Pets on the Promenade (GenPals Event and Exhibition)

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kaia Vullen"]

"Naw, like I said, I don't need one of da pets, stop being so pushy." "Oh, ma'am, I didn't mean to-"

"Duncare, get me one of 'em pins- ya that one. So ya can listen, da's good!" Tegs was a little bit greasy, still had the engine oil smeared on the side of her jaw, her cargo pants splattered with all kinds of crap and boots that had once been... grey? Who could really know. Now they had a variety of brown, crimson (blood??) and other dark colors that suggested Tegan was more comfortable with digging through dirt than waddle through this state-of-the-art piece of over-designed crap.

Oh, it was fancy to look at, but they invested far too much moola in fancy knick-knacks and definitely not enough in other compartments.

Those viewports for example.

A barrage of turbo-lasers could shatter them within thirty seconds of intense fire. The fact that they weren't supposed to be military-grade didn't really come into the equation as far as Tegs was concerned. They should be. She wandered over to another stall- then noticed the blindfolded girl with the half-opened bag. It wasn't the blindfold that interested her (kinky tho) or the fact that she seemed a bit young to already have sold her soul to the Corporate Overlords. No, it was the smell on her, it was the Force for sure.

That was more interesting.

She had knicked a ticket here about a week back from some rich filth, made sure he was breathing though. Well. As much breathing one could do several feet under the ground, but that was besides the point.

Had it coming as far as Tegs was concerned.

"I assume da blindfold's not cus' ya doubling as an extravagant escort for da fat rich ones." Tegan spoke up, greeting the girl in her own way. "Didn't think one of ya kind would be toiling away under da likes of Motha' GenPals and Fatha' DDS."

 

[Kaia Vullen]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Kaia smiled and lowered her head slightly a she filled the bag and closed it with quick and practised motion, but without looking hurried. The person with the griffon took the bag and strolled off as Kaia's head turned to Tegan in response to her peculiar greeting. Her mouth opened momentarily, then closed as Tegan said her second part. Dimples grew in Kaia's face along the amusement and interest in this strange person who was talking to her.

"My kind?" her head cocked slightly, sending a tuft of light hair swinging down to her nose. "I concede, there aren't many miraluka working here. More mirialans to be fair. Some people get us mixed up."

Her smile grew into a proper grin now.

But behind it, she was sizing this woman up. She could see the Force radiating off her, a mixture of organic and inorganic stains on her clothes, a tough attitude. She saw confidence and a certain roughness swimming through her, and she did notice that she was not looking at the critters, which made her purpose here a bit of a mystery.

Kaia snapped herself out of the inquisitive mode.

"How can I help you then?"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kaia Vullen"]

Tegan tilted her head as she processed that for a bit.

Didn't even consider how that might have sounded to a Miraluka, but in truth that was often a thing Tegs' did. Foot-in-mouth-syndrome like woah. She let that one just pass without making excuses tho. "Naw, meant a Jedi, luv, duncare about ya species." More often than not people assumed that Tegan - once they figured out she was a Forcer - was a bruiser or something similar.

Meat, punch, kill.

S'all.

That wasn't even close though. As a Lorrdian she had grown up figuring out body language, minuscule shifts in positioning, the entire nine lightyears. Once she figured out the whole Force thing that went only in overdrive as far as Tegs was concerned.

"Want to show me around da place? Super interested in seeing more of it, but walking alone is a drag, ya?"

Liar, liar, liar. That much Kaia would be able to pick-up from Tegan, she was completely uninterested in seeing even an inch of this station. Or rather, she wasn't interested in seeing as much as she was interested in exploring just a lil bit more of it. There had to be a secret or two here. It couldn't be otherwise with the type of people running this joint.

 

[Kaia Vullen]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Kaia stopped in her tracks, the smile almost fading as certain thoughts tried to clamour their way up through her consciousness: Jedi, shame, what was a Jedi these days? Light burning through an inhabited appartment block, a tank shooting into a grocery store. She exhaled the bad visions and smiled again.

"My shift is over in a minute."

So many lies from this person, yet confidence. Lots and lots of confidence. Tough, not too tough.

"I would love a tour of the station."

She seemed like someone who needed a hand to hold, an ear to listen to. Perhaps it was just the way Kaia saw people? When one saw through the Force, certain things were not as easy to see as others, and other things were much easier to see than one thought.

A Mirialan came through the back, looking at Kaia and Tegan, then taking Kaia's spot.

"See, told you." "Give me a second."

She backed through whence her replacement had come, then came back out having changed shirts and thrown on something of a thick shoulder shawl with a peculiar clasp. She had a gnarly, knotted stick of dark wood in her hand, seemingly for feeling around in front of her. it made her look more blind than she already did.

"I'll see you later, Bhell"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kaia Vullen"]

She watched with amusement as Kaia finished up the last bits of her round and then... walked out with a walking stick?

Tegan raised an eyebrow, but didn't immediately say anything.

Oh, she had a big mouth alright, but sometimes Tegs knew just when to say something and when to keep it all shut. Once they walked up the atrium, passed the two Sith Lords who seemed amused about something their pet had done (Tegs wondered if she could get away with staging a little impromptu bombing on top of them), before heading up she did mention it. "Um. Ya don't actually... need da thing, do ya?" Tegan knew for a fact that she didn't, but figured she'd leave it open for her to explain.

"Seriously tho. Jedi? Working in'a place like dis?"

Head shook softly.

"Why?" There was so much more that Kaia could be doing rather than waste her time here. There were people to protect, Sith to blow up, Imperials to feth up. This seemed like a colossal waste of time as far as Katarn was concerned.

But then again, Tegs always had had different priorities compared to some.

 

[Kaia Vullen]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Kaia gave a small laugh at Tegan's question. Well, it was more like a momentary cackle. The old sages of Alpheridies had gotten to her in the strangest of ways. As she walked she tapped the stick back and forth in front of her.

"In ways I do depend on it." "Not to see, but for other things."

The next question made her slightly uncomfortable as it reminded her of her self-imposed exile, her feelings of duty being neglected. Yet also her aversion to the Jedi of the day.

"I needed to travel, I had no funds." "And no ship."

Well, she did have a ship, but it was on Alpheridies and its fuel talk was empty. It also bore one of the most hated insignia in the galaxy, something she was fairly understanding of after Roche, Chazwa, and- Well all of them. The Republic was not very welcome in the Core after they failed to uphold anything but a poor standard. It was embarrassing really.

"And the critters are cute."

 

[Farah]

Business shenanigans were not Farah’s favorite sort shenanigans, not by a mile. She’d come to dread the word ‘meeting’ since taking over Cornerstone Scientific in a totally legal way. The company’s operations were kept the same for the most part but with more questionable projects in the backroom. The resources she procured allowed the doctor to continue her own vanity projects in relative privacy.

That did not mean that she was completely dispassionate when it came to the company’s more public production values. They produced supplies used in many Coruscant hospitals, cutting edge scans and medical droids gradually finding their way into medical centers across the city-planet. She had ideas for expansion, but for this she would need to dip her toes into the world of contracts and rubbing elbows with other business owners. It was likely that most of them knew what they were doing more than the good doctor when it came to how to run a business.

The point was, [member="Samson"] had suggested that she come to the GenPals Conference Station to attend the exhibition. To make a long story short, the intimidating yet kindly figure that was Samson ended up joining her at the event. ‘At least’ She’d told him, ‘There will be someone at this I can stand for more than five minutes.’

A compliment, to be sure.

The Zeltron made her way into the main entrance atrium and would have let out a low whistle in appreciation had she been the type. “A lot fancier than CoreGen.” She commented to the hulking mass of clone at her side before smoothing out her pants.

Traditionally a Zeltron would be in some sort of flattering gown, but Farah had gone for the pants suit. Slacks, undershirt, a blazer and even a thin tie. She thought it complemented her feminine features in an interesting way and dresses were too…banal on her. At least for now.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kaia Vullen"]

Oh, Tegs wasn't the only one lying here.

Well.

Strictly speaking Kaia wasn't lying. Instead she was being evasive and indirect in her answer to Tegs' question and the Lorrdian noticed it. There wasn't anything satisfying about the answer. In fact, that last bit made her roll her eyes just a little bit. "Sure, very cute." Well, they were definitely cute, but that wasn't the point here.

"Galaxy is on fire, luv, people dying, Sith on the rise." Tegs murmured as they stepped into the elevator and she stared a family down that had wanted to share the ride.

They backed off.

"Can't hide under the critters forever. We got a job to do." That was something Tegan believed for a hundred percent. Few others cared or were doing anything. It was up to a rare few to set change into motion. To fix the crap the older generation had left them.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Farah"]

It had seemed a good suggestion at the time.

But right now Samson was wondering how smart it actually was. Apparently Sith were on-board, the rumors traveling fast through the crowd, but Sam didn't show his discomfort at that particular idea. Instead he followed along as they existed their shuttle and stepped foot onto the station. The walk towards the atrium was brisk and done without much fanfare.

Stepping into the atrium was a different story.

People were all around them, it was busy and next to him Farah seemed to appreciate the sights. "Should I whistle maybe?" He had read something about that in a book. Apparently that was the polite thing to do when you were admiring some sort of handiwork.

Because the atrium was beautiful in its own way. The decoration, the gold, the markings on the floor.

But before Samson could truly appreciate it further, his attention went to one of the stalls with the pets themselves.

Oh. They were... really cute, weren't they? "Oooh, can we go look at the pets, Farah?" Samson asked quietly while peering from the one to the other with something of enthusiasm starting to boil up. They looked adorable and seemed to be having fun. Maybe they'd let him pet them too! That would be great. Sam just hoped he wouldn't accidentally hurt them.

They looked so smol.

 

[Kaia Vullen]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Silence, her presence visibly shrunk. It was almost a minute until she spoke again.

"I know."

She turned to face Tegan, leaning slightly on the end of the staff.

"But who stands against them?" "The Silver Jedi accept no responsibility for lives outside of their care. They got a bloody nose and then they ran." "The Alliance? While they have a Jedi Order on their side, the triumvirate is as good as a dictatorship in itself. Their war have killed as many civilians as the First Order."

She exhaled sharply, one of her hands wringing the wood of the staff.

"The Jedi I find are bullies or victims, not protectors."

She thought of Des and Zylah. They were both strong, rash, but they were also gentle. What was Tegan like? She didn't know yet. Not quite yet anyway. Perhaps that was why she was pushing her on this.

 

[Bo Lin]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

And so it was that the huge Pandyn came shirtless in a straw hat carrying his black and white BanthaBuddy in matching pants and straw hat.

His wee friend tucked into the crook of his arm as they strode into the gathering. Both chewed their food of choice. Eyes wide they walked together to show how well they matched and enjoy looking at the other pets of true pet aficionados.

Bo walked along and his Bantha made a small trumpeting sound to say he was ready for another treat. Bo took another GenPals treat from his pocket and fed his buddy then took a hand full of cookies from another pocket to feed himself.

This was gonna be great.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"Dear, I have a meeting." She looked at Cerbera then at the mirialan lieutenant. "Barlan, make sure my babies are fed."

The Mirialan looked up at the tall mini sarlaccs and down at the one in her hands, then gave an exasperated sigh.

Darth Ophidia wandered off, deliberately taking a longer and twistier route through the shopping district where people had no awareness of those around them, then past the noisy fast food restaurant where exasperated parents took their children to shut them up for just a few minutes while they enjoyed something moderately satisfying to eat and got their weight off their feet for some time while the kids played in a dirty in-doors playground.

From there, she made her way to the SalaFrander pit. It was a small, transparent room with soft seats and a carpeted floor. Toys and pillows were thrown all over the floor, and SalaFranders were all over the place. Some were lounging near or in the seats, some clung to the fake trees, some were bounding about on the floor playing with the guests and each other.

The Pale sat down in one of the corner alcoves and patted her lap. One of the SalaFrander Minimus kind jumped up to her and started kneading her thigh to make itself comfortable. She traced her fingers down its back, feeling it arch under her touch.

[member="Ronan Vizsla"]

 

[Cassandra Paige]

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

Cass found that particular vintage of the Tatooine yellow a touch too sweet for her tastes- the darker the gold, the more condensed the sweetness, but it was certainly available and she nodded her affirmation for Tash to order off of the event menu as well. She could have easily set it up that she didn't have to give approval.

But where would the fun have been in that?

She smiled at him over the rim of her glass.

Of course the game was put aside as he leaned in and shared that little tidbit. She followed his gaze over the railing to the trio of [member="Jorryn Fordyce"], [member="Darth Saarai"] and [member="Tabigarashu Madara"].

"She seems young," Cass remarked, taking another sip of her wine. "I'm a little surprise she'd bring non-GenPals animals to an event like this," she sniffed slightly.

*****

At the same time assumptions were being made up on the balcony, assumptions were being made on the entry level. A wealthy, older gentlemen and his younger companion (hopefully his daughter), pulled up short beside the trio. The young woman cooed.

"OH oh! How precious," she leaned in, peering at Saarai and Hirou while addressing Jorryn. "I did see anything like them in the exhibition room! Are they custom? How sweet! What are their names?" The woman practically gushed.

*****

Cass glanced at Itash, catching the look on his face but misinterpreting it.

"Do people like that? They look.... well, rather pedestrian. I mean certainly the plumage is lovely but- why are you laughing?"

Overhead, the chimes sounded over the loudspeaker again.

~*Attention GenPals Guests! We are pleased to announce the next drawing for a GenPal of choice! Will [member="Kaia Vullen"] please make their way to the Guest Services desk on Floor Nine at your convience. Congratulations Vaylin on the new addition to your family! Pick Friends. Pick Family. Pick GenPals.*~

*****

[member="Vaylin"]

"Excellent choice Miss!" The attendant beamed. They pushed a set of buttons, still smiling the bright smile of those paid to do so.

"Your request has been noted. You may pick up your Vornskrill any time you like at the GenPals Emporium on Floor Eight. There are several colour choices available for immediate pick up, or you may place and order for delivery to your home if none of the ones are to your liking. Might I recommend meeting them, however? While all GenPals are friendly, people find that they have subtle personality differences that may strengthen the rapport."

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Oh, Tash was well-aware of the play she was making here.

It were the little things.

Itash relished it. The game they played, the push-and-pull, the pain and if all that meant having to endure some little swipes at his autonomy every once in a while? Well, that was worth it as far as the Mecetti scion was concerned. He didn't really care about the alcohol here anyway. With the tidbit shared Tash pulled back and took a sip from his glass. Sweet, heavy, it was a pleasant drink for him. Though these days he usually ordered it because she disliked it.

Nothing more funny than lips brushed with Tatooine Yellow while deepening a kiss.

It were the little things as far as Itash was concerned. "Um." She? Tash put the glass down and followed Cassandra's gaze towards the smol entourage. They were being approached by an elder gentleman and his... daughter? (hopefully?) and that was when Tash noticed that the Lord Inquisitor was....... perching on Jorryn's shoulder. There also seemed to be a little hover-desk drifting in front of the Thirriken. Good lord, this was becoming a cartoon show, wasn't it? "That um." After finally suppressing the urge to laugh he shook his head bemusedly. "The bird is the Lord Inquisitor, hun. Lord Inquisitor Saarai is a Thirriken. They are from the Gordian Reach."

He leaned in again a bit.

"Very touchy birbs." birbs. This was hilarious to Tash. "Saarai has no humor, so it would be best if none of the attendants were to make any elaborate jokes."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kaia Vullen"]

She decked her straight in the schnooz.

How's that for a first impression?

"Sorry, luv, ya had an idiot crawling outta ya mouth." Over the sound of the elevator they could hear the comms blurting out a congratulationary message to Kaia. Apparently she had won a GenPals prize, that was good, she probably needed some cuddling after that fistful. Tegs helped her back up on her feet after a moment of watching her crawl around a bit. "Took care of it tho, no need to thank me." In truth Tegan didn't give a flying kark about either the Silvers or the Alliance, both of them were fething useless as far as Tegs was concerned. The Silver Jedi had abandoned their charge after launching a nonsensical invasion on the Sith Empire without actually seemingly planning anything out.

The Alliance?

They had been getting their arse kicked around since they basically came into existence.

Still living life while leaning on their 'defeat' of the One Sith. Pshah. By the time they got their arse into gear for that battle the One Sith was practically on life support as is. But that wasn't the point of decking Kaia in the face, it was about the principle of the matter.

"Congratulations on ya corporate price, but here's da thing- don't fething matter if the Alliance are a bunch o' sanctimonious dweebs and the Silvers ain't worth the paper they written on. Ya don't need a nation tellin' ya what to do to help people or to kark the Sith up the wall with a cactus." No, in fact, it was easier without them involved. Less red-tape, less whining about how yes, bombing that government building would take out the Sith government, but what about all those civilians!! and more action as far as Tegan was concerned. "Ya can either sit ya arse back down and wallow while being useless to da Galaxy that needs ya- or ya can drag yo'self outta this self-pity train ya got going."

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open.

"I get off here- choice's yours." Then Tegan stepped out and passed the other civvies waiting, leaving Kaia to herself.

Maybe she'd follow, maybe she'd wallow, Tegs' point was made as far as she was concerned.

 

[Ronan Vizsla]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

He was cloaked.

Deep cowl keeping most of his features covered and out of the way.

Of course, it didn't matter how much cowls or textile he draped onto himself, Ronan Vizsla was not a man easily overlooked. Once he stepped into the small room... a great many faces looked up, took one look at him and then immediately started to rise up to leave the room. Ronan didn't take it personally. More often than not, once he left Mandalorian space, this was the effect he had on people. He carefully picked his way around the various... critters that were lounging about and cavorting, before settling himself down next to the Pale.

One of the few figures that didn't get up and leave.

Almost immediately - before he could start talking - half a dozen SalaFranders started crawling towards him. Tugging at his boots, edges of his pants, one enterprising one was already doing its best to climb on his leg to get itself situated on his lap.

Ronan peered at the critters, then grunted something untranslatable before refocusing his attention on Ophidia. "Your message was cryptic-" Well, for Ophidia it would be her Dark Lord of the Sith, he supposed. "-but your credentials spoke for themselves." Vizsla only knew she was aligned with Zambrano and that she was highly competent from the examples she provided. If she hadn't been linked to Kaine and if she hadn't tipped at least some of the veil?

He wouldn't have come..... here. The enterprising SalaFrander was pulling itself up by his knee and was already, insistently, crawling over his leg towards his lap.

This was uncomfortable.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Ronan Vizsla"]

As the big man came lumber in and sat down with his own personal tail of critters, Ophidia brought out a small device from the little bag she was forced to carry in her absence of pockets. While he sat down she pressed a button in the middle of the device and put it down between them. The SalaFranders seemed quite fond of him, more so than of others. Perhaps it was some underlying genetic link to their ancestors on Mykr, or perhaps they just thought he really needed to cheer up.

The device she turned on made a bubble around their little alcove, keeping the sound of their voices from escaping and being overheard.

This was of course part of her plan for sizing Ronan up. He was a big, strong, stern Mandalorian Alor with tradition and seriousness flowing out of every pore. So Ophidia asked for a clandestine meeting in public surrounded by adorable synthetic critters. Yet the fact that he had been given access to her credentials spoke for the severe nature of their meeting. This was no play-date.

"And you have a penchant for creating chaos on Mandalore, Alor Vizsla"

Her fingers scuttled up along the SalaFrander's back and settled to stroking the top of its head. She felt the tiny skull pressing against her finger in delight.

"I will be perfectly honest when I say, I have no love for your people." "And I readily assume you have no love for mine. Yet, as it is, we may be in a position to offer each other a mutually beneficial arrangement."

She assumed the Dark Lord had covered some of this with Vizsla before, but she liked to keep her bases covered. It was of the utmost importance that both parties gained from this arrangement or else there could be no semblance of trust.

 

[Six-O]

Bad Omens, the two native women of Maena had maintained. This expedition brought them to places and Worlds all with the letter D. Doli in the D'Astan Sector, Diyu in Hutt Space, Darstell 4 and then DeGerrillion, now D'ian. Too many D's, and as they pronounced the names in the common Galactic tongue they accentuated the bang of that letter with audible disgust.

In some oblique way it reminded them of darkness, a theme that seemed to burden many that had grown from that distant World.

But even so they had set out with the Mother, Matsu, her Droid Companion YVHa-60, and the Arconan Vero Cyone. Leave it to Maenan's to murmur about curses, superstitions and ill omens - leave it to Maenan's and their seemingly supernatural gift to read those obscure writings on the walls of Reality.

They had been right.

They'd become stranded for nine weeks on the Planet of Doli when their ship took on an unexpected energy dump from the superconductive shielding unit on their Hyperdrive and the Motivator exhaled a data surge in a magnitude so large the main computer systems were ravaged beyond simple repair. Of course, in the on rush of this mishap, the Droid also malfunctioned in some bizarre way.

Assuming authority, it abolished the Life Support Systems, suppressing them to such a degree that even [member="Matsu Xiangu"] could not garner command of The Force. For twenty-nine hours YVHa-60 held the crew hostage, hovering it's hand over the Pressure Purge pry, seemingly ready to jettison all of them out in to the vacuum. Half-frozen, lacking oxygen, nearly dead, The Haruspex and Vero did eventually manage to reason with the Machine.

Of course none of them knew it had seen Otherspace, none of them knew it would not willingly return there.

The weeks had been awkward on Doli while their temporary home was being repaired. The two Maenan's were very adamant about disabling the Droid. Vero disagreed. Matsu settled it.

She was the Mother. It had been her that stood victorious in the Wars back on Maena that saw their Order bend the knee to her. It was her calm fury that plugged this bleeding wound between all parties now.

Another setback came to pass on the Hutt controlled World of Diyu. This was an Industrial Planet, rusted, uninviting, revolting - to some. Just like the fare they meant to extract.

A Klatooninian Slaver known as Xerrzyk the Ghastly. He was a truly foul sort of creature, powerfully built, ruthless. While Matsu was not known to harmonize well with his ilk, his renown as a trainer of flesh was legendary. He'd not been seen since the Battle of the Cross Road in the Rebellion at Kaeshana, the surviving Eldorai Guerrilla's that had trained under him and the Droid still strode with him today.

Which was helpful, because a week after their arrival, while Six-O, Matsu and Vero were securing a lasting Alliance with the Slaver, the 93rd Diyu Slave Uprising began - it became known as The Great Disobedience.

For five months, three weeks, and four days The Disobedience ravaged Skocha Bay. Notable for the obscene brutality of it's close-quartered combat, ferocious direct assaults, urban warfare and air raids, of the ninety-two preceding uprisings, this by far had been the worst of it's kind. 2.8 Million combined causalities, 1.4 Million wounded.

Five decades from now, in the waning years of his life. The Fosh Historian, Silaariv, would sum up the entire 93rd Slave Uprising in his historical masterpiece, Diyu: A Legacy of Hardship, with a single line:

"It was the bloodiest of Uprisings, unmitigated butchery for the dream of freedom, they'd never be men again."

Somewhere in the decimation of the final onslaught, even Matsu herself had fallen. Fraught with wounds, and a life-threatening basilar skull fracture, it seemed to stun all involved to witness the Tiniest Titan collapse. Even more confounding was that the Droid stood silent vigil above her - simply staring down upon it's partner. It watched as she took fever over Darstell 4. Watched as she withered away and shrunk. Observed as it's fellow occupants took to horror and insanity above DeGerrillion, their minds warped by the delirium nightmares of it's Matsu.

The Maenan's had been right.

They'd been making their transit down the Shaltin Tunnels before catching wind of the GenPal's Event and Exhibit, it'd been one of the more futuitous moments of this entire adventure. Having business with the Black Market's of D'ian in an effort to further supply, fund and transition equipment and most importantly wealthy returns back on Maena from their new endeavors in TSE-Space making a stop on the GenPals Conference Station seemed only logical - after all the A'zan-ix, available at GenPals sponsored locations back in New City were currently all the rage of the Upper-50. Full expansion in to the Unknown Regions seemed only a matter of time, why not try to insure the finest establishments were found on Maena.

Of course, there were other, darker desires at play here too.

Thus, while YVHa-60, Xerrzyk, the Maenan's and a weakened, slowly recovering Matsu were down on D'ian, here arrived Vero Cyone - twenty minutes early - at the wonderfully dashing Halo Speakeasy.

[member="Cassandra Paige"]​

 

[Ronan Vizsla]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

It scurried up and settled itself softly on his lap.

Then it began demanding pets, letting its smol head rub against his forearm, stomach, leg. It was all rather... frustrating for Ronan, but eventually he seemed to accept the role that was being thrust upon him. His finger started scritching the line of its jaw, brushing its head and making it purr. It seemed the thing to do here. The others were cuddling his legs and that was something he was thankful for.

If more of them started climbing up Ronan wasn't sure what he'd do with that.

"The Sith are strong." Vizsla declared after her assumption was made. "Some of my people have forgotten the tenets of our culture." They took... war, death, defeat, personally and that frustrated Ronan to no end.

When Monroe had been killed in her mercenary mission on Coruscant the Clans should have respected the strength of the One Sith.

Instead they called a nonsensical crusade.

When the Dark Lord of the Sith had broken Gilamar Skirata over the skies of Teta the Clans should have paid homage to Ordo.

Instead they fled like cowards and lost much in the progress.

When the Mantis woman had been executed after Utapau Yasha... Ronan frowned at that thought. That child was an abomination to the Empire and everything they stood for as far as Ronan was concerned. Already she was dismantling much of what Ra had wrought, what had made the Empire strong as far as Ronan was concerned. Yet the old Ra loyalists followed her... while she betrayed everything that the Undying had professed.

Curious.

"I respect your strength. That is all." "What do you want from me?" Curt, to the point, Ronan's patience was wearing thin even as he made the smol critter on his lap coo as he scratched its back.

 

[Persephone Alonna]

A small chirp escaped the golden beak, the bird-head tilting in curiosity as the girl approached, obviously enthralled with its exotic beauty. Golden and turquoise feathers flowed from the crest of its head down it’s back, eagle-like wings that span twice it’s body length folded neatly against its side as it sat. A simple word from the trainer sent the little creature into a small spin, trilling and prancing as it did so, pride in the attention it was being given evident in each movement.

”What is it?!”

The Zeltron dropped to her knees softly, an unusual gracefulness for her in the smooth movement. The ends of her hair brushed against the floor as she knelt, inspecting the miniature bird-lion from up close. A golden tail, tuffed in aqua plumage whipped around as it spun and stopped, talons clicking on the tile of the floor, one last trilled chirp released as it settled once again, a glance at the woman holding its jeweled leash for what Sephie could only assume was a demand for a treat.

”It is a Grifflet, ma’am. A smaller, more portable version of our Griffiend line. They live 4 to-“

A simple sales pitch, well designed with all of the pertinent information provided quickly and succinctly, was delivered with the exact right amount of enthusiasm, the wide eyes and small noises of appreciation from the young girl ensuring an easy sale, hopefully. It was beautifully crafted and did exactly as it was intended….she wanted one.

One hand extended slightly, the grifflet’s head tilting and extending in response, before she roughly drew her hand back, glancing up at the trainer in hesitation.

”I’m so sorry, that was- may I? I mean- can I pet it?”

The words tumbled out in a rush in her excitement, the light pink flush of her cheeks and large smile infectious to those around who’d paused to watch the interaction with amusement.

”But of course, miss.”

She flashed a larger smile in appreciation and extended her hand again, letting the little bird creature shift closer until it nudged against her palm, acting for all the world like a cat wanting affection. The lightest of strokes down its back was met with happy noises from both, followed by another, each with a little more confidence than before.

Oh yes, she wanted him.

[member="Cassandra Paige"]