Chapter Title: The Game
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
POV: Dashen
Ages in this chapter: Tanner (14) Dashen (20)
Chapter Summary: A game of Dejarik becomes the catalyst for finding out exactly who in Colton's inner circle knows about Tanners Jedi past.
"Is he winning?"
"Rosina beat him in the first game. They're in the best of three. Game two. I think he's losing, but I never learned this game."
"I played once on a job in Firma. Looked like a bunch of holo-monsters hurling each other around a giant checkerboard."
"That's kind of what it is, Dash."
I'd come to sit next to Tanner in the rear room of the bar. Colton's place. The Rathskeller. Kebrey Pacus let me in. Manager, bouncer, security, you name it. Another very large man. The majority of Colton's team consisted of very large men. The exceptions being me and Kishel Greyer, daughter of his head of security, Sydenious Greyer, the very broad, tall and dark man standing at the corner of the room looking always-serious. His powerfully tall daughter, Kishel was similar in build, just without the super-extreme broadness and giant-ness of her father. She was less imposing by about two tenths of a degree. I myself was gifted in the vertical-ness department, but seemingly tiny compared to the rest of the crew. Barkeep, Verahna (better known as Vera) also defied the type, being both female and not eight feet tall and four feet wide. It was an intriguing crew.
Kebrey and Verahna didn't know about Tanner's Jedi past, not yet anyway. Sydenious and Kishel did. They were sworn to secrecy or face the wrath of an enraged Virgil Colton. Colton was many things, but if you were loyal to him and didn't cross the lines he set down, he'd protect you with his life. I couldn't be sure why Kebrey had not been told of Tanner, especially with the frequency with which we visited the Rathskeller, but I was fine with the fewer people knowing. Less chance of the already colossal-sized target on the kid's back growing even larger.
So, Kebrey let us in. Sydenious was in the corner scowling. There was no sign of Kishel - probably out covering for her father while he watched the two biggest criminal masterminds on Terra play holo-board games. Priorities, you know.
Rosina Ethy, Colton's current opponent, was also his crime counterpart. She was no nonsense, sneaky and vicious when she had to be. She was also kind of lizardy. Human in form, but covered in scales, shimmering a semi-transparent purple in most light. Slanted yellow eyes, a thin forked tongue that darted in and out when she was irritated, and long line of silver-white hair that trailed past the small of her back. She and Colton had a love-hate relationship but one that bordered on respect as long as they each stayed within the bounds of their own turf.
And once a month they engaged in several rounds of Dejarik. Which is where we were now. Tanner had come here after school. I'd finished a job and met him. I nudged my brother with a shoulder. "So, the big purple monster can pick up and toss the small brown monster, but the medium green monster can eat the purple one?"
He shrugged. "That doesn't sound quite right. I think the purple one can eat the green one and the brown one can light the purple one on fire."
"There's no fire in this game, Tanner."
"Might make it more exciting. This is boring."
Surprise forced my eyes wide. This? Boring? For him? I leaned to whisper. "You find this boring? You, who sits in silence and stares at walls for hours strictly for kicks and giggles? You are one strange kid, Mouse."
"I do my best."
From the corner, Sydenious cleared his throat. Loudly. A hard glare on me and my brother. It was an expression and sound that said shut the hell up he'd be hurling us through walls. The man was zero fun. But we shut up.
Checkerboard monsters growled and groaned, died and were eaten. This really was a screwy game, but even I had to admit it was nice to have the group of us together. As odd as the game was, this crew was odder. Yet
in some peculiar way, they were comfortable. They weren't trying to kill Tanner either, so that was a plus. Like this game and like us, this group was unique. Vastly out of place in the grand scheme of things, but completely in place here as part of Virgil Colton's crew.
Dejarik. Game two finished. Rosina hissed at her rival as he claimed victory this round. The big purple game-monster roared in victory as it lifted a miniature blue creature over it's head, broke it in two and slammed it to the board.
"Ah, can those pieces come off the board? If so, we may be in trouble. That purple one has anger management issues."
Tanner rolled his eyes. "It's a game, Dash."
"Yeah well, tell Little Blue there. Purple cracked him in half like an egg."
"Game three, woman! It's mine." That was Colton.
"Remember our bet, Virgil. You lose, I win." That was Rosina.
But win what? The game? No, that was obvious. I halfway thought about asking and made a motion to, when Sydenious threw me another growl and scowl. Damn it. The man had the sharpest eyes around. Nothing ever got past him though they did give me a clue, chin-motioning to the wall where there hung a large bag of something that meant something. Money? Territory? Who knew with Rosina and Colton. These two had a screwball relationship. I admit to not and never wanting to understand the criminal mind. Some things were better served with ignorance.
Game three happened then. Violent. Loud. Scary as hell in some places. I swear those game-creatures were ready to jump off that board and tear their tiny little dagger-claws into me.
As my mind strayed into areas of more weirdness, the game ended and Colton was... well, he was not happy.
"Woman, you cheat!"
"Only as much as you, Virgil. You know our rulessss." She hissed out as her slanted yellow eyes flashed orange, and that was kinda terrifying. "Pay up or pay out." Criminals and their code language, I thought as Rosina suddenly slid her reptile eyes toward Tanner. Ohcrapohcrapohcrap. Did she know? No. No way she knew about him. Not possible. Was Tanner the payout if Colton didn't pay up?
No time to wonder further, as Colton yanked the bag off the wall and heaved it at her. "Here's your damn payout. Nothing else leaves this room."
Nothing else leaves this room. Nothing else, as in secrets about a former Jedi kid? Maybe so. Probably so. Damndamndamndamndamn.
Rosina nodded. "As is my promisssse. I do not break them, as you know. You and I, we have an understanding. Always, Virgil." She stood accompanied by several more hissing sounds before slithering out of the room. Her people followed. Colton's people - all except Sydenious - trailed after. It was the four of us now, door closed, room secured and I had to know.
"Colton, what the hell? How does she know?"
Our fake uncle-slash-criminal mastermind-slash-concealer of one former Jedi, scratched at the beginnings of the beard he'd been growing in recent weeks. Wondering. Pondering. The man had no idea how Rosina knew.
"It's a valid question." He finally admitted.
"You think?" My voice and eyes flared. If I sounded upset, I was. Taking issue with unexpected persons knowing secrets they should not be privy to. Secrets that could get my family killed.
"She's smart, Dash. Wiley. She has ways of knowing things that others do not. However, there's no danger. She is true to her word, or she'd have been dead long ago. Our kind, we have to be true or we'd just slaughter each other."
I'd trust him. I had to trust him. Didn't mean I was happy about this revelation though. Looking down to where Tanner still sat, he seemed surprisingly unalarmed. Huh. Curious. I nudged him.
"It'll be what it'll be, Dash. I can't spend my life worrying about every person that may or may not know. If I did that, I'd just huddle in a dark corner and never come out. I trust Colton and if he says she's not a rat, then I have to believe that."
I sat on those words for several minutes, before coming to my own reluctant understanding. If Tanner was willing to trust, I should too. My anxieties were relieved some when the deep voice from across the room ventured into the conversation.
Sydenious said, "Lesedi, the boy always has unseen protection when he's not in the company of you or Colton. And when Rosina is near, there is additional. Hence the presence of myself, Kishel, Kebrey and Vera."
So, wait... what? Did all those people know and... what the hell was happening?
"Okay, can someone please tell me exactly who knows about Tanner?" If the tone of my voice went up several octaves at the question, it was a valid exercise in surprise.
Colton waved me down. "Stars, Dashen, settle down. Kebrey and Vera do not know. What they do know is that you two fall under my care - my adopted nephews - and there is an extra blanket of protection for you because of that. Verahna isn't security anyway, but tending bar, she naturally has eyes everywhere. The circle remains small. Sy, Kishel, the two healers, and apparently now, Rosina. I'll work on how she knows and where the intel stems from. I don't worry on Rosina herself, but if there is another that we cannot trust, that's an issue. I will find out. In the meantime, the damn woman cheats and takes my money."
My head cocked to the side. "She said you cheated too."
"Not the point."
"It is, kinda. You two play to see who can cheat the most and come out the winner. Is there no honor in games like there is in being a criminal?"
"There is not."
A deflated Virgil Colton is an unusual Virgil Colton so I let the conversation end there before turning it back to Tanner. Thinking... maybe...
"So, Colt, let me ask a question. Should Kebrey and Vera know? They've worked for you forever. You trust them everything. Like it or not, they are part of Tanner's world. He sees them and talks to them multiple times a week. I don't like people knowing that have no need or interest in it, but thinking on this, can you trust them to such an extent?"
Colton pulled his eyes from me and slid them toward Sydenious. The person he trusted most in the galaxy. Whatever passed between them, it was hidden and coded. I'd never get their relationship, but it was vital to Colton as a person and businessman. It also kept him alive.
"They could know." The words came from Sy, not Colton. "They can be trusted."
"I agree." That was Colton, not Sy. "But do they need to know?"
I didn't know. I'd been floating the idea while my brain was thinking and worrying too much. The usual. All I did know was that Tanner truly liked Kebrey and Verahna and they the same. I could see it in the way they reacted around him and the way they talked to and gestured to him. He was a part of their circle already, they just weren't a completely official part of his yet. Tanner had never mentioned a single negative about either, not even in feeling. The Force essence around them was a settled one and that was always a huge positive in Tanner's world.
"Tanner?" I said to my brother, sliding down to sit next to him. His input would appear to be one of the more vital bits of this idea.
"They are good people, Dash. Like you, Colton, Sydenious, Kishel, Miss Sanya at school, and our healers. I would be fine with them knowing, but would they even want to know and would it put them in danger?"
Now there was a question. Ignorance was bliss at times and not knowing something that could land them on the Empire's radar might be how they'd want to remain. They had their jobs, they did their jobs. This would open them up to Empire threats of interrogation, torture, death... was this something either of them would actually volunteer for?
Such a simple idea of mine was not so simple anymore.
Colton ended the discussion. "Call them in, Sy."
Moments later, in walked bouncer/manager, Kebrey Pacus and barkeep, Verahna Fisto. Fisto. Huh. Apparently she had a last name after all, who knew?
Colton gave them an option. He had highly confidential information to share. Information that if ever leaked, would undoubtedly put them on the Empire's radar with a high probability of violent death to follow. He offered no detail or indication that Tanner was involved. It was one of those I really don't need this on my plate type of situations. And yet the response Colton received almost immediately answered the question before it was even asked.
Kebrey stepped next to Verahna. "The kid's a Jedi. We know. We've always known."
What the hell?
I didn't have to verbalize the statement as it was plastered all over my face.
"I have Force sensitivity on my mother's side." Kebrey began. "Not Jedi, nor a user, but feelings mostly. We keep that knowledge hidden. First time I met Tanner, I felt it without even trying. He was nervous and projecting. The timing of him, just after the purge, it explained his sudden appearance under your care, Boss. Also explained the apprentice braid that wasn't well hidden at the time. And honestly I didn't give a damn what he was. For my purposes, he was a young kid in need of a new start. You'd decided it was worthwhile to take him under your care, I trusted your judgement, so I never gave it thought after that." Kebrey shrugged his large shoulders, nonchalant. "Kid's a survivor, like the rest of us."
He was. We were.
Stars. This really was a screwy oddball group.
Okay, so Kebrey knew. Story made sense. But Vera? Her people weren't known Force users that I was aware - not that I was an expert or even novice in that area. She did have the ability to sense some emotions, those tentacles on her head allowed for those senses, but knowing about Tanner? It was a stretch.
She stepped forward next. "My family name. Fisto."
Tanner jumped up. "Master Kit Fisto! He was on the Jedi Council."
Vera nodded. "Distant cousin. It's why I keep my surname quiet.
I've been to Coruscant. I fought briefly in the Clone Wars on the side of the Republic. I got out, the tide was turning badly. My cousin had me to the Jedi Temple as guest. My final visit was only months before the purge happened. Our people remember names. Faces. I had seen you, young Tannerlin, there at the temple with your master. I did not know you or your name, I simply remembered your face from the brief moments I saw you while training in a dojo. My cousin was touring me through parts of the Temple. I saw many faces that day. Then you were here and after being introduced as the boss's nephew and you began visiting the bar, I recalled where I'd seen you. Like Kebrey, I put the clues together. As Kebrey said, like the rest of us, you were simply trying to survive. What he and I know," she nodded to Kebrey, "We've shared with no other."
Well, damn. Bizarro day anyone? Gone from watching two criminal masterminds play and cheat at the galaxy's most violent and vindictive holo-board game, to hearing these new revelations flying around like crazy. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else knew about Tanner and just didn't give a crap. Most people were out there living their lives the best they could. This boy came along and made his way into some of those lives and maybe made those lives a little better. Didn't matter that he was Jedi or had his magic or was always in danger of being hunted. He was a good kid... trying to survive. Kebrey and Vera respected that.
Life was a game. It could be a violent as Dejarik or as boring as meditation. Most fell in between.
I hadn't any idea others outside our very tiny circle knew about Tanner's Jedi past. But these two knew and didn't care. They saw a kid struggling but one that was also kind and happy and he cared - in some form or another - about people he met. He treated everyone with respect and dignity. In turn, those who knew what he was returned the same.
So now we had two new allies. Not that they hadn't been allies before, but we were all on the same page.
"Well, this has been a day." I said, if for no other reason then to fill the quiet space left after Vera's confession. It's no wonder Tanner always enjoyed yakking with these two. Subconsciously, maybe he knew that they knew. Or not. At this point, it didn't matter. Conclusion was, if I spent too much time thinking about it, it would only hurt my head.
"It's kinda nice, Dash. Having people that I don't have to hide from. It's not always the easiest thing."
Not easy. Not for him. As I'd said before, people liked Tanner. He just had a way that didn't drive people away from him, unlike yours truly. I'd lived my entire life being an acquired taste. Love thy brother, but not so much thy older brother.
"If you're okay with it, Mouse, I'm okay with it."
Ears perked up at the nickname. Vera, with head-tentacle abilities to read some emotion, probably sensed that slight sentimental tug from Tanner when I used the name. That emotion either said, I'm glad you're my brother or it said, I plan on suffocating you in your sleep. All depending on the day of the week and how the week had gone.
But... that was a story for another time. Or one that I'd let Tanner spill the beans on. For now, Colton was about to beat us all senseless if we didn't get the hell out of his office.
"Tanner," I said to my brother, "You and Vera can discuss outside. We need to vacate this room before we're hurled out a non-existing window. That is a game I've no interest in playing."
Out into the main store area, Vera stepped behind the bar with Tanner in tow, taking a stool to watch her work. There was a newfound pep in his step and the tiniest of weights lifted from his slight shoulders. People... friends who could know him. The real him. Or at least what he chose to tell. It was less spilling-his-life-story and more being allowed to be comfortable enough around them should he stumble in conversation. Less covering of his tracks, more reason to trust.
You see, Tanner's idea of an ideal afternoon that didn't involve mind-numbing activities like school, reading or meditation, was sitting and talking to people. And now, at least during secure times, he could do that a bit more freely here in the Rathskeller. The ultimate game of Keep Tanner Safe having just gained two valuable entrants.
Just another interesting and unexpected event in my continued life of unexpected events.
Hell, maybe tomorrow I'd challenge Kebrey or Sydenious to a monster-tossing game of Dejarik. I could only take a wild guess at how that might turn out.
END
