* 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 / 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.

this story happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. it is already OVER. 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 can be done to ( change ) it. it is the story of the END OF AN AGE.

[kovnynir]

Castor didn't comment on the closeness, didn't really seem to notice it if he was being honest. "Hardly, I just know you get jumpy if you stay away from your work for too long, and I've managed to get you to take care of yourself for a whole..." he checked a fake clock that was nonexistent in the shop. "Two hours, almost a new record, Keps," he said as he booped her on the nose before moving from behind the counter.

-

she rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were red. damn him, damn it all. ❝ you're annoying, ❞ she said, not meaning it at all. ❝ hang out with me tonight, i found another movie i think you'll like. ❞

[kovnynir]

Perzy nodded once, perhaps academically he knew that, but sometimes it was hard to process that in the minute to minute. Especially right now considering his head was screaming at him from all different directions threatening to drive him insane like nobody's business. "I don't want to... to hope. I know, that I should have some or whatever but... I just can't bring myself to do it." He finally said. quickly throwing back a large swig of caff to burn his throat from saying anymore.

-

he gave a little hum. ❝ i mean... sometimes, not hoping is the better option. at least anything good will be a nice surprise, and any bad will be no surprise at all. ❞ he shrugged. ❝ i can't blame you. nor can i say you should hope. but there's also nothin' wrong with believing that no matter what comes out of it, there are people that love you and care about you. and even though you've lost a lot, that doesn't mean everything is just nothing but bleakness. ❞

[kovnynir]

Alyrisa sat next to him, tucked up a little and listened to him talk. When he talked about not wanting to bring trouble, she did her damndest to stifle a giggle. She hated to break it to him, but trouble was already here, sixteen ways and back again. It'd be easier to consider what wasn't trouble about this town. Probably the locals. They didn't ask for any of this. When he started tearing up, she carefully rubbed his back, trying to soothe him like she used to with the younglings. "'s okay, you're okay. Right now you're safe, and if you give me a few hours I can probably find the right people to get it cleared up." Half a joke. She probably could've gone to Kartal who could point her in the right direction of people she'd need to threaten. Another thing Kota technically told her to stop doing.

-

the tears dripped to his cheeks and his hands went up right away to rub his eyes, trying to get rid of them. he felt like such a little kid. he basically was a little kid!! trying to deal with such big, scary, important matters that he never should've been forced into in the first place.

❝ i just don't wanna hurt anyone, my parents are dead 'cuz of me and i don't want to lose anyone else, ❞ he cried.

[kovnynir]

Alyrisa scrunched her nose for a half a second. "So that would technically be Kota's department. In addition to town mayor, cat wrangler, and dad; he's also a doctor and a therapist. But if you need a holdover, I'm a decent ear, contrary to everything," she said with a heartless chuckle. Sure, she told Kota she'd stop therapizing without a license, but he was busy and this guy needed immediate help. Which she could do. She was a good shoulder. "C'mon, let's go sit, and I'll get you water and you can talk."

-

dorsey looked like a weak puppy. ❝ please, ❞ he said softly. dorsey hated asking for help, but he was at the end of his rope, clinging to strings by his teeth, every metaphor jumbled together at once. he was so fucking afraid and he had to do whatever it took to protect his family.

he followed al, anxiously twisting his fingers. when they found some shade and a drink, dorsey sat, curled up small and sipped at the cool water.

❝ i don't want to bring any trouble to the town -- i want to protect everyone. if that means i need to leave, i'll do it. but i... i can't do this anymore, i can't keep it a secret when it could get special people killed. ❞ tears burned in his eyes when he looked over at al. ❝ crimson dawn is after me and my team. they don't know about it. ❞

[kovnynir]

"Crash and burn babydoll," he teased with a wink. He stood up and put his tools away before turning back to her. "Anything else, or are you going to lock yourself away for the rest of the week?"

-

kep snorted and rolled her eyes. ❝ anything else? fuck, you're trying to get rid of me that fast, huh. ❞ she stood behind him while he put his tools away, and when he turned back around she realized they were standing quite close together. but she didn't acknowledge it.

[kovnynir]

Perzy's head practically whipped to look at Bivans "I wouldn't-- I know I'm not asking, but I wouldn't ask you to do that." Would he want it? Probably, but he was also afraid for Bivans to see how he was as an actual Purger. He could pretend he was just Some Guy here, but out there? He was a shadow clad mass of anger and vengeance. He didn't need his buir seeing him like that. "Can I think about it?" He asked, taking a sip of caff to distract himself.

-

❝ you don't need to ask, i'm offering, adiik. ❞ as much as perzy wanted to 'protect' him from the sight of what he was like as a purger, he must've forgotten that he'd been in this crowd for years and had seen it all. he wanted to be a father, he wanted to be there for him.

❝ think about it, sure. but i wouldn't be seeing anything i haven't already seen, remember that. you don't need to protect me. ❞ he let go of his hand, letting him sip at his caff while bivans just idly watched.

[kovnynir]

Perzy picked up the caff and tried not to coil in on himself, even if he knew that Bivans wouldn't say anything, he didn't want to show that level of weakness. Not right now, not when he said it would be okay. "Closure, right..." he didn't want to believe it. Even if it was their mission, he didn't know if it was ever going to happen to him. It was one thing to go up against mobsters, another to take on the First Order.

-

bivans sighed a little, watching perzy. he leaned in and took one of his hands, giving it a little squeeze. ❝ do you want me to go with you? ❞ he asked.

bivans never left the ship. never, for anything. if he ever needed something, he sent someone to get it for him. but he would do this, just for perzy. he knew what it meant and he wanted to be there to support him if he needed it. ❝ no matter what happens, we'll figure it out. ❞

[kovnynir]

Alyrisa tried not to flinch, her metaphysical sensing was getting better thanks to Obi Wan and the other jedi so she knew she'd hit something by accident. "Right, Kota mentioned something about an ice rink. Sounds fun! I've never had the opportunity to try one, Coruscant probably had one but I never got around to seeing it." Between the "cloistered monk" lifestyle and the war, unless one of the others asked to go, they wouldn't have found a way or reason to sneak out.

-

dorsey nodded. ❝ yeah, it's... fun. cold. ❞ he looked at the jakals that were still playing around, then at the ground. ❝ i... ❞ he pointed to them, but then his hand just kinda... dropped. ❝ i'm sorry. i don't feel very good. ❞ he was very lightheaded -- probably dehydrated, even without the whole trigger thing and all the stress.

❝ and i need to talk to someone about... bad stuff. a danger to this place. ❞ he bit down on his lip. he looked so sad. he felt so sad, he didn't want to put anyone in danger, but his mere presence was causing it.

[kovnynir]

Castor huffed a little as he moved Kepler's arm slightly for himself, before muttering, "can ya move that for me? Wanna make sure that's not too tight." He was almost done, humming to himself as he finished up. Listening to the beeps and chirps of the droids, making sure no one else was going to need an immediate help when he was done.

-

she moved her arm, checking out how it felt. ❝ all good, ❞ she replied with a little smile. ❝ what would i do without you, castor. ❞ it was fully rhetorical, she'd be ruined without him, that was for damn sure. probably dead.

[kovnynir]

Perzy couldn't help but huff out a sound that had he had a better grip on anything running through his head, he would've called a laugh. Something was the understatement of the century as far as he was concerned, but he didn't push Bivans on it. Instead he collapsed in his usual chair and put his head between his knees trying to divert his attention from his grey matter to something more physical. "I don't know," he mumbled at the floor. "I don't know if I want to believe it. " He said. If there had been survivors and Perzy had left them? That was almost worse than having them all be gone.

-

he brought over two cups of caff and set one on the table next to perzy, then put his own on his side.

❝ well, ❞ he started, treading lightly as he tried to consider the best way to go about this. ❝ given what you told me. and given what i know about the galaxy, which is that good people never get what they deserve and bad people seem to get everything... odds are, the survivors are... just more first order people. they got the mines up 'n running again without you guys. which is... horrifying in itself, but not impossible. ❞

he took a sip of his caff, still thinking. ❝ but regardless of what's left, it's not like you would've known anyway. you were a kid, all you could do was run. blaming yourself that you didn't know there might've been survivors when you watched everything go down in a volcanic eruption is... a waste of your time, and incredibly incorrect. ❞ he understood survivor's guilt, but there was no reason for it.

❝ but this could be a positive thing, y'know. it's a chance for some closure, at least. might not get everything, but you could get somethin', which is more than some ever get. ❞

[kovnynir]

"So I hear, not that I have much experience," he remarked. Lona was basically his mom, he had so few memories of the woman who gave birth to him. Kepler had slightly more experience all things considered. "And hey, just because I don't have a lot of friends doesn't mean I'm suffering for company. I'd prefer a tight collection of a few people than sprawling casualty with a bunch, y'know?" He said, risking peaking up at her through his eyelashes, before turning back to the final screw of that particular section.

-

kepler smiled a little. ❝ i know, ❞ she said in reference to his friendship preference. ❝ there's nothing wrong with it. they'll fuss whether you have one friend or a million friends, the tone just changes from not having enough to having far too many. ❞

regardless, she thought castor was great the way he was. she understood lona and the girls' intentions, but they just didn't understand him like she did.

[kovnynir]

"Oh yeah, the good news is this place does have seasons surprisingly, in spite of the whole three sun situation, so winter'll come soon enough. Not that it'll be like Hoth or anything but you get what I mean." She replied as she sat down next to him. "But managing's only gonna get you so far, so, how can I help? I'm sort of a jack of all, master of none at the moment, you tell me something and I can probably point you in the right direction. We're gonna aim for enjoyment and then work towards living." Alyrisa was still looking out for people, it was instinctual at this point, the perpetual older sibling trying to make sure people got taken care of. Maybe that's why her and Kota hit it off so well.

-

dorsey went silent as alyrisa accidentally tripped her way into a trigger even dorsey didn't know he had.

when things were getting really bad, he begged his parents to go on a long vacation far away -- they were big into camping and exploring the wilds, so they decided on Hoth. it was all a big ploy to get them far away so crimson dawn couldn't take them. it was why they were gone when dorsey got his concussion.

memories of that strange stretch of two or three weeks mashed around in his head, but it always ended with the same thing -- the end. their awful fucking end that was all dorsey's fault.

he took in a deep breath, feeling dizzy. ❝ oh, uh, we... um. we're... we're just waiting to... to build our place. so it's... goof off in the meantime. all good. so... solid. ❞

[kovnynir]

Alyrisa couldn't help but laugh, "Alyrisa Dorian, you can call me Al," she said finding their shared name a funny coincidence. She looked at the pack of chaos and smiled a little bit more. Yeah, these guys were gonna be fun to hang out with. Kota was always saying she needed friends her own age as compared to a decade or so older. "I'm the mayor's kid, figured you guys could use a local to help get the lay of the land if nothing else. Since it seems you guys are gonna be here for a bit." She said as she shoved her hands into her pocket. She knew how much the town could get used to if thrown into the deep end as it were. These guys also struck her as needing all the help they could get with reintegration into polite society. Not as much as like some the rougher force users or Mandos, but in a "twenty something boy" sort of way.

dorsey smiled a little more naturally, noting the coincidence too. ❝ cool -- nice to meet you, al. ❞ he was pretty sure he briefly remembered seeing her when doc was talking to the mayor.

he glanced over at the pack of boys playing around, then back at her. ❝ we're uh... we're managing, ❞ he replied. ❝ we have a good leader. ❞ truthfully doc was the one thing keeping them all above water, which was bad when a pack of almost fifteen was dragging down a lone man. dorsey was trying to not be a problem.

he gripped his hands together. ❝ i think the heat has been the biggest issue. so- uh, could be worse. ❞

[kovnynir]

Castor set to work, carefully working on the sections she'd indicated that needed work, occasionally feeling his tongue poke out as he did and occasionally humming when he found a place that was going to need a hint more work than Kepler'd indicated. When she spoke he let his gaze briefly flick up to her as he processed his question. "Scarlet's fine. Lons runs a tight ship, she's just gotten instant on me stopping by more often. She's afraid of becoming more antisocial than I already am or something," he explained.

kepler gave a little huff. ❝ yeah, well, when your only friend is me or a buncha droids, anyone would be concerned. ❞ she was teasing, of course. she did want castor to be happy and healthy, though of course the selfish part of her kinda liked having him all to herself for the most part.

❝ she just loves you. it's what momma's are prone to do. ❞

[forceadhd]

Perzy's head was swimming like a drowning man.

It kept slipping in and out of focus as he'd walked back onto the ship like more of a ghost than he'd been when he'd first gotten onboard.

Stragglers.

Just enough to get it moving again.

Perzy didn't know what to think, what to say, he just moved on autopilot towards Bivans, if anyone knew how to help him make sense of what emotion was tearing his ribcage about like a rampaging rabid boar, it was him.

He'd tried to enter like normal, but based on the reaction he got, something was still getting to him.

"Snake-- he... there are still people there."

It was all he needed to say.

[kovnynir]

bivans' brows furrowed. he knew that this was complicated, hell he probably knew more about perzy's backstory than anybody. so he wasn't jumping for joy, but it wasn't devastating either.

❝ well. that is somethin', huh. ❞ he dropped the rag and moved to his little kitchen, setting up some caff. ❝ do you want advice or do you want support? ❞

bivans had learned very quickly to ask when it came to helping the purgers -- he didn't want to do the wrong thing. he knew what he wanted to do, but it might not be what perzy wanted.

[kovnynir]

bivans didn't want this to be yet another ruined promise -- he wanted them to actually have a break. he had been watching these purgers come and go and fucking suffer, basically from the start. and it was breaking him to know that there was fuck all he could do about it other than to just watch and be a shoulder to cry on. it's what led him to perzy in the first place. a kid that needed a shoulder, and bivans knew he could do something to help. he could be someone that this kid could rely on.

so when perzy practically busted down his door on the purge ship, he wasn't entirely surprised, but worried all the same. he sat up from the thing he was working on and grabbed a rag to clean off his hands.

❝ hey, kid... what's got you in a fix? ❞ he asked, brows furrowed.

[forceadhd]

When Kota had told her about yet another haggard father figure appearing in his office looking for a bit of shelter for a chaotic group of guys, Alyrisa knew that as much it was going to give her dad a heart attack, stroke, hernia, or aneurysm, she had to meet the pack. Besides, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him! This time!

She'd gotten the general sense that the easiest way to find them was to listen for chaos and follow into the epicenter. Not too dissimilar of a method on how to find her or any of the 612th on any given day.

The good news was nothing was on fire, but she did find an unfamiliar guy roughly around her age, which was a good enough sign for her.

"So you're the newest chaotic element?" She asked with a head tilt.

@kovnynir

[kovnynir]

dorsey flinched and looked over, slapping on a smile. ❝ oh!! i- yeah, i think so, ❞ he replied. dorsey had not been doing well since the, oh, everything. he was doing a semi-solid job of appearing normal to his team, but he did have a crazed spark in his eye that screamed "i don't know about you but having my mom's brains splattered across my face will really do something to a guy!"

❝ i'm dorian, most call me dorsey. these are the jakals, ❞ he introduced, gesturing to his team, which were goofing off and playing some sort of game he hadn't fully caught onto yet.