Malevolence (Siobhan)

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

When Siobhan had finished her story Tegaea’s jaw had tightened slightly. It was likely that this attempt by the Sith would have struck at some point, but Siobhan’s overly lustful stance had hastened that. Siobhan was not solely to blame, and she had rescued her. She wasn’t about to blame Siobhan for everything, but there were some clear lessons.

“I…see. I think it might be wise if we just…stick to each other from now on. If I’m capable of pleasing you again. We’ve had our fun, it’s time to be sensible. I'm sorry if that ruins your plans tonight,” she said with a trace of bitterness. Though she had not been entirely faithful to Siobhan, she had always made love to people she knew well like Anya or Tempest, never blow ins from the street. Even had Sonae not been a Sith, she might have been a spy or agent from a rival power hoping to seduce secrets from the eager Exarch.
That had to stop.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Siobhan stood there, not moving, taking the criticism and nodding. Fact was that it had been Siobhan's fault. Someone like Anya, someone with an actual sense of judgement, would not have fallen like for a pretty face just because made bedroom eyes and flashed her assets. Try as she might Kaelin had been right about everything she said of her.

"Only plans I had for tonight and the nights after were to be at your side," she said softly, guilt evident in her voice and written across her features. "I don't need anyone else and I'll wait. I've been...a terrible wife to you. But I am...sorry, and I know I say that a lot. But I'm not gonna abandon you."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea deflated a bit. She took Siobhan’s hand painfully, for the nerves were still badly damaged. Tears threatened at her eyes.
“I know you won’t, just like I’ll never leave you. I love you, Siobhan, no matter what.”

With that she drifted off to sleep again, still holding tight to Siobhan.
@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Tears were rolling down Siobhan's eyes as she heard Tegaea's words and her wife drifted off to sleep. Tegaea was clinging to her tightly, like holding on to dear life, but Siobhan did not move and held her loosely, mindful of her injuries.

She gently stroked her hair. "I don't deserve you," she whispered sadly. "But I won't fail you again...I promise." Siobhan could not, would not leave her.

 

[Anya Venari]

A while later Anya came by and gently placed a hand on @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]'s shoulder. "You need to get some sleep, dear. I'll stay with her, don't worry. I'll get them to bring a bed in here if you want as well."

It was certainly a trying time, especially now that the real world was starting to intrude. Media reports of the incident were out, and rumours that Tegaea was dead mixed with odd and not so odd accounts of what had happened. There was a whole lot of uncertainty there, but Anya would stick by her two closest friends no matter what.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"Please do. Not leaving her," Siobhan spoke, gently removing herself from Tegaea after giving her a last look, sighing. "I...never wanted to hurt her." Her eyes turned to meet Anya's. If Siobhan were honest with herself, something she often was not, back when she had joined the Pyre she had been jealous of the Eldorai, who had seemed closer to Tegaea. Even now she had an inferiority complex when it came to the elegant and sophisticated Princess.


But the elf had proved a good friend, perhaps her best. And she was still sticking with them...with Tegs. "Thanks for staying," she said sincerely.

 

[Anya Venari]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Normally Anya would have made a quip at this point. The fact she didn't showed that she was very much in a serious mood.
"I'm not leaving her either. She gave me purpose, gave me hope when I was lost. I would not be who I am today without Tegaea." She smiled and went to get a nurse to bring in a bed for Siobhan.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"Neither would I. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's special," Siobhan said quietly, pulling Anya into a gentle hug, laying her head on a shoulder briefly, feeling exhausted, drained and guilty, before releasing the Princess so that she could go fetch a nurse. Siobhan remained standing, protectively watching over Tegaea until a bed was brought in.


She wanted to stay up longer, watch over her, but what she had been through today had taken its toll and so she pretty much collapsed into bed, drifting off into the realms of Hypnos and Morpheus. She did not need insane alt selfs with questionable fashion sense and even more pronounced murderous tendencies or daemons to haunt her dreams to tell her that she had messed up, which was putting it lightly. Tegaea had so often been her anchor, the one who looked out for her and kept her grounded...Siobhan would have to be there for her, throughout her recovery and beyond.

It was the least she could do. The one promise she could not allow herself to break.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

The night passed without incident. After all, their most persistent threat was now extremely dead.

The next day Doctor Osway returned to begin the process of implanting the new eye. Tegaea seemed extremely nervous, uneasy at the sight of the device with its wires and cables.
Her hands started to tremble as Doctor Osway prepared the anaesthetic.

“Siobhan?” she asked, her voice a worried, seeking reassurance.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Siobhan was here and gently took Tegaea's hand into her own, giving it a soft squeeze. "I'm here. It'll be alright, love. It freaked me out as well the first time but you'll be ok. It'll just feel a bit weird at first," she spoke softly, reassuringly, giving Tegaea a gentle kiss on the forehead, at one of the few spots where she was not wearing a bandage.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Thus reassured, Tegaea visibly calmed down and nodded to Osway who administered the sedative.

“You can observe if you wish, Exarch, but you must do so from behind that line there. We can’t have any threat of infection or distraction,” the Doctor said sternly. She really would be a good member of the Order.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"I will watch over her to the very end," Siobhan said flatly. Osway would surely be a good sister of the Third Order, but Mistress Thuella was not easily browbeaten, and the stern Twi'lek's dominatrix qualities were the last thing on her mind, though no one could deny that the doctor knew her job.

She gave Tegaea's hand another squeeze and then stepped back to the designated line, her eyes never leaving the now sedated Tegaea. In case anyone is interested, no, she there were no smut magazines lying around.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Time passed in busy activity. When Tegaea finally came to hours after the surgery was finished she was aware of something in her left eye socket, but she couldn't operated it yet. Her one good eye sort out Siobhan and she waved a hand feebly.
"I'm not sure why you were always in here getting fixed up, it's not that fun. Had to try it myself," she joked lamely. "Is everything alright?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"Tegs, dear, you should know by now I'm a bad example to follow. You're the smart one," Siobhan said fondly as she approached Tegaea, taking the seat at her bedside and taking her hand, gently, while her other hand softly ran over her forehead.

"Your surgery worked, so I'm good." It seemed a bit like Siobhan was still uncertain about how to respond to her. No doubt this was fuelled by guilt as well. She did not mention the Protectorate or what the news was saying. What mattered was Tegaea and her recovery now and hearing some of the nonsense that the holonews was saying just made her angry. "It'll take a while before your eye is functional, but most of the time you won't notice it's artificial. Your version's actually newer than mine."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tegs glanced at the news screen.
"Protector in hospital. Is it the end for Alcori? We talk with former Chief Minister Aurelia Saelari."
"Thank you for having me."
"Ms Saelari, with this uncertainty based on the assassination attempt, can Alcori continue?"
"No, she should resign her position and end this uncertainty."
"In favour of her wife?"
"No, and Exarch Cater is not the right person either. I think someone new is required to get things back on track."

Tegaea tried to reach for the power switch. "Turn her off. Gods, I had enough of her when she was my Chief Minister, I don't need more of her not so subtly suggesting she should be made Queen of the galaxy!"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

With a casual mental command the news screen was turned off. Siobhan gave Tegaea an apologetic look. Of course, Aurelia trying to present herself as the new queen was not her fault, but she felt bad for Tegs being upset.

"Ardak was an arse, but I can't help think there was a reason the Republic kicked her out. Like having an ego the size of the senate and being in love with her own voice. Course later they got a silly little girl," Siobhan muttered. Of course, say what you want about Aurelia and Ardak and she disliked both, neither of them would have declared Sith to be their friends!

"Neither Saelari nor Cater are even halfway close to being the leader you are, nor can they ever hope to be," she said fervently. Siobhan was not an idealist and had made an effort to avoid politics before events briefly propelled her to the position she would vacate now, but Tegaea had earned her faith. In this she was a True Believer.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tegaea smiled rather wanly. "Yet one of them will be in charge soon. I don't think they would let me continue even if I could. I am tired, Siobhan, tired and sick of it all. I just want to be with you in peace for a while, to get back to when everything was more simple."
Just then she looked so deflated. "I never set out looking for power. I don't want to hold power over the galaxy, I wanted to do the right thing. I wanted to show people that I could do it. I guess I can just retire now. I wonder if the Queen would have us on Kaeshana?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

It hurt, seeing Tegaea like this. "Tegs, you did make it. You rose from nothing right to the top...without fancy magic powers, or wings or some supposedly great 'mastermind' whose mastermindedness no one ever saw on display. You made Omega Pyre strong, you were the one keeping it on the right path," Siobhan said fervently, pulling her wife into a gentle hug and kissing her cheek. There was an undercurrent of resentment when it came to Cira and Cater. Far as Siobhan was concerned they had never appreciated the woman who from her perspective had kept things running, and had been left to try and clean up after Polis Massa.

"If they want to bicker like children and posture, we don't need them. They can screw off and we can have peace. I'm...so sorry...for failing you, for not being the help I should've been, but I'm not leaving. I've never stopped believing in you," she spoke softly, then paused for a moment. "Well, we did put her on the throne and all. Got to be worth something. Maybe she'll want, uh, help, making her army modern." Normally this would have been the moment where Siobhan would suggest 'negotiations' with her characteristic lack of subtlety...but she was actually trying to be committed.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

“It feels like I am running away from it, being a coward. I’m not a coward. I just…maybe I’m not cut out for this after all.”
She sighed, looked to @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Sio. You’ve done everything I could ask, and I don’t blame you. But now, I think, it’s time to let my time in the Protectorate go, even if it does mean our part in the grand story will likely be forgotten. Such is life.”

She sat up a bit. “But, I have a new idea for a company. Something to do. Something a bit more manageable in size. What do you think of the name ‘Firemane Industries’?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"Don't say that. You've never been a corward, you were right for the job. It's not your fault the Republic elected a silly girl. Nor is Polis Massa," Siobhan said softly, gently caressing Tegaea's cheek. Siobhan's features clearly indicates that she disagreed when Tegaea said that she should not blame herself, but she decided to let it rest and not to push the point. To sulk about how she had failed her would have been selfish...as much as Siobhan was an inherently self-centred woman.

"I won't forget. People with brains won't and who cares about the rest?" she asked rhetorically, being practical. At the change in topic and mood Siobhan visibly brightened and smiled. It felt like getting back to the old days, Tegaea energetic and full of drive, Siobhan at her side. "I love it. We base the company on Kaeshana? What kind of services would it provide? I can think of a couple people in the Pyre who wouldn't been on sticking around for the 'new regime' and who'd go the PMC route...and we do have weapons to sell. Don't you have rights or something to that gold on Dahomey? Since we conquered it and all."