Confrontation

Confrontation
Date of Scene:	12 May 2025
Location:
Synopsis:	Lady Graf confronts Syralana about Dresda's death.
Cast of Characters:	159, Navi, Syralana, Cayde Alexis

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Athena (159) has posed:
It's noon, and today, the weather is the kind that would have made anyone want to stay inside all day. Pouring rain and blasted fog - so the work on the new comms center couldn't continue. Not that Syra and her team are in much shape to do anything for the moment - with Dresda dead and the events surrounding how he'd died a mystery, and Harrah still sequestered in the trauma unit with Jac hovering over her and unable to think about anything other than her half paralyzed wife. Worse, Syra likely had a pile of paperwork to fill out, now that they were now one lead engineer down.

In fact, she might be in her office, bemoaning her situation, when her commlink pings with a message from Xera Graf herself.

If she looks at it, she'll see that it's news, about the Jedi and their companions returning, along with a demanding request to know all that had transpired with her team, and why she was hearing things about one of their lead engineers being dead.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Syra, the Graf bureacrat is on her way to Syra's office, the tall blue alien the Jedi had brought back with them in tow...

Navi has posed:
"Miss Graf? I think I saw her headin' for the comm shack."

That was the most recent reply Navi had received on just where Xera was. The blonde Sephi had needed to talk to the taller woman ever since returning from Ilum and Jedha, but catching up to her always seems to be the problem. Today was no exception.

With a hurried thanks to the worker she'd asked for directions, Navi jogs toward the comm office, hoping to catch up to Xera. By sheer mischance, she misses Xera and Thaarin entirely, so that when she hurries into the office, she finds herself alone, unless Syralana is also there...

Syralana has posed:
     Syra? Paperwork? Pfft, she'd have Vons take- Wait, where is he?

     What?! He's not here?! Well that was a problem that probably would take more requisition forms to figure out than it would be to just do the paperwork she was going to offload on someone else. The true bureaucratic way!

     Which is why, Sira is sitting in her chair and leaning back. The datapad on the desk in front of her as she uses her foot on the bottom of the desk to make he swing a bit from side-to-side. The stylus for her datapad currently stuck between her upper lip and nose as she curls her lip up to hold it there while making sort of 'fish-face' expressions toward the ceiling.

     Was she imagining herself underwater? Was she daydreaming about being a fish or sea spider? Perhaps she was just lamenting about the fact she couldn't be be out on a deck, under an awning, listening and watching the deluge of rain? Only Syra knows and she's not talkin'!

     Because she's making fish-faces toward the ceiling while rotating back and forth in her chair with her stylus under her nose like a mustache.

Athena (159) has posed:
Yes, sadly Vons isn't here to do her paperwork, although her 'stupid little in-the-moment' cover story (as Vons liked to call it) had stuck and literally everyone on her team is now referring to Vons as her errand boy.

But moments later, she'll likely be snapped out of her fish faced reverie, as Xera marches up to her office and aggressively presses the ringer three times in row, long and hard. She doesn't even notice Navi standing there, though Thaarin will give Navi a faint smile and nod of recognition.

Navi has posed:
Startled by the buzzer, Navi squeaks softly and jumps. Looking back over her shoulder, she spots Xera and Thaarin, and returns the latter's smile, slightly shakily in the wake of her little fright.

"Um, hello Miss Graf, Thaarin. I hope the weather's not ruining your day?" she says warmly, turning to face them, her colonial-issue plastoid rain cape crackling faintly at the movement. Even if it weren't a size too large for her, it isn't quite adequate for its intended purpose, keeping most of the rain off instead of all of it. Her clothes and hair are just noticeably dampened from the downpour.

Syralana has posed:
     "Kriff!" Syra calls out, a clatter of noise, and within a moment, limbs are one way, the chair another, and she's finding herself on the floor. A groan of noise, though, as luck would have it - amidst the fall she jerked her head forward and release the stylus. The stylus then bounced off a knee, caught her foot on the way down, and after hitting the ceiling came to a clatter right on the datapad.

     WIN-WIN!

     Then with another smaller thump, it rolled off the datapad, to the edge of the desk and fell off where it bounced off her forehead, pointy end down. "Son of a Bantha Biscuit!" She curses out, rubbing at her forehead while sitting back up on the floor behind her desk. Calling out, "Come in! Come in!" Another little grunt, a scoot onto her knees and Xera probably gets to see what looks like Sira sitting in the shortest chair in existence for a moment as just her head is above tabletop level. Still rubbing at her forehead, she moves a bit to the side, wiggling around in her more-impromptu office (the real one would be in the Comms center after all) before standing up.

     "How can I help you?" Syra bends down to grab the stylus (and no, she doesn't hit her head on the desk) before spotting, "Navi! Hey! How are you? I swear it feels like it has been months. You have no idea how crazy it has been. Oh! I found some guy who was obsessed with you, besides Vons I mean."

Athena (159) has posed:
When Navi greets Xera, the Graf bureaucrat turns slightly, finally noticing the young Sephi girl. "Oh, you're here too," she says, arching a brow at her, without even extending a greeting.

Xera looks thoroughly unimpressed when Syra finally lets her in, and her perfect brows crash together in disapproval. "Did you get the text transmission I sent you?" she demands, storming inside the office in an authoritative manner, while Thaarin lingers outside with Navi. "I want all the nonsense surrounding one of our lead engineers being dead cleaned up. Is Dresda really dead? Taryn told me there was some kind of accident? What happened? Why weren't you there?"

Navi has posed:
Navi winces faintly at the reminder about Vons, and another not-so-secret admirer, most likely the one she shares an unexpected connection with via the Force. "Well, technically it /has/ been months. But not many of them. It's good to see you again," she replies to Syralana, nodding. "Maybe I'd better ask about those obsessions later, though."

She beckons Thaarin inside as she enters the office. Maybe the climate inside is unpleasant, no thanks to Xera's mood, but at least it's dry. "What's this about a dead lead engineer, anyway? Sounds like we missed some troubles."

Syralana has posed:
     . . . Bantha Biscuit. That one was not said aloud. Syra takes a moment, a breath, a final rub at her forehead before pinching her nose. Never. Ending. Paperwork. And an exhale as she opens her eyes again and looks back to Xera. Head tilting a bit to the side as she arches her eyebrows. "Yes. Of course. Yes. Yes. Accident. Public relations." She arches her eyebrows up a bit higher, "Shall we start at the top or is that enough and we can continue working together to handle as much as we can?"

     Syra tilts her head the opposite direction, eyebrows still up. "But, I think the real question is the... Third? Wait. Fourth?" She bobs her head a couple times, and then says the words to herself, tapping the side of her leg as she counts it off. "Third question, fourth thing said? Which is - what happened. To that end, we are launching an investigation as the circumstances behind the collapse seem suspicious and it's important to-" A hold of her hand, "-without relying on any eye-witness testimony, myself included, what exactly happened to cause the accident on the job site. We aren't even sure if Dresda had died before or after the incident, as that's part of the on-going investigation."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Accident that you clearly didn't prevent," Xera says, sounding more and more unimpressed by the minute.

She narrows her eyes at Syra. "You're not making any sense, -Officer-," she says disdainfully. "Why the kriff would anyone want to launch an investigation that doesn't rely on eye witness testimony? You're practically -asking- to get falsified evidence dropped in your lap." Then she waves a hand dismissively. "Anyway, you'll spare me the details for now but I want a full report, no detail excluded, on my desk by this evening. And you are going to include the testimonies of all the eye witnesses included in it." Then she continues before Syra can protest, "Now, lucky for you, I am a resourceful and well networked woman despite your incompetence and have already found a replacement for the accident that you apparently weren't able to stop from happening." She smiles at Thaarin and motions for him step forward and stand in front of Syra's desk.

"This is Thaarin," she says, "the Jedi found him somewhere in the Unknown Regions, and he's made it known to me and rest of leadership that he has some ability in the area of communications and engineering," she says. "He'll make himself useful, I'm sure."

"A pleasure to meet you, Officer Syralana," Thaarin says mildly, bowing politely at the Echani woman.

Now, Thaarin might make Syra feel... a certain way. The first thing she may notice about him is that he is beautiful. Extraordinarily so, and it would be unlikely to find any being, regardless of gender, who would describe him as unattractive. But it isn't necessarily just his looks -- there's a presence about him - powerful, confident, unashamed, exotic. He's not like any other alien Syra will have ever seen in her life before. He could have been, for all intents and purposes, Pantoran - but his eyes, they belonged to a Shistavanen. They're scarlet, luminous, burning like a flame in the somewhat inadquate lighting of her office.

Navi has posed:
"I'll vouch for Thaarin's competence," Navi adds. "When we found him, he didn't speak a word of Basic, but he's since learned to both speak and, I'm assuming, read it, to the point that you'd swear he was professionally trained in it. All in less than two months. Trust me, he's brilliant."

Syralana has posed:
     "Exclude? Oh heavens no." Syra shakes her head, "Rely on? No way. I would much rather have hard facts than possibly misremembered moments around the time of a crisis." Syra gives a sort of bewildered look, "If I gave preference of witness testimony over hard facts, that would be the real travesty." She gives another shake of her head and a shrug, "But if you want me to completely rely on witness testimony, then you got it. I will make sure that those are the treated as the most important facts as to what happened to cause the accident." She nods her head, and arches her eyebrows.

     "Or, I can make sure that the investigation is completed appropriately as I said before you told me to change it. Can you write me a holomail about exactly what you want me to do to ensure that it's conducted how /you/ want it done instead?" Another blink and she turns to look at Thaarin.

     "Oh wonderful." She is about to offer her hand, then there's the fact that he's bowing as so she is pulling the hand back and shooting a look toward Navi. An arch of her eyebrows as if to ask, One of your typed? Maybe? Then back toward Thaarin, "Perfect, we can always use people who are well versed in Engineering. How are you with Geology? If the cave-in was caused by some sort of geological shift or miscalculation, that might be the most important- Oh right, sorry. I believe I have been ordered to rely only on testimony now to determine the initial reasons that will form the hypothesis as to the reason for the collapse. I do not recall any testimony talking of the possibility of geological instability being heard or seen before the event."

     Syra shoots a look to Xera and arches her eyebrows.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin offers Navi a faint but brief smile. "Thank you, Navi," he says. "but there's no need to flatter me."

Xera looks offended. "Are you patronizing me?" she snaps back at Syralana. Then she grumbles. "Save it. Conduct the investigation however you want, but I still want that report on my desk by evening." Then she sweeps out of Syra's office, though she doesn't leave the building right away.

Once it appears Xera is out of earshot, Thaarin turns to Syralana. "I apologize for her ... ignorance," he says calmly. "I'm no expert in geology, but if you can present me with some of the data and evidence surrounding the circumstances, I can attempt to make a conclusion."

Navi has posed:
"I know. That's why I wasn't flattering you," Navi replies to Thaarin, with a faint smile, after Xera has gone. "Most sentients need months or even years to master a new language at a conversational level, but you did it in less than eight weeks. So either you're intellectually brilliant, or your whole species is. I'm betting you'll be an asset to any investigation."

She glances after Xera. "I definitely haven't missed her temper," she murmurs. "I do need to talk with her soon, though. Is there anything I can do to help with the investigation?" The last is addressed to Syralana.

Syralana has posed:
     "Patronizing? Oh Hells no. I just want to make sure that it's done the way you want. I will have the full report to you as soon as the investigation is complete, and the preliminary findings on your desk this evening." Syra smiles and watches her go, then waits until Xera is out of earshot before turning back toward Thaarin. "~Neither am I~. An expert in geology that is. But then again, I'm still waiting on some of the reports myself."

     Moving around her desk, she half-sits on the edge of the front of it. Crossing her arms as she looks up toward the ceiling. Holding the stylus, she taps the back of it against her thumbnail as she swings it between index and middle, mouth pulling to the side. "The whole thing has been a bit of a mess. It figures, the one day that I decide to uh-" Her mouth pulls off to the side, "-broaden our public relations with visiting dignitaries who can assist in the completion of our overall objective-" beat, then a nod, "Yeah. I like that. So, while I was doing that, an accident happens."

     Syra sighs, "What are the farking odds I ask you? Don't answer that." She waves a hand and shakes her head, then looks toward Navi. "Sure. If you can find out if anyone's lying using that spooky stuff, then I would love it if you can tell me if some of the people are lying."

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin smiles faintly again. "The only thing that sets me apart from the rest of my kind is that I am a poor example of them. I am of average intellect," he says, "and you are too kind, as well as terrible for my ego. Whatever shall I do? I do enjoy your company very much~" he teases the young Sephi girl.

But when she asks if there's anything she can do regarding the investigation and Syra gives her a task, his expression grows solemn. "You should worry about it tomorrow," he says, "tonight, I think you should indulge in some well deserved rest."

Perhaps he's right, but Navi will see that Xera is lingering near one of the wall to floor windows out in the hallway, staring out at the pouring rain. Maybe now isn't such a bad time to speak with her...

Thaarin seems mildly amused by Syra's explanatory monolgue. "We'll find out the truth," he says, "sooner rather than later." He pauses briefly. "But speaking of out the truth - and you'll have to forgive my frankness - I think you're lying. But I can hardly blame you. Even if I had answers right now, I'm not sure I'd tell Lady Graf." He comes to sit down in the chair in front of Syra's desk. "But let's see about what reports you do have?"

Navi has posed:
"Cayde's better at that kind of stuff," Navi replies, blushing faintly. "I can try, but I can't guarantee results." She looks to Thaarin, the blush deepening slightly. "You're as bad for mine, sometimes. I just might take your advice on that rest, but I'll be on the case tomorrow. Try not to make Syralana fall in love with you in the meantime," she adds, the last impishly. "I'll be back in a moment or so," she adds, starting for the door. "I've got another matter to attend to."

She pauses beside Xera, staring into the rain. "I missed you," she says softly.

Syralana has posed:
     Syra furrow her brow and tilts her head as she looks at Thaarin, "Lying? Not at all. He was, in fact, visiting and many people would consider those that follow along with traditions that revere the Force to be dignitaries. And I was, absolutely, trying to improve relations and he proved to be an absolutely amazing asset during the accident." As she says all of those, she ticks them off her fingers.

     "So, what I said was - in fact - entirely true. I just know how to spin it." She points at herself, "Journalist." To this, she gives a sage nod before the hand reaches back to grab the datapad on the desk behind her. She's sitting on the front of it near to Thaarin after all, and pulls it back across. She closes out Flappy Mynock as she pulls up the holomail folder that houses the reports so far.

     "Have a look though. I started to compile some of the testimonies into sub-folders, and then some of the initial findings as well. I'm still waiting on some of the computer forensics surrounding the incident, as well as some of the results from surveys. Blah-blah bureaucracy." She sighs and looks over toward Navi. A pull of her mouth off to the side.

     "Stop blushing, or I swear to the Force I'm going to change the delivery address of the Bantha to you instead of Vons. Since he doesn't want it anymore." Squint! "But, fine, fine, do what you can. Maybe I'll send it to Cayde."

Athena (159) has posed:
"If it weren't a lie, at least in some small degree, you wouldn't feel the need to justify yourself." Thaarin offers Syralana a faint smile. "Journalist?" he says in that demure tone of voice, "You do realize, that journalists are trained to lie expertly, in order to perform their duties better? They say," he says, "the better the liar, the more proficient the journalist." He pauses. "And I do not have a doubt about you being the very best in your trade." His smile broadens just a little. "And you needn't concern yourself with the report Xera requested. I'll compile it."

When Syra commands Navi to stop blushing, he sighs. "Perhaps you ought to try avoiding rubbing salt in the wound," he says gently. "It's not entirely clear to me how she feels about me, but ... I'm not interested in her like that. And I plan to tell her soon."

He picks up the datapad and starts looking at some of the evidence, findings, and testimonies, his brow furrowing lightly. "What do you know about the geology regarding this planet? Weather patterns? Soil type?" he says, thoughtfully.

When Navi tells Xera that she missed her, the bureaucrat sighs. "Spare me your sentimentality," she says gratingly, "you wanted to ask me for some kind of favor, didn't you. That's all any ever wants from me these days, even if they don't ask for it right away," she says sourly.

Navi has posed:
"I don't want a favor, Xera," Navi replies, keeping her tone level in spite of the sting of Xera's ascerbic words. "Not now, and hopefully not ever. Is it so hard for you to believe that someone cares about you?"

Syralana has posed:
     "What? No, no. That would make you libel." Syra shakes her head, frowning as she looks to Thaarin, "We're just really good at telling the truth artistically. And besides, in bureaucracy, if you're not an advocate for yourself, then you're gonna have a bad day. Hm? Oh, we don't have enough for a full report yet, that was true - not unless it all just came in?" Syra leans over to look down at her datapad that he's now holding.

     "Hm? Oh, no, if I let it be then people will ~never learn~. Threats of Bantha Plushies is absolutely the best approach." She crosses her arms again and then reaches out to tap the stylus on one of the reports, "All that we have is right there. At least, based on the information that we had before and after the accident in regard to geology and weather."

     Pulling the stylus back she taps on her chin with the back of it, frowning, "I don't recall any extensive cave systems being discovered this close under the survey area. That's one of the reasons that I feel like there's more to this, and I am reasonably sure someone is lying - not just twisting the facts - as to what caused it. Hells, I was waiting on the autopsy to confirm time of death to being before or after the accident even. I have my doubts."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Speaking of people who are better at that 'lie-detecting' thing, Cayde happens to emerge from a hallway near the windows where Navi and Xera are standing. He'd just finished in Master Rykard's office. But his brows furrow when he sees them talking. Hadn't he told Navi to stay away from Ms. Graf? Immediately, he recalls the past couple of minutes' worth of conversation from the Sephi's memories, confirming that Navi had been the one to approach her.

    Already, she can feel his presence--a worried, and also somewhat impatient one. They'd had this discussion before...

Athena (159) has posed:
Xera rolls her eyes. "Oh of course plenty of people care about me," she says, "Power and influence will get you that kind of attention, and I don't plan on relinqushing that anytime soon." She pauses. "Now, out with it. What do you want?" she says, folding her arms. She remains unaware of Cayde for the time being.

Thaarin chuckles softly. "Officer," he says softly and gently, "It was a compliment. And you need not worry about me telling anyone else about your meeting this 'special' dignitary of yours. I'm certain he or she was worth the time and effort, as I'd hate for you to waste your time one someone who wasn't."

He fixes her with that burning, scarlet gaze of his that could compel almost anyone to not look away, and escape his powerful aura. "Learn what, exactly? And have you tried diplomacy?"

Then his attention is diverted back to the datapad, releasing Syra from the intensity of his fiery irises. "I have very little to work with as of now," he says, "but if I had to guess, it seems likely that some kind of sabotage was involved. The equipment reported to have been last used by the lead engineer was in perfect functioning condition mere hours before the incident. And the soil here is rocky, not soft and vulnerable to cave-ins. But naturally, the autopsy results will certainly shed more light on the situation."

Navi has posed:
<Don't scold me with your mind, Cayde... by dealing with her, I may prevent a disaster we are unlikely to be prepared to deal with,> Navi thinks back at Cayde. <Even if I'm wrong, I'd rather try and fail than not try at all.>

Navi sighs. "I want to see you again. That's all. I'm not hunting favors, unless you consider seeing me a favor. I don't know what it takes for me to prove my sincerity to you. I'd hug you, but my clothes are damp, and I doubt you want to get any wetter."

Syralana has posed:
     "Pfft, I wasn't defending myself. Only those of my peers in Journalism." She says it with an airy loftiness and flashes a smile. She looks back at him and crinkles her nose, "Learn that Bantha Plushies are better than relationships. One of them is full of fluff, the other is full of /other/ things." She arches an eyebrow and keeps looking right back at him, she doesn't mind. After all, she hasn't lied.

     "Nah, diplomacy is overrated when you're trying to tease people mercilessly. That's for when you want to get people to do things for you." She tilts her head again and leans forward to look down at the datapad again. She nods her head a bit, "Yeah, that was my initial impression as well. You can see it in the report I started working on." She gestures toward another one of the holomails that was marked as 'In Progress'.

     "My initial hypothesis, is that it's sabotage specifically triggered to target the individual who died." She crosses her arms again, sitting back up more straight again instead of leaning over to read the datapad upside down. "There's a few people that I have earmarked for further questioning on the matter. The sedimentary make-up of the ground should have been more than enough to hold, and the way it collapsed, along with the location of the body on the far side of a ravine, leads me to believe that either... He was killed before, and placed there. The sabotage staged to make it all look like an accident. Or he was killed in the accident, and someone went down and moved his body in an effort to cover it up."

     Sira taps again on there chin with he stylus, "I'm leaning a bit more toward the third, as it would explain how Harrah ended up over there too. Someone hoping she would die in the aftermath. Neither one of them were near the initial collapse, and were found on the other side of a ravine."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    <What disaster> Cayde asks, even as he continues to probe for the answer himself. She'll be able to see that a lot of things are already going through his mind. Does he need to erase her memories of anything in particular? Or maybe make her see them in a different light? Or, perhaps, cause her to fall into a deep sleep during a certain time? Or find a way to change her mind about something? All very doable things, right?

Athena (159) has posed:
Xera's expression finally softens. "Oh," she says, feigning surprise. "Well, I suppose I did say that we could start seeing one another more privately, and informally. But I'm afraid I'm not available at all today," she comments flippantly. "And likely not for the rest of the week. But I'll reach out when I find time," she says. She starts for the exit of the temporary structure, but then stops. "Well I suppose you could walk with me back to my habsuite."

Thaarin seems amused. "Other things such as ... substance?" He offers another faint smile. "Perhaps you just haven't found the correct substance, then," he teases.

"And I suppose that's what I'm here for," he says, chuckling softly again. "Well, I'm happy to serve and fulfill any request you might have," he says.

"And who are these individuals?" Thaarin says. He learns towards her, scrunitizing her a little. "I ... take back what I said about you being the very best in your trade," he says, "you seem even more apt than the best. Are you sure you don't have any ... hobbies adjacent to journalism?"

Navi has posed:
<Yes, Cayde, all of those things are doable. They also tread dangerously close to the Dark Side, even if there weren't ethics involved, and impossible to explain if they should fail,> Navi replies to Cayde, by way of telepathic communication. <What I'm doing isn't at all certain, but it's better that than risking losing the whole colony's trust in the Jedi Order.>

"I could at that," she replies softly to Xera, moving to follow the taller woman while drawing her rain cape tighter around her body, to hopefully keep off most of the rain.

Syralana has posed:
     "I was thinking more like full of poodoo. But I suppose there's always that chance." Sira /sighs/ and then crosses her arms as she nods her head toward the datapad. "There's a few people I have earmarked, one of them is a Dug I've been keeping an eye on. He damn near started a fight the first day. I have since applied a couple Hello Nexu stickers to his work helmet, so he should be a bit easier to spot."

     Her mouth pull again and she tilts her head to the side, looking back toward the doorway. "What? You're here for /subtances/? I thought you were here for /building/. But I guess if you got a chemistry major too, there's bound to be a trade in that." She glances back to Thaarin and one of her eyebrows furrows, "Well, I'm not a bad shot if that's what you're asking. When I was a journalist, I was working more out on the front lines, so to speak. Got into that because I used to be part of a Merc group that was fighting out on the front lines. Attention to detail matters a lot when you're worried what that bit of debris up ahead is."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns. But why? They wouldn't really harm her in the end, as they were all very temporary, right? For the sake of the colony. And why won't she show him what she's trying to do? He just wants to help...why won't she let him use his gifts to do that? The one thing he's actually good at...

    He stares after them for a few seconds as they start to leave, then suddenly hurries after her and tries to grab her wrist and pull her away from Xera.

Athena (159) has posed:
"You still haven't answered my question," Xera says softly. "What do you want? Not from me specifically. But just in general. Why are you here? What do you hope to gain from being part of the Tenoo initiative?" She asks. It's stopped raining by now, so she ventures out of the building, carefully avoiding the wet puddles in the surrounding area. But then Cayde appears out of nowhere and tries to drag Navi away. She rolls her eyes. "What's the matter with you?" she says irritably, "We were having a perfectly amicable conversation!"

Thaarin arches a brow. "You'll have to forgive me... I'm not familiar with colloqialisms," he says. "What's the Dug's name? I could go talk to him later," he offers.

He offers her a faint smile when Syralana when she mentions 'substances.' "Officer," he says softly, "I'm here because I owe a life debt to the Jedi. I was held hostage by enemies to my people in the Unknown Regions, as you call it, for many months. My brother then perished in the subsequent aftermath. It... was a complicated matter, and because of it I'm not sure I can return to my people, nor am I entirely certain I want to at the moment. They did not come looking for me, most likely due to civil unrest, and I don't think they'll take kindly to my explanation of how he perished. We were both decorated officers in the Defense Fleet." His expression suddenly becomes slightly mournful. "As you can imagine, that kind of relationship is far from my mind. All I'd like right now, is not be lonely."

"I see," he says, though his brows remain slightly furrowed. He's not entirely convinced, but Syra might not pick up on it. "Well, then. You must be certainly be a multifaceted treasure of the Republic out here, given the particular circumstances. The frontier is certainly not for the single skilled pioneer."

Navi has posed:
"Well, you already know I wasn't keen on coming back to the Outer Rim," Navi replies, following, careful of the puddles. "But at least half of the people I care about in this whole galaxy are part of this colony, and I want to make sure it succeeds, or at least be here to help save the survivors if it doesn't. Yourself included."

Before she can say more, her wrist is seized by Cayde, who starts trying to drag her away! "Cayde?! Geez, what /is/ it?" she cries, strictly for Xera's benefit. <As if I didn't /already know/!> she adds telepathically. "Stop trying to pull my arm out of its socket!"

Syralana has posed:
     A snort, "Well, thank the Force for small favors. Relationships really are annoying most of the time." Syra gives another shake of her head and glances again toward the door. "Either way, - eh, maybe we'll talk later about all that." She SIGHS and throws back her head as she looks back down to Thaarin once more, a narrow of her eyes as if she's appraising him for a moment. Then a shake of her head.

     "Anyway... His name is Wenisicio." Another frown, "What? You mean earmarked? Uhh, singled out. I have them set to be re-evaluated, and their stories re-verified, preferably by some form of electronics." She gives another shrug, leaning back a bit and shifting until she's seated on the desk more fully, one of her feet twisting a bit from side-to-side.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde lets go of Navi when she becomes angry with him, even if she doesn't twist away. He stares at her for a moment with an unreadable expression, then finally sighs and turns away. This time, she won't be able to read him without pushing.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Is that so," Xera says, eyes narrowing as her expression becomes pensive. "And who are those people?"

She watches as Cayde turns to leave, expression unreadable. "What an irritating mystery that boy is," she says, "I thought the Jedi weren't supposed to be prone to outbursts of emotion..."

"No," he says, "It was..." then he waves a hand dismissively.

"I'd love that, actually," he says suddenly, his expression becoming mildly sad and longing, "Perhaps over a drink, at a local joint. We could talk colloqialisms, what trade and culture is like in the Republic. I don't know anything about the Outer Rim. In fact, I've never --" Then he stops himself, frowning. "I apologize. I've overstepped. You're busy, and I have work to do as well now..."

Syralana has posed:
     "Nah, not /that/ busy." Syra says with a mutter and another glance at the door, making sure that Xera still wasn't there. As she looks back to Thaarin, she shifts a bit on the desk and her mouth curves into a bit more of a smile, "Sure. You're buying, I'm not cheap, and I know more about blasters than trade." She crosses her arms and then shifts a bit forward till she slips off the edge of the desk.

     "Now hurry up and forward yourself what you need so I can have my datapad back." She laughs, "Oh, and include my number in what you are mailing yourself."

Navi has posed:
Navi finds quickly that she can no longer read Cayde's mental state. Shaking her head, she watches him go. "He means well," she says softly to Xera. "And he's a good friend. Just impulsive, sometimes. I'll have to talk to him later about it."

The question of who she cares about is met with a thoughtful look. "Yourself. My friends in the Jedi Order. A Chadra-Fan family. A pair of Dathomiri sisters from Jedha. Others. The whole colony, at least to a lesser degree. It wouldn't be right for them to be left to fend for themselves if this colony doesn't succeed."

Athena (159) has posed:
He smiles, this time just a tiny bit broader than the times before. "Really...," he says a bit hesitantly."Well, if you says so. Blasters and colloquialisms. And of course. I think I have an ounce of politeness in me." He pauses, leveling his gaze with hers. "Thank you, really. This means more to me than you might think." he says softly. He nods and then finishes with the datapad and hands it back to her.

"Hm, I see," Xera says, but expression seems calculating instead of intentional. They've arrived at her habsuite now. "Well here we are now. I'll see you later, I suppose." Then she goes inside it, leaving Navi in the wet cold.

Navi has posed:
"See you," Navi replies softly, mildly disappointed that Xera hadn't invited her in. Then again, she'd said she was unavailable all week. That calculating look gave her a nagging feeling about the taller woman's intentions, but she'd accepted the dangers of dealing with Xera Graf's mercurial moods and uncertain motivations months ago.

She turns toward her own much less impressive habitation. "Guess I'll get out of thesw wet clothes and catch a nap, like Thaarin wanted. Have to talk to Cayde later this evening, and maybe check in on that investigation," she murmurs. Beat. "And now this stupid initiative's got me talking to myself, too. I can't wait to get back to the Core," she murmurs, slowly shaking her head.