Diving For Diamonds

[Lief]

Novania City​

Arkania​

​

Give her the desert any day.

It's oppressive heat, and invasive sands, were nothing compared to the shiver-inducing, sluggish mentality of a tundra world. Every calorie burned felt like a waste, the constant shivering left her feeling weary even though the day had barely begun. Her ship wasn't exactly the warmest, but at least it had heaters! Here? They pretended to care, somewhat warm air blew from vents throughout the streets of the City, but nothing could hold back the gnawing chill. Not really.

She blew into her hands, rubbed them together, and then shoved them into the pockets of her duster. Leather would have been a mistake, if not for the woolen jumper she wore beneath it. It wasn't much which caused her to wear such a scratchy thing, but if it beat away a little of the cold then she could live with it.

"To go, yeah," she said to the barista at one of the street stands, who a few moments later offered her out an insulated disposable mug filled to the brim with steaming hot tea. The one hand which had been forced back into the cool air thanked her for the sudden heat which permeated the mug, and without much thought she brought it to her lips for a sip.

Big mistake. Her tongue suddenly turned numb, throat burning.

"Careful, it's hot," the barista said, a little too late to be of any use, and after paying the good man for his gift from the Gods she pressed on through the crowd. Arkania. Why in all the seven hells had she come to such a place? Land of the mentally superior people! Pah! Fat load of good that seemed to do the cocky bastards. If they were so intelligent, they'd have chosen a better world to call home.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

ARKANIA​

NOVANIA CITY​

​

"You stole that!"

"Fething wot??"

"I saw you, don't try to lie yourself out of this!"

"I will show--"

It was a massed group of people a couple of meters off the street stand that had gathered together around two individuals. Surprisingly enough Tash wasn't one of them this time around and was merely an observer of this current situation.

Well.

Observer and indirect participant through no fault of his own. As everyone's attention was focused on the anger of the street vendor, the vendor's attention focused on the supposed thief, and the supposed thief's vein bulging as if it was going to pop in a matter of seconds, Tash was playing his own game. He brushed past the stand and sole hand swiped, swiped, swiped, until the table was positively devoid of any sort of jewelry it had possessed just a short while ago.

[member="Kyra Sol"] would just notice the last gem slipping into his pocket, then a dazzling grin flashed at her, when he noticed her noticing and then Itash brushed past her. "Promise not to tell?" The whisper caressed as he left and that was the curious thing.

As he left?

The vendor and the 'thief' blinked suddenly.

"Wait..."

"...wot?"

"Why are you people staring at us??"

 

[Lief]

With tea in hand she made her way down the broadwalk, eyeing up some of the other stalls which littered the streets; every so often she blew away some of the steam which rose from her cup, and took a sip... Each time burned just as much as the previous, yet it became more tolerable. No doubt because her tongue was already numbed.

A commotion in the street drew her attention, between a vendor and a supposed thief. Usually she wasn't one to stop and watch, drama was a fool's entertainment, and yet she found herself with little else to do for the time being. Having returned to her old way of life, she had ended up with a lot of extra free time between runs. What harm did a little people watching do?

She neared the stall, just in time to see someone else, someone totally not apart of the argument, swipe an item from the stall. From the looks of how bare said stall was, she doubted it was the only thing to have been taken.

The law abiding citizen in her.... Oh who was she kidding? Kyra had never been law abiding, far from it, she was raised by pirates after all. A slight smirk played on her lips as the man brushed past her, and whispered in her ear.

It felt so good not to be worrying about whether something was moral or not. All that time moping around over Connor had taken its toll, her brief attempts to join the Jedi and do good a thing of the past. Truth was, there were plenty of folk trying to make a difference, and so few of them actually doing a good job at it.

She wasn't fooling anyone.

Kyra turned then, trailing back through the crowd as she followed the thief. One might have asked why, yet for Kyra the only question was why not. Why not see what other interesting things this guy got up to? It beat thinking about the cold, didn't it?

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

For a brief while Tash simply listened.

One of the mistakes a rookie thief made was trying to look over their shoulder to see if anybody had noticed their deceit. Not him, no, he simply listened and made sure not to hear the cries of alarm followed by You there, thief! Halt!! But nothing of the sort came and the clean exit almost made him spin in purring joy. Had he been cautious, efficient, proficient, he would have taken a few corners in the alleys and then waited, simply to see if someone wasn't following him.

But Itash had always been good at the practicals, not so much the cautious theory behind it.

Snatch some pretty, pretty things? That was acceptable, but anything else seemed to be so... dull. This was all to say that Tash didn't notice Kyra following him - oh, she was a pretty face and one that he wouldn't soon forget, but in the heat of the moment as he was making a daring escape?

It was sadly not on his mind.

At least, until an accidental glance at one of the windows gave him a glimpse of that same beauty stalking him. Eyebrows wrinkled up, but otherwise Tash didn't react to it. 'Til he turned a corner and another and then pushed himself deep into the shadows. Patience, languid silence. Then Kyra moved past and two strong arms snaked out, one covering her mouth the other pulling her closer against the shadow... and him. "I do so hope you are not a copper."

A beat.

"I am going to let go of your mouth now, so you can explain why you are following me." Well, besides the fact that he was attractive and handsome.

 

[Lief]

It was easy to lose track of how many twists and turns she took, how many stalls she passed, and how long in general she had been walking, in lofty pursuit of this stranger. Boredom was a fruitless mistress for the most part. She could have been doing anything at all in the Galaxy, watching pod races, landing a few hits in a shockboxing arena, making credits along a smugglers run.

Instead she was walking along an icy promenade, weaving between arrogant arseholes, all the while sipping on tea she couldn't taste thanks to scorched tastebuds. What a life!

After a while her focus had become a little relaxed. So much so in fact that when he disappeared from sight she did not immediately notice, walking straight past him. Or, at least, she would have walked past him if not for the arm which snaked around her waist to tug her close, and the hand which clamped over her mouth.

She was about to fight, bite his hand or elbow him in the gut, until she heard the voice. That same whisper, that held just enough mischief to stay her hand. The thief. Kyra might have laughed when he asked if she was a copper. Now there was a term she hadn't heard in quite some time...

When he lowered his hand from her mouth she made no move to scream or to pull away. What was that saying? Curiosity killed the cat? Well at least she wasn't a cat then!

"A copper?" she had the gall to act offended, a slight scoff to her tone, "Is that how I look to you? Like a damn swine?"

She tried to turn then, without warning, in an attempt at facing him, though whether it was possible or not remained to be seen.

"What's wrong, Sweetheart? A handsome guy like you, I'd expect you'd be used to people following you by now?"

One brow raised, almost goading in nature, should she have been capable of turning. The hand which held the mug did its best to hold on to the warmth, though her grip had been jolted somewhat when he snatched her.

"You seemed interesting" she finally said with a shrug, as though it was the most normal reason for doing something in the history of ever.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

She had his curiosity.

It meant that the grasp around her waist loosened just enough for her to turn to face him, but it was instinct moving him to press her close with a hand shy of her lower back. "No, I wouldn't say you look like that." Storm blue eyes explored, the line of her jaw, her neck as she tilted up to look at him, the curl of her lip as she smirked at him- that particular smirk caused him to smile back. Once more that dazzle of white teeth flashing and the promise of more, if she would let him.

"I wouldn't say that at all." The repeat in a mumble as eyes moved past lips to look her in the eye as she spoke once more. Tash waited for the real answer after the glib snark, which came in a shape that he wasn't truly expecting in the moment.

Oh, Tash was interesting, there was no doubt about that.

"Hmm, that a fact." Grip loosened once more and that gave her the option. The option of creating space, if she wished or stay in his arms if desire pushed that way. "We could be interesting together, if you could pull yourself away from an undoubtedly pressing schedule." Oh, the little corner shop theft had just been for the play. The amusement. He had been on his way to a different locale completely, but once he saw the jewelry?

There wasn't much that kept his hunger in check.

 

[Lief]

She hummed ever so slightly as she watched him scrutinize her, one slender brow remaining raised in curiosity. All of that fake offense she had plastered on her expression melted away, until just her smirk remained. Oh this was better than waiting around for a call.

"Why'd you do it?" she inquired, and though she felt his grasp begin to loosen up she didn't really try to move, save to solidify her grasp on the mug of tea of course. Though by now she didn't really care what happened to it. "I saw you at that stall... You don't look like a thief."

A thrillseeker perhaps? Or maybe she really was reading him wrong, maybe she was used to lowlives looking like... Well... Lowlives.

"And yes, it is a fact. I might have just let you go on your merry way, if not for that whisper..." She met his gaze then, peeking up at him, before pulling back.

The smirk had turned into a soft smile at some point during all of this, and as she balanced herself once again she brought the mug to her lips and took a short sip. Just enough to give herself time to think, without it being too obvious.

"Oh I'm afraid I have a very busy schedule... I thought that was obvious, hm?" Why else would she be spending the afternoon chasing after strangers? Chasing..? Perhaps that was the wrong word for it. After all she had been the one who had ultimately been caught.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

"Now wouldn't that be telling." Tash teased back without giving anything away. Oh, this one was interesting, but he had learned from blurting out his plans just on a whim. It had brought @Everos to Arkania in the end and with it a host of complications that he had not been expecting. Pleasant ones for the most part, but to live was to learn and caution... was boring. It held none of the thrill that he looked for in life- Kyra was right on that mark, a thrill seeker, but it was only a partial truth.

There was more to it than that.

Always was.

She pulled back a fraction and Mecetti let her. Oh, he would have escalated this pleasantly, if that had been her desire- but that wasn't something that could be rushed. It was a dance, a slow swaying and a languid caressing that developed further and further. If there was one thing that Itash was good at? It was that dance. "What a shame," The 'thief' countered while brushing a hand up her back, following the track of that firm line and exploring with no shame.

Always on that boundary between uncouth forwardness and careful tease.


"I was about to invite you to the heist of a life-time, darling."

 

[Lief]

Such a tease.

She gave him just the slightest, coy pout, before shaking her head at him.

"Ah... So there is a reason why..." Beyond a simple need for money, of course. Looking at him she knew he wasn't in dire need of credits, then again looks could most certainly be deceiving. Another sip of her drink, and she peered at him over the brim of the mug as he continued to speak.. A shame? That pout became a subtle smirk.

There remained so little space between them, and yet she was somewhat surprised all the same by the hand which brushed against her spine, the tense muscles which ran along her back, specifically around the shoulder region, unraveling.

"A heist?" She shrugged, feigning indifference, and tore her gaze away from his to peer down the alleyway. The promise of adventure now lingered in the air between them, and she chewed on the inside of her lip for a ponderous moment. "I mean, I suppose I could push a thing or two back... I don't know, though, I'm pretty tied to my four o'clock walk down the promenade. Wouldn't want to miss a minute of this positively frigid weather."

There was a glimmer in her eye then, filled with curiosity, and she knew that he had already won. Hook, line, and sinker, he had secured her attention.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

If there was one skill that Tash had mastered it was taking care of himself.

Even when the purse was tight or the days were less profitable the Tapani ensured that there was tasty food, good clothes and above all a brilliant plan on the table to turn fortunes around. It was his luck, the whisper at the back of his mind that kept him going at every moment of the day. It rolled like a pair of dice, it chimed like a coin flipping in the air while its result was unknown yet, like a set of cards still turned on its face. Right now, as she smirked up to him and Tash could see that curiosity blinking into measured life?

The coins were chiming and the dice were rolling.

Opportunity.

"Mmm, that does sound important." A light shrug as his hand brushed down. Shy of her curve and settling snugly against her lower back without forced pressure behind it. "I suppose I will have to figure out what to do with all those diamonds myself then."

Real diamonds this time around. Not the mild prize that was that street vendor, but fist-sized refined diamonds straight out of one of the many mines dotting Arkania's frozen hellscape. The glimpse of a grin was offered as the offer was dangled in front of her, all she had to do... was snatch it and they would be on their way. To greater riches, adventure and danger and a great many of... other things, if Itash had anything to say about that anyway.

 

[Lief]

It felt good to be... herself? again. How long had it been since she had sat back and just allowed things to progress naturally, without trying to force it in one direction or another, without fearing the consequences, or whether or not it was the right thing to do? Truthfully it was a breath of fresh air.

"Easy there, Casanova," she murmured, tilting her head ever so slightly to the left as she regarded him, now that the cards were on the table, "Don't go jumping to conclusions... Diamonds, you say?" She wasn't the kind of woman who was into shiny things, unless it was made out of metal, she didn't clean up very well - except for that one time, at the Masquerade, when nobody had even recognized her - she was quite happy in her oil-streaked state, with her duster and her boots, and the grime which accompanied her lifestyle.

It was no secret that the Arkanians had access to such things, this world was more than just a hunk of ice, after all, but she'd never heard of anyone attempting to actually land themselves a cut of what the hoarders hid away for their experiments.

Ever so slightly she leaned back into the touch of his hand, it was such a light pressure that she barely noticed it there at all, and she certainly didn't mind it.

She wasn't due for the call for another few days yet, and the Force knew she had been missing her fair share of thrills as of late. Provided you ignored the Ignus saga, of course, she wasn't looking to lose limbs again any time soon. After what could have been an eternity, but in truth was just a few silent seconds, she gave a short nod.

"I can't do it, the image of you diving for diamonds all alone... It breaks my heart, truly it does," she raised her free hand to her chest, with another coy smile, to emphasize the point, "Consider me sold, ...?" she raised a brow, curious as to what his name was. All this chatter, and not once had such pleasantries been exchanged.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

"Tash, you can call me Tash." He was enjoying this and enjoying her, it was the first time that Itash wondered if it wasn't better to simply relay the truth and let it be known. But the wider part of him knew that even in the moment it was not the time to completely relax and let things go. Even if that was what the Tapani nobleman wanted to do.

She pressed against his hand and that caused him to smirk, only emboldened when she expressed desire to be part of his plan.

Wasn't a complete surprise.

The diamond markets of Arkania were fabulous and almost entirely populated by the Arkanians themselves, it was rare for anyone else to see a slice of that pie. "Mmm, think I am gonna need something to seal the deal.... a kiss would do much to make it official." Already his press against her lower back became a fraction tighter.

Not enough to force, but enough to beckon and coax lips locked against lips.

 

[Lief]

"Tash?" Interesting name, for an interesting bloke, she doubted that was his full name... Then again, hers was equally as short, and most definitely happened to be the one she was lumbered with at birth. She couldn't quite picture pirates naming someone, after all. "I'm Kyra."

She could see that smirk as it played against his lips, matching her own, and for a moment wondered what it was that had humoured him... Had he been expecting her to show her support for the idea? Had he wanted her to, but not expected her to play along? It was difficult to say, and she most definitely wasn't about to stand there and ask him.

The hand which was grasping the mug reached out, setting the Styrofoam-like cup down on a windowsill of sorts in the wall at their side, before she brought it back to settle at his chest; it wasn't a heavy hand, in fact it probably took more energy to keep it as light as it was than it would have been to actually let it rest naturally. It was little more than a hint at the real thing, as she perked a brow at the audacity of his request.

Bold, brazen, confident. A man who knew what he wanted, who didn't beat about the bush, who didn't lead her on to nothing?

Arkania wasn't seeming quite so bad, after all.

"A kiss?" she asked, that smirk once more dancing across her lips, "And what makes you think a scoundrel such as yourself deserves such a thing?" The gentle press at her back, where his hand had been lingering, brought her gaze a fraction lower, and she swallowed back any hesitation or doubt she might have had.

What do you have to lose? Enjoy a carefree day, see where it leads, chances are he won't even call once tomorrow comes.

Mind made up, and without needing further influence from him, she leaned up and first placed her lips to his cheek with a teasing grin, gaze shifting to his to watch his reaction, before her head turned a fraction more and they settled instead upon his.

What did she have to lose, indeed.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

Kyra was a good name, Tash decided, but before he could voice any sort of opinion like that Sol had already made a decision for him. A pleasant one, one that might influence everything else going forward, if it was up to Itash anyway. The kiss started slow, soft, as both of them were exploring and trying to find a middle ground between tease and genuine exploration.

His hand slid down her back and pushed further around her curve, before his hold grew in firmness and it's direction pushed up, hard against him.

After all, Kyra had begun the kiss, that was all Itash needed to escalate it. She tasted of honey and raspberry and more, she tasted good and at some points arms wrapped around each other. The kiss turning from simple measurement of commitment to genuine discovery of just what the other had to offer. A plethora of things was the answer.

If either of them were to believe.

 

[Lief]

She hadn't expected their lips to linger for more than a mere moment, and yet something kept them there, as though suspended in time, and her mind drifted far from diamonds and stingy Arkanians and the frigid cold. In fact, she could feel her cheeks burning, and the rest of her body had become rather warm too. At least to her.

Slow, tentative, yet escalating at a rapid rate, the hand at his chest pressed a little firmer as her focus turned from keeping it at bay, and as his hand wandered lower she found little choice other than to lean against him. Not that she was complaining.

Truthfully she doubted either of them had expected this outcome.

Her free arm wound around him, pulling him as much as he was pulling her, intense without being pushy; it was like there was experience behind her actions, but that wasn't really the case. She was mostly following his lead at this point, enjoying the wave she had been caught up in.

Ever so slightly she began to slow, the very tips of her ears now burning as fiercely as her cheeks, a tiny smile she could not banish now fixed upon her lips. Gone was all sense of coy decorum, when her eyes opened to set up at him they were alight with curiosity. She couldn't piece together in her mind how things had gotten so... ardent. But they had, and she wasn't going to question it.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

The heat rose and lingered between the two of them.

Cold Arkania forgotten in favor of bodies pressed together tight, lips locked and exploring with something of need ushering the both of them. Tash was a beast of instincts, it was the way he worked, ticked, it was deeply burned into his being and there was little that could dissuade him from it. He was completelyin the moment with her.

No worries, no considerations of the future or what this could lead to.

Just him, her, the wall against her back as the soft break allowed him to smoothly switch positions, where she ended up pinned against the wall with *him* against her. Tash smiled back, a nuzzles of her cheek before lips moved past mouth, trailing down the soft line of a jaw and explored her neck.

If she allowed it, he would slowly push her up against the wall, until the only thing holding her was him.

It felt good and so Tash moved in this direction with no hesitation.

This was Itash; he took it all, everything he wanted, as long as the desire was mutual and pleasure was just over the horizon.

 

[Lief]

Most definitely not what she had expected.

The brief break she had taken, to breathe and regard him in curiosity, had been turned against her, quite literally; she felt her back meet the cold stone wall he had previously been standing before, and a shiver ran down her spine from the exposure. It was an odd sensation, given how warm the rest of her was feeling.

He pushed against her, his lips seeking other avenues that were not her own, and she leaned back into him, the hand which had been at his back now trailing upward to run through his hair. Ever so slightly her head tipped up, welcoming the feel of his lips at her throat, and her mind fought with the want to lean further back against the cool, refreshing wall, or closer to him.

In the end she got the best of both worlds, courtesy of the scoundrel.

She exhaled a slow breath, trying to keep her heart rate from becoming intolerable, she could feel it thumping against her rib cage, as though she had just done fifty laps of the nearby plaza.

There was no room for doubt, hesitation, or awkwardness, she hadn't been raised with ideas such as shame ingrained within her mind, Be a good little Lady, psht... Pirates certainly didn't care for such. It was funny, she had never really so much as thought about such things before, and yet she found herself wanting, content to simply continue.

This was proving to be quite the kiss to seal the deal, wasn't it?

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

It had taken them some time to... seal the deal, but Tash was quite confident that the details were sorted out tightly enough for now. Perhaps in the future they would revisit it to renegotiate certain terms, but he could run his finger through the finer print then... because there was other pleasant business to attend to now.

Muscles were stretched, warm and pleasant now, and even the weather of Arkania couldn't do much to penetrate the heat burning in his stomach.

Today had certainly proved to be full of opportunity. "See that?" Tash mumbled, as they ended their walk near a staircase that led down to the underground mag-rails. He leaned against the balustrade while casually observing the alley on the other side.

Nothing happened for a while.

Tash could sense her desire to go out and do something, but he shook his head a fraction. "Almost." Then it happened, two seconds after.

A man with a case walked up and turned the corner into the alley.

"He will be there for 10 minutes and then exit with an empty case."

 

[Lief]

Well that was the most interesting, ahem, contract she had ever signed, far superior to those she had worked out during her time on the business scene. Thank whatever maker there might have been that she was no longer apart of that bandwagon, she wasn't made for the sophisticated life.

It hadn't taken her too long to straighten herself out, and now that she was thoroughly warmed to the core, cheeks nice and rosy and not from the chill of the air, it was time to focus on the task at hand.

She followed him through the streets of Arkania, trusting him to know where they were headed, without a care in the world. It could have been five minutes, it could have been five hours, time had become meaningless, and all that mattered now was the heist. Even if his roguish charm kept vying for her attention.

Finally though they approached a passage which led to an underground station of sorts. Kyra wasn't familiar with such things, when she wasn't in her ship she liked to stretch her legs, things like speeders and the sort were lost on her, unless she was fixing them up. Her gaze shifted in the direction he was looking at when he spoke, and after a cautious glance at the pit beyond she looked back to him.

It wasn't that she was impatient, truly it wasn't, but the longer they stood there in silence, in wait, the more the nice warmth they had created began to dwindle. She blew into her hands at one point, missing the hot mug of tea she had left precariously balanced on a windowsill. She should've worn her gloves.

When next he spoke she hazarded a glance toward the briefcase carrying man, without making it obvious, her attention split between him and Tash who was mumbling at her. With the man out of sight, she turned fully back to her ... companion? She wasn't used to working with other people ... and gave a slight nod at what he said.

"You know an awful lot, Casanova," she remarked, curious at how long he had been planning this. That in and of itself made her all the more surprised by the offer he had made for her to tag along, the stakes were getting higher, she didn't want to feth it up.

"What do we do?" her voice was a slick whisper, and moments after speaking she once again blew into her cupped hands, resisting the urge to bounce up and down on the spot like a restless child.

Give her the goddamn desert, any day of the week.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Kyra Sol"]

Not a long time.

In fact, Tash had not planned this at all - if they ever decided to continue this partnership then Kyra would find out soon enough that Itash never planned anything. It wasn't in his blood, not in his instinct, to plan meant to be part of a schedule and a schedule was the largest hamster wheel in existence. No, Tash wasn't going to be become part of that grind. That slow decline towards zero sum and degradation of human spirit. There were better ways of handling yourself out here.

"Mmm, well, I do like to practice my knowledge often." ...and practice made perfect, but something would tell Sol that he wasn't strictly speaking about his diamond knowledge in this instance. Only fueled further by the look he gave her.

It was bold, long, it swept the side of her jawline down to her neck and down further.

As if even now, after he had signed her... signature line with his John Handcock, there was still some remnants of hunger there. The implication that if it weren't for the job they wouldn't nearly be done with each other if he had anything to say about it.

"Oh, quite easy, really. That alley has a door and through that door are a lot of angry men that shoot on sight." Head tilted. "Unless it was a pretty girl, lost, hurt, trying to find her way back to decent civilization by the way of a single phone-call." A shrug of the shoulders followed a wordless grin. Oh, how surprised would they be when the pretty girl turned out to be so much more than they had bargained for. But hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that.

Tash did so despise violence.

"You still up for this?"