[what you find in the void] 4/? Rated PG-13: Ferus/OC
Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. I am not making any profit from this work of fan fiction.
Author's note: Had trouble wrangling the plot into something resembling … well, a plot. And then it took some turns that surprised me. Here is a piece that will hopefully help to make sense of what comes after. Also - apologies, but my lj-cuts appear not to be working. Luckily it's a short fic.
~*~*~*~
“It’s not working,” Ryn said eventually. She threw down her sabacc cards and scrubbed her hands through her hair. Ferus glanced up, startled - she’d been doing pretty well, actually, for a beginner - and saw that she wasn’t even looking at the cards. “Gliss isn’t even remotely interested in me.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and shook her head, as if trying to clear it. “I’m beginning to think you got bad information on him, and I’m not his type at all.”
Ferus raised an eyebrow at her. “What, young and beautiful?”
Ryn’s mouth twisted in a grimace. “Female.”
He stopped with his moruna juice halfway to his mouth. “You think he prefers men?”
“It would certainly explain why he’s shown no interest in me.”
Ferus sat back for a minute, assessing this. “But he’s always got a woman on his arm,” he objected.
Ryn shrugged, manifestly unimpressed by the evidence. “Maybe it’s a cover.”
“A cover?”
“Many worlds have cultural tabus on homosexuality,” she pointed out. “If Gliss’s homeworld -”
“Barnas,” Ferus supplied, and Ryn nodded her thanks.
“ - is one of them, or if he does a lot of business with worlds that enforce such tabus heavily, then it would make sense for him to want to keep his preference under wraps.”
Ferus thought about it for a minute. “I guess so,” he said finally. “Does that mean you want out?”
Ryn shrugged again. “I don’t think I’m helping.”
“You’re -” Okay, no, she wasn’t helping. “You’ve done your best,” Ferus said instead. “The Jedi are in your debt.”
“The Jedi are going to owe me half the damn Temple if they don’t watch out,” Ryn said, but there was a quirk at the edge of her mouth that told Ferus this was her version of a joke. She curled up in her chair, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Ferus admitted. He dropped his own cards, face-down. “I can’t exactly turn around and show up again as someone else’s bodyguard.”
“No, that’d be a little obvious,” Ryn agreed. She tilted her head to one side. “Blackmail?”
Ferus frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
“If we’re right about his secret, we have something on him. I mean, he wouldn’t be covering if he wanted the galaxy to know.”
“And you think we can blackmail him into turning over potentially incriminating records?” Ferus said. “Don’t you think he’d rather have his sexual preferences outed than his criminal history?”
“I was thinking more that we could use the leverage to get into his private chambers,” Ryn said. “That’s the whole point of this exercise, right? To get in where he wouldn’t ordinarily invite the Jedi?”
“Well, yes,” said Ferus. “But the idea was to catch him off-guard, which ...”
“... which my plan won’t do,” Ryn finished. “Damn.”
But looking at Ryn ... “Didn’t Missala Nerobai have an affair with her bodyguard a few months ago?”
“One of them,” Ryn said, frowning in confusion. “Or that was the rumor, anyway. I don’t know Missala all that well.”
He sat up and leaned across the table toward her. “What if you have something Gliss is interested in?”
“Like what?”
Ferus grinned at her. “Like me.”
“What?” Ryn’s feet hit the floor so fast she almost fell out of her chair. “Ferus, that’s - that’s -” he could almost see her biting back the word dangerous “ - do you have any kind of training for it?”
“I’ve been watching you,” he said, and Ryn closed her eyes.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, my seduction schemes haven’t been all that successful lately.”
“Just because Gliss -”
“Even before him,” Ryn said, opening her eyes again. “I mean, I didn’t get you, either.”
There’s no good answer for that. Ferus struggles to find words, and when he finally gets one out, he knows it’s the wrong thing: “Dalon.”
Ryn shrugged. “Didn’t want him, never slept with him.” She gave Ferus a small, rueful smile. “Not my type.”
It was none of his business, but he opened his mouth and asked the question anyway. “What is your type?”
Ryn looked away, swirling her drink in one hand. “I don’t really have a type.”
“But -”
“Some people don’t,” she said, and there was enough finality in her voice to stop that line of questioning.
Ryn’s sigh broke the silence as she stood up. “If you’re set on this course of action - I hesitate to call it a plan - we’d better try for some more information on Gliss.”
“How do you -”
“I know some places,” Ryn said, looking wry. “I didn’t get my start in parading through ballrooms, you know.”
Author's note: Had trouble wrangling the plot into something resembling … well, a plot. And then it took some turns that surprised me. Here is a piece that will hopefully help to make sense of what comes after. Also - apologies, but my lj-cuts appear not to be working. Luckily it's a short fic.
~*~*~*~
“It’s not working,” Ryn said eventually. She threw down her sabacc cards and scrubbed her hands through her hair. Ferus glanced up, startled - she’d been doing pretty well, actually, for a beginner - and saw that she wasn’t even looking at the cards. “Gliss isn’t even remotely interested in me.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and shook her head, as if trying to clear it. “I’m beginning to think you got bad information on him, and I’m not his type at all.”
Ferus raised an eyebrow at her. “What, young and beautiful?”
Ryn’s mouth twisted in a grimace. “Female.”
He stopped with his moruna juice halfway to his mouth. “You think he prefers men?”
“It would certainly explain why he’s shown no interest in me.”
Ferus sat back for a minute, assessing this. “But he’s always got a woman on his arm,” he objected.
Ryn shrugged, manifestly unimpressed by the evidence. “Maybe it’s a cover.”
“A cover?”
“Many worlds have cultural tabus on homosexuality,” she pointed out. “If Gliss’s homeworld -”
“Barnas,” Ferus supplied, and Ryn nodded her thanks.
“ - is one of them, or if he does a lot of business with worlds that enforce such tabus heavily, then it would make sense for him to want to keep his preference under wraps.”
Ferus thought about it for a minute. “I guess so,” he said finally. “Does that mean you want out?”
Ryn shrugged again. “I don’t think I’m helping.”
“You’re -” Okay, no, she wasn’t helping. “You’ve done your best,” Ferus said instead. “The Jedi are in your debt.”
“The Jedi are going to owe me half the damn Temple if they don’t watch out,” Ryn said, but there was a quirk at the edge of her mouth that told Ferus this was her version of a joke. She curled up in her chair, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Ferus admitted. He dropped his own cards, face-down. “I can’t exactly turn around and show up again as someone else’s bodyguard.”
“No, that’d be a little obvious,” Ryn agreed. She tilted her head to one side. “Blackmail?”
Ferus frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
“If we’re right about his secret, we have something on him. I mean, he wouldn’t be covering if he wanted the galaxy to know.”
“And you think we can blackmail him into turning over potentially incriminating records?” Ferus said. “Don’t you think he’d rather have his sexual preferences outed than his criminal history?”
“I was thinking more that we could use the leverage to get into his private chambers,” Ryn said. “That’s the whole point of this exercise, right? To get in where he wouldn’t ordinarily invite the Jedi?”
“Well, yes,” said Ferus. “But the idea was to catch him off-guard, which ...”
“... which my plan won’t do,” Ryn finished. “Damn.”
But looking at Ryn ... “Didn’t Missala Nerobai have an affair with her bodyguard a few months ago?”
“One of them,” Ryn said, frowning in confusion. “Or that was the rumor, anyway. I don’t know Missala all that well.”
He sat up and leaned across the table toward her. “What if you have something Gliss is interested in?”
“Like what?”
Ferus grinned at her. “Like me.”
“What?” Ryn’s feet hit the floor so fast she almost fell out of her chair. “Ferus, that’s - that’s -” he could almost see her biting back the word dangerous “ - do you have any kind of training for it?”
“I’ve been watching you,” he said, and Ryn closed her eyes.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, my seduction schemes haven’t been all that successful lately.”
“Just because Gliss -”
“Even before him,” Ryn said, opening her eyes again. “I mean, I didn’t get you, either.”
There’s no good answer for that. Ferus struggles to find words, and when he finally gets one out, he knows it’s the wrong thing: “Dalon.”
Ryn shrugged. “Didn’t want him, never slept with him.” She gave Ferus a small, rueful smile. “Not my type.”
It was none of his business, but he opened his mouth and asked the question anyway. “What is your type?”
Ryn looked away, swirling her drink in one hand. “I don’t really have a type.”
“But -”
“Some people don’t,” she said, and there was enough finality in her voice to stop that line of questioning.
Ryn’s sigh broke the silence as she stood up. “If you’re set on this course of action - I hesitate to call it a plan - we’d better try for some more information on Gliss.”
“How do you -”
“I know some places,” Ryn said, looking wry. “I didn’t get my start in parading through ballrooms, you know.”