Private Here Comes the Rain Again

[Katarine Ryiah]

"Like lovers do.”​

She rolled her eyes when he asked what type of Jedi she was. This was her life. She spent more time undercover acting like a criminal than she did swinging a lightsaber around. The academy she has built on Chalacta helped her do more traditional Jedi things, but given her mutation she wasn’t fit for a ton of the Jedi lifestyle.

“An unemployed one when the Council finds out what I let you do.”

As if to further that point the bar went up in flames. She closed her eyes again, praying for patience and clarity. Those left inside were dead already, she could feel that, but she felt a twinge of regret for not being able to stop it. Maybe he was right. What type of Jedi was she?

She led him down two side alleys and then across two different streets, her hands in her jacket pocket clasped around her lightsaber and her senses on high alert. By the time they heard sirens they were four streets away, and moving quickly.

The red light district was exactly what you would expect it to be. Women, and men both walked up and down the streets, drugs traded hands in the open, and drunks lay in the street. It was the last place you’d expect to find a respectable Jedi, which was sort of the point.

They climbed a fire escape and then entered a hallway. Down the hall, all the way in the end she put a key in a shabby looking door and opened it.

The interior was less than glamorous. There was a bed, a table, a closet, a small kitchen area and a tiny refresher unit. The wallpaper was dull and peeling and the carpet smelled like cigarettes. She’d been living in the dump on and off ever since she took this case, or at least every second she hadn’t been hanging off Zane’s arm trying to get information out of him.

The only personal effects in the room were another set of clothes , a toothbrush, and a dog toy with a bow on it. She had no idea if she would ever be able to give the toy to Buster or not. Connel was still distant and for all she knew married by now.

As soon as they were both inside the room and the door was shut she spun around and slapped him as hard as she could across his snarky handsome face.


Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

Mikhail pretended to be as much a scoundrel as any 1313 denizen, but the truth was he grew up in Tapani in a noble house. Walking through a drug addict ridden alley, with all the accompanying sights and smells, made him curl his lips again in disgust.

The smells thankfully disappeared when they went into the tiny place she called home. Mikhail looked around at the truly sad apartment, opened his mouth to say something, and received a slap full across the face.

The box dropped from his fingers and thudded to the ground.

Mikhail’s eyes flashed dangerously and his hand shot up, trying to grab the wrist of the offending hand. His cheek stung, growing numb.

“Careful,” he hissed, tugging at her arm until almost no distance separated them.

He deserved the slap. Obviously. Mikhail knew he’d blown her cover, killed her contacts, and drawn the attention of the planetary government down on her all in less than thirty minutes. But that was just… part of his charm.

“I might think you enjoyed that.”

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

"Here comes the rain again.”
​

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, but she was already raising her other hand to slap him again.

Admittedly the second slap did a lot less damage because the adrenaline was starting to wear off and he was making her dizzy again.

She struggled against his hold, attempting to put more space between them.

"I hope that stupid saber was worth all this trouble."

She tried to sound angry but it came out more softly than she wanted. The room was spinning. She pushed away from him, tripping slightly over her own feet.

​

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

The second slap cracked against his other cheek, though not as ferocious as the first. Mikhail let her go, smiling tightly through the numbness spreading across both sides of his face.

“I don’t know, was it?” He asked mischievously, “Guess we should see.”

He gestured and the box he’d dropped floated back up and into his hands. His heart pounded as he undid the latches and opened it.

The flood of power that hit him was overwhelming, he rocked back on his heels and his eyes fluttered as he drank in the raw swirling energy of the Dark Side radiating from the weapon.

He picked up the hilt and stared at it, transfixed. The bronzium dragon head that formed the emitter head stared at him. Strength surged through him from this Dark Side nexus. His to command once again. The sheer energy was intoxicating. With this lightsaber he had been unstoppable.

Breathing uneven, Mikhail stepped toward Katarine, carrying the lightsaber loosely in his hand.

“The Dark Side has an effect on you… that’s what you said,” Mikhail’s lips twisted into a smirk.

“And this?” He lifted the emitter, pointing it toward her as he moved even closer to try to press the metal of the saber against her cheek, “Can you feel it?”

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

“Raining in my head like a tragedy”

​

The second he opened the box the air got thicker. She could practically taste the energy around that thing. He came towards her with the weapon and in a flash of Force speed she was over at the kitchen counter.

“I’d rather not.”

Her legs were shaking badly. She pulled herself up to sit on the counter and shook her head, like a dog trying to get water out of its ears.

“So.. you probably aren’t stuck here ya know. I’m safe in my hidey hole. I’m sure you have lots of important Sith stuff to do.”

She ran her fingers through her long hair and pressed her hands over her eyes. What she wouldn’t give for a nicotine patch that worked for the darkside.


Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

There she was. The Jedi Master. Just as fast and as powerful as he remembered. More, even. He suspected she would handle herself just fine against whatever Sith were squatting on Coruscant.

Mikhail smiled.

“Oh yeah, Sith stuff,” he scratched the back of his head, “not really with those guys. Or anyone really.”

The inside of his mouth felt dry. The power of the Soulsaber was crackling through him, a font of energy that left him feeling ready to take on the entire Order. So why did he still feel empty?

Mikhail sighed. He put the saber back in the box and shut it. The Dark Side energy engulfing the room faded.

“I feel like I’ve been snatched out of time and put in a different place, you know?” He frowned, looking at the wall instead of her, “Like I don’t belong.”

He shrugged.

Without him life and the galaxy had just…
Moved on. He barely recognized the galaxy anymore. Places once familiar were strange to him.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

“Tearing me apart like a new emotion”​

Katarine felt her chest tighten again, but this time with sympathy. She knew exactly how he felt. After centuries being frozen she had woken to a galaxy she didn’t recognize. She felt alone, confused, and somewhat aimless. It was hard not to empathize with him. She’d been there.

She sighed and slipped off the counter, then crossed the room and pulled him into a hug. He looked so lost, it was like watching a puppy beg, utterly impossible to ignore. Her anger with him evaporated in an instant.

“I felt like that too. Still do sometimes.” She closed her eyes, trying to push the dizziness away and wrapped her arms around his waist under his jacket.

“Killing gang bangers and collecting darkside relics isn’t going to make you find happiness Mikhail.”

What a Jedi thing to say.

Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

"But isn't it fun," he replied reflexively, pretending to maintain the faux demeanor of heedless lackadaisical malevolent whimsy.

But Mikhail locked up, limbs seeming to freeze for a moment as she embraced him. The warmth of another's touch in this way something he had not felt for... for so long.

Why was she doing this? He'd just threatened her with the Soulsaber, blown her cover, and she was now probably wanted on the planet.

"You should let go..." he said softly, blue eyes swimming with emotion. The hatred he held for the others fusing with that he held for himself.

"I'm a monster. That's why they left me dead. Being around me... It will poison you. You should just tell me to go."

He wanted to stay.

He wanted to have someone to talk to, someone to confide in, someone to share all the misery of the galaxy with.

But that had never been his fate. He always found a way to ruin it. To burn it all down.

And now he was back and he didn't understand why.

"Just... just tell me to leave."


Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

"Here it comes again, here it comes again, oh-ah.”
​

"Stay."

She said simply, though he was right she should let him go before this became overwhelming. She wanted to be comforting, and kind, and compassionate because that was who Katarine was, but she also knew too much of a good thing would send her spiraling back down the drain.

Katarine was a foolish naive person who believed there was good everybody, and despite the situation she found herself in it was hard to stay angry when she remembered she wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for him.

She squeezed him and let him go, then went back to her small kitchen area and pulled a bottle of liquor out of the refrigeration unit.

"You could at least keep me company for a little bit considering I'm stuck here because of you." She stuck her tongue out at him and poured him a glass, and then herself one.

​

Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

Mikhail scowled.

What had he just said? To tell him to leave. Why did she insist on making the worst decision possible? Mikhail's lips pursed together in a dangerous expression that eventually faded as she let go of him and poured him a glass of a liquor. He squinted suspiciously at the contents of the glass, wondering what kind of paint stripper they sold her.

He'd already died once, he could afford to be picky this time around.

Mikhail sniffed the glass, then shrugged.

"If you insist," the ghost of a smile lingered at the edges of his mouth, "I'd probably cause more problems for you out there anyway. At least until the squad cars are done going over the place."

He imagined she would not take kindly to his "solutions" for encounters with planetary security.

"... your cover seemed pretty deep. That's not typical Jedi stuff. What's going on with you?"

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

"I want to breathe in the open wind"​

She pulled herself back on her kitchen counter and took a drink, mostly to clam her nerves rather than because she really wanted anything. The adrenaline had faded a good deal now and the temptation he offered was back. She wondered how much alcohol it would take to dull it.

She shrugged at his question. "I'm not a typical Jedi. The darkside messes with me pretty strongly so I'm about as useless as a stapler in the war against it. This is the easiest way to contribute."

She could feel his eyes on her as she told the flimsy half story and sighed. Why did he care at all? Were they some weird type of friends now?

"Bad breakup. Throwing myself into work in the most destructive way possible." She didn't look at him, playing with her hair instead, but now that they weren’t running for their lives he might notice she was a lot thinner than she had been before and looked like she wasn’t sleeping. She didn’t say anything else, as she had a feeling he knew a thing or two about break ups and destructive behaviors.

She tried not to think about Connel or his dog Buster because she felt like a knife was piercing her chest when she did. Instead she twirled her hair around her finger and glanced around the depressing room.

"Maybe my next assignment will have better accommodations." She grinned, trying to make the moment lighter.

​

Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

"Heh, I'd say I've seen worse but yeah, it's pretty shit," He wondered if he had any money in his old accounts. He would have to check. They'd probably closed them by now.

"To bad breakups," Mikhail chuckled bitterly, lifting his glass. What she said about the Dark Side crawled along his skin. So he really was poison to her. Guess he was garbage after all.

Might as well drink it.

He drained half the glass and sucked on his teeth for a second as fire blossomed all the way down his throat and into his stomach. Fuck. It really was paint thinner.

Moving to the kitchen counter, Mikhail set the box down - away from Katarine - then leaned against the wall. Made sense now why she avoided him.

"The Dark Side messes with you... what do you mean. Is it hurting you just being around me?"

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

"I want to kiss like lovers do.”
​

She gulped more of the awful liquor and coughed. Her cheeks turned pink from embarrassment at his question, but at this point there was no reason to lie. He seemed like he cared. Or maybe he was noting weaknesses for the future. Either way she was stupid enough to answer the question.

"No it doesn't hurt. It's hard to explain."

She swirled the alcohol in her cup, considering downing the rest of it, but also gaging at the thought.

"There is something wrong with me. The darkside makes me feel good. Really good. It's like a drug. I can't use it, but I can feel it in me. It clouds everything and it makes all the pain go away. "

She realized how soft her voice had gotten and swirled the cup again. "I'm basically a Jedi addicted to the darkside. Unable to turn completely, yet also unable to control this burning thirst I have to be around it.”

She downed the rest of her cup and shivered. "This stuff is awful." She grinned sideways at him. "Maybe the next person you run into will be a little more hospitable."

​

Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

Mikhail snorted and took another sip anyway. It was awful and it burned, but that meant he could feel again. Taste again. So what the hell. Why not.

A second chance at being alive. Who would have thought it...

The one-time Sith Lord moved off the wall, curiosity in his gaze, "A drug..."

One that clouded her senses, but made all the pain go away. In one way, it did not sound so bad. In another, it sounded horrible.

His nearly empty glass thudded onto the kitchen counter as he moved a breath closer to her.

"How can you even stand to be in the same room then?

He faced her as she sat on the countertop, their eyes roughly at the same height. His eyes searched hers, looking into those green depths. Trying to find the moment of serenity he'd seen in them in the bar.

"Am I torturing you?"

Just by existing.

There was a connection between them. He'd felt it the first time they'd met, so long ago now. But learning her condition now... well. Meeting someone from his past after being ripped back to life and finding out that she couldn't even bear to be near him? The galaxy had a sense of humor.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

"Want to dive into your ocean."
​

“Honestly? I’m heavily tempted to rip your clothes off and get as close to every part of your skin imaginable so I can forget all the pain I’m in.. But as long as you don’t touch me.. or open that box again…it’s not torture and I’ll be fine.”

Well that was blunt. How much of this stuff had she drank anyway?

She held his gaze for a moment and then smiled shyly and tried to change the subject.

“So a second chance at life… got any big plans?”

Mikhail Shorn

 

[Mikhail Shorn]

A single raven brow arched.

Oh. Is that all?

Mischief danced in his eyes, but he stayed where he was. Not too close. And also not close enough.

"Hmm, well we had get the Soulsaber. Check," he counted it off on his finger.

"Cause mass mayhem, check."

He squinted as if in thought, but couldn't keep his eyes narrowed as their gazes locked. His pulse accelerated, like a starfighter with a SLAM drive active. His heart thudded in the chest of his new body. Except was it even really his? It didn't have any of his scars. In some ways, it was better. And that made it worse.

"I uh..." why could he not look away from her? "I guess I'm free. Any suggestions?"

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

"Is it raining with you?”
​

Katarine felt her stomach flip at his intent gaze. She held his icy blue stare with her emerald green one. Her heart was hammering against her chest, and she barely noticed she was leaning towards him.

"Umm maybe wait until the coast is clear and then get me off this planet?"

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to summon the Force to her, to calm her nerves.

"And maybe next time not go out of your way to make me a wanted woman?"

She smirked, her eyes still closed. The "next time" was a brighter thought than it should be. They belonged to different worlds, on opposite sides of a battlefield. This friendship was doomed before it even started. She had to keep remembering that. He literally just held a blade towards her ten minutes ago. Breath Katarine.


Mikhail Shorn