Fraulein

His attention is drawn back to the jedi at his side - his jedi. She waits ever so patiently, never judging or pushing him. His gut instinct is to be irritated with her jedi calm. She is the one that needlessly dragged him out to this neutral water planet in the middle of nowhere. Now even the sky pesters him with its harmless attacks.

His fondness for her wins out instead.

"I have not felt the rain for over three hundred years," he admits quietly. "Not like this, at the very least."

She softens, her big dark nautolan eyes squinting just slightly in affection. He hadn't realized he had catalogued such body language until they were reunited and he found her expressions locked in his memory like puzzle pieces.

"Let's move off the landing platform," Dira suggests. "Then we can take a moment to enjoy it."

"I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the right phrasing," Scourge grumbles, but he takes the hand she offers him anyways.

She pulls him along the walkways until they are out of the way of the bustle of the landing pads and Dira turns her head up to the sky. She seems so alive in the salt air, a small smile on her face and her eyes alight. He can already understand why she wanted to share this place with him. He has seen her miserable and dehydrated on Tatooine. He has seen her bundled up and irritable on Hoth. He has even seen her ill on Quesh - the toxic atmosphere punishing to a species that breathes through its skin.

Just being on Manaan brings her joy, and that's a joy that she clearly wants to share with him.

They stand for a few minutes just taking in the rain. Dhaidira seems content just holding his hand and feeling everything alongside him. It settles him as much as it stokes the warmth in his chest.

"Come on," Dira says. "I want to show you something."

Instead of elaborating she leads him to the planetary shuttles. A speeder ride later they arrive at a private facility, white and gray like the rest of the plain structures.

"Do you know how to swim?" Dira asks.

"Of course I know how to swim."

"I spent a lot of time here while you were gone so I invested in a stronghold," she confesses. "There isn't much except basic facilities but that's not why I like it. I like it for the swimming."

He follows her down a set of stairs onto a lower platform, the water lapping at it's edges.

He considers his next words for a moment. "Why swimming?"

"I had never been in the ocean before I came to Manaan," she explains. "It was like nothing I've ever experienced. The wildlife, the plants, the water… It felt like coming home and then I realized the only thing missing was you. I want to share this with you, if you'll join me?"

Curse this jedi and the way she makes him feel.

"No laughing if I make a fool of myself," he sighs reluctantly. "I haven't had reason to swim in a very long time."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't let you drown." Her happiness rings through their bond and echoes through him until he finds himself returning her smile. She taps his armor. "You'll have to take this off though." He rolls his eyes.

They disrobe. He can't decide if he's surprised or not that she goes entirely nude. He's aware in general of alien physiology (it's an important thing to know when you need to know how to kill anyone at a moment's notice) but he never considered that nautolans' concealed genitalia meant they would have no social taboos about nudity. He always figured it was something the Jedi would condemn, considering the Order's stance on sex and attachment.

She flashes him a grin and then takes a running Force-assisted leap off of the deck, diving into the water so gracefully she barely even leaves a ripple behind. He huffs and shakes his head at her antics. It's moments like this that remind him just how young she is.

Not one to be outdone, he strips down to nothing and joins her - albeit more slowly - in the water. There's a ladder off of the side of the platform that he uses to ease himself down carefully. He can't remember the last time he was submerged in water like this. The closest he recalls is being submerged in a kolto tank as the Emperor's Wrath.

Dira swims back over once he's submerged up to his chest, using the ladder to gain his bearings. She radiates concern-question-care through the bond and he brushes it off.

"I'm fine," he asserts out loud. "I will hardly be bested by an oversized body of water, Jedi."

She sinks back into the water up to her cheeks but it does nothing to hide the mix of amusement and fondness that fills the Force.

It takes him a minute to get comfortable enough to release the ladder and unevenly tread water. Dira, to her credit, leaves him be despite how much she clearly wants to steady him. Once she's confident in his ability not to drown she ducks under the water and swims away again. He watches the way her green form twists and spins under the water, even more agile than she is on land. The water is clear enough that he can see the vague shapes of plants and fish deep on the ocean floor.

He takes a deep breath and submerges his head. He's left floating in the water's embrace. It's freeing in a way. It reminds him of the moment of free fall before slowing his descent with the Force. After so many years he's forgotten the way water sounds, the soft hush of water moving around him and distant noises of creatures sending ripples around them.

He senses Dira nearby and blinks open his eyes, ignoring the sting of salt. She looks truly otherworldly in the water. Her clear set of eyelids make her wide eyes look paler than usual and her unbound tresses float freely around her head. Something learned in him urges him to beware the alien in its natural environment. Then she smiles with all her sharp teeth and waves cheerfully and the immense affection he feels for her overtakes his fears. The feeling is as dangerous as it is heady.

He goes back up for air. Dira joins him, blinking back her clear set of eyelids. It's strange how she doesn't gasp for breath like he has to. Another difference he's never considered.

"Do you want to go deeper?" she asks him.

He nods and they dive together. It gets darker the deeper they go but it doesn't take long for Dira to hold up a hand for him to stop. She closes her second set of eyelids and extends herself in the Force. Through the bond he feels her make a connection and his own senses pick up a group of tiny living things heading towards them. He turns towards the signature and watches a group of colorful fish swirl around them.

Dira opens her second set of eyelids and smiles at the fish, holding out a hand. One of the tiny fish pecks at her fingertips. Another creeps annoyingly close to his chin tendrils and he shoos it away. He offers his own hand instead and jumps when the fish nips at it. It's not painful but certainly feels strange.

Dira laughs next to him, the sound muffled underwater. His heart swells with her laughter.

They return to the surface, Dira somehow speeding up their rise. He couldn't say if it's the Force or her natural affinity for water. He waves her off and returns to the ladder, hooking an arm through the ladder rung to relax and watch her.

Three hundred years of bottled up hope all wrapped up in one jedi. His feelings for her run so deep and are so complex that he still can't untangle them after months of her help. Watching her, he unveils another layer of his emotions for her.

She's beautiful.

Her green skin, the dark mottled stripes down her tresses, her big round eyes, the deceptively lithe muscles that shape her figure. Everything about her is beautiful.

His appreciation for her physical form has always been based in her skill and her poise. When he sees her across the battlefield she is the striking powerful figure from his vision - the one that cut down the Emperor time and time again. He knows well the admiration he has for the weapon she has molded herself into. This feeling is not that.

He doesn't see the galaxy's savior who's face he had three hundred years to memorize. All he sees is the person he wants to spend the rest of his mortal life with.

"Dira," he calls the next time she pops her head out of the water.

She must feel his intention because she swims right over to him and is happily reeled in for a kiss. Dira's lack of experience and Scourge's sensory overwhelm means their kisses are usually more affectionate than exploratory. Today Scourge just wants to know the parts of her that he's never gotten to experience before.

Her skin is smooth and hairless against his. He finds he doesn't miss the softness of human breasts, their flat chests pressed together and his nipples pressed into her padded muscles. He keeps a hand on the ladder to anchor them and an arm around her waist to keep her close. It feels like no time passes before she makes a surprised noise and pulls away.

"Sorry," she says breathlessly. (And how funny it is that she's out of breath now only after kissing him.)

"For what?" he asks.

"My uh, my teeth caught your lip," she informs him sheepishly.

He licks his lips and tastes blood. He can't help but laugh.

"I don't mind," he promises. This time she kisses him and he gets to taste her smile.

"Thank you for humoring me today," she says. "I'm sure this wouldn't be your first choice for your day off."

"There is nowhere I would rather be than by your side," Scourge reminds her. "The rest of it wasn't objectionable."

Dira giggles at his attitude and he stops talking for a moment to admire her fondly.

"This place is important to you and I am… honored to see it," Scourge admits. "I would come back again to see you happy."

"Thank you, Scourge," she replies quietly. "That means a lot to me."

So first I made a screenshot that I thought I could work with, but when I started adding the characters I ran out of space, so, they all moved to the taxi platform XD But yea, thats why the line work seems wonky, I used brush size 7 and then started scaling them :/ Not fully happy with my shading, but sometimes you gotta accept that half assing something is also awesome XD

Cele, on the other hand, loves when it gets warm out. She runs a little colder than most, so when the sun is finally out for the year and she doesn’t have to live in her heavier robes, her mood is immediately made twenty times better. You could probably also find her poolside most of the time curled up with a holonovel, but you can also probably find her wandering about the Odessen wilderness. She’s not looking for anything in particular, she just likes to drink in the feeling of life being in bloom again among the flora and fauna. Cele is more likely to remain in her shirt, though it’s not unusual that she ditches the thicker fabric for something far lighter and easier to move in. Given, she also has a tendency to forget sunscreen sometimes when she’s just out having fun on her own, so while she doesn’t burn, she’s certainly regretting it peeling off her clothes later and being covered in tan lines.

Osiris also tends to run colder (for virtue of being half Chiss), so he’s in a little bit of limbo when summer rolls around. He prefers a more temperate environment, and gets cold easier than most because of his augment — which slows his heart down quite a lot and then his fingers and toes tend to also remain effectively frozen a lot of the time. So summer getting hot is a weird one. He can finally peel off his almost permanent gloves and wear sandals if he wants, but he also really isn’t built for this. He does Not want to be outside longer than necessary, but he will open the windows to get a more controlled taste of the season. You can probably find him trying out new frozen recipes in the kitchen, and if you manage to coax him out during the evening, he may even grill something.

Erzilith does not really enjoy the summer. They burn very easily and the heat just makes them sluggish. Also, tends to run colder because of the fact they’re effectively half dead (Sith Inquisitor things), so they tolerate the heat about as well as anyone expects. To say, not very well. Before his kids, you could usually find him parked in his apartment, or on his ship with the air conditioning blasting as high as he could get it to combat the heat. Or dead sleep. Like, Ashara had to make sure they were still breathing on the couch dead sleep. Afterwards though, tiny people tend to like to get out and about, so he dons a very large hat, light and breathable black clothes, as much sunscreen as he can reasonably wear and a giant parasol to brave the day. Not very inconspicuous, but survivable. He prefers to find a shaded area and work through any lingering puzzles with holocrons or older relics while his family gets up to “regular people things”. What will get them excited though? Long speeder drives that can get the temperature down and their heart rate up.

Rhys actually does like the summer months. They tend to go hiking and camping, so at the crack of dawn they’ll get Kira up and head out into the unknown for weeks at a time. A survivalist, they know exactly what to pack, how to pack, how to keep moving and keep bugs off all at the same time. There’s something exciting for them about getting to go out and see things that nobody else has. Being able to attune themself with nature, let the Force flow through them as they reconnect with it, and get to recalibrate their senses just feels so good. They also love star gazing after a long day, as sore and tired as they might be (and they are very sore and tired — they run themself ragged out there), there’s always something to look forward to at the end of it all. As much as they sunscreen, they’re still visibly tanned when they get back.

Noa is a big enjoyer of the summer months. Back home with her family, she’d usually spend all that time running around with her siblings between high-rise apartments, infinity pools, open bars and summer soirees. She loved it, there was always something to do and they were always social months. Friends were out of school, no one was contending with work, the more frivulous things were back on the table like long vacations to Alderaan or Nar Shaddaa or some beachy towns they could find on their parents’ credit cards. Nowadays Noa does have responsibilities, so she isn’t always home for the festivities, but when she gets the chance she immediately heads for anywhere with a bustling and busy scene to drink in the atmosphere. She may be a Major in the military, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still know how to have a good time when it gets hot out. You could probably find her at some well-to-do bar or winery in a neat summer dress and cocktail in hand.

Tala is pretty similar to Noa in that she loves the summer months, and loves to party when they’re no longer dodging the snow and rain on Dromund Kaas. Summer in other places means good food, good alcohol, fun people to be around, infinite pool invites and no requirement to be sober for any of it. You’ll probably be able to find her partying the season away somewhere in a club, no matter how hot it gets, with something cold in her hand and the music blasting as loud as it can get. She takes full advantage of her contract payouts to get only the best for her and her crew, and then uses the excuse that it’s cooler at night to keep the party going until the sun comes back up. You can also find her at speeder races, cheering on the competitors and leisurely gambling on who she thinks will take it all. Also, not a shirt person. Wears a bra because she has to. Torian and Mako are not … exactly averting their eyes.

Cicero is not a summer person. Less so because he can’t be (he has a temperature augment that effectively regulates him outside of extremes) and moreso because he has no idea what the difference between it and other seasons is. He still has to work. He still has to do the same things he does for the rest of the year. He just sweats a little more than usual. Kaliyo eventually drags him out over the years to her usual haunts, meaning bars and the like, but he does take to water like a natural when he has the chance to actually relax. Concerningly so, actually. He’ll just float in pools on his back and let himself be carried around by the current. It’s the most calm he ever gets, so he does it whenever he can. Other than that, he doesn’t change much, and lets the months go by without too much fanfare.