* ᴀᴅ ᴀsᴛʀᴀ / ᴘᴇʀ ᴀsᴘᴇʀᴀ

Camping in the Felucian Jungle: A Moodboard

Cescelly Rufa-Moro wants nothing more than to show his beloved home planet to his friend Skitch Combe, but there’s one problem: Skitch is a city boy unused to the dangers a jungle presents. Between the sweltering heat, swarms of giant insects, & man-eating plants, it seems unlikely that Skitch will enjoy the trip as much as Cescelly does. Whatever happens, at least they’ll have a few good stories to tell after... right?

   jaina can’t stop the smile that comes to her features at how quick he is to offer some sort of help. even when he looked confused at what she meant by meditate. “ its something i do to help me connect with the force and to just center myself. ” it was also something she did in the hopes that it might somehow point her to her uncle. “ no, i’m perfectly healthy. ”

   when he starts talking about the plant, jaina nods a little. she’d never been very good at knowing what plant would help for what issue, and to hear someone speak about it with enthusiasm was nice. “ honestly, i had no idea about any of that. i’ve never been all that great at knowing things about medical plants. ”

“Wow. That's neat.” Cescelly couldn't help feeling awestruck at Jaina's talk of the Force. Meditating sounded so cool the way she described it. He still had no idea what it was, which lent to the mystery of it. It reminded him of the stories he had heard from Ithorian immigrants on Felucia years before.

Cescelly blinked a few times before remembering what their conversation had really been about. “It's good that you're not sick, but that nysillin soup will still be on offer if you ever are.”

Rey shrugged and popped the apple slice into her own mouth, she wasn’t very well going to let it go to waste. As she listened to him, she crunched on the slice. “I trust that my superiors have judged that keeping you is a better move than throwing you out the nearest airlock but that doesn’t mean I have to like it or trust you.” She commented. “A lot of people here don’t, which is why they’ve asked me to keep an eye on you.”

.

“Fair enough. I don't like or trust you either.” Thanisson turned his nose up and looked away from her- a petty move, but one he was totally unapologetic for. It was doubtful they'd get along well at all and he wondered just how long she would be 'keeping an eye on him' for. 'Probably until they finally do decide to throw me out the nearest airlock.'

“…” Praetor was in the middle of chewing on a bite of pastry, and was grateful for it once her question got out. It didn’t sound like Guanisi particularly wanted to answer at all. She had to suspect something painful happened… maybe his people were targeted by the First Order?

“I understand, sorry,” she replied as soon as she was able, lowering her eyes. If the FO had even the slightest connection… “Perhaps maybe even a little envious, knowing I’ll be outlived by give or take, a few centuries.” It was a strange sort of relief knowing that sprouting some new limb wouldn’t be happening, but, Amanda hadn’t even thought of such a thing before Guanisi brought it up. Despite the serious mood, it took an effort not to snicker…

She accepted the offered braboli with a curious smile. “Braboli…” she softly repeated, the word making her think of boiling water. After such a heavy, but invisible subject… she wanted to try lightening the mood again. “If these are savory, have we gone for dessert too early?”

“Long lives are nothing to be envious of.” Guanisi appeared to smile genuinely, glad that the subject had shifted away from his home planet, but this new topic still weighed heavy on his heart. “Just think of how many more years you'd have to work to afford centuries worth of food, or how many of your favorite outfits would deteriorate before you outgrow them.”

The most difficult part was knowing that most of his friends wouldn't still be with him in the end. Living on Syrena hadn't posed that problem, as all of his friends were also long-lived syrens, but he'd lost all that now. His friends were mostly human these days. It was hard enough having to say goodbye to them on his travels, but the fact that one day he would be unable to meet them again hurt even worse. At a guess, he would outlive Amanda by 200 years or more.

〚 ᴍᴇᴍᴇ 〛 nonverbal venting starters.

✬ always accepting ✬

13. Your muse finds mine hitting an inanimate object over & over.

Magnitas circled a formless dummy in the training room, taking sweeps at it whenever he imagined it striking. Although he wasn't prone to nightmares, an old plague had returned that night to haunt him. Images of his brother flashed through his mind, fueling his need to be stronger, faster; better than he was, in any way he could be.

With each strike he made sure to hit a different part of the dummy, hitting each of its projecting poles and the ball that represented its head. Each strike became faster and harder, but he wasn't satisfied. Imagining a real opponent in its place only served to increase his anger: it grew and grew, until finally he drew his lightsaber and cut the center pole in half.

In the silence following the thud of sizzling leather and durasteel, Magnitas sensed another's presence. He turned to Nova with ferocity in his eyes and a grimace that faded as he saw who she was. For a moment he had seen nothing but Ganjjae.

‘Drinking buddies’… the concept was funny to her, having a ‘friend’ just for drinking? She supposed having company wasn’t a terrible thought. Though Praetor didn’t want to imagine any of her… peers… in front of a bottle. She took another slow sip, noting the burn lessen in her throat.

“Hm?” she lowered the glass quickly, briefly reaching down to take another pastry before giving Guanisi her full attention. Goodness, what sort of sordid secret could this singer be holding onto? Certainly couldn’t be worse than what she was holding close to her chest… Amanda let her head tilt gently, hoping she was being encouraging, though in doing so, she felt like the world’s biggest hypocrite.

For a moment, her expression broke into shock before hastily returning to neutrality. Guanisi wasn’t human? And… a century old? “I-… Is that, true?” She remembered joking about her face resembling that of a child, but- in the face of a century? She was intrigued much more than off-put, taking a little nibble from the pastry in her hand to show her intent to stay put. “Then… if I may ask, what are you if not human?”

She was surprised— he could only see it on her face for a fleeting instant, but the look had definitely been there. She was trying so hard to maintain her composure. At least she wasn't disgusted, as others had been in the past. No doubt the wine was helping with that. Everything seems more ordinary after a bit of alcohol.

The question about his species brought a wince to his face. He didn't want to talk about his people– not yet– but she had every right to ask. When encountered with something new, knowledge is the one thing that halts fear in its tracks. “I'd rather not say. It's a... bit of a tough subject.” He looked down into his wine glass with a sigh before forcing a smile. “We're very much like humans in all but longevity. You needn't worry about me suddenly growing extra limbs or anything like that. I just thought you should know since we might be hanging around each other for a while.”

Although he was often considered one of the most apathetic Knights, Magnitas was not altogether above showing emotion. There were a few circumstances which could cause him to show concern for another. Amongst them, the sight of Kylo Ren brooding over some unspoken problem. Breaking and slashing things with his lightsaber was to be expected, but this– whether it be quiet anger or deep settled stress– was enough to make Magnitas worry. The solution, he decided, was to get Kylo to relax and share the problem so that he or another Knight could help.

Magnitas left the room for a few minutes and returned with a cup of green tea in either hand. He stood in silence, waiting until Kylo acknowledged his presence before offering him the second cup.