Must Be Proud

[Itash Mecetti]

Maena....

Land of the damned.

Tash had always wanted to go there in his youth. Nar Shaddaa on speed an' then some, but for some reason it had never really worked out for him as much as he wanted it to. But now Maena had come to them, no? "You know, I keep staring at these outlines of theirs..." Tash murmured, relaxed against the couch with the datapad supported by his knees as he pushed past one slide after another. "...surprisingly good concept."

His voice was different now.

After that showdown with [member="Cassandra Paige"] some distance ago. He never wore the mask while they were alone and in privacy. She liked to see what she had done to his face.

Well.

Itash couldn't blame her.

After all, it was all too enjoyable to feel his stain marring her essence, so it wouldn't have been them to deny the little pleasure to the other side of the equation. "Who would have thought that that hellpit would inspire such creativity." He didn't truly thing it was a hellpit, of course, in truth it sounded positively riveting to him.

"How would you like Didact involved here?"

Obviously Itash already had a few ideas from reading the outlines, but he wanted her to say it. Ask it.

No rules, only pleasure an' then some.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Maena....

Land of demand.

Cass stood behind the couch, leaning over. Her arms rested lightly on his shoulders, hands coming together across his chest. Chin hovered, following his gaze as he flicked through the information she had given him. Carefully, slowly, she laid a kiss on his cheek- different now- before standing up fully but not moving away. Her gaze traced the line of his chin for a moment, a small smile on her face.

But there was a tightness around her eyes that hadn't been there before that night.

Cass had tasted something that she couldn't forget, and the longer it went without feeling it again, the more uncomfortable things became.

The hungrier she got. And the more certain, very bad ideas, seemed like possibly very good ones.

"GenPals has some set up with virtual reality.... you've seen those sections of the Conference station," she said, by way of explanation. "But there's more to this than that. This involves truly interactive interfaces, and the potential for data streams across vast distances. A much larger scale but also far more complicated. The difference between a single holovid and entirety of the net."

Cass was in business mode, clear, succinct, and not playing games.

"I think that a joint en devour would make what they are proposing possible on a level beyond simply Maena. Oh, GenPals could do something planetary along I think, but we simply don't have the infrastructure to support something interplanetary." Something gleamed in those grey eyes. "Beyond simple joint profits of course..... I think I may have something else about it that Didact would..... appreciate. A perk, if you will."

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Tash tilted his head to ease the access of the kiss, before nodding once.

Didact had constructed the station and set-up the groundwork for the virtual reality, but GenPals had done the overall build-up of it. It had been one of the points Cass had insisted on, specifically so her personnel would gain experience and that experience would serve them well here. Of this Tash had no doubt. He enjoyed this concept, this plan, it did away with all the annoying qualities of having to take care of a pet.

While retaining some of the monetary value GenPals would retain.

Of course, that would leave Didact with simply constructing the basis once more- which would be okay with Tash. Through Antigone and specifically through the connection between the two of them success for GenPals meant, in a way, success for Didact.

"I do so enjoy my perks." Tash teased back an inch as he shifted, scoping up her appearance in his eye. "What do you have in mind?"

This venture seemed wholly in the scope of GenPals.

It would be interesting to see what she had in mind to make this something Didact could profit from outside of the joint profits they'd share.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"Mmmmm weeeeellllllll," she toyed with the words as her fingers toyed with his hair. Salt and pepper now, instead of the deep jet it had been.

"The set up would include the necessity for certain, personal, information." She said slowly, tone casual and light.

"Identification to sign up," she murmured, tapping a finger, one at a time against the curve of his head, light but firm, one for each point. "Attachment to a credit account, for in-program micro-transactions. Location data, to allow the sprites to properly interact with things near by. Recorded feed from the location, as the program must have that data as well for interaction."

Running her hands down now, over his shoulders as she leaned in, smiling as she whispered against his ear.

"I would need a company capable of protecting that information," she purred, "Also a location that can process it. Who better then, than you, my love? A very lucrative, very long term contract. All of that information..... running..... through..... Didact. Through.... perhaps..... Junction 01?" She added innocently.

Not merely asking him to contract for long term financial gain, but the offer of access to the data itself.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

It wasn't often that their 'business meetings' went this a-way.

More often than not it was Itash pushing and prodding her boundaries as they conducted their negotiations. It was rather interesting to be on the opposite side of it for once, amused him, he even might have liked it a little bit. "Hrrm, now that sounds like a fascinating prospect." Tash murmured in reply as his hand brushed up her arm, curling into her shoulder and pulling her in for a kiss.

Upside down and they still managed to make it good.

Both in style as well as substance, but that seemed to be a rather large focus point of both of them.

Do what they do in style and competence. "I imagine that if this concept gets a large base of use, it might need more than one... junction, so to speak." After all, putting all their chits into one location would have the potential of compromise.

Already his brain was working at the options.

More junctions meant more information flooding into Didact.... mmm, yes, this seemed like a rather tasty idea.

It didn't take much pulling for her to slowly flop onto his lap, where his arms wrapped itself around her waist. He didn't escalate, didn't push them forward- she would notice that difference. Oh, Itash was still Itash, but there was a caution that hadn't been there before. A thoughtfulness. A certain quality which was used to study the world around him and gauge it.

Underestimating her had cost him.

He had learned a lesson there.

"Didact can see itself in this proposal, love."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She did notice. They had both changed a little that night. Him less likely to underestimate her. Her bolder. Hungrier. As if they had traded small pieces of their souls. They hadn't, not really. Only triggered latent things in each other. Perhaps those things would even out with time. Perhaps not. It was hard to say.

Cass didn't think it was a bad thing, truth be told.

She settled against him, with a smug smirk and a kiss.

"I thought you'd come around to my way of thinking on that," she teased, nuzzling the line of his jaw. "And yes, I was thinking another Junction honestly, at a minimum one more. Perhaps this one jointly funded through Antigone?"

She tilted her head back, leaning against his shoulder, watching him.

It was good to have a project right now. To distract her from the hollow in her core. It helped.

A little.

But it didn't change anything.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

They had begun to fund more and more things through Antigone, because of convenience, tax deductions, of course. The main thing was that it allowed them to move as one when what was needed was a concentrated effort in a single front.

Especially when they didn't necessarily want GenPals or Didact to be directly named in the papers.

It was a profitable venture.

"Mhm, that should work fine, yes. Located in the Corporate Sector, of course." Answering her nuzzle with his own, nipping at her lip before pondering further. "I will have my people scout out possible locations for us to look over, I have a few ideas, but best to have the... professionals see where we stand." This usually meant going through paperwork, digging out little bylaws, buying people and selling them. By the end of it Antigone would have a perfect location.

But that was the thing with perfect locations.

There was always already someone squatting on it.

His hand briefly brushed the side of her jaw, when he noticed her eyes- hunger, it was still there and it was growing by the day. Tash wondered how long she could hold out, before trying for the scepter again. As per his word he hadn't tried to hide it from her. What would the purpose have been of that? No, just as he hadn't hide that room from the beginning, he wasn't going to start now. That didn't mean that the Mecetti hadn't done some things to make it a little less likely she'd go on another rampage they'd have to clean-up though.

"I am working on it and have found several leads, Cass." Letting his thumb run across her lips, before settling snugly at the back of her neck to pull her in for a biting kiss. "You will command that power once more. I guarantee it." The murmur caressed her lips.

She would know then that he would.

In all the time that Cassandra had known Itash he hadn't broken a single one of his words. Bend it, interpretative it in such a way to become convenient, yes. But there was a reason why he had always picked his words carefully and without absolutes.

This was not that.

It was resolute and direct.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She believed him, as she kissed him in return. There was no doubt in her mind that he meant it.

The doubt was in if it would be on his timeline.....

or on hers.

Cass smiled against his mouth. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, just that their trust was based on very, very specific things. For instance, she trusted him, always, to work within his own best interest. She assumed he trusted the same from her of course.

"Care to fill me in on any of them?" She murmured, voice teasing.

As if this wasn't the most important thing she had ever done.

In truth, Cass hated the part where she had to rely on someone else for this. But she had no idea where to start, how even to begin a search into such things. She recognized his ability, and connections, made it possible for him to at least begin the process where she would be lost. However, if she had some idea of the avenues he was pursuing?

Well.

Maybe she wouldn't have to wait.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

He nipped at her lip teasingly.

Oh, Tash recognized what she was doing, because he recognized the hunger just a thin line away from the tease. In truth Cass had done an amazing job of controlling herself, he had been expecting her to try and go for the scepter on that first night. Well, the second one, she had been quite tied up to really consider anything like that. But certainly the second or maybe even the third.

But no, here they were.

He would have known if she had.

"Mmm, information is key, love." Tash murmured back giving her a nuzzle before leaning back against the couch. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise once it overwhelms you with joy, would I?"

Hmm.

His head tilted, before he shrugged.

"You can ask one question and I will answer it fully and bluntly."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

It was clear from the chill in her gaze, the way she kissed him in response, that him 'spoiling a surprise' was not on her lists of concerns.

Not even remotely.

"Information," she murmured back, "is always key."

It was, after all, what she'd offered him to sweeten this deal with Maena. The issue here of course, wasn't that she didn't have the information.

It was that she did not even know what to ask. As far as the Force went, beyond the knowledge that she wanted it, in fact needed it, Cassandra Paige knew virtually nothing about it. Oh her grandmother (father's mother, her mother's mother she *had* listened to) had prattled on and on about her days as a Jedi, but she had never paid attention. Hadn't lapped up the stories the way her youngest sister had. From an early age, because it wasn't something that could ever truly benefit her, she had dismissed it utterly.

Which left her here and now, without even the rudimentary knowledge necessary to even know what she needed to ask. Forget about the information those questions might unlock- that was as far out of reach as the heights of Coruscant's upper class were to a street urchin.

She was quiet, as if mulling carefully her 'one' question he so generously offered. In truth she was a slowly bubbling mire of anger at how casual and flippantly he was dealing with this.

Didn't he understand her need?

Finally, she settled on something.

"Who are you speaking to about it?"

Grey eyes were weighing, watching. Certainly the tone was casual. But that was the only part that was.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Her gaze was answered with one of his own.

From one moment to the next the casual melted away towards the strict and serious. While she weighed her side, Tash did some considering of his own- there were dangers here, but... wasn't that what life was about in the end? When had a little danger stopped him? In truth... it wasn't her welfare or his own that he worried about. No, it was simple greed. This was his and to give her even a glimpse was an act of sharing that Mecetti had no interest in partaking.

But.

They were partners now, no?

No more games. None that truly mattered anyway.

"Okay, I will bring them to you." His hand curling harder into her hip, taking a kiss from her, before slowly detaching himself from their embrace. Careful, of course, this wasn't the night. Leaning down and kissing the crown of her hair. "I will be right back." It was only minutes, before Itash settled back down next to her and on the table put an orb. It was not the same apple that she had taken from him that night. Smaller than that, its casing stained crimson like blood.

Light to the touch.

Warm too.

He bit the side of his wrist, until blood welled - there was a price, always a price. Letting it stain the crimson further into a deep red. It woke with the face of a Givin rising up, until it projected itself above the shiny orb.

Vaneesh looked down on them.

"I see you told your human about me. Is this wise?" For some reason the Givin didn't completely consider Itash human.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Okay that wasn't the answer she'd been expecting.

At all.

Get them? What was he talking about? Unless some of his men were Force users (besides the Void troopers and they were rarely allowed in the house) she was just baffled. She'd been expecting a couple of names, people she probably wouldn't know but would be able to look up. To go around him, if he dragged his feet too long.

She sat silently, watching him as he returned, eyes a little narrow. Watching, as he opened up his flesh to bleed for the orb in his hand. And then-

His human?

Her eyes narrowed a little further.

"This is what you are relying on?" She said with a sniff.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Vaneesh sniffed back.

"Unruly too. Was there a reason for me to be summon?" His attention shifted towards Tash, eyes piercing and annoyed. It wasn't often that it was reminded of past glories and right now the spirit was once again confronted with the fact that it couldn't actually do anything it would have done in the past. Like blast the insolent wretch with lightning, just so she would be reminded who her betters were.

"Vaneesh, you will answer any questions Cassandra has as if they were my own."

Of course, Vaneesh was rarely helpful even when Itash was the one asking the questions.

But before he could interject with indignity Tash shifted his attention to Cass. "I realize this is unconventional, but these are matters of the Force. Also known as 'nonsensical and needlessly arbitrary'," That made Vaneesh sniff loudly with a murmured, my word... "-what we are looking for is ancient, rarely practiced and something I would not trust just anyone with."

"Vaneesh is sworn to serve whoever holds their sphere." To a degree. "He has the answers, so ask away."

It was a sign of trust.

No limits here.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She was wary. For good reason too. Between her last encounter with a force artifact and the way Itash was handling this, she was half expecting a 'gotcha' moment to come down at any point.

Instead, what she got was irritation.

Part of it was that she didn't know what to ask. Part of it was the Givin itself. The former improved somewhat as they went. The later?

Not so much.

The answers were by and large circular and unsatisfactory. Even when she attempted to nail down the concrete, it answered in the sublime. Partly due to the nature of the discussion, yes, but partly Cass assumed, to annoy her. She wasn't wrong. His advice read more like ancient mythology. First one must this, then one must that- oh, but this was destroyed in the year no one really cares and that died not long after so of course that route is not one that could be reasonably followed by you.

"Enough," Cass finally said with disgust. An ache was starting to throb between her eyes and she reached up to rub there firmly with her thumb.

"Enough," she said again, this time just sounding tired. "Thank you, Tash, that will do."

The Given sniffed.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

He calmly studied the Givin.

After a moment or so Vaneesh sighed and plopped out of existence.

This caused the red light to die out, instead causing the room to return to a more natural color. "You might see now what the problem is." Tash said with an annoyed edge, before making the orb disappear again. If his annoyance was the lack of information, the Givin's ability to infuriate everyone around him or something entirely else was anyone's question. "I have managed to trick him into giving me some information, but it has been relatively frustrating process."

"But-" He slowly pulled her onto his lap again, letting his fingers rub her temples where the pain was starting to radiate towards, massaging with precise and deliberate movements. "-I do not do half-measures, love, I am on a trail and I will get you what I promised."

Tash ran his lips across her neck.

"So you can feel the power again, so nobody can stand against us without suffering."

Be that a Raykkan, be that anything else in the Galaxy. No matter how long it would take- Itash would ensure she was power and molded into the shape he needed her to be.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"Mmm, I believe you," she said, turning her face towards his and drawing him down.

Of course, belief only got someone so far when something like this took hold. Given enough time, space and willpower, as well as the support of someone who recognized this as folly, Cass might have gotten past the beginnings of the potential addiction. But instead the craving only grew.

Over the next few days, she tried to busy herself with the new project. The beginnings of the process that would eventually become a virtual, collectible GenPal. The department that handled the virtual reality experiences on the GenPals station were alerted, and meeting after meeting, brain storming the broad strokes as well as the details.... the engineers were as excited as her scientists usually were when faced with a new challenge, and Cass found it possible (not easy) to ignore the growing need.

At least, during the days.

The nights were harder.

Especially knowing that down the hall, despite the drawbacks, was an item that could give her everything she wanted.

The days were long and busy, and she should have slept soundly at night. From one planning meeting to the next, to Didact to discuss details, looking over designs until her head spun with the images of hand held devices in a dozen configurations.

But when she closed her eyes, she remembered the rain.

****

It was in the small hours of the morning that Tash would awaken to a scream. The bed beside him wasn't just empty, but cold. The scream from down the hall.

Really, though, he wasn't surprised.

After all, he was the one who had rigged the Staff of Ragnos in case she went after it again.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Eyes opened and it took him a fraction of a moment to regain his focus.

Bed.

Over Etti IV.

His hand brushed to the side and only found coldness. Eyes closed, head tilting as Itash allowed his mind to pulse through the corridors until they found what he was searching for. The doors were open and behind it was power. His inner eye couldn't look further than that- the strength and corruption of the various artifacts within causing a blinding effect.

But it told him where Cassandra had gone.

He slipped out of the bed, dragging a robe across his shoulders and then wandered on over. Through the corridor while sending the guards away again. Not every problem could be solved with guns.

Through the door.

Peering down.

"Need a hand?"

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Cass shuddered at his feet, not answering right away.

She'd been pacing the halls of the Sky Hook. It wasn't the first time since the incident, and it likely wouldn't be the last. At first she'd stayed to other areas, away from the room with the staff. But each circuit around brought her closer than the one before, until she found herself standing in front of it. This was also not the first time since that night. Every time previously however she had turned away again. Making herself deny that hunger- the price was simply too high, when it came to the staff.

But tonight..... tonight she'd reached out, fingers hovering over the length of it. Not touching. Not at first. But the hunger had grown over whelming. She needed it, more than she could bear. It was more than any hunger or thirst she had ever experienced, and she decided in that moment, fingertips curling-

"Yes," she husked finally. And then- "No."

She didn't think, even with support in that moment, she could stand. The electrical current that had ripped through her, tearing the scream from her throat, had ended as soon as she'd let go of the staff again, but she could still feel the shaking in her muscles, the misfiring of nerve endings.

She didn't need to ask if he'd done it. It was very clear, after all.

Cass tried, and failed, to find her way to her hands and knees. Part of it was the after effects of the current, yes, but part of it was the sheer exhaustion. Hunger had ridden her for days now, in ways nothing could sate. She hated it.

But she couldn't help but want it.

"I can't do this," she whispered, looking up at him. Her face was pale, drawn. "If there wasn't an answer that could be found-" she meant, in this case, in time between then and now, between taste and desperation, "you should have just killed me there."

Addiction spoke, rather than reason.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

He watched her crawl around for a bit.

There was a shadow behind those eyes as Itash watched. If not for the fact she was so busy trying to find the energy and positioning to get to her hands and knees, she might have seen that glance he gave her sometimes.

The enjoyment of seeing her powerless.

Just a blemish of fault, but it was a crack of his suit regardless. "You can, you must." Tash replied, going down to one knee, while the edge of his index knuckle brushed her jaw. "I... have a temporary solution." His eyebrows morphed into a frown as the nail of his finger continued that brush, leaving a white line. Wondering, pondering, stretching the moment.

"You might not like it," Tash warned her, but in truth with a situation such as this one?

He doubted she would mind.

The hunger within was brewing and the claws grasping wherever they could. "But there is a ritual we can do, that will allow you to take control of the Force... temporarily, it will need to be... renewed."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

If there had been room left inside that hollow of a soul for anger, she would have felt that. But the hunger left no space for anything else. She reached up, fingers digging into his knee as she finally managed to find her own. Pale face tipped up.

"Anything."

She had been willing to risk the side effects of the staff, because anything was better than starving.

"What do I have to do?"

*****

The day after she took a sick day. That raised eyebrows in the offices of GenPals. Sure, Miss Paige occasionally took a day off, but never because she was sick. They had all seen the decline in her over the last two weeks, and there was no small amount of talk as to what it might be.

It was the following day, however, when she showed up, radiating an almost offensive level of good health, that left them the most baffled.

Not that anyone would say anything, of course.

She moved through the building, spring in her step, cheeks almost flushed, grey eyes bright and picking up every detail. Laughing, charming, energetic, but with odd moments of slyness, the various development teams for the new project got more accomplished with her pushing them forward than they had all week.

Whatever had been ailing her these last few weeks seemed clearly over, they agreed. Despite the level of push, this was far better than the exhausted, sometimes sullen woman their boss had been recently. They didn't know what had been wrong or what was better now, but whatever it was.....

They preferred it.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]