Private Judge Me Not for the Man the Gods Made Me to Be

[Bastard]

Quiet halls gave way to shocked gasps. Doors slid open to reveal dimly lit rooms, their occupants keenly aware of the disturbance taking place in their building. The crash of glasteel shook many from their late-night stupor. Whispers followed the Albino as he ascended the turbolift, beating him to the multilayered apartment's topmost floor. More people crowded the hall; a mixture of excitement and horror crashed against him during his stoic march to the door located at the end of the hall. The most astute of his audience recognized the crimson trail behind him. It leaked down his side, passing down his silken pants in small rivulets that stained his alabaster flesh. Some moved to stop his passage, to administer aid and heal his sundered form. He thought nothing of them. His sole focus was the slate-gray door to his charge's apartment.

Errant pressed his bloodied hand to the scanner beside the door. Iridescent blue light shone beneath it, moving from one side of his hand to the other, then back again. It beeped after a few seconds, the door itself sliding open shortly thereafter. He stepped past the threshold and moved towards a circular couch in the center of the main room. The door closed behind him, blocking vision from the curious few who followed him as far as the apartment itself.

Another door opened deeper in the apartment. Footsteps grew louder as the inhabitant hurried out from an adjoining hall to find the bleeding echani at the edge of the couch, jaw tightened in response to the pain burning through his side.

"Errant? Sir?! By the force, what happened?!" a middle-aged echani hurried to his side, her soft features lined with wrinkles. "Dear boy, what have you gotten yourself into so late at night? Does Miss Annasari know?"

He gently waved her away. "I'm fine, go back to bed."

"You know as well as I do that is a lie, Errant. What would your mother think if she saw you like this? Covered in blood, staining your employer's furniture? She would be ashamed of her little prince," she peeled away the sodden shirt slowly, careful not to agitate the wound. "Would you like me to have a medical droid brought up? It wouldn't be an issue."

"No, Myra, I am fine," he reached out and took her wrist with his unsoiled left hand. "Please just allow me a moment to rest. When I have regained my energy, I shall take care of this wound. It is nothing serious."

The elderly woman drew back, her wisened gaze searching his for something only she could recognize. Myra, now the head of Annasari's serving staff, had followed the exile from New Imperial space to Coruscant at his behest. With so few in the galaxy to trust, the Senator's new head of security relied on bonds forged long before his birth. Myra had taken care of him in his youth. While his mother, the Queen of Eshan, could not devote time to her young son, Myra guided him through much of his earliest memories. No one knew the shamed Knight better.

She wandered off a moment later, finding her way to Annasari's bedroom door. She knocked thrice and departed back in the direction of her own room.

A devious woman, she was—one who knew Errant's needs better than most.

Annasari ​

 

[Annasari]

Faces faded in and out, a burning sensation sent down her spine.

"You made me do this," the cold voice said.

At the knock, Annasari shot up, sweat beading her forehead. Her hands clutched the sheet beneath her as she looked around wildly, the dim light from her window cast upon the furniture of her room. Right. She was in her room. Rising slowly from the bed, a deep sigh escaped her chest. What the staff needed at this hour was a mystery to her, but she was thankful to be awoken from her nightmares.

"Yes?" she called out tiredly.

No answer was given. Rising from the bed, she grabbed the flowing robe hanging from her closet door, tying it around her waist loosely. As she entered the hallway, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, a yawn escaping her. Soft footsteps announced her presence as her eyes found the knight.

"If you wan-"

Her words were stopped short as she rounded the couch, spotting the trail of glistening scarlet. Anna inhaled sharply. She made no comment as her slow saunter shifted to a dart, turning on her heels to grab the first aid kit from a kitchen cabinet. When she returned, she sat next to the hybrid, face covered in disapproval. Placing the small box on the table, she surveyed the wound, her eyebrow arched.

"What happened?"

As she waited for an answer, her hand met his shoulder, guiding him to lean back. Her other hand went to work with a piece of gauze, applying pressure to the gushing injury.

Bastard

 

[Bastard]

The faint knocks reverberated through the apartment, loud enough to garner Errant's attention. He looked the way Myra had gone with a scowl plastered to his face.

"That woman is a devil," he grumbled, his gaze drawn to the balcony he'd occupied an hour before. Soil spilled over the side of a cracked ceramic pot, the flora itself lying parallel to the ground. Chairs were overturned, the table missing, and what appeared to be another splash of crimson coated the railing where he'd vaulted the edge.

Annasari's brief arrival broke his train of thought completely. He looked her way with only a shrug. Her departure and emergence shortly after that saw Errant huff, slightly annoyed by the undeserved concern placed on him by both her and the elder echani. At her question, he looked up into the woman's icy blue eyes and nodded in the direction of the balcony. The former bounty hunter and terrorist would recognize the signs of an intense scuffle. He followed her guiding hands, leaning back across the couch, stone-faced in his discomfort.

"I'm not sure I like that look in your eyes, Anna," he spoke to her far too familiarly for a bodyguard. An added benefit of sharing a bed. "You make me feel as if I skipped out on the foreplay," his lips pulled back in a knowing smirk. "I simply did the job you hired me to do. Someone arrived on the balcony with ill-intent. They struck out, thinking I was unaware of their presence. Without my weapon, I was forced to improvise, so I threw them off the balcony and followed suit, but they managed to knick me before I'd turned the tide," he lifted his bloodied hand from a brutal cut stretching from just above his right hip to midway up the ribcage.

"They are dead now, whoever they were," he looked away from the woman, his smile fading away, replaced with obvious frustration. "Before I could get any information out of them, they cracked a pill within their mouth. I can only assume it delivered a deadly enough poison to silence them permanently."

He reached beneath his flowing shirt with his left hand and withdrew what appeared to be the attempted murder weapon. The knife lacked any discerning features, the most notable thing about it being a lack of modern technology. Next came a solid white mask, carved in the image of some form of ghost or specter.

"This troubles me, Anna," he fidgeted, discomfort evident in his pale eyes. "You've only just arrived and are the target of some professional killer? I-" stopping midsentence, the Albino laid his head back against a plush pillow. "I'll be sure to investigate this further. Nothing will threaten you in your home again."

Annasari ​

 

[Annasari]

His words sparked a flurry of emotion. Desire, frustration, rage. Her eyes left him briefly, taking in the scene of the scuffle, before finding their way back to the knight. The feelings that the situation evoked only caused more turmoil. In their short time spent together, she had come to enjoy his company. It was a small thing, but an important one to her, with how long she had lacked such a connection. This altercation put that in danger, causing a violent fury to rise.

"I-" She started, but the words fell off.

She wanted to say she could handle herself, but it would be a lie. There had been a reason she asked him to take up the position. It only caused that anger to grow. It was a valiant thing of him, to put himself in danger for the senator, yet she was irritated with herself it was even necessary. Though she knew she possessed her own talents, she felt utterly powerless in the face of danger. A scowl crossed her face while silence fell over the pair. She continued to tend to the wound, cleaning and bandaging.

"I should hire others, to help you." Anna's voice was flat when she finally spoke. "I should have been smart enough to know there would be a target on my back, with my past, and with how many I upset when Jakku gained membership."

She bit her lip, thinking.

"I can't take this matter to the senate. For all we know, it could be one of my peers. I'm sure many of their wallets will take a hit when Jakku reaches a stable level."

The sound of scissors on tape filled the air as she finished applying the bandage.

"You'll need a medical droid. Likely stitches, but this will keep you from dying in my living room." The hybrid rose, lost in thought. Footsteps echoed across the quiet penthouse as she began to pace. Her hand found her chin, her robe flowing behind her. Pale legs carried her back and forth across the room.

"Maybe I was mistaken," She began, shaking her head. "Maybe... you working for me is not the best idea. Not because you're incapable, clearly, or you wouldn't be sitting there. But..." Her words trailed off as she continued her pattern of a brisk walk.

Bastard

 

[Bastard]

Errant said nothing at first. He just looked at her, his eyes locked on her hands as she worked to clean the wound. The stinging sensation of alcohol made him groan. Further irritation followed when she repeatedly dabbed it, hoping to soak up as much blood as possible. While he wanted to interrupt her at more than one point, he stayed silent. The pain had a hand in it, but so did Anna's inner struggle. It felt wrong to intrude, to push her one way or the other when he was the source of her turmoil.

"Anna," Errant muttered. "It's okay. I expected this to happen. The responsibility sits squarely on my shoulders."

He shifted to allow her access to bandage his side. Her intense focus on wrapping him up saw the faintest smile find his lips. Whatever they'd been up until that moment, him bleeding on the couch, and her, fixing him up, had changed.

"Anna," he repeated. "Listen," he reached after her as she stood, narrowly missing her wrist with his left hand. Another sharp pain shot through his side as he climbed to his feet. The Albino winced. "I won't need a medical droid. I'll deal with this before the morning. I just need to rest, find a bit of peace."

Stepping into the kitchen, Errant scrubbed at his hands, freeing himself from the red stain. He watched her pace from side to side., momentarily entranced by the sway of her hips. Her robe bounced each and every time she turned about. With a faint blush, he turned and dried his hands before looking back to her. He crossed the room in a few steps, sweeping up behind her near silently. His fingers first found her elbows, gently they hovered over her flesh. After the briefest of pauses, his hands slid down her arm to her wrists, where he crossed her arms over her chest and pulled her into a hug. Without saying a word, he planted a kiss on the top of her head and just stood there for a moment.

"Annasari," he spoke softly, his voice just louder than a whisper. "You know how this would look if it went public. An exiled Imperial Knight, a Senator of the Galactic Alliance. It would make things far too difficult for you and... well, I don't want that. I enjoy our time together, and I want it to continue. Doing this, acting as your bodyguard, genuinely keeping you safe, allows us to do that."

He rested his head against hers, eyes closed. "However, if you do not feel safe with just me watching over you, I will find others to hire. I can speak to the Sword of the Jedi. We have history. Perhaps he'll be willing to spare one of his more trusted followers to aid in our plight."

Errant withdrew his hands and carefully spun her about to meet his gaze. "I will do whatever you ask of me, Anna, but I assure you, you mustn't worry for me. There is nothing on Coruscant that can truly pose a threat to my life."

Annasari ​

 

[Annasari]

She went stiff for a moment at his touch, fighting to keep the emotion that powered her. It was only a second before it melted away and she relaxed into his embrace. Her shoulders fell as she focused on the warmth of his body against hers. As she turned to look at him, the glow from outside casted a light across his cheekbones, the shadows beneath them deeper than usual. The guilt in his rosy irises made her frown. Slowly, she shook her head.

"It's not that I don't feel safe, Errant. I would likely be dead if not for you. You're hurt, though. I don't want you to suffer on my behalf."

Anna reached out towards a stray piece of silver hair that had fallen in his face. She tucked it behind his ear, before allowing her hand to fall to his chest.

"I want to say I don't care about the implications, but..." Her words trailed off for a moment, her brow furrowing. "With the history of the New Imperials and the Alliance, you're right. Some would call me a traitor, likely expect I was feeding information. Enemies were lurking in the shadows, but if they're now striking out brazenly, I can't afford more."

Her frown deepened, and she exhaled deeply.

"I do want others though, to help you at least. I can't expect you to stay awake every moment of every day, keeping guard. Jedi or mercenaries, whichever you prefer."

Her hand rose to his neck, her other raising to meet it, as she moved closer and rested her head on his chest lightly. The hybrids eyes closed as she took solace in his presence once more.

"I'll worry until we find them" she murmured into his cascading hair. "Then maybe we can have a moment's peace after they're dealt with."

Bastard

 

[Bastard]

An alabaster hand rose to cup her cheek. Slender fingers twirled loose strands of dark brown hair into tight coils before releasing them to bounce back against her flesh. He found it increasingly more difficult to look away from her soft blue eyes. Maybe it was in how she spoke to him. From her pacing to the brief fight she put up when he took her into his arms, he could feel the emotions whirling through her. Concern for his safety, frustration in herself for not expecting such an attack. He could only smile, the affection he'd been so careful to conceal all this time prevalent in his pale gaze.

"I've experienced much worse than a cut to the side," he watched as she tucked a loose strand of his hair behind his ear. He smiled and took her hand within his, planting a tender kiss on her knuckles before releasing it to find its place on his chest.

"The only way to stop them is to find out where they are coming from. It will take time, but I'm sure I can discover something if I start a proper investigation," he paused. Briefly, he nuzzled against her touch, another smile forming as her fingers traced his neck. The Albino rested his chin on the top of her head, both of his hands falling to wrap around her body and pull her closer.

"Mercenaries aren't particularly reliable," he said. "I know you've had some luck with their kind, but credits are credits. If someone is willing to pay them off, I see no reason for them not to take the deal. I'd rather know the people being employed to keep you safe will put their lives on the line for you. Just as I would. So, I'll look to the Jedi. There are some left wandering the temple that aren't interested in the war. One of them could be put to good use keeping an eye on you, the Senator of Jakku."

While he spoke, his hand caressed her back, running up and down its length. "We will find them, my dear. You needn't worry. Just focus on what's in front of you for now. I swore to you I would always guard your back. Be it Jakku, Coruscant, or Wild Space, you will always have my sword."

Annasari ​

 

[Annasari]

Annasari nodded, pulling her head away to look at him once more. The twinkle of earnest in his eyes sent another wave of emotion rolling over her. In a galaxy where snakes wore humanoid masks, it left her hesitant to put trust in anyone. The secret agenda amongst her former peers in the agents had only amplified that shortcoming. Yet as she studied the knight, there was no reluctance in believing that he was genuine. His actions had spoken louder than any words ever could. For that, she could put her faith in him.

"Thank you, for everything, Errant." A small smile floated across her lips. "No objections. You deserve my gratitude, at the very least."

She eyed the knight, considering.

"There is still much to do. I fear these occurrences will become more frequent as Jakku begins to rise. The people may be thankful, but the foreign interests won't take well to my interference."

The senator pursed her lips. Many a pocket were already feeling the effects of her planet beginning to stand on their own two feet. Tempers had flared when they hadn't been allowed to pillage the world's resources unopposed, and the Guild had the potential to become a powerhouse, should it hold together. She shook the thoughts away, focusing on the man in front of her once more. Anna leaned in, her lips finding his own.

Bastard

 

[Bastard]

"You have such beautiful eyes, Anna. It is near impossible to look away when you bless me with your gaze," Errant leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. While she saw something profound within the fallen Knight, he found himself lost in her beauty. The sun rose and fell with her. Even in the dead of night, aroused from her slumber, she was radiant. Her smile lit up the room. The scent of her hair overcame his senses, bringing with it a sense of calm he desperately needed following the battle with the would-be assassin.

"You needn't thank me. I-" he paused, considering his words carefully. "I find that service is a noble calling. Be it on the battlefield, the home, or in a greater capacity, such as the Senate. I cannot speak for who you were before I met you. Nor can I ask you to care for a man who'd brought shame to himself and broken sworn oaths in a fit of uncontrolled passion. All I can do is offer you my thanks. You've looked beyond that shame."

Errant reached up, slender fingers finding her chin. He gently lifted her chin, pale crimson eyes locked on soft blue orbs, his lips hovering inches from hers.

"Those who rise against you will know suffering eternal. I will strip them of all that makes them whole, piece by piece, and scatter them to the winds of time. No one will hurt you. No one will stand between you and your dream. This I swear to you, Annasari, and so much more if you would allow a fool such as myself a place within your life," he kissed her cheek this time, planting several soft kisses up the length of her jaw.

"If I forget myself in this moment, please look past this mistake too. I yearn for your touch. To feel you against me, to hold you down and taste your body on my lips. Perhaps I am no better than the traitor my brethren believe me to be for saying this, but I am tired of pretending something greater does not lie just below the surface. I cannot say if this is merely lust or something more, but I would explore it with you nonetheless. For in service to you, my sweet, I will know no greater joy than giving you all that you could ask for."

Errant offered her one more glance before he pressed his lips against hers and fell into her embrace in full.

Annasari ​