Wake Up

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael had passed out a few times within his lifetime, most had been before he was capable of using the force, and all had been since before he became a Master. Sitll, all of those times he could count on one hand, add this into it, and it was now two hands. The cold, the three head injuries, and his panicked over use of the force had taken too much of a toll on him.

Blinking as Soliael called it took quite a bit of energy, the more he focused the less energy it took, in his panicked state of not wanting himself or Kira to be harmed even more Soliael had simply not focused one bit, and had instead thrown every bit of the force at it that he could. Couple that with the cold and getting hit several times...well even Soliael could only go on for so long without suffering any consequences.

He was only Mortal after all.

Kira's efforts did not go unnoticed, at least by Soliael unconscious mind. Slowly his body began to brighten up a bit, his skin growing less white, his lips returning to their normal color, and his entire body shifting to once again look alive.

But he was still unconscious.

For now.

A minute passed, then another, then another as Kira pressed herself up against him. It seemed like an age, and then after five Solid minutes, Soliael suddenly opened his eyes.

A rush of energy hit him. It wasn't a slow daze that he returned to but instead a massive shock to his system. Soliael entire body shook violently, his eyes snapping open as his pupils grew to the size of pin needles before returning to normal. Muscles tensed and untensed, and his head jerked up. He let out a soft groan, and then let his body relax.

He felt a slight push against his side, frowning slight as he looked down. His eyebrows raised as he saw Kira, feeling that she was still very naked under the covers.

“Hello.” He said possibly having forgotten the passed 30 minutes due to brain damage.

No just kidding, he remembered.

 

[Kira Talith]

She'd continue her brisk rubbing of his arm, satisfied that he was already warming up. Her hands would take on a soft glow, nothing fancy, just that her entire focus was on him and their wellbeing. Didn't take long before their shared body heat and the extra omph in regulating their body temperature with the Force served its purpose. Even if the blasted arse startled her with his sudden onset of consciousness.

Relief would spread across her face, "Oh thank the Force!" she'd utter, her hands sliding up to cup his face, moving up against him until she met his eyes, half hovering over him, searching his expression for any hint of an issue that may suggest he required something more than what she'd be able to provide. That earlier bit of embarrassment, mortification, and all that jazz about birthday suits was gone. Clearly, this took precedence.

"How are you feeling?" she was in straight up fix it concern mode. Her right hand would dart up and wiggle two fingers, "How many do you see?" her brow would knit, clearly worried.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael lay still for a moment, noticing the warmth that she gave off while pressed against him. His eyebrow raised slightly as she stuck her hand in his face.

He wanted to answer, and opened his mouth to do so, but then he regained feeling within his arm and side. For the first time he actually felt her press against him, particularly two bits of her that felt quite nice. Soliael wanted to say something, but then instead decided to close his mouth and enjoy it for the time being. The warmth she provided felt quite nice, as even beneath the covers and everything else she was doing Soliael was still chilled to the bone.

“Four hundred and thirty seven.” Soliael said deadpan. “Point six.”

His face never changed, but his eyes had a twinkle of mischievous

 

[Kira Talith]

"What?" the confusion that went dancing over her expression was clearly comical. If anything could be said about the Jedi, is that she was very expressive. Every thought, every tell could be read on her face, more so for those so inclined in reading kinetic communication like her. It's why Lorrdians would wear thick heavy robes, because anything and everything could be used against them if one knew how to read them well enough.

She gave a slight double take, her pink nose crinkling. She too would be warmer now, but it was easier for her to heat up faster. Smaller package and all compared to Mr. Barbarian here.

Her eyes would shift to her two wiggling fingers, then back to his face to catch the devilry in his eyes. She gave another sigh of relief, and those fingers would shape to flick the middle of his forehead with a light tap. "You brat!" she'd chide, only to smooth her thumb where she'd flick and continue her survey, that hand sliding down his temple, over the stubble of his cheek. If he could joke, then perhaps he was okay. Nothing out of the ordinary at least.

"Just relax, I'm still trying to regulate your temperature." she'd tell him, and indeed she was. Call her a funsized portable personal heater. Her breath would be warm, her body, even warmer.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“I'm about as relaxed as I could be.” Soliael said with an oddly amused.

It was true though.

Cuddled up in bed with a tiny naked woman pressed against you? Thats about as comfy as one could get, Soliael especially enjoyed it. He lay there relaxed, slowly heating up as time went on. His lips returned back to full color, his skin became its usual shade, and everything eventually went back to normal. Eventually he moved his arms, his hand twitching slightly against Kira's leg, his other hand rubbing against the silk sheets and comforter.

He found that his fingers were oddly numb, a prickling sensation still occurring in the pads of his fingers.

Soliael curled both of his hands, his fingers gently rubbing up against Kira's outer thigh, something he himself didn't even feel. Both his hands curled uncomfortably slowly, he had to strain to do it, something he found rather displeasing.

 

[Kira Talith]

Enter a rather unladylike snort. "Sure there, Sparky." she'd say, relaying she wasn't too convinced. More so after she caught a fleeting expression over his face.

"What's wrong?" she'd ask, instantly worried again. The slight stroke of his fingers oblivious to her, not only because of the cold, but because there were areas of her leg that would be riddled with scars and little sensitivity. But that didn't mean she wasn't paying attention, she was focused on the more pressing concern of a concussion. The blanket over her would slide down as she perked her head up, resting over her shoulders like a younglin at a slumber party sneaking a talk in the middle of the night.

Only she wasn't a youngling. Not when she was molding herself to his hard edges, like she was another blanket. A soft, warm, breathing...

"Head hurt?" she'd frown, then a line of increasing panic would show. "Maybe you need a medic. As hard as your head is, I think the floor won the last three rounds." she'd joke, nervousness at his wellbeing bringing the jokes a tumbling.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael uncurled his fingers, this time feeling a graze of the scars on Kira's legs. The tingling feeling in his fingertips went away, and with his right hand he began to trace one of the long jagged lines that ran down her leg, his eyes widening slightly as he felt just how large the actual scarification on her legs was, this time his frown was for her, not for him.

His hand stopped when he reached a point he felt was inappropriate.

“I'm fine. It was the cold more than anything else.” He eyed her for a moment, then unconsciously felt the scar.

It was odd how much it disturbed him. His own body was riddled with the torments he had inflicted on himself, so he should have been used to it. Perhaps it was because Kira had suffered through hers at the hands of another, at the hands of his sister in fact. He wanted to fix them, he wanted to make her whole again.

That thought rocked him to his core.

Shaking his head slowly, as if realizing something he spoke again. “I've had worse falls than those. One time on Metalorn this crazy Jedi chick practically threw me against the ground.”

 

[Kira Talith]

Okay, a few subtle strokes she could miss. A deliberate trace? That she noticed, more so at the widening of his eyes as if registering how bad things went. There went a slight twitch, but one that would originate from the area along the puckered line that was actually sensitive. It felt weird. Not something she was used to. She began to draw away, giving him his space, a wave of pink rising up her chest and over her face again.

He mentioned Metalorn and she latched to it like a Gamorrean to a deep fried Nuna leg. "Man, those crazy Jedi chicks. Just tackling people left and right! How rude!" she'd say with a touch of sarcasm, her hands drawing away from his face in her growing satisfaction of his state of being. If he could joke, things were good to go. She'd still observe him, regulating his temperature but for the present time, looks like they were out of hot water.

"Maybe she just thought you needed a nap. Who doesn't love naps?!"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael felt his hand slip away from her thigh, and was oddly saddened at the prospect. Internally he shook his head, taking on a more amused facial expression than anything else.

“People who have already slept enough.” Soliael said with his mind somewhere else. Quite honestly he was not wrapped up in her scars, and what had caused them. For a time he had simply forgotten, his mind occupied with other things. Now however, after he had felt them he remembered exactly why Kira was the way she was.

Nemene.

His sister had done this, she had taken Kira and cut her into ribbons. His eyes grew stern for a moment, and the tingling within his fingertips went away. He frowned, slightly, then decided that this needed to be confronted head on. He was not a child that needed coddling, nor was Kira.

For the passed hour or so they had been goofing off and injuring themselves, now that they established they were both okay, the time was ripe.

“Kira.” Soliael said taking the same hand that had traced her hand and reaching out for her face, as if to cup her cheek. “I knew the woman who hurt you.”

 

[Kira Talith]

Well talk about a way to shift things into overdrive. It was like getting smacked against a wall after going full throttle on a speeder. His hand had barely begun to curve around her cheek when his words made her jerk. Her face blanched.

Oh this was awkward, more so because now she felt terribly exposed. Her head would turn away, blankets shifting round her as the blonde hair woulds start to shield her face as she'd say, "Looks like you're feeling better already. Save for a few new lumps on that head of yours, I think you'll be fine." she wasn't asking to be coddled, she just didn't know how to deal with it yet. Yeah, Nememe was at the root of the matter. But there was more to it than that. Far more.

And that dealt with Oliver.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He frowned slightly. Apparently she was not yet ready to speak about it, not yet ready to open up about what had happened to her. Soliael had seen enough murder, torture, destruction, and soul bending events in his lifetime to understand at least a part of what she was going through. He knew she had mental trauma, and he knew that it would likely cling to her very soul for the rest of her life. Talking about it would help, but in the end she would need to want the help in order for it to do anything at all.

“Listen.” He said the word, it was very nearly a command, but softer.

Gently he reached up and touched her cheek, turning her head towards him so her eyes were staring into his own. There was a softness to them that told of age, of understanding, and of knowledge beyond what any mortal could hold.

“We do not need to speak of it now or ever, but I can guess some of what happened.” The scars were telling, add that to her reactions as well as what he knew about his Sister and her antics and Soliael knew quite a bit, or could guess at it anyway. “However, I am here. I wont pretend to know or understand exactly what you have been through, but I have lived for nearly two and a half centuries. I've seen the very worst this galaxy has to offer, and I have seen people fall to it.”

He frowned slightly, as if remembering something unpleasant.

“I do not think you will be one of those people.” His tone sounded strong again purposeful.

There was something about his eyes that told of extreme determination.

 

[Kira Talith]

His fingers upon her jaw were firm, but gentle. Sky blue would meet citrine and their gazes would lock. What he said next was the proverbial straw that broke the bantha's back.

Why did he have to say that? There was a stinging in her eyes, and she began to blink rapidly. She was better than this! Don't turn into a watering pot! she'd chide herself. The conglomeration of emotions tied with just everything that happened since her kidnapping to this very moment was a rough burden to carry, a bit too much for the normally jovial imp of a Jedi Master.

There came the knot at her throat, and she'd start to say, "Wow... no wonder you got that whole Neth the Keeper role straight. You're good." she'd tell him, enter the shaking of a finger in emphasis. "Real good." It might come out as if she was lashing out, perhaps mocking him, but she wasn't. She just defaulted to humor as a defense mechanism. It just didn't translate well when she was feeling like an emotional wreck. More so when he looked at her like that, when she could read his movements and know that he meant it.

He really, truly meant it. That was a difficult thought to process. They'd known each other for less than two days combined.

"Sure you're not a Jedi?" she'd ask, voice cracking a bit. Her line of sight would drop from the determined expression on his face down lower, settling over his chest. Yup. Safe spot.

Til the mars and lines of scars that told his own story reminded her of what she'd thought earlier, mid his peep show. How in seeing the pattern, she had been struck with the need to know exactly what he'd been through. All of it --- because he'd survived what had been done to him. So maybe so could she.

Her own fingers would twitch, and it was clear she was going through a lot and wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. She'd shift into more of a sitting position, grabbing hold of the duvet to wrap it more around her.

"Yeah I'm a blanket hog." she'd say, trying to break the tension, bringing the blanket up close to her chin, but she didn't draw away from his hand. "Deal with it."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“I'm pretty sure. Perhaps in a different lifetime.” Soliael said in regards to the Jedi comment, momentarily it caused him to drift off into a fantasy land where he was stuck within the life of a Jedi. He wore robes, commanded troops, fought the One Sith, heralded the light, and was all around stuck up and rather boring. With an inward shake of his head Soliael dispelled that imaginary lifetime and thanked the force that he was a Sith.

He pressed his hand against her cheek, wiping away the beginnings of a tear running down her cheek.

Slowly, very slowly, he managed to push himself up, keeping his hand miraculously in place on her cheek and slowly but gently rubbing his thumb across her cheekbones in a soothing motion.

He was even with her now, well, slightly taller still, but he was also sitting up, pressed against a mountain of pillow that were between him and the headboard of the bed. His eyes were still staring into Kira's, and his soft expression telling of something, though even he was not quite sure what.

“When I was in the Pit.” He began, his voice steady and strong, that same feint aroma of calm, but with something else mixed in beginning to emanate from him. “I learned more about myself than I had in the past one hundred and fourty years of my life. It was there that I learned to tell the truth, not to others, but to myself. It was there that I truly looked in the mirror for the first time.“

He was not implying Kira should spend some time in Prison, that would be silly, he was sharing a turning point within his life.

Sharing is caring.

 

[Kira Talith]

Her eyes flared.

The Pit, again. Well he certainly picked the best method of hooking her attention. She couldn't help the rising curiosity his story would tug at her. And as he sat up, she couldn't help but be reminded of the visual testament of whatever horror he'd face etched over his chest. She had to know more.

His thumb was a warm soothing stroke against her cheek, hypnotic really, and she could feel the now familiar whisper of calm that would emanate from him. It was a bit different, reminding her more of the warmth of a summer's day than the wrap of a comforting blanket. Lighter, and sweeter.

Not something she was apt to complain about at all. It seemingly felt that next to him she was able to feel the weight of her own bones, the soft mattress underneath her, the currents in the room as the heat would warm them both. How very odd.

More so with the expression he was giving her now.

"... and what did you see?" she'd ask, her fingers starting to rub the edge of the blanket under her chin, fingers curling around the fabric as she held it up against her. Since she was no longer using the Force to regulate their temperatures, her color would improve. She'd feel drained, tired, but at least satisfied that she'd done as much as she could for him.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael smiled slightly and looked into her eyes his thumb still slowly stroking her cheek. There was no malice in his look, no hatred, nothing, he didn't mind speaking about this, didn't mind telling of his past. Perhaps it was because he was he was older, or perhaps he was simply a more steady person than what Kira actually.

“A man.” He said quietly. “Broken, changing, and always shifting. It is all I ever was, all I have have been, and all I’ll ever be. I am mortal Kira, I am a mortal man with flaws. When I was in the Pit I learned that I will never be more than I am. I can change of course, shift the person that I am to be nicer, but the whole of me, the whole of me will stay a constant. No matter what is done to me, no matter what I go through. I will remain who I am.”

His words were somewhat cryptic, but if she listened carefully she would find what she was looking for.

He was telling her that she would return to normal eventually, just as he was. The Pit was of course a traumatic experience, and everything that had happened there had changed him in a way, but the whole of him was still the same. He was the same person he always was, just as Kira would return to be what she was. Soliael smiled at her, trying to be comforting.

“I still don't know who I am though.” He said that with a shrug.

 

[Kira Talith]

The fringe of her bangs would tickle the tips of her lashes, prompting a hot puff of air blown up from her mouth to blow them away. He made her pause. Think. Really mull over what he was saying, what it meant. It gave her a headache as much as it would start to sort things through.

Her eyes would drop, and her knees would draw to her chest again, the blankets shifting as she did so. Slowly, her shoulders would rise as she took a deep breath, bringing her hands around to fold on top of the blanket over her knees to rest her chin. All through that, the steady brush of his thumb would continue to calm her, and unconsciously she'd find herself tilting her head towards his hand much like a cat enjoying the stroke of a hand. She was afterall, a creature whose base form of communication was through physical movement.

Her eyes would grow hooded, and after a while they'd lift to search his face.

"Then what do you know?" she'd ask, curiously. Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, but her expression was becoming more open. Funny that she was naked under the wrap of the blankets, but still at odds how to be completely bare from within. It was a difficult thing to process, but it was becoming easier. He was right, talking would help. Baby steps, though.

One step at a time.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael looked at her.

“I know what I am capable of.” That sounded ominous, and it truly was. Soliael knew exactly what he could do, he knew exactly what the range of his abilities were, and what he was willing to do. The Sith Lord was a man of many virtues, but also many detractions. He was a man, but he would push the envelope of things. He would wipe out entire worlds, or save them, depending on his disposition. It was an odd thing really.

Oddly enough, he found himself opening up to Kira, and telling her more than he intended.

“I can do so many things Kira...” He curled his other hand slightly. “Good, and bad.”

His thumb stopped for a second, as if considering his own words.

 

[Kira Talith]

It was as if there were younglings sharing secrets. No judgement. Simply listening. A conversation. Sometimes that was all it took; it was enough. Kira could tell that this troubled him. He was searching, but for what?

She'd take a slow deep breath, holding it for a moment. It helped her think, gain a bit of clarity. Finally, she'd exhale.

"The greater the power, the greater the abuse," she said simply. "Everyone has the capacity of greatness." she'd blink slowly, percolating over her thoughts.

"Good or bad." She'd rest her cheek on top of her knees. "It's all about choices. Every choice, every decision one makes has an end result." she'd flick her eyes to him, ending with this. "... and the decisions one makes are a choice of values that reflect one's life in every way."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael looked at her for a moment, still stroking her cheek slightly as she moved to rest the other on her knees. He wondered for a moment what decisions she had had to make that lead her to the scars now decorating her body. Soliael himself had made the mistake of Hubris, and had payed for it with his own blood. He looked at her, and then cast his glance down towards her hidden body.

For some strange reason he wanted to see her so badly, not out of any sort of sexual connotation. Oddly enough he was not yet interested in her that way, instead it was his curiosity, his empathy. Those emotions called to him in this temptation, but he did not ask.

“I suppose though, I’ll be making a lot more choices than you to decide the fate of my life.” He made a joke about his age to get his mind off the subject.

He actually had no idea how many years he had on her, but he assumed it was quite a lot.

Soliael didn't want to speak about decision making however, he knew that some of his latest choices would not be very pleasing at all to Kira, or anyone with a good moral. Wiping out Aurum and Yuuzhan'tar weren't exactly good things to do.

 

[Kira Talith]

Her eyes would start to fall shut, relaxing more and more as the idle warmth of his thumb would continue to caress her cheek. It was light, soothing, and truth be told, she was enjoying it. A voice in the back of her mind would wonder if he was doing that again, the whole Zeltron thing he'd mentioned. Likely so, because that twisted sensation she had at the pit of her stomach had eased.

He was really handy to have around. Better than Valium that one, she'd muse the corner of her mouth giving a subtle upward quirk in mild amusement.

"Mmm..." one eye would slowly peek out at him, "Are you mocking me?" she'd ask, curiosity in her gaze that changed into a spark of devilry. "I guess when you are as old and crotchety as you, that's what old foggies do for kicks."

The crooked ghost of a smile would linger for a bit before it would fade. Finally, she said in a quiet voice, "He said that the other younglings were in trouble." she began, and one would wonder what exactly she was talking about until she continued.

"So I went to help. " the pink tip of her tongue would dart out to lick the fullness of her lower lip, feeling the slightly chapped skin as she'd worry it with her teeth.

"But there were no other younglings... Just Eve.... and Nememe."