Rhapsody

[Itash Mecetti]

ARKANIA​

​

[member="Srina Talon"]​

​

Nobody had told him how much work it would be to excavate an ancient Sith Library in the middle of a frozen wasteland without arousing too much attention to yourself.

Strange.

But Itash had found early on that life usually wasn't very fair to him and that he had to do whatever he could to stack the deck against life. Cruel bastard didn't really deserve to win anyway, so there were no tears lost there. They had managed to eradicate most of the Sithspawn lying in wait, had the Thyrsians to provide muscle against anyone trying to flex their muscle (even though Tash still found it strange to be worshiped like a God by them, awkward), they had the explosives, the tools, they had it all. Except for some one-off details that weren't particularly important or impressive.

They were running out of funding.

Again.

Wes was grumping, but he always grumped hardest of them all.

Never shet in your own bed. That was often said, but right now Tash was running out of options. His diamond supply was out, the rewards from the heist on 'Shaddaa was spend and it wasn't possible to just go and hitch a ride somewhere else. Not when these idiots needed someone to hold their hand or risk them blowing their own foot off. How they ever managed to survive out here in the Galaxy without him was anyone's guess.

He was waiting on someone.

Contact of his had connected him to a new player - beginner, desperate for money, would do mostly anything to get by.

Even a robbery.

Tash was smoking, studying the front entrance of one of the smaller banks of Adascopolis. Usually they wouldn't have the amount of value he needed, but that same contact had whispered something else. One of the local gangs was using it as an intermediary, a way to clean their money before shipping it off who knows where. It meant the cash would be unmarked, meant there would be a lot.

Needed to move fast for this one though, tomorrow morning it would be gone.

Now Itash just needed the newbie to get here soon, so they could get started.

 

[Srina Talon]

Oh, the things that she was willing to do for family.

Srina exited the ramp of her polished E-9 without batting an eye. Her movements were graceful and unhurried, her head held high, despite her current state of displeasure. Her countenance was smooth and without flaw. The delicate woman seemed just as cold and lovely as the relative chill of Arkania. The city itself was warm enough, enclosed in a protective dome, so she dressed for that versus the tundra.

Part of her was tempted to turn around. Something about this planet turned her stomach the wrong way. Perhaps it was the rumors that went around about the Arkanian’s experimenting with the human genome and somehow induced the sameness of her people. Most of their secrets had come to light and many had stopped hiding from the truth. The Arkanian’s acted without thinking time and time again. They tampered with things that they had no right to—acting like children in a God’s sandbox.

The Echani were still mostly whole. They could have suffered a far worse fate than parent and child appearing identical. The worst was when the Arkanian’s started experimenting on themselves. Apparently, nothing was sacred. Not even their own people.

Srina held a certain level of disgust for baseline Arkanian’s. It was evidenced in the way that her eyes seemed dead. She wanted to do what she needed to and leave.

That was where the problem lay. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing here. Srina had been told that she had particular skills that would be useful in taking down a corrupt local gang of miscreants that were using one of the Arkanian Banks as a laundering front. Srina had been hesitant, but until she untied her funds, she couldn’t leave the system. The longer she stayed in one place—The longer it was possible that she could walk into a trap and find herself standing at an altar with a warlord she despised.

It was a solid, paying job, that wouldn’t harm anyone.

Correction. It wouldn’t harm anyone that didn’t deserve it.

Silvery eyes danced through the crowd as she searched for her contact. The broker of this little arrangement had told her that she’d be meeting a partner outside of the target location. Most people seemed to have a purpose. They didn’t linger on the clean streets—Too obsessed with technology and unscrupulous scientific discoveries no doubt. It was then that her gaze landed on a man that seemed to be watching the very place she would soon be storming.

She moved in his blind spot and waited for quite some time to see if he would move on. When the fair skinned woman moved silently beside him. Her endlessly sweet smile was girlish and innocent of all things. “That’s a terrible habit you know.”

Srina didn’t know if this was the man she was to meet—but he seemed the part. She didn’t. Her Echani eyes would tell her more about him than actually speaking to him would. His mannerisms, movements. “I’m looking for a friend but I’m afraid he might have forgotten our appointment.”

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

His movements were slow.

Lazy.

Languid.

They spoke of a lifetime of being catered to without any of the menial attribution of work. His fingers were long, graceful, noble and curled carefully around the cigarette. There were no marks of wear and it suggested that this man had never worked a day in his life. Yet, he was strong, tall, broad of shoulder and sharp of eye - it was a paradox between intentive action and existential attribute. Itash slowly looked to his side, sizing her up as stormy blues sized the woman up.

Those eyes went down, brushing sides and rounds, before making their way back up again, all of it unashamed. All of it just as slow and relaxed, as if this wasn't a heist that would pit them against one of the meanest local crime groups.

"It sounds like you are in need of a better friend." Tash retorted without skipping a beat. "One who knows better than to forget appointments with beauties such as yourself."

The dazzling smile came out then, bright white teeth, canines sharp.

"My contact says that you are in need of money to get off this dump." The next phrase was quiet. Already looking back over to the bank and the smile disappearing against behind the facade of languid passivity and a lack of care. It was apathy in its brightest form, except for what Talon would be able to see with her Echani eyes. The subtle rub of middle finger to thumb, implying hunger and not in the sense of proper food. The way a muscle in his neck kept straining itself.

As if Itash wanted to move now, but kept himself paced and restrained.

"That correct?"

 

[Srina Talon]

Srina watched. It was what Echani did. They watched, waited, and moved when they felt that they’d gathered all of the information necessary. This man may have seemed noble and gentile but there was something about him that struck her. Instinct, she supposed. The fair skinned dove didn’t waver when she felt his eyes trail her form inch by inch. If his eyes lingered in places that a modest woman might slap him for—she pretended not to notice.

He claimed that she needed better friends and a soft laugh escaped her. It was smooth as silk, the taste of steel and sugar, and a little bit of self-deprecation. He had no idea how true that was when her own family was hunting her like a prized farm animal. “You flatter me. But, perhaps I do.”

He smiled, so charming, so dazzling—and she knew. Rather, she knew, that he knew. His next sentence confirmed it. She linked her arms behind her back when her new business partner spoke and her silver eyes flickered as she looked away sweetly. To anyone watching it would seem that they were merely talking. Flirting, really. Her innocent expression lent credence to the idea. Most would assume that she couldn’t hurt a fly. She liked it that way. “You might be right.”

When he turned his eyes away from her she looked back at him. It was the appropriate reaction for a besotted young woman to peek when there wasn’t a chance their eyes would meet. Handsome though he was, for a near-human, Srina was not so easily swayed. She didn’t analyze his every feature to memorize the curve of his jaw. No. She visually tore him apart to gauge the threat level he possessed.

Unfortunately for her he seemed adept at keeping micro-expressions and autonomic functions under control. That was interesting. She did pick up on one, something, small, but it was enough. He was impatient. Why? She reached up and brushed white-gold hair behind her ear. “Do you have somewhere else to be?”

Honestly, she wanted to hit him. If she could get a rise out of him, fight him, the snowy beauty would know everything she needed to. There was rarely a better way to get to know someone other than dragging them kicking and screaming to the brink of death and back.

Sadly, there wasn’t time.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

She didn't immediately get a response.

It was difficult to explain to someone that wasn't... him.

The rising tide of opportunity swarming in his veins and ushering him on, whispering, telling him that the moment was almost upon them. It went completely against his instincts, but it always did and after a few years of that whisper at the back of his head? Tash had learned to trust it, even if he didn't want to trust it. "Could come up with a few places I'd want to be." The silk-smooth response caressed as he glanced back over to her, eyes brushing the line of her jaw and moving up past the side of her clavicle.

"But no, I am just eager to get started... yet we must wait."

There was nothing about her that suggested she was a killer.... except for the eyes. The eyes were not so easily shrouded, not so easily controlled, it was the same thing that Talon found reflected in his. Only suggesting more that Tash was more than a pampered nobleman.

"What brings you to Arkania?" The question came suddenly and the interest imbued in the shaping of his mouth would pull at the answer. They still had several minutes, after all, and sitting there in pensive silence did not seem to be the way to go there. Not when a beauty was almost hooked against his arm and the only thing that stood between that was highly-pronounced sense of ignorance when it came to motives, desires and heartfelt needs.

 

[Srina Talon]

Srina held what felt like infinite patience. She was entirely unbothered when he took his time in answering her question. She remained a statue made of white marble and grace. Once again, as he spoke, she could feel his eyes moving. It was impossible not to. His response caused a single elegantly arched brow to raise. She didn’t need to have the awareness that her people cultivated to know that he was throwing the conversation with thinly veiled insinuation. Srina couldn’t quite tell if it was by mistake or on purpose. “As can I.”, she responded after a moment, the teasing kiss of her mouth falling into a very, very slight smirk.

Their thoughts were entirely different. Srina wanted to be anywhere but Arkania. Literally, anywhere.

After a moment he corrected himself and she let him have it. Men that could be so entirely obvious in their wants and desires left her confused. Staring at a woman like that was considered less than complimentary where she came from. Even the flame dancers were treated with more respect.

“What are we waiting for?”

It was an innocent enough question—but far more poignant than she let on. She didn’t like sitting out in the open near the building that they would soon be shutting down. It placed them in too close of a proximity. Srina didn’t like feeling exposed like this. Seekers were flankers, infiltrators, they typically didn’t fight things head on. That wasn’t to say that she couldn’t…It just wasn’t her preference.

She chuckled briefly when he asked her what brought her to Arkania. Was he really making small talk? “I’m having a…Disagreement with my family.”, she responded after a moment, trying to think of the most concise way to explain, without actually giving any details. She wasn’t here to make a friend. Srina planned to do her good deed and depart the system shortly thereafter with the funds obtained from it.

“What brings you here?”, Srina countered after a moment, silver eyes sweeping over the dome that kept the cold out of the city proper. This place really did make her skin crawl. “Don’t tell me….Vacation?”

“Oh wait—A girl?”, she finally decided with a cheshire grin. The way he reacted to this work told her that couldn’t really be the case. The way he looked at her…She doubly hoped it wasn’t. “What’s her name?”

‘Her’ name was probably rhymed with credits.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

"Opportunity, of course." The response came cryptically without actually answering the question in any proper manner, but that was all that Itash could give her without telling her about the soft scratch running up and down his spine. The one that whispered to him that the moment was just ahead, that something was about to happen that would make the stars align and ensure that they had a clean moment where success was all but assured for the two of them. It was his luck and his luck had never been wrong - it had guided him through the vault of a retired Sith general on Nar Shaddaa and it would guide him here. Even if it would annoy all those around him that desperately needed the vestiges of a true plan.

To prop them up, to keep a semblance of structure that was so desirable when chaos rose high.

"The only woman I actively court is the Lady Luck, darling." Equally cryptic but hinting at what they were waiting for. It suggested things, even as his eyes held hers instead of brushing down to watch her lips move one suggestion after another.

How would those lips taste, he wondered?

"Not a vacation either, sadly." He shot that one down as well, before smirking the grin of a rascal who knew his own game all too well. "I am here to excavate an ancient library of the Sith, filled with riches and secrets, to discover what was lost a long time ago."

Tash often found that the truth was a far better weaponized lie than even the best crafted deceit.

"One needs money for that though."

 

[Srina Talon]

Srina took this man’s response to her question with a grain of salt. Opportunity? Perhaps. It still felt like there was more that he wasn’t saying—but who was she to pry? It wasn’t like she’d given him a fully detailed account of her reasons for doing this job. Still, she felt like there was something deeply damaging that she was missing. Someone that looked as he did typically didn’t need the funds. He didn’t have the hands of a man that had found a path in hard labor. Yet, he did have a lackadaisical stance that somehow implied a sense of latent aristocracy.

It was nearly invisible and very contradictory. The pale skinned woman didn’t know what to think of her observations. Part of her found it interesting that neither one of them had asked the other for the most obvious piece of information. Their name. He mentioned that his only lady love was that of luck and she laughed softly. Silver eyes glimmered at the light-hearted banter. It was a good response—Smooth. He probably could have melted most women with his eyes alone. Srina remained as she had always been. “We seem to have forgotten our manners Mister Luck…What am I to call you?”

She overlooked his use of the term ‘darling’ and he in turn shot down her first guess of his motives. Srina was slightly surprised when he corrected her with ease. He didn’t flinch, turn away, or fidget when he spoke of excavating a Sith Library. He wasn’t lying. And yet…She couldn’t shake the feeling that they were playing a game in which she didn’t understand the rules. “One needs money for a lot of things.”

The fair haired woman turned her eyes away from him and reached up to brush loose tendrils of white-gold hair behind her ear. If he was an immediate threat to her person he would have already made his move. In the meantime they were left waiting for some invisible signal. She couldn’t imagine that Arkania with all of its big brains and experiments that there was anything worthy behind the doors of the bank that would prepare them.

“I don’t like waiting in the open like this.”, she spoke up after a moment. Srina stood out less on this planet but still more than she wanted to. She’d been told that this mission would be quick, efficient, and over. Profitable—Before she even knew it. “One person seeing us is too many. There are dozens.”

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

"They see what they want to see." Tash responded quietly while watching the streets move with their trademark bustle behind and around them. There were plenty of people here and they all had somewhere to go, somewhere to run or rush, an appointment they couldn't miss, a meeting to attend. They thought they were free, while running on the Galaxy's largest hamster wheel... Father Schedule. What would happen to their lives if they stepped out of it for a moment or two?

Nothing, really.

But that wasn't the way they saw it. Instead they were assaulted by consequences pressed down upon them by larger entities of power. It was fear that kept them in line, fear and complacency. "They see a woman, courted by a man, she smiles and he returns it- his eyes darting anywhere but her, because there is anxiety and just a shimmer of hope she will look away... so he can look back and drink in the sight of her."

Tash looked up and smiled his smile. "They don't want to see their carefully constructed illusion shattered and so it won't." Then it happened. The chiming of the coin flipping sides at the back of his mind, the stir of a pair of dice rolling and letting Itash know: it was time. Once more he looked away, but this time around the Tapani straightened out to his full height. Just as he did.. there was a commotion at the entrance of the bank. A man, large of life and with a neck like a bull was pushed out of the doors.

In his hands? A small crate with personnel belongings. He shook a fist, shouted something nondescript and then the Arkanian left in a rage.

Neither Srina nor Itash would know, but that had been the chief of security of the Bank. Just caught skimming off the top of incoming diamond supplies that kept the banking union of Arkania afloat, their own private reserve of unlimited wealth to keep the confidence of its customers. With him followed other officers, men and women who had served the bank for years, but that had become suspect because of their close ties to the Chief himself.

"Well, seems like we have our opportunity, ...as for my name?" The Tapani brushed past her, too close, too familiar and it was the whisper in her ear as he slowly walked by that hit home the intimacy. "Call me Tash, and you can be my Saarai."

Lies and Truth.

Perfect opposites.

 

[Srina Talon]

“They see what they want to see until they don’t.”, she responded sweetly to his cavalier attitude. He had a small point that the general, everyday civilian was more concerned with their own problems, than the state of the rest of the world. She supposed that she couldn’t blame him for his opinion. He did not know what she was running from. It was always, always only a matter of time before the clans found her.

Srina remained silent when he described the scene they were currently playacting. Part of her wanted to utter a cynical jibe about how Arkanian’s couldn’t see a pair of lovers, because they were only capable of seeing science experiments, but she let it be. “You have quite the imagination…”, she trailed off after a moment. He was better-spoken than she would have expected upon their initial meeting.

“Not everyone is so blind. A ruse like that only holds its weight for so long.”, she intoned lightly, only to register a slight change in him nanoseconds later. He straightened up and the young woman made it a point not to stare at the scene that was unfolding outside the bank. Her partner moved, as did she, though not quickly enough it seemed.

His breath stirred the fine curling hair that lingered near her ear and she fought the urge to pull away. She didn’t like her space being invaded where it evoked some sort of emotion. If he wanted to fight, to literally throw punches at once another, she would be more than happy to oblige. The brush pass that he made seem so smooth and natural put her on edge. Srina didn’t know what the word ‘Saarai’ meant but she did recognize the implication. “Tash.”, she repeated the name, her multi-toned voice saccharine, almost as if she was singing the sweetest song.

“I can call you anything you like…But it won’t make me yours.”

Like she’d thought before. Smooth. In another life, perhaps, she may have fallen for his tricks…But not now. Not when she knew how the world truly worked. Srina moved swiftly, the soft blue silk of a noble ladies dress swirling around her ankles. She was tired of playing games and tired of waiting. Combat was in her blood and she had gone far too long without it. “We have a job to do Tash.”

“Let’s get it done.”

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

"It has already begun." Tash responded without paying much heed to her earlier remark. No, it wasn't the name that would make her his, it would be the actions. The moves they played, the dance they danced until it all pushed ahead into one single, high-pitched crescendo of their endgame. Whichever way that would go. Tash liked her, pretty lips, slender neck kissable, tall enough and bright eyes- There was plenty there to be interested in, but it was just that.

Interest.

If it wasn't answered then Tash would be okay.

Plenty of others out there with better taste, after all.

They began their walk up the stairs and brushed past that the Chief. "Hey, friend." "What? I am not-" Something in Tash's eyes caused him to shift his tone and the expression became something more malleable.

"Friend?"

Tash nodded. "Better friends than that bank, eh?" The ex-Chief's neck vein started pulsing violently again, but it subsided when the Tapani hushed him softly. "It's okay. You should do something about it though." "Like what?" "You want to wreck it , don't you?" That immediately inspired a chortle from him, his head already started to shake before expression turned meek once more.

"I really really do." Chief's eyes widened at that, he hadn't wanted to say it. "Then you should."

Again there was that brief moment of conflict, before it seemed to be overridden. The Chief started nodding and then promptly ignored both of them, instead turning on his heels and marching right back.

A smirk offered to Talon- "We will need the door to our left as we enter, the guard should be distracted now." The yelling was already starting.

 

[Srina Talon]

The young Echani wasn’t entirely sure what the man meant by “It has already begun” and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. If he was referring to the job, she hadn’t seen anything go down, and if he was referring to their newly formed partnership he was seriously mistaken. Gray eyes peered at him with an eerie sense of perception before the commotion at the front of the bank stole her attention. Srina placed the apparent treasure hunter’s interest in her on the back burner for the time being. It wasn’t real. Any figment of curiosity she saw in him was related to one thing. Bordeom.

This planet was awful. Beautiful in its own, snow globe, kind of way. But it was still a frozen wasteland full of bankers and desperate scientists. It didn’t seem like the kind of place Tash would flourish.

Their focus moved to the mission at hand and they approached the bank. And the man that had just been thrown out. Srina was curious as to what Tash had planned. The way their mutual friend had detailed the job involved a lot less clandestine behavior. The small silver-woman let the auburn haired man do all the talking when it came to the thick necked ex-employee. It was almost like watching a social experiment succeed when he smoothly talked the angered creature into retaliating.

Srina stared as the ex-Chief seemed to go through an inner battle of whether or not he should give in to the, generally speaking, ridiculous ideas that Tash was filling his head with. The slender Seeker could sense something familiar in the air. She couldn’t put her finger on it, considering how fast the feeling came and fled, but it didn’t seem entirely natural. “What did you do?”, she questioned after a moment, watching the salt-tipped biped turn on his heel and storm back inside the bank.

Tash smirked at her and her gray eyed remained silent. Her ears picked up the discordant sounds of Arkanian’s fighting with each other seconds later. Rather than admit that so far, the man beside her was entirely correct, she instead headed for the opposite door. True to what her partner had suggested the guard paid them little mind as they slipped through. He was too busy trying to keep a furious ex-employee from loosening his temper on all of the remaining staff.

Srina didn’t have full knowledge of the layout. The skills that she had been hired for revolved around physically removing obstacles from their path. She didn’t need a weapon to disarm the everyday military force let alone a common civilian. Gang members, common thugs, were pathetic excuses for combatants. The small Echani could, and would, break every bone in her opponents face without thinking twice. These men had chosen a lifestyle of petty crime and larceny. She didn’t look down on it, to each their own, but consequences would come.

There was a turbo-lift in the back right corner of the bank. Srina was willing to bet that it was their ticket to getting past the legitimate business practices. Money laundering couldn’t take place out in the open. The lower levels seemed to be the obvious next step. The pale woman nodded her head toward the lift as she made a direct line for it. No one seemed to be paying attention to either of them as the ex-Chief got louder and louder behind the glass entryway.

It was like watching a speeder crash. Eyes ought to want to look away—but they didn’t. Too curious for their own good.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

It would surprise Talon just how much debauchery one could find on a frozen wasteland surrounded by crazed scientists and frosty ice queens.

Definitely surprised Itash when he had been invited to a private club in the capital. The kind of things the Arkanians were into had been enough to make him raise his eyebrows for a few precious moments. Until the Tapani had shrugged his shoulders and joined in on the fun anyway. As long as it wasn't permanent there wasn't much that Itash wouldn't at least try once.

The question was met with a trademark smirk and it didn't take long before they filed into the elevator.

Storm blues studied the panel, before tapping one of the buttons. A shudder and then the durasteel box started its descend with the doors sliding shut before their eyes, it was only the dim light of the cabin that gave them some room to see.

"Everyone has hidden desires, Saarai." Tash quietly said, filling the void of silence while slowly turning the ring on his finger over and over again. "I merely told him that it was okay to follow them every once in a while." Everyone had those dark urges sometimes. To kill someone, break their face in, to steal something, or to do something much worse than any of that.

Some people could keep it in.

Some couldn't.

Then there was Tash... who so much enjoyed to unlock those urges and let them loose. It always made for a spectacular show, if anyone asked him.

 

[Srina Talon]

Srina would indeed be surprised by any sort of untoward behavior on Arkania. She incorrectly assumed that most of them were tedious and dreary scientists that searched for partners based on their lack of morals and genetic splicing capabilities. Tash smirked in response to her question about what he had done to the Chief. What about her made it seem like that was the appropriate response? Certainly, he had charm, but it wasn’t enough.

Nevertheless, it had to wait, because the elevator beckoned and the distraction would only hold for so long. Her partner took over control of their transportation and pale eyes watched to make sure that they weren’t seen. The elevator didn’t seem to be making any strange noises nor did anyone seem alerted but her hands remained near the small of her back, hidden behind her cloak. On any other planet, she might have tried for diplomacy…But on Arkania—she wouldn’t exactly say no to a fight.

Tash spoke, his deep tenor filling her head in the emptiness of the elevator, and she relaxed a little bit. The doors were closed. All they could do was wait, have patience, on the all too long trip down. “Just telling someone that it’s all right to act on their darkest urges doesn’t actually give someone leeway to do it. Not unless there’s some sort of pre-existing imbalance.”

“For instance…I could say, Tash, kill the next person we see.”, she trailed off, silvery eyes finding him in the small space. “That doesn’t mean you will.”

To be fair, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t, but this was a job. A paying contract. He wouldn’t jeopardize it just to try and prove a point, would he? Srina couldn’t be sure. She also couldn’t take her words back so she was stuck with the outcome.

The elevator doors slip open a moment later. This was where her intel ended. Their mysterious friend hadn’t given her anything further. There was a long hallway up ahead and then several rooms that broke off to the left and right on either side. “Do you know where we need to begin?”

Srina wasn’t entirely clear on the terms. Break up a money laundering scheme—Sure. But what did they do with the leftovers? The men and women that they were sure to find running the site? In her opinion, they had mostly made their own beds. Their line of work was criminal. She didn’t judge, not exactly, but she did feel that they should be prepared for the consequences.

Untimely death was a consequence. Srina was only there to see it done, collect the bounty, and leave the system. There was nothing here for her.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Srina Talon"]

Oh, Itash would most definitely ruin a mission just to prove a point.

The success of the mission was less important than lessons learned and paths forged along ahead. But this time around the suggestion she put forward was less than what he was interested in. "Oh, it could work, lovely Saarai." Tash acceded with a nod, while studying the bing of them passing one floor after another on the screen above the lift doors. "But I get quite nauseous when it comes to killing people. It's a flaw of character, my father always said, but I prefer to talk to them rather than bash their heads in with a stone."

That last part was far too specific not to be something from his history.

But this was a truth from a man of lies. He did not, as a rule, kill people. It was messy and upsetting to the stomach, the first time his hands had become bloodied Tash hadn't been able to eat for about a week, if not more.

It was not the act of ending a life, it was simply... the close proximity.

This was why Itash could order someone's death without feeling too beat up by it. As long as he simply wasn't around for it, because that was frankly disgusting in his particular book. The Tapani noticed the look she gave him as they exited the lift and he shook his head with a smile. "Oh, I won't stop you from exercising vigilante justice, love, it's just that I will try my best to look away while you do, if you don't mind."

He studied the different rooms and then shrugged.

"You take right, I take left? Scream if you get into trouble."

Then Itash was off.