Private Twist

[Talsin Lota]

The events in the fighting pit still got him a little bit reeling. The feeling of Tansu getting run through by a blaster bolt, it had felt like his own flesh had burned.

They managed to get out at least.

Rendezvoused in the safe house he bought for them nearby. Talsin had assumed they'd get a lot of use out of it if Tansu was planning on managing that fighting ring for a longer period of time.

After tonight Talsin wasn't sure if that was still the plan.

Tansu was in the other room. She assured him that everything was okay and that she just needed a moment to freshen up. Tal was skeptical of that but they hadn't come this far without him taking the lesson to heart.

Sometimes he just needed to let her handle things and he shouldn't butt in. Not even with the best intentions.

Soon enough he felt and heard her steps closing in.

She'd encounter him on the couch, eyes closed with his head tipped back. But she knew that he knew she was there.

The words that followed would only confirm it.

"Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get used to things turning to shit around us without any warning." Tal sounded exhausted. Trying to save as many people as he could, fighting the ring leaders, it had taken it out of him.

"How are you?"

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

What were mirrors in refreshers for if not for a long, drawn out looks at oneself? Normally, she could glance to her right or left and take a good eyeball at her sister to know what she looked like but… she and Talin Treicolt had decided to split up after the chaos at The Drop. It was strategic, she knew, but it still felt wrong.

Just as wrong as she'd felt being shot. All that blood in the blink of an eye — at least the healing had been fast. She'd have to thank that little fox Jedi properly. He'd saved her a scar. Still, her guts hadn't caught up with what her skin already forgot.

Her fingers hovered near the spot on her ribs. Phantom pain lingered, sure, but what stuck deeper was the heat in her chest. That flare of fury when the bolts started flying and people died in their place. She'd felt nothing keener than the want to lash out. To make someone pay.

She bit the inside of her cheek.

And the image—burned in her mind—of that Weequay bandit, panicked and retreating, only to be yanked back into the line of fire. No warning. No choice. Just turned into armour and shot full of holes. Jonath Kago 's voice echoed, casual and cold: "It's this or a pool of our own blood."

"Shaakchit," she muttered under her breath, arguing with the vision of him and the memory he left. And that Morrow guy, he'd shot first, he'd brought a weapon into their establishment and Talin was off with them now, as if that were the better option than her own sister. When had splitting up ever been good for either of them? But Talin had suggested it so readily, like she'd been aching to get away from Tansu and leapt at the opportunity born from bloodshed.

She wiped a hand over her mouth, stood up straight, fluffed her hair, and walked out of the refresher.

Her footsteps slowed when she saw him, weary, head tipped back, words drifting out low.

"Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get used to things turning to shit around us without any warning."

For a second, she just stood over him, watching the way his chest moved steadily and felt a soft, quiet appreciation that they'd managed to get out of another ruckus still standing.

"Maybe that's what keeps us young bucks, Tal. If we start to expect' all the hullaballoo we'll get stale." She offered a crooked smile and dropped onto the couch, the synth-leather making an odd squeak on impact. One of the cushions had a patch sewn in with contrasting thread—Talsin's work, probably. He never could let a thing fall apart if it still had fight left in it.

"How are you?"

"Yeah," she sighed and leaned back deeper into the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm alright. That Fox's patchwork did me solid. I gotta thank him proper."

When he didn't immediately respond she shifted to her side, curling in on herself and letting her knees point in his direction. It always took her half a beat extra to shed the rough exterior.

"Well, actually, there was a moment back there," she said, voice low, thumb rubbing over the seam of her sleeve. "Where all I wanted was to swing back. Get even. I wasn't thinkin' about escape. Or safety. Or protectin' anyone. Just… vengeance."

"That ain't me." She paused, jaw tight. She hated herself for letting the dark take root, even for a breath. Even if it was a small thought.

If Maynard had taught them anything in the realm of combat or self defense, it would be to take no mercy when it came to protecting those close. The Wolf had displayed that on many occasions throughout the Third Imperial Civil War, perhaps waltzing too close for too long with an inner darkness, the flicker kept alight by good intentions for Loske and now their children.

" 'Least, I don't want it to be. It's in my blood though, I think."

I'm scared, and I'm flailing with no direction floated at the back of her tongue like the idea of jumping that came with looking down a cliff: a suicidal tingle.

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Talsin Lota
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​

 

[Talsin Lota]

She didn't have to say what was floating at the back of her tongue.

He felt it.

Talsin's head shifted slightly and eyes opened to watch her quietly. Then he reached out to cup her jaw softly. Even here they had begun with distance between them. As if the public necessities had fossilized into private reflexes. He hated that. But Tal needed to keep her safe, he was already doing such a bang-up job about it that she had been shot the moment he left her side.

How much worse would it be if people started targeting her not just for her choices but also because of who she was to him?

"That's not how it works, cowgirl." Tal responded gently, letting his fingers trace her jaw. "You are your own person. Your father's choices, your sister's, they aren't passed onto you by birth or blood."

Then he leaned in to kiss her nose softly.

"When you got shot, I felt it burn a hole through me. I wanted to rip my way back to you." A soft shrug. "My father and mother were stern but they weren't cruel. In that moment I had wanted to be cruel, just to save you and to pay them back tenfold for hurting you."

Maybe their dark feelings had fed on each other through their bond.

The farther Talin was getting from them, the closer their own bond was becoming. He didn't consider until today it could be dangerous too.

"But we both stayed true to who we are, no?"

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Tansu let herself feel warmth at his attention, at the touch of his hand. She closed her eyes and listened.

Maybe he was onto something.

The idea of her spoiling his upstanding mental fortitude bloomed an ache in her belly, passed through her core and pinged her heart. She flinched as his face closed in on hers.

"That ain't good." She murmured, freckled nose crinkling beneath his kiss.

"You're not cruel. I don't think you could be cruel, much as you mighta wanted it. Even in the fight rings, you weren’t cruel. Just capable." Shifting her weight to wiggle closer and settle herself against his torso. He'd set the pace for the initial contact and she didn't have to feel so nettled — sometimes she forgot the procedures they'd set up for themselves, where and when things were proper. They were alone now. She could touch him freely.

Still, she chewed her lip in thought and furrowed her brow.

"Well, I 'onno. I'd like to think who I am is a little more useful than the stupid happenstance tonight." Her face was an outright knot of vexation, glaring just past his knees at the seam of the cushion and the arm of the couch.

"Ugh," both hands slapped to her face and she dragged her palms down over her eyes and cheeks.

"What a hot buttered disaster." She moaned into her hands. "It's so embarrassing and evil and awful and just WHY all at once."

One eye peeked through fingers.

"Imagine if we'd left when you suggested it. And, oh, I'm sorry, here I am going on and on, how are YOU?"

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Talsin Lota
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​

 

[Talsin Lota]

He thought about her suggestion.

Imagine if we had left early.

Talsin was concerned about that. What if they had left early? Would anyone there have cared about the civilians? Thinking about how Marrow and the new guy handled themselves. Thinking about how Talin had left with them.

"Our friends kinda suck, don't they?"

To him it didn't matter that it was a criminal that got riddled with bullet holes when used as a meat shield. It was still a sentient person. Someone who could have had hopes, dreams, a chance to become better. All of that wiped away in a moment's notice. And after that it was excused and just shuffled away like it didn't matter.

Then there was the first shot being taken. It turned out the criminals had been about to move in, but there could have been de-escalation. Small and fragile the chance be, it could have happened.

Instead their side, the nominally good side, shot first without warning.

Talsin blinked and stroked Tansu Treicolt 's hair lovingly as she settled in against him. "I am fine. Shaken up a little. I am concerned about the people Talin is surrounding herself with." He bit his lip. He had to admit to himself that wasn't the biggest issue. Talin Treicolt was a big girl. She could handle herself even if he didn't agree with her choices and was disturbed by them at times.

No, it was-

"I am concerned her choices, in friends, in things to do, is starting to impact us, Tan." Catching her chin as he looked at her. "You could have died today and not for freedom, to protect people you love, to keep them safe. Not on a battlefield facing down a Sith. But in a hole where men go to beat the living chit out of each other's for scraps."

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

"They—" she couldn't defend them. Not after tonight. Not after so much loss and self-preservation.

Try as she might to stave the wobble in her jaw, the tremble overcame her will. The way he looked at her was too sincere— too searching—and it made her entire body feel like one giant, exposed raw nerve.

Nothing he said was untrue. She could have died. Even if she tried to deny the possibility, she'd come closer than ever before and for what? There would be nothing but loss to show for her life. She and her sister had started keeping books to pay off a debt incurred, and then they'd just kept doing it. Got real good at it. But what did it do for her nature? And worse still, it made her less and less the kind of person Talsin could have attached to his arm. Plus, her parents would have killed her if she died for no good reason.

Treicolts were all about having reasons.

"I—" she tried again and faltered, the single word wobbly and hoarse.

"I just love her so much, Tal." She ekked out, thick, nearly a sob. "And I know this sounds weird to you, but she's a whole part of me. I can't —" big blocky lumps of words she should have said jumbled up in her throat and blocked her mouth. She sucked in a wet breath to clear them away.

"But I also can't lose you again." Her face pushed past his hold and into the juncture between his neck and shoulder, arms wrapped around his torso in a half-koala sink against him. She juddered miserably and didn't say anything more because she couldn't for a handful of moments.

Then, finally, "I don't know what to do."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

His arms going around her without hesitation and he pulled her in close against his chest.

"It's okay." Talsin said softly, continuing to stroke her hair, giving her the contrast of friction. Something to attach herself too when she felt so exposed and raw after tonight. "She is your sister. I understand." He never had a twin, of course. Someone his age that he grew up with and saw himself in. A substantial gap in age made it hard to create such a relationship with his own siblings.

But he loved them and would do anything for them and he did not know what he'd do, if they were slowly turning into the direction that Talin seemed to be going.

"But maybe..." Tal sighed there. "Maybe it's time to figure out who you are separate from her as well. I am not saying give up on her. Never give up on her."

Fiercely there himself, kissing her brow.

Talin was his friend. But she was just his friend, it meant he could separate, distance, support from afar without losing himself.

"I don't want you to be pulled deeper into this shit. You deserve better." Tilting her head up a fraction, gazing down at her, then kissing her lips gently. "We deserve better." Tal murmured softly against her mouth before drawing back a little again, sighing there. There was tension all through his body because this had been building for a while.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Maybe her emotional range was a consequence of her exhaustion, but she stared blankly at the wall behind them in complete silence while Talsin offered his piece. Her face stayed buried in the crook of his neck, and she soaked in the warmth of his words like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. But they stung, too. In that kind of good, terrible way that made her listen.

She didn't answer right away. Didn't move. Didn't breathe properly until he kissed her brow, and the burn in her chest shifted from shame to safety.

​

"I don't know who I am without her," she finally whispered, barely audible against his collarbone. The hollowness changed at the words, collapsing into something exquisitely painful and vast. "We been side-by-side since we were half the size we are now. We finish each other's thoughts, and maybe..you're right. Maybe that's the problem. It's not giving up, more like giving in."

Her admission was quiet, embarrassed: "She wants me to distance myself."

His soft kiss echoed what she'd seen in his eyes, and she nodded against his touch. "I understand. Yeah, we do."

She returned his kiss with one of her own, less light and brief and ended with a sighed: "I love you."

But, deeply uncomfortable with this amount of self-wallowing and upset, she longed for a change in conversation. What more could be said? She was stressed beyond belief for her sister, their source of income had been decimated — who would want to step foot in the Drop again at risk of their own life?

"I don't want revenge, not for me," she admitted, correcting herself from her pained speech earlier. "I want them arrested, yeah, so they don't do anythin' like that again. But I also can't leave The Drop totally in the lurch just yet. There were a good mess of bodies lost tonight, and even though we don't take identification, maybe they have it on them? We can notify next of kin?"

She sighed, closing her eyes and remembering the strobe of the marshals. "Or I guess let the police handle it and only look forward."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

"Whatever you want to do, we can. I think it's best to let the cops handle it though."

He was concerned those same criminals might circle around and be lying in wait. Creatures like that preyed on perceived weakness. For one reason or the other they assumed that the Drop was ripe for the plucking. It was disgusting. The amount of people died because of their greed and desire to take something that wasn't theirs... Tal loathed it.

"We could do some investigating though." Thoughtful now himself. "Figure out where those karkers came from. With the amount of thugs they had, the guns they had... I doubt the Drop was going to be their first outfit on the world. I imagine they have at least one source of income that was keeping them in business."

It was expensive to have that many bodies to throw at a problem. Fully geared out too.

Then he grimaced.

"Or... we can take off. Rishi? Beach? Sun? Ocean? Might be good to have a change in scenery."

It had the benefit that it would take her away from her sister. No matter what Talsin said before, he thought it would be a good idea, even if it sucked. Just to give Tansu some space she didn't want but desperately needed.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Loyal, burnt-out, and trying to balance justice with duty and love with identity, Tansu couldn't give into the idea of running away. Even if the idea of sand in her toes and basking in the moonlight yearned to her.

"You barely see the moon on Denon.." she mumbled absently. "It's like one, big, unnatural planet. And I don't really like it here. So yeah, beach sounds nice," she murmured, the words barely stronger than a breath. "But leavin' right now would feel too much like runnin'. Too immediate."

She paused, let the quiet fill the cracks again. Then: "I ain't sayin' no. Just not yet. I wanna sleep on it. Not sure if that's me stallin' or tryin' to be smart, but either way—my head ain't screwed on straight enough to decide right now." Her hand settled on his chest, thumb moving in a slow, thoughtless circle. "You're right, though. They had too many guns, too much nerve to hit a place like the Drop without testin' the waters first. Might be good to poke around. Find out who thought we'd be easy pickin's."

Another small breath. She finally lifted her head, hair still mussed from the night and the fight.

"But probably not tonight. I almost died, remember? And my manners are all gone. I haven't even thanked you for squarin' up those nasties. Who knows how much more damage they'd'a done if you didn't head them off."

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Talsin Lota
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​

 

[Talsin Lota]

Talsin didn't really expect her to say yes.

But he held out hope that after a night of sleep she might see the wisdom in it. If not, well, then they'd have to go play detective. He'd much prefer the beach option though.

"You don't need to thank me, darling." Rubbing his nose against hers lightly. "I love you too, remember? If I wasn't willing to wade into danger at a moment's notice for you, I'd be a bad lover, I suspect."

Truth was that he'd have done it even if Tansu hadn't been there or it hadn't been her location. But he wanted to be a little bit cute and funny for her, to distract her a little.

But those were real people and they needed protecting. Even if the average visitor to the Drop probably wasn't a good and upstanding citizen. That didn't matter to Talsin. Every single one of them was able to take a wrong corner, make a mistake, do something bad and soon enough find themselves way over their head.

You needed to show empathy.

It was what kept him from trying to push Tansu into cutting Talin off entirely. She was slowly veering away from them, but there was nothing to say she wouldn't find the good again.

Anything was possible.

"Wanna go to bed? It's been a long day, pretty sure the moment my head hits the cushion I will knock myself out. Or we can go outside to the balcony, have some fresh air." As much as that was possible on Denon. "Have a drink together."

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

His words landed their effect and she smiled, crinkling her freckled nose against the brush of his.

Her stomach was still knotted up, coiled tight with anxiety and bad feelings, but the steps she had to take were less impossibly understood now. No less overwhelming and like an anchor in her core, but clearer. She couldn't imagine life without her sister by her side, sharing a room, sharing a ship — but if she continued to hold on to that, what room did she have for Talsin? For anyone else? If she clung to only what she knew, how could she grow?

They'd left the homestead for adventure.

And wasn't growth the greatest adventure of all?

​

"Almost dyin' made me both real hungry and real tired." She admitted, and yawned to emphasize her point. "You said you knew a place with drinks and fries to die for. Well, we almost did — reckon they're still open?"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

He checked the time and hummed softly.

"Not if we take the normal route, they will be closed by the time we get there." Pushing himself up off of the couch Tal offered his hand to her to pull her up too. "Whatddya say, cowgirl? You up for some climbing, jumping, running? If we go by the roofs, we will get there with maybe twenty minutes to spare." The implication was quite clear there.

He had done it before and always managed it.

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

She groaned but it wasn't real.

"You know I can't say no when you call me cowgirl," she muttered, slipping her hand into his and letting him haul her up. "It just sounds so unnatural from you. I gotta give you the pity acceptance."

They took the exit off the fire escape, scaling and balancing the duracrete ledges and wide, rusted service pipes. Talsin lead the way, a flash of movement against the neon-tinted dark. She pushed to keep up. The jump to the next rooftop was wider. She cleared it but landed hard, a jolt of pain lancing through her side where the blaster bolt had hit hours earlier. She staggered, and one hand went to catch the edge of the building's top, the other to her side.

"Chit—" she hissed, breath caught.

But Tal was right there, a hand at her back, concerned and steady, making sure she was right again before they took off. Their bond meant he didn't have to tell her where they were going, she could see it for herself. Which meant there was no excuse not to race.

Force-imbued speed turned the world into a blur of technicolour. Neon signage blurred into pulses of pink, green and blue, and rain-slick durasteel underfoot reflected every colour in a gossamer mirror. Reflexes sharpened by the Force guided their every leap—vaulting over the swinging arms of cargo haulers and scraping under drooping maintenance cables. Step for step, they moved in sync, slicing through the night.

Until Tansu just had to push a little harder and try and get an extra foot ahead.

Slinging down below, using the fire escape more like monkey bars, she rolled to a stop with dramatic flare at the door of the shop Talsin had pictured the entire time. Surprisingly, a hole-in-the-wall with a flashing neon yellow sign outside shaped like a dancing potato. Inside, they placed their order for takeout, then they were back up above the city.

Atop the tallest building in the district, they swung their legs over the edge. Each had their own drink and fries because Tansu refused to share, claiming she was too hungry for a half portion.

"This is nice." She sighed, settled her head on his shoulder, and looked up at the tray, unclouded night sky. It was peaceful and glittering and endless. "Real nice.

Fries're real good too."

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Talsin Lota
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