You and your museum of lovers
The precious collection you've housed in your covers
My simpleness threatened by my own admission
And the bags are much too heavy
In my insecure condition
My pregnant mind is fat full with envy again
But I still love to wash in your old bathwater
Love to think that you couldn't love another
I can't help it, you're my kind of man
Wanted and adored by attractive women
Bountiful selection at your discretion
I know I'm diving into my own destruction
So why do we choose the boys that are naughty
I don't fit in so why do you want me
And I know I can't tame you but I just keep trying
"So you'll be able to replace her?" Omega asked of the little droid as she handed a backup drive to Phee when they boarded the Marauder after their thrilling adventure. "Why do you call her Mel?"
"It's short for Melaana. She was a princess in an Onderonian legend."
That was true enough. Tech remembered coming across the name when he was researching the mythological aliases of Mollymauk's associates.
"What about the Belmont Dia- Dia-?" Omega attempted to remember the name of another of the items the pirate had mentioned earlier in her ramblings.
"The diadem? Ah yes! That story's real juicy!"
While Phee began the tale, her other avid listener made his way across the Marauder's main cabin trying to be much less conspicuous. Tech stopped in front of his personal storage locker as if he had no other reason for being there than to retrieve something of utmost importance. He gave the latch a tug but it stuck fast.
The storyteller paused. "Need some help with that, Brown eyes?"
"No, I am quite capable of…" The hatch came open quite suddenly, spilling out a contents of spools of wire, data cards, and other electronics equipment but also leaving a small scale flimsi copy of a certain rather risque painting perfectly exposed to anyone who might be looking in his direction as Phee most certainly was.
"My my! Who's the blonde?"
"That's…" both Wrecker and Omega began simultaneously but Echo stepped in and grabbed the picture before they could continue.
"That's mine. It's uh… a girl I met on Mandalore when I was with my old squad."
"She certainly has a Mandalorian look about her." Phee whistled. "At least the ones who don't go around completely covered by all that beskar armor. Or the ones who cover up with anything at all." She winked at Tech who blushed and escaped back toward the cockpit.
Echo followed him and when they were alone, handed back the picture.
"Thank you." Tech took the piece of flimsi without looking at it. "But I doubt she believed the fabrication."
"I didn't think you would really want to reveal the truth." Echo shrugged. "Although she seems pretty capable of making up her own fantasies."
"She was right about Skara Nal."
"And all those other liberated wonders she's always going on about?"
Tech straightened his goggles. "Actually, they are real. Most of them anyway. Obviously she doesn't carry them around with her and she may or may not have been the one who liberated them but she would have needed a fence to take care of whatever items she did obtain."
"A fence like Mollymauk?" Echo caught on.
"Precisely." Tech nodded. "We have even had the occasion to observe the Belmont Diadem in Mollymauk's possession."
"When was this?" Echo asked in disbelief.
"When we were in the museum in Iziz and I was trying not to look at the painting of Genna, The Diadem was in a case next to the plinth from which the Mollymauk revealed herself. She was wearing it during her introduction and put it back in the case when she left to speak with Hunter," Tech explained. "I knew I recognized the name when Phee told the story. So I looked it up and it is, along with the Pearl of Novak and the Blade of Zakata Par, listed in the catalog of items belonging to the museum."
"You think Phee's working for her."
"It is a near certainty."
"But what could Mollymauk have sent her to do?" Echo pondered, "keep an eye on Cid?"
"Or to make sure that we are not sharing with Cid all of her secrets." He looked down at the flimzi image in his hand. He had crumpled the corner and he took a moment to straighten it.
They had plenty of secrets of their own.
"Do you think she knows about Genna?"
"Of that I can not speculate."
"Then we should probably make sure that Wrecker and Omega know not to say anything to her either."
"Yes." Tech agreed. "That would be a very good idea."
…
Genna slowly lowered herself into the steaming pool. " Haar'chak! I should have asked you to bring me here a long time ago."
Sloan laughed. "Consider yourself officially welcomed to Blackhold."
"Is it like some sort of initiation ritual?" She had had to borrow a bathing suit but she would definitely be shopping for one of her own so that she could make this part of her regular PT routine.
"Nah," he also relaxed. "For that you'd need to access the springs around the other side by the salt gods sanctuary."
"It's part of the religion?"
"Aye. All the wee little babies and new converts get dunked or sprinkled to make them part of the parishional school."
"Sounds a little like how they do things on Manda'yaim, except not with babies. They wait until you're ready to take the creed before you go down to the old mines and bathe in the living waters." She sighed. "My older brothers all did it except for Ret and he would have gone in another year or two if we'd stayed there. And then I suppose I would have gotten my turn, too. We never really had any sort of ceremony to make us Onderonians."
He mumbled something in the affirmative.
"What about you?" She asked curiously. He didn't really seem like the religious sort but he had lived here all his life or so she thought.
Sloan shook his head. "My mother died and Dad didn't see the point and then when my aunt took me in she always said we'd get around to it but she died, too."
He adjusted the patch on his eye and she wondered if there was some sort of significance.
"I believe in the salt gods, attend the sanctuary when I'm in port, or try to anyway." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Thought about going through with it for El. Maybe her family will be more apt to accept us being married if I get dunked."
Genna splashed him, as if that would have a similar effect. "It doesn't make any kriffing difference to her, does it?"
"Nah," he laughed more genuinely and splashed her back. "But her family takes that sort of thing seriously and if we ever had kids…"
He said 'if' but she could tell he really meant 'when'. She wasn't sure if he was referring to when they decided to make their marriage public or when they'd made the galaxy a better place to raise a kid. She'd never given any thought to when she and Tech would be ready for such a thing, if ever.
It obviously wouldn't be any time soon since he was on the other side of the galaxy on some side quest with…
"Who is she?" Genna asked, suddenly changing course on the entire conversation.
He didn't follow. "Who is…"
"That woman Dalla has keeping an eye on Cid?" Her jaw clenched. She knew how the question sounded but she couldn't help being a little jealous. Or maybe more than a little.
He raised an eyebrow, seeming to consider how much of Mollymauk's business he could let her in on. "You mean the pirate."
"Is that what she is?" That pirate had been flirting with her husband, perhaps more than that.
"She…" he chose his words carefully. "Liberates ancient wonders or so she says. They're not the kind of things you can carry around in your pocket or spend to keep food on the table though, Aye?"
Genna nodded, not terribly reassured.
"Well, she needed a fence to convert her finds into credits," he hesitated and then continued. "But she doesn't keep all her earnings for herself. She's not on Dalla's payroll but she's funded some refugee relocation efforts… the sort of thing Mollymauk occasionally likes to dabble in as well. Their purposes sometimes align, especially when it comes to the security of Onderon."
A humanitarian. Great. And someone who might be able to help the boys and Omega earn the credits they needed for their life on the run. While Genna sat here useless and pining for her husband's return.
Maybe Sloan was a mind reader or maybe he just noticed that not all of the moisture on her cheeks was due to the steam.
"Hey." He waited for her to look up, blinking tears from her eyes. "You remember I was the one who drove him to the spaceport before you could fly away so he wouldn't lose you, aye?"
She gave him half a smile and repeated, "aye."
He reached over and chucked her under the chin. "You have nothing to worry about. He's crazy about you!"
"Aye," she said again, batting his hand away.
"And he's not likely to forget about you any time soon." Sloan settled back with a smirk.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because my brilliant wife got a miniature copy of that painting of you and left it for him as a gift when Meg gave her a tour of their ship." The smirk widened into a grin. "She said the two of you were too busy off somewhere kriffing at the time to notice."
Genna's cheeks were already too warm for her to blush and she wouldn't have anyway but she did smile more genuinely, remembering that kriffing was exactly what they had been doing during their oh too short time together.
"I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right and now that we've got that settled…"
"Osik, here it comes," she laughed. "I knew you didn't bring me out here out of the goodness of your heart."
"Huh, and I thought you were supposed to be the Mando mercenary."
"What is it?"
He ran a hand through his wet hair with a sigh. "It's just, I got something for El. I wanted a female opinion about it and maybe when and how I should give it to her?"
"And your sister's opinion wouldn't be sufficient?" She knew he and Dalla were as close as siblings. Kind of how she felt about Echo and Wrecker and Meg and yes even Hunter.
"Kriff," he scoffed. "Dalla'd probably say it wasn't flashy enough and offer me the Grand Pearl of Novak to give her instead. Besides, your hands are about the same size as El's, Aye? Maybe you could try it on and see if it'll fit her."
"A ring?" Genna surmised. Ellie already had a wedding ring that she wore on a cord around her neck just like Genna wore the one that Tech had said was a gift from Cid and Mollymauk. "Well, I'm sure Ellie will love whatever you've picked out for her but I'd be glad to take a look and offer what advice I can."
Genna glanced up at the wall where a chrono was displayed next to a posted list of rules for usage of the pool. There was an occupancy limit - thankfully she and Sloan had had the place to themselves - and a warning to consult a doctor if one was elderly or pregnant or had heart disease or some other serious illness. She wondered if recent spinal surgery was a caution but her physical therapist had practically recommended she visit the spring so she thought it was probably alright.
Then she noticed the time limit of fifteen standard minutes. "Guess we could probably go take a look now since I think we've overstayed our welcome."
He had to turn to look over his shoulder. There was no one waiting in line for them to get out but it was as good a reason as any. "Aye. It's, uh, in my bag up at Dalla's place."
Genna smiled that he referred to the Blackwell castle as Dalla's place. "Well, it looks like you're going my way."
…
Twenty standard minutes later after getting dressed in the changing room and a freezing cold walk back to the castle from the spring, Sloan and Genna found an empty sitting room where he could show her the gift he had procured for his wife.
"Thanks for doing this for me." He held out the small box which she opened and gasped at the sight of the contents.
"It's beautiful!" She took the ring out gently and slipped it onto her finger. It was a little tight. Maybe her hands were a little swollen from the drastic changes in temperature between the hot spring and the walk out of doors, but she was sure it would fit Ellie. She held up her hand to show him with a grin.
Sloan leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek and then they heard a squeal from the hallway.
"Osik!" He swore!
Genna fought to get the ring off as quickly as possible but it proved to be stuck fast. "Come off you kriffing…" she grumbled until the thing suddenly became dislodged and went flying through the air landing at the feet of none other than the Mollymauk herself.
Dalla picked it up; her little niece Lana beside her exclaiming, "See I told you!"
"It's not what you think," Sloan assured her.
"Oh, I know it's not." Dalla smirked. "But not everyone is going to believe it."
Yes, Dear Reader, this author has rather shamelessly stolen the 'trying on the ring' scene from the second season of Bridgerton. The distracting scandals of the Ton have provided a bit of a balm after the tragic events which the season finale brought to our own dear clones. I do assure you that I have outlined the rest of this story and will hopefully be able to produce chapters to go along with each episode in a more expeditious fashion.
However, my co-authoress and I have recently considered exploring a new and exciting alternate universe that would place some of our most beloved Clone Wars characters into a Regency like marriage market situation. If you, dear reader, should like us to pursue this avenue please drop us a line in the comment section. Or if you would just like to grieve (or theorize) about our current set of characters I would also encourage you to make your thoughts known as this author is of course not too timid to share.
