Owner	Pose
Athena	It's a quiet evening in Aklyrr Bend, it's an hour after a sunset, and most of the colonists have retired to their temporary hab suites to settle down for the night. However, for such night owls like a particular Arsok Vons, the work day has just begun - he does his best work when it's not light out. And tonight, his objective is spy on the self designated coin purse of the colony - Xera Graf, along with all her lackeys. Navi isn't one of them (yet??), but certainly her personal aide, Avi, qualifies. At the present moment, the girl had lingered long after the dinner crowd at the dining hall had dissipated, and gone into the kitchen for a reason that the Zeltron man can only guess at, for the time being. For now, he lurks outside the kitchen, peering in through a skylight on the roof...
Navi	Navi walks into the mess tent just in time to witness Avi slipping into the kitchen area of the dining hall. She doesn't immediately think anything of it, being tired and just in from working leads on a recent case. "Guess I missed dinner again... is there anything left?" she asks the counter girls.
Athena	"Yes," the Pa'lowick woman behind the dinner counter says, "but they put it all away already, so you'll have to raid the fridge in the back yourself. You're welcome to use the facilities to reheat anything," she says, "but clean up after yourself! I'm calling it a night..." And she disappears out the back. If Navi decides to wander into the kitchen, she'll then see Avi there, peering into the pantry spaces.
Navi	"Have a good night," Navi replies to the woman, then slips into the kitchen. Just in time to witness Avi looking into the pantry spaces. Hmm...
Athena	Her behavior is definitely... odd. She appears to be looking for something, she's opening every single cabinet in the kitchen. But she doesn't take anything out, which Navi might find peculiar. If she's searching for something, she's certainly not going about it in a very efficient manner. Navi will also notice she appears visibly distraught. Like, on the verge of tears. But when Navi comes in, she composes herself, and wipes her eyes. "I don't suppose you came to spy on me, in an attempt to blackmail," she says haughtily, smoothing her dress.
Navi	"I'm working for The Law, Avi... I don't deal in blackmail," Navi retorts flatly. "But I /am/ wondering just what you're looking for in all those cabinets. And why you need to find it so badly."
Athena	"None of your damn business!" she shrieks, suddenly losing her composure. "You stay out of my way," she hisses, pointing accusatorily at the young Sephi. Then she flees the kitchen, running as fast as she can for Xera's oversized penthouse on the other side of the colony. Once she's out of sight and hearing range, Vons drops down from the roof and comes into the kitchen, examining the cupboards Avi had opened. "We've gotta go after her," he tells Navi. "You're the only one Xera wouldn't be suspicious of showing up on her front doorstep," he says with a defeated sigh.
Navi	"I'll do that. You might want to see what you can find in here. She was pawing through there looking like she was about to cry fit to fill The Gorge. And I have a feeling whatever it is, it's important to /somebody/. Probably Xera," Navi replies. "And knowing Avi, she'll run straight to Xera's hab." She hurries out of the kitchen, toward Xera's pent-hab, slowing her pace to a brisk walk. As she walks, she hastily puts her clothes and hair in better order.
Athena	"No!" Vons says, hurrying after her, "I'm not letting you go there alone," he says. "Besides, I don't think there's anything left to investigate in the kitchen. I watched her come in, open every cabinet like she had a search warrant but take nothing out. No idea why." "I'll find an angle to watch you from, discreetly. Just be careful, and see what you can find out," he says. Once they approach Xera's abode, he slows his pace and backs off a little, looking for a window, or another skylight he can peer in through.
Navi	"Maybe, maybe not. Were it me, I'd want to be sure. Anyway, Xera won't hurt me. She may be money-obsessed, but she's not stupid enough to harm an officer of The Law. Unless it was Cayde, maybe, but he did kinda-sorta threaten her. And half the colony seems to have ill feelings toward Cayde, anyway, so it's not like she's a unique case," Navi replies. She doesn't bring up any feelings Xera may have for her; she doesn't know how Vons would react to that kind of news. She approaches the pent-hab's main door and presses the doorchime. "It'd be just my luck that she's asleep. And Avi sure as frell won't answer it," she murmurs.
Athena	"You never know," Vons says as he climbs onto the roof of Xera's penthouse. "Sometimes you think you know people..." The doorchime goes off, but no one answers. Maybe Xera's asleep, maybe she's not. It doesn't seem like it, the lights are all on. Vons finds a ventilation shaft and peers in, then shakes his head. He frowns, suspicious. "Something tells me you need to get in there, like right now," he says. "There's a reason why she's not answering, and we need to know." He pulls out a small knife and pops the grill off the ventilation shaft, then motions for Navi to come up to where he is and crawl into the vent...
Navi	Navi clambers up onto the roof, aided by years of acrobatics training from her days in the Order. She looks at the shaft with misgivings. "That is /way/ too close... and there's no way whoever's in there won't hear me coming," she murmurs, trying to slide her shoulders into the gap and finding them too wide. "Frell... just barely..." she murmurs angrily. Scowling and blushing faintly, she hastily wriggles out of her clothes and boots. Pinning her co-Marshal's badge to her undershirt, she takes her lightsaber and clambers into the shaft...
Athena	"Come on," Vons urges in a whisper, "you crawled through smaller... right?" Well, they're just both undressing now, apparently Vons had every intention of getting in as well. He doesn't seem to have any problem with it - perhaps the extent to which he -doesn't- mind is more than Navi might like. At least he doesn't comment. The inside of the ventilation shaft is unpleasantly warm. Clearly, they're the shafts for the private sauna in Xera's quarters, and gauging by the temperature and the humidity inside of it, she had used it today at least a few hours prior. Now, not only will Navi and Vons be crawling through a tiny ventilation shaft while in their underwear but they'll have to do it while sweaty and covered in condensation. Oh, well, at least she'll be able to hear Xera and Avi's voices coming from somewhere farther down shaft...
Navi	Navi clambers out of the ventilation shaft and drops into the sauna chamber, her underwear, socks, and skin now damp with condensation from the shaft. She puts a finger to her lips as she moves to assist Vons out of the shaft. Going by the sound of their voices, Avi and Xera are close by, and the walls are quite thin...
Athena	Vons follows her, and climbs out of the shaft silently, nodding when she puts a finger to her lips. Once Xera and Avi's voices can be heard, he presses himself against the wall. The voices are nearby, but their words are too muffled in order for Navi or Vons to be able to understand what they're saying. It sounds like some kind of argument, though, and Avi sounds like she's crying. Navi's gonna have to get nearer...
Navi	Navi carefully opens the door to the sauna and sneaks out, looking around warily for the Graf heiress and her mean-mouthed assistant. The door hinges groan softly as she opens it, causing her to freeze. Fortunately for her (and Vons!) it must not have been loud enough to get anyone's attention. She creeps closer to the sound of voices...
Athena	Vons follows her out of the sauna, but doesn't follow Navi, instead he motions to her that he's going to keep watch in the hallway, to make sure Xera's protocol droids don't get any ideas about cleaning the hallway or the sauna and discover them intruding... Avi and Xera are in the bedroom, and Navi will catch the tail end of whatever argument they're having. Avi is saying she doesn't want to do something, and Xera's asking her if she'd like to go home, to which Avi responds in the negative. Then, all of a sudden, Avi will burst out of the bedroom, her make up a streaked mess, tears marring her youthful countenance. She seems too distraught to think much about Navi being in Xera's quarters, instead, she just shoves past her. Hopefully Vons has found a place to hide. Xera seems shocked and dismayed to find that Navi's here. Weirdly, she doesn't scold her. "... Navi? What are you doing here? Did you need something?"
Navi	"I... saw Avi run this way after she ran out of the kitchen area in the dining hall," Navi replies, blushing faintly. "Something was clearly wrong, but when I knocked, there was no answer. So I made my way in. I thought there might be an emergency."
Athena	"There's nothing wrong," Xera immediately replies to Navi. "She's fine. I'm fine. There's no emergency. She just misses her family, that's all." But Navi maybe inclined to use the Force to assess whether she's telling the truth or not.
Navi	"I can't blame her for missing her family, but... are you sure nothing's wrong?" Navi asks softly, quietly straightening her undershirt and hitching up her briefs.
Athena	"Nothing's wrong," Xera says, but it will be clear to Navi that Xera knows she's on thin ice. She averts her gaze, and turns away. "Now, you should probably get dressed and go back to your hab suite. It's late." But Xera knows that Navi isn't stupid, and that her lying is for naught.
Navi	Inwardly cursing Vons for not staying to search the kitchen, Navi catches Xera's upper arm as she turns away. She's gentle about it, and Xera could pull away if she wished, but it should get her attention. "Xera, you know I care about you," she says softly. "If you're in trouble, I want to help you."
Athena	"I'm not in trouble," Xera says, removing Navi's hand gently from her upper arm. There's a quiet pause. "Listen, Navi. I need a favor. Don't tell anyone about what you saw tonight. Don't investigate, don't be concerned for me, I'm being sincere when I say that I'm not in trouble." "Do this, and you can visit me anytime you like."
Navi	Navi looks at Xera for a long, long moment. "All right," she says at last. "I don't think I can /ever/ stop being concerned for you... but as for tonight? I can do that much. It's a deal." << But I didn't say /you/ wouldn't, Vons... or anyone else you care to pull into this. I only meant me, >> she says telepathically to the detective. << Better get out before she realizes you're here. There's no way she's going to tell me anything else anyway. >>
Athena	Xera actually smiles at Navi. Although whether it's genuine or not will remain a mystery for now. "Thank you," she says, "I'm glad we could come to this agreement." She takes a robe hanging on a hook nearby and puts it around Navi's shoulders. "There. Now you really should get back. You'll catch a cold if go back any later - it's freezing now, no telling how cold it will be later." A slight breeze through comes in through a window that hadn't been open before, and Navi may realize that Vons had taken her advice quickly and gotten out.
Navi	"Thank you," Navi says softly, slipping her arms into the sleeves of the robe and drawing it properly shut, tying the belt. "Have a good night, Xera... and if you need help, please call on me." She turns toward the front door of the pent-hab.
Athena	"You too," she says softly, "And don't forget your promise to me. No one can know about this, ever." Then she sees Navi to the door and watches as the doors close behind her.
Navi	Once the doors are closed behind her, Navi hastily but quietly returns to retrieve her clothes and effects from the roof, then hastily returns to her hab shelter to dress and hang up the borrowed robe. Then she slips out again to find Vons.
Athena	When Navi goes to retrieve her clothes, she'll find that Vons are still there. Maybe she'll be kind enough to get them for him. Eventually, she'll find he's back in his quarters, dressed, but clearly not about to rest or sleep. There's an energy drink in his hand.
Navi	"Brought your stuff back," Navi says when Vons opens the door for her, handing him a small carryall bag. "Going back to the kitchen? I'd guess that whatever Avi was looking for is still there, if it was ever there."
Athena	"Thanks," Vons says, but his mind is clearly elsewhere. "I don't think she was looking for anything, Navi. But what she was doing there, I'm not sure. Maybe I'm wrong, though. I'll know if she comes back later to look, again."
Navi	"It sure /looked/ like she was looking for something, what with opening all those cabinets, but never taking anything out... and she was so clearly upset about it, too. Xera wanted her to do something, and Avi didn't want to do it. I just wish I could've heard what it was. I've dealt with Xera enough to know that I never was going to find out from her, so I gave her what she wanted... it effectively lost me nothing," Navi observes. "I don't like Avi, but I can't help being concerned that she may be in trouble."
Athena	"Don't worry," Vons says, "I'll be your eyes. And if you can visit her anytime you want now, that'll open up more opportunities for you to find out what's really going on."
Navi	"I'll need eyes. And be careful. I don't know what's going on with her, but it could be dangerous. There's already been one murder in this colony," Navi cautions Vons. "The one good thing about it is that it seems to have been a one-off incident from an old grudge."
Athena	Vons gives her an affectionate look. "I'll be careful enough," he says. "Don't worry about me." "But I wouldn't hang your hat up yet. I have a feeling there's more than just one bad Firehawk egg around here..."
Navi	"Oh, don't worry about that... I doubt I'll be able to hang up the badge until I'm on that freedom boat back to the Core," Navi replies. "Nothing ever stays quiet for long... if it ever /gets/ quiet."
Athena	Vons hugs her, patting her back gently. "It'll settle eventually," he says. "Even if eventually is a really, really long time from now." "You should probably go and get some rest. Besides, I've got a lot of work to do tonight..."
Navi	"I doubt I'll be here to see it. It'll probably happen about the time someone figures out what an Aklyrr is," Navi observes wryly. "Don't wear yourself too thin, Vons. I don't want you getting sick or getting too tired to miss the danger signs. For now, I'll see you in the morning." She probably surprises him when she hugs him tightly before returning to her hab.