Takes Two To Tango

[Arekk]

Maos Bar and Grill, Lithios, Ethos City​

"It's better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven."​

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[member="Scherezade deWinter"] ​

"Perfect."

His fingers coiled on the glass of water and followed her suit by sipping, followed by that sweet Savareen brandy waiting just to be drank. While getting hangover was more of his head, though no one sane could ever hope for that, Ar'ekk really liked that sensation of almost dying in the early morning.

Admitting such a personal matter to someone you just met an hour ago in a nightclub certainly took some guts but he felt comfortable talking about it, having had enough of the mourning after a year and a half.

Letting go was a must.

"Murdered, here." His robotic finger pointed to the ground to explain it occured on Ethos City, body pressing against Madalena's as they returned to the dancefloor. "The past caught up to me and they hit what I loved the most. Took my beloved's life and my adoptive daughter away, to this date I still cannot find her."

Dancing definitely made everything feel alright, moving in unison to a slow beat that just gave off the best vibe one could ask for. His eyes glittered like the moon on a clear sky, a pleasing scent emanating from his clothes that just screamed classy yet dangerous.

"Your turn now."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Letting go was a must.

His beloved had been murdered… Here? Madalena's lips parted in surprise. Mentions of past, of catching up, of a child gone and inability to find her. She almost offered to help him right there and then. Almost. But the mention, a daughter – an adopted one. Without blood that was shared between him and that child, she would be useless in helping either of them. Madalena was a blood hound, relying on bloodlines and species that she could sell through the Force. Detective abilities were not among her lists of skills and every time she tried to, she almost got eaten up by a dragon.

"I'm so sorry," she found herself saying, her voice just above a whisper. She knew what it was to lose a loved one; her own parents had died. She was separated from her twin brother. But a mate and a child… Would her parents be angry with her if she said that sounded worse?

But she had offered him. A story for a story. She could not think of his for too long while she still owed him hers.

"I didn't have much to give, but I gave him all of it," she told Ar'ekk, "I thought he was my beloved and would be my beloved for forever. And then I found out that he was already married, and freshly so."

She sighed. Saying it out loud always felt smaller than it was. But she had been only sixteen, and he had been her first and at the time, her only. She had believed her life was over when the thing exploded.

"A few days later war broke out on Coruscant again," she continued her tale, "and my brother and I lost both of our parents."

And that was her own sad tale. Little did she know that it was merely an incredibly watered down version of event that had truly happened. Things that the girl who no longer existed had gone through, that had broken her so thoroughly that she had done something more or less equalivent to killing herself. But that was not her story to tell, or to know.

[member="Arekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Maos Bar and Grill, Lithios, Ethos City​

"It's better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven."​

——————————————————————​

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] ​

"I'm sorry too."

Their stories were sad and hurtful but moving on was the key thing to learn from these experiences, at least that's how Ar'ekk saw everything. In the moments of utmost pain he saw clarity and he hoped that Madalena saw that too. Finding his missing daughter was too difficult and utopic at this point of time considering how long it had been since she was taken away from his beloved's arms. Who knows where she could be?

He tried to find her but never could reach her, not even a single message or status. And that hurts him to this day.

"Coruscant. My homeworld." That's where he grew up and lived for his entire childhood and teenager years as a foster child to a single mother and her son. "I never knew my parents but I met my younger sister six months ago. Here I was thinking it was just me in this galaxy."

Life was very weird when it came to things like these, perhaps it was just something that the Force wanted to happen and reunited siblings for a reason. Nothing was ever luck or coincidence in his head.

"Well..." Ar'ekk looked up to Madalena with bright eyes, moving in harmony with the music playing in the background. "Here's to better times."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She had moved on. She didn't know how exactly. That time of pain and misery had fuzzy parts within it, but she remembered her best friends being there to help. And then… Suddenly she and her twin brother were over eighteen, their house had been flattened, and her brother went West while she headed East.

Madalena smiled. "It is my home world as well," she said softly. When Ar'ekk mentioned his sister, Madalena's eyes seemed to shine with happiness in them. She knew very well the pain of not being near a sibling, and the joy of being united again.

"Make them count," she responded with a nod to the better time. "I could not imagine enduring most of the things that have happened to me without having my brother by my side. The good as well as the bad. So make them all count."


[member="Arekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Maos Bar and Grill, Lithios, Ethos City​

"It's better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven."​

——————————————————————​

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] ​

"Always. Every moment spent together is cherished."

Life was too short to fight or even argue about petty things, having Aren in his life had an overly positive effect that in the long run gave him the boost to get out of those dark moods that always afflicted him in moments of weakness or pain. Being that a personal visit from her or even a holocall did the trick to lighten things up, that's what made life beautiful. The simple things.

"Really, huh?" He said with another smile, shuffling his feet on the dance floor to sync up better with Madalena's. "Guess we are everywhere. I paid a visit there not long ago to check things out, ran into a childhood friend. It was great."

Make things count, that was the key to everything and the girl had put it in a very nice way. That would stick in his head for sure.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena smiled. She was enjoying the music now, and she was most definitely enjoying the conversation. But she was no longer enjoying the place. There only so much reminiscing they could do about Coruscant and old wounds they could discuss before everything went in a circular motion.

She jumped off her chair and twisted her middle around back and forth several times, feeling the daggers against her skin in her boots.

“This planet’s not the safest one around,” she said with a little wicked grin as she held her hand out to him, “how about we go out looking for trouble?”

Yes. A bit of adrenaline could do them some good. Get rid of the whiff of overly heavy and complicated subjects.

“Besides,” she added with a coy smile, “I need to see if I can fight in this dress.”


[member="Arekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Maos Bar and Grill, Lithios, Ethos City​

"It's better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven."​

——————————————————————​

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] ​

"I like the sound of that." He said with a wink, leaving a credit chip on the counter to pay for their drinks. "Nothing like gettin' adrenaline pumping."

As any other gentleman would, Ar'ekk reached out to grab Madalena's hand and gently take her to the bar's exit until they were out on the cold and rainy streets of Ethos City again. Of course, the rain continued to pour on everybody's head but not as bad as the man initially thought but good enough to bring out a small device that acted as an umbrella for both.

"I have no doubt about that." It was inevitable that his eyes went to appreciate Madalena's beautiful curvasceous figure but at the same trying hard to keep his composure in check. "That's a pretty beautiful dress."

Trouble lurked around every corner and alleyway of this massive ecumenopolis, finding it wouldn't prove to be so difficult.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Cold and rainy. It had been slightly cold when Madalena and the girls had shown up, but there was no rain. She hadn’t brought an overcoat with her, thinking the dancing would warm her up anyway. And now it was raining on. She let her head fall back as she laughed, letting the droplets fall on her face. She loved the rain, and loved the cold weather, though she’d probably not have brought a tiny white dress with her if she’d known that was going to happen.

“Thanks, I love it too,” she said to Are’kk as she stepped beneath his umbrella like device. Perhaps having her dress become utterly transparent was not the wisest of things so early in the evening. But if they found someone to slaughter soon enough, her levels of care regarding the matter would plummet anyway.

The cool air on her face and bare limbs did her good though; only now did she realize how stuffy it had been inside.

“You’re the one who knows this planet,” she said with a wicked grin, one of her Czerka knives flying from her boot and into her free hand, signaling to anyone who might be watching that she was totally fine with finding something to stick it in, “lead the way!”


[member="Arekk"]