[D7 ME, Deonis' house] So We Might Have A Problem (closed)

[Deonis Harik]

"Well hopefully you can get what you need from it and be done with it soon. It is having an effect on you."

[Tyllia Demici]

"I don't think so," she said. "I have not even had cause to call upon its strength. Have not allowed its essence to mix with mine. It is simply a passenger, a voice that comes only when I call upon it."

She could be telling the truth; or it could be what she believed to be the truth. Was it the spirit affecting her? The Dark Side? Both?

[Deonis Harik]

"Tyllia it is stronger than you give it credit for. It no longer even allows me in the deep swamp. Remember it's Influence was with me for a time as well. Just that affects you. Have you looked in a mirror lately?" He asked raising one eye brow ridge at her.

[Tyllia Demici]

"If this is your way of saying I should lose weight, we're going to have a fight on our hands," she sighed. "Have you considered the possibility that the reason you're not allowed back in the swamp has nothing to do with the spirit and more to do with you losing touch with the Dark side? Besides..."

She looked at him more directly now. "...how could it keep you from going into the deep swamp, when it isn't even *there* anymore?"

[Deonis Harik]

Deonis chuckled "no you look great its just your eyes are changing."

He then sighed "I have not lost touch with the dark side. I'm not even sure my people can lose touch with it. We have a connection to it. No the only thing that changed was my fight with the spirit. It is ancient its been here for so long you think it doesn't have influence there just because you harbor part of it."

[Tyllia Demici]

There might've been a twitch of the muscles around those eyes. "You saw the pool. How small it was after we meditated. It is no longer bound there. Whatever's left of it there is nothing more than fading essence."

[Deonis Harik]

"It's the only thing that really explains why I can't enter the Swamp any longer. Some how it is stopping me." If the twitch bothered him or if he noticed he didn't say anything.

"I've lost enough good people to the darkside. I don't think it's bad but it does corrupt and twist if you let it. I just worry, you're playing with fire."

[Tyllia Demici]

"And what do you propose I do about it, then?" She sounded skeptical. "It is through the Dark Side that I touch the Force. And even without the spirit present, there is knowledge and power within me that connects me to the Dark Side even should I never seek to do so."

[Deonis Harik]

"You don't have to only touch the force through the dark side. The light is just as potent I'm not saying we become jedi but relying only on the darkness is dangerous in its own way. I am similarly linked to the dark but I have used the light as well. It is....different but not bad or weaker. Both are sources of power."

He took a deep breath and stood taking a step toward her "I've just, I've seen what it can do to people. People with good intentions. There's nothing wrong with using it but it always looks for ways to use you as well." He put a large crimson hand on her shoulder his burning yellow eyes looking down to her "I understand your goals, I pledged to help with them. I recognize their importance, but don't lose yourself in pursuit of them."

[Tyllia Demici]

"I use what I must to achieve my goals," she said, "Yes, it requires sacrifice sometimes. I give of my body to the Dark Side, and it gives of itself in return to me. Should the light answer my call instead of the darkness, and should it grant sufficient power for my needs, then perhaps I shall let it serve me too, for a change. But it rarely answers my call. And the dark comes easy."

[Deonis Harik]

He gently squeezed her shoulder "just don't sacrifice too much. It gives power but it asks for things in return more than just burst blood vessels and headaches."

He smiled at her softly "I....trust you Tyllia. We have common purpose, I sense a kindred spirit in you. I am...drawn to you even without the influence of the spirit binding us together. You don't have to do this alone. We can figure it out together."

[Tyllia Demici]

There was conflict inside of her. All of this was clearly causing some mixed emotions to flare up. It was not, perhaps, hard to guess the contents of such emotions. Or at least some of it. Stubborn anger and rejection of others, the result of both the Dark Side's influence and a life-time of being betrayed and hunted. And the opposite; the desire to forge connections, to overcome the loneliness and despair that follows with it. To share purpose, and maybe more besides.

The emotions raged against each other, resulting in Tyllia simply being quiet, trying to resist conflicting instincts that would force her down mutually exclusive paths, and instead simply existing in this one moment.

[Deonis Harik]

Deonis understood he gently rubbed her shoulder before taking his hand off. There was no need to answer today right "just know I'm here. Remember you aren't alone. Not if you don't want to be." He went and sat back down on the crate and took another bite of food. Lapsing into, for him, a comfortable silence while Tyllia dealt with her conflicting emotions.

[Tyllia Demici]

"I don't understand what you want," she said, finally, after a while.

[Deonis Harik]

He looked up "What do you mean?" He wasn't trying to He tricky but he knew he wasn't the best communicator.

[Tyllia Demici]

"I mean I don't understand you," she said, being possibly a worse communicator than he was.

[Deonis Harik]

Confusion formed on his features "I....I dont know what you mean. I want to help you."

[Tyllia Demici]

"Why?" she asked, drawing the word out.

[Deonis Harik]

"Common enemy, partly." He lapsed into silence for a bit "and i....like you?" It was almost said as a question he was figuring it out for himself "we are very different, but also not so different. You understand things about me, or at least I feel like you do. I can talk to you about things I can't talk about with anyone else. The Empire took everything from both of us."

He was quiet for a while "I dont know. It's hard to explain. I haven't felt this way about anyone except one person. But it was different." He shrugged "maybe I shouldn't but like I said, I trust you."

[Tyllia Demici]

"Ah," she said, "I did wonder why you chose your house to meet in, and not somewhere less intimate."