The Dark Academy on Korriban

[Baes and Moyr are connecting via an encrypted channel; commlink rules skipped because of tediousness, neither has other threads in this slot.]

Moyr turned the lights on the freighter on. After the party and her time with Syl she had actually enjoyed the wild speeder ride very much. And as a reputed Sith she hadn't even had to steal it. Sitting comfortably on her jacket thrown over a decrepit passenger seat, she turned the datapad on and triggered the secret, encrypted channel. Would it even work?

It was not long before the channel was opened both ways and Baesal's face appeared on the screen and it fully expressed her delight seeing Moyr again

''Greetings, This is Padawan Zyn how can I help you?'' She said winking at Moyr through the screen and sticking her tongue, smirking

So she made it. And she indeed turned to the other side of the Force.

A sigh of relief was coupled with a pang of disappointment. Still, she played the game and threw the holo-projection a cheekily condescending look.

"It's Sith Ahaya, you despicable bogeywoman of a Jedi. I see your treason has paid off with the endorsement of the Jedi fanatics?"

Baesal could make a good poker face...just not now

''Oh yes! I'm one step closer to my master plan! Soon I'll become a boring nun prattling about the light-side...and then the universe will be mine! MWAHAHA!''

She said twirling an imaginary mustache before becoming slightly serious

''Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll ever fit in her...but hey, at least people in general are nicer. At any rate its good to see you again Moyr...Or should I call you Lord Moyr...or maybe Darth Tush?''

"Just Moyr, Baes."

The Lethan shook her head. Horsing around wasn't appealing at all now.

"A bit alienated? Maybe you shouldn't have left?"

Baes's smile faded, replaced by soem form of serene sadness and she was silent for a moment

''Maybe...but I'll never have a certain answer to that. I feel like I'll never truly belong anywhere now...so I'll have to create my own place somehow.''

"I could tell you how hard it is to do it alone but no point in pulling you down."

Moyr sighed with a tinge of triste of her own.

"They asked a bit about you, but not much. MIA or KIA. It's mostly been swept under the rug so that party could go on."

"I had ne doubt it would go that, they won't likely bother themselves with a lowly Alien."

She paused

"But you are wrong about one thing: we are not alone. We may be apart for a time but only in terms of parsecs...and I'll keep repeating that!"

"And it will keep me reassured, dear."

Moyr smiled genuinely.

"So what's like in there, wherever you are?"

Baes's smile readily returned

''I am in the Jedi temple in Coruscant and I've got to say it changes from Korriban...here have a look''

The datapad's camera shifted and was turned toward the room's window, giving an idea of the magnitude of the planet-wide city

Moyr's holo studied the megalopolis with careful scrutiny.

"And this is your new home, Baes? It won't be easy for me to pay you a visit."

The datapad returns to a normal position

''If you paid attention you could see that the room is strangely not filled with junk, bits and bots''

she grins

''I don't know if this will be my new home...but I am sure you could manage to sneak around, especially in the city....or maybe it is I who should go visit you sometimes''

"I may be hard to reach for some time to come, Baes. I leave for Kaas City tonight, where I am meeting with my master, Lord Yulo. He seems to be a secretive one so my bet is that whatever I am required of will be rather secretive too."

Moyr looked down, something finally surfacing.

"Baes, I need to ask for a favour. May I... cry for a bit while you are here?"

"Lord Yulo?" She said somewhat skeptically but then Moyr made her strange request.

Baesal was clearly growing concerned

"Of course dear, cry all you want. If you wish to speak about what happened, I'll listen for as long as you need."

Tears almost immediately rolled down her cheeks. They must have been there for some time, just pushed back by the wild speeder ride. Twi'lek, a desert creature, shedding brine.

"I've hurt myself, Baes."

She swallowed the wet lump in her throat.

"By means of Sylvain Torsin."

Baesal was silent when the tears started rolling, the expression of anguish revealing just as much she would have wanted to be there. She allowed herself to speak only when her friend was ready for a conversation

"Oh dear...what has he done to you?"

"More like what he hasn't done."

Moyr rubbed her nose and ventilated back some of its mucous content. Running nose was the ugly reality of crying that made it inherently ungraceful.

"But I can fault only myself. It was my weakness. To chase shadows of a life that is gone. To seek a man like the one that I lost. He seemed similar at first, but he turned out to be anything but."

Baesal frowned, something clearly having upset her

"Stop right there honey, I don't know what happened but I *know* that it is not you fault"

Her traits then soften back

"You can't say that you are weak for opening your heart to someone or for being wounded when the guy is found to be underserving. You'd be weak if you kept yourself leashed to him...but I know that you are not that kind of women. You are the strongest I know"

"My reasons... they've been flawed, Baes. Weak."

Moyr was getting mopier.

"It was about giving up a big part of myself... for no other reason than... to be able to rely on someone. To have that certainty that there is someone... no matter what. But there can't be anyone like that... in this world. Not any more. Not for me, a Sith. They don't last. Or their commitment doesn't."

"Don't give me that excuse sweetie!" She replied in a strict yet warm tone

"It's a normal things to seek love and companionship. I ask you: what is the alternative? To forsake all attachement and never love again? We both know that would lead nowhere good for you. You seek freedom Moyr, then you should allow yourself to love freely who you choose. You will be hurt but going through that pain and risk getting hurt again is what makes you strong."

She smiles

"If you can't do that while bring a Sith, then become more then that. Be yourself"

"I am still fond of you, no worries... Baes."

Moyr bent over and hid her face in hands, then wrapped her head with lekku into a cocoon of sorts. All that came after from her was muffled.

"That path, that kind of thinking... was wrong. I can take the pain, any pain. But I can't tolerate my... stupidity."

Baesal shook her head and wagged her finger

"This is not about me dear, don't go thinking I'm saying these things out of self-interest. This conversation is only about you and you are far from being a stupid person."

She puts her head on her hands

"But please, tell me what happened. I'll help you through this..."

Moyr didn't know how to put into wards what she thought about it. However she thought about starting it felt wrong. She stopped caring about it at some point and just said anything.

"We were dancing around each other for a while... I thought he was a... I mean promising. I had this hole in me since Shang had been killed... I wasn't looking but... It just started happening. Songs, I mean. Some understanding. I was... telling him what I wanted... and he seemed intent to give it but I was wary until... well there had been a kiss but... until the hyperspacing to Yavin, when I headed out... and I met him. Maybe I was drunk a bit but it was nice... romantic, and I sang and he seemed to get the message and accept it. He said it. I gave him a choice, my conditions... and he agreed. I called Zeno, he had an empty room, I didn't want to trouble you... and yes, I did it. And it was good, very good. I had missed it so much, the presence, the dedication. It was all there. But then there was Yavin, and his sister-lover came up, Kristal, all heartbroken. That he had betrayed her because of me. I told her why I thought he chose to devote himself to me, she insisted that their bonds will make him fall back... She just wanted to know me, I think, the catalyst of her suffering. My reasons. She asked if I loved him right off the bat... We spent some time together, but he seemed to be more and more reluctant... I had given him time to sort out past things, so I was sticking to that... And then after the battle... there was a large battle with the Yubashi... He came to my tent, later than he should have, and said it was all over, between him and those fake sisters of his. And we fell asleep together, I was wounded... And today, I bought a dress for the graduation, it's torn now, I threw it away, and sang a song in the Cantina, but those other women were there, and he sang with one of them... suggestively. I started reassessing, invited him over, eventually asked him questions, we started to have plans together for Kaas City... but then I asked about those other women, how he could have said it was all over when it apparently wasn't. And that this is against all why the thing between us even happened."

Then she started weeping in ultrasound so Baes didn't hear anything. But in the end she seemed to regain some clarity of thoughts.

"He basically said that he liked how things were, when he had both me and them, and to watch how things go. And if he was forced to choose, he would choose them. But maybe something something later between us. So that I should understand and tolerate. So I said to him to get the fuck out and never come again. Basically. He said more and I said more. But that is the gist of it. And when he was gone I tore the dress and I threw it away. 100-credits dress. Chiffon and lace, backless, mermaid bottom. Gorgeous. Never had had anything like that before. I tore it and I threw it away. And I couldn't stand myself naked, almost broke the mirror. And rode up to you here, to our freighter."

Baesal listened silently, focused on Moyr's words and emotions. She took a deep breath before answering her

''You are not at fault and you are not stupid.'' she said with ironclad certainty

''Sylvain is the shit-for-brain here. He is a noble born and a politician...those types have a way with words: They may even believe their own lies when they speak it.''

She gave a sigh

''From what I know of you and what you are telling me he is simply an idiotic, pampered a man-child. I have no doubt that if deception was on his mind you would have figured out but neither of us could guess just how dumb the boy is. The situation seems clear: he did not choose them...he did not choose you either...he tried to whimper out of a difficult decision and the emotionnal blow that came with it by leaving everything up to you and, probably, those other gals. You are not stupid: he simply is a craven. The words he told you might have been true but he just did not have the balls to man up to them. I guess he even acted like the wounded sensitive type. What a git!''

Baesal seemed confused at the man's decision, angry at his dumbassitude and saddened that Moyr at to suffer for it

''Listen to me Moyr and listen carefully. Do not forsake your future for that man. If you close yourself to possible future relationships because of what happened, then you let him have too much of an influence over your desires and happiness...he does not deserve it.''

She risked a faint smile, swiping her own tear

''Of course, I don't have the right to tell you what to do either...but what I know is this: you are a beautiful, strong, independent, smart, cunning women with enough impishness to keep things from becoming boring...and most of all you are courageous, intrepid gal and a risk taker. Any man would be a bonefide imbecile not to want any of that.''

Baes' supportive tirade gave Moyr some time to think. Some arguments resonated well, some did not. Still, she unwrapped the cocoon and rubbed most of the mucky mess underneath off her face.

"I know who I am, much better than before, Baes. I don't want this man to remain in me in any way. Getting rid of what he has left poses a problem."

And before Baes could start raging, she corrected herself.

"On mental level, I mean. I don't think that one thing happened. Most fortunately."

She wrapped her belly in a protective embrace anyway.

"I know I need to come around. But I am so ashamed I believed him, I let myself be fooled because of notions that should long have been bygones. This whole fling is so much not who I have become, Baes. It doesn't add up. It itches and aches. What was I thinking? I should have profiled him the way you just did right off the bat and keep that worm at an arm's length. I should have asked questions about his background instead of giving in to fancy sentimentalism and singing songs!"

She hit her forehead with her fist and shrieked in anger.

"Say what you want, Baes, I'm an idiot. I remember myself all chirpy in the morning, buying that fucking dress so I could look good for him, I'm such an idiot, Baes!!!"

She began hitting the metal plate before her with her fist, then kicked it.

"I had killed for the likes of him to never soil me, and then I just gave up myself to him willingly, like those slaves I had convinced to accept their slaughter. IDIOT!!!

Her knees got the beating.