#jaesen

[eorzean-capitalist]

Anything.

Usually Jaesen checked in on the clinic before retiring to his private quarters.  This time he skipped it all together and headed immediately up the staircase to the second floor.  For a moment he stopped and stared at the security panel, struggling to remember the new code he had set up that morning.

Thankfully it all came to him and he found himself back in the comfort of his apartment, making sure to rearm the alarm as soon as the doors shut behind him.  A light beeped to remind him he'd downloaded security holos, but he tapped the screen to turn it off.  He could watch them anytime, it didn't matter now.  He couldn't stop seeing the expression on her face as she exited the shuttle.  He couldn't stop the whirlwind of anxiety in his brain that set his heartrate skyrocketing.

He poured himself a drink first, swallowing half the glass as he leaned against the kitchen counter.  Alcohol wasn't a perfect treatment, but it numbed him enough to prepare a small meal and eat at least some of it.  The remainder ended up in the compactor, and Jaesen retired to his bedroom, pondering an early night's sleep.  If it would come at all after the day's events.

He'd shed only his shirt, turning toward the wall to tap a key for music.  He'd left a soft, jazzy holodisc in the day before.  Then froze where he stood as it was an opera soundtrack that began.  He recognized it immediately, flashing back to a rainy afternoon, standing outside the opera house with her.  It was their first date.  She flushed with excitement, leaned in toward him and pouted when he wouldn't kiss her right away.

He smashed his palm against the screen to turn it off again.  She must have changed it when she broke into the apartment and he never noticed.  Or did she... do it while he was at work?  Was his security system that awful? Did she already know his new code?

Sleep would eventually claim him, but not till he changed the code again.  And again.  And again.

[eorzean-capitalist]

Driven Under

He sat across from her on the shuttle to Dromund Kaas.  She smiled at him sweetly, her eyes so detached from the expression plastered across her face. Jaesen tried not to make eye contact, to stare at the ceiling of the shuttle, the floor, the datapad in his hands, the people sitting near him.

Her stare could bore holes.  Sometimes he caught himself looking at her, not meaning to.  Her eyes lit up, her cheeks flushed, and he looked away again.  He formulated a plot in his mind, what to do once the shuttle reached his destination.   How he would slip away from her, keep to crowded areas where she would have to make a scene.

The shuttle rumbled to a stop and she rose from her seat.  Jaesen glanced up, surprised as this wasn't his stop.  Their eyes met for a moment, and she wriggled her fingers at him, disappearing off the shuttle.  The doors shut and Jaesen felt his heart thud with them.  

He had no idea what she was up to, but he had a sinking feeling he'd hear about it sooner rather than later.

[eorzean-capitalist]

Adventures in Agenting.

I'm an Operative Agent. Medicine.  I heal things.  Before I quit SWTOR for awhile, I'd gotten Jae to lvl 54, over halfway to 55.  I figure it's double XP weekend, I'll try to get him to 55 so I can get him off Makeb at least.

So I change his spec to Concealment.

...

How does stab things?  Oh god it was comical.  And apparently I had worked my way to the end point of the Makeb storyline and here's itty bitty Jaesen up against a hutt in a huge machine and I'm like.

You want him to stab this thing to death? Seriously?

[eorzean-capitalist]

Spiderwebs

His holocom beeped, and Jaesen nearly jolted out of his skin.  He stared at it, wide eyed, for a long moment, and then reached out to pick it up, glancing to see who the call was from, first.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he hit the accept button, and a staticky image of one of the lab assistants appeared.  "Hello, Doctor, and good morning."

"Good morning, Bree.  What reports do you have for me?"

She hesitated a moment, appearing to look over her shoulder as if someone were speaking to her, and then faced him again, "Oh, well subject AR-450 didn't make it through the night, I'm afraid."

Jaesen rubbed the edge of his nose.  "Damn, that was our best trial yet.  All right, send the data from last night to my terminal here.  Did AR-451 make it?"

"Yes, sir, and the control group is fine of course."

"Let's tweak the formula in 451's cage, then.  Send me it's the data for last night as well."

She saluted, "Right away, Doctor."

Her form fizzled and disappeared and Jaesen turned toward the main terminal, reaching for his cup of coffee.  Curiously the holocomm beeped again and thoughtlessly, he reached over to tap it back on.

"Was there something else, Bree?"

"Who is Bree?" the shadowy form said. Jaesen froze, the coffee cup in his hand clanking against the desk and he nearly dropped it.  There was an edge to her voice, one Jaesen had heard before.  "She knows you're taken right?"

"First, she's a lab assistant.  Second, you and I are not a thing.  It's over.  It's been over."

"Why do you have to talk like that to me? Why are you so hurtful?" Her pout was clear, even if the distorted image of her body was not.  "And after I was so nice to clean up your kitchen last night and leave you something pretty."

"Stop calling me. Stop harassing me. Stop breaking into my apartment.  We. Are. Over." He slammed his hand down on the holocomm, her form disappearing abruptly as the transmission was cut.  

The sound of the holocomm was jarring as it beeped again.  He ignored it, relieved for a half a second as it stopped.  Then it started all over again.  Picking it up, he finally just shut it off completely.  

Blessed silence, at last.  But, it also meant Bree and the other lab assistents had no way to talk to him without leaving the lab all together to walk to his office.  He frowned, standing up to scissor his fingers in the blinds and look out onto the main floor.

He picked up the cup with what remained of his luke warm coffee.  Perhaps it was a good day to monitor everything in person.

[eorzean-capitalist]

#1 Crush

He woke not to the sound of rain, but the distinct silence of it not raining.  Rolling over onto his side, he could see droplets of rain left on the windows, but overcast skies were unproductive.  It was a rare sight in Dromund Kaas. The clock displayed the time, six in the morning, current planetary time, then listed times of several other key planets and space stations.  

Scrubbing his face with a hand briefly, Jaesen pulled the covers back and slid from the bed.  He repeated the same morning routine exactly as he had so many times before.  Everything had been dumbed down mentally to one or two descriptive words.  Refresher.  Clothing.  Time check.  Breakfast.  Coffee.  Door.  Time check.  

But sometimes something disruptive occurred, waking him from the fog he maneuvered through daily.  This time it was a flower, left on the counter in his kitchen.  A small, red bloom left in a cup of water near the sink.  He stared at it over the rim of his coffee cup.   

An active imagination saw her hand, reaching over to set the stem carefully in water.  The smile on her lips that never quite touched her eyes.  Maybe she even stood over him while he slept, touched her lips to his temple.

He downloaded security holos to watch later.  To see just how she managed this time to get past his precautions.  Then, he changed the combination to the alarm leading into his personal apartment above the clinic.  

The coffee was comfortably spiked before he left for work.

[eorzean-capitalist]

Cargo Bays.  This is Doc Jae's.  For some reason it wouldn't take a screenshot of one of them, so you only get to see two. 

Yes, I'm this anal about how they look.

[eorzean-capitalist]

One for the road.

[sahnin]

I received the latest budget report, and am pleased that Moff Daetin is apparently interested enough in Lord Zamir's implants to pledge the capital we need to begin research.  While the Division has its own resources, this additional funding should please both the Darths.  I find it interesting how anything that might produce a faster, stronger soldier or will explode people faster has the military eager to fund it.  Meanwhile Intelligence quietly sends us credits for anything that might help them interrogate prisoners.  But, I'm digressing.

I am awaiting the prototypes from Zamir, though we've already begun recruiting potential subjects.  Unlike Tholgeth's research, which required importing several dozen Imperial prisoners (mostly political), we can take a bit more care in who participates.  For initial testing I'd prefer a pool of humans without mixed alien blood.  If those tests are successful, we can extend trials toward mixed blood and aliens if budgeting allows.  

It's a much more pleasant experiment and I've put the word out to the military first, soldiers are always eager to become better soldiers.  

I also have a bit more editing to do for previous research projects before they can be published.  But that I can do on the side, perhaps in the evenings.  I am uncertain if Darth Tholgeth wishes to have his personal toys published anywhere, but I have a report on that started as well, which I will send to him on completion.

One of the lab techs has been acting oddly lately.  I will have to keep an eye on him, and have restricted his access to research data until I have a chance to talk to him.  But I've caught him more than once lingering near my office, as if waiting for me to leave.  Paranoia has set in, and so I've made sure I have holocams turned on and watching when I'm not in.

Things with Genna have taken an unexpected turn.  We see each other when we can, which is not as often as either of us would like. But, we have the huttnet and our own communicators to talk when not busy.  She's busy training, and I'm neck deep in research and we both understand the constraints on the other.  

But, she finally had her first sexual experience as an agent (and I think it was her first time, period, which makes me wince).  I saw her hinting at it on the huttnet with Agent Kindrak.  There wasn't any need to make her explain it to me.  I knew this was a possibility (inevitable really), and I think the only level it bothers me on is that she is obviously bothered by it.  

And I think part of her is just a little frustrated with me that I seem unwilling to sleep with her.  A little amusing, even if it shouldn't be, and flattering at the same time.  It isn't that I wouldn't want to, I'm quite male thank you and I've thought about it more than once.  

But Genna is not a job, or a duty, or a mark.  And I hesitate to take our relationship to that level until I'm certain both of us understand that, and are ready for it.  We aren't just Imperial citizens, we're agents of the Empire, and our duties to that Empire will always be first.

She understands that now, I think. We had a long discussion about it.  She's changing, bit by bit.  The gawkish girl I first met is slowly coming to understand Imperial culture.  You can see it in her eyes, no longer wide and easily hurt, there's a dawning comprehension and a sharpening intellect.  

Emperor help her targets, in a few years I daresay she'll be a fine, deadly agent of the Empire.