Aftermath

[Raz Solus]

She was still in disbelief. Out of all the crazy things she had done as a Mandalorian, this one ranked at the top. She had just killed the Sith Emperor. She had killed the only man that was leading the empire, the Republica’s leader having been killed a long while back.

Media outlets all around constantly played footage of first responders on the scene. The shots panned over the confetti they had left behind, and she heard her own name repeated several times. This was enough to change the galaxy, and everyone tuned in to see what this meant for the behemoth regime of the Sith. Leaders from planets all over within Sith space and out were screaming about what this meant, and those that had pledged themselves to Vrael suddenly felt very nervous.

As for Raz, she had fled the scene, rushing away after detonating the bomb. She was still adorned in Imperial armor, and she was all but anonymous without her trademark Badger beskar’gam. She had run away with Leandros, having arranged for a fallback shelter to lie low. It was safest to wait a few days before leaving the planet - and she knew that most transportation had been halted on Raxus.

She had used fake identifications to get into the small shack. Raz had sorted out this deal with a shady man that didn’t ask questions. The place was small and had two rooms for both of them, and there was a holoscreen in the main room for them to see the live coverage.

Raz was still shaking, closing the door behind them as she switched on the news. She took the Imperial helmet off, trembling as she watched the live coverage.

“We really just did that,” She said barely above a whisper, “We just killed the Emperor..”

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

They fled, far and fast, from the vantage on which they watched the single most-important kill of their lives. Moments ago – or it felt like moments, anyways – they pulled the trigger and killed the last remaining Emperor in the galaxy. The final Drast leader, the man responsible for putting troops of Medriaas and causing the genocide, now sat entombed within that palace as nothing more than a charred, dismembered corpse. It was liberating and terrifying all at the same time. So much work went into the operation, and for it to finally be over at the press of a button seemed almost too good to be true. Yet here they were, fleeing for safety as media outlets swarmed the palace, trying to get the best possible shot of the now-dead Emperor.

Leandros entered the shelter with Raz just as she slammed the door shut and turned the news on. He tore his helmet off and dropped it on the ground, out of breath for some reason. Almost instantly every channel was filled with rumors, speculation, questions, and the constant repetition of both Raz’s name and that of the clan. It made him proud knowing that, as usual, they were at the forefront of galactic news for their actions. The deeds of a few Mandalorians always somehow managed to shake things up.

Leandros continued to watch the news, still panting. Raz spoke up and he almost missed it after zoning out, lost in his own thoughts of how they just killed the Emperor. He turned his body and looked at her dumbfounded, blinking a few times as he just stared at her in silence. After a few moments he began to chuckle softly, weakly, shaking his head. ”We just killed the Emperor,” he echoed, still in disbelief. He turned his head to look at the holoscreen, seeing a closeup of the confetti shreds being put together to form the Solus emblem.

With a content sigh, he turned back and looked at Raz, reaching out and grabbing her hand gently to stop the trembling again. ”It doesn’t even feel real,” he said, shaking his head and smiling slightly as he gazed into her eyes. This was like a dream, except this time, the Emperor well and truly died. The spirits of millions of Mandalorians were rejoicing, he just knew. There would be a hell of a party after this.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz couldn’t even tell why she was still shaking. It was a mixture of exhilaration, terror and everything in between. She looked at the screen, watching the sigil of her clan there. Part of her was afraid because she took responsibility, but she remembered how her people backed her through and through. She knew Mandalorians everywhere were celebrating. This was what they had been shouting for, and this single act would finally kill any last doubts any Clan or House ever had about her. She had not only become the first Mand’alor in 500 years, but she had killed the Emperor.

She was still trembling when he grasped her hand, his words barely registering. She could only nod slowly, watching the frantic news that panned to coverage reports from all around the galaxy. There were questions of whether or not there was any Jedi involvement, only to be refuted with proof of only Mandalorian evidence. She heard her name a few more times, and the Grand Moff was invited to give an address.

Raz stopped listening by then, tilting her head to look at Leandros. She managed a faint smile, “Medriaas is avenged at last,” She said quietly, “Our people will celebrate this for years to come,” Raz turned to face him fully. Her heart was pounding against her chest, and she was still out of breath from their escape and the high stress situation of it all. She blinked and looked as if she were formulating words.

“Lee, I couldn't have done...” She sighed, “Kriff it,” Raz closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. She had no intentions of stopping this time, leaning into the kiss and letting him understand that she was all in. Raz pressed tightly against him, closing her eyes as she savored every moment, her hands now coming down to rapidly undo the armor he wore. The Moff’s words blurring into an abstract in the background.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros held his gaze even as Raz stared blankly at the newsfeed, lost in her own thoughts. He knew that she had to have been going through a torrent of emotions right now, her name now something to be uttered in contempt and fear by their enemies and pride and joy by their people. Raz, the woman who had united their people for the first time in five centuries, now the woman who had killed the last symbol of stability and authority the Empire had in a deadly blow. The galaxy would feel the shock of this blow for a while, he knew. The characteristic bickering of the Sith would ensue as usurpers came to claim the throne while the rest of the Empire floundered and sputtered along, directionless. It was such a sweet thing to envision, the chaos that this would cause. Almost as sweet as the woman in front of him.

Eventually she awoke from her stupor and looked at Leandros, smiling slightly. ”Nobody’ll forget today,” he said affirmatively, nodding his head a few times. Medriaas was finally avenged, thank the gods. All the death and bloodshed prompted by its destruction paled in comparison to the magnitude of today’s hunt. He briefly envisioned their people celebrating and he cracked a larger grin, focusing his attention back on Raz as she began to speak again.

”I-“ was all he managed to get out in response before the woman wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss – this time more certain, more passionate. There was no overpowering influence of alcohol to disguise her intentions this time, and he matched her passion. As she leaned in, he wrapped his own arms around her back and pulled their bodies against each other, their stolen armor clacking together quietly. He closed his eyes once the initial shock wore off and he was transported back to that blissful world from their first kiss. Again, they were alone, two souls joined together through shared strife, a burning beacon in an otherwise dark and dreary galaxy. His body exploded with warmth as he fully gave himself over to her, relishing every moment of this.

He felt Raz begin undoing his armor and he did the same, sliding his hands up to awkwardly fumble briefly with the straps, not wanting to divert his attention away from her. After a few seconds he found the target he was looking for and rapidly worked to unfasten the clasps holding the pieces together. His own pauldrons fell off, followed shortly by the chest and back pieces, all of them clattering to the floor. Leandros swiftly kicked the pieces aside as he worked on Raz’s armor, sending them scattering towards the wall. He was trying his best, but one final stubborn strap eluded his hands as the two continued to kiss, much to his frustration.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

She couldn’t deny this moment had been on her mind since the very first day they had crossed this line. Raz had stopped herself then, and he hadn’t pushed things further. He had told her how he felt about her, and it was ironclad confidence she seldom found in herself. He had said the words so easily, and he didn’t even think twice about it. Since then he had respected her lapses of withdrawing into her mind, the guards she often put up and the slow reeling from the last time she had walked a similar path.

But nothing with Leandros was anything she had felt before. No one else had been with her through every single victory and defeat. No one else had shared the burden of an entire people with her. No one else had been there to see the foundations of a small clan grow into a movement that spanned across the galaxy. No one else had seen her so broken, no one else had found the beauty in her when she was left in pieces.

As the bits of armor came off, so too did the walls she had carefully built up. Her tidal wave of emotions broke through them, tearing them into bits and leaving nothing in the way. Raz paused from the kiss just for a moment, her lips still pressed against his as she reached down to undo those errant bits that they were fumbling with. The pieces fell away all while the reporters babbled on about the state of the Empire, and the ‘swift retribution’ that would be expected, the way the public demanded death to Mandalorians.

Raz didn’t stop, pulling the shirt he wore underneath up and over his head and tossing it aside. She followed with her own, leaving behind only the last few remnants of her clothing. Her tattoos extended down to her chest and down to her stomach. She had seen him like this before, but she had never been so close, had never the heat of his body against hers like this. Her gaze remained locked on his, and she didn’t bother hiding the emotions this time, her eyes and face betraying everything.

Her hand came up to slide along his chest, over where she knew his heart was pounding just as swiftly as hers was. Despite all the emotions there, she still had that bit of shyness in her, never as carefree as he had been. Her cybernetic hand was cool against his skin as it too came up to curl against his chest. She nervously closed the distance between them again, capturing his lips with hers. This time, she lingered there only for a moment before withdrawing to kiss along his jawline and down the side of his neck. Raz felt a whirlwind of emotions, but she knew one thing for certain - "I want you," She said barely above a whisper, her breath brushing against the skin at the crook of his neck, "All of you," She kissed there again, "The sides you show me," The kisses traced along his shoulder, "The sides you're afraid to show me," Raz pressed closer against him, her breath always warm against his skin, "The sides of you stripped of every title, every conviction, every devotion, every fear, every belief."

 

[Leandros Solus]

The maelstrom of emotions blitzing through his mind could not be tamed, nor did Leandros even attempt to do so. From the nerves of evading discovery, to the joy of killing the Emperor, to the righteous vengeance he felt as the ghosts of Medriaas were finally laid to rest, to the feeling of unabashed, inescapable affection he felt for the woman with him right now. His body went on autopilot as he desperately worked to make sense of all of this, realizing that this was the one thing in his life that he knew he was missing. For all his devotion, he never could plug that certain void in his heart until now; until he was right here wrapped up in her fold.

Never before had he felt this way about anyone in his life, not on such a level as this. As he professed that night long ago, she was his sun and stars, the one thing he ever needed in life. All of the horrors of war and peace faded away into nothingness, a mere afterthought to him now. Why had it taken him this long to realize the value she had to him? Years – decades, even – of fighting, bleeding, crying, laughing, experiencing life together, and only in recent months did he understand who she really was. Even despite her innumerable walls and barriers she put up, he understood, keeping his distance when he had to and prodding when he didn’t. She was hurt, and he wanted to bear that burden, to let her know that she no longer had to hurt so long as he was alive.

Raz paused for a moment, assisting him with finally opening that pesky strap. Leandros smiled through the kiss, thankful for the help, laughing very, very gently. He felt her reach for his shirt and begin to strip it off of him and he did not fight back, raising his arms to help her out. After she took hers off, he stood there, dumbfounded for a moment as they locked eyes. There was something wholly natural about this – primal, instinctual – that he welcomed.

She was like an open book now, all of her barriers completely broken, revealing her bare soul to him as he gazed longingly into her eyes. Neither of them said anything, and soon Raz closed the distance again, placing her hand against his chest. At that moment, Leandros realized how hard his heart was beating; it was like the thundering of the heavens during a storm, like the rhythmic march of a million soldiers heading to war, like the metronomic pounding of a man whose heart was totally and completely smitten. Her other hand curled against his chest, the cool metal sending a shiver down his body. He reached up and grabbed the cybernetic hand, wrapping his own around it, knowing that she couldn’t feel it but wanting her to know he loved every little imperfection she bore.

Their lips met again and that warmth exploded throughout his body again, his mind swimming. He released her cybernetic and pressed it back against his body before wrapping both arms around hers again, pulling her into an embrace. The warmth of their bare skin pressing together sent waves of pleasure all throughout him and he did nothing to suppress his caring grin as Raz pulled away and spoke into his neck. He inhaled sharply, shuddering at the feeling momentarily, and leaned his head against the side of hers as she kissed along his upper body. ”I need you,” he responded, his voice a faint sigh in her ear, ”More than I need anything.” He halted for a moment, his words catching in his throat, ”You’ll see me like no one else will see me,” he finally answered, breathing against her just as she was him, ”I just need you to let me in, to let me see the real Raz.” He reached up and put his hand on the back of her head, gently pulling her head back so that they could lock eyes once again. He gazed into her eyes for a few moments before guiding her towards the bedroom, his body on autopilot. In the background, the news broadcast questioned how long the Mandalorians had left to live with speculations as to the Sith retaliation. They could certainly try.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

The next few hours were a whirlwind of emotions for her, each moment spent exploring Leandros in ways she had only wondered at. She didn’t feel afraid about where she was mentally about this anymore, and she finally let go of all her past reservations. Everything he had told her about his feelings and emotions manifested physically, and she hadn’t even known she craved it so bad till she had it.

The Holonet and even the Emperor’s death was forgotten. The wars were trivial, the galaxy exploding into chaos was cast aside, their people cheering and chanting her name across different planets were ignored, rebellious planet leaders now openly voicing their support for Mandalorians didn’t matter. All of that was tossed away in place of just the two of them, just the touch of him, the way he smelled, the way he sounded, the way he made her feel. Nothing else mattered then.

She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, nor did she know what time it was. She was entangled with him, not wanting to pull away from the warmth he provided. The bed was cheaply made and old, and she had to find amusement at this being the place for them to cross that line together. She could hear the faint echo of the holonet in the distance, and they were still discussing the bombing and the panicky aftermath. Raz simply shifted closer to Leandros, curling up on his chest. Her hair fell around her face and on his skin, and she moved with the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. She closed her eyes once again, not in any rush to get up.

“You know.. we’re still technically on an enemy planet,” Raz murmured quietly, unable to suppress a smile, “Can you imagine what would happen if we were found here?” It was a sobering thought, despite the actual risks being minimal. Mandalorians had the advantage of only being known in armor to the greater galaxy. Though her name was known, only a handful of people knew her by face. Raz had no desire to move, perfectly content to lie here with Leandros for as long as possible. The tension that had been between them was finally eased, and she knew this was what she wanted. She would no longer dance around it.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Words could not join together to describe the electricity created between the two of them over the next few hours. Together, twining and twinning, exploring each other physically and emotionally, joined together in sublime passion. It was cathartic; a release of pent-up emotions that he had wondered about, but never truly delved into. All of his apprehensions, all of his doubts and fears, vanished the instant they entangled themselves with each other. Whatever barriers she had thrown up in the past were nonexistent, and he allowed his mind and his body to focus solely on her as if he were in a tunnel and she was light at the end.

His eyes fluttered open slowly as he woke up, unsure of how long they had been together or how long he had been asleep. Through a heavy-lidded stare he looked at the woman wrapped up with him, idly observing the way she lay there in his arms. Leandros sighed contentedly, his chest heaving gently with his breaths, and closed his eyes, relishing the moment of intimacy. This position was comfortable, and he didn’t want to move or shift away for fear of ruining it. He kept an arm wrapped around Raz’s shoulders as she snuggled closer against his body, groaning softly at the sensual feeling of their skin pressing together.

”Mmh… who cares,” he hummed in response, forgetting that just hours prior they had assassinated the Emperor and fled to a safehouse. Of all the places for this moment to have happened, a rickety hiding shack was not where he pictured it, but he found it fitting, nonetheless. Two souls evading the law after performing the most important attack of their lives, now twisted and trapped within each other’s bodies. There was a sort of poetry to the moment, but he didn’t really care all too much.

Leandros slowly slid his hand down from her shoulders to her lower back. ”It’d be the first time I’ve ever fought while naked,” he murmured, rubbing his hand along her back idly. His eyes remained shut and he teetered on the verge of falling asleep again, but remained awake in a semi-sleepy state, smiling. ”We need to kill Emperors more often,” he said with a gentle laugh. They had plenty of time to kill while the heat died down, and he was fully comfortable just laying here for an eternity.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz had to smile at his words. It was surreal how nonchalant they were about all this, despite the entire galaxy now talking about them. She chuckled softly at his comment about fighting naked, “Well you came close to it when we had to go get your armor back,” Raz couldn’t help the light jab. She had been very good about not bringing up the incident, but when it was just the two of them, she couldn’t help it. Over time, he had done enough to where the story was never brought up anymore save for by those closest to him.

“I’m sure we’ll have opportunities to kill more,” Raz muttered quietly, “When you chop off one head, another immediately takes its place. However, this will destabilize a lot of their worlds and hopefully bring them to our side,” She thought of the endless possibilities, reflecting on how the general civilian populations would see this. Emperor after emperor fell, and the Sith looked weaker every day. This latest blow was especially damning, as it had come upon the man that had the lofty ambitions of unifying the two empires.

Raz pushed the thought aside and looked up at Leandros before abruptly shifting over. She swung a leg over him, moving to straddle his stomach and gazing down at him. Her body was a work of art – tattoos and her scars from battles painting her torso. He could clearly see where the stump of her arm connected to the beginning of the cybernetic. He felt warm beneath her, and she simply smiled at him for a moment, reaching her fingers out to lightly trace along his chest.

“Have you thought about what you’d want to get for your tattoos?” She had been more than a little curious. She had told him to only choose something that had meaning to him without giving thought to others, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t nosy. Her fingers gingerly brushed away from his chest and towards his shoulder and down his arm, “Or maybe something here..” She muttered quietly, feeling perfectly content being in this moment and detached from everything else.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros kept his eyes closed and rolled them, shrugging his shoulders while lying down as Raz poked fun at him for having lost his armor. It felt like an eternity ago that he had asked her to come along and help him, and, by now, it was nothing more than an inside joke among his close friends. ”Would’ve been embarrassing if I fought naked back at the Wren’s,” he said, his face frozen in that gentle smile, ”It was cold there.” He opened his eyes and looked at her while she spoke of the political ramifications of their work today. Leandros sighed and rubbed her back again, squeezing her closer for a second. ”We’ll worry about that stuff later,” he asserted, wanting to steer away from politics and the worries of leadership. That was for another time.

Raz shifted suddenly and swung a leg over his body. Leandros turned and laid fully on his back as she straddled his stomach, looking up at her body. His eyes traced every inch of her bare skin, inspecting every scar, every tattoo, every bump and bruise and all the bits in between. She truly was a work of art come to life, just like he said back on Mandalore. Her life story was written here on her flesh, and he imagined very few people were afforded the privilege of reading it. His eyes stopped on the part where flesh and steel met, and he thought about the sacrifices she had made for her people just so that they could survive. Eventually, his eyes met hers, and he smiled again. The air was cool now that the covers were off their bodies, but she kept him warm.

He shuddered a little bit as she lightly traced her fingers along his chest from being a bit ticklish. ”My tattoos…” he said, trailing off as he pursed his lips in thought. ”Something for the gods,” he mused, ”Maybe something to remember the dead.” His eyes were fixated on Raz’s face even as she played along his torso with her fingers, watching her eyes gaze across his body. ”Definitely something to remember today,” her affirmed, nodding to himself a few times. His body was completely blank, but he wanted to rectify that and get properly inked up. He’d been slacking in that area for some time, and maybe this would spur him to actually get it done.

Leandros suddenly reached up and wrapped his arms around Raz’s waist, pulling her body forward and down so that their bodies would be closer. He gently kissed the side of her neck before moving along and kissing around her collar bone, tracing one of her tattoos. ”What’s this one mean?” he asked, smiling into her skin. He pulled his head back and slid his hands down her body, lightly grabbing onto her thighs. ”Y’know, so I can have some inspiration,” he spoke with a wink, curious as to what the artwork on her skin symbolized. The chaos of the outside world could wait a little while longer; it's not like the galaxy would end while they were gone.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz smiled at him as he listed off his potential ideas. Of course she had expected something about the gods – it wouldn’t be Leandros without it. She quirked an eyebrow as he mentioned having one to commemorate today, “Oh?” She grinned, “Are you going to have it be Vrael’s face right across your chest?” Raz couldn’t help but chuckle, her entire demeanor much more carefree and lighter than it had been for some time. Leandros brought that out in her, and it was even more pronounced now that they didn’t have tension between them.

She gasped softly as he abruptly pulled her back down, though she smiled again soon after, feeling their warm bodies press together. Raz felt his tender kisses, still getting used to such gestures from him. For as long as she had known him, it was surreal just how much things changed between them. She couldn’t imagine it being any other way now that they had crossed those lines, and that was reaffirmed with the way she felt completely at peace in his arms. Raz closed her eyes, nuzzling against his chest as his hands slid along her body.

When he asked about one of her tattoos, she didn’t need to open her eyes to know which one it was, “My verd’goten,” She said quietly, “I was out in the wilderness and I wanted to give up. It was so cold…so miserable and I just had no strength left in me,” Raz gently traced circles along his torso as she spoke, “It had been raining for a week and I had wounds on me that were infected. I thought I was going to die. I collapsed next to a tree. It was there that I saw a carving… a sign that someone else had been there before me,” Raz smiled, “I knew it had been done by someone else going through their trials. They had been here too and they had made it through. It was a symbol of hope for me and it ignited a fire in me that allowed me to finish,” She recalled the memory, surprised at being able to push through so much as a child, “I wanted that symbol to always be a part of me to remind me that there is always a way out. There is always hope.”

She tilted her head to look at him, “Lee,” Raz wasn’t smiling anymore, “Why don’t you ever talk about your past? I care so much about you but I just….there’s so much you never share..”

 

[Leandros Solus]

”I was thinking the back for Vrael’s face,” he replied casually, grinning. Being around Raz made Leandros shift away from his normally-dour demeanor and he greatly welcomed it. Interactions with her gave him something to look forward to now. The dynamic between the two of them had shifted abruptly in recent months, going from comrades-in-arms to, well… Leandros looked at the woman laying against his chest, that alone speaking volumes about their new relationship. There had existed a sort of tension between the duo – especially after the events on Concord Dawn – and he had been hoping for a catalyst to take it to the next level and make them more comfortable around each other. This felt as natural to him as breathing and only now did he realize how badly he wanted it – how badly he wanted her.

They lay there together, torso to torso, completely enraptured with one-another and oblivious to the chaos of the outside world. Even now, he was certain security forces were scouring the planet in a hunt for the two of them and yet, here they were, pretending none of it was happening. Leandros laid there and listened to the story of her verd’goten, ignorant of her past. As she spoke, his own memories of his youth surfaced, her story uncannily similar to his trials, though it wasn’t his verd’goten. Even some two decades later, he never forgot the feeling of dread and hopelessness on that windswept mountainside, fully prepared to die until his rescue – both physically and spiritually.

As she concluded he remained quiet for a bit, turning his head to look at her as she asked about his own past. Her smile had faded and concern – or was it curiosity? – was visible on her face. Leandros felt his own smile slipping away and he shrugged, feeling her weight shift with him slightly. ”Nobody’s ever asked,” he stated simply, giving a curt laugh. After a few moments he sighed, panning his gaze sidelong to see the news in the other room still discussing the assassination. ”I was a prize,” he said, nodding a few times to himself, ”My parents were claimed in conquest and forced into servitude on Mandalore. I was born into it. Nothing bad, just hard work.” He paused for a moment, recollecting his past and introduction to the clans. It had been a while since he thought of it, and next to nobody knew about his life. He just never thought it was that important to share, he figured, so he didn’t.

”Our village was raided,” he continued, ”So I fled with some others. We survived alone for… months.” He glossed over a few details, not wanting to get too gritty with it, ”I got caught trying to steal some food. They, erh… They nailed me to a board. Right through the arms, see?” Shifting his arm to show Raz the inside of one of his biceps, Leandros pointed to a faint circular scar, faded and smoothed out with time. ”The others cut me free when the shepherds went in for supper and we fled to the hills. Still had the wooden nails in my arms for a while - they wouldn't come out all the way. Winter came and I developed a fever, started slowing the group down. So, one day, I walked off into the snow naked, leaving them my furs so they’d stay warm. I wanted to die, to be done with it all.”

His mind took him back to his past, to the frigid wastes that he tried to die in. Even now, he could feel the cold and the wind, and goosebumps began to poke up on his skin despite the warmth Raz provided. ”Picked a nice tree to die against, kinda like you. Wasn’t until I saw something that I was ready to go. Don’t laugh,” he warned, smiling softly, ”But I think I saw Kad watching me. Fever dream or vision, I couldn’t tell, but something told me that he was watching me. Testing me.” He stopped for a bit, shrugging again. ”The clan found me after that. No clue why they were on that mountain, but I thank Kad they were. You must’ve been little at the time, but they took me in. Raised me as a Mandalorian. I owe the gods everything for giving me a new chance. They’re why I’m still here.”

Leandros noticed his smile had faded again and he shook his head, gazing back into Raz’s eyes, content that he had a chance to tell someone his story for once. ”What else do you wanna know about me? I think I know a few good casserole recipes.” He grinned devilishly, idly rubbing along her legs as they laid there, knowing full well that her cooking ability needed some miraculous work done to it that even he couldn’t fix.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

It was a dark story, and she had to fight to keep her emotions from bleeding through. The thought of anyone tormenting him like that made her blood boil. She lapsed for a second into the vicious warrior she was, her entire body tensing slightly as he spoke. Raz exhaled softly to ease it, not wanting to ruin the moment they had between them. She relished his touch, goosebumps lining her skin wherever his fingers trailed it. Raz marveled at how similar both of their experiences had been, both of them having come close to giving up until a symbol of hope pushed them through.

Raz chewed on her lip, her mind repeatedly going back to how his story began, “Who were they? The people that claimed you and your family…the people that nailed you to a board?” There was a shift in her gaze, and she quickly looked away before he could catch it. He knew her well enough to know where her mind was going. She was a Solus through and through, and she was a very fiery and angry one at that when she needed to be. She remained curled up against him, but her mind was fixated on learning more about those people.

“And where on Mandalore?” Raz asked, still avoiding meeting his gaze. She was desperately trying to stay as romantic as possible, but it was proving difficult when her Mandalorian and fighter nature were wrestling with that aspect. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, shifting her arms around him to hold him tightly. Her mind tried to rationalize that he was here now, and that they were together, and that the past didn’t matter.

But there was a whole other side to her – the one that showed no mercy, the one that would devastate anything that ever harmed anyone she cared about, the one that would burn the galaxy down without a second thought.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros felt Raz tense up at certain parts of his story, feeling her muscles flex and relax against his body as she fought to suppress her natural warrior instincts. She didn’t like hearing the tale of his abuse, he could tell. She cared about him greatly, and he knew that, if given just the right amount of information, there would be a trail of bodies in her wake as she sought to right the wrongs of his past. His eyes flicked to her lips, then back to her eyes, as she spoke, questioning him about the identities of his captors and tormentors. Truthfully, he didn’t know, nor did he particularly care. That was in the past.

Raz abruptly looked away and Leandros knew where her thoughts now lied. She was Mand’alor, and if she wanted to punish someone for the sins of their past, she was well within her right and ability to do so. Their clan was raised on a mantra of reckless abandon and vengeance where it was owed and neither of the two here were an exception. While he would love to visit the old shepherds, who impaled him and deliver justice, or find the family who captured his and forced them into servitude, he simply had no idea where to begin to look. Their people were nomadic, and Mandalore was big. Raz refused to meet his gaze even as he continued to study her face and before long she buried herself in his neck, squeezing him tight.

”Gods, I love you,” he sighed into her ear, chuckling gently. One of his hands traced along her body and stopped at the back of her head. His fingers played with her hair, rubbing her head, and he turned his head slightly to kiss the top of it. ”They’re in the past,” he said in response to her questions, ”And should stay there. The only thing that matters to me now is you and our people.” His other hand came up and rubbed her back reassuringly, appreciative of her sentiment. He didn’t want to disturb her as she pressed against him, but he lifted her head anyways – just enough so that they could lock eyes again. His hand gently brushed the hair away from her face and stopped under her chin, lifting it up a bit. ”All we need to worry about is now and the future. Whatever happened before doesn’t matter anymore.” He went quiet for a bit, just looking at her face only a few inches away, smiling. After a few seconds, he laughed again, ”You’re so cute when you’re about to go on a rampage, you know.”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

She heard him tell her he loved her, once again so easily and casually. It rolled off his tongue as if she were always meant to hear it. The words always had a powerful impact, and they immediately tore through any other thoughts she had at the time. Raz nuzzled against him some more, relishing his warmth and the smell of him, never having realized she could love so many subtle things about someone. Despite his words, she personally made a promise to do her own follow up to eradicate whatever people had done that to him. She wasn’t one to let go of things so easily, and with or without his blessing, she would see to it that those people and their entire lineage met their end.

He distracted her by lifting her face to look at his, her eyes betraying her angry thoughts. After she saw the way he looked at her, the tenderness in his eyes and his touch, her expression softened slightly. Raz managed a faint smile, which grew into a soft laugh when he mentioned she was cute. She playfully smacked him on the arm, “I’m being serious!” She said, though she had a difficult time keeping the smile off her face, “I don’t want anyone to ever get away with doing you harm,” Raz grinned at him, “I felt like that about you before all this. That’s why I personally came when you got in trouble with the Wrens.”

Raz quirked an eyebrow at him, “Why did you take so long to make a move on me?” She had known him for quite some time, and he had never even dropped any hints until recently. It was funny for them to casually be laying here and having idle conversations when the galaxy was still in an uproar about the Emperor’s death. The Grand Moff was talking again in the background, now blabbing about how the Sith would work to unite under one banner and wipe out the Mandalorians.

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros relished moments like these with Raz. She brought out a softer side in him, a side that he rarely expressed beyond such private, intimate moments as these. He was known as one of the more hard-ass Mandalorians, but looks were often deceiving, as Raz had recently discovered. Behind the anonymity of his helmet, he could become that icon of stalwart devotion and unceasing duty, but times like these, when he was stripped bare of his second skin, did he allow his emotions to poke through. Only Raz had ever seen him smile so much, or laugh so often, and he prized that; he wanted to keep that intimacy between them. Just as Raz seemed intensely protective of him, Leandros was extremely protective of her. That moment of weakness surfaced back on Taanab, when he noticed she had been shot. Mandalorians were shot frequently, and he couldn’t remember the number of times his body had been scarred by wounds. Yet seeing Raz hurt back then activated those protective instincts, and he couldn’t justify why he was so concerned. Now he could.

Leandros grinned wide as she slapped his arm in response to his compliment, glad that he had broken her from her retribution-fueled funk. ”I’m glad you’re here to protect me,” he chuckled, still gazing into her eyes. He loved the smell of her and how soft her skin was, even despite years of battle, and never wanted to move away, perfectly content to spend the remainder of his life just sitting here, chatting away. Given how long the Sith may keep the planet on lockdown, that might even happen. Nobody knew their faces, but it was more fun to stay in here.

Raz raised an eyebrow and asked him why he took his time with initiating the relationship, to which Leandros raised a brow of his own and let his eyelids hang a little lower, smiling slyly. ”If I recall,” he said, drawing their faces closer together with his hand. He was maybe an inch or two away and could feel her breath on his skin and vice versa, their noses nearly touching. ”You’re the one who kissed me first both times.” He leaned forward and joined his lips with hers for a brief second before pulling away, teasing her with another toothy grin. ”I guess I was just too shy,” he answered truthfully, giving a light shrug of one of his shoulders, ”Or uncertain. Maybe a little scared. I don’t know. Wasn’t until we sat by that lake that I realized how I felt about you.” His mind flashed back to the post-race fun they had after falling into the lake and watching nature together. It was a fond memory that he held dear to his heart, and he prayed he would never forget it even as he got older.

”What about you?” he asked in kind, tilting his head slightly. ”You could’ve helped me out, maybe dropped some hints,” he trailed off, laughing briefly as he continued to gaze at her, tuning out the ramblings of the Grand Moff in the other room.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

When he mentioned she had kissed him first both times, Raz’s face heated up. He had a point there, and she felt embarrassed at being so bold both times. She was normally incredibly shy, but he had somehow invoked in her the desire to simply cross those boundaries and get out of her comfort zone. Thankfully, that was when he leaned in and she gladly met his lips with a kiss. It felt so natural to do this now, so casual and easy as if they had been like this the entire time. Despite the pasts they both had, all of that melted away in comparison. It was as if everything before him had prepared her to where she could love him the way he deserved.

When he mentioned he was shy, Raz’s eyes widened, “You? Shy?” She began to laugh, “That’s impossible to imagine. Out of all of us, I think you’re the most headstrong and fearless one,” Raz slowly traced her fingers along the side of his face, cupping along his jaw, “That’s why I always worry about you. You rush into things even worse than I do,” Raz shook her head, “This is going to be interesting…with both of us being reckless and making the other worry,” She grinned at him, stealing another quick kiss.

Her mind also went back to the lake, and she couldn’t deny that had been when her thoughts began to drift to him. She had always noticed him before that, but it had been nothing more than the quick glances she stole. She had entertained the thought before, but she had assumed he was entirely too focused on his pilgrimage. Raz smiled as he mentioned dropping some hints.

“I didn’t think I could compete with Kad,” She gave him a wink, “In reality though…you had far too much attention on you already,” It was no secret that he was the object of several women’s affections, “And I was just…well,” Raz shrugged, “Well you know, I’m bullheaded, I can’t cook worth crap, I hardly knew what I was doing and constantly doubting myself. I didn’t think I had a chance with someone like you,” She blushed as she admitted that out loud, looking away. She buried her face back into his neck to hide, though she couldn’t stop smiling.

“But I’m happy,” She said after a moment, pulling back to look at him, “I’m happier than I have been in a long time,” Raz reached down and entwined their fingers together, “We never have to have an awkward conversation of what we are. Just know that you have my heart, and that I am yours.”

@Painus

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros caught Raz’s blush mere moments before he kissed her, knowing that she realized that she was the one who had initiated the next steps of their relationship. Truth be told, all Leandros had done was be in the right place at the right time and helped usher along their romance. He never had a dynamic like this with someone else before, not at this level. Superficial romance, sure, but nothing as genuine as this. This felt right to him, as if it was meant to be and was right in front of him the entire time.

He was the most headstrong and fearless one? Leandros thought about the claim while she spoke, wondering what it was exactly that afforded him such a title. To him, he was just doing the common in uncommon scenarios, fighting and working to bring about the return of their people to the forefront of galactic news. He never considered how his actions may have looked to the rest of the clans, and it wasn’t until now that he realized how far he had come since his early days as a marauder.

Raz’s touch against his face forced him to smile even wider, the electric feeling of closeness between the two bringing true elation to his life. Her worrisome attitude regarding him was absolutely adorable, but painfully true. Now he had to fear for her wellbeing when they were off furthering the cause, even though he knew she was extremely capable. ”We’ll have to do more of this in between nearly dying, then,” he said right after she kissed him. That inexplainable jolt ran through his body again at the connection, if only for a brief moment. He went quiet again while she continued.

Compete with Kad? Why did everyone think he was in a love affair with his gods?

…Did people think he ran around the woods in his armor, killing everything and singing hymnals?

There was that moment of realization again as Leandros thought about how his actions affected others’ perceptions of him. To him, he was just performing his duty as a devout follower of their faith, but others likely saw him as a raging zealot. He cultivated that image, and, as far as he was concerned, it got the job done and commanded the respect he needed, so he’d keep on doing exactly what he was doing.

He let Raz continue speaking, alternating his gaze between her eyes and her lips, curious to hear what she had to say. He was learning quite a bit about himself today, like how he was the center of several people’s desires, funnily enough. She buried her face back in his neck, blushing once again as she admitted her insecurities to him. In a way, it was comforting to hear these things; they were very comfortable with each other, enough to express their inner thoughts and desires. Leandros hummed softly as she smiled into his neck, rubbing the back of her head idly.

”I’m happy too,” he finally said in response, ”You filled a void in my soul that I didn’t know I needed filled. For all my love of the gods,” he hesitated for a moment, smiling, ”I couldn’t match how I feel about you.” He squeezed her hand gently as they entwined themselves, ”You’re everything I needed in my life.” He paused for a moment, gazing into her eyes, breathing gently. He truly did love her on a level he didn’t know he could reach, and this love of his would impel him to remain by her side forever. ”Well… almost everything,” he added with a smirk, ”But we can fix your cooking over time.”

He let silence hang between them for a few moments, turning his attention to the Moff council on the holoscreen whinging about the Mandalorian menace and how the citizens of a united Empire would bring fire and ruin to their homes to destroy them once and for all. Leandros rolled his eyes and looked back at Raz, nodding his head towards the screen, ”Those blowhards never shut up, do they?” He looked back and sighed contentedly, pulling her tight against him.

The rest of the world could wait a few more hours.

@Sreeya

//end thread