He was running his hand down the deep red flesh of her back over and over. Her spine twisted mildly, but mostly she just lay there contentedly. The layer of sweat on her skin was drying and he thought about leaning over to taste it.

"I'll have to be away a lot." She pushed herself up on her elbows, looking back at him. "With the Council and everything. But this will be my home."

"I know that."

"If..." she hesitated, looking away from him. "If you need someone for when I'm gone."

"Liri," he tried to interrupt her.

"We're both driven by passion, Rev, just... let me pick her or at least tell me about her? It'll be easier for me if it's not a surprise."

His hand clenched into a fist and he forced himself to relax.

"Liri. I'm not some animal. I can go a couple weeks without sex." He grinned at her, "You just don't know that because we can't keep our hands off each other."

She grinned lazily, rolling onto her back. He clasped her hand in his.

"You're not eating enough," he said.

"You're drinking too much and not sleeping."

They both laughed.

"Alright, well, you can make sure I get enough to eat."

She reached out and traced the tattoo around his eye. He caught her hand and held it to his face. "I know you use passion as a weapon," he said to her. "And as a tool in politics."

She covered his mouth with her hand. "Don't you see? With Decimus' support, I don't have to do that anymore."

He thought about that. "Wait, so you..." he tried to get out around her hand.

"You can fulfill what I need, Rev. In fact, I'm stronger when it's you than with anyone else." She shrugged, "It's not supposed to work that way, but the unique way that I use the Force might have something to do with it." She smiled, "Or it might be something about you." Her hand went back to his face.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured.

When Darth Decimus stepped off the ship, he nodded sharply to the two of them and started talking immediately after a sideways glance at Pella.

"You'll have to sit out most raids unless you can cloak yourself during the whole thing. You'll also have to maintain your office on Dromund Kaas, but Andronikos is welcome to join you there now."

Liri shivered. "No, too risky."

"Regardless, things will continue on as they have; you'll simply be stationed here primarily."

Liri nodded.

"Anything else we need to figure out?" Liri shook her head. "Then let's go," Decimus said tersely.

Liri walked over and touched his arm briefly. Something powerful whispered over the room and then rolled away. Decimus shook his head and smiled at her sadly. "It's worse than we thought. You'll see."

She returned to kiss Andronikos and told him she'd be back in a few days. He caught her hand and squeezed it, then they were gone.

Pella stood beside him quietly, "So what now?"

"I should really clean my quarters." Andronikos grinned at her. "Get some rooms ready for her crew."

"I'll help," she said cheerfully.

There was a reason Pella was his second in command. She was endlessly cheerful, straight forward, hard working and had a moral code that made his look like a Jedi's.

As the two of them straightened up several of the empty rooms, Pella began to grill him about Liri's crew.

"So what's the Dashade like?" She asked, her eyes glinting curiously.

"Wants to eat Force users. That's about it. Khem's not a complicated creature."

"So he can have the smallest room then?"

"Yeah, he won't need much space."

"Okay, who else is there?"

"Haven't I talked about them before?"

Pella paused and poked him hard. "Andronikos," She said sternly, "You never talked about anything. You were just this efficient, silent, emotionless slavedriver. Until we got you drunk in a cantina and then you were this totally different guy."

Andronikos smirked a bit.

"Seriously, I didn't think you had a sense of humor until I met her."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Pella laughed, "You didn't become a person until you got her back. You were just like a block of ice, and the way you treated women..." She shook her head. "I thought I was mean."

He sighed and mumbled, "They weren't her."

"So who else is coming with her?"

"Khem, Ashara, Xalek and Talos. Although I suspect Talos won't be here much."

"He's the archaeologist, right?"

"More or less."

"So second smallest room for him. And space somewhere for a workstation." She made a note on her holopad. "So Xalek, what will he need?"

"He can have the room next to Khem's. Mostly training equipment and access to the holonet."

"What's he like?"

"He's oddly... loyal. He considers himself an extension of her. He's almost like a son, but their bond is greater than that. He knows that he will someday try to kill her, but for now, he knows he won't win, so she's almost like his family."

"He any fun to hang out with?"

"Not your type, but you can give it a shot."

Pella grinned, "I'd much rather take that other Darth for a night."

"Pella, you're playing with fire there."

"Oh? Like you're the only one who can land a Darth?"

"No! Just, be careful with him." Andronikos sighed and then grinned at her, "I guess you're the last person I should be worried about. If anyone could give that guy a run for his credits, it's you." Pella stuck her tongue out at him and he walked into another room down the hall, "And it's not like I landed Liri. We just couldn't leave each other alone and then it was more than that."

"I know," she actually mimicked him, "Liri, oh damn Liri, if you stop I'll kill you." She laughed, "Your quarters aren't soundproof. I've heard way too much."

He scowled at her menacingly, but she waved a hand at him, "Please, you need me and you're way too happy these days for me to take a threat seriously."

Andronikos recoiled, "I'm going soft?"

"From what I've heard, you're not capable of going soft," she leered, "I meant more that we've been crewmates for too long."

He laughed at her, startled to realize he wasn't mad at her comment.

She eyed him, "I like this you better." Her holopad came up again, "So what about Ashara?"

Andronikos lead her down the hallway to another room, "Unlike the others, decorate this one with color. If she's the same, she likes blues and greens; soft things and she likes to read."

Pella smiled, "You care for her."

Andronikos shrugged, "She was so young and naive when Liri converted her. She was like a little sister. Reminded me of someone."

Pella gasped exaggeratedly, "Oh my goodness, did Andronikos just mention the past? Someone make this date a holiday!"

"Very funny."

"Only thing left is to clean your quarters out."

"Won't take much, I've always traveled light."

"I'm going to take all your empty bottles out also."

"Don't..." he ran his hand over his mohawk in his usual fashion, "Don't restock as much as usual."

Pella raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "You should probably also get some new sheets."

"What's wrong with the ones I have?"

"Really?" Pella rolled her eyes, "Never mind, I'll talk to Liri herself about it.

"Darth Oculus."

Pella looked at him, "Excuse me?"

"You should get in the habit of calling her Darth Oculus, just in case."

Pella shook her head, "Nope. Sorry, she said Liri was fine and she trumps you in what she wants to be called."

"Anyway, what's wrong with my sheets?"

Pella threw her hands up and turned to go. "Some extra pillows also."

"Pella?" he called out. She spun and looked at him, "Just come take a look, see if there's anything else that needs to get fixed."

She nodded and they headed to the bridge. "So!" She said brightly, "While you are talkative and not yet drunk, can I ask you a question?"

"I guess so," he said warily.

"Where'd you get the scars on your back from?"

"Why?"

"Well, all the rest look standard; blasters, knives. Those are oddly shaped."

"When have you seen my scars?"

Pella laughed, "You marched through the bridge in a towel, Andronikos!"

He actually blushed.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"I cheated on Liri."

"You..." Pella's mouth hung open, "You cheated on your Sith wife? Are you crazy?"

"She wasn't my wife back then, and yeah, it was pretty stupid of me."

"Those scars are all you got?"

"Yeah."

Pella sighed, "She really does love you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Do you know I did to the last guy who cheated on me? And I'm not even Sith."

"Let me guess, you kept some of him?"

"Jar in my room."

"Please feel free to try and seduce Decimus. You two would get along well."