Distractions Abound

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

When at first Aleksander had informed the intruders they were in the lair of the Pirate King and all the people present were Mandalorians who could tear them apart, Katrine hadn't flinched. It wasn't foreign to her, not completely, not when Aedan Miles had been present at Sinner's Well for dinner. Not that it mattered all too much. If Uncle Isley was having them over, they weren't part of those weird Mandalorians that "cure" Force Users or betrayed their friends over Dagobah.

The crowd of men suddenly gathering around the three, speaking in a language the Witch didn't understand, she was free to assume they could have been speaking in a language all familiar to them. And still, nothing, feeling Scherezade leave her side for a moment, making her turn her head slightly as she suddenly heard a single word coming from Pebble's mouth. Mandalorian? Her question had brought back the memory of Haseria, making the blonde blink as she'd realized what was happening.

Slowly, she'd turned on her heel as the other two had already returned to the booth, the blond taking a seat in her chair as her sapphire gaze continued to focus on Pebble. "Pebble?" Katrine called to her, leaning slightly against the table as her arm spread across it as if she was trying to reach to her Ward, feeling the sudden shift in her emotions already beginning. Once, she'd wanted her if she'd ever tried to harm Uncle Isley, the Confederates would skin her alive and Katrine herself could do nothing about it. That was her Uncle. This was the son of the Pirate King. The very same Pirate King who sat across from her Uncle at a family dinner. Which had to mean something extremely important. "Aleksander's Father sits across from my Uncle Isley in his house. He is trusted, he is respected. His ties to the Mandalorians play little part in this," she told her, breaking contact from her to glance at Aleksander for just a moment, hoping for his silence not asking it outright before she looked back to Pebble. She had told her once that Uncle Isley was the exception but she hadn't told her who he was, and she'd gone on to stab him. Then she had told her to never harm him again or she couldn't protect her. But the fact that he was family and the fact that he held the loyalty of so many by his own merits were not mutually exclusive in this because it was that which had earned him the position of family in the eyes of the Van-Derveld Hawks as well. She just hoped the teenager would listen to her now rather than get herself in danger.

"Not a single one of them will harm you in my presence. And if they so much as tried, Jart would poke their eyes out on the spot. He protects his own," she promised, waiting for a response of understanding before she looked away.

[member="Aleksander Miles"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Aleksander Miles]

Aleksander could sense the subtle shifting in the force that indicated emotional triggers as he stiffened his mind flying through the events and what he had heard before he recognized what it was. She had clearly had bad experiences with Mandalorians in the past he let Kat do the talking as he rested a hand gently on Pebbles thigh waiting for Kat to finish speaking before he chuckled and gestured around slowly to the men and woman that had returned to their seats now speaking common as the laughed and drank. He whispered softly to Pebble as he leaned near her his voice soothing. "Pebble these men and women would never dare think of hurting a guest of this bar nor those who are seated with me. Nor would they dare go after someone who works for the CIS. Unlike the current Mandalorians and their leader they accept force users and respect them for using everything at their finger tips for the good of the clan. I give you my word they would never hurt you on the contrary if I so asked they would lay down their very lives to protect you." He offers her a kind gentle smile as he patted her thigh slowly leaning back as he let her process what he had just said.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She heard her name being called. Scherezade blinked, trying to focus her attention on Katrine. She was saying more words now, about Aleksander's father sitting across her Uncle Isley, being trusted. Ties to the Mandalorians... The girl blinked in confusion. Was the guy she'd been oggling over and going some kind of crazy about this past hour a... a... a Mandalorian? The thought was almost too much to bear. She thought her heart would explode in her chest if that turned out to be true.

Katrine said something more, about them not even trying to harm her in her presence. The sentence confused Scherezade, a confusion that grew even bigger when Aleksander added to that, saying the people there would not hurt a guest at the bar or anyone working for the CIS.

They didn't understand it. Neither of them did. Mandalorians being dangerous to her was only a small part of the equation.

Slowly, she felt the warmth returning to her body, aided by the hand that was on her thigh. Gently, she picked Aleksander's hand up, her fingers playing with his if he would so allow it.

"And what if I harmed them?" she asked, a certain gleam returning to her eyes. Not the gleam that had made her look at him with cow's eyes, but something more primal, more alert. More ready to bring out the weapons and see how many heads could roll off, "leaderships and loyalties change as often as one should change their socks. Why not remove a problem from its very root before it takes shape and becomes a potential burden?"

She focused her gaze on Katrine now. Katrine, who knew most of the story. Who knew about the issues between deWinters and Mandalorians. Katrine, who would not be able to help her if she went for Darth Metus again. Katrine, who, ultimately, would not be able to stop her when she made that final lunge into the field of battle, and slayer every Mandalorian she could get her weapons or Powers on.

[member="Aleksander Miles"] [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Katrine could see Aleksander was whispering something into Pebble's ear, and bits of it, she'd caught though she wasn't sure a Mandalorian speaking to her right was the best option right now. There were bits she'd managed to hear, about CIS and protecting them, wishing her hearing was even more attuned so she'd be sure just what he was saying but she focused on Pebble anyway, watching her.

Her Ward seemed confused, that one was obvious from the way she was looking at her.

Obviously processing.

Probably didn't help she was seated next to someone she feared and hated so much when she'd been in such good spirits before.

The Witch continued to watch, waiting for something, anything from the deWinter girl before she finally asked her question. What if she harmed them? That question seemed to spark something in her eyes, talking on about leaderships and loyalties then asking why shouldn't remove a problem from its very root before it took shape. "Pebble," Katrine called to her again, stressing her nickname as a serious tone laced her words, "True loyalty is indestructible. It's pure. Whoever taught you to compare loyalty to socks knows nothing of it," she said with a resolve, though she pretty much knew how Pebble, who was just a pebble just a short while ago, could have learned about loyalty. The mysterious woman, her grandmother pretty much seemed to be the source for most of what the teenager knew though right now, she didn't want to draw names. If anything, Scherezade seemed not at all thrilled to talk about the woman. "Aleksander is the son of a man who swore his allegiance to my Uncle. And he, though not of blood, is my Uncle. He's family. You don't hurt family." Two different families, two different species but each side had taught her that very thing. Even when Lupines had once ascended to the Patriarch position by killing the previous one, her parents refused to teach their children that. No, the Van-Derveld Hawks were a different breed of wolves, a pack in its truest meaning. They were close and connected, choosing each other over any other temptation. That was why Katrine was where she was now, why Wolfram had most likely come to find her... loyalty was true or it was nothing more than a word.

Those thoughts made her look at Scherezade more intently now, watching her as she processed what she believed or what the dead ancestor believed for her, beginning to speak to her telepathically: 'Is this what your grandmother taught you? About loyalty and Mandalorians? Because if she did, that deWinter knows nothing about the first and maybe you should decide for yourself about the second thing.' Her head moved slightly as she finished, still looking at the teenager. Aleksander suddenly seemed like a unique chance for that. Pebble clearly liked him enough before she found out he was a Mandalorian. If she could try to see him for him and not for what he was born into then maybe there was a chance for the girl to grow. That would depend on her though.

[member="Aleksander Miles"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]