Norg Bral

*Telarial gives Faelan a single nod in thanks when he takes her duffel bag into the house. Her eyes remained dull and rather bleak as she trudged across the living room. When Faelan asked if she was hungry, her face became a blank mask and she responded, almost in a mechanical fashion.*

"I'm not hungry. Thanks anyway."

*She went immediately to the living room couch and lowered herself down on one of the soft seats and reclined against a plush cushion. Her eyes closed and she feigned sleep after resting a hand across her bandaged ribs. She wasn't quite sure if Faelan would buy it. Telarial internally cursed when a twinge of pain shot through her thigh, causing her to grimace.*

*Telarial took the mug and held it in her hand. She stared down into the steaming liquid and caught a brief glimpse of her reflection. She looked like a wreck. Telarial glanced up at Faelan and released a heavy sigh. The young Mandalorian feigned sipping it, if only to ease Faelan's troubled mind and his worry for her and set the mug down on the caf table in front of her.*

"Thanks Faelan. But I'm fine..."

*Telarial knew that her declaration sounded weak, even for her and avoided Faelan's gaze.*

Nodding with a grunt when Telarial insists that she is fine, Faelan looks as conflicted as he feels; for he is torn between taking a firmer hand and tone with Telarial, and continuing to tread easily in light of what she has been through. When it occurs to him that he may be treating Telarial differently than he would have treated his sons due to her gender, Faelan chides himself for being a fool as well as biased, and loses the sense of timidity he had exhibited earlier as he points to the cup Telarial had set down and says, "Pirur, ad'ika," his tone making it clear he is not asking a question, but expects to be obeyed.

Grateful for the distraction Raine's question provides, and so concerned for Telarial and how best he can care for her that he has not yet picked up on the fact that Raine's mood had altered dramatically when he had innocently recalled a name from Lorcan's past, Faelan picks up his cup and laughs as he says, "Oh, just one of Lorcan's past flin . . , female friends. Still oblivious, Faelan chuckles with a shake of his head after taking a drink of shig, explaining as though proud of having thought so quickly on his feet, When you described your mother I remembered Caitria because she not only had red hair, blue eyes, and freckles, but was also, er, with Lorcan around the right time that your age would be right if she had . . . waving a hand rather than spell things out further, the idea still seeming merely a part of a joke he, Raine, and Telarial had played on his younger brother, Faelan laughs and waggles a finger at Raine as he says, Joking that Caitria was your mother's name was a nice touch."

Grunting when Telarial pats the couch beside her, the gruffness of the nonverbal response all but entirely undone by the undeniable happiness in his expression, Faelan, as unable to deny Telarial so simple a request as he is moved that she has already come to trust him so much despite what he sees as his failure to have protected her from all that she was made to suffer in the past day, moves to his ad's side, putting an arm around her shoulders to give her a gentle, comforting hug.

"Udes ad'ika," Faelan says softly, hoping that the shig will do its work and afford Telarial relief from her pain long enough for the painkillers he tasked Raicheal with picking up arrive.

*Raine shook her head at Faelans response.* "But it wasn't a joke. That was her name." *She frowned and stared back into her mug. Now that Telarial had fallen asleep, she had to keep her excitement and noise level to a minimum. Which was hard because this was a big deal in her mind.*

*Raine let out a sigh and began to think on how to describe her mother.* "She looks like what I told you. Red-haired, freckles and green eyes. She was from Corellia, but met my father on Mandalore, they didn't get married until a year after I was born." *Then she remembered something. Jumping from her chair, she sprinted to her room. She began to dig through her stuff until she found what she was after. As quickly as she left, she returned. In her hand was a small holidisc. Lifting it up to show Faelan before activating it. An image appeared in front of them, one of a three year old Raine and her parents. Her physical features were strikingly similar to her mother's. Her father, however, seemed to hold no resemblance to Raine whatsoever. He had bright blonde hair and blue eyes. A color Raine didn't inherit it seemed. Rather, she had dark reddish brown hair and gray eyes.* "See? That's my mom and that's....I guess..my dad. Or that's what I called him anyway. I don't really look like him, do I?"

*Raine straightened some when Faelan mentioned that there was a way to find out. Deactivating the holodisc, she stepped closer. She spoke in a low voice, almost finding it difficult to keep her excitement down.* "How?"

"Well, Faelan begins, tugging at an earlobe as he considers how detailed an answer Raine might be looking for before choosing his next words.  In the simplest terms, genetic testing.  A sample of your blood would be compared with Lorcan's to see if you are biologically parent and child.  If Lorcan is your father, then your STR profile would contain DNA fragments that could be matched with his. Waving a hand to keep himself from getting into too much detail, Faelan, to do what he can to spare Raine any disappointment that getting her hopes up for one answer or another, cautions Raine gently, I would be sure, however, Raine, that you really want to know the answer to the question, and understand why you are even asking it at all, before approaching Lorcan to try and convince him to take the test. You don't know what is on the other side of the door the question opens, and once the door is opened you cannot close it again."