimes, whenever Hylo came up. "Just a well-meaning kid with a gorram genius for plants. You've read your aunt's files; you know about Sirella Valkner, her old Master, the Sith Lord who lives in an Ithorian herd ship full of vines. That's Hylo's mother. The way I hear it, she's forever youthful too; maybe it's a Sylphe thing. But where Sirella's an adult, Hylo...well, I don't think you'd ever need to worry about him in any sense, let's put it that way."

That talk was playing through Mara's head as she took a seat opposite Hylo. Since the Ilum massacre, random memories came to mind with unexpected clarity and power, setting her on edge. She forced a smile. "It's fine, Hylo. Really, don't sweat it. I get you've got a lot going on and you wanted to make -- well, Damien Starchaser wanted you to make a good impression. So let's chalk all this down to keeping your friend happy, shall we?"

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo was empathic and could sense a bit of uneasiness from his friend. His mind reached out to try to calm hers with a little bit of an empathic nudge. He resisted his instinctual urge to let loose a dose of pheromones. He was getting better at controlling them now, and hardly bloomed inadvertently, although he could feel small bud on his head wanting to form and flower in his hair. Above all things, his comfort included he wanted to make sure that [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] would be kept happy. Mara had always been nice to him, even when the others ignored him or wrote him off. She was patient and kind and before her Jorus had been likewise. Hylo owed a lot to both of them.

"Yeah," Hylo said looking around, "Damian is an okay guy. He's really helped out with the farms, and I've helped him with his company and the fashion industry. I don't pretend to know everything that goes on but I promise our agricultural textiles are the finest quality." Hylo had a network of farms throughout the galaxy now, a little farmstead for every quadrant producing food and cash crops but truly what he appreciated most was whichever garden he was currently working on. Vines, trees, orchards and flowers of every color in the visible spectrum and beyond festooned his gardens and made them veritable paradises. Then again it seemed each time he planted some rare and beautiful new foliage a pirate or ganger or the assassin pirate jedi [member="Kana Truden"] would show up to ruin paradise. Between his little bota garden, slick farm, and slavin paddy he had run into a lot of trouble. Rare plants were apparently very valuable.

"Would you like some wine? I don't know about drinking age," he added looking around, "The bottle is from our vineyard on Derellium. Alcohol doesn't effect me like it does you, so I'd understand if you don't accept. For me it's sugar that has a rather intoxicating affect." He'd never told anyone that. Why was he telling Mara that now? He'd known her for years and yet his face had never flushed green like this before. "Or if you want we can get something chemically non offensive." His heart was pumping like flesh and meat and he took a few breaths in as subtle a manner as he could muster to calm down. "You look nice tonight," he blurted remembering that he hadn't complimented her on how she looked yet. Damian told him he should do that first thing. Then again Hylo was beginning to suspect that Damian had anterior motives.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"] had always had issues with boundaries, but he also always meant well. An empath herself, she picked up on his nudge and grinned. But she waited until he'd said his piece and blundered his way through pleasantries. She nodded along with his discussion of Damien Starchaser, the guy with that excellent deflex cloth.

"Really, Hylo, don't worry about me. You want to do something about nervousness, try this." She returned his empathic nudge, and threw in some Zeltron pheromones to boot. Not a massive dose, nothing sketchy, just enough to take the edge off. "As for drinking age, feth, I'm rebuilding this planet. Least they can do is look the other way by a year or so." Another grin, and she found she'd meant it. Between Hylo's awkward charm and -- well, no, that was about it -- she found herself shaken out of her rut. The uncomfortably clear memories were gone as if she'd drifted off for a second, reset her mind, or closed a door if one wanted to get metaphorical.

"So yeah. Sounds like a plan. I'll have this Derellian wine, you take a look at the dessert menu, and we chill for a while. Deal?"

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo felt the reciprocal empathetic nudge and smiled. Scent of sweet zeltron pheromones whirled around his nose as he nodded agreeing to Mara's deal. "Yeah, we can just chill for awhile." a tiny flower started to sprout and with an effort Hylo was able to keep its growth in check and keep it hidden under his hair. "I've been practicing with a lightsaber," Hylo said remembering the time Mara had taught him some of the basics. "I'm still not very good, not nearly as good as you, but I believe I've gotten better." Hylo rarely fought, and when he did he rarely used a saber, instead preferring to grow plants and hide or else use the environment to get the upper hand.

The waiter walked over and reminded Hylo that there would be a corking fee as he opened the bottle of wine and poured two glasses. "Here are today's menu," he said reaching a hand down to the table and bringing up a little holographic display. "The Chef's recommendation is Grilled Dac Scallops over Ryloth spice pasta."

"Uh," Hylo looked over at Mara and then back to the menu. He liked seafood but honestly preferred something simple. "Can I have the double smoked Kaminoan Crustation," Hylo said unsure of himself.

"Would you like soup or salad with that?"

Hylo was not accustomed to more than one course at a meal and stumbled again staring back at the menu. "Selucami Mushroom soup?" his voice inflected.

"In the Corellian style or local?"

"Local?" His head was swimming.

"Very good sir, and for the lady?" Hylo shared the waiters gaze turning to [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] and hoping he didn't just make a fool of himself.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Mara had spent 47% of her life on the pre-technological worlds of Q-27 and Kilia IV, 47% on tramp freighters, and 6% richer than anyone but Danger Arceneau. Suffice it to say that her palate was not what Coruscanti high society would call refined. Hylo's food sounded pretty good, but she doubted Kaminoan seafood could match the fish back home, and she didn't always like soup. That meant she had to make actual decisions. Her first instinct was to go with a steak, but she seemed to recall Hylo making some kind of a fuss over red meat once, years and years back. Or maybe that had been some other Bratpacker. Could be Aela, in the grip of some aescetic purgation thing. Maybe her sister, not Kaili but the other one.

Anyway.

"I think I'll go with the scallops and spice pasta," she said. "With a green salad." Her counter-nudge and pheromonal hint had apparently been too successful: her empathic senses picked up something akin to confusion from Hylo. Not necessarily negative, maybe just overloaded with too many stimuli to process. She could empathize (heh).

The wine proved particularly plant-y, but it was probably supposed to be that way. She didn't drink much, and when she did she generally took lum. Cultured, right here.

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Smiling Hylo turned with chlorophyll greened cheeks and spoke, "Rebuilding Coruscant is a very noble thing. I don't know if anyone has told you." He looked at the Datapad that Damian had given him. On it was talking points on the deal for Chase Fashion, and there was also why he was here. Still Hylo didn't like to ask for favors nevermind these kind, and beside he was sitting with a friend and just wanted to talk for a little despite his obligation to bring up business. "You were always kind. Although you're head must be spinning from the logistics of it all. I know mine would be. I'm having a hard time just keeping up with a single tower inhabited primarily of plants. Sentient beings are much more difficult to manage."

Finally a comfortable subject. Hylo could talk about plants for days. "I recently created a new hybrid which will produce larger yield than either of the original two plants. It's a large melon," Hylo's hands stretched to indicate nearly the full wingspan of the young man. "and I'm told the taste is fantastic from the test groups. Between that and the more conventional harvest the Green Tower, that's what the locals call it, will be able to feed millions, maybe even billions of people yearly."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

"Thanks. I was aiming for noble, so that works out." Deadpan sip. "Bottom line, I never asked to inherit from Silk, Iron Crown, and Akure. I was always just waiting for the right way to spend it all so I could get back to my life." She noted a twinge of discomfort from him as he glanced at the datapad. "For the logistics side, I've wrangled Silk people into it. All I really do is thank people for their donations, promise to match them, and remind folks not to bring armed ships and military materiel into the system. You'd be amazed how many people thought the best thing they could do was to cram Coruscant full of donated weapons without telling the Galactic Alliance."

She was completely fine with changing the subject. She'd expected and hoped for it. The best way to get around any given topic was to get Hylocereus talking about plants. She found herself grinning again as he made the universal sign for 'massive melons'. "Remind me to come over some time and try it. Frankly, I'll throw money at it all day. See, I get all these arms dealers and Dark Jedi trying to salve their consciences with seven-figure donations...which wind up being enough to feed a hundredth of a percent of Coruscant for a month or two. Other people try to ship in food, but they have to wrangle wartime borders and sometimes the Deep Core. Self-replicating, self-sustaining, local food sources are just what we need."

A plate of artisanal bread and blue butter showed up. Mara dug in.

"So what's on the datapad that's got you nervous?"

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo looked at the Datapad when Mara talked about the farming. She was right about creating renewable forms of food instead of just shipping in from outside sources. "It's like the old saying," Hylo said thinking about his time at the Jedi Temple and the strange avian who was there. How did it go? "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he knows how to fish." That wasn't right. Eh close enough. Food arrived and the two began to eat. H/ylo almost forgot about the Datapad when Mara asked.

"Not nervous so much," Hylo said with his face contorting a little. "I just don't know when to bring it it. You see when Damian cancelled and gave me the meeting he gave me his talking points. But I don't want you to think I invited you here solely for business. We're friends." And maybe more? Pheromones and empathy indicated the possibility of that. Hylo gulped, "I didn't want you to think I invited you here just because I wanted to talk business."

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Mara tapped a round of crusty bread rythmically on the edge of her butter saucer. "All righty then, I've got an idea." She set the bread aside and took a long drink of the wine. Though decidedly plant-y, it was (heh) growing on her.

"Here's the plan. Obviously we have to get through those talking points or Damien will be very cross." She grinned and put down the glass, then buttered the bread. "And we all know how Starchasers get when they don't get their way. So what you need to do is go through every one of those talking points in your best Damien Starchaser impersonation, and keep a straight face. Oh, thank you."

The last bit was to the waiter, who deposited Ryloth-spiced noodles and grilled seafood in front of her, with green salad on the side. Mara eyed Hylo, smirking, waiting for the waiter to leave so Hylo could answer.

"Thoughts?"

 

[Hylocereus]

Accepting the plate of food and looking on as Mara talked Hylo smiled. He thanked the waiter for the meal and stared at his food before bringing the datapad to rest on the table. Clearing his throat and taking a sip of water Hylo finally said alright. His voice carried a sing song lilt but that would need to change. Looking over the talking points he decided on a way to proceed. "Hello Mara," his voice transformed into a poor imitation of the bizzare accent that Damian had. It was a mix of posh coruscanti and rustic corellian that he'd picked up as a spacer. "I'm so happy to meet you," He put his hands on the table and leaned over. "I'm blond, handsome, and flirty. and with a simple smile all the girls seem to fall for me." Beaming a smile he looked back at the notes.

"I'm sure you're aware that I am owner of a modest company, we deal in fashionable goods that are both elegant and utilitarian. Chase fashion is a complete service industry developing apparel from the ground up wherever possible. We own the farms that make fabric and the factories to make clothing. We are looking into adding retail setting up stations and expanding our lines to include Chase Outfitters, a line dedicated to working people and spacers in particular." He looked back down on the pitch. "Given your corporate background and resources I figured you might know someone who could help us design a specialty auto tailor booth. A scanner to get pin point readings and measurements and either direct the person to the recommended size and style off the shelf or else have measurements sent to on site tailor services to manufacture a proper garment."

The business part was almost over, there was only one point to make. Hylo had seen Damian do this plenty of times and knew exactly what to do next. Extending his hands he took Mara's into his own and beamed his smile wider. "And of course we'd like you to consult on the Spacer line. With your experience and knowledge I'm sure you'd make a great addition to the team." Softening his expressions he added in the best accent he could muster, "And I would like to say," the part Damian always did to girls, women, whoever, "That you would...." Hylo paused his face flushing green a little. "You would look great modeling in a spacesuit." Damian always said that girls would look good modeling in whatever item he was suggesting, but Damian wasn't saying this. Hylo was. With the last sentence he dropped the pretense of accent and spoke in his own sing song lilt, his hands still holding onto Mara's.....

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Though no such formal title had ever been conferred on her, Mara was considered a Master by some. Control of the mind was inextricably linked to control of the body. She kept a straight face right past I'm blonde, the hand-holding, and everything in between. As Hylo's Damien impression shattered, though, so did Mara's control. She busted a gut, gripping his hands, until a fleck of Ryloth noodle splatted into her wine glass. That only made her laugh louder. A well-dressed Nautolan maitre d' began heading their way. She did her best to look abashed, and he slowed as he realized who she was. There were, apparently, benefits to tabloid coverage.

Disaster averted, she squeezed Hylo's hands. "That was very nicely done, Hylo. Pure Damien. You nailed the accent." She went to let go, but -- for some reason -- didn't. Instead she found herself rubbing his knuckles with her thumbs. Mildly aghast, she let go and examined her plate.

He got flustered easily, always had. He'd been sweet and derpy and intensely awkward going back to their first sparring match on, what was it, Onderon? Looking at the same empathic signature now, through a less childish lens, she was startled to identify an actual depth of feeling underneath his normal Hylotude. A powerful loneliness and need for acceptance -- strong, but buried so deep that he likely wasn't aware of it at all.

Her merriment and discomfort faded at the same time, leaving only affection and a strange kind of clear-eyed balance. She quirked a lopsided grin. "And would you like me to model a space suit for you, Damien?"

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Laughter was infectious and at the end of his impression Hylo found himself laughing right along with Mara. Loose and maybe even gitty now it took Hylo a few seconds to realize what was happening after the laughter had subsided. He felt her hand in his and saw her thumb... caressing him? That couldn't be, could it? His pulmonary system began a furious pumping sending green fluids rushing through his body making him a little light headed. As he realized what exactly was happening he recalled in his in time with hers. Hylo had never had problem with physical contact before. Even contact that others considered intimate had been no obstacle. He found himself asking why, why now was he having this reaction?

His head was spinning when Mara asked him about modeling a spacesuit. What would Damian say? Keep a cool head, he thought to himself. Be cool. "Of course I would," he replied, "How else are we going to know its comfortable. At Chase Fashion we strive for both elegant appearance and utility." Hylo gulped and looked Mara in the eyes. Somehow this felt right and a wave of calm overtook him as he reacted sympathetically to emphatic cues he received from Mara and a sprout grew upon his head flowering blue. "I could think of no one better to model for me."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Around this point, Mara took stock of various things. Volume of wine consumed: one point five glasses. Overall quality of Hylo's Damien Starchaser impression: north of eighty percent. Shade of Hylo's cheeks: green and getting greener, with an empathic signature to match. Possibility that they'd gone from goofing off to flirting with intent: non-negligible. Unexpected, but significant. Probably a good time to avoid any more wine.

Her sense of him went still and calm as he caught his emotional balance. Her eyebrows rose and kept rising, but she didn't comment on the blue flower poking through his hair. Sylphe biology was a whole 'nother animal: in a very real sense, Hylo was a motile, carnivorous plant. Kaili would have said something about flirting with a Venus flytrap or a Kaas dart flower. But Kaili had also grown up aristo, more or less, whereas Mara had grown up in Outer Rim tramp freighters, raised by explorers. She wasn't about to go off dating a space captain with a transparent skull, but the idea of getting close with an alien didn't bother her at all -- didn't even occur to her outside the context of what her friends might say. Heck, she was half alien, for that matter: half offworlder if you asked a Zeltron, and half Zeltron if you asked anyone else. Alien either way.

She impaled a scallop and twirled a rondel of noodles. "Well, I'll just have to try one on for you later, then. I love a good space suit."

 

[Hylocereus]

And then there was an awkward silence. There had never been an awkwardness in Mara and Hylo's interactions, save for the occasional moment of clumsy accidental intimacy when training. For Hylo [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] had always been a pleasure to be around since the first day. And now, now they were flirting? Were they still friends? He'd flirted with friends before. As a matter of fact he had been accused of flirting on more than one occasion... wait did Mara just say she wanted to try a spacesuit on for him later? Did that mean something intimate would happen later? Hylo gulped hard considering it the issue. Did he have a spacesuit handy for her to try on in his presence? What exactly would that entail?

"I have an apartment within the Green Tower," Hylo responded nervously hoping that if he was reading the situation wrong it would appear as a simple change in subject. "With a very ascetically pleasing garden. I'd love to show it to you." And then he realized exactly what he was saying and took a little breath. Recover, quickly. Subject change, subject change. Quickly. "Although I might have to leave soon. I got an eviction notice. This man claims that he holds the buildings lease or whatever and demanded compensation for me using it. I managed to raised the funds but now he's doubled it." Hylo blurted this all out unable to think of any other subject. Stupid stupid stupid stupid. Recover, quickly.... "You smell nice..." Really?

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Deliberately, she put down her fork and placed her hand over his, feeling a hint of his nervous energy.

"Hylo. We were cool with talking about anything ten minutes ago. Always have been, far as I can recall. No reason for us to get awkward now, is there? All joking aside, I'd love to come take a look at your garden."

She patted his hand and took hers back to keep eating. That let her avert her eyes, take some pressure off.

"As for this eviction notice business, I'll buy the tower for you if you want. Might be gauche to say it, but let's be real. The main benefit of having money is making sure people can't impose on you like that, and I don't mind fixing a real problem for a friend. And we are friends." Even if I'm kind of wondering what that blue flower tastes like. "Besides, until I've burned my whole fortune on rebuilding Coruscant, one tower is pocket change, so it's no sacrifice for me, it helps you...least I can do. Especially if I like what I find in that garden."

 

[Hylocereus]

And with that Hylo was happy. He put his hand on top of Mara's and smiled back at her. She was right there was no reason for awkwardness, and he would do well to remember that. "I didn't want to burden you...." Hylo said. Although in a way he did, after all he had asked for this meeting to see if this problem could be dealt with. His intent was more to see if Mara could use her influence to get the first price back but this... "My mother used to say 'Charity degrades those who receive it and hardens those who dispense it.' Why else would so many Dark Jedi be offering to your cause?" It was true enough and yet Hylo didn't sense anything malicious coming from Mara. "I like you how you are Mara. I wouldn't want you to become hardened. To become like my..." mother. He couldn't say it. A shiver ran up his spine. She gave charity, along with some of her friends who were all sith. No Hylo didn't want Mara to be like them....

Subject change, "But we can go back to my garden and I'll show you the work I've done. There is really nice soil there and it feels so good on the skin." Hylo nodded taking a bite of his meal. Yes this was a pleasing subject. "I enjoy taking off my clothes and rolling around in it with the sun shining on my skin. I know meat people don't like to do it, but you're welcome to roll around in the dirt with....." Damn. "me." Just when his cheeks had changed back to its normal color they started to green a again. Mara was an empath though, she knew he didn't mean it.. that way, Hylo comforted himself.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

She didn't sense brazenness from him, just the same old embarrassment at putting his foot in his mouth, implying more than he'd meant. Could be he'd made a Freudian slip, if Freud even applied to plants.

"It's all right, I know what you meant." Goodness knows she'd seen him rolling around in the dirt often enough over the years, or at least heard him mention it as a standard Sylphe leisure activity. Mara eyed the last of her Ryloth spice noodles, about a third of the plate. This wasn't the kind of place where you took your leftovers to go, but between the wine and the grilled scallops, not to mention a very decent green salad, she was already full. "On both counts. I'll take your word for it with the dirt-on-skin thing. As for charity turning me into someone I'm not...look, for me I think it's the opposite. I am stupidly rich. I could bust out my pocket change and buy everyone in this restaurant, and this is a good restaurant. With the money comes a lot of requests for charity, and sure, I can get kind of jaded to them if I don't watch myself. But the more I give, the less I have, and the less tempted I am to do things like...treat people as servants. Fund private wars. Buy affection." She blushed faintly. "Not like that. You know what I mean."

She put her cutlery on her place and shoved it away; a tie-and-tails Ishi Tib waiter caught her eye and nodded: the bill would be added to her tab. "Whenever you're ready, let's go hit that garden. Unless you want to try the dessert menu after all."

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo looked at the desert menu and realized he didn't know what ninety percent of these things were. Every dish had fancy names many of which were unpronounceable to him. "Yeah we can go, I can get something on the way back." Simplier food would suit him better either. "Not that this place isn't great," he said making sure Mara knew his feelings. "It's just... I prefer simpler things." He looked down at the bill on the display and gulped. He inserted a credit chit and added a tip for the waiter and grimaced. It was a generous amount, and given that he was here on business he would charge it off to Damian later. He made no mention of paying to avoid any argument that might bring. "Did you take a taxi here, I have a speeder outside if you'd care to ride with me?"

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

"Yeah, I'll ride with you, thanks. I left my good speeder on Kilia Four, plus the ship I'm working on." The Mandalorians had straight-up stolen her Bullet Time at Ilum, on top of their other sins. To replace it, she'd bought a heavily modular freighter from Coronet Hypernautics, a new Corellian outfit. Customization within an inch of its life was the plan.

This wasn't the kind of place where one draped one's coat over the back of one's chair, so she got her jacket at the coat check and stepped out into the Coruscant night. The restaurant's front door looked out over a broad stretch of classy promenade and then a very long fall. If one knew where to look, and she did, one could pick out the scars of the past decade's wars. Shrapnel from the Starfall's crash, turbolaser fire from Sith coups and counter-coups, melty burns from the splash of orbital defense weapons that some Mando lunatic had turned on a Sith temple -- and of course the ruins left by the Sith as they retreated. Specks of light and glints of steel marked the hovering reconstruction droids that Kaili had designed for Silk on Mara's dime.

Mara wrapped her jacket around herself a little tighter against the chill. The attendant brought up Hylo's speeder, which was a...