Ask Altairnative Facts

[Darth Tiamat]

Ziost

Things felt awkward since the island fiasco, she knew she was actively avoiding Altair, burying herself in her work, which wasn't too far from the norm, but knew her reasons. Her back felt raw from her meditation sessions, counting the number of mistakes she had made that could have compromised herself; her confusion...was more internalized conflict as her emotions felt wrong, inappropriate, and she absolutely hate feeling this way. She even wanted to know how Emryc did it, to love and care so much for Jai and yet still be able to perform his duties as the Dark Lord. She knew they were essentially different individuals, but for herself, would she have to go that path also? When the split was forming with herself and the Eternal was agonizing, but this was the life and the path she chose, so why did it make it so hard?

Well, she knew the answer, and it was the limitations of being mortal, being a person, being who she was.

To fight who she was would lead to failure, she knew this also.

She also knew she cared enough for Altair that she never wanted to see him at the end of Raze's blade for failure, or worse, to have to draw the blade on him. She remembered how it tore up Emryc, would it do the same to her if it ever reached that point on her path? That was uncertainty that essentially caused her fear, one that a simple, It won't happen, Tiamat from Altair wouldn't fix a thing. She didn't think he could understand that.

However, now she had to face him, more willingly as she knew she even needed help at times and he was one of very few she could trust. Tiamat made sure to wait until the Huttball playoffs had finished for the afternoon before she approached his quarters, knocking softly on his door, hoping there weren't 15 others also staying in the same room like the last she visited. Though she was dressed a bit less formally, so that could hopefully keep the jeering to a minimum.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair only had one roommate at the academy this time. His roommate was still out celebrating his team winning the Huttball game today. The tiefling was far more mopey as his team lost and he ducked out earlier and walked back to his room. He was in the middle of doing some homework that he had procrastinated on when he heard the knock on the door. Altair rolled his eyes and walked over to open the door with a dramatic groan as he stared at the ceiling, “Quit ridin’ my ass, I know Gibbins sucked balls in the third round-” His eyes widened when he realized it was Tia standing there and not his buddies.

“I-uh..” He blinked a few times and cleared his throat, “My bad,” Altair gave her a sheepish grin, “Wasn’t expecting you,” He hadn’t seen her since the island fiasco and they had both become busy with their work to really catch up.

“How can I help ya?” Altair stepped aside to gesture her in. It was a modest room and certainly larger than the temp area he had been assigned. Both beds were neat and organized, perfectly ironed military uniforms lining the closets. Altair had posters of musicians on his side of the wall. There was no stench of body spray in the room, just hints of high quality cologne.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She heard shuffling, groaning, and her eyes widened some as he went on about a player named Gibbins. However, he quickly realized it was not his friends and just herself who was present outside her door. When he looked at her with his sheepish grin, a genuine smile returned to Tiamat's face, and suddenly everything she seemed to have worried about leading up to this point quickly faded. She nearly forgot why she had come in the first place as he gestured for her to come inside, not having expected her. It was not uncommon for her to arrive places unannounced, or even leave without a hint of where she was going.

"Probably better me than some hall monitor or instructor when you answered." Tia smirked and quickly noted the changes in his quarters since her last visit, for one, it smelled better, and it was clean, probably cleaner than any space she would occupy. He must have been sharing the quarters with another due to the second bed and noted he must have been working on his homework from the books and papers that were stacked. The redhead turned to face Altair and sat down on the desk chair, feeling the pressure on her back and sitting forward before flinching as she thought about how to respond.

"I need a partner because I don't think I can do this alone. I had heard some rumors about some cults that broken off when the Eternal took power. What makes them unusual a possibly a threat, is their development of alchemy and technology." she explained, digging around her in pack that was slung on her shoulder. She pulled out what looked to be small droid and handed it to Altair who would immediately notice the lack of wiring and power source.

"Tell me what is missing."

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair listened to her explanation and began to chuckle at once. He shook his head with a grin, “Can’t ever show up just to hang out, huh?” He teased before he took the small droid. He turned it around on all sides before frowning, “How’s…this thing powered?” Altair asked as he tapped it on a few sides, “Remote signals?” This wasn’t his area of expertise but he hadn’t seen anything like it before. Not only that, but it was very light and missing critical components a normal droid would have.

He tossed the droid back to Tia and plopped down in the chair across from her. He exhaled and tilted his head back, “I’ll come with you if you help me finish my math homework,” He stated slyly as he pointed to the pile of work he had on his desk. Altair leaned back on his seat and propped his feet up against the edge of the desk.

“Where are we goin’ and, more importantly, do you have better food on your ship this time? I ain’t about that expired food life and it’s only ‘cause I’m a tiefling that I survived last time,” He gave her a dirty look.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Just to hang out?

She couldn't remember when she'd ever just hanged with someone...could she even count those moments with Emryc as hanging out? It always felt like she was doing things, and he was just there. Before she could get too wrapped up in her thoughts, Altair noticed the missing pieces to the droid and Tiamat nodded in approval.

"My guess is alchemy." she suggested, "But that's what I gotta find out." she caught the droid when he tossed it back and slid it back in her pack. She leaned forward when he sat in the chair across from her, arms crossing atop of her lap as she waited for his answer. "Math?" Tiamat, seeming excited, picked up his pile of papers, looking at the problems and grabbed a pencil. She quietly went over the questions and even started erasing some of the work he had already done with disapproval. The redhead tapped the pencil eraser gently against her lip in thought.

"First Kafrene..." she said, "Then we'll know where we need to go after we meet the contact." The woman scribbled quickly, filling out a solution to one of the questions and paused when she thought about the food on her ship.

"Its still good! Its not all expired, and plus, we all know its a big scam for the foodstuff industry to put expiration dates on food." Tiamat shook her head, cheeks slightly blushing as she was called out for her odd habits. "We can grab some more snacks though, I haven't stocked up recently." she said, her tone softening as she did know for most others, expired food was not ideal. Tia finished another math problem, wondering why they gave them such easy work. "As long," she paused and quickly scribbled down another answer, "As long as we don't have to hunt and catch it like on that island. I am over hunting for my food like that." she said thinking about the night they had to spend all together, stranded on the island.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair watched her erase mistakes and scribble in new answers, “You know I ain’t gonna learn if you write it in for me,” He pointed out gloomily. In truth, he wanted to just have her solve everything for him, but he knew that wouldn’t help him on his upcoming exam, “Nope, you gonna have to just teach it to me,” He said with a smile. At least Tia was much easier on the eyes than his usual professor.

Tia would learn very quickly that math wasn’t his strong suit. It took a few hours, but he finally picked up what he needed to complete his homework. Altair didn’t take long to pack a bag, always a minimalist. He thought about what she said earlier about hunting, “There’s a whole different kinda appreciation for what you eat when you catch it yourself,” Altair said, not even realizing he was parroting his dad. He didn’t linger on the topic, knowing it was something Tia would never see eye to eye on.

As they made their way out of the residence halls, Altair glanced over at her, “So how come you always pick me to go with you on these adventures anyway?” He shrugged, “Not that I’m complainin’.”

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

He was right, he wouldn't learn it if she did all the work for him and his professors would probably become suspicious if he turned in correct homework and then bomb the test. Having to slow down and explain it was a challenge for Tiamat, for her it came second nature, she just did it, never needing to stop and think how she did it. Let alone, trying to explain to someone who wasn't really understanding too well. She tried to understand how she could know this so well, but unable to help Altair understand it just as quickly. However, he seemed to appreciate the help, finishing the homework before quickly packing and they would be off.

Her belongings already on the ship, she took a detour to the commissary to pick out snacks that would not be expired. He asked her about her adventures and picking him to go with her. The question caught her by surprise, more so the surprise of how many answers popped into her head as to why she liked to have him come with her. Her cheeks turned bright red for a brief moment as she suddenly felt flustered, uncertain how to answer his question. "I..." she shrugged and scratched her head, "I think its easier than just asking for a date, because-" she paused, face becoming as bright as the hot and spicy chip bag she was holding, "I don't know, it... it feels like there are expectations to a date and I'm not good at navigating that." she quickly spilled before she changed her mind.

"And I don't want it to be awkward, but I think I'm there.." she mumbled to herself in defeat.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was thrilled to make a stop at the commissary. He grabbed a bunch of snacks and even opened one to stuff a few chips into his mouth. He glanced over right as Tiamat began to actually answer his question. He was like a bantha caught in the speederlight after she finished speaking. For a moment there was nothing but silence followed by the crunch of him munching on chips. He had to swallow the snacks before he could talk, which meant she was subjected to awkward silence and crunching as he quickly made himself available to talk. After guzzling down an energy drink, he finally looked at her again.

“Expectations?” He asked, “Tia, I’ve had a threesome with you,” He quirked a brow, “The hell you fret so much for?” Altair shook his head with a grin, “You ain’t gotta make up missions to hang with me, you know. I dig chillin’ with you just ‘cause,” He shrugged.

He walked over to the automated register, paying for all the snacks he bought. After grabbing the bags, Altair started walking again. After a while of walking, he abruptly stopped again. He turned to look at her.

“By date like…” He slowly began, “Are you trynna be a.. thing?” Altair wasn’t always quick on the uptake when it came to these things and that was more obvious now than ever. However, he had been here enough times to find out exactly what was going on before stumbling into potential drama.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

It was suddenly feeling really hot in the store and Tiamat grabbed a chilled bottle of soda as Altair seemed to be stunned by her response. She started overanalyzing what she had said through the crunching of his chips, but when he did speak, she held her breath; he seemed confused or bewildered by the assessment of the redheaded sith. He digged chilling with her?

All the muscles in her body relaxed, even the ones she didn't realize could become tense, but she couldn't shake being physically hot. So she tried to nonchalantly hold the soda bottle against her cheeks when he wasn't looking to cool herself off. "Yeah?" she responded, almost seeming too eagerly, "Yeah! That's great, I mean good, I -uh, I forgot to grab some cookies." she quickly made up, feeling as though she wanted to scream. Tia didn't understand how this was so difficult, she questioned why she was cursed with the ability to figure out any mathematical or physics problem in the galaxy but asking out a guy, she just wished the holo-romances didn't make it look so easy, because it certainly was not. Grabbing a box of dewberry filled sandwiches, she quickly returned to Altair who was checking out at the register.

He didn't say anything more about the situation and after both paid for their non-expired snacks, she started to lead the way to her the hanger. Thinking it was well over, and satisfied to know he enjoyed chilling with her, Altair suddenly came to a stop and Tiamat paused also, seemingly more cautious about a possible threat, but it was a different incident that gave the tiefling a pause as he seemed to catch on.

"A thing?" Internally Tiamat was screaming, "Yeah!" by the force you are so awkward, she told herself, "Do you want to be a thing, I mean a date, a couple..." It was clear she was sweating...a lot, "Like boyfriend and girlfriend, I want to try it-" she paused, her face a brilliant scarlet now, "Yeah, I want to try it, you and I," she stated a bit more firmly, confidently.

"What do you think?" she asked, her stomach twisting painfully to the possible rejection that could follow.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair stared as Tiamat fumbled over her words and got across what she wanted to say. Though he had been the one to bluntly ask the question, he was still caught off guard when she said yes. He awkwardly brushed his hand through his hair, withdrawing into his own thoughts for a moment. Was he ready for something like this again? He thought of Aadya, his unresolved issues with Clove, and his mind drifted temporarily to Vahliri before he closed that out again. Then again, did this even need to be that serious or deep? Tiamat always liked keeping things casual. But she did drop the boyfriend and girlfriend terms and that sounded a bit too serious. His head began to hurt. This was too much thinking all at once.

“Uhh.. dating, yeah we could do the whole dating thing..ain’t gotta be a big deal or nothin’..” Altair blinked stupidly, shifting in place as his tail swished from side to side. In truth, he was actually lonely in this department. He had hooked up quite a bit with multiple women, but it all seemed meaningless. He missed more of the tenderness and intimacy that came with dating. While Altair didn’t quite understand the depths of what Tia felt for him, he knew he liked her enough to at least give it a shot.

“Yeah okay,” He said with a bit more confidence, flashing her a smile, “Now about you quit lookin’ like you about to puke on my shoes?” Altair winked playfully at her.

To follow up on the conversation, he casually reached down to grasp her hand in his. It came to him naturally and he kept their fingers entwined the entire way to her ship.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She hoped his pause as she waited was him just being caught off-guard by her agreement and not doubt, it was only a few seconds, but it was enough time for her to start her own overthinking. However, then he agreed, and it was as though a system were lifted off her shoulders as a wide grin crossed the redheaded woman's face. However, he didn't want it to be a big deal? He looked uncomfortable as he shifted his weight, his tail following, and her brow furrowed slightly in her thoughts, frozen in her own shock that she was able to get this far. Though she felt she could respect it, and it made sense to her given it was just a start.

Altair finally came back to the present, a smile returning to the tiefling as he commented about her puking. It didn't really help the color in her face, but she was starting to sweat less. Tiamat sighed, "I'd miss your shoes and hit Raze's armor with my odds for certain." she quipped, feeling him take her hand. Tia glanced down, and then away, letting her hair fall around her face to try and hide the giddy smirk she couldn't contain very well.

It didn't take long for them to reach Tiamat's ship, her droid already setting preparations for immediate take off and they would break atmosphere within minutes. "I haven't been to Kafrene." she admitted, watching the navigational computer's processing lights blink, hand resting on the hyperdrive lever. "Its not a friendly place to get lost, and many go to get lost from the rest of the galaxy from what I was told." she explained, the hyperdrive light blinked green and she activated the hyperdrive, stars swirling into a kaleidoscope of blue and white as they shot across the galaxy. "Have you been there?" she asked him.

@Sreeya