#tobiaas

[cxjng]

@rhyves & @tobiaas enviaron : " ¿a quién se le ocurrió hacer una fiesta de san valentín en octubre? "

' no necesariamente es san valentín si no algo más como... una celebración al amor ¿no? y eso debería ser todos los días ' asiente con la cabeza, después de pequeña reflexión que nadie pidió. ' es una forma de distraernos de lo del juicio, supongo, al menos la comida y la bebida está rica ¿no? '

[krahka]

Kleskizhae, Envy

Contains spoilers for the Sith Warrior story. Tobiaas belongs to a friend of mine who isn't on Tumblr.

Korriban! Kleskizhae’s heart jumped with the prospect of visiting his species’s homeworld for the very first time. He had read all the poems, heard all the songs, seen all the paintings and statues and murals, from their glorious rise to their exile, and now, to live in a time when the exile was over and he could train there himself in the valley where his ancestors were buried was an honor he couldn’t put into words. But he was trying.

“Under the red skies of Korriban, no, the blood red skies, the skies red with the blood of failures, no, of the blood of the weak, the corpses piling up to make a mountain for the strong to stand upon . . .” He had to say it out loud to make 

“Oh would you shut up?” He was sitting next to a human boy about his age, scarred and covered in cybernetics. Kleskizhae tried to greet him politely, 

“What,” he said, smiling. “You have no appreciation for poetry?”

“I’ve got no appreciation for anyone who refuses to shut up!”

“That’s a shame. Conversation is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Conversation and poetry.”

“We’re not going to Korriban to have conversations and we’re definitely not here to write poetry.”

Kleskizhae laughed. “I feel sorry for you. Here I thought we were going to be best friends.”

Tobiaas looked Kleskizhae straight in the eye, his one eye narrowing and his cybernetic eye blinking red. “You obviously understand nothing of what it is to be Sith. As soon as we’re off this ship, the only thing that’s keeping me from killing you are the witnesses. You couldn’t take me in a fair fight, pretty boy.”

Kleskizhae laughed again. He hadn’t even arrived planetside and he’d already made an enemy. He was feeling pretty good about himself.

----

“Fight!” 

“Really? Isn’t that not allowed?”

 “It’s Tobiaas and Kleskizhae!” 

“Kleskizhae? Of course he can get away with fighting in the open, Tremel’ll just look the other way.”

“You just wait, he’ll win.”

Kleskizhae had made quite an impact on the Acadamy since arriving last month, with the obvious favoritism that Overseer Tremel showed to him. Students either wanted to get on his good side or knock him down a peg, there were very few who had the luxury of ignoring him.

Tobiaas wasn’t his direct rival in getting Darth Baras’s attention, the human had got the attention of another Lord of lesser status, with lesser stakes. But he had not forgotten Kleskizhae.

“Look at you,” Tobiaas spat. “You think this whole planet belongs to you, just because you’re the descendant of some dead and worthless failure. Well your ancestors are dead, and Tremel’s making it easy for you, so when those of us who’ve really worked for what we have will come and pull you down, and you’ll be too weak to do a single thing about it!”

As usual, Kleskizhae took amusement in how angry people could get. He expected Tobiaas to forget him once they were separated out into different groups.

Kleskizhae took a drink. That’s what he had come to the cantina to do. To drink. “We aren’t even competing for anything. You have Lord Whatshisface, I have Darth Baras, we can all be Sith serving the Empire in glory!”

“Do not insult Lord Tyrus!” Tobiaas’s veins looked like they were about to pop. Kleskizhae didn’t even try not to laugh at this.

“I’ll let you insult Darth Baras. Go ahead. I promise I won’t tell him.”

“I hope he sees you for what you are.”

“A fabulously attractive, immensely powerful and wonderfully brilliant Sith who is constantly beset by his lessers? It’s not my fault that you were cursed with that face. I hear there are people on Nar Shaddaa who can make implants that don’t make you look like you’ve just come out of the wrong end of a droid’s digestive system.”

That’s when Tobiaas punched Kleskizhae straight in the jaw. Blood poured out of his nose as he recoiled in shock. His pride wouldn’t let him not retaliate, not while all these people were watching, hoping for a good show. And a good show he’d give them.

He took his bottle and got ready for a good swing. He wondered if those implants would spark when they were hit.

That’s when Overseer Tremel came to ruin everything. “Acolytes, acolytes, break this up!” He pushed through the crowd that had gathered to watch Kleskizhae get knocked down a peg. The Overseer frowned when he saw that Kleskizhae was involved. He pulled him away just as things were starting to get good.

The two acolytes exchanged glares as Tremel pulled him away and out of sight.

“Kleskizhae! What are you doing?” Tremel demanded.

“He started it!” Kleskizhae pleaded. “Am I not entitled to defend myself?”

“Getting into drunken bar fights with other acolytes is not befitting someone of your blood. I expected more of you. Darth Baras . . .”

“Baras, Baras, Baras. I hope he lives up to your prattling.”

As they left, Tobiaas stood in the bar and stewed. Kleskizhae had one last glance of him, and wondered how long this rival of his would last.

-----

A frozen, forsaken wasteland like Hoth wasn’t a place where Kleskizhae had been expecting to find Tobiaas. He was surprised that his old rival was still alive. He wished more of his rivals were still alive. They kept things more interesting, but they kept forcing his hand. They came, they went. He was glad there was some sort of stability in his life.

But Tobiaas was easy to pick out of a crowd, and even easier to pick out of a tiny mess hall.

Kleskizhae smiled and approached him. “Tobiaas! I’m surprised you’re here!”

Tobiaas did not look back at him and continued eating his meal, with a great deal more fury than before. “Kleskizhae. I’m surprised that the wampas haven’t eaten you.”

“Oh, wampas aren’t that bad. Not as bad as your left hook.”

Tobiaas snorted. Kleskizhae thought that was the closest he’d hear to laughter from him. He counted one victory against him. “The one time anyone got to touch your flawless face.”

“Well, there’ve been many women. I doubt there are many 

“Is there a point to this conversation, or have you come to finish what I started on Korriban?”

“No, I just heard you made Lord. I wanted to congratulate you.”

“You? Congratulate me? I suppose you’re on the Dark Council by now.”

“No, by the Emperor, no!”

“I thought you were supposed to be perfect. Couldn’t the Empire benefit from your perfect looks and immense power?”

“It’d involve a lot of work.”

“And a little work would cause you to what, break a nail?”

“No, I’ve got other priorities.” He looked around and pointed out one of the female Chiss soldiers in the mess hall.

“You know,” Kleskizhae whispered. “I could play your wingman, get you laid tonight. Get some of that pent up energy out. Women love a man who’s put in his time for the Empire. Just say that you got those scars in a fight with a Jedi Battlemaster, instead of just being born that ugly and having a failed attempt to fix it.”

Tobiaas threw down his spoon, picked up his tray and left in a huff. “You are revolting.” 

Kleskizhae smiled. Happy reunions always brought joy to his heart.

-----

It had been months since Kleskizhae had any free time. He tried to take as much time as he could with his wife, Vette, but the Hand had promised him a week until their next demands. Killing Darth Baras had been just the beginning. The Emperor demanded that his entire power base be destroyed, and old Baras had embedded himself in countless matters in countless ways, and he had to kill countless people. He had hoped that destroying his old master would set him free, but it had put him under an even more trying master. One that he had no hope of overthrowing. He expected to work for the Emperor until he died, and if the rumors of his old Wrath were true, he’d be denied even death.

He didn’t expect Tobiaas to show up to the old cantina on Korriban. People still whispered as he went by, but it was all in fear. No one dared to try to humiliate him, not anymore. Tobiaas was the only one left who dared speak out against him. For that, Kleskizhae held him dear in his heart.

This time Kleskizhae should’ve expected the punch in the face. It wasn’t like it came out of nowhere. It wasn’t like he was sitting in the exact same seat, drinking slightly finer wine than he was used to as an acolyte.

Kleskizhae laughed as he pulled his head back up. “Just like old times, eh, old friend?”

“I’m not your friend,” Tobiaas stated. “I’ve never been your friend, I never will be your friend. Now I assume you invited me here to get punched in the face again? This time there’s no Overseer to save you.”

“No, though if you want to go at it, you’ll lose. I just heard that you made Darth. I wanted to congratulate you.”

“You? Congratulate me? Don’t you have some wrath to unleash? As if you knew anything of wrath.”

“No, this isn’t the job I would’ve applied for, if given the choice. But the Emperor makes you his Wrath, what else are you supposed to do?”

Kleskizhae waved over to the bartender. “Some Alderaanian wine for my dear old friend here!”

“I’m not your friend!” Tobiaas reiterated.

“Of course, my lord,” the bartender answered, ignoring Tobiaas’s insistance that they weren’t friends. He returned and poured a 

“You know, I don’t have much time to enjoy drinks anymore.”

“That must be awful,” Tobiaas said sarcastically.

“No, really. I have only a week until I resume my duties. How long do you have?”

“What are you talking about, you worthless weakling?”

“No one breathing down your neck, you get to pick your own enemies, fight when you want, relax when you can. And if you get sick of your master, you just kill him and don’t get one that demands everything from you.”

“You want to kill the Emperor? Are you a traitor as well as an idiot?”

Kleskizhae shook his head. “No. I’m not. You killed your master, I heard it all. And now your victories have freed you.”

“You’re an idiot. You have all this power, but you don’t appreciate it. That’s why I hate you. That’s why I’ve always hated you, and always will, Emperor’s Wrath or not. If you really deserved that title, you’d cut me down right now.”

Kleskizhae laughed and shook his head. “I suppose the Emperor chose poorly. If I could, I’d let you be Wrath and I could have the life where I can meet up in a cantina with someone I don’t even like for old time’s sake.”

Tobiaas snorted. Kleskizhae took it for a laugh, though this time it didn’t seem like a victory.