Private Cut The Rope

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

O~~>OBLIVION<~~O​

Lao-Mon had been....a complete failure.

On so many levels.

How Auria still found herself in this ship, free to move around and not strung up or abandoned on the jungle planet, is a small wonder. Konrad had not said a word to her, however, since she and Ishida Ashina had half-dragged him out of the tunnels after the Epic Failure. Of course, she couldn't really blame the Buckethead, as she had thrown him off their quarry like a rag doll.

But Auria was fuming nonetheless.

She couldn't shake the visions brought on by the hallucinogenic thrown by none other than the Majesty of Bad Attitude. Not only her own memories that she had suppressed so well before, but Konrad and Tu'teggacha 's as well, plagued her. She was shell-shocked. And she didn't do well with shell-shock.

The usually collected Witch Spellweaver was spiraling.

The conflict within herself whether she should have left Konrad to slit the Ebruchi's throat or whether she did the right thing from stopping him from doing it was tearing her up inside. It was still a stretch of travel toward Bastion and she had far too much time with her own thoughts than was healthy. Her usually impeccable hair were fizzing in all directions from the amount of times she had run her fingers through them and her eyes were supported by dark circles. The flames that have always been present since that day on Ryloth, were smouldering just below boiling point within her being, threatening to ignite at a moment's notice.

All in all she just felt guilty for the excessive force used against her only ally.

Eventually, Auria had had enough of only having her own thoughts to stew on, so she got up just as the captain's voice sounded over the comms that they would be stopping momentarily to refuel.

Perfect.

Marching over to Konrad's quarters, she hammered against the door.
"Time to come out of hiding, Sleeping Ugly! We need to talk!" she said through the door, the frown between her brows nearly hanging on the ground and very evident in her voice.

No chance she was going to keep feeling crap on her own. He could happily share in that misery.

 

[Konrad Harrsk]

Numb.

There was no word to better describe Konrad's current state. Eyes lazily drifting across the endlessly scrolling screen of intel reports, mind consumed to cope with the events of Lao-mon through imperial work. Otherwise, he knew, he'd be on the ship's bridge steering the vessel back to Maw space in a rabid pursuit of that squid Tu'teggacha ; but there was also another that was to be blamed for their failure - that cursed witc--

Knock! KNOCK!

"Time to come out of hiding, Sleeping Ugly! We need to talk!"

Speak of the witch...

"Go away, woman, I am done talking with you!" he grumbled loud enough for her to hear.

Auria Blackmoore

 

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

Why that....

Anger welled up inside Auria, causing her eyes to flash amber as she glared at the closed door, hands balled into fists. If ever she wanted to charbroil his ass, it was now.

Reaching through the Force, she telekinetically lifted the mechanisms locking it in place, and the door slid open. She probably looked like something out of a holo-thriller in all her haggard, pissed glory, but she didn't care.
"I don't give a damn if you're done talking, 'cause I'm not." she sneered. "So we can do this here or outside where there are more witnesses to keep me from burning you to a crisp. That's the kind of mood I'm in. You're call." She didn't know if she really would burn him to a crisp, but the shabuir didn't have to know that. All she knew was that these memories that plagued the hell out of her had to go, one way or another. He was the cause of them, so he can suffer along with her.

 

[Konrad Harrsk]

His hand snapped to the throwing star lying idly on his desk when the door mechanisms began to shift under her will. Grumbling a thousand curses underneath his breath, eager to throw the star straight in between her eyes, Konrad all but froze at her sight. He slowly set the throwing star back down as a nasty smirk slithered on his face. Turning the chair around to face her directly, he crossed his legs and steepled his fingers.

"I see you must be spending all your money on make-up."

"You look ugly." he stated plainly.

The assassin did like playing with fire, after all.

Auria Blackmoore

 

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

Even though he interrupted his own movement with the throwing star, Auria caught the initial movement nonetheless.
"Go ahead - let's see how far you get." she snapped, motioning at the star. Maybe if they both ended up dead simultaneously, it will solve a lot of these plaguing issues.

"You look ugly."

His unsavoury comment interrupted her fuming inner babble. Auria's molars ground on top of one another. He was probably not wrong, but the vindictive way he said it had her itching to throw a fireball at him.
"At least I still look like something and not like a mediocre nobody." she said pointedly. "But seeing as you chose to gamble with your life, time to come to terms with the hand you've been dealt with." She leaned a hip against the doorframe. "What possessed your pea-brain to drop those hallucinogenics in between us all? Do you like to play with your food like a petulant child, making dinner unpleasant for the grown ups?" She was truly out of sorts. Her insults that she now hurled at him, lacked the usual sarcastic bite.

Why did she have to be someone with a conscience?

 

[Konrad Harrsk]

Maybe if they both ended up dead simultaneously, it will solve a lot of these plaguing issues.

For real.

His smirk shifted to that so usual, so signature (at this point) scowl he most often carried. The numbness prevented the audacious and often repulsive flames inside to flicker again. Instead, there was a coolness to both his voice and disposition, something his grandfather had mastered and struggled to teach Konrad; something that was now merely driven by exhaustion rather than an iron composure.

"I did what I had to do given the circumstances." Konrad explained, setting his arm on the desk "You were not really much of a help there, were you now? For all that sorcery you possess, a squid-faced freak got the better of your incantations." before she could say something he continued sternly, "And whether I gamble with my life or not - is my decision. But that's not what truly concerns you, is it? It's that your life was at stake. Yes, then let me tell you one thing - you don't bring order to a galaxy without walking on the precipice, Blackmoore."

Auria Blackmoore

 

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

Auria sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.

She needed to center herself or she would go off the rails with his complete disregard for humanity.
"There's a difference between bringing order to the Galaxy and a complete disregard for life, Konrad." she said quietly before opening her eyes once more to look at him. "Just sometimes, mercy can go a longer way than complete and utter carnage of one's enemies. You point fingers at me for not being able to dispel my own demons, but at least I recovered without any of your help." The bandaged wound on her back started to throb from her suppressed emotions. That Palatini really did do a number on her before he died.

She ran her hands over her face.
"Look, if I was so self absorbed as you say, I would have just left you at the mercy of the Breaker of Minds to do with you as he pleased. He had you where he wanted you. But I stayed. I am truly sorry for what I did to you, but I'd do it again. Vengeance isn't the way to true balance and order in the Galaxy. It won't achieve the peace everyone is fighting for." she said, shaking her head at the end.

He could do whatever he wanted with her apology. She was feeling drained, most of her fight already fought out against the combined spectres of the trio's past that kept assaulting her waking moments.

For the first time, she wished she wasn't Force Sensitive.

 

[Konrad Harrsk]

His features slightly softened in surprise at her use of his name, leaving her to speak uninterrupted. The mind-defiling experience on Lao-mon was a roller coaster of emotions, he could acknowledge that but-- but to show weakness—he was not allowed to. It was a lesson branded with iron in his psyche. Revealing your vulnerabilities - to anyone, enemy or ally - was a straight pathway to doom and defeat. His father's maniac tendency to leading the galaxy into a New Age had been his weakness, one that milksop of a grand vizier had clearly exploited.

"Don't confuse duty for benevolence, Auria. You did what was at the bare minimum expected of you to do - your mission." Konrad said, the frown returning to contort his face. "Until you didn't."

"I finally had him where I wanted him - with my dagger pressed against his throat. It would've been a crippling blow to the Maw. A blow worth the cost." he clenched his jaw and averted his eyes as he recalled the last moments of his fight with the Taskmaster. So close. "Now, the Maw still possess his services to raise more and more armies of brainwashed zealots." his words came out through a coldly uttered whisper of reality.

Shifting his gaze back to her, he noticed the myriad of bandages wrapped across her form. She wasn't dead, so at least that was something. He cleared that thought away as soon as it arrived -it was a pitiful silver lining drawn from his gut, from his emotions, and it served only as a hindrance. The assassin stood up on his feet as if that would help him quell that odd warmth and took a few steps closer to her.

Squinting his eyes questioningly at her, he asked not of his own mind's volition really, "What would you have had me done, then?"

Auria Blackmoore

 

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

His words just repeated the things she had used to beat herself up with ever since leaving Lao Mon.

It was a vicious cycle of guilt and she was already teetering dangerously close to a meltdown. It might all have been more bearable if it weren't for those memories of Ryloth. That guilt that she had carried with her everyday for almost 10 years. That she had tried so hard to bury, now brought back to the forefront because of the very man that was in front of her now.

The fires of anger had slowly started to kindle once more as she watched him get to his feet and approach her.

"What would you have had me done, then?"

Auria was almost skittish. Not so long ago, he had tried to kill her. And with his foul mood now, she had no idea what his angle was now.
"I would have had you think further than your damn nose. Instead of killing him, you could have taken him captive, seeing as you had him pinned. We could have picked his brain, turned the tables on him. Find out all we could about the Maw. But you had to make it personal, didn't you? Acted selfishly and not in the interest of the nation you claim to serve." she said, glaring at him. It was easier latching onto the anger than it was to try and come to terms with what had happened.

The throbbing was starting to get uncomfortable, causing her to roll back her shoulders to try and ease some tension in her back. Exhaling through her nose, she removed her hip from the doorframe to stand up straight while crossing her arms.
"This is like a dog chasing its own tail. I don't even know why I bothered. Not only did I want to apologise for my role in it all, but also to see if you had any remorse for your own mistake, but you are so full of hate at the Galaxy, it's like beating against a blast door with bare hands. Are you even human?" she asked, truly wondering if he had any shred of humanity or was he just a remorseless killing machine.

She had answers for a lot of things, but an answer for hate was one she did not have. She may have thrown him down a corridor, but burning an ally for being hateful was crossing some kind of moral line.

She would not be able to do it.

Not that he made it easy for her.

 

[Konrad Harrsk]

"Personal?" he leaned his face close to hers, disregarding her personal space, "Picking his brain was my sole goal until I saw it as unattainable. Better dead than still alive in the Maw." the assassin pulled back, clasping his hands behind his back and slowly meandering back and forth as he - surprisingly - listened to what she had to say.

Not many afforded the luxury of his ears.

"...Are you even human?" she asked, truly wondering if he had any shred of humanity or was he just a remorseless killing machine.

Konrad stopped, his eyes fixated on the floor. The question lingered in his mind long after it had been uttered. Its meaning slithering through the meager cracks in the otherwise impeccable walls of the assassin's character. Ever since he could walk, he had been trained by his grandfather and the Axis of Shadows to be the perfect heir to lead the group of assassins. The art of murder, espionage, and deception. All the social skills he had learned, what made him human, were merely tools of the trade. He held the notions of companionship and camaraderie as nothing more than weapons, his understanding of them did not reach beyond that.

Yet, Konrad still carried a heart. In the few minutes of free time in between, his mother (and grandfather) had nurtured his heart enough not to be stillborn. Their love for him was clear, yet it rarely showed buried by the inhuman amounts of training.

When he lifted his head up back to her, the scowl was gone - replaced by a numb, empty glare.

"Is that all?" love beyond blood was a weakness.

Auria Blackmoore

 

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

It was too much.

The battering memories. The guilt. The anger. The pain and exhaustion. The invasion of her personal space. The fear of getting a sudden dagger in the heart. The complete inhumanity of a supposed human.

The colour drained from Auria's face as he stood with his back to her, her words probably wasted, and she had to grip the doorframe from toppling sideways. Amber eyes dimmed to her usual chocolate, the last shred of resolve gone.

"Is that all?"

Auria clenched her jaw as she willed herself to stand up straight.
"Yes. Yes it is. There's more emotion in a durasteel chair than in you, so I'll go take my chances with one in the station." she said quietly, all bite and fire gone.

She figured her efforts wasted on this inhuman and his organisation, so Auria turned to leave. There was bound to be a shuttle around the station that was bound to any other place than Bastion.

 

[Konrad Harrsk]

"...wait." it came as a ghostly whisper, most definitely unheard beyond his own ears.

..

"Auria, wait!" this time, the voice broke through the callous murk enveloping his heart. Konrad couldn't tell if his will crumbled in departing presence or whether it was his will surging through impenetrable walls erected over a lifetime.

He slipped out of his quarters and hurried after her only to stop midway when she turned her gaze back. Silence beset their glare in the hallway for a long moment before he broke it.

"I-- what do you want me to say?" the assassin asked, his tone uncertain as a sailor treading through unfamiliar waters. "He broke into my mind and all I wanted to do is end it." the confession was harsh, heavy, and hardly liberating. Ego was unforgiving.

"I cannot apologize for that but perhaps I should have not put your life on the line to do it." this was probably the closest thing she could get to an apology or some form of repentance from him. And it hurt Konrad's ego like a rusty dagger plunged into his gut.

Auria Blackmoore

 

[Auria Blackmoore]

TAG: Konrad Harrsk

"Auria, wait!"

The tone in those two words stopped the rogue halfway down the hallway. Her ashen face was blank as she turned to face him when he slid out of his quarters. In silence she stood, her jaw clenched when he finally deigned to explained uncertainly why he had acted. She even remained silent as he tried to apologise.

She regarded him for a minute before finally exhaling through her nose.
"You still don't get it, do you? I can take care of my own life. I'm not worried about the physical. But you are not the only one who suffered under his mental assault." she then strained, but stopped herself before buckling further under the burden of candor.

The ship started humming beneath their feet once more - her gap for leaving growing exceptionally small. But the sliver of humanity had been there, buried beneath a mountain of pride, but it had been there. Perhaps efforts weren't entirely wasted after all.

Auria sighed before running a shaky hand over her face before holding it up in a stopping motion.
"All right, look, I'm sure the demons you are facing are pretty dark. I am sorry he exploited that." she said, almost sincerely. "Both you and me, however, will have to come to terms with our respective demons if we ever want to face him again. To not give him that firepower again." she continued after a heartbeat, the Twi'lek girl's lifeless eyes still haunting the forefront of her mind. "And I swear to the spirits, the next time you use an opiate of any kind in my vicinity again, I will unleash a fury on you that will make hell look like winter wonderland. Do we understand each other?" The glower Auria gave him then, at least resembled her usual scowl.