Commitment

Commitment
Date of Scene:	21 May 2025
Location:
Synopsis:
Cast of Characters:	159, Navi

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Athena (159) has posed:
It's a sunny afternoon at the colony site, with little having transpired since the Temple's rising out of the valley.

And for once, it would seem that Xera has made herself available. She's sitting just outside her penthouse sized temporary housing unit, reading from a datapad and drinking some expensive tea that looks to have been imported from Coruscant. She's got a large umbrella set up, of course, to protect her from the sun, and seems to be in a good mood...

Navi has posed:
"Good afternoon," Navi says softly by way of greeting as she approaches the housing unit, offering a casual smile. "You look like you're having a good day, and I very much hope you are."

Athena (159) has posed:
Xera looks up from the datapad she's reading, and smiles at the young Sephi girl.

"I'm well... enough," she says. She pats the table across from her. There's a seat there, so Navi will be able to sit down across from the Graf bureaucrat. "And what about yourself? How was the visit to the Temple?"

Navi has posed:
Navi takes the offered seat. "Thank you. The Temple visit was... eye-opening. Not to mention roof-opening, and earth-opening. It seems the sanctum of the Temple was actually underground, and reopening it did quite a number on the valley. If it weren't for some friendly giant birds, we'd still be up there," she explains. "I couldn't see if the lab building was affected by the shifting and faulting of the valley. I hope no one was hurt."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Oh?" Xera says, arching a brow at her. "How so?"

She glances up at the Temple in the distance then shrugs. "Oh... well, I see, I guess. That's lucky, I suppose."

She smiles. "I wouldn't be concerned about it," she says, but she won't look Navi in the eyes.

Navi has posed:
"I wouldn't be concerned if I knew if everyone from the lab was alive and unhurt, or at least accounted for," Navi replies softly, but she doesn't miss Xera's avoiding eye contact. "We had no warning that the Temple and the land would be so radically restructured when we opened the sealed door. I've never even heard of a temple constructed in that way."

She sighs quietly, regretfully. "And now we're going to have to build a bridge or something like to be able to access the land around the Temple, because there's a big chasm where there used to be solid ground. I can only apologize for the damage done. It wasn't our intention to change things that way. Or at all, really."

Athena (159) has posed:
"We'll figure it out," she says calmly, although there's something in her expression that says otherwise. She doesn't seem overly concerned about the Temple in general. "Or we won't. Either way, it doesn't significantly impact the colony site."

"And the Arkanians are just fine. Their pride pricked, that's all."

Navi has posed:
"I'm glad to know they weren't hurt," Navi says, quite sincerely. "And that they weren't trapped in the valley."

She swallows a lump in her throat before continuing. "There was something else I was wondering about, too. I know you've taken an interest in me since our return from Ilum, and I'm both flattered and grateful for it. I think you already know I'm fond of you, and I'm aware of how important this colony project is to you, even if I don't fully understand why."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Oh yes," Xera says, absently, glancing at Navi briefly before looking back to her datapad.

"I suppose," she says with a shrug. "But I'll have you know, I have... some requirements, if you're actually interested."

Navi has posed:
"I'd like to know about them," Navi says, nodding. She hasn't forgotten the woman's frightening level of jealousy, or her lack of trust in her paramours' honesty.

Athena (159) has posed:
Xera smiles and finally puts the datapad down. "Well the first thing you should know," she says, "is that I don't want you around Thaarin. I don't want you to pursue him, I don't want you to be his friend, I don't want you around him at all, unless it's an emergency."

She smiles sweetly, but it doesn't seem very genuine at all.

Navi has posed:
"Why?" Navi asks, confused. "I helped save Thaarin's life, and he and I have been friends ever since. I think he would be upset if I suddenly never saw him again."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Because I said so," she replies immediately. "If you want to start seeing me more formally, then your committment to me has to matter. That's my first term, and if you can't agree to even that, then... well." she settles back in her chair again and picks up her datapad.

Navi has posed:
"Hmm... I understand if you are romantically interested in him, even if I am not. He is a beautiful person, inside and out. Is that why you don't want me to have any contact with him?" Navi asks thoughtfully.

Athena (159) has posed:
"No," Xera says a little too immediately. "I just told you, your committment to me is what matters. And committment to -me- means you don't associate with -him-. Is that clear? Those are my conditions, and if you can't agree to it, then we can't see each other formally." Then she smiles again. "I hope you aren't offended, but I have my rules for how I run my life, as I'm sure you have yours."

Navi has posed:
"I see. And yet I don't see," Navi replies. "Perhaps you'd better tell me about the other conditions. Or at least if there is anyone else you don't want me to associate with."

"I quite understand your having rules to run your life. But these conditions aren't about running /your/ life... they are quite literally running /my/ life, and I very much want to understand why you want so much control over me. I was a Jedi once. I'm more than familiar with control over my life. But I knew the reasons for it back then. These reasons just aren't clear to me."

Athena (159) has posed:
Xera sighs. "Listen, if you can't even agree to my first condition, then there's no use listing the others. If your hope is that whatever starts betweens us right now will become serious, then you have to agree to all of my conditions not just a few." She shakes her head. "You're failing to understand that if you are to start seeing me formally, it won't just be all about your and your own rules anymore. We'll be a pair, and there will just have to be compromise." A pause as she sips her tea again. "Now. If you can't agree to disassociate yourself from Thaarin, then this conversation is over. I've some pressing business to attend to in a few minutes, anyway."

Navi has posed:
"I do understand, Xera. But understanding isn't the issue here. Compromise isn't one-sided; it's mutual," Navi replies patiently. "But if I must not have contact with Thaarin, then I suppose I can do that. I'll have to speak to him and explain the situation, of course."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Well good, then," she says, suddenly smiling and completely ignoring what she'd just said about about compromise not being one-sided. "I have your word, then? You promise to never see or go near him, unless I say so, or if it's an emergency?" But before Navi can answer, she stands and dusts herself off. "Explain? What is there to explain? All he needs to know is that we're talking about becoming exclusive and that means from now on, contact with certain people will be completely off limits. There are, of course, other stipulations, regarding when you can see me and everyone else you know, that you'll have to agree to later, but I've a meeting with the matriarch of our family in a few minutes."

"We'll speak some other time," she says flippantly, not even looking at Navi, before she stands up and goes inside her temporary housing unit.

Navi might be in the middle of processing it all when she hears some rustling in the bushes behind her...

Navi has posed:
"Explain why I will no longer have contact with him," Navi esplains. "I respect him too much to just break off contact with no explanation." She has no time to say anything more before Xera ends the meeting. "Good luck with your meeting, then."

The rustling of the bushes startles her, and she glances back at them, wondering if she will see the person she expects to be responsible for the sudden disturbance...

Athena (159) has posed:
And she will indeed, see the person responsible. A masked marauder - not Zealot, but she may recognize her in the Force as familiar.

"Welcome back," the modulated voice says, as the individual comes to lean on a tree not even a few yards from where Navi is sitting. Their presence doesn't seem menacing although their apperance does, despite the clear lack of weapons.

Navi has posed:
"Oh, it's you... I was wondering if your people were all right after the reopening of the old Jedi Temple," Navi observes, slightly irritably. "It made quite a mess of the valley, which we didn't remotely see coming. Is there something you want?"

Athena (159) has posed:
The marauder chuckles, but Navi will be able to hear the sarcasm in her tone of voice when she says, "Oh how -sweet- of you to worry," she says. "We're... fine." And she leaves it at that.

"No," she says coyly. "Was just checking in, as per usual. I've been watching you, you know. Zealot's not here right now, but he wanted to make sure nothing happened to you while he was ... gone."

Navi has posed:
"Maybe you prefer not to believe it, but I do care about what happenes to Zealot and his people, including yourself," Navi adds, irritated by the woman's sarcasm. "As for checking in, I'm afraid there isn't much to report at the moment. We've only been back from Ilum for a few days. The Arkanians set up some kind of cloning research lab while we were gone, and we were able to reopen the Temple ruins... with unexpected and dramatic results. I'm sure you witnessed part of that."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Yes I know," Pop says, sounding bored. She slides into the chair Xera had been sitting in prior. "And that's awfully presumptuous of you. I don't have a preference either way." She pauses. "That's not really what I was checking on your for, anyway," she says.

"I only complied with Zealot's request because first of all, I think you're interesting, and secondly, I wanted to see just how wildly unsuccessful you were at your little... project. I know what Zealot told you. He told me, actually."

Navi has posed:
"I've been gone for weeks. Clearly nothing was going to move on that front until I returned. It probably wouldn't have been so long if we hadn't run into some interesting complications, one of which has been a tremendous boon to us all," Navi replies, shrugging. "And for what it's worth, I'm glad he told someone else. Or maybe everyone else. Transparency's usually a good thing."

"I can't say I've never been called interesting before, but this has to be the first time it's come from such a compelling person as yourself," she adds.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Perhaps for you and the Republic," she scoffs. She leans back in the chair lazily, shrugging.

"Listen, dear, I tolerate you so consider yourself lucky to receive some advice from me. You can make all the excuses you want. Perhaps that tall blue handsome alien was worth all the extra time you wasted, perhaps he's not. Regardless, you're running out of time. It's been.." and she counts on her fingers. "Thirty weeks exactly, and how far have you gotten with miss rich and incorrigible?" She waggles a finger. "Don't answer that. We both know what you're going to say, and it's not what either of us want to hear. You need to change methodology."

Navi has posed:
"He's alive when he could've died; that makes the time more than worth it," Navi replies, shrugging again. "And what was I going to say? Elaborate, please."

"I'm also very interested in your ideas on an effective methodology," she adds. "Getting close to her is its own little time-gobbling nightmare, given her jealousy and trust issues, and her response to even the most constructive criticism is worse."

Athena (159) has posed:
"That you've made little to no progress," the female marauder says frankly.

"She's playing games with you, Navi," she says, "and in order to beat her at her own game, you have to make your own."

"Jealousy works wonders, you know. If you just went and did the opposite of everything she wants, well that will just show her how little control she really has over you. And I know her types. She won't walk away when she sees you rebelling, because that will mean she's lost. And she won't take that. You can make her behave," she says, her nails now digging into the table. "And the cost is indulging in a bit of hedonism. But that's hardly a negative, in my opinion. Besides, why not? What else would you have left the Order for, anyway?"

Navi has posed:
"I left the Order for a number of reasons, but none of them were related to hedonism, and /all/ of them were related to loyalty. But the short version is that the leadership of the Order abandoned me at a time when I needed their support most," Navi says. "I refuse to be led by a group of sentients who used me so poorly."

She gives Pop a thoughtful look. "Thaarin had a similar idea to yours. It goes against everything I believe in, but the price is saving a lot of lives. I'll try it. I'd welcome some suggestions, though, because I'm extremely new to hedonism."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Well good for you," the female marauder purrs. She seems pleased, and amused by Navi's reaction. "I always pegged the Order as a bunch of religious idiots, anyway."

She snickers. "Oh it's easy, actually. If she's got eyes for Thaarin, make sure she sees that you're taking him from her. But don't stop there. Kiss lots of boys, and lots of girls. In fact, any being you find attractive, associate with them intimately. -Very- intimately. Drink, excessively. Try spice. Perhaps a deathstick or two. Visit a nightclub, for -enjoyment-, and not just to chase down a quarry. Take a warm body home for the night. Then, rinse, and repeat."

"Oh, and do come by our vessel in the valley every once in a while. We do like to play sabacc and on occasion, Mandalorian-style dueling. I'm sure you've figured out by now, that we're stuck down there for the time being, so having a visitor around sometimes will help pass the time."

Navi has posed:
"There is a slight flaw in that plan; Xera's mercurial temper. I want to make her change her ways for the better, not put out a contract on me," Navi replies. "Maybe I should start with just spending time with Thaarin, since I know that makes her jealous pretty much instantly. Possibly branch out from there, keeping in mind just who she's got her wandering eyes on."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Oh please! The woman can't and won't do anything to you for indulging yourself in physical pleasures, now can she? She's not an idiot. If the initial pressure she put on you only served to make you rebel more, then she'll realize applying -more- pressure isn't going to work. Besides, what's she going to do if she doesn't like it? Not like she can confiscate a bottle of Corellian whisky from you without being accused of theft."

"But I suppose if you're feeling shy, you could start there." She stands up,

"Regardless, my invitation stands. The others I'm sure, will have plenty of advice for you as well -- and not just the hedonistic kind. Maybe you'll learn Huttese."

Navi has posed:
"Thank you for your help, which I must admit is something I never thought I'd say to you," Navi says softly, standing. "Be careful on your way home, too. I'll try to come by the camp when I have time and the ability to do so. Maybe the giant birds we encountered will be willing to help me with that."

Athena (159) has posed:
The female marauder chuckles softly, and this time it doesn't sound demeaning or sarcastic.

"Indeed," she says softly. "You're wondering about a particular unforunate event,  I'm certain. Well, I might know someone who saw... something." And with that, she turns and disappears into the bushes.