Aittera and the Dark Lord

"I want to be surprised that you're in a cantina. I really do."

Aittera put her datapad down on the bar with an irritated scowl without looking over her shoulder at the source of the deep, rich Imperial accent. "I figured it'd be the most likely place you could look for me."

Kol moved to stand beside her. "Did you see it when you flew in?"

She bristled, taking a drink from the bottle of whiskey in her hand. "It's bigger than the one I blew up. I'll need a few more charges next time."

"You know that you have no desire to destroy that ship," he asserted smugly.

"Are you really so sure?" Aittera sneered, refusing to look over at him. "It was just a dream."

Kol smirked. "For now."

"I have the Hope back. Already have work lined up."

"So, we're moving on to that dream then?"

Aittera looked over at him, her expression determined as she met his gaze. "I thought we might skip to the part where we figure out how to make the dreams stop."

Kol laughed. "Come on. I have at least one idea, but this dive has lost its charm."

"Fine, but keep it in public for now. I don't trust you."

"I don't believe you."

Aittera glared at his back as she followed him out of the cantina and through the promenade, to a public (as in not inside) but quiet corner. He turned and moved in close, giving her a grin that did nothing to hide his nature as a predator. Her deep blue gaze slipped to his lips even as she squared her shoulders resolutely against he magnetic pull that now seemed to exist between them. That was new and not just a little unnerving when she thought about it.

"I honestly don't know how to make the dreams stop, if we even could.  However, I know better than to think that was your intent in inviting me here."

"I...did that without really thinking it through. I think finding some way to sever this connection between us is our best bet though."

"You're lying. I always know when you are."  Kol moved a finger under her chin, to bring her eyes back to his, and while she would expect his armor to be cold, the touch of his gloved finger was actually warm. "Why fight this so hard?"

Without shying away from meeting his gaze again, Aittera lifted her chin just a little higher to remove it from contact with the glove, a note of defiance in her tone. "It's not a lie. I didn't want to go to Kaas, but just the idea of seeing you was... It's not a lie. And I fight it, because I can't tell the difference between what I really want and what I want because of the dreams."

"You didn't have to go to Kaas.  I came to you, I will always come to you, Aittera.  I already made that promise once." He withdrew his hand.  "Isn't dreaming about it an indication that it is something you truly desire?"

"Or it's a side effect of the shielding that went wrong. Khor did say that we were still going to feel something of each other's presence. It could just be that it went further wrong than suspected." She wasn't being defensive so much as offering the same explanation to him that she'd been mollifying herself with. The promise he referred to was something she didn't want to dwell on, because it was the kind of promise she could want to count on, so she reminded herself one more time of the nature of the man standing before her like a ward against those feelings.

"I don't think that it is.  The presence may be, but these dreams, they feel different.  They're not like when I can hear you thinking at me."  Kol removed his gloves, attaching them to his belt before reaching for her hand, taking it in both of his.  "If it was just some quirk of the witch's spell, I would know. I would be able to feel it.  We Sith bend the force to our will,  and my experience with that has given me a perspective of it, even when it doesn't do exactly what I require."

Aittera watched him pull his gloves free and found herself fighting the urge to do so with her own - so much so that she had to replay what he'd just said in her mind to let it truly sink in. The dreams were different, and her gut told her that he was not lying or manipulating his explanation of why. "The question is, why aren't you fighting it? I thought Sith believed in crushing their enemies. No mercy, right? No exceptions. Doesn't any of this bother you?"

"You're not my enemy, Aittera.  You haven't been my enemy for a very long time."  It was an honest answer. "I've already told you that the admission of needing you was a hard truth for me to bear.  Sith do not turn from those truths. They face them, and they accept them.  Though that may seem like I'm taking a cold approach and just doing this because I have given in, that is not the case.  It's something I've wanted for longer than I'd even known I wanted it."

"Why?" It was just as honest a question. "And don't just say it's because I wouldn't break. That's something that might earn me some respect, but I can't see how that leads to...whatever this is."

"That's only part of it, a small part at that.  It's everything about you.  How no matter what happens, you remain this strong, beautiful, resourceful, intelligent woman.  Half the time you're the picture of a Republic citizen; the other half, I truly believe that uniform from the dream is meant to be yours.  And that's only scratching the surface of you."

She was stunned at the answer; not just for it's content, but for the conviction behind it. For several moments, the only response she could give was the way her deep blue eyes held his gaze firmly in their own, speaking volumes about her own desire to be wanted - needed - so completely. Some part of her had believed that getting back the freighter that had become home after losing Davin would prove to sate that desire, but of course it hadn't. She had once known what it was to feel whole, but that had been so long ago, she had somehow managed to convince herself that the Hope had become a suitable substitute.

But now, thanks to the dreams or this connection between them or whatever twist of fate this was, Aittera remembered that feeling of being completed by another person all too well. It beckoned to her from the presence of the man before her.

Kol closed one hand around hers while the other found its way behind her to press against her lower back, drawing her in as he bent to kiss her - a kiss of passion and desire, but also affection; even outright need.  It was somehow gentle and rough at the same time, as much of an enigma as the two of them, and she melted against him as she allowed herself to portray everything she couldn't put into words when his touch sent an electric pulse along her spine that awakened her senses in a way that made her feel truly alive. It was a moment of utter perfection.

In the wake of the kiss, as they looked into each other's soul, it seemed as though the universe itself stopped.

He leaned in to merely brush his lips against hers before bringing them to her ear. "Now, can we go somewhere not public?"

The feeling of power in the air shared between them promised to keep the world from rushing back in on them, and for a moment, everything in Aittera seemed to scream yes. Yes, before the memory of what it is to lose something this matchless catches up to remind her of what complete devastation feels like. Yes, before she can think herself out of what is happening. Yes, before the other shoe drops and reality smacks one or both of them in the face.

She gave a slow, almost shaky nod, as she whispered back the first of the disjointed thoughts that isn't any of those answers. "I bought us a bed."

(( So, I'm starting a new google doc with this post here. ))