#𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 ― Archex

[cardinal-carvings]

@irrfahrer   (x)

Still laughing- still shrieking almost hysterically from the shock still stuck in her bones and her heart still beating so fast it hurted in her chest- Ziv, with a arm around Archex waist,helped him to limp out of the shadowy alley back into the cantina they had walked out of only twenty minutes before. twenty minutes that felt as if they had walked out of it instead hours before. The light from the cantina was bright and warm when the Tynnan helped Archex to sit down beside the door, surrounded by a circle of light like by a protective wall. Behind them the music in the cantina was so loud that Ziv felt it throb and pulse in the roots of her teeth, but loud noises were good, loud noises drowned her own panicky breathing, loud noises kept the scared and over Archex utterly worried cheeping  that was on her tongue silent, loud noises kept the Thing away.

"Awww, man with the sweet brown eyes, Love of my kriffing amnesia plagued life, person who is carving the kriffing best wood figurines kriffing ever, dream of my kriffing sleepless nights- or maybe just a by kriffing insomnia caused hallucination, I am not kriffing sure- , I am definitive not laughing because you almost died-”, going on her knees before Archex the woman grabbed the waterbottle she always carried around in her rucksack, opened it and pressed it in his hands and although her own paws were trembling she did not even took a breath between her waves of words: “-although, yeh it was kriffing hilarious to hear you wheeking like a kriffing toy when that thing grabbed you, not gonna lie, but anyway- since you are alright I am not worried and can laugh about that noise that was definitive too high of a octave to fit your voice. But what's more important now is -” It had been only twenty minutes. Before twenty minutes they had still been sitting in the Cantina playing Shah-tezh while listening to the stories of the Hangarworkers about missing cattle and the one old nightguard that had not returned to her shift this evening.

Before twenty minutes Ziv had recognized that she should not play Shah-tezh against someone with military training, and instead listened to the Hangarworkers saying that when she would leave she should not go alone for the streets were haunted by some Thing that liked cattle and Nightguards and small, little things that were easy to grab in the dark of the night. Before twenty minutes the Tynnan had jokingly hooked her elbow with Archex’ - carefully making sure she was on the side of his bad leg just to make sure he would not stumble- and walked outside into the nightair that was so cool it had cut into her lungs like sharp knifes.

Before ten minutes the dark street had reached out for them. Before ten minutes Ziv had first noticed the stench. Before ten minutes Archex, with a alot of better vision and a alot of better nightvision than she could ever have, noticed the movements in the shadows. Before ten minutes they had noticed that they were followed by something heavy.

Before five minutes they had been hastily on their way back to the cantina with the musics a faint echo vibrating in the ears and the scent of macan herb already dying the air violet. Before five minutes the big hand grabbed for the back of Archex jacket. Before five minutes the stench had been so thickly in the air Ziv could barely even breath, but the Cargoboxes that had been standing at the side of the alley and were suddenly flying towards the Thing, crushing against it like thrown by a invisible catapult, were still aimed good enough that the Thing let go of Archex. “-that we know that this is not a kriffing ghost story but if it can kriffing grab you,we can kriffing hunt it down, so see the bright side! You were not kriffed over by a kriffing scaretale!”, the Tynnanleaned back, breathing in for what felt like the first time since twenty minutes. The cold air hurted in her throat and she felt as if she was about to cry: “What I mean is, what grabbed you was not a ghost, it was a kriffing Coruscani Ogre! Did you ever heard what the Empire used those for?! Its a kriffing Coruscani  Ogre!”

𓅚

Admittedly, Archex should have figured things would have gone wrong. Every ghost story seemed to come from something rather than nothing, and if the locals were wary about something it meant you should pay attention. He had hoped that perhaps they’d be lucky-- but the idea of luck actually existing was one that was challenged ever since Archex had been pulled out of the Order.

He could argue that he was too distracted to pick up on too much of the conversations around him, and honestly he had been. But he considered that no excuse, especially after reality had come crashing down when he’d picked up on the fact that they were not alone. By that point, it was already too late.

Archex had honestly figured he was going to die, right then and there. That after everything he’d struggled through and fought to get some semblance of a life after being rescued from an organization that would have been the death of him sooner rather than later, he was going to die to a ghost story of all things. Be just another whisper of caution on the lips of those who lived here-- if they even bothered to acknowledge he’d gone missing as others had.

He still isn’t certain he understands what had happened. One second he was staring death in the face, frozen with the sudden shock and terror brought with the situation and the next he was crashing back down to the ground as something heavy seemed to hit the beast. He wasn’t certain what to think of the situation, and didn’t stop to try and figure it all out in the heat of the moment. In a situation like this acting first and looking back on the finer details is what was most likely to keep you alive.

His bad leg hurt more than ever after the impact, but thankfully adrenalin helped him with getting away from the creature along with Ziv. Though the effort of it all left him short of breath and desperately trying to catch it once they finally deemed it safe enough to stop and recover.

“What--?” The word was barely managed as figures curl gratefully over the water bottle. Though he still needed a moment to try and recover. After a few more breaths as deep as he could manage, Archex shook his head in disbelief.

“Are you saying you want to hunt that thing?” Years ago, he’d likely had agreed with such a concept without hesitation. It was terrorizing people and something evidently needed to be done before it killed anymore. But the idea of doing such these days... “If I didn’t feel the damned thing squeeze me, I’d almost think it’d been you squeezed senseless... what are we suppose to do against that?”

[cardinal-carvings]

kallidae·:

      ❝ YES !!  what else would i consider it ?? ❞

𓅚

“Being a nuisance? Disturbing the peace? Causing a scene?” Archex offers a soft snort, before his lips quirk into the tells of a smirk and amusement almost seems to radiate off the man.

     “Take your pick.”

[cardinal-carvings]

@onehell-of-apilot​:  "How many kids do you want?"

Archex frowns-- not necessarily at the question so much as in consideration. He’d never figured he’d put the desire to a number, and the idea of such threw him off, “... three, I guess? Maybe? I mean... I probably won’t stop there, if I happen across a child in need. I can guarantee you I’m going to take anyone in that needs a family. It’s... how it’s been, up to now, so it’ll probably still ring true.”

[cardinal-carvings]

At the end of the day Ziv had sprinted out of her cabine in the tratmentroomover teh streets and to Archexs workplace, slided inside and then smoothly like an eel came to a stop with one elbow couquettish leaned on a cargobox, her small chin placed adorably on her paw and her frostwhite lashes fluttering perfectly: “ Hello, wonderful humanoid person who always makes me smile when they happen to cross my way, let me tell you a wonderful secret that had brightened my whole week but in fact my whole life since I had met you,-”, Theatralically she grabbed inside her parka and pulled out a small sweet armlet made of evergreen pinebranches and a few small red barries weaved into it. Over three years of studying botany made one also almost as good at making flowercrowns and flowerarmlets than every little alien-kit as visible on Zivs little work: “-I PINE for you!” @irrfahrer​

When Ziv had entered into his work space, she had easily gained Archex's attention before she'd even spoken up-- current list of cargo supplies derailed to redo at a later time. Not that he wouldn't have likely double checked at least once, anyways.

Hazel hues focus on the Tynnan, a brow raising in curiosity at her words before the cheesy line was delivered; leaving Archex to snort faintly in amusement as the datapad is properly cast aside for the moment. It was about break time, anyways.

"That's quite a big secret," he offered, "You might want to be careful sharing it in a more public setting. Someone might needle you for more information."

@irrfahrer

[cardinal-carvings]

@irrfahrer

“Now, feast your kriffing sweet pretty brown eyes and look what a patient gave me as payment!”, Ziv held up a blue bottle of some milky white liquid in her arms and held it up like a pocal: “Arkanian Sweetmilk! A whole kriffing bottle, kriff this thats worth a whole kriffing monthly rent of medical equipment for me!” The grin on the young womans face turned wolfish, showing all her sharp teeth perfectly: “You in the mood to get invited for a drink, sweet pup?”

𓅚

Hazel hues cast away from the partially put-together bantha carving he’d been working on-- finger kept pressed to the flat of the blade as Archex sat up straighter. He’d already felt the dismissal instinctively on his lips but it never floated out. This was a different scenario than he’d been in in the past. Different company, different duties, no armour... a less imbalanced relationship, if he were to say so himself, as well.

Instead, a question found it’s way out, tinted in unrestrained curiosity, “Arkanian Sweetmilk?” He’d never heard of it, or maybe he had but otherwise passed it over. It wasn’t important what felt like a lifetime ago now.

With a swift motion, the blade is flipped back into the pocket knife and both it and the partial carving are carefully cast aside. Still, a proper answer was being weighed inside his head. He didn’t have to say no, but he wasn’t required to agree, either.

“... are you sure you want to share if it’s that expensive?” Archex ventured, then, uncertain if it was really a genuine offer or something to be nice. Then again, Ziv hardly seemed one to seek to share something she had no intentions of actually sharing. “I... suppose I could at least try it.”

[cardinal-carvings]

@irrfahrer​:  "You know-" ; Ziv pointed a sharp claw at Archex as she looked up from where she was wringing black, rotten water out of the long, thick flowerpetals that had turned after a month of laying in water a browninsh black and stank horriblly sweetly rotten. Rotten enough that the mold growing on this specific petals served as a perfect antiseptic when the rotten petal were crushed and mixed in animalfat. The young woman probably only needed to distract herself from the ache in her shoulders after thiswas not the first bath of rotten petals she was wringing and processing further: "-if you want, I actually could reopen that scar of yours and treat it properly, so it would close more evenly. You would not even notice its there anymore. At least after it healed a kriffing second time that is."

Ziv’s words had been more or less out of the blue, and despite the factor that it took Archex a moment to completely process the words that were spoken a hand instinctively reaches down and brushes along where the nasty gash had been burrowed near his left hip-- the wound that lead to many issues with his leg. An injury that was getting better, slowly but surely... but he knew full well he may never be completely healed. Capable of what he once was.

Brows furrow once the words were finally registered, and his attention is shifted up and over towards Ziv finally. Despite the initial reaction, Archex felt... uncertain. A frown faintly tainting his features as the hand lingers briefly, before reaching up to shove his hair back and out of his face.

“Scars serve as a good reminder,” He offered slowly. Though he figured the offer was brought up because she’d managed to pick up on how much the evidence of his fight against Phasma effected him. It hurt, to see them and remember what had happened. The betrayal, his failure to take her down-- the fact that the past thirty years of his life had been a lie, “... would it help at all with the overall injury?”

[cardinal-carvings]

@onehell-of-apilot​: “ i don’t think i can keep this up much longer. ”

The words seemed sudden and out of the blue-- the pair had been hanging out for the better part of an hour by now, and when the chatter had died down for a moment Archex was expecting either an offer to go find something to do, a change in topic or just... silence for a good moment. The company was nice-- stars, he really did enjoy being around Poe. While he still struggled, he felt as if the man was able to wrap a blanket around his troubled mind and put the dark thoughts to sleep.

The words prompted a blink from the ex-Captain, alarm flaring up and setting off all sorts of signals in his brain. Something had to be wrong. What did Archex do-- was Poe only pretending to--...

“Pardon?” The word slipped from his mouth, flat even without the modulator and Archex wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Anxiety crawled up his spine and chewed itself into his brain, somewhere that had been quiet just moments ago but was now alight with rapid fire thoughts going over every interaction they had shared that he could try and decipher meaning from.

“I-- I can go, you--...” A pause, and he felt his chest tighten up with something different than the pain his damaged lung caused him, “You really don’t have to hang out with me. I get it-- it’s... it’s fine--...”

[cardinal-carvings]

@ariadne-inthesky​        (x)

“But will it be enough ? They hate me ! I see their looks. I hear their whispers ! And I understand, I-I’m not a good person, Archex. I still look behind with a sense of pride about what I brought to the First Order ! And what the First Order brought me !” Freedom, mostly. A future - at least, until now. “They shouldn’t have listened to you, Archex. Things would have been easier on the long term if they had…” A small silence, a shaky breath exhaling broken words. “… Executed me.” Another rasped breath as punctuation, followed by painful sobs - painful to her pride. Ariadne was nothing here but an enemy to keep an eye on. And that was a sensation she knew how too well, from her life before the Order.

𓅚

Archex couldn’t really fault her for... any of this. Dealing with people that were wary of you-- or completely distrusting-- was not something that gave one confidence in one’s standing. And yet he was a stubborn man, and the idea of just letting things stay messy and wrong didn’t suit him well. Yes, Ariadne had been part of the First Order-- just like him, just like Finn--... and perhaps she held more strongly to her past than either of them did (there were some fond memories for Archex, and he’d be lying if he were to try and deny such-- but disgust often took the forefront any time pride dared try and rear its head)... but that didn’t necessarily mean she was undeserving of a chance.

She’d given him no real reason to believe she didn’t deserve one. Perhaps he, similar to Vi Mordadi, was a foolishly hopeful creature... but something told him this was the right decision. That taking Ariadne in was the right move. That she’d be okay... maybe not now, maybe not for a long time-- and perhaps, like he figured he would be, there will always be something broken inside of her but...

Slowly, almost tentatively, Archex takes one of Ariadne's hands in his own. Hoping to provide warmth, comfort-- a rock to cling to in her distraught state of mind.

“I don’t think they’d have executed you...” Though, yes... they had considered the idea of locking her up until Archex had spoken up. He’s still surprised they listened to him. Maybe they’d figured he’d know better about who in the First Order to give a chance to and who to avoid. A foolish trust, if that were the case. But not here, and he’d fight to prove so if he had to.

“It’s not going to be easy,” He admitted, slowly sitting down next to the woman and picking through his thoughts carefully, “But I was taught sometimes the right option never is. They didn’t trust me much, either. I’m... surprised they listened to me at all, if I’m being quite honest.”

He paused, before shaking his head faintly, “But you don’t have to go through all this alone. I’m here for you. I believe in you.”

[cardinal-carvings]

@onehell-of-apilot​:  "Unkissed? I can fix that." Poe said grinning as he heard Archex whisper, and he leaned up to leave a lingering kiss on his lips.

A pleased hum is offered at the lingering kiss-- one Archex was all too happy to return. Even so much as momentarily following after Poe’s lips when the man pulled away. Instead of entirely seeking out another, however, Archex offered a faint snort of amusement as a grin tinted his features as he rested his forehead against Poe’s, “If I knew that was all it took to get attention, I’d have brought it up a lot sooner.”

[cardinal-carvings]

@irrfahrer​:  Ziv hops on a cargobox, grabs Archex by the ears-gently, very gently to not cut him with her claws- and plants a few pecks on his forehead, between his eyebrows and on the top of his nose: "There, Kissed. Now happy, Kriffer?"

He wasn’t even surprised at Ziv’s antics anymore-- instead of spooking or getting confused over the sudden kisses offered across his facial features, Archex couldn’t keep from laughing at the factor. A grin forming as he fought the urge to shake his head in amusement. “That wasn’t exactly the kind of kisses I was missing, but they certainly suffice. Thank you, Ziv.”

[cardinal-carvings]

@onehell-of-apilot​:  Poe walks over to Archex and sits on his lap, straddling him, taking his cheeks in between his hands before leaning closer and kissing him deeply with passion but with so much love.

It didn’t take much effort on Archex’s part to realize more or less what Poe had approached him for-- hazel hues immediately tearing away from the datapad he’d been perusing moments before, as the object was almost haphazardly discarded in favour of allowing Archex to focus his complete attention on the other man. Mere moments later, Poe was straddling Archex’s lap with a weight that was comforting and a low purr rumbled momentarily deep in Archex’s chest before it was cut off nearly as quickly as it started-- just as impulsively, too.

No longer tasked with gripping onto the datapad to scroll through it, hands easily and instinctively find their way to Poe’s hips-- thumbs pressing softly before running up as if in a soothing motion as Poe takes Archex’s face into his own hands. Eyes flutter shut, a content sigh breezing its way past lips before they find themselves occupied-- grip used to tug Poe even closer as Archex was all too happy to return the act of passion.

[cardinal-carvings]

@irrfahrer​​:  “You do know that I am flirting with you, yeh?”; curiously looking at Archex Ziv leaned her elbows on the wing of the ship standing in the hangar and placed her chin on her small paws: “For I had till now been thinking that you do know and are just pretending to ignore me for the fun of the kriffing flip-flopping. And I had continued because it is kriffing hilarious and I still want to figure out with what I finally get you crack a grin. But when you had not realized, it might explain why my kriffing best pick-ups had yet not made you laugh.”

Ziv’s first words bring Archex to pause in his recount of the supplies littered about in a methodical matter-- though redocumenting them wasn’t particularly necessary, it helped keep his mind from wandering too far... even if it was such a minimal effort, tedious job. Fingers hesitate over the datapad clutched in hand, hovering mid scroll before drifting off to grasp the device in both hands as attention officially shifts over towards the Tynnan.

Hazel hues blink once. Twice, and then--

“What.” The word is bland and as it falls from his lips, almost as if the man hadn’t heard her words properly and yet he had.. the idea of them just wasn’t quite registering right. “You’re-- no, I... I didn’t. I’m not used to--...”

Trailing off, Archex flustered noticeably-- a hand drifting up to rub at the back of his neck in a sheepish nature as hazel hues find themselves distracted with anything else but Ziv as if that would help him grasp the concept. Heat found itself rising beneath freckled cheeks and the man managed a laugh-- though at the situation or himself, he wasn’t quite sure.

“People don’t... flirt, with me.”

[cardinal-carvings]

@strsstruck​:  It took Finn days and one too many failed attempt to even manage to carve something that quite resembled a dog, or so he hoped. There was a nervous energy surrounding him as he held the neatly wrapped gift when he made his way to Archex was. A bashful smile gracing his features as he extended the gift toward the older man. "Happy father's day, dad."

At first, the offering of a wrapped gift confused Archex-- he knew often times when people celebrated their birthdays one may gift something to the other, but his birthday was still more than a few days out. Brows furrow faintly, but realization soon dawns on the older man’s features once Finn spoke up.

Father’s Day.

Somehow, he’d managed to completely forget that holiday existed-- it wasn’t particularly one celebrated back in the Order... nor had he’d any excuse nor reason to acknowledge it’s existence before then. But it’s only a second before those thoughts are pushed aside and Archex allows an almost tentative smile. Hands gingerly taking the wrapped gift.

“You know you didn’t have to get me anything, right?” After everything, a guilt still weighed in Archex’s chest-- he may have, at least seemingly, been a good father-figure but it still wasn’t fair for the kids. Wasn’t right for them to have gone through what they had. But, despite his words, Archex wasn’t about to reject the gift-- that’d be rude, and he knew that all too well.

Mere moments later, his left hand was holding a carving-- and it didn’t take too much thought to realize that it’d been Finn who had made it. Fingers smoothed over the design that was easily enough noticeable as a dog, despite the imperfections it still featured. The smile adorning Archex’s features slowly grew-- turning into something beaming, as a warmth filled his soul. Briefly, he remembered the inelegant carving his mother gifted him that he’d took great care to sneak away into the Order... and realized that this one, he didn’t have to hide.

“You made this?” Though he’d already determined that, still the question was poised-- seeking confirmation before daring to voice anything further just in case he’d somehow managed to be wrong, “You’ve come a long way. It’s beautiful.”

Perhaps, because of the imperfections... or the gesture behind the act. For the footprint it left in Finn’s journey of healing-- a footprint Archex was proud to hold onto as proof that things can get better, and that he’d not completely screwed up everything when it’d come to his own past.

Finally, Archex finds a bigger crash of emotions buzzing inside his chest and the faint tells of tears threatening to spill over and trail down his cheeks. Instead of hesitating and risking Finn seeing that and thinking he’d done something wrong, Archex pulls the younger man into a tight hug.

“Thank you.”

[cardinal-carvings]

A new set of whittling tools, wrapped in sturdy burgundy leather have been left on his desk, with many cards written by all the kids he care for. There's also a holo, from Ariadne and Avéana, that says :

"Happy Love Day, Archex ! Cannot wait to spend some time with you !"

Fingers brush over the leather before they'd even dared unravel it to reveal the very much welcome continents-- a soft smile forming over his features as Archex's attention easily diverted to the pile of cards left out for him to find. The sight of them alone warmed his heart, once again cementing that he made the right move years ago...

Today was certainly going to be another fun one; he'd already made sure they had everything they needed for him to cook a good dinner for everyone. And he could already figure a handful of the kids would decide to help, which was always welcome.

Good teaching opportunity.

[cardinal-carvings]

psychometrictouch​:

There’s still a split second where Cal nearly flinches at the contact, but it’s gone as soon as it arrives and Cal relaxes even when he feels Archex kiss his head.  Old habits and learned behaviors were hard to shake, and his time in the hands of the Empire did nothing to make it better, but he trusted him.  Cal sometimes felt like some of his more protective nature was overkill in his direction, but that just made him trust him more despite his own natural reservations.

“Yes, I ate breakfast,” he replied a little exasperatedly but without any actual heat in his voice.  “Kinda wish you’d let me have caf, though.”

𓅚

Archex was too in tune to other’s reactions not to pick up the slight (if quickly passing) reservations to his act-- having looked after children of varying ages and backgrounds he’s learned how to read people well enough. The hand drops, but he decides an apology might make matters more awkward than necessary. Instead, he offers Cal a soft laugh and a shake of his head.

“You and caf do not agree with one another,” He pointed out, even if such a thing would be obvious, “Besides, it’s not like we even have the good stuff.” Perhaps... the one thing he missed back with the Order-- aside from his children. And the stims.

[cardinal-carvings]

@celestaei​​ :  They're arguing, something stupid and trivial, when out of the blue, Zade's hands are cupping the sides of Archex's face, pulling him in, kissing him quiet.

Archex may have admitted to the factor that the argument was over something stupid-- it seemed one way or another, the pair couldn’t avoid butting heads-- at first, it had drove Archex nuts but these days...

Well, he’d hate to admit he almost looked forward to it. To the admittedly silly little arguments that tended to spring up more often than not when he and Zade were in the same room for more than five minutes. He couldn’t quite figure out why, but it proved to bring a certain joy to Archex’s otherwise dull life-- provided a sort of entertainment. And this time, perhaps, it was more ridiculous than anytime else. Something so simple as how to properly sort out and store the supplies they’d gathered up had exploded into a heated argument. Though when Zade moved closer, Archex refused to back down-- hazel hues alight with determination as he stared the other man down.

What he hadn’t been anticipating on was the factor that Zade may or may not have caught onto the times Archex had grown... distracted, around him. For as much as he tried so desperately not to. It didn’t quite matter, at this point, however-- for as soon as hands found their way to Archex’s cheeks the man felt himself about ready to melt... and lips sealing themselves over his own were more than enough to wreak his train of thought. Destroying any sort of coherency he may have previously clung to just moments before.

It’d been mere milliseconds before Archex caved-- hands seeking to pull Zade closer, as eyes flutter shut and the kiss was returned with perhaps a small nip to the other’s lips as if to say the argument wasn’t over... though by now, Archex couldn’t quite remember just what had initially set them off.

He was willing to embrace the moment, though-- regardless of whether or not he’d grow to regret it later.