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]

[ Kanan rests a hand gently on Mara's back, catching his breath himself. ]

Just the residual influence of a Sith Lord.

[ He worries for the child. Not because he thinks she's dangerous - because he's afraid she'll never feel comfortable in her own skin. He will hopefully teach her to control that inner darkness, keep it from consuming her, but will she ever believe herself free of it? ]

[archisstic]

[ Blinking, Thrawn shook his head in disbelief. Not a reaction most could coax out of him. ]

"Just the residual influence of a Sith Lord." [ He echoes back, not sure if he was missing some crucial context where it concerned the Force. Or Kanan was just being flippant in the face of dire circumstances and this was his default approach to such things. Wonderful.

Mara bit her lip to stifle a whimper, but she was evening out along with Kanan. Pushing to her knees and slowly making her way back to the couch. Feeling boneless as her little body climbed on, nearly collapsing. ]

That doesn't explain Endor. [ Thrawn said, frowning. ]

[kanyounot]

[ Oh, he's definitely being flippant. It's a long-ingrained reaction on Kanan's part. ]

No, it doesn't. Something... something about Endor is set to trigger a -

[ A kill switch. Kanan should just say it, but honestly? He's not sure what Thrawn would do with that information, no matter how much he cares about Mara. ]

[archisstic]

[ Ice seemed to fill the room in a cold snap that came sharp on the heels of his expression set in a stolid anger. ]

Mara, go to your room. [ Thrawn said. Which Mara predictability reacted to with all thunder and indignant fury. Almost as if she could scowl a hole through his head. Until he lowered, holding out his arms, which she weakly fell into.

Carrying her to her room and careful to set the lock before reemerging. ]

Kill switch. [ He said, almost bored. ]

Just say it.

[kanyounot]

[ Kanan sighs, and lets himself scowl fully once Mara is out of the room. ]

Nothing you didn't already know, in other words. No, I don't know who. It - she - he - kicked me out before I could find that out. I'll have to keep working with her, but she may never be able to fully undo the programming.

[archisstic]

I suspected [ Thrawn placed an emphasis on the word that came out in a slight hiss. Kanan was invaluable in all this, but their history had even Thrawn tense and given to irritation. ] Given her nightmares and your choice of the word 'trigger' it confirmed as much.

There may not even be a target and this is some offshoot of Palpatine's Cinder contingency. [ Sinking into the couch, Thrawn then sounded a little aged; frayed around the edges. ] If word of this leaked she could be in danger from all sides.

[kanyounot]

There's definitely at least one specific person.

[ He just didn't get far enough to get a name. ]

She's already in danger from all sides. It's on us not to compound it. To protect her where we can. She deserves as normal a life as we can give her.