Induction

[Lassiter]

... And so the evening ventured forth...

---

By the time Sena had woke up the morning was almost coming to an end. By now it felt like an hour almost had passed since Sena got out of the bed to get dressed, yet a quick glance at the lonesome chronometer on the wall would tell her otherwise. The sun was slowly creeping through the windows in the direction of Ameli who still remained in the bed, though whether she was asleep or not wasn’t something Lassiter would be aware of. Part of her mused over the idea that this was the part when someone would have brought breakfast to the bed and acted all mushy. Except there was a problem with that.

For one, Sena did not have the required items to even prepare that.

For second, she murdered mushy couples like that.

No, the sudden tickle at the back of her mind had returned and she couldn’t help feeling her insides twitch in anticipation for the evening. Granted, she could have itched it back last night, but that was sated by something far better than the exhilaration of blood rushing down the cracks between your fingers. Desperation and fear so palpable you could taste it. Tonight would be the marvelous return to her roots, and she wasn’t going there by herself.

The woman who lie asleep before her feet would be there, but before that they had business to attend.

The kind of business that ended with an apartment full of, well, whatever it was that they found. Pub crawls were a secondary means to money, outright making people give away was an exercise in control.

One that young Miss Lassiter was more than eager to share with young Miss Trahir.

She just had to, you know, wake up first.

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

Rarely did Ameli sleep as well as she did night. When she finally awakened, she would do so with a great sense of satisfaction washing over her. It was a good day. Sena got out of bed before her. It shouldn't come as a surprise, given that out of the two of them, Ameli seemed more prone to laziness and laid-back self-indulgence. When the sun reached her face, she had turned away. Whether she had been awake at the time, or it was a more subconscious reaction from a lover of sleep was unknown. Ameli would not remember later.

With a long yawn, combined with a wide stretch, the blonde was slowly coming to. Looking up, she would find Sena standing and already dressed. Ameli did not have that comfort. Moreover, she seemed in no hurry to get there either. "Morning" she muttered, slowly dismissing the sheets, and reluctantly getting up and in search of something to wear. Her things seemed to be scattered all over. Oh well

Satisfied to have broken in the place, she looked over to Sena to learn what was next on their agenda. Did they chill here and make another attempt at the pub crawl? Or did Sena have something better in mind? "Sooo... What's the plan for today?" For some reason, she felt pretty sure that the last thing they would be doing would be relaxing. Apparently Sith weren't very big on that.

[member="Lassiter"]

 

[Lassiter]

Still. For all her attempts to separate any kind of feelings for Ameli, Sena still couldn’t help letting a small smile tug at the side of her lips. It became a lopsided smirk as she eyed last night’s ‘prey’ in delight. The terms for living together was set, they both knew that by now. A soft murmur called from the bed and Sena let the woman see her smirk in all its glory. She didn’t respond, but she acknowledged her friend with the gentle nod of her head nonetheless.

“The place is kind of empty.” Sena perked her brows and tilted her head while she stated the obvious. “We’re going to fix that.”

Lassiter allowed Trahir to get dressed in peace.

“Remember when we first met, I admitted to mind control?” She finally added before grinning. “It’s time. You’re getting us discounts today.”

No, that sounded cheesy. Sena grimaced and shook her head, dropping the tough girl attitude and shrugging.

“You will learn how I do it. Except under a bit more... Unconventional circumstances. A live exercise in domination.”

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

"The place has me. That ought to liven things up considerably" Ameli had replied with a playful smirk. Playful, though she did believe the two of them would agree that it was the truth. That being said, Sena was absolutely right. If not for being so insanely clean, she would've thought it abandoned. "You don't come here often, do you?" But then how did she manage to keep the dust bunnies away... The woman, the mystery.

When it became clear that Ameli would be able to try out a little bit of mind control, she grinned widely. She had looked forward to that particular ability. The blonde saw so many ways in which it could become insanely useful. Ameli hadn't thought the line cheesy, in fact it had widened her smile at the thought of it. When she saw Sena regretting the way she phrased it in grimace, however, she laughed out loud.

"Works for me" she said, after giving Sena a playful pat on the head as if compensation. Unconventional seemed to describe Ameli's approach to this whole Sith business, so chances were it'd work much better than the standard class-room introduction to the topic.

[member="Lassiter"]

 

[Lassiter]

Sena smirked. Ameli was most certainly livening up the place, considerably. There was a distinct difference in noise levels when she was around and when she wasn’t. And that was just a one-night observation in itself. The neighbours must have thought something happened, that wacky Sith lady down the hall was making loud noises in her room for the first time in... Well, ever.

Or perhaps it was the authorities who knew damn well who she was and decided to stay away.

It was eitheror at this point, probably.

“I do.” Sena said as she rose up from her seat. “I live here, but I don’t need much other than what I have, and what I don’t have up here I have down there in the streets. Food, water... Company.”

It was questionable what kind of company it meant. Sena let the statement linger in the air for Ameli to consider exactly what she meant. Perhaps probing for a reaction, or perhaps just making a statement about who she used to be.

Goddess, that felt icky to think.

Who Sena used to be.

As if that had changed much.

Probably had.

“Don’t do that, please.” Sena groaned as Ameli patted her on the head.

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Lassiter"]

The street provided. In response to what Sena had said, Ameli simply nodded as if she had just been told an interesting fact. It made sense to her. Why pay for what you can claim yourself, right? On the note of company, Ameli didn’t seem bothered. If anything, she pictured what she would be like if she had lived her. Her activities would probably be much the same. After all, life was about pleasure and enjoyment, right?

“Alright” Ameli said, when Sena expressed her discomfort with the head-patting. The Vahla girl just couldn’t help herself, and followed up by pinching her cheek.
With light steps, perhaps in swift flight from any retaliation, she made for the door and headed outside. Whatever hands-on test Sena had in mind for her, she doubted it would take place inside.

 

[Lassiter]

Ameli knew Sena. Ameli knew Sena unlike any other, and the second she reached out to pinch her cheeks there was no questioning that she knew exactly who she was. That while Sena could act tough all she wanted to, Ameli still held the key to everything that she was. Cheesy, yes, but true. Half of the voices demanded blood, an outcry silenced only by the other half that left Sena in a state of... Merely pouting.

It was lunchtime. Perfect time for mayhem. With the two girls stepping outside there was no denying their stride towards the crowds were one of anticipation. For the teacher at least. Ameli would find use for this, or so she told herself. The crowds were lively, restaurants were slowly filling up along the streets on this particular hemisphere of Coruscant. It was by all means a perfect opportunity to get the show on the road in a spectacular fashion.

Taking a seat outside a particularly busy shop, Sena turned towards Ameli and grinned.

“We’ll be getting what we need for the apartment soon enough. Live testing first, and then we go take care of that.” She grinned as the waiter arrived by their table. A cup of caf, bagel and juice each. It was an order neither of them had made, at least not in any spoken form. “Thanks, Pierre. Say hello to your girlfriend for me, would you?” An act. Had to keep up a facade that made it all seem more... Natural than it was.

“Lovely guy, does things without thinking about it sometimes.” Sena perked her brows in the hopes Ameli would get the unsaid hint. But, just for safesies. “Mind control.”

More grinning. “He started to pay for me ever since I first went here.”

“So, do you want to know the secret?”

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

The dynamic duo, double trouble, gruesome twosome walked down the unknowing streets of Coruscant. Unknowing, because they had not been witness to the menace caged inside of two otherwise innocent-looking girls. Had he known, he would have paid more attention to where he was walking, and not bumped his shoulder into Ameli. Had he known, he would've felt a powerful sense of fear from the hateful look she gave his neck. Ignorance was bliss, until you died.

Sena's voice distracted her from thoughts of vengeance. Live testing? That girl knew just how to say the right things to make a girl swoon. "Sounds good!" Ameli had replied, barely able to hide the excitement in her tone. Her hands longed for blood. Who knew murder could be so addictive?

Ameli observed the exchange between the waiter and Sena with a little smirk. This had baffled her the first time they met. Sena had teased with the power of the Dark Side, a power she understood more and more, and came closer and closer to grasping. Power would be hers. And then she could get all the bagels she wanted. "Right? If only everyone were like Pierre" Ameli replied to Sena's comment, her smirk widening. Ameli wondered how many Sena could control at the same time? Was it possible to control an entire city at once?

The smirk quickly got replaced with a scoff and an eyeroll when Sena added 'mind control', in case she hadn't caught onto that yet. "I know! I'm not daft" she said, like a spoiled teenager who just had her pride wounded. However all of that was swept away when Sena made mention of a sekrut. Sekrut? Sekrut, I want sekrut. "Yes! Tell me" she didn't even risk taking her eyes off the bagel as she mushed it against her face, hoping to hit her mark.

[member="Lassiter"]

 

[Lassiter]

Well, who would Lassiter be if she didn’t by the very least check if her partner was daft? Her head shot back and rolled over to her side -- much like her eyes did -- as Ameli voiced her ‘opinion’ on being treated as such. It was the part Sena had to substitute for this particular apprentice in lieu of ‘the harsh treatment.’ Which really was just another way for teachers to say ‘taking pleasure in beating their students up,’ even if in a sense Ameli wasn’t free from that either. Though the circumstances under which that occurred was vastly different. Vastly different.

Lazy hand grasped at the bagel and she took a firm bite out of the circular bread. Napkin brought up to wipe away the crumbles and with a very dignified ‘ahem’ Sena set her attention on her student.

“Do you see that man over there?” She looked over Ameli’s shoulder. Eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed. “Inebriate brunette. Blue eyes, scruff of a soldier. An easy mark.”

“Think back to when I helped you with telepathy, take control of the tendrils, warp your mind into his, all that until you are there within him.” Sena paused to look around them. So far no errant glances in their direction. Good. “What you need to do before you can control him is to make him tell you everything that he can about himself, yet what you really want is to understand what it is what motivates him. His fears, his ambitions.”

“What can you feel?”

He was a soldier by trade. Some sort of physical and/or mental trauma was more than likely to be there, but first Ameli had to find it.

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Lassiter"]

Ameli probably had no idea how fortunate she was that she was getting special treatment as Sena's student. Under any other Sith, her apprenticeship would likely have been close to a minor hell. She was blessed, spoiled, sheltered. There were pros and cons to everything, but Ameli was enjoying her Sith life. So far it was all play and little to no suffering. Getting served a cold coffee or not receiving free stuff on any given day apparently did not qualify as suffering.

Mirroring Sena, Ameli too took a bite of her bagel while listening to her teacher speak. "Yeah" she said absently, a few crumbs slipping out of her mouth as she seemed to have forgot to swallow before speaking. An easy mark. That meant failing would be embarrassing. Alright. Time to impress.

Her mind went back to the lesson Sena mentioned. She had taken one step in the right direction, and now it was time to take it even further. Though the lesson was new, the topic was not, at least not entirely. It built upon previously acquired knowledge, relatable to a skill she already possessed. Ameli didn't have to start from scratch.

The blonde's eyes closed. Without moving an inch, she moved closer to the man. She was seeing with her mind now, extending her presence through the Force. She searched for him, and once she discovered what she was looking for, she honed herself closer in to him. Would he have noticed her if he had been Force sensitive? Was she being too obvious? Possibly.

She wasn't sure if she was making him tell her anything, but she could hear him. Thoughts, ideas, even memories were flooding to the surface. It was almost as if she had opened a window and information was being sucked out and thrown at her without asking. It was a little overwhelming. There was no filter, no natural connection between them. It was chaos.

"Bored" she replied dryly. Despite seeing so much, there was little entertainment to be found here. "He doesn't like cheese. Who the kark doesn't like cheese? No class" Ameli shook her head.

Her grip on him was slipping, she had allowed herself to get too distracted. In an effort to get back in, she reached too far. She dove past those recurring surface thoughts that he drowned himself in to escape from the horrors he had seen, from the horrors he had done. If he hadn't, he was not sure how he would get through the day. And now it were those images that flooded over Ameli.

Boredom was far from the first emotion that came to mind when describing how she felt in this moment. Her skin grew pale, cold, and she gasped audibly. Ameli's eyes were wide open now. She was looking straight at Sena, but she didn't see her, not really. All her mind registered were the images passed along from the man, along with the emotions he connected to them.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't really think, lay out a strategy on how to counter it or take control, she simply reacted. Things were getting uncomfortable, and she reacted. The next moment, all those feet away from where the man was standing, a loud crack was heard. The man dropped to the ground and the flood of suppressed traumas seized. He was dead, his neck snapped. At least Ameli didn't have to deal with his daily struggle.

Her body shook with a shiver, her face making a little grimace as she recovered herself. "Wow. That was intense." Ameli said taking a sip from the coffee, feeling a need for that caffeine to wash over her and clean her of this feeling. "So, who's next?" she said, looking at Sena next. Her tone and expression seemed to have gone back to what it had been moments before this little incident. She appeared completely unfazed from the fact that she had just murdered a man, totally unconcerned with whatever chaos she had just created on the streets. Ameli feared no consequences. She was Sith, was she not?

 

[Lassiter]

Eyes shifted from side to side. Not liking cheese meant a lack of class? Ameli hadn’t seen their apartment yet and the lack of it that it would entail. Sena would have to keep quiet. The spacer’s eyes blew wide open and for a short second the Corellian arched back in surprise. She had forgotten that first time, the one where you always went too far and resorted to drastic measures to end it. The man slumped to the floor and the waiters moved out to dispose of him while Sena made sure nobody was around who could see him.

As the body was dumped in a container in the back Sena opened her eyes again. Let out a sharp exhale and rested her head in her hand. All things considered, mentalism wasn’t an easy feat. There would be no way to describe the kind of pain and headache Ameli would feel at the end of the day. No way to describe her impending fatigue either. Sena had fallen to the floor her first time, hit her head against the ground and had a bump for days.

Not pretty.

“You need focus.” She stated as if it was a matter of fact. Which it was, of course. “You are engaging his entire being, not the mind. In return he is giving you everything he has. What you need to do is focus on the surface, tread in shallow waters.”

“You pick your own target this time.” Sena shrugged. “Other than the café staff. I’d much rather not have to find a new place to eat, thank you.”

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Lassiter"]

The body was disposed of nice and quickly. Ameli had barely caused a scene at all. Sure, she had taken a life, but it was no reason to cause a fuzz. Sena's mind control prowess had brushed it all under the rug. It was about time she shared that neat little insight with Ameli! She wouldn't abuse it at all.

Sena exhaled, but Ameli was ready for more. She knew she could do this. She was supposed to be, like, powerful or something.

"Yeah, I'll focus" she said, sounding characteristically distracted. Having recovered from the first failure, she scanned their surroundings for her next target. Instinctively she felt like coming with a comeback, but what Sena said made sense. Perhaps this was one of those moments when it paid off to listen to the tutor, rather than fight the process.

"As long as you teach me how to swim" In a perfect world Ameli could snap her fingers and master the ability in a moment. She didn't have the patience to tread in shallow waters for long, but she knew it had to be done.

Ameli's eyes slid across the street, glancing over from a woman walking past their table to a man talking to a waiter as he was trying to get himself to a table. All possible options... But for whatever reason, Ameli wasn't feeling it. Her eyes landed once more on Sena. She smirked.

"What other places do you frequent?" she tried asking as casually as possible. Meanwhile her mental tendrils snuck up towards the girl in front of her. Would she notice? Could she be sneaky? And when she was found out, what would Sena do? It was hard to keep that smirk down, as the fun, teasing competitiveness of it all got the best of her. Ameli knew she'd probably get busted and a little reprimand, but it was too tempting to let go. Who knew, maybe Sena would be able to give her better feedback, knowing exactly what Ameli was doing?

Ameli had the same approach as she had used earlier, though she modified her caution and intensity. Now that she knew she could get caught she tried to be sneakier about it. She didn't dive in deep like last time, only attaching herself to the surface and trying to slide herself into the consciousness of the one in front of her. Maybe she'd discover something juicy...

 

[Lassiter]

Sena held back the urge to blink. Did Ameli not know how to swim, or was she further expanding upon the shallow waters metaphor? In any case she followed along with Ameli’s hunt for new targets yet all the potential ones remained oddly untouched. Either Ameli was having trouble connecting to them, or-

Flash. A lonely girl no older than fifteen stands alone in front of a crowd of four. One by one they approach her, touch her and inspect her. On one end fingers trace down her arm to check her for bruises, on the other they stroke their knuckles along her cheek to make sure her skin is soft enough. They whisper nothings into her ear as tears roll down her cheeks in streams. Nothing is sacred, nothing is wrong. To them there is just a small girl and her masters. She is property, property to be handed out amongst themselves as year after year has passed and her servitude is no longer desired and after which she is to be discarded.

The girl has seen the pits, the lifeless bodies of the ones who had been chosen to walk the path she has been given. Fear reeks from her, she tries to shy away from the men but it is in vain.

Sena gasped as her hand smashed into the table. Her hand wrapped itself around Ameli’s wrist as electricity started to course throughout the spacer’s body. There was fire behind her eyes, the fires that tended to be last thing people ever saw. Her mind screamed for it, demanded it, but she just couldn’t do it.

“No.” The master growled at her student.

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

[member="Lassiter"]

Somehow she had managed to sneak past Sena's defences. She caught a glimpse of something. It was like a vision flashing before her eyes. In reality the moment probably only lasted for a couple of seconds, but to Ameli it felt as if she there with them, watching from the sidelines. What she saw was far from what she expected. What had started as an innocent joke turned into a little more than what Ameli had intended to pry from her attractive tutor.

It was disgusting. Sad. Horrifying. Infuriating. All at once. Naturally she recognized the girl that was being examined like she was a piece of furniture, and it made Ameli want to murder the world. Flashes, images, memories best forgotten got brought before Ameli's prying eyes. She felt great anger and need for vengeance, as well as an uncharacteristic shame. Despite her otherwise wide limits, she knew that this time she had gone too far.

Ameli's body shook with surprise as Sena slammed her hand into the table. She didn't react to Sena's hand suddenly grabbing her wrist, not noticing it before it happened. The nails digging into her skin made her gasp "Sena~" she tried, but in the next moment, as jolts of electricity coursed through her body the gasp turned into a scream.

Ameli grabbed onto Sena's arm. Not to try to pull her away or counter-attack, merely for support, something familiar to hold on to as the storm of pain washed over her. Her body shook in the chair, twisted. Ameli's back arched, as if she could pull away from the lightning, but there was no escape from its shocking grasp.

"I'm sorry!" Ameli cried out, looking directly into Sena's own, only to find hate, fury, and a desire to destroy. Ameli wasn't the type to plead or beg, but in this case it was genuine. She didn't blame Sena for the punishment she was dishing out, Ameli might've done something similar. She understood. She had gone too far. She was sorry.

 

[Lassiter]

There was a cry for mercy and if on instinct the hand that held an iron grip on the girl’s wrist was relinquished. The Master began heaving as the energy loss mixed with the emotional overload. Her hand moved up to catch her head, fingers sliding against delicate skin to form pillars upon which she could rest. The voices called for blood and the last few traces of sanity demanded mercy be shown. Perhaps deep down Sena was still the lost girl that she thought herself to have grown out of, but perhaps that wasn’t exactly what had happened in the end.

“Don’t do that ever again.” Her voice betrayed her, turned into a growl when she did not want it. “Ever.” As if to really drive the point home. “Nobody is allowed to go there.”

Breakfast was over. Sena dashed the credits onto the table, actually paying for once.

“We have more practice to make. We’ll brush this under the rug,” Sanity restored. Or well, not really. “Just never do that again, Ameli. Ever.”

[member="Ameli Trahir"]

 

[Ameli Trahir]

Ameli still felt really bad. Watching Sena deal with the aftermath, pained fingers against her temples, was not something the blonde girl cherished. Sure, she prided herself on being able to bend, break and twist others, mind and body. But not her. Anyone but Sena.

"I won't. I promise!" Ameli said, and Sena would be able to tell that she was being honest. She wasn't very good at lying to Sena. She cared a little too much to maintain a good sabacc face. With other people whose lives meant nothing to her? Easy.

"Okay" Ameli sounded, trying to sound a little less like a beaten hound. "It won't happen again!" she reassured her tutor. Ameli had just wanted to play, and never thought of what she might come across, that she might hurt the other girl.

It was in times like these that she didn't really know whether she should get Sena space to deal with her own emotions, or if she should be close and supportive. She also wanted to give her a 'If you want to talk, I'm here' based on the images seen, though for now she decided it was best to let the matter lie.

"Do you hate me now?" Ameli asked, trying to light the mood with a playful, teasing tone, as she wrapped an arm around the other's waist and pulled her a little closer, while they walked away.

[member="Lassiter"]

 

[Lassiter]

The voices did. Hated Ameli with all that they could muster, but even still they were muted by something more sensible or even outright naive; the last few shreds of young miss Lassiter’s sanity. The one part of her mind that still craved a family, somewhere to belong. Ameli had that. Not much of it, but something made it seem like she at least understood what the half-Corellian was going through and as far as that particular part of Sena’s mind was concerned it was enough. The last few shreds of humanity within forced a smile to spread on the monster’s lips.

“No, I don’t.” She said with as much reassurance as she could truly muster. “My past is my own, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Yet in many ways she really should have told Ameli about what she would find within if she searched just a little bit further.

It wasn’t consensual.

She too drew Ameli closer in an unknowing show of public affection.

“You should find someone else to poke through.” She said as the two of them approached another particularly busy town square. “Remember what I told you. Use unpleasant memories against them and tear at the tendrils. Carefully, we don’t want the whole square to think something weird is going on.”

[member="Ameli Trahir"]