Clandestine Missions with Hipsters and Sith

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Spark had seen war. Seen the cruelties of battle. But that didn't stop the shocked expression from eclipsing her face. Or the charred flesh smell from threatening to make anything in her stomach come up. Thank the stars she hadn't eaten that nerf burger before bed.

Her logical mind grasped for his logical words. Bacta. Moving. Vocal inflections of a joke she couldn't quite get from the sudden rushing sound in her ears. Too many emotions today for such an unemotional person.

#wipedout #needssleep #introverttime

She was frozen. In shock. Head nodded in response to Cameron long after he stopped taking.

"I don't think I can move," she finally whispered. Her bare-foot and tattered pj-wearing-form teetered. Swayed. Gravity suddenly felt a lot heavier.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron didn't hear [member="Spark Finn"]'s whispered confession of fall-out from the fight that had just occurred. For Cameron, interactions such as those were all too commonplace. Still, in less than five minutes, the Sith Lord emerged dressed in a simple pair of black slacks and a loose-fitting, long-sleeve gray shirt. Silver-green eyes searched the room for Spark, intent on spurning her sense of urgency.

However, when he noticed her lethargically attempting to cross the room, he felt a tickling sensation at the heart of his mind. It was the presence of Esmae, no doubt, softly pushing for her husband to help the individual in need. It wasn't like a foreign entity was attempting to control him. Instead, it was a very real part of his soul, ushering him to offer at least a modicum of compassion.

Ignoring whether or not Spark wanted help, Cameron surged forward and gently scooped her into his arms. No words were offered as an explanation for his actions as he turned to walk back towards the bedroom. The Sith Lord's only intent was to deposit the woman on the bed long enough for him to finish gathering and loading their things. There would be no time for expensive, leased transport. Cameron had every intention of stealing a speeder from the lot.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

And then he was there. Scooping her up. #lightweight Some part of her brain finally snapped into focus, finally registered the present. Thin-arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders. NOT in a seductive way. In a clinging-life-line sort of way. The most ironic thing? She felt safe with Cameron. The man who just heaved a wookie in two. The man who just deep-fried a trandoshan more than some fried-nuna nuggets at McYodas.

Maybe she felt safe because they shared an ounce or more of kindred spirit. But most likely it was because he was married. #dudewouldn'ttryanything

Fingers clenched tightly around the back of his neck. Face buried in the gray-shoulder of his shirt. She felt his muscles loosen. He was going to let her go. Fingers trembled. She needed a moment. Just a moment more wrapped in stronger arms than she could ever hope to have.

"Wait," she breathed into his shirt. As if she could burrow deeper and disappear for awhile. Make memories disappear.

He was just lucky she wasn't about to start up an ugly cry or a cry at all. #notacrier #wouldruinhisshirt

 

[Cameron Centurion]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Cameron didn't immediately think anything of Spark wrapping her arms around his neck. It no doubt made the transport more comfortable for her.

Feeling the straining of her fingers, Cameron cast his gaze down at her tangled weave of hair.

"Wait."

Cameron froze near the edge of the bed. This scene had played out in his life before. Was Spark going to randomly raise her head and try to kiss him? Was she going to go on some long monologue about her true feelings?

This level of intimate contact was definitely not familiar to the Sith Lord. Being this way with Esmae was one thing... Being this way with a quirky kid that he honestly thought had some virtual, computer-boyfriend thing she created...was entirely another matter.

Lifting his gaze, Cameron stared at the wall and just...remained motionless. His expression clearly indicated that their tactical situation did not afford a time-out for...cuddling.

"I uhh..." This had been much easier with Esmae. "We really need to go, Spark."

Because if they got attacked again, he couldn't afford for his body to be found cradling the form of some other woman. And stuff.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Thank the stars Cam was like a dark uncle to her...or older, OLDER brother? Yeah, something like that. Because while he may have been uncomfortable during the hug/cuddle, she for once, didn't feel awkward at all. And THAT was saying a lot for the awkward gangly-limbed technopath.

"I know." Arms loosened and head pulled back. She slipped down from his arms. #gladhehadashirton "Thank you." Gravity was a little easier now. She quickly pushed her meager belongings into a satchel, including her data gear. Slipping into the refresher, she changed into skinny jeans, her converse, and a non-singed and ripped shirt.

#hipster #duh

Arm was still burned. She'd have to get bacta on the way. The refresher door whooshed open again, hopefully to NOT find Cameron still staring like a statue at the far wall. #awkwardCam

"Ready."

Fingers came up to adjust the black-rimmed glasses on her freckled nose.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron stared after the woman as she seemingly encountered a second wind. When she disappeared into the refresher, the Corstris native merely shook his head and went about gathering his own things. By the time [member="Spark Finn"] had emerged, Cameron was sitting at the edge of the bed, rolling garment bag at his feet.

"Ready."

A subtle nod indicated the Sith Lord's understanding. There was no way the entire hotel hadn't heard what had happened by now. In fact, Cameron was surprised no other hotel guests or security had showed up yet. No reason to chance running into them during the getaway, however. Motioning Spark to follow him over to the balcony that was attached to the master bedroom, Cameron slid open the glass door before stepping out on the balcony. Looking down at the ground level from the twenty-third floor, the Sith Lord confirmed the surface lot for speeders did wrap around the side of the large structure.

Lifting his gaze, Cameron noted no lights seemed to have been turned on in the nearest building. The trandoshan's body was still laying in the parking lot, miraculously having missed damaging any speeders and thereby potentially setting off alarm systems. Turning his head back towards Spark, he motioned for her to approach. "Hold on to me. Tightly."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

The blonde-technopath followed the sith lord onto the balcony not really registering what he wanted to do until he spoke. #buttheotherwayisbackthere Blue-eyes widened beneath glass lenses. Hand tightened around the single strap of her bag around the curve of her non-burned shoulder.

Head started shaking in the negative before words came out of her thin-lips.

#NOnonoNOnononono

They were 23 floors up!!!!!!!!! Was Cameron in league with Rekha Kaarde? That woman had almost made her get on some flying animal in Cloud City. #madness Spark did NOT do heights.

#notvoluntarily

Head continued to shake. Converse-clad feet involuntarily took a step back, her bony-butt bumping into the half open sliding glass doors behind her. "Uh-oh. Nonono. No."

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron barely finished rolling his eyes before he outstretched his left hand. Seizing the energy of the Force surrounding [member="Spark Finn"]'s body, the Sith Lord abruptly pulled her towards him. Just before her body cemented against his own, the dark-skinned force user tossed his own bag over the edge of the balcony.

The second Spark's nimble body made contact with Cameron's larger upper torso, he wrapped a powerful arm around her waist and hauled them both over the railing of the balcony. Utilizing his left hand to manipulate the Force enough to keep them from spiraling out of control on the way down, Cameron's gaze and attentions were centered around his bag and keeping both of them not-dead. You know. Despite whatever Spark was doing in protest.

With a little less than five stories until the ground, Cameron arrested the motion of his bag a mere foot or two above the ground. Once the item had stabilized, he released his concentration on the item and focused completely on the combined body weight of Spark and himself. Gradually, the Force began to bleed off their speed until they were roughly ten feet over the ground and reorienting with their feet underneath them. In another second or two, Cameron's feet touched the ground and gently lowered Spark to the ground before releasing her waist.

Wasting no time, the Corstris native collected his bag and wheeled it over to a suitable speeder nearby. It wasn't exactly super classy, but it would fit the bill. After tossing his bag into the back, the Sith Lord hopped into the driver seat and began removing panels to hot-wire the speeder.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

"Wha-eeEEEEpOOOoomph!" Series of explanations left her mouth as an invisible force snapped her to Cameron #rockhardabs and then she was tumbling 23 FRICKEN STORIES DOWN to the pavement. Eyes squeezed closed. The rest of her was frozen in fear. She didn't even wrap her arms around him. Just as quickly, it was over.

Converse-clad feet stumbled slightly on the pavement of solid ground.

The rushing of air was over. Hand pushed back tangled wayward strands of blonde-hair. "HEY." She heaved and stumbled toward him. "That was NOT okay."

ohstarsohstarsohstarsohstars

Neck tilted back to look at where they just jumped from.

#don'tlook

Gray-blue eyes focused back on the man that was like her older, OLDER brother. #annoyingbrother

Pale-digits extended toward the circuitry of the speeder. "Let me." Instantly, the speeder purred to life. Dropping her bag in the back, she hopped over the passenger door. Hands were trembling, adrenaline still coursing through her thin-form from the fight and the fall. She tucked them under her legs, wincing at the tug of pain in her arm.

"I need some bacta," she mumbled numbly, blue-eyes staring straight ahead.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron shot [member="Spark Finn"] a brief sideways glance. "Umm..." Slowly, a thin smile slipped across the Sith Lord's features as he shifted his gaze forward and placed the speeder into gear. "...showing off is, obviously, my thing." The jest was obviously in relation to the technopath's deft manipulation of the circuitry in the speeder.

For a moment, Cameron shifted his gaze to the woman's damaged shoulder. "Hang on." Immediately, the Sith Lord applied full thrust to the repulsors, causing the speeder to shoot straight into the air. As he did so, Cameron manipulated the controls to reorient the speeder in the direction they needed to travel. A couple seconds later and the speeder was darting off into the moderately busy sky lanes, teeming with commuters despite the hour.

In a matter of minutes, they had arrived at the ascension tunnel utilized to transfer from the lower levels of Coruscant to the upper, definitively more affluent areas. He'd accepted the cloak and dagger approach, but as it obviously hadn't helped in the slightest, they were switching to the obvious play. A part of the Sith Lord was aware this could present possible issues were he in a...traditional relationship. However, he trust Amorella to the know the difference between real and staged. No matter how well the Sith...played his part when necessary.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Corners of her thin-lips curved into a ghost of a smile at his jest. But the smile turned into a grimace as they shot skyward. His flying reminded her of the man with the blue-eyes. A small squeak left her throat.

That didn't mean she liked it.

Gangly-limbed form jostled inside the speeder as the wind whipped around her blonde-haired head.

One arm wrapped around her stomach. "Ugggh, next time I'm driving." Blue-eyes watered beneath glass lenses. "We're going up? Aren't there just more powerful sith on those levels?" Eyes darted around as if she expected another group to drop from the sky in an attack.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron had no reaction to [member="Spark Finn"]'s rather animated display as the speeder rocketed towards the upper levels of Coruscant. "You're never driving," Cameron casually intoned as he banked the speeder sharply to the right to join a new skylane that would arc out towards their destination.

"There are powerful Sith everywhere, Spark, it's Coruscant. However, whereas they may be all too excited to get their hands on you, ignoring the nameless accompaniment in your hotel room, they would not dare to be so bold at our next location."

Another sharp bank accompanied by rapid acceleration another ten levels. By the time the speeder had leveled out, Cameron's silver-green gaze laid on the building that housed an apartment he'd maintained on Coruscant since roughly a year or so ago during his time as a member of the One Sith. Smoothly, the Sith Lord piloted the speeder to the edge of the expansive veranda. The veranda itself was illuminated by only a modicum of lights.

Withdrawing a datapad, the Sith Lord entered a brief code to deactivate the security protocols before he turned to face Spark, motioning to the veranda with his right hand. "We'll be perfectly fine here. Head in and make yourself comfortable, I'm going to get rid of this thing."

No sooner had the words left his lips than Cameron began entering in a series of coordinates into the onboard navigational computer.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Wary-gaze flitted to the apartment. The slicer deduced Cameron's clues. "Oh. So this is your place!" Pale-digits fumbled with the speeder door. Tired limbs hopped onto the veranda. She stayed quiet about him deactivating security protocols. She could've turned them off with a thought. But since he was trusting her at his place. Unsupervised. She thought it best to keep quiet.

"I can wipe the speeder for you. So they can't track it's locator tech. But it would probably be wise to ditch the whole thing."

She certainly couldn't alter its physical appearance. Well, forever. She stifled a yawn. It had been a long night which would make it an even longer day. Blue-eyes narrowed, her mind weaving through the speeder's tech. With a blink, it was done.

"You're all clear. At least. To ditch it."

Shifting her injured arm carefully, she turned to go inside. Doors opened and warm lights turned on at the technopath's mental command. Where was she headed?

To the fridge, of course.

The skinny girl needed a snack. And some fizzy-soda. Something salty. And something sweet.

#allthethings #nomnom #therebetterbefood

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron glanced at [member="Spark Finn"] out the corner of his eye as she exclaimed the residence belonged to the Sith Lord. She was correct, of course. That said, Cameron did not frequent the apartment very often. Though he never made mention of his personal wealth, it sufficed to say that most of his holdings had followed him over the years. The acquisition and subsequent sale of many corporations during his more...discreet years had yielded substantial profit which he had then proceeded to invest.

And manipulate said investment markets...

In summary, the residence was maintained by a paid service, but it was hardly stocked for company. After Spark had gone about wiping the navigational data, Cameron merely smirked. She would discover the reality soon enough, but the Sith Lord was long gone by the time she could have noticed.

-----
Ten Minutes Later

The air in the expansive living room became exceedingly warm just before a moderate crack was heard to the visual cue of wispy blue lines rushing in from the veranda. The lines of light eventually gave way to the physical manifestation of Cameron's body as he cracked his neck from side to side.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Fingers tugged at the collar of her shirt, wondering if she was starting to get a fever from infection. Spoon dipped into a bowl of cereal she helped herself to. It was dry. There was no good milk in the apartment. #Ineedalmondmilk

A glass of water sat on the counter next to her food. She perched haphazardly on a bar-stool. Munching. When the Sith Lord decided to pop-in.

#literally

Elbow jammed back in surprise, sending the full glass of water off the counter toward the floor. Her center of gravity wavered and she felt herself begin to tip off the stool to follow with the water. She yelped, a spoonful of cereal flying toward Cameron as she fell backwards.

"Cameron!" Her tone was more accusatory than a plea for help.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Silver-green eyes immediately snapped to the direction of the disturbance. Before [member="Spark Finn"] really even had much a chance to shriek his name, a thin smile etched its ways into his features. Raising both his left and right hands slightly, the Sith Lord arrested the motion of the glass and the cereal, leaving Spark to whatever fate was about to befall her.

Cameron mostly didn't want cereal being ground into his carpet just because the girl was so easily spooked. The water...not so much an issue, but what if the glass managed to break? Have you tried getting glass out of carpet?

Settling both the items he'd rescued back on top of the bar, the Sith Lord slowly advanced towards Spark with a chuckle. "Kid you've got to be the least graceful person I know. Didn't your parents ever make you take ballet or something?"

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Glasses sat lopsided across her nose. At least it was carpet and not tile. Otherwise #ouch. Blue-eyes glared at Cameron from her sprawled-out position on the floor. Glasses were adjusted.

"Sith Lords don't usually pop out of thin air around me. Much less when I was growing up." Plus her one parent that she knew of never wanted her blah-blah-blah. #notimeforstorieswithsith

Grimacing, she picked herself back up, looking at the cereal and glass. "Glad you managed to save the important things." A snort left her freckled-nose. "What in the data widgets did you just do?"

She knew about the Aing-Ti monks and all that jazz but was that it? #teleportingsithlords #saveusall Plus, wasn't that white current? Had to be something else.

"Also. Did you pick up some bacta patches while you were out, dear?"

#gettingintocharacter

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron's expression neutralized as a single eyebrow piqued in curiosity at [member="Spark Finn"]'s rapid-fire statements. "Lucky for you then that I am here to expand all of your horizons, Spark." A smile threatened to crack the otherwise blank veneer of Cameron's face.

Motioning to the state of the apartment, the Sith Lord flashed his associate a look that suggested the reasoning behind his actions was obvious. "I mean do you see how clean this place is? I can't have you destroy that in the first ten minutes of your visit." Then...they got to the meat of it all. "It's rather technical and while I'm quite certain you can understand..."

Abruptly, Cameron began making his way towards a closet in the hallway. "...I find it to be quite boring subject matter." It was a very gentle method of saying he wasn't going to convey the secret of what he'd studied at great length during the Crusade's dominion over the Aing-Tii.

Reaching into the closet, the Sith Lord returned to Spark with a couple bacta patches just as she'd finished asking. Flashing her a smile, Cameron dropped them casually into her lap as he circled around behind her. For a moment his hands rested on her shoulders, giving them a firm knead with his large hands. "Ask and you shall receive, love." Cameron's hands dropped almost immediately as he made his way over to one of the large sofas and collapsed back into the comfortable cushions.

Outstretching his right hand, he called the scabbard of his weapon to him from the veranda where his things still resided.

Much better.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

Pale-cheeks flashed a quick-red when he touched her shoulders. Touch with anyone was iffy at best. Some women...okay....maybe a lot of women could be wicked and pull it off. Spark, no way. Yeah, she was gonna fail at this mission. Not the tech-part. The pretending relationship part. With a married man no less!

#doomed

"Thanks," she squeaked, and coughed, trying to disguise her nerves.

She gently placed the bacta patch across her arm, wincing once. Head shook as his weapon flew into his hands. "Show-off." She yawned again. "I'm gonna make some caf. We're gonna need it." According to the chrono on the wall there wouldn't be time for some solid sleep. "Any tips before we...you know...do this thing?"

A blush spread across her face again as soon as the words tumbled from her mouth.

"I mean. You know what I mean." Pushing on her tip-toes, she reached into a cabinet, scrounging around for two mugs.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron hadn't really noticed [member="Spark Finn"]'s emotion with his eyes, but he'd certainly felt the surge of apprehension that drifted through the Force. The evening that was yet to follow would be...interesting indeed. As was the case with most anything in his life, the game of casually stripping away the girl's...sensitivities. The Sith Lord was prepared for that game to extend well beyond this particular assignment.

"Show-off."

The dark-skinned Sith arched a curious brow as he curled the weapon over to rest casually beside him on the couch. Silver-green eyes shifted briefly to the chrono when Spark had mentioned making caf. "Yeah..." Seriously, he was almost never home. Anything that could have been in the residence was stale and disgusting by now, but there definitely was no caf. Cameron didn't drink caf. It was before the Crusade and Amorella that Cameron had really entertained company. The residence was designed to be lavish and inviting in an...evening setting. However, when the sun rose the next day, it was purposefully devoid of the typical morning comforts. This forced whatever company he'd acquired the night before to...you know...gtfo.

"There is no caf here." There was definitely time for sleep...no need to be specifically early or on time. "Yeah I have a tip. You should get some sleep." Four hours at an absolute minimum. Six would be better...but it was also probably pushing it.

Cameron sat up slowly and allowed his eyes to linger over Spark's frame with faux-mischievous glint in his bright gaze. "Unless you just want to...power through it."

Cameron was definitely going to sleep though.