#ume oc: Javon Konstantopoulos

[cinlat]

May Drabbles - Day 30

Prompt: “Let them hear.” (New) Characters: Cherub Orlov/Javon Konstantopoulos (@kunoichi-ume​) Story/Series: -- Word Count: 700 A/N: These are a couple of new characters that we like to play around with from time to time. They don’t really belong anywhere, and are actually hiding at the edge of the galaxy on the planet Batuu where no one can bother them. Cher is a mute dock worker who has struck up a friendship (which led to a relationship) with disgruntled Barsen’thor Javon Konstantopoulos. He landed on Batuu in the hopes of finding peace after the Jedi Order all but fell apart in Arcann’s wake, but found a student/lover in one of the locals.

“Focus, Cher.” If Javon told Cherub to clear her mind one more time, she couldn’t be responsible for her actions. It was easy for the former Jedi. He was smart, brave, and fully trained in how to use his powers. The most Cherub had ever done was break lamps when she pitched a fit as a baby. It scared her parents so much that she’d tried not to act out ever again. Javon might be the exception to that rule.

A deep chuckle made Cherub open her eyes to find Javon smiling at her. His face was scruffier than usual, adding to his disguise as a merchant. When Cherub folded her arms in protest, his mirth bloomed into a full laugh. “I take it you’d like me to stop talking?”

Cherub shook her head. She loved Javon’s voice. It was full of compassion, life, and a sense of sadness that he would never discuss. “No?” The Jedi responded, his thick accent sending a shiver up her spine. “Perhaps a break, then?”

That, Cherub wouldn’t turn down. They’d been sitting on the floor of ruins in the middle of the jungle for hours while Javon attempted to teach her how to communicate without a voice. No one knew why she couldn’t speak. It was something Cherub had given up trying to understand years ago. The why didn’t change the fact that Cherub had no idea what her own voice sounded like.

Shaking those thoughts away, Cherub stretched while Javon rose to his feet. She huffed at the amount of grace he displayed, knowing that she would never be able to match him. “Don’t make that noise at me, young lady,” the Jedi chastised playfully. “I could teach you, if you’d only--”

Before Cherub realized that she’d moved, her body was across the rocky ledge and her hand over Javon’s mouth. She didn’t want to hear any more about focusing, and judging by the spark in his celestial eyes, he knew it. Pulling her hand free, Javon nodded to where she’d been sitting. “Impressive.”

Cherub looked behind her, realizing that she’d leapt at least four meters to reach him. She gasped, eyes wide in astonishment. That was impossible. Cherub Orlov, simple dock worker on a backwater planet forgotten by the rest of the galaxy, wasn’t capable of such feats. When her gaze settled back on Javon, his smile confirmed it. “Yes, you did. Now, do you believe me?”

Nodding, Cherub allowed herself to be led to the broken balcony of what had once been a beautiful temple. “The Force is stronger in this place,” Javon whispered with a reverence that Cherub wished she understood. Placing his hands on her hips, Javon urged her to the edge. When she resisted, his fingers tightened around her belt. “You know that I won’t let you fall.”

After a moment to consider whether Cherub really trusted a man who’d been a perfect stranger a few months back, her muscles relaxed. Javon had saved her honor that day, and possibly her life. He was her friend, and the only one who communicated with her like she was normal. So often people equated her silence with mental deficiency. Eventually, Cherub had stopped fighting them. Now, Javon was trying to give her back a modicum of that pride. Having someone like him in her life was still new enough that Cherub waited for it to end, yet every day, Javon lingered.

“Close your eyes and feel the world around you,” Javon directed. Cherub obeyed, focusing on the weight of his hands around her waist while trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach. “You are connected to all life in this galaxy. If you reach deep enough, even the smallest spark can register.” Javon’s words washed over her, his voice lulling Cherub into a trance that she never wanted to wake from. She was warm and freer than she’d ever felt before in the universe he painted.

“You’ve spent all of your life hiding from this gift,” Javon continued, his voice close to her ear. “It’s time for your voice to take its place amongst our brothers and sisters scattered among the stars. It’s time, to let them hear.”