deercountry | An (Extremely Belated) April Catchall

Luke hated being injured to the point that he was bedridden and either couldn't -- or as in this case, wasn't allowed to -- even attempt to get up. It was boring as all hell, and given he was someone that was always constantly in motion, either because of trying to duck away from the Empire or trying desperately to find some trace of the Jedi that he could learn from. But thanks to being jumped on by that strange creature, and because of a former Sith Lord zabrak that was a surprise mother hen, he was stuck laying in bed, taking turns staring up at the ceiling, looking around at messages on the omni, and absently petting the head of his omen that suddenly decided to appear (and trying not to think too hard on the fact that it was 1.) a krayt dragon and 2.) a krayt dragon not covered in fifty pounds of sand from living on Tatooine).

Of course, being stuck in one spot made him easy pickings for whatever weird thing of the month decided to crop up. So when he felt something calling to him from outside, his first response was to grab his pillow and shove it over his head. When the feeling didn't stop, he threw his omni at the wall, like that would actually do anything. Finally, he let out a frustrated noise, pushing himself up with a floof of his hair, before crawling over to the window enough to peer outside.

His mouth dropped open when he saw the sparkling butterflies coming to a rest outside, glowing wings fluttering brilliantly in the moonlight. He found it impossible to look away as more came to land, almost as big as the house and literally taking up the entire yard. Something about them called him to them, and his fingers found themselves scraping at the edge of the window, trying to pull it up to get outside.

Bad dreams weren't anything new for Luke; he'd had them on and off since he was a little kid, and of course they only got worse once his aunt and uncle died. The ones he started having once it was clear the moon wasn't going to be setting any time soon were somehow five thousand times worse than that.

They started vague at first -- half remembered dreams of Vader, of the Death Star. They started to become clearer as the month went on, becoming longer, until whole scenes from his past started to play out before him. Every single time they ended in lightning and pain and his own voice begging for his father to help him, until he finally woke up in a cold sweat, screaming for help and the scars all over his body throbbing in pain.

As he recovered, the dreams got even worse, and by mid month started changing; instead of being on the Death Star, they ended up on different planets -- first on a lava planet, then what might have been Coruscant -- each time the events becoming worse and worse, to the point where it almost seemed like it would escalate to the point where he was actually die. Until, finally, when the lightning and pain felt like they were going to become too much, it all just... stopped. He found himself laying in sand instead of on a deck, surrounded in a bluish darkness, looking around in surprise, before his eyes finally settled on something... dark in the distance--

--before he was waking up again, staring at the ceiling as he tried to get his breath back.

Maul had learned that while a number of creatures were benign in town, most of them were not. There always seemed to be a price to pay for interacting with creatures like the butterflies and he wasn't keen on paying it. Hence, when a number of these jumbo-sized insects landed in his yard, Maul was quick to pull the shades over his window and ignore any urge to look at the admittedly rather pretty butterflies.

Savage likewise didn't seem to be affected by the presence of the giant butterflies, so Maul went about his business for a while. Then he remembered with a start that he'd forgotten there was one other person currently residing in the house. Luke!

He ran over to the Jedi's room just in time to see him opening up the window. Nope, that was not happening right now. He grabbed Luke by the scruff of his neck, pulling him back further into the room and away from the window. This was one instance where being much taller than the Jedi came in handy. "That is not a good idea," he warned.

Luke let out a squeak as he was suddenly grabbed, sounding very much like a kitten that had just gotten busted by its mother. He flailed, reaching for the window, even if it was useless; Maul was definitely stronger than him at the moment.

"But they're calling me...!" he protested, his voice sounding a bit distant, as if he were too focused on that call.

Toward the later end of the month, Luke can be found traveling around Trench again, though he's going at a slower pace than usual -- Maul's insistence to take it easy or else. So he is, if only so he didn't have to get glared at when he finally made his way back to the room he used at the zabrak's place.

One day, though, Luke is taking it easy at Willful Machine, settled down on the ground by an alleyway with a shiny black and silver droid by his side. The droid had a barrel-like body, much like Artoo-Detoo, only its head was squared off as opposed to round, and the emotion sensor light by its photoreceptor an almost gloomy blue color. It beeped on occasion, the sound coming out in a deep baritone, but almost sounding upset as it did so. Every time it did, though, Luke reached out, resting a comforting hand on it's side.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll reappear," he offered, casting a glance down the alleyway as if whatever portal the droid had accidentally rolled out of would immediately appear at his words. It wasn't, and even Luke was starting to look a little worried.

Phew. That had been a close one. Any slower and Luke would have been out the window and then what...? Maybe those things would have eaten him or done even worse. Maul bodily hauled Luke over to his bed and deposited him down onto it.

"No, no," Maul said in a manner almost flippant. "No, no, we're not dealing with these things today." He used the Force to close the window and draw the curtains on the other side of the room. He scowled as he looked down at the Jedi. "What did you even think you were doing?"

Last Saturday in April... Luke made sure that, despite everything else going on, he was not going to forget that Airy's birthday. He knew the gift he wanted to give her, and it hadn't taken him very long to make it, but everything else had taken some time and plotting on how to get it right. There were still some things about his little plan that he wasn't satisfied with, but hopefully he could improvise if it looked like things were going to go bad?

Hopefully?

Luke took a breath as he approached Airy's house and place of business. He could do this, he was fine! He was a Jedi and a hero and a good person; being able to handle a birthday date with a lovely woman that he cared about very much should have been easy for him! The fact that his insides were currently jelly was completely and totally unrelated, and totally wasn't getting worse as he approached the door.

He was fine. This was fine.

He hesitated a moment, standing at the door, giving his heart a moment to pound in nervousness, before he finally reached up to knock.

Ariadne was just checking on the displays for tomorrow. Now that the shop was up and running, things could get messy very quickly. One of her school friends--an Elf named Zara--was the daughter of a shop keeper, back in Valeria. Ever curious about the things beyond Deleo, Ariadne once spent an entire week just following around Zara's mother, watching the way she handled business. Her mother was endlessly patient. Explained everything to Ariadne, from the way the till operated to how a display encouraged people to buy.

Not that Ariadne was looking to sell much. But she wanted to at least give off the appearance of being professional.

Even if she was singing that new song Dean had taught her under her breath as she worked:

Carry on, my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more

She caught a familiar scent and looked up, just as the knock came. A smile immediately curled her lips and she practically dropped a handful of vervain. It was always such a jolt now. Thinking of Luke. Remembering their kiss.

A good one, though.

Quickly, she hurried over to the door and pulled it open.

When Usagi turned the corner, she was rubbing her face, tired but less jumpy than she was before and blinked as she looked up when she heard Luke. She blinked again when she saw a droid that looked like R2 but... wasn't?

She adjusted her bag of food that wouldn't get destroyed if she dropped it and wondered if she should call out to him. The last time she had seen him had been him being attacked.

"Luke?" she called out. "Everything okay?"

A bad feeling had been gnawing at the back of Luke's mind the entire month, steadily getting worse as his dreams got worse. It led to him wandering again as soon as he could, following after bursts of flame leading to new portals to new worlds, trying to see if he could catch just where that bad feeling was coming from, only to come up empty.

That all changed at the end of the month.

He was outside in the backyard of Maul's place, working on fixing up a fence that looked like it had been part of an animal pen at some point. DV-2, having happily settled into being his new droid companion, was at his side, humming to himself and holding out a tray of nails for Luke to grab from, when he suddenly stopped short, his head swiveling around as a new ball of light shot through the darkness. Luke stopped short as well, a familiar feeling of dread settling in his bones as he followed the light, watching as it wove a path down the road, as if taunting him to follow, and he found himself standing up as if to do just that, before he stopped short. That dread was familiar; far too familiar, and he found himself letting out a shuddering breath, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Deevee, if I'm not back in ten minutes, call someone immediately," he ordered, before he finally got his feet to move, running after the light while the droid wailed for him to get back here this instant, trying to roll over the grass and the dirt to keep up, only to watch helplessly as he disappeared down the road.

Luke let out a grunt as he hit the bed, nearly cracking his head on the headboard. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the soft calling of the bugs fade out once the curtains were drawn. His eyes finally fluttered open after a moment, staring up at Maul with a confused look on his face.

"Hngh...?"

Luke looked up in surprise, before a soft smile came to his face on seeing her. The droid swiveled around as well, letting out a happy boop and bobbing forward, like he was bowing to her.

"I'm fine," Luke answered, before waving to the droid. "This little guy accidentally wandered out of one of those portals that have been opening up, so I'm waiting with him to see if it'll open up again so he can go home."

Luke smiled softly at her enthusiasm, before pulling his other hand out from behind his back, revealing a soft pink rose he had found in the forest. He offered it to her, his own gentle enthusiasm in his expression.

"Happy birthday, Airy."

Ariadne let out a small yip of delight, covering her mouth immediately because she had absolutely no idea where that had come from or what that even was. It hardly mattered. What was done was done and her eyes were still gleaming.

"Thank you," she said, when she felt she sufficiently trusted herself to use words again. "You're beautiful. It. It's beautiful."

Although the former was true as well.

Luke felt a faint hint of pink come to his face at her slip up, but he refrained from commenting on it, instead offering out the rose for her to take.

"I did promise you something special for your birthday, you know," he reminded her. "Are you free to come with me?"

She accepted the rose, giving it a sniff, before turning her face up to him in confusion. "This isn't the something special?" she asked, nodding to it.

It seemed special.

After all, it wasn't every day that someone gave her flowers. Not counting the avocado tree, but that had been a gift for the holidays. And in no way romantic.

Fascinated, she tucked the flower over her ear. "Of course," she said. "I don't have anywhere to be the rest of the day. But where are we going?"

Luke chuckled softly.

"Well, yes, but more than this," he replied, offering her his arm. They didn't go far, instead just heading over to the garden, where a picnic blanket had been spread out on the ground, with the best view of the month-long starry sky above them. A basket and some plates where resting on top, waiting for the two of them to sit down and eat.

Ariadne didn't know what to expect, but she was charmed by the sight. "I see you're making friends with my trees," she said. This pleased her immensely. After all, she considered them her closest friends. And, aside from Dean, her family of sorts. Her Deerington family.

Feeling a little bold, she leaned over and gave Luke a kiss on the cheek.

There was that pink flush, coming in bright on Luke's face again. He turned slightly to offer her a warm smile, holding her arm a little closer to himself.

"Well, I wanted to take you to the most beautiful place in Trench, but I couldn't think of anything that was more beautiful than this," he replied, hoping that was genuinely charming and not like... Han Solo level of charming?

Stars help him, this sort of thing made him so nervous.

"Do you really mean that?" she asked, sitting down neatly on the blanket, tucking her legs beneath her.

It wasn't an accusation. There was no doubt or incredulity. She was genuinely curious. Yes, she favored her garden. She loved it as much as she loved her trees and as much as she loved bringing life to this horrible, lifeless place.

But beautiful?

Perhaps any place was beautiful under starlight. And with the right company.

Usagi bowed back to the machine, used to doing weird things by now even before she was brought to Deerington and Trench.

"Oh, I didn't know things could go back through. I only assumed it was a one-way sorta deal."

Maul sat down at the end of the bed, the mattress and bed both creaking under the weight of the heavy prosthetics. "And this is why I'm not letting you leave the house yet," Maul said in a scolding tone. Yes, Luke is perfectly capable of taking care of himself about 85% of the time, but it's the other 15% that had ended up worrying Maul on more than one occasion now.

"If I hadn't been here, what do you think would have happened?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't," he replied honestly, sitting down beside her, starting to reach for the plates and the picnic basket. He pulled out a few containers of food, freshly cooked to the best of his ability, the delicious smell wafting out the moment he pulled open the basket.

"I'll... admit, I eat outside a lot, but it's... usually just ration bars," he confessed, digging around the basket for some utensils. "I'm... not sure if I over or under packed for this."

Luke let out a startled noise, clearly not realizing that, but the droid let out something akin to an, "Ehh??" boop, expecting it even less. A mournful noise escaped from the little unit... before it started booping and blatting at a rapid fire pace, extending its utility leg and rolling back and forth, like it was pacing. The flashing emotion light on the front of its head sparked from deep red in anger, to dark blue in gloomy sadness as it went, with Luke only able to catch a few things of what it was saying with how fast it was booping and...

His eyes widened slowly at one bit, before he leaned back against the wall, covering his eyes with a hand. He had to have heard that wrong, right? Right?

"...'m never going to get used to this place," he muttered.

Luke stared at Maul for a moment, before his gaze drifted over to the closed window, like he couldn't understand what just happened. It finally pulled all together in his head after a few minutes, and he shot up in bed, staring at the window, before turning his focus back to Maul, pointing at it.

"Those... those bugs outside," he managed to get out. "They were calling to me, but it... it wasn't the Force, it was something else."

An (Extremely Belated) April Catchall

Migrations

Nightmares

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A New Friend

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Airy's Birthday (Closed to Airy)

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The Hazards of Peeking into Other Realities...

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