#Theron/Xaja | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keldae · 5 months

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The Mistletoe Trap

Drastic times called for drastic measures. Or that's what Jonas insisted from his precarious perch atop a pilfered desk chair that he was currently standing on, in the middle of the dorm lounge, stretching to drive a thumbtack into the dorm ceiling. “Trust me, this will totally work!”

Lana dubiously looked up at him, arms crossed and blonde eyebrow raised. “Are you sure it won't just make things awkward with them?"

“Even those two idiots have to clue in with this!” Jonas hopped off the chair and stepped back to survey his handiwork. “I mean, this is a central element in every cheesy romance movie set around Christmas. Guy encounters girl, guy and girl both look up and realize they're under thr mistletoe, guy and girl kiss, guy and girl realize they're in love…”

“And are you an expert in Hallmark movies?” Lana asked, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes.

“I have a mother who's obsessed with those movies,” Jonas answered. “I learn things by osmosis. Besides, you only need to see one Hallmark movie to figure out the plot for all of them…”

“You're not wrong,” Lana conceded. She looked over her shoulder as Koth emerged from his room, shrugging his jacket on. “What do you think? Do we have a chance of setting our favourite idiots up with this?”

Koth craned his neck to look up at the mistletoe and frowned. “Isn't it supposed to be in a doorway, instead of the middle of a room?”

Jonas groaned. “I spent long enough fighting to get it to stay up there without falling! Can't we break tradition just this once?”

“Nope. If we're doing a mistletoe set-up, we gotta do it right.” Koth jumped up on the desk chair and pried the thumbtack, with its precious burden of mistletoe, out of the ceiling. He paused and dubiously eyed the little pin. “... This will be a pain to stick into the doorframe.”

“Nothing some tape can't fix,” Lana said with a nod. She hurried down the hallway to her room, and returned a minute later with a roll of tape in her hands. “Just don't use all of it, mind.”

“You're the best.” Koth dragged the chair over to the entrance of the dorm lounge and clambered back onto the seat. “Am I centre-ish?”

Jonas stepped back and tilted his head. “Bit to the left… no, no, my left… smidge more… there, that's about as centred as you're gonna get. I'm too lazy to find a measuring tape to make sure.”

“Works for me!” Koth started taping up the mistletoe, making sure to leave most of it dangling in the doorway. “How's the rest of the decorating coming along, do you know?”

“Mako and Vette were working on what they say will be the most epic paper chain to grace a dorm floor,” Lana said. “And I think Kira and Xaja are in charge of paper snowflakes. A pity we have no space in here for a tree…”

“Or budget,” Jonas added. “Being that we're all broke college students.” He watched as Koth jumped back down from the chair, mistletoe in place, then grinned. “Shall we find covert watching positions so we can observe our handiwork?”

“Great, give them both performance anxiety,” Koth snorted. “They'll both appreciate that so much.”

Jonas snorted a laugh. “That's why I said covert, moron.” He sharply looked to the front door as he heard the sound of a keycard on the security panel. “Quick, that might be them!”

The trio scrambled for the shelter of the couches, and by unspoken agreement, all pretended to be intently interested in their phones. They could hear the sounds of two pairs of feet coming down the hallway, around the corner, and pausing at the entrance to the lounge…

“Oh, hell no,” Thexan's voice sounded. “Go ahead, Arcann, I insist.”

“Why do you insist I–?” There was a pause before Arcann groaned. “Ah. Yeah, there is no way in hell I'm kissing you, Thexan.”

Suppressing her disappointment that the intended targets weren't the ones who had arrived first, Lana looked up. “You know you two would have gotten a pass, right?” she asked. “Being literal brothers and all.”

“I dated a girl in high school who was really into a particular subset of the Supernatural fandom,” Thexan answered. “And I don't mean the Destiel shippers. I've had trust issues ever since I caught her quizzing Arcann on some very personal questions.”

“Ewww.” Jonas looked up from his phone. “Yeah, valid. Now shoo so we can wait for the actual targets.”

“You mean the two who were walking back from the cafeteria?” Thexan grinned. “You guys are not subtle at all about this. I mean, waiting for them?”

“Subtlety isn't working!” Koth complained. “We gotta go for the obvious now.”

“I still say we should lock them in a closet,” Arcann commented as he dropped his book bag by Jonas’ couch. “Or set up a blind date for each of them.”

“If they haven't figured it out by spring break, we'll try the closet,” Lana promised. “By then there should be enough sexual tension pent up…”

“What are we talking about with sexual tension?” A horned head poked itself into the lounge, a huge grin on its face.

“I thought I told you to fuck out of here and not come back again last week, Gault!” Lana snapped, amber eyes flashing angrily.

“I'm an invited guest!” Gault protested. “Hylo said I could come in!”

“Not if you two are going to lock me out of my room for three hours while you have sex and then have a blow-up fight!”

“That was one little argument–”

“At one in the morning, that woke both me and Torian up,” Koth interjected, scowling.

“So the timing wasn't ideal,” Gault said with a shrug. “Sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep.” He glanced upward and grinned. “Awww, but you lot can't be that hard-up about it! Look what's on the ceiling!”

“Not for you,” Jonas interrupted. “It's a trap for Theron and Xaja!”

“We’ll break it in for them!” Gault cheerily grinned, then darted through the lounge to Hylo and Lana's room, pounding on her door.

Lana sighed in frustration, jaw visibly clenched. “If he turns up dead one day, I had nothing to do with it,” she growled.

“We'll help with the alibi,” Koth nodded, watching as Hylo emerged from the room with her brow wrinkled. The frown turned into a grin from the Mirialan as she followed Gault under the mistletoe; the Devaronian took the opportunity to dip Hylo for a passionate kiss.

“Get a room!” Jonas hollered over when the kissing didn't seem to abate after a few seconds.

“And not mine!” Lana added indignantly. “Again!” She looked over at Jonas. “I'm much more sympathetic toward Theron now…”

“I don't lock him out that often!” Jonas protested. “And the one time I did led to him meeting his soulmate, so…”

Gault finally straightened up from the kiss and let Hylo up to catch her breath. “See? We're wingmaning for you, Lana–” His eyes suddenly went wide, and he booked it for the safety of the front door, fleeing Lana's wrath as the blonde started to get to her feet.

Hylo watched her boyfriend escape, then shrugged at Lana. “He's not wrong?” she said with a little chuckle. “It's just his way of helping – and look at that, I need to be in the library right now!” She fled after Gault, with a bit of a laugh, as Lana snarled something entirely unprintable at her back.

“... The library?” Thexan asked as the door slammed shut behind the couple. “She hasn't set foot in the library since term started!”

“You'd know, considering you live there,” Arcann commented.

“Very funny,” Thexan muttered, then looked over as the front door opened and closed again. “Is that finally them?”

“Get over here in case it is!” Koth hissed. “Act natural!”

“Gawking is natural, for having just watched Hylo and Gault apparently make back up,” Arcann commented with a grin. Still, he sat down on the arm of Jonas' couch, as Thexan hurried over to flop beside Koth. Still grumbling, Lana sat back down and scowled at her phone like it was responsible for her roommate woes.

And not a second too soon – Theron Shan was the next person to poke his head into the lounge, not realizing he was directly under the mistletoe trap. “Well, don't we look conspiratal,” he commented, looking at the cluster of students on the couches. “We planning evil things here?”

“Just concerning my roommate and the douchebag she's dating,” Lana grumbled. “Do you know of a good place to dump a body?”

“Xaja says she watches true crime shows,” Theron suggested, as the aforementioned redhead popped up beside him. “You got an idea for a good place to dispose of Gault or Hylo?”

“I owe Hylo one for that troubleshooting with my car the other week, so I can't help murder her,” Xaja said. “Gault, on the other hand, I can definitely help dispose of.” She paused, frowning at the widening grins being sent at her and Theron. “... What? Do I have something in my teeth?”

“Theron could help with that, if you do,” Jonas innocently suggested.

Theron promptly sputtered in mortified indignation. “I – what?!”

“Look up,” Thexan said with a smirk.

Both Theron and Xaja glanced upward – a second later, Xaja squeaked, her cheeks going as red as her hair. “Is that… which one of you assholes hung up mistletoe?!” Beside her, Theron seemed to be at a loss for words, eyes wide and mouth dropped open.

“Doesn't matter,” Koth said, grinning impishly. “To quote from the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie – just kiss!”

“It needs to be cleansed after watching Hylo and Gault make out under it,” Lana added in a mutter.

“But– we're not–!” Xaja yelped. “Hylo and Gault are at least a thing! Theron and I aren't!”

“Being a ‘thing’ isn't part of the mistletoe rules,” Arcann retorted, laughing. “Or are you two chicken?”

“We aren't chicken!” Theron piped up, indignant despite the flush to his cheeks. “We just… uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “... Which one of you assholes had this idea?”

“Does that matter?” Jonas all but cackled. “Kiss her already!”

Theron softly groaned, then turned to look at Xaja, who seemed to have become very focused on a random spot on his hoodie shoulder. “Erm… listen, I'm sorry about this…” he started to say.

“No, uh, it's… it's okay. It's definitely not your doing.” Xaja looked up from her visual examination of his hoodie, still bright red. She hesitated, then glared in the direction of the couches and the pair's eagerly-watching audience. “Do you fuckers have to sit there and watch like that?”

“What, do you have performance issues?” Jonas grinned evilly. “I'm reasonably sure Theron won't care about that–”

“Forget Gault – I'm murdering you,” Xaja growled. She looked back up at Theron. “You can look forward to a single room next semester.”

“Works for me,” Theron agreed, giving Jonas a malevolent glare. He shifted awkwardly, then quickly stooped to give Xaja a brief peck on the lips, seemingly before he could lose his nerve.

“Awww, come on!” Koth complained. “That barely counted as a kiss!”

“If you dumbasses weren't fucking staring at us…” Theron snapped.

Koth sighed dramatically. “Fine, if we all look away, are you two actually gonna kiss properly?”

“You know,” Jonas commented, “if you're the one with the performance issues, Theron, I'm sure Xaja will be happy to help you out with–”

“I will kill you dead, Balkar.” Theron glared at his roommate and former best friend, then caught Xaja in his arms and stooped to give her a dramatic, lingering kiss. She squeaked as she was pulled into his embrace, then seemed to wrap her arms around his neck and return the kiss, apparently trying very hard to ignore the whistles and chorus of “Awwww"s from their dormmates.

They finally came apart after a few seconds, seemingly trying to regain both breath and coherent thought before Xaja looked over at their audience. “Happy now?” she growled, more than a little bit of bite in her tone.

“Immensely,” Lana answered with a little laugh. “Now shoo so we can wait for our next victims. If that pre-med student Archiban comes in here next with this week's girlfriend…”

“We hate you all,” Theron announced, as he and Xaja tried to make their way to their respective rooms with as much dignity as they could muster. “Sleep with one eye open until the end of term.”

Jonas laughed, then as the pair vanished into their rooms, sobered up slightly. “I'm gonna die, but this was totally worth it.” He looked over at Arcann and Thexan. “Hey guys, can I crash with you for the rest of week so Theron doesn't kill me in my sleep?”

“As long as you're prepared to deal with Arcann's snoring,” Thexan said with a grin. He paused, looking at the mistletoe contemplatively. “... Did we overdo it?”

“Nah.” Koth laughed and stood up. “Someone got a picture of that, right? Kira will be so pissed that she missed it.”

Jonas grinned and flourished his phone. “Sending it to the group chat as we speak. And if they aren't dating officially by the end of winter break, I may smack Theron upside the head until he comes to his senses and asks her out.”

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keldae · 6 months

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On a small college campus, it didn't take long for rumours to start flying. Naturally, Jonas was the instigator of such things – a little word to Mako that his roommate was seeing a pretty girl, and it became campus news.

Somehow, Xaja didn't notice this.

If she'd been aware of the rumours starting to swirl around her dorm, perhaps she would have been a little less eager to go visit her cute neighbour across the hall. But in her moment of panic, her dismayed screech stifled as her laptop bluescreened, her mind went fairly blank.

“Shit!” Kira exclaimed as she eyed her roommate's computer and the Blue Screen Of Death. “Weren't you in the middle of a paper, too?”

“Yes,” Xaja all but wailed. “And it's the one for Doctor Shan. Fuck me, I need this thing functioning!”

Kira had a thought of someone else who'd probably appreciate that particular invitation more, but kept it to herself. Xaja wouldn't appreciate the teasing about their cute neighbour while in such a moment of panic. “‘Kay, we have a couple neighbours across the hall who are in computer science. Hopefully one of them is home.”

“God, I hope so,” Xaja groaned, unplugging her malfunctioning laptop and getting to her feet. She hurried out of her and Kira's room, knocking frantically on Theron and Jonas’ door. Please, one of you be home… and please, neither of you with ‘company’... She had no interest in interrupting Jonas if he was in the middle of ‘entertaining’ a girl, and the mere idea of Theron being with someone else made a spark of jealousy bloom in her chest.

The door cracked open, and Theron himself poked his head out, confusion in his amber eyes. A second later, he smiled. “Hey there. What's up?”

“Oh, thank God you're here!” Xaja quickly said. “Help!”

Theron's brow creased in a frown. “What's up–?” Xaja turned her bluescreened computer to face him, and his eyes widened. “Oooh shit. Okay, yeah, I can probably fix this. Gimme.” He took the laptop out of Xaja's hands and retreated into the room, holding the door open for her to follow him inside. “Take a seat, this might take a while. Sorry about the mess.”

“I can excuse almost any mess,” Xaja said, relief making her knees weak as she took a seat on the bed Theron pointed to. “I've got two younger brothers, and you're saving my sanity along with my computer.”

Theron shot her a grin. “Okay, yeah, you get it then. Hang tight.” He set the laptop down on his desk and quickly took a seat in front of it, pushing his own computer out of the way. “What were you doing when it died?”

“Working on a paper for the guest lecturer Professor Din brought in this week, and listening to music in the background,” Xaja answered, anxiously watching as Theron forced her computer to a hard restart. “Nothing too strenuous.” She looked up as the door to the shared bathroom opened and Jonas stepped out, yawning. “Hey,” she said in greeting.

Jonas paused, looking back and forth between Xaja and Theron. “Am I interrupting anything?” he asked, a slow grin on his face. “I can go…”

“Nothing like that,” Theron growled out, although Xaja noted his ears were starting to turn red. “I'm tech support today.” He pressed a key, booting into what Xaja thought was the BIOS of her laptop. “Okay, baby, what's going on with you…” he murmured.

“Tech support?” Jonas asked, tilting his head as he sat down on his bed.

“Blue Screen Of Death,” Xaja answered. “And I have a paper due tomorrow for Doctor Shan!” She didn't notice Theron do a slight double-take at the mention of the guest lecturer.

Jonas winced in sympathy. “Worst timing! Isn't she that guest speaker Professor Din brought in this week?”

“The very same,” Xaja confirmed. “And she's rewarding a bursary for the best paper, and I could really use that bursary…”

“No pressure,” Theron absently said, still fussing with the BIOS of Xaja's laptop. “I'll get your computer back up and cooperating. Don't you worry.”

“Pretty sure he'll put in a good word for you with Doctor Shan too,” Jonas added with a grin. “If he ever accepts that invitation of hers to go for lunch.”

Xaja paused, frowning. “Why would Doctor Shan be inviting you for lunch, Theron?”

Theron looked up from the laptop to scowl at Jonas (who just grinned cheerfully back), then sighed. “She, uh… she's my bio-mom.”

Xaja felt her eyes widen comically. “Doctor Shan is your mom?”

“What, you never connected ‘Theron Shan’ with ‘Doctor Satele Shan’?” Jonas asked with a smirk.

“In all fairness, ‘Shan’ is a super common name,” Theron pointed out. “And I don't think I look a ton like her.”

“Hmmm.” Xaja looked at Theron (or rather, at the back of his head and shoulders), putting the mental image of his face beside the memory of Doctor Shan's. “She mentioned she had a son attending here, but she didn't say it was you…”

“Our relationship is… complicated,” Theron admitted. “She didn't come back in the picture until I was in high school – my grandfather raised me. She was too busy with all her international work to do more than send birthday and Christmas gifts for most of my childhood.”

“... I feel like I just broached a sensitive subject,” Xaja slowly said. “Sorry – I didn't realize it was a touchy subject.”

Theron shrugged. “You didn't know. Don't get me started on my bio-dad – he didn't know I existed until last year.”

“That was a whole thing,” Jonas agreed. “Nice guy, your dad, but he low-key intimidates me. So does your mom, come to think of it. How did you not inherit ‘mildly intimidating’ from either of your parents?”

Theron flipped Jonas off without looking at him. “I swear I'll sign you up for some obscure fetish email list again.”

“Rude.” Jonas stood up, dramatically throwing a hand over his brow. “I can tell when I'm not wanted.”

“Unless you're helping fix this bluescreen,” Theron growled out, “kindly fuck off with your helpful commentary?”

“Fine, then I will. Maybe I'll go out for lunch with your mom instead.” Jonas pulled his shoes on and started heading for the door. “Since her only son doesn't seem interested in seeing her…”

“You are not going out for lunch with my mother!” Theron snapped. “Can't you go find a freshie to hit on or something?”

“You spoil all my fun,” Jonas complained. “Xaja, tell him he's a killjoy!”

“Don't you go dragging me into this!” Xaja yelped, looking back and forth between Jonas (who looked entirely too pleased with this situation) and Theron (who had turned to give Jonas a murderous glare).

“Come on,” Jonas cajoled. “Doctor Shan's hot, isn't she?”

“Theron's being nice enough to fix my computer,” Xaja retorted. “Of course I'm going to side with him – no hitting on his mom! Besides, Doctor Shan isn't my type.”

Theron twisted around in his chair to give Xaja a grin, one that made her heart race a little bit. “Knew I liked you for a reason,” he said, winking at her before turning back to the laptop.

Jonas dramatically sighed and sauntered toward the door. “You two are made for each other. I'm gonna go find something to do – have fun!”

Not wanting to admit how her heart sped up even more at Jonas’ comment about her and Theron being made for each other, Xaja watched as the other student left, then looked back at Theron. “If you decide to strangle him, I can help hide the body. I watch enough true crime shows...”

A snorted laugh came from the computer. “I'll bring the shovel and tarps, you get the ropes and scout out a good location to dump him. But the first priority is fixing your computer. We can plot murder after.”

Xaja grinned, then got up from Theron's bed, stealing Jonas’ desk chair and dragging it over to sit beside him. “Sorry if I'm interrupting your own studying with this.”

“Don't worry about it,” Theron quickly assured her. “I'd rather be doing you a favour than working on Doctor Trant's coding project.” He shot her a grin. “I still owe you one for letting me sleep on your floor the other week.”

“We're even now,” Xaja laughed. “At least until the next time Jonas kicks you out for the night.”

“Which will hasten his demise,” Theron muttered. “Okay, I'm going to run a couple of processes that'll take some time, but should recalibrate the glitch that gave you the BSOD…”

For a second, Xaja thought she could quite literally kiss Theron for fixing her computer. But wait, that would be entirely too forward of her to do that. He hadn't said anything that made her think he was interested in her in that way – and a handsome, charming, endearingly awkward guy like him? There was no way he was single. No, kissing him was entirely out of the question. So she instead settled for beaming at him. “You're a literal lifesaver, Theron. Thank you!”

The grin she got back sent butterflies rushing through her stomach. “Anytime.”

***

Jonas barely waited for Kira's “Yeah?” after he knocked on her door before letting himself into the room across the hall, inelegantly flopping into what had to be Xaja's desk chair. The taller redhead looked up from her textbook. “Theron gets to be the hero of the day? Or is he gonna make Xaja actually cry for her computer?”

“Theron's got an uncanny touch with making BSODs fix themselves. I'm sure he'll get Xaja's laptop fixed up. Maybe she'll kiss him out of gratitude and he'll figure out she likes him.” Jonas grinned impishly at Kira's snort. “I'm a closet romantic at heart, what can I say?”

“You're also delusional. I've known Xaja long enough to know she's so chicken with making moves on cute guys – and she definitely thinks he's cute.” Kira smirked. “Unless Theron charges for his tech support in kisses or dates, she'll never make a move on him.”

Jonas groaned. “And Theron doesn't want to girlfriend-zone a girl he likes as a friend, even if he's pining for her. Maybe I should threaten to hit on her if he doesn't make a move…”

“I think they'd both kill you,” Kira laughed. “I'll keep trying to encourage her to flirt with him. He can't be so oblivious that he misses a pretty girl hitting on him, right?”

“You haven't known Theron long enough if you think that.” Jonas sighed, then dug his phone out of his pocket and texted Thexan. <Can you be a creep for a second?>

Thexan's response came back a minute later. <Whyyyy…?>

<... You're asking me to go listen for sex noises from the bathroom? Are you for real?>

Thexan's response took a few minutes longer. <Invoked ‘older twin’ rights and made Arcann do it. He says ‘fuck you’, and also he heard nothing but Theron trying to explain computer shit to Xaja.>

Jonas sighed in annoyance at his oblivious (or chicken-shit) roommate. <Thanks.> That done, he looked up at Kira and shook his head. “Well, so much for leaving them alone. The twins didn't report anything happening that they heard.”

“You planning on just hanging out in here while waiting for those two to be done?” Kira asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Nope. I'm going to utilize some drastic measures.” Jonas stood back up. “Doctor Shan is still getting meals at the cafeteria with the rest of faculty, right?”

“Yeeeeeessss?” Kira slowly answered, tilting her head.

“Excellent.” Jonas grinned and turned for the door. “Don't tell Theron, but I'm gonna get his mom involved in this.”

“Doctor Shan is Theron's mom?” Kira blinked, then shrugged. “Yeah, okay, I can see it.” She looked over at Jonas as he started opening the door. “You know he's gonna kill you if he finds out, right?”

“What he doesn't know won't hurt me,” Jonas called back, waving over his shoulder and smirking as he left the room. “Toodles!"

“... Did you just say ‘toodles’?” Kira asked incredulously as the door closed behind Jonas, saving him from having to answer her. He chuckled, then started sauntering down the dorm hallway. Doctor Shan was a very diplomatic sort, from what he'd heard and seen of her. Maybe she could help drop Theron some subtle hints.

And if not… well, this would still be entertaining as hell for Jonas, and the rest of the dorm.

#kel writes #theron/xaja #swtor #college!AU #theron shan #xaja #jonas balkar #in which Jonas is not nearly as helpful as he pretends he is #but he definitely ships it #so does everyone else on campus #mutually pining idiots #xaja is oblivious #BSODS: unintentional wingmen

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keldae · 1 year

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Fluff sentence starters :D “You have something in your hair - let me get it for you.”

There were fringe benefits to being friends with people in the theatre program, Xaja mused – like being invited along on field trips to see plays, and easily filling her volunteer hour requirements during production week. But there was a definite downside as well – and that was the day the main production's set came down after the last performance.

It was fine, she decided inwardly. It wasn't like she had two research papers and a personal reflection paper due in the next couple of days and didn't have time to be taking apart a set, right? She grunted as she crawled behind one of the main set walls, power drill in hand, and desperately hoping there were no spiders back here.

"Having fun yet?" The cast hadn't been spared the set strike chores either – but Arcann was entirely too cheerful a mood for someone who'd gotten bonked upside the head by a wardrobe rack fifteen minutes ago. He appeared to be on the same task as Xaja in taking apart the walls of the set.

"Oh, tons," Xaja responded, looking around for another screw in the bracket holding the set together. "How's the concussion?"

"Bah, I'm fine. Don't stand up." Arcann reached over, and Xaja heard the whirring of his own drill over her head. She sneezed as sawdust started to drift down in front of her eyes.

"Sorry," Arcann apologized. The drill stopped, and he fumbled with his prosthetic left hand with the screw before pocketing it. "Any more on that bracket down by you?"

"Yeah, two that I see." Xaja grunted as she shifted her weight, working to take apart the bracket. "Someone's on the other side of this, yeah?"

In response, Arcann peeked through the window built into the wall. "Hey, you might want to catch these walls," he called out, then waited a moment before nodding in satisfaction. "Yes, we're good. I think Professor Vowrawn recruited some help from outside the theatre department."

"Wonderful," Xaja grunted, inwardly wondering what the flamboyant theatre professor had done to lure in some more poor, unsuspecting souls. "Hopefully he brought 'em in from the sports teams."

Without looking up, she didn't see Arcann's mischievous grin. "They're warm bodies with muscles, they'll be fine," he said, then gave the wall a slight push. "Incoming!"

With a creak, the wall fell forward, caught by several pairs of hands. "Got it!" crowed a voice that immediately made Xaja's head jerk up. It was bad enough having a crush on the cute guy who lived across the dormitory hall from her, but if he saw her like this, in a grubby t-shirt and jeans, with dust all over her makeup-less face…

Dammit. That was Theron Shan, helping to carry the wall section away with Jonas and Koth's help. Maybe he hadn't seen Xaja in the chaos? But why did that prospect make her heart hurt just a little bit?

"You are about as subtle as an elephant," Arcann muttered, under the sound of Professor Vowrawn guiding the guys as to where he wanted the set wall placed; when Xaja glanced over, she could see him smirking, the gesture pulling at the scars over the left side of his face. "Liking checking him out?"

"I – what?" Xaja flushed as red as her hair. "I'm not checking Theron out!"

Arcann's grin widened. "I didn't say Theron…" he pointed out.

"... Fuck." Xaja groaned. "We're just friends, and I don't wanna wreck that." She glanced back over at Theron for a moment. "... Not my fault he's got a cute backside."

Arcann snorted a laugh, one that turned into a cough when Xaja glared at him. "Sorry, sorry… it's just hilarious to watch. I can put in a good word for you with him, if you want…"

"... I don't have a crush on him! And I don't need a wingman!" Xaja hissed. She firmly squashed the little voice in her head that wondered if Arcann's help might not be a bad idea. "He's not interested in me. If he was, he would have said something before now."

"... You two are perfect for each other," Arcann muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Xaja demanded, suspiciously glaring at him.

"Nothing!" Arcann coughed again, then looked over. "Next wall will be easy, should only take two of you to catch."

"I like easy!" Jonas' cheerful voice piped up. When Xaja looked over, she saw him, Theron, and Koth all standing close by, Professor Vowrawn tittering over another piece of the set being taken down.

"Yeah, we know that," Theron dryly commented – Jonas promptly glared at him as Koth and Arcann burst into laughter. The taller student then looked back at Xaja, and winked at her. "Made friends with any spiders back there yet?"

Trying to not feel self-conscious about how she looked, Xaja shook her head and grinned. "If I had, you would have heard the screaming from the dean's office."

Theron chuckled, then paused. "Hang on, you have something in your hair," he said, as the set wall to Xaja's right came down, carried off by Jonas and Koth. "Lemme get it for you." He reached forward; Xaja froze as she felt his fingers brush through her long red hair, knocking more sawdust free of the tangled strands. "There – I think that's the worst of it."

"... Thanks," Xaja murmured, feeling her cheeks go warm again at Theron's gentle touch. What she wouldn't give to feel his hand in her hair again, combing his fingers through the red locks, gripping her head and pulling it back for a kiss, like what she enjoyed reading in the Tumblr smut that Kira teased her about…

Theron grinned, then dropped his hand, looking unsure as to what to do with his arm. "Yeah, don't mention it. Figured you wouldn't wanna go around with sawdust in your hair and–"

"Aww, well wasn't that a sweet gesture!" Professor Vowrawn swooped in, beaming like a proud parent. "You two make such a lovely couple!"

"I–!" Xaja stammered, looking at Theron for a second (who appeared to be wide-eyed with panic), then back at Vowrawn. "We're not–!"

"She's not–!" Theron exclaimed in the same breath. "We're just friends!"

Vowrawn didn't seem convinced. "Oh? A pity. I shall still expect you both to audition for the leading man and lady for our next production – the chemistry you two have is what every production strives for! Now, you'll need to practice before that audition, make sure you're set in your–"

"Professor!" Theron squawked. "I'm not an actor! Xaja and I are just friends!"

Vowrawn grinned. "Nonsense, Mister Shan! You two are very good friends, I take it? Very… close to each other–?"

"Not like that!" Xaja yelped, wishing she could melt into the stage floor – or glare holes into the professor's head. She could feel the rest of the strike crew staring at her and Theron. "We're just… that would be weird!" But a good weird, she silently thought to herself.

"What she said!" Theron emphatically agreed. "Why mess up a perfectly good friendship like that?"

Tsking, Vowrawn shook his head. "Well, if you two are certain, then your next task is to clean out the green room. Chop chop!" He briskly clapped his hands, dismissing the two victims of his torment – Xaja willingly took the chance to escape with Theron. And if it meant time spent with him, without anyone teasing her about her crush on him, so much the better.

Neither she nor Theron saw Vowrawn sashay over to Arcann and tap his shoulder. "I have a bit of an extra task for you, Mister Tirall."

"Yes, Professor?" Arcann asked, looking over at the Pureblood professor curiously.

"An extra ten percent added to your overall grade for my class this semester if you can set those two idiots up somehow."

Arcann grinned. Academic credit for fulfilling what he (and the rest of the dorm) considered to be a necessity? "Done."

#thanks for the ask!#swtor #theron/xaja #xaja #theron #college!au #modern!au #otp: until the stars burn out #mutually pining idiots #and naturally Vowrawn has to interfere #arcann tirall #darth vowrawn #why yes i know some theatre people who WOULD assign extra credit to wingmaning classmates

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keldae · 10 months

Text

Writer’s Month 2023: Day Two

Word: Perfume / Setting/AU: camping AU

If anyone asked, Theron running across the Hero of Tython in a cantina on Nar Shaddaa was completely happenstance. It wasn't like he'd discretely arranged his schedule to come across Xaja Taerich here, after all.

Absently, Theron wondered if tracking Master Taerich's movements like this was perhaps a little bit stalkerish. Except, he reasoned, he had no ill intent for Xaja. He just wanted to reassure her that he was okay in the wake of the SIS putting a bounty on him, and get a brief status check with her, in the shadows cast by neon lights. It wasn't like he was stalking her with the plan of getting her attention or causing her harm…

… still, it's a bit stalkerish, he grumbled to himself. Maybe this was why he was single, apart from being a workaholic.

He looked up from his whisky when he suddenly smelled something faint, yet familiar to him, something he associated in his mind with the feisty little redhead who he couldn't get his thoughts away from. Said redhead leaned against his table a second later, green eyes twinkling down at him. "Hey, handsome," she said, "looking for a good time?"

Oh, am I, Theron thought before he could stop himself. "I could be persuaded," he responded with a smirk, giving her a very obvious once-over. She'd forsaken her normal tunics in favour of a cropped shirt and a leatheris jacket; the peek of bare skin around her navel sent a burst of heat through Theron that was completely unrelated to the whisky. She'd dressed for Nar Shaddaa, and yet to him, she still looked like Xaja. It had to be her normal ponytail, and her jade-green eyes, and the perfume she wore. Now that he'd identified it, it was all he could smell – and he definitely wasn't complaining. "How about you sit your pretty ass down and I get you something?"

Xaja grinned, then surprised Theron by coming around to sit right beside him, instead of across the booth. The spy couldn't complain about that either, as he reached his arm to wrap around her waist as though he did this all the time with her. "What's a charmer like you doing in a place like this?" she asked, playing up the flirty spacer act (or maybe the flirty hooker act) by resting her legs over Theron's lap and forcing him to suppress a groan.

"Lookin' for a good time with some good company. And I think I found it." Theron smirked and leaned in to boldly kiss Xaja's cheek, using the opportunity to whisper in her ear. "Korin teach you how to act like this?"

"Nah, Doc and Kira gave me the run-down on how to act," Xaja whispered back. "You okay?"

It touched Theron's heart that Xaja, the pretty Jedi he was not pining for, was worried about him. "Been way worse," he softly assured her. "Any news?"

"A couple of attacks we think are connected to the Revanites, but can't prove," Xaja murmured. "They seem to be staying quiet. How long are you safe here for?"

"Hmmm." Theron grunted in acknowledgement, then sat back up, letting his gaze openly trail down to Xaja's cleavage – in case of any Revanites watching, or other Republic spies, if anyone asked. He would have loved to keep his nose buried in her hair, where the scent of her perfume seemed strongest, but this view was definitely okay with him. "Baby, for you, I got all the time in the world," he said out loud.

Xaja's cheeks went pink, even under the neon lighting. Still, she smiled, and shivered as his fingers started touching the exposed skin of her lower back. "You promise, loverboy?" she asked, returning to her flirty persona. "You're gonna give me high expectations."

"I'm in good with my bosses," Theron assured her. "You name it, girl, it's all yours. Even a ticket off this rock with me to show you the galaxy."

"Ohhh?" Xaja grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Like where?"

"Like Tatooine, or Ylesia, or Ryloth… I'll show you the stars on the edges of the galaxy." He couldn't say where his next destination was, mostly because he himself wasn't sure yet. But he could tell her where he'd been for the last couple of months, since Manaan. His fingers fumbled around with the back of her belt until he found a pocket in her tight pants; it was easy for him to slip a datachit into the pocket without being noticed. "Check your pockets when you're back in your ship," he lowly instructed, under the premise of kissing her jaw and ear again. The scent of her made him want to forget his job and just focus entirely on her, disastrous as that could be for the mission.

Xaja nodded, but didn't say anything. Was Theron imagining things, or did she seem to be breathing a bit more shakily than normal? It must just have been wishful thinking on his part. A moment later, she sat up straight and winked at him. "So, how about you start showing me that good time you promised by showing me if a cute guy like you can dance?"

Theron grinned and let Xaja pull him to his feet. "Like I'll say no to dancing with a pretty thing like you."

#kel writes #swtor #writer's month 2023 #Theron/Xaja #technically pre-relationship #when they're still refusing to admit their mutual crushes #Shadow of Revan arc #what happens on Nar Shaddaa stays on Nar Shaddaa #Theron Shan x female Jedi Knight #Theron Shan #Xaja

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keldae · 2 years

Note

For Theron and Xaja: ❝ keep your eyes on me— just focus on me. we’re gonna be okay. ❞

The first thing Xaja was aware of was pain. Her head throbbed like a bantha was trodding all over it, and the rest of her body didn’t feel much better. She was sitting vaguely upright, she realized as she started to take stock of her battered self, trying to remember what had happened. One moment she and Theron had been walking down an alley on Nar Shaddaa – in hindsight, not their wisest move – and the next, they’d been swarmed by gangsters, too many for a pair of blasters and two lightsabers to deal with. Xaja groaned and tried to move her hands enough to wipe what felt like dried blood away from her forehead, and immediately felt panic rising in her chest when she realized her hands were bound behind her. “Shit,” she whispered, fighting down a whimper of pure terror.

There was a grunt from a few feet away, and then what felt like a booted foot nudged her shin. “Xaja?” Oh, thank the stars, Theron was here, and he sounded relatively okay. “You with me, babe?”

Xaja forced her eyes open, squinting in the dim light of the makeshift holding cell that she and Theron currently occupied. Slouched on the other side of the cell, his own arms behind his back, Theron looked awful – his hair was messy, jacket slashed up, and dried blood stained both his nose and his temple around his implants. When Xaja focused, she could see one of his shoulders looked to be painfully dislocated.

The worried expression around his eyes seemed to ease slightly when he realized Xaja was conscious. “Talk to me, Xaja,” he coaxed, making an effort to keep his voice level and relatively relaxed. “You okay? They hurt you anywhere?”

“... Not as bad as you,” Xaja finally said, swallowing back her fear as she gingerly tried to straighten her back against the wall. Pain and fear waged a war in her mind for dominance – for a moment, fear won out as she tried to pull her hands free of the binder cuffs holding her wrists immobile. The metal devices cut cruelly into her skin, tight enough that she didn’t have a hope of wiggling free. “Where… where are we?”

“As far as I can tell, still on-world,” Theron quietly said, frowning. “I don’t think these are Zakuulans who caught us – there’s too many aliens in the crew. Must be just ordinary slavers.”

“Could be taking Zakuulan credits if they figured out who we are,” Xaja finally answered, squirming despite the pain it caused her. “It… it wouldn’t take much for them to find Arcann’s bounty posting.”

Theron scowled. “All hyperlanes do wind up leading back to Zakuul,” he grumbled. “Can you sense anything outside this cell?”

Xaja closed her eyes and tried to reach out with the Force. A second later, her eyes flew open again as panic choked her voice into nothingness. Now she could register the collar on the back of her neck, suppressing her connection to the Force. And most Force-inhibitors could double as shock collars, in her painful past experience… She couldn’t stop the terrified whimper at the memory of her previous capture on Bandomeer, only a few short months ago.

“Xaja?” Theron sounded worried. “What’s wrong? Is it that bad out there?”

“I can’t… I can’t tell,” Xaja finally gasped out, fighting back a terrified sob. “They put a collar on me. I can’t… it’s blocking me…”

Theron swore in a language Xaja didn’t recognize. “Hate it when they’re smart enough to use Force-inhibitors. It’s okay, we’ll… we’ll figure something out.” He paused for a moment. “Xaja? Look at me, baby. Please?”

Xaja forced herself to register looking in Theron’s direction, panicked jade eyes briefly meeting worried amber before squeezing closed again. Every moment of Xaja’s lifetime of Jedi training seemed to desert her, leaving her panicking and vulnerable, in this dark cell, with her wounded boyfriend bound across from her, and with her access to the Force cut away from her. A little voice inside her head insisted that she needed to focus, to get her composure together and figure out a plan of escape, like any competent Jedi Master could do – but how, when she herself was bound so painfully tight, and when she couldn’t sense the Force at all?

“Come on, Xaja. Keep your eyes on me – just focus on me,” Theron’s voice cut through the cacophony of panicked noises in Xaja’s mind. “We’re gonna be okay.” She forced her eyes open again, frantically seeking out Theron’s gaze in the dim light. “There’s my girl,” Theron murmured in approval. “There’s my brave girl. Stay with me, okay? Just focus on me. Sorand and Lana know where we were, and Korin or your dad have probably already sliced into this sector’s security cameras to find out where we were taken. They’ll come for us. Just please don’t panic, babe. I know you hate being tied up and Force-blind, but stay with me. We’ll be okay.”

“I’m…” Xaja shakily inhaled. “I’m glad you’re confident,” she finally managed to whisper.

Theron seemingly forced himself to chuckle. “Hey, I’ve gotten into, and out of, way worse situations than this,” he said, shrugging his good shoulder. “If my arm wasn’t dislocated, I’d probably already be out of these binders and working on getting you free. Hell, we’d probably be halfway to fighting our way out of here already.”

But his arm was dislocated, and instead of freeing himself, Theron was occupied trying to calm a panicking Jedi Master who, frankly, should not have been so panicked in the first place at being bound, and in this dark, cramped cell, and cut off from the Force… Shame managed to cut through the panic enough for Xaja to take a shuddery breath, trying to force herself to focus. “We need a plan,” she finally said.

“Well, good news is, I’ve got a rough idea for a plan already, in case Sorand and Lana decide to take their sweet time in getting here,” Theron announced. "I have a lockpick in the top of my boot. I just need to… get it…" He grunted in pain as he tried to squirm his way to the hidden lockpick.

"And it's on your right side, isn't it?" Xaja asked, frowning in concern. "Your hurt side?"

"Naturally," Theron confirmed with a hiss of pain. "Fuck, that hurts!" He struggled for a minute longer, then groaned and sagged, seemingly taking a minute to focus on his breathing. "Okay… new plan. Can you dislocate your thumbs?"

"I…" Xaja frowned. "I can't say I've ever tried."

"Okay." Theron groaned and straightened back up as much as he could. "This was so not how I wanted you to learn how to escape binders. Do you have any give on your wrists at all?"

"Not really," Xaja admitted, trying to rotate her wrists as best she could. "They're too tight. I can't even rotate my wrists without it chafing."

Theron muttered a colourful-sounding expletive. "Dammit. It'll be really hard to talk you through it when you can't move much." He sighed. "Okay. Hang tight, I'll… figure something out."

"You're injured pretty badly, and I'm cut off from the Force and fending off a panic attack…" Xaja bitterly laughed. "We're kriffed."

"Not yet, we're not," Theron quickly said. "Besides, being the pessimist is my job. We'll be fine–"

The door to the cell slid open, and Xaja felt herself pale when she saw the four gang members standing in the doorway. Two of them wielded blasters, the third had a wicked-looking vibroknife, and the fourth had what looked suspiciously like the controls for her shock collar in his hand.

"... Never mind, you were right," Theron muttered.

—---------------------

"Wish that bounty from Arcann had been for me alive and in good shape," Xaja groaned several hours later, her voice hoarse from her agonized screams. The gang members had been very interested in seeing what a Jedi's pain tolerance looked like, and had taken their anger out on Theron when he'd tried to intervene.

He looked even worse now; Xaja wasn't sure how he was conscious. But he still looked up when Xaja spoke and offered a small smirk. "Downsides of having the galaxy's biggest dead-or-alive posting on you." He groaned and tried to shift into a less painful position, an all but impossible task. "Lana needs to hurry the kriff up."

Xaja nodded her agreement, then let her head fall back against the durasteel wall. Her neck hurt, and she could still feel the aftershocks of electricity running through her bound limbs. Her fear of the Force-inhibitor doubling as a shock collar was accurate, as she had painfully found out. "How's the leg?" The gangsters had decided that simply beating Theron for snarking at them hadn't been enough, and one of them had seen fit to shoot him in the thigh. The odour of burned fabric and flesh still lingered in the air.

"... Ow." Theron groaned again. "This would be a great time for someone on our side to show up. I'd even be happy to see your father right about now."

"As long as they have kolto, painkillers, and lockpicks?" Xaja asked with a weak laugh. She tried again to squirm her hands free of the binders, to no avail. "Shit. I'm losing feeling in my hands."

Theron muttered something uncomplimentary about their hosts. "I wish I couldn't feel my leg right about now. If Lana was gonna show up with a rescue, two hours ago would have been nice…"

"Now would be good too," Xaja agreed. "Hells, if they–" She paused, frowning. "Do you hear blaster fire?"

Theron grunted as he tilted his head toward the door. "... I think so," he murmured. "Think the calvary finally arrived. Took 'em long enough."

"Hope it's not a rival gang," Xaja quietly said as she slouched against the wall and anxiously watched the door. It didn't take long, although it felt like hours before the sounds of blaster fire ceased. Red and yellow light suddenly blazed from the edge of the door, running from top to bottom before it vanished, leaving a trail of molten durasteel in its wake.

The door was forced open, and two figures appeared in the opening, one wearing green beskar'gam, and one carrying a red lightsaber. "You two look like osik," Shara announced as she hurried to Xaja's side; behind her, Sorand rushed to free Theron. "What the nine hells did they do to you two?"

"Just about everything they could think of," Theron said with a groan. "What took so long?"

"You know how hard it is to find one gang on this damned moon?" Sorand retorted. The saber flashed, and Theron groaned again as his bonds were cut. "You need a hand getting Xaja out, Shar'ika?"

"Nah, I got this. I can put people in binders an' collars, an' I can get 'em out again just about as easy." Shara fumbled with the collar on Xaja's neck for a moment before the cruel device fell harmlessly to the floor; the binders followed them a minute after. "Let's get you outta here, jetii," the Mandalorian said as she hauled Xaja's arm across her shoulders and stood up, bringing the Jedi with her. "I'll let you get the spyboy, cyar'ika." Sorand grunted in acknowledgment, too busy healing Theron's wounds for a verbal answer.

"Hells it's good to see you," Xaja groaned as she was lifted to her feet. Her legs didn't want to support her weight, and she found she needed Shara’s help to escape the cell, struggling to keep up with the much-taller Mandalorian woman.

"Never been so happy to see a live jetii in my life as you," Shara said; Xaja suspected her sister-in-law was grinning under her helmet. "Sor'ika's got Theron in good hands. We'll get both of you into medical on the way back home. Just hang tight. There's kolto with your name on it on my ship, an' Lana will be bitching for an update on you. You're safe now."

Safe… She and Theron were both safe with the Mandalorian and the Sith who'd come to rescue them. Xaja sighed in relief and let Shara haul her out of the gang's base and to the safety of her ship. The sooner they were away from Nar Shaddaa and flying back home to Odessen, the better.

#thanks for the ask!#Kel writes #SWTOR #KOTFE #theron/xaja #angstfest!#tw: torture #poor Xaja has the worst luck with shock collars #angst with a happy ending #and just in time for #theron thursday

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keldae · 2 years

Note

30. Too quick, mumbled into your scarf - for whoever you feel inspired :)

Maybe read this one first, for some context. Back we go to the College!AU! ;)

------------

"Well, that was… an adventure," Theron said as he pulled into the student parking in front of the dorms. Thank every power that existed that the campus had cleared off the parking lot during the Christmas break in anticipation of students returning for the winter term. Xaja hadn't been looking forward to trying to dig out a parking spot for Theron's car.

"They say college is the best time to experiment with adventures like that," she cheekily pointed out as she started gathering up her things.

Theron snorted a laugh. "This is true. And the company for said adventure was good too. Convenient that we're both in Coronet City and can just carpool home for breaks."

"Reading week, we'll take my car instead," Xaja nodded with a grin. She eyed the temperature readout on her phone, then sighed and started wrapping her scarf back around her neck. "Have I mentioned how much I hate winter?"

"I think you bitched about all things winter during that night in the Motel Sketchyville," Theron laughed. "Please note that I wasn't disagreeing on any of your valid and accurate points." He turned the car off, and the sounds of Best Of Bon Jovi vanished, replaced with howling wind outside the car. "Honestly, I'm just pleasantly surprised we didn't get stranded there again on the way back to campus."

"What, you didn't want to spend another night cuddling away hypothermia?" Xaja asked with a grin, desperately hoping she was hiding how much she had enjoyed being in such close proximity to the cutest guy at school.

"You do make a good cuddle buddy," Theron smirked, although Xaja thought he was blushing for a moment. Maybe it was just the cold that lent a red tinge to his cheeks. "But I think any time spent there increases the odds of bedbugs."

"Ewww. Yeah, nothing is worth that risk." Xaja shuddered and adjusted her scarf in preparation for braving the January weather outside the car. "Still though, I think I'm in love with you after that," she added, her voice a quick mumble behind her scarf before she quite realized what she was saying.

Theron paused in the middle of opening his door. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked, quirking a brow.

"Uhh… I was just saying thank you for that," Xaja quickly said. "For the carpooling, and the hypothermia cuddles, and everything." She was grateful that the scarf hid how she was blushing as red as her hair.

"Oh! Yeah, don't mention it." Theron winked. "Happy to do anything for a good friend like you." He opened his door wide enough to step out, and promptly cussed as he set foot in an ankle-deep snowdrift. "Fuck blizzards!"

He just thinks of me as a friend, even after spooning me all night in that motel. And he didn't try to kiss me or anything… That shouldn't have hurt so badly, but it did. Xaja sighed and blinked back a tear of frustration, then opened her own door to exit the car. "Agreed," she grumbled. "And fuck Lana for taking the best parking spot by the door!"

Theron growled his agreement as he started hauling his suitcase out of the trunk of his car, followed by Xaja's bag. "Because of course she would. I got your bag, if you want to get the door."

"Thank you!" Hiking her backpack up over her shoulder, Xaja hurried to the dormitory door, swiped her access card, and held the door open long enough for Theron to wrangle both suitcases inside. "You got those okay?"

"Yep. What'd you pack in here, weights?" Theron grunted as he pushed both suitcases into the hallway leading to their separate rooms.

"Only the essentials – flat iron, hair dryer, backup shoes, a few books…" Xaja giggled at Theron's expression. "What?"

"All that for two weeks at home over Christmas? Yikes." Shaking his head, Theron let Xaja take her own suitcase back, then followed her down the hall. "I'm gonna call my dad, let him know we made it back okay. See you at dinnertime?"

"You bet." Xaja hesitated in front of her door, then impulsively stretched up to kiss Theron's cheek. "Thank you again for everything with this trip, Theron."

Theron seemed to completely short-circuit, blinking as he lightly touched his cheek where Xaja had pecked him. "I, uh… yeah, no problem. You're welcome in my car anytime." He gave Xaja a smile, then quickly let himself into his and Jonas' dorm room, leaving only snowy footprints in his wake.

Nicely done. You just completely fucked that up. Sighing, Xaja let herself into her own room. Kira wasn't back yet; it gave Xaja the chance to kick off her boots, flop across her mattress, and silently berate herself for being way too forward and pushy with a guy who only considered her to be a friend. If Theron liked her as more than a friend, he would have said something months ago, right? Or he would have made a move on her during their roadtrip. You completely just ruined things with a good friend, you idiot!

She didn't see Theron lean back against his own door once it had safely closed and touch his cheek again, then elatedly fist-pump in the privacy of his roommate-free room, fighting the urge to triumphantly yell that the girl of his dreams did like him.

Unless that was just something that girls did with their close friends of any gender… That thought made Theron pause and frown. Maybe Xaja did only view him as a good friend. If she liked him, wouldn't she have said something in the motel after their night of snuggling? He supposed he should just be grateful she'd let him spoon her all night.

But for now, he was going to embrace this elation, and entertain the thought of his crush returning his feelings for her.

#thanks for the ask!#kel answers prompts a million years later #honekitteh #theron/xaja #swtor #alternate universe #college!au #slow burn #mutual pining #mutually pining idiots #THESE TWO

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keldae · 2 years

Text

Nightmares

Her world becomes the train she’s standing in, and the red light obscuring her vision, and the blaster barrel she’s staring down. She can’t feel the sway of the train under her feet, the vessel rushing toward the explosion that she knows is coming. Lana’s screaming in her ear, but she can’t hear the Sith, or respond to her. She can’t take her eyes off the blaster that’s pointed at her.

“It’s not about what I want to do,” snaps the man holding Xaja at the end of his blaster. “It’s what’s needed. This is what needs to happen, for the Alliance, for the galaxy… for me. It’s the only way…”

Xaja opens her mouth, but she can’t scream Theron’s name. She shouldn’t be able to hear anything over the sound of wind rushing in her ears from the broken window, but she can hear Theron’s breath as clearly as though he’s right beside her, and not on the other side of the laser field, pointing a blaster at her chest. “Please…” she finally whispers, her voice barely audible to her own ears.

Yet Theron hears her, and scoffs. “The mighty Alliance Commander, begging? I should have known you were as weak as they come. It makes me regret this less.” He puts the blaster up and walks away, leaving Xaja to die – alone now; Lana’s vanished. “I can’t trust the galaxy to a fallen Jedi like you. You need to be gone.”

“I’m not a fallen Jedi–!” Xaja starts to cry out.

“No.” Theron turns and sneers at her. “You’re a Sith. You had the Emperor in your brain for how long now? Seven years, if we count your time as a thrall? You’re no Jedi anymore.” He draws the blaster again and points it at Xaja. “The train should kill you,” he says, “but Sith have survived crazier things. I need to make sure you can’t ever return to trouble me or the galaxy again.”

Theron’s finger tightens on the trigger, but a blue lightsaber blade pierces his chest before he can fire at Xaja. She screams as Vinn Atrius cackles, his voice sounding too much like Valkorion–

The Jedi shot upright in bed, cold sweat drenching her skin and the tank top she’d worn for sleeping. Panic continued to race through her veins until she recognized her surroundings – this was Coruscant, in her penthouse apartment near the spaceport and the Senate Tower. She was safe in the Republic capital, with Daenril asleep in the next room over, and baby Lynaen peacefully tucked in her bassinet, and Theron–

Oh, stars. Theron’s side of the bed was empty. Panic tore through Xaja’s body again, despite her best efforts to force it down. The sheets were still lukewarm, when she touched them – he must have only just gotten out of bed minutes before she’d woken up. Bracing her elbows against her drawn-up knees, she dropped her face into her hands and tried to focus on her breathing for long minutes. Emotion, yet peace… emotion, yet peace. It was just a bad dream. Theron’s okay, and he wouldn’t ever try to shoot you. Ignorance, yet knowledge… passion, yet serenity… chaos, yet harmony…

Lyn stirred with a quiet whimper, no doubt picking up on her mother’s distress in the Force. Swallowing back tears and taking a shaky breath, Xaja slipped out of bed and over to the bassinet. “Shhh,” she whispered to the baby, stroking her daughter’s back. “Mama’s sorry, little one. It’s okay. Mama’s here… and presumably Daddy’s somewhere nearby.”

She waited until the newborn had settled back down to sleep, then slipped out of the bedroom, squinting in the dim light. When she reached out with the Force, she could sense both her children, peacefully in dreams, undisturbed by their mother’s nightmare. Satisfied that the kids were okay, she stretched out further, and found Theron’s Force-signature in the sitting room. His mental shields, normally a wall of durasteel, melted away when he recognized her brush against his mind. Following the mental tug, Xaja crept through the apartment on bare feet, doors silently opening and closing as she passed by them until she found her husband, sitting up on a couch, a datapad in front of him.

Theron wearily looked up from his datapad as Xaja approached him. “Can’t sleep either?” he quietly asked.

Xaja shook her head, trying to put aside the memories of her nightmare. This was Theron before her, greying hair messily askew, worriedly setting his datapad back on the caf table – the monster who had tried to kill her in her dreams wasn’t her husband. But it had been, once… whispered a little voice in her mind, one that sounded too much like Valkorion.

“Nightmare,” she finally said, wrapping her arms around her torso as tightly as she could. At two in the morning, the Coruscant apartment felt too cold. “A bad one.”

“I’m sorry, babe.” Theron stood up, freezing when he saw Xaja flinch from him. “Xaja? You okay?”

Xaja took a shaky breath and tried to offer Theron a reassuring smile, one that she knew he didn’t buy. “... I’m fine. Just a dream, right?”

Theron snorted, then crossed the floor to where Xaja stood. He opened his arms up in invitation; she thought about it for a moment, then took the remaining steps to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his chest. The feeling of his arms encircling her back and a kiss being dropped in her hair felt reassuring, enough to start settling her nervous body back down after that horrific nightmare. “You wanna talk about it?” Theron eventually asked after a few minutes of silent cuddling.

No, Xaja did not want to talk about it. But her mouth still opened anyway, after a couple of breaths. “Umbara,” she finally said, and felt Theron flinch. “You called me a Sith. Atrius was there too, and…” Her hand crept up Theron’s bare back, finding the terrible impalement scar next to his spine, the wound that had almost taken him from her.

The hug around Xaja’s back tightened. “You are not a Sith,” Theron whispered. “You’re the furthest thing from a Sith. I’d never call you that, Xaja. You’re my beautiful, compassionate, smart-as-hell Jedi wife. I mean, I’d still love you even if you did go all Dark Sided on me, but that’s not you. You’re not… you are so not a Sith, and dream-me is an idiot for calling you that.”

Xaja breathed out a shaky sigh, and turned her head to leave a kiss on Theron’s chest. “I know you wouldn’t,” she whispered. “But it felt so real…”

“I’m sorry.” Theron’s hug tightened again. “I’m so sorry you have that shitty memory to make a nightmare from. I wish I could have found a different way to save you that didn’t involve ever going near Umbara or hurting you.” He pulled back from the hug long enough to gently touch the scar on Xaja’s cheek, where hot metal from the train had sliced her cheek open while she and Lana had made their desperate jump from the doomed vessel. “I should never have hurt you like I did, and I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life.”

Xaja shook her head and reached up to touch Theron’s stubble-clad face. It’s not your fault, echoed through her mind… but she couldn’t say that, because no matter Theron’s intentions, it had been his fault, and it wasn’t okay, even though she’d forgiven him his idiocy, even though it was four years after the fact–

No. She blinked when she remembered the date. “It was five years ago today,” she murmured, and felt Theron sigh in acknowledgement. “So long ago already…”

“And it feels like yesterday,” Theron mumbled. “I close my eyes and I’m back on that damned train.”

“No, you’re not,” Xaja quietly said, drawing Theron’s head down to press her forehead against his. “You’re here with me. We’re on Coruscant, with our two beautiful babies, and Umbara is far away from here.”

“And I’ll never do anything to hurt you or them again,” Theron promised. “No matter what. I’m never doing that shit again. Making you cry broke me.” He gathered Xaja back into his arms for another tight hug. “I have to keep reminding myself that it ended up okay, and you’re here with me, and our babies are here too, and we’re safe together…”

Xaja nodded against Theron’s chest, then frowned. “You woke up before me?” she softly asked. “Were you having a nightmare too?”

Theron nodded, but stayed quiet for a long minute. “... You didn’t make it off the train,” he finally whispered. “The train crashed, and Lana made it off, but you… I could hear you screaming, and Lana was trying to get to you, but then… you stopped screaming, and I knew I had lost you again, but this time it was my fault, and you weren’t gonna come back this time–” His voice broke as guilt-stricken agony raced through his Force-signature. “Stars, I never want to hear you scream like that…”

“Oh, Force, Theron,” Xaja whispered, horror settling into her chest. She kissed his shoulder again. “It’s okay, love. I’m here – I’m okay.”

“But you weren’t,” Theron mumbled, sounding broken. “I killed you, and you died in the fire thinking that I hated you…”

Xaja squeezed her eyes closed, feeling tears gathering; when she eventually looked back up at Theron, she could see that he’d given up the fight on holding his own tears back, and was letting them stream down his cheeks. Letting her hands fall to his waist, she gently pushed him to step backward, step by step until he fell into the couch, where she could crawl onto his lap, knees on either side of his hips as she wound her arms tightly around his neck. There was nothing seductive in her positioning now, as she nestled her face into the crook of his neck and felt him bury his nose in her hair. His shoulders shook, his Force-signature echoing with lingering grief and guilt as he clung to her. “Shhh,” she whispered, kissing his neck, then his cheek, then his shoulder as she let him grieve for what he’d done. “It’s okay. We’re both here, and we’re okay. Shhh…”

It was several long minutes later before Theron calmed down enough to kiss Xaja’s cheek. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for everything. You mean everything to me, and I’d rather die than ever hurt you again.”

“Shhh.” Xaja pulled back enough to drop a kiss on her husband’s lips. “You know I love you, right?”

“... Would you say it again?” Theron softly asked, rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone. “I know it, but I need to hear you say it.”

Xaja offered him a small smile as she softly kissed him again. “I love you, Theron Shan,” she murmured, punctuating her words with more kisses. “I’ve never stopped loving you, even through all that. And I never will. There’s nobody else I would rather grow old with, or raise our babies with, than you, spyboy. I love you”

“I love you too, Xaja Taerich.” This time, Theron leaned forward to kiss her back. “I love you more than anything else in this galaxy. You and our kids mean everything to me, and I would do anything to protect the three of you from any sort of harm.” He kissed her again, his lips lingering for a long moment against hers. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, or your love, but it’s something I’m never taking for granted.”

“You were the handsome, charming, clever, caring spy that I fell hard for, all those years ago during the Revanite crisis,” Xaja murmured, gently returning Theron’s kiss. “I fell in love with you on Rishi – or at least, admitted that I was falling for you on Rishi – and I haven’t regretted it since. And there’s nothing you can do to convince me to stop loving you… not even blowing up a train.”

Theron snorted a weak laugh and wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, pressing another kiss to her forehead. “I love you,” he whispered against her skin. “My perfect, beautiful, wonderful Jedi wife… who couldn’t be a Sith if her life depended on it,” he added. “No matter what my idiotic dream counterpart says.”

Xaja wearily smiled and rested her hands on Theron’s cheeks. “I love you, spyboy,” she murmured, pressing another lingering kiss to his lips before pulling back. “But it is after two in the morning, and the kids will be up in a couple of short hours. Come back to bed with me?”

“As long as you’re there, I’ll go anywhere with you.” Theron waited for Xaja to slip off his lap, then took her hand as he stood back up. “I’m sorry if I woke you up by leaving the bed earlier. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“You didn’t,” Xaja promised him. “Your side of the bed was still warm when I woke up from that nightmare. You can’t have been out here that long.”

“Just a few minutes. Enough to pick up and unlock a datapad.” Theron shook his head. “Tried meditating, but it didn’t seem to help the fear kriff off like I’d wanted it to. Checked on both the kids, and they seemed to still be both out cold.”

Xaja nodded in agreement. “Lyn was stirring a bit, but she went right back to sleep when I calmed down a bit. And I haven’t heard a peep from Daenril’s room.” She sighs as they enter their bedroom. “I’m so glad he was too young to remember all of that,” she murmurs. “I can’t imagine trying to explain all that to a small child.”

“Hopefully he never asks about why he had to go live with his grandma for a year,” Theron quietly said. “Thinking of you and him kept me going when I wanted to give up, but being away from both of you for so long…” He sighed. “It nearly broke me, after what I did to you. And–”

“Hey.” Xaja stopped at the bed to press her fingers against Theron’s lips. “I’ve forgiven you for all of that. And I love you, no matter what. Okay?”

“... Okay.” Theron wrapped his hand around Xaja’s fingers and gently applied kisses to her fingertips before releasing her to crawl back into bed. He slipped under the covers on his own side, wrapping his arms around Xaja and holding her tightly against his chest. “I love you,” he murmured into her hair. “Now and always.”

“I love you too,” Xaja assured him, scooting back until she was pressed as tightly as she could manage against his chest. “Promise me you’ll wake me up if you have another nightmare like that?”

“Only if you wake me up for yours,” Theron said with a yawn. “Neither of us should suffer alone.”

“Agreed.” Xaja yawned and let her eyes drift shut; it took only moments for her to feel Theron’s breathing steady out at her back as he fell back to sleep, and she soon followed him back into slumber.

#in honour of yesterday being 5 years since Traitor on Umbara dropped...#SWTOR #kel writes #Theron/Xaja #angst #time for an anniversary ANGSTFEST!#nightmares #a couple of certain someones still have PTSD from Umbara #TR-8R arc #Traitor on Umbara

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keldae · 2 years

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19, 22, and 25 of the otp asks for Xaja/Theron? 🥺

Thank you for the ask! <3

19. How do they feel about PDA?

They try to be discreet... ish. And they tend to not be super-gross about it either, like it's pretty rare that one would catch them making out in a corridor on Odessen. But they're usually holding hands, or one will have their arm wrapped around the other's waist, and a kiss on the cheek or in the hair is pretty common, even around other people.

22. What reminds each of their partner?

Oooooh, this is a good one. For Xaja, it's datapad innards -- Theron will frequently leave half-disassembled datapads around their quarters, and the sights of something mechanical in itty-bitty pieces makes her feel reassured that Theron's nearby (even if she's also exasperated at the same time). For Theron, I think it's flowers. Xaja likes having plants all around her stronghold(s), so if Theron can smell flowers, he knows he's home with Xaja.

25. Do they have any hobbies they share?

Another good one that's making me have to think about it! They can pretty frequently be found meditating together, especially in the morning with their first cups of caf before the day gets crazy-busy. They frequently spar together too -- Theron's decided that Xaja needs to improve her hand-to-hand combat. It's also a joke in RP'verse that Xaja has a side hustle of writing romance novels and publishing them under a pen name, because hyperspace gets boring, so in the evenings, it's not uncommon to see them sprawled together on a couch, with Xaja typing her latest trashy masterpiece on a datapad and Theron going through reports. (He miiiiight beta-read them. Strictly to correct the grammar.)

#thanks for the ask!#Kel answers asks #Theron/Xaja #headcanons #and yes the thing about Xaja writing trashy romance novels is a real thing in RP'verse #no idea what her pen name is

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keldae · 2 years

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Obligatory OTP asks #s 1, 5, 11, 18, 28 and 31 for Theron and Xaja!

Heehee! Thank you! ^.^

Who would end a heated argument by defending their actions with ‘because I love you!’ ?

I feel like Theron can, and has, done this to end arguments before. Especially after any reference to any stunts with trains.

5. Describe their cozy night in.

Assuming they're on Coruscant? They order in a meal from Xaja's favourite Corellian buckwheat noodle vendor off the Senate plaza and settle in to watch a holofilm. ^_^

11. Do either try to hide their emotions if upset? Can the other still tell?

They both do -- Xaja because it's ingrained into brain as a Jedi, and Theron because, well, Theron. Neither of them ever wants to worry the other with what they're feeling or thinking, but the other can always pick up on it. And it usually results in the upset one being firmly sat down by the other and being told to spill what's upsetting them.

18. How likely are they to have fur babies? How many and what kind?

Theron? Not a chance.

Xaja? If she had her way, she would have ALL the fur babies. I think she does have a couple favourites she keeps around, but Theron won't tolerate any more than that. (She foists the rest onto Sorand and Shara. Rav and Cuyan greatly approve.. their parents, not so much.)

28. What are their thoughts on pet names? Do they have any?

Beyond the standard "baby, sweet, sweetheart, love" and the like? I don't think either of them are big into petnames. Xaja calls Theron "spyboy" frequently, and Theron refers to Xaja as *his* Jedi, but otherwise... nah, no cutesy pet names here!

31. Can they sit side by side without touching the other or are they handsy? (lacing fingers, touching knees, etc.)

Oh, they tried to be discrete when the Alliance was still in its fledgling stages. That lasted for... maybe two days? And then someone saw Xaja quite literally sitting in Theron's lap and the rest is history. Even when they're trying to behave and be super formal and whatever, they're still touching each other in some way.

#thanks for the ask!#Kel answers asks #Theron/Xaja #headcanons

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keldae · 10 months

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Listen, Xaja KNOWS the last thing she needed was another pet...

... but this little guy found her on Voss in the Interpreter’s Retreat and followed her home! How can she say no to that face?

(Quit judging her, Theron and Kira.)

#Kel plays SWTOR #Xaja #Voss #Interpreter's Retreat #Flameshell Mawvorr #secret achievement #SWTOR pets #because Xaja clearly doesn't have enough pets already #Theron just sighs in resignation every time she brings a new one home #and this time he gets to grump at Kira about not stopping Xaja from adopting yet another lifeform #Kira just raises her hands like controlling Xaja is out of her job description #which it is #screencaps

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keldae · 1 year

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“They’re good for each-other.”

No matter how hard Thexan tried to dodge the rumour mill on campus, he still heard more than he wanted (mostly courtesy of Arcann, who seemed to have an ear to the ground at all times. The struggles of having a twin in the arts programs.). Still, some of it was interesting to listen to and quietly judge.

And some of it, he had a front row seat to – especially where his and Arcann's neighbours were concerned. Theron and Jonas seemed to have known each other since high school, and somehow hadn't killed each other yet. Although with how many girls Jonas kept bringing back to their room, kicking Theron out in the process, Thexan suspected there was going to be a murder before the Christmas break.

"No way," Arcann refuted Thexan's theory with a little smirk. "It gives Theron an excuse to go hang out in Xaja's room."

And that was the other bit of drama that Thexan could watch every day. How could Xaja not realize that Theron, obvious idiot that he was, had eyes for the petite redhead from the sociology program?

"For that matter," Thexan pointed out as he looked up from his textbook on Middle Eastern diplomacy, "how does that nerd not realize Xaja's got a crush on him? It's so obvious!"

"You are in no place to call anyone a nerd, Mister Political Science Major," Arcann retorted, not looking up from his own book on Michaelangelo. "But I agree. They're idiots."

"They're good for each other," Thexan said, after flipping his brother off. "And I think they know it. Subconsciously, anyway."

Arcann glanced up. "What, are you double-majoring in psychology now?"

Thexan rolled his eyes, then looked up with a little frown at a muffled, frustrated-sounding exclamation from the dormitory hallway. "Ahh, sounds like Theron's getting kicked out again."

"Really?" Arcann set his book down, then got up and moved over to the door.

"Arcann! You're not twelve, dammit!" Thexan hissed as his twin started to crack the door open.

"Shh!" Arcann hissed, peeking out of the door. "Yep, that's Theron," he whispered back to Thexan. "And… yep, there he goes, knocking on Xaja's door."

"Is this part of Jonas' evil plan to wingman for Theron?" Thexan asked, curious despite himself. "Make him spend time with a pretty girl he caught feelings for?"

Arcann snorted. "Okay, door's opening – and yep, Xaja's home. And… there we go, they're talking, Xaja's laughing, and–" He suddenly jerked back, eyes wide. "... Oops."

"Did they catch you?" Thexan asked with a grin.

".... Maybe."

A muffled "Fuck you too, Arcann!" came through the door, in Theron's definitely-annoyed voice.

Arcann poked his head back out the door. "Buy me a drink first!" he called back. Through the wall, Thexan swore he heard a muffled laugh from Torian in the next room over.

Theron muttered something unintelligible, but probably rude, at Arcann, then there was the sound of a door clicking. Arcann stepped back into his own room, grinning. "Well, they're still together, and I'm pretty sure Kira is off at the gym, so…"

"You'd make a terrible spy," Thexan pointed out. "And you do make an awful wingman. 'Buy me a drink first'?"

Arcann paused. "... I probably should have said something about how Xaja probably would have objected," he slowly said. "... But then she probably would have murdered me, while blushing like an emergency light. The short ones like her are always the scary ones."

"Chicken," Thexan said with a grin.

"Asshole," Arcann muttered. "Maybe this'll be the day Theron finally asks her out?"

Thexan snorted. "And maybe Jonas will decide to become a monk. Maybe you should switch to journalism and put all your theories in the school paper."

"Nah, Lana's already doing that." Arcann grinned and sat back down, pulling his textbook into his lap again. "Your politics classes not giving you any ideas for how to wingman two idiots?"

"If they did, I would have used them already." Thexan tilted his head in thought. "But maybe I'll read ahead in the syllabus and see if anything can be applied to this…"

"Yeah, you're a bigger nerd than the computer geek we're trying to set up."

"... Bitch."

"Jerk."

#kel answers prompts a million years later #swtor #college!AU #Thexan #Arcann #modern!AU #Theron/Xaja (referenced)#referenced mutually pining idiots #the peanut gallery #Thexan and Arcann have commentary on this whole thing #sibling bickering #dormitory drama #yes their entire dorm is in on this

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keldae · 2 years

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Tagged by @greyias -- thank you! <3 Have a snippet from an upcoming prompt answer...

Let’s see, who are we gonna tag today... Paging @cinlat @dingoat @kunoichi-ume @a-muirehen @corey-067, and whoever else would like to play along!

#thanks for the tag!#Kel answers tags #WIP #sneak peek #oh noes! Xaja and Theron got into neck-deep shit again! However will they escape?#to be continued!

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keldae · 2 years

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Fictober 2022: Day 7

Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Warnings: none.

Prompt: "Check that again, are you sure?"

Zakuul was rapidly cementing itself in Theron's mind as the worst planet in the known galaxy. And he was even including Quesh and Taris on that list. Being holed up in a small, one-bedroom 'apartment' (who was Theron kidding? It was a damned hovel.) with Reanden Taerich and T7-01 made for some intense claustrophobia.

Yet, part of him was grateful for the presence of both Cipher Nine and Xaja's faithful astromech droid. It made him feel far less alone on this hellish world while they searched for any sign of Xaja's survival.

He sighed and stared out the window at Zakuul's capital city, or rather, at the underlevels of it. The Old World, he'd heard it called – to him, it was even more proof that Zakuul was far from the utopia it styled itself as. There was a desperation here that felt too similar to the lower levels of Coruscant or Nar Shaddaa. He stretched his back and sipped his lukewarm caf, thinking. If Xaja was a prisoner on Zakuul, she had to be in the upper levels of the Spire, close to Arcann's throne room, and that would make a rescue attempt that much more difficult –

At the computer console, Reanden made a triumphant sounding noise. "Think I got a trace on her," he announced. "Found a record of two Core Worlds prisoners being taken before Valkorion before his assassination. The timing matches up."

Theron looked over. "That's hopeful," he agreed with a yawn. "Any holo footage?"

"Nothing. But the descriptions of the prisoners match both Xaja and Darth Marr. Give me a minute, I'll see what else I can find." Reanden bent his head over the console, typing away, gaze fixed on the screen. "Come on, give me something good to work with here…"

Theron turned back to the window, knowing better than to hover over Cipher Nine's shoulder while the older man worked. He hadn't thought about Darth Marr since his flagship had been destroyed almost three years ago – he'd assumed the Sith Lord had died aboard the vessel. But if Marr was a prisoner too, maybe the two spies could use that. Freeing both Xaja and Marr would be incredibly beneficial to–

"Marr was executed. Dammit." Reanden sounded more annoyed than anything.

Well, so much for that plan. "And Xaja?" Theron asked, his heart in his throat.

"Still looking."

Theron sighed and looked down into his caf mug. If Marr had been executed by the Zakuulans, what chance did Xaja have of being alive? He grimly looked out the window again, as though he could find Xaja if he just stared hard enough.

"... She's a prisoner," Reanden finally announced. Theron felt a rush of wild, delighted hope until he heard the older spy's next words. "And she's dying."

Theron's caf mug fell to shatter on the floor by his boots. He whirled around. "Check that again. Are you sure?"

Reanden finally looked up from the console to grimly nod. "They put her into carbonite freezing. But they botched it. I can track down where she's being held, but if we were to saunter up there and grab her now, she'll be dead within a week of being pulled out of carbonite."

Despair flooded back in where the hope had been. Theron sat down hard and swore out loud. They were so close to getting Xaja free, only to have this happen! "Is there nothing we can do?"

"... I don't know." Reanden sighed heavily and raked a hand through his hair, then straightened up again, nodding firmly. "But I know a guy. If there's a cure out there for carbonite poisoning like what Xaja's being put through, he'll know it. We'll find a way to save her yet – I'm not letting my daughter die like this." He whirled around and snatched his leatheris jacket up. "I gotta go make some calls. I'll be back later."

Theron nodded, watching Reanden take his leave of the hovel, then sighed and let his shoulders slump. "We'll find a way to save you, Xaja," he whispered to the empty room. "I promise."

#fictober22 #fictober #swtor #reanden #theron shan #referenced theron/xaja #KOTFE #timeskip #angst!

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