Not Your (God) Father's Son [Lucien Cordel]

[Lief]

[Lucien Shorn]

Nar Haaska was a backwater planet of little consequence... Of course, that made it all the more perfect a location to meet with clients. He had just brought in a sleazy Rodian for a couple of thousand credits, a small time hit for most people, and decided to stay a while longer than usual.

Settling himself down at one of the local bars, he ordered a round of drinks and slunk away into a corner of the room before management could realize he wasn't of age. Haaska may have been in what was still largely considered Hutt space, but that didn't mean he could do as he wished. Even Hutts had expectations.

Kicking his feet up Luce sipped the foul tasting brew and pondered his next move. There would be no returning to Nal Hutta until he was called back. Perhaps it was time to buy a real ship so he could get out of Hutt Space once and for all? After all, the best bounties to be had were against the Forcies, and their ilk were never really in this region.

Watching the door, he pulled out a datapad hooked up to the holonet and began to browse potential vessels. Pre-owned of course, he was hardly rolling in the credits. He saw a few random people enter, none of which gave him the time of day, before focusing all of his attention to the illuminated screen. He was sick of only being able to jump short spaces between planets. Why couldn't he have stolen a better ship?

[member='Lucien Cordel']

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien had been tracking his godson for a long time ever since he had fled the Tapani Sector. Well he hadn't been tracking his godson personally, he had people for that, but he had been keeping a close eye on developments. It had been a nasty bit of business that whole lightfoil accident and had the young Shorn done anything other than runaway to stagnate Lucien would have had sympathy, he couldn't muster sympathy now though. He had been half tempted to let the whole tale be publicised to teach the young Shorn a lesson but it swiftly occurred to him that he would be cutting off his nose to spite his face. As such he had used what influence he had to hush up the story ... it was a dirty business, a dirty business indeed.

Once the matter of hushing people up was done with the major task of finding his god son began, it was no easy task Lucien could begrudgingly accept that Luce was good at hiding out. It had taken some considerable effort to locate the young Shorn but it was finally done. Lucien had insisted he be the one to go to retrieve the young Shorn, rather expecting the boy to be hide out in a friend's beach hut on naboo like a proper ivy league brat. He had not expected to find his godson in hutt space working as a petty thief. Lucien had really wanted to send a lackey but ultimately his duty to the Shorn-Sivas's had won out and as such he found himself practically stuck to a chair in the seediest cantina he had ever had the displeasure of attending.

Lucien had spent the whole day glancing at the cheap scotch he had been served and chain smoking whilst he watche his godson trade his dignity for credits. Then he had watched as the young shorn bought alcohol underage but the final straw had been when Luce put his feet up on the furniture ... people had to ... well he hoped they weren't eating of the tables so that left only ... inappropriateness. Lucien moved over to his godson my he had grown ... granted into a disgrace but grown all the same. He slapped the table "Feet off the furniture ... we are going to have a chat " Lucien began as his valet wiped over the seat facing Luce. seat now clear of 1 layer of Peasant residue Lucien sat down grimacing slightly. Lucien expected that with the price the school charged they would be able to instil basic manners but clearly not.

 

[Lief]

So focused was he on finding himself a new ship that he paid no mind to the approaching individual. Only when the table was slapped, and Shorn had jumped three feet into the air, did he lay down the datapad and look at the man who was stood there. No one he knew. "Sorry old man, this table is taken." He watched with a small measure of amusement as the seat across from him was swiftly cleaned by a silent man. Ugh, this one reminded him of some of the Tapani Nob---Oh...

Kriff.

Without warning Luce made a lunge toward the door from his booth. His mind raced with endless possibilities, yet all he could visualize was Lars' dead body at his feet. He had never meant for anything to happen, they had always kept their lightfoils on the lowest setting to avoid anything nasty happening. But the tutors would not understand that back at his school. He had to get away from here!

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

'Old Man' Lucien was not an old man. surely, yes he was beginning to catch a few isolated greys but old, no. "Not for me it isn't" he replied before the boy bolted toward the door . He sighed to himself, why must everything he do cause him great difficulty. one thing was for sure Luce was Shorns boy plain and simple. With a lazy flourish lucien set about preventing any escape first aa chair , if the grimy furniture of this place could be described as such , then the door slammed shut and bolted. Lucien turned to the now hopefully floored Lucien "I suggest you cut the crap and sit back down , before I force you too which I assure you would be most ... unpleasant "

Then he turned to his valet handing him an envelope of credits "Take this to the owner or manager who ever is in charge and tell him the cantina is now to close and all his 'patrons' are to leave and he is to follow ... should he refuse show him this and point to me... " he said passing his valet his lightsaber. Then turning his attention back to his godson

"Shall we try again ... your name is Lucien Shorn, your friends call you Luce which makes you sound like a performer at a house of ill fame. My name is Lucien Cordel my friends call me lucien because that is my name and they aren't wet behind the ears, you are supposed to be in the school I pay for and yet ... disappointingly you are here and your going to tell me why"

 

[Lief]

As he reached his bid for freedom, something struck against his calves and sent him down to the ground like a sack of bricks. Ahead of him, Luce watched as the door slammed shut of its own accord and then the lock bolted. Oh, he was in for it now. He had been on the receiving end of a Force User just once before, and it had not been a very pleasant experience at all!

"Who are you?" he asked as he stood from the ground, somewhat winded and breathless yet thankfully in one piece. His pride, however, stung. Everyone in this cantina had just seen his wipeout. That wound certainly singe his name if nothing else.

Stumbling back to the booth Luce slumped down and glowered at the man. He watched the transaction of both credits and lightsaber with a confused frown. Why would they need to empty the entire cantina? That was bad for business. Still he saw the patrons all rise and leave, leaving him alone with this madman who acted as though he owned the place.

He watched the valet from afar, before feeling the heavy gaze of the man upon him. When he spoke Luce returned him his attention, and gave a slight nod of his head to the suggestion that they begin again. But he was not expecting what came next.

The audacity. Lars had been the one to first name him Luce... That gave it far more meaning than this man - Lucien? Small world it seemed - clearly understood or gave it credit for. The next part, however, had all the color drain from the young boy's face.

"Y-You're the sponsor?" It was as though Luce had just looked death in the eyes. The name rang a bell too somewhere in the back of his mind, though he could not place his finger on why. "I have my reasons" he said, not wishing to drag up the manner of Lars' death. He still blamed himself in part, even though he wasn't the one who caused it. Luce felt as though he ought to have known somehow that the lightfoil hadn't been on the lowest setting. Of course there was no way he could have anticipated it.

"Look, mister, I'm sorry you wasted your money on a hopeless case such as I. And if you want I'll even find a way to pay you back in full. Just don't make me go back there, I can't look'em in the eye after what happened. Please..."

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien smiled slightly as he succeeded in preventing the young Shorns exit. it was satisfying to know he still had it. Even if still having it meant hitting teens with chairs. His namesake seemed embarrassed as he picked himself up off the floor. that was good it meant that there was now one seedy bar that Luce wouldn't drink in slightly increasing his chances of seeing thirty.

He turned as people began to fileout, that was good no patrons ment no risk of a bar fight interrupting him and meant they could talk with relative privacy, after all the Shrn name sill had a tendency to get peoples backs up and drunk people tended to make bad choices. with the building empty lucien and lucien could focus entirely on one another.

It seemed that lucien had touched a nerve with Young Shorn's Nickname, he supposed he had been harsh but he was angry at his godson and his foolish choices, one of which probably being his choice in friends. He had not expected such shock from his namesake either perhaps there was a hint of respect buried somewhere in all the boys naivete.

"The sponsor and a few other things" he replied perhaps one revelation was enough for now the deeper relationship Lucien had with the boy and all the information surrounding it could wait for another day. He cackled momentarily when they boy claimed he had his reasons "I know all about them ... they aren't very good reason though" he followed looking into his godsons eyes he began to see past the 'Shorn' glint and a little deeper and he saw in Lucien the same pain and doubt that had plagued Darien , his adopted son, he hadn't come here expecting that and it caught him in the gut. Really hard.

"It is this inferiority complex of yours that landed you here in the first place, You're not a hopeless case at all " He sat back "And I don't want paying back this isn't about the money this is about your parents they were very special to me and I refuse to let them down ... look around this can't be the life you want now I can't send you back to that school even if I wanted to but you have plenty of other options , what life do you actually want?" He said softly whilst he internally cursed his own softness.

He had intended to come here verbally tear Lucien to shreds then drag him off to some military academy where manners and discipline would be beaten into him. But he saw too much of his son in the boy and sending him away would only make the hurt bigger and he couldn't bring himself to do that. He was once again felled by the suffering of children. somewhere he was sure Andra would smile perhaps there was hope for him.

 

[Lief]

While Cordel may have wished to brush over his other ties to Luce, the boy was not so quick to be fooled. "Other things?" he asked, immediately picking up on the prospect that this man may know more than he was letting on. He chewed on his lip a little as the man explained that he knew his reason for fleeing, and when he stated it was not a very good reason Shorn bristled. "They would have had me arrested without a moments hesitation... They wouldn't have even asked what happened. You know how they are!"

He quickly hushed, however, it would not do to raise his voice or lose his temper. He owed much of who he was to the man who was now sitting across from him, he may have lost some of his sense but he still knew who to respect. Running a hand up through his mess of hair Luce leant back in the seat and exhaled a long breath. He was tired of running, exhausted and stressed. But he could not simply return as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly and without warning Luce sat upright "What do you know about my parents?" He had never been given any information on them, and this may be the only real chance he got at finding out some answers. "Who were they?" But the man had already gone back to his pseudo-parental responsibilities. What did he want out of life? Like Luce knew. He was barely sixteen years old. The people of the Galaxy did not respect him, he supposed that would be a good start.

"I do not know what I want, Sir." Glancing down into his lap the young man frowned in genuine contemplation. "I don't even know what there is to want. All I know is that I had to leave. I couldn't stay there. I know that running wasn't the responsible decision, but... He was my friend, Sir. My closest friend. And I had no one to go to." I'm sorry he thought, to both Cordel and Lars. Oh what a mess he had made of things!

He supposed that dropping off the radar and taking up a job as a bounty hunter had been the worst possible way to lash out.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

"Other things " He said more forcibly, he was resolutely not going to talk about who sired the boy in front of him, that was akin to asking for trouble and Lucien hated trouble. Lucien sighed "They might well have arrested you ... then they would have called me and I would have dealt with it , then instead of being sat here in this cesspit you'd be at school holding a formal apology" The boy evidently needed to be taught what privilege was and just how much of it he had "It's the way the world works only the poor and foolish get prison time in the real world and we young man are neither "

Lucien was not shocked when the boy sat upright "Your Parents ..." He murmured "Your Parents were two of the most interesting people I know, Your father is a man of some renown everyone knows who his is but very few people really knew him , they hated him and he hated them but once you'd got past all that he was the most loyal man I know " The whole poisoning him for fun thing conveniently swept aside "The longer you can go without knowing his name the easier your life will be that I can assure you " He frowned a little if only mikhail had lived long enough the first time then they could have gotten to know him not what he'd done. Perhaps he would show the boy the real mikhail before he told him who his father was but now was not the time for that. "Your Mother was a captivatingly beautiful and complex woman but her kindness meant she was easily exploited and in the end her kindness killed her" He couldn't disclose her name either, doing so would disclose his father's. "we can't talk about this for now" It was making lucien heart again, tonight the bottles in his wine cellar would empty and in the morning he might well find himself tangled and redeyed in his bedsheets.

Lucien sat back and downed the cheap whiskey he ad been nursing all day, it was vile but it helped. If Andra was here she might have helped but then it was Andra that was the issue ... no, that wasn't true it was Ovmar that was the problem he did this and one day he would die for it, either that or lucien would.

Then they boy punched him in the gut again, his closest friend Lucien began to see his own pain in the eyes of his godson. Kark he thought internally. "I can empathise with you on that believe it or not , It's hard to move on I know but look around you is this what he would have wanted for you?" He frowned damn why couldn't he have just shouted at the boy like he had intended to, why did everything always have to be difficult? He continued softly "You couldn't stay there and you can't stay here you can come with me if you wish or you can enrol at a new school, tell me what you need and I'll make it done" He was getting too soft, gone where the days of torturing children then again those days were done as soon as they started.

 

[Lief]

Shorn remained silent as Cordel talked him through the proper procedure for dealing with mishaps in the world where money overruled the law. The problem was that if he thought back far enough, he knew that he did not come from wealth at all. He had been raised in isolation, with just Bucket and his sister for company. They hadn't had much to live by, and everything the twins did had a consequence. A tangible consequence. And part of him knew that the other students and their parents realised that he wasn't like them. Would Cordel's influence have been enough to hush it all up? Luce really did not know.

"Why would they hate my Father? I bet they never even bothered to get to know him..." Not that he could say much, he never knew his Father at all. For all he knew he was the scum of the Galaxy, although if that were the case why would Lucien have bothered with him or his children? He wanted to argue against the fact that he wasn't ready to know who his parents were, but he was already treading very thin ice with this sponsor of his. What would happen if that ice cracked? Luce really didn't want to find out. So instead he nodded his head silently when Lucien informed him that now was not the time for such conversations. He wondered if there ever would be a right time, however.

He watched the man down the alcohol he had been swirling around in the glass and cringed; Luce did not really have the stomach for alcohol, but even he knew that whatever was being served here was disgusting.

And so the conversation returned to Lars.

"No," he said; Lars would probably have boxed his ears and dragged him back kicking and screaming if he had to. As much as he liked to pull pranks and act up he was still his Father's son at heart and he realised what responsibility was. Not like Luce. "He wouldn't have let me leave." And so it was that he was given options. Granted he did not entirely know what to make of them, but options all the same. Silence stretched on for a good few minutes as Luce's dark mood began to lift and instead his expression dropped into dismay. He couldn't go back to school, it had been hard enough making friends and getting by the first time, and that was only thanks to Lars, it would be impossible to do so again.

"If I return with you, can I still continue my education?" he asked; he realised that having an academic background was essential if he was to go anywhere in life, he just couldn't deal with the thought of being shipped off to yet another boarding school. Truth be told, he was more frightened of another accident happening than anything else.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien smiled, it was good that Luce jumped to the defence of his father so quickly. "No the issue was not with people the issue was in your father and whilst his good side was immense it was hidden behind layers of Snark and anger .... but as I said more on that at a later time " It wasn't that lucien didn't feel safe talking about Mikhail here it was that Lucien feared that without strong alcohol , which was not something he would be able to get here , he was likely going to break down before he got any significant way into Luce's parents.

This Lars sounded to lucien to be an ok guy even if he did nickname his son Luce. which was far too close to Loose for Lucien's liking. Luce clearly respected the boy and it seemed that he did have a head on his shoulders even if he did act the clown. The young Shorn went silent after that so lucien just sat and waited, if they boy needed some time he ought to have it. Lucien inclined his head as the boy eventually spoke again.

"Of course you can't get out of school that easily" Lucien smiled, only a small smile though. There were numerous schools and universities within union space all of which operated at a high standard. Lucien was right that he would need an education if he wanted to get anywhere. "You need to sort anything out before we go , I don't want to wait around here"

 

[Lief]

Luce ran a hand through his hair; he desperately wanted to hear more, but Lucien's tone on the subject of his Father seemed final. Truthfully the boy had always wondered why he had never heard word of his mother or father in any real degree before: the way in which Lucien's expression seemed to drop expressed a deeper reason than he had first thought. The man wasn't just protecting Luce and his sister, he seemed to be protecting himself from it too. "As you wish, Sir" was all he said on the matter, though that didn't mean he was happy about it.

To the mention of resuming school he nodded his head. "Thank you." Although part of him knew he would miss this side of his life. Perhaps he could continue if he had some way of Lucien remaining ignorant to the fact. He didn't quite feel at home within the top level of society, but then again he wasn't entirely cut out for the backstreets either. But he supposed both came with time, practice and dedication. Who knew where this particular Shorn might end up.

"There is nothing for me here" he said, truthfully. All of his belongings had been left behind at the school, save for his lightfoil which remained upon his belt even now. The boy glanced around the icky cantina and frowned a little bit. He wasn't going to miss this place, or the shady people who made it their home, but the idea of it... Perhaps.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]