The Unpleasant Side

[Coratanni Cartel]

Coruscant - Nikolas' Apartment
Nikolas Thawne
[member="Farah"]

Crime paid, there was no arguing that.

The opulence of the apartment Nikolas lived in was more than a testament to that. The gold inlays, the indoor pool, the foyer stuffed to the brim with rare and stolen art was more than enough to impress everyone. Selling drugs, killing those that got in your way, bribing anyone you could, it always got you to the top.

Yet being at the top came with it's own problems.

The target that it painted on your back was stressful for most, and even some Hutt's couldn't handle it. If you were sitting on the throne somebody wanted you off of it, and Coratanni was no different. Ever since they had taken 1313, ever since they had built Akkara and taken their seat at the top the other gangs of Coruscant were after them. It was a power-play. Take out the king and you had the seat.

Simple.

Easy.

Except when it dealt with the Coratanni Cartel, things were never that easy.

That was why Farah would awake with a hand over her mouth, Nikolas leaning over and his finger gently resting upon his lips. There was a smile on his face, as there always was, and the bright blue of his eyes seemed to reflect some of the light from the window. There was a noise just outside the door, the barest sound of someones foot scraping against the wooden floor of the living room.

 

[Farah]

Farah awoke to the natural light streaming through the bedroom windows.

Normally it would be a nice way to wake up, but doctors didn’t have regular sleep schedules. After a night rotation, the sun was her enemy. Whatever role it had held over her internal body clock had been stripped away by her first year of residency.

Usually, however, she was alone when she awoke. Whether in her own bed or curled up on a gurney somewhere in the hallway, Farah typically didn’t have someone next to her.

Or above her. With their hand over her mouth, the other making a gesture that insisted she be quiet. Though she was still groggy, her body stiffened after a few moments and her eyes widened to meet his own. Was this the part where he drew a blade across her neck?

The faintest sound from the living room reached her ears. There was enough quiet here for the noise to travel through the closed door and her eyes shifted quickly over to the direction from where it had come.

She didn’t make a sound, eyes flickering back up to Nik with a mix of curiosity and irritation. Briefly, her gaze had caught the time on the digital chrono behind him.

She was late for rounds.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

Nikolas didn't say anything of course, he simply removed his hand from Farah's mouth and pulled away from her. There was no more noise coming from beyond the door, signalling that they were either preparing to enter or had moved on to another section of the apartment.

For a brief few seconds The Executioner didn't move, instead he lingered half on top of Farah as he tried to listen. After a second passed he reached above her head and between the mattress and the headboard, a small blade appearing within his hand as he pulled away from her and slipped off of the bed. His bare feet pattered across the floor in complete silence, Nikolas skulking across the hard wood until he stood directly besides the doorway.

He glanced at Farah with a smile, then once again pressed his finger against his lips. The blade shifted in his other palm, gripped backwards as he pressed himself flush against the wall. A moment passed, and then suddenly the door handle began to jiggle. It shook for a moment before slowly beginning to turn.

Suddenly the door pulled open. A brief second passed and a Rodian appeared within the doorway, his face gnarled with scar tissue and discolored burns. A blaster sat in his hand and the intent upon his entrance was more than clear. The alien raised his weapon, and then suddenly hesitated.

"Who the hell are yo-"​

​

The blue man didn't finish his sentence as Nik's knife found itself buried in his throat.

 

[Farah]

Wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen in the past 24 hours.

Farah had suppressed a groan and did not move, not until the knife had pierced the Rodian’s throat in an impromptu tracheotomy. She watched them for a few moments before rolling over to grab her mini-datapad which had been charging on the nightstand beside the bed.

She scrolled through it for a little while, checking her messages before mapping out how far she was from CoreGen. Maybe he’d be nice and drop her off at work but she’d take her chances with public transit.

Yawning, the Zeltron rubbed a hand over her face and peered back over towards the door.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

The Rodian dropped to the floor, the knife withdrawn. For a few seconds the Alien clutched at his throat, grabbing at something as though he could stem the flow of blood.

Nikolas frowned for a moment as he watched him, shaking his head and blood began to spill out onto the carpet. For a moment he lingered, then stepped over the corpse and into the apartment proper. He saw or heard nothing else, head shaking once more as he returned to the bedroom. "I'll have to have that replaced."

The executioner commented quietly.

Slowly Nikolas squatted down besides the Rodian, checking over his corpse for a moment. After a few seconds he found what he was looking for, a blazing black sun embedded within the aliens skin. No surprise colored his face, just a modicum of annoyance as he stood and turned back towards Farha.

"Never a dull moment, I'm afraid." He said, dropping the knife. "So..."

Nikolas mused as he wandered back towards the bed. "Breakfast?"

 

[Farah]

Farah was already sitting up, collecting what she could of her clothes that were scattered around the bed and floor.

“I’ll say,” She murmured, still a little groggy as she clipped her bra in place and adjusted The Girls.

Suddenly, she laughed. Not because the thought of him offering her breakfast was somehow funny, but the thought that she ate breakfast was funny.

“Sorry.” She shook her head, stifling the grin with her hand as she searched for her shirt. “I don’t do breakfast.” Who had time to eat in the morning? Farah ate when she could, slept where and when she could. Her life was hectic but she liked it that way.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

"Really?" Nikolas said as he leaned back on the bed, not particularly displaying any rush to get dressed. "It's the most important meal of the day, you know."

His sister had always insisted on that, even when they were young.

More so than his mother in fact. Mara had always been a stickler for ensuring proper health and diet in her younger siblings, something that had annoyed Nikolas and Teslyn more than anything. Still, the habit had stuck, and to this day the Executioner always made an effort to at least eat something small before he went anywhere.

Killing on an empty stomach wouldn't do. "Gets everything going right."

He told her with a smile.

"I insist you at least have some caf." As he spoke Nikolas glanced over at the corpse laying in the doorway, frowning slightly as the body made an odd sort of gurgling noise.

 

[Farah]

After fitting her shirt over her head, Farah smoothed it against her bust in an attempt to coax some of the wrinkles out. No dice. Oh well, she’d just change into scrubs as soon as she got to work anyhow. Her head turned, scanning the room for her pants.

She snorted. “You don’t strike me as the type to keep your dates around for longer than necessary.”

Ah, there were her pants. They were…over near the dead Rodian. She grimaced, padding softly over to the door and retrieving the balled up article of clothing. Shaking them out, she checked them over for any blood stains.

“I can do caf.” Breakfast was always iffy but caf was always a sure thing. Doctors needed caf. They were wired for most of their adult lives. “What kind do you have?” And particular.

Her eyes found the corpse once more and her upper lip curled in disgust. “Are you going to take care of that any time soon? It’s unsanitary.”

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

"Only when I find them terribly boring." Though those usually ended up in a similar state as the Rodian that now lay dead on the floor.

Nikolas didn't let just anyone into his apartment after all, and most people who knew the layout didn't live long enough to spread it around. That was one of the reasons that the Rodian had been heard moving around, he'd had to look for Nik actually slept. Amateur move really.

He mused for a second, standing from the bed. "Only the best of course."

That was certainly true. Nikolas didn't particularly enjoy Caf, not as much as some other stimulants anyway, but he only went for the best. That was who he was, anything less would have been an insult to not only his personality, but the image of his family. Couldn't have that.

"The help will get it." He waved dismissively. "I'll have to get new carpet anyway."

 

[Farah]

Satisfied at the lack of blood, Farah tugged on her pants and did her best to make them seem less like they’d been tossed into a corner.

At least he had caf.

Standing in front of the full length mirror, she began to adjust her hair and clothing, smoothing both out to seem less like she’d just rolled out of bed.

“You got Dantooine Dark Roast?”

She had no idea whether or not the beans were actually from Dantooine, but the brand was known for its high caffeine content and bitter taste. It was popular among staff at CoreGen.

Satisfied that she didn’t look like a hobo, Farah cast a cursory glance at the Rodian’s body. Her upper lip curled in mild disgust. “It’s going to start smelling soon.”

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

"Probably." Nikolas told her as he picked up a pair of pants from his dresser and pulled them on. He wasn't one for modesty, but the thought glanced through his mind that the Rodian might have friends on the way.

It wasn't something he shared with Farah though.

"I'll have to check the pantry." He didn't do his own shopping of course, that sort of thing was for less fortunate people than himself. When she mentioned the corpse again he glanced at the body, frowning slightly. He often didn't kill people in his own apartment, mostly because of this precise problem. Cleaning up bodies was...well it was a real time consumer. Sure he could just toss the corpse over the balcony, but that would lead to questions. "It'll be fine."

Nikolas told her with a wave of his hand. "Unless you'd rather go to a diner?"

There was one just around the corner.

 

[Farah]

“Please do.” She grunted as she tugged on one of her boots. “I don’t have time for a diner.”

Farah was very particular about her caf. Most of what the galaxy called caf was “watered down chit”, to put it into the words of her attending. She and Dr. Isaic got along well. He was a bitter, bitter man who demanded perfection and disliked taking on students. As such, he tended to leave her to her own devices.

Both a blessing and a curse, that was. She produced useful research and had quality surgical skills, giving her freedom to do as she pleased only served to make her even more arrogant and disdainful.

“What did you do, anyway?” Farah couldn’t deny the bit of curiosity that bubbled into her mind after catching another glance and the dead Rodian.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

Nikolas gave her an amused look. "Do?"

It took him a second to realize what she actually meant, his eyes following hers to the corpse on the floor.

"Oh." He hadn't really thought there would be a need to explain exactly why someone was after him, after all she knew what he was. The Coratanni Cartel was a fixture in the outer rim of the galaxy, and with their recent push into Coruscant it was no real surprise that other organizations would come after them. This was the first time they had actually broken into his apartment, but there was no great surprise there.

He mad no secret of where he lived.

"It's Black Sun." Nikolas said with a wave of his hand, wandering towards the kitchen. "They've long thought themselves at the top of the food chain."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "They take offense when you throw their Underlords off buildings."

 

[Farah]

“Oh.” Farah grunted, unable to conjure up polite interest in her response as she shoved the other boot onto her foot and adjusted it. “That sucks.”

She tugged at her pants, making sure that they stayed not so neatly tucked underneath her boots.

“Off a building, huh.” She raised her head to him, no longer distracted with dressing. “Judging by last night, I’d say you were more of an asphyxiation sort of guy.”

Brushing her hair to one side and over her shoulder, she rose and stepped cautiously over the corpse. Farah made no moved to hide her grimace, careful not to get blood on her shoes. Well, that was probably a lost cause anyway given what she did for a living.

“So, caf?” She waved a hand towards the kitchen, impatience starting to settle in.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

Nikolas was already fishing things out of the cabinet.

Caf wasn't something that he ordinarily made for himself, the chore took up far too much time for the little pleasure that he could actually gain from it. For him it was best to just get something on the go, or have one of the servants make it for him. "Asphyxiation leaves too much evidence."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders as he spoke, a small bag of whole caf beans falling onto the counter as he reached into the top of the cabinet and pulled out a grinder.

"Thumb prints." He explained with a brief waggle of his digits. "Also fairly easy to spot in autopsies."

As Nikolas was sure she knew. "Falling off a building though...well that can be chalked right up to clumsiness."

Not that it would be. No one that worked for the Galactic Alliance, CoreSec, or indeed Black Sun itself was stupid enough to think an Underlords death was anything but an assassination. Still, it would make it harder to track who had actually committed the crime, particularly given exactly how tall the building had been.

 

[Farah]

That made sense.

Farah often didn’t have to think like a killer, nor was she any sort of forensic biologist. Was she sad when patients died? Not particularly. They weren’t people; they were cases. Living, breathing lists of symptoms and problems she had to fix.

“I’ve seen a few of those.” Heavy bruising around the neck or a crushed windpipe usually didn’t leave them with too many options.

She’d followed him to the kitchen, seating herself on the counter as if to oversee the caf brewing. Her eyes tracked to the bag of whole beans. Scarlet brows arched but she said nothing. Who had time to grind their own beans? Probably tasted a hell of a lot better than what she was used to on a daily basis.

Couldn’t be too picky when you had to choose between food and sleep, sometimes neither.

“What if there are security tapes?” It was a genuine question, curiosity blooming out of boredom and the instinct for casual conversation.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

Nikolas poured some of the beans into a small grinder, the pleasant scent of caf wafting through the air. "Oh there are."

He was confident of that, sure of it in fact. The corpse that now lay on his carpet was rather telling. He smiled slightly, stopping the conversation for just a moment as he pressed down on the grinder. The loud whirring noise echoed throughout the kitchen for just a moment, and Nikolas slowly pulsed the caf beans into a fine powder before he pulled the grinder apart and emptied what he had created into a small machine that stood behind him on the counter.

"They've all watched them I'm sure." He turned back around to her. "Seen my pretty face."

He was rather pretty after all, something he was told often by his sisters when they were teasing him.

"It's why that thing is here." He nodded to the body as he turned around once more and set to actually making her caf.

 

[Farah]

Farah hummed in thought, idly letting her legs swing gently back and forth from her seat on the counter.

“So you’re not worried, then?”

He certainly didn’t seem so this morning, with his hand clamped over her mouth and a knife in his hand. In fact, he seemed rather gleeful at the prospect. Maybe he was a classic sociopath?

“You should stop by neurology.” She half-joked. “Get that brain of yours scanned.” Farah wasn’t a neurologist, nor was she a neurosurgeon. But she could pull some strings, if only to satisfy her own curiosity.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

[member="Farah"]

"Getting fond, are we?" Nikolas asked with a smirk.

The truth of the situation was though that there was no real reason for him to be concerned. Black Sun was an old organization, a fearsome one at that, but they were disjointed in their current state. He expected that a few more of these hitmen would come knocking over the next few days, but the idea that any of them would actually succeed?

Absolutely preposterous.

He was far better than they could ever hope to be. "My father always taught me that fear was something to be conquered."

Nikolas flipped the caf maker shut.

"Nothing less." A cup slid into place beneath the machine. "Nothing more."

 

[Farah]

She snorted.

“If you mistake curiosity for fondness that easily, perhaps you should get that brain scan.”

She hadn’t left right away. Nikolas wasn’t boring, and typically she didn’t wake up with a murder in the door way. That was a first.

“Did your father also teach you…” She trailed, search for the right word to describe ‘knife to the throat’.

“…That?” Her hand waved in the general direction of the cadaver, eyes fixed on the cup as it slowly filled with rich, dark caf.

Just the scent of it was beginning to ease her irritation.

[member="Coratanni Cartel"]