Curiosity Killed the Cat

[Kaden Farr]

Haseria | Sierra Blanca​

————————————​

w. [member="Daisy Americus"] ​

Kaden was far from home. Dxun and Manda’yaim had been the only two worlds he’d ever known to call home. Even though his feet walked on other soil, the once dead warrior had never learned to call any of them home. Despite this, Kaden felt at a loss because he could not find the word to use for those planets anymore either. The Netherworld was the only place he could recognize as where he belonged anymore. It was where Selene was. It had been far too long since the sweet smell of rain and jasmine filled his nostrils, she had given him new life, a purpose. He walked all the the living because of her, no longer haunting the tortured soul of a particular woman.

Daisy was owed an explanation.

Booted feet stepped across the threshold of the Sierra Blanco. A couple of the locals had directed him there when he asked about after her. Since returning from the Netherworld, Kaden had seen Daisy twice. Neither time had afforded him the chance to give a proper explanation about what had happened, or why he had “haunted” her. Kaden wasn’t sure he would be able to explain it fully, but perhaps he could share his story at least. For some reason he felt she was owed that much.

His eyes found her working away at whatever task she had found to do, and as he walked to the bar itself, Kaden made a small wave to get her attention. The bartender approached with an inquisitive look, and Kaden pointed to the tap. Maybe he would get something stronger later, but for now he was going to try the house brew. Some said that was always a mistake, but as Kaden approached everything else in his life, why not. He had been to hell twice now. Lifting the glass to his lips he took the first sip and let out a contented sigh after the liquid went down smooth.

“Not bad,” he said to no one in particular and took a second gulp.

He looked over to Daisy wondering if she had seen him, and not wanting to make it awkward he figured he would wait for her to approach him. For all he knew that was going to make things awkward, but when weren’t they between them. The sabaac game had been the only not awkward meeting between them, and Kaden hoped that would be the case again. He didn’t really know why it mattered. The beskar case around his heart was hardened to the point nothing would get through, and yet it seemed Daisy threatened that assumption. This wasn’t just about an explanation for her. Kaden has to know why she seemed to have an effect on him.

 

[Daisy Americus]

It was close to the end of her shift. Normally, she worked till the moon rose and the bantha ran home, but one of the new fellas wanted some extra hours. Daisy made plenty from her work with the Confederacy—But this was home. It was therapy, being around gruff, dirty, no-nonsense warriors that didn’t really care about politeness or politics. They just wanted to drink their cares away. Maybe meet a nice girl that could make them happy for the night and a decent half-bed and or bench to sleep on.

There was a fighting ring outside the Sierra Blanca that was always full, night or day, and the sounds of cheering and fist fists were…Comforting. “Hot dang. Maybe ah do need counseling…”, she mumbled to herself while using a clean rag to wipe down a now empty table. It wasn’t well known, but they used a lemony substance to spray down the tables to disinfect them. Most Mandalorian bars didn’t bother but the owner liked things kept as clean as possible. With all the blood stains on the hardwood? It wasn’t a perfect system—But they tried.

“Almost heaven, Haseria…Big Mountains, Blue River…Life is old there. Older than the trees.”, she sang lightly with the jukebox, having heard this song time and time again, since the started getting customers from a few towns over. “Younger than the mountains, blowin’ like a breeze.”

“Country roads, take me home. To the place ah belong…Oh Haseria. Mountain mama. Take me home…”

She paused when she felt eyes. It wasn’t unusual. The golden-haired woman was wearing a rose-pink T-Shirt that was tied with a knot in the middle of her back, exposing her midriff, with a pair of low-rise skinny denims tucked into a pair of good worn boots. They had a slight heel on the bottom but nothing fancy. She needed to be able to move quick if someone threw a punch.

To her surprise, the person doing the peeping, was none other than her personal poltergeist.

Since [member="Kaden Farr"] had arrived unannounced, while she was on the clock, she finished her tables and tended to refills that the patrons needed before anything else. Once her duties were done, she checked with the owner and clocked out. Everything, done painfully slow. She spent some time peeking out from the back before making the approach. She was all…Ugh. Working in a bar wasn’t bad, but, she felt like she ought to change or fix her hair or something.

She checked her reflection in a thin pane of metal on the wall, took a deep breath, and then walked back out onto the floor. Her features were surprisingly soft, but there was distinct muscle tone visible, both in her arms and stomach. There had to be. Beskar wasn’t for the faint of heart. Her mouth felt dry by the time she made her way over. Daisy felt…Embarrassed. Bashful. A little afraid. “Hi, tyra’de.” [Stranger]

Daisy tried not to wince. How silly could she sound?

Trying not to seem as awkward as she felt she took a seat on a barstool next to the square-jawed not-ghost. He was very corporeal. Very, very. “So…What brings you all the way out here?”

 

[Kaden Farr]

Haseria | Sierra Blanca​

————————————​

w. [member="Daisy Americus"]​

Kaden did not mind having to wait for Daisy to finish her shift. The trip had been impromptu, enough so that he did not expect the blonde was going to drop everything to talk to him. Kaden was many things, but presumptuous was not one of them. Perhaps he had been as a younger mando, before his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped into a million pieces on the ground. His heart was a fragile thing underneath all the beskar he had encased it with over the many years spent in the Netherworld. At one time his ex-wife had blamed herself for his emotional distance, yet there had always been love for her. He only felt for her. Now Kaden lived once more, and in body that was not as broken as the shell he had once been in, and he found himself waiting for another.

He did not know why he was waiting, or what the curiosity with her was. The man himself had not asked to have any kind of feelings for another. As far as he was concerned it was a trap which would lead to more pain and heartbreak, but Daisy seemed different. There was a lack of confidence she seemed to display the way she moved about the room that was there when she was on the battlefield. Kaden chuckled to himself at how different she seemed in this world compared to that. He was certainly different himself. In his armor, Kaden was reckless, but out of it, Kaden knew how fragile he was. There was never any concern about death, not for him anymore. Kaden knew the afterlife intimately and no longer feared it.

When she finally sat down, Kaden had half the mug of beer empty, and motioned for the bartender to get Daisy something. "You're off now yeah," he asked as his eyes looked over just how different she looked out of her armor than in it. This was even different than the dress she wore the night he taught her to play cards. His lips pulled into a smile when she called him stanger. He certainly wasn't that, which was what made the greeting funny.

Kaden had to admit she was pretty, but that wasn't the most important thing to him. He was here to give her the explanation she deserved, and make her aware of his story. The battle scarred mando had no idea why it was important for him to tell her his past, but they shared some kind of connection. Kaden had spent months reaching out to her, and she deserved as much of the truth as she could stomach. His eyes locked with hers as he offered a friendly smile.

"You do," he said with the grin still stuck on his face. "I figured I would finally give you that explanation I owe you about everything that happened there for awhile... if you wanted it anyway. If not, then I came here to have some drinks with you, or likely both."

Kaden had no game at all.

 

[Daisy Americus]

“Ah am...”, Daisy replied softly, though, her voice carried smoothly over the music from the juke box. She had seen him with his helmet on. She had seen him with his helmet off. She had seen him while they played a game of cards on a cruise ship. He always looked just a little different to her. Every time she saw him, she noticed a new scar, a new tone, a new scuff on his beskar—A new story. He’d been a ghost. In her mind, that meant, that he’d died. On some level it frightened her, even if, she didn’t readily want to admit it.

Hazel eyes, tossed with shades of blue, green, and gold swept the lightly sticky floor. They did their best to mop up every night, but still, the wooden slats held an overtone of old booze and other unsavory liquids. She focused on the grain she could see beneath the muck. He was grinning. Smiling. As if he was just another charming boy nursing a pint of ale. She could feel it, just like she could feel the sun, or a cool breeze. “You didn’t need to call all this way to explain…”

“It’s not like ah’d understand much anyway.”

Daisy didn’t have a very high opinion of herself when it came to issues related to the Force. It was voodoo hocus pocus that got people a parasite in their backs, a collar ‘round their necks, exile, or eradication. It was the kiss of death and she’d contracted it. Along with a good number of their family. Slowly, she raised her hand, and the bartender brought her a drink. It was a mix of a few things, but, mostly tihaar that burned when it went down. It was in a short glass and was made from the apple orchards that had recently started producing.

It could degrease an engine, sure, but over ice made it tolerable. Daisy didn’t seem to mind. She wasn’t used to fancy things and booze she couldn’t spell from distant worlds. Everyone in the Sierra Blanca knew that tihaar was her favorite. Now, wouldn’t be any different.

“If you want to go over things ah won’t stop you. Ah’ve just never been that apt to graspin’ Forcie Magic. Mostly…Mostly ah just ignore it.”

That—She sure did. Her best friends [member="Scherezade deWinter"] and [member="Madalena Antares"] had offered time and time again to show her the ropes, to teach her, but Daisy shied away from it. There was a stigma she couldn’t forget. Slender fingers reached up and brushed long lengths of waving golden hair behind her ear while she tried to settle on the stool. Kaden made her feel…Something. Sometimes, unsettled. Sometimes, safe. Sometimes…She didn’t even know. All of the emotion that was rolling around in her tummy was just…Too much to explain. “…Is it true?”

She blurted the words out unthinkingly. It wasn’t the most elegant way to ask, but, it was something that she’d wondered about for a long time. Her honest heart didn’t let her beat around the bush sometimes so there were quite a few occasions that she didn’t even bother trying. Realizing that Kaden wasn’t in her head, and that the question wouldn’t make sense, her cheeks began to burn a little and she looked down at her drink.

“What ah mean is…Is it true? Did you…”, Daisy paused, bringing her drink to her lips so that she could hide her embarrassment in the rim. She breathed, exhaling slowly. “Did you die?”

If so—What happened? Shouldn’t the Manda have taken him away?

[member="Kaden Farr"]

 

[Kaden Farr]

Haseria | Sierra Blanca​

————————————​

w. [member="Daisy Americus"]​

​

Kaden nodded at the answer to her question. If she was off it meant they could just take their time and have a normal conversation, as normal a conversation a former ghost and the hot girl he accidently haunted could have. That sentence was never going to be repeated or spoken out loud. It was odd just thinking about it, but that was why Kaden was there. Part of him hoped that talking to her would make it less weird, and part of him could not help but want to be around her. She very different. In her armor she was... she was as mando'ad as they came. Outside of it she was just an ordinary country girl, even down to her choice of drink. Kaden liked it.

"Better bring the bottle, another shot glass, and some water," Kaden said before the bartender could walk off.

Tihaar. Kaden had not had any since his time spent with Alkor Centaris, and before that the last time it touched his lips was before his death. There were memories associated with the first time it hit his lips, memories that were no longer as happy as they once had been. They only served to remind him of the woman he had lost, and the witch she had become. The Yasha that had gotten drunk at 16 and gotten into a massive brawl with him was not the same Yasha that sent him to his grave. Daisy was more laid back, nowhere near as intense. All the things that had attracted a younger Kaden to Yasha, Daisy was not, and he liked that. Even the way she seemed bashful at the way he took the effort to come talk to her made his smile seem to grow.

"Yes, I did. And I didn't come here to explain the bits you won't understand. I can't even explain that," Kaden poured himself a shot of tihaar and knocked it back with ease. The clear liquid burned on the way down, but his face did not show it. He was a true stoic when it came to pain and discomfort. "So, don't worry about that..."

Kaden understood her apprehension to the force. Ever since he returned from the Netherworld Kaden had an unusually strong affinity with the force. There was no rational behind it, just that it simply was. A curt nod was all he needed to say about that matter. He did not disagree with her in the slightest. It was her question about the truth of his otherworldly existence and how he got there which came as the shock. Kaden did not expect Daisy to be so straightforward with him on that. Her cheeks went pink with a blush, and Kaden simply nodded. If Daisy was not going to beat around the bush, then he was not going to either.

"Yes, I died."

That warranted another shot.

"To make a long story short, my body was broken, severely, at the Red Coronation, which led to other complications later. When my ex-wife told me she no longer loved me, took my daughter out of my arms, my heart was too weak. Apparently the stress of all those emotions at once caused my heart fail, or break... whatever. That's how it happened, and because I had been to the Netherworld before through the gate on Dathomir, I went back when I died. The next time I die... that is where I will go again. My spirit is attached to that place now."

Kaden shrugged, that also needed another shot.

"You know the rest from there."

 

[Daisy Americus]

“If you’re bringing the bottle might could you not forget some ice?”

Daisy flashed the bartender a pretty smile, winsome, and soft. It was an expression that could melt better men in moments. The sandy-haired man didn’t stand a chance. Pearly white teeth flashed briefly while she took another slow sip, pretending, not to notice how Kaden seemed to get lost in his thoughts for a moment. “If ya’ please, vod.”

The young woman had no way of knowing the memories that flared for Mr. Ghost at the taste of her favored liquor. It was just her default, the go to, when everything else seemed like it was made for people that were still trying to pay off their secondary education. Daisy was used to simplicity. Her father worked the land and her mother worked in the local clinic. Both were Mandalorian. Both had put down their trades at the call of the Mandalore in the past.

They just weren’t wanted anymore. Not be their people—And not by their Mandalore.

Not unless they wore collars like dogs.

Knowing your relative value and place in the galaxy allowed for a humble upbringing. Decent. Honor could be obtained with seclusion, hard work, defending their own, and carrying on their traditions.

Kaden mentioned that he hadn’t to come what she didn’t understand and the young woman swallowed a rather unladylike snort. “Ah think you’re overestimating how much I understand about the Force... Ah don’t know my shebs from my elbow.”

Daisy remained quiet while Kaden took his shot. At least that, for the most part, he took like a Mandalorian versus an incorporeal spirit. When he admitted that he actually had died she didn’t know what to say. It made her strange, made her soul feel numb, because there was somewhere else to go other than the Manda. She had grown up knowing that to be one of the truest things. Unless, they were cast out. Dar’manda. Technically, her whole clan had been cast out. Where would they go in the afterlife? Would she go to the Netherworld too?

He drank again. She listened. Everyone knew about the Red Coronation. Many had been injured. Hearing that his wife, essentially, had betrayed him and in the same breath took his child? Daisy looked away. It was a cruel thing to do. Too much, for the golden-haired woman to bear, while looking at his profile. That kind of hurt didn’t go away. Mandalorians just buried it, cared for it, until it became something new. Revenge. Vengeance. Hate. “…You…died of a broken heart…?”

Daisy didn’t know how else to phrase what he had spoken. That was the only way she knew to make sense of it. She knew that stress could cause irreparable damage, but truly, could one really lose the will to live in such a way?

“Ah’m sorry, Kaden. No one deserves that.”

What else could she say? Anything else would just be like salt in an open wound. “At least you’re alive now. What about your child? Could you try and find her now? Would your ex-wife let you see her?”

A youngling shouldn’t be without her father. Not If it could be helped. He seemed to think that she knew the rest from there, but truly, she didn’t. Daisy still didn’t know why she could see him and no one else could during all those long months. It went over her head in a real way. Even though he wasn’t haunting her anymore, it seemed that lately, he was always there. “Do you still…Can you feel me through that signature thing? Even now?”

Daisy…Didn’t have words for it. She just didn’t. She tripped over herself, it was inelegant, but it was honest.

[member="Kaden Farr"]

 

[Kaden Farr]

Haseria | Sierra Blanca​

————————————​

w. [member="Daisy Americus"]​

​

​

Kaden was a bit indecisive on how much to tell Daisy and when, but now that she had opened up the can of worms that was pre-death relational drama what choice did he have? He could dance around the issue of who his ex was exactly, but Daisy was going to find out from him or from someone else. It was always going to be better coming from him, especially if his intentions toward Daisy were beyond those of friendship. Kaden had not figured that part out yet, but he desperately wanted to know if this was going to go anywhere. He like Daisy, a lot, but also was cautious about another relationship because of his own last hurt. Kaden knew that pain wasn’t caused most by the ones allowed the closest, and Yasha had been allowed closer than anyone.

His head nodded in response to her question. “I suppose that is exactly what happened,” he answered knowing he spoke never remember the exact medical term for it. “And if I can avoid Yasha for now, that is the best. I’m going to kill her if I see her again. With all she allowed to happen to our daughter... carrying on an affair with Kaine Australis while I was missing... the Mand’alor’sactions against the Mando’ade are no where near as grave her sins against me.”

It was very personal for Kaden, and he knew he all but good Daisy Yasha Cadera was his ex-wife in that sentence. There wasn’t the matter of her other question. Could he still feel her through the force? Was the bond still there?

Again, Kaden nodded.

He didn't know how to explain it. The bond was simply there and had been since the day he searched for a beacon into the real world. Daisy has been that beacon, something she hadn’t asked for. Kaden wasn’t truly sorry for everything she went through. Had he known how to tell her to help he would have. In the end Selene had been the one to free him, and her power had left him full of the force, something he’d never touched before. The Netherworld has changed Kaden in many ways, but this had been his own cross.

“I can. When I was looking for a way back into this world, you were like this homing beacon. It is the only way I know to explain it. So I matched onto that beacon, to you. That’s when I could see you, talk to you, but I didn’t know how to tell you what was happening. I’ve been able to know when you’re near ever since. You don’t have to worry, my plan isn’t to haunt you in this life either. I promise I’ll only be around as often as you want me to be.”

Kaden refilled Daisy’s shot glass and then to his own.

“The Force is a tricky thing I don’t understand. I was never able to use until this last time in the Netherworld. It changes you, and it made is so I can never go back to my home even if I wanted to. Could you imagine the Mand’alor’s deceased husband turning out to be alive even though he was confirmed dead by several, and Force Sensitive to boot? That would a a show to watch certainly.”

 

[Daisy Americus]

Kaden confirmed the nature of his passing and the golden-haired Americus could only glance down at the drink she held between her hands. She didn’t understand, not really, but a love that was strong enough to break him? To grind his will to live into finely powdered dust? To leave him a husk that couldn’t live on? That was stolen, from the world, from the Manda and entrenched in a hell made of ichor and dark. In a land of tricks, glass, and vanishing light?

The Dreaming Dark was nefarious indeed.

“Can you…could you really…kill her?”

To kill what had once been his life? His family? It was a dark and heavy burden that Daisy could scarcely comprehend. It was one thing to be called soulless, to be considered nothing, for standing up for a principle. It was another thing entirely to commit uxoricide, willingly, and without remorse. Hearing all of the things that his spouse had done caused her breath to catch behind her sternum. She knew to take it with a grain of salt. She could not be the Mandalorian to wear a collar like a dog. She could not be the Mandalorian to have a parasite inserted into her back. She could not be that soldier. For that, she was in exile. But she remembered the Six Actions.

This left her uneasy.

He had a child he had never held. A wife who had fallen into the embrace of another. Who had forsaken him so completely—Daisy felt sadness well for Kaden. She caught the name of Kaine Australis but remained unable to put two and two together. Even the sins against the Mando’ade weren’t enough for her to make the connection. Perhaps, she simply didn’t want to see it. Think it.

Kaden acknowledged that he could still feel her. At least, she wasn’t the only one. Carefully she let go of her glass and wiped her palm on the side of her hip-hugging denims. The glass was cold. The air was hot. Moisture happened. She moved slowly and let her palm hover over his forearm. Daisy could see small hairs rise from his skin, as if charged, and she had the deep desire to know what he felt like.

She pulled her hand away. Inappropriate, seriously. Daisy chastised herself for even thinking about it.

His promise to stay, only as much as she wanted, left her speechless. She couldn’t answer what had immediately popped up in her head. Daisy felt something. She didn’t know if she wanted to see more of him or less. He kept talking while she reflexively grasped her glass again.

It was better to grab that than him.

“Could you imagine the Mand’alor’s deceased husband—”

Aquamarine eyes shot up and stared at Kaden with emotion that remained entirely unstable. Shock. Surprise. Disbelief. “Wait. Run that back? Run that back?”

“You were married to who?”

To the Mand’alor? To Yasha Cadera?

She stood up quickly, as if she’d been struck, and the bartender shot them a concerned glance. If Joe Americus got wind that his daughter was upset by some bucket head in his bar he’d never hear the end of it. Daisy couldn’t make her mouth form words, though she tried, and it showed. Sound wouldn’t come out. Anyone. He could have been married to anyone but her.

Why did it have to be the Infernal?

Her apprehension had suddenly shot through the roof. She didn’t know whether to kick him or run away as fast as her legs could take her. Nothing good could ever come of that.

“Y-You—”, she stumbled, mumbling, before she picked up her tihaar and slammed it back. “Another.”

The bartender obliged.

She took it back without so much as grimace.

“Another.”

[member="Kaden Farr"]

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden wondered at Daisy's question. Could he kill Yasha? Of course he could, and without hesitation. If anyone doubted that they did not understand the the level of hatred and hurt which had replaced any amount of love he could have ever said existed for Yasha. He only felt malice toward her now, and there was no doubt in his mind he would cut her down then next time they met. She had broken him beyond repair, and she would pay.

Cold eyes met with those of the blonde Mandalorian he sat with and curt nod of his head accompanied his answer.

"Yes."

It was a matter of fact answer, without any feeling. Beskar lined his heart, and it came out in tone of his answer. Perhaps there were small cracks, after all he was meeting with the woman he haunted for so long, but when it came to revenge there was only iron encasing his heart. It was the only thing Kaden could do to protect himself from being hurt like that again. As he drew back the ale he was drinking and finished off the glass accompanied by the tihaar they were now drinking.

Eyes dropped as Daisy near touched his arm, and for a moment he believed she would. His stomach knotted inside as the thought of being touched by Daisy was something Kaden realize he would enjoy. At the last possible moment her hand pulled away as Kaden finished what seemed like a massive monologue. Kaden wrapped his hands around the empty mug, though he did not expect Daisy's reaction.

“Wait. Run that back? Run that back?”

Kaden's eyes went wide a bit. He turned toward her again as she asked who he had been married to. The Mand'alor. Kaden nodded. There was no reason to lie about it. Kaden was not there to date the blonde Mandalorian, though the thought of dating her made him happy. For some reason the bond they shared was one he did not want to be without. The idea that this news could be causing a problem with that, or could be an obstacle made him feel a bit of remorse for admitting it.

More Tihaar. In the short time it took her to process, Daisy downed two more shots of Tihaar, which only made her more attractive to the once deceased mando. Kaden pointed to the barkeep and motioned for two shots for himself. He might as well get wasted if she was going to. He did not know what to say. As he looked at the blonde woman words simply were not coming. His mind was blank.

Maybe less time passed than it seemed, but Kaden finally attempted some kind of an answer.

"I was young... too young. A man we both respected pushed us toward marriage... it was our responsibility. Part of the six actions. But in truth, we were never suited, should have never... I don't know. I can't explain it away, but I can promise you there is no love for her in my heart, and with all the suffering she caused I would not hesitate to kill her if we ever met on the battlefield."

Kaden looked at the barkeeper and pointed to the bottle and slapped a few credits on the table to cover the cost of it. He poured another shot for himself and one for Daisy. There wasn't anything that needed to be said as Kaden downed the shot and refilled the glasses once more.

"SO.... yeah.... I guess you know all my secrets now...."

Kaden took another drink and went quiet. His eyes looked ahead hoping Daisy would eventually say something.

[member="Daisy Americus"]