(B) The Grand West

[Adrian Lynd]

Set inside one of more upper middle class areas of the city planet and only a mile or two from the Jedi Temple stood a high rise apartment building with speeder parking included in the monthly rent! For only 1,500* *Represents Studio Price credits a month you too could be among the young up and comers who decided to call this beautiful high rise home!

On the twelfth floor was the piece of this high rise that Adrian Lynd had decided to call home, at least for the time being. He had been in the spacious two bedroom for a little over a year now. Well truth be told he hadn't been there the entire time, he had rented the apartment and used it as a base of operations while often sleeping elsewhere but tending to find his way back here for about half of the month. The name on the lease was not his own, nor was it the one that had given Luka in the hospital a year ago when he was being treated for a lightsaber wound on his arm. It was in fact one of more than a dozen aliases he used for various purposes, all of whom had their own credit and mailing addresses throughout the galaxy. Slowly however, he was finding that he enjoyed Coruscant more than other places he had lived in his life, the rent was paid through a complex network of laundered credits which had anyone ever been able to trace the source of they'd be shocked at everything the young Sith had his hands in.

All of which made the agenda of the day that much more complicated. There was little that was incriminating in the apartment itself, his decorations were sparse and few and far between, there were no pictures on the wall and in plain view there were no Sith icons in plain sight all in all on the surface it was the apartment of young man who was making his way in the universe one way or another at least to the casual observer. His guest today however was a Jedi and Jedi were good at picking up subtle things. So Adrian had been over the apartment with more than a fine tooth comb the day before and even the day before that. Anything that was even remotely incriminating was removed from the apartment and kept in a safe place, not that the Jedi didn't know who Adrian was, but he didn't need to give him an excuse to set up surveillance on the building either.

There was a knock at the door and he took a deep breath and opened it.

[Luka Balmore]

On the list of things he may or may not have told Master Kariime and Master Kaytren about his plans with his Sith brother today the location of the place was at the top of it. Did he lie to either of them? No he merely did not mention where they were having lunch on this fine day but neither of them had directly asked him either. He had just informed them as he had done for the last year of any plans he had with Adrian. Why? Safety was among the primary reasons but also so they were informed of any progress he was making with the young Sith. The Sixteen year old half Sephi had made it a major side focus of his to slowly work on saving his older half brother from the grips of the dark side and he had felt that he had made some decent progress, but recognized that there was more than a long journey ahead. So when he was invited to Adrian's apartment for lunch today, he was indeed somewhat reserved. He trusted Adrian as much as one could trust a Sith, which was indeed exactly the entire problem.

He was reasonably sure at this point that Adrian was not going to harm him, the two had gotten to know each other quite while in the last year and in fact he felt they had become quite close and for his part it was all genuine...mostly genuine. There was indeed a motive behind his actions, but it was driven by a genuine love and concern for his older brother. So the relationship was genuine even if the motive was not entirely genuine. That being said, he was moderately uneasy about this. There meetings had always been in a public place before and this was different and somewhat sudden. He thought for a moment as he got off the elevator on the twelfth floor and made his way to apartment 1208 if it was in fact a smart thing to omit his exact whereabouts but if he died trying to save Adrian then at least he died doing exactly what a Jedi should be doing and in a sense he was okay with that. If Adrian had turned on him however, the last moments of Luka's life would be filled with sadness and regret, that was the only thing he feared, failing Adrian by not being able to save him. Death in general did not frighten him, he had seen it and been around it his entire life, he respected it but did not fear it even for a moment.

He took a breath in and knocked on the door. The door then slid open and he saw Adrian standing there before him. Luka smiled warmly and bowed his head slightly.

"Hey Adrian."

[Adrian Lynd]

Adrian nodded and smiled at his younger half brother.

"Hey man, come on in."

He motioned with his left hand and walked in towards the main living area of the sparsely decorated apartment.

"So this is where I live, not kriffing much to it honestly. I don't know how you Ji...Jedi decorate things, but personally I just don't have the time for it. Refresher is down the hall if you need it so is my room, which I've got some cool lightsaber parts if you want to see them later. Also a pet snake if you'd like to meet him, but he's venomous so you're not going to want to hold him. Oh and one other thing...

He paused for a moment and looked at Luka, scanning him up and down.

"So I didn't tell you something. My girlfriend Tia is here and I wanted you two to meet and yes she is a Sith. She knows you're a Jedi and is cool with meeting you, she's a bit...unpredictable. Just roll with it Luka, who knows she might like you...and sorry, I didn't tell you ahead of time, I was worried you wouldn't come if you thought you were going to be outnumbered but I did want you two to meet. She's getting dressed in my room now..."

Adrian paused for a moment and contemplated that last bit and the connotations behind it before shrugging it off and realizing that give Luka's profession he would in no doubt be scandalized by any normal human behavior like that.

"Nerf roast is in the oven, I made it. I've got water, lots of water or Jawa juice if you prefer..."

[Luka Balmore]

Luka looked around the apartment, he was not entirely sure what he expected but it seemed to him that this was not quite it. Perhaps somewhere in the depths of his imagination he expected the floor to be made of volcanic stone and for there to be Sith symbols scattered throughout and an entirely red and black decor, but much to his relief this was nothing of the sort. Which perfectly drove the point home in his mind that Adrian was nothing more than a normal guy who happened to be a Sith Lord in the making. He walked with Adrian and watched where he motioned and his nostrils took in the smell of the nerf in the oven. It did smell good, but was he really going to eat anything here? Yes. Yes of course he was Adrian wouldn't poison him...would he? It would be rude not to eat and he would just have to take that risk.

Then he stopped in his tracks as he felt it and Adrian spoke indicating the presence of another Sith here. His girlfriend. Tia. Luka crossed his arms in front of him in visual disappointment that he had been misled. He didn't mind meeting Tia, but two Sith and one Jedi was not something he had planned for.

"Adrian. I'm sure she's great, but I would have really liked to know ahead of time. I trust you man, but think of the mathematics of this situation, I am now the minority in this equation and while I love you as my brother, Sith do have a reputation that you personally make no excuses for nor do you try to hide. So I am sure you can understand my apprehension over the situation. Again I do trust you would never do anything to harm me, we're good but next time just tell me."

Luka took a deep breath and let his hands fall by his side as he did not exactly glare at Adrian but gave him a bit of a stern look and that's when the bedroom door opened and he saw her walking out of the dark hallway....

[Tia Alvera]

For many moments she had been listening to what was going on in the main room of the apartment as she made herself decent. Black robes of course, a skin tight tunic and black leggings with armour plates at her shins and wrists completed her dark ensemble. She neatly tied her hair raven coloured hair back into a pony tail and stood up. He sounded like a Ji'dai and he had the audacity to lecture Adrian. She could cut him for that, but she did have to remind herself that the two were indeed brothers and a certain amount of familial bickering was to be expected. She'd never let anyone talk to her that way and she knew pretty damn well here that Luka must be an exception because Adrian had killed for less.

She walked slowly to the door and opened it up and moved into the living room with a purpose. It was then that her yellow eyes took in the pointy eared Ji'dai weakling. She stuck her nose up at him while her eyes took in his appearance and overall demeanor, he was clearly not a fighter, not likely much with a blade and could be disposed of fairly easily if the situation called for it.

"I'm Tia, Tia Alvera Ji'dai. Ms. Alvera is fine for you, Tia is reserved for friends and your brother."

She took two steps closer to him standing just a few feet apart now and half the distance Adrian was from him. Her eyes scanned as she walked to his side and looked him up and down once more.

"Sure looks like a Ji'dai babe, although...I see the family resemblance, minus the ears."

she nodded and crossed her arms in front of her once more.

"You're kind of cute though, in a sad way. Shame you're not Sith, I could see myself having a difficult time choosing between the two of you...I wonder though Ji'dai how do you react to things....?"

Like a bolt of lightning she moved with blistering speed and closed the distance between the two of them in half of a heartbeat, her dagger flying into her hand and coming to rest against his throat...

[Luka Balmore]

Luka stood there unflinchingly as Tia had walked out of the room and closed the distance between the two of them. He watched her scan him and he returned the gesture as well taking in what he saw, he could see exactly what Adrian liked about her and reasoned that she was indeed his brother's type. The clothes, the eyes, she carried herself like a predator ready to pounce at any moment. This day was a mistake. He glanced at Adrian but did not take his senses off of the mildly insulting female Sith in the room who focused her attention on him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Luka Balmore...Luka is fine I'm not an overly formal person."

He wasn't sure he liked this situation at all, she had called him cute which he supposed was a compliment even if it was immediately followed by an insult. Why did Adrian want him to meet her exactly? Then without any warning whatsoever he saw her lunge and the cold steel blade was against his throat, he felt his heart rate increase as he was too slow to react in a meaningful way. He was a healer not a Guardian and while he was decent with a blade he long reasoned he was no match for Adrian...and clearly not her, but he did have one thing. He quickly moved his right hand a quarter of an inch nothing too perceptible and then he closed his eyes...

The phrenic nerve exited the spinal chord at C3, C4, and C5. It was the primary nerve that communicated with the diaphragm and in laymen's terms basically told it to contract to draw air in and this was exactly the communication that Luka quickly used art of the small to cut off entirely...he kept his focus steady and went to work setting the blocks in place, ever the perfectionist in his work he was sure to not miss anything and his eyes slowly opened and narrowed as he stared into her glowing yellow ones...

"Like this of course..."

[Tia Alvera]

Like this? Like what, she was about to scoff and say something but almost instantly became aware that she could not breathe at all. She didn't feel pressure around her throat and in fact she didn't feel pressure anything. Instantly she dropped the knife and took two steps back and tried to pull in a breath of air but nothing seemed to work. Her eyes became the size of saucers as panic set in and she fell to her knees. She looked at the Ji'dai and raised her hand quickly indicating that she surrendered. Something she'd never dreamed of doing, but clearly he was a lot stronger than she gave him credit for Ji'dai or not.

What the kriff was this though? She'd never seen a Ji'dai do something like this and she'd fought her fair share of them! What. The KRIFF WAS THIS?! Only a few seconds had passed she felt her lungs starting to hurt and she could feel death lurking over her shoulder ready to take her of too much more time had passed. She tried to speak but could not, so she mouthed it instead..."I give up."

[Adrian Lynd]

Adrian's eyes had narrowed a bit at Luka's comments, but he did understand where he was coming from. Especially after Tia took this exact moment to walk in earlier than had been planned. Adrian cursed under his breath a bit, she was so unpredictable...force he loved that about her so much. It made things exciting and fun. He was about to introduce the two of them but Tia had taken the liberty to do that for him. He rolled his eyes a bit as she insulted Luka, but then called him cute, probably in an effort to get under Adrian's skin. It wasn't going to work though, if a Sith girl even his girl was going to seduce him and make him understand that the Sith path was definitely the correct one then he'd be fine with it.

What happened next though, sent a chill down his spine. He knew she was going to do something but did not expect her to go straight for his throat. Now there was a choice to make, if she hurt Luka who did he protect? He wrestled with that thought in his mind, Luka was not a Sith, he wouldn't be able to stop her and she already had her dagger against his throat. If he went for his lightsaber it was lights out for him and Adrian knew that. He could? What the kriff could he do.

"Like this of course"

Adrian raised his eyebrow? Like what exactly? He stepped to the side to look at both of them and saw Luka staring intently at her and then the dagger dropped to the floor and Tia backed away quickly almost bumping into Adrian in the process. The young Sith looked down at her as she collapsed to her knees on the floor and it was then he realized that she wasn't breathing at all. It wasn't like she was being choked either, her chest was not rising and falling which can happen when you are being choked and desperately trying to get a breath of air. Her's wasn't moving at all. What did he do? His stare shifted to Luka and he looked at his Jedi younger brother and realized for the first time, that he was not even remotely weak. He'd never seen this, not even from a Sith and it was clear he could kill her at any moment if he wanted to...the reality of that set in, Luka could kill him at any moment...

Adrian stepped around Tia and looked at Luka.

"She gives up, you can stop."

[Luka Balmore]

Luka's concentration did not break even for a second as she dropped the dagger and took a few steps back and away from him he lifted his left leg and moved it forward and set it down on the dagger and dragged it over to him without even moving. He stared down at her as she was on the floor and watched her mouth the words. He had no intention of killing her, not this way. He took a breath in just as Adrian started to speak and he quickly and meticulously released the blocks he had put in place on the nerve. He didn't leave just yet he wanted to make sure the communication had resumed normally which of course it had as all he did was temporarily stop it from occurring. He lifted his leg and called the dagger to his left hand.

He took in another deep breath this was something he'd really need to think about later, but in the moment he did most certainly understand that there was not an alternative. Adrian was closer to him than he was, so he flipped the dagger around in his hand holding it by the blade he reached his arm out and offered it to Adrian.

"Any more surprises?"

[Tia Alvera]

Darkness was tugging at the corners of her vision as she saw Adrian step up almost the same time she had mouthed her surrender. She was about to fall down facing the floor and then an instant she felt her chest contract and pull in a deep breath of air. She took several more quick deep breaths and coughed. She regained her composure and jumped to her feet and took several steps back from the Ji'dai a look of visible shock and awe on her face. She looked to Adrian who had just taken her dagger from Luka and then back to Luka again, her yellow eyes were filled with fear and confusion. She wanted to go for her lightsaber, she wanted to teach the Ji'dai a lesson but in this moment she wasn't sure if she was capable of teaching any lesson to him at all.

She lowered her head slightly and stared at him.

"What the kriffing hell was that? Ji'dai don't use the force like that, not any of the ones I've ever met...neither do Sith. You could have kriffing killed me! I was just testing you to see how weak you were and you do THAT?!"

She glanced down at the floor.

"Fine you're not kriffing weak, you're strong...forget the Ms.....call me Tia."

[Adrian Lynd]

The young Sith watched the scene unfold, Tia was scared of a Ji'dai. That was something new and different, he wasn't going to rub that in right at this moment but it might come in useful. He eyed Luka and took a half step forward and took the dagger from him slowly. He looked at the blade for a moment and tucked it into his belt. He wasn't going to hand it to Tia right this second, she might get mad and take it out on him and he did not feel like being cut right at this exact moment.

"I have seen Ji'dai do many things Luka, but I have never seen that. Not from one of your kind, not from one of my kind either. She did not expect that, she was testing you that's what she does. She's unpredictable, I warned you of that."

His eyes narrowed at Luka and for the first time he allowed Luka sense a bit the darkness that he had harnessed, not all of it, just a small taste.

"Don't do it again. We're brothers and I'm not in the habit of fighting family. That said..."

He turned to Tia and glared at her.

"You KNOW me. Do anything like that to him ever again and I'll kriffing kill you myself. You started it. He's a Ji'dai, not a Sith. He doesn't kriffing play the same games we do...still love you though."

He crossed his arms in front of him and allowed his anger to cool down.

"What did you decide Luka, water or Jawa Juice?"

He smirked

"Oh and Luka, Ji'dai or not Sith respect that kind of move..."

[Luka Balmore]

Luka let his arms fall by his side as Adrian took the dagger, the amount of trust he had in Adrian truly showed in this moment. Would he have given the dagger back to Tia? No, but he had held the weapon by it's blade knowing that Adrian would have used it against him faster than he could possibly react. He had heard stories of the young Sith's speed, even from Kaytren whom he had for some reason shared with. He absolutely knew if Adrian turned on him he was dead, his brother mentioned a venomous snake in his room and cast doubt that the young healer would want to handle it, but the truth was he already was handling a venomous snake and he knew it quite well. A real snake would be much easier and if it bit him he'd just carefully work with the venom until he could get back home. If Adrian decided to strike however, he would be dead before he knew what hit him.

He took a calming breath and watched the two Sith, she was yelling at him and then she told him to call her Tia. The half Sephi raised an eyebrow at that reaction, it most certainly was not what he was expecting and the fact of the matter was that it confused him. Luka had always been a pacifist and intellectual and he did understand Sith, but this past year had truly been eye opening the more Adrian had been around him and the more he saw he was dumbfounded by certain things..."I'll kriffing kill you myself......still love you though." What?! Luka thought to himself, he loves her but he'll murder her if she attacks him again. Okay...he thought to himself, that was confusing. How could you threaten to murder someone in one breath and then say you love them in the next. Sith....

Luka sighed, of course he had been threatened by Adrian too, but not to the same degree and he was willing to let it wash over his shoulders because clearly the person in the room Adrian was annoyed with was Tia not him. He had only threatened Luka to save face with his girlfriend. A juvenile thought crossed the healer's mind when Adrian spoke of games, but he quickly pushed it aside. Tia had questions for him...so did Adrian....wait....did Adrian just say Sith would respect him for that? For the love of the Force....he didn't think it was that dark or cruel, he needed to meditate when he got home. He was in fact trying to save face with Sith and incapacitate an attacker, but for a Sith to be impressed by what he had done....he was trying to turn Adrian not have Adrian turn him...this was a chess game and he may have just sacrificed one of his own pawns to gain a little ground, the question was who had gained more ground?

"No, Sith wouldn't react that way, respectfully, you can't. It's a healing technique that is inherently light sided and no, normally I wouldn't use it like that either, but then again I don't normally have a knife pressed against my trachea just a muscle impulse away from death either."

His eyes settled on Tia for a brief moment.

"Water....oh.....you know what? Both if that's okay?"

Adrian had brought him both drinks and he finished two glasses of water and had only had a sip or two of the Jawa juice at lunch but noticed that the other two had just a bit more than with their meal. The trio settled on the couch in the living room. Tia on one end Luka on the other with Adrian in the middle. Luka had watched the drinks be poured and even served himself lunch, he politely waited until the others took a drink and ate something before he dared to.

"So Tia, you and Adrian have been together how long now?"

Luka took a larger sip of his Jawa juice knowing he was by far the slowest and most careful drinker of the group.

[Tia Alvera]

The meal had been fine, she had been satisfied by Luka's explanation and she wasn't sure she feared him, but she definitely respected him at this point. She had two glasses of Jawa juice with lunch and she was working on her third here on the couch. She glanced over at Adrian and placed her hand on his thigh and whispered something in his ear as he and Luka were talking about whatever, she had kind of lost the conversation and pondered the absurdity of her sitting here sharing a nice meal and conversation with a Ji'dai whom on any normal day she'd have just assumed kill, but he was Adrian's brother. She grinned as Adrian nodded to her in acceptance of what she had just whispered to him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and leaned over him to get the the Ji'dai's attention.

"You asked about us, I bet a guy like you has at least one girlfriend in his life. I wasn't joking earlier you are actually rather attractive."

She climbed on Adrian's lap to get closer to Luka and braced herself her hand on Adrian's shoulder.

"Spill it, whose the lucky lady?"

[Adrian Lynd]

Adrian smirked as Tia whispered to him in the middle of the conversation with Luka. Before he knew it Tia was following through and climbing up on his lap and complimenting Luka. It was clear Adrian didn't mind in fact he found the situation kind of humorous.

"Luka I mean no offense, but Tia I am pretty sure Luka has never even kissed a girl before, why I don't know. I know my other brother Alex prefers guys, which is what it is I make no judgement, but I'll be damned if I can't figure you out Luka. I don't care either way mind you, I'm just curious first time we've drank together, so I'm with Tia, spill it. You have a girlfriend or a boyfriend?"

The young Sith looked at his younger brother with a bit of a grin on his face, the alcohol in the Jawa Juice was indeed rather potent and Adrian was not overly inebriated but he was feeling pretty decent at the moment.

[Luka Balmore]

The young Jedi and healer had been enjoying the conversation with Adrian who had been asking him about his various hobbies which did include gardening, Luka spared Adrian some of the more tedious details but he did speak with enthusiasm about the medicinal uses that were in fact valid for various herbs and plant life. Then the topic abruptly shifted gears and Tia started speaking a bit more kindly to him. He was attractive? He wasn't sure that was something he ever really thought about but it did make him feel good to have a member of the opposite sex say it to him. He was about to nod and say thank you when she furthered her comment and asked about the potential girlfriends in his life.

Now, as a healer and for all practical purposes a physician Luka was keenly aware of all human tendencies but this did not stop his face from reddening a bit. Once more he was about to answer when Adrian piled on top of it politely...ish, stating that he did not think Luka had ever even kissed a girl or apparently a guy either. That was a bit presumptuous, he thought, but also entirely accurate. Luka took a major drink of his Jawa juice and finished it off. What hell had he gotten himself into? Nothing he reasoned. This was a normal teen conversation, even among some of his peers at home. This was not a Sith conversation, this was an adolescents conversation and it was normal. He cleared his throat nervously and looked at both of them who wear staring holes straight through him.

"No, I don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend. Yes Alex is homosexual, I don't really think I've ever thought about what I am but I think I am heterosexual if you really want to know...and no, I haven't kissed anyone before at least not in a romantic sense.

He felt so out of place, he never had these conversations but in a way it was sort of relieving being in a situation where no one seemed to care about rules or content of conversations. He took a breath in and held out his now empty glass. He was fine, he knew that alcohol had a slight effect but he was also the most lucid person in the room as the others were two drinks ahead of him. What's more, he was a healer, he could break the alcohol down and process it quicker if he put his mind to it, he could keep it in check.

"Adrian can I get more Jawa juice?"

[Tia Alvera]

She chuckled and covered her mouth with her palm as Adrian egged Luka on and then when the suspicions had been confirmed she sighed and gave him a bit of a forlorn look that perhaps conveyed a bit of sympathy for him. She took his glass and handed it to Adrian she slid off his lap as he stood up and found herself pressed against Luka. She turned and smiled at the half sephi Jedi and brushed the back of her index finger against his cheek and stared into his eyes.

"You've never kissed anyone and you don't know if you like girls? We're going to have to address that right now my Ji'dai friend..."

She grinned at him and leaned closer in placing her hand on the back of his shoulder, she pulled him aggressively and kissed him...

[Luka Balmore]

What happened next was unexpected. One moment it went from semi innocent albeit juvenile questions to her brushing against him and leaning on him and staring into his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do with that, he looked back at her and she was indeed attractive, that he was sure of but she was a Sith. She that she was going to address the situation?

"I..."

Without warning and just as fast she was before she pulled him in close and was KISSING him. For a moment it felt wrong, everything about it did but then when he saw Adrian set the Jawa Juice down on the table next to them without caring he realized he didn't much care either this was nice. He leaned into her kiss and kissed her back, not that he knew what he was doing exactly but she sure did. The emotions he felt were like nothing he had ever felt before, it was intoxicating and it was not just the Jawa juice either, everything about this suddenly felt right and natural. He felt his reservations slip away as if they had never been there in the first place and he wrapped his arm around her as he turned his body to be at less of an awkward angle to her.

He thought nothing more about the act and just enjoyed it for what it was his first kiss...is first several dozen kisses apparently, that was fine. Everyone had a first kiss and it was normally not with the person they wound up spending their life with either. No harm generally ever really came from a kiss. Where was Adrian anyway and why didn't he care? In fact why did Luka even care? All he could feel was her pressed against him and their lips interlocking in a passion he had never felt before in his life...

[Tia Alvera]

Tia had not fully expected him to reciprocate the kiss, but when he did she was pleasantly surprised. She felt his arm go around her and him try to reposition himself and fix the angle they were sitting at instead she broke the kiss for a moment and pushed him flat against the back of the couch and got on his lap facing him before resuming the kiss. This was nothing knew for her, nor was there any emotion other than that of the moment behind it, she had no intention of being in a relationship with him nor did she have any desire to be friends for longer than the day. He was here and he was attractive and this served a purpose. Was she corrupting a Jedi?

She wrapped her arms around him. Not with simply just a few moments of passionate kissing, that was not nearly enough to corrupt a young Jedi. The fact that he was even kissing her at all was somewhat surprising to her. He seemed so mild mannered and repressed, but she knew there was something else to him, she knew from the moment he stopped her from breathing. Adrian had been right about him and all people, darkness is within all living beings and is just begging for an excuse to show itself to the world. The first bit of darkness was him nearly killing her, the next was this moment whether it was anything for either of them was irrelevant, it was a step in a particular direction.

She continued kissing him, she pulled a hand out from behind his and slowly reached down towards his belt line...

[Luka Balmore]

As stopped kissing him even for the briefest moments he thought that he must have done something wrong and then she pushed him back and got on top of him pushing him back into the couch and resumed kissing. For the briefest of moments he had a moment of clarity where he questioned himself and what he was doing in this moment, but the serotonin quickly pushed that inner voice's head under water and drowned it out. All he could think of in this moment was exactly what was going on.

He had never stopped before now to think of how he would handle a moment like this he was always too busy dealing with his studies and training to even be bothered by anything romantic. He had never even questioned his own sexuality to any degree of depth before this moment but with as much as he was enjoying this moment he did reason that he did in fact like girls. He heard a door shut and out of the corner of his eye saw Adrian disappear into his room.

Her lips against and then he felt her hand....

His mind raced he had a moment of disbelief that crossed his mind. This had to be a dream, he felt his hand move to brush her hand away but she moved her other hand and stopped him. He put up the smallest bit of resistance but then gave up. He didn't care anymore, not in this moment it was as if the voice of reason inside his own brain had been tied up and thrown in the closet with a piece of tape over it's mouth totally speechless in this moment. Instead the young Jedi through caution entirely to the wind and indulged in this moment, something he would normally never do but something somewhere just wasn't stopping him. It was as if he was being guided to this, but it was entirely his own decision...

[Adrian Lynd]

As Adrian had set the Jawa juice on the table as the two were kissing. He chuckled to himself not feeling a tinge of jealously. He slowly made his way to the hallway towards his room and turned to see Tia climbing on top of his younger brother. He smirked and opened his bedroom door and went in shutting the door behind him. He flicked on the light and let out a quiet laugh.

He didn't think he would go for this, but he learned a long time ago to never underestimate the power of hormones or maybe it was the pine nuts that he had cooked the Nerf roast in. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence that they had an effect...or maybe it was the special perfume from Zeltros that Tia had been wearing quite intentionally for today. That seemed to be the most likely culprit. When you're not sure what ammo is going to work try all of it, he chuckled to himself. He sat at the corner of his bed and looked off to the tank in the corner of the room and picked up a book hidden under the bed written entirely in ancient Sith. He picked it up and flipped it open to the marked page and began reading aloud.

After nearly half an hour he looked up as the bedroom door opened and Tia walked in her clothes in her hands. Adrian looked up and smiled at her as he stood up and kissed her.

"Nice work. Get dressed, I'll be back later."

Adrian waited for a few moments and walked towards the door to see Luka sitting on the couch struggling to pull his pants up. As the Jedi finally succeeded, Adrian walked over and sat down next to him. Luka didn't look right, he looked distracted and distinctly more ill at ease than Adrian had ever seen him. Adrian had hid his emotions and gave Luka what appeared to be a look of genuine concern.

"Hey. Are you okay Luka?"

He put his hand on Luka's bare back and waited for the half Sephi to look at him.

"It's okay I'm not mad at you, you did nothing wrong. It's not like you're going to steal her away from me. You had to have had fun right?"

He nodded reassuringly to Luka.

"Huh, never seen you shirtless before, you're more muscular than I thought."

[Luka Balmore]

He sat on the couch for several moments in disbelief. He stared at the floor as she had gotten up kissed him once more and walked away into the other room to get changed or do the same thing for Adrian. He wasn't sure that he cared or wanted to know what was going to go on in there. He just felt filthy and disgusting. He heard the door open and quickly scrambled with his pants, the shame he felt in himself was unimaginable. As he finally managed to get his pants up and felt himself fall back into the couch. He saw Adrian sit down next to him.

"I'm fine Adrian. Just not what I expected to happen today."

He felt Adrian's hand on his back and he turned and grabbed the glass of Jawa Juice and took a large drink of it before looking back to Adrian whose eyes almost demanded his attention. Find your center Luka, you're good at it, you can do it. He said to himself as Adrian's cool palm touched his back. He looked at his Sith half brother who in this moment had never felt more Sith to him in the time that they had known each other. Adrian had orchestrated this, that much was entirely true and whatever his intentions were it didn't matter because Luka not only fell for it but he walked right into it freely with little hesitation. Maybe it was the Jawa juice, maybe it was the force healing technique turned into something more impure. Whatever it was, it was was definitively Luka's fault and not Adrian's fault even if the temptation had been deliberate.

Luka sighed heavily and looked directly into Adrian's eyes.

"Yes, it was fun but that's not the point is it? I was an unwanted child Adrian, what we did...I could have if she...you know. Adrian, this is my fault so I'm not going to blame you and she's....great and all, but I...no I'm not going to steal her from you she's a Sith and I'm a Jedi. I never thought about this before now but I had always assumed if it ever did happen it would be with someone I loved and not just a one time thing like this. I don't know how to feel Adrian and I guess I have technically not done anything wrong, but I like to feel that this is not something I should have done. She's your girlfriend and there is no possibility of this turning into anything else for her or I. She doesn't love me and I...I don't love her, it was just a thing and I feel ashamed Adrian. This isn't me."

He looked at Adrian for a long moment, knowing that a lot of his words would be lost on him. He was starting to wonder if Adrian did in fact even have a soul of any kind, he wasn't angry at him, Adrian did what Sith and in some way shape or form getting your younger brother to lose his virginity was probably noble in Adrian's eyes. The young Jedi felt like he needed a week long shower to was away the grime of the day.

"Look I did what I did and it was fun, I'm not mad at you at all it's just not who I normally I am and with no judgement of you or Tia as you two clearly have your own code, but it goes against mine."

He stopped and looked down at the floor for a moment. Adrian had won this battle and as the moments past it became even more clear to him that this had been a deliberate thing. He wanted to be mad at him, but how could he be? He was doing the exact same thing to Adrian, the primary difference being is he didn't use a Jedi to seduce Adrian to the light nor was that even something that was remotely on his agenda even being a remote possibility. Sith played by different rules...

[Adrian Lynd]

Sith thrived in chaos and today chaos had been created within Luka, the most pure Jedi he had ever met. He had a hard time keeping his emotions hidden and his feelings to himself, but he genuinely cared for his half brother and if that meant he had to suffer a bit on his journey to the Dark Side then it was all for the best. Adrian nodded quietly as Luka spoke and put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him in to hug him a bit, a an uncharacteristic move for him but one that seemed to fit the moment.

"Two things. One, you don't need to worry about pregnancy. Do you think I'm as kriffing stupid as our father? She's not getting pregnant any time soon unless it's with me and unless it's something we do for a reason. I'm not in any hurry to be a father same as you. My moral code might not be the same as yours but I sure as shit would not put you in that kind of position. You're fine."

He moved and handed Luka his tunic and robes.

"Two, even Jedi do exactly what you just did. You didn't spend much time at the Council of Knowledge, but the amount of Sith and Jedi that wound up in bed together is more than either order would care to admit. You're half human, it's natural and yeah, I won't put you in that situation again, but you enjoyed it and take it as a life experience and move on. You Jedi put too much damn guilt on yourselves for no damn good reason."

He patted Luka on the back.

"You can stay here if you want, I have a spare room and you're always welcome and safe here. I don't want you to be afraid of me, you're my brother and I love you Luka. You can go home tonight too if you want, it's entirely up to you, I'd never force you to do anything..."

[Luka Balmore]

Luka sighed and hugged Adrian back, it felt all just a bit too disingenuous to him, but he could feel that Adrian really did care for him and in fact did love him in his own messed up sort of way. The Jedi Padawan took his tunic from Adrian and put it on over his chest, his hair becoming even more disheveled in the process. He sighed heavily and put his cloak on as he stood up pulled it over his lightsaber and straightened his belt before sitting back down and picking up his boots and slowly putting them on. His boots were comfortable and typical of a Jedi, but putting them like any footwear took some maneuvering. He listened to Adrian speak as he did so and he had some points and he came close to some valid logic but Luka knew better. He didn't pretend he was better than anyone, but he knew...at least before today he knew that Jedi were in fact better than Sith as far as morality was concerned at least so he thought.

"Yes, everyone has sex, I get it Adrian. It's just not how I wanted it to happen, but I did it anyway and that is on me."

He took another deep breath.

"Tell Tia, I...I don't know, tell her I...I don't kriffing know Adrian tell her I said what you're supposed to say after something like that but I think I better get home tonight. Thank you for lunch and the drinks and...."

He stopped, he wasn't going to thank his brother for his girlfriend, nope not happening.

"You know. I love you too Adrian more than you might even know, you're my brother and I care about you. We're still on for next week? I should have the same day off and we can go somewhere. Can it just be you and I next time?"

Adrian had nodded at Luka. Luka hugged his brother once more and walked out the door and decided to take the stairs this time. He was thinking as each floor passed him by as he made his way down. If a Sith wanted to attack and kill him, now would be a perfect time, he was so distracted he stood little chance of defending himself. He found himself down at the lobby and looked outside. It was raining. Of course it was. He pulled his cloak around himself and walked out the door into the rain.

The rain pounded down on him as he began walking after a few blocks he was soaked to the core. Small blessings, no one would notice his disheveled hair now as he just came in from the rain. He saw the Temple in the distance, he had been so zoned out he had no idea how long he had actually been walking. As he approached the gate, the guards asked him if he was alright and he smiled like he normally would and replied that he indeed was. He walked down to the service facility, there were fresh clothes he could change into there. He finally found the door and opened it slowly and there of course was Master Li and Master Winterhold talking. Oh for the love of....he tried not to sigh and bowed respectfully to both of them with his typical warm smile. He then walk past both of them and to his locker. He took out some fresh robes and moved into the locker room and quickly changed after toweling himself off. He needed a shower, but he was going to do that in the privacy of his room versus here.

He walked out of the locker room and saw an empty office and went in closing the door behind he plopped down on a chair and put his head down on the desk. What the hell had happened today? He tried to take stock of it all, but none of it made all that much sense. He felt so disgusted with himself as he remembered what he did, what was even worse is that he knew it was fun. He remembered it with a certain fondness that made him sick to his stomach.

"Uggh."

He had done this to himself, he put his hands on the back of his head and gripped his hair. This is what happened when you spent time around Sith even if it was for a good cause, eventually some of them wore off on you and...it wasn't even remotely pleasant not in the least bit...well not after the fact, it was quite pleasant in the moment which again....uggh. He lightly banged his head against the desk and sighed heavily again. He needed to go meditate but he reasoned that he'd spend just a few more minutes feeling completely disgusted with himself, he deserved it he figured.

He looked up from the desk and caught his neck in the mirror by the door...

"UGGH!"

He looked at the small bruise on his neck and slammed his hand down on the desk. He hoped that Kaytren or Erril hadn't seen it. He stood up and pulled his cloak up and reasoned that they hadn't. He then put his hand on his neck and began to quickly make the bruise fade, the plus side of being a healer in this particular moment, he could at least make THAT go away.