Title: Forces of Gravity
Author: ViariSkywalker
Timeframe: 55 ABY
Characters: Allana Djo Solo, Darth Festus (OC), Darth Ferrus (OC), Geridan Ames (OC)
Genre: AU, drama, introspection, dark romance, unrequited love, angst, action, vignette, one-shot

Summary: No matter how hard you fight it, gravity always wins.
(Or, Allana Djo is supposed to protect a guy, and Darth Festus is supposed to kill him. This is probably not going to end well.)

Notes: This is my response to OTP Challenge #19. I had to include these two typical romcom elements: a “dare” and someone's “ex”. Set in the same AU timeline as Where the Waves Shatter and What If This Storm Ends?, as well as other fics under the cut. The title comes from the song “Astronomical” by Svrcina.

Spoiler: Related stories

When did I get so prolific?

Enter the Foreign – An AU set in 51 ABY, in which Anakin Skywalker winds up in the future, meets his grandkids (including Ben Skywalker and Allana Djo Solo), and gets involved in their struggle against Darth Krayt’s Sith Empire. (in-progress; epic-length; stars several ECs and a lot of OCs)

The Lands of the Dead – 8 years before the events of EtF, the Starskip twins are captured by the Sith and must fight to survive. (Set over a 6-year period, from 43-49 ABY; short story, approx. 13,500 words)

Here There Be Monsters – During his Sith training, fourteen-year-old Dorian Starskip encounters monsters on Korriban, including a disgraced Sith Lord who was once a Jedi. (Set during the events of TLotD, 47 ABY, vignette)

HK-47 and the Super Evil Chaos Twins of Evil – Darth Ferrus asks his brother to buy a maintenance droid for their ship, but Darth Festus has a slightly different idea. (52-53 ABY; vignette; humor/crack!fic)

Where the Waves Shatter – 3 years after EtF, Darth Festus has his long-awaited rematch with Allana Djo. (vignette, 54 ABY)

What If This Storm Ends? – Five times Darth Festus definitely wasn't in love with a Jedi princess, and one time she definitely wasn't in love with him. (Set over an 18-year period, from 43-61 ABY; one-shot)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Wars. Just playing in my own little AU corner of the GFFA, don’t mind me.

Thanks and *hugs* forever to @Gabri_Jade for being an incredibly encouraging friend and beta.


~~

Forces of Gravity


The pair of Sith Lords stands on top of a rocky hillside, a vast wasteland of scrap metal and barren earth at their backs and Ord Mantell’s bustling capital city stretched out before them. These Sith are human brothers – twins, in fact. They aren’t identical, but they share the same dark brown hair and pale blue eyes, and in poor lighting it would be easy to confuse one for the other. The shorter of the two holds a pair of macrobinoculars to his eyes, watching with interest as a small starship descends toward a landing pad far below them. His brother – broad-shouldered and not quite a head taller than him – is looking out at the adjacent coastline, a smug grin twisting his lips as he watches the rolling ocean waves.

“Look,” Darth Ferrus says, nodding toward the water. “It’s a beach.”

Darth Festus lowers the macrobinoculars and turns his head in his brother’s direction, eyes sweeping the debris-lined coast beyond him. He arches an eyebrow at Ferrus. “You’re hilarious.”

“I just figured you like beaches so much, no matter how hellish they are—”

“Are you seriously still going on about that?” Festus laughs under his breath and raises the binocs. “I made one comment. You’re really never going to let it go?”

“Nope, never. I have to take what I can get with you.”

Festus laughs again. “Fair enough.” Through the lenses, he sees a man descend the open ramp of the docked starship. Young and human, with dark skin and black hair and a lightsaber bouncing against his hip. Familiar, too. Festus squints a little, trying to place him.

Right. Now he recognizes him.

“Looks like your guy was right about the Jedi being called in,” Festus says, glancing over at his twin.

“Someone we know?”

He can’t help smirking a little. “One of your old friends.”

Ferrus gives him a withering stare.

“Your little sidekick from way back, whatshisname. Ames.” He passes the macrobinoculars to his brother. “Hey, didn’t he beat the hell out of you on Vjun?”

“Hey, let’s talk about all the ways we nearly died that day. How about when that one Jedi tossed you across the room like a ragdoll, then nearly throttled you to death? Wasn’t that fun?” Ferrus rolls his eyes and turns his attention to the binocs. He adjusts the settings, then lets out a faint chuckle. “Wow, speaking of which…”

Festus looks back and forth between his twin and the distant landing pad. “What?”

Ferrus hands him the binocs. “Look who else is here.”

Festus takes the binocs and raises them to his eyes – and then he sees her.

She’s got her eyes glued to the datapad in her hand, sidestepping piles of droid and starship parts as she makes her way to the edge of the landing pad. With her copper-colored hair pulled back in a loose braid and draped over one shoulder, she looks pretty much the same as she did the last time he saw her. A bit less windswept and waterlogged, sure, but still just as—

Yeah, he tells himself, don’t need to finish that thought.

He knows his brother is waiting for a reaction. He can feel Ferrus’s dark amusement – along with a hint of his typical irritation – licking at the edges of his thoughts, blending uncomfortably through their twin bond with Festus’s sudden anticipation. He holds the binocs still, watching Allana Djo as she walks next to her Jedi companion. Her male Jedi companion. Tall, good-looking, keeps stealing furtive glances at her whenever she looks the other way…

Not that he cares.

He’s pretty sure he never liked Geridan Ames.

He hands the macrobinoculars off to his brother again without looking. “I guess we both get a challenge today.”

“That’s it?”

Festus shrugs. “We’ve got a job to do, don’t we? I’ll take out the target and deal with Her Royal Jediness, and you can go get some payback for Vjun.” He reaches for the duffel bag at his feet and opens it, examining the blaster rifle inside. “Was this really necessary?” he says, glancing up at his twin.

“You never know. Could be useful.” Ferrus takes the bag from him and slings it over his shoulder. “How long before the target arrives?”

Festus digs his chrono out of his pocket and glances at it. “Twenty minutes. Plenty of time.”

They begin their trek down the hillside, taking a winding path toward the landing pad to avoid being seen. About three-quarters of the way there, they duck behind a rocky outcropping, assessing the situation on the landing pad.

“They’re still waiting,” Festus says, looking for any sign that the Jedi have picked up on their presence.

“Just the two of them, huh?” Ferrus clears his throat and waits a second before continuing. “You think they’re together, together?”

“I think I’ll defer to your expert opinion on that one, brother.”

Ferrus nudges him hard in the shoulder. “I dare you to ask her.”

Festus rolls his shoulders and stretches his neck, first one way, then the other. “Please. You call that a dare? I could do that in my sleep.”

“I bet you could,” Ferrus says in a sly tone. He pauses just long enough to let the comment settle awkwardly between them. “Fine, I dare you to fight her with one hand behind your back.”

“Your estimation of my skill is truly flattering. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to get me killed.”

His brother crosses his arms over his chest and smirks. “Then I dare you to tell her how much you’ve missed her.”

Festus returns the smirk with one of his own and laughs. “I dare you to not be the idiot who gets knocked unconscious during your little rematch.”

“I dare you to kiss her.”

Whatever clever retort he might have been planning, it’s gone now, swept away by Ferrus’s words. His eyes snap up to meet his twin’s icy gaze, and he feels suddenly warm – feverish, almost. “What?” he says.

Ferrus’s voice lowers to a growl as he leans in close. “You heard me.”

—weak, weak, weak, weak—

Without thinking about it, without even meaning to, he pulls back from their bond, reaching for the mental wall he has built up over the years—

“Don’t even think about it,” Ferrus says through clenched teeth, grabbing him by the front of his jacket. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t shut me out when we’ve got a job to do.” He shakes his head and lets out a dark laugh. “You think I haven’t already seen? How stupid do you think I am, brother? I’ve been in your head enough times to know exactly what you’re thinking.”

Festus glares up at him. “I doubt that.”

“Don’t be an idiot. You know we work better when we’re connected. And if we’re going up against two Jedi, we’ll need that connection, more than ever.” His brother lets go of him and takes a step back. “So get your head on straight.” Ferrus nods abruptly in the direction of the landing pad. “Looks like the target’s approaching. You ready or what?”

Festus inhales slowly, then exhales, allowing the feverish heat to flow through him, mingling with the fury his brother’s words incite. He lets every emotion and sensation travel across the cord that binds him to his twin, feeling Ferrus’s noise and judgment and brutality as together they become an ever-looping conduit of pain. It’s not a perfect circle; there are still places where they each deflect the other, still things they never allow one another to see. Festus is aware that his hidden depths far outweigh his brother’s, a fact which Ferrus will always resent. But resentment feeds the dark side, and the dark is all they need now.

Instruments of rage and violence and deceit, he thinks.

—the slayer and the trickster, complementary opposites, which are you anyway, which are you—

He unhooks his lightsaber from his belt, looks up at his twin, and smiles. “After you, brother.”


~~


That, Allana Djo thinks, was one of the most uncomfortable trips I’ve ever been on.

She glances up from her datapad at the young man standing near her. They haven’t exchanged more than a few cordial words since they left the enclave, and now the weight of his silence is beginning to press in on her.

She knows she doesn’t have any right to complain, not when she’s the one who ended things between them. But before they were ever a couple, Geridan Ames was one of her closest friends, and it hurts that now they behave more like strangers around each other than people who’ve known each other for a decade.

Why in the worlds Ben thought it was a good idea to pair them up for this mission, she will never understand.

“I still think it’s a bad idea to do this so far out from the city center,” she says, breaking the silence.

Geridan looks back at her and inhales deep. “Maybe. But these witness relocation officers are professionals, and they know the procedures better than we do.” He turns and surveys the landscape. “If this is how they want to do it, best to go along with it.”

Allana follows his gaze, examining the terrain around the landing pad. On approach to coastal Worlport, she’d seen the famous Scraplands extending endlessly toward the northern horizon, just beyond the decently large and rocky hill she is facing now. Their landing platform is nestled at the base of that hill, with one side of it jutting out into open air, promising a sheer and lethal drop to the ocean below. There are plenty of places to hide on that hill, she thinks, and nowhere to retreat to quickly besides their ship, should someone try to ambush them.

It’s fine, she tells herself. Everything is going to be fine.

“Do you know why they requested us?” she asks, holding up the datapad. “I didn’t see anything about it in the file.”

Geridan shifts uncomfortably, and she can’t tell if it’s because he doesn’t want to talk to her, or if he’s worried, too. “Maybe they know something we don’t.”

“Like what?”

He looks at her again. “Like about whoever’s hunting this guy. Someone more dangerous than a local crime boss, I’ll bet. Maybe they need a little Jedi backup.”

She presses her lips together and nods. It’s fine, she tells herself again. You’re a Jedi Knight, remember?

About ten minutes later, she hears a light engine whine and turns to see a small, open-cockpit shuttle approaching from the south. She allows herself a moment to wonder at the stupidity of transporting a valuable criminal informant in an open-cockpit anything before walking over the meet the shuttle.

Geridan bows his head toward the officers escorting their charge, a thin, older Sullustan man with loose gray skin and the round black eyes typical of his species. “I’m Geridan Ames,” he says gracefully, “and this is Allana Djo. We’re here on behalf of the Jedi Council.”

One of the officers, a human woman, nods in response. “Thank you for coming.” She reaches back to pull the Sullustan forward. “Best to get this one on your ship—”

The shot is still ringing out when the officer falls to the ground, a smoking hole in the center of her blue uniform. Allana’s hand is already reaching for her lightsaber, activating it in time to deflect another shot aimed at the Sullustan’s head, but not quick enough to stop the shot that kills the other officer. Everything goes quiet for a moment, but she can sense something lurking at the edges of her awareness, a murky presence, something foreign yet familiar—

“Watch out!” she yells as a dark blur emerges from behind their ship.

Geridan spins around, weapon igniting in time to deflect a blow from their attacker’s crimson lightsaber. Darth Ferrus doesn’t even pause as he barrels right into Geridan, pushing him back and away from her. She makes a move to go to him when she hears the deep hum of another saber activating behind her.

“You’re just going to run off without saying hello?” she hears a familiar voice say. Her heart pounds as she turns to face him.

Darth Festus stands less than two meters away, lightsaber drawn at his side, pale blue eyes boring into her with eerie intensity. He cocks his head to one side and arches one dark eyebrow. “That’s not very nice of you, Princess.”

Allana brings her weapon up between them, her throat suddenly dry. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been flat on his back on the beach of Kordros, pummeled relentlessly by the surf. She’d scaled the nearby cliff as quickly as she could to get away, pausing for only a moment at the top to see whether he’d managed to break free of the waves. But the tide was violent that day, and it dragged at him, giving her time to escape. She can only imagine how furious that must have made him.

The look he gives her is almost admonishing. “Nothing? I’ll be honest, Allana, I’m a little hurt.” He spreads his arms at his sides and smiles, bowing his head slightly. “Your move.”

For a brief, ridiculous moment, she considers telling him that she doesn’t want to fight, as if that could somehow sway him. As if he could possibly give a damn that she’d intervened for him, once. She’d wondered back then if she might regret her decision one day. Deep down, she knows it was the only one she could possibly make – the only one that was right, regardless of whose side the two of them were on or which code they each chose to follow. Still, it’s a little hard to argue the merits of mercy when facing down a crazed Sith Lord who still wants her dead.

He’s watching her closely, a peculiar smile quirking his lips. “Tell you what,” he says, lowering his weapon a fraction. “Give him to me, and I’ll leave you alone.”

Her eyes go wide. “What?”

He shrugs, clearly thinking he’s proposed something entirely reasonable. “Hand the guy over, and I’ll leave.”

She backs up a step, and he moves forward an equal distance. “I can’t do that,” she says, extending her arms on either side of her to block the Sullustan man.

Festus shakes his head. “So stubborn.” He takes another step toward her, but she can’t move back without tripping over the man she’s supposed to defend. She stretches out with her senses, looking for Geridan, but he’s already too far away to help. Ferrus has driven him across the platform, trapping him against the base of the hill. Festus nods in their direction. “Don’t worry about your boyfriend, I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”

Allana adjusts her stance, raising her lightsaber up to her shoulder. “I beat you before,” she says, “so don’t go thinking this will be easy.”

The cocky grin falters for a second, so quick she’s not sure if she imagined it. “Like I said, Princess: your move.”

She lunges forward, swinging from her shoulder, and he brings his saber up from his hip to meet it. Behind her, she feels the Sullustan’s terror as he runs for cover. Festus drives her back several steps from the force of his blows, and she wonders a bit absently if he’s gotten stronger since the last time they fought.

Doesn’t matter, she tells herself, gritting her teeth. What’s Ben always telling her? It doesn’t matter how small she is or how powerful her opponents are; there’s nothing anyone can throw at her that she can’t knock down.

“You know,” Festus says as their sabers clash again, “I’ve kinda missed this. Just you and me.”

She sweeps her blade low, aiming for his legs. He counters quickly, and their weapons lock in place for a moment. She looks up at him, and he smiles back at her, the sort of smile that makes her feel like a tiny creature caught in a serpent’s gaze.

Then he withdraws his left hand from his lightsaber hilt and tucks his arm behind his back.

She doesn’t wait for an explanation or a taunt or whatever the hell else he has planned. She snaps her wrists up and to the side, forcing his saber in a wide arc. He recovers quickly, but with only one hand, his blocks are weaker, less controlled. They turn in a slow circle, lunging and parrying, blocking and evading, his movements growing increasingly dramatic even as hers become more focused.

Then, her moment finally comes.

She’s always suspected – somewhere way down deep, where she hardly dares to examine it closely – that he let her win on Kordros, or that something had stopped him from striking a killing blow when he had the chance. At first she was elated to have bested him, but later, when she played the fight over in her mind, she saw the weakness he should have exploited, and it gnawed at her.

Not today. Today, she’s going to beat him for real. Even if he is stupidly fighting with one arm behind his back, she’s going to knock him down and show him she’s not afraid anymore.

Their blades meet again, cerulean and crimson beams hissing as they vie for dominance. She pushes her arms toward the sky with all her strength, and then, with his center exposed, she draws her left hand from her weapon and plants it on his chest. His eyes snap to hers in surprise as she pushes with the full weight of the Force behind her, hitting him with a wave of energy. He crashes to the ground, and she flicks his lightsaber away with her own, sending it flying off to the side of the platform.

She holds her saber over him, watching out of the corner of her eye as the Sullustan man peeks out from behind a cargo crate. Festus stares up at her in a sort of shocked amusement that she finds annoying but not at all surprising.

“Get to the ship,” she says to the Sullustan without looking over. Her eyes are still on her opponent, not quite trusting that he doesn’t have some other trick up his sleeve. Strangely, his eyes widen just a little, and she feels the slightest tremor shudder across her senses.

Then she hears Geridan scream out her name, and she realizes that the tremor in the Force is a shot ringing out, and why did it never occur to her that a Sith Lord might use a lightsaber and a blaster rifle at the same time? That thought takes only an instant, but blaster bolts are quick, sometimes quicker than Jedi reflexes can defend against, especially when the Jedi in question is distracted.

She barely has time to react when something strikes the back of her ankles like a ramming rod. As her legs sweep out from under her and she falls backward, the laser from the blaster rifle singes her cheek; and then she lands hard on the ground, the impact forcing the air from her lungs. Before she can process what happened, before Geridan has even finished calling out her name, Festus is on top of her, pinning her down. His left hand locks around both of her wrists, holding them to the ground just above her head. He stretches his right arm out at his side, and his lightsaber flies into his hand, activating on contact.

“You’re not trying to take the easy way out, are you?” he says with a growl.

She doesn’t know what possesses her to answer when she should probably be scared half out of her mind, but she breathes in deep and glares up at him. “Never,” she says, trying to ignore the blistering pain across her cheek.

His eyes leave hers for a moment, examining her face, lingering over her injury. “That’s a nasty burn, Princess. Might want to get some bacta for that.”

Her eyes are drawn to the red-white core of his lightsaber, thrumming dangerously close to her head. “I’ll get right on it,” she says, swallowing hard. “Maybe you should let me go.”

She sees him working his jaw as he stares down at her. “You know I can’t do that,” he says in a low voice, his head dipping close to hers; and she thinks suddenly how wrong it is for his eyes to be so very, very blue.

“Worth a try,” she whispers back.

He looks like he’s about to respond when his head jerks to the side, and he snaps his lightsaber up to defend himself. Geridan’s emerald blade crashes against it, sending it flying; and then her friend kicks Festus square in the chest, knocking him off of her. Before the Sith Lord can retrieve his weapon, Geridan hits him with a blast of energy so powerful, it sends him tumbling over the edge of the platform.

Allana blinks as Geridan looks down at her, holding out a hand.

“Come on, we’ve gotta go!”

She grabs his hand and lets him pull her to her feet. As the world stops spinning, she looks around for the Sullustan man, only to find him sprawled facedown near the ship. Her heart sinks as she realizes it’s too late for him.

Their more immediate concern is the pair of Sith Lords that wants to murder them. Allana’s eyes sweep the platform, lingering for a moment on the edge overlooking the drop to the ocean below. She turns and continues her search, finally spotting Ferrus’s crumpled form next to a shipping crate at the opposite end of the landing pad. “Dead?” she says, breathless.

Geridan retrieves her lightsaber, pausing to look over at the body of the man they’d failed to protect. “Doubt it,” he says, pressing the saber into her hand. “Think I just knocked him out. We need to go, before they regroup.”

She senses it then, a rush of animal rage far below them, desperate to claw its way back up to the landing platform. She shivers at the feeling before turning to follow Geridan back to the ship.


~~


He reaches the platform just as the Jedi starship disappears above the clouds. Breathing a bit harder than usual from the effort of the climb, Festus stares up at the fading ion trail left in its wake. So close, he thinks. He’s not even sure anymore what he was so close to, but he knows that he was.

He searches the landing pad and the nearby hillside for any sign of his brother. Eventually he spots him, lying unconscious next to a rusting cargo container at the base of the hill. Festus makes his way over there, wondering how long it’ll be before his twin wakes.

He leans against the crate and stares down at Ferrus, crumpled and bruised and pathetic. There’s a part of him that really wants to kick his brother in the ribs as hard as he can. Maybe more than once. Instead, he sits down next to him and waits.

About fifteen minutes later, Ferrus stirs. It’s another couple of minutes before he’s able to drag himself upright, holding his head in his hands. There’s no blood on his face, although there are plenty of bruises beginning to form. He lets out a long groan, then turns his head in Festus’s direction. “The Jedi?”

Festus shakes his head, and he feels his anger surge. “We had a plan. I was supposed to take care of the target and the princess. You were supposed to take care of her boyfriend.”

His brother’s eyes narrow. “Plans change.”

Rage unfurls in his chest. “You bastard—”

“I’m sorry,” Ferrus says with an indignant sneer. “Is there some unwritten rule that says you’re the only one of us who gets to kill people?”

“I was handling it.”

“Yeah? Well, this time you were too slow, brother. You must’ve been distracted.”

He stares into his twin’s angry blue eyes, feels his own fury rise to match. “You—”

“I wasn’t aiming for her, you idiot.”

Festus lets out a heavy breath, something twisting in his gut. “Like I’d care if you were. We had a plan.”

Ferrus stares back at him. “And I had a shot, so I took it. Not my fault my aim is terrible.”

“That’s completely your fault.”

“Oh, come on, when exactly did we learn about blasters on Korriban?”

Festus breathes in and out, slowly, and the rage settles. He studies his brother for a moment, looking him up and down. “So. You got knocked unconscious again.”

Instead of blowing up at him, Ferrus just nods. “Guess we both lost, huh?”

Before he can stop himself, Festus lets out a sigh. “Yeah.” After a few more seconds of silence, he shrugs. “You killed the guy, at least. Even if the Jedi did take the body.”

Next to him, his brother throws his head back and groans. “There goes our payment.”

Festus shrugs again. “It was worth it, to see their faces when they failed so miserably.”

Ferrus presses a hand to the back of his head. “Maybe for you. I think I have a concussion.” He lowers his hand and shifts slightly. “So… did you kiss her?”

“Don’t be stupid.” The words are meant as a rebuke, but they lack any real force. He tilts his head back against the crate and stares up at the sky. “Like I was ever going to go along with one of your ridiculous dares.”


~~


Once the ship enters hyperspace and leaves Ord Mantell far behind, Geridan finally turns to her.

“Are you okay?”

Allana meets his gaze and notes the deep concern behind his brown eyes, and she thinks how strange it is that just a few months ago she probably would have been in his arms by now. How does that happen? One day everything is a certain way, and then suddenly it’s not, and everything is skewed, and—

She sighs and offers him a tight smile. “I’ll live.”

His eyes drift to the burn on her cheek, and for a second she thinks he’s going to reach out to touch her face. That second passes, and he shakes his head. “You could have died.”

She smirks a little and raises one eyebrow at him. “Story of our lives.”

“I’m serious, Allana.”

She blows out a frustrated breath. “What do you want me to say? I know how close it was.”

He closes one hand in a fist and hits it lightly against his thigh. “Look, it’s not a switch that I can just turn off. I accept that you don’t want to be with me anymore, but I can’t stop caring about what happens to you.”

She hates this. She stupidly thought that breaking up meant things could go back to the way they were before, or at least that she wouldn’t have to think about him in the context of their relationship ever again. And it’s not that she doesn’t like him anymore or doesn’t want to be friends. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with him, or with what they had together. Stars, she still doesn’t even know why her feelings changed, and she hates it. She hates it.

“I know,” she says gently. Then she frowns as she notices swelling around his left eye. “Are you okay? Ferrus isn’t exactly a lightweight.”

He lifts a hand to his face. “What, this? This is nothing. I handled him okay.” Geridan shifts in his seat and turns away from her, focusing on the control panel in front of him. “It’s kind of scary how little he’s changed. You’d think becoming a murdering Sith Lord would twist him beyond recognition, but he’s not that different than I remember.”

She can’t help her relief at the change in topic. “You knew him before?”

“Yeah. We used to play together when we were kids.”

She watches him carefully, wondering what else she doesn’t know about that time in his life. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

Geridan looks over at her and shrugs. “It was a long time ago, before the Academy was attacked.”

Allana nods and turns her attention to the brilliant azure swirl of hyperspace. She’d never been to the Jedi Academy on Ossus, but many of her friends had lived there before it was destroyed. She hadn’t given much thought to the fact that Festus and Ferrus must have lived there, too. “I only have a few vague memories of them,” she says. “More like impressions, really. But I remember thinking Ferrus was a jerk. I can’t really picture you being friends with him.”

Geridan blows out a slow breath. “We got into a fight not long after we were taken to the enclave. He punched me in the mouth.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I think I was just laughing at a joke or something funny, and he hauled off and hit me. I guess he was annoyed with me, maybe.”

“That’s weird.”

Another half-hearted shrug. “Yeah. I punched him in the nose, though, so I gave as good as I got at least.”

Allana leans back in her chair and looks down at her hands folded in her lap. She thinks about asking if he’d known Festus, too, but she can feel his lightly simmering frustration – at Ferrus, at their failure to protect the Sullustan man, even in small part with her, despite his claim that he holds no resentment toward her – and she decides not to say anything more.

“Come on,” Geridan says as he stands from his chair. “You should probably get some bacta for that burn.”

She touches her fingers to her cheek, gently tracing over the edges of the burn. “Yeah,” she says quietly. “I’ll get right on it.”


Fin

 

MIIIIIINNNNNNEEEE

 

Excellent response to the challenge for OTP 19.

Superb details of the lightsaber duel and the contest of words and wits!

I feel sad for the derailment of the friendship between Geridan and Allana. She seems mystified at why they broke up even so.

 

Okay, so I should just edit my previous post, but I forgot that and already selected a bunch of quotes and I'm just going to run with the path of least resistance here

These boys, sometimes all warped little Sithlings and sometimes almost ordinary brothers

lololol, my favorite part

...I'm not sure what that says about me

Sure you didn't, Festus...

He's so messed up, Vi

Love this description

Lord Space Byron is a thinker, and since he didn't choose Sithdom, constantly thinking about how trapped he is is not exactly helping his sanity

Vi, I know he loves her, but he sure comes off as super creepy

"Size matters not" for a new generation

This doofus, I swear

Good exchange Neither of them ever really knows what to make of the other, do they?

Very good description! *takes notes, for I am terrible at describing Force stuff*

lolol

Really, that would be a bit freaky

I would not have thought, reading Enter the Foreign way back when, that I would have been interested in reading multiple fics about Ferrus and Festus, but here we are

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked it!

I will say, the breakup is relatively recent, so there’s still a lot of awkwardness on both sides. I think eventually they’ll figure out how to be around each other and be friends again. And honestly, I could see them maybe getting back together at some point. Not saying it would work out any better the second time around, but I could see it happening.

I actually pulled a little bit from my own RL teenage experiences to write Allana’s perspective here. It was a long time ago, but I can still remember what it felt like to go through that sort of breakup.

I will fully admit, though, that at this point in time, Ames is clearly the saner, less murdery choice.



@Gabri_Jade

LOL at your enthusiasm.

It’s that contrast that makes them so fun to write. One minute they’re relatable, the next minute they’re conspiring together to murder people.

It says that Ferrus is your secret fave.



But I do love this part, too. And I sort of imagine that a small part of the reason Ferrus lost to Ames on Vjun was because he was distracted by Festus almost dying, as experienced through their twin bond. So Festus obnoxiously pointing it out makes him a bit salty.

It’s almost impressive, the level of self-deception he resorts to in order to hide from his own feelings.

Vivisection!

I’m the worst.

And geez, Ferrus is so resentful. It’s the worst kept secret between them that Festus has a thing for Allana, but this might be the first time Ferrus’s “teasing” about it has been so pointed, where Festus can’t just shrug it off. It’s probably also the first time Festus has thought about the actual, real world possibility that he could kiss Allana, rather than imagining it as a totally impossible scenario. (Not that he should try to kiss her in this instance, good lord, NO.)

I’m happy to hear it! I wasn’t sure if this would work or even make sense. I find their bond fascinating to work with. It’s so different from what we usually see with the various Force bonds, which are typically portrayed as positive. I feel like there can be positive aspects to Festus and Ferrus’s bond, but there are plenty of negative aspects, too.

It really isn’t good for him. He spends entirely too much time in his own head, but really, what else can he do? His mind saved him, once upon a time, and he was already an introvert to begin with…

Why, thank you!

What do you mean, that’s not supposed to be a compliment?

He does love her – he’s just also a dumpster fire human being who is still trying to protect himself from the truth of what he wants, because admitting to that is admitting weakness, and he can't ever be weak, can he?

Also, Allana should definitely run far away. I mean, that’s a given, right?

Indeed! (And also a reference to a chapter of EtF that I have yet to post. *muttermutter* chapter 17, probably *more muttering*)

He’s such an idiot.

To write their interactions is to constantly be walking that tightrope, as we’ve discussed before. I’m glad the exchange worked!

Aw, I’m glad you think so! I always second guess my descriptions of Force stuff, so it's good to hear when I've done something well.

It’s certainly interesting to think about. Ferrus’s strengths – as well as his worst tendencies – were ones that the Sith prized, so of course those attributes were encouraged. And as much as we’re used to the over-the-top evil Sith Lords in SW, in reality people are usually more complex, and they often don’t change nearly as much as we like to pretend that they do. I wanted to explore that with Ferrus, the kind of everyday awfulness that can become evil when it’s left unchecked.

And when you consider how Ames has beaten Ferrus into unconsciousness not once, but twice now… just saying, that’s not the most Jedi-like behavior; and I think if Ames were to look into a warped mirror of reality, his reflection might resemble Ferrus more than a little. Which also has to be a bit freaky.

Babe, I never imagined I’d be writing multiple fics about these two idiots, or that I would love them as much as I do. They were just a couple of fun-to-write/creepy secondary characters who were most likely going to die by the end of EtF. It’s crazy how a few small, seemingly insignificant decisions that I made years ago ended up creating a domino effect that has produced arguably the best writing I’ve ever done. (Not to mention the angstiest stories I’ve ever told. )

As always, thank you for all your feedback and encouragement! You're the best!

 

@Mira_Jade

Oh my gosh, this ended up being so long.

Aw, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And what more can I ask for as a writer than to see my little fic have this kind of impact?

I’m honestly finding a lot of songs that work well for this pairing, but yep, I’ve listened to this one quite a bit recently.

I get so much enjoyment out of the interactions between these two. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite parts of writing these stories. And since Festus is the one who usually gets the better of his brother, it’s fun to write those moments where Ferrus triumphs, even if it is a small, petty victory.

This is such a perfect description of Allana, and it’s definitely how I see her! Gosh, she has so many incredible women in her family… and men, too, really! And the thing is, she’s aware of how amazing the people in her family are/were, but she doesn’t really feel that she’s on their level, at least not yet. I’ve loved fleshing out her character in this little ‘verse of mine.

And ha! Festus definitely wouldn’t admit to it out loud at this point, but yeah, he does.

Right?? It entertained me to no end writing it, lol.

He’s such a dork.

And the Force works in mysterious ways…

Ferrus is just taking advantage of this situation as much as he can. Geez, these two. I can’t even.

Not gonna lie, I was really proud of the way I worked the whole dare thing into the story, and it honestly fit perfectly with how their relationship works. How are they so normal sometimes, ugh?!

This. And it really is one of my favorite things about writing them, that emotional whiplash you get from their interactions. Mercurial is a perfect description of them both. I always say Festus shows more outward restraint while having the more volatile temper, but Ferrus really does swing pretty wildly from one extreme to the other when pushed. They’re a mess.

I’m so glad you liked that description! I think it’s the first time I’ve really tried to describe how their bond works at this point in their lives, after they’ve fallen into and lived in the dark for years. So I’m happy that it came across the way I imagine it. Space magic, am I right?

I have to believe it’s sort of awkward for them to be connected when it comes to those kinds of feelings. It’s little wonder that Festus hides behind his mental wall when he thinks of Allana, because that’s a vulnerability that he doesn’t want known. But he can’t hide it all the time, because as you said, he and his twin work better together, so when they’re working a job, that mental wall comes down so that they can operate more efficiently. When they were part of the One Sith, I imagine they were connected more often than not, because Festus had the security of his master’s presence to fall back on. But now that’s gone, and he reverts more and more to the coping mechanism he developed during his youth. At this point, about 4 years on from EtF – and especially after the events of WtWS – he’s increasingly closed off, which really irritates Ferrus. And then even just a few years later, Festus keeps that wall up most of the time, even when he and Ferrus are working together; so you can imagine the resentment that must build up inside Ferrus over that.

Oh, this. I have so many feelings. I know I haven’t focused on Ferrus nearly as much as I have on Festus, but really? Ferrus is probably nearly as damaged as Festus, even if it’s not quite as obvious and presents in different ways. In writing these stories, I’ve come to realize some things about Ferrus that I wasn’t expecting, and it’s been really interesting to explore those aspects of his character. You’ve really hit the nail directly on the head here – these are some of the exact thoughts I had recently as I tried to dig into his psychology. Imagine being connected to someone for your whole life, and suddenly having that connection severed? And even once he realized Dorian was still alive, Veeran never knew why his brother was shutting him out. Dorian never explained it to him. (Understandable, poor kid was dealing with a lot.) And I think the only explanation Veeran could think of was that his brother resented him, because he was the reason Dorian was tortured day after day, and even before that, he was the reason they were being transferred to another enclave… in the ship that was intercepted by the Sith. When he finally confronted Dorian about that in TLotD, Dorian didn’t deny it – which was just Dorian being sullen and angry in that moment, even if there was some truth to it. So even though they eventually repaired their bond and moved forward, they did so without talking about all of these issues, so this is all still very much in the back of Ferrus’s mind.

And now I might be starting to ramble.

Another perfect summation: a complicated, thorny mess. It breaks my heart, but I also love writing it. (And I am seriously going to need to write an AU where Dorian and Veeran are Jedi, because I have been so, so cruel to them in this world. )

I’m glad this came across as realistic! I love both of these characters, and I didn’t want either side to be “wrong”… just like in life, sometimes things don’t work out the way we want or plan, and it’s not anyone’s fault.

I can’t even with him, he’s a disaster. I want to shake him and say “that’s not how you get girls to like you!”

I still love that scene so much – is it any wonder that I keep finding ways to reference it? The beach and the waves and the wildness of it all…

The more I write these stories, the more I realize just how pivotal that day was for both Festus and Allana.

I can’t quite express just how happy this comment made me.

Also, I was writing this vig at the same time that I was working on chapter 17 of EtF, and Ben’s words to Allana here stem from something that was said in that chapter. I love doing stuff like that.

Nope, didn’t enjoy it at all…

I mean, come on, how else is a lovestruck Sith Lord supposed to flirt?

And now if you go back to WITSE and read the section that takes place a year later, in 56 ABY, you can see how this type of banter between them has progressed even more.

I’m really glad I ended up writing this part from Allana’s POV, and I’m so glad you liked it! I love her so much.

This idiot.

I mean, his brother did dare him to fight Allana with one arm behind his back… and there were some other things Ferrus dared him to do… In a way, he kind of did the first three, so maybe this was Festus getting a bit reckless, thinking about that last dare…

Like I said, this idiot.

I don’t know what you’re talking about…

I wouldn’t say they never had it.

Okay, honestly, this is one of those things that came up in EtF that I look back on with mild embarrassment and would probably handle differently were I to go back and edit those earlier chapters. When I introduced Festus and Ferrus, I had the actor Cillian Murphy in mind, probably because of how creepy he was in Batman Begins, but probably also because of the movie Red Eye, where I think he is even scarier. But anyway, that man has some intense blue eyes, and I guess I just latched onto that aspect for Festus and Ferrus. And I plain forgot about the whole Sith yellow eye thing when I was writing the chapter where they first showed up. I also didn’t want to get rid of the creepy blue eyes, so I went with “well, they can change them at will” because that was sort of canon? I think? Obviously Palpatine did it, and the RotS novelization has Vader switching back to his “Anakin Skywalker face” or something like that. And I even included a scene where Festus and Ferrus actually discuss which of those eye colors are creepier… *facepalm* Anyway, when you do get to that part of EtF, now you’ll know why I wrote it that way, and hopefully you won’t cringe too hard.

All this to say, they have both had the “Sith eyes” in the past, but I don’t think they do now because, even though they are dark, they’re not constantly tapping into the full power of the dark side like they were with the One Sith? I don’t know if it makes sense, but that’s my explanation. And that’s not to say that either of them couldn’t go all Sithy and yellow-eyed later on…

Aw, thanks! Festus is an intense guy, so I have to write to match.

IDIOTS.

Why are they so hilarious this way?

I’m pretty mean to her, too.

Ames is a good guy. I imagine he and Ferrus were pretty close before the Jedi Academy was attacked, and then after that Ferrus started acting out, picking fights and bullying and just generally being a little jerk. There’s another reason for that change that I haven’t alluded to yet – a small detail that I may mention in a later fic, if it makes sense to do so. Nothing huge, but it adds another layer to the tragedy of it all.

I kinda want to print this whole paragraph out and tuck it into my notebook so I can read it whenever I want, because it’s just so good.

I really have had to play it subtle with these two, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. The whole “bad boy/good girl” thing has been done so many times, and very often done poorly. But it’s a hugely popular trope for a reason, and I still find myself intrigued by some of those pairings – particularly that “beauty and the beast” subset – when done well. There is a certain other relationship dynamic I think I enjoy most in the couples I ship, but it’s not really evident here, not yet anyway… and I’m probably getting a bit ahead of myself now.

I love that you pointed out that sort of fascination one might have for a destructive force of nature… that’s really what Dorian ended up becoming, isn’t it? It was either that, or be killed. And even though Allana would never be attracted to the ugliness and monstrosity in Festus, she might find herself curious about him because she remembers at least a little about the good person he used to be. How did that person become this monster? Allana has already grappled with questions like these when it comes to her father and his fall to the dark side, so I think it makes sense that it would be something she’d think about.

And poor Festus. He tries so hard not to feel anything for her, (again, weakness,) but he’s pretty obviously losing that battle. It’s still all twisted up inside of him and nowhere near healthy, but you’re right about that pull between them. They keep finding themselves in each other’s orbits over the years, and eventually one or both of them will have to question why that is.

Ah, what might have been in another life… another question one or both of them may ask themselves, someday.

I know this type of pairing is a delicate, tightrope balancing act, so I’m always happy to hear if I’ve managed that balance well. As for those very select few circumstances you mentioned… we’ll see! I do enjoy happy endings, but I fully admit and appreciate that some stories are almost inevitably bound for tragedy.

It made total sense, and you were not rambling at all! (And even if you were, I wouldn’t complain, because I’m doing the same! ) I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my little ‘verse, and I look forward to sharing more stories in it soon!

 

I can "hear" any number of the bits of dialogue from Vader, Snoke, Palpatine, etc. in this description ...

They seem to have an excellent working relationship with the twin bond magnifying their midichlorians' effect, or something *hazy theory, hah!*

Word.

Ah me.

It's a tough life lesson to learn, Allana.

Excellent action writing and I like the angsty sense of Allana and Geridan's relationship, "broken but still good" to quote another franchise.

 

@pronker

Even though they’re technically no longer with the One Sith, the twins still have a lot of Sithy tendencies.

That’s my take on it, that the twin bond allows them to feed off of each other’s strengths and coordinate in battle more effectively. When they’re on the same page, it works great! But Festus is prone to cutting himself off from the bond without warning, which really irritates Ferrus.

Those realizations can definitely be hard ones.

Thank you very much! I’m always critical of my action writing, so it’s good to know when I’ve done it well. Allana and Geridan will be awkward around each other for a little while, but they’re still friends, and they’ll figure it out. Thanks so much for reading!

 

Fantastic response to the challenge!

They may be Sith but they're still siblings.

And wow! The way you wrote Allana and Festus' fight was incredible. The physical action, the emotional intensity - just really amazing writing there.

And then, poor Allana! So many conflicting feelings for her, and the awkwardness between her and Geridan feels so real and relatable. Geridan seems like a good guy, though, so I hope they can move past it and be good friends again someday.

Beautiful writing, and again, a wonderful response for this challenge!

 

I really liked this story! And I love the Sith brothers, they seem really interesting.

 

@amidalachick

I’m not sure I’ll ever get tired of writing these two. Sibling dynamics are one of my favorite things, and adding a dark side angle somehow makes it even better.

Thank you so much! I’ll be honest, their fight gave me the most trouble of anything in this vig; I can handle emotional intensity for days, but I always second-guess my fight scenes, so this is great to hear!

I definitely drew from some actual experience when I wrote the fallout of Allana and Geridan’s breakup. I remember having a lot of confusing emotions about someone I was so sure I loved, but being fairly young at the time, I didn’t understand nearly as much about relationships as I thought I did. So if Allana and Geridan feel real and relatable, that’s probably why!

Geridan really is a good guy, and I think they’ll eventually figure out how to be relatively normal around each other and be friends again.

Aw! Again, thank you so much for reading and replying!



@Destiny975

Thanks! I’m glad you like my ridiculous Sith twins. They’re hands down my favorite OCs, and they’re so much fun to write. (Clearly, since I have like six spin-off stories that feature them. ) Thanks so much for reading!