Private Becalmed In Virtue

[Arcturus Dinn]

From his satchel he had brought a great many things, and each now lay upon his desk in one spot or another. Tomes and specimen jars and half finished projects, a few different shards of some great beasts claw, the tooth of another. Scraps of paper, and supple leather. A sinewy thread and dulled needles. A cylinder wrapped in cloth. He sank into a chair with a heavy sigh, and glanced over the various things he'd collected over the past few months. It was strange to be back here, in this suite. Even before Ossus he had barely sat in this spot for some weeks, more often off on some adventure or group lesson than here on Korriban.​

​

But he was here now, and this small series of rooms felt cold and forlorn. Another bag sat upon his sofa, a rucksack filled with more trivial belongings. Clothes, toiletries, the essentials really. But each of those were replaceable. Not really worth the extra time it might take to unpack. At least, he'd leave it for today. Just things he'd had aboard his ship. Ships. He had two of them now. That was a strange thought.​

​

He did not give himself much time to rest before he pushed up off the seat with a heavy sigh and turned to a few of the last items in the bottom of his satchel. Candles, incense, other such minor ritual pieces that could be used in a pinch. Right now a ritual was far from the forefront of his thoughts, though. Instead he set up the candles and the incense in the correct holders and lit them each. Almost immediately the room seemed to cozy up, the incense drifted through the air and emitted a pleasant aroma, and the candle flickered effortlessly. What he really wanted was a shower, but that was more effort than he felt up to in that moment. He just wanted to breathe. It had been a strange week, and he was ready for it to end and a new one to begin.​

​

For the first time since acquiring the suite, Thesh slumped into the sofa and leaned his head back. It was actually far more comfortable than it had first appeared, and he quite regretted it having taken this long for him to make use of it. He just sat and watched as smoke rose from the incense, and that flame flickered to its own beat. In moments like these the constant worries he carried seemed to fade from existence.​

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But it wouldn't last.​

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It never did.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

There came a knock at the door.

If Thesh didn’t answer, having gotten too comfortable on the sofa, he’d receive a mental nudge from a familiar source. And if he still didn’t get up… well, I guess the events of this thread never happened.

Ishani entered, holding a small sealed container in her hands. Her brow furrowed slightly upon seeing him, though her excitement was far from dampened. “Uh, sorry—are you tired? Should I come back later?” she asked. Rather comically, she still waited for him to let her in before taking a step across the threshold, as if she were a nervous little vampire that had to be invited in.

Looking around, she noticed the still-packed bags, the candles and the incense burning. Smelled nice. “I, uh… we came in here while you were gone. Alina and Melydia and I. We tried not to disturb anything, but we were looking for some clues as to where you had gone, and—I did look through your computer, just so you know. Not that I saw anything weird, or… yeah.”

Remembering the container, she said, “Oh, this is for you. It’s just some, uh, brownies that I made earlier.” She didn’t even know if he liked brownies. There were a lot of things she didn’t know about him.

She wasn’t sure why she was behaving so awkwardly, when on Ossus she was all over him. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she was in his room, and he was back, and sitting in said room, and the initial insane rush of emotions had passed. They were supposed to go back to something resembling normalcy now, but she struggled to remember what that had been like.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there, lost in his own thoughts, before the knocking came from the door. The candle had burned down some, but it still had a lot of life left which led him to believe that no more than an hour had passed. It took him a little while longer to actually get up off the sofa despite that, and he made his way toward the door in a groggy stupor. He wasn't even physically tired, that was the funny thing. If he had been he'd probably have fallen asleep. He was just... lost.​

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The door opened and imagine his surprise to discover who was on the other side. His shock was quickly replaced by a small smile.​

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"You came all this way just to leave?" he inquired, raising one brow as he leaned on the door jamb. For a moment it looked as though he was going to remain that way for some time, but then he stepped back and allowed her entrance. Not that he'd really been keeping her out, of course.​

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Her timidity made him a little unsure of how to proceed too. His initial thought was to embrace her but she didn't look as though she was at all interested in that right now. Perhaps it was just a matter of two awkward teens playing off one another, picking up on the other's uncertainty and running with it. He hadn't seen her since Ossus, he'd pretty much locked himself away. It was time he left his den though, no longer in hibernation.​

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The mention of the trio of Acolytes having been in his room made that look of surprise return. They'd gone through the hassle of coming in here to find him? "I doubt there was much to help you," he said, "I didn't exactly leave a breadcrumb trail." Still it was nice to know that they'd tried. "Thank you, by the way, for caring enough to look..."​

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He took the container and set it upon the island which was more or less to the right of the entryway, and then peered down at her. "Are you okay, Ish?" he inquired, voice barely above a whisper. She still hadn't said why she was here, though truth be told she didn't need a reason. He wanted her to be here. So he threw caution to the wind, and pulled her into his embrace. If he didn't let down his barriers now then Force knew when he would, they couldn't spend the entire time standing awkwardly around one another.​

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Unless she wanted to put a stop to all this.​

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He supposed he couldn't blame her if she did. Thesh was a mess as of late.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Oh. Oh no. He had noticed. He thought something was wrong. Was something wrong? Hm, Ishani? Something you’d like to tell him? Hello? Anybody home?

She had sort of blanked out mentally when she felt him touch her. He’d meet no resistance, but for a few seconds she trembled in his arms. Then she hugged him back, and stayed that way in silence for a long time before looking up at him, propping her chin against his chest.

“You still owe me a fancy sword.”

The abrupt manner in which she said it, as if the sword was the reason why she was acting strangely, wound up being unintentionally funny. She grinned. “I didn’t come here just for that, I came here to see you. You have been kinda… not distant, but, you’ve been acting like you wanted to be alone, and I figured you needed space, so… I don’t want to bother you or anything.”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

When he felt her tremble he tightened his embrace, though ensured it remained gentle all the same. Like a big bear hug, warm and comforting. At least that was what he was going for. He turned his head some, cheek against the top of her head, and let her just stand there for a moment as she tried to compose herself. Something really seemed to be eating at her.​

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So her response came as quite the surprise.​

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"A fancy sword..?" He knew it wasn't her reason for being a little timid and tremulous but the way she'd said it made it seem as though it was. He couldn't help but chuckle at how ludicrous that was. "I suppose I do, don't I?" All he'd made her was a little bone knife after all, and sure it was capable of poisoning folks but it wasn't practical on a larger scale. Especially not in a universe filled with lightsaber wielding foes.​

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"You're never a bother, Ishani," he told her, in a firm yet gentle tone, "You don't interrupt my alone time, you know that right?" He supposed on the surface that wouldn't make too much sense, alone meant alone, but it was different with her. He liked it when she was around. He knew that if he really needed to sit and be with his thoughts he could do that, with her still in the room. At least he thought that would be the case. He hadn't tested it yet, but she'd given him no reason to think otherwise.​

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He placed a kiss atop her head, then took a half step back to observe her. She wanted a sword... That was certainly something he could help with. "Do you have a size in mind? A style? Any specific effects you want it to have?" He paused, bit his lip, was that too many questions all at once? He didn't want to overwhelm her. But it was important to plan out a project like this...​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Yes, but… I feel like I was too clingy when you first got back. So I’m trying to scale it back a little.” What a bunch of baloney. She wanted more of him than she'd gotten so far, she was just too embarrassed to admit it out loud.

The issue of the sword was a good distraction. She had actually given it some thought.

“I want a katana that’s more than half the length of my body and somehow not too heavy for me to lift.” She laughed. “No, I, uh—I did some research on Force-imbued blades. They’re what Je’daii and such used way back before lightsabers were invented. Kind of weird, but they put crystals in them too. Dunno how that works. Maybe it made it easier to channel the Force into it?”

With him having stepped away, she could rummage around in her pockets. “I have a crystal from Dantooine…” She paused, her brow furrowed. Her pockets were empty? She could’ve sworn she—wait. No way. Walking over to the brownie container, she opened it and sighed. “Wow.” She pulled out the little yellow crystal and wiped it off. “Don’t ask me how it ended up in there. But you can use this.”

She heard a rustling sound. “Is that—do you have an animal in here?”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Rather than argue his point further, he opted to simply nod his head in acknowledgement of her words. It was true, they had both come across rather strong from the off, a mixture of teenage hormones and the life-or-death situations they seemed to find themselves in around every corner. The relief of knowing the other was okay after so long apart probably hadn't helped that. But things could settle now, right? They could find a new rhythm, there was no innate need to rush. They had time, and he was more than happy to share that time with her.​

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Her initial request had his eyes widen, before she laughed and made it obvious she was only joking. There were so many out there who actually wanted that sort of thing, they wanted it all without realizing there was always going to be some sort of give or take. You couldn't have your cake and eat it, not when you were talking about body-sized weapons. You wanted near-weightless? Get a damn lightsaber.​

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"I'm familiar with them," he said of Force Imbued blades; while it was true, he was far more familiar with more traditional Sith blades, Thesh would not have been Thesh if he hadn't done a deep dive into other variants. Predecessors. That sort of thing. "It's a deeply personal weapon, it's creation is, uh, quite the experience." One hand lifted as he tapped his chin in thought. He knew the process in theory, but he'd never actually delved into it himself. It would be a learning experience for the both of them, something they'd have to do alongside one another.​

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"Dantari crystal?" he inquired, excitement on his tone, as she searched for it among the brownies. His eyes lit up at the sight of it. "What a beauty!"​

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Before they could get much further in their talks of imbuement though a rustling caught her attention. It couldn't have been Littlefoot, his infantile Terentatek was currently in the care of Melydia Gold since his disappearance, and Nwit wasn't active. With a light whistle he caught the attention of whatever it was, and soon enough a small snowmouse scurried across the ground and up his leg, finally settling into his outstretched hand.​

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Hopefully she wasn't deathly afraid of mice.​

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"There you are, Nostremous," he said with a sigh of relief, though truth be told he'd never been too worried. Had the little guy truly been missing he'd have simply located him through the Force. Their connection could easily withstand the vast sandy dunes of Korriban, perhaps even more. "This is my familiar," he informed the girl, a smile taking over his expression. It was then that he realized there was quite a few things he'd yet to show her. Little creations and places he'd carved out for himself.​

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All in due time, he decided, no sense in overloading her the way he had Starlin.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“So you could help me make one, then?” she asked. She already expected she’d have to participate in its forging more than simply describing it to Arcturus and then leaving him to his work. “Yeah, I got the crystal from… from Dantooine.” It had been a private trip she’d taken on her own which had involved a lot of dead kinrath. Filthy little buggers.

She watched in surprise as a little white mouse darted out, crawled up his leg, then plopped down in the palm of his hand. Surprise turned to delight as she completely forgot about the sword in favor of the wee creature.

“It’s so cute.” She started to extend a finger to pet it, then halted. “Can I touch it? You named it Nostremous? You’re silly. You’re a silly sorcerer.”

Apart from this brief reluctance, she wasn’t at all scared, just a bit timid. The only members of the animal kingdom she was afraid of were bugs—which was probably why she hadn’t taken to Melydia Gold as well as Arcturus had. Furry little things, on the other hand? They could take over the world and enslave humanity with their cuteness, and she’d be their willing thrall.

“Where did you get this little guy?”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"For sure, I can help you, though Force Imbuement is a very personal technique. A lot of the work will be on you, Ish, you need to work the Force into every fiber of the blade, and even after that to set the crystal." One hand lifted to rub against his chin in thought. Obviously he didn't have a forge set up here in his quarters, and he wasn't intimate with the facilities here at the Temple. If only he could take her to Harper's Retreat, now there was a workshop he knew and loved.​

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Alas, they were not on Bastion.​

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"Any particular effects you're wanting to imbue it with?" he inquired, it was something to think about and pour into every aspect of its creation after all. Of course she could just keep it simple, rely upon the innate properties of both crystal and imbuement in and of itself. Together they already made a mean combo, able to cut through most anything like a lightsaber could, while the Dantari crystal could passively boost her connection to the Force.​

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Still it was fun to play around with other options too. Like his own little creation, which teleported back to him if it got too far away. Force did he love that thing.​

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Of course, Nostre was quick to steal the limelight. Not that he'd have it any other way. It was an adorable little mouse, after all.​

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"Of course you can touch him, he won't bite and it won't affect anything. And yes, what would you have named him? He's definitely a Nostremous!" He left out the part where he called him Darth Nostremous in private. No doubt she'd learn about that one of these days... "I'll take silly over grumpy any day."​

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Her question had a smile brimming on his lips for a solid few seconds before it turned to one of sadness... Then a more guarded expression overtook it all. "Coruscant," he said, "It was terrorizing an apartment, so I captured it. I was going to return it to Hoth, but the damn thing stole my heart first."​

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He gently placed the mouse into her grasp, then turned to pull out some parchment so that they could get to designing the blade. He most definitely wasn't trying to skip past the topic of Coruscant. Not at all...​

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"For real though, do you have a size in mind? Dagger? Light enough for one hand? Broadsword?"​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“You’re the metal man, Arc. Even if it were just a regular sword, I’m sure you’d make it strong and sexy as hell.”

As for other effects, she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead.

“I mean, if you wanna make it teleport like your dagger, that would be cool. Otherwise, I dunno… make it stab extra good?”

The mouse had taken up most of her attention. Her whole face lit up when he put it into her hand, and she commenced loving on the little guy at once.

“You’ve fully domesticated him, that’s for sure.” Ishani rubbed the mouse’s belly with her thumb, and Nostremous rolled over on his back like a dog, waving his cute little pink claws in the air. “Don’t tell me you spent the whole time on Coruscant working as pest control. No wonder why I couldn’t find you…”

She trailed off somewhat awkwardly, her mirth dying with a whimper, equally reluctant to discuss what had happened during her trip to Coruscant.

“I do want a katana, if that’s possible for you,” she replied. “Not a huge one, of course. Lightweight with a sharper cutting edge, that’s me.” Settling on the corner of his desk and letting Nostremous escape her grasp, she watched Arcturus work.

“You know, when you sent me that package, I thought including the page where you had sketched the stars meant that you had gone back to that planet. I broke into a Darth’s computer to try and find out which one it was, but there was nothing to find…”

She had meant to bring it up as a humorous story, but she realized over the course of the telling that it only further revealed how dangerously desperate she had been to find him. Hm. Not so funny after all. Smirking at her own bumbling, she got up, went to the island counter, retrieved the container of brownies, and started to eat one. The snowmouse's pink nose lifted and began to sniff the air. Now that did make her giggle. "Can Nostro have chocolate, or will it make him sick?"

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

The unexpected compliments, and the way in which she uttered them, brought a smirk to his lips. "So that's how it is, eh?" he inquired, one brow raising in speculation. "Now who's the silly one?" As she pondered over the effects the blade might have, he listened intently and then hummed under his breath. "We could do teleportation, sure, though I'd suggest we do it slightly differently from how my dagger works. A dagger is easy to conceal, it's okay to be on my person every moment of every day, but if you're wanting a bigger sword that's going to become a pain real fast. Maybe if we don't have it proximity based? More..." He lifted a hand, scratched at his chin in thought, "Perhaps blood-bound. So that you can summon it, regardless of where it is?"​

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Well, so long as she and it were able to be touched by the Force. But Force-Nullification was always a pesky bugger anyway. Thankfully people weren't simply walking around with Ysalamiri wrapped around their necks.​

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He had been wanting to test some Nether-based tricks, perhaps that could work. A two-fold teleportation? It gets too far from Ish, and instead of teleporting back to her like his dagger would it's returned to a pocket-dimension? He'd meddled with pocket-dimensions before, the anima necklace he'd made for Alina made use of such. Then whenever Ish needed it she could simply pull it from that dimension?​

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Yeah... Yeah that might just work. And if successful, who knew what else he could do with that knowledge.​

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He began to jot it all down on the parchment, while she played with Nostre.​

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"Nah, not pest control. Mostly just exploring, I was a real tourist Ish you should'a seen me." He smiled, though there was a little sadness behind it. Somewhere deep inside Thesh had really thought he could make something of Coruscant, and the people he'd met there. Really thought that a Sith and a Jedi could be friends. Heck, for a time they'd practically been brothers. He doubted Jen would welcome him back now that he'd returned to Korriban.​

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"We can do a katana, if that's what you're wanting. Most of the traditional imbued blades took a similar form. And for the record, it'll have a naturally improved cutting edge, product of the process." ​

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Still all theoretical for him though. Wasn't something he'd done before. But he could work metal, he did that often in his free time even if he hadn't made anything to write home about in recent years through the Forge. Just basic, mundane weapons. Swordsmithing was a craft, after all, and all crafts had to be practiced.​

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"I'm sorry I was so vague with it, Ish. I probably would have gone back there, though, if I'd have known where there was. I just... Wanted you to know I was okay. I didn't want you to worry. Guess I messed even that up, huh?"​

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He stepped over to her, by the island, and set his journal down. A few scratchy sketches lay upon it, plus his musings of the Netherworld which he'd never openly mentioned yet. Still just a thought. "I don't think a little would hurt him," he said of the chocolate, "But if you want to feed him properly, there's nuts and some dried fruits in the cupboard by the fridge for him."​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

She rolled her eyes, a smile spreading across her face as she spoke. “Clearly I only want you so that you can make magical weapons for me. It has nothing to do with you being kind, gentle, brave, and way too attractive for your own good.” It was all true. Sure, he was no fair young god, but he was definitely good looking. And oh Force, she hoped he never lost any of those virtues to time or strife.

He spoke a little bit about how they might add a teleportation effect to the sword, though he seemed largely lost in his own thoughts, thinking it over. She didn’t interrupt him, only beaming with pleasure when he agreed to make it a katana.

“All I saw of Coruscant was the Jedi Temple,” she murmured, detecting his sadness. “Did you like it there? What was your favorite part?”

She mulled over his apology about the vagueness of the package, then tried to lighten the mood yet again. “I’m more worried now that you’re here—” She cut herself off, the rest of what was intended to be a slightly raunchy joke dying before it could leave her mouth. What she had said was not funny, it was the truth.

She remained noticeably silent as she opened the cupboard, giving Nostremous something to eat. The snowmouse seized a bit of dried fruit between his claws and nibbled on it furiously, his nose and whiskers twitching. She turned back to Arcturus, and abruptly felt like she was being torn down the middle, ripped clean in half.

“Arcturus,” she began, her voice ragged with anxiety. Were there really spies listening in on all the rooms at the academy? Surely they would be here, in the suite of Maliphant’s own apprentice. “Please tell me what you and Maliphant talked about. He didn’t… tell you that you should have killed those kids, did he?” The rest of it came in a choked whisper, as if she could barely get the words out.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Yeah?" he was practically brimming with mischief at this point, "Ain't too bad yourself, girl," he assured her, moving to kiss her on the forehead as he did. As much as he was joking around, there was sincerity there all the same. He just wasn't as good at verbalizing how he felt as she was. Or perhaps he was afraid of coming across too strong too fast. They were slowly finding their pace with one another, but this was all still new. And it wasn't as though he had experience with such prior to her. Nope, this was all one big learning experience.​

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Her mention of the Jedi Temple left him curious, but he wasn't sure addressing it right now was the right move. He didn't want to get her in any trouble, if there were eager ears about, one of these days they'd have to take some time away from Korriban. See the stars, and open up about the things they were keeping locked away. His ship was exactly that, his ship, found upon some trash world and fixed up by virtue of credits he'd earned in his youth, doing small tasks for random Sith. They hadn't paid him incredibly well, but they had paid him. After all, Maliphant had made quick work of ensuring those in his circle did not see or treat Thesh as a slave.​

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Regardless of how some in the neighbouring Sith Empire might have seen him.​

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"Yeah, it was a nice change. Difficult to adjust to, though. Busy... Very busy." What was his favourite part? That was hard to say. "Probably the people" he shrugged when he said it though. He didn't want to get too caught up on that. But he'd certainly met some interesting figures.​

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Her attempt at a joke seemed to go right over his head. "Worried now I'm here? Why Ish? What's wrong?" Had he done something wrong? Did she wish he'd never come back to Korriban? He chewed on the inside of his lip as anxiety peeked within him for a moment.​

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Anxiety which only heightened with her next pleading question. She wanted to know what had been said.​

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"No, no Maliphant wouldn't have even had us harm the kids," he assured her, and he knew deep down that that was the truth of it. He hadn't been worried about Maliphant or those directly under his orders harming the kids, more wayward Sith who couldn't control themselves. "That's not the kind of man he is, Ish..."​

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But he knew in a way he was dodging the crux of the question.​

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"He just... I guess expected me to have thought it through more. Given them a true chance to choose for themselves. They didn't make the choice to be raised to be Jedi. That's all."​

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Well that wasn't all, there was more to it now. But that was only because Thesh had set their fate in stone. He'd made that choice for them, and what they became was his cross to bear. His responsibility.​

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She didn't need to know that, though. And he did a very good job of making it seem like what he'd said was all that had been said.​

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"I disappointed him, and that bothers me." he went on to explain, for whatever reason her low opinion of Maliphant seemed to bother him. Well he knew the reason why, but wasn't sure how to explain it. "He raised me, Ish. I was this scrawny, malnourished, timid little child. Barely said two words, and even then only when pushed to. I couldn't even read when I came to him... He's always been good to me, he raised me up, gave me a voice and a purpose and a--" A family. That's what he was, though he'd never said it aloud before.​

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"He didn't make me a slave, Ish. Sure they gave me to him but he broke those chains." He moved away from the kitchenette and the island and stood before his desk, lost in his thoughts for a moment. Then he sighed. "He gave me an opportunity to walk away from all this, when I first came to Korriban. No strings attached. Just the freedom to walk away. I wanted this, I want this. Do you?"​

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There was no judgement in his tone when he asked her, there was no demand for her to answer either. This wasn't a line in the sand, with me or against me moment. Just a sincere question. One they'd been dodging for too long now.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

She closed her eyes as he spoke about Maliphant, as though she were bracing herself. But she listened to what he had to say about the man, and she thought that maybe she understood why he would never see Maliphant as anything other than the one who had raised him up out of bondage. There was no point in trying to villainize him, even if he scared her half to death, for Arcturus he was the closest thing he had to a father. When she opened her eyes again, they were glassy, but no tears flowed.

“I just want you,” she breathed. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Arc. I know that sounds stupid, but it’s true. You’re all I really have here. When you left, it threw everything into flux. If you had never come back, I would’ve left this place and gone and looked for you. Nothing else seemed to matter…”

Nothing else seemed to matter even now. But it was an illusion. Certain things had begun to matter to her even more once he was gone.

“I can’t talk about it here,” she said, referring to the possibility of spies listening in. “I don’t want to talk about anything...”

She grabbed him and kissed him hard, harder than she ever had before. Hard enough that she might have been able to push him back against the island, practically knocking him over, though she didn’t intentionally try to hurt him.

There was something wild and almost animalistic about the way she came at him; it felt very unlike her. She didn’t feel like herself, either. Her hands trembled, not aimlessly wandering but deliberately, trying to remove the barrier of clothing that lay between their bodies. She went for his shirt first, if he would let her remove it, then for his pants. By that point she was shaking so badly she couldn’t even unfasten them, her fingers fumbling and clumsy. In her mind she knew what she was doing, that it was all a rush to claim him somehow, to ensure that he couldn’t be taken from her again. She stopped and bowed her head, hiding her face against his chest.

“Please don’t ask these questions. I don’t want to lose you…”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"You have me," he breathed, turning from the desk to look at her from across the room. She wasn't looking at him though, she'd retreated into herself and that was okay too. It was difficult sometimes to properly express how one was feeling, and it had the potential to feel very vulnerable to do so. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise... But I can't be your only reason, Ish."​

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But she didn't want to talk about it. Outright shut down further discussion of it. The air hung heavy between them for that half a second, before the space between them was lost and her lips were on his. There was an urgency now, almost as though the whole world was falling apart and this was their final moment with one another before they were returned to the dust of stars they'd been borne from.​

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He was pushed back into the island, his surprise keeping him from a strong balance, and his shirt was practically torn off. She was trembling something fierce, and even despite the heat of the moment, even as his heart skipped fifty beats and his body shivered with unexpected delight, he reached out and snagged her wrists before she could finish what she'd started.​

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"Ish" he groaned, though she had already begun to stop of her own volition. Her head found its way to settle upon his chest. "It's okay... It's okay, Ish." He couldn't claim to fully understand what was going on in her head in that moment, what had pushed her to such a wild state, but he didn't need to understand it. He released her wrists, and fully embraced her.​

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Part of him wondered if there even was a way to reassure her at this point. She seemed so certain that things were going to fall apart, at least that was how it felt to him. How it came across.​

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"You're not going to lose me, Ishani. You don't have to try and rush to find a way to keep me here, you don't have to hide things you think I wouldn't want to hear. I get it if you worry about being overheard, truly I do... But if it's for any reason other than that, then please... You can trust me, Ish."​

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He sighed a heavy, concerned sigh, and buried his face into her hair. Though gentle, he held her tightly against his chest and tried to impart what he could through that to help ease her. A true Arcturus Thesh bear-hug. That's what it was.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Skin to skin contact when he embraced her. He was warm, and she could feel his heart beating fast, the hitch in his voice when he groaned her name. For several moments she simply dwelled there, not wanting to be bothered, never wanting to leave this place of comfort.

He was talking, trying to reassure her, his confusion apparent. Her behavior probably made no sense to him. She clung to every word, but it all seemed so distant, like a dreamy haze had slid over the world around them. For him, though, she deigned to answer.

“I do trust you,” she said, pressing her lips to that quickened heartbeat. They couldn’t go back now, could they? The moment was too far gone. “The last time I was in your room, Alina warned me. There might be spies listening in, watching. If I tell you everything… I don’t want to get in trouble. So unless you know for certain that Maliphant respects your privacy… I don’t really want to sleep with you in here either, if there’s a chance someone is listening.” Bit hypocritical to say that now, moments after she had tried to rip his clothes off, but better late than never.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"I understand," came his whispered reply; were any of them truly alone in a place like this? Were any of them without prying eyes and eavesdroppers? It was easy to pretend no one saw or heard anything, easy to pretend that they were alone in a room like this, but would that ever truly be the case?​

​

A soft sigh soon followed.​

​

"What am I going to do with you?" he inquired, as he ran a hand up through her hair and continued to hold her close. All thoughts of swords and imbuement were cast aside, and for a time he simply stood there with her, existed alongside her, without anything else necessary to take up their time. It felt as though some of the tension which had built up in the air between them since they'd first set eyes on one another again on Ossus had begun to break, but it lingered still. Likely would until they had the time to truly be alone.​

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When would that be though?​

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"Do you have anything you need to do tomorrow?" His tone was thoughtful as he asked the question. Time might not intrinsically be afforded to the, but that didn't mean he couldn't demand some of it all the same. Classes could be ignored for a day, surely. Besides, they had a big project to work on. A Katana wasn't going to plan and make itself, right?​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"What am I going to do with you?"

Taking a break from kissing his bare chest, she looked up at him and gave him a small hopeful smile. “Fun stuff?”

All joking aside, she knew what he meant. She was a mess. If he still thought he was the awkward one, this little incident had likely given him a confidence boost. At least he wasn’t that bad off.

“Nothing to do tomorrow,” she replied. What was keeping them from talking now? “Your ship isn’t wired, is it? Neither is mine… we could talk there.”

Actually, they didn’t even necessarily need to talk. Didn’t they both have telepathy? Unless the Worm’s spies could hear stray thoughts as well… ugh, it all seemed so overcomplicated. Maybe she was being paranoid and foolish. She just wished that she knew all the rules of the game...

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

A small smile was afforded to her in response to her quip, but it didn't fully ease the situation. It was a front, and they both knew it. He cupped her cheek and lifted her head just a touch more when she peeked up at him, leaning down to press his lips to her forehead. His eyes met hers soon after, and he caught her in his gaze.​

​

"My ship's clear," he assured her, and he knew it to be so because if it hadn't been then Maliphant's men would have found him long before he returned to Korriban of his own volition. There was no way he'd let his Apprentice go gallivanting off to Coruscant with a Jedi if he'd been aware of such. With a reluctant sigh he released her from his embrace, suddenly feeling rather cold and exposed, and moved to gather up a few things. His shirt, for one, was returned to his body, then he grabbed his satchel, and threw a couple of other things into it.​

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A light whistle brought Nostremous back toward him, traveling up his leg and into one of his pockets when he put his jacket on. Then he closed the notebook he'd been planning the katana out in, and extended a hand to Ish.​

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"Come on, Leviathan awaits..." He supposed they could have taken Beholder, but that was definitely more of a one-man deal. Leviathan had far more amenities. If they were only going to have one night of calm, away from the Academy, might as well enjoy it in comfort no?​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

She stood there shifting her weight from foot to foot impatiently as she watched him put his clothes back on and gather his things, then took his hand and followed him out. Already she was beginning to feel relieved, though it was mixed with slight dread. She’d have to talk now, but at least it seemed like they were finally making progress towards something.

At this point, she’d been in Leviathan before, though the novelty of the gyroscopic spinning tail had yet to wear off. It was still for the moment, since the engine wasn’t running. Everything was quiet as they boarded, the lights flicking on.

She stopped in her tracks, looking around the ship. Was this it? Were they well and truly alone together?

As he guided her further inside, something inside her seemed to break free like water through a breached dam. She turned to Arcturus. “I—I’ll tell you everything,” she blurted. “Anything you want to know. I don’t even know where to start… with the worst of it?”

It came tumbling out of her.

“While you were gone, the one time I did something that had nothing to do with trying to find you, I saved a bunch of kids. They had been kidnapped by slavers and taken to my homeworld. Nobody seemed to care, so I hired a mercenary who was willing to help me for cheap. We killed all the slavers and saved the kids, and I was supposed to bring them back to Korriban, but…”

She winced.

“He was a Jedi masquerading as a mercenary. When he found out where we were headed, he tried to stop me. He had been injured during the fight with the slavers, and I should have just left him there, but I didn’t. I healed him. We went to Coruscant together to look for you. I couldn’t find you, so I went back to Korriban… and I left the kids there with him.”

She conveniently left out the part where the Jedi had tried to seduce her, and she had very nearly succumbed. Arcturus didn’t necessarily need to hear that part. Stupid sexy Dagon Kaze and his manslut antics were irrelevant.

“So you see… that’s why I wish you had never come back.” She seemed a bit breathless, almost like she was hyperventilating. “Because now I’m like you were before you returned. I wish I had found you and we had both stayed lost together. But now you're here to stay, and I still want to leave, but not without you, and everything just... sucks!”

Arcturus Dinn​