Ask Dathomir Everything the Light Touches

[Renfry]

Renfry was keenly aware of her world, and she sensed Stolas long before the Nightsister announced his presence. She found it almost funny at times, but she supposed it was part of the tradition.

What she did not find funny, however, was the dark cloud that came along with the other Sith Lord. He didn't need to say a word to know that he was out for blood. While she may not have known the full story or everything that went along with this, she knew that it was no small matter whatever was to come.

So it is, she said, standing from her seat and heading in the direction of her room. She motioned for him to follow.

My ship or yours? she asked. She was guessing his, and it was for this reason that she returned to her room to grab a small bag that had already been packed for the trip with what she would need.

She slung it over her shoulder and prepared to head to either vessel. She didn't question him yet. Although she had questions - something he knew her well enough by now to know - she waited until they were away from even the ears of her Nightsisters before pursuing them.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan walked on after the Queen of Dathomir as walked toward her room, stopping in the doorway with his hands arranged tightly behind his back. Golden eyes briefly swept over the contents of this royal chamber before settling back on the woman herself. They watched as she gathered her things, the young Lord strangely still even compared to his usual. That feral energy he'd briefly displayed during his first visit to planet stalked just beneath the surface now. It laid in wait eager of the prey it hunted.

"Mine."

He turned on his heels to head out once Renfry had her things and would lead her to Voyager at a quick and even pace. Straight-backed droids flanked the lowered boarding ramp, both looking briefly at Renfry as they approached. A moment later the door slid open to admit the two Sith, black boots carrying him up and into the vessel.

An arm raised to indicate the rear hallway.

"Guest room is on the left side." His arm lowered and he turned to look at Renfry. "You have been practicing?" Morgan would ordinarily prefer something like this go without violence but there was some doubt it would go that way, whether from pushback from the officials aboard or Morgan's own temper over the situation. His current mood was far from amiable, particularly toward those he would consider an enemy.

Up near the front of the ship a pair of droids would prepare it for takeoff.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She gave a nod as he declared they would take his. She didn't mind either way nor was she surprised.

They headed toward his ship and as they were about to exit the temple she stopped a moment to speak to Síle.

I'll be back in a few days. You know the drill, she said, knowing that Síle would be fine in her absence. She had been many times before. The Clans largely ran themselves, but the palace required some upkeep and mediating of its own.

Síle looked past at Morgan and quirked an eyebrow. Be careful, Selah, she said using the affectionate Dathomirian word for "sister" and giving her a nod before Renfry turned to leave.

She headed inside the ship and gave a glance to the two droids but made no mention of it. He indicated the direction of her room and she nodded, heading that way to place her pack down rather than leave it sitting around.

Of course, she replied, setting the bag down and then heading back out to continue speaking.

Progress has been coming along. Am I expected to need it? she asked, wondering precisely what was going to be coming on this trip.

What are the precise parameters of this... trip? she asked.

I also have an interest in liberating a particular ship while we're there, she said, though whether that would be through violence, money, or favors wasn't yet clear to her.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Both guard droids stepped up the ramp behind them and settled themselves into corners on standby. The only two living souls aboard were Renfry and Morgan himself, an arrange the young Lord personally preferred for anything to do with his more usual forms of work. Living crew or soldiers could falter at times, and while very useful on a battlefield he preferred droids for their general reliability. They can't be bribed or coerced, after all, and while those under his command had a healthy measure of both fear and respect there was another being who could likely overpower that.

For now, at least. Only a matter of time as far as the Drast prince was concerned. But first, this station.

Morgan turned to observe Renfry re-emerging from the back hall where she'd placed her things, an eyebrow raising slightly at her question. Briefly he looked annoyed before that sense faded entirely. It wasn't the Nightsister he was irate with.

"There may be violence," Stolas answered, the last word nearly a growl. Suffice to say he was not happy about things on the station even before and recent events had far from improved his opinion of those who ran it, even if it wasn't precisely the fault of the taskmasters for all or even most of it. Not that Morgan would need much of an excuse to lump them into the same basket in this case.

"Investigation and retrieval. Station personnel may have connections to a training project. Want to know who heads it." He paused. "Also looking for a ship." Several seconds of silence, during which his eyes never left the Nightsister.

"Does the one you are looking for have a name?"

In the background Voyager began the lift-off sequence, luxury inertial compensators ensuring a smooth ride.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

He was certainly ornery, though the exact reason why still wasn't known to Renfry. She opted to tread carefully until she had ascertained a reason for his foul mood. But based on his holo address, it didn't seem to be a fleeting thing.

Okay, she replied, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that they might be going to kill other Sith. It was simply the way of nature.

To kill whoever heads it or for other means? she asked as he explained his intent.

He was looking for a ship too? That was... "coincidental." A little too coincidental when combined with his rage that in many ways mirrored her own.

It's name is Ship, she said. Even despite the seriousness of the situation, she almost smiled at the ridiculousness of the name. It was so, very Emryc.

And yet, Renfry had a creeping feeling that they were looking for the same vessel.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan blinked at Renfry.

"Eventually, yes." The young Lord had made a promise to the man he loved, after all, and he was not a man to make idle threats. Someone was getting flayed to death for what Morgan considered a very personal and especially egregious series of crimes. It did not help they seemed intent to continue adding on to the list.

Morgan's eyes narrowed slightly, brows furrowing as he looked at the Nightsister. He recognized that name very easily, having gone over the datapad he'd been given in the hospital many times over in making his plans. That was the name of Emryc's ship, the one the station personnel had taken from him. Another sin to pay for and, apparently, something the two Sith had in common for this venture.

"Why that specific ship?"

Somehow his mood did not seem to improve from this information.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

It wasn't at all that Renfry objected to murdering whoever was running this program. She didn't necessarily hold anything in particular against them, but the galaxy was a wild place and remaining at the top of the food chain often came with a price. She simply wanted to know what the plan was one way or another.

Oh wonderful. She didn't know all the details of his interest in this ship, but the fact that he was asking why she wanted that specific ship told her that he had his own interest. And he wanted to find a ship as well. Perhaps it wasn't such a leap to think. Oh brother.

I'm going to return it to someone, she said, sensing his displeasure.

And you're going to do the same, she said, though it was somewhere between a question and a statement. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together. She reached up and rubbed her forehead with the palms of both of her hands for a moment. She'd known that Emryc had... a way with people... many people, but it was always easier to know without confronting it directly.

After a moment, she just looked directly at Morgan, starting to wish she had a glass of wine that she didn't have. Oh well.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan stared at the woman standing across from him, quiet and still for several long seconds after she spoke. The two Sith were looking for the same ship, named Ship of course since it belonged to Emryc. Wheels turned behind the young Lord's clearly irate expression that were spurred on by a relatively recent series of epiphanies on his part.

Probably another one then. How wonderful.

"The same," Morgan replied dryly, mentally adding this situation to the list he was forming. "The ship will return to where it belongs." He did not much care it was technically not owned by Emryc. The man cared greatly for his vessel and its contents and taking it away was just another injustice done to him following his injuries on Denon. It was insulting in the extreme.

His eyes narrowed a little toward the Nightsister.

"Your connection with its owner. Casual?"

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

More awkwardness. Malicia, Tiamat, and now Morgan. How many more were there? Dozens? Had he had space herpes before? Did she need to get checked? No, he was far too much of a clean freak for a mistake like that.

In truth, she took it surprisingly well. Probably because she already knew about it. Rather than make her angry, it just made her... tired.

She sat down and slumped back a bit in a chair, letting her head rest against the back. They had a long flight and she could already feel the ship taking off, though it was quite smooth.

Agreed, she said after he said they would return it where it belonged. That was at least another thing they held in common: common interest.

However, his next question garnered a different reaction. For the briefest moment, there was a flash in her eyes, but she said nothing. She knew he was angry - it radiated off of him in an unmissable manner - but that question wasn't his business. Or perhaps it was his business, but it wasn't his business.

She had always kept her feelings toward Emryc close to the chest, and she wasn't interested in speaking about it now. Even having accepted that he didn't and wouldn't love her, she still... well, she didn't even know. She had still loved him. There was certainly a part of her - perhaps even a big part of her - that did despite her attempts to put it aside.

How long is the flight to the station? she asked.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Renfry seemed to agree to the bit about the ship's end destination easily enough and Morgan simply nodded. He'd just wanted to make sure she didn't have some other idea for where or to whom Ship should be returning and it was clear enough that she had already intended for that to be Emryc. Wherever he was.

No verbal reply came as to the nature of the Nightsister's relationship with Morgan's boyfriend but there was an answer there to be found all the same. Or at least an answer to what he was actually asking. He didn't care about the specifics, merely that it had happened and it wasn't somehow serious.

That would be cause for concern considering his more recent revelations and an epiphany regarding how he felt about such things. Even the casual physical intimacy with others was pushing it now, and anything more summoned up territorial and possessive instincts.

So instead of press further in the moment he just moved right along.

"From here, several days. It is closest to the southern territory."

It in fact sat somewhere north-east on the map of Eriadu and the other such planets. In the background the ship took off fully from Dathomir and rapidly accelerated through the atmosphere, fin maneuvering it well through the air under droid control. During this process he simply looked at Renfry for a while. His head tilted slightly after a few seconds, face forming a wry expression. His eyes softened just a little.

"Thank you. I value your help."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry was glad to be "done" discussing that and let him draw whatever conclusions he wanted.

Okay, she said. From the sound of it, Dathomir couldn't have been much further away from their goal, but that was fine. Renfry was certain she could find things to do over the course of the next several days.

She held out a hand in front of herself and let her other hand hover above it. There was a glowing green like mist that began to form between them and it began to solidify. Over the course of a few seconds, a chalice appeared between her two hands and she started sipping at the glass of wine she now held. It was a very convenient trick to have. She was not going to get hammered again, though. She'd made a fool of herself last time, but she didn't mind a little something for herself.

She was caught off-guard by his final comment. For a moment she wasn't sure what to say as he continued staring at her, though he looked almost amused in a way. She thought about pointing out to him that she wasn't really doing it for him, but she knew he already knew that. There was no point in pressing on an already tender topic.

And yet even as she thought about the words, there was something else in it. There was an irony that was both sickening and humorous. "Valued" her help. It was the same thing Emryc thought of her. She knew it wasn't an insult, but it was... it was something not worth pondering any longer.

She let out a quiet breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding.

Of course, she said after another moment, the words sounding almost tired. As she sat there in silence, it clicked for her finally what had changed within Morgan. He was quite different since Denon, and now it made sense why.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan blinked, watching the display of Nightsister magic a sense of mild curiosity. It was always an interesting thing to observe up close with his sense of perception and it seemed Renfry had only improved on her use of the rare art. Given she was now Queen of her world that made some sense. There was little limit to the kinds of texts and things of that nature that would be available to her with that authority.

That said, she summoned wine in a chalice, judging by the smell. How whimsical. Idly he examined it as she drank from it and then seemed to lose interest, walking away to sit on the lounge area couch and picking a datapad up from the low coffee table in front of it. Morgan didn't look up at her reply and instead continued to read for the umpteenth time the details he'd managed to gather on the station, although his head did tilt slightly in her direction as he listened.

It was silent for a few seconds as thoughts floated through the young Lord's head.

"Because we are friends." The quiet declaration came seemingly out of nowhere. He wasn't exactly close to the Nightsister but they certainly were neither enemies nor rivals, so far as he could tell. Morgan wasn't rude to most Sith but neither did he bother to give them any real information they didn't immediately need.

"Else, I would go alone." He sounded a little sad for a moment before he refocused himself on his work. His soldier boy would be found eventually, hopefully soon, but for now they could retrieve his ship.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry simply sat and drank for several moments, closing her eyes as he looked through the data. She breathed in and out, feeling a surprising amount of fatigue wash over her.

He spoke again a moment later and she opened her eyes a few moments later.

And I'm glad for it, she said. Their relationship was certain an odd one, but one that Renfry still valued.

Some things have to be done alone, but not everything. Agree? she asked. While their mutual relationship with Emryc may have made things a bit weird in some ways, she was fairly confident that they both were interested in what was best for him.

Shall we run through the plan? she asked. She assumed it wouldn't be as simple as landing and asking nicely. From the serious look on his face, she took it that he already had at least some information about what they might be dealing with. Or perhaps it would be simple. A pair of Sith Lords were certainly nothing to turn one's nose up at.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan's eyes stayed locked to the datapad screen, eyes once flicking over to some corner before going back to the information at hand. He nodded a moment after Renfry's reply but seemed engrossed in whatever it was he was actually looking at and sat very still. It was her second comment that drew his attention back over to her, goldens taking in the shape of her face.

"Agreed."

He lowered the datapad after a moment and softly sighed, head turning to look blankly at the wall mounted holoscreen. His face remained relatively blank aside from a tightening around the eyes, lost in thought for a little while. Morgan was remembering events on this very ship with his boyfriend that culminated in a serious discussion and the activities that tended to follow such things with the two of them.

Morgan blinked and brought the datapad back up when Renfry asked after the plan, thumb flicking over the screening to move to a particular set of information.

"Dockmaster first. Have spoken to him before, may know about the ship." He paused. "If not, the taskmaster."

Neither of the two Sith Lords were technically in the station's chain of command but they also weren't people to be casually dismissed offhand. Titles and accomplishments held weight beyond command and he suspected at best they'd be directed toward some other person on the station to speak to if they were under orders.

"Next potential step is something sneakier."

And of course there was always murder but outright just killing half the station, as much as it might make Morgan feel slightly better, wasn't part of the plan.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Okay, she said. It was part of a plan at least. An outline of a plan was probably the better term for it, but given the uncertainties surrounding what they would find it was likely the best they would get.

She didn't get the impression that he was particularly interested in talking, so she decided to give him his space, standing from where she sat and heading in the direction of her room. She paused.

There was a certain possessiveness that Renfry could sense from Morgan. There was a way he spoke that Renfry didn't, and it hinted at something that in many ways she was loathe to ask. She paused at the edge of the room just before leaving. She wasn't interested in further probing wounds from either of them, but better now than bringing it up again later.

Does he love you? she asked. It was a very personal question, and given her own refusal to answer questions, she wouldn't have been surprised or offended to receive nothing but silence. But if she did, that was an answer of its own, wasn't it?

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan swiped through the datapad in silence, refocused on it since Renfry's question. His memory was very sharp and in the back of mind he knew he probably hadn't missed details in his first few go-arounds. But he still found himself wanting to just keep going over them just in case. This operation was personally important to the young Sith and, besides, it helped to keep his thoughts was wandering overmuch toward Emryc's painful absence.

Idly he noted Renfry heading back toward her room, her footsteps on the floor marking her passing. The sound stopped when she did and Morgan expected there would be a question from the Nightsister. She often had questions.

He hadn't expected that one.

Reflexively he visibly stiffened in his seat, head turning partly in Renfry's direction. It was a loaded question that poked unintentionally at recent worries and fears adjacent to it, and especially was related to a relationship that had been kept secret to prevent unnecessary complications. Then again the situation was already complicated as is with his disappearance somewhere across the universe and Morgan finding others his boyfriend had been entangled with in some way.

It was quiet for several still seconds. Morgan's head turned to regard Renfry directly beneath his golden gaze, datapad falling back down into his lap. Those sharp eyes of his burned like stars as they watched the Nightsister.

"He does."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry stood and awaited his response. She looked directly at him, gaze unflinching as he looked back at her. She could see him stiffen, sense the discomfort in the Force, and she knew there was tension. Better now than later. Better to ask and have her answer rather than bring it up at a different time or simply wonder.

Finally he answered, and she gave a single nod. She said nothing more, but felt as though she had been stabbed directly through the chest. She continued walking to the room, closing the door behind her. She took a deep breath in, reaching up to wipe the tears tugging at the corners of her eyes.

She pulled out her grimoire to begin work on another spell, but her mind simply wouldn't focus. She looked at the same symbols for five minutes without comprehending them. Her mind wandered to all that had happened and all she had done. She didn't want to believe Morgan, but she knew in her soul that he wasn't lying.

She thought of the times she and Emryc had been intimate, the way he had held her on Dathomir, and the way he had danced with her on her ship. The way he helped her grow and infuriated her all at the same time. The complexities that all came together to form who he was.

For years she had told herself that despite how she felt, Emryc couldn't love people, but the truth was far worse and far more painful. He simply couldn't love her. Tears streamed down her face as the reality set in and a feeling of loneliness with it. The desire to be loved the desire to be happy and the desire for something that seemed infinitely elusive.

 

[Darth Stolas]

Morgan couldn't miss the signs he always watched for now. Movement of the muscles around the eye or at the edges of lips, shifts in posture or the simple nod Renfry offered in reply. Almost a change in the air itself as the Nightsister turned around and walked to the guest quarters. Golden eyes watched her go before for a few seconds before he turned also to look at the blank holoscreen with furrowed brows and downturned lips.

His thoughts wandered into a string of memory as if watching them on the screen he idly stared into, the datapad forgotten on his lap at some point. Words exchanged back and forth the young Sith couldn't forget and subtleties of expression, patterns to be followed and recognized, the way something was said someone else or Morgan himself, the minute differences in frosty silver eyes.

It was a rare thing that he missed the fine details. That's why Morgan knew his soldier boy never lied or spoke things he didn't mean somehow or other.

After a few minutes he blinked back to awareness and stood from the couch with a long sigh. He took himself and his datapad through the back hallway and paused for a moment before Renfry's door before carrying on to his own. Morgan shut the door and removed his boots, sitting himself on the bed and moving back into a nest of pillows. Slender fingers reached out to find a wooden figurine and pick it up from the table it rested on, goldens staring down to where silver would be and finding plain wood.

Morgan tilted his head as he looked at the figure as if to find some new angle or consider a question he wasn't able to properly voice.

Emryc wasn't there to ask. The prince knew he was loved after all that'd be said and done, and now he knew such a thing hadn't been expressed to Renfry. It cheered him to know but it also begged the question of what their interactions had been like for her to want to retrieve his ship?

The thought frustrated him greatly for numerous reasons, not the least of which was the lack of information and how murky the circumstances seemed to be.

In the background the ship angled away from Dathomir and shot forward into hyperspace, passenger section inertial dampeners making it so the two Sith felt only a small acceleration in the process. Morgan remained in his room even until he slept.

-------
​

At some point it would be morning again and Morgan emerged in more casual attire, long stormy gray sweatpants and a simple long-sleeved black shirt, and find his way into the kitchen. The smells of breakfast drifted through the ship and down the hall.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

One of the things that Renfry had never gotten entirely used to since starting her career of space travel was the concept of no day or night. There was no real morning or evening, though her body's natural daily cycle told her approximately when to wake and sleep.

After an unsettled sleep, she finally got up in the "morning" and put herself together, heading out to the smell of breakfast These long trips through space always made her a bit restless. Everything was so enclosed and lacking in open, fresh air. She let out a quiet sigh and headed out to see what and who was cooking.

She emerged and moved out into the common area, deciding that brooding all day in her room wasn't likely to help anything at all.

Would you like help? she asked, setting the book she had brought out on a nearby table and heading over to see what it was that she was smelling. Whatever it was smelled quite delicious.

 

[Darth Stolas]

By the time Renfry arrived in the common area Morgan was ladling a light, fragrant, slightly spicy-smelling soup into a pair of bowls next to two more containing rice. Thin fillets of some pale pink fish were frying on a pan on the stove in the meantime. His head had turned slightly in her direction when she spoke but he didn't answer right away, flipping the fish over once to get the other side going.

"Have it covered," he said simply, scooting the bowls of to the side. Morgan paused a moment. "Or, take the food to the table. Please." The Firrerreo seemed a little lost in thought although luckily not to the point of overcooking the fish. That would have been a disaster.

Not long after the fish was also plated and brought to the table. Morgan gathered up water for the two of them as well as a protein drink for himself before he actually sat down.

@Phoenix