The Dragon and the Shrike

[Kuzo]

It wasn't a matter of trust. Irajah trusted Jairus explicitly. He had earned it time and time again, over and over. But being told something was not the same as knowing it, and that distinction was what drove her in almost all things.

There had been, of course, little information easily available on the subject. So Irajah had reached out in as many directions as possible. [member="Cerbera"], [member="Matsu Xiangu"], [member="Reverance"] . Her questions were probing, different for each of them, though where they drew back she did not press. Force bonds, the deepening of them, the deliberate connections forged and how they worked, their limitations and their depths. Cerbera was.... less help than usual and almost seemed a touch... well, frankly down right ditzy..... Irajah decided to plan a visit to check in on the other woman, but that would have to wait.

"Alright."

Irajah hadn't snuck up on him, but she hadn't advertised her presence either. She wondered if, once they did this, it would ever be possible to approach each other unaware again. From what she had learned from Matsu and Reverance, that seemed unlikely.

Leaning over the back of the couch, she wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling at his ear.

"I am frustrated by the lack of real information available," she admitted. "But I have enough to go on I believe. I think it's worth the risk."

She didn't really need to elaborate on what. She'd even put her usual work aside for the week to focus on it, as he was all too aware of.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

He leaned in against her touch, but most of his focus remained on the book.

It wasn't strange for them to simply press close against one another while they were doing something. Beings of physical touch, the brush and press and stroke were important for the both of them. But then she spoke and Jairus put the book away. Tilting his head back a bit to get her in the scope of his eyes, watching her. Studying the expression of her face before offering a simple nod.

There had been no pressure from him in that week.

No attempts to influence her research or her thought process. That wasn't them. They had enough respect for each other to let them figure stuff out on their own, when that was a thing they needed to do.

"Alright." Jai simply replied, before softly tugging at her hand, until she came round and nestled in his lap. A soft kiss against her neck before leaning back a bit. Offering a sip from his caf if she wanted it with the gesture of a hand. "I have what I need- so we can do this whenever you are comfortable." Theoretically they could do it right now, if that was something she wanted.

It would be preferable and Raj would feel that he wanted it done as soon as possible.

 

[Kuzo]

She accepted the caf of course. Irajah Ven rarely turned down caf after all (though she was being more conscious of it these days). Nestled in his lap, she tucked her nose beneath his chin and sighed contentedly.

"No time like the present," she said with a shrug. The shrug wasn't one of indifference. There could be no indifference in choosing a path like this one. But there was no reason to wait now. Once she had made a decision there was little waffling. The lead up required intense deliberation, but now? There was no reason to wait.

She frowned thoughtfully, looking up at him.

"Here? Or does it need to be somewhere else?"

She was hoping here would be fine. The idea of traveling elsewhere, well, it didn't particularly suit. This was where she was comfortable- this was home, here with him. But it was not a place of any particular power, as much as she would roll her eyes at the idea. This was no Maena, no Korriban. It didn't seem like it mattered to the overall process, but that didn't mean it wouldn't matter to him.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

That was the great thing about being together with a mentalist.

The brush of minds close to one another made sure that any ambiguity in tone, reflection or facial expression melted away in the face of simple clarity. He did not need to ask her or wonder, he knew the intent behind her words easily. His brow rested against her hair and Jai hummed softly to himself. Part of him had been worried slightly about her decision.

He would have respected it, of course.

But this would solve so many things or at least make them more secure. "Here's fine." Jai mumbled while pressing little kisses in a line down her neck. "Between the two of us... we have all the strength we might need."

Maybe a novice of the Force needed a place like Ruusan or Korriban to fuel their rituals, but the Sith Lord had been doing this for decades now.

There were ways to ease the transition and make things smoother for both of them. To draw power from the Force without amplification necessary. The fact that his heart was still the Heart? That would make things easier as well. Still cautious about that, but it had not acted up in many months now. The Lady-in-Silver a distant memory now... back to sleep.

Hopefully.

But for how long?

"Let's go to the bedroom." Nuzzling her ear before slowly pushing her up and following suit.

 

[Kuzo]

She didn't know how it was possible to be both tightly bound and yet have a galaxy exist between them in the same breath.

Drawn in lines of fire, the marks that represented the bond traced lightening on skin. Sith runes and markings, talismans of connection, a matched sigil that bound them more tightly than any simple promise ever could. Worked tightly in joint weaving, the threads they played in the warp and weft, tension singing on each strand as it drew tighter in the Force. Even as the metaphysical lacings tightened however, they found between those threads an boundless expanse of new born stars and infant nebula. It stretched beyond the horizon within them, and within the bond they found both the bindings that held them together and the infinite between them.

Exhausting, a test of both their abilities and their commitment, they emerge from the event changed. Not in great sweeping ways- anyone from the outside would still see the familiar faces, recognize their habits and mannerisms. But something base, intrinsic, and sweeping had shifted the way they saw the outside galaxy by a fraction of a degree, setting them off in a way that offered no potential for reversal. Quintessentially altered in the space they existed in and the space that existed within them, there had never been a truer mark that it was without exception them against the world. Others would share their lives, find places- home, love, hatred, fires, kindness, affection, a breaking of bread or a breaking of bones, yes. But there was a single degree in the spheres of the heavens reserved for no one but those two, and now, they knew it.

Laying together, entwined and exhausted, the shared sigil on their skin faded slowly, from bright burns to the deep, shining scars of flame and fire. But the dragon that curled around her back, stretching with a rumble and a sigh, and the tiny, fluttering shrike on the inside of his forearm lay together, the marks shifting without thought- half alive half tattooed, they settled, as surely as Jai and Irajah did now. Marked through sorcery and by each other, the full depths and repercussions would become clear in the months to ahead, but one thing was certain.

They belonged to each other. And no outside force could touch it.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]