(no subject)

A safety razor clattered across the floor, landing neatly by Atton’s feet.
“You want me ...” Atton asked, smiling wryly. “To shave? Wouldn’t reckon you’d be concerned about my appearance.”

“I want you to eat, too,” The Dark Jedi replied, laying a tray on the table. “I would like to keep you in the best condition possible. It simply would not do for my reputation as a host.”

“Really, your reputation as a host went down the drain at about the same time you started kidnapping people.”

“So ungrateful, Atton. I am giving you the best treatment of any of my guests. The man next door, the former owner of this house, is not having nearly so much special treatment as you.”

“Do I even want to know what you’re doing to him?”

“Let’s just say he’ll never look at a vibroblade the same way again,” The Dark Jedi tilted his head slightly, mulling this over. “Or look at a vibroblade at all. I think I stabbed out both his eyes.”

“You think?”

“Atton, I can’t be expected to keep track of what all my guests are doing. Now, shave and eat. Eat and shave. The order is irrelevant, really.” He turned to leave.

“This isn’t going to work, y’know.” Atton called after him. The Dark Jedi stopped and turned slightly, frowning.

“The razor? Did I break it?”

“Not the razor. This. You’ll go through my head and you’re not goin’ to find anything about how to get into Milliways, because I don’t know.”

“Then why not simply open your mind to me? It’s a simple enough thing. I go through your head and when I’m done, you can go free.”

“See, that’s not going to happen either.”

“Which is of no consequence to me. It only lengthens your stay here. Tell me: Shall we go through your memories with ... what’s his name ... Gavin in, tomorrow? I imagine they’d be interesting for both of us.” The Dark Jedi smiled serenely.

“You’re sick, y’know that? Completely twisted.”

“How ironic that it should be you of all people who tells me that.” He turned away.

Atton snorted, picking up the razor with one hand and tossing it at his back.
“No wonder you failed your training,” He laughed, standing up. “You just back down whenever you can. Run away and hide.”

“What a completely ridiculous thing to say,” The Dark Jedi said softly, turning around. “Every single time we have met before, you have fled from me. If it weren’t for your unfair advantage, you would undoubtedly be in pieces. You can, if you like, still be in pieces. And will, if you continue to irritate me.”

“I’m terrified. Really. You’re awfully good at threatening restrained prisoners, aren’t you?”

The Dark Jedi shrugged faintly.
“I’m very good at going through with my threats. Even when my guests aren’t restrained,” He waved a hand, the stun cuffs clicking open. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out Atton’s lightsaber, throwing it into the far corner of the room and igniting his own, throwing a red light over his face. “If you like, you can still remain intact. Back down.”

Atton’s eyes flicked over to his lightsaber, and back to the Dark Jedi, standing as still as a statue. Putting out his hand, Atton called the lightsaber off the floor and towards his hand.

Red light flashed past his eyes and a burning pain shot through his hand. His lightsaber clattered to the floor again.

Atton stared at his hand, through a haze rapidly forming in front of his eyes. It had four fingers, including the thumb. The ring finger of his left hand lay on the floor, cut from his hand.
”Kriff.”

The stun cuffs clicked back into place. The Dark Jedi bent down and picked up Atton’s lightsaber. Atton barely noticed. He just stared at his hand and at the floor where his finger lay.

“You might want to shave with the other hand.” The Dark Jedi murmured, turning and leaving.

When his footsteps couldn’t be heard anymore, Atton tried the door.

It didn’t open.

(no subject)

Everything was sunny.

Warm and green, with plenty of trees and nothing but a single rocking chair, a well and ... was that an ewok toy?

“Yes,” The ewok toy confirmed. “It is. There should be a door somewhere around here.”

Atton just blinked at it, rocking back and forth in the chair.
“A door, huh? I’m supposed to take this on the word of a floating, fluffy thing?”

The ewok toy considered this for a second.
“Well, yes. Otherwise, how’ll you get out? Go back to Milliways?”

Atton blinked again. Frowned.
“Milliways?”

“You’ll remember soon. Mil-Eee-Ways. And there’s a door here.”

Atton shook his head, raising one hand and rubbing his forehead.
“This is insane.”

“Lots of things seem insane. But you need to find the door now, otherwise absolutely horrible things will happen. There’s so much blood. All the others have died by now.”

“What others?”

The ewok toy gave him a look.
“You are a simpleton, aren’t you? The others. If you find the door, you’ll find the answer.”

“How ... philosophical. For a stuffed toy, anyway.”

“We are, perhaps,” The ewok toy mused. “Spending too long talking about this. What about the blood? What about the door? Everything’s rotting, so there isn’t much time. You know how to find the door. How to open it. So you should tell me.”

Atton frowned, closing his eyes and thinking hard about it. He didn’t know how long. When he opened his eyes, the ewok toy was in the same place, and the clouds hadn’t moved.

“I don’t know about any door.”

“You,” The ewok toy replied imperiously. “Don’t understand. There’s no place here for lack of knowledge. You will tell me what I want to know. Otherwise, things could get nasty.”

Atton frowned, rocking back on the chair.
“Nasty, huh?”

“Yes. Nasty. Dig around a little,” The ewok toy suggested, floating past him lazily. “You remember Milliways, don’t you?”

Atton frowned. Blinked, frowned again.
“Bar, right? End of the Universe?”

If stuffed toys could smile, Atton would have sworn the ewok toy had grinned toothily.
“That’s right. Now, tell me - ...”

“The door doesn’t work like that. It just opens, okay? I’ve told you this before.”

The ewok toy frowned slightly, steepling his ... well, tbey weren’t really fingers.
“I’m having grandiose thoughts, Atton,” The toy murmured. “And I’m afraid they will not wait. We have been going back and forth like this for some time now, and unfortunately, you’re a little too kriffed in the head for my liking. Digging around in somebody’s head without care does a lot of damage, and I’m not known for my finesse.

“So, I’m afraid, you will not wait either. You only have so much time until one day - very, very soon, I withdraw from your mind and leave you dazed, and when that initial confusion passes, you won’t remember your name. Or where you were born. Or Milliways,” The ewok toy paused thoughtfully, listening to something Atton couldn’t hear. “And this time - unlike the last two or three times you’ve found yourself like this; lost, confused, your memories scattered just out of your reach - those memories won’t return in two or three hours with a bit of prompting. They won’t return ever.”

“Kriff off,” Atton snapped, folding his arms and rocking the chair back and forth. “What’s the point of this facade anyway? Go on. It must be a big dip for you to make yourself look like ... Kriff, are you supposed to be Kettch?”

“It was your mind that came up with this scenario,” The ewok toy replied sourly. “Don’t blame me. This fantasy is in place because I’ve explored the depths of your mind and I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”

“How to open a door to Milliways.”

“And other things along those lines, yes. You are an expert on shielding your mind and so I can only presume that you have locked areas of it off to me. I decided to try a more subtle approach.”

“Didn’t really work too well. For a start, there aren’t any locked areas of my head,” Atton replied. “And secondly, you’re Kettch. And you’re not even that convincing.”

“Evidently, you do not find stuffed toys persuasive,” The ewok toy replied drily. “Let’s try a different method.”

When the Dark Jedi - now a Dark Jedi, rather than an illusory stuffed animal - left the room, Atton couldn’t quite recall what that different method was. He knew it involved a lot of screaming. Screaming and blood that wasn’t either of theirs and his hands around somebody’s throat.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he expected to happen when he tried opening the door, but it didn’t open, so perhaps that didn’t really matter.