OUR BOND IS ETERNAL.

@kniightsiister 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 :: “cal, we should speak.”

                𝙺𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝚂  𝙹𝙾𝙻𝚃𝙴𝙳  𝙰𝚆𝙰𝙺𝙴  𝚃𝙾  𝚃𝙷𝙴  𝚂𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳  𝙾𝙵  𝙼𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙽’𝚂  𝚅𝙾𝙸𝙲𝙴 and the instantaneous relief of tension draining from his face.  for a moment, he stared blankly at the underside of his bunk, stunned by disjointed images cavorting through his mind, the fragmented emotions still clinging to him like smoke. not a dream. it had happened.  a 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄 made real by someone he thought he could trust with his life. blood thundered in his ears.

bode had betrayed him—everyone.  and the mere thought propelled him straight back to tanalorr, to the face of the man he’d called brother, the furious desperation rippling in the force, the violence that cracked between them like lightning.

cal squeezed his eyes shut for all the seconds it took for the horrible ache in his hands to subside, then dragged himself upright on the cot, his fingers brushing across his swollen face, mottled with cuts and bruises.  his mental timeline was a blurred mess: one last check on the bacta tank, a few more necessary adjustments to the wiring, greez’s eternal grumbling at the bar. then. . . nothing. he couldn’t even remember making it back to the basement, let alone throwing himself into bed.

whatever.  it didn’t matter. merrin was now here, waiting, and cal had slept far too long.  he should’ve started on BD-1’s repairs hours ago.  bode’s punch had left its mark, damaging the droid’s chassis more than he’d care to admit.

feeling both curious and uneasy by the bout of silence, cal chanced a furtive glance and met merrin’s steady gaze.  in that instant, every instinct in his gut screamed for him to say no, to shut down the conversation before it could veer into territory he damned well knew he couldn’t articulate.

                yet, despite the abrupt panic fluttering in his chest, he tendered a quick nod, then turned away, eyes averted.  ❝yeah, okay.  sure.❞

when that trust had been broken,  shattered like glass cast against stone floors,  the nightsister had been full of rage and vicious vengeance.   she had wanted to bury bode the same way she'd buried malicos.   it seemed a fitting end after the devastation his deceit caused:  the loss of cere,  the crippling wounds cordova suffered,  the destruction of the hidden path's archives,  the countless lives lost...  and yet despite her desire to put bode down, cal had pleaded for mercy on tanalorr.  another chance for the betrayer to find redemption,  and merrin had given pause to the jedi’s words.     yet it was cal himself that nearly put the man down.   a contradiction that confounded her.

how many times had they ended up like this?  arm to arm moments away from deep conversation or comfortable silence.  perhaps this was their song and dance.  cal troubled and brooding only for merrin to sit beside him any offer comfort in metaphors paired affectionate shoulder nudges.  yet such playfulness had no place here as she settled next to cal, taking him in as he avoided returning her stare.

"you've changed, cal kestis."   graceful tact in conversation had never been a skill merrin claimed to possess.  she had always been rather blunt;  dancing around points in conversation served her no purpose.  she would not humor such things, not now,  when she had many questions and only the ideas of answers.

❝ 𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑, 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇! ❞

this is a ( semi ) serious depiction of 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍 loosely based on & inspired by 𝐉𝐄𝐃𝐈 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 , 𝐉𝐄𝐃𝐈 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐎𝐑 , & personal headcanons.

indie. semi-selective. 18+. low activity. highly canon divergent. est. 2025 // updated. 2025 adored & written by aer.

icons & graphics by the lovely and skillful @stillsolo .