Author's Note: This will follow the bounty hunter storyline, and there will be spoilers. I'm copying this over from tumblr since I shockingly saw that there isn't any fanfiction tagged with Mako. Given that it's from tumblr, it's a little drabbly and vignettey, but as I said, it'll follow the storyline (if only loosely). There will be many Frankenstein & Paradise Lost references in this piece. This story will have mature themes, including cursing, violence, gore, and potential sexuality (though I'm debating this).

A little background for this character, so that this somewhat makes sense:

The inspiration for Jirax Danthan came from several songs by a French band named Dionysos, which tell the story of a man who is kidnapped and has his heart replaced with a coo-coo clock. Combined with the Frankenstein's monster trope, Jirax is a 34 year old man who once was a "normal" human being until his violent death at the hands of a Sith whom he failed to kill. This Sith, with the help of both the Dark Side and cybernetics, was able to resurrect him after several experiments, and thus was able to recreate life. The Sith intended for Jirax to become a personal mercenary who could never defy her, but, in sticking with the Frankenstein's monster trope, when Jirax woke up he was a completely different man, but he himself did not consciously notice the change. As he worked under the boot of his "employer", he learned of the Sith's experiments upon his corporeal form, and thus he wanted to usurp the control of his creator and grotesquely killed the Sith.

Physically, he is extremely unattractive. There are several cybernetic and surgical "enhancements":

His eye; transorbital lobotomy took away its proper organic functioning.

His amgydala and frontal lobe were cut into, in many ways lobotomizing his ability to healthily relate to others and his ability to control his aggression.

His heart was replaced with a smaller, but mechanically enhanced one.

His lungs are more efficient and effective.

There's a "restraining bolt" so to speak: a chip embedded into of his amygdala that helps to regulate said aggression to a degree.

To Mould A Man From Clay

Chapter One

"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay

To mould me Man, did I solicit thee

From darkness to promote me?"

After repeated, annoying persistence on Mako's behalf, Jirax Danthan finally caves and lets the small woman he's somehow partnered up with to tend to a nasty burn on the lower half of his face and neck. He's seated on the edge of his bunk with an old, tattered book in his hands. All he wanted was a chance to get some sliver of quiet after chaos of the first half of their trip to Dromund Kaas aboard the Black Talon.

"Just fuckin' get it over with."

"Well do you want it to scar?"

He rolls his good eye, "Does it look like I care?"

She awkwardly laughs. "Okay, do you want it to scar worse?"

"I just want to look at this damn book in peace."

"Sit still, shut up, and you'll get that peace."

He grunts and mumbles something along the lines of her being the overly talkative one. He doesn't flinch when she leans over him, reaches out, and touches his disfigured face to assess the damage. Her fingers are soft, delicate, smooth; it's clear she's never done the heavy lifting in this business. She then digs into her leather satchel and pulls out a kolto wrap and antibiotic gel.

"Are you actually reading?" Mako raises a brow.

"The fuck would I be holding this book for? Ain't a damn picture book if that's what you were thinkin'."

"You're kidding." She tilts his book forward to see the title. "Galaxy Lost? Seriously? Isn't that…But you're not… You just don't seem…"

"You think I'm some kind of fuckin' dumbshit?"

"Well," she huffs, "you certainly don't sound bright…"

"Soundin' ain't all of it. You ever stop to think that a good mercenary actually looks over his contracts?"

She dabs some of the antibiotic onto a torn-off piece of kolto wrap and lightly presses into the wound. Jirax doesn't flinch or complain.

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry for assuming." Mako shrugs and thankfully the subject is dropped. Despite his request for silence, she finds herself disconcerted by the silence between them. "Jory and Braden always howled when I used this stuff."

Jirax groans. "Two things: One, I ain't neither of them so will you stop comparin' me to 'em? Two, it takes more than medicine to make me squeal like a dirty rat who's got his tail stepped on."

"Tough guy, huh?"

"Been through helluva lot worse," He says with a clenched jaw, entirely peeved by the continuing conversation. Once the gel's evenly spread, Mako starts peels away the backing of the bandage and then adheres the partially sticky part over the wound. As she leans away, she smells something strange, something sanguine.

"Are you still bleeding? Did I miss something? Did those Republic guards…" she trails off as she peers down at his armored chest piece. Underneath the metal plating she sees the tunic stained partially with dried, but fresh blood.

"Hey! Were you even going to mention this?"

He sighs and looks down at the area. "No, wasn't gonna."

Mako gapes. "Well why not?"

"S'none of your business. Now finish up on my face so I can get some damn peace."

"But you're bleeding," she starts to tug at the metal plating in order to peel it off, but he jerks away and swats away her hands. "Look that's fresh. You may think I don't have much experience but I−"

"It ain't about you none so shove off it. I agreed to the fuckin' face only alright?"

Mako hesitates but watches him intently with suspicion. She shakes it off, frowns, and glares. "I don't get what the big deal is at all. If you want to be in pain, fine, so be it, but this is the last time I help you out, you inconsiderate jerk."

Jirax snorts. "Been called plenty worse. That's a compliment."

"Yeah well you haven't been called that by me."

"Ooo. Shakin' in my boots." He continues reading as if he hadn't been encumbered. He hears her gathering her medical supplies. "If you're done you can get lost till Dromund Kaas. Go pester someone else."

Mako's jaw drops, and she stands speechless. She stares at him for an extra moment and then shakes her head.

"How about no? I think I'd rather keep on pestering you." She drops her satchel back on the table, eliciting a loud thump. She folds her arms and is at her boiling point. "Look, if we're working together you need to treat me with respect. I helped you on Hutta so I deserve better treatment than this! Why don't you at least try to reciprocate? Is that really that hard to ask?" Mako tentatively takes a step forward, intent on attending to his other wound. "We're partners, even if it's just in name and business, so let me help you−"

Jirax lowers his book for the first time. His mechanical eye fixates on her. He's entirely put-off by the confrontation and he slowly gets up from the bed's edge. He stalks over to her like a predator: eyes dark, brows narrowed, lips curling into an ugly smirk. "You really don't want to get into this."

Mako's stance diminishes, and she's losing ground as her back presses into the metal wall of the cabin. Once he stands before her, towering over her, she is swallowed in his shadow.

When she tries to side-step him, he mirrors the move and blocks her. "You rolled the dice so you gotta deal with the risk."

Jirax then begins to remove his gauntlets, the shoulder epaulets of his armor, and then the heavy metal chest plating. Once only the dirty khaki shirt remains covering his chest, the dark grin widens, teeth bared, and he pulls the shirt over his head and off his body.

Immediately Mako gasps and grows pale. She screams and attempts to push him aside in order to run away. Jirax prevents her again, grabbing her wrist, and forcing her to touch one of the varicose veins on his breastbone. She struggles as he guides her palm over the patched, bulging muscle where his mechanical heart protrudes beneath the sickly yellow skin. The warm flesh pulsates beneath her palm, and the mechanical device emits a red glow. The source of the blood came from a stitched wound reopened by the previous conflict with the deceased Jedi Padawan Yadira Ban, but that's hardly on Mako's mind.

"You're, stars,…you're−"

"Say it. Fuckin'. Say. It."

She trembles as she lifts her head to meet his eyes. "A monster!"

Jirax releases her, laughs maliciously at her discomfort, and watches as Mako hurries away without looking back.