#Alderaan has bake-offs apparently

[ominouspuff]

Victory (smile, we’re on TV)

REQUESTS / BLOG EVENT

Request from @gaeasun - Palette #2 - Dogma, Tup - Slice of Life

Winning the bake-off by a landslide is prime brotherly-bonding and a test of one’s prowess in chemical warfare of the best and tastiest kinds.

Thank you for requesting, @gaeasun , this one was a delight to draw!

[melissagt]

Rumor has it that Darth Akori'ira has a pet nexu.

Thank you! This turned into a rather long response, but I’m happy with it!

The Caraboose (posted on AO3 as well!)

Feelingthe warmth of the ceramic mug seep into the palms of her hands, Lanasettled back into the overstuffed armchair across from theall-but-named Director of the Sith Academy on Korriban. Well, one ofthem, at least. Her appointment had been to meet with both of theAlliance agents, not just one. But, Cytharat had been called upon tosettle a rather deadly dispute between acolytes. Some things neverchanged, it seemed.

Sheallowed her eyes to take in her surroundings – the mismatchedfurnishings, the mishmash of artwork gracing the walls, the two desksset back to back…one perfectly ordered, the other a perfectlyordered mess. Everything that spoke of two complete opposites beingstuck together. Yet somehow, it worked. Lord Cytharat and the Wrath were quite the team. They played ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ like professionals. They got results, and they got things done. 

Shesipped her tea in silence, regarding the tightly wound woman beforeher. One knee bouncing over the other, a sheathed sword aching to bedrawn. The Twi'lek may have hated being forced to sit idle, impotentand useless, or so she called it, but she certainly had a way ofmotivating people into action. And Cytharat played off of her more‘extreme’ nature perfectly. It was the perfect cover. Rebuild themight of the sacred institution of the Sith, and recruit for theAlliance on the side.

“Haveyou identified any more promising new pros-” Lana’s words caught inher throat mid-sentence as she felt a cold, wet somethinggraze over the side of her hand. She looked to her left, nearlyjumping out of her skin (which by her standards meant a slightwidening of the eye…perhaps an arch of the brow…certainly nothingthat would actually give away her surprise) at the sight of a verylarge, very hungry-looking nexu smiling at her. “Oh, hello there,”she stated, as if the concept of having a nexu snuffling at one’sshoulder was the most normal of occurrences in the galaxy. “I’dheard rumors that you’d taken on a new friend, Lord Wrath.”

“Oh,Shake n’ Bake?” At the sound of her voice, the nexu let out alumbering chuffle and promptly trotted-paced-stalked the few stepsover to sniff at the Wrath’s shoulder. Nudging a giant clawed paw offof the arm of her chair, the Twi'lek had to lean to the side to seearound the feline’s imposing frame.

“Shaken’ Ba-?”

“Don’t.Ask.” The Twi'lek shook with laughter, her amusement clear as dayas she took in the sight of Lana’s rather righteous version of aquirked eyebrow. “But no, she’s not mine. This…this is Nik’sbaby,” she added, giving the thickly muscled cream-colored hide aseries of patting slaps with the palm of her hand.

Atthat point, the over-sized tooka took it upon herself to try andclimb into the Twi'lek’s lap, which did not work. Letting out asurprised screech at being stepped on, Lord Akori'ira ratherunceremoniously grabbed at the nexu’s jewel-encrusted collar anddirected her off the of the chair, pushing a hand firmly against theanimal’s rump to prompt her to sit down.

“C'mon,Bacon, you’re acting like a spoiled brat,” she scolded.

Lanahad to hide the curl of her smile with a sip of tea, thoroughlyamused at the scene before her. Here was the Empire’s Wrath (orshould it now be changed to the Alliance’s Wrath, even though itdidn’t have the same menacing ring to it), a woman who was well knownfor her short span of patience, coddling a three hundred pound housecat like a child.

“Sohow exactly did our nefarious pirate associate end up with…”Seeing that Shake n’ Bake (that was simply ridiculous, but whatever,she could do for a laugh) had finally settled down on the floor,lolling a very large head up against the Twi'lek’s calf, she let herwords trail off, and instead finished her sentence with a wave of herwrist in the animal’s general direction. Nexu were not exactly knownfor their friendly natures, and were generally best left alone in thewild.

“Well,to hear him tell it, he’s had Bacon for a long time…sinceshe was just a cub,” she began. The Wrath let an arm hang off overthe arm of the chair and idly stroked at the bristly fur at the topof the animal’s head. “Back when they were on Taris for the firsttime, him and Nox…” she shifted in her seat, her restlessnessgetting the better of her momentarily, “they came across along-dead female, caught in a trap. Her mother…” Bending to theside slightly, she looked down to see that the feline was nowengrossed in the process of washing her two giant-sized front paws.“From what he said, Bacon was half-frozen, three-quartersstarved, completely covered in parasites, and probably wouldn’t havemade it another night on her own.”

Leaningback in her chair, Lana took another sip of her tea, legs idlycrossed in front of her. “She’s still a wild animal though…”

“Ohyes, she has to run. A lot. And hunt. Otherwise, she gets toodifficult to handle.”

“Theycouldn’t possibly have kept her on the ship for long.”

“No,she was on Dromund Kaas, and then when Nik bought the estate onAlderaan, he had her moved there. Plenty of room to run and nobodyfor miles except for herds of deer and nerf to hunt.” She chuckledthrough her nose, her single lavender eye staring off at some distantspot well below the stone floor. “I bet he bought that land just asmuch for caraboose here, as he did for Nox. He’s a sack of mush whenit comes to his girls…don’t let anybody tell you different.” Hergaze came back to focus and she looked Lana right in the eye, a grintugging at the side of her lip. “Don’t tell him I said that,though,” she laughed.

HisGirls. Lana had to hand it to Andronikos, if it wasn’t for hisincessant hounding about Darth Nox’s definitely-not-deaddisappearance, the Alliance would have gotten off to a much differentstart, or perhaps not at all. From the pirate himself, to the Wrathherself…along with the Wrath’s twin sister (who was currently onTython seeking out candidates from the other side of the galaxy), toCytharat, and even Theron Shan…and all of the contacts they broughtwith them…they were all there because of one person who was hiddenaway, unreachable and likely frozen in carbonite. All but dead.

Lanahad worked with Darth Nox for a time, though she felt that she’dnever really gotten to know the woman. Know of her yes, butshe’d never been allowed into the Inner Circle in the same way thatothers had. They’d never fully trusted each other (which shegrudgingly had to admit was probably Theron’s fault, in part).Perhaps it was for the best…someone had to stay objective andpractical about matters. And practicality dictated that one personcould hardly seem worthy of such trouble. Surely they could findsomeone else to put up as a figurehead for their little undergroundoperation.

But,the person she would have chosen to lead, the person who would havekept the Empire together without the need to form a separate faction,was dead. Darth Marr’s death had left the Empire crippled by a powervacuum. And Sith did as Sith always do…they fought amongstthemselves, rather than focusing on the true threat – the EternalEmpire.

Ifthey couldn’t have the man himself leading the vanguard, then theycould at least have the woman he personally groomed to lead. Theloyalty that Darth Nox inspired in those who chose to share theirlives with her…that was what they needed.

“That’snot like you, Beniko…”

“Hmm?”Lana murmured under her breath. “I apologize, Lord Wrath, it justgot me thinking…”

Shaken’ Bake suddenly sat up on her haunches, poised as if she’d heard avery interesting noise off in the distance. She made a snufflingchuffle again, her split hairless tail swishing back and forth on thefloor behind her, then started to lap at the white fingers danglingby her face.

“It’seasy to forget that we weren’t the only ones uprooted by this…turnof events,” she mused. Grimacing, the Twi'lek pulled her fingersaway from the slobber and promptly wiped them dry on the side of thechair. “Nik told me that Nox used to joke around about Baconbeing a total daddy’s girl, but ever since she disappeared, thecaraboose has needed extra attention. It’s been a couple years now,but she still knows something is up.”

Lanaleaned forward to help herself to a second cup of tea, yet anothertug of a smile pulling at her face when she thought for a momentabout the seeming miracle that the table and tea service it borehadn’t gone crashing to the floor from the nexu’s meandering. “Isthat why she’s here with you, then?” she asked with no lack ofcuriosity on how the beast got on with all of the acolytes…or ifthere had been any accidents sinceher arrival.

“WhileNik and Theron are off playing Find the Spy, or Hunt the Spy, orwhatever Spy Stuff they’ve been up to? Yes. For whatever reason, sheseems to like me,” she chuckled. “Who would have thought thosetwo would have ended up thick as thieves?”

Nodoubt it was a surprising turn of events, considering Lana hadbeen present the first time the two men had laid eyes on eachother…with Nox standing in between them waiting for all hell tobreak loose.

If looks could kill…well, for the Force-blind at least.

“Andthe acolytes…there haven’t been any…?”

TheWrath laughed, leaning over to slap-pat Shake n’ Bake’s side again.“They know she’s off-limits,” she responded, shifting in her seatso that she could reach to scratch at the base of her tail,apparently a much-loved rub spot, if the beast’s grumbling purr wasany indicator. “She gets her daily run down in the lowerwilds…harasses the tuk'ata. Drives Lord Renning crazy. And if shetakes a liking to any particular acolyte? Well, those are the ones wesend to you.”

“That’squite an interesting selection process…”

“Isn’tit though?”