Things In The Night

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He watched her for a second, the small sheepish smile bringing an odd confused look to his face. He frowned for a few moments, and then slowly turned away from her.

Vrak didn't really understand emotion, nor did he really understand the concept of 'love'. That wasn't this situation at all of course, but the sheepish and very likely genuine smile was...entirely odd to him. He frowned for a moment and decided to disregard it entirely and simply do as he had intended to do.

The robes that he had been wearing earlier were now stained, and thus would not be proper to don until they were washed. Luckily his closet here was kept full, and although he would have preferred to shower, she was occupying the bathroom. After a few moments Vrak dressed, wandering past the bathroom door to spot Seraphina lavishing within the tub. He stopped for just a moment, watching her as her lekku seemed to curl involuntarily.

He shook his head and left the bedroom. "See that she is brought a new set of clothes."

Vrak said as he stepped past one of the Servants.

"Yes, my lord."

The Pureblood closed the bedroom door behind him, then moved into the living room. "And have the sofa cleaned as well."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The woman finished with her business in the bathroom, clothes being left by the door for her similar to what she had on before, save for the tears and such. With a roll of the towel her head tails were lightly dried off first, then the rest of her body before she dressed and drained the bath. The heat from the water proved to be a great comfort to tired and achy limbs, as much of the pain had subsided, though the bruises, including those she had only just received, were still very much present along her skin, namely throat, thighs, and back.

As much of a struggle as it was to remove herself from the water, she knew that lingering too long might stir the Sith into pouring ice into the water, or some other nefarious tactic that would likely irritate her beyond measure. That was simply his nature. Things would quickly return, at least the majority of their relationship, to how it had been before. A tepid cooperation.

When she pulled back the door to the bedroom she found Vrak sitting with a servant, presumably talking about whatever the team he had sent across the way had found, or not found.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Yes my Lord."

The servant bowed her head as Vrak finished speaking. There was a small holo-display on the table in front of both of them, a map of a downtown section of Muunilist. Three buildings were arrayed around an expansive central park, all of them wearing the branding of some sort of corporation. Sera would immediately pick up that it was likely the location of where they would be meeting the Banker tomorrow. It was a simple enough deduction after all.

"I want you and the others nearby." He doubted anything would happen, but better safe than sorry. "She seems to think there is a threat, and I won't take it lightly just because I think it unlikely."

Vrak might have thought Seraphina was overreacting, but so far she had proven herself to be intelligent. There was no reason to doubt her word just yet, and thus it was better to be safe than sorry.

The Servant whispered something to Vrak, his gaze quickly flicking towards Sera as she wandered into the living room.

"Ah. Enjoy yourself?" The Sith asked as he pressed a button on the base of the holo-display. The Servant stood without a word, bowing his head first to Vrak, and then notably to Sera. Perhaps she would not notice it, but the Servant now showed her deference. Perhaps an interesting side effect of their...fun.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Green eyes caught the servant's odd bow towards her. Perhaps it had something to do with whatever it was they were talking about that she had interrupted, having only caught the tail end of the discussion before clearly being the cause of its' ending. Sitting down notably across from Vrak this time, Sera continued to observe the girl until she had exited the room before turning back to the Sith. "Yes." Her tone was kept passive, intentionally masking the fact that it had felt absolutely fantastic.

"I interrupted your planning." The words formed a statement, rather than a question. She had heard him, though only a portion of his words. "I see you are planning to take this cautiously."

The Twi'lek crossed her arms, followed by her legs. "Could be simple coincidence, covering his own arse. Or we could end up dead." She shrugged. "Either way, we'll find out soon enough." She supposed if she needed to she could kill a few more people. After all, the toll was already high enough that she slept fine proceeding a kill now. The tormented screams of her victims were a thing of the past. Death was death.

If it came for her tomorrow, so be it. If it left the Muun or Vrak dead, it was because they were greedy, or weak.

Fate was fate.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Indeed." He answered her as he leaned back in his chair.

His gaze fell over her once again before meeting her eyes. His expression was pleased, though whether it was due to earlier events or because his plan was slowly moving back into place was difficult to tell.

"His office is on the fifty second floor." He told her. "It should be sufficiently isolated that no one will hear any...noise. "Our only problem will be building security on the way out."

His hand came up to flick a switch on the projector, another image appearing. "Muun's do not enjoy battle, but if we are found out...they will undoubtedly try to stop us. I'd rather not ruin every last relationship I have on this world however."

It was easy to see what he was hinting at.

"Preferably we make our exit quietly." That shouldn't be an issue for her.

His voice, the way he addressed and spoke to her made it seem as though they hadn't just spent half their afternoon in a rather violent embrace.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Fifty two floors was a rather high fall. A few stories Sera could handle with the aide of the Force. Fifty two? Not a chance. Dexterous as she was, her legs would snap like toothpicks and send her knees through her head. Jumping to freedom simply wasn't an option, unless nearby buildings were in very close proximity and could be used to shuffle from rooftop to rooftop. "Alright." The Twi'lek leaned forward, towards the building's image. "Well, if you want to get out quietly..." She said, observing the structure, her finger reaching for the small button to zoom in and out.

"I use a few different methods." First she zoomed out, examining the surroundings. "Because of the size of this building, simply jumping from his office would be death. There are also no other structures close enough to use as stepping stones to the ground, at least not ideally." She then zoomed into the building a bit, using her finger to point. "Most buildings have central ventilation shafts and trash chutes located throughout the building. They have to for places this large to circulate air and move refuse."

She bit her lip as she studied the building. "Something this big, they should be wide enough for us to use. Or, there's the turbolift shaft." She hesitated there.

"Though those could be dangerous due to how quickly they move."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

When she said the words 'trash chute' his face noticeably dropped slightly, disgust pulling over his lips with a slight sneer. They would not be jumping out with the buildings refuse, that was simply out of the question. Vrak might have been a tad more progressive when it came to Purebloods, but he still had enough self respect not to be jumping onto refuse piles. He shook his head and instead latched onto her other suggestion, though with a slight alterations.

"Less dangerous if we ride on top of one of the lifts." He had done so before on Nar Shaddaa.

Granted the lift had been on the outside of a building, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference. He touched the holo-display and zoomed in on the buildings blue-prints, pointing to the bankers office and then motioning towards the turbo-lift shafts.

"We can use the vents to access the maintenance tunnels here." He nudged a part of the diagram. "Then cut out way into the lift shafts."

They would still have their lightsabers after all.

"Acceptable?" He asked as he gently nudged the holo-display over to her to allow for a closer look.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Green eyes lifted in time to see the disgust roll over his face at the thought of using the trash chute to get away. "Sometimes you have to take what you can get." Hinting towards the fact that she had done so before.

If he thought her only lack of modesty was a lack of clothing under the eyes of others he would be mistaken. She was hardly above using any means available to her in order to escape unnoticed. It was hardly like garbage would permanently stain her or anything. She bathed frequently, having been afforded that luxury. Elsewhere that was something of an amenity that was not taken for granted, however Seraphina owned a rather expensive yacht that she traveled in. Water and sonic refreshers were never too far off.

"The lifts will suffice, assuming they do not lock them down. If so, there will be problems."

There was a chance that the lift would stop near enough to a ventilation route that they could use to navigate further, but in the end, they might still find that the trash route was the easiest. This was his plan though. If Vrak wanted to chance the turbolifts then she would go where asked. Though if it came to a choice of whether or not to leave him behind to die and escaping herself? Well, she knew what option he would take just as well.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"It won't be a problem." He told her simply, a slight incline of his head.

They had a plan. That was something at the very least. He frowned for a moment and then leaned back in his chair. Truthfully he was still rather curious about her mysterious employers. They apparently knew about a problem she had, one that couldn't be sensed in the force nor picked up on medical scanners. It was a mystery, one that he found fairly odd. His hand slowly came up as he leaned to the side, his chin coming to rest in his palm.

He looked at her, watching her for a few moments as he thought about her little predicament. "Your lekku."

Vrak finally asked, filling the void of silence.

"They communicate your emotions, yes?" It might have seemed like an odd question, but he had been curious since they'd first met.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

There was hesitance in answering this question. It was a physical vulnerability, one she was uncomfortable to broadcast to those not in the know. It had nothing to do with modesty or shame or anything like that. She actually quite liked hers, though she knew of a few others that despised theirs, found them to be a nuisance, something she never really understood. They were a unique, defining trait of her people, even if they shared similarities with the Togruta.

"Among other things, yes."

She wasn't overly eager to go into any real detail, but couldn't help but feel he was about to grow far more interested than she was looking for.

Has he never discussed this with the servants on his home world?

Sera imagined that they had slaves on his home planet, wherever that was. Surely he must have known something about them, right?

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He mused for a second more. "Tell me about them."

It was phrased as a request, one she could deny if she really wanted to, but the odd head tails held his interest for now. It was true that he could have asked the servants back at home, but in truth...he hardly ever held conversation on them.

Most of the time when he spoke to his servants it was either to receive information or give some kind of command. A few of them he trained personally, and of course at times he lectured them about one thing or another, but there was hardly conversation. That was reserved for the special few like Irid, the girl whom he had taken from Zygerria. She was a special case, if only because her great potential in the force. He wasn't a Master per se, but he knew enough to teach her, and teaching required conversation.

"If you don't mind." Vrak added.

He realized the dynamic between them was still rather...difficult.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

She could see that question coming from hyperspace.

"They have a number of uses."

None of which she was willing to go terribly in depth over. He needn't understand when she was silently insulting him, or when she felt afraid, vulnerable, confident, or anything in between. "They can be used to suggest emotional states. But they are for so much more than that." Though if Vrak was unaware that a portion of a Twi'lek's brain was situated at the base of each lek, and that they were incredibly sensitive areas for her people, she wouldn't be the one to divulge that secret.

"Entire conversations can be had through subtle movements. We do not need Galactic Basic to communicate, nor do we need our own spoken language, though it does make things simpler. Few ever learn the spoken language of my people, save for protocol droids, and I've never met nor heard of another non-Twi'lek who could translate our sign language accurately."

What made it truly difficult was the ever so subtle shifts in speed, angle, or curve to each lek. And like Galactic Basic, certain gestures, in replacement for words, could have double meaning depending on their use and context.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"I see." It was certainly interesting, and exactly what he had thought. He could see that she was slightly uncomfortable about the subject, perhaps because she thought he would eventually turn the knowledge against her.

The thought wasn't entirely wrong.

Vrak was beginning to at the very least grasp a small understanding of what the movements meant, though he was only guessing really. He had made it a point to study her Lekku ever since they had first met. He couldn't speak to what she was 'saying' through them, but he thought he could at least guess her general state of emotion through them. It had helped that he'd had examples of several extremes expressed through her Lekku now. Pain, anger, ecstasy.

It gave him a glimpse into her.

"Do you know if it's the same with Togruta?" He mused out loud. "Nautolans? Can you communicate with them?

He doubted it, but the question was worth asking.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"No." She said plainly. "We cannot cross communicate that way."

Sera wasn't even sure if Nautolans and Togruta used theirs for communication. If so, she had never witnessed them as such tools.

"Each of our species utilize them for different things. They are not the same." That was true in appearance as well, not just use. "They also grow differently, and at different intervals throughout our lives."

The woman assumed these questions were for one of two reasons, or perhaps both. Either Vrak was looking to exploit her in some way through her head tails, or he was going to use that information to keep tabs on his servants, to try and decode their various gestures and uses for his own personal gain, or to punish those who might use their silent language as a means to communicate negative feelings towards their master. Most Twi'leks bound to slavery chose their silent language as their means of expelling their frustrations with life.

"Why do you ask?" She was curious if he would lie to her, or just answer the question.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Curiosity." Vrak told her truthfully.

His face still rested in his palm, fingers slowly drumming against his cheek.

"I find them fascinating in a way." A shrug rolled over his shoulder. "There are several Twi'leks in my service, A Togruta as well. Their Lekku, head tails, have always interested me in some way."

They were after all what primarily made them different from the one species that Vrak absolutely detested, humans. "You were simply the first I thought to ask."

He would probably get a far more detailed answer if he questioned one of his servants, but where would be the fun in that? Sera was here now, and asking her had clear made her at least a bit off focus. That was still the nature of the game after all, keeping her attention not on him, but everything else.

"Is that not allowed?" He asked her, smile on his face.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

If he didn't believe she didn't suspect him of being up to no good he was even more foolish than she initially thought.

She decided to ignore the rhetoric about whether or not his question was allowed. She could hardly stop him from asking a question, however, she didn't have to divulge the important bits relating to her species. The heighten sensitivity to touch, the fact that a portion of their brain were stored in each lek, the fact that damage to even one could severely injure, paralyze, or even kill her. All of that was information that he didn't need to know about. At least not until that tiny little explosive was removed from her back.

"Why did you decide to ask me, instead of those in your service?"

It was oddly suspicious to her that he had never once thought to ask his servants about their lekku until Seraphina.

This was a Sith, after all.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

The answer to that was simple; respect. Though Vrak saw his servants as useful, and certainly worth something, he did not respect them. They were servants, nothing more. Perhaps some of them could become something one day, but until they did they meant nothing to Vrak. He didn't care if they died. He didn't care what they did, not as long as they did their work and did not betray him. It was that simple. He respected Seraphina.

He would kill her in a heartbeat, but he respected her. He smiled at her before he began to speak.

"I didn't find them interesting until I met you." The words were an odd sort of compliment really, in some twisted fashion anyway. The Lekku were certainly fascinating, but he didn't care about them on a slave. He didn't care what they communicated or displayed when they adorned a Servant, but someone like her?

Someone strong?

Someone capable of besting him?

That was an entirely different story. With Sera her Lekku could tell him much. How she was feeling, perhaps even what she was thinking. They were clues into her mind, clues that he more than enjoyed following.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"I see. Why is it that mine interest you?"

This was an answer she was interested in hearing. More so because she wanted to know if he would come out and say something along the lines of to use against you if needed, or some kind of coy, cutesy response that veiled some obscured intention. Thankfully it seemed that Vrak was entirely unaware of the incredible danger he posed to her should he decide to harm them in some fashion. That was where her nerves and hesitation came from, though she was happy to appear hesitant due to the possibility that he might be able to better understand and read her, if that was what he believed.

"Trying to read my mind?"

Better to try and lead him with the question.

"Or my emotions?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Perhaps a bit of both." He told her.

There was no real point in trying to lie to her, not about this. He wasn't barbaric enough to consider cutting her Lekku off, though he knew a few Purebloods back home who did so, keeping them as trophies. It was a practice that he didn't really detest, just didn't understand.

Vrak had already guessed however that removal of her head tails would likely be extremely damaging. He had no idea that a part of her brain was held within their stem, but to him it would be like someone cutting off his hands, that's what he got from her explanation anyway. She used her lekku to communicate, express herself in ways that words and other actions couldn't quite do. He frowned for a second and made a note of it, if only in case she tried to harm him again.

It was another thing to use against her.

He slowly rose and wandered around the table, passing her to stand by the window, blinds still closed. The sun had set long ago, though through a small gap within the metal blinds he could see a small sliver of its light on the horizon. "Perhaps I just enjoy knowing what you're expressing through them."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera leaned back in her seat, familiar crossing of her legs as she observed Vrak with a modicum of suspicion.

"Perhaps I will be more cautious of their movements in the future."

The tone suggested a lack of seriousness, though in truth she would try to be more cautious of their sometimes involuntary movements. After all, sometimes their posturing, or movements were simply reactionary, while other times they were more deliberate. Something akin to breathing. Typically it would handle itself, though could be controlled if desired.

"Lest you start to think you know me."

The Twi'lek crossed her arms, tucking them beneath one another. It seemed to her that whatever this whole situation was between the two, it would at the very least prove to either confirm or deny this group or person's ability to truly help her discover whatever it was about herself she was missing. If that meant she had to, along the way, remind him of her power while at the same time submitting herself to his more primitive desires, it was ultimately worth the price.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]