Old Habits

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Dingy Safehouse, Undetermined Time

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The work was always messy, but it made it easier when the targets were criminals. Cadmon was standing alone in the center of the poorly lit room, all around him were the lifeless corpses of his marks. They were slavers, but they'd been marked for death because they'd insulted the GenoHardan. The leader had spat in someone's face or something, he wasn't privy to the details, but he knew that they were slavers.

And that made gunning them down all the more easy. When one made their target a monster, killing them became moral obligation rather than a moral question. He didn't feel anything except disappointment that they'd died so quickly, it was far more than they deserved. Stuffing the suppressed slugthrower into his trenchcoat, Cadmon turned on his heel and made his way to the door utterly silent.

The streets were bustling, a sea of faces under neon lights being subjected to a light rain. It seemed every corner of the galaxy had a place like this, Coruscant, Taris, Nar Shadda, Teta, one could be forgiven for not knowing the difference just by looking at them. Except Coruscant, he heard parts of it still were burning.

Wading into the foot traffic Cadmon became one with the many, just another face no one would recognize, or at least that was what he thought.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, Who The Feth Knew, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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Empress Teta was like Coruscant, except, not really. Teta smelled a little cleaner and the people seemed a little happier, which did little for her mood.

Local law enforcement had been more than happy to put a P.I. on retainer, especially one with Joy's track record from the CSF days. So now she was not quite a cop, but not exactly a vigilante, something a little inbetween. Now that brought back memories, didn't it? Swallowing a sip of caf, the Nyriaanan let out a bitter wince that has been building for a while. Servos whirred as her arm twitched, a twinge of irreparable pain slinking up her arm in response.

Sometimes she could still feel it. What am I doing again?

Oh, right. Nothing. Inbetween clients, security didn't need her help, so she was figuratively adrift, wandering in a bad neighbourhood looking for a bad time. Dressed casual, not in uniform, dressed lile she was about to go out on the town. The lack of an official badge stung. Ever since Coruscant Joy been a wounded animal, one that should have been taken to slaughter a long time ago.

I'm running on borrowed hours. Have been since I--

Suddenly something in the darkness caught those supernatural eyes. Pupils dilated like a feline's might have, eyebrows pushed together in a moment of contemplation, and all of a sudden Joy found herself being launched a year into the past.

Survival from cartels. Begrudging partnerships. Buildings being bombed. Something clearly never meant to be.

Intensive care. Surgery. A sense of loss she wouldn't put into words. Like losing a limb. Ha, wasn't that ironic? Some shrink had likened it to a break up; it just sucks to lose a loved one. A pained scoff crossed her face; like what they had, whatever it was, amounted to that. But this was her chance to find out, wasn't it?

She set her travel mug down on some random crate-- Joy had so many of those at home, losing one was going to be worth it if her eyesight wasn't betraying her --and moved through her crowd. Her hilariously short stature didn't do any favours as she shoved random pedestrians by, and once she was close enough she played her trump card.

"Geller, you son of a--" A cybernetic hand reached up to yank his shoulder back with enough force to, hopefully, pivot him around to face her. The damn thing was certainly strong enough to put him on his ass if she wanted, but that wasn't what she wanted. What she needed was a clean shot, and if the stars were with her, she'd get it. Once she saw his face, a year's worth of repressed emotions flooded back in an angry tornado.

And then her left fist collided with his jaw. Nice to see you again.

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Street, Undetermined Time

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Sometimes life came at you fast, and sometimes life took the form of someone you thought was dead's fist to do so. Today was apparently one such day. Joy's punch made solid contact, the prosthetic whipping his head to the side and busting open his lip, a light spray of blood flinging onto the back of a pedestrian before quickly being washed away by the rain. Instinct forced his hand towards the inside of his coat, but he froze. It was her, she was alive.

He'd rushed her into that hospital room, only to be chased out by her partner and the accompanying SWAT team. They'd forced Cadmon off world, back out into a life of crime that he found increasingly harder to stomach. Then the Sith had blown Coruscant to oblivion, and the once-Blackblade gave up on the prospect of turning a new leaf, and instead found his way deeper inside the bottle. He'd looked for her, searched over refugee listings, CSF casualty reports, even glanced at slave holdings, fearing that the rumors of marauding slavers scouring the surface for survivors to enslave were true. All of it turned up nothing, but here she was, punching him in the face.

Cadmon wasn't really sure what to say.

"It's you." Was all he managed to get out as he brought up a sleeve to wipe his bloodied lip, ignoring the sting of what was likely to become a rather nasty bruise on his face. Suddenly he felt something he'd become familiar with over the past year, shame. He'd wanted to stay away from the underworld, but the underworld was all that was left open to him, even now when serving it was nothing but a burden.

He imagined she'd have some choice words about that, and a dozen other things over the next several minutes. But he found he liked that better than having never run into her at all.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, Who The Feth Knew, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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"It's me." Joy near-snarled, lowering her hand and cradling the robotic fingers. They didn't hurt, but, well, they did, a little. Good to know his skull is as thick as usual to cause a little bit of payback.

Oh boy, she had some choice words, all right, and they came out in a bluster of emotion and classic-Joy anger. They were mixed with some Nyriaanan words that didn't make much sense if at all, but the majority of her statement boiled down to, "I can't believe you just left," and, "I thought you were dead," and, of course, "What the hell are you doing here?" plus, "I missed you, you-- You..."

Those choice words failed her then and Joy's eyes just searched Cadmon's expression helplessly, not sure what she was keen to find. What were the odds, the chances, of this encounter? The likelihood of both of them reaching this same point in space at the same time? Rain casually and openly pelted her face and made her hair stick to her cheeks, which were pushed into an all-too-easy smile.

"Sorry." Apologizing wasn't something she liked to do, but she had hit him pretty hard in her split-second of white-hot rage. And in a move that surprised even herself, Joy hugged him.

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Street, Undetermined Time

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For a second he wasn't really sure what to say or do, after all what was there to say? The truth was a wild and utterly depressing thing, something he wished he could reshape and change, but he didn't have it in him. "Your partner came in with a full SWAT team, I didn't have a chance to say goodbye before the rounds would've started flying." In other words, he'd chosen to leave rather than put her at risk of death via a stray blaster bolt from one of her own.

Cadmon didn't say it, but it was written all over his face, he'd thought she was gone too. Dead, reduced to ash by the Sith's onslaught. He'd watched the holovids a thousand times, racking his mind to think of a way she might've lived. He'd never come up with anything. Then there was the question of why he was here, the one he was ashamed of answering. Fresh scars and split knuckles gave away that Geller hadn't been leading a peaceful life, and he didn't look as if he'd been starving nor short on alcohol to drown his sorrows in. He was working again, doing the only thing he knew how.

"Had a job here." He answered with a shrug.

"Don't worry 'bout it, I had it coming I'm sure." Cadmon looked for any place for them to go out of the increasingly torrential rain, his eyes setting on a small cafe down the street. He doubted they'd serve anything he was in the mood for, but she liked caf, right? They could talk, at least until she pulled a sidearm and shot him in the chest for letting himself slip back into the grasp of crime. He was wearing armor underneath the coat though, he'd be alright, their conversation could go on after that speedbump he presumed. "You wanna take this inside?" He offered, nodding towards the cafe's flickering neon sign.

He hugged back, unsure who it was more out of character to be parking in hugs, but ultimately just appreciating the moment. It was one of the few good ones he could remember. "It's good to see you're alright."

I missed you too.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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A bitter mix of whirlwinded emotional exhaustion and caf-induced euphoria led to her agreement, the rain wasn't super pleasant anyways. Hugs were definitely a little awkward for both parties but damn it all, they deserved one moment of perceived calm. Just a moment though, because his various explanations damn near set her blood to boiling all over again as she unlocked from their spur of the moment embrace.

“Well, there's no SWAT team now, and I’m sure you’ll explain this job in excruciating detail when we’re sitting.” It sure didn't sound like she was asking, more like interrogating, but she walked alongside him anyways, casual. Like two normal people going for an outing.

Two people who’d seen the absolute worst of life. He’d had the pleasure of seeing Joy at her lowest, literally broken, hell, Geller was the one to physically carry her throught it. Meanwhile all she ever saw was a work in progress, someone she could redeem, no matter how far gone or lost. Something unfinished.

Please let me help.

The cafe had cozy indoor seating that was relatively safe from Teta’s rains, and the Nyriaanan detective tucked into a corner booth. It smelled like caffeine (Thank the ancestors) and like sweet pastries (Sugar wasn't a good idea right now). Nevertheless she looked up to him, smirk plastered on her face, “That'll probably bruise, you know."

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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Yeah, he was definitely going to get shot. Yet, it still felt worth it. The cafe was warm, the couches were soft, it was almost enough to distract from the wretched world outside the windows. He ordered them both a cup of caf as he sat himself down and prepared for the impromptu interrogation he was about to undergo. A voice in his mind rattled off his name, rank, and service number, the same way he'd been drilled to years ago. Even now those lessons still left their mark on him.

He wondered what it was that drew the two of them together. To him, she embodied something he could never be; upstanding and unquestionably good. No shades of gray, or at least none dark enough to matter, Joy was on the side of law and order, of peace and justice. He was an instrument of chaos with the desire to be anything but, and incapable of doing anything else. War, killing, violence, they'd been a part of him for so long he couldn't imagine there was a way to ever divorce himself from them.

"You're proud of that aren't you?" Cadmon asked with a smirk as a service droid came around with their drinks. He didn't quite blame her, the arm had an impressive amount of force behind it and was of far better make than he'd expected CSF insurance to provide. Not that he wasn't happy for her, it was just completely unexpected, the force couldn't bother to deal with corruption in the slightest so he'd never imagined they'd have a good health plan. Probably was a holdover from something before the corruption seeped in, if there ever was such a time.

Taking the caf and sipping it cautiously, he let out a sigh. "So, the job?"

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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“Good to know it works like the old one, is all. Next time you’re doing something scummy, just remember how much that hurt.” Fingers curled around the mug gratefully, Joy spoke then sipped; she practically ran off this stuff these days, it helped with focus. Kept her from getting too low.

And don't they say opposites attract? Like sun and moon, in orbit, on occasion yanked apart.

At the mention of jobs she set the drink down and rooted in her pockets, searching for-- Ah, there it was. And, in classic Joy fashion, she set a badge down on the table, in a flourish as always, but it wasn't an officer’s commission for the Empress Teta Security Force, like he probably expected. It was a galactic licence for private practice; freelancing these days, signed off to be valid on Teta by some administrative official here, “When Coruscant--" Unexpectedly her voice broke and she took a hasty sip, but, it didn't take a genius to know what she mean by ‘When Coruscant’. Joy continued after her cleansing gulp of caf, “I had to go. Got stuck in refugee lines from here to Alderaan, CSF didn't mean chit anymore, didn't do me any favours to flash a detective’s badge. Got in a couple fights, actually, you would have been proud.” She’d won, of course, that fact written all over Joy’s face. Too many slimeballs had tried to shank an officer over old vendettas, fueled by the loss of the planet that had served as the centre of, well, everything.

Her appraising stare sized him up, then. A low but anticipatory sight exiting her body before she asked with trepidation in her voice, “...And what are you doing here? Do I want to know?” Some part of her mind echoed Teta’s laws when it came to a citizen’s arrest. No, she couldn't do that. Could she?

Nah.

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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He nodded, letting her talk, smirking at her mention that he'd be proud and laughing softly at her urging him to remember. Times of chaos brought out the bad in a lot of people, and more of it from those that were already bad news, it was no surprise she'd had to put more than a few would be vengeance-seekers in the ground. As for leaving Coruscant, he didn't blame her, there was only so much one could do as a detective against orbital strikes.

He still remembered when the One Sith fell, the armor that once had marked them as those to be feared and respected made them targets. They'd had to flee, but not before five men and women he'd known for at the minimum a decade had been burned alive, tortured to death, or worse in retaliation. Change brought chaos, and chaos brought out the worst in everyone.

Cadmon thought for a moment how he'd explain what he'd been up to, why there was a suppressed firearm tucked inside his coat, and blood on his boots. He could've just taken the easy way out, told her she didn't want to know, but it felt cheap. If she wanted to try and arrest him he wouldn't let her, but he wouldn't hurt her either. She knew well enough there wasn't much place for him in the universe that didn't involve ending lives.

"Killing bad people for other bad people. Skillset means I get to at least be picky." He answered, taking a sip of the caf once again, tired eyes glancing out into the rainy neon lit streets. "Slavers." Cadmon added for justification. He'd served in the Sith Empire, he'd seen slaves torn apart for science, for money, and for pleasure, and it'd left a deep seated loathing for the types to practice it in him. They were animals. But then again wasn't he?

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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Well, Joy didn't look exactly impressed with his career choice, but she didn't look surprised either, "Too much to expect you to settle down and, I don't know, be a farmer or something mundane like that." No, she couldn't even imagine that. She could only ever picture him that one night on Coruscant, when he'd saved her from warring gangsters looking for revenge against CSF. With a mask of death and an aim to make sharpshooters cry, biting banter and deals made in the dark. Her hands tightened around the handle of her mug, a soreness rising in her cybernetic arm that she always hated to feel.

Phantom pain.

What a stupid evolutionary mistake.

A few headlights sped by and provided adequately moody lighting for their talks, her own eyes looking at the outside world too. Her right arm twitched, mechanisms rolled around and snapped in and out of place in response to even the simplest movement, and she sat back in the booth hard.

"So just mercenary work?"

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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He laughed at the thought. Him, a farmer? That would've been something, he didn't know the first thing about it, or about settling down for that matter. It had been an old joke between his siblings-in-arms that none of them were actually functioning human beings outside of a warzone. In hindsight, it had been a weird attempt at a joke, and also had been frighteningly accurate.

"Mercenary and security. Mostly for these enigmatic poodoos called the GenoHaradan. They had me help with some heist, paid well since." It was an admission that should've been accompanied with his signature indifference, but now a twinge of shame was hidden in his words. "It was on the Rim Coalition, everything they've got is stolen anyway. Didn't kill anyone." He added. Cadmon was trying to justify things now, rather than simply let them be, his mind couldn't suffer the thought of doing wrong onto others that they didn't deserve.

The shot at the ORC was a bit of a stretch, but not entirely inaccurate.

"Empress Teta keeping you busy?" He asked, shifting the subject away from his misdeeds and onto her. The more they talked, the less his gaze drifted to a burnt out apartment building a block or so away, one he wasn't sure that he hadn't burned down himself with his foes inside. It seemed everywhere he went, there was some monument to all the sins he'd committed. It seemed as if there was no corner of the galaxy his wrongs hadn't touched.

They really had been monsters.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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They were all sinners, weren't they?

Even Joy, to an extent. No matter how 'true-believer' she seemed. How unscathed she could seem.

His question made her shuffle in her seat, and her words came even as her mind raced with what a 'GenoHaradan' was, "For now, yeah. Lots of missing people, lots of bodies, they have me on retainer. Pays pretty good, too, though I'm not exactly Officer Valeria anymore." All truth. Seemed this place was just as bad as any other. He was right about one thing, even if she didn't know it; there weren't many places one could go where an evil hadn't polluted it beyond saving.

Yet it gave them a living. Different livings, sure, but sort of the same. That would be enough for her, maybe enough for him, and it could be enough to make a difference. Leave an impact of some kind before they went away into the night, to wherever those untouched by the Force went. Shaking her head slightly to banish those bad thoughts she leaned her head up to look over at him, "Are you staying here long?" They were inevitably going to reach this topic, weren't they?

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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Cadmon listened and nodded. She was private sector now, good. As she'd said, it paid well, and one wasn't bound by as many rules and regulations. No one would throw a fit because she broke some idiot's arm now. He imagined she enjoyed that level of freedom. The crimes were about what he'd expected, kidnappings, murders, the usual for places like this. He honestly questioned why anyone ever chose to live on these planets, then he remembered the answer.

Money, always money.

Then came the question he didn't really have an answer to. Cadmon was hired on a job-by-job basis, there was nothing really binding him to the GenoHaradan, they had plenty of Retainers to do their work if he wanted to stay here. "Don't know." He shrugged, sipping the caf and setting his eyes on the Private Investigator. The next bit was either going to get him punched, or, well, something better than getting punched.

"Do you want me to?"

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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Geller's response threw Joy just a little bit. Sure, they worked really well together. They'd done it before, after all, and she could trust him to watch her six, but it had been a year. People change, don't they? She had. He clearly had. But did that change their dynamic? Did she actually want him to stick around?

Yes. I do. Just like in the ICU.

"Not sure."

Her shoulder lifted and dropped nonchalantly, casually, like if she walked right back out of his life in the next five minutes she would be perfectly, perfectly fine. Which probably wasn't true, but the air of confidence boosted her ego, "Sounds like you have a good thing going, wouldn't want you to give that up easily." How was her mug almost empty already? She pushed it off to the side of the table, the finger used to do it twitching a little. Another shiver of agony ran up where her arm once had been and she was quick to withdraw the prosthetic from across the table, grabbing her liscence in the process to stuff it back down her endless pocket, "Besides, if there's one thing I've learned since I was with the CSF, it's that being independent is fething great. Wouldn't want to tie you down."

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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So they were gonna play it like that? He smiled, he could do that. "What makes you think you could tie me down?" Cadmon questioned, or rather, challenged the once-officer. The twitch in her arm didn't escape his notice, phantom pains were something he'd seen in plenty of people friends and foes alike. Losing a limb was traumatic, and no matter the quality of the replacement, one never really would get over it.

He wondered what staying long term would entail, she had a certain restraint to her, even when she was angry, that he utterly lacked. Frontier justice was the closest thing he had to experience on the right side of the law, and that usually entailed putting a slug between someone's eyes, or sometimes something slower. But maybe things would be different here, different this time around.

"I can stay here as long as I like, I do contract work, I'm not bound to serve or anything." Cadmon gulped down what was left of the caf, trying to anticipate what she would say next, how he'd respond. A little dance of words, it was a little fun, even to him.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Something To Believe In
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Ah, this she had missed sorely. The circling of two equally-matched personalities, each one waiting to witness weakness in the other first. Joy wasn't one to go down without fighting-- He knew that well, certainly --But she lifted a shoulder and dropped it casually, "Well," She started slow, drawing out her play, "I don't think I could. But who knows. You might get attached. Then it's not my fault." Nonetheless, she nodded along with his words; As a P.I. she had that freedom too, though only a facsimile of it. Planetary law enforcement still had to sign off to give her permission, whilst he could still walk past the red tape, blaster drawn.

Irk.

Her nose twitched and the Nyriaanan rubbed at it with her sleeve briefly before continuing, "We still had some pretty good runs, though, didn't we," Not poised as a question, more of a nostalgic statement, a smirk to follow, "Dashing duo."

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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"I don't know if I'm the one to get attached easy." He shot back jokingly, taking a final swig of the caf that was likely going to keep him awake for the next several hours against his wishes, but he'd have plenty to think on. Life had come at him fast, and given him a busted lip to boot, now he had to figure out the best way to role with the metaphorical and literal punches. Speaking of which, his lip was starting to sting.

Chasing down a genocidal maniac with a capacity for violence that dwarfed his own had been a surprisingly good time. He'd found himself trusting the loose canon cop more than he had anyone he'd worked for in the years since the One Sith fell, it'd been nice, even if they'd never accomplished what they set out to do. As far as he was concerned though, the Sith had finished their job for them.

Feth, he really hoped they'd finished the job for them.

"Yeah, we-yeah," He stammered off, eyes wandering back out to the poorly lit streets. Cadmon had put the question into his head now, and it would never leave if he didn't ask.

"Think the bombings got him?" He questioned ominously, the he in question needing no further identification. They both knew.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Rather Die
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Geller would have had to been blind to miss the way her back stiffened. The way her eyes lost focus for a split-second, as his words dragged her back kicking, bloody and screaming to the night that stalked her nightmares. The way her fake fingers wiggled, like a reminder that they were there.
The way he'd carried her from the slaughterhouse.

"If they didn't, I'll do it myself."

The conviction in her voice was grim, not something Joy should be saying or speaking. She wasn't a wanton murderer; killing was hard for her. But when it came to the animal that had maimed her, the decision was deliciously easy. She could put him down and sleep easy. The ease of the decision. It scared her, scared her down to her soul. A distraction. She needed a distraction, and she found it in eyeing his bloodied mouth, the knick she'd caused, "Worth it to find some bacta for that?" It desperately sounded like she needed the change of topic. Her mind couldn't even focus on what he'd said earlier.

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Empress Teta, Some Cafe, Undetermined Time

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There she was, aggressive, confident, but not stupid. It was exactly the answer he'd expected from her. Smirking he leaned back into the sofa, pulling a stimstick from inside his jacket and placing it between his lips. She wasn't a fan of it, and that was half the fun in his mind. Whipping out a small later, he ignited it and raised the flame to the tip, setting it alight and taking a long drag.

"So detective, what kinda case you on right now? There must be something you're chasing."

He knew he was right, there had to be something, someone.

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[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]​

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Empress Teta, A Cozy Cafe, Undetermined Time
Interacting with [member="Cadmon Geller"] ~ Rather Die
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An exasperated sigh left the detective then. She certainly didn't miss a beat in noticing him smoking but didn't do anything about it right away, electing to answer instead, "Well. I'm between cases right now, actually. Was about to see my contact at the local precinct and see if they had anything for me to do before this. But..."

Those sharp Nyraanian eyes narrowed then and all of a sudden Joy seemed close, much closer than before, clearly leaning up to have their gazes locked. She was grinning that Joy 'I-think-I-might-enjoy-breaking-your-nose-smile', "I have been sort-of on-off hunting this one merc, they all said he was really bad news," Then she finally reached out and easily snagged his stimstick between nimble fingers, doing him the favor of putting it out on the ashtray provided all without breaking eye contact, "Almost had him on Coruscant once or twice, but we kept having to work together, imagine that."

Imagine that, indeed.

"I think I've almost got him, though, and when I do I think that'll be a big enough score to let me take a breather."

And with that final statement, she settled back down in the booth, the moment fleeing, "But, no, no current cases."