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‘Serah’, Alex had come to learn, was a respectful form of address among the lasat, often given to parental figures and respected elders. Of course, Alex had only learned of this after making an utter fool of himself responding to the title with a confused Ah sorry, my name is actually Alexsandr, much to the amusement of Chava and her friends.
Nowadays, ‘Serah’ was practically his title, a chant repeated over and over by the excitable young kits he taught, and today was no different. He prepared his lesson for the day as the kits hopped eagerly around his feet, chirping and tugging energetically at his pant legs, careful of his bad leg. They jostled each other as they vied for his attention, playful and eager with their fur already grass-stained and wild.
“Serah Kallus, Serah Kallus, I made soup for you all by myself!” Naz eagerly held a covered bowl out to him, her big green eyes bright and hopeful. Her soup was almost certainly going to be inedible, but Alex could never bear to put a damper on her culinary dreams.
“Oh how kind of you.” he smiled, taking the bowl with grateful care, earning himself a blinding grin, “Thank you very much, this will go excellently with mine and Zeb’s dinner.”
“Serah Kallus, Serah Kallus, I finally beat Vodima in a fight!” Kerzen knocked Naz impatiently aside, puffing his chest out with pride in a transparent bid for his teacher’s approval, “I used the trick you taught me and I knocked her to the ground and she had to admit defeat!”
“Excellent work, Zen.” Alex praised, transferring the soup to one hand so he could pat Zen’s fluffy head with the other, earning a happy little purr, “Keep it up and you’ll be Honor Guard in no time.”
“Serah Kallus, Serah Kallus, I ate a bug!” Kas looked so proud of herself, clinging to his good leg and grinning to show off her sharpening teeth. Alex blinked as he set the soup down on a table.
“Oh, how-you should-get checked for parasites.” he fumbled his words, “Kas, you’re too old to be eating things off the ground, it’s unsanitary and dangerous.”
“But Serah.” she whined, and Alex raised an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, is that a whine I’m hearing?”
“…No?” Her ears flattened against her head, chastised.
“Glad to hear it.” he nodded, “Go brush your teeth and hurry back.” She pouted, but bumped her forehead into his thigh before scurrying off to obey. Alex turned to finish setting up, only to be stopped by a tiny tug on his pant leg.
“S-Serah…” he looked down to see little Garek standing timidly before him, hands clasped behind his back and ears flat against his head. Garek was the smallest of the kits, often pushed around by the others during play fights and ignored at playground games. He was a delightfully sweet kit, but so intensely shy that it physically pained Alex to see at times.
“Garek, good morning.” he smiled encouragingly, “Something I can do for you?”
“I-I…” he said nervously, shifting from foot to foot as he unclasped his hands, revealing a bundle of flowers clutched in his grasp, “I-I picked these for you!” He thrust the flowers forward, bowing his head as if to hide his face, but the fluffed up fur on the back of his neck gave away how nervous he was. The flowers were a mix of bright blue and sunny yellow, vaguely round in shape and soft to the touch with petals forming perfect circles. Alex was absolutely charmed, and he accepted them with a grateful smile.
“Garek, how darling.” he laughed quietly at how shy the little thing was, bringing the flowers to his face to inhale softly, “They smell very… um…”
“Very…?” Garek wrung his hands nervously, and Alex didn’t want to admit he couldn’t really place the scent beyond ‘musky’ and ‘weird’. It was likely a very pleasing scent to lasats, but to Alex it smelled like a stuffy combination of dirt and vinegar.
“I will be honest with you, these straight up smell like spiders.” he laughed to show he wasn’t upset, and Garek seemed to relax a little, just in time for Kas to leap onto his back with a playful growl.
“What’s a spider?” she asked eagerly as Garek yelped, Alex leaving them to their wrestling in favor of setting the flowers down somewhere safe.
“Tiny skittering insects with many eyes and many legs, frightful little things.” he explained, only realizing his mistake when Garek made a distressed noise.
“Frightful!?” His voice was high and upset, and Alex hurried to correct himself.
“What I meant to say is that… Humans tend to find them… evolutionarily vexing.” he put it as delicately as he could, “A matter of the human brain being hardwired to react to things that skitter.”
“You’re using big words again.” Zen huffed, “I hate when grown ups use big words.”
“Then you’ll hate today’s lesson.” Alex grinned, “Everyone settle down, it’s time for class.” The children groaned, but dutifully plodded to their seats with only minimal chatter.
The lesson started off well, the children eager to learn and full of questions, but as it went on Alex began to feel funny, like there was a pressure building in the front of his head. He absently pinched the bridge of his nose to try and alleviate it, but it only grew worse. He powered through the lesson, being as subtle as he could about the slowly growing discomfort, but he must not have been as subtle as he’d thought because the kits flocked around him as soon as the lesson ended, each looking up at him with expressions of concern.
“Serah Kallus?” Kas was the first to speak, “Are you okay? Your face is all pink and pinchy, is your leg hurting?”
“I’m fine, dear heart.” he gave a smile, making a visible effort to smooth out any tension lines he’d unconsciously formed, “Just a bit of a headache today.” He wondered if Garazeb had any painkillers he could nab once the lesson was over.
Speaking of Zeb. The children started to grin, and Alex was just about to ask what was up when large furry arms wrapped around him from behind, the children laughing brightly at the way he jumped with a shriek.
“Garazeb!” he scowled, leaning back into his chest despite himself, “You snuck up on me.”
“S’not an easy thing to do.” Zeb mumbled, nuzzling playfully at his throat, “You alright?”
“Fine.” he reached up to scritch behind his ears, earning a happy little purr, “Just a headache.”
“Kits driving you mad?” Zeb smirked, warm against him. Maybe a little too warm. It was a mild day out, but Alex was starting to sweat under his light shirt. The kits had lost interest in them and started to play, rolling around in the grass and practicing their growling, Naz sneezing at the tickle of grass against her nose.
“On the contrary, they’re delightfully eager to learn about the comparison of Lira San speeders against galactic ones and their evolution outside of Wild Space.” he replied with a fond shake of his head, “They even asked me to show them how to drive a Coruscanti one.”
“Only ‘cause they’ve never gotten in a speeder with you.” Zeb teased, pulling back to turn Alex around with gentle hands on his hips, the movement making the world spin a little more than it probably should have, “You Coruscantis drive like drunk ewoks on Life Day, even Ezra said he’d rather fight Vader naked with a cheese grater than drive three blocks with you.”
“We’re not bad drivers, everyone else is simply cowardly and will not survive natural selection.” he shook his head to clear it, only succeeding in making himself even more dizzy, “And you know, Han Solo himself refuses to get in a speeder with me to this very day, so I consider that a victory.”
“You met Han Solo?” Naz’s voice came unexpectedly from his left, and Alex startled again, earning a concerned look from Zeb, “The Han Solo?”
“I… I did.” he frowned slightly as the kit launched into an enthusiastic diatribe about how Solo was her hero and idol, but Alex was bothered by the fact that he’d been snuck up on twice in succession, one being a kit no less. He couldn’t be losing his edge, could he? He couldn’t afford to become complacent, that was the easiest way to get a blaster shot in the back. His coworkers were ruthless, the Empire merciless, he couldn’t…
No… No, he wasn’t Imperial anymore, hadn’t been for years. He was… He was…
Naz kept talking, but it was beginning to dawn on Alex that something was very wrong. He tried to focus, to deduce what the issue was, but clarity slipped through his fingers like sand no matter how he tried, and the beginnings of fear began to tickle at the back of his mind. He could barely think through the pressure in his head, how was he supposed to go about his duties like this? Surely the medical bay would be able to discreetly slip him something to dull the pain, just a little, just enough that he could think-
“Alex?” a low rumble at his ear, a large hand brushing his hair away from his face, making him jump, “You don’t look so good, what’s wrong?”
“I-I’m fine, I….” he shook his head again, and the world tilted, making him stumble slightly into whoever was holding him, “I’m fine to work, I just-I need a moment, I-I’m-“
“Serah Kallus?” a voice asked, sounding worried. Kallus didn’t recognize it, but it sounded young, “Serah Kallus, are you okay?” Kallus tried to blink his vision back into focus, trying to stand to attention. Weakness, he couldn’t show weakness, not here. The Empire didn’t tolerate weakness.
“You…” he mumbled, trying and failing to blink vision back into focus, finally managing to make out a face looking over him, purple and feline and far too close, “Garazeb… Orrelios…?” What was the rebel doing here? The lasat? Why was he touching Kallus so casually, how dare he?
“Sasha?” Alex yanked himself away from the lasat’s grasp, baring his teeth in a vicious snarl at the diminutive. How did the rebel know his name? How dare he call him so familiarly?
“Don’t…. Don’t touch me…” he stumbled back, fumbling for his blaster, cursing as his hand found only soft fabric, “Rebel s-scum-“
“Sasha!?” Orrelios sounded alarmed now, stepping forward to grasp at his shoulder with a large paw. Kallus wrenched himself away, but his legs didn’t seem to want to cooperate with him, giving out the moment he tried to take a step. He crashed gracelessly to the ground, grunting as his right leg protested with a sharp lance of pain. Had the rebel injured him without him realizing? It would explain the pain growing in his head, tight and burning and throbbing hard enough to make his eyes hurt.
“Serah!” Something small and furry clambered onto his chest, a furry gray face coming into his swimming vision, pale and striped with yellow eyes so bright they burned. He couldn’t see any flames, but the smell of smoke and burning meat flooded his senses, strong enough to make him nauseous. The creature above him reached for his face, clawed hands curved like talons. Where was… Right. He was on Onderon, the mission had gone sour, and his men were lying sprawled all around him. He must have hit his head, and now the lasat that had killed his men was here to strike while Kallus lay dazed and vulnerable, that filthy mangy honorless animal-
“Get away from me!” he managed to lift a trembling hand to swing weakly at the monster’s face, feeling flesh give under his fist, “Monster! Beast!” The lasat reared back with a yowl shriller than one would expect, and Kallus’ hands were instantly restrained, pinned to the grass in an unrelenting grip by hands much larger and stronger than his own.
“Alexsandr!” he didn’t recognize the voice, but it sounded panicked, frantic, “Someone tend to Garek! Naz, go get the doctor! Sasha, angel, listen to me, you’re safe! I’m here, it’s Zeb, your Zeb, I’m here, I’ve got you, love. I have you, I have you, Sasha-“
“Poshyel k chyertu!” he snarled, squeezing his eyes shut against the pressure in his head.
“Tell me what’s wrong, angel, tell me what hurts, please please, Ashla don’t do this, not him, not him-“ The words quickly became nonsense to Alex, as if spoken in a language he couldn’t understand. He struggled against whoever was holding him down, but his body didn’t seem all too interested in obeying him.
“Vidp… usty…” he gasped, the pain in his head reaching a peak he hadn’t thought possible, the world spinning so fast he felt sick. Where was he? Where was Mother, his brothers? Why was it so hot, Coruscant was never this hot, what was wrong, something was wrong and he was little and scared-
“Help him! Help him, please-“ The pain sharpened abruptly, whiting out his vision, and for a moment his world was nothing but white hot pain and the frantic cries of that unknown voice. Then darkness rushed to greet him, and he felt nothing at all.
—-
When Alex opened his eyes again, his body was light with the artificial floating sensation that came with heavy painkillers. The tender light and gentle breeze let him know he was in the medical pavilion, propped up on soft white sheets and feeling rather small in the lasat-sized bed as the breeze stirred errant strands of hair hanging limply in his face. A glance out the large windows showed him it was twilight, the sunset casting the pavilion in a soft orange glow, illuminating the gauzy curtains and stone pillars, as well as the welcome sight of his Garazeb at his bedside, fast asleep and looking utterly wrung out. His head was pillowed on Alex’s shoulder, warm through his thin shirt, with his arm wrapped lightly around Alex’s middle, pulling him close as he dared. He was snoring quietly, breath warming Alex’s neck as he blinked slowly, taking everything in as he realized he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here.
“Serah Kallus…?” Garek’s quivering voice snagged his attention, and he dragged his gaze down to find the little kit snuggled up to his other side, clutching his shirt and peering up at him with bloodshot eyes and a wobbly lip.
“…Garek?” his voice cracked painfully, and Alex winced as the kit flinched, “Why am I… What happened, dear heart?” At the endearment, the kit’s eyes began to fill with tears, heartbreaking little whines escaping his throat as his shoulders began to shake, much to Alex’s alarm.
“I’m sorry.” his voice was wobbly, cracking as the tears streaked down his face, “I’m sorry, Serah Kallus, I’m really really sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m s-so sorry, sorry, s-sorry, sorry, sorry-“ Garek’s words devolved into sobbing, tiny shoulders trembling harshly as he buried his face into Alex’s stomach, gut-wrenching sobs broken by shuddering gasps of sorry. Weakly, Kallus maneuvered his arm to slide around the distraught kit, protective and secure despite the shakiness of his limbs.
“What do you have to apologize for?” he murmured, doing his best to stroke soothingly up and down his back, “Silly thing, whatever it was, I’m sure I won’t blame you.”
“I-It was my-my fault!” he gasped, pressing his face into Alex’s stomach as if to bury himself in his scent, and Alex was starkly reminded of the fact that the kit didn’t have a father, didn’t have parents at all. No one to comfort him besides the matrons of the orphanage.
“How do you mean?” he asked gently, but the kit only cried harder, sobbing too hard to answer. Alex feared he’d make himself sick, but his attempts to comfort him only seemed to be making it worse.
“The flowers.” Alex jumped at Zeb’s rough voice, turning his head to see the man awake and watching them with an unidentifiable expression on his face, lined with a deep-set sort of heaviness that hadn’t been there this morning, a heaviness Alex ached to erase.
“What?” he asked hoarsely, “What flowers?”
“The flowers Garek gave you.” Zeb explained, looking… haunted, “They had some kinda spore in them. Turns out it doesn’t get along with the human body. When you inhaled them, they got past your blood-brain barrier and fucked around in your brain. Your immune system responded. Violently.”
“I don’t…” Alex processed the information carefully, wracking his memory for any trace of what Zeb was telling him. As far as he could tell, he’d been giving his lesson, developed a minor headache, and then woke up in the medical pavilion, “I was talking about… speeders. And then…”
“You c-collapsed.” Garek whispered through shuddering breaths, the poor thing sounding wretched, “It was really scary, Serah Kallus. You started acting weird and scary a-and you hit me and then you just… y-you just started seizing. Your eyes were all half-open, and your back was arched so tightly I-I thought it’d break, a-and you were convulsing and making these a-awful noises and we thought... we thought…” He was working himself up into a state again, and Alex stroked his head with a quiet shhh, wishing he could purr like a lasat, to comfort him the way he deserved. His mind stuck on a specific sentence, a cold feeling spreading through his chest as the words you hit me repeated in his head.
“I hit you?” he asked quietly, his voice carefully blank, and Zeb squeezed his hand reassuringly.
“Not badly.” he assured him, “You were weak as a kitten, only managed to knock him in the eye a little.”
“I…. I hit him-“
“He’s fine.” Zeb said gently, “No lasting injuries, not even a black eye, see? He’s more concerned about you than anything. Hasn’t left your side since you collapsed.”
“The matrons-“
“Are aware that you were impaired and not aware of where you were.” Zeb said firmly, “They trust you, they know you’d never hurt any of the kits.”
“I’m so sorry, Garek.” Alex said remorsefully, squeezing the kit as comfortingly as he could, “I swear I would never lay a hand on you were I in my right mind.”
“I know.” Garek shuffled up to nuzzle his face, scenting him like one would a family member, “I’m not mad, Serah Kallus. It was my fault, I gave you those flowers and hurt you, I deserved-“
“Garek.” Zeb said a touch sharply, and Garek burrowed into Alex’s throat with an apologetic little whine. Alex tilted his head curiously, but Zeb shook his head. Later.
“It was an accident.” Garek amended, voice muffled, “It was a terrible accident that w… wasn’t my fault.”
“Of course it wasn’t your fault.” Alex murmured softly, stroking his ears, “It was a very sweet gesture, you had no way of knowing what would happen. I’m more at fault than you are, I should have known better than to stick my face in an alien plant.”
“You got that right.” Zeb tried to sound light, but it was clear he was too shaken. Alex squeezed his hand, trying to say without words that everything was alright.
“Did I…” he started carefully, “Are the other children….?”
“They’re unharmed.” Zeb reassured him, “You didn’t touch them, I restrained you as soon as you lashed out at Garek.”
“Oh thank goodness.” he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, “They’re home safe?”
“They wanted to stay here with you, wait for you to wake up.” Zeb gave a weak little smile, seeming distracted. Disquieted, “They were right nightmares about it. But the doctors shooed ‘em out, said they could visit once you were awake and cleared.”
“But… Garek?” he gestured to the clingy little kit with a questioning look.
“Garek was a… He was given special permission.” Zeb said hesitantly, “Since he ah…. played a role in what happened, and he wasn’t really taking it well. I certainly wasn’t in a state to argue.”
“Serah Orrelios was really scared.” Garek whispered, and Alex knew it must have been bad when Zeb didn’t even deny it, only nodding his agreement.
“More than scared.” Zeb murmured quietly, “Your nose was bleeding, you were rambling, not making any sense. You sounded imperial again. Then you just…” He trailed off, ears flattened back, face pinched in a way that made Alex ache to smooth the tension away.
“Serah?” Garek’s voice drew his attention, and he gave the kit a small smile.
“Yes, dear heart?”
“What does ‘rebel scum’ mean?” he asked curiously, and Alex’s heart dropped to the floor.
“Where did you hear that?” he asked carefully, and Zeb shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“You said it.” Garek blinked, “Before you started seizing, you were yelling it at Serah Orrelios.” Alex’s breath caught in his throat, horror making his chest squeeze tight.
“I…” Zeb must have seen the look on his face, heard the fear in his voice, because he clasped Alex’s hand in his two larger ones, warm and soft and reassuring.
“Garek, not right now.” Zeb said to Garek, rubbing soothing circles across the back of his hand, “You can ask about it later.”
“No, I-“ Alex took a deep breath, centering himself, pushing down the memories of that time in his life, “It’s alright, Zeb.”
“Are you sure?” Zeb asked worriedly, and Alex nodded.
“He deserves to know.”
“Know what?” Garek asked, blinking those big yellow eyes up at him, and Alex drew courage from his guileless expression, from Zeb’s warm hands on his.
“I used to be… a very bad man.” he started slowly, chuckling when Zeb cleared his throat pointedly, “Alright, alright, a very misguided man. I worked for bad people who got me to do bad things by convincing me that they were actually good things.”
“But you’re a good person.” Garek said innocently, “Good people don’t do bad things.”
“I’m afraid it’s not so simple, dear.” he murmured, “Good people can do terrible things, they just need to justify it to themselves. I did… very bad things, because I believed that I was doing good. The thing is, Garek, that villains rarely believe that they’re the villain. More often than not, the bad guy thinks that he’s the good guy, and that everyone else is bad.”
“And Serah Kallus truly believed that he was making the galaxy a better place, protecting the vulnerable from dangerous terrorists.” Zeb said, “We actually met while we were still enemies on opposite sides of a war.”
“Really?” Garek gaped, eyes wide as he stared at the two of them, “Nu-uh. I can’t imagine you not loving each other! Were you really enemies?”
“We were.” Alex nodded, “He was a hero, fighting against me to protect the people my actions would have harmed. But at the time, I thought he was just a dangerous criminal who needed to be brought to justice. We beat each other up on a regular basis.”
“You beat each other up!?” Garek exclaimed incredulously, “But that’s bad!”
“It is.” Alex chuckled, rubbing his head fondly, “But we were strangers, then. Worse than strangers, we hated each other.”
“But Sera Kallus has a good heart.” Zeb murmured, so achingly fond it almost hurt to hear, “It took me a while to see it, but once I did I knew I had to bring him around to my side, whatever it took.”
“And you did.” Alex smiled softly, turning his head to look into the green eyes he so adored, “I don’t want to think about where I’d be right now if you hadn’t opened my eyes.” Zeb’s lip wobbled slightly, and he lowered his head and cleared his throat.
“Garek.” he said abruptly, “Serah Kallus is probably thirsty after all he’s been through. Do you think you could go and get him some water?” Garek perked up, seeming grateful for something to do and not at all suspicious about the sudden dismissal.
“Yeah!” he exclaimed, giving Alex another quick hug before clambering off the bed, “I’ll run and get some, I won’t be more than five minutes!” and with that, he was off, hurrying down the hall like a man on a mission. Alex gave Zeb an inquisitive look, opening his mouth to ask what that was about, but Zeb’s lips were on his before he could utter so much as a word. Zeb kissed him, gentle as the dawn, his hands coming up to cradle Alex’s head like he was something precious, something to be cherished.
“Sorry, just… needed to be alone with you.” he husked, eyes bright with emotion as they gazed into Alex’s, “Couldn’t take another moment not kissing you.”
“Are you alright, Zeb?” Alex asked, and Zeb’s face did something complicated, flickering through a myriad of expressions before settling on a bitter sort of amusement.
“Am I alright?” he replied wryly, “Your temporal lobe was so swollen and inflamed it was about to implode in your skull, but you’re asking if I’m alright.”
“Oh dear.” Alex blinked, a massive understatement to that tidbit of information, “That bad, was it?”
“Bad doesn’t begin to describe it.” Zeb rumbled, his ears pinned flat against his head, “You almost died. You would have died had the healers not figured out how to reduce the swelling. They weren’t even sure if you were still going to be yourself if you woke, or if the brain damage would be bad enough to kriff you up for life.”
“That must have been frightful for you.” he cupped Zeb’s face, the man leaning into it with a mournful sigh.
“I was terrified, Sasha.” he whispered, the pain in his voice heavy like a physical blow, “I was helpless, I didn’t know what was happening. All of a sudden you didn’t know where you were, you didn’t know when you were. You snarled at me, recoiled from me, fumbled for a blaster you haven’t carried in years and I swear my heart stopped dead in my chest.”
“I don’t remember.” he said remorsefully, reaching up to tug him close, hugging him warm and secure as Zeb wrapped his arms around his waist, gently, like he feared Alex might break, “But I’m alright now. I feel fine. Bit of a headache, sure, and a bit floaty from whatever meds they have me on, but I’m alright. I certainly don’t feel brain damaged.”
“And how would you know?” Zeb mumbled into his throat, nuzzling him in an adorable feline manner.
“Well, I still retain all my memories of my childhood growing up as a mikkian peasant girl in rural Dagobah, and I can see all five of my limbs quite clearly.” he tried to joke, to lighten the mood, but Zeb growled a low warning, “Too soon?”
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll be making all sorts of brain damage jokes later, once you’ve been completely medically cleared.” Zeb pulled back, ears twitching as if hearing something in the distance, “And when Sabine finds Ezra, I’m telling him you sniffed an alien plant that gave you encephalitis so bad you forgot how to speak Common.”
“It’s a fair cop.” Alex sighed as the pattering sound of footsteps finally reached his duller human ears, Garek rounding the corner a moment later with a large pitcher of water that looked dreadfully heavy for him.
“I’m back!” he announced with a grin, hurrying over to set the pitcher down, struggling to lift it onto the side table until Zeb took pity and helped him out, “Are you still feeling okay? Did anything happen while I was away? Does your brain hurt?”
“I’m fine, Garek.” Alex assured him as Zeb poured some water into a cup for him, only to give an offended yip when Garek snatched the cup from his hand to offer it to Alex before Zeb could, “Why thank you, how considerate of you.” His eyes crinkled mirthfully at Zeb, who shook his head with a snort.
“Yeah, how nice of you, kit.” he said sarcastically, causing Garek to wilt slightly until Zeb ruffled his fur to show he wasn’t upset. Alex smiled at them, sipping the water gratefully, feeling drowsiness begin to tug at his bones as even the short bout of consciousness exhausted his still-healing body.
“I feel much better now.” he said, fighting back a yawn, although he was certain Zeb picked up on it, “Although I wonder, Garek, do you not need to get back home?”
“I’m staying with you.” Garek said stubbornly, scooting over to snuggle back into Alex’s side, “The healers and the matrons said I could, as long as you two were okay with it.” He looked at them so hopefully, Alex couldn’t bear to upset the little kit any further, and a glance at Zeb reflected the same sentiment.
“Alright, dear heart.” he ran his fingers over the fur between his ears, earning a happy purrup, “You can stay, but you must keep your voice down, alright? Others may be trying to sleep soon.”
“I’ll be quiet as a mouse droid.” he whispered, miming zipping his lips in a gesture the kits had picked up from Alex.
“Do let me know if you get bored.” Alex chuckled, fighting back another yawn, and Zeb seemed to get an idea.
“I got a cure for that. Kit, you wanna hear the story of how Serah Kallus and I became friends?” Zeb asked, and Garek lit up like a kid on Life Day morning, ears perking up excitedly. He nodded eagerly, eyes shining, and Zeb slid his hand back into Alex’s as he settled in for the tale. Alex settled back into the pillows as twilight made way to night, a nostalgic smile playing at his lips as Zeb began their story in the soft light of the wall sconces.
“It all started with a trap set by some very bad people, people that Serah Kallus was running with at the time, over an icy moon…”