Private Though Some Call It Magic

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna could see it in his face, the moment he saw through her nonsense. Upon confrontation, she finally broke down and cracked a smile. "I had you for a minute there, didn't I?"

Part of her had been afraid he wouldn't figure it out. She wasn't particularly keen on tricking him into sleeping with her, but there were few other things which seemed able to pry him away when he was hot on a new trail. At least, that she knew of. They hadn't been together all that long yet.

"It's not nighttime, though," she pointed out pedantically as he picked her up and carried her over to the futon. "I just want you to get some sleep," she whispered, holding him tight. "Take care of yourself, or I will."

He laid her down then knelt on the floor, his hands gripping her legs. Her fingers entangled in his hair, his name leaving her lips in a gasp…

---

Hugging up to Cato, Inanna cursed as her sweet dreams were invaded by what seemed to be the most annoying noise in the galaxy. The Force rippled as she used telekinesis to press the mute button on the computer, then with a sigh of relief she went back to sleep.

Though now silenced, the computer had a wealth of information to offer. How much of it was actually useful to them was debatable. Amongst the decrypted data from the droid, there was a certain name which kept cropping up: Dathan Carnage.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Inanna thankfully shut off the noise quickly, without ever having to get out of bed. The wonders of Force-sensitivity to solve even the most minute of domestic inconveniences. Cato, as tempted to stay in bed as he was, had already begun to move, and doubted he'd be able to go back to sleep. Carefully, he slid out, making sure to disturb Inanna as little as possible. He ran a hand through his messied hair, and shuffled over to the terminal.

They got quite a lot from that data chip, it turned out. Most of it he was still too tired to really process at the moment, but one thing caught his attention, "Yo?" His eyes widened, and he became a bit more awake, "Dathan Carnage?" The tone in his voice registered somewhere between sarcasm and genuine excitement.

"I almost cut myself on that edge just saying it. That's rad as hell," Frankly it sounded like something he would have come up with. The term cropped up multiple times, in context that indicated it as a name. Perhaps their mastermind, then. Cato rubbed his hands together, already getting reinvested in the mission.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Dathan Carnage, age unknown. Born on Dathomir, he was a polymath, scientist and inventor with a genius-level intellect. His criminal history on Narsh was a matter of public record, but he had apparently disappeared five years ago under mysterious circumstances. His rivals had assumed he was dead and swooped in like vultures, draining away his wealth, resources, and connections while he was missing.

Inanna rolled over on the futon, clutching at her lover—only to realize she was in fact holding onto the Moonlighter costume, sans Cato. She opened her eyes with a start, afraid he had pulled the same trick she had once pulled on him, only to spot him standing naked over by the computer. Interesting view. Definitely reassuring.

“Whatcha doin’?” she asked sleepily. "Did you get that chip thing... did it do the thing?"

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Hm?" Cato turned around, catching sight of his own bareness in the process, "Ope," He lazily searched for and retrieved his discarded undergarments, and threw them back on, "Yep. Just ah, doin' some research. I think we've found our bad guy." He stepped aside to let Inanna view the screen if she wanted.

"You know, I've fought a real colorful cast of criminals over my time, but it's so rare that you get a guy with a straight up holocomic name like that. Whatever happened to theatricality?" He clicked his tongue, scrolling through the dossier. He even had the repertoire of a supervillain. Genius polymath turned criminal mastermind, raised on a dark spooky planet, disappears mysteriously, only to seemingly return with an army of evil robots. Cato was feeling quite giddy by the sheer poetry of it.

"If the data chip has any kind of coordinates to build a lead on, we'll be golden."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna pouted as her view was abruptly obscured by Cato’s undies. “Call me a filthy shapeshifting nudist, but you wearing clothes is like covering up the naked demigods on the Erskine Chapel ceiling,” she bemoaned. “An insult to art.” Ah, well. At least the Moonlighter suit looked like it was painted on him.

“Who’s the bad guy?” she asked. Cato promptly stepped aside to let her see the screen, where the name DATHAN CARNAGE was shown in big bold letters.

"You know, I've fought a real colorful cast of criminals over my time, but it's so rare that you get a guy with a straight up holocomic name like that. Whatever happened to theatricality?"

“Average Sith Lord names be like,” she muttered, yawning. "I once dated a guy named Aron Genocide..."

The discovery that the chip did indeed have coordinates buried in its code had Cato eager to get back on the perp’s trail. Inanna looked unimpressed with the idea of getting out of bed, then glanced down at the super-suit she was holding onto. “I take it you’re going to need this?” she asked, smiling innocently at him. “Why don’t you come and get it?”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato raised his eyebrows far up, even taking a moment to examine his own body, "That is high praise. Don't think anybody's ever describe me as art before," He nodded, first to her, then to himself, "Yep. Gonna be riding that compliment for the rest of my life."

He gave Inanna some time to read the dossier, chuckling at first, then going wide eyed, "Did you really? Honestly I'd have considered that a red flag," Genocide was a particularly unfortunate last name. Here's hoping he wouldn't succumb to any nominative determinism. Dathan Carnage might have, though.

Cato began to look around for gadgets, finally realizing that his suit was out of reach. He turned around to see Inanna holding it, teasing him. He grinned, and sauntered over, "It would be helpful," He stooped over the futon, leaning tantalizingly close to her, "You gonna make me?" His face was right in front of hers, and he reached over to gently grab her wrist, "Don't suppose I can… convince you to give it up some way?" Cato playfully pouted his lips.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Yep. Gonna be riding that compliment for the rest of my life."

Inanna winked at him.

“Yeah, he was a S’kytri. Turns out they don’t have last names, which means he chose Genocide for himself.” Her eyebrows rose. “I didn’t find that out until later. A shame—being a S’kytri was a lot of fun. They have wings.”

She watched him hunt for his gadgets, then grinned when he sauntered over to her. At the last second she turned away from him, curling up on her side with the suit pinned between her knees. She moaned softly when he took hold of her wrist, only to snort when she glanced over her shoulder and saw him pouting. “You’re adorable.

“It needs a wash,” she said, stifling her giggles. “And so do the both of us. Can your suit be thrown in the washing machine, or does it need special treatment? I’d much rather spend the time appreciating art, if you know what I mean.” She reached around and pulled his head to hers, kissing him. “The showers here still work, right?” She smirked against his lips before luring him into another, hungrier kiss. “Mmm, we also need to have breakfast. Unfortunately, we cannot have sex for breakfast, so we'll have to make something other than love. And then... we can go beat up this Nathan Savage guy.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"But this is more fun right?" Cato asked with faux-jealousy. Flight would make his job a bit easier. Being a S'kytri would make it pretty easy to oust his secret identity, though, "And my last name isn't even Genocide."

Cato got as much mileage out of teasing Inanna as she did him. It was part of the fun, "Don't I know it." As she pointed out though, the suit was probably in need of some cleaning. He grimaced a moment, "Ahhh, I'll need to take off the goggles, but the rest is treated to be able to handle a wash," An innovation borne out of necessity. If he couldn't just toss the whole thing in a washer and call it a day, he'd spend as much time cleaning as he did fighting crime.

That would be no good. Especially as quality time with Inanna was quickly becoming a competitor for the position, "I've got warm water up and running," He mumbled, eagerly indulging himself in their kisses, and already getting a bit handsy. He pouted again when Inanna clarified the definition of breakfast, "Nothing wrong with two courses, is there?" Cato finally unlinked from her, standing up and stretching, making an unsubtle display of his lean musculature, "If you can handle it, that is?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"And my last name isn't even Genocide."

“Who?” she asked with a smirk. It wouldn’t do any good to make comparisons to nasty past lovers. Cato was all she cared about now. “Technically I can grow wings anytime I want. Would you like me to fly you to those coordinates today?” She could think of a few other fun uses for wings at the moment…

Especially when he was touching her like that. Inanna’s breath hitched, her eyelids lowering to half-mast. If they kept this up, they’d never make it out of bed.

Cato eventually disentangled himself from her and stood, flexing. Suddenly Inanna wasn’t so sleepy anymore. “Is that a challenge?” She got up, the Moonlighter suit dangling from one hand as she wrapped her arms around him…

---

The coordinates on the chip led to a mansion. Not exactly a totally alien sight on Narsh, but normally the type of place one would expect to find a Hutt crime lord hunkering down in. Dathan Carnage didn’t strike Inanna as a Hutt name.

“Do you see anything unusual?” she asked Cato, seeing as he was the dude with the goggles. “So far I haven’t spotted any more of those droids, but if this is our villain’s secret lair, he must have some sort of defenses…”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Like functional wings?" Cato nerded out for a split second at the biological possibilities, and shrugged as if to downplay it, "Well… it could be cool. Convenient, even."

In the meantime though, he was decidedly winning her over to his current line of thinking as he caressed her body, "Prove me wrong," He said with a smirk as he stepped back to tempt her further, at which point she joined with him. Cato planted lavish kisses against her neck and clavicle, holding her leg up close against him…

---

Cato enhanced the view on his lenses, which telescoped in to get a better view of the manor property, "Hmm… nothing yet. Wait-" He instinctively leaned closer, adjusting the clarity of his goggles, "I see some movement," A pair of droids approached the main gate, at which point they were scanned and let in. A sputter of energy also caught Moonlighter's attention, "The fence is electrified. They had to deactivate it to let the bots in."

"Whatcha think, we try for a sneaky approach, or…?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna crouched behind Cato, fixing her shiny black lipstick. When he leaned forward, she did too, almost resting her chin against his shoulder as she looked out at the bad guy’s lair.

“I assume there’s a bubble shield around the whole place to protect it from aerial attacks,” she said, curling an arm around his waist. “Or else I’d fly us across.”

Hm. “What would the sneaky approach involve?” she asked. “I can’t mimic droids, or metal in general really. It just doesn’t look right.”

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Maybe," Cato mused. It was possible, given the amount of resources this guy seemingly had. Better to play it safe. By now the gate had renergized, and the droids were heading to the mansion proper.

“I can’t mimic droids, or metal in general really. It just doesn’t look right.”

"Me neither," He deadpanned casually, "Luckily I'm a very good computer nerd. And there's a lot of computers to play with around here." Cato stood up and began walking to the other side of the building. He fished out his personal datapad, a clunky old thing that was jury-rigged with a host of add-ons. He extended an antenna on the corner, "If I can connect this puppy to the property systems, I might just have enough brains to take down a few defenses."

Moonlighter then stepped to the lip of the building, switching out the datapad for his grapple. He hooked it to the roof, then extended a hand to Inanna, "And you... can be my lookout?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Me neither."

“Oh.” Sometimes she forgot that he couldn’t shapeshift.

He outlined their plan, and she took his hand. "Deal."

They grappled down to the ground, Inanna looking around as they made their way over to the fence. She kept scanning the perimeter while he did his computer nerd stuff. So far, so good.

The low hum of electricity running through the fence abruptly fell silent. Whatever Moonlighter had done, it seemed to have worked. "You're a genius!" she whispered with a grin—only to startle at the sound of clanking droid feet approaching. She grabbed Cato by the arm and pulled him toward the gate.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Cato shot Inanna an amused glance. He had meant it as a joke, not expecting her to actually have forgotten he couldn't shapeshift himself. Would make his job a lot easier if he could, though.

They rappelled down to ground level, and Cato immediately got to work. He extended a thick, taped up cord from the end of his datapad, and forced it into a security panel on the outside of the property perimeter. Confident in letting Inanna focus on any prying eyes, he committed himself to his work, clacking away at the dozen prompts that popped up on his console, "Mkayyy- Ow!" He shook his hand, having accidentally shocked a finger when he began messing with the circuitry. But whatever he did seemed to solve their problem.

"I try," Cato said, somehow cocky and bashful at the same time. Then the sound of approaching footsteps put the celebration on hold. Inanna pulled them toward the gate, which Cato quickly unlocked and snuck through. Once Inanna was in, he shut it behind them, and began to look around at the mansion, "If I were the evil bad guy, would I put my lair on the top level, or in the basement?" Having said it aloud, it seemed obvious for this guy, "Definitely basement. Now let's find somewhere to sneak off too before those robots show up."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Mkayyy- Ow!"

"Oh no!" Inanna gasped, startled by his cry of pain, then breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was only a small shock. Bit goofy of her, but can’t have him dying on her just yet.

Once they were through the gate, Cato theorized that the secret lair would be in the basement. But for now they had to evade the droids. Inanna tugged him along by the hand down a corridor, operating with little knowledge of the mansion's layout.

Her ability to sense danger was notoriously terrible, and sure enough she turned a corner and beheld a pair of droids. Telekinesis popped their heads off, but she was already running away before the hunks of metal hit the floor.

A nearby door beckoned to her. It was unlocked, unoccupied—and cramped. Nonetheless she flung herself into the little closet, Cato at her side, and shut the door.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

Inanna’s strong reaction to the little zap was appreciated by Cato in a way, if also striking him a little peculiar. At least until he felt the reminder of her past like a slap across his face. A flicker of a sad smile crossed his face, before they were forced to focus on the present.

They crossed the property and headed into the mansion itself, where Inanna continued to lead them away from encroaching droids in a panic. Cato registered the surprise behind the corner, “W-wait-!” Too late to warn her as they skidded to a stop ,”Ey-!” He still had no time to get his bearings even after Inanna took out the droids, as she then rushed them into a storage closet for hiding.

“Huh,” Cato blinked a few times, acclimating to the low light and getting a sense of where they were, “Quick thinking, I guess,” Not always the same as smart thinking. But they hadn’t got caught yet, so, probably a good sign. He shifted a bit in the uncomfortable space, freezing still as the sound of more droids passed. The footsteps froze for a moment, before trotting off. Once confident that they were clear, he sighed, “Well, they probably found those broken droids. They’ll be on alert now.”

Despite the new hurdle, he simply shrugged, not seeming particularly stressed, “That’s business for ya. If I had a credit for every Plan A that succeeded without a backup, I’d have maybe like, five credits.”

“Let’s just lay low for a sec. Let the heat die down, figure out our new plan, eh?”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna’s heart was racing. Cato could probably feel it throbbing against him, beating like a drum in her chest. She could hear the droid patrols clanking by outside, and wondered if they were smart enough to search the rooms. This old closet might not hide them for long.

The thought made her shake uncontrollably. “If they open the door, there will be nowhere to run,” she whispered, envisioning a hail of blaster bolts filling up the tiny, confined space. Guilt hit her hard. She had been in plenty of lift-threatening situations before, more often than not due to her own incompetence, but not with her boyfriend’s life also hanging in the balance.

Cato went on talking, jabbering away like nothing was wrong. Inanna shot him a pleading look even as she desperately fought the nervous urge to giggle at how casually he was taking all this. Was she overreacting? Were they not in terrible danger?

“Let’s just lay low for a sec. Let the heat die down, figure out our new plan, eh?”

She nodded, eyes downcast as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. Sighing softly, she lifted her gaze to his and silently mouthed the words I love you. She was still holding his hand.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"Probably," Cato admitted, then smirked, "Maybe they think anyone smart enough to sneak in wouldn't be dumb enough to just hide in the closet." There was no telling how the droids would approach this infiltration. But he was confident they would get out of it, as he always was. Even though he could quite literally feel Inanna's nervousness. The pounding of her heart, hit his in a fast, rhythmic pace. Then she mouthed a few tender words to him, and he turned his cavalier attitude into something more reassuring.

"I love you, too," Cato whispered, just audible enough to hear. He squeezed her hand, "Hey— I've been through a lot. We've been through a lot. Guys like this are a dime a dozen. After all that, I sure as hell ain't getting blasted out of this life by some basement-dwelling tech nerd with too much time on his hands. And neither are you," He realized even as he was saying it, that he was basically describing himself in the process. His grin widened, and he had to stop himself from laughing.

Cato reached around and brought Inanna into a hug, as an offer of comfort. All the while, he pulled out his datapad and began typing away at something. After a few moments, he pocketed it again and held her a little closer, "I just triggered a disturbance on the electric fence, way on the opposite side of here. That'll keep 'em distracted from searching any suspicious closets." Another smirk.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Don’t make me laugh,” she whined. But his bravado had a reassuring effect on her. They had been in worse situations before. They would make it out of this all right.

Inanna melted into his embrace, holding on tight. While Cato did something with his datapad, she gently tugged his mask up over his nose, planting a sweet kiss upon his exposed mouth. Her lips left a dark stain behind, smearing the black lipstick she had applied so carefully earlier. "Oops... Uh, don't worry, it looks good on you."

"I just triggered a disturbance on the electric fence, way on the opposite side of here. That'll keep 'em distracted from searching any suspicious closets."

She hummed in approval, nuzzling his chin and throat. “My hero,” she murmured, sliding down his body until she was on her knees, arms wrapped around his hips. They really should use the distraction to get out of the closet and continue their search of the mansion… but that could wait a bit, couldn’t it? She gazed up at him tenderly, saying a great deal without uttering a single word. Even when a suggestive smile spread across her face and she leaned forward, unzipping his suit, that look of love didn’t leave her eyes.

Cato Harth​

 

[Cato Harth]

"It's what I do best," Cato said. He could tell she was easing up some, so if a bit of lighthearted braggadocio would keep that going, then he would play the part. He didn't want to ignore the dangers but, in a way, it was easy to feel immortal right now. They were young, living a life of love and adventure at every turn. Sometimes, he was all too happy to get caught up in the fantasy.

Cato returned the kiss a bit distractedly as he typed away. He snorted, realizing she had left a bit of a stain on his lips, which he rubbed at, cleaning off some and smearing the rest, "I could rock it." He said as he put away the datapad. With any potential trackers now barking up the wrong tree, they had a moment to themselves. Cato cuddled Inanna tenderly, still wanting to keep her at ease. Then, he felt her slip from his embrace, down to her knees. His gaze followed her curiously, until her expression and touch spelled it out quite clearly. "Oh." He tensed up momentarily, and took his mask off all the way.

"Is now really the… uh…" Rational thought escaped him. Cato leaned back and shuddered, her name leaving his lips in a gasp…

---

It was a good thing Cato had the mask. Because it hid his dopey, lovedrunk expression when he finally peeked out of the closet, "Alright… uh, coast is clear." He glanced back at Inanna, and straightened up as if to regain some sense of "professionalism". He walked out into the hall, checking further. No droids. Just gotta find the basement. "Jacking the fence came with a basic layout of the property. If I'm reading it right, the entrance to the basement should be…" He began walking with purpose, though he kept glancing back at Inanna with an expression that was unreadable behind his costume. Eventually he stopped at a hall that seemed empty. It lead to nowhere, with no doors along the walls, "Hm."

"It's here somewhere. Gotta be." He began running his hands along the inconspicuous walls.

Inanna Harth​