Private Of Interest & Investment

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Arris Windrun //: Mercy //:
//: Attire //:

Deservo.

Quinn had recently made moves to claim the planet under the banner of the Sith Order. Some places and interests seemed to have claimed one of her paramours' attention. Quinn, knowing the power she wielded as the Heir Apparent and a Dark Councilor, made things happen. Banners of the Order were displayed along the streets and on buildings; people seemed interested in what was to become of them. Already, several were loyal citizens of the Empire, but lived just outside the reach of the holy worlds.

Now they were within the Blackwall.

Unfortunately, they were now bordering the worlds of the Mandalorian Empire. Already, Quinn could see the blending of cultures, a disgusting sight to see. She hated the image of Beskar armor, the way flame illuminated the craftsmanship of the warrior clans. The girl scoffed; the Mandalorians were nothing but poor hired guns with no honorable path. She kept her opinion to herself.

She walked through the hallways of the newly christened Sith building, meant for meetings and other federal- or government-style activities. The Ministries would be pleased to have a place to sit and conduct business. Quinn didn't care, as long as it wasn't some dungeon or the academy that had been founded.

Speaking of the academy, the woman had a moment to go through the attendees. There were names she had hoped she'd not see again, but alas, she couldn't help it. Maybe she had been the worst thing to happen, instead of being free — a cage surrounded once again.

The thought drove Quinn insane. She pulled at the hem of her skirt to align the pleating before walking into the room she had ordered prepared for the migrants of the Covenant.

Taking a seat at the wide table, she waited for two of the leaders to arrive.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Quinn Varanin | Mercy

Arris was the first to arrive. She was the classic image as always - leather jacket, some slacks. Easy to mistake for any other spacer in this galaxy, save for her excessive cybernetics and the uncanny signs of synthflesh upon a closer view.

The cyborg had been off Desevro more and more lately, especially since the Covenant's incursion into the Tapani Sector. She was surprised to be called back so suddenly, and to meet with Quinn Varanin of all people. Arris hadn't seen the younger woman since their escapade on the third Death Star.

"Princess," she greeted with a two-finger salute off her brow, a cigarette burning between them.

Arris sat in her seat and propped her legs up on the table, dragging the smoke as if she'd die without it.

"I'm sure Merce is somewhere..."

She sucked at small talk.

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Mercy //: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:

Quinn lazily watched as the cyborg entered the room. Taking in the sight of her, the excuse for a salute, and the thick smoke, Quinn looked away — annoyed. Arris had not only shot her once, nearly killed her, but also was potentially the person to take something precious from her. She failed her job at security and then tried to cover it up.

Her brow furrowed for a moment, then relaxed.

"Hopefully, you left our guns at the door with security." Her voice hinted at the venom that was about to spill from her lips.

"Or are you going to rely on your trigger-happy nature to navigate your role in this meeting?" Her amber eyes flickered back to Arris, taking in what she felt through the Force. While her own nature, seemingly weak and frail — it was a ruse, one she crafted since childhood.

Let them foolishly believe they're stronger…

A hand rested on her cheek as she let her arm drape across her midsection. Arris right now was the last person she wanted to see; if she had her way, she would make the woman pay for her failures. Letting Mauve be captured and then shooting her… while Quinn didn't have solid evidence, she assumed this to be true.

Covering up mistakes, it's what criminals would do; she had been around enough to understand their nature.

"As for Mercy, she'll arrive fashionably late as always — she's one to make an entrance…" Quinn paused and sighed. As frustrated as she was, her features did soften at the thought of the fiery woman as the hand on her face moved to caress the ornate necklace around her throat.

"She knows not to make me wait long…"

 

[Arris Windrun]

Quinn Varanin | Mercy

Arris gave one holster on her hip a gentle pat. "I feel naked without them, but I don't think we'll run into any blood-spewing bounty hunters." She recalled. What a weird day.

"That trigger-happy nature is what I love about myself," Arris gestured to the door. "Hell, it's what Mercy loves about me, too."

Her cigarette was barely more than a bit of orange glow disappeared between the pads of her metal fingers. Still, she went in for one last hit before it crumbled to ash. She tossed the Echani a thoughtful glance while she exhaled.

"I'm sorry if it's not what you love about me," she then said with a smirk.

The cyborg wasn't too sure how acquainted Mercy and the princess were, but she gleaned that they knew each other on the Death Star, and their exchange of words before Quinn faced her mother. What a strange day that was. Cybernetic eyes glanced when she touched the necklace.

"She knows not to make me wait long…"

Barely audible, she replied. "I wonder."

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Arris Windrun //: Mercy //:
//: Attire //:

The way Arris wore her ego like a badge reminded her of someone else. Their mutual connection through the Vigo. But there was a difference. Mercy had proven herself enough to have that ego, to wear it as if it were more a part of her than her own flesh.

Quinn rolled her eyes. She was already growing tired of the careless spacer act. Arris walked and talked as if she were what made the galaxy turn into the underworld. Instead…

"Your ego and assumptions are rather big for someone who's made a living off surviving on another's coattails." Her voice was flat, lacking the dotted venom she had earlier. Even if she wanted to be vile, try and sting somewhere that would hurt the cyborg — it wouldn't matter.

She was far too dense to know it was an insult. Maybe her head was more metal than bone…

"First Mauve, now Mercy," her eyes flickered back to the woman for just a moment.

"Who's next?" She shifted, "When you're done picking the scraps off Mercy's table, are you going to shoot her, too?"

 

[Arris Windrun]

Quinn Varanin | Mercy

Her brow rose. Arris hadn't expected the conversation to go this way, even if her aura stank as smug; she was just happy... or, whatever Windrun's version of happiness was. It wasn't normal, certainly wasn't healthy either.

Yeah, Arris was a born follower. She grew up on the streets of Talus. Her way of life was always to follow someone she respected, someone who she believed knew the rules - and how to break them - better than anyone. For her, Mercy was like a divine avatar of that logic. She moved through the galaxy in a way that touched the core of who Arris was as a person.

What Quinn may have meant as an insult was just the Talusian's truth. She found no shame in it; in living.

There was a twinge of emotion when Quinn mentioned Mauve, and maybe Arris twitched when she did. She knew the princess and the Zeltron were close, to say the least, but it wasn't exactly public knowledge that Arris Windrun killed (as far as the former knew) Mauve du Vain. Had she and the Underlord talked? Arris wondered.

"Who's next?" She shifted, "When you're done picking the scraps off Mercy's table, are you going to shoot her, too?"

A sly smirk replaced her brief contemplation.

"I already have," Arris replied. "Didn't you watch the Kaggath?"

That wasn't even to mention the more recent time she had shot at the Tionese Titan.

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun Quinn Varanin

"My oh my, the girls are fighting..."

The gravely voice came first and sounded rather amused.

If they turned around they'd get to see a large figure standing in the doorway. Leaning against the doorpost with a pipe in hand, taking a slow smoke as amber eyes took in the scene. It surprised her, really. While she knew that Arris could be a little petty shit, she had not anticipated that Quinn would be leaving her grace by the wayside.

How long had Mercy been standing there?

She was huge, usually her presence explosive, but within the Force Mercy was practically a void. Only direct touch would allow anyone to feel just how much strength was imbued in her flesh.

So it would be difficult to say... how much she had heard.

"Should I leave the room again? I can give you two a few minutes before I come back in to break up the fight." Mercy drawled with a smug smirk before giving Arris a little lazy salute. Inclining her head to Quinn next.

"Princess, a sight for-" Then a blink. "That is to say... Queen now, yes? But a sight for sore eyes regardless. Would you like a drink? A smoke?"

Taking another smoke from her own pipe.

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Arris Windrun //: Mercy //:
//: Attire //:

Quinn rolled her eyes. Arris was either too arrogant to care or too dumb to understand. She was almost surprised there was nothing beyond a minor shift in her body language. Quinn had been fishing, throwing words out to test the Cyborg's reaction. Her suspicions solidified, and she could feel her blood pulse through her veins. Arris had been someone Mauve trusted — and when Mauve needed her most, she hadn't been there.

Maybe Quinn was projecting… because when Mauve needed her, she hadn't been there either.

Arris mentioned the Kaggath — an event that had drawn many people together. Quinn had been there. She had watched, gambled, and celebrated the victor. She had also sacrificed a chunk of her own life force to resurrect one of the dying combatants.

She scoffed, a hint of laughter slipping out as she covered her lips with the back of her hand.

"You fought in the Kaggath?" Quinn already knew, but she refused to give Arris the satisfaction of being acknowledged. It had been before the final match that Mercy had entered the room — impeccable timing, really — giving Quinn the perfect opportunity to insult the Cyborg and the titan she'd faced.

"Forgive me," she said, her voice softened but still laced with venom. Rising from her chair, her hands smoothed down the pleats of the short skirt she wore. "I only remember watching someone relevant…"

As the newly appointed Queen of Eshan finished, her eyes flickered toward the Tionese woman who had just made her presence known. There was something in that gaze — something that spoke volumes if one knew how to read it.

Quinn leaned against the table she'd been sitting behind, sliding onto its edge. Her legs crossed carefully as she folded her hands into her lap with practiced casualness. Her attention stayed on Mercy, one brow arching as a smirk tugged at her lips.

"Your Highness works just as well." Her tone turned playful as she addressed her mother's apprentice. She hated how much Mercy had become like Ashin — the careful movements, the calculated presence in the Force. And yet, that same charisma pulled people in, kept them close.

It was intoxicating. Quinn often had to ground herself when she felt herself drawn too far into the Knave's orbit.

"And you're still Knave," she added, "until you learn not to make me wait." Quinn ran manicured fingers through the delicate strands of her perfectly bobbed hair.

"I heard you and your little ragtag group have been causing quite a ruckus for other governments."

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris felt a small hit of satisfaction at Quinn's eyeroll. She looked slightly away from the Echani, almost as if her widening smirk were coy.

Someone relevant. "Who might that have been?" She considered asking, followed by a short list of names. Antar? The man who made it to the semi-finals on technicality alone? Or how about Wymar, the Dark Side Elite, and the Core-Emperor's own champion? Who... happened to lose in the first round. Oh, how could she forget the Hutt?

Of course, she knew that Quinn meant Mercy. Speaking of...

"My oh my, the girls are fighting..."

Now it was Windrun's turn to roll her eyes. Or at least half-roll, because they stopped to spy that ridiculous pipe hanging at the Titan's lip. Arris even had a dumbfounded look on her face. For all the Sith Princess's efforts, it was this that solicited a deeper reaction.

But then the two of them began to banter. When Quinn called Mercy a Knave, Arris snorted. It was unique to see someone treat Star-Arm this way and get away with it.

"I heard you and your little ragtag group have been causing quite a ruckus for other governments."

Arris looked at Mercy. "Is this true?" Faux shock.

 

[Mercy]

Quinn Varanin Arris Windrun

Eyes went slowly from Quinn to Arris and back.

The girls are fighting was an understatement. It felt more like walking into a pair of cats who were trying to line up their territory. It was very out of character for them both in truth. And she wasn't aware of any issues between them either. The fact that Arris had executed Mauve (or tried to, but Mercy wasn't aware of her survival just yet) in front of Quinn didn't register as a reason for this spite.

"Care to share why the two of you are posturing so much?" The mountain slid forward and settled down on one of the chairs, pulling it up so she could lean her arms on the back of it while studying them both.

One hand stayed on the pipe, taking a drag every once in a while.

"I didn't even know you two knew each other." A thoughtful look there as she considered that statement. Or did she know and just never cared to remember? It was difficult to discern the difference between the two.

"So which one of you spit it whose cup? Time to come clean, because if we are going to discuss business, I don't want to be forced to stay between the two of you."

Quinn got an amused glance, both for the comment and for the question.

"Why, my little Núro... you should know, I am all trouble, all the time. Just depends who is the subject of my ire at any given day." Ignoring Arris' sarcasm for now. Usually it was funny... well, it was funny now too, but she was trying to be the responsible one here. It utterly disgusted her how often she had to be the responsible one these days.

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Mercy //: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:

"My issues with your droid aren't worth story time." She looked over towards the cyborg, then turned up her nose. "I've already said what I needed to, but if she has more to say, she knows where to find me."

That was all she would further speak on the matter. Quinn figured Mercy had known well enough about her attachment to Mauve Du Vain, as much as the Princess tried to hide it — she wasn't always very good at it. Even now, as much as she wanted to keep her features hardened as a politician, they softened easily at the tender nickname Mercy referred to her as.

She was also thankful that Arris most likely couldn't afford a translator chip capable of handling spoken Echani. If she did, then the hint of a blush on Quinn's cheeks would burn only deeper.

"You do have quite the reputation to uphold, Knave." Another small smile with a quip as she kept her attention on Mercy for the moment. Her eyes only flickered to Arris to see what she knew or what she was a part of.

Knowing Mercy, her little pet droid, was just as much a part of this 'business' fiasco as she was.

Leaning back slightly, she placed her palms on the desk as one leg went over the other.

"You know my attention is short, so what is this business you're referring to?" She mused, "Do you need something of me?"

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy | Quinn Varanin

Droid? Well, that was not a first for Arris; whether intended as a jab or genuine misidentification, it happened a lot. The cyborg thought about that quietly to herself. Despite her uncanny ability to hold a poker face, she had her insecurities, and that was one of them. Much was sacrificed, quite recklessly so, to become the person she was now.

To Quinn's point, however, Arris simply looked at Mercy and shrugged. It wasn't a matter worth getting into as far as she was concerned, and, honestly, she wasn't aware of the extent of the situation either.

Beyond that, she said nothing and observed the exchange between Mercy and Quinn. Completely oblivious to the Echani dialect.

Finally, when the Princess asked that they cut to the chase, Arris actually agreed.

Her attention turned fully to Mercy. "Well, this is your rodeo, Star-Arm."