Bitter Friends, Bitter Rivals

[Vishan Korogoth]

Now that he was fully accepted back as an Imperial Officer, the other soldiers relaxed in his presence. Having his rank back would do wonders sneaking around the base. The Jedi needed to check in with Soolin but there were a few items that had to be taken care of first.

He stopped at registration first to pick up a temporary ID badge that designated him as a member of Fort Korell. Zay had taken care of access codes already so Vishan didn't need to make a request. Zay. What an idiot. He was so blinded by the fact that the Jedi just landed into his lap and wanted to reenlist that he never once questioned if his motives were devious.

Guess Ah put on one helluva an act, an' thank th' Force our friendship means somethin' still ta him.

His next stop was the Quartermaster's office to get fitted for his uniform. He was issued standard boots, pants, shirt, jacket and cap and was promised to have his full uniform, with ribbons, done by the end of the day.

With that done, Vishan was free to sight see and walked over to the front gate. The three soldiers there saluted him gave him a warm fuzzy feeling after the way they treated him earlier. "Much better. Ah'm headin' ta pick up some odds 'n ends for my quarters as they're made up."

"Yessir!" The MP that was so gruff with him before followed Vishan to his parked speeder and opened the door for him.

"If anyone comes lookin' for me, tell 'em they can get ah hold o' me on my comm. It's on file now."

"Yes, Captain."

The Jedi slipped on his mirrorshades and pulled away. Once he was far enough away, he checked for bugs using a scanner found in the Rebel safe house. The speeder was clean. Zay lack of paranoia was a bit disconcerting. It just meant that the Empire really did want him that badly as the Rebel Baize had claimed.

He pulled out his other comm, also borrowed from the good Alliance. This would ensure he wasn't traced as he put in a call to Soolin. Hopefully she wasn't fretting over him the last six hours he'd been gone. "Soolin? Ya there? Over. Blasted t'ing better work."

[Soolin Anjhurin]

:: The Jedi was relieved to hear his voice. She hadn't expected to hear from him this soon. Her voice traveled back through Vishan's comm ::

Soolin here. Where are you???

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Ah'm going shoppin'!" He beamed, trying to lighten the mood as his slowed down to a stop since the traffic light changed red.

[Soolin Anjhurin]

Shopping???

:: there was a pause as total confusion washed over her ::

Vishan, what happened?

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Calm down, Soolin," he said with a chuckle. "Ah'm back inta th' Empire. Zay pretended ta be cool about th' whole t'ing bu' inside he was doin' cartwheels."

The traffic light changed and Vishan accelerated the speeder, "Ah'm actually pretendin' ta go shoppin' for my new quarters so Ah could talk ta ya. Well, Ah do 'ave ta go shoppin' an' bring somethin' back ta make it look good tho."

[Soolin Anjhurin]

I understand.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He frowned. Soolin was harder to read then usual, "You okay?"

[Soolin Anjhurin]

:: Her tone relaxed a bit ::

I'm fine.

[Vishan Korogoth]

"If'n ya want, ya can meet me at the store discretely." He looked around for a street sign. "Ah'm about twenty minutes from Coro-Mart."

Coro-Mart. Terrible name but it was the size of four blastball fields and had EVERYTHING you ever wanted from food to furniture to vids and clothing. And since it was huge, perfect place to meet up with Soolin. "Ya can meet me in sportin' goods. Ah'll be practicin' my swing."

[Soolin Anjhurin]

Get back to me later. Soolin out.

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Geesh, woman," he said, shoving the comm link into his vest pocket. "If ya didn't wanna come all ya had ta do was say so."

The trip to the store would have been worth it if he had the opportunity to see Soolin. Now that idea was trashed, but Vishan still had to go and bring back some supplies for his new quarters. At least he didn't have to pay for it. Faking your loyalty did provide a nice stream of credits, especially when your old buddy Zay gave you an advance to get settled.

So now he stood in households, staring at an entire aisle devoted to soap with a basket in hand, wondering what the frell to buy.

[Jhyx]

"Ah! No! Madame I must protest!"

The sudden shout was followed by a short squeal and clatter of falling items, which in turn was followed by another indignant shout.

"Now see here my dear lady, that was most uncalled for! Look at what a mess you've caused?!

"Ow! Please, stop that! Ouch, stop shooing me away!"

A scurrying of footpaws could be heard, as the voice continued. "Please, that's very unbecoming of a lovely thing such as yourself! No no... ha! You missed me-yeowch!"

A solid thump, and the owner of the voice bounced finally into view, coming to rest at the opening of the housewares aisle. After a moment of regaining his senses, the little creature stood up rather haughtily, dusting off his white-furred chest and rubbing his rump. He was small, laughably so even; his fur an orange hue and his ears standing straight up as his tail seemed to shake itself out.

Satisfied that he had cleaned himself, the thing puffed out his chest, marching right back out of view.

"Now you listen here, ma'am, this behavior of yours - "

And right back he came, tumbling head over tail to stop in the very same spot he had before. Now thoroughly indignant, he decided that retreat was the only option left. Looking about, the small creature spotted a lone man staring at him.

He smiled wide, sauntering towards the man while jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

"Psh, women. What's a guy gonna do, eh? I tell ya, mate. stick with the bachelor life; it's way less complicated."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan chuckled longer then he should, but the little fuzball did have a point.

"Perhaps, bu' sometimes it's worth it if ya find th' right one, little fella." In which the Padawan countered.

He randomly selected some personal items to take back with him to base. "Whatcha do ta get tha' lady all riled up anyway? Tha' was quite ah commotion there."

[Jhyx]

A bound and a hop was all it took for the little creature to deposit himself upon a shelf high enough so that he could be level with the man's eyes, and he pulled a pained expression.

"Ah, she's just jealous.

"Thinks I'm workin' too much."

Another hop brought himself on to the man's shoulder. Settling comfortably on his new perch, he gestured wildly with his tiny paws.

"But what's a guy to do?! Bein' a PI ain't all the glamour that dames think it is. Rough line o' work, that."

[Vishan Korogoth]

The Jedi's face was cheerful talking to the small creature but after it bounded onto his shoulder, his face puckered into one of bewilderment. Vishan has this urge to flick him off."Wha'? PI?"

He stopped and looked at the furry guy on his shoulder in disbelief, "Ya snoop on people?"

[Jhyx]

A wink and a nudge. "Only if you got the dough."

His tail tapping lazily against the man's shoulder blade, he went on.

"Name's Jhyx; gumshoe and lady's man extraordinare"."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan could help toss his head back in a chuckle. This Jhyx was funny. Delusional but funny.

"Ah'm Vishan; Cap'n for th' Imperial Navy. Ah'm based outta Fort Korell bu' off duty right now." ...An' also ah Jedi Padawan who wants ta blow up ah good portion o'said base. He kept that part out though. It was important to keep up appearances even though he doubted anyone would be watching, but one could never tell with the paranoia that was the Imperial Regime.

[Jhyx]

Eyes suddenly as wide as saucerplates, Jhyx let his mouth open in an awestruck "Wooow."

He leaned forward just a tad on his perch atop Vishan's shoulder.

"I bet that's fun! You prolly get to order around alot of soldiers, huh - " He blinked, his eyes still wide as his ears twitched excitedly, "... do you have your own Star Destroyer??!"

[Vishan Korogoth]

A positive reaction and a genuine one at that. As Vishan explained his job, he moved down the aisles to and grabbed a few items into his shopping cart: toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, etc.

"We'll, no. No Star Destroyer. Ah used ta be ah fighter pilot bu' t'ings... happened." He didn't want to elaborate. Not with Jhyx. He was too nosey. Which then started to move the gears inside the Padawan's brain. The little fellow was small, could be sneaky and claim to be a PI. The only problem was trying to gauge his loyalties, if he had any. It could be as simple as paying him, though with what money.

"Ah'm back now an' workin' on base." He winked, remembering those MP's by the front gate that hated seeing him with his commission back. "So ah do get ta order people around. Tha's th' fun part."

[Jhyx]

Comfortably settled atop Vishan's shoulder, Jhyx compensated easily with the man's movements, staying perfectly balanced. He watched with an acute eye at the items Vishan chose.

With a casual grace that seemed very much out of place with the rest of the little guy's habits, he reached out to put doubles of everything Vishan had gotten into the basket.

"I used to be a fighter pilot too! 'Magine that. 406th Fighting Gundarks was my squadron. I remember spending most of the time in the mess though. All that piloting sure made a guy hungry."

He puffed out his little chest, suddenly oh-so-proud. "Got awarded a cross of some sort, too."

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Really?" The fella was hard to read but he had a feeling that Jhyx wasn't telling the complete truth. Vishan remembered the day clearly when he was awarded the Corellian Blood Stripe.

"Ya seem like ah capable fella an' since you're a veteran, how about ah tour o'th' base? Ah know they won't mind me bringin' visitors. Well," he winked while placing his items on the checkout stand, "At least for today."

[Jhyx]

If it was possible for the little Isnik's eyes to get wider, it certainly didn't seem that way. And yet, that's exactly what happened.

"Really?!" he very nearly squeaked.

His recovery was masterful, however. "Ahem. I mean, very good, Sah! It'll do this ole pilot's eyes a wonderful spell t'see the inside of a barrack-room again!"

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Great. Didja 'ave ah speeder o'some sort ta follow me in, o'didja wan' ta take mine?" Vishan was pulling out his wallet as the checker had just finished ringing up his order.

"That will be 400 credits, Sir."

"400 CREDITS?" He didn't mean to raise his voice, but it wasn't out of anger. There was no way he spent that much money. In fact, those bags looked rather stuffed. The Jedi didn't remember picking up that many items either. Unless ...

He slowly turned narrowing eyes towards Jhyx. "Ya wouldn't happened ta know anythin' about tha' would ya?"

[Jhyx]

Looking utterly innocent, Jhyx spread his little arms wide and lightly slapped his tail against Vishan's shoulder blade.

"Well, if we're gonna be bunking together in the same officer's quarters, I gotta have some stuff too."

The little Isnik hopped across to Vishan's other shoulder, keeping an eye on his newly acquired purchases. "I've always wanted a loufa to shower with," he remarked idly.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He was so stunned that he grunted, spat and flustered out responses that made no sense. Eventually, his brain switched over to coherent. "Wha' th' hell ya talkin' about bunkin' up?! Ah said Ah'd show you around! No way Ah'm payin' for all o'tha'."

The clerk was tapping her foot impatiently and cleared her throat. There was a quite a line growing behind Vishan and Jhyx. "Aw hell," he muttered and threw down the credit card. One, he hated to make people wait and two, he was going to try and sweet talk Jhyx into helping him out. What were a few hundred credits …

[Jhyx]

Unfazed, Jhyx beamed wide. "Why, two like-minded military chaps like us can't be livin' with the likes of the grunts! We need culture, refined surroundings, and all manner of that sort of stuff!"

Clapping small paws together as grand visions danced before his eyes, the Isnik puffed out his chest in a strange sort of pride.

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan sighed. Sometimes he wondered if he was too nice for his own good. Then of course he was a Jedi.

He carried the bags to his speeder and secured the goods in the trunk. Hopping over the door, he buckled up and started the engine. "So wha' brought ya ta Corellia anyway?"

The repulsors hummed and with ease, the speeder lifted off the ground and made it's way through the maze of parked speeders. Vishan scored a nice spot on the ground but there the parking lanes were five stories tall. A poll with a designated color and letter, informed the consumer not only what section they hard parked in, but also what level.

[Jhyx]

Being a bit too small to properly use the safety belts, Jhyx was more than happy to deposit himself on the dash. Not to mention he was getting a front row seat to all the passing traffic.

"Oh you know," he waved a paw absently as the other was planted squarely on the glass (which would no doubt leave a nice pawprint smudge), "... fortune and glory. Taming the wild Corellian Sand Panthers, stuff like that. Flying a starfighter got boring, so I decided to head for the open road. You name it, I've done it."

His grin was far wider than anyone could have thought possible, and her turned back forwards to mush his nose to the glass, watching as Vishan took them from the Coro-Mart parking lot.

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Really?" Vishan quipped. "Ya done everythin'?"

His brows furrowed while contemplating his next words. The speeder wasn't bugged so this was probably his best opportunity to be honest. The Jedi really hated the cloak and dagger nonsense when it came to the innocent. As grand as his stories were, Jhyx was a good being.

"ave ya ever met ah Jedi before?" He asked casually, turning into regular traffic.

[Jhyx]

His nose was pulled from the windshield with a speed that one would think impossibe. And of course, there was a nice new smudge on the glass.

"A Jedi??!!" He squeaked, "You mean a real Jedi?? A real live Jedi??"

His mouth open in awe, the furry little Isnik flopped down on his haunches and had to reach around to hold his tail still, lest it continue to thump madly agains the dash.

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Uh, yeah." Vishan looked befuddled at Jhyx's reaction. "Was curious if'n ya ever met one before."

[Jhyx]

Jhyx waggled his ears.

"No one's ever met a Jedi though! They're all gone!"

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Eh, Ah've hear rumors tho tha' some still exist even after Skywalker died at Endor." At least he wasn't violently opposed to the Jedi. Jhyx sounded more curious and overly excited at the prospect then anything else.

[Jhyx]

All new visions of daring adventures and outlaw Jedi filled his imagination, and Jhyx almost squeaked in excitement again. As it was, he clapped his hands, in the process letting go of his tail and it slapped loudly against the dash.

"I bet it's great! Living life day to day, escaping narrow ambushes, and fighting with," his voice lowered then, as if the next word he spoke was a grave secret, "lightsabres... "

[Vishan Korogoth]

He chuckled. Jhyx was partially right. The life was exciting to Vishan, but only because Soolin had saved him and showed him the light. The Force opened his eyes and offered him hoped.

"Jus' make sure ta keep it down from now on." The Jedi nodded as the base grew closer. "Trust me."

[Jhyx]

"Aye aye, Cap'n Vishan, Sah!"

A sharp salute, and another tailslap on the dash.

With that done, Jhyx turned back to watch with wide eyes as they closed the distance to their destination. Once they were closer, he hopped down onto the passnger seat, placing his bum down into the chair and sitting up straight. His face became stern then as he folded his arms over his tiny chest.

All in all, he cut a very commanding picture; in his opinion at least.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He chuckled as they pulled up. The two MP's gave Vishan a salute and then a dubious look as to his companion.

One of them looked at him really funny.

"Oh shut up an' open th' door yah!" He revved the repulsors.

"Of course, sir. We're just not used to seeing officers bring ... pets to the base."

"He's not my pet!"

"Hah, well there was Davies." The other MP chimed in. "Remember that sand panther that got loose and crapped all over the front yard."

Vishan rolled his eyes and dramatically hit the console. "He's not my pet! Open th' gate!"

[Jhyx]

Surprised, Jhyx was speechless for once. This however, lasted for a scant few seonds.

After the gate had opened and Vishan began accelerating, the little Isnik shot to his feet. He pulled wide the sides of his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and crossed his eyes, making a face at the guards as they were left behind.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He made a sharp turn where the men bunked. "Stupid meat heads."

That was when his comm went off. "This is Korogoth. Go ahead."

Captain, sir. We were informed of your ... arrival.

Vishan could have sworn he heard laughter and grumbled. "Yeah?"

Ahem. Your quarters are prepared. Officer section: Class A, Room 235.

"T'anks. Korogoth out." He did not want to answer the stupid question that he knew was coming. The rest of the ride was quiet thankfully. He secured the speeder in the officer lot and unpacked the trunk. He threw down one of the bags on Jhyx. He could at least carry something since the Jedi bought everything for the little guy.

[Jhyx]

The little Isnik had seen the bag drop, and valiant to the last, opened his arms wide. Of course, it darn near smushed him, but heavens if he was gonna let Vishan know that!

Instead, Jhyx grabbed a hold of the handles tightly, following after the much taller man, and loudly dragging his bag along the way.

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan cocked his head down and smirked. Tha's right. Carry your damn bag!

Not a very Jedi like thought but he was still only a Padawan. He was allowed! He did, however, open the door for Jhyx and led him to the lift (though he did have another evil thought but making the little fella crawl up a flight of stairs was even too much for Vishan to do).

He had to admit, the Isnik had spunk dragging that bag all the way to his quarters without so much as a grunt or wheeze. He slid his temporary pass through the wall reader and the door opened.

Vishan whistled. Zay out did himself and gave him one of the spacious quarters. The main area was enormous and it had a beautiful picture frame window to show off the beauty of Coronet City. He set his bags down on the desk and walked over to gaze outside with a fond smile. He did miss being here ...

"Huh?" He could have sworn he heard something but Jhyx was being quiet, for once. It sounded like something was coming from the bedroom. No. The refresher. Sounded as if water was running.

He pulled out his blaster pistol and signaled the Isnik to be quiet as he went to investigate. There was no way it could be Soolin or Grimya. Maybe it was Zay or might possibly be someone that Zay spoke to that Vishan was on base.

He flipped the safety off of gun. He wasn't going to be careless.

[Jhyx]

Ears twitching madly, Jhyx dropped the bag he'd been dragging.

He creeped along with Vishan, flattening his little body against walls, hiding behind potted plants, and ducking under furniture until they'd reached the 'fresher door.

So confident had he become, that without thinking, he made a few indistinguishable motions with his paws; of course to him they made perfect sense. It wasn't his fault if Vishan couldn't understand the made-up hand signal language.

Of course, this all became a non-issue as Jhyx burst forward with pent up energy, throwing the door wide open, and with a leap and a bound, he was atop the counter. A bar of soap found itself under paw, and the little guy slipped, falling into the sink.

"Treachery!" he cried, "The bathroom's boobytrapped!"

He grabbed a toothbrush, brandishing it as if it were a fearsome weapon.

"I'll fight ye to the death," he yelled at the thing behind the shower curtain...

[Varla]

"Iiiieeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!"

:: Varla shrieked as she pressed back against the wall of the fresher, the pleasure wand in her hand still buzzing as she stared wide-eyed at the little Isnik in the sink ::

"What The Frell????????"

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Varla???" Vishan quickly covered Jhyx's eyes by throwing a washcloth over his face. He then holstered his weapon and jumped in the shower with a towel to cover his fellow Corellian up, not bothering to worry about the water that was getting him wet too. He was still in shock that she was here.

"'ow th' hell didja get on base anyway! O'wait," get grimaced and shook his head while leading her out. "Dun answer tha'. Better question. 'ow didja get in 'ere?!"

[Varla]

:: The sight of Vishan made her forget about the menacing Isnik in the sink. She squealed in delight and flung her arms about him, leading with her tongue as she took his mouth in a passionate kiss ::

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan was too stunned by the kiss that he dropped the towel.

[Jhyx]

Scrambling from beneath the washcloth, Jhyx pulled himself stiffly from the sink.

Well, apparently their intruder wasn't that bad, seeing as how Vishan was currently engaged in a rather romantic - though a bit slobbery - kiss.

The toothbrush was instantly forgotten then, as the little Isnik eyed something much more interesting, and hopping from the counter to the edge of the tub, he grasped the pleasure wand in both paws. A digit hit the 'on' switch, and he had to tighten his grip on the thing.

He turned to the two lovebirds, a grin from ear to ear, and holding the jiggling toy up. "What's this for??"

[Varla]

:: Varla gasped as she broke the kiss and looked down at Jhyx ::

"Not for you!" ^_^;

:: Her cheeks burned as she snatched the wand away from him ::

[Vishan Korogoth]

It took Vishan a moment to regain his composure (and the towel). He covered her back up while introductions were quickly handed out. "Varla, Jhyx. Jhyx, Varla."

Grabbing the Isnik by the scruff of his neck, he escorted Jhyx out of the bathroom and locked the door. He turned around and took a deep breath, trying to forget what just happened between him and his long time friend inside the shower. "Okay, Varla. Wha' th' heck are ya doin' here? No one told me ah 'ad visitors. Hell. No one knows Ah'm even back on Corellia."

[Varla]

"I was with Zay when you dropped by."

:: Varla grinned at him dreamily as she purred ::

"I've missed you, Vish."

:: She held out her arms wide for a hug and the towel dropped again. She laughed ::

[Vishan Korogoth]

On one hand, he wished Soolin were here so this sticky predicament could be avoided. Then on the other hand, Vishan had a feeling that Varla would have a lightsaber through the head.

Well, at least in Soolin's mind.

"Heh," He chuckled nervously and went to reach for the towel. "Yeah, been ah few years eh Varla?"

The Jedi stood up with a smirk. "Though Ah shoulda figured you were on th' clock. Least now Ah know why Zay was so pissy when Ah'd showed up."

[Varla]

"So, you want to catch up on old times? I'm free."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Varla was his best friend for as long as he could remember. They did a lot of 'firsts' together, including being his first love before heading off to the Imperial Academy. After his wife died, she and Zay made sure that he didn't fall too deep into trouble but even his anger eventually drove them away.

"Even after Ah told ya ta frell off last time we spoke?" Hopefully that should change the temperature in here. Vishan wouldn’t do anything to hurt Soolin, but he was still a guy and having a naked Varla standing before him wasn’t really helping his other brain.

[Varla]

:: She touched his cheek as she took the towel. Her look was a serious one ::

"I've never stopped loving you, and I always will. You know that."

:: Varla took his hand and kissed it, then wrapped the towel around herself and sat down at the edge of the bath ::

"What brings you back?"

[Jhyx]

Having been dumped outside the bathrrom like a sack of potatoes, Jhyx sat for a few short moments. His puzzled look soon turned to a pout as he got to his feet, tail swishing behind him. Straightening his goggles haphazardly on his brow, the little orange Isnik eyed the doorknob, hunched down, and leapt up.

It was a tricky thing, having to hold on and turn the knob at the same time. Of course, his efforts proved nothing but useless as the thing wouldn't budge.

Vishan had locked him out! His old buddy, his comrade-in-arms! After all they'd gone through, the man had locked him out of the bathroom!

Jhyx dropped back down to the floor with a squeak before pounding tiny paws on the door.

"Vishan! Messmate! Don't let that heartless wench tempt you! Remember your ole pal Jhyx!!"

[Vishan Korogoth]

Varla's honesty touched him and it help to alleviate some of the guilt he'd been bottling up for the last two years. The Padawan didn't give a mynock's eema about that bastard anymore.

But Varla had forgiven him and still cared about him deeply. He should have known better and his features softened, happy to see her. Their lives together had always been interconnected in some way be it as lovers or as friends, and he was damn sure that if Varla hadn't walked into her current profession all those years ago, things would have been a lot different between them ..

She was a true friend but could he trust her with what was really going on? He figured he could at least tell her some of the truth and go from there.

"Well," he looked away as anger began to cloud his eyes, "Ah'm back because Ah needed ta take care o'some demons and finally put Reine and Lannah ta rest."

Tiny thumps and a flustered Isnik stopped Vishan from continuing ... "Aw hell."

He unlocked the door. If he didn't let the furry fool in, Jhyx would probably get into more trouble. The last thing he needed was an Isnik on the loose inside the base.

[Varla]

:: Varla was about to speak, but waited as the Isnik popped back in ::

[Jhyx]

A huffy look was sent to the woman - Varla - and Jhyx hopped from the floor to the countertop. From there he nimbly jumped up to Vishan's shoulder.

The Isnik stared long and hard at his new friend before finally speaking.

"She didn't cast a womanly-charmy spell on you, did she??! Women are nothing but trouble," he crossed his little arms, "I should know, after all."

[Vishan Korogoth]

He baby blues narrowed, wondering what the crazy Isnik was looking for. Eventually they widened, demanding a response as to why Jhyx had grown so intently quiet until he spoke.

"Actually, she did." The Padawan grinned. "Ah long time ago. Years even."

[Varla]

:: Varla chuckled ::

"So where did you find him?" she asked, pointing at the Isnik.