Falls Mainly in the Plain [Astrian]

[Araceli Loxley]

The airspeeder eased to a halt outside an exclusive tailor shop on Druckenwell, and Loxley paused for a moment before getting up. The driver climbed out and moved to help her out onto the landing platform. "Wait for me," she instructed. "I shouldn't be long." She would be meeting the newest member of her security team today and, for convenience, had scheduled the meeting at the same time she could requisition him a set of black tie wear for his first assignment, a cocktail reception at some former CEO's opulent penthouse.

She was greeted before she even stepped inside by a nervous assistant. "Lady Loxley, I'm sorry, but I don't know if this is going to work."

"You know I don't like those words," Loxley admonished, digging into her handbag for her communicator. "You've made suits for all my security men. What could possibly be the problem?"

"Well..." The assistant opened the door for Loxley and she stepped into the tailor shop. She loved the smell of a good haberdashery - the luxe fabrics, the light, lingering scent of cologne, the leather... Loxley closed her eyes and took it all in for a moment before opening them and following the assistant to the back parlor. "You see..."

Loxley was looking at her communicator. She looked up and saw a pair of feet on the pedestal, and looked up. And up. And up some more. She had to crane her neck. "...I do now," she murmured. "Good heavens."

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Astrian stood, his arms spread out beside a tailor. He didn't understand why the girls had specifically requested that he take his shirt off, or why there were no other men around. Simply females of different species surrounded him, some of which were in the corner giggling were as the girl measuring his size face was all red and she couldn't look at him straight. He couldn't help but smile, was a physically perfect tall man a rare sight? Apparently it was in this neighborhood, and then the room fell silent. No more giggles and the girl beside him stopped and turned and looked past him, under his arm. Astrian then saw fit to turn his head in said direction to see what had drawn their attention, a average height slim beauty. Likely his employer, his smile disappeared as she spoke. He turned back to the girl measuring him up, who was having trouble reaching across the entirety of his arm. He rolled his eyes, the last time he had been here. It had been a man measuring him and they had no trouble. He rolled his eyes, how unprofessional.

@[member="Araceli Loxley"]

 

[Araceli Loxley]

The pleasant smirk disappeared from Loxley's face in the blink of an eye. There had to be a mistake, she thought, there simply had to be. The shop was supposed to be closed to the public so that she and her new employee would be able to conduct their business without the meddling of the average shopper. Not that an average shopper would have the funds to be in this particular tailor shop, but that wasn't the point. "Get me the manager," she told the aide, taking her eyes off the giant in the center of the parlor and pinning them to the assistant. "Now, please."

The manager came in, and the girls in the corner scattered, one going to look as if she had been polishing the mirrors, one going to sort shoes, and yet a third going to the underwear section to fold. "Lady Loxley?" he asked, tossing his tape measure around his neck. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I'd just been in the back, looking for another bolt of fabric. We're going to need it."

"You agreed to close the shop so that my associate and I could conduct this business in private," Loxley said curtly. "And yet here I am to find that my new security detail isn't here and some giant has been let in in his place. Explain yourself, immediately! And you - get down from there, immediately. If this is how you get your thrills, getting innocent shopgirls to measure you, then it's a sad life you have. Get down, I said, and put your clothes on, good galaxies."

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Astrian turned to his employer, who seemed to think that someone else was coming. Or that there was a mix up, which there was not. "I'm sorry, I was invited here by you." He explained, getting down from the pedestal and making his way towards Ms. Loxley. He stopped a few strides length away from her studying her expensive clothing and hat. He folded his arms and watched for her change in expression, possibly this could be a humorous discussion.

@[member="Araceli Loxley"]

 

[Araceli Loxley]

"You mean to tell me that you are Astrian Callus? My new security detail?" She paused and gave him another once-over, then closed her eyes and licked her bottom lip, looking for all the world as if she was praying to the gods, the Force, the flying pasta monster for patience. "Those people at personnel requisitions sure have a sense of humor. You stick out like a melted spanner," she said, finally opening her eyes again, and raising a brow. Yes, he was as tall as she remembered. Perhaps taller.

"Now I see why they need extra fabric. How tall are you, exactly? What can you tell me about your training?" She glanced at the tailor and then cocked her head at Astrian, who took the signal to resume the fitting. He asked Astrian to return to the pedestal and pulled out his tape measure.

Loxley, meanwhile, moved to a nearby bench and sat down, taking out her datapad and tapping a few items. "Well? Are you going to keep me alive, or not?"

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Astrian returned to the pedestal as ordered and thought on his training. "Well, I'm probably the best on your security force thus far." He started, allowing the blushing girl to take her measurements. "From a young age I was trained to be a sith assassin and I was augmented physically throughout my teen years. Meaning, I can kill a man in one punch more or less. I am also a trailer duelist and expert practitioner of the saber form Djem So and an adept in many others. As for the force, I'm rather varied and I'm an ex Imperial Knight of the recently fallen Fel Empire, that's about it. Oh, and in between my time as sith assassin and an IK I was a jedi student under Master Dragonsflame, the current head of the jedi order." That was about it, an impressive resume if I may say so myself. He thought, then his gaze turned to Ms. Loxley. "Thoughts?"

@[member="Araceli Loxley"]

 

[Araceli Loxley]

Loxley raised an eyebrow but remained silent, casting her gaze down at her datapad. His resume checked out, but that didn't set her mind at ease. The man was a terrifying mixture of combat prowess, speed and strength. She cleared her throat and looked up at him again - even more of a challenge now that she was seated, but the distance was helpful.

"I suppose you have to start somewhere," she said, as if she was not at all impressed by his rattling off of skills. "Don't be so sure about my security details. I've had some extremely capable individuals on my team over the years. You will do, I suppose, although you will need to take a lesson in subtlety." She paused as the tailor wrapped her measuring tape around his bicep, then forearm, and gasped at reading her measurements. She rolled her eyes. "And modesty."

@[member="Astrian Callus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

"Subtlety and modesty in such trivial things like social activities are below my fundamental values. Keeping you alive is key, entertaining you is not." He responded, he did not enjoy the falsehood of lack of appreciation of his skills. As anyone trained in his ways could see right through her act. He ignored the girl whom gasped but kept his eyes on Ms. Loxley.

@[member="Araceli Loxley"]

 

[Araceli Loxley]

"Painting a target on your own back doesn't make me safe. Nor does it entertain me, if truth be told," said Lady Loxley. Someone in human resources or staff requisitions had quite a sense of humor sending this giant to her. She inclined her head and then shook it. "At any rate, you're what I've got so we'll have to make it work."

She gestured to the manager, who brought over a set of swatches. She studied them for a moment, then walked with the manager over to the towering figure at the center of the room. "What do you think... black? It's a bit on the nose, but for someone with his coloring..." The manager frowned and held swatches up to Astrian's arm.

"Do you have a preference, Callus?" Loxley asked, gesturing to the swatches, ranging between dark gray, charcoal, black, and even darker black.

@[member="Astrian Callus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Astrian looked down to the watches being offered to him, a watch. He had never wore a watch before r truth be told seen one before. But, he had heard of them before. Quite primitive if word of mouth served him well, he hated this waste of time. Why he needed to wear a suit at all confused him, his armour served him much better in a fight and he wouldn't be able to carry around his sword either. He would have to stick to daggers, knives, grenades and possibly blasters. Not that he was that good of a shot with a blaster, however he was certain with time he would be an excellent shot. That being, if he took the time to become as such.
However in the mean time, he was choosing watches. What a trivial and relatively insignificant task! "Charcoal." He chose at random, he didn't know what to pick. He didn't really care either.

@[member="Araceli Loxley"]

 

[Araceli Loxley]

Loxley nodded approvingly. "Yes, I think so. " She held the swatch (which is a small square of fabric used to examine the texture and actual color of it, rather than just picking it out of a catalog) out to the manager and said, "A full suit in that. And of course, a full set of black tie. Do the black tie first, we have the reception tonight and my body man has been reassigned. Thank you." The manager bowed and toddled off.

"Are you quite finished?" Loxley asked the girl who was still appraising Astrian with glazed-over eyes. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Good then. Messenger the tuxedo to my apartment by six o'clock sharp." She turned her attention back to Astrian and craned her neck again. "Well? Don't just stand there, get dressed."