[LM9] - Star-Crossed

[Phroth Lissken]

He stirred, later than normal. The fire that had been roarinf at night was dull embers. He could still taste that iron in his teeth and on his tongue. An arm wrapped around the woman, a blanket drawn over the pair. Slowly beginning to regain conciousness.

"Mornin'..." it was barely audible, as he began to stretch beside her.

[Meiyokashi]

When he stirred, though there was a presence there for his arm to feel it wasn't Allura. No, Allura upon closer inspection of himself and his surroundings was sat upon a nearby rock wearing only the bottom half of an outfit that she must have had packed among her things. In a pile not far from Phroth was everything she'd been wearing the previous night and it still lay where it was left in the heat of the moment. Legs curled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs and chin on her knee's she watched as the sun rose in the distance but now it's risen and in it's full off-color reddish hue.

[Phroth Lissken]

He slowly sat up, the blanket shufflung down. Taking in a deep breath, the Karkarodon stood. His maw formed a hard line, as he walked over to where she sat. He stood just behind her, off to one side, taking in the sunrise with her.

There was trepidation there. How would she react, what was the night burning away into as the sun melted away the fog.

"I've got some kaff I can brew, if you'd like some?"

[Allura]

"You may.." her voice wasn't quite soft, more distant but certainly not measured as it usually was. Watching the horizon there was a soft rise and fall of her shoulders. "I do not favor it, find it gives me the jitters," she says, there's a quirk to the side of her lip that almost looks that a slight smile.

[Phroth Lissken]

He didn't step away. "Then I'm fine, as well. Rather just, savor the sunrise." He saw the hint of her smile, and it brought one of his own. His eyes turning from the horizon to her. A comforting hand moved, placed upon her shoulder gently. The morning air, barely scented with smoke from the dying fire.

[Allura]

"Sunrise is long over, you missed it.. though it was beautiful," she chuckles briefly, but with strain to her voice. Simply existing in the moment she looks out over the badlands around. In the distant space a predator stalking it's prey catches her attention, a dog-like beast of a creature preparing a strike alone but from this distance more details are hard to make out. For a moment she merely watches, but soon grows disinterested.

As the creature fades into the background for Allura and she turns her attention elsewhere, it prepares it's strike on some other creature nibbling on the grass.

[Phroth Lissken]

"Right, right," his voice trailed off, trying to fully make himself wake up. He didn't move his hand from her shoulder, instead letting that moment linger. He heard the strain there, and his eyes cast downward.

He caught the way she looked out to the badlands, then to something else. He followed her new gaze, not sure what to say, or really what to do in this moment. Instead, he focused on his breathing, on her, just trying to feel the emotion of the place.

[Allura]

As they sat the most noticeable thing was the warmth of the rising sun, the not-so-dry heat. Out in the distance the city was to their back, locked in the rain, and while the clouds were headed this way they were slow and meandering. An amateur meteorologist with local knowledge would be able to guess that the storm likely wouldn't reach this far out for at least another day or so. However, it was there like a dark cloud hanging over the dark city.

Yet, so long as they didn't turn around they needn't the reminder of it. Allura certainly didn't appear to care for that particular reminder. Though her face was like a mask worn, hard to read.

"What do you think about on quiet mornings Phroth?" she asks, that distance in her voice remains.

[Phroth Lissken]

"Nothing." He replies, stretching his neck one way, and then the other. "I usually... try to empty my thoughts. Let the quiet mornings exist and fill me. Listen to the world, the universe, the moment." He looked to her, regarding her features that gave away nothing.

"When I do think, it's about ordering my day. What needs to be done, and how I can do it. Letting those feelings guide my thoughts."

[Allura]

"Such simplicity.." she remarks, looking out of the horizon. Finding the creature that was being hunted prior running away and the predator giving up the chase. Something about witnessing the scene causes her to sigh as she leans back and stretches her arms up. Legs sliding down from the rock. Coming back to the moment around her she looks to Phroth, bringing her bare hand to the side of his face by the corner of his mouth and patting him there.

[Phroth Lissken]

"It's harmony. Without imposing. All things in a circle, life carrying on. As it should be." He was placid, calm in the center of it all. Aware of himself, of the Force, of Life.

He's brought out of that reverie by movement, then feeling Allura patting him. His eyes meeting hers. His hand at her shoulder fell to her side, gently placed to the side of her abdomen.

There was a small, sly smile. Too many teeth showing, but ot was warm.

[Allura]

"You're a broken record Phroth," she pats the side of his face once more, leaning down and kissing him on the shoulder before slipping away. "But then again, so am I," she remarks. Walking over toward her things by his bike. Pulling over the bag she had she digs through until she finds topwear that would fit the environment. Though they found this peaceful spot, the bare skin to the elements was wearing on her sensibilities.

[Phroth Lissken]

"Like you said. Simple. I'm not a man who's a thinker. I just exist in the moment. Let things happen and do what I need to." His eyes closed when she kissed his shoulder. He brought his nose against her crown, tenderly kissing her there, before she slipped away.

As she made her way to her things, he moved back to his. Beginning to collect his own change of clothes. "What do you think about, mornings like this? I'd like to... know you better. Even if we know we'll never change each others mind."

[Allura]

"I am most certain you would," she says, the gloomy distance to her tone burying beneath, her usual almost cavalier attitude taking the forefront. Slipping her arms through either side of the outfit she zipped it up at the center. Inhaling, exhaling, looking around the space as she seemed to properly wake. Movements were no longer lingering, they were precise and deliberate.

[Phroth Lissken]

As she dressed, Phroth could see the shift coming as easily as her new clothes. Soon, whatever the night had been would be gone, and the return to the actions on the cliff would come. His shoulders dropped slightly, as he fitted himself.

The shirt came over his broad form easily, material slightly taught over his shoulders and back. His maw, a hard line of determination. But letting himself feel the moment, the almost sadness of it.

"What's next, then?"

[Allura]

"Full of questions in the morning, aren't you?" she says, glancing over a shoulder with a slight smirk. Turning back forward she pulls what looks like a cloak out of her things and plays around with it, placing it over her head she lets the hood rest back while she fits it properly to her shoulders.

[Phroth Lissken]

"Always seeking. That's me in a nutshell." Feet clawed into the ground beneath them. "Maybe I'm not excited to go back to a
future when we have to fight again. Maybe I liked having a moment that was just ours, an island in the stream of time." He sighed, moving to make sure the fire was fully put out. Grabbing the survival tool from his kit and shoveling on dirt to the embers.

"I was told you like to toy with your prey. Is that what this is?"

[Allura]

"At first, perhaps. However, I have since seen things that.. things that still make me wish I could reveal the truth of this galaxy to you. Though I think the more we speak the more I learn that will never work," she sighs, doing the clasp to keep things together. Pulling next from her bag of mysteries a silver chain with a small cylinder object hanging from it. Wrapping the chain around her neck she locks it into place.

Holding the cylinder for a moment she speaks softly to herself, "I had such hopes."

[Phroth Lissken]

"I'm glad it moved beyond just that." Phroth offered her a small smile, sad as it was. He stepped closer to her, looking down to her as she held onto the jewelry around her neck. "For what it's worth, I'm... happy that our stars aligned. Even if it's just for..." Phroth looked away, looking towards the horizon.

"It was at least ours, wholly."

[Allura]

An ornate cylinder with an inner vial contained something of a blue-green kind of color. Inside, for the brief moment he could see it the liquid was perfectly filled and very familiar. Allura placed this insider her collar and hid it within her outfit. Looking up to Phroth, she smiles and places a hand on his cheek, "It was just a moment, and in the nature of moments it has passed on to leave room for all that follows."

Letting her hand fall from his cheek she grabbed her lightsaber, holding it for a moment before placing it on her belt with a snug fit.

"I could show you so much of this galaxy that you do not know, if you only came with me," she looks to him, a final bid but by the look in her eyes she already knows it's hopeless.