Private Just Checking In

[Cato Harth]

"Heyyy, Inanna, it's Cato. Cato Harth? Yeah, I- eugh, stupid."

"What's up, it's- Nope."

"Well, what if it's not…? Excuse me, is there a Ms. Inanna… Aw shit. I don't think I ever learned her last name! It's not Hoole, is it?"

"..."

"...Hi, it's me, Cato. Y'know, the guy who dresses up in a gimp suit and beats the shit out of lowlifes on a nightly basis? Yeah, that one."

Cato spent the last fifteen minutes of the journey to Erakhis thoroughly cringing at himself. He was turning something small into a big deal again. Okay, sure, he was interested in seeing Inanna once more, but he had other reasons for being here, too. Their little adventure had a surprising effect on the knight that went further than a mere kiss on the cheek; He was here to offer aid. Two birds, one stone. Some might even call that efficient.

Thankfully, his junker of a ship made landfall before he could embarrass himself further. Cato got up and stood atop the entry ramp of his ship, realizing now he wasn't quite sure how proceedings operated around here. Hopefully the welcome party was incoming. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "...Helloooo?"

Nailed it.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Upon his arrival at the Erakhian refugee camp, Cato was greeted by a squad of Shi’ido security guards. They kept their weapons trained upon him as Inanna stepped forward.

“Sorry about the welcome party, it’s standard policy around here,” she said sheepishly. “I also have to check the color of your blood to prove you’re not an impostor. Which finger do you want pricked?”

As soon as he named a digit, Inanna poked it with a sterile needle just enough to draw blood. Seeing that it was red, she nodded in approval. “Congratulations, you’re not a Mawite Fleshtaker. I’m so glad.” Turning toward the guards, she said, “All right boys and girls, he’s human. You can go about your business now.”

There were a few sighs of relief and maybe a couple of disappointed groans, but the troops dispersed without further ado. Inanna gestured for Cato to follow her. “So, what brings you here? I imagine it’s not just to see little old me.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

The full security force was more than expected, and he abruptly put his hands up passively as soon as their weapons were pointed at him. Then, Inanna herself stepped forward, and the corner of his mouth twitched up momentarily. "That a, uh, common problem around here?" Made sense, he supposed, given they were an entire species of shapeshifters.

The knight offered up his left ring finger, and, happy to see that the results were as hoped, he dropped a bit of the tension built up in his shoulders. "Well, only half human, technically." He shrugged. For all intents and purposes, it was usually simpler to just call himself human. None of it had ever really defined him anyway.

"So, what brings you here? I imagine it's not just to see little old me."

Cato coughed, and chuckled. "Well, I uh-- I just got to thinking- After I met you I realized that I'd kinda been neglecting the rest of the galaxy these last few years. Seeing firsthand what you were going through, I just… wanted to offer some help. And hey, any excuse to get out of that cesspool for a while, y'know?" The Shi'ido were in the middle of one of their greatest crises as a species, countless others were suffering troubles of their own. And now he saw the microcosm of such a battle through Inanna and her family. He gestured up to the cargo bay of his ship, where some supplies laid awaiting retrieval. The knight rubbed the nape of his neck, "Just some real basic necessities and things. I-it's not much- Selling scrap and punching crooks on the side isn't the most lucrative hustle in the galaxy- but, I figured, better than nothing, right?" He said it as if asking for actual confirmation.

"And, y'know, figured I might as well check in. See how Inanna and Ash are doing after all of… that." He gestured vaguely regarding the events of their meeting.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Common enough to require blood tests for every person who arrives,” she replied.

When he mentioned he was only half human, she looked intrigued. “Really? What’s your other half?” Shi’ido tended to put a greater emphasis on familial ties than other species, and heritage was part of that.

“Well, well. I’m flattered—and I’m glad you came.” As soon as he pointed to the supplies he had brought, Inanna reached out with the Force and dragged them down the ramp. She was reminded of Amani Serys, the Jedi Healer who had come to work on the infected. The Mirialan had brought supplies with her, too. The reminder irritated her, so she pushed it out of her mind.

“Thanks,” she said, flashing him a smile. “Anything is better than what we have right now.” Stopping to speak to a dock worker in Shi’idese—a thoroughly alien tongue filled with melodic sounds in tones and pitches which human vocal cords couldn’t possibly replicate—she sent him over to carry the crates into the camp.

Cato might notice that, while the refugee camp was just beyond the docks, the pair of them weren’t headed in that direction. Instead Inanna was taking them along the pier, where actual boats bobbed in the Erakhian ocean.

“Ash is… surviving,” Inanna replied with a sigh. She had tried to find something more positive to report, but there was nothing. “Like the rest of us, I suppose. She’s in a better position than most of the other refugees, living with me, but I think that only makes her more angry and bitter than if she was in the camp sharing a tent with six other people.”

Stopping, she gestured to a solar yacht floating serenely on the water. “Speaking of which, I’m not taking you to the camp. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you, but it’s not as safe as it used to be. Not that it was ever that safe to begin with… I’ll be taking you to my place instead, which isn’t too far from here. Climb aboard, make yourself at home. You don't get seasick easily, do you?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato shrugged, "To be honest I'm not completely sure. Mostly Etti, but I'm something of a… mutt, I guess." A healthy blend of different near-human interspecies relationships from both sides of the family, but genealogy wasn't really something the Harths' had the resources to trace. He assumed something in there was the cause of his tawny eyes, but otherwise, there was nothing that might outwardly distinguish him from seeming human.

"Sure." Cato smiled, glad that his supplies would at least be worth something to these people. He listened curiously to the incomprehensible exchange of words. Far outside of his wheelhouse, but it had an alien beauty to its structure. At Inanna's behest he followed, giving the camp a few confused glances as they seemed to be heading away from rather than towards it. The mention of Ash brought his attention back, and he nodded solemnly, "It's gotta be tough. Going through all of this, at her age? Can't say I blame her for feeling frustrated." She was being forced to grow up quickly, in a galaxy that, at least from her perspective, might as well have cast them aside. She was impassioned, which he could respect, albeit not to the extent that she had attempted to take it. Just another sign of how desperate things had been.

They stopped at the docks, and Cato stared blankly at the floating yacht, "Not as safe?" He asked, but wasn't going to complain about the change in plans. "To be honest I'm not sure when the last time I was on an actual boat was, but, I don't think so." He laughed a little, stepping on board. The interior was quite nice; A far cry from the grime covered streets of Nar Shaddaa. He'd almost forgotten that there were things in the galaxy that didn't look dingy.

"How have things actually been at the camp lately?" He asked, returning to his question of safety.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“The Etti are those lanky guys, right?” She glanced his way. “I wonder where your eye color comes from.” For a few seconds, she actually mimicked his tawny irises, before letting them fade back to the liquid gold she favored these days.

At his remark about Ash, she couldn’t resist rocking his world. “Oh yeah, I hated being forty-six too. Our teenage years last decades. It’s an absolute nightmare.”

She boarded the yacht with the familiar ease of someone who had been sailing for years, and quickly started the thing up. It had a pre-programmed route home, but she liked to manually steer it away from the docks. “If you start feeling nauseous, just puke overboard. The local sea monsters won’t be offended, I promise.”

He asked about the camp. Inanna made a face. “We’re in the midst of a civil war between clans, although it might as well be gang warfare. Murders happen regularly in the camp, people picking off rivals and such, and our cute little security team isn’t equipped to deal with it. I’m half convinced the Fleshtakers are responsible for stirring this chit up, but taking care of them in any real way has proven impossible. The only thing we have left to hope for is Maranatha, a refugee city the Organas of Alderaan promised us would someday become a reality. But that project’s stalled, and now they’re shuffling their feet and huffing and puffing over whether they should take us, or if we’re too much of a threat to their national security…

“... In short, it stinks, but what else is new.” She shrugged, letting go of the steering wheel and allowing the autopilot to take over.

“What about you? Have you encountered any more of those radicals on Nar Shaddaa?” She had some news about that, but wanted to see what he had to report first.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato nodded, "Probably where the height comes from," He had managed to offset the gangling limbs with an athletic build, giving substance to what might otherwise have appeared spindly or ungraceful, "The eyes, though, that's the galaxy's greatest mystery." He stopped bothering himself with the research some time ago, even if he found his curiosity still piquing on occasion.

At the mention of Ash being forty-six, Cato puffed his cheeks and exhaled, "Didn't realize it lasted that long." He then chuckled, finding it more intriguing than discomforting, "My sister probably would've throttled me by now if I were still going through my teenage phase." The mention of sea monsters got him to do a double take over the edge of the yacht. He squinted, trying to figure out whether or not she was joking, but offered nothing else beyond an amusedly suspicious look.

The conditions of the camp, however, were quite serious. The knight was visibly taken aback to hear just how messy things had gotten. "They're fighting over clans? It hardly seems the time for that," He couldn't claim to be an expert on Shi'ido cultural conflicts, but he had hoped that a situation as dire as this might have gotten people to act a little less violent with one another. Some things never change. It was like Narsh all over again. "Too much of a threat?" The notion seemed insulting. Admittedly, there were obvious potential risks, given the sheer scale of Shi'ido shapeshifting. But to categorize them at large as a security issue rubbed him the wrong way, regardless of theoretical practicality. "I'm sorry Inanna. That... sucks." A simple descriptor, but adequate.

On the mention of terrorists his interest grew, "I've been trying to get a good lead on them for a bit now. Nothing concrete, but it seems they're still in operation. Some of them anyway." He looked back at her, "Actually, I was hoping you might have heard something."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Catching Cato peering over the railing looking for sea monsters, she laughed. “Most of them only come out at night. You might see a few if you stay after dark. My house has windows.”

But the conversation inevitably turned to less lighthearted matters. Inanna sank into a very comfortable chair, reclining in it as much as possible. She had grown to hate discussions of politics, especially because it seemed like she couldn’t avoid them these days.

As for why the current crisis hadn’t healed their divisions, she had no answer to that. Conflict was everywhere; no one was immune. The safety issue was also obvious. Apart from the threat posed by the Fleshtakers, if Inanna wanted to, she could pretend to be the Queen of Alderaan or the Chancellor of the Alliance and go out and give orders to whole armies. By the time they figured it out, it might be too late.

She suspected Cato knew these things, or at the very least could figure them out on his own, so she didn’t remark upon them except to nod her head in agreement. It sucked, big time.

“I recently had a chat with the leader of the radicals. Former leader, actually—he hasn’t exactly been running at full capacity in a long time.” She made a gesture, tapping her head with a finger. “He got turned into a Fleshtaker, but it just drove him crazy. He spent some time in Azrael Asylum, escaped, got caught, escaped, got caught again. The Benandanti—that’s our telepathic clan—have him now. They’re still trying to piece his mind back together. He doesn’t even remember his real name anymore, so I don’t know how viable his intel is. But...” She smirked. "Well, you can ask him yourself."

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato wasn't sure whether to find the possibility of sea monsters cool or terrifying. Perhaps he'd be able to decide should he see any. If he stayed after dark, that is. He tried to hide his interest in that particular possibility.

He walked over and leaned across the back of one of the seats, a brow raised as she described her own progress. The actual leader, captured. Albeit in a less than favorable condition, "Reallyyy…" Cato stroked his chin, "It would be worth a shot, at least." Better than no lead at all.

He mulled over the information for a bit longer, contemplating what he might ask given the opportunity, when he resigned to save it for later. His eyes flicked between Inanna and the floor, when he spoke up again, "Well I know how Ash is doing. I know how the camp is doing… How are you doing, Inanna?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna glanced over at him. Cato was standing behind the chair next to her, leaning his upper body on the back of it.

“I’ve been gathering up what’s left of Clan Hoole,” she said. “Finding Ash sort of inspired me to get the old gang back together.” In fact, it was Alicio who had suggested she reconnect with her family, but she didn’t want to think about him right now. Or ever again. “I found one of my brothers who I thought was dead. That was a good thing.”

She smiled, tipping her head back against her chair. The waters were calm, the waves gentle. The weather on Erakhis could turn suddenly, the ocean growing choppy, but for now it was peaceful and pleasant.

“What about you?” she asked.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato listened with a pleasant smile. Maybe some things were looking up after all. The mention of a presumed death brother in particular was worthy of a grin, "No shit? That's great. I'm glad." Sad that such a thing had been a problem to begin with, but a win was a win. Inanna seemed happy with it.

"Me?" He paused, having not given his own concerns much thought until now, "Surviving. Things have been slower, which is nice, though I can't help but wonder if that just means something big is gonna drop on my head in the near future." Such would be his luck. Cato shrugged, "Nar Shaddaa is what it is. I'm just glad to be somewhere with a blue sky and clean air. And where the people aren't trying to kill me," He smirked, "Unless this trip to your home has some ulterior motive I was unaware of."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“An ulterior motive? Me?”

There was a faint nudge in the Force, tugging him toward the back of her chair. Nothing he couldn’t easily fight, but a pull nonetheless.

“Since Ash and a few other people will be there who don’t need to know our business, maybe it would be a good idea to have an alibi,” she said, whether he came closer or not. “I can think of a few other reasons you might have come to see me.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"I know. Surely not," Cato had no real defense to the little gust that pulled him along. Not that he lacked the skill, but because that's what he wanted to do anyway.

He casually moved over, gliding his hand along the back of the chair, the choice only really registering with him after he'd closed the distance. Not that he minded. "An alibi, eh?... Aaand what reasons might those be?" Cato looked down at Inanna with a smirk, waiting expectantly for an answer.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

There he was, standing over her. Upside down from her perspective, leaning back against the chair, but that was fine.

She tapped her lip as if mulling over the options, then reached up and pulled him down to her. “The simplest would be that you just wanted to see me again…”

She held him in suspense for a moment, close enough that she could feel his breath, and winked.

“Or you came to me because your telekinesis sucks, and you want training.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Inanna abruptly pulled him over until their faces were a mere breath away. He sputtered a quiet chuckle, his voice huskier now, "Well, there's only one problem with that…"

Cato stared into the liquid gold of her eyes, then to her mouth with mounting excitement. Yeah, this worked for him. "...My telekinesis is fine." He closed the distance with a final heated breath, before embracing her lips with his in a hungry kiss.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Cato closed the distance, sealing her lips with a kiss. She buried her fingers in his black hair, opened her mouth and indulged his hunger. Her own matched his.

But even as she did, she found herself thinking about Hal again. She hadn’t felt guilty with Alicio or anyone else she had dated since her husband’s death. Only now, with Cato kissing her like a thirsty man before a stream and her greedily kissing him back, did she feel a hint of shame at how desperate she had gotten for just a little bit of happiness. Something that might double for what she'd lost.

The chime of the autopilot system informing them that they had arrived at their destination drew her out of it. Inanna broke the kiss, opening eyes that had shut everything else out except the touch and the taste and the scent of Cato.

“We’re here,” she whispered, as though she had forgotten that they were traveling. In fact, she couldn’t even remember why they were there… to question somebody, maybe…?

The house was built into a cliff face, with the lower half of it submerged in the water. Waves slapped at the edges, but couldn’t rust the metallic foundations.

She stood up slowly, smoothed her clothes, and glanced at Cato. “Sorry for messing up your hair,” she said with a smile. “Are you ready?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato honestly hadn’t been quite sure what to expect as he went in for the kiss. There was even a flicker of wonder if she would deny him outright. The body language had said otherwise, but, given her past he had his reservations...

But their lips connected, and she reciprocated with a desire that rivaled his own. Indulgent, and eager to turn it into something more as their intermingling heat became a fire. She reached up into his hair, and he took hold of her arm firmly, yet gently.

The chime hadn’t even registered with Cato. He was all too happy to ignore it in favor of the woman in front of him, But at the sound of her voice he slowed to a stop, his bottom lip slipping gently off of hers as he looked up from his intoxicated haze, “...Right.”

The house was there, sure enough. He blinked a few times as if expecting it to go away, but no such luck. They had business to deal with anyway. That business being…

Cato had a hard time focusing right now. But he did his best to recompose, running a hand through his messy hair in a quick fix-up, “Don’t worry about it.” He exchanged smiles, “Ready when you are.”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna thought Cato looked a bit tipsy. That was fine for their purposes, but she felt compelled to take him by the hand, lest he fall off the boat and into the water rather than stepping onto the platform beyond.

At the touch of her palm, a panel slid open. She passed through it, down a short flight of stairs and into a spacious living room. It looked like any other of its kind, except for the fact that it was underwater, as evidenced by the broad windows along the walls revealing sea life swimming through the blue.

Ash was there, as Inanna had suspected. The girl was sprawled out on a couch, clutching a datapad with all four of her hands as she played some kind of game. Her dark eyes flicked toward them as they entered, first in a casual glance, then a longer glare as she sat up, the game forgotten.

“Why is he here?” she demanded.

Inanna grinned. “Oh, uh, no reason. Mind your business, sweetie.” She tugged Cato along behind her, headed for a hallway on the other side of the room.

Ash leaned forward, her eyes narrowing, not quite convinced.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato quickly regained his footing, hardly in need of Inanna's help, though he didn't exactly mind the contact. His gaze wandered to the house, exterior and interior, taking in the sights of this unfamiliar place. Nar Shaddaa had really done a number on his standards; The Yomin estate wasn't a bad setup by any stretch of the imagination, but in comparison to his typical haunts, this might as well have been the richest home in the entire galaxy. Even still, he couldn't help flicking back over to Inanna every so often.

As they entered the living room and saw Ash, he felt a little more awkward. Last time they met, he'd thwarted her terrorist cell's attempt at a suicidal plot against the Alliance. He may have cared about her safety, but it was suddenly registering that her opinion of him was not quite comparable. And now, he was back, plastering a smile across his face to mask the fact that he had totally just been snogging her aunt back on the boat. Or perhaps the smile gave away exactly that. Either way, all he got out was a “…Hi Ash-“ before Inanna whisked him away down the hall.

Hopefully they'd be able to bury the hatchet later.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Ash continued to stare after the vanished pair, until she heard the distinct sound of the Inanna’s bedroom door opening. Her narrowed eyes suddenly widened with realization.

“Oh, gross!”

Inanna pulled Cato into her room, then swiftly closed the door behind them. It was darker in there, the shades having been drawn over the windows. Inanna’s golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark like those of a nocturnal predator.

“The room is soundproofed, so don’t worry about keeping our voices down,” she said. “I… sort of broke the law to arrange this. McGill—that’s the radical leader I told you about—isn’t supposed to be here. I had to smuggle him out of his cell. But it was the best I could do under the circumstances.”

She walked over to the closet door. It slid open with a wave of her hand, revealing hanging clothes and a very, very flustered Shi’ido.

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” the Shi’ido hissed. "Locking me in your damned closet..."

“I do know,” Inanna hissed back. “You can come out now.”

McGill hobbled out of the darkness of the closet into the dimness of the room. He was wearing a strange gray suit with sleeves that were much too long—a type of straitjacket designed to stop shapeshifters from shifting. Trapped in his natural form, he looked like a small, frail, hairless humanoid with ashen skin, deep-set eyes, and a wide mouth in a flat, noseless face.

“Who is this chucklefuck?” he demanded, flopping his sleeve in Cato’s direction. “And what the hell do you people want from me?”

Cato Harth​