Private Lines Askew

[Corazona von Ascania]

Coruscant
Level 3818​

Growing up in an aristocratic household, Cora was made to have many hobbies. Fencing, ballroom dancing, piano, flower arraigning—all foisted upon her from an early age, strictly kept up with whether or not she enjoyed them. Father had insisted upon maintaining a rigid schedule of activities that would mold her into a proper noble woman, and it only took one of his stern glares for Cora to fall in line when she disagreed.

In a minor act of protest, she had taken up drawing as an avocation for herself. Father had never approved, lecturing her on the virtues of practicing useful talents and the preciousness of time.

Cora was bad at drawing. Much like singing, she tried very hard, but she was...not particularly good.

Still, she persisted. The simple act of putting effort into something she enjoyed was one of the most freeing acts the teenager had ever experienced.

Poised at the mouth of an alleyway, Cora poured over her sketchpad as she tried to capture the visage of the cute little caf shop across the street. It was like something out of a hit holo series for young adults, décor modernly rustic and hip patrons chatting away at the outdoor seating.

Cora's rendition of the picturesque cafe was sorely lacking in perspective, scaling, and all around skill. Lines were uneven and askew, connecting at odd angles. Portions of the drawing, especially the tables and shrubbery in front of the caf shop, had improper balance and placement.

With her back facing the end of the alley, Cora held out her pencil and closed one eye, trying to measure the menu board placed near the door of the building. After a few moments of concentration, she sketched in the basic shape, looked up, and promptly erased it with a frown. She tried to gauge the size again with her pencil, this time taking a step back as she did so. Because that would help.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus reckoned he'd never, ever adjust to the feeling conjured up by stepping through the door. He'd passed through countless Nether Rifts in his time, and while it was strange it held nothing when compared the finicky nature of unstable rift in his storefront. It was as though his body was torn into a million pieces, scattered throughout the Galaxy, and then forced to coagulate and reform in slow motion. ​

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It left him feeling dizzy.​

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The slap of his hand on the wall was the first sign that he'd made it to the other side. Stood within an alleyway, he waited for his head to stop spinning and then lifted his gaze to try and make sense of where he'd been spat out at. What he wasn't expecting was to find someone already occupying the space, though she was a few feet from him and facing away. He noticed she was deep in focus, though no doubt his sudden presence was quick to end that.​

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"Know where I can get a good cup of caf' around here?" he asked, making himself known before she could freak out on him for sneaking up or whatever. His first step forward felt a little heavy, but soon he was approaching her. He peered down over her shoulder to the sketchpad, and then smiled slightly. "Nice. You'd probably get along with a girl I once knew..."​

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Iris Arani probably wouldn't want to see him any time soon though. Come to think of it, he didn't even know why she'd come to mind. No matter.​

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Corazona von Ascania ​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The slap of a hand against duracrete hadn't been enough to rouse Cora completely from her concentration. In the back of her mind, she'd chalked it up to debris shifting in the wind, or perhaps a loose brick stirred by some alley rodent.

"Know where I can get a good cup of caf' around here?"

Cora froze, pencil zagging off to the side of a lopsided half-oval she'd drawn to represent a table. Hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. There was no mistaking what she'd heard now, a voice. And then, a presence behind her. In her mind's eye, Cora recalled how little distance there had been between her position and the back of the alleyway. The walls stretched high around them, too.

"Nice. You'd probably get along with a girl I once knew..."

She tensed. And then, she acted.

Whipping around fiercely, Cora smacked the interloper across the face with her sketchpad. Given that it was simply a bound stack of paper, it wouldn't have hurt much beyond a brief sting of surprise, if even that.

Then she pulled back, scurrying closer to he mouth of the alley, pencils clattering to the ground in her wake.

"W-who in the galaxy are you and how on Coruscant did you get there?"

Though she was startled and clutching the sketchpad to her chest in defense, Cora's tone was firm and demanding. She was nobility, after all.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He sensed the impending danger long before the sketchbook struck, but in an effort to keep from further spooking the girl he made no move to mitigate it. Instead he found himself struck across the cheek with the stack of paper. He ran his tongue across his teeth in response, his jaw having jarred slightly upon impact, and shook his head swiftly as though reorienting himself. In a way he supposed he was, it had been a strange few minutes after all.​

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"Coruscant" he mumbled. What was it about this world that seemed intent on drawing him in? Still, at least it wasn't a tomb or a space station. Somewhere he was actually familiar with... Had that happened before? Had his Doorway ever seen fit to spit him out in a place he knew? "Good pizza on Coruscant..." His mind drifted momentarily to Starlin Rand and his lovely family, before he squashed such thoughts down.​

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Unobtainable now. Too far from reach. Starlin was likely expected to execute the likes of him these days, at the very least bring him in.​

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"I didn't mean to startle you" he said, glancing over his shoulder to the sight of a dead-end alleyway. Huh, yeah, maybe that did make things a little difficult to explain. Looking back toward her, he made a gesture with his hand and those dropped pencils began to delicately rise back up. They hovered before her, so she could take them without stooping down. "If any are broken, I'll gladly pay to replace them."​

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He hadn't given any answers, had he? He supposed he ought to. That or he'd just have to zip back to the Hourglass, make use of that new tattoo he'd imbued. He wasn't in the mood for traveling between the veil though, not so soon after emerging from the Netherworld.​

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"Arcturus" he said, "And, well... I walked here." Not technically a lie.​

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Corazona von Ascania ​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora watched him carefully, fingers clutched tightly around the sketchpad. Was he some sort of homeless vagrant? No, he looked to well-kept to be that.

She stiffened as the pencils hovered neatly in front of her. What the-

A tentative hand rose, and Cora snatched them quickly from the air. Slipping them into her pocket, she fixed Arcturus with an owlish gaze.

"Cora…" Her lips moved of their own accord, offering her name on reflex. It was only polite.

"I'm...sorry for hitting you." Now she was feeling awkward, especially given that she'd struck another Jedi. Which is what she naively assumed that he was, given his precise control over the Force and his presence on Coruscant. The fact that he'd walked into a high-walled alley had been lost on her in the moment. Perhaps he'd simply strode past her and she'd been too distracted to notice?

"Er...let me buy you a cup of caf." Half-stepping to the side, she waved a hand to the shop across the street, the one she'd been crudely sketching. "It's the least I can do for accidentally striking another Jedi."

She smiled stiffly, suddenly embarassed for her behavior. Hopefully he wouldn't report this incident back to the temple.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Another Jedi.​

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Yep. That was definitely what Arcturus was, another Jedi. Which meant that Cora here was a Jedi 'too'... Good to know. He watched as she pocketed the pencils and then gestured toward the café across the street. For a moment he considered just walking away, but he had been looking for a cup of caf' and frankly he was curious to see how long he could play at being a Jedi Knight.​

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So he nodded his head instead.​

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"Only if you'll allow me to buy you one back. I did spook you, after all. Most unbecoming of me. How long have you been with the Order, Cora?" He tilted his head to one side, regarding her as they walked. She seemed young, and certainly inexperienced enough that she thought him a fellow Jedi. A Padawan then? "Who's your Master?"​

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Corazona von Ascania ​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

A brief wave of heat tinted her pale cheeks pink. Cora clutched the sketchpad to her chest a little tighter.

"Very well." She agreed, still feeling trickles of embarrassment for behaving in such an unladylike manner.

"About...eight months now." Cora's head canted to the side as she tallied the days in her head, marveling at how it had been almost a year since she'd come to Coruscant. Almost a year since she'd seen her family—that thought sent an unexpected pang into her chest, but she brushed it off for the time being.

When he asked about her Master, Cora seemed to perk up. They'd found a free pair of seats just outside the cafe, and Cora placed her closed sketchpad cautiously onto the small table between them. "I am a student of Master Valery Noble, the Sword of the Jedi!" She declared with pride. To her, there'd been no higher honor than being selected by Valery as a personal student. The teenager idolized her in every way.

"Have you been...away on a mission? Ah! Forgive me, that was quite rude of me to ask. It's just, I haven't seen you around before."

Cora fixed him with a polite gaze, wondering if she had actually seen him before. It was entirely possible that he'd been at the temple at the same time as she.

"You...have my thanks for being so gracious about this. I am usually not so skittish."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Her embarrassment was obvious, and emotions pooled from her in a way which only further cemented his belief that she was new. And just like that she confirmed it. Eight months... It was nothing in the grand span of things, though he knew it likely felt like an eternity for her.​

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"It must all be so strange; do you miss home, Cora?"​

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Heading into the cafe, they soon found seats and he waited until she was seated to take his own. No barista immediately headed over to ask for their orders, which made it a prime time to further get to know her.​

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"Ah, Master Noble," he said, feigning interest in the Jedi Master she spoke of. He'd heard of her, of course, she was a force to be reckoned with, but he'd never come face to face with the Sword of the Jedi. That was likely for the best. "A fine fit, I'm sure. You have quite the future ahead of you."​

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As for where he'd been... Arcturus chuckled softly.​

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"Nothing to forgive, curiosity isn't a crime Padawan." Chaos knew it was one of the things that drove Arcturus above all else. Something to be nurtured... Especially in young Jedi who so often fell to the fallacy that everything they were told by those who trained them was gospel. Let her think for herself, see through the guise.​

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"A Jedi's path takes them far and wide, My work has kept me from Coruscant for quite some time, certainly longer than you've been here."​

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When a waitress arrived he put a pin in their conversation, and ordered himself a simple black caf', no sweeteners. "And whatever she'd like, too." he said, gesturing to Cora.​

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"You'll learn in time to trust your senses, and the Force. To feel what lies around you before you see or hear it. With the Force as your ally, anything is possible."​

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It was a shame, he found himself realizing, that she already had a Master. It might have been fun to poke and prod, see how far he could push her before it became obvious that he wasn't actually a Jedi. Alas...​

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Corazona von Ascania ​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

In contrast to his simple order, Cora's request consisted of more cream and sugar than actual caf. She smiled at the waitress politely, the twitch of her lips turning a little sheepish as she turned to address his question.

Did she miss home?

Cora's lips parted to answer, but she paused. Of course she missed home. The Ascania estate had been all she'd ever known for seventeen years. Being apart from her siblings had been the most brutal challenge.

"I do, yes." She admitted softly. "I've seven younger siblings, so I do worry about them."

He'd been gracious so far, and Cora felt another wave of embarrassment wash over her given her earlier reaction. At least now, she might manage to rectify her mistake with manners.

Ever the eager student, Cora kept her focus honed in on him as she spoke, hanging on his every word. She nodded slowly.

"I've learned a great deal under Master Noble so far. If I could someday be even a fraction of the woman and Jedi that she is…" The blonde sighed and shook her head suddenly before she could drift too far away in personal thought. Her cheeks burned.

"Ah, I apologize! What sort of work did you do while you were away…?"

The realization struck her that she had not asked for his name, a grave error in the aristocratic decorum she tried to project.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I'd forgotten to ask you for your name, Sir."

Arcturus Dinn