A toast

[Corey's OOC]

Maybe it was ypical behavior for Lucas Gravois, but he didn’t care. The best way for him to learn something? It was to tear it out of other people. Right now, back on his location on Coruscant, the Sith Acolyte was sitting down for dinner. He was working on interrogating someone, this woman that he had taken from the streets. He was looking and watching for those who he could feel strongly in the Force, the ones who may or may not be Jedi. This one didn’t have the trademarks, but if he could turn her, he could send her to the Jedi and she could make her way back to him, and tell him what she’d learned.

But for now, he was going to get something to eat. And that meant he had a bantha steak, baked potato, and a red wine. Lucas was not an ugly person, he was refined. He had a bit of good taste, and part of that was in his partners that he was after. The hybrid always picked attractive prey, unless someone who was physically repulsive could be useful, then he’d go for useful, every time. Toasting the woman who was bloodied and bleeding and hanging from the wall, Lucas grinned.

“To our partnership.” She didn’t know it yet, but she would break, Lucas would break her.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

Trin had a knack for codes. While not exactly a slicer, there was something in the predator's brain that could spin scenarios and recognize patterns. She didn't know how it worked. That was for someone in a lab to explain. She just knew that she could break into her brother's apartment whenever she wanted. When the door to Lucas' crappy apartment hissed open, it was fairly obvious who it was.

Lucas always tried to keep her out, and Trin always wormed her way back in. You'd think at this point, he'd stop arming the security panel altogether.

The half Anzat made no attempt to hide her footfalls as she stomped into his hovel. How Lucas could stand to live in a place like this, she'd never understand. Her brother was seated at his dinner table, with a meal of human food in front of him and a glass of wine. The sight of it turned her stomach worse than the woman hanging on his wall. There was so much blood, it was hard to tell what species she was. She was moaning, a long keening sound that almost resembled the hum of a tuning fork, a signal that the symphony of pain would soon play.

"Thanks for the invite to your little dinner party," said Trin in a monotone. She draped her trench coat on a chair and hooked a thumb at hanging figure.

"Who's the guest of honor?"

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Lucas knew where his skills were, and he didn’t try to fight them. At one point he had, but not any longer. It wasn’t worth it. The hybrid knew he was decent with a martial prowess, but the mysteries of the Force and the mind were where his skillset truly lie. Did that mean anything to him, no not really. He was just not going to become one of those ‘Sith sorcerers.’ Giving himself a title restricted him, and Lucas didn’t want to work in some preconceived limited concept. No, he was Lucas Gravois, he was going to do everything he needed to become the very best that he could.

And fix this broken galaxy.

First, he’d have to deal with his sister. There was one chair at the table, was that a coincidence? No, Lucas wasn’t expecting her. Not for dinner tonight, not for dinner ever. He looked to her as she stepped in and rolled his eyes.

Her? Who was she? A no one. A potential investment, someone the Jedi might accept. “Let’s call her Sally.” Really, he did know her name, working on ripping the concepts of her knowledge right from her mind, so he could build her up as he liked. He wasn't going to ask Trin why she was here. He didn't care.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

"Sally" seemed like such a waste of perfectly good food. Lucas must have eaten on the run, sucking up his soup in a space port refresher somewhere to let this one hang here dripping on his floor without having a taste.

Trin pointed to the Bantha steak. "How rude," she said. "You know I'm vegan." Wine she could stomach though. With a smirk, she snatched up his glass and took a sip. This was the siblings' little game. Simon says irk your brother until he's ready to Force choke you.

She strode towards the body all trussed up. The sight pulled a low growl from deep within her throat. A finger shot out and traced a path through the smear of blood on his victim's cheek. Whirling on her boot, she turned to Lucas and sucked the blood off her finger with a lurid deliberateness.

"Can I drink her?" she asked, hungry brown eyes flashing with a shock of gold. There were tics in her cheeks where her tendrils threatening to emerge. The half Anzat could never resist a juicy appetizer.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Yeah, Lucas wasn’t worried about feeding on this one. He was satiated and eating ‘real’ food, only for the sake of it. And to bother with Sally. She was… moderately cute, but nothing to write home about. But she was going to be useful. That type of face that could sneak into anywhere and not really get noticed, average, was the word. He watched his sister and shook his head.

Vegan? Right. Because she absolutely hated meat. He watched her flounce through his apartment and take his wine. Really? She was going to be like that? He shook his head some more. Lucas felt like he was always doing that to the sister… biological and creation wise. Whatever, if she felt better doing that? So be it.

Drink her? Did Trin know how long Lucas was working on breaking this one?

“No. She’s serving a higher purpose.” He said, calm, clipped words. He stared at his sister. She knew his next question would be what she was doing there. He grabbed the knife in his hand, watching, waiting to see if he needed to strike.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

"Oh no. He's got a knife. Whatever will I do?" Trin gave Lucas an epic eye-roll. What did he think she was some sort of animal? That she couldn't control herself around a warm, live body?

Well, he wouldn't be wrong.

She turned back to the dangling woman and cocked her head, with bird-like quickness. She sucked back her spittle and hurled it at the woman's face. A stream of saliva created a foamy rivulet through the patina of blood.

"What higher purpose could this dumb schutta possibly serve?"

Trin didn't get it. Lucas' obsession with burning the galaxy. Then again, the Anzat hybrid had her own dangerous obsessions to be preoccupied with. Like the one sitting at the table with a knife glinting in his hand.

Trin slowly sauntered towards her brother, dancing with the devil. In defiance of his threat, she plopped herself right down on his lap and took another sip of his wine. Trin wasn't afraid of Lucas. Not right now. That usually came later when she'd truly tested the depths of his cruelty.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

A knife. Yes, and all she was getting in return was a raised eyebrow. If she was going to let his target away, he didn’t need to take any other steps towards her. This one had something for Lucas, and it was going to be a gift for the Jedi, and the foes of the Sith. Not the One Sith, mind you, they were a bunch of lunatics. Mad with not doing anything and just content to sit on their thrones while the Alliance did everything in their power to unseat their rule.

From his seat, Lucas watched his sister and his prey. The Hybrid looked at ‘Sally’ and pushed his will into her mind. Not looking for anything, just causing pain, struggle, and, of course, suffering. He’d put her back together soon. His attention was pulled away when his annoyance of a family member sat in his lap. He stared at her, the Force probe that was sent to Sally coming back and being directed at Trin.

“What is it you want?”

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

Lucas stared at “Sally,” for much longer than would be comfortable for anyone. Next, there was a slithering sensation creeping into Trin’s brain. Oh, cute. Her brother was trying to get into her head. With a shrug, she let it happen, having no need to hide anything personal from him. Trin was always like an open book for Lucas, with some of the pages burned and torn out.

“What is it I want?” Trin’s eyes shot to the ceiling as she repeated her twin’s question. A smirk lined her ruby lips. "I want..."

“A speeder taxi pilot who knows how to get to the Uscru District without me giving him directions. A place near Monument Plaza where I can get a decent Ice Blaster. A Master whose idea of training doesn’t involve his other lightsaber.”

The hybrid snaked a hand up his back, climbing it up his neck to ruffle her brother’s shaggy blonde hair. He would hate that.

“Oh and a Holocall from my brother once while. Preferably while we’re both still young. I swear it’s like you drop off the face of the galaxy sometimes.”

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Sally was going to be a weapon, a weapon of Lucas’s design, to throw against the Jedi. He’d figure out the how later on. But he knew what she was going to be designed for. Listening, learning, hearing their secrets, then reporting back. To him, not some ‘Sith Lord’ that the One Sith seemed to mass produce in their mint.

He looked at her because he was trying to break her, trying to change her memories, trying to make it so she could be disguised as a Jedi, and that if they mind probed her, she’d pass a test, even with his… alterations. But the fact that Trin was here was proving problematic. He looked at her and sighed. Right, he just had to speak, because his sister just kept going on and on.

Could the galaxy just end already?

And she was touching him. His eyes went a bit darker as he looked at her, reaching out to her with the Force. “Harsh life.” Was all he said. He had work to do, what did she want? He grabbed her elbow, to lift her arm away from him.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

When Lucas grabbed her elbow, Trin didn't resist. She simply let her arm be flung away like garbage for the Dianogas. Let's be honest here, to her brother, she was just garbage after all.

"Oh please," the woman scoffed, frowning. "Lighten up, Lucas."

Trin finger-walked her hand up his thigh to the knife that lay in his hands. Her expression morphed into pure malice, as she turned to Sally with a grin.

"Can I have some fun with her before you do...whatever it is you're doing?" Her pale hand fluttered out like a skittish bird taking flight.

Locking eyes on Lucas, she attempted to take the blade from him.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Lucas rolled his eyes at Trin. She could be so annoying. He really needed a better word for that, because it was so much more than just an annoyance. It was frustration, it was anger, it was just rage that mixed in with him. Lighten up? Lucas didn’t know how to do that. Sorry, Trin.

Her hand was still on him and he looked at her, waiting for her to stop, if she didn’t, well, he’d handle that. Placing the knife back on the table, because she was being a pest, he looked back at her, then to Sally. A quick glance, and only the slightest bit of the Force, caused the woman to scream out.

Good.
“Your idea of fun will set me back days.” And he didn’t want to have to start over. He would, hell, he probably would just do it for kicks and giggles after he sent Sally into the world, but he wanted to send her first, then he could find someone for Trin to maim to her heart’s content.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

Trin could only imagine what it was that Lucas did to Sally to make her scream out so deliciously. Did he twist an internal organ? Snap a fingerbone? Pluck a tooth from its root. He was a detail-oriented guy after all. The resonant wail that emerged from Sally’s bloody mouth tickled that little nub in the reptilian part of the hybrid’s brain, the one that urged her to pounce on her prey. Trin cut her eyes sideways at the knife on the table, mockingly out of her reach, and frowned. Why did she have to be related to such a killjoy? It’s like he wanted her to be crying in the shower every night.

Trin finished off his glass of wine with a deliberate flourish. Whatever Lucas was doing, was it really that important? The fether always thought he was carrying out some grandiose mission to purge the lightside from the WHO THE FETH CARES? What was the rush? Their species could live for centuries. Lucas had all of the time in the galaxy to plot universal domination.

Trin had no grand scheme. All she wanted out of life was a daily meal and her brother’s companionship. She was a simple girl at heart. Riling up Lucas was fun. Trin liked fun.

"Fine."

With that in mind, she rose from his lap and made a beeline for the girl. Drawing upon the Force, she used it to telekinetically grip the woman’s arms and legs. With a grunt, she began to pull the woman’s body in two different directions. If Trin wasn’t stopped, the body would be torn asunder. Lucas would have to decide:

Just how badly did he want to save Sally?

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

It was definitely a bit strange for Lucas, for the outsider, to understand what he was doing. Sure, he would bring people to his apartment, leave them there for days, and wait until they were begging to be released. And he’d do that. He’d release them from their bounds. It was really nice, when you could walk into any type of bar and pick up someone. Men, women, whatevers. And they were into the kind of play Lucas was, and thought it was part of the game. It was about after the first six hours that they realized it wasn’t a game.

And it wasn’t about wiping out anyone, mostly. It was about sending a message. Letting the galaxy know what was out there and how easily they could kill everyone. Keep them in line through fear. Maybe he was reading some old manuscripts of stories from a better time, a cleaner time, a time when the true Sith kept people in line.

He looked at his sister, and the speed she moved at. Really, she was going to ruin what he was working for? And that talk of not rushing? If you brood too long you never get anything done. Without a word, he pulled the Force to him, and grabbed her torso, squeezing hard.

She could stop, or he’d start breaking ribs.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

Well that certainly got his attention.

Sally began to scream as her organs were the first to be rent. A gush of blood burbled from the woman's shrieking mouth, and her body danced with palsy. She might have been having a seizure. With a swelling of the Force from the direction of the person where a loving brother should be, Trin was hit with stabbing pain in her midsection. The hybrid doubled over in agony, wrapping her arms around her abdomen, her screams mingling with Sally's.

She stopped her attack, landing on her hands and knees on the floor, head hung limply, hair dragging on the floor. She turned to Sally to see if the woman survived. Her arms and legs were intact, but her insides? Trin was guessing those were a mess. Sally wouldn't survive whatever it was Lucas wanted to do to her. She whipped her head angrily towards her brother, a soft whimper escaping her lips. Then a dark grin came.

"Looks like Sally doesn't wanna play anymore."

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Lucas didn’t like to share his toys. And that was really what Sally was, an experiment, a toy, something to use. But not use in the traditional sense. While Lucas made for an incredibly strong personality to those that didn’t know him, the stoic man did react with his emotions, typically hate. That was his go to. Hate and anger, and some mixture of both that rounded out his feelings towards Trin. His sister was an obstacle, that was all. And soon she would be dead, and so would the One Sith, and he would arise. Mentally, do whatever could be repaired in a few days of intense… attention, to Sally, sure, but with Trin going after her physically?

No.

He needed her malnourished but not completely broken. There was a line his sister was crossing. His grip in the Force was more general, not as specific as he usually was. Grabbing an organ and crushing. No, this was just her whole core. He heard Trin, but he was more understanding the week’s worth of work he just lost. The Force was tugging her, pulling and he all but attempted to drag Trin to him.

“Now you’re going to find me a new person.”

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

The look in his eye told her that he was done with her games. Invisible hands tugged at her flesh, hooking in. Trin gave in, letting herself was pulled limply across the floor towards her brother like a dead fish on a line.

“I thought you’d never ask,” the hybrid said, slumped at her twin’s feet. Trin looked back at Sally who was still where she hung. All trussed up and nowhere to go.

“The lengths I go to get some quality time with my brother.”

Perhaps they were polar opposites, where Lucas lacked a soul, Trin had one that was overstuffed and bleeding through the cracks. Her terror ached. Her sadness dripped. Her happiness, although fleeting, electrified the room. There were too many conflicting emotions, all displayed at once, a jumbled diorama of feelings. They had nowhere to go so they followed some innate ley line to her brother.

With Lucas she wanted all or nothing, even if it lead her straight to Hell.

[member="Lucas Gravois"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

He didn’t want to hunt. He wanted to read, and to feed. But no, now his sister made him go waste his… whatever day and whatever time, and find a replacement for Sally. He idly wondered just what he’d be able to find. He had no time table, but he wanted to see if he could do it. Challenge himself and reach for gold, in a way. He shook his head at his sister, dropping her to his feet.

The lengths she would go to? He was about to speak and then held back, an exhausted sigh was all that she would get from him. There was at least one better way to get quality time with Lucas; understand that he didn’t want to spend time and reconsider your life choices. Was it because Trin was made from the same stuff, the same ‘parts’ as it were, to him? That they were strains of research, related but infinitely different?

He wasn’t sure what it was.

Maybe it was just that she kept trying to get near him and he had other things to do.

Emotions were only useful when they served a purpose, the fleeting emotions, the side emotions? They would not help Lucas at all. He didn’t approach them with care. Looking down at her now, he shook his head. What was he going to do with her. “Clean yourself up. You look like a train wreck.”

Maybe because he did just try to kill her.

[member="Trin Gravois"]

 

[Trin Gravois]

“Aw, Lucas. You say the sweetest things to your sister.”

Trin rose to her feet and pushing past her sibling, stormed to the refresher, slamming her hand down on the wall terminal to activate the door. Locking herself in his bathroom, the hybrid brushed her hair, checked her body for scrapes, and put a dab of mascara on her lashes, adding a smear of cherry red lipstick to complete the look. Her midsection still smarted from where he’d done whatever to her, but the pain was fading. If she had internal injuries, oh well. See you in the next life.

She joined her brother again in the main room of his flat. She had no idea where he wanted to take her, but if Lucas wanted her to find another Plain Jane like Sally, she guessed that she could leave her bondage gear and stilettos at home. She walked right up to him and straightened the lapels of his leather jacket, pulling him close to growl in his ear.

“Clean up well enough for you?”

[member="Lucas Gravois"]