Tension on Tund [Mikhail / Katarine]

[Lord Ghoul]

"More like hypocritical," Shorn replied distractedly.

He felt her fear again. It was quite strong. She might struggle to suppress the urge to act, but not how she felt. Something troubled her greatly, Mikhail didn't know what or why. And he didn't ask. He just acted. Because that, in his eyes, was what Sith were. Unrestrained beings, who acted out of emotion. Yes, they could be terrible and violent and wreak horror on the galaxy. But the Jedi's propaganda spoke nothing of the fervor with which a Sith could care. If they cared. Which was rarely. No, perhaps Sith had nothing good in them. Mikhail certainly didn't think so. Selfish bastards. All of them. Even him.

Mikhail reached out and placed a reassuring hand over hers. His eyes searched hers. Not for answers, but for emotions. "That's a lot of fear, Kitkat. I know I'm a big bad Sith and all, but really?" He winked and smiled. Of course, he didn't think she feared him. Not someone with her power. No, it was more likely something to do with her previous expression. The loss of a loved one... what did those words mean to her? What did they mean to him? His eyes suddenly grew intense. The smile fell away. "Pretty faces like yours aren't meant to cry."

 

[KitKat]

It was true that the Jedi never did mention the other emotions the Sith felt. Katarine marveled at the Sith and their ability to embrace so many different areas in life. Power, passion, lust, greed, anger, and love. All of it was overwhelming to someone who shut it out and terrifying to someone scared of what would happen if they didn't always do the right thing. Katarine always did what was right. She always saved the day or helped rescue the orphans from a burning building or sacrificed what she wanted so someone else could have what they needed. She envied the Sith and envied the neutral pirate types in the galaxy who could be free of this war and profit where they wanted. It was a lifestyle that made her nervous just thinking about it. Such freedom...

"I don't think they mean to be hypocritical... they just..." She trailed off, at a loss to explain away the actions of others. Truthfully she had no idea why the Sith and Jedi couldn't get along better. She knew people on both sides and sometimes it was foolish pride that kept people apart. True the religions were different but there had to be some type of a balance surely?

His hand on hers caught her off guard. Her deep green eyes snapped to his. Fear? She wasn't afraid of him... was she? She frowned, worried she had offended him, worried she was being rude, worried he was hurt, always so worried. It was difficult to understand what she was worried about really. Everything was difficult to understand just now. The room was spinning and she felt dizzy. She heard a hiss in the back of her head and closed her eyes a few times. "Oh.. no I didn't mean.. that is to say... wasn't trying to offend.." She tried to focus on his face but it only made it worse.

She smiled at him and on the pretense of moving her hair behind her ear gently moved her hand from under his strong fingers. The dizziness started to subside mercifully. "Thank you that is kind of you to say. " She watched his face for a moment. "I don't think you deserve sadness either but I sense we both are cursed with it."

@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""]Mikhail Shorn

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail leaned back into the sofa. He raised an eyebrow. "Curse? Sure. Like my good looks, charm, and sense of style." He raised his eyebrows up and down and smirked slyly.

The conversation had taken a wrong turn down melancholy road, right next to dead puppy avenue. Buzzkill.

It was pretty hard to offend someone who basically everyone already hated. Especially since she hadn't even attacked him - yet - which was unlike every single other Force User he had come across. Mikhail knew his admirers were few and far between. But he was a Sith. The Dark Side was in his nature. He couldn't be the person other people wanted him to be. He wasn't a hero, the good guy come to save the day. If people started expecting him to play the knight in shining armor, well, that would just ruin his day. Because Mikhail Shorn was a black knight. With extra helpings of snark.

"Admit it, I rock your world."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

Katarine erupted into soft laughter and shook her head, making her hair sway slightly. "And so modest. Don't forget to add that to your list of qualities." She grinned and winked at him before reaching for her water. It was difficult to drink when such snarkyness kept pouring out of his mouth. She opened her own mouth to respond but the sound of a doorbell interrupted her.

"Saved by the bell." She grinned. That would be their food no doubt.

@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""]Mikhail Shorn

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"But Jedi Ryiah, modesty is a virtue," said Mikhail in his best mocking tone as he rose to get the door. "And virtue is a sin."

Mikhail opened the door. He looked around -where? He looked down. The delivery man was not a man, but a Toong. Mikhail muttered something under his breath as he handed the creature a few credits in exchange for a tray of food. A large salad with some sort of steak on the side. Yes, Mikhail knew how to order his food. What, did you think I was going to get pizza? Please.
The door hissed closed behind Shorn as he strode back in and put the tray on the counter.

"Hmm, I wonder if they haven't poisoned it." He looked over to see Katarine's expression. "No, you're right. They'd prefer to kill us with boredom."

 

[KitKat]

Katarine just smiled as he rose to go get the door. He came back, wondering if the food was poisoned and she sighed. "Doesn't it get tiresome always mistrusting people? It sounds exhausting from this end." One thing she had always wondered about the Sith. They always hung out with such dark people how could they possibly watch their back every second of every day? That was why she had been so surprised he had invited her here. It was literally having the enemy right in your personal spot.

"Maybe testing our patience is part of the game. Patience is a virtue too you know." She grinned.

@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""]Mikhail Shorn

 

[Lord Ghoul]

And having the enemy right in his personal spot was just the way Mikhail liked it; easier to keep an eye on them.

He froze suddenly. Her words struck an all too true note within him. Tiring? Oh yes. Mikhail was tired. Bone weary, in fact. The darkness inside him gave him strength, but it also was his greatest weakness. How could he afford to trust when everyone around him actively sought to kill him? He was a bit paranoid, yes. Living among the Sith did that to a person.

Slowly, Mikhail turned around. His face had become closed. Unreadable. Except for those searching eyes. They stared deep into Katarine's. A question in them. Mikhail's mind reached out to touch hers. His touch was like an adumbrate fog. Surrounding. Powerful. His dark consciousness brushed softly against hers.

"And can I trust you?"

Telepathy is a deeply intimate form of communication. If she lied, Shorn would be able to tell.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

When he turned around his face was guarded and closed. Katarine frowned. She had touched a nerve and really hadn't meant to. She felt sympathy for him. When you lived among killers you really couldn't trust because you might end up with a knife in your back. It wasn't a life she would want for even her worst enemy.

His next move was something she wasn't ready for. Kat had been abused so much and her memories erased so many times by darkskders it was difficult to get very far far into her mind. She felt him touch her mind and flinched, unable to hide the facial expression this time. She tensed up, ready for a fight but surprisingly he did nothing but talk to her.

She tried to smile but it was more of a timid grimace. "Yes you can." It was the truth. Even to an enemy Katarine was honorable. She had never stabbed someone in the back and didn't intend to do so to this man either.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"Ouch," Mikhail replied, seeing her facial expression. "I take it you haven't had good experiences with Darksiders. Come to think of it, neither have I." Shorn shrugged and sighed. "We should fix that." He snapped his fingers suddenly. The fireplace roared to life, lights dimmed and music played soft and slow from the surround sound system.

He held up his hands to his face and mimicked in his best Kat voice. "But Mr. Sith, are you trying to seduce me?" He smiled roguishly. "Why, yes, yes I am."

Some part of him had grown angry at the thought of beings who would hurt this woman. Why did he feel that way? He should not. It was dangerous. She seemed to have stirred some sort of humanity in him with her kindness.

"We're not all like that, you know." Mikhail stepped back into the living room area. After a bow worthy of the best courts in the galaxy, Mikhail extended a hand. "Would you care to dance, madame?"

You see, Mikhail was raised a Tapani Noble, but due to his father's incredible cruelty and... other matters, Mikhail rejected his heritage. But from time to time Mikhail would let it shine through.

 

[KitKat]

He withdrew from her mind and she wasn't sorry to feel him go. Memories were all she had left of James. If those were taken from her... She pushed the thought as far away from her as she could. Luckily the fire erupting to life distracted her. She raised an eyebrow at him as he started to mimic her high musical voice.


"Easy Slick. Sleeping with the enemy is considered by many to be a war crime." The last thing she needed was to rot in some Republic prison. Assuming of course she would let them lock her up. The last time they had tried that hadn't gone so well for them. Of course she was innocent that time and that did light a fire to rebel so to speak.


He offered his hand for a dance, which she seen no way out if without being rude. It wasn't that he wasn't an attractive man. Force knows he was exactly her type, but the thought of being that close was already making her dizzy. Katarine was bred to rule her kingdom beside a very dark powerful man and the more she ignored that particular instinct the stronger it became. James Terran was nothing like her destiny. Blond haired, blue eyed, sweet talking dashing gentleman that he was. He was the hero who would fight his way through a waring city to rescue the princess. It was admirable of course...


But there was appeal in the villain who would burn the city to the ground to get the girl he wanted. Like it or not darkness was something all good girls longed to play with, and Katarine was a very good girl.


"Uh sure." She took his offered hand and let him pull her into a standing position closer to him. His scent burned her nostrils, making the dizziness worse. She made a mental note to breath as infrequently as possible. Ten minutes of this, enough not to be rude, that was all she needed. Just try not to pass out and she was golden.


Watching the picture on the other side of the wall, she reached for sarcasm as she so often did when uncomfortable. "So this is an aweful lot of trouble to waste on a Jedi. You know what they say, bad girls are more fun." She smiled, though avoided looking at him.


@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail wouldn't burn cities for those he cared for. He would burn worlds.

"Overrated," Mikhail said, his face not so far away from hers. Not so far away at all.

It wasn't hard to notice that she didn't look him in the eye. Especially when his own pale gaze was so intense. She was purposefully trying to distract herself. Her presence in the Force sang the same tune. Mikhail smiled. They stood very close, swaying to the music. Even if she was reluctant, which she no doubt was, Mikhail was no newcomer to the game. The reluctance was not born out of dislike, but fear. Of him? Or of what she would do if she gave into her emotions. "Do I make you nervous, Katarine? Confuse you?"

He leaned in closer, his voice lowering. "You're doing it again. Trying to suppress your emotions... don't. Let yourself feel."

The Dark Side swirled around him like an intoxicating fog, mirroring his own scent. Enough to make heads spin.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

Staring at the painting in a determined sort of way she couldn't help notice the artist used two brushes to make it. She could see the different brush strokes, or at least she thought she could. It was difficult to concentrate.

She chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself kiddo. I've handled more Sith Masters than you can imagine. Easy as pie. ". This was very untrue. Katarine wasn't one to kill. She had only ever seriously injured Malice Draclau and only because he was foolish enough to harm James. Usually Katarine talked her way out of things like any good Jedi should.

His next sentence made her frown. "Why is it you Sith always try and corrupt the Jedi? You realize if we all fall to the dark side your lives would be so boring right? Think about all the free time you would have if there was no Jedi to torture." She wasn't accusing him of torturing anybody of course. She was just teasing him. Wanting to make sure he realized this she glanced at him. Whoops! She felt her knees wobble and tightened her hold on his shoulder momentairly before pulling away slightly.

"Why don't you show me where the ladies room is?" She smiled innocently though she was lying about her need for a refresher. What she really needed was space to clear her head and tissue to get his scent out of her nostrils.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[KitKat]

(Double post)

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"Oh, don't look at me with those judgey little eyes." Mikhail couldn't help it if his aura was corrupting. It was in his nature. "And who said it was the Dark Side I was trying to get you to fall for?" His smirk was all too knowing.

Without another word, he pointed toward the refresher. He raised an eyebrow that said you-don't-fool-me and stepped away from her.

While she was gone, Mikhail promptly helped himself to some food. Even Sith got hungry. He munched on the salad thoughtfully, ignoring the woman who was using his refresher, in his apartment. His thoughts strayed to more pressing matters. Like how exactly he was going to convince the Toongs to fall under the sway of the Empire. He sat there, at the table. Silent. The fire flickered and crackled, providing some dim illumination to go with the low lights. Shorn continued to eat, hardly noticing that the music had stopped playing.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

"Mmhmm". She gave him her own knowing smile. This wasn't some elaborate scheme to get inside her panties and she knew it. The original reason for this visit was to sway the locals to aid the Republic. She had a job to do and wasn't going to let him talk her out of it no matter how charming he was.

Once inside the refresher she splashed water on her face and waited until the dizziness was at a more manageable level. She ran her fingers through her long dark hair and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

When she returned he was mercifully on the other side of the room. She smiled and took a seat on the far end of his sofa. "So what sales pitch were you planning on using with these guys anyway? I've already tried flirting and it got me nowhere. I hope you have a better idea."

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"Shocking."

He stared at her with a bored expression, though mischievous light seemed to glimmer constantly in his pale eyes. Though he knew nothing of it, her misconstruing of his intentions was a most egregious error. He cared little for the workings of politicians. Certainly he himself could be subtle on occasion, but he had nothing like the grand machinations which Sith like Tirdarius seemed to always be plotting.

"I prefer threats of what will happen if they don't comply. Like invasion, death, and I'm personally contemplating genocide. I'm vengeful like that. You don't say no to a Galactic Superpower unafraid of using aggressive action to devastate your homeworld. The answer is always yes. Like sex." He took a bite of steak off his fork. Chewing - somehow - sinisterly, but pausing to wink.

 

[KitKat]

"It's nice to see people stick with the classics. " She stuck her tongue out at him but inwardly sighed. War had erupted on enough planets and she didn't particularly want to see it here. This planet had suffered enough. It was the same old song and dance. The Republic would offer protection and in return the Empire would demand obedience or promise destruction. It seemed like by now people would be as sick of this routine as she was.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail opened his mouth to respond, but was suddenly alerted as his com device went off. He frowned and removed it from his pocket, holding it to one ear.

"Shorn."

He listened, his eyebrows raising. "Wait, you're doing what?"

The other line went dead. He stared at the commlink in his hands for a moment before the floor suddenly shook with the violence of an earthquake. Mikhail scowled. That had not been an earthquake. He jammed the commlink back in his pocket and stood, his chair shooting back. The ground rumbled again. A picture fell from the wall.

"Turbolaser fire." Mikhail said in response to the unspoken question. He moved toward the door. "The Sith are invading." Her look made his eyes go cold and hard. "The Sith are invading and we need to leave."

Inwardly, he cursed. Nobody tells me anything anymore. The decision to invade Tund had happened quite suddenly. Even now, Imperial forces were descending on the planet. So much for negotiations. Mikhail did not want to be caught in a full scale battle between Sith and Toong. It was time to go.

"You'll need to come with me." He waved a hand in a gesture of dismissal to what he was sure would be a refusal. "My ship has imperial transponder codes. Yours doesn't. Try to leave and they'll either shoot you down or take you in for questioning. Trust me on it."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

OOC: this is due to the fact that 1) things need to get more interesting and 2) there is a Sith Dominion of Tund currently ongoing in a different thread.

 

[KitKat]

Republic intelligence needed a kick in the pants. The ground shook as his com buzzed. They Sith were doing what?!?!

"Frak!" She stood, wobbling slightly as the ground shook again. How could intel have missed this? She was assured she had time to prevent this! Instead she was now trapped on a planet that was about to be crawling with darksiders. Her first thought was to offer aid to the locals but there wasn't much point. They didn't have the power to resist Imperial conquest.

She pulled her own com out, intending to see if her signal was blocked yet when his offer surprised her. Her eyes widened in shock. It was one thing to offer her a place to stay in hopes of getting laid but it was another thing entirely to offer to smuggle her off the planet. "They will want to know why you aren't staying and what will you do tell them you decided to be nice to a Jedi today? Smuggling me off this planet will get you killed. I'm not worth dying for @[member="Mikhail Shorn"]. "

Sweet Katarine, more worried about others than herself. It was her way and her nature. She checked her com and frowned at the message waiting for her. It was Darron Wraith, congratulating her on being selected to serve on the Jedi Council, a position she had refused several times because of her hatred of politics. She cut the message off. Great as if there wasn't a big enough target in her head.

"I will lay low and get out when I can. Besides if I don't make it that's one less Jedi for you to worry about right?" She smiled at him as the ground shook again.

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"Uh, no. Don't delude yourself. This isn't some kind hearted act to save your Jedi rear," Mikhail sneered. "I don't do heroics. I just like to keep my enemies where I can see them." He eyed her. "Did you really think I invited you here just because you are the only not-bad looking woman on the planet? Please." Mikhail rolled his eyes. "I'm one the Empress' Champions, they won't question me," he said matter-of-factly and without pride. Titles held no meaning for him.

"One less Jedi I have to worry about means one more Jedi running around without supervision on Tund. In the middle of an Imperial invasion. And that will definitely get me in trouble."

The floor rocked again. Outside came the sound of screams. Mikhail wouldn't be surprised if they started hearing blasterfire soon.

Since there was no more need for subtle illusions and negotiation, the time for niceties was at an end. Bad boy Shorn came out to play. "Now come with me, I must insist." He grabbed her upper arm in a grip like steel and began marching her toward the door.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]