“…wearing a ring but ain’t be no missus, got matching diamonds for six of my bitches,” Minnie sang along as she slipped a loop over her middle finger and pulled on the pink silken glove lined at the bottom with fake pink fluffy fur. “Hmm. Nope. Might be too vulgar for Sivvy, we dunno. Next!”
Clicking the button for her stereo again, the track changed, and the little Nautolan bounced in place, bobbing and shaking her hips, to the familiar tune that burst on.
She pulled on her other glove while she danced, then checked herself in her floor length mirror again and popped one leg, smiled, twirled. Yup, this worked. Giggling interrupting her sing-along, she snatched her pad back off the bed and scrunched her nose from smiling as she typed.
đ : WYU2, tiger? Good morning when u get this. Abt 2 have the girls (Siv! đđđ) over 4 sleepover. Miss me yet? Ttyl đ : wish u were here đđđđ
Angling the device back, she took a few holos in a few different poses, moving from bed to vanity, debating the mirror, grinning, and then posing in front of it with her hips perked while smiling up at the camera and blowing a kiss. Yeah, that’d do. She attached the image then sent her message, throwing on her outer robe and slipping the pad into its pocket just in case.
“… it’s a cruel, cruel summer,” the Nautolan resumed to a new song as she left her bedroom and did a lap around her modest apartment once more. Music: check! Games: check! Drinks: oooo, check! Food: check! Thanks Foxxy.
- –look at me. If one of those buffoons you’re entertaining lets even a drop of soap touch that pan, her brother had said as he indicated the cast iron a delicate quiche had been baked in, among so many other foods parceled into trays, I will flavor the new one with their liver, do you understand?
“Tolly! You let Flyndty use one as a freakin’ part last week!”
He’s special. You’re all fraking plebeians. Bring the pan back or else.
“You’re not killing my friends.”
Excision of the liver: non fatal operation. Regrowth possible with 1/3 intact.
“Ohmigawd go be gay. Please.”
Deny–
What else what else what else.
Seafoam eyes darted around. Nope, no laundry left out, clean floors, pillows and blankets available in piles and tons of textures – the softest one she owned, beige and sleek and fuzzy, was reserved for Sivall – everything in order…
Ahhh.
Her gaze lingered on the turned down holos on the shelf. Those would get questions, probably. She gathered them up carefully, turning one in particular over to stare at and pressed a kiss to the slightly dusty glass (how unfair was it that something got dusty under it anyway?) before she carried the pile back to her room and tucked them in the white whicker chest at the end of her bed.
There, all better.
- Spinning on the balls of her feet, Minnie hurried back out, checking one more time on her appearance and then throwing herself down on the couch with a bounce. Her pad came back out, and she stared at the group message she’d started with the Armis ladies, Siv, and L'ara the morning after their meeting at the bar. So far, nobody had said they were here, even though they’d said they were on their way. She’d offered to pick everyone up. L'ara knew already, and had the other key, so she had no excuse, and to the other girls she’d given not only directions but a plotted star chart and the transponder codes that would keep them from getting shot down on approach to the compound. She’d set pink balloons up at intervals from the landing zone through the upper town and to her apartment. It would be fine, right?
Damn her training, making her paranoid.
She sent a text.
đ : HAY GURLS HAY! ETA, ladies and theys? No rush!!! â¤ď¸â¤ď¸â¨đ Be safe fly smart luv uuuuuu đ¤
L'ara typed a quick message in response as she walked down the hall. Overly fluffy, pink Lothcat slippers shuffled along the floor. Too-big Rancor Energy drink sweat pants threatened to fall, if not for how tightly they were cinched by their drawstring. Finally, a triple XL Drop-Lek Murphys tee that had had the sleeves cut off hung loosely on the Twi'lek’s small frame.
Arrival in five.
Then another message.
Four
and another.
Three
Two
One
She burst in through the door, loudly announcing her presence to anyone that had arrived before her.
“I’m here, schutta! Brace yourself!”
The small-framed Twi'lek charged the similarly-built Nautolan with the intent to tackle her onto the nearest soft surface/piece of furniture.
Minnow squealed, feet kicking, but reacted with all the same bullish grace of the iron willed people they both were. When L'ara slammed into her, she rolled them off the couch and scrabbled to get the taller woman in a head lock. Her silky jammies didn’t help her prospects. A slipper flew across the room.
“OYA!” the tiny Nautolan howled, laughing while trying to tickle the Twi'lek into loosening her hold.
L'ara laughed as the pair tumbled to the floor. But her laughter quickly turned to heaving, hysterical gasping as Minnow’s fingers found purchase in her ribs. Her instincts begged to cock her shoulder back and throw a punch, but she resisted. She tried desperately to hold onto her grapple.
“If! you! keep! tickling! me! I’m! gonna! punch you! in the! nooooooose!” She struggled to choke out the words between gasps.
Finally, she could take it no longer and released her grip on Minnie and tried desperately to regain her breath.
“VICTORY!” the little yellow woman hollered in Mando'a as she surged up over the panting Twi'lek and sat on her, legs on either side of her waist, grabbing hands to pin them. Panting down at her sister, she stuck her tongue out. “You’re buying drinks next time biiiiiitch.”
L'ara pretended to fight the pinning, then stuck her own tongue back out at Minnie. The adrenaline was still pumping from the brief tickling, but her heart rate and breathing were quickly returning to normal.
“Tickle me again and I’m pawning you off on the next greasy, over-cologned sleemo that asks for my comcode. Don’t be surprised if you start getting ‘pictures’ from random numbers.”
Minnow’s face scrunched. “Ew, go ahead. I’ll send them back an STI help sheet.” She climbed off her sister and offered a gloved hand up, looking over tonight’s wardrobe choice. Grungy as ever. Excellent. Hopefully that’d let their guests know whatever they wanted to wear was all the dress code a sleepover ever needed. She’d been a little worried about her own choice seeming too put together. “How’s tricks, vod?”
A sleepover! Frack yes. She needed things off of her mind. It didn’t help that she had a hard time sleeping at the barracks since moving out of Somber Respite.
One problem.
She had no pajamas.
So here she was, showing up with a massive random light blue t-shirt she had found and wearing red boy shorts underneath. Orange tall socks with yellow crocs. She noticed the door was open and was concerned. Until she can hear Minnie and L'ara. Sadly, she doesn’t remember much about Minnie, but L'ara? Yes!
“L'ara!” She made her way over and quickly hugged her. “Hi! How are you doing? Hello, you must be Minnie, sorry I don’t remember much that night, I was really drunk. I also want to apologize for any actions or anything I may have said that wasn’t okay. Thank you so much for having me, I never had a sleepover so I am very excited! I didn’t bring anything, I completely forgot! If you want I can run to the store right now and get us some more snacks if needed? Or maybe drinks? Oh frack. I think I left my key in my room again now that I think about it…”
The Twi'lek took the hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. She’d get Minnow next time. Maybe with a net.
“Can’t complain. You?”
L'ara plopped down on the couch and stretched out like a Tooka. She reached into the bag she had brought, produced three Rancor Energies, and offered one to the Nautolan and Mirialan. She wasn’t worried about sharing. She had a whole insulated purse full of them as well as a well-stocked mini-fridge down the hall. She had also brought an assortment of junk food snacks, Twi'linkies, Hutt-Hutts, etc
Sleepover. She faintly remembered Minnie saying something about a sleepover during the Kote Kyâram, but hadnât actually connected the dots again that she was invited till the Nautolan had sent her a message.
Sivall was a strange mixture of excited and horrifically nervous. She had never done a sleepover before. Never had the friends to do it with.
And now she was running late because it had taken her forever to find pajamas that were cute and comfortable. Most of her sleepwear was more⌠revealing than she would ever wear in public due to the fact that she was at home alone. It had taken her an entire hour of going through her wardrobe to pick the oversized off white knit sweater and pants that she eventually settled for. Comfort, but not restricting, very flowy. Good enough to cover and sleep in.
The Chiss appeared in the doorway shortly after Sagitta, a soft albeit slightly nervous smile on her face, a giant off-white tote bag slung over her shoulder. She would keep it together this time and not bring down the fun.
âHello all.â
Sagitta took the Rancor Energy as she blinked. “What’s this?” Her brows furrowed. She usually drinks water and juice. And after that event, Sagitta has sworn off alcohol. With a shrug, she popped the tab open.
‘Hello all.’
Sagitta yelped as she jumped back in surprise, causing a whole can to fall down outside. Then she saw who it was. “Sivall!” Without hesitation, Sagitta pulled her into a hug. It was a hug that one would give to another family member or someone she loves. It was obvious that Sagitta really needed that hug.
‘Wait, I don’t want to cry here.’
She cleared her throat and quickly pulled away, “Sorry! I didn’t know you were coming! This is exciting!”
“Heya Siv!”
L'ara decided to simply leave the bag open for anyone that wanted to take a drink or needed a bit of a pick-up.
“Hello all” Asani could hear Sivall introducing herself.
She hadn’t even imagined she would be joining this little festivity. She wasn’t the type to really enjoy group gatherings beyond family dinners, she was considerably attached to her family, and the fact they lived on a ship didn’t do much for her social abilities outside of the home. The fact any outing was often either family or business might’ve also had something to do with her choosing when to socialize and when it was she was more or less forced to socialize.
But here she was, doing what others did, enjoying a ‘sleepover’. Not that she wasn’t already constantly having sleepovers with her sisters, willingly or not. But this was different, they were all adults here. Considering the less than savory situation back home, the tension that was palpable in the room whenever she was near any of her family members really. This might’ve been a better choice than just staying in her room. She could take the time to clear her head and maybe speak with more care whenever she might get home.
She heard it then, her sister calling out “Sivall!”. It made her heart ache and her fur bristle, she wanted to pick a fight yet she couldn’t. Shed keep quiet, letting the waves of anger recede into what they truly were, sorrow. This wasn’t the place for that either, so she forced herself to change color. To a happy white shade, as white as she could get. She wasn’t exactly properly dressed for a ‘sleepover’ either, she had opted to steal one of her fathers shirts and use it as a nightgown, “I’m sorry for what I said before Caf” was written on the front, with an image of a cup with caf spilling over, and black shorts. She hoped it would be acceptable. Her backpack looked quite full, she refused to go anywhere without being properly prepared for anything. She managed to make her way inside, the door wasn’t exactly closed. “Hey everyone!” she said, trying her best to sound cheerful.
She wasnât expecting the hug but it wasnât unwanted. Arms covered in the softest fabric wrapped around the much taller Mirialan and gave her a squeeze back, a look of gentle reassurance on her face. Alex hadnât told her much, but she knew that things were tough with the family right now.
She released Sagitta when the woman let go, then gave her a soft squeeze on the shoulder. Her tone dripped with sympathy when she spoke.
âItâs good to see you, âGitta. You look like youâre doing well.â A wave was given to Lâaraâs welcome after her comment. And with Asani showing up, everyone seemed to be in attendance. The Chiss medic gave the other elder daughter of the Armis clan a soft smile.
Siv had refused to chose a side when it came to their familyâs⌠disagreement. If it had been her choice the solution would have probably been a much more boring and mundane answer than what happened.
Before she even got a chance to convey to L'ara how things are going, all her other guests were arriving. She declined the energy drink, about to greet Sagitta – oh myyy GAWD were those crocsocs oh my gawd she had to text FOXXY – when the Mirialan got startled by Siv’s arrival, and then a bright white bunny hot on her heels. As the open energy drink fell, Minnie sprang into action, scrambling over the back of her couch, nearly faceplanting, and tripping around the bar top into the kitchen in order to grab a roll of paper towels.
“Woooo, coming through!” gasped the tiny Nautolan as she rounded back out and dodged deftly between the trio of ladies, throwing down napkins and plucking up the mega sized can before it could keep glugging out more energy drink – distilled saccharines and cancer, Foxxy’s hands snarked in her mind – onto the public floor space. She spent half the roll just making a buffer so the sticky liquid wouldn’t get her gloves or socks mopping it up, all told taking just a few seconds.
Food service skills, yo.
Minnie popped back upright bouncily and flashed a peace sign of welcome to the other girls with the hand that wasn’t holding trash. “HEY GAIS! Ohmigawd I’m so happy to see you! Eee! Thanks for coming! Welcome in!” She opened her arms, then paused. “Hang on lemme put this stuff up and then hugs, okie? Come on, come on, my place is yours! Sivvy oh myyy you look so fiiiiine! Asani, love the shirt. Sagitta, gurl, rainbow hotness, please, please lemme take a holo, I’ve gotta show your outfit to my brother…”
-
Upon taking the time to enter the ‘apartment’ that looked more like a modular sort of cabin from the outside, a style that the Mandalorians present might be familiar with if they’d had any history lessons, the newcomers would see…a lot of pink.
Minnow’s living space was primarily pink. Rich yet dreamily soft pink pastel walls, lined with white trimming, and a creamy, fluffy carpet greeted them in the main room, a slightly more reddish coral for the kitchen combined with tile. The furniture was various colors: a double white couch stacked with throw pillows of many shades of pink that L'ara lounged on, a beige arm chair, a pale cornflower blue round chair and a creamy wood caf table stacked with, at present, an assortment of boxed games, holos, fashion holomagazines shoved underneath, and a remote for the vidscreen. On the bar top that divided kitchen from living room in lieu of a complete wall were trays of miniature food, ranging from savory to sweet and all edible with fingers; all fancy looking, because Foxen didn’t do anything by halves. On the kitchen counters were several bottles of alcohol, juices, and mixers, tall colorful glasses and silly straws. The cooking appliances seemed relatively unused, save a microwave oven, and the dishware was all disposable.
Piles of pillows and blankets had been stuck on every surface for selection by her guests: many with cutesy patterns and colorful, many pink. On the walls were framed holos, several showing Minnie herself and other people: a much larger black Nautolan with red eyes (and a very baby her), a line of armored Foundlings and soldiers in a field with rifles, a class of graduates, Minnie and a Shistavanen? that might have been dropped on the face as a baby?, Minnie and L'ara. Particularly perceptive eyes might notice dusty spots where something had been recently moved from the mantel under the wall-mounted vidscreen. A single short hallway led deeper into the apartment, with three doors, one each side.
‘Hey everyone!’
Sagitta blinked as she smiled happily to see Asani. As if they haven’t seen each other for years. The last week had been hard, she was never away from Asani for that long especially. With them being thick of thieves. “Asani!” She was going to run to hug her but then stopped. One could say she stopped becuase of the tension between them or because of Minnie cleaning up the energy drink.
“Oh frack! Minnie! I am so sorry! No, wait, let me clean it please!” She was too late as Minnie was already done. Her cheeks puffed as she pouted slightly. Then her eyes widen. So. Much. Pink.
Minnie mentioned about her clothes and wanting to take a picture, which threw her off guard. Her eyebrow rose as she glanced at her own clothes. Sagitta heard from others that she has no fashion. “Y-You really think so?” She smiled, “Yes! Of course! Would he think I’m hot? Do I need to show my good side? How about this?” She leaned to the doorframe and kicked one of her feet back and posed.
“Asani!” She heard her sister call out to her. She was running toward the smaller lagomorph at a surprising speed when she stopped, likely because of Minnie cleaning up the drink that had made its way to the ground. She figured shed be able to get a proper greeting hug in a while longer.
She saw Sagittas sudden interest in if she was or was not fashionable and couldn’t contain herself and had to take the opportunity to tease. Not that Asani had much of a fashion sense herself, she often opted for wearing her armor outside of their home. Any other time she was outside it was pants a vest and maybe a bag to keep things with her but otherwise she wasn’t much of a fashionista either.
“You look like you wanted to take a walk for a day and couldn’t decide what color to be so every color was on the table” she chuckled. “If you wanna impress a guy maybe try one color before you try all of em” she suggested. Not that she minded her sisters terrible fashion sense being a deterrent for any possible guy getting a little too close and comfortable. It was then she took notice of just how much pink there was. It was jarring to see so much of it everywhere. She stuck out, her black shirt gown and pants being the complete opposite of this pink cute scenery. The photographs around the area were a nice spot to look and rest her eyes thought, she could infer they were family and baby pictures by the glance she gave them before taking a moment to grab one of the many pink patterned pillows that were strewn for them. “I’m going to take a guess and say that pink is your preferred color then Minnow?” she commented aloud almost as if asking to make sure she wasn’t mistaken.
No sooner had Sagitta said yes than Minnie was backing up and raising her pad with the camera open, but at the question, she choked on air and her own spit and started laughing so hard that she ended up coughing.
“Oh– mi– GAWD —” wheeze, “omfhdhshshsgdhbd.”
She was dying this was amazing.
Gasping for air, the tiny Nautolan tried her best to straighten back up and wipe at her eyes, face all pink like her apartment, shaking almost too hard to properly take the photo. She deliberately aimed low, making sure to crop out the Mirialan’s head, just in case, and then dropped her pad to clutch her sides and wave at Sagitta, trying to assure.
“Sorrysorry omfg abdj is not you, it’s–” BREATHE DAMMIT, “oooo boy, gswsh, you’re plenty hot, babes, no no, it’s just, him– Foxxy– thinking you– omg I’m dyingf. Hoopbooooy.” She had to grab a tissue just to blow her nose, calming slightly. “No no, just, he’s really… I don’t think he’s ever been attracted to anybody in his life? Except like, KNIVES. I’d have told ya he was asexual, and now he’s head over heels for only one guy, soooo. I’m not trying to set you up, promise! Not unless you want me to! Hehehe! Nawh he’s just really into fashion and your awesome hotness is gonna make his head explode, it’s hilarious.”
Hopefully that explanation wasn’t too awful, geez. With her hysterics a little calmer, she addressed Asani, knowing she’d been asked something. “Yaah, pink is my total fav! Kinda obvious huh? What’s yours? Matter of fact!” She beamed around at the other girls. “What’s all y'all’s? Great ice breaker! Favorite colors and thiiiiings~! Here!”
Running back into the kitchen, she waved an arm at the big cups and silly straws, showing off the â¨selectionâ¨. She had two of each in a rainbow, and while they were just basic colors, it was probably good enough.
“Pick yours!”
L'ara leaned in to whisper to Sagitta.
‘Don’t worry. That’s why we have this.“ She tapped the side of her head. "And I may or may not have some pictures of him in the gym that security cameras picked up. Shockingly high resolution for security holos. You can borrow them if you like.”
She turned to speak louder, “Be nice Minnow. We can’t help that your brother looks like an obsidian statue of perfection.”
“Ohmigawd, La-la, ew,” Minnow groaned, balling up a napkin and throwing it at her. It only went as far as the bar top before bouncing to the floor pathetically. “Just don’t say that where he can hear you, which trust me, is so much further away than you think.” In an attempt to redirect, she waved at all the good and added, “Speaking of, he made all this, so I promise it’s good and you’re not gonna die from me trying to cook.”
Seafoam eyes darted to the smudgy black scorch mark above the gasser that had not come out despite a lot of scrubbing. Her drunk grilled cheese shame was burned forever into the material.
“A-are you okay, Minnie? Are you choking? Quick, give us three fingers- wait you do have fingers right?” She was frantically worried for Minnie as she seemingly choked on air. She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose but at least the coughing had stopped. “Oh! My fashion, huh…. and a guy that likes knives. But ended up falling for someone. Wait. This is cute! I have to know the story! So what made him open his heart away from the cold steel of knives to another!? Siv, Asani, and L'ara let’s listen to this! I bet it’s a really romantic story!”
Sagitta laughed, “You are totally right! I got the invitation so I just went into the store and grabbed some things. These are SO comfortable.” She kicked up the crocs, “A lot of people hate on them though. I don’t know why.” Sagitta smirked at Asani, “Nah. If I wanted to impress someone, all I have to do is get naked. Worked for me so far. Usually, those who don’t want any strings attached don’t give a kriff to what you are wearing.”
L'ara leaned to Sagitta as she pondered, her finger tapping on her chin. “Tempting but if he’s taken by another, no thank you! Don’t want that drama and attachment.
‘Obsidian statue of perfection’
Sagitta laughed, she had never heard that! What the kriff. Leaving the ship has helped her branch out and make new friendships. It’ll also help her social skills. She understood Minnie saying ew and threw a tissue ball at L'ara but of course, it was too weak to actually bounce. It’s always an ew moment when someone expresses interest in your sibling.
Favorite color.
"Um.” Sagitta paused for a moment, thinking what was her favorite color. “Yellow! It’s so bright and warm! I wanted to paint my room yellow but Buir wasn’t having it. Said it would mess up my sleep. I painted my room anyways. Sadly, he was right. Asani found out and ratted me out to Buir. He didn’t discipline me though, said my lack of sleep was punishment enough.”
Sagitta was…a lot.
Well, that was okay! Minnie could take that in stride! It was kinda like when they had kids’ birthday parties at the Fun house, with fifteen different toddlers all screaming for different things while some cried, some ate their pizza and ice cream, and others just threw the pizza and ice cream. Sagitta was just like. Twenty toddlers rolled into one tall person. And that was still better than the parents at those parties. They made her so mad.
Which, speaking of, who the hell was their dad that being disciplined was normal and losing sleep was punishment?
Do not, Smart Minnie said to herself in her head, pointing at her, start something. Just give her the yellow cup and do a sip sip instead of being a bicc bicc.
Just had to pick something out of all that to respond to, cause no way could she hit it all.
The tiny Nautolan laughed forcefully and grabbed the yellow silly straw and cup for the Mirialan, prancing over to her to hand it over.
“Aww shucks! Gee thanks! I like yellow too!” She struck a pose, sticking her tongue out and giggling. “For you then! I totally like yellow, or goes good with pink too! Love all colors really but pink best. As for a romantic story, uhhhhh, I dunno! Sorry. It’s kinda new, and he hasn’t told me anything yet, yanno? They’re not even together but you’d think it when you see them for even five minutes. I like, literally die every time. But I promised not to meddle, and we’re respecting that choice! No means no! Yanno?”
Bright eyes slid over to Sivall, then back to Sagitta and Asani.
Dear gods she loved Sagitta, but the woman collectively had more energy in her pinkie than Siv had ever felt in her life. While Minnie spent a second losing her mind over Sagitta being⌠Sagitta, Siv gravitated towards one of the walls sporting frames holos, sanguine eyes looking over each one as a soft smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Minnie had lived.
And gods baby Minnie was adorable. The medic wondered briefly if there were baby pictures out there somewhere of herâ did the ascendency even care for that kind of stuff?
Sivall was drawn back to the situation by the Nautolanâs question. She turned to face the group and wrapped her arms around herself, waiting for a break in the conversation. She liked most earthy tonesâ tan, cream, off-white⌠but green had taken a quick lead recently thanks toâ
The sky-blue womanâs breath caught as Minnieâs eyes landed on her, subtly hinting at an silent comment. Her cheeks flushed indigo and she looked quickly downwards, starting to pick at her fingers.
Taking a second to get herself to breathe again, she finally answered Minâs answer with a quiet voice, âMy favorite colors are tan and green.â
“Hey, those are a great combo! Earthy and soothing yanno? And I bet you rock tan, way I’ve seen you pull off black and now that glamorous softness. Oh! That reminds me!” Minnie scurried over to the counter again, grabbing the green cup, and then to the caf table and yoinked out the folded beige blanket from under it. She presented both to Siv. “All y'all can have any blankies and pillows and whatever you want, it’s a par-tay! But this one is reserved for you. It’s the sooooftest one I have.”
âHeh it took three days for you to go from high energy to looking like youâd been sick for a month. It was impossible not to notice. He wouldâve told you even if I hadnât ratted you.â Asani commented at her sibling chuckling mischievously. She really did enjoy being far too much of a nuisance and in her siblings things. She remembered how their father had placed his hand on the bridge of his nose and had decided to let the poor girl suffer her mistake for a few days before they helped re-color the room. âBlue and Gold are my favorites, with Lavender and Mint a close secondâ she commented then, making her fur turn a shade of blue Sagitta would find familiar, the same hue as their fathers armor before it was replaced with its typical white once more.
Hearing Sagittas comment about people with no strings attached smacked a gentle nerve in Asani, she did her best to contain the bristle of her fur having it only move slightly, something aching more to a sneeze than to a full angry puff. This wasnât the time.
Hearing Sivall comment her favorite color Asani couldnât help but grin wide and mischievously. âSay Aunty Sivâ she stressed the word almost stretching out the syllables as she approached a bit, she was trying her best to play it cool but wasnât fairing too well at her own game. âHow have you been? We havenât chatted in a whileâ she seemed to be trying something.
âSay would you say this shade of green is your favorite?â She asked, her fur turning a minty green as she twirled around a little bit. âOr perhaps this one?â it tinted far too dark almost like a shadowed forrest, her tail looking less like fur and more like a dense crop of leaves. âOr is it maybe this one?â she asked again, this shade seemed reminiscent of the armor their Uncle Dyr wore when they were out and about. If the little kushiban was up to anything, it wasnât exactly subtle in any way. But then again maybe she wasnât attempting to be subtle.
“Oooh!” Minnow gasped, arms still outstretched with the blankie for Sivall but obviously enraptured by the color changing. “Ooooothatssoprettyomigawsh! Gurl! You could like, model! How are you doing that? Does it feel funny? Hey, I glow in the dark!” Then her sense for â¨mischief⨠caught up with her wonderment. Asani was clearly egging the Chiss on, and Siv had blushed. Could she have struck gold on the whole Operation: Get the Deets From His Fam and Hook Up Siv and Her One True Beau already? “Hey those are pretty shades of green. Are they important maybe~?”
Sagitta gasped as she looked at the yellow cup. “OH, THIS IS SO CUTE! Thank you so much, Minnie, you did not have to! And aw! I understand.”
Sagitta understood the very sternness and respect of no meaning no. Just like that, it was erased out of memory and she has no memory or idea what they were talking about. “Tan and green! I would never think about that for you, Aunty Siv! Is it tan like the trees in the forest? Wait, no that’s brown. Tatoonie Sands? Wait, have you ever been ther-” She stopped when she gifted Siv a blanket. “Oooooh! That’s sooo lovely!”
“OH, I LOVE THIS GAME!” She turned a shade of green. “Leaves? Grass? Buir’s green egg breakfast?” Then Asani turned into another color as she yelled out, “UNCLE DYR’S EYES! Right? Right?!”
L'ara upended the energy drink to finish it, holding it for a moment to greedily try to get the last bit of life-giving caffeine out of the can
“Favorite color? I like green…wait! That makes me sound so self-centered! No, my favorite color is the flash of a breaching charge that’s been placed on a barrel of liquid tibanna. When it goes off it makes a beautiful swirl of colors for a split second. Yeah, that’s it. That or black.”
L'ara lost herself for a second in reminiscing about explosions then forced herself back to the present.
“Min-Min? Has your glowing ever…compromised you? Mission or otherwise?”
“Yanno black is basically like rainbow! Cause it absorbs all colors right? So…black being your favorite includes the tibanna pyro streak.” Minnie commented, totally subtly noting Uncle Dyr’s eyes as a guess. Subtly. By taking a pic of Asani that color and captioning it on a message to Siv’s number directly:
đ : đđđđđđ
When L'ara piped up, the Nautolan looked up from her screen.
“Nooooo. Well,” she paused. “Okie, mission or otherwise, huh? That’s a tougher one.” She tossed her head with a shrug, flipping her headtails. “We can control it, be kinda a dumb evolutionary bit for predators in the ocean otherwise, huh? Tho black lights just make it happen, so I’m always glowing at work. It’s kinda like…like mood-tied? Happens when we’re wanting it to or when we’re upset or happy or mad. We can make it stop, but Foxxy’s way better at that then I am, typical. I used to have to wear full bodysuits and helmet on stealth ops ‘cause just in case I glowed and gave our position. He never had to,” she complained. “Other times I guess it can be a little annoying? Like just cause you can tell I’m upset doesn’t mean I wanna talk yanno? Geez. Why ya ask, La-la?”
Asani chuckled at the curiosity displayed over her color changing, it was refreshing to have someone find it interesting rather than use it as a way to get her to open up about how she was feeling at a particular moment. âIm too short to be a model heh but I just kind of do it, donât really think too hard about itâ she realized her ability was something she did almost like breathing, it was effortless.
âoh theyâre VERY important I assure youâ the kushiban declared, she knew the affections shared between her uncle and her âauntâ. Truly as long as her uncle was happy its all she needed, she enjoyed teasing the shy woman as much as possible as well. She made a good and easy target for Asanis more misplaced attention and somewhat aggressive tactics.
The hue of her fur began shifting gently to closer resemble her uncles eye color. âNo no this is more like his eyes, his armors darkerâ Asani corrected, she definitely had right idea when it came to showing off the difference in colors for at least thing in hues of green and blue.
âWait you glow in the dark?! YOU GOTTA SHOW ME!â Asani demanded of Minnow as she looked for a light switch, âSomeone get the light I gotta see that!â the kushiban seemed incredibly interested in the glow of their new friend. Perhaps kinship over their unique abilities involving their skin and how it changed.
Siv had gone quiet, very quiet, like maybe she wasn’t breathing quiet. They had hit it partially on the head with the comparisons to Alexandyr’s eyes and now her heart was doing that weird flippy thing in her chest. The Chiss sucked in a deep breath and buried her face into the blanket that had been offered by Minnie, willing for the dark indigo flush on her face to go away. Also willing for herself to spontaneously combust and cease to exist.
Luckily for her the conversation switched to Minnie’s bioluminescence and Siv let the conversation steer away from her, all the while hoping that the blanket against her face would suffocate her. Especially because now that she started, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Alex’s gorgeous emerald eyes and her brain was screaming.
Her commlink dinged and she moved her sleeve to look at it, letting out the tiniest choked noise at Minnie’s message. It wasn’t going away, was it? Her flush deepened even as she pleaded for it to fade. She would not talk about her train wreck of a not-relationship out of the gate. She had a solemn duty to not ruin this sleepover with her drama or trauma or both.
A quick response was typed back.
đŤ : Yes. Yes his eyes. Also for my family’s skin. Green means comfort. Home.
Hopefully the conversation about glowing and stealth and color changing would distract the Nautolan from the reply. The medic made a quick note to add “bioluminescence” to her Nautolan physiology knowledge in case that information ever became important while treating Min or Foxen.
“Just curious. We haven’t been on any missions together, and… I dunno, I guess we either haven’t been in a situation where it happened.”
She cracked another caffeinated drink and began sipping it.
“It sounds pretty cool though. I think the most interesting thing I can do is manipulate my lekku. Which also happens involuntarily. It’s really annoying when people know how to read Twi'lek body language…”
Jax
Sagitta pouted when she got the color-guessing game wrong. Though she saw a movement and Siv’s face was in the blanket. Was she okay? Maybe she was seeing if it was nice and clean! Though her brows furrowed, slightly concerned for her.
A message had distracted Siv.
Then just like that Sagitta’s attention shifted over to Minnie’s ability to glow in the dark. “NO WAY!” Though she could see why it could be an issue at missions.
“It does sound pretty cool!” She agreed with L'ara. Then she blinked, the obvious annoyance went over this Mirialan’s head. For a moment.
“Oooh, I should learn- wait did you say it was really annoying? But why? Someone learned just to communicate with you! I think that’s a good friendship right there!”
“Yeah totally!” Minnie replied to Asani’s demanding agreement, giggling and then shooting a knowing look at L'ara, as if she could read the Twi'lek’s mind. Jax. Yup. “She’s proooobably talking about Jaxxie, her buir that she totally won’t call that. He was raised by Twi'leks, so he kinda considers himself one, yanno? Lekku first language and all. But he did learn Sign for my brother, so… Sentiment still stands. He’s pretty great.”
While she noted her comm vibrating in her bralet – hueboy, time to move that one if she was gonna leave the ringer off – she didn’t look at it yet. Spying Siv snuggled the blanket with her deeeep blue face, the Nautolan deduced a bit of a breather was in order and bounced for the light switch Asani hasn’t hit yet.
“Here, looksie! Lights out warning in three ….two…oooone…go!” she counted off, just like she would at work, not wanting anyone to be startled. Even when the lights turned out, there were still the tiny, heart-, flower-, and animal-shaped fairy lights along the wall that turned on, a response to the lack of light on their sensors. It wasn’t pitch black, accordingly, but it was dark enough to show off.
And then with a little breath, the Nautolan began to faintly glow, growing in intensity after a few seconds. She wasn’t shiny or anything, but it was noticable, bright in the dim, shedding very faint green light just around her, and peeking through her pajamas. The most intense spots were where her skin was dappled with spotty patterns, a slightly less luminous shade coming from the whole of her skin. The reflection of it on her lidless eyes even made them seem to flash a different color. She wiggled her arms out and danced in place, showing off.
“See? Oooooo, glowy~! Hehe.”
Sagitta cringed at hearing that Jaxxie was L'ara’s buir. She hoped that both of their buirs doesn’t know about her being shot. Though it was her fault, she did asked for cover, and L'ara provided it without hesitation. “OOOh! Grew up with Twi'leks and - Awwww” She cooed softly. Learning a new language was always difficult for Sagitta so Jaxxie learned sign language for Minnie’s brother. “I hope I get to meet him someday!” She grinned and covered her mouth to whisper to L'ara, “And I won’t tell him about what happened that day.”
The lights were off. She waited with anticipation. Her eyes were in complete awe. “You are so BEAUTIFUL, Minnie, ah!”
“Awwww! Awmigawsh thanks, Sagi! Hehe you’re so sweet!” Minnie did another twirl, and then dropped down into a full splits while waving waving her arms overhead and pretending to hold her nose, as though underwater. “Heehee! Kidding! Gills, yanno? But people really like that one.” She just chilled there on the floor, splitting. “It’s funny, talked to our manager once about, like, a tank act? Like a big water tank with stuff for display and I’d go in it and glow and do dances. Kids would probably love it. Buyuuuut it’d be so boring not being able to talk to folks! And feels a bit too showy, yanno? I like being able to skate around, meet people, all that stuff. My job is great.”
Pausing for breath, she beamed at the Mirialan, rubbing at her short headtails.
“Honestly babes you’d be like the only person evers that hoped to meet my brother. But if you do I hope he’s not too mean. So! Whaddyall wanna do first? Get some drinks going? Games?”
The tiny Nautolan popped up out of her splits and bounded over to the table, gesturing for their guests to come join her and L'ara on the couch to the seats and beanbags.
“We’ve got board games, video games, movies, magazines, sexy games, funny games, physical games, card games! Oh and this one is a Truth or Dare set! And this is Never Have I Ever! Like we played at the station. But I made us a bunch of cards, since last time was all your firsts, and I know it can be kinda stressful coming up with ‘good’ questions yanno, so I thought I’d make us some decks and if we want we can just draw from them! Skip it if you don’t like it!”
She held up one of several stacks of rainbow note cards emblazoned in hot pink glitter gel pen writing.
Asani stared in wonder at the glowing woman with intrigue she inspected every detail she could from afar. She could glow! GLOW! “It must be awesome to never have to worry about having a light around haha, thats super cool! Mind if i inspect?” She asked, never hopping on anyone’s shoulders outside of the family without their explicit consent to do so unless it was a dangerous situation.
“Drink would definitely hit the spot right now, walking isnt all its cracked up to be, id ride a droid everywhere if i could.” she commented chuckling while still inspecting Minnows legs for more glowy-ness. “Card games might be fun.” the lagomorphic woman commented, “or maybe a movie?” she asked, wondering if anyone else might be up for something, not that she knew the kind of movies that were played in sleepovers.
“You wrote those yourself didnt you?” Asani questions as she noticed the cards were emblazoned in hot pink glitter, chuckling gently at the gel pen writing, it was quite pretty but there was so much pink everywhere it almost stung the eyes as she was used to the metal look of ships and armor having much less vibrant colors.
“I did!” Minnie giggled, proud of her work. She stuck out her legs when Asani peered at them, twisting and turning her foot. The Kushiban would noticed a very small amount of webbing between her pink pained toes as the Nautolan wiggled them. “And sure, inspect away! You can touch if you want, it’s not like it hurts, haha! And I don’t mind. Just not my feet or forearms, I’m ticklish. And if ya go for my headtails, we better be dating.” The last was said with a wink and another giggle, though the request seemed easy enough, given her fingerless, fuzzy, silk pink gloves and open-toed ankle decorations of the same.
Asani nodded, poking and touching at the skin on Minnows legs that had been aglow with fascination. She hopped on Minnows shoulders after a moment. Her desire to inspect the face neck and shoulders obvious, being sure to avoid touching or prodding at her or her headtails, being more of a statue or lothcat walking on her shoulders. An up close look was really all the kushiban desired. Asani herself was changing colors now, she seemed to be happy to be near someone who could do something similar to what it was she could do, even if it was to a different degree, as she could not in fact glow. “How does it feel?” Asani questioned, curious as to how the glow ‘felt’. She wasnt sure Minnow would understand the question but would be satisfied with any answer.
Siv watched Minnie’s show with a soft, warm smile on her lips. She remembered how Bril looked at the Nautolan at the social and now she sort of got why. Minnow had this sort of… light inside her, and it matched the faint glow displayed on her skin. The reactions of everyone else in the room made it clear she wasn’t the only one who saw it. Her botmun'i was lucky, that was for sure.
The chiss woman clapped a bit, still smiling, at Minnie’s gestures and dance moves. When the topic of games was brought up, Sivall’s smile grew even more. The Kyote had been fun, if not a bit embarrassing afterwards.
“Minmin, that’s amazing. Thank you for taking the time to plan everything. I think it was a really good idea to make cards.”
“Oh!” Minnie squeaked as Asani jumped onto her shoulders despite only being a foot-ish shorter than her maybe – okie that was A LOT for her okie like usually first graders came up to her chin, sheesh – balancing like a cat or actual bunny might, somewhat on all fours, somewhat two. She didn’t shake the other girl off though or try to grab her, just shifted her feet to brace for the unexpected weight so high up and stuck her arms out for balance. “Oh, okie, hiya, haha! Do you usually jump on people? It’s cool with me, I’ve just never seen that before, gurl, what is your leg game? That was a straight up jump taller than you! Gawd-daaaayumn.”
This enthusiasm distracted her a little bit from the question, giggling and squealing as when Asani peered close to look, her whiskered nose tickled. She noticed the Kushiban’s fur shifting from the corner of her eye, but in her own glow and in the dark, she wasn’t certain exactly what she was seeing. But she swore Asani was a little lighter.
“Ummmm, oh! How’s it feel? Uhhh…kinda…like nothing, I guess? Like, yanno, you don’t really feel yourself breathing unless you stop and focus on it and then it’s like, ohemgee, that’s kinda weird, what’s even my chest doing yanno? It’s like that. When I control it, I’m more aware of it. Honestly it feels like holding my breath, not the heart part, but um, the part where your face gets hotter? Cause of the carbon dioxide or whatever. Like I’m getting a little warmer all over. Pretty sure my brother or a textbook could describe it better, but yeah. It’s like a blush I can actually start or stop.”
At Sivall’s praises, she beamed and did a careful mock curtsey, lowering herself just a tiny bit extra slow to not dislodge Asani.
“Aww gosh, I’m glad you like it! Thanks Sivvy! Yeah I hope it’s easier that way. So you wanna try?! Drinks? Who can I get a drink? I'ma grab the snackies anyway and I’m feeling some mango ruuuuum. I’ve got pineapple too, and…”
Sagitta was going to question more about Minnie’s brother. Especially the Naultoan had brought her hopes that her brother wouldn’t be too mean. Siblings are usually similiar so surely her brother couldn’t be that bad!? Until Asani hopped on Minnie’s shoulder while she was busy inspecting Minnie closer. Then she closed her jaw. Sagitta kind of get it. Some people think Asani was too much but she always love Asani. Even they get on each other’s nerves. “Yep! Think of years of jumping up to Buir’s shoulder who is taller than me and my shoulders! Asani had gotten that move down since she was much smaller! What’s even more impressive was her ability to go from the floor,” She pointed downwards, “To the vents” and pointed upwards.
“What’s a sexy game?” Sagitta asked without thinking, it was something on her mind for a bit now. “I never heard of sexy games. That’s … new to me. I mean, I’m not naive to sexual stuff at all but I had never heard of sexy game for sleepovers? What is it?”
A soft laugh escaped from her lips, “I would love to play Never Have I Ever or even Truth or Dare! I remember nothing about Kyote-” She stopped. She certainly remembered the day after. With a clear of her throat, she shook her head and smiled at the cards with the hot pink glitter gel writing. “As I was saying I’m open to any of them! Maybe we should do a little bit at a time and if we like something a lot we could keep on playing it!” Sagitta suggested to the others with a beaming smile.