Two Blonde Besties in Alderaan

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Yea, I'm military trained. No luxury for slowness when changing attire. But it is also useful during sexy times too, haha..." she joked.

While her friend was undressing in the pool, she dived back in to retrieve her own clothes at the bottom and tossed them over the ledge. One of the maids moved over to collect the two ladies' wet clothes. Gordon himself was nowhere to be seen, presumably excusing himself the moment the ladies began stripping. He did brief one of the maids to look after the two of them before leaving the area, making sure there were towels ready to be handed over when the whole craziness in the pool was finished.

"Trust you to think of this, heh. But you haven't seen everything yet."

The blonde glanced up into the night sky, swimming to the shallow end of the pool and found her feet. She leaned against the edge of the pool where it was designed for sitting and asked for Marina to follow suit next to her. Their bodies triggered the automatic sensors, water jets spurting out on their backs for a relaxing massage. She sighed, enjoying the comfort of the jacuzzi function. The water temperature had been adjusted to suit the environment, lukewarm and comfortable. The pool lights were nice, a soft yellow glow but she wanted something more.

"Pool lights, showtime."

Music suddenly went on, coming from the nearby speakers. The lights slowly shifted from yellow to a multitude of colours. A mini light show for the two of them. One of the maids went over, placing two glasses of fizzy lemon soda next to them.

"So, impressed?"

There was a smirk on Mariya when she posed her question to her friend.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Impressed with this?...the chateau...pool..vineyards...no." She moved away from the jets and back into deeper water slowly backstoking, before diving back in and resurfacing and wading over closer again.

"It's nice...but nothing as impressive as you, Mariya. You've impressed me....not this grand scale manor or the property...you." Marina swam a bit closer till her feet once more touched the shollow part and she stood, shoulds out of the pool. She pulled her hair back and wiped the water from her features.

"I always hoped you'd find your place...someplace you could call home...or where you could at least hang your rifle awhile and just be you. You deserve this, of all people. You impress me, that you've done all this on your own initiative...your own sweat. You've risked your life serving others and had little to show...aside from your cantina. But this...all this is your making. Your design. Your toils coming to bare fruit. " She leaned back and pushed herself back floating on her back.

Her eyes were looking up at the ceiling full of stars. She were suspended in the lukewarm pool that were a perfect temp. In the pool and on her back, she could not feel the water as it were attuned to her body. At that moment she could as well be an angel floating in space among those stars...it were that feeling.

"Come...come float with me among the stars..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Thanks, but you can stop praising me now. I'm just enjoying this lifestyle as much as possible for now, hehe..." she grinned, taking a sip of the soda and left the water jets. A few strokes to join her friend who was floating in the water. Mariya's body was more muscular, which translated to more density. But she managed to do so, with a deep breath and some relaxation. The water gently caressed her face while her legs remained submerged. Good enough, as long as no one disturbed her.

"Okay, floating... but I'm watching you. Won't want to suddenly be dragged into the water again," Mariya issued a verbal warning in jest. There was no way she could turn her head and look at Marina in this floating position. Emerald eyes stared at the darkness above, lit by the countless stars. Definitely a mesmerising sight.

"A shooting star! Look."

She pointed at the general direction, unsure if Marina caught it. The last time she stared at the starry sky, she caught several blips streaking across. So even if her friend missed the first one, the chances of seeing another was high with so many stars above them.

"Play starry, starry night..."

The music switched under her command, a familiar tune flowing in the air.

"Starry, starry night... paint your palette blue and grey. Look out on a summer's day. With eyes that know the darkness in my soul...."

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxHnRfhDmrk[/media]

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Hehe..uh-uh..." She chuckled.
Of course she seen it. Her eyes were wide orbs absorbing starlight. and the more her eyes stared, the more distant stars showed themselves. She couldn't look a a group and say there were 12...37...56...or so on. The more you're eyes got attuned, the more you seen. It was almost infinite the stars....almost.

"I'm not praising you....I'm just telling you what I think, s'all..." She chuckled.
marina floated more naturally than her counterpart. But it weren't because she had more body fat. It was due to the fact that she was more relaxed and kept her diaphragm in control...meaning keeping her lungs expanded and still taking deep breaths. Then there was the think heavy factor...
Think heavy, you become heavy.

"Listen to the music, but don't let it loose you. " She spoke as she floated next to Mariya.
"I can feel the ripples of your tenseness..hehe..
Don't struggle so much to maintain....just be. The water's a perfect temp...you can't even feel it....it's like you're floating in space..." She was trying to describe what she felt in her state of zen.

"Look up a small point in the sky....look deep into it and count the stars. See? You can't. There are more further ones and more behind those...the more you look, the more you see....tiny specks..like dust...they are there..more and more...it seems to go on forever..." Marina's voice was calming. The music was too, and when it was over, another similar one started and so on.
Marina could float like this in fresh water for a long time and more so in salt water.

She could see her friend trying to relax and making a good effort at it too. And for the most part, Mariya was floating just as well. Well, it seemed that she was definitely doing better than she remembered. Then again, the pool could be easily converted to a saline pool and her friend could maybe enjoy it more and not put so much effort into floating,as it would take that edge out.
Still, Marina wasn't going to mention that at this moment, for her friend did seem to be enjoying it.

"If you turn all the pool lights off...in time you could even see nebulae...clouds of space gas...but you have to really relax and open your mind and let it see through your eyes..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Alright, I'll try..." the mercenary was floating somewhat. So all she needed to do was to relax? Easier said than done, though [member="Marina DeVoe"] was certainly helping with her advice. Mariya took a deep breath, telling her body to relax in the calming waters. The music helped too, the soothing voice that crooned a soft melody. The mercenary stared at the sky, admiring the stars twinkling in the darkness. Marina was right, there were just too many to count. Like infinity.

"I think I am getting the hang of it," she relaxed further, her legs no longer sinking as much. Slow breaths, she reminded herself. This was just like meditation in a different form. She remembered the words of another friend, an older mercenary whom she met in her recent assignment. He had taught her how to mediate. Just like this, breathing in and out.

"Lights out then, I wanna see the nebula."

The colourful lights dimmed, leaving the two blondes floating gently in the waters. The sky looked darker now, the stars still twinkling in the heavens above them. Emerald eyes glanced upwards, trying to pick out the nebula that Marina had told her about. A couple of breaths, deep and slow. Mariya took a cue from her meditation and performed the simple breathing technique, slowing down the chatter in her mind. No nebula, but she felt her consciousness reaching out.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."

What? Hello? What is happening to me?

She could feel her friend's life energy. Marina just an arm's length away. Time to reach out further. Now the maid joined in, an energy flowing through her. The maid was feeling bored, which made her smile in amusement. She expanded her reach again. The chef was busy cleaning the BBQ pit and the dishes. Her butler was preparing new bedsheets for the night and packing their bags for the skiing trip. The grapes in the fields rattled softly against the vines. The insects crawling on the earth. Frogs croaking.

Nebula. There it was. The colourful gases in the darkness of the sky. They twisted and turned, forming an image of a familiar face. Her face. The blonde was dressed up, a fancy lipstick colour on her pouting lips and painted nails on her fingers. The face smirked at her, making a haughty taunt before disappearing.

"Gasp!"

Reality returned. Mariya found herself sinking and swiftly swam towards the surface. A few strokes to the ledge. She pulled herself up and sat on the edge of the pool, shaking her head in confusion.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Pft... haha..." She laughed at finding her friend suddenly splashing about as she lost concentration. Marina had closed her eyes when her friend lost her buoyancy and went to recover splashing her and everything around them, breaking not only the surface tension of the water, but the serenity.

"You were doing so well..." She said, still floating peacefully, despite the churned waters, which were just now settling again. marina blew a bit of water from her lips, as she had gotten splashed by her friend's sudden lost of buoyancy. Ok, so Mariya wasn't so much a floater, but she was certainly a swimmer and had no problems treading water. It was just her lack of buoyancy due to her physical fitness, that was giving her problems, so marina thought. Of course, she didn't know that her friend had indeed floated well, but had been startled when she had extended her reach too far. And certainly marina didn't know or had ever been aware that her friend was force sensitive.

"Maybe you should eat more fatty foods...hehe..." She then said flipping back over upright, treading water.

"Oh....
You Ok?...you swallowed some water?" Marina didn't have to have force sense to pick up that her friend was somehow...distraught. She then dropped her silliness. her friend was not laughing.

"I wasn't laughing at you....just with you, I thought." She waded closer.

Had she hurt her friend again? This wasn't at all her intention, but looking at Mariya's expression, something was wrong. marina had no clue and slipped right next to her, keeping herself up elevated out of the water with her elbows on the edge behind her.
The stars above were still twinkling and as the pool water calmed, their reflection mimicked that of the sky.
For a moment when the water became as still as possible, they were really between the stars...from the water and sky.

"You know you can talk to me. I can be serious. Is it about Marcus...or Sade, that's still bothering you?" She had to ask, as Marina had picked up before that she did miss them. She knew her friend had lots of friends. And many had succumbed to the lifestyle they had choosen. The Underworld was unforgiving and many never made it to the point that Mariya had reached. Retirement to many of them, meant a permanent thing.

"I'm here, you know..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya looked up, sweeping her wet locks backwards with her hand. [member="Marina DeVoe"] had been calling out at her, making sure she was alright. "I'm alright. No, it's not about Marcus or Saede," she shook her head again. She had been floating in her own pool when that strange phenomenon happened. A surreal experience. She could sense her surroundings without looking around. Had she developed some form of sixth sense? Some mercenaries and bounty hunters were known to have an instinct for danger.

"I had a dream, to be honest."

The mercenary decided that was the most logical answer. How else could she explain to her her friend? Declare that she could sense her surroundings while she was floating in the pool? That would make her sound like a nutcase. No, a dream was an easier and more plausible explanation.

"I dreamed that I was floating in the air. I could see you next to me. I saw the grapes in the fields. I saw the nebula too. Then I saw my own face and got startled."'

Was it really her? Mariya was uncertain. The face looked like her, no doubt about it. But she had never worn that lipstick colour or painted her nails. Emerald eyes glanced at her fingers. Her nails were natural and she buffed them occasionally.

"Let's call it a night? It's getting late and tomorrow we will be traveling."

She would leave the dream sequence for another time to ponder about. For now, it was time to wash up.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"OK....sure..." She replied, watching her friend exiting the pool.

Marina didn't know what had just suddenly turned a rather happy go lucky Mariya to suddenly a solemn one. At first she went on to review all that had taken place prior to her friend breaking the stillness of the pool, to the events all leading up to it. And boy were there some events. But those were behind them, no? They were so. But Marina couldn't figure on what just happened. One minute they were in a sort of zen together and the next...Good night!

"Yea....I'm coming.." She turned and hopped herself out of the pool, grabbing the towel the house maids had left for both of them. The pool was still unlit and Marina was drying herself as she watched her friend leaving the enclosed canopy.

"A dream?...." Marina spoke to herself repeating what her friend had said.
She then surmised that her friend had apparently dozed off and got jolted awakened when she sank...
It was the only thing that came to mind that made any sense. Marina had not pushed the issue as to why then had her mood suddenly changed and she had enough of the evening. That was very odd for her friend...especially since she didn't have a job she had been committed to. So calling it a night was definitely not like Mariya on a weekend like night.
No, something else had changed her friend's demeanor tonight and it wasn't anything Marina knew she did.
The only reason she didn't harp on her friend to tell her was that she had caused a bit of fuss the last two days and certainly wasn't going to ruin this night either.

Marina remained there with the pretense of drying herself out. Although the absorbent towel had done that minutes ago. But what could she do? She wanted so bad to run after Mariya and shake her down to tell her what was wrong...but again, Marina knew she had shaken her friend a bit too many times these past two days to know better.
Maybe her friend was indeed that tired...
Maybe Marina had exhausted her...although that was an improbability, as her friend could go twice any distance than her, including sleep.

"Come on....leave her be for now..." Her inside voice beckoned her.

"Sigh.." Marina threw the towel on one of the lounge chairs and headed back into the main house.
She stopped a few steps out of the pool patio area and retraced her steps.
"Yea...go around prancing in your undies why don't you...." She said to herself again, picking up her towel again and wrapping it around her.

"Gordon.." She acknowledged the man as she passed him going up to her room, wrapped up in a towel.

"Uhm, Miss Marina?..."

"Just Marina, please..
...yes?"

"Marina, your clothes have been returned to your room. They've been cleaned, dried and pressed."

"Thanks, Gordon..
Say, Mariya didn't mention to you as to why she's ....uhm, retiring?"

"No Marina, she did not. If she did, it would be in confidence."

"Sigh...yea, got it... say no more...." She then continued on up the stairs, still no wiser as to what happened.
"Nite, Gordon.."

"Good night, Marina."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya went back to her own room, taking her time to rinse off the chlorine from her hair with a nice shampoo lather. She finished her shower and put on her nightly ritual of skin care products which included a toner, moisturiser and anti oxidant serum on her face. She might not look like it, but the blonde had learnt a thing or two about skin care in recent times. She did her toothbrushing next and blew her hair dry before hopping onto her own bed.

Nope, she was feeling too difficult to fall asleep. The experience just now was too mind blowing to comprehend.

It was not a dream, no doubt about it. The older mercenary whom she met recently had told her that there was no such thing as luck, but it was Force sensitivity in play. Surely she was not Force sensitive? She had been living her life for so long as a normal human being without any fancy powers. If she were Force sensitive, then the experience should be repeatable. Could she repeat the feat again without going to the pool?

She hopped out of her bed and walked over to [member="Marina DeVoe"]'s room, knocking on the door.

"It's me, Mariya. I'm coming in."

The house owner stepped into her friend's room, walking over to Marina and posed a question with a serious look.

"I'm going to mediate before I sleep. Do you want to join me?"

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"...yea, maybe another day or two....I'm not sure. " She were laying on her back on top of her bed talking on the comm.

"Uh uh...yea, I know. I'll have to find my way there maybe by the end of the week....yea."
It was her grandfather apparently and she was figitting with strands of her still damp hair.

"Oh yea..she's a blast....yea.
Yes, kinda the same.....yea."
Although she loved talking to her grandfather, she didn't seem in such a festive mood and somehow that was being picked up by her grandfather.
But he knew how she felt and what she had expected. Marina had for days waited and waited for her friend to visit her on Mt Ceitril. Only after a speeder had come without her friend but to pick marina up had she jumped in the family sedan and sped across the mountain range heading down to the valleys.
Her grandfather had figured she was overly excited and had way more expectations than it were humanly possible in her reunion with her friend. So after a few more encouraging words from him, they bid their good night.
"Alright..good night. I'll talk with you tomorrow again. Love you..."

"Gasp!" Marina suddenly sat up realizing she had forgotten something.
"No wait!.....No, no....Arrg... " But the comm-link on the other end had already closed.

Marina quickly re-transmitted, taking to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Yea, grandpa...yea, its me again.
Listen, we're planning on doing some skiing.."

"Hehe..yea, the chateau...yea. Ok, good. Yes, I'll be careful. No, no...I can make it there with the sedan....yes.
Ok..love you....by."

...knock...knock....knock..

"Hey..." Marina threw the comm link over to the pillow as she got up.

She wanted to ask her friend if anything was wrong. But the invite to meditate sounded like Mariya may be coming around to maybe talk to her about what had just happened. marina still couldn't figure it out and for sure she thought this time it wasn't anything she had said or done. Something happened in the pool and somehow her friend had decided to come and tell her about it....maybe.

"Sure..." She answered, still with damp hair. But obviously from coming out of the shower as she was in her short sleepwear and clean faced, no hint of any makeup. Basically, Marina was ready for bed, save for drying her hair. But as she got up from the edge of the bed, she was twisting her hair and put it up in a bun.
"I'll dry it later...or retrain it tomorrow after I wash it again." Marina said, as she headed out with her friend. Hell with her hair tonight.

"We going up to the observatory?" She asked, with an anticipating smug.
Marina had made out the glass enclosed roof top observatory and thought it was where her friend wanted to meditate. Well, it was where Marina would have meditated..right under the stars again. You couldn't keep the girl away from admiring the heavens at night or when she was sub-lighting about the sectors.
But the smug on her features weren't so much for going to the observatory, as it was meditating with her bestie.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Observatory?"

Mariya glanced upwards at the observatory and attic floor above them. The stars were still out there, twinkling in the darkness of the sky. She had no preference in the location for her meditation, so she nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, we can go up there." Off they went, climbing up the flight of stairs to the top floor. The attic was on the right door, while the observatory was on their left. She entered the room, lights flickering on automatically due to motion sensors.

The large windows were a welcoming sight, allowing them to have an unobstructed view of the sky. The blonde spent a minute glancing out, noticing the gardens and vineyard below them. Judging from the way the plants were swaying, the night was going to be a chilly one. She thanked the interior heating system and grabbed a big mat to lay it on the hardwood flooring. The wool fabric should help to keep their legs warm during the meditation.

"Let's get to it then," Mariya was surprisingly eager to jump right in. She needed to find out what she had experienced just now was real. She sat down with Marina, crossed her legs and closed her eyes. Controlled breaths, in and out slowly, slowing down her mind. Her consciousness scanned the rest of her body, making sure her sitting posture was as relaxed as possible.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5...

She counted her breaths mentally in her brain, focusing on it to stop her mind from drifting. She hoped that something would happen. All she needed to do was to expand her consciousness outwards.

21... expand your consciousness... hey, you are getting distracted. 22... 23... 24...

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that she could not repeat her earlier feat. Her concentration was improving, but she could not help but feel disappointed after ten minutes of her exercise. Maybe if she leaned against the wall, it would help to relax further.

"Mmm..."

The mercenary found herself dozing off.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

On a clear night, she could see forever...

Marina didn't meditate per say, but she could stare into space for hours on end till dreams would come. And unlike the Northern skies of Alderaan, the valleys down below saw more open skies than up North. The majority of nights, especially in the Winter on Mt Cetril were overcast, unlike the open clearer skies of the valley regions. So it were a treat for her this night especially to have accepted her friend's invite to meditate. naturally, marina had assumed it would be on the main upper roof of the chateau...the glass roof atrium...or as she called it; the observatory.
It were not so different in concept as the one on her mountain home. Only that Marina's home on Mt Cetril had originally been constructed as a family stronghold...an outpost.

Again, Marina wasn't entirely sure what had happened just a short hour ago down in the pool. Her friend had suddenly changed moods and marina found herself somehow on the outside again. Well, it were how she felt really, and it did not have any merit at all as to the real reason.
But instead of pressing Mariya as to tell her what was wrong, Marina kept quiet for the most part, knowing at times her mouth could run a bit farther ahead than her thoughts.

Despite her little dilemma as to why her friend's mood had changed, Marina nevertheless, laid on her back, resting her head under her clasped hands and once more looked up into the heavens. They were somehow beckoning her as they always had.
So she laid there staring up at the starry night while her friend sat in a somewhat upright position like so many meditators did.
Marina would occasionally look from the sky to her friend next to her. This went on for uncountable time and for the most part, marina had been keeping to her (self) promise of keeping her trap shut. But this was Marina and one couldn't blame the blonde if somehow or other, her mouth decided otherwise.

"You know....." She started in a sort of thoughtful tone, like before in the pool...relaxed, soft and a tone one could fall asleep listening to. in other words, it wasn't overbearing or irritable....but more like tranquil...hypnotic...

"...in a way if you think about it..you can actually travel faster than anything in this galaxy.
I mean...just look at the emptiness between any stars...look deeper.
There, you see...more stars....
You can see more distant stars. I know you can see them now and most likely they may no longer exist as it takes so long for their light to reach us. But think about the farthest system you can think of...
Yea...whatever that is, you are like there...you know?" her voice could calm one's mind to let go of reality...the gravitational effect on the mind that kept it grounded most times.

"I think that our minds can travel faster than light...faster than hyper-speed...faster than anything imaginable because we can image it. I mean...like whatever planet you can be thinking of, you can imagine yourself there... You can even imagine life forms...people there.
Imagine even looking and maybe even talking to one...hehe.... Hello..." It were certainly a vivid imagination Marina had. And she were imagining talking to someone millions of light-years distant.

"I think about them...think about if they too are imagining my world...if they are imagining me." her voice seemed to envelop the mood, the atmosphere they were in and if one could close their eyes and follow Marina into this imaginary realm. One could well imagine travelling in a blink of an eye to any distant worlds...
So was the human mind's imagination. So was Marina's imagination...or so she believed it was...

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Mariya tried her best to keep her concentration, but the murmurings of her friend sounded like a lullaby. She dozed off more than several times and decided to call it a night. There was no way she was going to continue this foolish attempt. She yawned and got up from the wall, grabbing another woolly blanket and joined her friend who was lying on the wool mat. Head on cushions, bodies under the warmth of the blanket and two pair of eyes glancing up at the night sky.

"Going on about physics again huh? I know that stuff. They say you look at the past when you gaze upon the stars, because the light takes too long to reach us."

Emerald eyes continued to stare into the brilliant darkness, her arm cuddling [member="Marina DeVoe"] closely.

"You know, this reminds me of the times we spend outdoors. Camping under the stars, trying to stay cosy in the tent. You loved the expeditions... yes..."

They had a long day of activities today. There was a tour of her chateau, the exercises, outdoor grill and swimming to end off the night. So yes, the blonde was tired and could feel it. The last thing she wanted to do was to think about the experience at the pool. Or open her mouth to continue the conversation. She felt too lazy to back to her room. The floor was calling out for her to enjoy her sleep.

"Mmm... expeditions..."

The next time she opened her eyes, it would be a brand new day.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Physics?...hahaha...no, silly...there's no physics when you're just using your imagination." she lightly elbowed her tired friend to stay awake.

"Like yea, how many times did we lay like this, looking up at a constellation?...A lot of times and never enough. I can do this every night if the skies are clear. And it's not science or physics that I'm talking about. It's like meditating...using your imagination instead of shutting it down and clearing your mind. like, i never got that..you know, 'clearing your mind'.
I mean, like what are we? computer chips?..hehe... " But once more her friend closed her eyes.

"Now come on and sleep if you want, but try to imagine yourself going to a star....any star that you pick out in the sky. Look at it...look at how it twinkles...and don't think about the thermals in the atmosphere that make it do that.
Ok, well maybe that too is part of it....like a link.
The warm air rising distorts the star light making it twinkle...Ok, yea I know that.
But what if the air which is part of the sky that is part of this planet... and the planet is part of the heavens all connect?
Come on.. you need to look first...then close them if you want. But you need to imprint the star.." she nudged her friend to stay with her.

"According to stupid jedi, everything connects. Only they think it does it through the force only. I don't believe that. I connect and I'm not force sensitive. My midicloreans are no greater per cell count than a ground squirrel. Yes, I got checked and that's pretty close as to my midi count...lol
Anyway.." Lightly nudged her friend again to stay with her a bit more without dozing off.

"... just pick a star.
Come on..play this game with me. I'm not going to shut up until you do.
You can't fight it...it is your destiny...Hahahaha..." She laughed thinking of what some force users always say...silly people.

"Ok..come on, Mariya... just look at the star.
Then notice the lighter, dimmer one next to it. Now make that one brighter... then you can see what you didn't see before, the other dimmer star. It's even farther away.
Go to it...or let it come to you if you want, but don't take your eyes off it. Now expand it and see if it has a world...and if that world has people....and if one of those people are looking up at the stars in this direction...say 'Hi'...hehe..."

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Yawn... look, I'm really tired," Mariya was awaken by her friend's elbow and frowned. "So no, I'm not going to play this game... She let go of her friend and turned around, trying to ignore the ranting. Nope, [member="Marina DeVoe"] was persistent. Oh boy, it was getting on her nerves. The blonde decided it was time to end the session for the night. Her friend might be still energetic, but her eyes were shutting themselves down.

"We'll do this tomorrow, at the ski resort," she sighed and dragged herself off the floor. Sleepy eyes blinked and stared at her friend. "Whatever Force, stars or planets you want me to look, I promise I'll do so tomorrow. For now, I just wanna sleep. Else we won't have the energy for the skiing."

With that, she walked out of the observatory and waited at the door for her friend. "Come on, Marina. Be a good girl and turn in to bed. We can sleep together in my room if you like, but no more elbows.."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Sigh...sorry..." She turned toward Mariya when her friend sat up, looking a bit flustered.
She didn't know what was causing her friend to be so moody and tired. Exactly what had happened in the pool? It wasn't like she blew bubbles floating on her back...like that was something that never happened with her.

Well at least Mariya still indicated she wanted to hit up the slopes. That much at least told her that it may have nothing to do with her being mad at her or anything. But something was certainly affecting her friend and it weighed heavily on Marina.

"I'll just stay up here a bit more..." She replied. As much as a sleepover in Mariya's room would be fun, there was still this flip-flopping mood thing going on with her bestie that Marina couldn't quite grasp.

"...I don't get such clear skies at home this time of year...or consistently. The mountain range sort of puts a break on the clouds and they take their time going across..." She was explaining as her friend gathered her belongings and was heading as she had indicated to her room to sleep.

"Sigh...just got to think a moment or two more -" But her friend had already left, leaving Marina there on the floor, looking up at the night sky by her lonesome self. She wanted to get up and get under those cozy covers and dream away the night. But the stars were still beckoning her a moment. maybe the answer to her friend's mood lay in those stars somewhere.
"Sigh...."
So she once more laid her head, resting in her hands and stared at the stars. She did this for several minutes before she once more took to picking out a star, then the dim one next to it and the dimmer one and so on till she reached one that at first didn't even register at all, but once found, it grew brighter and brighter. She could imagine herself piloting her ship toward it...not in hyperspace, nor sub-space but just heading toward it as fast as her imagination allowed till she were dropping in below cloud cover and viewed the open sea. There she then skimmed over it at an undisclosed speed, for it didn't matter in her mind. All that it mattered was that she were moving forever forward unimpeded. She then imagined coming up on land, passing the shoreline and right there and then, was Sade and Marcus.

Only this time, they were smiling at her and happy to see that she found them. Somehow or other, marina just walked up to them, not bothering about how she got there or even stepping off her ship. She simply walked up to them and for some unknown reason beyond comprehension, both Marcus and Sade hugged her. This all felt natural, as in real life, Marcus had only once skimmed his eyes over her and kept them going...away.
Sade on the other hand had really wanted to eject marina out of her ISD but figured she'd have Mariya to answer for and stayed that execution.
But here now in this realm of imagination...or was it?...both were happy to see her.
First thing which had come to mind on Marina was to tell them that their friend Mariya missed them so and wanted to so much to see them again. They were all for it and were even going to go back with her all the way to Alderaan...just for Mariya.

It was then that Marina smiled and awakened. The sky had become somewhat obscured by clouds now and it were difficult to peek at the stars. But her dream had been quite vivid and she had such a wonderful feeling about it.
So wonderful that she thought it best to call star gazing over for the night. Just as well, for it had gotten a bit cloudy.

Marina gathered up her stuff and headed down stairs to the bedroom floor. There she then came upon her friend's door and slowly she opened it to peek in. Her friend had after all invited her to sleep under the same covers...just as long as she wasn't going to elbow her. Marina could hold to that...sure. No elbowing...OK.
So she quietly and with a broad smile got underneath the comforter and took a deep breath. Her dream had seemed to clear some things up. It brought Marina to conclude that her friend missed Marcus and Sade and the gang very much. It could have been the talks they may have had about them being lost or worst out there. But marina had a good dream about them and she was sure her friend would be happy to hear it.

"You know... I just had this wonderful dream...." She began, out of the stillness of the night....

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

The blonde saw that her friend preferred to stay at the observatory for a while more, so she retreated back to her room. Her inital plan to meditate before sleeping was not exactly a success, and her eyelids were telling her to go to sleep. She slipped into her king sized bed, tossed the covers over and hit the pillow. It took her barely a minute to fall asleep. No, there were no dreams for her. She had enough dreams for the night.

She was still sleeping when the bedroom door was pushed open. The blonde did not stir when [member="Marina DeVoe"] walked in, but was awakened when her friend joined her in bed.

"Who... oh... it's you," she yawned at her blonde friend. So Marina had finished her stargazing and was ready to sleep. At least that was what she expected. Of course, Marina had the totally opposite idea and began to talk about her wonderful dream.

"Right, wonderful dream. Tell me... about it...tomorrow..." she muttered sleepily with her barely open eyes and felt her friend's warmth against her. She was too tired to even stir, barely lifting an arm to cuddle her friend. "Good night...".

 

[Marina DeVoe]

The cool morning breeze at the dawn of the new day rising, felt wonderful on her features.
She had instinctively awakened and had gone to greet Alderaan's morning call.
She was up in the open balcony, feeling its passing breeze, caressing her golden hair as it took to welcoming the new dawn before her.

Marina reveled in its sweet natural fragrances of the vineyard's and countryside, letting the cool breeze envelop her, pass her about, stirring not only her hair, but the curtains behind her in the bedroom.
She loved such morning rises, as she rarely had them as such, up high in her mountain home. But here down in the valley, the night air meeting the rising sun and it's warm air, created a phenomenon that as minute as it were, she could feel it. The warm air generated from the sunlight, expanded, pushing the cold night air, creating such a breeze... which in turn actually dropped the air temp as the air raced away ahead of the sunrise. In short, as the sunrise heated the air, it expanded, pushing the cold air not yet affected away, causing this early morning phenomenon.

Marina took in the essence of the countryside awakening...the vineyard had such a wonderful fragrance, however earthly it were. To Marina, this was refreshing, along with the cold breeze this time of morning. It swept through her hair, through the curtains and into the room.
She turned with a content smile and looked over to her sleeping companion. She saw her friend stirring. Was Mariya too awakening to greet the new dawn, like her?
No.
Her sleeping friend was curling up into a fetal position, pulling the covers over her body with almost a death grip on the comforter. Marina almost chuckled, before she realized what her friend was doing and why.

"Oops...." It dawned on Marina that her friend was huddling under the blankets because her friend were not liking the cold so early in the morning.
Marina quickly stepped away from the open balcony and closed the glass patio doors, shutting out the cool morning breeze that had greeted her and seemed to want to do the same with her sleeping friend.
But unlike Marina, Mariya never did like waking up to a cold morning at all. Rather, she had always fought it and stayed under her covers or huddled in her sleeping bag when they had been out camping in the past. If it hadn't been pertinent for her friend to get herself up on a cold morning, she wouldn't and wait till she was good and ready.

But in no time at all, the room's environmental controls brought the temp back to where Mariya had set it for her comfort level.
Marina made her way to the bed and gently coaxed her sleeping friend to release her death grip on the covers that she had mummified herself under. And her friend as her body relaxed again, did just that, as the room warmed up again. Marina then tucked her in neatly again, pulling the covers back over her shoulders. She'd give her some time to awaken on her own.
Right now she had to ready herself for this day's adventures.

Marina had to get back to her own room, shower up, get dressed and see about printing out (3-D) the right equipment for her bestie. But that would mean getting to her ship the Mariner IV on her estates. That's where it was left parked inside the family hangar, as it couldn't be left outside due to the snowy weather this time of year in the Northern Providences of Alderaan.
Down here in the fertile valleys it was still Autumn, while 2,000 kilometers North, it were already snowing.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Someone had opened the windows.

Mariya felt it, the cold air rushing into the room. She groaned sleepily, grabbing her blanket and covered it over her head. Cool mornings were good for sleeping, but this was too much. She almost wanted to drag herself up to close the darn windows when someone else did it. Murmuring softly, she drifted back to sleep as the temperature became bearable once more. More time to laze around, which was always good. She slept on, content for another hour of rest or so.

******​

"Rrrrriiinnnnnggggggg!"

The familiar sound of her alarm. She slapped the alarm off and rubbed her eyes. A glance at the clock read eight. Marina was no longer around, probably leaving the room earlier. Mariya yawned, dragging herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom. The usual business of brushing teeth, washing face and taking a shower. She was glad the room temperature maintained a level that was warmer than the outside, which allowed her to shower and walk out of the bathroom without feeling the chills. She slipped on a new outfit suitable for colder weather and headed downstairs.

Breakfast was served, a good spread. Gordon was standing nearby, ready for instructions and looking as fresh as usual.

"Good morning, madam. I have told your guest to join us."

The blonde nodded her head and poured herself a glass of blue milk. A maid came and served the tea. She took a stab at the toast and started off with something light. With luck, [member="Marina DeVoe"] should be coming down as well.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

She walked onto the enclosed atrium like patio upon hearing her friend's voice. Marina like she often did at home when not sitting down to a family breakfast, visited the kitchens directly. She never had the House chefs make something just for her. She had always been independent once she found her feet could carry her on their own....then of course at that age, she were a handful to keep up with.
It then dawned on Marina as to why Gordon had mentioned in passing when she were heading to the chateau's kitchens, that breakfast were going to be served in the South atrium.

She walked in munching on a egg omelette burrito..the kind one would grab on the go. She had nearly already consumed most of it when she had walked in on her friend's breakfast.
"Oh..." She found herself invited to breakfast while she for the most part had already helped herself in the kitchen. After all, she had arose at the dawn of light ..almost two hours ago.
As slim as she appeared, she did have a high metabolism and her tummy had just begged her to get something in it. So alongside with the chefs, she flipped herself up an omelette rolled up in flatbread as she would do at times when no formal breakfast was served. Didn't even ask as to why the chefs were cooking this time of day.
yep...they were making breakfast as her friend, the host, Mariya had ordered for them to make the both of them.

She casually slipped the uneaten portion of her self made breakfast on one of the empty trays that a servant was leaving with.
"Good morning sleepy head..." She then hopped her tail on over to the small table, leaning over to her friend and fixing a few blonde strands of Mariya's hair back over to the rest of their follicle friends.

She then sat down and pulled a napkin over her lap, overlooking at what the chefs had been busy with around her.
"Hmm... wondered what they were doing in the kitchen....lol...thought they were just making breakfast for the staff." She put a slice of toast with a smidgen of butter spread on her plate. Then of course as she were about to reach for the stimcaf to fill her cup, a servant poured one for her.
"Thank you.." Marina gave her a smile, before turning her attention back to her friend.

"So, looks like you got some extra sleep time in.
Ready to head on up to Mt Cetril?...need to access the Mariner to print you up some equipment. We'll take the ship on over from there to the mountain chalet.
But not before you meet my grandfather....and maybe more of the family, if anyone's back." She said, before taking a bird bite out of the buttered toast.