denial river inbox;

[kanyounot]

"This is Kanan. Leave a messag -"

[ A child's voice comes on the line. ]

"Daddy's busy he's a TAUNTAUN!"

"What he said. I'll get back to you."

Comments

[kanyounot]

[ OH BOY NOW WHAT DOES HE WANT ]

Let me guess, it's a new weapons program. I'm not interested, Thrawn.

[archisstic]

Close.

Imperial controlled programs are being dissolved, obviously. Benefits for wounded soldiers of the Empire including their pensions or financial support for surviving family members is being phased out.

Not maliciously, and said programs were never well-defined to begin with, but it is slipping through the cracks.

[kanyounot]

[ WHY IS HE LIKE THIS

WHY CAN'T HE JUST BE EVIL AND SINISTER AND WANT TO BUILD WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

There's a long pause before Kanan responds and honestly he just has to put this out there: ]

What makes you think I'd support such a thing?

[ You know, aside from the fact that he... would... ]

[archisstic]

[ He is vast and contains multitudes. Only most of said parts are completely awful. ]

You served in the Clone Wars, did you not? Since the early years many of the Empire's forces were bolstered by those impoverished from the war.

Does a Jedi not serve to see an end to such injustice? Or should they suffer because they were on the wrong side like so many Separatist worlds. Or even your own the Old Republic left behind.

[kanyounot]

You know my record.

[ Of course he does. ]

I did serve in the Clone Wars. And I saw what happened to others who did. How the Empire left them behind, like so many others.

[ He hates agreeing with Thrawn SO MUCH. But. He has a higher calling than such pettiness. ]

You're right, the New Republic can and should do better. Fine. I'll support you. And I'll talk to Hera about it.

[archisstic]

What little could be recovered.

[ The frustration in Kanan's voice practically made the comm connection go static. He was furious, but he would do the right thing. Jedi were like that. ]

Good. Her history might make this difficult, but I will speak to Ackbar as well. The more Alliance affiliated voice attached to this legitimizes the proposal.

[kanyounot]

Changing my name was shockingly effective in the chaos at the end of the war.

[ Hah haaaah. ]

I can convince her. This is important.

Most of the people who were part of the Empire were deceived at best, coerced at worst.

[archisstic]

I was not aware you had changed you name. By virtue of being a surviving Jedi I merely assumed you served. So thank you for the clarification.

And your support.

[ huehuehue ]

[kanyounot]

Are you ever not a smug bastard?

[ He hates you. So much. ]

Don't get used to it, is all I'm saying. And I'm not telling you my real name.

[archisstic]

Only when I'm not working.

[ He's indifferent. ]

Nothing would be gained from prying in your past. I would sooner need to know your name then you would be able to pronounce my own.

[kanyounot]

[ They make a game of it. Trying to pronounce his full name in the most ridiculous ways they can think of. It almost makes Kanan smile a little. ]

Do you ever do something just because you want to? I mean... really.

[archisstic]

[ When he finds out - hellfire. ]

I have a life outside all this, yes. [ He totally has other hobbies that aren't picking people apart. ]

[kanyounot]

Oh right, like stealing other people's art for your collection.

[archisstic]

Returned or destroyed. You're not going to get very far by airing your grievances with me.

I hope you have better things to do than trying to get a reaction out of me.

[kanyounot]

Not right now, Jace is napping and Hera's in meetings for the rest of the day. So I've got like an hour now to remind you about the time your buddies tortured my wife when she was pregnant with our son.

[ Fun, right?! ]

[archisstic]

Knowledge she possessed and I did not. [ Oh, sure not his best moment but he's not letting Kanan have that. ] Something she has much right to hold contempt for me.

Yet, here we are.

Mara will be up in thirty. Anything else?

[kanyounot]

And she definitely holds a lot of contempt for you.

[ He always gets to hear exactly how much, after Hera's had to spend time with the guy. ]

I'm just saying you're lucky I was in a coma for a while and that Ezra took you on that deep space adventure with the purgils - how did you like that, by the way? I heard there were tentacles involved.

[archisstic]

Again, you're not telling me anything I don't already know.

[ The walls are still pretty thin, he has a pretty good idea. ]

More eventful than being comatose.

[kanyounot]

Still mad about your pet project getting wrecked. I mean, you had to have already known by then that the Empire was stuffed full of incompetents more interested in advancing their own status than actually playing the long game. Pryce would've blown up so much more than that fuel depot for the chance to kill a Jedi.

[archisstic]

That "pet project" being revisited thanks to the efforts of myself and Syndulla? [ Swing an' a miss! ] I understand you're still a little heated about what transpired at the fuel depot.

Still, you must not have much else to do if trying to get a rise out of me is all that seems to occupy your time.

[kanyounot]

Yeah but this time it's not going to oppress and kill innocent people. Thrawn, sometimes a guy just has to shit talk. You can at least try to play along.

[archisstic]

Oh? Well, forgive the confusion. I wasn't aware this was anything less than-

[ Thrawn cuts himself off. When he speaks again, his voice is lower with the tension of something straining to hear something beneath background noise. ]

Quiet, do you hear-

[ It was almost imperceptible, but there the faintest sound that was unmistakably a muffled cry. Followed by the slightly louder thud of something heavy being thrown against a wall from another room. ]

Mara. [ Thrawn was indecipherable as ever, but there was an undeniable strain in that single word. ]

[kanyounot]

[ Kanan, on his end, goes very still. He doesn't hear anything immediately - but he can sense it. A turmoil, a - disturbance. ]

I'm on my way.

[ All differences put aside immediately for the sake of the child's safety and well-being. ]

action:

[archisstic]

[ Kanan had the door code along with Hera. Any other situation would have strongly dissuade one from handing over a former enemy literally an open opportunity. This was far removed from 'any other situation.'

The entrance into the apartment broke off into a high-ceiling room at the end of a short hall. Thrawn was there waiting, with Mara, on one of the long couches of the circular receiving room. ]

Nightmares had hunted Mara since she had been found on that derelict ship. Kanan wouldn't need to see to hear the way she panted; out of breath and coming down off hyperventilation. Half-moon skin breaks dotted Thrawn's wrist where she gripped him vice-like through the worst of. For the blind, it carried through the clipped tension in Thrawn's voice. ]

They aren't getting worse, but they aren't getting better.

[ Mara shivered from the tight ball she curled into in his lap, staring out at nothing but face tense. For once seeming to commit to the role of caregiver, Thrawn was running a hand in smalls circles along her back. ]

Have a care, she is known to get...claustrophobic.

action:

[kanyounot]

[ Kanan moves easily enough with his cane - orienting himself is not difficult, not after years of blindness. Of having to rely on his other senses to get him around.

He's kneeling at their side in a moment, not touching Mara, but holding out his hand. ]

Mara. Brave one. If you want to take my hand, I'll try to help you. Do you trust me?