Strictly Platonic (Mara Merrill)

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

A Metalic Santhe VP Aircar. It didn't belong to Hylo, or it did? Truth was he wasn't sure. Damian had given it to him for his time on Coruscant when first he announced his intent to build a vertical farm. Mara tucked herself into her Jacket and Hylo suddenly felt a bit self conscious. He practical ran to the passenger door to open it for Mara as if some mania had gripped it. It was the thing to do on a date wasn't it? And given how these things have progressed this was a date by Hylo's estimation.

And then he jumped into the speeder beside her and started the speeder shooting through the sky and towards the Green Tower. The city was still in shambles, and many buildings bore the scars of past battles and atrocities. Mara was changing all of that though, rebuilding. Hylo looked over at her with a flare of admiration.

Hylo saw a little place that he frequented and pulled the speeder over into the lot. He pulled up next to the takeout com unit and turned over to Mara. "Care for an icecream? They make it all in house. It's super good."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Mara's mischievous side confessed itself interested in whether the ice cream cone did to him what the glass-and-a-half of wine had done to her. Considering she'd just gone on a high-speed high-altitude ride through her greatest triumph, her mischievous side had a lot of leeway. "I'm down. Sounds great." She squinted past Hylo and that fething blue flower at the flavor menu. "Let's go with namana nectar. Oh, and you'd better charge this to Damien Starchaser. These ice cream cones are a business meal."

There were Jedi arts to clear one's head of alcohol, and they'd been around for a while. From what the old sources indicated, those techniques originated with the Je'daii of Tython, because obviously nothing said 'aescetic defender of justice' like the ability to drink anyone under the table. Still, Mara had picked up comparable abilities at the Yavin Academy as a kid, and employed them more than once when friendly meals turned dangerous. She used that aspect of the Force now, but only enough to make sure she was thinking straight. Fun as it was to flirt with a nice guy, the last thing she needed was to make a dumb move while tipsy. That was how Mara had been conceived, and that was a difficult story to forget.

 

[Hylocereus]

Ordering his regular pleasure of sweetberry ice cream with a honeycrust cone. Hylo laughed at Mara demanding that this was a business meal. "I'll make sure to bill Damian," he assured her. Another silence followed as the pair sat and waited for their ice cream to be delivered. "I can still drive with an ice cream in my system, however I feel safer sitting for awhile after I eat." He scrunched his nose a little as he enjoyed the ice cream. It was so good and he had to resist the urge to take large clomping bites for fear of judgement from Mara. "I come here often," he said. "They also make some good food as well. A fruit salad, and some finger food."

Feeling hot he leaned one arm outside the window seeking relief. He could feel a lightness to his body as he examined Mara, his eyes looking at her soft features and stopping for a moment on her pillowy lips... no. Hylo looked away into the distance briefly as if he had heard a sound. Hylo turned back and looked into Mara's brown eyes. They were so pretty, the color of good soil and yet Hylo was certain that he shouldn't say as such. "Your eyes look like dirt," he blurted. Crap. "Soil. Pretty." Hylo gulped and took a bite of ice cream courage.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Mara snorted into her ice cream. She had to put the cone in the cupholder to get control of herself. "Oh gosh, Hylo. Oh gosh, that's too good." She hiccupped a laugh and shook her head. "It's like you think I'm going to get uncomfortable and bite your head off if you go half a step too far. You are allowed to tell me my eyes are pretty. That is completely fine by me. Look, here's the difference. Comfortable? 'Hi, I'm Hylo, and, uh, I guess your eyes are pretty, and uh...' Versus what would make me uncomfortable. 'Hello Mara, I'm Damien Starchaser. Your eyes are the limpid chestnut of a supernova's final breath. Come away with me to paradise.'"

She might not have Hylo's talent for impersonating Damien, nor his familiarity with the man, but she'd been raised by a Lorrdian: she could do impressions. Another snort escaped her as she leaned across the centre dash console, the gearshift. She adjusted her weight, planted a hand firmly on his knee, and kissed his cheek.

"There. Does that take some of the pressure off?"

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Hylo had a laugh with Mara, at her impression of Damian Starchaser and even at his own awkwardness displayed by her. And in the laughter she pressed her lips against his cheek and gave him a kiss. The little blue flower grew slightly in size. Hylo gulped a little blushing before letting himself calm down. "It isn't like we haven't kissed before." Indeed they had, upon their first meeting at a symposium, and again during a sparring session. Of course this was different and Hylo knew it. Both were older now and looking at eachother in much different ways. A simple kiss on the cheek almost sent Hylo's pheromones into overdrive and only a concentrated effort kept them bottled up.

"It isn't that I think you're going to bite my head off," Hylo responded with a sudden burst of confidence, either from his intoxicating ice cream or the kiss he wasn't certain. "I just want you to know that girls don't like being told they look like dirt." His face contorted into a confused look. "And I think..." how to put this into words. "I feel that I need to be better around you. You should be with someone who knows what to say, and how to act." At this Hylo chuckled. "I don't think I've ever cared this much about what someone thinks of me."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

"Thanks," she said dryly, leaning back to her side of the cab, "but I'm fairly sure I'm aware that girls don't like being told they look like dirt." She reclaimed her ice cream cone and did her due diligence for a moment, lest she drip in the speeder. "Now, if you mean that you wanted me to know that you knew that I should know that girls don't like being told they look like dirt, that's another story, and makes much more sense."

She patted his knee again over the gearstick, a gesture of lighthearted reassurance. "Let's not worry so much about the 'being with' part, either. Space suits and gardens notwithstanding, I'm not about to jump your bones over some butterflies, a bottle of wine, and a good plate of pasta. See, I care about what you think of me, and I'm better than that.

"Now, my hope is I just took some more of the pressure off for you, so we can eat this ice cream, hang out in your garden, fool around if the occasion demands, and just generally chill." Slurp. She eyed him as she licked a drip off the back of her hand. "That sound like a plan to you, Hylo?"

Yes, she was trying to see how big that blue flower could grow.

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

"I didn't mean be with as if... I meant together. friends can be together...." Oh damnit. Hylo gave up. The young man was getting mixed messages from Mara. He wasn't sure what to say next outside of his inane sugar high ramblings. Part of him wanted to break down and confess his undying love for her right here and now. And yet that wasn't really what he felt was it? Of course not, how could he? They haven't been romantic, and she just said she wasn't going to.... wait... hang out in the garden and fool around? Hylo took another lick and bite of his ice cream cone as Mara locked eyes with him and slowly licked a speck off the back of her hand. And then the flower opened up and grew a little. "Yeah," he said vacantly. "That sounds like a plan."

It sort of hit him after he snapped out of his near mesmerized state that he realized he felt calm. "Let me ask you something Mara," he said finally. "It seems every time we're around each other there is a crisis. Crashed on a desert planet," he shivered at his lack of water that one time, "Attacked at a McYoda's..." Okay that time they had used the combined power of Empathic abilities and pheromones to good effect. "or else practicing." The Fateful sparring match. "What do you do for fun? I mean don't get me wrong," his face turned a healthy shade of green. It wasn't the same as the utterly green embarrassed blushing but rather a more moderate and perhaps genuine response. "I enjoyed sparring, always do. And I always like joking around with you... but I realized that I don't really know your hobbies."

Then Hylo looked around as if trying to see if anyone was listening in on the conversation, as if he had some great secret. "I dance...." he said. Then again she'd seen him dance... when he sparred he danced... so really was this a big secret? Well Hylo thought he hid it well.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Mara sneaked a grin and ate the rest of her ice cream cone.

"Well, I don't dance worth crap, for one. Hobbies? I figure out ways to spend my money that don't make me feel bad about myself, then I worry I'm contracting narcissism instead of really doing things for others' benefit. It's kind of a death spiral, but it's fun enough. Oh, you mean for real? Well, I kind of followed in my Aunt Rave's footsteps more than I thought I would. For fun? I make stuff." She slipped the ring off her finger and flicked it across the speeder's cab at his lap. As expected, some degree of her confidence faded, bringing nervousness about the whole 'holy feth I'm actually hitting on one of my oldest friends what is going on' thing. Not to mention the whole 'I just gave Hylocereus a talisman of courage this could get really funky really fast' thing.

"...stuff like that," she said quietly. "It makes you more confident if you're determined to be more confident." She mustered another smile. "Helps me forget I'm a broken kid trying to fix the universe. Go on, give it a try. You might like it."

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

The ring landed on his lap and he picked it up and examined it for a moment. Hylo didn't know anything about alchemy, well not in any practical sense anyone, and he wasn't sure about jewelry in general having never has much use for it. He examined the size of the ring and determined which finger it would fit best on before finally slipping it onto his finger. "I've never been able to make things," he said making direct eye contact with Mara. He didn't blink, didn't stutter, and didn't feel anxious as he stared smiling at her. "It must take great skill to make something like this. Not just in the use of the force but knowledge of metallurgy and skill with tools."

Hylo reached out with his hands and took hold of one of Mara's. He explored her hands running his fingertips across her palm. As all of this was happening the little blue flower on the youths head enlarged one more size up. "You build things, both small and large, feth you're rebuilding a planet." Hylo was talking without anything awkward happening, without stumbling over words or worrying about offending anyone. "You've always inspired me." It was true. Hylo had always looked up to Mara but had never been able to put it into words. "Do you remember that day we sparred? I asked you to teach me 'swording'. I thought you were so graceful, and refined and yes pretty." With confidence he was able to say everything as it was meant to be said. "I remember at that moment I wanted to be just like you." Hylo leaned in. "You've always been an inspiration to me...." And then he kissed her....

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

The kiss lasted precisely five point four seconds: long enough to feel good, short enough to avoid escalation. At five point five seconds, Mara leaned back, met his eyes, and smiled to let him know she was fine with the kiss.

"That's a lotta inspiration," she said. She pursed her lips and caught a scent of Sylphe. She'd occasionally kissed humans before, and near-humans. With Hylo's species, the shape and sensation of things were identical, but the aroma was just slightly different, like fresh-cut flowers. It cheered her up and calmed her stomach; it even amused her.

Kissing a plant. Kaili would have a conniption.

"I'll consider myself flattered, then," Mara added, "because clearly those rings work a lot better than I thought they did." She stretched, arms behind her head, and yawned a little. "Feels good to know I made something like that, something that could help people."

 

[Hylocereus]

The kiss was wonderful, and Mara was radiant. Hylo felt confident, he felt no awkwardness or desire to please. He was, in effect everything he'd ever wanted to be. And that was also the problem. Although possessing a somewhat naive outlook on life, bereft of many experiences, Hylo was not stupid. He stared down at the ring, a ring of courage and confidence. It had allowed him to do something which he'd never done before. It had given him confidence. It had done its job.

"It did help me Mara," he said. And finally it gave him the courage to be himself. "But I think it's time to give it back," Hylo slipped the ring from his finger and almost instantly felt a slight heat to his cheeks. Reaching out his hand he opened up Mara's palm and placed the ring in her hand and closed it cupping her hand in his. "How about we uh..." Maybe the courage was a bit more permanent. Maybe all he needed was that initial push. With a breath he calmed himself and looked back at Mara and finished his thought. "Let's go see that garden now, and perhaps," a grin overtook him, "I can teach you to dance?"

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

The ring seemed heavier than normal in her palm. "Garden yes, dancing no. I don't really like dancing, doesn't matter what kind. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the thought, but it's not my thing."

Rather than put the ring back on, she slipped it into her coat pocket. "Gutsy move, taking it off again. Recognizing what's you and what's not. Don't worry, though: just about all of the person you were playing with tonight was the real me. I've spent enough time with the ring that I know when to hold'em."

It seemed like his sugar buzz had waned, so he was probably good to go so far as driving went. Not that he'd have suggested they move along if he wasn't ready; driving buzzed was about as un-Hylo an idea as you could get. "Let's get to it," she said, refastening her repulsor straps. The invisible restraints tightened on her lap and sternum. She'd deactivated them to lean over to him, but like any good pilot, she only went anywhere if she was wearing her seat belt.

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

It wasn't too terribly long of a trip, although traffic nearly doubled the time it should have taken, and the air felt nice as Hylo had left the windows rolled down so the pair could enjoy a nice Coruscanti evening. "Here we are," he said as he rounded a corner and brought his own little farm into view. Of course to say it was little would be inaccurate. From as far down as you could see to the skyline was a tower of green. Trees, and shrubbery burst from the side of the tower filling every other floor with lush foliage. "Every other layer is farms on the outside." Hylo brought the speeder in a large arcing circle around the tower, "To make use of natural light. Inside we have hydroponics set up with massive grow lights. These let us grow plants quicker and more efficiently than in nature." Yes Hylo did like plants. "Along the rim of the tower, in the levels without trees you'll notice terraces with small gardens and sitting areas. when I moved in many of these outer areas were already established as apartments, so I just gave them gardens." His nose scrunched, "One of the few squatters who were here told me it used to be an arcology tower. Before a recession destroyed it there was factories and farms and the tower was self sufficient."

Pulling up on the speeders control Hylo sent them up towards the roof. "Most of the people who were living here now work here. They helped me build the place." As he approached the top terrace there was a massive garden complete with pool and landing bay. "They told me I should live at the top. Penthouse they called it, but there is actually like six houses up here. And each is larger than even the vineyard villa Emerald bought." His nose srunched as he brought the speeder down to land. "And this is my garden."

Vibrant blue pools with curved pathways were the only thing that broke up the green. In addition to a near meadow of well manicured grasses there was flowering vines growing from archways and patches of flowers all colors of the rainbow. "Are you sure you won't take me on dancing?" he quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Mara. "I can teach Sholân Kha the wardance of my people."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

"Oh, I'm fairly sure this still counts as an arcology. This is massive, Hylo. Holy feth."

She did her best to be properly impressed as they touched down, but she needn't have bothered to try. Hylo had a knack for horticultural design, possibly equal to his knack for actual horticulture. The place was gorgeous and functional and gigantic, to the point where 'sure I'll buy your building for you' started sounding like real money. Still well within her means until Coruscant ate her accounts, but even so. Hefty. No wonder the rent dispute.

"In case you were wondering," she said as she exited the speeder, "I'm still down with fixing that landlord issue." She whistled and inhaled the scent of many many plants. "This is intense, Hylo. Seriously, this is impressive."

She knelt beside something that might or might not be a potted world-destroying Murakami orchid. The sentient flower looked quite pleased with itself. "You tried teaching me Sholan Kha, remember? I was crap at it. I'm telling you, dancing doesn't click for me. You should see me at a ball on Kilia Four. Acres of satin and lace and multiple left feet."

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Smiling as Mara admired the Garden Hylo walked up to her. She was offering to help with his land lord problems and he needed to accept but there was a... feeling inside of him that was preventing him from doing anything at that moment. Anything except walk towards Mara, and then kneel down in front of her. He outstretched his hand and held two seeds. They grew into vines and wrapped around Hylo's feet stretching out and tying his feet to Mara's mirror one another. And then with green blushed cheeks Hylo wrapped his arms around Mara's waist.

"Dancing doesn't need to be so formal," Hylo said with a smile. "I've seen people have near fits and it was considered dancing on their world. It is a simple expression of feelings." He let his body sway back and forth and extended a hand to turn some music on. "It's about emotion. But with two people," he shrugged as he looked down at their feet. "It's just like learning fencing. your footwork was important. Don't let me step on your feet."

Hylo shot his foot forward and Mara recalled hers. "The first step." Hylo took his other foot and shot it likewise towards her. Then he pulled gently on the vine holding their opposite feet together and moved her foot with his back. "Lets just keep the vine taught..." Hylo said. "Sense each others moves, through body language, through the force, and react." Two bodies in motion.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

At one level, she wasn't comfortable with this. She'd said at least twice that she didn't want or like to dance, and she'd meant it. But this was Hylo without the ring, no courage, just oblivious good intentions and well-meaning lack of boundaries. So she went with it, and tried to get into it. In other circumstances this would even have been romantic, almost overwhelmingly so - it had all the trappings, all the intentions. The problem, though, was that this kind of instruction required reciprocal empathy in a serious way. That meant he would catch her discomfort.

Screw it. You're overthinking. It's just a dance.

She shrugged and let him feel that she wasn't comfortable, but also that she was going to give this a shot regardless. She'd taken the time to hone her Force attunement in relation to her Zeltron empathy. Now she linked it to Hylo's in a reciprocal pattern and followed his lead one motion at a time. In its way, this kind of instruction was pretty close to some of her armed and unarmed combat training. She could recognize the dance in that context, with those instincts.

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

And then their senses were connected as only two empathic beings could be. Hylo could feel Mara's discomfort and for a moment the blue flower on his head slumped until a sense of rugged determination waved through them. Determination flowed from Hylo, and reassurance as they continued the dance. The young man had decided to finish out the dance and then allow Mara a reprieve.

Their feet moved in concert as Hylo led the way. When the vine string connecting their opposite feet slacked Mara moved to tauten it until near the end of the song the two were moving perfectly in concert. That is when Hylo used a little mental control to loose the vines around their ankles so that they gracefully dance with one another across the garden. A smile over his face Hylo now had time to think about what he was actually doing. The green from his face never really went away since he grabbed Mara by the waist, but now is grew to a more vibrant color. The flower on his head perked back up as he looked into Mara's eyes and held her close for the ending of the song.

With a whimper the music stopped and Hylo found himself standing with, by his estimation at the time, the most beautiful woman in the universe. Suddenly there was an emotion, love. Perhaps not an entirely romantic love but love none the less. Complicated by feelings of lust and desire with twinges of embarrassment. The truth was that Hylo had never felt this way about anyone before, not even Spencer Jakobs, or Ashin, or his family. All he wanted to do was hold onto Mara until the end of time. That was, of course, until he realized he was still still emphatically linked to Mara and he might as well have just blurted out "I love you" on the first date. Then suddenly he was praying for the end of time....

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Mara brought the dance to a halt and let go of her partner. She gestured with both hands: the vines unwound themselves from her ankles. Telekinesis, not Plant Surge. She raised an eyebrow and smiled as her empathic senses registered a thermonuclear bomb of melt-into-the-floor awkwardness. Words seemed a fairly clumsy way to express her thoughts at this point, so she just let him feel what she wanted him to pick up. He'd sense that she was more than a little twitterpated herself, and was comfortable taking Hylo's affection in stride. She recognized that, in one way or another, Hylo loved pretty much everyone, especially his friends. That omnidirectional affection compounded with some infatuation plus some other factors -- ice cream intoxication, empathic bonding, a bit of pheromonal manipulation earlier.

At some level, though, analyzing the component factors of his feelings for her wasn't very respectful. Nor fair: it wasn't like she was analyzing her own feelings to the same degree. To a pretty serious extent, she was just going with the flow, cutting loose, trying to bury all the pain and tragedy and stress of the past month via a harmless fling. Selfish? Probably, yeah, but she'd spent weeks healing from the Ilum massacre and coordinating the rebuilding of Coruscant. She deserved to relax, forget, explore another side of her identity. Regardless of how she'd been raised and the life she'd chosen, she was a Zeltron's daughter. It wouldn't hurt to remember that for a while.

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Semi reciprocated feelings pinged back to Hylo through his own empathic abilities. He took the feelings as an invitation for contact and put a hand on the girls cheek to try and comfort her, show affection. She'd been through a lot and Hylo... well he cared. His own life hadn't been easy, having been raised by a Sith Lord and essentially abandoned. Because of his background he'd always been striving to be accepted by others, and Mara had been the first to accept him into the little group of friends they had.

A sigh escaped his lips as he looked around the garden. "For someone with no interest in dancing," Hylo started with a grin forming on his face. "You did a pretty good job." Shrugging he closed the gap between them again. "Besides," he gulped. Hard. "It wasn't so bad was it?" Being in each others arms, holding each other tight.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

"Not bad at all." Mara smiled and meant it. She leaned in and kissed him, the second time that'd happened tonight, third time ever. This one had none of the awkwardness of a speeder cab with a gearshift digging into one's ribs. Like its predecessor, though, it lasted about five seconds. Perhaps slightly more.

She pulled back and patted his cheek. "Good night, Hylo. Thank you for a really great evening." She withdrew her mind from his, though she could still sense his emotions in the back of her head: a Force bond, if a new one. After a long moment, she reached into her coat pocket and slipped the ring onto her finger. A quick step, a quick kiss-

"Call me tomorrow."

Mara grinned, spun on her heel, and ran. The Force was her ally, and navigation was her focus. A handful of steps and a short Force-jump took her to the garden's nearest edge. Any Coruscanti building like this had repulsors, microtractors, or even just nets to catch anyone who might fall. Thus, she jumped far beyond their reach, between the skyscrapers and out into oblivion.