Foolish to Think

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie did not recoil or brush [member="Dissero"] away. She didn't have the reflex for it. She tensed instead, flinching as if she had been struck suddenly, but remained in her tracks, looking down at the blank calendar on her desk. "So am I," she replied flatly. Her voice at this moment was devoid of any emotion; it was flat with facts and coldly analytical. "I didn't see eye to eye with my mother on a lot of things, but we agreed on one or two things. One of which was that I shouldn't talk to strangers. And I don't know who you are." She half-turned, looking over her shoulder at him. There was an exhaustion in her eyes that aged her in that moment, but a determination too. "I thought I did. You've opened my eyes and now..." She let her voice trail off weakly and shook her head.

"I suppose it's my fault," she said after a few moments of prickly silence, her voice still unnaturally calm, as if the air in her lungs and the thoughts in her head and the very blood in her veins had turned a dull, tasteless gray. There was no animosity, or even sadness, nothing that had a chance of a spark, nothing that could combust. "I thought I had you all figures out. Well." She paused and looked down. "Lesson learned. But since we'll be on this ship together for a few hours more, at the very least, I'm sure there are other pressing lessons."

She finally turned to face him completely, squaring her shoulders. She felt a little like she was facing a firing squad. "Why did you do it? Was it part of some greater scheme, or because of this... addiction... you just wanted to see the galaxy burn?"

 

[Dissero]

"It was part ... of another man's greater scheme," he admitted slowly. Would he have done all the same things were it not for Velok? Perhaps not, though it seemed entirely unfair to place all the blame on the whiphid, even if Velok had always willingly taken the fall for their deeds. Dissero's hands were not clean, no matter what he wanted to believe.

"I have no desire to see the galaxy burn," blue eyes did not connect with Verie's own for fear of facing her own judgement, "and I am not the stranger you think I am. Not completely. Every moment I have spent with you, every word and feeling, it was all true. It was all me. I have never, for a second, lead you to believe anything about what exists between us except the truth. ...for what it's worth."

Brow knitted, jaw setting, the man closed his eyes against the rampant beating of his heart.

"I love you Ve, I've waited so long to tell you these things because the thought of losing you isn't something I can bear."

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie pressed her lips together and shook her head, looking down at the deckplates. "In a way I wish you hadn't told me at all. I was so happy thinking... well. Reality is best, somehow, isn't it?" she said. Although it was phrased as a question, her tone was as flat as if she was giving him the date and time. As desperate as she had been to find some excuse or another, some extenuating circumstance or unforeseen something, now that there was some glimmer of one she was wary.

She sat down on her seat and leaned back, covering her eyes with her hands and rubbing at her eyeballs with her fingertips. "I'm not concerned about the way you feel about me. I think I know that." She paused and sighed quietly. "I think I knew there was something between us when we sat at that fountain at your sister's birthday party."

She let herself be silent for several moments before she finally sat up straight again, drawing her knees up to her chest and took another sip of her tea. "You're hesitant to mention this other man," she said quietly. "Is he still with you? Will I know him?"

[member="Dissero"]

 

[Dissero]

A fretful, wane smile of warmth showed at her mention of the party. Memories, sweet memories of a life he almost wished were real came flooding back. Memories he was ever so grateful to be able to call upon, at whim, without fail.

How that locket had rocked his security.

He remembered her with great clarity. Her at those crutches and her broken ankle. He remembered wishing he knew how to heal with the Force if only so that she wouldn't have to suffer the following months away from her favorite thing; dance. But he didn't and it certainly hadn't been the right time for such a reveal even if he had.

"He..." Dissero began, his throat beginning to feel tight - painfully so, "...is dead. Died at Contruum at the hands of the Jedi. That's the reality. His name was Velok. He was my last Master before I, myself, was named a Master."

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie lofted her eyebrows at this remark. "Congratulations are in order, then. I'm afraid my mother's etiquette books don't have a section on what is appropriate to give as a gift in such occasions. But well done in any case." She glanced at her chrono and took another sip of her tea. Velok, a name she would certainly remember for all her days. Anyone who had that kind of influence over [member="Dissero"] and who used it for such a purpose would not be easily forgotten.

"I gather that as a Master in your own right," she began, her lips forming uncertainly around the word. "You are entitled to autonomy over your actions." Verie paused uncertainly. "Or are you bound by some sense of duty or honor or memory to finish this Velok's business?" she spat his former Master's name with obvious disdain. As far as she was concerned, this Velok character was monstrous and the less influence he wielded the better everyone, especially her Prince, would be.

"At any rate. Do go on, I'm sorry to have interrupted your narrative."

 

[Dissero]

"There's nothing more to tell to that end," Dissero offered in return. A very small portion of him felt a flare of anger towards her flippant and offensive referral of his former Mentor. He quickly quelled these feelings.

"And congratulations are not necessary. It is a title, nothing more or less. As easily ignored or nullified as that of Prince ....or Lord..."

The Lord of Rudrig, reduced to stealing at the whim of a tight-arsed Emperor. Served Ardik right. Dissero had all but achieved contentment with his life when all the years he'd put into getting there were suddenly stripped away in a matter of seconds. The Rudrig Heist was just as much payback as it was anything done of greed or want.

"My life is my own, now," Dissero cleared his throat, lifting a hand to rub at the blackened mark there, "has been, since Contruum. Though I do owe some loyalties to a few, they ask very little of me as I've mostly kept to myself for the last year, working on my own projects."

Now probably wasn't the time to tell Verie he still paid homage to the once Sith Empress Desmius - not that she went by that name anymore. Ashin deserved the respect he held for her and she was now more a comrade-in-arms if anything. Still, if Varanin came to call he could not deny the fact that he would follow her. At least her more recent end goals had been honorable.

"It's not ... quite what I had envisioned myself doing at this point in my life, but rarely does everything ever go according to plan."

[member="Verie Lacroix"] would know all about that.

 

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie frowned thoughtfully -- not the frown of an angry or betrayed woman, but the frown of someone processing information and considering what her next step would be. Her dark eyes traced his movements but she didn't say anything for awhile. Finally she said: "I shouldn't presume to understand the intricacies of your order's rankings."

The young woman unfolded her legs and then crossed her legs, resting her hands in her lap.

"Very well." She pursed her lips and chewed the inside of her cheek, sure that she resembled her mother much more than she cared to do. "Where do we go from here? I feel I've established my boundaries well enough, and if you can accept them, I don't see a reason why all this new information should stop me from training."

Verie fixed [member="Dissero"] with a blank look. "Thoughts?"

 

[Dissero]

"Have I ever disrespected your boundaries?" a light query over a twinge of mischief. His blue eyes scanned her figure briefly. Perhaps he had ... pressed some physical boundaries at times if only out of desire, but that hardly counted when compared to murder and watching the galaxy burn.

"From here, we go home," a smile, an earnest smile, "my home in the outer rim. I've given your pilot coordinates to a nearby system. When we reach it I'll take over from there."

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

"Certainly not," Verie replied. "But not pushing them isn't the same as agreeing to teach me. I'm sure there are others who could teach me. But if you think that we're going to be able to work together then I won't challenge you on it." Verie stood up and went to the 'fresher, where she had plugged in an electric kettle. She poured herself another cup of water and the set a teabag into the water.

She glanced at herself in the mirror. How odd it was to find that she was still all together, somehow, despite feeling like she was in pieces. She leaned closer and frowned. No, there wasn't a crack to be seen. She returned with her mug and set it down on the side table next to the chair where she had been seated.

"All right. I think I'm ready. But I've been wrong before, to be sure. Is there anything else I should know before we begin?"

[member="Dissero"]

 

[Dissero]

"I would not entrust your education within the Force to any other person," the man said quickly, making no move to interfere with her business. Not like there was far for her to go. Not like he was want to impress upon her needed personal space, especially now. Breaking down those sorts of emotional barriers did not a trusting and confident student make.

One day, however, those barriers would need to be broken down. When she was ready to face the challenge, of course, but not before.

"....how do you feel about dragons?"

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

"Dragons?" Verie asked, rolling her eyes upwards as if searching her memory. "I don't know much about them. Certainly not enough to make a judgment. The only species I'm intimately familiar with is the Krayt Dragon. We studied them at school in the xenobiology. They're fascinating but terrifying at the same time. Did you know that the Krayt Dragon doesn't chew its food?" She finally sat down and curled her legs up under her body again.

"They have these highly powerful jaws and very sharp teeth, but they're used for catching food rather than chewing it. They instead will swallow rocks, and then use their stomach muscles to manipulate the rocks to smash their prey into nutrients they can absorb." Verie paused and scratched the back of her neck lightly. "I can't imagine why that's what I held onto from xenobiology."

She shrugged. "And they make beautiful pearls. Anyway, why do you ask? Have you got one at home now?"

[member="Dissero"]

 

[Dissero]

"...not quite," he replied, brows lofting.

No, what he had at home made a Krayt Dragon look like a house cat.

"I suppose you could say I have a dragon. Not in the sense of having a pet dragon, though."

Not a pet. Never a pet. What, are you crazy?

"He's more like a companion and guardian of my vaults. He's very old, very wise, and very proud. I imagine he'll like you and your sense of honor and propriety ... eventually, in the only way he can really like any human..."

Aside from the fact that his home was the literal fortress of a historical madman, living with a dragon seemed the most pertinent factoid to offer to Verie. After everything she'd been through in the last week, certainly she deserved a heads up about Faen.

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

He was so weird.

Verie rubbed the bridge of her nose and forced a smile. "I shall start to worry about you if you ever do anything conventional," she said with a coy smirk. "I'm going to check in with Travers. I'll be in the conference room if you need me." She stood and put on her dressing gown, tying the sash tightly around her waist before picking up her tea and exiting her quarters.

* * * * * * *​

Some time later, an alert sounded, notifying those on board that the ship was about to revert to realspace in the system that [member="Dissero"] had provided. Verie looked up from her datapad and made her way to the cockpit. "When my guest arrives, you may go. Remember our agreement." A look passed between them and the pilot nodded, standing and gathering his personal effects: a datapad, a cap (which he placed on his head) and a half-eaten protein bar in its wrapper.

Verie sat in the co-pilot's seat and examined the status readouts on the monitor as she waited for Dissero to take over the controls. "Am I allowed to see this, or am I banished to the hold as well?" she asked when he entered the bridge.

 

[Dissero]

The man entered quietly and dropped his weight into the Captain's seat, if one could call it such a thing. Giving the controls a quick look-over, he glanced shortly to Verie with a rassp chuckle. They had arrived at the Javin System along the tail end of the Corellian Trade Spine. It was here that they would veer off this well-traveled space route for less-documented territory.

"You can stay if you like," he replied before steering them off in a new direction and shifting them back into hyperspace. It would be a short ride before they arrived at the Vassek system - only a few more hours, anyway. Enough time for Ve to take a nap or, perhaps, change her mind about everything if she were so inclined.

Arriving finally, the planet of Vassek filled the viewport before them, but it was not to this planet that they traveled. The ship turned away from Vassek, curving along the path of orbit towards the planet's third moon. It sat like a dull pearl against the liquid black backdrop of space, its surface shrouded completely by a relentless fog. With a shudder they broke through the atmosphere and swept low over the barren, rocky terrain. Gliding past a rise of stone spires, nose bent south, they descended upon a massive gorge that did not present itself until the second they passed over it, such was the absoluteness of the moon's fog. Passing through the ethereal realm of cloud, a blackness suddenly swallowed them whole.

With a sigh, he released the controls and shut down the engines before looking across to his companion, "After you."

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie sat back in her seat and watched impassively as [member="Dissero"]'s dexterous fingers worked the controls. She glanced sidelong at him and then stared straight out the viewport. She felt some compulsion to speak, but upon examination of that impulse she decided against it. She had left the new revelations alone in her mind since she had gone to the conference room to carry on her business, and she wanted to continue to leave things alone until she got settled. Every time she got close to thinking about it, she felt overwhelmed by the mixed feeling of disappointment, anger, sadness and -- was it betrayal? Even she couldn't define it for herself.

"Right," she answered tightly, in response to his instruction that she should go first. She climbed out of her seat and shrugged into a lightweight jacket - after all, she didn't know the climate, but the fog made her think that it might be chilly.

She picked up her attache on the way out of the cockpit and, assuming that the rest of the luggage would be unloaded later, left the rest before lowering the ramp. She took a few experimental steps down the ramp before she found her way down to the ground. "This is some marine layer," she commented.

 

[Dissero]

"Cave, actually," Dissero's voice echoed out into the cavernous facility they had set down within. The air was chill and stale - this place wouldn't know a summer holiday if it walked up and slapped it in the face. Verie would note the sound of gears now as what little light still filtering in from the hangar-bay slowly was closed out by a giant retracting metal door.

Another few moments and lights within the stone ceiling came on, revealing the presence of another ship. Large and very odd looking - almost Vong-like, if Verie had ever seen such technology. Dissero relayed an invite back to Javin before exiting the ship after Verie and motioning to a entry walk off to the left. There stood a massive statue of a kaleesh warrior with mechanical limbs staring balefully into the distance. The one and only General Grievous.

"Welcome to my home," he offered, this time through the song-and-dance his voice was not nearly so proud. Now he was unsure because Verie was unsure. How much more of his life could she handle taking in before it all caused her to crack? Brow knitted, the man cleared his throat and gestured towards the doorway, "this way."

Perhaps, he thought to himself, it was best not to hold back. Best not to be gentle about it. Rip the band-aid off quickly and let her deal with the sting. It would abate eventually, if she let it.

With a deep breath, he lead her in and began the tour.

As they walked to palely lit halls he began to explain the significance of this location - the hidden castle sanctuary to the old General in his peak hours of devious plans and plots. The tour took them through dark halls adorned by further statues of the late kaleesh General in differing stages of his life. From the hangar through the main Sanctum, he then took Verie to the Sanctum Overlook; a grand chamber with tall windows that, dependent upon levels of fog, would oftimes offer a grand view of the gorge below. Mostly, though, the view was obscured by the clouds. It was set up now as a study and dining hall of sorts; the whole of Dissero's tome, article, and archive collection was now here organized along the walls. Various trinkets of negligible value or record sat on pedestals or decorating shelves. A large table surrounding a massive holoprojector stood at the center, there his notes and most recent research lay strewn about. The projector flashed the images of some unknown planet overhead, where it slowly spun. Towards the windows large overstuffed couches sat - Verie would recognize as absconded from the lounge of the Vaults and Archives he designed and built on Rudrig. The coffee table between them and the general area was littered with traveling robes, bags, things of use while living alone.

The facility housed newly renovated training chambers, as well as five separate living quarters, though he didn't lead her there yet. He wanted to give Verie a chance to take it all in first, give her the option to run for the hills. As much as he wished to implore she give it a chance, he wasn't about to force anything on her. He couldn't bring himself to do so.

Dissero stopped by the holoprojector, giving the unnamed planet an endearing glance that might've been more appropriate for a loved-one, "What do you think?" he asked gently of Verie, passing a tentative glance to her, wherever it is she had come to be.

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie followed along, clutching her bag to her side like a tourist. It was very strange to think of this place occupied, hundreds of years ago, by a major historical figure. And for all she knew, it was occupied by another historical figure today. She listened and observed without comment, her eyes taking in the architecture and decor as she trod along after @Dissero. The Sanctum Overlook was, to her, the most interesting part. It had a strange mixture of feels to it, academic as well as homey. She frowned thoughtfully as he talked her through the thing and nodded with acceptance at the end of the tour.

"It's ghastly," she declared definitively, her voice artificially cheerful, and then forced a smile while avoiding eye-contact. "I much prefer your home on Rudrig, but I suppose people in hell prefer ice water." She lofted her brows and wandered towards the edge of the room, alternating between shelving and window and studying everything she could see. There seemed to be a lot of information; Verie wondered if she would have the opportunity to study any of it, or if it was just for decoration. She made a mental note to ask later.

"She turned abck towards the center of the room and went to the holoprojector, standing opposite from Dissero. "What planet is this? I mean -- well, the one we're on as well as the one we're looking at."

 

[Dissero]

"I much preferred my home on Rudrig, myself," Dissero admitted with a solemn sort of smile of defeat. How perfect it would have all been - how cozy a life he might've had, were it not for some poorly made decisions. Whose decisions those were, however, were up for interpretation and largely arguable.

Still, he had preferred Rudrig. Everything there had been perfect and, he supposed, that should have been the telltale sign that it wasn't to last. Even if this place was something of a gold mine for him, it was not his ideal home, but he'd spent years looking for it and he meant to make the best of it. So far, it'd proven to be quite the useful hideaway. Not a single person was aware of his presence here, not even the Fringe, and he quite preferred this to his very public presence on Rudrig.

"But I can't go back," the man's frown deepened, his brow knit tighter as he looked Verie over, "no matter how much I want to."

Not to the home, not to how things were.

Forward. Onward.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you what planet this is. Not yet. You see, it's rather a private and ...secret location of mine. I've made a great deal of enemies over the years, powerful ones, and my secrecy is what helps me sleep at night. In time, however, once I've taught you how to protect your mind, your thoughts, and your memories from those who might try to take them, I will tell you. As for this planet," he motioned to the holoprojector, "it's called Darvannis. Something of a fabled planet - completely uncharted on any map in the galaxy - and one I've been looking after for some time."

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

If Verie was rankled by the realization that she was not to be trusted as yet -- and she was -- she made no outward reaction to it, instead turning her attention towards the holoprojector's revolving planet. She had never heard of Darvannis, and couldn't conceive of its importance. "I'm afraid I've never heard of it. Which isn't a surprise." Verie's education was basic and efficient; she had a vague interest in galactic political history but her passion had always been ballet -- not just the physical aspects, but historical as well. She would devote herself to study, given the opportunity, but it was foolish to hope to be able to stand toe-to-toe with [member="Dissero"] on anything, least of all matters of any importance.

She turned again, pacing towards the window again. Everything was shrouded in fog -- how's that for a metaphor?

"Will there be a place for me to put my things down?" Verie asked, gesturing to her bag with her other hand. "I'm rather eager to get started with the training, that's all," she said. "For good or for ill, I'm finished with my days of waiting for my life to begin. I'm ready to get a handle on everything. At least I think I am," she added with a self-deprecating smirk.

 

[Dissero]

"Those that have are quite few and far between," added the Archivist to Verie's comment on Darvannis. Not even he had known of the place until it was brought to his attention by Velok, back on Rudrig. Velok had been a wealth of new and rare knowledge - the thought of which prompted Dissero to revisit the old Whiphid's holocron later on. Perhaps after Verie had settled in for the night.

Speaking of which...

"Yes!" snapped from his musings, Dissero nodded and moved to quickly take up Ve's bags, "Yes of course there is. I'm hardly a savage to that end. You'll have your own room," this last part was spoken a bit more slowly. His initial reaction was to tell her that his room was her room, too, but given all that had transpired between them in the last few days, it seemed better to give Verie her own space.

Let her have at least that personal comfort.

He motioned for her to follow and took her to a lift to the next level up. There were six rooms in all, counting the Master suite, all of which had been put in during the remodeling process. Dissero wasn't exactly sure why he'd put in so many rooms, though it had really been at the behest of Mahet, who'd already laid claim to one of them.

Where was that insufferable Noghri?

Carré had taken up residence in one of the rooms for a time, but she had since moved on to the Fringe proper Capital.

"You can take your pick of any of them except that one," he said once they'd reached the third floor and stepped off the lift. He pointed to the first room to the left, "that one is Mahet's, and that one down at the end of the main hall is mine. I'll set you up with whatever you need, all you have to do is ask."

[member="Verie Lacroix"]