Private Du Reichst So Gut

[Arcturus Dinn]

The Demon of Denon, that's what they'd taken to calling the beast in the night who left only bodies in his wake - not even whole bodies at that. Mutilated, cannibalized, each time the local constabulary were called to the scene of another washed up body, most typically located in some sort of darkened alleyway, they were left feeling wretchedly sick to their stomach. Some had outright refused to take any cases that even remotely looked to be relating to him. Worst thing they'd seen in all their years, they'd state, worst thing most any of them had seen.​

​

Arcturus had only heard reference of this beast who preyed in the night during his more lucid moments. They were few and far between as of late; he'd left Tash-Taral with a strange feeling in his stomach, and had no real clue of where he was headed until he landed in this place. He'd avoided it since his departure to Coruscant however many weeks prior - time was not so well kept, when he lingered in such states as he had found himself in - wary that Kai Bamarri might hang around any corner. Eager to accost him, to take him back to the Galactic Alliance for questioning. A death sentence, he knew, one way or another.​

​

Yet he'd found his way back to Denon all the same. Its streets had felt different though, less welcoming. His senses prickled uncomfortably with every new street he took charge down, and he felt all at once alien. On the fringes, despite all the company rightfully afforded to him. Denon was busy, it was populated, it had places he could linger within, bars in which to drown what sorrows still remained. He wanted none of it. Found the thought of entering any real establishment repulsive, even. In those first few days only the hunger spoke to him. Denon was populated... Most of its denizens were mundane, they did not draw any attention from the boy who stalked among them. So populated, though, there existed throughout countless individuals through which the Force flowed differently.​

​

Some were rife with it, it permeated every fiber of their being. Their scent was the sweetest, and most alluring, but he'd been wary to approach them even when the unexpected beast within him called out for them all the same. Others, though, felt far more latent. Unaware of the potential they held, no doubt, they were the easier pickings. Still sweet, still tasty, but much easier to overwhelm. A pinch of sand from his pocket proved enough to down them one by one, as the nights drew on. Five bodies were found the first night he came to Denon. Five not so whole corpses washed up in various locations scattered about the planetary surface. No way it could be one person, they declared. No way.​

​

But talks of the Demon came soon after. Three the next night. Four after that. Just a haze, just a mist, the boy hardly knew what it was he was doing. Engulfed by it, an addiction forming right before his very eyes. All he could think of, all he could crave.​

​

When night waned and day sprung and lucidity reformed, he found himself time and time again within the underbelly of the great spanning city. A hotel here, a bar there, the stoop by someone's door. Among the other low lives he didn't seem all that out of place. With all the scars he bore the blood looked as much his own as any other. And he was quick to clean up, to rid himself of the remnants of an indulgent, decadent night. Never in one place for very long, never waking in the same spot. He was as a ghost, there one moment and gone the next.​

​

It was the seventh day of bloodshed when the scent of something stronger, something sweeter, overwhelmed him so much that all caution was thrown to the wind. He'd killed so many by now, feasted on blood and flesh and left an unending trail in his wake, and none of it had caught up to him. Why shouldn't he delve deeper? Why shouldn't he give the beast what it truly sought?​

​

So he'd stalked it, a hulking excuse of a Force Sensitive that dripped with the Darkside. He wanted her, wanted the power which lay within her veins for himself.​

​

Little did he know, he'd picked perhaps the worst Sith on Denon to try and take a bite out of.​

​

Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

Mercy should have felt it coming.

Her instructors back at the Sith Academy would have been embarrassed (or furious) at her lack of attention. But she was a quarter into a drug-fueled drinking binge and felt ecstatic. This was something the average Sith did not understand. You didn't need blind fury to connect with the Darkside of the Force.

Any emotion would do.

Sure, the darker the better, but if you seeped into murderous rage every day... well, there wouldn't be much left of you soon enough. The Darkside ravaged your body when you overdid it so often. But joy raging through your system? Now that was a beautiful emotion that left your body mostly fine (stiff hangover aside) and body intact.

Clearly the main reason she drank and drugged and karked like there was no tomorrow.

At any rate- Mercy should have felt it coming, but truth be told even without the alcohol and drugs impairing her system... well. The sense aspects of the Force never came as easy to her as the more physical approaches. "Lalala, tootidooooo." The woman murmured to herself, laughing gently as she slipped into another dark alleyway.

Most murderers and pocket thieves shrunk away of her sight.

Feminine? Certainly. But with hands big enough to crush their pathetic skulls.

It was a shame her would-be assailant wasn't as perceptive.

"Laaaaaalaaaalooooooo~"

Bigger shame that Mercy wasn't either.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

It all went so smoothly in his mind, same as it had the nights prior.​

​

Beast inhibiting him, he didn't really take much note of the scale of her. Didn't realize how she could have gone toe to toe with Grundark should the mood strike her. Didn't feel very much of anything other than the need for what lay within her, coursing ever onward through her veins.​

​

Feed me... the booming voice in his gut demanded. Now...​

​

Now.​

​

Right now.​

​

This very second as she entered that darkened alleyway with her 'nothing can ever touch me' nonchalance. As her cheerful disposition sung its way through the tight yet oddly reverberating passage between buildings taller than most the Galaxy had to offer. So tall that to look up was to find one's view of the sky above blocked.​

​

It had all gone so smoothly before. Pinch of sand, thrown into the eyes, then an immediate launch into the frenzy which willed itself to take hold as the quick and inevitable slumber seized them. Easy. Well practiced.​

​

He took his pinch, and cast it out straight into her darkened face. That beast had been too incessant, that beast had been too demanding, he had not done a very good job of scoping out his prey that night, for if he had he would have seen it. His folly... An Achilles heel staring him square in the face. ​

​

Maybe if he had noticed the sunglasses covering her eyes he might have shied back, waited for another with the power of the Force at their fingertips to enter the fray. Maybe he wouldn't have done what he did next. But he hadn't noticed, so he did.​

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He leapt forward, expecting her to slump to the ground, and as feral instinct took over, as all sense of right and wrong fled him, he made to sink his teeth into her. It was amazing how hard one could really bite, when inhibitions were thrown out the window. All it took was a little pressure...​

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Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

The flash of a figure in the dark cut through her hazey feelings.

Sand was thrown in her face and a few beats got over her shades, but not in enough quantity to blind her, just irritate her. "Who the feth are-" If she wasn't drunk as a skunk she could have avoided Thesh's frenzied leap entirely. But everything was just a breath too slow. Instead the man collided with her and before Mercy realized what happened next?

His teeth sunk into her arm.

What was WITH everyone and their mother trying to bite her? First Lethe Harrow and now this kark-up. The alcohol did have a beautiful effect. She was already pretty much unfazed by pain, but this was even more suppressed by the cocktail of stims flowing through her. He bit down. And then Thesh might have noticed-

He was yanked up into the air.

Mercy had no issue carrying the man by just raising her arm. "Oh, ya picked the wrong lady tonight, friend." Mercy hissed as teeth stabbed painfully into skin, muscle and flesh.

Then she slammed Thesh into the wall.

Once, twice.

How many times were necessary to get this annoying creature off of her. It was like using a battering ram to bring down a door, but instead of a door it was a fortified stone wall and instead of a battering ram it was a fleshy human. So really it was nothing like a battering ram bringing down a door but Mercy wasn't great at formulating metaphors while fighting.

Or drinking.

Or drugging.

Or karking.

Any time really.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Mistakes were made. Mistakes were made. Alarm bells rang all at once within his brain. Go back, retreat, flee...​

​

But the bite had already sunk in, and the hunger pined for more.​

​

Backpedal...​

​

Jaw would not for the life of him unhinge. He had caught a taste of her blood, just the slightest amount of it as one of his regular old canines broke skin, and the beast inside howled in response. So sweet, so flavoursome, so necessary for his continued existence. A lie of course, all of it. But a succulent lie. One he could not help but indul---​

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KARKING KARKER!​

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Once, twice, thrice... His back was met with the wall as she held up him by her arm and thrust him against it. His bones rattled, his brain rocked back and forth within the confines of his skull, and then, after another couple of thumpings which truthfully ought to have squashed him down into a pulp, his jaw released.​

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Down to the ground the maniac fell. Into the gutter where the last of his senses remained. Quick to be scooped back up and transplanted into his aching body. The beast was nowhere to be found, retreated back into whatever grim crevice could hold it at bay. All that was left was the pain resonating through his back, the stars which dizzied his sight, and just the faintest hint of blood upon his tongue.​

​

Groggily, Arcturus came to from his haze. Groggily he groaned, and stared sightlessly up at that battering ram of a woman.​

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Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

"Ah... so many want a piece of me these days..." Mercy murmured softly as she looked down on Thesh.

"But-" It happened from one moment to the other. Leg moved back and then as a piston thrust forward to kick him in the stomach. She didn't even take a look at her bleeding arm, nor wonder why she felt so... tired all of a sudden. Usually battles like these invigorated her. Made her hungry for more, until she barely had it in her to stop.

Not here however.

She thrust her leg forward a second time to kick Thesh for good measure.

But did not escalate it further even though something at the back of her mind demanded she would. "-I always give as good as I take, lad." Only then her trunk of an arm (yes, the bleeding one) reach out to grab Arcturus by his shirt.

Pull him up against the wall.

"Ya need me to snap your legs, or ya gonna behave?"

So... tired.

meatmeatmeatmeatmeat.

Mercy frowned there and looked to the side, exposing her neck to Thesh, while she attempted to pierce the shadows around them. It couldn't be that the Drengir were here, right? It wasn't close to their territory and she hadn't encountered them here before. The fact that her internal mind was weakening its hold on the present did not reach her brain matter.

The hivemind was simply easier to access now.

meatmeat.

Maybe a bit too easy.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

If he thought that his moment of pain was over, then clearly he hadn't been paying close enough attention. A few thumps against the wall to loosen a gripping bite does not a well deserved pummeling make. Words rained down on him from above, and through the all too loud thudding of an oncoming concussion he tried to piece the sentence together.​

​

A kick knocked all of that from him. Gone were words and noise in general, the din of this planet faded from existence until only the ringing remained. The thump-thumping of his heart in his stomach, in his throat, in his ears. Anywhere and everywhere save for his chest where it belonged. He recoiled on the ground, smooshing dirt into the suit jacket which oddly covered his torso. Out of place on so feral a being.​

​

When the second one came it knocked what remained of the air from his lungs.​

​

And then the beast returned with renewed vigor. Get up, it demanded of him, as the scent of dripping blood lingered by his head where it fell from her arm. Fight back...​

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With shirt in hand she pulled him from the ground, and once more his back was met with the wall which would likely have his impression embedded within it for millennia to come. The change in position helped to unstuff his ears, so that her query could be readily heard. Whatever response he might have given, if indeed he'd been coherent enough to form speech, was lost when she turned her head and exposed her neck. Her jugular.​

​

He could see it straining with each thump of her own heart, as the blood coursed through her veins. Sweet, sweet blood...​

​

Arcturus pushed forward against her hold of him, teeth gnashing mere inches from her throat. It was rather pathetic in truth, with all of the real bite taken out of him he was left resembling something of a small teething pup with poorly developed manners and little sense to know when to stop.​

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Hungry.​

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Oh so fething hungry.​

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Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

The snapping sound was what caused Mercy's attention to flag back towards Thesh.

There... she actually... just blinked.

Once, twice.

"Mate, yar okay?" Confused more than angry now, because this wasn't how it usually went. Soft boys would try and hurt her, sure, but they also inserted some levity and cursing into the boredom. At least once they realized that they couldn't break Mercy that easily. This one though... at this proximity even Mercy could sense something was wrong.

She sniffed.

sickmeatsickmeatsickmeat

donoteatsickmeat

Woah, what was that? She shook her head and refocused on Thesh. "Yar hungry I take it. But mate, there are better chit to eat than me." Her other arm went up and flexed.

"All muscle. Ain't tasty."

The fact this maniac wanted human meat would have made the average person blanch. Hell, even Mercy would usually just put him out of his misery, instead of... whatever this was. But. She was so karking tired. It just didn't feel right now. "What if we found ya a better meal, hm?" She yawned there and-

mealmealmeatmealyes

"Can I trust ya not to earn another ass kicking from me?"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Some of that sense he'd just momentarily been reconnected with seemed to take hold in the moments which followed. As the woman spoke in so bewildered a fashion, and continued to hold him at arms length. The gnashing ceased; not all at once, mind you, it took him a few more feeble attempts before his body caught up with his brain, but slowly his teeth slowed and then only a pout remained.​

​

Hungry. So, so hungry... But the powerful lady had a point, that's what his mind told him. His stomach? Less so. A battle of wits, fought between the same man. A war waged within him.​

​

And then? A nod. One very short and strained nod. No more biting... The beast balked at that, but he squashed it down. Far, far, far down. Then waited a moment. Grasped at the humanity he'd thusfar been lacking on Denon. Forced himself to be a big boy again and use his words.​

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"I... Concede."​

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There, that wasn't so difficult was it? Of all the Force Sensitives in all the Cities on all the Planets of the entire Galaxy, he'd picked this one... Good going, Arcturus. Perhaps, if nothing else, it would bring caution to his next hunt.​

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Then again, what the beast wanted it wanted.​

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Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

After his admission Mercy kept holding him up and against the wall for a few more breaths.

Mostly to ensure that the body had accepted what the brain forced through his teeth.

"Good." And then dropped the lad on the ground like a sack of potatoes. "Yar in luck, I know my way 'round this place a bit... so I got a pretty good idea what yar after." The sniff earlier? The sick meat? Thesh reeked of the Darkside. Clearly this one had gone too far to the other side and was having trouble finding his way back.

Mercy wasn't sure if she would help him.

But neither did she want to keep dodging his bites for the rest of the night. Better to get him fed, so he'd leave her alone at least.

"The shite I am talking 'bout... well, it's underground, yeah?" A shrug of those massive shoulders as she began walking out the alley and into another one, just assuming that Thesh would follow along. "Ya won't find it over the counter of yar local apothecary. And the average deathstick dealer will be blanching too, but-"

She snerked there just a little.

"Got some fething kick behind it. I tried it once, cus I felt curious. Yar human yeah, behind all the dirt and bloody teeth?" Pointed look over her shoulder towards the boy.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Suspended as he was, it was only natural for him to feel completely and utterly helpless in that moment. At the mercy - every pun intended - and whims of a stranger. One who he had, just moments prior, fully intended on draining the lifeforce from. Even now the thought of sinking his teeth back into her flesh left him whining inside, pining for one more little taste.​

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No, Arcturus, bad Arcturus, that's how you die, Arcturus.​

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He had no intentions of dying. Not yet at least. So squash down the beast he did, and after a short time of remaining in the air, pressed against the wall, he was released. Sack of potatoes indeed, he fell like an iron anvil back to the ground with its trash and its mud and its rodents. Fitting, he thought, for in that moment he felt like the scum of the earth. As morality tried to creep on in.​

​

It was knocked back as the woman began to speak though. He pushed himself up and followed after her, a lost dog resisting the urge to nip at her heels. This one was going to help him satiate his hunger, and you did not, not now, not ever, bite the hand which feeds. Even if you already knew how good the flesh tasted.​

​

She spoke of addiction like she knew what it was he was craving, knew it intimately in fact. Maybe not the vice itself, but the essence of it. So fresh into this new found state, Arcturus had little in the way of control over it. He hoped that would one day change, that he would not remain a slave to flesh and blood, but in that moment it all felt so utterly hopeless. Every moment the beast was awake he was waiting for a fix.​

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And he'd never denied it before now.​

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In part it felt good, to reclaim the power from its grubby little claws, but truthfully he'd been helpless throughout it all; the woman at his side was his only cause for pause. She'd physically manhandled it out of him.​

​

"Human, yeah, sort of," he mumbled in response. Lorrdian, Human, not too big a distinction between the two, not enough that she'd rightly care. He hung his head some, but continued to follow her lead. His stomach grumbled, and the whine he'd been keeping locked inside escaped between his lips.​

​

Every second behind her, with her scent dangerously swirling back on the breeze to meet him, was a second he had to consciously fight for control within himself. He'd never felt so out of touch with his own body, so at odds with it before now. They'd always had something of a harmonious relationship before now, mind and body.​

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He didn't like these developments one bit.​

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Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

"Sort of is good enough." Confirming his suspicions on her level of care.

They walked from one alleyway into another. Deeper into the corruption of Denon's undercity. High high above they first could make out the shining corporate towers, but it didn't take long for them to disappear out of view entirely. In the meantime Mercy had no issue doing the navigating. As if she was born here, instead of... elsewhere.

creeping vines, little- No, it was a brilliant palace in the Tion Cluster. None of that now.

Mercy shook her head again, yawning. "The kark was in that dust you threw at me? Got some in my eyes and I feel karking sleepy." Over her shoulder once more. Usually it would anger her, but she had already kicked the chit out of him and... yes, sleepy.

Whichever his response was at some point Mercy abruptly stopped in her tracks.

If Thesh wasn't paying attention he'd probably walk straight into her. It was like walking into a wall. She did not move at all, but sure as feth made him bounce back on his arse, if he didn't watch his step. "We are here." Murmured quietly as she peered into the shadows. It didn't take long for several dozen amber lights to flicker on in the shadows.

At least, they seemed lights, until a creature bopped out of the shadows. It had no arms and its eyes were like fire.

"Xero." Mercy said as calm as she could but even she felt uncomfortable here. The Raykkans were... well. Perfect Sith without being Sith. Pretty sure none of them were force sensitive either, yet, they could make you do... things.

Xero had once explained it as pulling you into a sewer, dark, no lights and choking your mind.

Terrifying really. "Mercy, baby, I didn't realize you were in the market for more." The Raykkan said with a smile. Said smile revealed a maw of sharpened teeth that was more at home with a shark than this land-walking creature. Mercy snorted and jerked a thumb towards Thesh. "Ain't for me, bub, lad o'here is sick and wants force sentient flesh."

More Raykkans slid out of the dark.

"Force sentient flesh, huh?' Xero muttered thoughtfully. "Got a cousin. Best fething restaurants around, but-" A glance to Arcturus. "-dun' think it's in his budget to travel to Terminus or Duros."

One of the Raykkans slid up to Xero and dropped a vial in front of him. Which made him brighten up ever so much.

"Yes, that will do. You think he will survive a load of HaylBlend?" Mercy looked over her shoulder to Arc and shrugged. "Dun think he got much choice in that, chief. Set him up with a little line, week or three. That will cover that favor ya owe me, yeah?" If Xero was surprised at that he didn't show it, instead just a nod... and they slid back into the shadows.

The amber lights didn't go out however.

They were watching.

"Well, grab it, lad. No time like the present."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Yup. Only the slightest bit of care. A question asked for question's sake, he'd reckon, if he didn't know any better. But with people like the one ahead of him, there were rarely questions asked for question's sake. That was a good waste of breath, of time, of effort.​

​

He picked up his pace to keep up with her far larger strides, and could really only frown when she spoke of the sand. It hadn't seemed to take much of a hold over her at the time, and given his quick realization of the sunglasses he'd surmised that none had entered her bloodstream. And yet, even so, right now she was plainly stating that it had.​

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"It was s'posed to knock you out," he mumbled, all at once perplexed about how she'd managed to resist it. Then again, it had only been a pinch, and of said pinch only a few granules could rightly have made it past the glasses. Added to that, she seemed a hardy woman. Whatever lay in her genetics was strong all the same, his sand was not for the faint of heart. "You weren't meant to feel the bites, y'know?"​

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Didn't make it any better though did it? Especially not with the rumours which lingered around town about the Demon of Denon, one who left a trail of bodies in their wake. Just a bite? Psht, she probably wasn't a fool. Probably knew it was never going to be just a couple of bites.​

​

All the same here she was... Helping him. Ceasing the constant buzzing of an irritating fly that lingered too close for comfort. All the same...​

​

The woman had stopped, and in doing so Arcturus had walked right on into the back of him. Another thud, he was sent to the ground on his arse.​

"Oof" He took a moment, and then scampered back to his feet.​

​

They came upon another alleyway, this one seemed darker, deeper, more sinister. In truth it reminded him of the depths of the Nether, where time turned in on itself and all was not as it first appeared. He remained silent as their exchange took place, head tipped up as he observed these new-to-him lifeforms with no restraint to his curiosity. ​

​

What they were precisely he did not know, but it left him wanting more. Curiosity was even more insatiable than hunger in that moment, as it so often was where the boy was concerned. Information, he needed it. All of it. They seemed to fascinating, so alien, so... apathetic? Not quite, the one who loomed overhead certainly showed his emotions, but there was still an air of apathy about him all the same. As though he thought them below him. Nay. As though he knew they were. Little writhing maggots come to sup on whatever rotting remnants he cast forth for them.​

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And cast forth he did.​

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Something which, apparently, Arcturus might not survive the drinking of. A brew set upon the ground between creature and woman. Arc looked at it dubiously. It was not flesh. It was not blood. It was...​

​

Well, he didn't know what it was. But from the sounds of it, she had paid a pretty sum for it in bartering terms.​

​

She hastened him on into grasping the thing, and like a good pup should he was quick to fetch.​

​

"What is it?" he asked, instead of the other questions flitting through his mind. Despite everything, it was his most pressing concern. And in spite of everything, he wasn't too sure he wanted to know the answer.​

​

Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

"Yar salvation, possibly yar death, dunno." A shrug there. She had heard of HaylBlend and... none of it was particularly good. Its creation perfectly encapsulated the Raykkans though.

They had forged a strong partnership with the Sith Empire back in the days of Kaine Zambrano.

What did they do next? Scour any Sith tomb they could. Raid it. But instead of plundering it for artifacts (oh, they took those too, but it wasn't exactly the focus), they took the bones of yore's Sith. The bones they grinded down and made into a drink. Who could ever come up with something as freakish as that?

"HaylBlend is eh." She looked over her shoulder back to the darker alleyway. Most of the amber eyes had been shut once more, except for the brightest ones.

Xaro was still studying them from a distance.

"-they took a bunch of bones from ancient Sith. Grind them down. Made a drink out of it. What ya got right there in ya hands is the distilled essence of a millenia old Sith Lord, lad." And if that wasn't exactly what Thesh was looking for? Well, then Mercy couldn't help him any further. "If ya need more, ya can go to Xaro. He will supply ya for three weeks, but after that yar alone."

The Raykkan would probably get his teeth into the boy one way or another.

If he was an addict, he'd probably get him to do jobs for him, or maybe ask for a sacrifice. A finger for a blend, eh? It wouldn't be pretty.

Once they put some distance between Xaro's alley and themselves Mercy finally leaned against a wall and watched the boy in front of her. He didn't look as crazed now, but that was just an illusion. The hunger set deep in him. It would get out in no time, she was sure of that. She glanced down to her arm where the wound Thesh's teeth had made was already closed.

Still a little mark but soon enough that would go away as well.

"Drink up, lad. If ya live, ya good, if ya start seizing up I will drop ya off with a street doc. S'all I will do for ya."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Her explanation of the elixir in his hand was, at first, horrifying. Coming from him that was grossly unfair, however, as if he hadn't spent the last seven nights feasting on raw flesh and blood. All the same, horrifying. And yet the more he heard, and the longer he thought on it as he stared down at the bottle containing liquid death, the more it seemed to make sense to him.​

​

The more ideas floated to the forefront of his mind.​

​

Where else could this innovation be taken? First a death-inducing drink form, but then what? The cogs were whirring, the boy was scheming, and he still hadn't opened the damn thing. The woman seemed to notice as much though, and pushed him to decisiveness.​

​

This was it. Sink or swim. The only hand he was going to be dealt here. Arcturus gulped, stared at the bottle. He didn't want to drink it. Every fiber of his being told him not to drink it.​

​

And then from deep within the beast stirred once more. It took control, and as carelessly as he had tossed the Terentatek gummy into his mouth the boy opened the bottle and drank from it...​

​

Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

She looked at him.

Didn't say a word.

One breath past and then several more.

Until finally- "Well, looks like ya will live. Finish it off in one go or spread it out. Dun' really care. I'd suggest the latter tho." A yawn there as Mercy stretched, but thankfully the artificial exhaustion seemed to be seeping away. Maybe a few more minutes and she'd be back to normal. More's the pity that she hadn't just waited a bit.

Could have just killed him anyway.

But now Xero was supplying him with her favor, so that seemed just a fething waste.

"I am gonna go have a drink. A real one. With alcohol and hopefully a pair of gorgeous ladies in my lap. Ya can tag along or sit here hungry for bones or some other creep chit, up to ya."

As if it wasn't also creepy to be perving after pretty creatures in her lap.

Without another word Mercy took off. If Thesh followed, she'd slow down, if not she'd find the nearest bar that was still open and get totally karking smashed. The alcohol and stims that had been in her body before were already filtered out. Thanks to the Firrerreo psychique. It was so busy with clearing out the spice it did the same to the more pleasurable materials.

Really karked up, that.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

The concoction wasn't good.​

​

That was the first thing he noticed. It did not hold a single candle to the real deal, and it left him distinctly lacking. Wanting more... Of something. He couldn't quite decide what though. Whatever effects it had on him, the boy felt himself pulled more and more away from the beast, detached from it even for a time. And with it he thought clearly for the first time in over a week. Felt weird, felt funny, felt not quite himself, but clearer of mind.​

​

"What the kark did that Whiphid feed me?" he mumbled to himself, though loud enough that the woman was likely to hear, not least because he had decided to follow after her. A drink, yeah, a drink would do him nicely. Wash the muck from his mouth and help him feel a little more refreshed. Either that or he'd sink back into his old ways, and land himself in the center of a gladiatorial arena again when the blackout faded.​

​

Arcturus had decided to drag out the bottle in his grasp. One swig had been more than enough for him, and he worried what the long term ramifications might have been from drinking too much too fast. If only he'd though of the ramifications of accepting strange substances from strange Sith at strange stalls on strange planets.​

​

Oh well, lesson learned.​

​

When next he spoke, it was a little louder than before. Just a little. "Hey, uh... Thank you." Thank you? That's what he was leading with? A hand rose to rub at the back of his neck, the other still grasping the bottle. "Sorry for uh, well, that," a loose gesture to her arm, not that she was likely paying him enough attention to see it, "I haven't been much myself lately..."​

​

No excuse for biting a lady, of course. If only she knew how good she'd smelled to him when he'd sunk his teeth in though...​

​

He had to squash down such thoughts.​

​

Mercy​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

"What the kark did that Whiphid feed me?"

Now that did attract Mercy's attention, even if she didn't show it immediately. She resolved herself to waiting until she had a drink (or four) in her hand and more relaxed. The meeting with the Raykkan had effected her more than she liked to admit. Truthfully the woman understood evil and all its benality perfectly well.

She wasn't exactly a saint either, but for some reason those creatures just made her skin crawl.

When Thesh thanked her Mercy snorted. "Kid, if I wasn't exhausted cus'o yar dust, I would have snapped your neck without thinking about it." Just being bluntly honest about it. "But now I used up my favor with the Raykkan, I figure killing you now would be a karking waste, no?"

Only a moment later once she plopped down on the bar Mercy slapped him on the back.

It would feel like a hammer dropping down on him of course.

"Anyway, yar not the only one who took a gift from the Whiphid, so I feel ya there, bud. Drink up. First round is on me. Second one on you an' I dun care how ya pay for it."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus was a lucky ducky. A very lucky ducky indeed. Had the sand been utterly wasted on her as it first might have seemed, he'd have been a dead man. Squashed like some bug on the ground, and left there to rot until they found him the next day. No doubt his death would have been put down to the Demon of Denon.​

​

The irony of that was not lost upon him.​

​

Mention of that favour was made again, and as they approached the bar he regarded her curiously. "I hope it wasn't a favour that cost you too much to earn in the first place," he muttered, sincere but also half hoping she didn't hear him utter it. After all, it would only serve as a reminder for whatever it was she'd done, whatever it was he'd effectively had her waste her efforts on.​

​

Most folks didn't take too kindly to that.​

​

Either way, Arcturus wondered if killing him would not have been a waste anyway. A waste of her own efforts, that was. In that moment the boy didn't feel like he was worth the spit one might cast at his feet. It was slowly waning though, that self depreciation he'd taken up in the wake of his reunion with Ishani Dinn back on Coruscant. Maliphant had helped to steady his thoughts, even if only a little.​

​

The concoction was doing wonders at maintaining his attempts.​

​

Sitting down on a stool at the bar beside her, Arcturus' mouth began to feel something akin to a cotton ball. Like he'd swallowed a mouthful of sand from within the Eversands of the Nether. His mouth felt heavy as a result, not a pleasant sensation at all. He was eager for whatever drink was sent his way, provided it did not come from the hands of some armless fiend with brilliance for eyes.​

​

When she spoke of Velok Brokentusk and his gifts he could not help but guffaw and shake his head. "No chit... You too, eh?" He paused for a moment, thinking of the incomprehensibility of it all. How many people realistically had brought something for the Whiphid's pot? That two of them were in the same sector, much less the same bar, was mindboggling. "What did you bring him?"​

​

He couldn't help but ask. Curiosity was as much a drug to him as any more tangible narcotic could be.​

​

With but a nod, he accepted her terms of drinking.​

​

Mercy ​

 

[Mercy]

Arcturus Dinn

She just shrugged about the amount of work the favor had been.

Didn't matter now.

Gone was gone.

Besides, unless Mercy had dreadfully miscalculated, Xero would have something new for her to 'solve' in a matter of months. Hopefully it wouldn't be a pain in the arse unlike last time, but his favors were generally worth walking through the mud for. If only she didn't feel like she was trapped in quicksand every time they spoke.

"Yup, was doing a job on Tash, when I heard about him. Figured I might as well check-up an' see what's the what." She heard the stories about Velok, of course. Mad karking trickster that wrecked everyone around him.

That was someone to respect.

"Oh." A snort there as she accepted her ale and the bartender put another glass in front of Thesh. "Ever 'ear of the Drengir? Had a limb of one of 'em, brought it to the ol' boy and he made some chowder soup outta it."

Once that was said? Mercy positively inhaled the drink. Consuming at least half of it in one go, before ah'ing and smacking her lips. A load of pretzels were liberated from the bowl next as Mercy devoured those next. "How about ya? Ya must have given 'im something real special, if it turns you into a kriffin' cannibal idiot during the night."

Casually like he hadn't tried to eat her just a moment ago.