Oh... this was yours?

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Nah if I ever get close enough to someone to do that they've more than earned seeing the real me, not just the mask I put on when I'm in public."

Suddenly, philosophy.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"You're talking to a woman in forty pounds of armor. Trust me, I get boundaries."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

He wags a finger. "Ah, but I can see your face. A body and a face are two wholly separate things; it's why if the face won't tell, the body probably will."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Spoken like a man. In my experience, men treat a woman's body and a man's face much the same in terms of recognition and identity."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Perhaps. I've always paid more attention to the face, specifically the eyes. You can never truly control them." His voice was drifting, quiet. "I was told, when I was little, that the eyes are the windows to the soul... and I've found that to be quite true. I can't read a body, but eyes are all I need the majority of the time."

There's a snorted laugh. "But if there's one thing I've found, it's that I'm good at acting like a stereotypical man."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Well played," she said. "Me, I read people through the words they choose, the timing they use, the art they make -- your armor counts, certainly. I'm fairly sure I can tell all manner of things about you from your armor."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Humor me, then."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"You like freedom -- either to focus on the task at hand, or diverge from it. That's the point of powered armor. Your skull art pays powerful lip service to, let's say grunge military tradition. More a recognition of what people expect than anything else. Too blatant to be anything other than self-mockery disguised as intimidtation."

Flirting with other priorities -- that was the term.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The man's lips curled slowly upwards into a thoroughly amused smirk, his brown eyes narrowing as he eyes the Sith in front of him. She wasn't... typical. Most Sith would have gotten this all entirely wrong, and yet she'd more or less hit the nail on the head; specifically to the second point.

You look the part because it's expected, not because you're trying to accomplish something. "I like order. I like carrying out orders... with freedom, yes." A chuckle was laced into his voice, which was now entirely serious despite still sounding as though she'd never been an enemy to begin with.

That habit; of treating everyone like a friend... it had gotten him as many enemies as friends. "What is expected is what is given, and what is given is what is anticipated. You give them what they think they should have... and they look no further."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"So your mask is a mask for itself, and doubly effective for it. And, of course, your words could be a mask for your mask's mask, and I would have no idea who I'm even dealing with. Forgive me if I seem to question my own judgment."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"Where does the falsehood end and the truth begin? Or what is its always the truth, just in such tiny pieces you don't notice?" Highly amused, he leans forward a bit, helmet locked on her. "Welcome to a realization few have picked up on; everything about me is a facade. Or is it? The facade could be the real me!"

He barks out a laugh. "Really, though. Highly entertaining, Ashin. Good show."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The shoulders of her armor rose in a shrug.

"And yet all good things must come to an end. I already made the offer to buy your contract; perhaps if I was to talk to your dispatcher?"

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"I'm not a truck.", he deadpans.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Of course you are. You're here to do a job; the agency behind your appearance is totally outside you. To call you off, or buy you off, I need to talk to your dispatcher. Your union. The contractor to your subcontractor."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"I don't have eighteen wheels.", he chides, wagging a finger. "I'm more of an attack dog than anything. Either way, this is all wholly dependent on you getting ahold of someone I'd actually listen to. So I'll make you a deal; I restore you research data and you let me walk outta here. Erasing it wasn't even a primary objective; I was just being an nerf herder."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"I'm not sure I buy that. I'd take the deal on its face value, but I'm wondering how you intend to handle whoever paid you to get in here."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

"That's a rather silly question. 'Sorry boss, didn't earn the bonus. Problem developed. Had to book it before I got caught.'" He simply shrugs, "Believe me or not, I don't much care. I did my job."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin smirked. "I'm not one to look a gift nerf in the mouth. You have deal. My data, please."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

There came, again, the sound of the cord. "Copy the data back." Pause. "Don't question me." Pause. "I SWE- thank you." Unknowingly the man had adopted a faintly aggressive posture the more he spoke to himself, but he visibly relaxed once he got what he wanted... from himself.

"Give me a few minutes.", he adds to Ashin.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin's eyes narrowed, but she sat back in the chair, a monument to patience.

"Who's your friend?"