Just Passing By - [Talau]

[Harukei]

It had been a rather long day, even for a man that was used to be on active command for even more than sixteen straight hours, it had felt longer than what it had seemed. At the very least it was now over and as he headed to the Corellian embassy, Saul could not avoid to rub his temples as he awaited for the hovercab to finish the trip. With the usual congestion of traffic of Galactic Center, he had to imagine that the pilot, a Rodian, would be well seasoned. But either he was too tired to distinguish a newcomer from a veteran driver, or truly the man did his job rather poorly. 

As the hovercab slid over the entrance of the rather large apartment complex, not to far from the Corellian Embassy,  he gave a sigh of relief before paying the fare and taking his luggage with him.The ride on the turbolift was little more comforting, the sensation of being driven upwards was with little energy left on him almost made him consider the suggestions that his body was giving him, to lay down and sleep. 

Stepping in the level underneath the penthouse, he would retrieve his notepad, looking over the most recent notes he had scratched as he looked for the room number, finding the door, Saul stood for a brief seconds. His appearance was not the best. His uniform was clean but he had wore it all day, the high collar had been folded open for the sake of comfort and he could even tell that a shadow of beard had began to crop through his usually clean shaven face. He was not as presentable as he would have liked, but if that caused any problem, then he could simply go to the room that the Embassy had gotten him for his short stay in the capital. 

Summoning enough courage, he knocked the door, and stood as he awaited.  

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

The sounds from behind the door were those of scurrying little feet indicated that the apartment was, in fact, inhabited....as did the sound of the lock starting to open, until: "Sis! Don't! You know mum's gonna be angry!"

"She's not! Shut it, Kieran! No one asked you, anyway!"

"Raelyn Isis Praetor! Step away from that door right now."

"Uuuugh...."

More footsteps could be heard, both coming and going, from the door as the door actually unlocked this time and slid open half way. A slightly disheveled looking Aunna would appear in the opening, her long green and gold coat hanging open to show two holsters attached to her thighs (her pants showing that coveted 2nd degree bloodstripe) holding what appeared to be lightsabers, another (longer) cylinder (it looked like a collapsed polearm with a saber emitter) hanging on the belt attached to the outside of the coat. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a long ponytail but still managed to find ways to escape here and there.

"Yes? What do y--Saul!" Her face brightened into a wide smile, the door opening fully now as she pressed a button to cycle it the rest of the way. "Come in! I'm sorry about that...and the state of transition..." she added. The apartment was, indeed, full mostly of boxes of packed items, though the base furniture, at least, had been settled. Kieran, a boy with sandy brown hair and black eyes, looked quite a bit like his mother, though there was no denying that his father's leonine structure had made it into his face and growing body structure, peered over at the man curiously. The more slender figure of the black-haired Isis, however, could be seen retreating back into the apartment.

[Harukei]

Saul raised an eyebrow as he heard the muffled arguments of children and the long and firm order from their mother. There was moment of doubt of whether his visit to the woman was actually a good idea. But upon hearing his name come from behind the door with such exaltation he could not help to grin, doubly so when the door opened with a hiss and he saw Aunna standing before him. She was quick to offer him to come inside and he did, although a part of him felt some disappointment of not being received with a hug or a kiss to his cheek. But in the end he could not blame her, she had much upon her shoulders with dealing with her children alone, never mind what it meant to move from a planet to another.

"I liked what you've done with the place." He said with a grin, before placing his luggage on the floor. 

The multiple set of boxes that were huddled all around the apartment almost made him remember his own back on Corellia, although this one was much more spacious and with the ever shining light of the Republic's Capital, he had to say this one won. He caught the glimpse of the children, Kerian and Isis, as the boy stayed with some interest on him, and the girl retreated back into the dormitory. At a first glance they had inherited many of the looks of their mother, although there were some features that had to be from their father. He turned to Aunna and gave her a smile. 

"I can see they're being a handful." His sight turned into one of concern, he did not wish to abuse any hospitality. "Aunna, if it's too much to have me here tonight with your kids and the moving going on, I am sure I can find a hotel to stay, I don't wish to be a burden for you."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Cycling the door closed behind him, Aunna would smile, turning to look out the fairly large transperisteel window that took up a good portion of the living room wall. Beyond it the city glinted and glimmered with the fading light of day as well as the glittering lights of buildings and speeders. "I've not had a chance to do much yet, but at least there's furniture...so that's a bonus, right?" Chuckling softly, she wrapped an arm around him so that she settled herself up against his side. "It's no problem, really. If anything I can put you to work helping me unpack some of these things..." she added before releasing him and moving further into the apartment.

Coming up behind her son she would wrap her arms around him and give him a squeeze and a big kiss on top of his head, to which he promptly groaned out a long-suffering "Muuuuuuum..." that made her laugh.

"You remember meeting Saul, right Kieran?" she asked pleasantly, reminding the boy of the man's name. He nodded a little and gave a slight wave, still seeming to try and decide how he felt about the uniformed figure standing in their new home. "He's going to be staying here for a little while. He's a naval admiral, sort of like your uncle, but the next rank up and working for the Republic. Saul moves around a lot, so instead of him paying for an apartment while he's here on Coruscant I thought it would be nice for him to stay with us."

Kieran nodded once more before looking up at his mother. His uncertainty may not have been overly visible, but it was certainly palpable to her. He was a smart boy, and he was concerned about what this 'stay' meant to their little family. She could only smile down reassuringly at him. "Go on and unpack the rest of your clothes, okay? Then we'll see about doing something for dinner. Tell your sister to do the same thing."

"I think she's done with her clothes already..."

"If she is, then tell her she needs to think about what vegetable she wants...and you do, too. Go on."

With that the boy nodded and slid off the seat he'd occupied, heading back toward the rooms to relay the information that both of them knew Aunna could have done herself without moving. Watching her son go, she'd move back to Saul's side and wrap her arms around him, pressing a kiss to his cheek at last. "Come on and let's get you settled in...my room is back here."

[Harukei]

Saul would grant the young boy a smile as he saw his wave and had almost wanted to offer him his hand, but decided against it. A part of him suspected that the child was unsure of him and what he was doing in their home, specially with them having move so recently. When Kieran left to belay the orders he had received, the Admiral felt a warm embrace against himself and the soft push of lips against his cheek. His hand slipped around her waist as Aunna told him where her room was. 

"Nice deflect." He whispered. "Doubt that'll stop them from figuring out about us."

He did not mind if her children understood. However he didn't wish to cause her any problem, specially if the children felt for any reason that he was going to opaque them in her eyes. Taking opportunity that they were alone for a brief moment, her would lean and press his lips against hers before departing her embrace. 

"Do I need to think what vegetables I would like as well?" He said with a smile before he headed towards her room. He would look back again and not at the shipping crates and boxes. "I wouldn't mind helping you after a hot shower and a good night of sleep."

With that he entered the innards of the apartment. Like the rest of the module, there was little unpacked, but thankfully there was fortunire as she had said. Saul carefully tossed his luggage, his duffel bag over one chair and sat on the bed, rubbing the nape of his neck and temples again. Sleeping looked so tempting now, as well did getting rid of the uniform that he had wore. At the very least if he was going to eat, he would do it in comfort. 

The man closed the door and began to rummage through his belongings, picking a clean and featureless grey t-shirt and clean and loose black trousers that were more suited for exercise. He swiftly changed and slapped his face with ice cold water. Stepping outside he would begin to make his way to the living room as he heard the banter of children once more. 

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Aunna sighed a little at his initial comment, kissing him lightly before he pulled away. "I know, and I'm sure they both have some idea of what's happening....you can't hide much when you're bonded in the force unless you're well trained. None of us are fully trained, and while I can hide more than they can, I still have my moments...plus they know their mother. My worry isn't so much them as it is Vex..." she replied softly, moving with him back to the room. It had a nice little en suite bath and a lovely view through several large-ish windows. "As for the vegetable thing...no, I'm sure they have it covered. It just makes things go more smoothly if I have them each pick one so they'll at least eat one of the two I make," she replied with a chuckle and a slight shrug of her shoulders.

As he started to get comfortable, she pulled off her coat and hung it up, tugging off her boots as well. The weapon on her belt she pulled off and re-clipped it to her pants on one hip. She didn't bother to take of the holstered lightsabers. "I'd appreciate a bit of help tomorrow, sure. I don't think Javier has any plans for tomorrow, but I'll have to check in the morning just to be sure nothing came up over night."

Letting him get changed and freshen up the rest of the way himself, Aunna headed out to see what her children were up to. For the moment their banter seemed benign enough, so she continued on to the kitchen to start cooking. By the time Saul emerged from the room they were still bantering, but now about other things.

"That's not how you're supposed to do it, Kieran..."
"And you're an expert?"
"I'm better at it than you."
"So? That doesn't make you an expert."
"Look, you just have to work the area around the thing....see?"
"What do you think I've been doing you dummy?"
"So why's it so shaky, then?"
"I don't know...that's the problem!"

The two were in what looked to be Kieran's room. It had tools of various sorts spread out across the bed, dark blue and purple bedding, bits of metal and wiring strewn about on the bed. The two were sitting in the middle of the room, each one with a set of small metal balls about the size of their palms. Several of each of their metal pieces were floating in the air before them, though it would seem that the ones in front of Kieran were less steady.

[Harukei]

Saul thought about it after he had settled and refreshed. About the Force, about Aunna, Kieran and Isis and softly wondered how it felt to be in contact with that mystical field. As he heard the children talk and was naturally drawn to their room to see what they were doing. He had seen the Force in action before, he had being close to Jedi and Sith fighting, and as a normal human being the Admiral had sensed how the air had felt charged, ionized and heavy. 

A part of him wondered if his actions had ever being guided by it, even if he did not believe in such binding mystical force like most Force sensitives did. He stood observantly as he saw the pieces of metal levitate, the girl's more stable than the one's the boy had managed to uplift from the floor. It was some vacuous questioning at the moment and the ones that he preferred to keep for himself until there was another moment, a more proper one to pose such questions. 

The tiredness of his mind crept back in, as he decided to leave the children alone and return to the living room, sitting on the sofa as he observed the woman cook. A tired smile became a hint upon his lips as he leaned against the padding of the furniture. He had not pictured her cooking, for all the years she had known her, never had Saul imagined that Aunna would be a proficient cook. He found enough strength to raise from his seat and move next to her, watching the bubbling meal that cooked from the pans and the steam that rose as meat was seared and vegetables were sauteed. 

"Smells good. What is it?" He asked.