Private Going Back

[Shai Maji]

Batuu/Black Spire Outpost​

Late Afternoon/Clear Skies​

With all the wars, fights and bloodshed, Shai knew that it was starting to take its toll. Simply marching from one field to the next to take more lives, brave more injuries, it was starting to weigh her down. The death of Eliz was a heavy blow for her, then the fight with the Mongrel had her going back to Denon for the Doc to fix her up after the New Imperial Order replaced the destroyed cybernetics inside her. Trying to hide the healing wound from Xyoz didn't work so well either. The moment things got spicy, the secret was out. At least there were the variety of other marks and scars to draw the attention away. Overall, she needed to take a breather. The trip with Alora was a great help, it made her realize just what that trip was.

A perfect way to unwind.

Which was why Shai was on Batuu with the mutt. An arms deal for spending money, followed by time to themselves on a planet where nobody would even bat an eye. Laying on the couch in the room they rented, without any modesty to her, Shai was cleaning her pistols and reassembling them as she nodded her head to the beat of a song playing softly from the speaker she brought. "I'm startin' to like having you along for deals with difficult clients. That dude's face when you just sized up and looked down at him was priceless." She snickered as she snapped the dust cover of her pistol back into place. "Your hunts been doing any good even these days? You mentioned somethin' about your old crew. What's up with them?" She asked more gently as she looked to him.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

Xyoz snorted. "Thing I noticed, only the batshit talk back when I 'size up'." Quiet the grin was flashed towards Shai Maji . How many times had she just decided to shoot him when he went big? Too many times to count at this point. Though maybe he could? He paused, glancing up to the ceiling. Nope, couldn't remember em all. Didn't help she blasted open his head. He recovered, sure.

It still messed with his memory.

His gaze stayed up on the ceiling. Arms hung over the back of the couch as he lounged. He was never far from Shai, when it didn't come across as clingy. The several year blank spot in his memory when he left her high and dry had him trying to make up lost time. Or just assure himself that he wasn't gonna leave her again.

"Don't have a crew anymore. Been mostly acting as a.. Thug for hire? .. Mercaniry. Whatever the fuck they're called. Turns out I don't need to kill people to feed off em, so I can get away with roughin' an idiot up n' getting a meal from em." His gaze lowered as he flashed another grin and a thumbs up. "At this rate I'll probably be able to blend in with normal folks. Been able to start tastin' things too, so it ain't gotta be steaks all the time."

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai was taken back to hear about him not having a crew anymore, though she couldn't help but chuckle as he struggled with, in her eyes, such a simple word. "Mercenary, you mean. I'm gonna have to find a language teacher for you to snack on at this rate." She teased as she set her pistols aside and draped her legs over his lap. It wasn't the same with her cybernetics, the feeling simply wasn't the same. At least she knew that he wouldn't mind. "Merc work can pay good, especially if you work for someone high profile. Though it never was a work I could do good with. Too many run-ins with bad contracts, jobs I couldn't get behind. But for you it probably wouldn't be a bad idea. At least you can just regrow whatever gets hit in a firefight." She commented casually as she leaned back and relaxed.

She flashed him a grin as he mentioned his taste coming back. "Maybe now you'll be able to buy some good clothing." With a gentle jab at his chest with her foot she cackled away, far too amused with her own joke. This was nice.

"Just don't starve yourself, babe." She spoke up, rolling her head over to look at him with concern. "I know you're tryin' to get away from eating people and all that... but you still need it. That's just simple facts... I don't wanna find out randomly one day you're a mummy in an alley, or some feral animal again. You better be stickin' around for a while." A warm smile formed as she sat up and slumped into him. "One issue, though. I dunno what to make for you on your birthday now that "sentient pie" is off the menu." She joked.

She was quiet for a while as she laid against him, simply letting the music add to the comfortable silence for a moment before a thought crossed her mind. "How'd it happen again? You gettin' like... this." She asked with some hesitation in her voice.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

"Been stickin' to lower end contracts really. Don't need folks thinkin' they can use me to figure out how not to die, y'know?" He didn't elaborate why that was even an issue in the first place, instead grinning as he listened to Shai Maji go on. Xyoz was all quiet snickers until she mentioned clothing. That joke seemed to sail way, way over his head, but at least she seemed to think it was funny.

"I still hate most clothin' folks wear these days. Why's it gonna be so stuffy?"

Then his expression softened. As she got up to lean against him he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Kissed her forehead. "Naw. So long as the blood belongs to somethin' that can think more than a beasty I should be fine. I ain't goin' anywhere short of you forcin' me somewhere. Even then depends on where." He winked, then barked out a laugh. "You plannin to make me meat pies or somethin'? There's only one pie I'd like to get from you."

Another toothy grin, wide as can be. As the silence fell he just watched her, smiling. Listening to the music. Wasn't anything he was used to, but he couldn't deny it had a catchy beat. Which seemed to dim at her question.

".. Not sure exactly. Sangnir.. 'Breed' by feedin' their blood to others. Which dependin' on how much can bring folks to their ranks or make em' slaves. When they realized they couldn't kill me they experimented, then turned me into one of them ghouls. Slave to em, undyin' soldier." His gaze grew distant as he stared off towards the window, his lips thinned to a line. "They had me butcher my tribe. Eat them. N' when I did, I broke free n' ate the fucks who wanted to control me. I ain't natural, never have been. After eaten' them shit got weirder but I ain't sure exactly what happened. All I remember is the survivors locked me away in a tomb where I starved n' went all mummy like until way more recently."

Xyoz spoke a lot more than he was planning. He cracked a grin, squeezing Shai's shoulder. "Shit's fucked is the short of it. But here I am, immortal as fuck n' likely gonna live until the stars all die." He paused, the frown returning. ".. Hey, what if I could change you?"

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai listened to his explanation before she gave him a slap on the chest with a snicker. "Don't be greedy, furball, you get enough action from me." She quipped. "We do gotta make your birthday special, though. Not every day someone reaches a millennium or two."

She fell quiet as he explained what he went through, how he was turned and what his former masters did to him. It was no wonder that she met him as a twisted slave to the Sith, with the situation he found himself in. A man forced to become a monster. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when he extended her the offer of becoming one of his kind. At first she brushed it off with a laugh. "Might be one already, if the bite on your shoulder from earlier is any indication." She joked casually, resting back again to drape her bare legs over his lap. But it started to sink in as she stared down at her body, the scars and cybernetics, the distinct feel of where her legs touched him, but no depth to the feeling aside from knowing she was touching him.

Her gaze slowly raised to meet his as her face sunk. "You're being serious." She muttered. "Xyoz, I... that's not just a choice to be made lightly." She spoke up. "I mean, what'll happen to me? I'm gonna have to live off the blood of others..." She ran a hand through her mane before she rose to get a drink from the fridge. "You want a soda?" She asked him as she opened up a can for herself.

The next few moments she was pacing in though, unsure of how to process the offer. "I don't wanna end up like some... immortal cannibal or some wack stuff like that, babe, I..." She quickly realized the choice of her words as she looked at him, guilt taking over her features. "I didn't mean it like that, just... kark's sake." She sighed, leaning against the nearby desk as she took a long sip.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

More chuckles and grins. In his long ass life there were few times he could remember smiling like this, and most of them happened to revolve around Shai Maji being there. Not that the smiles and laughs remained for much longer. He knew the subject of what he was wasn't something either of them liked to talk about, yet.. Seeing her like this, missing parts like she was, he couldn't help but offer the chance to heal her.

Well. He laughed anyway as she apologized. The wide grin returned as he stood up himself, shaking his head before wandering to the fridge to snatch out a blood pack. The kind used in a hospital. They tasted stale and horrible, but at least they kept him fed. "Immortal, sure. Cannibal? Naw. That was just me, angry at the galaxy n' everything in it." He walked over to her, setting down the unopened pouch between them.

"It's your choice, course. I ain't gonna force anything on you. Just.. Think about it. I can tell you a lot about what it's like. Ain't the smartest, but when it comes to those fuckin' blood suckers I know just about everythin' about them." Even offering it as a salvation of sorts he couldn't hide the pure hate he had for Sangnir as a species. But if it could help Shai, well. He'd do anything.

Letting that linger for a moment longer he'd snatch up the pouch, bite into it, and start slurping like he was drinking a soda himself. Small sips here and there, trying not to grimace at just how bland and stale it was.

"So, got any plans where to go next? Can't say I know this planet too well."

 

[Shai Maji]

Thank goodness he didn't take it the wrong way. She listened to him as her eyes followed him to the fridge for a blood pack. She knew quite well how much he hated them, apparently they were horrible to drink. She drew a comparison with processed steak that were frozen and defrosted one too many times. The bit that bothered her was that, if she decided to do this, she would rely on these things as well.

"I... I don't know, babe." She muttered with a hand running through her mane. "What'll happen to me? I don't got much of a body left anymore, hell... my organs ain't even the same anymore." She looked up at him as he drank the blood pack, his strained face earning a snicker from her. "Hey, it can't be that bad. Canned food isn't so bad, can't be that different with canned blood." She teased him as her arms wrapped around him. This was a nice moment. No concerns about the next fight or mission, just her and him. No matter how bad things got, he was always there for her. Even now, with the option of becoming an immortal, she knew it came from a good place.

After a few silent moments she shrugged as she held onto him. "This planet's only a pit stop, not much to do here unless we wanna do another run. Between you and me, I'll take the bed over another job at this point." She flashed him a smug grin for a moment, trying to think of what to do.

She let go of him and made her way back to the couch. "Where did you come from?" She asked softly. "As in... the actual planet. You ever tried to check if there was anyone living there? Or did you just... leave it behind... when the Sith took you in?" It felt a bit inappropriate to ask such a thing, but she was curious. He knew everything about her, yet he was still a blank slate for her. Beckoning him closer, she rested against him with a smile. "Or you can give me the whole 'perks of being a blood sucker' sales pitch. See what are all the benefits are before I buy in." She continued.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

"You'll go into a frenzy, desperately eating as much blood as you can until you're able to regrow everything that'd been lost. It'll be painful, probably more painful than when you lost it all." There was no lying, especially not about this. He snickered though, glancing to the blood bag. Canned food, huh? "I got sealed away before I figured out what canned food was y'know. We were still eatin' carcasses of a stick roasted over a fire." He ran a hand over her cheek, more lifting Shai Maji 's chin so he could watch her for a moment. Scanning over the cybernetics.
He never stared long before. He knew she was different, but now? If she did end up choosing that path, how much hell would she have to go through? His hand lowered as she moved back to the couch. "I'll always take the bed if it means you're on it." He cracked a grin, and nearly barked out a laugh as he plopped back down beside her. But the laugh never came.

"Where did you come from?" She asked softly. "As in... the actual planet. You ever tried to check if there was anyone living there? Or did you just... leave it behind... when the Sith took you in?"

"We didn't have a name for it. And it's dead. .. No one survived." It wasn't a subject he seemed to like to talk about. His gaze hardened as he stared off. Distant memories he'd rather forget. The kind he had, until recently.

"There's no real perks to being it. You'll get your body back. You'll be immortal. But you'll never change again. Strong, fast beyond your wildest dreams. Hell, you might even be able to use the Force or whatever. But you'll be hungry. All the time. And if you don't keep it in check you might wake up one night about to eat the person that matters most."

 

[Shai Maji]

The description he gave her was the last thing she expected to hear in her life, and it showed in her face as she gave a few shocked blinks. At least he wasn’t sugarcoating anything, she had to give him that.

Luckily his quip broke the moment of shock as they made their way back to the couch. She didn’t say anything, but the daring look she gave him spoke volumes.

She listened closely as he continued on, explaining all he knew about what would happen if she agreed to it. The pros were tempting as hell. Immortality was nice... but she could get her body back. She could be herself again and not lose out all that much in terms of her fighting capability. Hell, she might even be better off with all the control she could get back. But the risks were also dangerous, and the perks could also go south very easily for her.

She snapped out of her deep thoughts as she looked at Xyoz. ”This... I’m gonna need to think about it. Long and hard.” She admitted softly. She looked down at her hands for a moment. Lifeless, fake skin and fur. Beskar nails meant to be weapons of their own. A myriad of technology shoved into her body to keep her alive. The thought of getting it all back, versus the pain she would have to go through. Was it worth it?

With a sigh she looked back to him as a sultry smile crept up. ”In the meantime, why don’t I give you some options to think on as well.” Her legs draped over his lap as she leaned back on the couch. ”You wanna make money or make yourself comfortable?” She nodded to the bed before flashing him a wink.

She needed a distraction from all of this. A heavy choice that would change her life forever. She would need to drink blood to survive. The risk of losing control was also not right with her. But then again... Xyoz would be there for her and she wasn’t going to hide it from anyone. If they didn’t accept her, that would be their problem.

A distraction was sorely needed...

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

"The time you have to think about it is a hell of a lot shorter than the time you'd have to regret it, so think harder than just hard." He nodded once, as if what he'd just said was spoken from the lips of the greatest of sages. To him, might as well of been. As much as he wanted to spend.. Well forever, with Shai Maji , he didn't want her to regret it. He'd been denied choice when he was made what he was.

He wouldn't do the same to her.

Then the topic of money, or being comfortable. He was pretty comfortable where he was, but was she bo- Oh. Oh. The wink made it a bit more clear on what she meant by comfortable. He grinned wide, wider than he had at his poor attempt at humor, and immediately got up. Lifting her with ease, robotic weight and all, before walking right over to the bed. "Comfort, by like.. Comfort." Whatever metaphor on distance or whatever was dead at launch, but that didn't matter. He'd toss her on the bed, uncaring if her new weight would shatter the poor wooden frame.

She was the only thing that mattered right now.

 

[Shai Maji]

His words carried weight to them. There was no argument to be had, really. She needed to think this over and then think again a few dozen more times. Weigh all of the options, draw up a list, maybe ask Xyoz some more questions about what could happen. Her position as a warrior would give her plenty of opportunity to stay fed... but did she want this?

Luckily she would have time later on to think about it. Right now Xyoz was realising what she meant and kicked it into high gear. A surprised yelp and a laugh erupted as she crashed into the bed, luckily not snapping it in half like the last time he did that.

With open arms she beckoned him to join her, a warm smile meeting him as she pulled him into a deep kiss. He was hers and she was his, nothing would change that... nothing short of what happened last time... but at least they both knew what would happen if that cycle repeated.

It also helped that he knew just how to get her mind off heavy thoughts like these...

/End Thread
Xyoz Maji