Bloodflood

[Itash Mecetti]

HYPERSPACE​

[member="Cassandra Paige"]​

It felt like they had been buried in work for months.

Barely being able to pop out.

Always more things to do. See through. Figure out and execute. Intergalactic corporations, multi-sector region administration, none of it was easy by any stretch of the imagination. In truth Tash couldn't remember the last time he just had... fun. Well, they decided to change that around. For the next two weeks? Vacation. Just Cassandra and him. Which should be amusing enough, because Tash was almost certain they hadn't spend that much time alone in maybe a year.

At the very least it would a relaxing environment.

Luxurious hotel, beach, every whim of theirs catered. It would be great. They were settled in the observatory. Itash watched as the blue streams of light ran past the viewport. Mesmerizing in their own right.

Apparently if you stared too long you could lose your mind in it.

Which was fascinating in its own right. "We should arrive in the next five minutes," He murmured over to Cass. "What are you looking forward to doing once we get there?"

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"Hmm?"

Cass was settled on a lounge in the observatory. Stretched out, one ankle settled over the other.

Two weeks they had agreed to. Had they ever spent that much time, just the two of them, with no other distractions? He thought they must have. She disagreed. Of course, it wasn't technically the beginning of those two weeks yet- not for another five minutes, and Cassandra's attention was on the datapad in her hands, making some last minute adjustments.

She didn't glance up.

"Don't look at me like that. I promised I'd put it away when we were on vacation and we will be in....." she checked the corner of the pad, "four minutes."

To call Cass a type A personality would be an understatement.

She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment.

Forget about the last time they had taken an extended time together, when was the last time SHE had relaxed? Before GenPals, that was for certain. Strange that, really. Before she had started the company- mostly out of spite- she'd never had any problems just doing entirely as she pleased. But sometime, in the time since there, there had been a certain alchemy at work. Something that had little to do with Itash. Somewhere along the way she'd become genuinely invested in the success of these ventures, outside of spite and merely intending to prove a point.

"A drink and a massage," she said finally, answering his question. "And then-"

The ship shuddered.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"I didn't say anything." Itash pointed out bemusedly, before popping up to his feet and wandering over to the viewport. "But I would like to remind you there is more to life than your spreadsheet numbers."

This was the key difference between them.

Something he was keenly aware of. Every day a little more. Being born to nobility gave him a different perspective. Oh, neither of them grew up thinking they had to work for their money, but it was different. Having the history of the entire House Mecetti flowing through your veins was simply different than being born to upper-class Coruscant. Vastly different. From his youth Tash had been taught a simple thing. He was destined to rule. Destined to live and to enjoy himself. To find any and all pleasures he wished for.

Because that was his right.

Of course, it made being cast out from his noble family all the more jarring, but being who and what he was? Itash found his own ways.

"And then-" About to ask. A shudder meant nothing at al--- suddenly shudder turned into violent shock. Itash lost his footing, crashing to the floor as around them chaos erupted. Lights dying. More shocks. The world in the viewport suddenly coming closer fast. "Need to get to the-" An explosion in the distance as Itash tried to push himself up and get to Cass.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"It wasn't what you said," she murmured absently, good naturedly (which was a lie from Cass, there was nothing good natured about anything she did) "It was how you said it."

It was hard to tell if she were joking or not.

"And then? I'll-"

SHOOKASHOOKASHOOKA

Cass was thrown out of the lounge as the ship bucked, the data pad going spinning across the floor. She landed hard on her hands, absorbing most of the impact with a jarring spike of pain up through her wrists but ultimately none the worst for wear.

And then a second explosion tore through the ship and everything went white.

She didn't know how long passed between that and when she opened her eyes. She was lying on her back on the floor, looking up at Tash. Her face was wet and he was saying something but she couldn't hear a word of it over the ringing in her ears. The edges of her vision wavered in nauseating patterns. She couldn't read his lips, he was talking too fast.

"Slow down."

She didn't realize she was shouting.

Out the viewport, the planet beneath them filled the view, but only for a moment. The ship was in a tailspin, casting the black sky above them across the scene and then back to the planet again- larger, closer- before flashing back to black.

They were going to crash and they had very little time until that happened.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]