Chemical Romance

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"Why would I be mad?" Jairus mumbled against her lips, before kissing her again. "Got busy lives, busy businesses, sometimes things pop up and we can't really do anything about it."

Teeth tugged down a fraction before he let her go again.

"Besides adjust accordingly anyway. Let Samson enjoy a day off, that one's been training his muscles off for the past two weeks. I will be going with you instead on this mission." Already the Sith could feel her working her way towards protesting, but he cut it off with another kiss. This time she was the one biting, to get a word in.

"It's date night, Raj- only thing matters is that we are together. Doesn't matter what we are doing."

Already his attention shifted towards what she was packing.

Trying to figure out what he himself should take with him. Some armor seemed a good idea, especially with the mention of technobeasts. It had been close to two decades since he had tried his hand at Mechu-Deru.

It was an option, but not one he wanted to be experimenting with in a life-or-death situation.

 

[Kuzo]

She smiled up at him, humming contentedly against his lips.

"Then that's settled," she murmured. She didn't waffle, didn't play the 'are you suuuuuure' game. That wasn't how they worked. And it was one of the reasons why they did work. Whatever games they might have played, that sort wasn't it. After the initial insecurity, they had both been able to return to the place where they trusted the other to say if they wanted something.... but also to say if they did not.

"Get your rear in gear and we'll get moving," she said with a smirk, flicking the rear in question before going back to her own preparation.

After all, they had the entire trip there to do exactly what they wanted.

*****

"So yeah, I didn't realize it wasn't just a story until I found that facility. 'Raja and the Monsters' wasn't just some cute way my father made sure I wasn't afraid of the shadow in the closet. Makes me wonder if any of the other things from his stories are real."

They lay, twinned together, legs threaded. Her head rested on his bare chest, listening to his breathing. His hand stroked her arm absently.

She tilted her head up to look at him.

"My dad was... a weird dude. But, you already knew that."


[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

He wiggled the rear with a smirk and then went off to get himself ready.

* * *​

​

Transpiration covered skin like a slick shine from exertion and pleasure, but something was not right. There was a scream at the back of his mind, an insistent ieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that came out of nowhere once the apex settled in. A premonition that something was wrong... or maybe wrong was the wrong word, but that something fundamentally had changed. Jairus wasn't sure what it was about, but here in this particular moment?

He didn't care either.

"Weird? Brilliant and maybe slightly eccentric." Jai responded after a brief moment of thought. "Surprising how far along he was thinking, when he coded it to your biometric data."

That particular thought made him tilt his head.

What if her new body would prevent the technobeast from 'recognizing' Raj for Raj? She was functionally the same, unwilling to change anything about her body, besides making it anew again.

But had the copying been precise enough to fool her father's creation?

"We should be careful though, what with your new body." His lips already touched her neck, while fingers brushed. Lazy, slow, long, showing his appreciation for her.

 

[Kuzo]

She frowned slightly, looking thoughtful as she worked a few things over in her mind.

"He couldn't have coded it to my DNA- not specifically," she said finally.

Irajah propped herself up on her elbow.

"I'm not sure the exact time frame of when he met my mothers compared to when he created Kresh, but it was definitely long before I was born. I'm certain she wasn't pregnant with me before they both left, before he set her free...."

But the tone of her voice, thoughtful and troubled, said that perhaps she wasn't so certain. Until he'd brought that up, she'd made certain assumptions, but she realized in that moment that in truth she knew very little about technobeasts in general. Assuredly she had made assumptions based on what she did know. But.....

Sitting up all the way, she crossed her legs next to him, frowning furiously. The crease between her eyebrows, the particular lilt in her voice was her 'black hole learning mode' he'd become so familiar with during their time on Azure.

"I had assumed it was keyed to his genetics, and having half of that had been sufficient for it to recognize me," she mused. "But if you are concerned about the potential minute differences between my original body and a cloned one.... that tells me that assumption was woefully under informed. Is my original thought possible at all? From what you know of creatures like this. Maw curse it, I should have done more research but it didn't seem strange at the time....."

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Jai didn't reply immediately.

Instead his eyes went foggy and he was gone for a moment.

She would be familiar with his expression, him turning inwards and moving through past memories and lives to find the answer to the questions they had in that moment. This time it was the memories of a younger him - part of it was still painful to watch, the arrogance, hubris, the risks taken out of no reason other than to prove that he could. It were the acts of a younger man, one who had still been new to existence and found pleasure in denying the calls of caution at the back of his mind.

"As far as I can remember.." Voice close, but it still sounded far away, until Jairus blinked and was back again. "Or see anyway... there are two ways you can pass over loyalty of a Technobeast."

"Link them to your Force presence, link them to the specific DNA- hmm." Head tilted as he thought about it for a moment. It was true that the Force was unique to each and every wielder, but there were distinctions and- No, her presence had been weak in those days. From trying to contain Gideon in her body and move it around every part of her organs.

"But your father was better than most."

That admission wasn't a difficult one to make, it was the simple truth. "He could have discovered something new, a protector that would keep his lineage safe, so to speak."

 

[Kuzo]

She nodded, but didn't look entirely convinced.

"If anyone could find a way to reinvent the wheel, it was him," she did agree however.

But it was also suddenly and deeply obvious that assuming she had understood the convoluted timeline of her parent's relationship was deeply flawed. When they got back, she would delve back into his files. She had been so focused on Gideon for so long, that she realized it was very likely she had missed things. Things that perhaps would not have saved her life then, but that certainly could answer questions she hadn't previously even thought to ask.

"Well, whichever it is, I think it will be fine," she said, shaking her head as if to dislodge the new line of questions. They would have to wait. "Genetically, this body is identical. But we'll be cautious, just in case."

She leaned over, kissing him deeply, using the feeling of his mouth against hers to banish the new potential mysteries. The more she learned about her parents, the less real her childhood seemed. The less it stood up to scrutiny. It was not a particularly pleasant experience, so she replaced it with one that was.

A bell like sound intoned through the ship and she sat back up, smiling.

"Exiting hyperspace in twenty minutes. Better get ready."

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

It was a long time since he had tried his hand with Mechu-Deru.

Some things you couldn't unlearn, it was like making the perfect red martini, you learned it once and for the rest of your life it stayed with you no matter what. You might stumble once or twice, might use a different ingredient than you should, might experiment and make a mistake, but in the end you would get it right.

The issue here was that if Jai stumbled here?

Could be a mistake they wouldn't be walking away from for another go. "Aren't we always?" He mumbled as the words disppeared amidst soft deep kisses to make them both forget.

But just as Raj wanted to pull out, his hands already wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her closer. "Oh, we will be finished alright... maybe in ten minutes?" She chuckled softly and Jairus grinned against her skin, kissing already, letting it go up and then down, down, until he reached her spot.

"Might be less."

If he tried hard enough.

 

[Kuzo]

"You," she murmured, punctuating each word with a kiss. "Are. Never. Cautious."

But she was smiling when she laid her hand on his chest, though whether to steady herself as he drew her in or as a reminder of how very, very incautious he had a tendency to be, well, that was lost in flush and heat and a soft hum that went all the way to the base of her throat.

"Less? Better get to it then," she whispered, smirking as she closed her eyes.

*****

The facility was much as she remembered it. She and Locke had intended on blowing the entrance, but running for your lives tended to be distracting, and it had been blow it or get cut to ribbons. It looked like he (or someone else in the Alliance) had come back at some point, however, because all of the entry points had been thoroughly sealed.

It wasn't hard to get around. Telekinesis had been one of the first things she'd discovered on her own, and it had always made a certain intrinsic sense. It was always easier when she was angry, or afraid, but thinking of Locke made that easy.

Slow down dazzle-fox.

Irajah grimaced.

It didn't take long to clear the rubble and they were able to step through easily.

"Watch your step, it's.... a mess up here."

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

It was frustrating.

Only a few months ago he would have been able to simply rip apart the rubble with his mind, pulling tightly against the Force and causing energy to erupt alongside the weak points of the scaffolding, but instead there the Sith Lord stood next to Raj. His fingers curling into a fist and releasing the hold of his nails against calloused skin. Over and over again as he focused, adding his strength to her, not because she had need of it in the soft glow of anger balling together like a pit in her stomach, but because Jai wanted to help. Anything more than this and he would be useless, if they needed his mind and hand against the Technobeasts dwelling within.

Anything less than this? And he'd feel useless right now.

"I wish I could do more," He mumbled, to himself more than to her, before giving a frank nod and following her in. It was dark inside and any lights had died out weeks ago, if not more. But luckily they already figured this would be the case.

From the back of his pack Jairus revealed two flashlights, one for her and one for him.

Strictly speaking his eyes would be enough, but ever since his power had failed him? Jai was less inclined to trust in the Force.

"Whoever was here also barricaded the lift shaft."

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah accepted the light, then let go of it. It didn't take much attention to have the small item follow her, keeping both of her hands free. At least for now, the convience was worth the fraction of attention it took.

She didn't respond to his comment about his help. There wasn't anything she could say, really. The best reassurance she could offer was to make sure he knew he was wanted and needed. And words weren't going to do that. Not in this case anyway.

"Well, that *is* more irritating," she said, wrinkling her nose. Locke, or someone sent here by him.

"Capped it with duracrete. Well, I can say for them that they were thorough. Going to try something I've been working on with Rev. If this goes wrong, just be ready to grab me by the back of my pants, okay?"

Telekinesis wasn't going to work here. At least, not alone. Reaching out, she wrapped it with that potential. Then traced the invisible ley lines of the cap itself through the Force. Two applications of Shatterpoint, this one was, ultimately, the smaller use, no matter what it looked like from the outside. Flashier, yes, but without the implications.

A spiderweb of bands traced back and forth across it, not visible with eyes, not tactile beneath finger tips. She nodded to herself. Then, wielding the Force with the precision of a chisel, she tapped.

Just the right spot, and the cap cracked. Five separate lines snaked out from the weakness she'd pinpointed, and she was there to keep it from falling down the shaft. She inhaled slowly, biting her lower lip in concentration as she lowered each piece down, one at a time- more difficult once she lost sight of them, and sweat sprang up on her temples before the last one was safely to the floor far below.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

At some point his hand rested on her shoulder.

Not heavy, just a light touch of support as she lowered brick upon shattered brick and descended it down. It would be an understatement to say that Jairus was impressed by her display of strength - not the great strength displayed by the breaking cities or the collapse of society, but the soft strength that wormed itself into the very fundamentals of what reality meant... then shattering it without difficulty. This was refined control and precision that made Jai whistle softly.

"Ain't that something," He mumbled, pressing a soft kiss at the edge of her jaw, before moving past her and peering down the shaft. It took two moments to break out one of the glowsticks, snapping them in half and emerald light filtering through broken shell.

"Should teach me that if we get time for it." Just a hint of a tease, but part of him was serious - not hungering for the knowledge, but interested to have her teach him and see what would happen. After all, if Jairus had ever truly been interested in shatterpoint, he would simply have asked Reverance to assist him. But that wasn't the point of the exercise here. From the depths of his pack he revealed rope, hooks and other equipment to lower themselves.

"Alright, come here, time to descend."

Pressing against him Jai took his time securing himself to the rope and her against him.

He took another moment to look over the edge. "How many did you say there were again down there?"

 

[Kuzo]

"I'm still learning myself," she murmured in response, but there was satisfaction in her voice, rather than false modesty. And certainly no chagrin.

Before, with Gideon riding her shoulders, every new skill was hard fought and hard won. Like slogging through thigh high mud, the difficulty in focusing on other matters of the Force had been physically painful- the choice, the necessity to let go of her grip on Gideon to do anything more than sensing things around her.

Now? It was as thought it was simply waiting there for the taking. All she had to do was reach out and pluck it, like heavy fruit ripe on the branch. She could pull it down and bring it to her mouth to bite with sharp white teeth, juices trickling down her chin- so much more than she could ever have hoped or even imagined before.

If she wasn't careful, she could gorge on it, choke to death on this bounty. It was the only thing keeping her from suffocating in the power hanging around her. That awareness. She had seen what power too readily drunk did. And what she saw, she learned.

Especially after that, she was glad to let him take the reigns. Even with his 'heart' the way it was, he was by far the physically stronger of the two, and letting him do the heavy lifting here as it were gave her a chance to rest for a moment.

"Never got a solid count," she admitted as they started down, him working the descender. Her wrapped her arms around his neck- unnecessary, but pleasant.

"We saw at least five, besides mine. Could be more, but if so I don't think very many."

The darkness yawned out around them on both sides. She stopped talking for now, muffling her light in the palm of her hand but not turning it off completely.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Making him do the heavy lifting also gave Jairus some sense of use.

No matter how small it was, it counted up towards each other, until the worries faded into the background in the face of a 'job' to do. It helped that Raj didn't try to put attention to his heart - not in a way that could be considered as pity or even sympathy. Even out of a good place that would probably only work to lower his confidence in himself.

The Sith way... it was not an easy path to walk.

"Got us a little shield generator." He said after a moment of thought, detaching it from his belt and passing it over for Raj to hold. "Won't do much for long, but it will keep 'em at bay for a few minutes."

It was a sphere-shaped device. "Twist the middle, click on the button on top and it should project a shield for us."

That would give Jai some time to study them, if they decided to try something against them. Even a few minutes could be the difference between life or death when you were up against automated constructs trying to rip and tear you apart. They were half-way through now and Jairus put all of his concentration into the task of lowering them as solidly as possible.

The rope could hold them, but if there were too many sudden shocks?

It could snap.

His jaw brushed against her cheek. "Not bad for our... fifth date, was it?" Beneath the elevator could be just about seen by the light Raj was shining down.

His boots settled down on the twisted metal first.

Silence and shadows all around them, where the light could not reach. "Was expecting a horde to descend on us about now..." Brows furrowed in confusion. Jai reached out around them - she would feel the subtle twist of the Force, still refined and powerful, but subdued now that most of his attention had to go towards containing the heart.

...there seemed to be nothing around them.

 

[Kuzo]

"Still not sure I'd call this a 'date'," she replied abently, looking up along the length of the rope as they descended. But she smiled, and he knew she was glad he was here. Which was really all that mattered.

His feet touched down before hers did, her weight supported against him for a moment until he let her down. Stepping lightly onto the top of the elevator, shield generator in one hand and light in the other, Irajah frowned. She'd kept the light hooded against her body, but now, with no sense of movement or really anything, she risked shining it out.

The large central area was, at first glance, empty.

"There should be at least a half a dozen," she said, tone slightly uneasy. It wasn't a feeling, not an indication within the Force. In fact, there was no sense of danger here at all. Even back then, she'd had the inkling, the feeling of cold breath on the back of her neck.

Sweeping the light around, she paused, then backtracked. A glint in the darkness, reflected back.

It was then that she noticed the smell.

"Well I'll be damned."

She'd already told him that they'd had to leave Kresh- no way to get him out and chased for their lives out of there by the other technobeasts. She'd known he'd gone after at least one, aiding in their escape. But it seemed like he hadn't stopped there.

Once they reached the floor, they found at least four bodies. She wouldn't cleave to hard or fast to that number however, because two of them were pretty thoroughly dismembered and short of putting them back together piece by piece, a truly accurate count was useless.

"None of them are Kresh," she said with a certain relief in her tone a few minutes later.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"I don't know, romantic light, adventure, sex on the way here? Sounds like a good date."

He dropped down next to her and walked on over to the slaughtered pile of beasts.

Lots of scrap metal, shards and shrapnel, pieces of meat, hunks of flesh, it was a gorram mess. But it also told Jairus a story, every bite, every scratch and twist of body. Two of the corpses were beyond use. The other two? Only one of them was really usable in any reasonable way. The other one had no claws or paws or legs anymore.

Ripped off and just gone.

Jai settled down with the most intact one. No eyes, instead spikes driven through its skull and its teeth were gone, but the technobeast still had all four of its legs and the nails were metal claws.

"Going to try something-" A test as it were. His hand already brushed the thick hide of the beast and if Raj was paying attention, she would see the veins of his skin go black as his presence in the force contorted through manipulation. Already things were shifting beneath the beast's skin, disused muscle roiling back in activity, bones groaning, then the mouth snapping once or twice in an experimental fashion. A whine escaped teethless gums and it tried to roll itself back on its feet.

"I know, girl, but we will need you right now." Jairus mumbled softly, before stepping back and pulling Raj with him.

The look Raj was giving him wasn't lost on him. "Well... it's been a while, but I think I still got it." The grin was back, a pleased purr at the back of his throat in victory. His veins were still black and it was pushing further to his neck now.

It didn't seem to hurt.

Yet.

 

[Kuzo]

She watched as he worked- equal parts interested and concerned.

It was difficult to say that Carach impressed her. It wasn't that he didn't, that she didn't admire him and what he did with the Force, just that it was not the primary draw of his company. And 'interest' had always been a better descriptor when it came to this sort of thing anyway.

Besides, it was hard to be impressed when watching the veins visible through your lover's flesh turn black.

"You need to take it easy," she said quietly once he'd rocked back on his heels. Her tone held a certain warning- the sound of Doctor Ven rather than Raj.

She didn't push though. Didn't boss or nag. Just reminded, with her eyes on him for a moment longer before turning to regard the beast curiously.

"It's more interesting when it's not trying to disembowel me, I'll give it that," she mused. "Why bring it back? Just to see if you could?"

There was just genuine curiosity there in that question.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Multiple reasons.

His first instinct was to keep it to himself like he would have done even a few months ago, but things had changed. They had changed and Jairus wasn't prepared to keep something from her, not when it came to something like this anyway.

"Part of it, yeah." The technobeast whined and its ears swiveled back and forth, until Jai stepped forward and slowly petted its nose and cheek. It turned from a whine to a pleased purr deep from its belly and lungs, causing the beast to almost hum in satisfaction. But there was more to it than to simply see if he could, wasn't there always with Starvald? "They are born and live because of the technovirus running through their veins, it is what allows them to sustain so much damage and still remain animated."

She probably wouldn't like the last part.

"I woke it and keyed it to myself by absorbing some of the virus." Brows furrowed as he hmm'ed and slapped the beast on its hind, ushering it to go explore. "I know. But I have had the virus inside of me in my younger years, it strengthens, makes cells more resistant... I think it will help me with... the heart."

That was the crux of the matter.

The Sith Lord has had access to the full brunt of his power for decades now. To be suddenly cut off from it, even if it was only a portion of it? That was too much. He wondered if there was any cost he wouldn't pay if it meant the return of his strength.

Jai squinted at her.

"Yes, you can run tests on me when we get back."

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah counted to five rabid banthas in her head before opening her mouth.

Then she closed it, and counted ten more.

"This isn't the time or the place," she said slowly, carefully choosing each word, "To discuss how very, very bad that idea was without doing proper testing. But yes. When we are done we're going straight to the lab so I can run some tests. And then again in 48 hours. And because I am not yelling and waving my arms in alarm at you right now, I hope you will not argue with me about those kinds of precautions moving forward."

She breathed in deeply, wanting to grab him and shake him.

Even though he'd been doing it for weeks, she didn't think he truly understood the implications of what using that technique on his heart cost. Things that should be easy, weren't any more. Things that took too much physical or mental attention were so much harder to concentrate on. It wasn't him, his strength, his control she doubted. It was the very nature of how much attention containing his heart was taking. And she worried that he was drastically over estimating how much was left over for everything else.

Reaching up, she pinched the bridge of her nose. She had a lot of work, but it could wait so she could better understand this.

"Four down. Gods, I just hope Kresh is okay."

She eyed the technobeast he'd brought back dubiously.

"Plan to bring it back with us too?"

An honest question- she didn't mind either way, just wanted to know.

[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

He listened.

Both in the now and in the between.

She wasn't happy with him and even that description was an understatement. Tiny ball of anger that was about to burst, until she breathed in, out and finally let go - well, as much as she could. If there was any amusement in his stance or expression it was quickly wiped away and replaced with cautious neutrality. Instead the Sith Lord stepped in, hand gently on her shoulder, fingers curled as he pulled her closer. "Next time I will try to be less impulsive, Raj." That didn't mean he'd stop taking risks - that was part of him, it was presumably part of why she loved him. But it was easy for someone to be attracted to an attitude of risks and a general lack of apologetic when there wasn't anything serious about their relationship.

This was different.

A small kiss on her brow and then he let go, instead refocusing his attention on the Technobeast. It was... waggling its tail and Jairus frowned at it, "Wholly depends on how useful it proves to be." That inspired a soft, sad whine from the beast.

Jairus rolled his eyes.

"You are literally a killing machine made out of metal and muscle, you aren't allowed to whine." It waggled its tail again, now it even revealed a tongue (sharp with ridges on its surface) and whined once more. "Ugh. Maybe Kresh deserves a playmate?"

Tail waggling intensified.

"Uh huh. Alright, go scout for us."

It didn't need another word. Instead it jumped into the shadows and ran off with a dash. The mental link between the two of them made sure that Jairus could imprint caution in the beast, the last thing they needed was for it to start attacking Kresh... or Kresh attacking it. "If he detects anything living, he will come right back." The Sith Lord commented before deciding to follow along. His blood didn't lose its black property, but there were a couple of things that Raj would notice, if she was paying attention.

He was standing completely upright, his stride stronger now, eyes clearer and the tension in his shoulders was gone.

 

[Kuzo]

She sighed, pushing up on her toes to capture the kiss on her lips instead of her forehead.

"It's who and what you are," she said. "I just.... if it's medical stuff.... especially while we are still sorting out your heart, I just want to run tests *before*- It's a lot harder to undo something that's trouble than it is to make sure it's not trouble in the first place."

She recognized the hypocrisy. She could be impulsive at times, but not when it came to science. So much of what sith did was not that- it was nebulous and raw and about as unscientific as one could get without being entirely unbelievable. She wanted it to cleave to proper rules, things she could break down and study in a controlled lab setting, but that was so often simply not the case. This? It was a virus, something that had rules at the basic, building block level. In her lab, she would be able to read the genetic code as easily as someone else might pick up a travel brochure. She would know what those rules were and decisions could be made, fully informed. Perhaps what he had done was exactly the right thing. But if it wasn't? She breathed in deeply and shook her head, just once, as if to dislodge it.

There was nothing they could do now until they got back to the lab. Best to focus on what was ahead.

Irajah cocked her head at the beast. It ignored her entirely, all of it's companion level devotion focused on Jai.

"So I take it that's not normal then? I wonder if my father made this one as well. Kresh does the same thing to me."

Her eyes followed him as he started off after the beast, a small frown on her face. She noticed, without a doubt. Anything with that speed of effect? That was alarming, not desirable. It meant that if there were negative side effects, they would also manifest quickly. Viruses that worked quickly tended to be far more dangerous in her experience than those with a slowly path of function.

The pair moved through the darkened subbasement, heading down a particular hallway behind the technobeast.

"I think this is the way we came last time," she commented, stepping over some debris and sweeping her light back and forth. Maybe the server room they'd found Kresh in the last time was his 'lair'. It would make it significantly easier if that were the case.

The beast came bounding back, wiggling so hard Raj wondered for a moment if it were going to wet itself.

"Well it found something," she said drily. "I think it wants praise. Or belly rubs. Kresh liked ear scratches, maybe this one does too."

Stepping to the side, she nodded to herself. It had come out of the server room.

"I'll go first," she said softly. "Don't have a mop handy if he decides your face looks tasty."

[member="Jairus Starvald"]