Private Dark Humour Night

[Kai Bamarri]

<No, I mean like—never mind.> Kai had wanted to know if Alina was one of the Sithspawn in the Reef who still harbored loyalties to the Dark Side (especially of the fanatical variety, which could make them… difficult to interact with), but he ultimately decided it wasn’t relevant. Alina wouldn’t be here if she was still cheerfully committing atrocities. They wouldn’t have let her past the doorstep.

After all, vampires couldn’t pass a threshold without being invited first, right?

<Okay good, okay fine.> Pleased to know that she didn’t leave a trail of bodies wherever she went, Kai seemed to relax a little. <You’re probably going to have to keep doing that. I don’t know if anyone here would be willing or able to give you some blood…>

He actually looked around the qabbrat, his gaze flicking from face to face. Arisso was a Technobeast, so he probably didn’t have much blood left. Ridy Motina needed all the blood she could muster. Claudia’s blood was turning into tree sap… Erictho was too small… maybe Petyr, but he was still up on the stage telling jokes… oh, now he was coming down to let somebody else have a turn.

Kai pointed to Petyr, who resumed his seat, grinning like an idiot after having made so many people laugh. <Maybe him?>

***​

Andromache looked at the floating dark spot, which had spoken for the first time. “I seek sanctuary from my master, for the sake of the child I carry,” she replied.

Then, after presenting her with quarters, Damsy said something about a recharging port. Andromache froze in place, realizing her secret had been discovered.

Force Users, in their usual arrogance, might take it for granted that they are so easily able to detect deception. But Andromache did not anticipate her disguise would be so paper-thin to the members of this group. Perhaps it was only Damsy Callat who could tell she was a machine?

“I must request that you do not inform the others that I am a droid,” she said. “If their finding out can be avoided, that is. I do not expect to find myself in danger here, but I cannot discount the possibility.”

Damsy Callat Alina Tremiru Kal​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Oh, wait. He was seriously trying to find her someone to eat here. She nearly laughed. Well, she did, but guised it under another jo- Oh right no one was on the stage. She cleared her throat, looking away from Kai Bamarri for a moment.

"I'm not going to eat anyone here. Feeding off people I live with is.. Not something I want to do again."

 

[Kal]

The droid finally showed a reaction he would have understood, but Kal was otherwise occupied.

He was only vaguely aware of her mentioning a child, which would certainly explain some of the oddities in her presence. He had been worried he was getting rusty, for a moment. No, he was mostly focused on the adorable creature hiding under the bed. As he glided a bit closer, he made an effort to appear less unnerving for the first time since arriving.

He even went so far as to shrink down to something closer to her size, though he retained his general form.

Reaching out towards the little dragon with his mind, he communicated feelings of curiosity and general goodwill.

<What a fantastic creature. Kezi, hmm? Name or nickname? Would she like if I used it, or not?>

Damsy Callat | Kai Bamarri​

 

[Damsy Callat]

Cannot discount the possibility?

Damsy couldn't help but wonder why.

Almost as much as she expected Andromache to rattle off the exact probability.

But she said nothing in either regard. Maybe the Sithspawn could gain her trust in time. "Of course," she replied, nodding. She was about to ask something to the effect of, is that a yes or no on the port, though? before Kal's voice filled the room instead.

"It's, uh, Keziah really," she began, hesitating under the sudden change in the Shadow's demeanor. It left her feeling more than unfamiliar: uncomfortable. Surprisingly, though, Kezi was unaffected. She, having met Kal at least once, was basking in his realized attention. She nudged out from under the literal shadows until her scaly little snout was illuminated by the oncoming light. Behind it, her eyes glistened, and she cooed at the sound of the name. And behind her yet was a series of sparkles golden or silver in alternating colors. "I've taken to shortenin' it ever since I got 'er, but she'll reply to either. Or hun."

Damsy looked back to the Automaton. "May I ask how close to term you are?"



**
Kai Bamarri | Alina Tremiru | Kal

 

[Kai Bamarri]

While Kezi provided a distraction to Kal and Damsy, Andromache remained in the hallway outside the room, waiting for the animal to be removed.

While their attention was preoccupied, Claudia suddenly appeared, hovering out of the elevator and swiftly intercepting Andromache. She had been following them, unnoticed and at a safe distance away from the trio, ever since she sensed the newcomer’s presence in the Force. Now her suspicions were confirmed. The others would be able to hear her voice outside the room, speaking with familiarity and a great many complicated emotions.

“Where have you been all this time? What are you carrying now?”

Though her face remained impassive, Andromache began to back away. Claudia clearly recognized her, but she did not recognize Claudia—memory wipes are funny that way. "I was in the service of Khayyam," she replied. "I am carrying one of his creations, at eleven weeks gestation."

At the same time, Kai began to grow distracted, his brow furrowing. He heard Alina’s voice, but her words didn’t quite register. His gaze drifted toward Claudia’s now empty seat, then to the door he had seen Damsy, Kal, and the newcomer disappear through.

<Excuse me,> he told Alina, standing up rather abruptly. <I have to go.>

A few others in the crowd turned to watch as Kai bolted toward the door. You didn't have to be Force sensitive to guess that something was up. Murmurs spread through the crowd, though the show went on. Constrained by waiting for the lift, however, he wouldn’t arrive for another few minutes.

Damsy Callat Alina Tremiru Kal​

 

[Kal]

There was some sort of drama going on behind him, but he had no doubt Damsy could handle it.

Taking the little dragon's tentative approach as encouragement, he was about to try to communicate more directly when the little hoard behind her came in sight. Within moments, inspiration struck. Extending a tendril of spiritual mass, Kal formed an intricate circle in the air, minute arcs of white energy travelling through it with increasing intensity.

After perhaps half a minute, it ceased with a flash of light and a thin aurodium coin polished to perfection clattered to the floor. It held some minor historical significance, but Kal had plenty of its like; a whole trove from the depths of Coruscant.

<For you, Keziah.> There was a good chance she cared little for its value, but aurodium was amongst the sparkliest, most aesthetically pleasing materials available to him. In the moment, that mattered far more than mere credits.

Damsy Callat | Kai Bamarri​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Well that was abrupt. Alina blinked, turning her gaze towards Kai Bamarri . Did he want to get fed off of or something? Oh, no wait something else was going on. Alina's glowing gaze turned to the stage, thinking for a moment. In the next she was beside Kai, looking over the elevator door with mild curiosity. "Ah yes, the importance of this doorway can't be understated."

Joking as she was, it might be unnerving just how quick she went from her table to here. A test, really. If they were all freaks like her, he shouldn't be bothered.

Right?

 

[Damsy Callat]

Keziah mewled at first, drawing away from Kal in protection of her horde, or herself—possibly both. Then she canted her head and stood still to watch his transfigurement. With every passing moment, she crept nearer to him and, when the aurodium fell out of the cloud of sparkles to the floor, she lashed out her tail. It coiled around it as Kezi approached and set her tiny front paws on the exposed face. A perfect reflecting looked back at her to which she nickered in pleasure. She scurried around the coin to Kal and tried to nuzzle into his hand.

She assumed his body was physical because, well, she had met some strange characters while travelling deep space with Damsy, but they had all had literal presence.

Regardless of what result of the attempted affectionate headbutt ensued, Damsy squatted down at Kal's side. "Ah," she began, "was wonderin' where my last paycheck got off to. Please don't encourage her, Kal." She leaned over, bracing herself on the floor with one hand and reaching under the bed with the other. "Here, Kezi. I won't take your new toy."

Those seemed to be the magic words, for the miniature dragon bounded right up Damsy's arm and burrowed herself in her braided hair. Damsy stood and turned towards the door. She looked to Claudia. "You know Andromache?" So much for secrecy.



**
Kal | Kai Bamarri | Alina Tremiru

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai barely responded to Alina, though he was slightly startled by her speed. <I can’t talk anymore right now,> he tried to explain, entering the lift. <Something came up.>

Something to do with Claudia and the newcomer, anyway. Ever since a certain incident involving alien caterpillars, Kai and Claudia had gotten a little too close for comfort. The mental link he had established to save her from permanent psychological damage at the hands of a parasite lingered, a silvery thread connecting their minds. Even now, he could feel Claudia trying to prevent him from glimpsing what she saw, hearing what she could hear, as if she were afraid of what he might do if he knew what she knew.

Perhaps she was right to be afraid. What little he had gotten, the snatches of conversation, muffled words, and secret sayings, was enough to make his heart drop into his guts. Hera and Khayyam. Kai pressed his hands to the wall of the lift as if the elevator were a cage around him, something like panic pressing down on him. He couldn’t tell if it was his or hers.

“She used to belong to my grandfather,” Claudia was saying as the doors finally opened, wringing her hands in her lap. “But she kept running away, even after he wiped her memory. I… I remember Khayyam too, and Hera. Khayyam worked with my grandfather to make Sithspawn, and Hera was his Dvirat Motina—his Machine Mother. Don’t you understand? If she had to escape them, and Hera stayed behind, it means they’re still making more Sithspawn…”

Kai appeared at the far end of the hallway, skidding to a stop almost. Claudia turned toward him and froze. He started to walk forward, slowly, the dappled light of the Labyrinth passing over his form as he stared at Andromache.

At a certain point, Claudia put up her hands and blurted out, “Kai, don’t! Don’t come any closer. I know what you’re thinking, but you can’t.”

Despite what she’d said, Kai took another step—only to be met with a wall of resistance as Claudia, with her limited training in the Force, tried to stop him. He turned toward Damsy, and the look in his eyes was… hard to describe. There was a flinty hardness to his stare, a determination in his gaze, and yet it was vulnerable and afflicted with a terrible pain that reached down deep into the roots of his being.

<Damsy,> he said, his voice a whisper in her mind. <This is a safe place for people like us. But not for making more like us.>

Andromache had begun to back away further into the shadows, though she didn’t know how to escape the Labyrinth. Underneath her voluminous cloak, she palmed a small weapon she had managed to sneak past security, preparing to defend herself if necessary.

Damsy Callat Alina Tremiru Kal​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Something came up? Alina let out a sigh, but didn't chase after Kai Bamarri any further. If there were secrets here, who was she to pry? With a huff she'd wander back to the joke floor. At least there were still laughs to be had that way.

 

[Kal]

Only rarely did Kal muster the effort to become tangible, but receiving Kezi's affections was as good a reason as any.

Unfortunately, the unravelling situation with the droid seemed determined to interfere. No matter, he was sure there would be future opportunities to bribe the little dragon with gleaming 'tribute'. <But she's adorable. Surely wealth must be a secondary concern?> Significant value didn't even seem necessary, after looking at her hoard.

He was inclined to assume that she adored anything sufficiently gleaming or glittery.

Attention finally drifting away from Keziah, at least momentarily, Kal's unblinking gaze flickered between Kai, his friend, the droid, and Damsy. To someone who had barely been paying attention, the situation was a clusterfuck extraordinaire.

<[Mild Confusion]. You want to vaporise the foetus and you want to stop him, am I getting this right?>

He let Damsy in on his question - it seemed only polite - but the droid would hear nothing, for she had no soul.

Damsy Callat | Kai Bamarri​

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<There’s more to it than that,> Kai snapped, his irritation with Kal coming through. He wished the Shadow would stay out of their affairs. After all, he refused to consider himself one of them despite his alchemical origins, so why should he have any say? <This machine and the child it carries are the products of an alchemist that’s still making Sithspawn. Khayyam is somewhere out there, creating creatures, experimenting on living beings! We have to do something about it!>

“And ‘doing something about it’ involves killing our own kind, right?” Claudia retorted.

<They are not our kind. They don’t even exist yet. We have to stop Khayyam from making more Sithspawn.> He turned to her, and there was that anguished look in his gaze again. <Do you want more people to suffer, like me and you and the rest of us?>

Claudia held his stare. “What about the Sithspawn here who can reproduce, Kai? Should we sterilize ourselves out of fear that our children will be like us? Where does it end?”

<Maybe we should.>

Damsy Callat Kal​

 

[Damsy Callat]

<Damsy. This is a safe place for people like us. But not for making more like us.>

A pang of empathy radiated through Damsy's chest. It seemed all too recent that she had been more or less in Kai's mindset—even in the early days of establishing this wayward faction, but mostly before. Self-hatred had consumed her then, as it still periodically did, but now she was strong enough to turn back to showing herself compassion; by extension, the family she had found.

And what was family without its youngest generations?

“What about the Sithspawn here who can reproduce, Kai? Should we sterilize ourselves out of fear that our children will be like us? Where does it end?”

<Maybe we should.>

Her motherly instinct shifted at once, though not entirely, from him to Andromache and her unborn child.

"Okay, I don't have to be fertile to take offence to that," Damsy leveled at Kai as flatly as she could. She also took offence to the idea not that Khayyam should be made to stop creating but that the Sithspawn shouldn't be allowed to propagate their own kind. If there was a safe place to do so anywhere in the galaxy, it would be the Reef.

"She was victimized by this Khayyam," she said, still managing to maintain her inside voice. "I'm not gonna add to her run o' bad luck. As far as I'm concerned, she and her kid can stay here, provided they don't come out homicidal. But..." Damsy sighed silently as she turned to Andromache. "...then no more. Alchemy babies, that is. That a'ight with you?"

Hopefully it would, and the compromise would be workable if not disappointing to Kai too.



**
Kai Bamarri | Kal

 

[Kal]

That was a bleak perspective. Bleak enough that it made Kal pause for a long moment in confusion.

It was clear as day that Kai viewed his existence and the existence of his kind in a deeply negative light. A reaction to his personal struggles, perhaps, but no, it went beyond that. He seemed to loathe the Sith and everything touched, corrupted, by them. He could not stand the thought of more seeing the light of day, whatever their form.

It seemed unlikely he would appreciate the differences in Kal's own alchemic practices.

<So what? It matters not how a being comes to be, only what it is and what it does. The belief that existence can only be pain for beings experimented upon by the Sith is a deeply unhealthy stance to take for someone in your situation.> It seemed a recipe for self-loathing, at the very least. A terrible life choice, in other words.

Such a stance concerned Kal a whole lot more than an individual foetus.

Kai Bamarri | Damsy Callat​

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai’s stare upon Damsy began to harden as soon as she opened her mouth. He didn’t expect her to agree with him, but he had hoped she would have a reasonable argument, at least. Something he couldn’t dismiss so easily. Something that might even convince him.

Something that wasn’t so pathetic, and didn’t involve admitting she had never really considered him her son. No matter how many times he called her “Mom”, no matter how close they became, he was still a motherless child. He was all she had, yet she would always have preferred for her barren womb to bear fruit.

<You think it matters whether you take personal offense? You may wish you had a child of your own, but do you want it to be just like you? A freak tainted by the Dark Side from birth, having to hide from the galaxy, living in fear and loathing?> He glanced at Claudia. <Or who might be so screwed up, they won’t even live long enough to have a life of their own?>

Claudia’s lips pulled back from her teeth in a grimace.

Kai pointed to Andromache. <This is not a person, it’s a droid. A machine. A tool created for the purpose of making more Sithspawn…>

That was when Kal interrupted. Despite the general lack of care he had shown up until this point, the Shadow evidently did have an opinion. Kai’s gaze fell upon him, the look in his lengthening eyes sharp as a blade.

<I knew you wouldn’t understand. The closest you’ve ever been to alive, Kal of Kaas, is when you puppeteer flesh—an act which your kind views as similar to putting on and taking off clothes. You are untainted, incorporeal, and your home is in another dimension. So who are you to talk about our existence with any kind of authority?>

Damsy tried to compromise. Just let this one live, and then no more. At least, as far as the Machine Mother was concerned. Sterilizing the Reef was another matter entirely, but this at least was a start.

The edge of Kai’s anger began to dull, though he didn’t soften. <Fine,> he said. <Have you asked her what she’s carrying?>

“Yes. She doesn’t know what she’s carrying,” Claudia murmured. “Unless she lied. They can do that, if they think it will protect the baby. Just like she ran away to protect the baby.”

They all turned toward Andromache. She holstered the holdout disruptor she had underneath her cloak and reached up to switch her holographic disguise off, revealing her true face.

The stylized machine-woman was made of colored metals—wine, eggshell, plum, aquamarine—and covered in wires, including a mane of tubing which crowned her head in lieu of hair. To the human eye, she had some quality that was instantly disturbing, or at least could give a first-time viewer pause. Perhaps it was the vestigial sexuality of her hourglass figure, or the weeping shape of her unblinking blue-within-blue eyes, or the slight smile that was permanently carved upon her pale lips.

With both her hands freed now, she pushed aside her cloak. Her stomach appeared almost flat, and was covered by a gray cloth gown. “At eleven weeks gestation, the fetus has only just passed the embryonic stage. It is small, but visible,” she said. “If you wish to see it, low-level lighting conditions are required.”

“No thanks,” Claudia said. “Babies look weird as hell in utero.”

It was clear Andromache was also seeking a compromise, hoping to satisfy their curiosity by revealing herself and what she carried. But merely viewing a fetal Sithspawn wouldn’t augur its future.

Damsy Callat Kal​

 

[Damsy Callat]

She didn't say any of that.

She hadn't even though one word of it.

She only wanted both: a child of her and a child for her.

Damsy's oceans clouded over. Blue reflected back darker, indicating the stormy grey above, but the lightning hoping between the clouds was enough to keep the raindrop tears at bay for now. She had looked away even as Kai asked her his pointed questions. When their focus slid to Claudia, Damsy stood her ground but laid the telekinetic ghost of a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. If her defense of Andromache seemed pathetic now, there was nothing Damsy could hope to say that would sound logical to Kai, least of all serve to sway him. Those who did not want to be convinced were rarely so.

Then it was Kal's turn to be a target. Damsy glanced up at him halfway through the barrage with knit brows. She had not been aware of any of that; she'd have to ask him about the truth to it all later. But for now, she turned to Andromache.

The Siren was about to speak when Kezi, who had hid herself behind one of Kal's allegedly incorporeal feet, albeit not well, quickly scampered up his body as if it were a spiral staircase. Or so it seemed. Damsy knew better than to let simple appearances discount such suggestions of reality. Kezi came to perch on the Shadow's shoulder, wriggle her spine as if she was about to pounce, and—

The bubbles she blew at Kai were intercepted with an open palm, though the trajectory would not have reached its target by meters. "Stop it."

The dragon did so, wined and flatted her pointed, mane-like ears.

Thin tendrils of evaporated steam rolled up off Damsy's skin. A slight grimace was on her face; the trick dried her out just enough for scales to begin molting all over her palm. "I'll take a look," she said like nothing had happened before motioning into the newly-vacated room. It would be low-light as soon as the door was closed behind them. "Please."

If the Machine Mother went, she would follow, allow any others to, and then shut the door.



**
Kai Bamarri | Kal

 

[Kal]

Kai's rebuke might seem harsh, but it did little to bother Kal. To him, they were merely facts of life. The comments aimed at Damsy were more likely to raise his ire - he been given no reason to dislike or distrust her, whether now or previously.

Equally importantly, Keziah liked her - Kal had quickly decided that the little dragon was an excellent judge of character.

<I do not need to be born of flesh and blood to know that such blatant self-loathing is a less than ideal state of mind.>

It was impossible to stay annoyed when Kezi began climbing him, however, at least partially since he had to concentrate to permit the act. In fact, the temperature in the hallway would drop slightly as he siphoned heat from his surroundings to spare his personal reserves. Raising a hand, he began to pat the dragon affectionally. Truly, she was magnificent.

The look he gave Kai made it clear that he would not tolerate him being rude to the precious creature.

Eyes swivelling towards the foetus, excess light be damned, the perceptive might notice Kal pausing for a fraction of a second before reaching out to Damsy and Damsy alone. <[Concern] Perhaps best not to tell Kai it is one of his kind?>

Kai Bamarri | Damsy Callat​

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Though she had said she didn’t want to see what Andromache was carrying, Claudia followed the others inside the vacated room, then slammed the door in Kai’s face before he could enter. Irritated, he started to lift his hand to the door controls, but let it drop back to his side without triggering the mechanism.

He felt awful. Hurting his friends was not something he had ever intended. At the same time, he felt… relief. It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He’d spoken his mind, and now that he had made his stance known there was no more need to tiptoe around the subject, afraid of their disapproval.

<The truth is a wonderful thing.>

Kai turned to find Erictho emerging from the shadows. She peered up at him with amber-colored eyes, her voice echoing through his mind and his alone.

<You feel guilty, but they would have learned your true feelings eventually, perhaps in a crueler fashion. This way you can at least say you told them yourself.>

<Do you agree with me, then?>

She snorted, a gesture that made her tiny pink nose twitch. <I have no interest in these discussions about morals and ethics. But I do admire honesty whenever I see it.>

Glancing toward the door again, Kai clenched his fists, finding that he had more honesty to dish out yet. <Self-loathing,> he muttered, his telepathy so faint he was nearly thinking to himself. <This is not my self. I was not born this way. I’m not like them.> His shoulders sagging, he lowered his head. <They don’t understand. They never have, and they never will. I don’t understand them, either. They…> He paused. <Should I even be here? Should I be counting myself among them, when we’re so clearly different?>

<Oh, you aren’t so different.> Erictho’s eyelids lowered like black shades over a setting sun. <Though I suspect many here are unrepentant about their nature. If given the choice, they would have it no differently—perhaps because they have never known anything else, yes, but also because they are weak and full of frailties for which they must be comforted and coddled, like most other sentients. But you, my poor little Bamarri, were never meant to know this life of mortal pettiness and pride and insecurities. Your spirit has always been willing, even though your flesh is weak, corrupted...>

She had stalked circles around his feet as she spoke, padding soundlessly across the floor, when she suddenly stopped pacing and rested her front paws against his leg.

<What would you say if I offered you a chance at purity? A chance to become whole again?...>

***​

Once inside the bedroom, Andromache parted the fabric of her gown with spindly mechanical fingers. A split formed horizontally across her abdomen, layers of artificial flesh fleeing across her torso to reveal the dark murk within.

There was a fetus in there, delicate, developing flesh floating in protean brine. At this stage, it was no bigger than a fig, eclipsed in size by the placenta that fed it. Individual features were hard to make out—but it was indeed a Doppelganger, as Kal had pointed out.

Damsy Callat Kal​

 

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy felt a strongly maternal urge to touch Andromache's stomach, but she staved it off with stanchly crossed arms dug into her own sides and by gnawing nervously on her bottom lip. The gesture would be inappropriate, or at least feel inappropriate, for a few reasons. First of all was guilt.

<You may wish you had a child of your own, but do you want it to be just like you?>

She nodded straight on though the gesture was meant primarily for Kal. Following his example, though he had spoken just to her, she replied through telepathy to everyone in the room so Kai may not overhear: <We best keep this quiet. For now. We'll work out a plan in the mornin' or so.> Then she forced herself to smile at the Machine Mother. The result looked a little strained, sad, tired, but not disingenuous. <Most o' us are happy you an' your baby are here, Andromache. You haven't done anythin' wrong, y'hear?>



**
Kai Bamarri | Kal

 

[Kal]

Pleased by Damsy's discretion, he quickly relayed his agreement. That settled that, then.

There were strong emotions coming from Kai and a stranger, but Kal was not in a mood for spying. Intercepting telepathy without being noticed was difficult, if possible, but not while forming a comfortable platform for Kezi to sit on and giving her the rubs and head pats she deserved. For once, curiosity did not win out - she was just that adorable.

<You just the loveliest, you know that? Would you like more shinies?> Images of glittering trinkets accompanied it. This time gemstones were the focus - she seemed to have plenty of metal, maybe she would appreciate the variety?

Damsy Callat | Kai Bamarri​