Private On the Rocks

[Corazona von Ascania]

The wink. That smirk. They conjured certain memories.

Cora turned her face to the side sharply, a pout twisting her lips and puffing flushed cheeks.

Makko hadn't told her much about his time with the Fractal State, but it was slowly filtering in how useful someone with his type of training could be to them. She'd witnessed it first hand only minutes ago.

She peered over the edge of the railing and drew in a heavy breath.

"I'm not sure." She admitted, barely keeping herself from openly bristling over the fact that he'd obviously picked up on her atrophied abilities.

Cora didn't want to hold him back, but she also didn't want to end up splattered across Denon pavement.

Most of all, she did not want to fall behind.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Stairs it is!" he declared.

It added a few minutes into the route, but there wasn't an option.

One of the remotes pulled at his attention. Armed men on nearby buildings. They hadn't spotted the small remotes darting far overhead.

"Or not," Makko said, drawing his focus back to his own body.

"How much do you trust me?" he asked, turning to face Cora.

He wished that he hadn't put them into a situation where he had to ask.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

How much do I trust him?

Cora looked from Makko, to the drop, then curiously in the distance where the remotes fluttered. She sighed.

"Fine." She relented with exasperation.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"Wasn't quite what I asked, but we'll go with it," he said quickly.

He couldn't see how her trust in him was going to get any stronger in the coming days.

She was - essentially - going to take a leap of faith and trust the control of a spiced up Jedi. He supposed that counted for something.

One of the remotes dropped down to their level.

"Hold onto that, it'll slow you a little. I'll catch up."

Each remote had a repulsor that could lift 20kg. That would take a little of her weight and slow her descent. He would have to do more with the Force if her skills were rusty.

Makko jumped the railing. His boots barely made a sound as he landed far below. He turned sharply and waved her after him. Stretching out with the Force, he prepared to try and slow her descent.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Her heart fluttered when Makko leaped from the railing. It was still beating rapidly when he'd stuck the landing and gestured for her to follow.

Cora hesitated - a year ago she would've made the jump without worry. Even though she had unfettered access to the Force, she was almost scared to trust in it.

She saw Horace in her dreams. Nightmares, really. Some days she still woke up in the mindset of a demure Princess and had to be reminded of where she was. It knocked the wind out of her every time; in relief, in shame, in guilt.

Her heart had constricted in her throat every time she and Makko shared a meaningful glance or a fleeting touch. Her feelings for him still felt forbidden.

Then, she was falling. One arm curled around the remote as it took some of her weight, but the drop was still enough for her stomach to flip. A brief panic surged through her, the feeling of weightlessness, before she felt Makko reaching out towards her.

Lean into it. Lean into him.

It brought back memories. Painful ones.

Lean on me, Cora.

She landed heavily, crouched at the knees slightly, and wobbled. Her heart was still pounding.

"I-I'm okay." Cora exhaled heavily, more for her own assurance.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

Horace was dead.

He'd barely stopped to really let that sink in. He felt relieved on her behalf. It lifted a weight, knowing she was no longer subjected to that despicable man.

Cora had shouldered the burden of being married to an abusive man she despised because she was thinking of the good of millions of people.

Makko had shouldered a much smaller burden of being there for her through it because of the love he held for just one person.

"Sorry for the...violence..."

It sounded weak out loud.

"Bet you were hoping to find me, give me a shake, tell me off, talk through...everything."

Instead they trudged through a narrow alley. Shapes of deliquints detaching from the shadows at the sight of Cora, and fading away when Makko flashed the blaster at his hip.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Y-yeah," Came her distracted murmur. Cora could sense the vague intentions from the shadows as they peeled from the walls, and they unnerved her. Reflexively, she tried to tug the hem of her dress lower with one hand, while the other slipped into Makko's own. It made her feel safe.

Just until we're out of this alley, she told herself.

"I still plan to do all that." Cora informed him, this time more decisively. "Once we're out of this mess and somewhere safe, you'll get the berating of a life-time."

She wasn't joking. She squeezed his hand anyway.

"So, what's the plan with Jenu?"

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

He felt an uncomfortable twisting sensation deep in his gut. He knew he was going to have to be honest with Cora and he knew it was going to be deeply uncomfortable. There was no getting away from it.

"Send him a message when we're clear. Let him know that I won't do anything against them as long as they leave me alone," he told her.

They came out into a wider tunnel. Denon was even less planned out than the lower levels of Coruscant. It was particularly easily to lose people and he knew these streets well.

"Did you come on a ship? Where is it?" he asked.

Makko kept the mask on for now. There was nothing on him transmitting, but a camera with facial recognition running was their best chance of finding him again.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Makko's discomfort radiated through their bond, and with a lump in her throat, Cora withdrew her hand.

"I booked a private transport." She mumbled. It had been pricier than she'd imagined, especially now that she had to watch her limited funds.

Cora hadn't thought far enough ahead to figure out how to get off of Denon. Foolishly, she'd hoped that it would simply work itself out. It was unlike her.

"Do you think…he'll let you go?"

Given the squad that Jenu had sent after him, she didn't think so. Not without a struggle or deal of sorts.

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

Makko sighed. He had been so stupid for the last few weeks. Waiting on the news that Horace had been killed. He'd let them keep him intoxicated until they needed him for a job.

"Everything has a price to Jenu. Gotta get far from his reach."

He'd stopped complaining after the third job that too much was being asked of him. Because he was shallow and being held so highly by the gang members around him had appealed to his weakest side. He had spent years craving their approval.

Makko stopped at a a small maintenance tunnel that left the walkway perpendicularly. Just before the locked door was raw masonry. There had been a few lucid moments where he hadn't been entirely naive about his future. An old breeze block came loose, revealing a pouch of untraceable credit chits.

"We might need a private ship back," he said. They could slice into port systems and catch them booking onto a public transport. "Or hitch a ride with a transport that'll ignore registration forms."

His hand trembled and he dropped the pouch.

"I need to sober up," he groaned.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora knelt to retrieve the pouch. The credits inside clinked lightly against one another.

As she rose, her gaze lingered on the tremble of Makko's hand.

"What you injected earlier didn't do that?"

She wasn't sure what was going on, exactly. Cora had never indulged in spice or stimulants. The most inebriated she'd gotten was imbibing in a few glasses of wine, so she had very little basis for the high Makko was coming down from.

"Just rest for a moment," Her voice softened a notch, guiding Makko by the arm to lean against the wall. She fished a credit chit from the bag.

"I'll go get you some caf. You just…"

Cora chewed on the corner of her lip. Was it possible to use the Force to purge the substance from his blood?

"…concentrate on feeling better."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

They shouldn't have met up like this and it was his fault. They should have been on Coruscant. He should have been one of the first people to comfort her over a drink in a quiet caf bar.

Her tone made him want to sit down and quietly confess everything that had happened, even knowing how angry she would be.

"It was a focus drug," he explained. "Problem is I need to sober up from that too. It has side effects of its own."

"Don't go too far," he said.

Makko took a moment to catch his breath. He couldn't rest and sit with Cora until they understood one another again. He needed to focus and keep moving forwards until they were safe.

He drew the Force close around himself and tried to focus on the path ahead. They could take the red line to the east. The fast train to a space port a long way from Fractal State and Darkwire territory.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Don't…"

…tell me what to do.

Cora chewed the inside of her cheek. He's only looking out for you, she had to remind herself. For some reason, that thought made her a little irritable.

With a quiet huff, Cora disappeared around the corner, returning about ten minutes later with a cup of watery, luke-warm caf.

"There was a diner down the road." She informed Makko quietly as she handed him the cup. It hadn't been an establishment she would've willingly entered in any other circumstance. "Are you feeling any better?"

Denon was never really quiet, Cora had realized. There was always something happening. An electrical hum just above them, the din of traffic in the distance.

"Think of any way we can get out of here with less violence?"

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

Once upon a time, that start of a conversation would have led to a full blown argument. It would have become heated and then it would have become heated.

Makko watched her go.

He turned his focus inwards. Makko didn't have the kind of fine-grained control for healing, let alone trying to mitigate the effects of everything he had imbibed in the last few hours.

When Cora returned, taking a fee minutes had helped him focus but he was a long way from sober.

"I'm feeling a little better," he told her.

"I'm sorry," he added. "For...back there..."

He regretted that she had seen him attack the Fractal State hit squad. Not just attack, but kill at least one of them.

He had been shocked the first time Starlin had taught him that he would need to kill in the heat of battle. Starlin had chided him for striking an imperial soldier enough to leave him in agony, and not ending the suffering.

"We should be able to get out of here without any more trouble," he told Cora. "Especially if we can get a ship soon. I don't really have anyone here they can use against me."

No friends, no family. She knew that.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"You already apologized for that."

It was meant to be a neutral statement, maybe even gentle. But it didn't come out that way.

Cora didn't really know how to feel about what she watched Makko do. A large part of her had become accustomed to violence – it was inherently woven into Ukatian culture, and her days and nights had been spent trying to maneuver on eggshells around her husband's temper.

What Makko had done was different, maybe. Maybe. He seemed stronger than before. Sharper. More decisive.

Nodding faintly, Cora let her head tilt back until it pressed against the grate behind her. She gazed up into the neon lights that blanketed Denon's sky and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of petrol and stale cigarette smoke.

"I suppose this means that neither of us can ever go back to the places we came from."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

The statement hit him harder than the spice had.

He didn't feel regret for knowing that he was about to leave Denon. A few hours ago he had not been thinking about the fact that he'd given up on leaving. That was the realisation that twisted something inside him.

"I'm alright with that," Makko replied. "But I bet its not so easy for you."

Makko had - as always - been so blunt in his admission that he had caught Cora off guard.

This was a more subtle admission of guilt. Barely an expression. A turn in the pitch and tone of his voice. He felt bad that he hadn't been there when she was going through rebuilding her life.

"Let's go."

The cargo bay they'd been offered was neither light nor spacious. A tank of fresh water, some food rations and two bedrolls.

No one inspected the vessel and Makko could feel the slight shift as they hit hyperspace.

They had left Denon behind.

He waved his hand and two of the small crates floated down. He sat down on one of them.

He didn't say anything. Not immediately. He knew the reckoning was coming and he would have to suffer her anger when trapped in a small space for another sixteen hours.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora seated herself on the other crate. She didn't say anything. She didn't even look in Makko's direction.

What remained of their journey had been completed in relative silence. Cora had to remind herself that she could relax now, just a little. The hail of blaster fire and blur of neon lights had vanished, replaced by the dingy cargo hold and the quiet hum of the engine.

"But I bet its not so easy for you."

His words had been rolling around in her head since he'd spoken them. Cora was as affronted by them as she was saddened.

"Had..."

Her voice broke the quiet, both hands clutching either side of the crate. She had startled herself by speaking, by what she wanted to ask.

"…Had you planned on staying here forever?"

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

"No," he said. That was, at least, honest.

"I wasn't really planning much. I'm not going to miss leaving Denon behind," he explained. "Not like you must miss...your home...if not...you know..."

She had always been so proud of Ukatis. In the end, she'd been willing to suffer beyond belief because of how closely she held to it's traditions.

Even putting those aside, she had always wanted to show him the beautiful side of the world.

He knew it was coming. Knew that it was now, or some other time in the long flight.

"After... The gardens..."

Her fingernails raking his shoulders, holding tight even as her movements slowed.

"...I saw the tattoo and it...it was too much."

He took a deep breath.

"I made a deal. I wanted him dead Cora. And... This..." he waved at the case that still contained his lethal drones and lightsaber.

"...was all I had to offer."

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora hadn't moved as Makko spoke, but she'd been hanging on every word. Suddenly, she felt as if everything was moving in slow motion. The crates that jostled in their bindings. Her thoughts. Her hand as she carefully uncurled her fingers from the wooden slat and dug them into the hem of her dress.

She was acutely reminded of how much Makko knew. How intimately close he had been to her situation, the things he saw, the things he felt. Things he wasn't ever supposed to know.

Her eyes followed his hand as he gestured towards the case.

"You were supposed to be a Jedi Knight." She whispered, voice quivering. "You were supposed to have a better life."

Cora swallowed thickly. Her insolence had earned her the burn mark that spurred Makko down this hellish road. She was furious and guilt-ridden all at once, and instead of raising her voice, her words were hushed and halting. He'd made a decision that could've ended catastrophically. For her, for him.

"You had no right. How dare you."

Makko Vyres

 

[Makko Vyres]

He visibly recoiled as if he had been slapped. He would have preferred that.

After all the times she had been delivered a swift open palm from her father or Horace, he imagined it was a practise she wasn't going to pass on.

He looked at her defiantly. After all, she was the one who had pushed Horace out of her a window and made her own life forfeit.

Makko wilted. Hands on his lap and gaze falling to them.

That had been her choice. It wasn't his.

"I had no right," he agreed.

She had deserved more of him then and she deserved better of him now, so he continued.

"I knew it was your decision. Fucking wish I'd fought harder to make you stay, but that's why I didn't."

He looked up and met her gaze again. He deserved this.

"But when I saw what he could do to you..." Makko pointed at where her tattoo had been.

He shook his head. He had done something stupid and he had betrayed her trust. That was what hurt. He couldn't hide from it now.