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[demonicbeauty]

[She's not Padmé Amidala. Nor is she Jane Foster. It's just Ariadne, sitting on the wooden floor of her home, in front of an enormous, four-poster bed with a canopy of sheer, white fabric. Splashes of color occasionally hit her face and the background, as her homemade mobiles, flitting with broken pieces of colorful glass, catch whatever sunlight there is. Her long, long, long brown hair is hanging loose over her left shoulder, crinkled to show that it's just come undone from its braid.]

I...I've noticed that a lot of important holidays seem to be in the middle of the winter. And I guess it makes sense. The days are short, the nights are long, and everyone is cold and missing fresh fruits and vegetables. It raises the spirit to have something to celebrate and people to celebrate it with.

[There's a small smile. A memory or two from her days in Valeria.]

Back home, the New Year was the most important holiday. There would be parties and feasts and masked balls. Presents. Lots of music...

[And she misses that music. But Ariadne won't let herself stay sentimental for long.]

Last year, I learned about an Earth holiday. The one where the fat man breaks into people homes and leaves them gifts, instead of stealing stuff. Christmas!

[Makes no sense, but it's a lovely sentiment.]

I was hoping to maybe learn about some other holidays from this time of year. What do your cultures celebrate? Maybe we can find a way to all celebrate together. I'm still convinced that togetherness is the only way we're going to survive this place. And I...I know I'm not alone, feeling that way.

[A small shrug.]

So let's talk to each other more. When there isn't an emergency. Talk about some of the happy things, maybe. Tell me about the good stuff.

[Ariadne doesn't really know where to go from here, so she shrugs again.]

Anyway, that's all. Sorry to interrupt anything.

Comments

[demonicbeauty]

[She holds up her hands, palms about an inch apart.]

When a female goes into a heat cycle, she presses her palms to her mate's palms and...well, something kind of...happens. Or more often doesn't happen.

[See? Not even remotely scientific.]

We call it the "Alastrian kiss." That's the best translation for it, anyway.

[opress]

Fertility is low in your species?

[What he learned was that mating in her species involved hand pressing. And that things may or may not happen. It sounded so soft compared to mating that he had heard about.]

Even your species' mating sounds gentle.

[demonicbeauty]

There...aren't a lot of us left.

[Low fertility is only part of it. Genocide is kind of the other part, but that's a downer and there's no point in making the conversation depressing as well as awkward.

She shrugs.]

I know how humanoids mate. We can do that too. Although it's purely recreational.

[opress]

So you've said. And you're alone here.

[Savage was grateful he had his brother, not so much the Nightsister lurking around. Still, to be alone didn't sound like an enjoyable prospect to consider.]

Such practice passes the time.

[demonicbeauty]

I understand it goes with being in love.

[She smiles a little bit. Alone though she may be, Ariadne is a bit of a romantic, at heart.

She can't help it. Her parents were disgustingly in love.]

[opress]

I wouldn't know anything about that.

[Savage has never been in love, and his idea of romance has been heavily damaged by his upbringing.]

Have you been in love then?

[demonicbeauty]

No. I'd like to be, some day. But...

[She looks down at herself, staring at her palms.

And then shakes her head.]

Well. No one would have an Alastrian. I don't think.

[opress]

[Savage growled.]

Everyone will have everyone from what I've seen. Just wait long enough and you'll find interest.

[demonicbeauty]

That's kind of you to say.

[She ducks her head.]

And what about you? Have you ever been in love?

[opress]

It's a statement of fact.

[He wasn't used to having anything he said being called kind.]

No. I care for my brothers, but that's as close as it comes. Love is not... part of purpose and getting attached is ill-advised.

[demonicbeauty]

That sounds like the Jedi.

[It's a second before she realizes that could be offensive.]

I mean...the part about attachments...

[opress]

[He definitely issued a low growl at the comparison.]

The Sith do not allow attachments either. However, that's not what I mean here. Nightbrothers die frequently, so it is best not to allow attachments. Grief makes us weak on Dathomir.

[Weak actually meant emotionally vulnerable. If they didn't attach, they wouldn't experience the pain of loss.]

[demonicbeauty]

Oh, I see.

[And she's more than happy to drop the subject of the Jedi at the moment. Her feelings around them are...complicated.

Still, she tilts her head to one side.]

But...you're not on Dathomir any more. Now seems like the perfect time to...explore things that you couldn't before.

[opress]

[Why was that the first thing everyone told him? As if he didn't have a lifetime of abuse and repression to ignore how it stunted him to being stubborn and shy about going beyond his comfort zone on his own.]

What are you suggesting? I make friends, find a mate and settle in for a long life in this new bloody dream?

[demonicbeauty]

Well, that's one possible future.

[She shrugs one shoulder, practically up to her ear.]

One of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.

That's my favorite thing about being here. Besides the people, I mean. I like...trying new things. Things I could never have done back home. It's fun!

[opress]

[He frowned and then had to grunt. Everyone seemed to think of their own futures and shove him for something of his own. Only stubbornness and a warped sense of loyalty kept him exactly where he was.]

And because there is an opportunity for you to be yourself. Actually yourself, not hiding in plain sight. Right?

[demonicbeauty]

Well...sort of. I'm still trying, to be perfectly honest.

[It's hard to undo everything she went through in her childhood. Everything her mother whispered in her ear. Everything she...survived.]

But we don't need to talk about me. I'm not that interesting. Let's talk about you.

What's something you've never done but always wanted to try?

[opress]

You've been hiding so long it's probably difficult to feel comfortable in your own skin.

[That was one thing that Savage had going for him was that he took pride in his unique appearance. His body was one he knew - despite forced changes - and he cared little for what anyone thought of him.]

You defer away from yourself like Kenobi. [Just an observation.]

I've never seen a purrgil.

[demonicbeauty]

[And now she looks annoyed to be compared to Obi-Wan. But fair is fair, perhaps.

She tilts her head to one side.]

What's a purrgil?

[opress]

Massive deep space creatures... they look like something out of the sea here, but they have tentacles instead of a big tail. They can travel the galaxy all their own.

[Space whales. Savage wants to see the space whales.]

[demonicbeauty]

Hmm...

[She considers it a moment.]

Well, I'm not sure there's anything that big in the sky, but perhaps we could go whale watching.

Who knows what's out there, besides Sleepers when they arrive?

[opress]

I think I heard there are flesh stealing pirates out there too.

[He wasn't certain exactly where, but there were tales.]

Have you seen... whales before?

[demonicbeauty]

No. I've never been to sea.

[Sad sigh.]

The waterways back home were conquered by a warlord when I was a little girl. All of the island nations were isolated and...well, ships just stop sailing, except under his flag.

[opress]

Do they even have boats and a harbour here? We could go look for whales then.

[demonicbeauty]

I'm sure there must be boats.

[She shrugs.]

I wound up in one with your brother, once.