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gayleftistlukeskywalker · 4 years

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the stars pale beside your might ch2

ch1|ch2

words: 5.4k

a/n: whew here we go, setting up plot points. exciting! cw this chapter: slight tw for attempted suicide by a minor character towards the end of the chapter

ao3 link

Din could not remember being put into a bed, in fact he could hardly even remember leaving the throne room bar. Fett’s face swirled in his mind as he sat up in bed, his joints popping into place, eliciting a deep groan. Sunlight filtered through the tiny window near the ceiling of his quarters, particles of dust shimmering in the beams.

None of his armor had been removed, even the weight of his heavy boots were still fixed to his feet. He was used to sleeping with his beskar on, he would peel himself from the small lumpy cot in the Razor Crest to the resistance of stiff, aching muscles. The cot he sat on now, a carved slab of stone which jutted from the wall, was certainly not dissimilar to the one on his old ship. Though usually, when he woke to a pounding in his head, it was because he had taken a few too many hits to his helmet, not because he was hungover.

Din was not one to overindulge, as he did not particularly enjoy the feeling of his defenses being down. The last time he had drunk this much was after his Verd’goten. His buir insisted it was a rite of passage to drink until the sun came up, and a much younger Din had awoken mid-day to a dry mouth, a churning in his stomach, and a hammering behind his eyes.

How long had it been since he had thought about that day? The day his armor was finally awarded to him, fitted like a second skin, and his heart swelled with so much pride he felt he could lasso the sun.

Din’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of raucous laughter echoing down the hall, and all at once his memories came flooding back to the present. Tatooine, with Fett and Shand, Gideon was no doubt in some remote prison hold, and the child was gone. Not gone, he thought, safe.

His gloved hand flew to his belt; the carved metal handle of the darksaber still hung to the leather. His blaster holder was the only thing that had been removed, having been set down on a shabby looking table near the bed. Din grabbed the holder and fixed it to his belt, the weight of the gun a comforting pressure on his side. He ran his hands over the small leather pouch that was tied to his hip, feeling the small metal ball wrapped inside. He tugged it open, bringing the small artifact into the light, and rolled it between his fingers for a moment before tucking it away again. His eyes slid shut as he took in a deep breath, steadying himself against the world.

The throne room was not much brighter during the day, fitting for a bounty hunter’s hub, with all it’s less than savory dealings. Boba was seated upon the throne once again, fully armored, giving an impressive air of intimidation. Before the dais stood two men, engaged in conversation with Fett. Fennec was a fixture at Boba’s side, observing the scene with a neutral expression. Though her face did not betray it, she was no doubt sizing them up, Din thought. Her sharp eyes did not leave their faces. Din had not asked Fett what had happened the day before, though he had some passing idea, if the empty palace was anything to go on. He recalled enough to know he had made an agreement with Fett, though any details discussed were fuzzy in his memory. As Din approached the dais, Fett hushed the men with a wave of his hand. All at once, everyone turned to look at Din, causing his skin to prickle slightly underneath the beskar.

“We’ll return with the shipment in two rotations, then,” said one of the men, his tentacled head turning back to Fett’s attention.

“More or less,” Din replied. He thought about asking Fett how Din had even found a bed to sleep on, but the idea that the man standing before him had helped him drunkenly slump into a cot made him swallow his words.

Fett dismissed them with a gruff, “Good,” and a sharp nod. The pair gave Din another look before heading up the stairs, out into the heat of the sun.

Boba rose from his throne, stepping off the dais and towards Din. “I trust you slept well,” he remarked, casually resting his hands on his hips.

“Good, because I’ve got some work for you.”

“What kind of work?”

“Nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle,” Fett replied easily. “We can discuss it after you’ve cleaned yourself up. Kitchen’s in the back, refresher is down the hall from your quarters,” he said, walking back up onto the dais and seating himself on the throne.

My quarters, Din thought. What had he gotten himself into.

Din was suddenly very aware of the way his clothes clung to his skin, the grit of salt on his face from days of sweat. A shower would do him good. Walking up the stairs and back down the hall, his eyes scanned the interior of the palace. Vague memories started to surface in Din’s mind; hobbling down this same hall, drunkenly slurring to himself. His helmet turned from side to side as he scanned the open doorways of the stone walls as he walked, noting the small bunks, similar to the one he had found himself in this morning. None of them were occupied, but Din noticed the tell-tale signs of a firefight, furniture overturned, dark blaster marks scoring the walls. Perhaps they had always been there, Din thought, trying to push his concerns to the deepest corner of his mind.

The door to the refresher slid open with a hiss, and Din looked up and down the hallway before closing himself in. It wasn’t much, but he was used to even less. The pipes groaned with effort as Din flipped a switch to start the flow of water. Din worked his fingers, stripping himself first of the hard beskar which dropped to the floor with a heavy clunk, then his padding, then finally his clothes and undergarments. He winced slightly at the dark bruises that were blooming on his skin, staining his arms and legs. There was a small mirror fixed to the stone wall near the door, above a stained sink, which jutted from the wall the same way his bed did. His reflection was never something he paid much attention to, reserving that only for when he needed a shave or a haircut. Now though, he found himself staring deeply into his own brown eyes, reflected back through a layer of grime. Dark circles were prominent under his eyes, and fine lines were etched around his eyes and mouth. He sighed, he was getting old.

The warm water that washed over him was a pleasant surprise, soothing the aches that wracked his body. The water on the Razor Crest had always been bone-chillingly cold, no matter how many times he had messed with the wiring to the refresher. It was something that one became accustomed to over time, and the shock of cold had always been good for clearing his head. As he let the water run over his face, his mind was abuzz, trying to piece together the events from the past few days into something more manageable than the clutter that overwhelmed him now. No matter what he had been through in the past, he had always been able to get back up to fight again. There were many times throughout his life where he had thought he had finally met a violent demise, only to be dusted off and thrown back into the fray. This was just another of those times, he rationalized. The dull ache in his chest would fade like his bruises, and become another memory to avoid at night when exhaustion wasn’t strong enough to put him to sleep.

Steam rose from Din’s skin as he turned off the flow of water. Drops of water rolled off his skin and fell audibly to the stone floor, and he pressed a hand against the wall and hung his head to let his hair drip dry. His clothes were in need of a wash, and he longed for the familiarity of his ship, or even his bunker in the covert, as he dressed and snapped his armor back into place. He turned to the mirror again, giving himself a once-over before putting on his helmet. His viewplate display came into focus; despite everything, he still looked the same as he ever had.

Following Fett’s direction, Din managed to find the kitchen on his own. It was surprisingly well outfitted, with enough stock and appliances to service a large group. Despite his nausea-inducing liquid dinner from the night before, Din’s stomach burned with hunger; he couldn’t remember his last proper meal. He was surprised to see a plate of food placed on the kitchen counter, freshly prepared. The smell of it wafting into his helmet made his mouth water, and the growl in his stomach told him not to question the whos or whys behind the plate’s appearance.

He looked towards both the entrances to the kitchen, and, seeing no one, slid his helmet up just enough to expose his mouth. He bit into the meat with relish, and found that it was fresh, and not overly-done. It tasted salty and gamey, bringing forth memories of sitting around a campfire, the smell of smoke and roasting meat in the frigid air. Cold water dripped from the corner of his mouth as he drank hurriedly from a pitcher that had been sitting on the counter; when it was empty, he poured himself another and downed it just as quickly. He licked the remaining grease from his lips, and slid his helmet to cover the lower half of his face.

When he made his way to the anteroom again, Fett and Shand were both leaning against a table engaged in conversation. Fett turned to Din, and ushered him over to join them.

“Find the food ok?” Fett asked with a tilt of his helmet.

“Yes, thank you.”

“That’s it? Go pick up a data stick?”

“Make sure to keep your strength up,” he said, his tone more authoritative than warm.

“Now, let’s talk about the job. What I need you to do is make a run to Cyrkon. I have a contact on Motok who has information for me, you’ll be picking it up and bringing it back to me.”

Fett looked pointedly at Din. “Is that not to your liking, Mand’alor?”

Fennec barely managed to stifle a laugh.

Din sighed, was Fett going to hold that over his head forever?

Boba started again, “Don’t misunderstand, this isn’t going to be some trivial errand. This information broker has been in hiding for years. I was on his tail before-” he cut himself off and cleared his throat, “some time ago, but I haven’t been in contact with him for quite a while. Your job is to hunt him down, and get that information by any means necessary.”

“Should I expect resistance from the target?” Din said, cocking his head.

“I’ll give you the credits to barter with him, but I can’t guarantee it will be a smooth and easy transaction. Fennec will go with you as your lookout.”

Din looked to Fennec, who flashed him a half-smile, seemingly amused.

Boba slid a puck across the table, the holo-display lighting up with the small humanoid figure of a man with horns hanging around his head, his name displayed in Huttese underneath.

“An Iktotchi?” Din asked.

“I told you this wouldn’t be a simple job,” Fett said.

“But if he’s an Iktochi, won’t he know I’m coming?”

“Most likely. But I doubt he has the means to escape off-world. Last I heard, he was working at some cantina in the slum district.” Fett crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Din considered this for a moment, trying to piece together a strategy. In the back of his mind, he had a sneaking suspicion that this was Fett’s way of testing him. His skills, or his trustworthiness, probably both.

“What kind of information am I looking for?”

“That’s on a need-to-know basis. Tell him that you’re looking for information about stargazing on Florrum.”

“Stargazing on Florrum?”

“It’s a codeword. He’ll know what it means.”

Din considered this. This kind of work was, admittedly, a bit out of his scope. Bail skippers and trafficking violations were more his speed, intel-gathering was for spies, not bounty hunters. But, this was the task Fett had set forth for him, as part of their agreement.

“What about a ship?” Din asked, directing his attention back to Fett.

“The Slave I is docked outside,” he said coolly, as if the answer had been obvious. “Any other questions?”

“Not that I can think of,” Din said, exasperation leaking into his voice.

“Good.” Boba pulled a sachet from his dark robes and pushed it into Din’s gloved hands. The metallic clink was familiar to Din, Republic credits.

“I’ll be waiting for your return,” Fett said as he turned to walk down the hallway. “Good hunting,” he called out before disappearing from view.

“I’m driving,” Fennec declared, and grabbed her rifle from where it was leaning against the table before turning and walking towards the light filtering through the entrance.

Din did not find discomfort in silence, in fact he often preferred it to trying to think of words to fill it with. But as he sat in the co-pilot seat next to Shand, he found the hum of the ship to be almost oppressive in the quiet. Under the cover of his helmet, he snuck the occasional sideways glances, but Shand’s gaze never wandered from the ship’s controls. It was Shand who finally broke the silence. “So, you have a plan?” she said, finally meeting Din’s gaze.

Hunting without a tracking fob was more difficult than with one, but not impossible. There had been a few shady deals he had agreed to in the past that required the absence of one. One certain little green womprat had been the product of such a deal. Din blinked.

“Fett mentioned he would probably be in the slums. I’ll make my way there, start looking for the target. You’ll shadow me and keep an eye out, in case he tries to run.”

“Or in case someone tries to put a blaster bolt through you,” Fennec said slyly.

“That too,” he breathed, looking away into the stars passing them by in a blur.

Fennec snorted. Din swung his head to look at her.

“Something funny?” he asked sincerely.

She smirked. “Yeah, you sound like Boba.”

Din shifted in his seat slightly. He wasn’t sure what to make of that comparison. He let his silence do the talking for him, sitting back in his seat and focusing his attention to the puck Fett had given him, studying the target’s facial features. He wouldn’t be the only Iktotchi roaming the streets.

Motok was a squalid city, having been overrun by smugglers and black market dealers some years ago. It had become the hotspot for people of all kinds to get their hands on an endless variety of unsavory items, and the resulting overpopulation led to the pollution of the planet’s atmosphere. Nowadays, it was a city of forgotten people, a place where you ended up and didn’t come back from. Din wondered how Boba had managed to track the Iktotchi down here, and for that matter, why. Not asking questions in the past had helped Din sleep soundly at night, when he could, but from time to time, an uncharacteristic curiosity got the better of him. Especially when it came to people that he was sharing lodgings with.

“We’ll be landing soon,” Shand said, pressing buttons on the ship’s interface to prepare to dock.

The foggy brown tint of Cyrkon’s atmosphere suddenly came into view as the ship shifted out of hyperdrive. As they approached the surface, Motok’s vast dome became clearer and clearer through the toxic clouds. They were not hailed even as they flew closer to the shipyard, traffic control having long been abandoned.

A small opening in the clear veneer of the protective bubble opened up to let the Slave I in, and promptly closed behind them when the entry was clear. Fennec landed the ship with ease, the cockpit turning so that their seatbacks were now parallel to the ground. Din climbed out of his seat, stopping first at the weapons hold. Fett’s ship was, unsurprisingly, well-stocked, and Din helped himself to a sturdy-looking blaster, ammo, and a couple flash bangs. Seeing the cabinet of shiny blasters made him long for his Amban rifle, with its extended scope that had lent itself well to many successful bounties. It had taken him months to save up enough money for the broken blaster, and all the parts to get it working again. He supposed he could save up again, start re-stocking. Seeing the array of weaponry before him, he briefly wondered how long it had taken Fett to amass such an armory.

Shand reached around Din to grab her sniper rifle and her orange helmet. Din hadn’t even heard her leave the cockpit, which unnerved him. She placed the helmet on her head, and fixed the carrying strap of the rifle over her shoulders.

“You got a stun setting on that thing?” Din asked, gesturing towards the impressive rifle with his chin.

“Haven’t used it in a while, but, yes,” she said.

“We need him alive, so if he tries to run, you’ll have to stop him,” he said as he started fixing the weapons to his person.

“Blaster bolt to the leg might work a bit better.”

“Not for negotiations, it won’t.”

She smirked. “Depends on your definition of negotiations.”

Din sighed, this had to be her way of getting back at him for before.

“You ready?” she asked.

Din ran a gloved hand first over the blaster holder fixed to his hip, then along his leather belt; blaster, saber, sachet, flash bangs. He nodded.

The streets of Cyrkon were crowded, it was almost impossible not to brush elbows with other people as they walked along the thoroughfare. Tall structures loomed over the mass of crowds, the tops of them gleaming silver in the light, in harsh contrast to the dirty streets below. Everywhere Din looked, there were piles of garbage and scrap. Grimy looking droids meandered about the alleyways, their blinking lights piercing through the shadows as Din walked past. Hunched figures sat on the dirty ground, looking up at the passersby with vacant stares. He gave a quick look over his shoulder, spotting Fennec’s orange helmet among the crowd about ten paces back.

Asking for directions seemed pointless, and Din doubted that where they were headed would be printed on any of the faded and graffitied city maps. But he knew his way around a place like this, he had been to his fair share of crowded and dirty cities, abandoned by both the Hutt cartels and the New Republic. Those who didn't have enough to live in the tall buildings would pack into patched up hovels in the outskirts of the city, and that was where they would find their target. Din ducked into alleyways whenever he could, bugs and little animals scurrying underneath his purposeful footsteps. There were too many eyes, sizing up the price of his beskar in their heads, hungrily reaching for their blasters as Din walked by. The armorer had warned him that it would attract a lot of attention, but Mandalorians were such a rare sight in the galaxy these days, that Din had always stuck out, regardless of the sheen of his armor. But right now, the less he was seen, the better.

The farther he walked, the smaller the tall buildings grew in the background. In their place were lop-sided metal structures, and streets just large enough to accommodate people and speeder bikes, winding without seemingly any clear direction throughout the grouping of buildings. The structures were all only a couple floors tall, and crammed so tightly together that Din was having a hard time distinguishing them, and the signs that adorned their entryways. Food vendors lined the streets, the attendants, sweaty from the steam, calling out in Huttese to anyone who passed by. The streets were much less overcrowded here, however, Din could not shake the feeling of being watched from the dark corners. He had to keep his guard up.

Din spotted a lone Quarren leaning up against one of the buildings, underneath one of the few streetlights that dotted the walkways.

“Excuse me,” Din called out. The Quarren turned his head.

“Yeah, what?” he wheezed.

“I’m looking to get a drink, know any good cantinas around here?”

The Quarren scoffed, his tentacles twitching. “I’m not a tour guide, Mandalorian.”

Din reached into the pouch that Boba had given him, pulling out a decent amount of credits, and handing them to the aquatic man, who quickly stuffed them into his pocket. His deep black eyes flicked up and down, sizing Din up; he huffed.

“There’s a place just down the way,” he said, jamming a thumb towards a grouping of buildings farther down the street. “‘S called Flit’s.”

“Thanks,” Din said with a nod. The Quarren grumbled in response, slinking away down a back-alley with his hand clasped in his pocket.

Din turned back once more to make sure Shand was still trailing behind him. She was casually leaning up against a metal wall, scanning the surrounding area. When she met Din’s gaze, Din pointed his chin towards the building, and Shand nodded in understanding.

Din could hear loud voices even before he entered the bar, the sound of spirited conversation and brassy laughter echoing down the street. He pushed through the curtain and stepped into the dimly lit room. It was certainly a popular bar, people of all kinds were gathered at the bar as well as at the round tables that decorated the space. A single, shabby looking holo-display was playing some kind of fighting broadcast. A small crowd huddled around it, cheering as one of the bulky figures on the screen took a blow to the face. There were a few who looked him over as he entered, but they were quick to direct their attention elsewhere when Din turned his helmet’s viewplate in their direction. There was nothing like Mandalorian armor to intimidate would-be thugs, who no doubt had more than one bounty on their heads. Din scanned the room, his helmet’s display allowing him to focus on the faces of the bar patrons. None of them matched the target.

No one bat an eye as he walked further into the bar, looking from face to face, occasionally feigning interest in the broadcast. He slipped into the background, making sure no one was looking as he slid behind another curtain that led to the back of the bar. He stepped quietly, peering into the open doorways. There was the refresher, a pantry, and finally the kitchen. He stopped just short of the kitchen’s opening and pressed himself to the wall, peeking his head out just enough to scan the area. Empty. Completely empty, in fact; no cooks or bartenders in sight.

Crash!

Din whipped his head towards the sound, which had come from behind one of the metal counters. A metal bowl clattered noisily as it rotated on the floor. There was a flash of outside light, and the sound of a door hissing open, and Din set off after it at a gallop. He burst through the bar’s back door and into a back alleway. He looked left, right, setting his helmet to scan for footprints. His display locked onto the tracks, from the look of the gait, the target was sprinting down the alleyway, probably trying to use the darkness as cover. Din sped off after the footprints, unholstering his blaster and disengaging the safety. The Iktotchi’s footpath wound through alleyways, down an empty street, and into a dimly lit neighborhood. Din breathed hard underneath his helmet. He hadn’t checked to see if Shand was still tailing him, but he hoped she had better eyes on the target than he did. Neon signs flashed overhead as he ran down the street, dodging the people who gave him odd looks as he breezed past. He slowed to catch his breath when the footprints were closer together, the gait had decreased to a brisk walk, and lead into one of the two-story buildings that held living quarters. Din walked up the thin metal stairs, cautiously following the prints, until they stopped in front of one of the apartment doors. He readied his blaster, and pounded on the door with a closed fist.

“Taesa Kii, we need to talk,” he called out. No response. “I’m not going to hurt you, I was sent to retrieve some information from you,” Din tried again. There was a moment of silence.

“I do not deal in information anymore,” came a wavering voice from inside.

“I’m willing to pay. I have credits.”

“I said I do not do that anymore. I have a blaster, if you do not leave, I will shoot you,” he said with a grave tone.

Din thought for a moment. “You’re an Iktotchi right? You can see things before they happen?,” he said, pausing for a response. When there was none, he continued. “You can see that I am Mandalorian. Once I’ve been contracted, I am honor-bound to complete my end of the deal. If we can’t negotiate, it’ll only end badly for you.”

There was a string of what Din assumed was curses from behind the door. Din heard a flurry of movement, the sound of various objects being thrown about the apartment. Stepping quietly, Din looked around the corner of the building, searching for any possible places the man could escape from. There were no other exits or windows for him to slip through, so unless he had some kind of laser saw to cut into the neighboring quarters, the front door was the only exit. When he came back around the corner, everything had gone quiet inside. Din wasn’t the best at slicing doors, but there were some jobs that warranted it. A charge blast would attract too much attention here. He bent down on one knee, pulling a tool from his belt and setting to work on releasing the lock. After a few moments, there was a click, and the light on the door’s release button switched to green. He stood up and readied his blaster.

The door slid open, and the wide form of the Iktotchi stood before him, a blaster in his large hand pointed squarely to Din’s chest.

“What do you want with me?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“I’m looking for information about stargazing on Florrum,” he said in a hushed voice.

The Iktotchi twitched, barely stifling a gasp. “Who are you with?” he asked, raising his voice.

“No one, I was-”

“Who are you with?” the Iktotchi shouted, hysteria creeping around the edges of his voice. The hand holding his blaster began to shake.

“Boba Fett,” Din relinquished. This did not pacify the man as Din had hoped it would.

“I will not go with you. Leave, now,” he demanded, pushing the blaster closer to the opening of Din’s neck.

“You know I can’t do that,” Din said, pointing his own blaster directly between the man’s eyes. His breathing quickened audibly.

“Please, just let me go, pretend you never saw me. You do not understand,” the Iktotchi pleaded.

Din stood stalwart, not moving a muscle. Dark eyes stared desperately into Din’s viewplate, the Iktotchi’s expression frozen in a desperate grimace. Sweat began to bead around his temples, his frantic breathing apparent in the quiet of the night. With a quick movement of his wrist, he turned the blaster on himself.

“No!” Din called out, reaching for the blaster with his unarmed hand.

Pew. The tan-skinned man dropped to the floor, the blaster he was holding clattering against the metal. Din dropped to a crouch, expecting a gruesome flow of blood to start spreading across the floor. But there was none. He turned to look behind him, Fennec’s orange helmet was visible from a nearby balcony. She looked up from her scope to give him a thumbs up. Din let out the breath he had been holding in and stood back up, his knees popping as he rose.

“Well, now what,” he muttered under his breath to the unconscious man that was now spread on the floor.

He made quick work of tying the man’s hands behind him, in case he woke before Din could find what he was looking for. Information brokers usually kept reports on data-sticks for quick and stealthy transactions, though most of them were either heavily encrypted or written in code. What Fett could want from a man that was desperate enough to shoot himself in the head, Din could only wonder. Din set to searching the dingy apartment, overturning furniture, reaching underneath crevices, knocking on the wall to listen for hollow spots. He soon found himself standing amid a mass of scattered clothes, papers, and garbage. Nothing.

He let out an irritated sigh and cracked his knuckles, a bit of a nervous tic of his. He rolled his shoulders, turning his head towards the ceiling to stretch his neck. As he absentmindedly gazed upwards, something caught his eye, a misshapen tile in the ceiling that just barely stood out from the rest of the weathered tile. He stretched out, standing on his toes to reach, and pushed on the tile. It popped out of place with ease, revealing a small section of empty space. He reached his hand into the darkness, feeling around the base of the ceiling. His fingers hit what felt like a small box, and he clasped his hand around it and pulled it out. The metal of the box was covered in dust and battered in places, and would not open, even when Din grunted with effort trying to strongarm it. He cursed under his breath. The Iktochi began to stir, groaning as he opened his eyes to see Din standing over him.

“Koochoo wee shahnit,” he spat at him.

“How do I open it?” Din asked, crouching down to his level.

The man sat up, looking intently into Din’s viewplate. “I will not tell you.”

Din sighed, rolling his eyes underneath his helmet. He reached into his pockets for the credits Fett had given him, and poured out the small bag in front of the Iktotchi’s face, the small metal strips clinking against each other.

The man scoffed, “You think these credits are worth anything to me? Money will not help me now.”

“What do you mean?”

“They will hunt me down for letting this information get out.”

“Who will?” Din pressed.

“The Imperials,” the man said with a low voice.

“The Imperials are gone. The Republic has bounties out for anyone who served under them,” Din dismissed.

“No,” the man shook his head. “No, they will come. Even if I flew to the Unknown Regions, they would find me. And now, they will hunt you too.” He searched Din’s helmet once again, looking for sympathy in the pure beskar, but was met only with his warped reflection looking back at him.

“Please, just drop the box and leave. It is not worth whatever credits they’re offering,” he pleaded, inching closer to Din.

Din stood up, pocketing the small box. Getting it open could be Fett’s problem, it was clear this guy wouldn’t be open to any further negotiations.

“Sorry, but I have a job to do.” Din stepped over the man and opened the door, walking into the night.

“Then it will be your death! Yours, your familys, your peoples,” he called out after him. Din ignored the feeling of his arm hairs standing on edge as he stepped out onto the street.

Fennec was waiting just down the way, her helmet tucked underneath her arm as she chewed at a piece of roasted meat, skewered on a stick.

“Took a while. Did you get the information?” she asked.

“Yeah, I got it,” Din said, his voice steely.

“Let’s get out of here then,” she said, taking one last bite before tossing the stick into the street. She pushed her helmet back on over her head. “That’s two you owe me now, by the way,” she added as she strode ahead of the armored man and down the thoroughfare.

#the mandalorian #bobin #bobadin #boba fett #din djarin #the mandalorian fanfic #tspbym

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ifreakingloveroyals · 3 years

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26 March 2015 | Ruth Powys, Chief Executive, Elephant Family, presents Prince Charles, Prince of Wales with a rhinoceros sculpture, The Perfect World Foundation's award for Conservationist of the Year 2014, for Mark Shand and the Elephant Family, during a reception to launch 'Travels To My Elephant' at Clarence House on March 26, 2015 in London, England. In November 2015 a fleet of thirty rickshaws will journey 500km across Madhya Pradesh, India, in a race to save Asias elephants from extinction. (c) Yui Mok - WPA Pool /Getty Images

#Ruth Powys #King Charles III #Britain #2015 #Yui Mok #WPA Pool #Getty Images

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jerseydeanne · 4 years

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Camilla Parker Bowles urges people to stay active during the pandemic 'for the sake of our bones' to mark World Osteoporosis Day - the condition that claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother

Camilla Parker Bowles urges people to stay active during the pandemic ‘for the sake of our bones’ to mark World Osteoporosis Day – the condition that claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother

Duchess of Cornwall, 73, made comments in video for World Osteoporosis Day

Camilla has been president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society since 2001

Her mother Rosalind Shand and grandmother Sonia Keppel died from condition

Earlier today the Duchess spoke to the next recipient of the Duchess of Cornwall Award, Christine Sharp, who is a long standing volunteer of the charity

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#Camilla duchess of cornwall #osteoporosis #pandemic #World Osteoporosis Day

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skippyv20 · 5 years

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Wonderful! Thank you😁❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

25 facts about Highgrove Gardens

In order to achieve a sense of harmony, I have worked with various people whose professional skills I admire in order to blend the arts of imagination and architecture into what, I hope, has gradually become a garden which delights the eye, warms the heart and feeds the soul.” -

HRH The Prince of Wales

Almost 40,000 visitors tour the Highgrove Gardens every year.

The Highgrove Gardens cover 15 acres in total – all of them organic.

The money raised from the Garden tours and the Highgrove shop is given to The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund that provides grants for small and medium sized charities. Recent examples include One25 Charity that helps vulnerable women, and Streetwise Opera - a performing arts charity for people who are or have been homeless.

The Prince has incorporated topiary into the Garden. It is cut once in the year during the autumn months.

There are two fountains in the garden providing running, open water for birds throughout the year.

A willow “ramp” is placed in each water feature to provide an easy exit in case any wildlife inadvertently fall in.

The Prince is Patron of the Delphinium Society with many in evidence at Highgrove – the tallest Delphinium recorded so far has been 9’ 10”.

All the cut flowers used in Highgrove House are grown in the Gardens at Highgrove. In the summer, buttonhole flowers (primarily scented pinks) are cut for HRH’s use through the week for his engagements.

Highgrove House, The Orchard Room and the offices are heated using a wood pellet biomass heater.

Between 2,500 - 3,000 spears of asparagus are picked from the Highgrove beds annually.

The Carpet Garden was originally a Show Garden at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show winning a Silver Gilt Award. It was designed at the request of His Royal Highness around two Turkish carpets which can be found in Highgrove House.

The water feature close to the Stumpery is made of Hereford sandstone and Spanish holey limestone. It contains four Pacific Ocean clamshells from Edward VII’s garden, Sandringham.

As Patron of Garden Organic, HRH grows heritage varieties of vegetables and fruit such as the ‘Broad Ripple Yellow Currant’ tomato, the ‘Doug Bray of Grimsby’ pea, the ‘Red Elephant’ carrot, and the ‘Lady Finger’ and ‘Hunt’s Duke of Gloucester’ apples.

200 chickens roam areas of the Estate under a mixed range of fruit trees. From these hens around 4,200 eggs are collected every year. The eggs are used in the Orchard Room restaurant and sold in the Highgrove Shop.

Highgrove has a Reed Bed waste water Filtration system which has been in operation since 1990 and manages the waste from The Orchard Room and Highgrove House. It is a natural gravity filtering system with little power input. The waste runs into a bark-filled pit, filters through reed beds, then through willow beds and finally into a sump and out into a pond of clean water which is enjoyed by wildlife.

The Wild Flower Meadow at Highgrove is noted as the first of 60 Coronation Meadows in a project initiated by His Royal Highness in 2012 to commemorate Her Majesty’s 60th Coronation Anniversary; there are over 72 varieties of plants in the meadow making it a very species rich meadow.

The India gate was renamed Shand Gate in honour of Her Royal Highness’s brother Mark Shand who died in 2014. Mark Shand founded The Elephant Family of which Their Royal Highnesses are joint Presidents. There are two topiary elephants by the gate named Tara and Belinda.

Her Majesty The Queen gave three silver birch trees to His Royal Highness which are in the Arboretum at Highgrove.

Within the Garden is a small building called The Sanctuary. It was built to mark the Millennium and is made from cob bricks (made of Highgrove clay, sharp sand, limestone, chopped barley straw made the gardeners), lime render, local stone and oak.

The Egyptian Gates by the Kitchen Garden were originally carved by architectural students and the hieroglyphic on them says The flowers in the garden are a reflection of the stars in the sky.

To mark 25 years of The Prince of Wales actively running the Duchy of Cornwall estate from 1969 – 1994, The Duchy of Cornwall presented HRH with 66 Red Twigged Limes that are planted in an avenue.

The Temple of Worthies in the Stumpery displays a bronze relief of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother wearing her felt gardening hat. The Stumpery area in the garden designed in 1996 by Julian and Isabel Bannerman includes Oak and chestnut stumps from Cowdray Park, Derbyshire, Sandringham and Broadlands.

The Tree House was built in 1988 for Prince William who was six and Prince Harry who was four at the time.

The Main Lawn at Highgrove equates to six miles of pedestrian mowing.

40,000 snowdrops were planted at Highgrove to celebrate 40 years of The Prince’s Trust. They were a private gift to His Royal Highness.

The whole point of gardening is to give pleasure to other people, not just me, I see it as an exhibition. It’s rather like painting my bad watercolours – I just try to ensure they - and the garden - are as good as possible.

- HRH The Prince of Wales

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mrb52563 · 3 years

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OWEN PATERSON

ROSE PATERSON

DAVID AIMES

IM SO SEXY I COULD TOUCH MY SELF AWARDS

DAR I SAY TO UK LAW WHO PUT FRAMES

TOGETHER ON ME ON CROWN POINT BURNLEY

WITH TAR to TARA PALMER TO MARK SHANDS

TO NEIGHBOURS LINK WOW THINK BOYS

HOUSING ESTATES TO CHOPPERS

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a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives · 3 years

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The devious practices in the global art market take Detective Toni Alma on an epic hunt for a killer. Spanning her small Northern Territory community and art galleries across the globe, this is a murder mystery like no other.

SBS and National Indigenous Television (NITV) are proud to announce the award-winning cast and creative team behind its new original fiction commission True Colours, as filming commences in the breathtakingly beautiful Tjoritja (Macdonnell Ranges), east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs).

Rarriwuy Hick (Redfern Now, Cleverman, Wentworth) spearheads a talented ensemble playing Detective Toni Alma, who is assigned to investigate a suspicious car accident in Perdar Theendar, the Indigenous community she left as a child and has had little to do with over the years.

The beauty of Indigenous art and the sometimes-devious practices in the global art market take Detective Toni Alma on an epic hunt for a killer. Spanning her small Northern Territory community and art galleries across the globe, this is a murder mystery like no other; exploring culture, community and the very human pursuit of identity and belonging in this new four-part crime drama from Bunya Productions, with the support of Screen Australia’s First Nations Department, Screen NSW, Screen Territory and International partner About Premium Content.

The series came from an original concept by Arrernte singer-songwriter Warren H. Williams and co-creator, writer and director Erica Glynn. Warren H. Williams will star alongside Luke Arnold (Never Tear Us Apart, Black Sails), Errol Shand (Operation Buffalo, Mystery Road, Rake), Emilie de Ravin (Remember Me, Lost, Once Upon A Time), Trisha Morton Thomas (Total Control, Redfern Now, Radiance), Ben Oxenbould (The Kettering Incident, Mr InBetween, Mystery Road) and Miranda Otto (The Unusual Suspects, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Lord of the Rings).

Kumalie Riley, Kurt Abbott, Sabella Turner, Natalie Peperill, Warren ‘Wazza’ Williams, Grant Wallace, Janaya Kopp, Martin McMillan, Siobhan Breaden, Genise Williams, Keenan Mitchell, Stella McMillan, Rosario Young and Waylon Dixon will also appear, many in their first major television roles.

The creative team bringing this bold story to life are writer/directors Erica Glynn (Redfern Now, Black Comedy, She Who Must Be Loved) and Steven McGregor (Sweet Country, Mystery Road), who wrote the scripts alongside Danielle MacLean (Little J & Big Cuz, Mystery Road). Produced by the award-winning team behind Sweet Country, Mystery Road and Goldstone - Greer Simpkin, David Jowsey and Penny Smallacombe.

Co-Creator, Writer and Director, Erica Glynn said it's "an honour and a privilege" to sit beside Warren H Williams, the Amoonguna Community, and the town of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) to mark a screen space for Arrernte people, language, culture and land.

Director of Content at SBS, Marshall Heald, says this series contributes to the network's strong history of delivering exceptional drama with impactful storytelling.

"Our recent success with The Hunting, The Unusual Suspects and Hungry Ghosts demonstrates our continued commitment to telling diverse stories with a distinctive voice and purpose, to engage and entertain Australian audiences and True Colours continues that tradition," he said.

"We are thrilled to bring this compelling story of family and the complexities of the Indigenous art world to life and look forward to working with an impressive cast and the talented creative team in Bunya Productions.”

True Colours premieres on SBS & NITV in 2022

#news #true colours #nitv au #sbs au #luke arnold #rarriwuy hick #oh that's good!

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elderperfect · 5 years

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2020 Best Nursing Homes - Florida

ElderPerfect a leading publisher on senior healthcare across the United States, today announced the recipients of the Best Nursing Homes in Florida for 2020. These awards are designed to recognize providers based on their ability to consistently deliver excellence in the areas of Health Inspections, Quality of Residence Care, Penalties and Staffing. We’ve evaluated over 698 facilities, of which 190 (27%) met our top rating. This report marks the Gold Standard in terms of care for seniors. 0 Ranked Best Facilities  5/5

US Standard vs. Best Facilities

Average Number of Beds: 106 vs 95 Average Occupancy: 81% vs 83% Average Health Inspection Rating: 2.82 / 5.00 vs. 3.90 / 5.00 Average Government Rating: 3.01 / 5.00 vs. 4.49 / 5.00

Rating Methodology

Health Inspections Every year, the government assigns inspectors to conduct a formal review of nursing homes for regulatory purposes to meet the mandates outlined for Medicare and Medicaid, this aims to measure and improve the safety of residents across providers. Facilities may also be inspected when complaints are submitted or based on a reported incident. When noncompliance is identified, the facility is served a citation that indicates which regulation that was identified, along with the severity of the incident. Nursing homes are subsequently required to execute a program of resolution in order to meet compliance. Some scenarios require enforcement actions to be applied, such as a civil monetary penalty or withholding of payment(s), to incentivize resolution in a timely manner. Penalties Facilities are applied 2 types of penalties due to non-compliance / accumulation of incidents. Civil penalties are monetary fines that may be applied to a facility based on citations / infractions identified during a review. The severity of a penalty is defined primarily by the size and frequency of the infraction. Quality of Residence Care There are 3 types of resident care ratings, but for this exercise, we primarily focused on the overall quality measure rating. The quality measures (QMs) include 17 data points that are derived from clinical information reported by the respective nursing home and also from Medicare claims data submitted for payment. Ratings are calculated for the QM domain using the 4 most recent quarters for which data are available. A nursing home receives points contingent on performance on each measure (weighting distribution is not equal). Staffing Staffing research is submitted regularly by the facility and is adjusted for the requirement of the facilities residents. For each of registered nurse staff and total staffing, a 1 - 5 rating is applied according to definitions established for each category. These ratings are subsequently combined to assign an overall staffing rating. As an example, to get an overall staffing rating of 5 stars, nursing homes must earn a rating of 5 stars for both registered nurses and total staffing. Nursing homes could also be assigned a 1 star rating should they not have a registered nurse on-site daily, and do not submit staffing data, or which the data cannot be verified.

Best Nursing Homes in Florida

CORAL GABLES NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER RIVER GARDEN HEBREW HOME FOR THE AGED COMMUNITY CONVALESCENT CENTER MANOR PINES CONVALESCENT CENTER PANAMA CITY HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER CRESTVIEW REHABILITATION CENTER, LLC THE LODGE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER W FRANK WELLS NURSING HOME BOCA RATON REHABILITATION CENTER JOHN KNOX VILLAGE OF POMPANO BEACH STUART REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE CROSS POINTE CARE CENTER BROOKSVILLE HEALTHCARE CENTER WHISPERING OAKS PARKVIEW REHABILITATION CENTER AT WINTER PARK BAYVIEW CENTER CANTERBURY TOWERS INC REHAB & HEALTHCARE CENTER OF CAPE CORAL WILLOWBROOKE COURT AT ST ANDREWS ST MARK VILLAGE OAKS OF KISSIMMEE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER ROYAL OAK NURSING CENTER CHATEAU AT MOORINGS PARK, THE EVERGREEN WOODS AYERS HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER PORT ST LUCIE REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE WOODBRIDGE CARE CENTER RIVERSIDE CARE CENTER CROSS SHORES CARE CENTER MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES DUNEDIN HAINES CITY HEALTH CARE WILLOWBROOKE COURT AT AZALEA TRACE COURTENAY SPRINGS VILLAGE SIGNATURE HEALTHCARE OF PALM BEACH QUALITY HEALTH OF FERNANDINA BEACH VILLAGE ON THE ISLE LAKE VIEW CARE CENTER AT DELRAY HEALTH CENTRAL PARK MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES OKEECHOBEE HEALTH CARE FACILITY SUSANNA WESLEY HEALTH CENTER SOUTH DADE NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER PARK SUMMIT AT CORAL SPRINGS MARGATE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER SALERNO BAY HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER HIALEAH SHORES NURSING AND REHAB CENTER SOLARIS HEALTHCARE PLANT CITY QUALITY HEALTH OF ORANGE COUNTY LEHIGH ACRES HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER QUALITY HEALTH OF NORTH PORT VISTA MANOR ARCADIA HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER HARBOUR HEALTH CENTER SOLARIS HEALTHCARE BAYONET POINT FLAGLER HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER MOULTRIE CREEK NURSING AND REHAB CENTER CARROLLWOOD CARE CENTER VILLAGE ON THE GREEN OAK VIEW REHABILITATION CENTER PALM GARDEN OF TAMPA HARBOURS EDGE HEARTLAND OF ZEPHYRHILLS GRAND BOULEVARD HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER SUWANNEE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER REGENTS PARK OF WINTER PARK WEST GABLES HEALTH CARE CENTER CHAUTAUQUA REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER COURT AT PALM AIRE, THE SURREY PLACE HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION VICAR'S LANDING NURSING HOME BARTRAM CROSSING BAYSHORE POINTE NURSING AND REHAB CENTER WESTCHESTER GARDENS HEALTH & REHABILITATION MANOR AT CARPENTERS, THE SIGNATURE HEALTHCARE OF NORTH FLORIDA OAKBROOK HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER NORTHDALE REHABILITATION CENTER SOLARIS HEALTHCARE MERRITT ISLAND ARBOR TRAIL REHAB AND SKILLED NURSING CENTER JACKSONVILLE NURSING AND REHAB CENTER ALHAMBRA HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER ALPINE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER HAMPTON COURT NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER PALACE AT KENDALL NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTE CROSS CARE CENTER WASHINGTON REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER CHIPOLA HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER SOLARIS HEALTHCARE IMPERIAL SYLVAN HEALTH CENTER ROSEWOOD HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER SPECIALTY HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER CONWAY LAKES HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER STRATFORD COURT OF PALM HARBOR CROSS GARDENS CARE CENTER TRI-COUNTY NURSING HOME

GLENCOVE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER CROSSROADS, THE HEALTHPARK CARE CENTER MANOR AT BLUE WATER BAY, THE THE GARDENS AT DEPUGH SOLARIS SENIOR LIVING NORTH NAPLES DELANEY PARK HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER ROYAL OAKS NURSING AND REHAB CENTER CORAL BAY HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION EDGEWATER AT WATERMAN VILLAGE JOSEPH L MORSE HEALTH CENTER INC THE MADISON HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER SAMANTHA WILSON CARE CENTER PLYMOUTH HARBOR INCORPORATED TAYLOR CARE CENTER ROHR HOME, THE EDGEWOOD NURSING CENTER CATHEDRAL GERONTOLOGY CENTER, INC CROSSINGS, THE EDWARD J HEALEY REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER EMORY L BENNETT MEMORIAL VETERANS NURSING HOME WRIGHTS HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER BARRINGTON TERRACE OF BOYNTON BEACH HEARTLAND HEALTH CARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER OF WESTMINSTER OAKS RULEME CENTER PREMIER PLACE AT THE GLENVIEW SOLARIS HEALTHCARE CHARLOTTE HARBOR METRO WEST NURSING AND REHAB CENTER NURSING CENTER AT MERCY, THE PINELLAS POINT NURSING AND REHAB CENTER WESTMINSTER WINTER PARK WINKLER COURT LAKE PARK OF MADISON NURSING AND REHABILITATION CE WESTMINSTER WOODS ON JULINGTON CREEK SOLARIS HEALTHCARE DAYTONA WESTMINSTER SUNCOAST VILLA HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER PALMETTO SUBACUTE CARE CENTER SOLARIS HEALTHCARE WINDERMERE SHANDS JACKSONVILLE MEDICAL CENTER SHELL POINT NURSING PAVILION VI AT LAKESIDE VILLAGE MARTIN NURSING AND REHABILITATION COMMUNITY HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER GULF SHORE CARE CENTER SOLARIS HEALTHCARE COCONUT CREEK LAKESIDE NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER LIFE CARE CENTER OF OCALA BALDOMERO LOPEZ MEMORIAL VETERANS NURSING HOME FLORIDEAN NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER, THE CROSS CITY NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER CONSULATE HEALTH CARE OF KISSIMMEE LODGE AT CYPRESS COVE, THE BROOKDALE PALMER RANCH SNF LIFE CARE CENTER OF SARASOTA SHOAL CREEK REHABILITATION CENTER VICTORIA NURSING & REHABILITATION CENTER, INC. INN AT SARASOTA BAY CLUB WESTMINSTER ST AUGUSTINE RIVERCHASE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER BRYNWOOD HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER LIFE CARE CENTER OF INVERRARY HAVEN OF OUR LADY OF PEACE SUNNYSIDE NURSING HOME FINR III, LLC NORTHWEST FLORIDA COMMUNITY HOSPITAL (SNU) LIFE CARE CENTER OF ESTERO RIDGECREST NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER BENTLEY CARE CENTER GLENRIDGE ON PALMER RANCH INC. ISLE HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER OAK HAMMOCK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA INC GRACE REHABILITATION CENTER OF VERO BEACH VI AT AVENTURA MOOSEHAVEN VILLA MARIA WEST SKILLED NURSING FACILITY ASTORIA HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER CLYDE E LASSEN STATE VETERANS NURSING HOME BENDERSON FAMILY SKILLED NURSING AND REHAB CENTER KR AT HILLSBOROUGH LAKES RIVIERA HEALTH RESORT CLUB HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER AT THE VILLA PAVILION FOR HEALTH CARE, THE FLORIDA BAPTIST RETIREMENT CENTER STEWARD SEBASTIAN RIVER MEDICAL CENTER RENAISSANCE AT THE TERRACES SKYTOP VIEW REHABILITATION CENTER THE ARLINGTON OF NAPLES, INC, LEE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SKILLED NURSING UNIT BUFFALO CROSSING HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION CEN LARGO HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER OLIVE BRANCH HEALTH AND REHAB CENTER WESTMINSTER BALDWIN PARK

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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How Camilla has revamped her public image, royal insiders reveal

She was once dubbed ‘Britain’s most hated woman’, believed to have been the person driving a wedge between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

But Camilla Parker Bowles has been on a stealthy mission to change the public’s perception of her – and by all accounts she’s succeeded.

Earlier this year royal expert Phil Dampier went so far as to say the Duchess of Cornwall is ‘now quite popular’, adding: ‘I think most people will accept her as Queen when the time comes.’

Camilla Shand, now 71, met Charles, now 70, in the summer of 1971 and, according to royal biographer Penny Juror, the prince was instantly taken with her – particularly because she was ‘not in anyway overawed by him, not fawning or sycophantic’.

She was once dubbed ‘Britain’s most hated woman’, but it seems the Duchess of Cornwall, pictured standing between the wings of artist Paul Curtis’ mural entitled For All Liverpool’s Liver Birds, is now ‘quite popular’

But the couple were prevented from marrying then as Camilla was deemed ‘unsuitable’, with an insufficiently aristocratic background – despite her maternal grandfather being a baron.

Camilla went on to marry Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she has two children, but the couple split in 1995 after 22 years of marriage. She married Charles in April 2005 in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.

Since becoming a fully-fledged member of The Firm, Camilla has endeavoured to do right by her husband and the British public.

And her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, with Dampier claiming people have ‘warmed’ to Camilla – and indeed her husband.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall smile as they prepare a mojito during a visit to a paladar called Habanera in Havana, Cuba, earlier this year

Grinning Camilla stands between singing legends Lionel Richie and Tom Jones during her and Charles’ Caribbean tour in March

Here FEMAIL takes a look at how the Duchess of Cornwall has quietly revamped her public image and injected a sense of fun into the royal family.

Bringing out Charles’ fun side

Much has been said about Camilla’s sense of humour, with former boyfriend Kevin Burke once describing her as ‘never tongue-tied or shy’ and always having ‘something amusing’ to say.

It seems her enthusiasm is infectious; once buttoned-up and serious, public-facing Charles now regularly grins and laughs with Camilla by his side. On a visit to Canada, the couple famously dissolved into giggles while watching traditional Iniot throat singers perform.

Camilla Shand, 71, met Charles, 70, in the summer of 1971 and, according to royal biographer Penny Juror, the prince was instantly taken with her – particularly because she was ‘not in anyway overawed by him, not fawning or sycophantic’

Charles and Camilla married in April 2005 in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall

Robert Jobson, author of Charles at Seventy, said his wife brings him ‘balance’, adding: ‘She has a great sense of humour. As a result he’s smiley and laughing.’

Camilla certainly comes across as genuine, with a longtime friend once describing her as ‘100 per cent sure of who she is’.

‘She had no side, no complexity,’ they said. ‘She is warm, witty, endlessly cheerful and has the ability to laugh at everything and tease Charles out of his Eeyore grumpiness.’

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, share a joke at the Mey Highland Games at Queens Park in Caithness, Scotland in 2008

Secret engagements

You certainly can’t accuse the Duchess of being work-shy. As patron or president of more than 90 charities, she carried out 219 engagements in 2018, including 70 during overseas tours.

She and Charles recently made a historic visit to Cuba during a 13-day tour across 10 islands, cramming 50 engagements into their schedule.

Lynn Faulds Wood, a British television personality, bowel cancer survivor and ambassador for the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), said she thinks Camilla is ‘fabulous’ and great at bringing the causes she champions to the people’s attention.

The Duchess of Cornwall, pictured listening to Diana Parkes whose daughter Joanna Brown was murdered by her husband, during a visit to the national charity SafeLives in Londo, often carries out ‘secret visits’

But Camilla continues to work tirelessly behind the scenes, paying secret visits that don’t garner any publicity according to Faulds Wood, suggesting a genuine care in her work.

Claire Severgnini, chief executive of the ROS, said the Duchess always goes the extra mile to ‘meet the health professionals and the scientists and the academics behind the scenes’.

The ROS is an organisation close to Camilla’s heart, having lost her mother Rosalind to the bone disease in 1994.

Friendly and approachable

Veteran royal reporter Jennie Bond once said she had a ‘great deal of time for Camilla’, and this attitude is shared by a great deal of journalists and photographers, reports Town and Country.

One anonymous reporter described Camilla as ‘my favorite royal, by a country mile’, adding: ‘She knows all our names, she fosters a sense that we’re all in this together. She always gives you a little gleam in her eye and will find a moment to look at our cameras.’

Camilla ‘always gives you a little gleam in her eye and will find a moment to look at our cameras’, according to one royal reporter

On one official visit to a vineyard in Crete, Jobson recalled the Duchess inviting him to ‘sit down and join in with the cheese and wine’.

Coming across as down-to-earth without any airs and graces has arguably gone a long way towards boosting her public image.

Sensitive approach towards Princess Diana

Although Camilla is technically the Princess of Wales, she has chosen not to use that title due to its close association with Princess Diana.

She opts to go by the Duchess of Cornwall, despite her full official title being Her Royal Highness The Princess Charles Philip Arthur George, Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Chester, Countess of Carrick, Baroness of Renfrew, Lady of the Isles, Princess of Scotland, Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

Camilla, pictured with Lady Diana Spencer at Ludlow Races in 1980, has chosen not to use the title Princess of Wales due to its close association with Charles’ first wife

Eradicating ‘wicked stepmother’ image

It’s clear Prince William and Harry have no ill-feeling towards their father’s wife, having greeted her warmly with kisses on both cheeks at a recent Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.

Even at 21, when Harry was battling to cope in the wake of his mother’s death, he said Camilla is ‘not the wicked stepmother’, adding: ‘She’s a wonderful woman and she’s made my father very, very happy.’

It’s clear Prince William, pictured during the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games at the Queen Elizabeth Park in September 2014, and his brother Harry have no ill-feeling towards their father’s wife

The fact William and Kate chose one of her granddaughters, Eliza Lopez, as a bridesmaid for their 2011 wedding demonstrated to the public that Camilla is very much an important fixture in their family.

Providing support to Meghan

One of the people to welcome Meghan Markle to the royal family with open arms was Camilla.

She and Charles have formed a solid friendship with Prince Harry’s wife, with the Duchess of Cornwall going all out to ‘support’ and be ‘very helpful’ to Meghan according to a close family friend, reports Vanity Fair.

Charles and Camilla have formed a solid friendship with Prince Harry’s wife Meghan, with the Duchess of Cornwall going all out to ‘support’ and be ‘very helpful’ to Meghan according to a close family friend

With the overwhelming popularity of Meghan and Harry among the British public – evident by their rapidly growing 4.3million Instagram followers – Camilla’s apparent affection for the new duchess is bound to curry favour.

Helping victims of sexual violence

After speaking to survivors of sexual assault in 2013, Camilla decided to put this topic firmly on the agenda, reports Town and Country.

The idea of dishing out bags with toiletries to victims to use after medical examinations was her idea, and while on an engagement in Liverpool last month she paid a visit to a women’s refuge, armed with books, biscuits and jam for the children.

The Duchess of Cornwall, pictured in 2015, holds a cosmetic bag created for sexual abuse survivors to use after they have been through medical examinations

‘She seemed to have an understanding of what faces them and wanted clarification on how schooling effects the children that come in here, can the clients come back once they have left the refuge,’ said a project worker of her visit.

‘She definitely did seem to understand the issues that are faced.’

Maintains her independence

Despite having a permanent residence with Charles at Clarence House, Camilla still keeps her own home – Ray Mill House in Wiltshire – and frequently spends weekends there with her children and five grandchildren.

She and Charles often spend time apart, with Camilla reverting to the informality of her life before the royal family by tending to her garden, seeing her friends and spending time with her family.

Not living in each other’s pockets could well be the secret to their happy relationship.

One of Camilla’s five grandchildren, Eliza Lopez, pictured in the arms of Charles, was a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011

Winning The Queen’s approval

When Camilla and Charles married, she was bestowed with the title Princess Consort.

Camilla’s title Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall was awarded to her as a wedding gift from her new mother-in-law, the Queen.

Her majesty went a step further in 2016, making Camilla a member of the Privy Council – her most senior advisory body.

Camilla, pictured standing beside the Queen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force in July 2018

This shows a clear regard for her daughter-in-law and will enable Camilla to be ‘in the room’ when Charles is proclaimed king.

Whether Camilla will become Queen Consort remains to be seen, but according to Jobson, it’s a done deal.

‘She will most definitely be Queen Consort,’ he said. ‘There’s absolutely no question about that.’

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oestsetnochub · 6 years

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Caisse-backed Avision Young buys Florida real estate business

Avison Young has acquired Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, a Gainesville, Florida-based commercial real estate brokerage and property management company.

No financial terms were disclosed.

Avison, a Toronto-based provider of commercial real estate services, said the acquisition brings its U.S. offices to 59 in all. Over the past decade, the company’s worldwide network of offices has grown from 11 to 87.

Last year, Avison secured a $250 million preferred investment from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The deal facilitated the exit of Canadian mid-market private equity firm Parallel49 Equity.

PRESS RELEASE

Avison Young acquires Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, expands presence in North Florida; 26 members join

Nick Banks becomes Principal and Managing Director of new Gainesville office

TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – Mark E. Rose, Chair and CEO of Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today that it has acquired Gainesville, Florida-based Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, a full-service commercial real estate brokerage and property management company with operations throughout North Florida.

As a result of the acquisition, Avison Young opens its eighth Florida office, in Gainesville. The newest American office represents Avison Young’s 59th office in the U.S. and an additional step in the firm’s ongoing aggressive growth and expansion strategy. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Effective immediately, Front Street is rebranded as Avison Young and 26 new members join the firm. Nick Banks becomes a Principal of Avison Young and Managing Director of the new Gainesville office. He will manage its day-to-day operations and lead the company’s strategic growth in Gainesville and across North Florida with a mandate to expand the company’s footprint, particularly in retail. He will also help Avison Young expand its service lines, particularly property management, in Jacksonville. Banks brings to Avison Young 25 years of commercial real estate experience, most recently as Managing Director of Front Street, which he founded in 2002.

“We are thrilled to be opening our first office in Gainesville and, at the same time, expanding our presence in North Florida,” comments Rose. “The acquisition of Front Street reinforces our strong foundation in Florida and assists our rollout in the northern area of the state, particularly in terms of retail brokerage and all aspects of property management. By bringing Nick and the rest of the Front Street team on board, we are adding individuals who are respected for their leadership, extensive industry experience and in-depth local and regional market knowledge. More importantly, they will fit seamlessly into our Principal-led, collaborative culture and provide a superior level of service to clients.”

Headquartered in Gainesville with additional satellite offices in Ocala, Sarasota, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tallahassee, Front Street serves a range of clients, from private individual investors to publicly traded corporations to international investment groups, in North Florida. The firm is a leader in the region’s commercial real estate market and offers services for all property types, including office, retail, flex/industrial and land. The company has developed particular expertise in retail property brokerage. Relationships with national retail brands as well as private and institutional owners of retail properties have fuelled the majority of the firm’s growth throughout North Florida.

Also joining Avison Young from Front Street are brokers Rick Cain, Jason Hurst, Gavin Johnson, Beau Broker, Nick Robinson, Mike Oransky, Tim Deardourff, Flavia Kanyago, Bobby Nickels, Jennie Bram, Andrew Smith, Keith Crutcher and Edmund Aramayo. Property management specialists joining are: Cheryl Carroll, Alex Ling, Terri Smaistrla, Fred Maccioli, David Sooy and Aaron Graham. Joining as administrative and marketing specialists are: Sue Fisher, Natascha Kehri, Virginia MacKoul, Sara Padgett, Dustin Walsh and Alexandra Morales.

Front Street currently manages 20 properties totaling more than 1 million square feet (msf) of office, retail, industrial and multi-family space, including hundreds of apartment units, in the North Florida region. Properties under management include Innovation Square, an affiliated entity of the University of Florida; and Tioga Town Center, a mixed-use town center consisting of approximately 150,000 sf of retail, office and multi-family units.

Today’s acquisition brings Avison Young’s total square feet of office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties under management in Florida to 19 msf. Avison Young has more than 120 msf of retail, industrial and office properties under management in North America.

“The Front Street team has established itself as a market leader throughout the North Florida region,” states Earl Webb, Avison Young President, U.S. Operations. “This acquisition will be highly beneficial to many of our occupier and investor clients throughout Florida. Front Street has built a high-quality service platform that provides creative real estate solutions, and Avison Young looks forward to growing our company’s presence in Gainesville, which we believe is an underserved market. Nick Banks has consistently provided excellent client service during his career while building a broad-based service platform at Front Street and other firms where he has worked. Additionally, the new team has a number of senior managers and brokers who will enhance our client-service capabilities in all asset classes and service lines.”

Front Street has earned a number of awards over the years, including No. 10 Fastest-growing Gator-owned or Gator-led Business in the World, from the University of Florida (2015); and Best Overall Small Business of the Year, from the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce (2014).

“With the opening of the new Gainesville office, Avison Young now has a strong presence in all of Florida’s regions,” notes Pike Rowley, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the company’s Florida region. “The acquisition of Front Street enables us to accomplish several goals as we attempt to expand Avison Young’s reach into North Florida and grow our retail service lines statewide. The Gainesville area has been a rapid-growth market in Florida, driven by the University of Florida and UF Health at Shands and the emerging industrial sector in Ocala.”

Rowley adds: “The acquisition enables us to bolster our retail service line in North Florida and, in one fell swoop, add brokerage and property management expertise in five other cities served by Front Street team members. Nick Banks is a strong leader who is deeply involved with the Gainesville business community. Furthermore, he is well-versed in the development and financial- underwriting area of the capital markets service line. He will be an integral member of our retail and capital markets practices.”

Effective immediately, Avison Young’s new Gainesville office is located at 132 NW 76th Drive.

“Our team has been humbled by the support we have received from clients and other stakeholders over the last 16 years as we have built the Front Street brand from scratch and then throughout North Florida,” says Banks. “We could not be happier about joining a company like Avison Young, whose collaborative culture and values match ours so perfectly. We are excited about being a part of a growing and entrepreneurial platform like Avison Young. We also look forward to discovering what the resources of a global, Principal-led company can do to enhance the service that we bring to our clients.”

Avison Young opened its first Florida offices in October 2012 in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Miami with Rowley joining as a Principal and Managing Director of the company’s Florida region. In May 2013, Avison Young acquired WG Compass Realty Cos. and opened a West Palm Beach office. In September 2013, Avison Young acquired Lane Witherspoon & Carswell Commercial Real Estate Advisors and opened a new office in Tampa. In November 2014, Avison Young acquired Morrison Commercial Real Estate and opened a new office in Orlando. In December 2014, Avison Young acquired Miami-based Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group. In April 2016, Avison Young announced a new office in Jacksonville.

Home to the University of Florida and Santa Fe College, Gainesville is well-known for its college-town atmosphere, including many shopping, dining and entertainment locations, as well as its highly talented workforce, live-work-play lifestyle, low unemployment and diverse economy. The city’s major industries include advanced manufacturing, education, healthcare, life sciences, IT, logistics, green technology and agriculture. Government also forms a large employment base and leading medical facilities offer numerous research, innovation and real estate-related business opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Gainesville’s low unemployment rate (2.8% as of November 2018) sits below the state average.

Over the past 10 years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 87 offices in 78 markets and from 300 to more than 2,700 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Asia.

Today’s announcement follows Avison Young’s announcement on November 8, 2018 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire U.K.-based GVA. Avison Young also opened its first office in Asia, in Seoul, South Korea, on November 1, 2018.

Biography

Nick Banks Nick Banks brings more than 25 years of commercial real estate industry experience to Avison Young. He was most recently Managing Director of Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, which he founded in 2002. During the company’s first eight years, he developed and acquired office and retail projects in South Florida as well as in North and Central Florida. In 2010, he shifted the firm’s focus to third-party client service along with brokerage and property management services. Prior to founding Front Street, he was the director of finance and dispositions for Stiles Corporation in Fort Lauderdale, where he financed and sold more than $500 million worth of commercial properties. Before joining Stiles, he was an associate director at GE Capital Real Estate, where he sourced more than $200 million in financing throughout Florida.

Banks is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and founding co-chair of the Gainesville committee for the North Florida chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). In the community, he serves as a member of the University of Florida Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies advisory and executive boards while also mentoring students and speaking at several of the school’s events. Earlier in 2018, Banks was named to the University of Florida Foundation’s national board. He recently served as the board chair for the United Way of North Central Florida and is actively involved with the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, where he is a board member, executive committee member and committee member for the council for economic outreach. He is also a recent graduate of Leadership Gainesville, which is a year-long leadership program hosted by the chamber. Banks holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a major in finance as well as a concentration in real estate from the University of Florida.

Avison Young is the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Avison Young is a collaborative, global firm owned and operated by its principals. Founded in 1978, the company comprises 2,700 real estate professionals in 87 offices, providing value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, financing and mortgage placement services to owners and occupiers of office, retail, industrial, multi-family and hospitality properties.

For further information/comment/photos:

Sherry Quan, Principal, Global Director of Communications & Media Relations, Avison Young: 604.647.5098; mobile: 604.726.0959 Mark Rose, Chair and CEO, Avison Young: 416.673.4028 Earl Webb, President, U.S. Operations, Avison Young: 312.957.7610 Pike Rowley, Principal and Managing Director, Florida, Avison Young: 954.938.1807 Nick Banks, Principal & Managing Director, Gainesville, Avison Young: 352.505.3884

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Caisse-backed Avision Young buys Florida real estate business

Avison Young has acquired Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, a Gainesville, Florida-based commercial real estate brokerage and property management company.

No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

Avison Young acquires Front Street Commercial Real Estate Group, expands presence in North Florida; 26 members join

Nick Banks becomes Principal and Managing Director of new Gainesville office

Effective immediately, Avison Young’s new Gainesville office is located at 132 NW 76th Drive.

Over the past 10 years, Avison Young has grown from 11 to, now, 87 offices in 78 markets and from 300 to more than 2,700 real estate professionals in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Asia.

Biography

For further information/comment/photos:

Do you want exclusive news and analysis about private equity deals, fundraising, top-quartile managers and more? Get your FREE trial to Buyouts! Or subscribe now!

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