Interlude
Something felt ... off.
Tosin wiped his face clean with a soggy towel and stared into the mirror above the sink in the ship's lavatory. His face stared back at him, unimpressed. He thought a shower and a shave might restore a sense of normalcy, a sense of familiarity; it did, but only in the smallest sense. Something still didn't feel right.
Everything was different now: he had gone from a Sith Lord respected by many of his peers to a fugitive. An apostate living aboard a starship, desperate to make ends meet where once he had been privy to luxury. In Darth Siphon's service, he could've expected the best meals, superior accommodations, and the service of only the highest caliber of slaves. Now, he ate ration packs and struggled to acclimate himself into living quarters barely larger than his old closet.
Back then, Agent Hallian Quen would have addressed him as Lord, would have catered to his whim and needs. Now, they worked together as equals, sharing in all tasks aboard the ship from scrubbing the floors to cleaning laundry. She called him "Toes" entirely too often.
Before, he could have asked for any of her possessions, and it would be expected and understood that she would offer them to him freely. Now, he had to hide his shame after swiping baked treats from her like a child. He thought back to before the Kaggath, how much the woman aggravated him. Now, he was grateful for her company. What's more ... he actually cared how she felt. Cared what she thought of him.
That was perhaps the most unsettling of all. Why did he care?
Everything had changed when he disavowed his former master. But could this single act bring about such a transformation within himself? Was this how he would have felt had he never joined Siphon at all?
He glanced back to the mirror and his heart skipped a beat and a chill ran down his spine. For just a second, the color of his eyes seemed to flicker, the sinister yellow of his irises darkened to a pale mahogany.
Tosin splashed water onto his face and wiped it off again. Returning to his reflection, he saw that his irises had returned to normal.
Perhaps he was just seeing things. It had been a long day.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.