All Very Domestic

[Daz Solus]

Daz got to the house a good five hours early.

This was to be something of momentous occasion, Raz and her new boyfriend partner in crime had decided to visit their father for dinner. It seemed an odd move for his sister, bringing a prospective partner home and it spoke to very dangerous things in the prophecies. Knowing full well that Raz would probably have a bad case of nerves at the last moment and try to find an excuse not to come, he had enacted a back-up plan. However he trusted Leandros to deliver Raz to the meeting on time and Daz turned his attention to a more pressing matter.

Dinner.

Raz had inherited her cooking ability from their father--which meant that any important social occasion should not be cooked for by either of them--it feel to Daz to figure out the night's fare. He was scrolling through recipes from Soupernova on his datapad when his father wandered in muttering something about ties.

"No ties, and not that horrible MandalMotors t-shirt you use for fixing the tractors..." Daz said without looking up. He heard him shuffle out of the room. "Do you really think Leandros would turn up wearing a tie? Maybe the skins of the vanquished or something...but not a tie. He called after him.

He browsed for a while longer, taking notes before standing and moving into the kitchen to begin cooking. He also took a moment to send a message to his sister. A reminder, of sorts.

@Pai-Mike @Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

“Look, we really don’t have to do this,” In reality, this bullshit had been her father’s idea. Somehow word got to him that Raz had been cozying up to someone, and he wouldn’t ease up on it. When she had been dating Valentine, the concept of ever introducing the Jedi to her family seemed unthinkable. However, she knew her father would be beyond ecstatic about Leandros. Leandros managed to come across infamy on his own, and her father was a fellow religious man.

She had tried talking them out of this many times, but she knew her idiot brother was entirely too thrilled at the prospect of embarrassing her. He would go to great lengths to ensure this happened, and if she bailed, her father’s feelings would be hurt. In the end, Raz grumbled and put on her armor to go visit. She had asked Leandros to meet her at her place so they could ride together to her father’s home.

Their original house had been destroyed from the attacks on Concord Dawn’s moon, and they were forced to evacuate. Her father had a modest home on Mandalore, and he stayed there by himself with a droid caretaker. Despite urging from both children, he never bothered to try finding another woman to settle down with. The loss of their mother had left behind a great hole that could never be mended.

Raz walked outside and hopped into the speeder, waiting for Leandros to get in. As soon as he did, she began to speed off, the grouchy expression still on her face, “You know what my brother’s like,” She said, “And my father is...well you guys will get along great,” Raz smiled at him, focusing back on the road. She was beyond nervous, and she kept fidgeting. He knew her well enough to know this was eating at her mind.

---

“How about now?” Atin Solus put a blazer on top of the horrible MandalMotors shirt his son complained about, “Look, I wanna be a cool dad, okay? Raz complains when I wear overalls and you hate this shirt. I can never win,” He grumbled, setting the table.

He wandered over to the kitchen and rubbed his hands together. Whatever Daz was making smelled delicious. He happily waltzed in and picked up a few ingredients, “How can I help?” He asked cheerfully, dropping said ingredients into a mixture that really didn't call for it. Daz would have to do some quick damage control.

@Lucid @Pai-Mike

 

[Leandros Solus]

”What do you mean we don’t have to? Don’t you want me to meet your family?” he asked, checking and re-checking himself in the mirror. He’d made sure to shave well today and his armor was cleaned and polished as best he could. There were a few scratches and gouges that he couldn’t buff out, but the rest of it looked pretty nice. Leandros was fairly nervous about this – if Raz’s father was anything like her or her brother, he was in for a volatile night full of questions and challenges sent his way. He wanted to meet them, but there was a lot of pressure on him to impress. Notoriety only got you so far.

Raz was far more horrified at this prospect than he was. She tried to give him any excuse she could think of, and he almost caved for a few of the more fun ones, but, at the end of the day, they had a nice dinner to go to. This was his chance to secure the favor of her family. That was huge. She wanted them to go together, so he parked his speeder outside of her home and finished getting ready at her place. He left a toothbrush there for a reason.

Leandros joined Raz in her speeder, barely having settled into the seat before she floored it. She was grumpy about something but managed to force a smile for him. ”Well, if your dad cooks like you, we need to get snacks,” he said in response, smiling back at her. While she focused on the road, he let his gaze linger and took a few moments just to study her face. He smiled softly and turned his head back to the road to watch the world whip past them.

”What’s got you in such a fuss?” he asked, turning to look back at her, noticing her slight tremors. ”You weren’t even this sketched out when we literally assassinated the Emperor.” He reached over and put a hand on her reassuringly, offering another warm smile, ”You’re not embarrassed of me, are you?” He thought that he was a pretty swell dude. Tall, strong, handsome, slayer of Sith… yeah, he pretty much checked every box he could think of. They were both very private individuals, and their relationship was kept pretty closely under wraps, though evidently not for long. Once one loudmouth knew about it, a whole bunch of their people would know about it. Leandros figured that might be one of the reasons she was so upset, but he knew what he was doing.

Provided she didn't crash the speeder or anything, the rest of the trip to her father's house would go relatively smoothly. Leandros felt his heart beat a little harder the closer they got, which, to someone who risked their life in battle pretty frequently, he had to admit was weird. How bad could meeting her dad be?

@Lucid @Sreeya

 

[Daz Solus]

"Dad, n--stop!!" Daz moved too slowly to stop his father from dumping a bunch of root vegetables into a broth that was meant for a much lighter soup. He sighed, dismayed and ran a hand over his face in an exasperated sort of way before continuing. It seemed that they'd be having a slightly more intense, pureed soup to start..tasty but not what he had been going for. "You don't have to try, Dad. Trying doesn't suit you. You taught us both to do. Just don't wear that shirt." Daz increased the heat on the pot, as his badger, Sam, nodded agreement from the floor, and he turned to face his father fully.

"Look. Either you can change into something nice or you can face Raz and her new boyfriend looking like a doofus. It's your call...but we both know which will have the better outcome for us all."

"You just don't want me in the kitchen, Dalziel," Atin said, eying his son suspiciously and using his full name like he was a child who had stepped out of line.

"There is also that, yes," Daz admitted without hesitation, brandishing a wooden spoon towards the door to the living room. "But you can also change out of that shirt and into something better."

Atin shot Daz a withering looking but admitted defeat and lumbered off into the living area to find something better to wear. With a sigh, Daz put down the spoon, picked up his datapad and shot Raz a message saying that she needed to pick up bread. He copied the message to Leandros just in case and went about setting the table. They'd be here soon.

From the corner of his eye, Daz saw his father return wearing the very same shirt that Daz had planned on wearing for the evening, a smug look on his face. Deciding that he couldn't win them all, Daz said nothing as his father began to pace back and forth before the front door. Why he was so worried, Daz would never understand. This whole night had been Atin's idea after all.

@Sreeya @Pai-Mike

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz rolled her eyes as Leandros jumped to conclusions, “It’s my family I’m embarrassed about. My dad is...eccentric. My brother is a complete jackass and will no doubt ask you what surfaces you like to nail the Mand'alor on right at the dinner table,” She said a matter of factly before wincing and looking at him, “Sorry...is it too soon for the nailing jokes?” It hadn’t exactly been that long since the village incident. Raz had the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

She thought about who would be doing the cooking. It was true that her father was absolutely garbage at cooking. Her brother was actually quite decent at it, though she would never admit it to him. After Raz almost burned down the kitchen a few times, Daz picked up the art out of sheer necessity. She shrugged, “There’s no way Daz is letting my dad anywhere near the kitchen, so we’re safe there.”

Raz remained silent for a moment before her comlink beeped. She glanced down and sighed, “Ugh, we have to pick up bread,” She grumbled as she took a detour to go to the store. Thankfully, it was a quick stop, though her nerves weren’t doing any better. Leandros was everything she could want in a man, but her family was embarrassing on many levels. What if they managed to chase him away? She chewed on her lip nervously, pacing around in the shop as she often did during her war council meetings. Raz picked up a bottle of hard liquor to help her survive the night.

Once they were back in the speeder, it was only a matter of moments before they arrived at the house. Raz inhaled and exhaled slowly, “Okay...here we go…” She got out and led the way. She hesitated for a moment before finally knocking on the door.

@Pai-Mike @Lucid

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros mentally pumped a fist when he confirmed that Raz was more nervous than he was about him meeting their family, but maintained that cordial smile externally. He squeezed her gently and brought his hand back while she spoke about what made her nervous. Her dad was eccentric? The hell did that mean – was he going to try and kiss Leandros when he saw him? He knew they were a farming family, but what exactly did “eccentric” entail?

He grinned impishly when she spoke about Daz and then joked about the massacre she had committed literally days ago. ”Wooow- a little soon, I think?” he said with a shrug, laughing. She was as subtle as a nuke and he absolutely loved it; he could always count on her to say what was on her mind, even if it was making fun of the fact that she crucified an old man over a story. ”And if your brother wants to know where you get nailed so bad, I guess I gotta be reeaaal specific and make it weird,” He smiled at the prospect of how embarrassingly awkward this dinner was going to be, even despite the thumping in his chest the more he thought about it. ”… your dad isn’t gonna shoot me, right?” he quickly added, looking over at her, ”And what if your brother asks about favorite position? How specific can I be?” He was certain she was going to shoot him, but it was all to lighten the mood.

He nodded a few times at the idea of Daz cooking. Someone in their family was statistically likely to be a decent cook, right? He prayed that this was the case, otherwise it was going to be a long night spent on the toilet at a stranger’s home. That made him even more nervous.

Leandros got the message about bread as well, rolling his eyes at Raz’s grumbling. ”If you keep looking like that when we show up, they’ll think you’re my hostage,” he jabbed at her. He stayed in the speeder while Raz ran in to get the bread, quirking an eyebrow when she came back with bread and liquor. It was gonna be one of those kinda nights.

The trip to her father’s home wasn’t very long, but every meter closer made Leandros more and more nervous to meet her family. He knew Daz well enough, but meeting their father was more intimidating than, say, invading Corellia. He hoped he wouldn’t come across as a doofus.

The couple stepped out of the speeder with Raz leading the way. Leandros stepped beside her and put his arm around her waist to reassure her, offering her one final smile as she knocked.

”I really hope he likes me.”

@Lucid @Sreeya

 

[Daz Solus]

Atin Solus bounded to the door, perhaps a bit overexcited, and wrenched it open while Raz's hand was still in mid knock. There was a moment of stillness, then, Atin shoved his daughter out of the way and folded Leandros into a hug. "It's so good to finally meet you!! I'd heard the most terrible rumors about Raz's previous selection. I'm glad to see that she finally saw reason! Come in, come in!"

He ushered them and immediately relieved Raz of her bottle of liquor and the bread. "That's better for after dinner, don't you think, sweetheart? It's good to see you." He kissed her lightly on the cheek and directed them to the living room, installing them both on a sofa with large glasses of ale in their hands. He looked around as though something was missing. "Where the kriff is your brother?" he said to nobody in particular. Daz! Daz!! They're here!"

He too a seat in the chair opposite the sofa and leaned forward, his elbows propped up on his knees. "So tell me, kids. How's it going? How have you been? Am I going to be a grandfather soon??"

------​

Daz was changing when he heard the knock on the door and his father's boistrous welcome. Grinning to himself at how Raz must be mortified he thought he might as well twist the knife a bit more. From his father's closet he selected a particularly horrible floral pattern button down shirt. Green flowers against a pink background, it was better suited to the Silver Beaches of Corellia than a family dinner. However, with Atin wearing Daz's shirt and now Daz wearing one of Atin's it would add an extra layer to the evening, just for Raz.

Until of course he brought out his prize.

In his back pocket, carefully hidden until needed, was a pink, fluffy diary (complete with heart-shaped lock) that he had scored from Raz's childhood room. He intended to read selections after dinner. The potential for comedy was more than enough to offset the very real danger of a blaster to the kneecap. Grinning impishly to himself, he did up the oversized shirt and wandered into the living room. He waved at Raz and Leandros as Atin bombarded them with all manner of questions and helped himself to a beer.

He walked back into the sitting area, caught Raz in a one armed hug before she could get away, shook Leandros' hand and took a seat. "Dinner's about fifteen minutes or so out. Just enough time for you to answer Dad's questions!"

@Sreeya @Pai-Mike

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz’s eyes went wide as Leandros went on to describe how specific he could get. She punched him on the arm to cut him off, “You’re even worse!” She hissed, looking at him with a comically alarmed expression. Raz shook her head, beyond mortified of how the evening was going to go. By the time she was at the door, she was already grumpy, a moody scowl clearly on her face.

Her father didn’t help matters by opening the door and shoving her out of the way. Raz opened her mouth to interrupt when her dad began to complain about Val, but she gave up. She shook her head and walked into the house, leaving Leandros to deal with her overly affectionate father. This was not unlike the time she had left Leandros to fend for himself against a certain clingy King.

Raz was thankful for the ale, and she sat down after giving her father a half hug in return, “Nice to see you too, dad…” She muttered quietly. She couldn’t deny that she was happy to see him again, but he had a knack for being embarrassing in situations. Raz barely took a sip of ale before he already asked about grandchildren. She began to cough as ale sprayed out of her mouth, “God damn it, dad!”

Raz couldn’t get any other words out before Daz walked out looking like a unicorn had vomited on him. Her jaw hung open, and she had no words, limp as he pulled her into a half hug. Raz stared dumbly and sighed, drinking deeply from the ale.

“Enough about us, how are you, dad?” Raz tried desperately to change topics.

@Lucid @Pai-Mike

 

[Leandros Solus]

”Ow- I am not!” he exclaimed incredulously, smiling at her. She was mortified of the prospect of him embarrassing her alongside the rest of her family and he was enjoying every minute of it. It helped calm his own nerves and messing with her was one of his ways of lightening the mood, even if she wanted to be a sourpuss about it all. He gave her one last squeeze before the door flung open, intercepting Raz’s knock.

Leandros barely managed to eke out a ”Hi-“ before he was wrapped up in a bear hug, the oxygen in his lungs being squeezed out by Raz’s father. He continued to stiffly accept the hug, his arms pinned by his side after Raz was shoved away and decided to abandon him to another overly attentive person. He suddenly recalled that he never got her back for leaving him with the Onderonian King to entertain the boy and grew a little bitter. Leandros inhaled sharply once her father let him go and ushered him inside his home, shaking his head briskly and smiling at the man, ignoring the bitter feeling of resentment he felt when he mentioned Raz’s previous fling.

Leandros plopped onto the couch with Raz, giving her an amused side glance and taking a fat swig of his ale, a smile plastered on his face. This was her dad? There was no way that this goober made Raz or Daz, let alone both of them. Where Raz was horribly embarrassed, Leandros was ecstatic that he wasn’t going to have to deal with some hard-ass eyeballing him the entire time. He threw his free arm around Raz’s shoulder and leaned back as the questions came rolling in. He was about to respond when the man asked about the prospect of grandchildren already. Leandros’ eyes went wide and the ale went down the wrong pipe, eliciting a series of awkward coughs as he tried to figure out his answer.

”I don’t- I mean, she doesn’t- We haven’t-“ he fumbled over his words for a bit, unsure of how to actually respond to this kind of question. Who just asks that to someone they just met? He was a blunt person, too, but seriously – social tact, right?

Before he could get anything remotely satisfactory out, Daz appeared wearing… whatever it is that jesters these days wore. It was kind of disquieting how much his outfit clashed, actually. He figured he’d have some semblance of style, but nope. Unicorn vomit shirt. Leandros shook his hand and put it back around Raz, giving her another amused look as she desperately tried to shift the conversation.

”Yeah, I don’t know if now’s the right time to talk about… uh, kids,” He added, nodding in agreement. ”It’s nice to finally meet you!” He hoped that he could help steer the conversation away from any weird subjects, though he knew as they drank something was bound to be brought up. He just needed to get drunk.

@Lucid @Sreeya

 

[Daz Solus]

"Of course it's time to talk about kids!" He acknowledged Leandros' greeting with a nod and turned to Raz, a sympathetic look on his face. He took a long swig from his beer and continued. "Our people don't have the greatest life-expectancy. You should hurry up and get it over with sooner rather than regretting it when you're six feet under." He eyed her for a moment before suddenly swinging his attention to Daz. "And what about you? You're far too old to still be playing the field. At least your sister has partnered up nicely!"

"Uhhhh..." Daz was too stunned by the abrupt switch of focus to him to articulate a response. Instead he just gaped like a fish out of water and turned beet red. "Eventually? Jeeze, Dad, I don't know...when I meet someone!" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, drained his beer and stood. "I need to get dinner on the table..." It was a lame excuse, but he fled just the same. Atin had a way of making everything awkward out the best of intentions.

"And you look ridiculous!" Atin called after his son.

"It's your shirt!"

Atin sighed and turned back to Raz and Leandros. "But really you should consider children. You'd raise good Mandos, I'm sure. Anyway, tell me about how you offed the Sith Emperor! I'm dying to hear the details!" He was proud of them both and was more than happy to welcome Leandros into the family, but clearly Raz was uneasy about discussing that just now.

-------​

In the kitchen, Daz listened to broken conversation carrying in from the living room as he got dinner set out. Roast nerf with root veggies, Kruffy pot pie, a couple of salads and the soup-that-was-now-stew. He added the bread that they had brought with them alongside the stew and placed a number of bottles of ale around the table at strategic points.

"Dinner's ready!" He called into the kitchen. He was ready to get everyone seated and tucked into dinner. He had plans--plans involving Raz's diary--that were best executed when nobody could escape the table.

@Sreeya @Pai-Mike

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros’ face went a few shades redder as Raz’s father insisted on discussing the idea of children. He took another swig of ale as the man continued, giving Raz another awkward side glance once he shifted his focus to Daz. ”Is he always like this?” he mouthed to her, tilting his head in the direction of her father. He almost would have preferred to be berated by someone who thought he wasn’t good enough for his daughter, rather than immediately dive into the discussion of having kids. Leandros was amenable to the idea, but he knew anything that would keep Raz down for some time – something like, say, pregnancy – would be a hard sell. She needed to be out and about doing something and taking care of a child was something that they needed to think about later on when war wasn’t at the forefront of their thoughts.

”Maybe one day,” he said, looking back and forth between Atin and Raz, ”But we’d have to talk about that.” He took another gulp of ale and patted Raz’s shoulder, nodding a few times. ”Killing Vrael was her idea. She was the one who figured out how we’d do it.” He smiled at her proudly, then looked back at Atin ”We had others get a bomb for us, then we just… walked right into the palace on Raxus dressed as guards. Nobody suspected a thing. We planted the bomb, planted a bug to listen in, and when Vrael was there Raz just…” Leandros set his ale between his legs and mimicked clicking an invisible detonator, ”Boom.”

He chose not to talk about what happened afterwards in the safe house, reserving that private memory for just the two of them. He simply smiled and nodded his head to himself, recalling the moment they assassinated an Emperor.

The call for dinner went out and Leandros breathed a sigh of relief. Dinner would keep their minds off of any awkward questions he hoped. With a grunt, Leandros lifted himself off of the couch with ale in hand and looked at Raz for a moment before nodding his head towards the dining room. ”Maybe some food in your belly’ll make you stop being so grumpy, huh?” he said with a smile, holding his hand out for her to grab and get up off the couch.

@Lucid @Sreeya