Ask Lazarus

[Vanya]

Vanya quirked an eyebrow curiously as he asked about a pit stop.

Ummm... probably? she said, tilting her head slightly to the side to see where exactly he wanted to "pit stop." There were plenty of places she didn't want to stop, and she wasn't sure if she should be skeptical of his ambiguity or if she was just being overly skeptical.

Before he could answer, Narissa made another appearance, all scowls, and Vanya's face immediately turned to scowls of her own, these all directed at her fellow Singing Mountain Sister. The two girls had been rivals since childhood, and things hadn't improved after Vanya started traveling off-world, much to the other woman's disapproval.

Yesli u tebya s etim problemy, pogovori s Mater'yu Territ, Vanya spat back at the other woman, all fire behind her words.

Narissa spat on the ground in response.

Still, Vanya was on the move in short order. Despite the rivalry between the two of them, Vanya didn't truly believe Narissa would lead her into some sort of ambush. Rivalry wasn't the same as murder in your heart... now if Leon were alone... then she wasn't so sure.

Instead, Vanya's mind turned to who this new visitor might be. She hadn't called anyone else here, although Leon had made a call, she hadn't expect him to tell anyone to come here.

The realization that it was Ezra brought a surprising wave of relief over her. The two had a strange relationship, but one that Vanya not only enjoyed but valued highly. He told it to her straight for better or worse, and he was wiser than his age. If anyone else in the Order was going to have insights on what to do with this, it would be him. Plus then she wouldn't be carrying the weight of this alone anymore either.

Oh... frgh, she growled out, not sure what exactly the exclamation was at. Probably just the whole situation. Maybe her Clan. Maybe a bit of both.

Nu davay zhe! Tol'ko ne govori mne, chto ty ne chuvstvuyesh' na nem prikosnoveniya Krylatogo Dukha! Vperod, vse! she shouted, waving her arms emphatically to shoo everyone away.

YA tozhe chuvstvuyu sled Klykastogo Dukha! someone objected, and Vanya just proceeded to wave her hands more incessantly to shut the woman up.

Prekrati! U vsekh nas yest' chto-to iz etogo, ne tak li? she said, pointing to the tattoo on her face before more shooing motions.

Finally the crowd began to disperse as Vanya just sheer stubborned them away, finally turning back to the others with her eyes stuck in an upward roll, turning to face the two of them.

Okay, okay, alright.... umm, yes, so... she started muttering, as she rubbed a hand across her face to clear her thoughts.

Let's... try not to stay here too much longer. Family, you know? she said, shaking her head. She got it, she was asking a lot of them, but they hadn't let her down yet. Not really.

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra’s ears twitched as he heard Leon’s obnoxiously loud cry of his name. Any semblance of keeping his identity lowkey was probably going to be out the window soon. The part Sephi kept his neutral expression as both Leon and Vanya burst into the scene. He hadn’t seen his friend in what felt like years, and a part of him was irritated. What was he doing here with Vanya in her village? The Jedi remained silent as Vanya bickered with her kin, pointedly avoiding eye contact with a Nightsister that looked at him as if he were a piece of steak.

He stepped towards Vanya once it became clear he could pass. Ezra gave her a jut of a chin in greeting, his gaze flicking over to Leon next, “What’s going on here?” He asked curtly. He really wanted to ask why the Nightsisters were so fascinated by him and why that place in his chest began to hurt, but this trip wasn’t about him. Ezra looked at Leon's sunken face and bloodshot eyes, "Are you out here doing a spice detox?" He asked icily, unable to fathom what madness could have driven him to a dump like Dathomir. He would keep his assessment about the planet to himself in Vanya's company - he at least liked her enough for that.

@Phoenix @Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon was all the emotions. His eyes stung with tears and he couldn’t be sure if it was shame, fear, joy, or relief. He’d spent so much time alone, that looking across the way now and seeing his best friend nearly broke him. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d hope Ezra would come. Never in a million years would he have guessed that Ezra's patented annoyed tone would be like sweet music to his ears. Leon was also very aware that his current display of emotion would make the other guy feel weird, so he tried his best to lock it up, but let's face it, this was Leon, his emotions might as well have been stitched to his tattered sleeve.

“Uh… something like that, might be easier to explain on the way to a ship?”

Leon caught Mother Therrit’s eye and he bobbed his head in gratitude, mouthing, “Thank you.” He had no idea if she understood, but there was a small moment between them and he could have sworn he saw the fine lines of her expression soften just a bit, or it could have just been wishful thinking. Probably the latter.

Once they were away from the village he sighed and said, “This is going to be a lot,” his countenance had shifted to apprehensive, but he forged on, “I got taken on Coruscant… pretty much right after our little call to action…” by now Leon had no doubt that Ezra could feel how different he was. Nothing about him would feel familiar in the force. His entire signature had been altered and where the light had been… Now, only darkness remained.

“I’m— well, Raze… he, uh…” his eyes slipped to Vanya looking for any kind of support, “I’m an abomination.”

@Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Vanya]

Yeah, yeah, on the way to a ship, she said with a nod of agreement as she began now trying to herd them toward a ship. Well, at least for a moment before Leon decided that instead of going back to a ship, he was just going to drop "I'm an abomination" out there.

We're trying to figure out how to reverse it... she said. I thought if we could track down one of those Forgemasters then maybe we could learn more, she said. It was the two of them that had discovered Raze's Forgemasters, and tracking one down would be no small thing, but it was one of Vanya's only leads. She also knew it was a shot in the dark.

She shrugged. She knew it wasn't a great idea, but she had also been pretty up front that she was out of her depths here. They all were.

She pressed on and kept them moving back toward the ship until they could climb aboard and figure out their next step.

We were going to go get his stuff before we went wherever we're going next, she said, just kind of... continuing to talk. Whether it was to fill the tense space or something else wasn't clear. It was useful information, but it also didn't allow much time for registering "I'm an abomination."