Under Lock & Keiyara

[Flying Blind]

Kannick did notice her scars and the odd symbol emblazoned on her shoulder but only for a moment. He realized she wasn't wearing a bra and quickly turned away just in case. He couldn't stop laughing, and he felt a little sorry since it was a serious matter. "I'm sorry, I just- I can't take you seriously! Hahaha!" He finally got himself in control and put on his most serious face possible, to little effect because it was obvious he was still holding in his laugh. He was only making it worse so he tried to clear up the lack of communication. "You got- you got a little something here." He said motioning to her chin. "Here I'll get it." He swiped his thumb over her chin, lingering only for a second, feeling the smooth skin of her face. After an awkward moment he took his hand away.

He wiped his thumb on a napkin. "There, that's better. Okay, so the guy turned you in, makes sense. Sorry about that. Both the laughing and the double cross." he had yet to recognize the language she was occasionally falling into, but he figured he didn't need to know the translation. "Here, take this, play a game, draw something, look for bounties, whatever." He gave her a spare datapad as he spoke loaded with popular games and other stuff. He walked away, feeling still uncomfortable around her. There weren't many women who could get him flustered. He was used to the way the Galaxy worked, but he still didn't like it. Most people who had sex appeal used it and he usually rejected it completely. But this Keiyara the Killer or whatever was starting to get to him, and that bothered him. He told himself to be careful, but it was hard. He shook his head, Nope, I can't go down that road.

For the next hour he kept trying to find ways to avoid Keiyara who seemed to be doing anything but what he suggested. Eventually, he pretended to take a dump in the bathroom for a half hour before they finally made it to their destination. Flushing nothing but water down the toilet, he exited the bathroom, now there was no ignoring her, although he would try to stay on a professional level. Together they walked out of the rental ship where they would promptly scan the area for the ship. After a half hour or so of searching, they found Keiyara's ship on the other end of the spaceport. He sighed, seeing several guards around the ship and no obvious flaws in the setup of the guards. The one who had escaped, Diino's second in command, stood and watched as others dispatched by Diino refueled her ship.

He noted one odd fact though, none of them were armed except the right hand man. They were defenseless. He also noted they were all facing the same direction as if looking at the same thing the entire time. It would be easy to sneak into the ship, or even brute force their way on if need be. That was a red flag. It should never be easy. Turning to Keiyara who was hidden beside him on the roof of the spaceport. "You smell that? I smell a trap." He looked down, trying to figure out the best way of approaching the situation. They were waiting for them, and probably wouldn't be done 'refueling' until they showed themselves. What to do what to do. He looked to Keiyara again, hoping she would have an idea. Then he realized the proximity of their faces and turned away. And shuffled a few inches away as well for good measure.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"I'm sorry, I just- I can't take you seriously! Hahaha!" Keiyara's face was starting to redden and she was about to jump out of her seat and strangle the guy before he calmed himself and added, "You got- you got a little something here." He motioned to her chin and her hand reflexively went to the spot only to not find anything. "Here I'll get it." He swiped his thumb over her chin, lingering only for a second. They stood there like that for a moment while Keiyara's brain tried to register what was happening. She couldn't explain why but her body froze when he cupped her chin with his hand. She closed her eyes for just a second and then opened them to see him looking at her. She realized then what was going on and slapped his hand away.

He wiped his thumb on a napkin, saying "There, that's better. Okay, so the guy turned you in, makes sense. Sorry about that. Both the laughing and the double cross." He then reached over and handed her a spare datapad. "Here, take this, play a game, draw something, look for bounties, whatever."

She was still a little shocked by the uncomfortable encounter they had so she didn't respond with any snide remarks. He walked away leaving her to be and she sat back in the co-pilots chair. Why was he so aggravating? Why did she like it? What was going on with her?

Trying to let her mind focus on something else she attempted to get into one of the games on his data pad. She turned on a map-like game where these animated trees tried to shoot these undead monsters as they came on screen. Her hands flew across the data pad as she quickly picked up the game and then suddenly the monsters were overunning her screen.

She started to scream at the game, "Shoot 'em shoot 'em shoot 'em!!! Bite his head off! No not my wallnuts!!!!" She was thrashing at the buttons and then everything was over as her monsters got inside her base. She threw the data pad and it, ever so perfectly, landed in the cushion of his chair and didn't break.

She started screaming profanities, "Gorram Mei Yong Ma Duh Tse Gu Yong. Ni Ta Ma De!!"

She then gave up on the silly games and started to follow him around simply out of boredom. When he finally locked himself in the bathroom she pouted and went into his room to mess around with his things. She opened his drawers and his closets and just looked around. She didn't take anything, she had no desire to pawn anything for money. She was simply bored and curious.

When they finally landed the ship she was greatful to get out of this boring metal trap. She had such an issue standing still it was driving both her, and by extension Kannick, insane. She had changed into her fighting outfit once they were almost there and now she was ready to go out into the world once more.

"You smell that? I smell a trap."

Keiyara inched forward to get a better look and tried to peek around Kannick. Why did he have to be so tall? Suddenly he turned and they were once again face to face. She started at him for a second then gave him a strange look like "what are you doing?..." and he took a step back to spread out some distance. She shook her head and went back to looking at her ship.

"I say we take it by force." It was an obvious answer. They weren't armed. They were expecting her. That would be their mistake. "If there's a trap, we spring the trap. We go in and show them you never steal from a girl." As she said this she held up her arm and held her bicep showing she was tough. It was a poor joke and seeing this was the first time Kannick had ever seen her try to reciprocate the humor, it would likely seem out of place and weird.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick gave her a sidelong glance to avoid another awkward moment. He let out a nearly inaudible laugh, so only Keiyara would hear it, but barely. Taking things by force wasn't his style by any means. He shook his head slowly as she continued, but laughed again as she showed of her muscle. "I don't think now is the time to be teaching lessons. But we are about to school them. Ha, pun." He scanned them more closely, if it was a trap, brute force was what they were expecting. Reaching out for a moment with the Force, he could figure at least two others were in the ship. "I don't take things by force, I prefer a more subtle approach." He realized the double entendre, and hoped she didn't take what he was saying the wrong way.

Kannick took out his own personalized datapad, with so many modifications and instruments built in it looked almost nothing like a regular old datapad. "Now you get to see where I excel, sweetheart." With that, he slipped away into an adjacent corridor, dropping in from the roof. He snuck around the hangar where Keiyara's ship was, until making it towards a security terminal, one of his favorite sights in the entire galaxy. He plugged in his datapad, quickly breaking down the mediocre firewall on it. Typing faster than a speeding blaster bolt, he gained access to the cameras. Rewinding the footage above the hangar, he watched as Keiyara's ship landed being awaited by several of Diino's goons sent to aid his second in command. Like he predicted, others were hidden in the ship. Curiously, a man with a double bladed vibro sword also boarded the craft. He looked dangerous. Probably sent after being told of Kannick & Keiyara's weapons.

Smiling, he checked the overhead footage, seeing the brief exchange he and Keiyara had on the roof and subsequently deleted the clip. He then activated the lockdown procedure installed on the terminal. Immediately, several of the guards on duty in the spaceport headed over towards the hangar and Kannick smiled as he watched the guards and Diino's goons engaged in a brawl. A good Ol fist fight. He made his way back over to Keiyara who was thankfully still on the roof. "See? Simple." He watched, waiting to see who would win the fist fight which had quickly escalated into a fire fight.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"I don't think now is the time to be teaching lessons. But we are about to school them. Ha, pun." She would give him a "are you serious" face as he tried to be funny and would then focus on the people down below. "I don't take things by force, I prefer a more subtle approach." She was already ignoring him now and his little sexy joke went right over her head. He would then pull out his data pad and say to her, "Now you get to see where I excel, sweetheart."

Kannick would then sneak away and she stayed behind watching. If he wanted to play cloak and dagger let him. If it worked, shiny. If not, then she'd always have her plan. After what seemed like forever he was done on the computer and was making his way back to her. She wondered what he'd done when guards entered into the hanger. It became quick chaos as everyone began to fire upon one another.

Keiyara jumped from the roof and landed near one of the thieves who was shooting at the guards. She snapped his neck, not using her saber for obvious reasons, then grabbed his gun. Kannick was now back with her and he said, "See? Simple."

"Shiny," she said while she shoved the gun at him. "Now go get my ship back." She pulled out her sabers and waited to activate the beam. A lightsaber had a very distinct sound and she'd rather not have everyone's attention on her. She liked when the guns weren't aimed toward her.

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick was glad she was impressed, not many people realized how important slicers were in the world. She shoved a gun at him, which he looked at in disgust, holding it with two fingers like a snotty tissue. "Um, no thanks. I don't like guns. Mostly because I couldn't hit the broad side of the Galaxy with one of them. I'll stick with my own Lightsaber thank you very much." He kept his Lightsaber deactivated however, and slowly eased his way down, whispering to Keiyara "Oh and be careful once inside the ship, there's some swordsman in there. He doesn't have lightsabers, but vibroswords can still do some damage." He reached the ground now, rolling behind a fuel canister. No one had noticed him yet, understandably. Looking in another direction while being shot at could be deadly. Unfortunately for them, not seeing Kannick Stargrave approaching was just as deadly.

When no one was looking, he used the Force to conceal his presence for just a bit longer, u sing the extra second or so to Force Leap over the onto the hull of Keiyara's ship, now perched above the action across from their old hiding place. He couldn't see where Keiyara was, which could be good or bad. Not wasting any time however, he grabbed a grenade from his pack and threw it into the thick of the battle. The grenade erupted in a show of light, blinding anyone near it. They started to shoot at anything since they couldn't see and he laughed as Diino's goons shot at each other and the guards stabbed themselves. Ah, poetry in motion. I'm sure there's a joke in here somewhere. He slipped away, and in all the chaos he hoped Keiyara would pick up on the plan and take them out while they were still blind. Finally igniting his Lightsaber, he skewered a man hiding behind the immediate entrance, one of the two still on board. Then he saw the swordsman, not even hiding.

The man had dark brown hair and several scars lined his face. His right arm was completely cybernetic and he had a mangled cape over one shoulder. "The name's Gidson. Not that it'll matter to you once you're dead. It's time to die, jedi." Kannick laughed at him, a hearty overplayed laugh and with a grin he responded"I have no plans to die today." With that, he injected a double dose of oxygen into his lungs with his implant and charged at him, Lightsaber slashing and thrusting in multiple directions almost at random.

 

[EmilyHuene]

As they made their way over to the ship he would whisper to Keiyara, "Oh and be careful once inside the ship, there's some swordsman in there. He doesn't have lightsabers, but vibroswords can still do some damage." She would nod and keep herself on her guard. She let him go his own way and would slowly start to follow after him. She watched him tuck behind a canister, while she would move a little further outwards going behind the ship. A second or two would pass and someone threw a grenade. The blinding light forced her to turn away and she heard a lightsaber. Kannick must have been seen.

Keiyara reached for her own sabers and ignited the two purple beams. She rushed around the ship and took one of the men out by slicing his legs clean off of him. He fell to the ground with a scream. She saw Kannick was now at the ship and felt the other person. Since her ship was not large enough for fighting inside, the man would have been waiting for them on the small little ramp. Keiyara rushed over and stood beside Kannick.

The two had said something to one another, which she missed, and Kannick was laughing now. He said to the assassin, "I have no plans to die today." He then charged at the man and all Keiyara could think about was the fact that they would about to fight on her ship.

"If you get one scratch on my ship I'll kill you, Kannick!"

Before she could join in the fight the others would have recovered from their blindness and began to fire at her too now. She would turn and deflect a stray laser and turn her sights to the men. The sooner she dealt with them the sooner she could help Kannick. Keiyara would begin to run at Diino's men and bring them down, all while dodging lasers both from the station guards as well as the mercenaries too.

 

[Flying Blind]

OOC: Who's Black?

IC:
Kannick's lightsaber was a blur, a factor he relied very heavily on. The man had started out on the offensive, but quickly realized he was outmatched. Kannick's amethyst blade was everywhere but where the man was blocking. He would feint a sash on the left side and then swipe up, catching him off balance. A well placed Force Push sent Gidson off Keiyara's ship and into the battle once more. A few remaining guards tried to make a cheap shot on Kannick, but he was too fast. A few years ago he could've kept up this pace no problem, but his lung injury was starting to give him trouble. He had to finish it now or else he'd be stuck without air and powerless against Gidson's counter attack.

Gidson proved to be a skilled swordsman as Kannick predicted and almost immediately noticed his adversary's waning power. The man did a sharp spin move to the right, letting Kannick fall face first to the pavement after missing a powerful strike. He rolled on the ground, now feeling a little light headed, he was having trouble keeping up. Gidson was relentless, running back at Kannick without hesitation and only a Force Jump saved him. Kannick landed atop Keiyara's ship and took a breath and used a manual inhaler to get extra oxygen in his system. Gidson noticed and laughed. "Ha! Diino sent me after a wannabe Jedi with asthma? This will be too easy!" This angered Kannick and he brought his lightsaber up in time to block Gidson's landing on Keiyara's ship, sending him sprawling to the ground.

In that split second without combat he took in the scene, Keiyara was almost done with the other goons, maybe one or two left. Wait, make that 1. Gidson also noticed and figured out just as Kannick did that even he couldn't take on both the lightsaber wielders at once. Gidson thought quickly, throwing a thermal detonator into Keiyara's ship, hoping to blow it up with Kannick still on it. But it was too late. Kannick leapt off Keiyara's ship, simultaneously using the Force to send the detonator back to its sender. He landed in the same instant the detonator struck Gidson in the back of the head, immediately erupting in a ball of fire, consuming the swordsman. Diino's goons were dead, along with Gidson. He smiled at Keiyara, had he been alone he would've most likely died.

Kannick realized how much practice he needed and took a moment to promise to himself that he would eventually over come his injury. His shirt was ripped in several places exposing both skin and metal. He realized why he had been even shorter on breath than usual: a pice of shrapnel was lodged in the filter. He carefully removed the shard of metal and let it fall to the ground. Thankfully, the implant itself wasn't damaged. Then he remembered Keiyara was still there, which meant she saw his incomplete-ness. "A... A battle scar I guess. I saw yours, I guess now you see mine." He gave a weak smile and turned to look at her ship. Not a scratch on it. He smiled, more sure of himself now. He survived the duel, and he would learn from it. Now all that was left was what to do now that their little adventure was coming to a close

 

[EmilyHuene]

As Kannick was thrown into the battle Keiyara made an extra effort to get over to him. She moved through the people cutting them down one by one. She watched as Gidson nearly knocked Kannick out, but Kannick was resilient. He got back up and then jumped atop of her ship. Gidson, rather than turning to face Keiyara, jumped up to follow. She cursed as she almost got him from behind and then turned her attention back to the pawns. There were only a few left and now that she was new she needed to hurry she picked up her pace. With spinning jumps and fast turns, she severed limbs and heads from the thugs. She tried her best to not kill the security guards; she really didn't need a bounty on her for killing someone decent.

Just then a massive explosion sent a shockwave toward her and she curled up to cover from the debris. She stood and waved off the smoke only to find the man Kannick had been fighting seemed to be missing quite a few pieces. She looked over to Kannick who seemed to have some rather distressing wardrobe issues. That was when she saw his implant.

It was hard not to stare, and when he caught her he said, "A... A battle scar I guess. I saw yours, I guess now you see mine." That was enough to bring her back to the world and she looked away from him. The men were dead, the guards knocked out, the assassin was in pieces; all in a day's work.

She put her sabers back onto her belt and would walk over to him. "Are you ok?" she asked. "I didn't see what happened."

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick gave himself a once over at Keiyara's question. Grateful to see he was ok, despite a few scrapes and bruises. But those were inevitable in a duel. He would have to check his implant on a greater level to ensure no shrapnel would cause further injury or contamination, at least for now he'd be fine. His shirt however, could not be saved. He took off the article of clothing completely, seeing no reason to keep the article of clothing on. Answering Keiyra, he said "Don't worry I'm fine. The same can't be said for Diino's goons, however. Thanks for that by the way. The man was Gidson, not that his name matters. Not anymore. I beat him, with a little trouble. The man was a professional, that was clear, but even a pro can't take me down."

Kannick probably sounded a little cocky at this point, but with reason for a change. He usually only bragged when his brother was around, they were always trying to one up each other, something Kannick managed to do with the Force while Jechtral did with experience. He turned in the direction of the unconscious guards, using the Force to lift them one by one onto nearby benches or up against a wall. It was the leas he could do after Keiyara had knocked them all out which was no doubt painful. He turned to Keiyara again, wondering what the next course of action should be, if any. Kannick knew that once Diino heard that his trap was entirely destroyed, the mediocre crime lord would cower and go into hiding or something. Diino, if he was smart enough, or scared enough, he'd stay away from Kannick and Keiyara.

He realized all this was going through his head, yet he had never looked away from Keiyara. He was staring, and she had noticed. He was going to play it off, try and ignore it, but almost on instinct he leaned in and kissed her. Just a brief kiss, almost nonexistent. But enough. He had kissed a few women on occasion, but he had never taken on a Hutt with one, this was definitely uncharted territory. Only afterwards did he wonder how Keiyara would react.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Answering Keiyra, he said "Don't worry I'm fine. The same can't be said for Diino's goons, however. Thanks for that by the way. The man was Gidson, not that his name matters. Not anymore. I beat him, with a little trouble. The man was a professional, that was clear, but even a pro can't take me down."

"Apparently not," she replied with a grin. She put her hand on her hip and watched him take his ruined shirt off. He could tell she was eyeing him. He had managed to see her semi-naked. She liked when guy's reciprocated.

Kannick then began to use the Force to move the men out of the damage, though she didn't understand why he felt the need to do this. They'd wake up eventually. If he had some desire to bury the dead or whatever, well, that she could understand. She'd never have the sympathy to do such for a fallen victim. A body was a body. Whatever life that had once was now part of the Force. That was something her old master taught her long ago.

She was still staring at him as he was moving the men around, though she glanced over every now and then. She felt it best to stay quiet and not ask him whatever was going through his head. Suddenly, he was staring at her and before she realized it he kissed her. It was so sudden and quick that she barely registered that he'd just done that.

Keiyara was shocked. "He kissed me!" her inner monologue said to itself. "He just freakin' kissed me!" She scoffed and looked at him. Then, she bit down on her lower lip and leaned her weight to one side. "What was that?" she asked him. "I'm not your sister. I think you can do a little better than that."

 

[Flying Blind]

Kannick still hardly believed that he had done it, and fully expected Keiyara to slap him across the face, maybe even warn him with her Lightsabers or something. This just added to his subsequent confusion when she came back at him with 'I think you can do a little better than that.' He was about to mention that he didn't even have a sister, but why bring family matters up at a time like this? "Excuse me?" He said, overplaying his hurt expression. Then he leaned in again, kissing her longer than before, now he was sure it wasn't a figment of his imagination. He was kissing Keiyara Cole, the self proclaimed Jedi Killer.

Finally he stopped, ironically because he was out of breath. He couldn't remember the last time he had kissed a girl, realizing in that moment it was probably a female padawan he had met during his time with the Jedi. That was about ten years ago. Suddenly he felt out of practice, but a kiss shouldn't be such a big deal. He searched Keiyara's expression, wondering how she was reacting to him.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Excuse me?"

She was about to say something else when he leaned in again and started to kiss her more deeply. She brought her arm up, but did not slap him like he expected. Rather, she pulled him into her so he'd stay this time. When he finally pulled back she licked her lips and opened her eyes. She gave a satisfied hum and then bit her lip some more.

"Mr. Stargrave," she said teasingly, "Are you trying to seduce me?"

 

[Flying Blind]

He was a bit taken aback by the fact he hadn't been slapped in the face. In fact, she had welcomed his presence. He tried desperately to figure out what to do next. It was a good thing his brother wasn't here, he'd be all over Kannick for falling for this girl. Well, he wasn't exactly falling. He winced a bit at Keiyara's comment on seduction and replied nervously "No, not at all. I um, it was just a kiss. I mean, two kisses, um, er.." He was babbling like a fool, trying to play it off. He took a second, no more no less, to make his decision. He looked directly at Keiyara, he knew he wanted her, and she didn't seem to mind that idea, so with both things in mind he said flatly

"No, Keiyara, I'm not. I guess you can consider the kiss payment enough for my rescuing you and returning your ship. Oh, and by the way, my real name is Niklaus, Niklaus Hunter. Do you actually believe anyone is born with such an awesome name as Stargrave?" It was an outright lie, but there was reasoning behind it, and he didn't want her mentioning his name. Or anyone mentioning his name for that matter. He sensed several emotions coming from Keiyara, so he figured he should leave as fast as possible. After all, he had just rejected a very dangerous woman.

He practically sprinted out of the hangar, not stopping until he was at his own ship and off planet. He wasn't sure how to make sense of what had transpired, he figured he needed to think about it. Once he was a safe distance away from the planet and with it Keiyara, he sat in his bedroom to meditate. He took a deep breath, calming his mind. He had rejected Keiyara, despite the feelings he was experiencing in the moment. He realized he longed for affection, never having known love. He realized that Keiyara symbolized what he wanted. He hadn't wanted Keiyara herself, more of the promise that came with such emotions. He knew in his heart he needed a relationship in his life, but he also knew that Keiyara was not the one he wanted to share that kind of bond with. He would have to call upon his jedi training to shield these emotions for a long while. Who knew, maybe he was destined to be alone. But he would keep searching, and hoped that in that search he would never encounter the Jedi Killer again.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"No, not at all. I um, it was just a kiss. I mean, two kisses, um, er.."

Keiyara inly laughed at the boy's shyness. It was kind of cute, but at the same time a little off-putting. Her first guess was the man was a virgin. She'd been with virgins before; she tried not to make a habit out of it. Then, everything changed as he did a complete 180 on her.

"No, Keiyara, I'm not. I guess you can consider the kiss payment enough for my rescuing you and returning your ship. Oh, and by the way, my real name is Niklaus, Niklaus Hunter. Do you actually believe anyone is born with such an awesome name as Stargrave?"

And just like that he was running away from her. No goodbye. No reason for leaving. Just gone. Keiyara repeated the name she'd given him, and somehow treasured it. Not knowing he'd lied to her, she actually thought he trusted her with the truth. She would keep his name a secret. It was a special little thing he gave her.

"Goodbye, Niklaus Hunter," she said softly. "Maybe we'll see each other again..."

Keiyara sighed and looked around her. Bodies everywhere. She pursed her lips and nodded her head. Yep. They probably had some gold. They wouldn't be needing it anyway. She spent the next few minutes turning out the men's pockets and collecting their weapons. Being a bounty hunter, Jedi killer, slave girl, space-traveller, whatever-she-was...wasn't cheap. She'd gather what she could and set it in the small cargo hold underneath the wings of her ship.

Once everything was ready, she then turned to her ship and went up the ramp. After doing a scan to make sure nothing was left on her ship, then a second one to be safe, she started up the engines and left the filling station. She didn't know where she'd go next, but she knew the Force would guide her somewhere. Maybe she'd go after this Hutt. It wouldn't be the first time she'd gotten into trouble with them. It certainly wouldn't be the last....

~/END THREAD/~​