Like a train runnin off the track (Christian Slade)

[KitKat]

She watched the flower plump under his touch and felt a mix of emotions. It confirmed what she had thought earlier but it also meant he wasn't planning on hiding at least in some small way, from her. She smiled at him as they watched the new full flower for a while.

"Well if you need a place to stay and a tour guide I could show you around." This place had been her home after all though she figured her time here may be drawing to a close. Her eyes certainly seemed to be bidding the garden farewell as she glanced around it.

"Have you been to Theed before?" It was a common place to visit and if he had she would cut out some of the more traditional stops, figuring he'd seen them before. If he hadn't well there were places he just had to see. At least that was the goal. Katarine knew a lot more was going on than a tour. If the Force had brought her this stranger than perhaps he was her cue to rejoin the world so long forgotten.

She just wasn't exactly sure how to do that. She pushed the thought aside to focus on the present. It could be that this stranger was just a ship in passing and nothing more. Time would tell. The Force had a plan and it was unavoidable in most cases.

Her deep green eyes traveled towards his face as she let her thoughts consume her.

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"Once...", he said, looking deeply into those green eyes which were drowning in thought. His golden eyes must have looked something similar as he couldn't keep his mind on track with so many different questions running through his head about this young woman. "Once when I was very young. Not but a boy."

Taking a step closer to her, he kept his golden eyes on her deep green ones, just wondering what could be going through that interesting mind of hers. "I don't remember much of this place, and it has changed quite a lot since then. At least, from what I can remember it has changed."

"If I asked you what you're thinking...", he finally said after a long silence between then, the beauty of the garden around them seeming to drown out as they spoke, "...would you tell me the truth, or would you tell me what you want me to hear because you are worried what I might be think about what you have to say?"

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

“If you haven’t been in a while then I know some places you may enjoy. At least the tourists seem to enjoy them.” He did not strike her as just a tourist however and she was certain he might fancy a different type of scene than some wandering man with a camera and kids in tow.

Silence fell between them, each deep in their own thoughts and oddly each staring at each others eyes while they did so. She finally blinked, remembering what he said earlier that it was rude to stare. His next question brought a playful smile to her lips. Given her past it was very difficult for even the strongest Force User to read her mind, and Katarine was pleased to see he wasn’t even trying. His question however made her chuckle. “Isn’t that what every man wants? To know what a woman is thinking?” She winked at him and pushed her hair behind her ear again.
“I have no reason to lie to you. I think you have a fair shot at honesty if you ask.” She was curious now as to what he wanted to know.

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"No...", he said, after she'd replied.

"Every man want's reassurance. They want to be told they're the best you've ever had and they want you to make them believe that you are thinking about them, and only them, all the time.", he said, illustrating what exactly his stout "no" had been for. It was a blunt opinion, but for the most part it was true, and it was true of almost all men. At least, it was true of the ones who believed everything anyone ever said.

Whether or not one would admit it about themselves, most people believed everything they heard, which was why there were so many fools in the galaxy. Regurgitated garbage that someone else recycled and spat back out to someone else was still regurgitated garbage. Even if there was a stem of truth in the things people heard, they always found a way to skew things until the truth was a distant memory.

"I prefer honesty, whether or not I'll hear something I want to hear.", he said, holding out his arm for Katarine to take hold of knowing that it was about time they get to his tour. "Now... if you would be so kind... show me what I've been missing in Theed, and tell me what you're thinking between the sites we see."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

“I will have to keep that in mind. It isn’t every day that a man reveals the secrets of his gender to a woman.” She smiled at him and eyed his arm. She wrapped her arm around it, praying the dizziness wouldn’t set in as they started their tour. She lead him out of the garden towards the entrance to the university. It would have been faster to take a speeder but part of the fun of a tour was the walk, at least to her anyway.

“Well… I guess right now I’m wondering about what you just said. If that is true then why do women always feel like men aren’t thinking about them? It’s my experience that women go out of their way to think about their guy but that same guy often takes them for granted. If men want to be the center of a woman’s world why do most of them seem to treat her so badly sometimes? Many prefer the company of their friends, or other women, or drink or a good time even if she’s at home planning a romantic evening.”

They made it out the gates of the university and she guided him towards the right. This would be the downtown district with some statue work that she thought he might like to see. “I’m also wondering what you originally wanted to know when you asked what I was thinking… and wondering how long you want me to keep up this narrative of my thoughts before you beg me for some hard liquor.” She grinned sideways at him.

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"Men are prideful creatures...", Christian said as he walked with the delicate little creature on his arm. His golden eyes took in the sites along the way as they walked, but for now he spoke and waited for them to come across something monumental before the conversation would change.

"They want attention and praise and to be thought of and catered to, but they do not want what comes with such attendance from a woman. They would rather be on the minds of girls who love them and spend their time trying to bed girls who have no real interest.", he said, continuing to divulge the dismal characteristics that man men carried with them. "They want their whiskey, but they want to drink it too... and when they get it, they'll push it aside to try another brand because the choices are limitless."

He said, not looking happy about what he was saying because from what he could see, it was true, and he wasn't proud of his fellow man and the way they wallowed in their sins like filthy beasts that would always crawl back and beg forgiveness.

"Women find their counterpart and become attached. When they do, they nest and take care of their homes. They receive the seed of their mate, and they are complete. They now have their offspring to love and to care for, which is admirable and just. Men, however, are flawed. We fight and struggle with other males to maintain a firm grasp of dominance over others. We use women as a sort of conquest. The more you've staked claim to, the more power you have, the more respect you've earned.", he said, looking down and shaking his head as if he too were ashamed, though he'd never been this kind of man.

Yes, he'd had his one night stands. He'd entertained women and done as he pleased. He wasn't the worst looking man in the galaxy, and there were advantages to that, but he was different in that any woman he'd ever been with knew what they were getting themselves into. He'd never put himself in a relationship, and certainly had never been in the position to hurt anyone to begin with, though he was certain that some of them deserved something of the like.

"Some say men were born to spread their see. I think that's a copout. It's an excuse to let crappy people keep being crappy.", he said, looking down at at the young woman on his arm. If only those green eyes could talk, he thought, as he asked, "How much for your thoughts?"

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

His description of the male mind was fascinating to Katarine. It might explain away some of the wrong doings in her own past that she dared not think about. She listened, and nodded as they walked down the street and he described the often detestable acts of men. When he finished he asked her thoughts on the matter and Katarine pursed her lips in thought.

“I think it’s unfortunate that so many get hurt because of those actions… and I think it sounds like a lonely existence. It seems like both men and women want companionship, they just feel pressured to act certain ways.” Her thoughts drifted towards her own family with a frown. Well… not all men wanted more than one woman… and that was sometimes problematic.

They rounded a corner where in the center of a little floral design were statues carved from a white stone. Inside the stone were little jewels that made the carvings glitter and reflect little rainbows on the streets below. The water fountains around the statues were also colored by jewels and spouted different colored water. “This may have been here when you visited as a boy. It goes by many names, The Royal Fountain, The Fountain of Color, The Rainbow Fountain… A lot of people make wishes in the fountain.”

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian stopped next to the woman by the fountain and looked at the flowing waters with genuine interest in his eyes. He was deep in thought trying to remember if he'd been there as a child. As he stared at it, he replied to the woman with him saying, "I've never understood the need to go from woman to woman claiming them like a trophy in a single night of passion.", he admitted, thinking that anyone he's ever given the time he has never even thought about hurting in that way.

"Then again, I've expressed my freedom to be with who I please, when I please, but I have never had an affair, I've never thought about having and affair, and never will have an affair. In my opinion, you could at least show someone the respect to leave them, and break their hearts rather than stay with them, abuse their trust and crush their souls.", he said, still staring into the waters for a time until the look on his face softened.

He looked over to the woman next to him with a smirk on his face and pointed to the other side of the fountain. "I do remember this place.", he said, escorting her around the fountain to the spot.

"I sat right there and tossed in a coin. I wished for an extravagant life that day. One filled with adventure and purpose...", he said, a little softer growing increasingly somber in deep through with every word.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

She was happy to hear he treated people a little better than some did. It was refreshing to find someone who didn’t want to hurt others, or at least in some ways. They walked around the fountain and he showed her where he’d tossed a coin in as a boy. She grinned, wondering which one was his all those years ago.
“Did you get your wish?” It seemed an innocent enough question, though she wasn’t trying to pry. She glanced at the many different coins from all over the galaxy and wondered how many of these wishes had ever come true. It seemed the galaxy was full of wishful thinking.

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

His golden eyes watched the water falling from the top of the fountain into numerous stone bowls and from those bowls it would fall into the stone basin, which was the massive fountain that was laid out in front of them. The waters were so vibrant in the sun like that, glistening like diamonds as they crashed down into the pool below.

"I think I did.", he finally said, smirking and thinking about that moment as he stood there with a woman he barely knew, but trusted more than anyone in the Galaxy at that very moment.

"Whether or not it was what I needed to happen.", he said, looking over into those deep green pools again.

"I got my wish..."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

She smiled, genuinely happy he got his wish. “Well I’m glad it has worked out.” Maybe she should reconsider tossing a coin into the fountain. She shook her head slightly and smiled at him again.
“Up ahead is what they call the wall of statues. A lot of royal leaders and other important figures were carved in stone.” She motioned for him to follow her and they walked further down the old fashioned brick street. A little up ahead was the wall she described. Jewels had been placed into these stones to catch and reflect light but there were no water works. A few tourists were taking pictures by the wall. She eyed him sideways.
“Do you fancy the artistic scene or should I be showing you other aspects of this city?”

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"Your company is more than enough to entertain me whether we're looking at the most beautiful landscape, a renowned artist at work or if we're looking at a pile of rocks.", Christian said, staring at the etchings in the wall at the delicately carved stone faces there that peered back at them like they were watching them closely. Like they expected something of the pair.

It was almost unnerving, and so he ushered her to move on past them, but still, as he walked he eyes the faces of old who'd been leaders and heros to the people there. Whether or not their names were remembered, their faces had certainly made a lasting impression on the stone.

That wasn't what Christian wanted. He could live without being remembered. He just wanted to be the most powerful... the most capable... the most feared of all... but feared for his greatness, not the destruction in his wake.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

She was blushing again, but in her typical way smirked and reached for sarcasm to cover up how she truly felt. “Well I’m glad your having a good time Tiger."

They walked along the wall for a while, the statues staring at them in the creepy way that only a statue could. Katarine lead him down a street where the walls were covered in paintings. Naboo people were really big on the arts. As they walked the paintings depicted rulers, meadows, waterfalls, space itself, and all other things.

“I think the Naboo people were originally artists and the society expanded from there. It’s possible to find almost every type of art in this city alone.” She eyed him sideways, wondering if he were getting bored of this tour yet.

@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"I am having a good time.", he said, looking over at her while they walked, but then he looked down their path again and may have surprised her with his next statement, "Though I wish you'd tell me how you really feel."

"Not that you aren't an honest person. I appreciate you because you are honest, though I also know what it's like when someone is suppressing something. Keeping it hidden away...", he said, stopping as they reached a tall sculpture in the center of town of a tall woman, one of the past queens dressed in magnificent robes from head to toe, a massive headdress upon her crown.

"And for the record, I think you're right. I think they were wonderful artists a long time ago and they prospered from their talent."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

Her eyebrows raised in response to his statement. “I don’t really know what you want to know. I’m not intentionally hiding anything… I just don’t know what you want me to share."

They walked down the street further, admiring the statues or at least pretending to. Katarine was glancing sideways at the stranger whose arm she held. He seemed to want something more from her and she wasn’t sure what its as. As they kept walking the statues were more green and lush, hinting at the botanical gardens to come.
@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian was silent after that for a long time as they walked. She had responded in kind, and honestly he was finding it hard to retort. She understood that he wanted more, that he wanted her to be completely open, but who really could be the first day they had met someone? And even then, what more did he want? What did he want her to say or do that she wasn't already doing? What wasn't enough?

"I guess...", he said, as they walked along, his golden eyes following a vine that was strewn across the carvings on the wall and seemed to run all the way down to the block's end. "I guess it's my way of saying I just want to know more.", he admitted.

"About Theed, about the way you see life and what you appreciate about it, but mostly just... more about you...", he said, and the moment he said it he felt that it was a little off the mark, but he didn't see how else he could have said it.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

They continued to walk as he searched for words. Like any teacher, Katarine was patient and let him sort it out. He was struggling and she could sense that, but she wasn’t certain how to help him. When he finally spoke she chuckled. “Well I can try to give you details about Theed the history books might overlook as best I can. As for me… why don’t we start with my name.” They had been walking all that time and had yet to even introduce themselves.
She turned towards him and offered her hand in a standard gesture of greeting. “My name is Katarine Ryiah… Kat to most."
@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian smirked as he realized that they hadn't even exchanged names. She'd pointed it out, and immediately she sought to remedy that by having a proper introduction then and there. As she stopped and turned to him, holding out her hand, Christian stopped and turned to face her, looking down on her with that smirk resting upon chiseled facial features.

"Christian Slade...", he said, gently taking her hand in his palm and raising it as he bowed to the young woman, not kissing her hand only because he wished not to make her feel uncomfortable with him.

Raising back up, Christian released her hand, smiled at her with those perfect white teeth of his and simply nodded slightly, narrowing his eyes to a close as he said, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

She was ready and anticipating the contact this time and was very pleased when she didn’t feel the world spin around her. She smiled, both at his introduction and the fact that she was still standing non dizzy in front of him. “The pleasure is mine Mr. Slade.” She frowned slightly, wondering if she didn’t prefer to call him “Tiger."
“Well… you have my name… and I have yours… that is a start isn’t it?” She was honestly trying to satisfy him but it wasn’t every day you met a curious stranger who wanted to know information but wasn’t sure what that information was.
She grinned and lead him through the gates of the botanical gardens and wildlife refuge. All at once they were in a different world with jungles all around them and a big dome keeping the animals inside. They heard the call of birds overhead and Katarine grinned. She was rather fond of animals.
She eyed him sideways, and raised half her lips in a sideways smile. “Would it help if we played twenty questions?”
@[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"It certainly is.", Christian agreed, happy with their introduction and happy that things were turning out so well. What was even more surprising to him was that he hadn't thought about the real reason he as there in hours since he'd come across this interesting woman, which was good, he supposed. He'd come there to take care of some important business, yet he'd been gifted with meeting a special young woman he could tell he was going to know for a long time.

Looking up just as his beautiful companion had, Christian smiled as they watched the birds soaring overhead. They darted back and for, and there were so many of countless different colors and patterns. A truly impressive site to see.

"I think that's a great idea.", he said, looking down from the sky for a moment to smile at Katarine. "Would you like to start... Kat?", he asked, a bit awkwardly as he tested out the woman's nickname to see how it felt to say.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]