Reflections and Directions

[Jartris Entumaa]

Jartris idly strolled through the halls of the Atleen Gallery on Falleen. He had come a long way from Mirial, all along the Mara Corridor, to this place, though it could not be said that the journey in his private ship, steered by his trusted pilot, had been an unpleasant one. It was a planet worth visiting, one of the most civilised ones in the Outer Rim, whose natives were less feeble than many others. In fact, the porter at the entrance of the gallery had, to Jatris' surprise, been really quite adamant about being paid to admit anyone, and the Sith didn't begrudge it to him - not that money was something he had reason to worry about.

The golden afternoon sun entered through the windows, somewhat to his annoyance, as it distorted the colors and made some paintings altogether unviewable on account of the reflections.

As he entered a new room, the Sith paid no attention to the handful of other visitors that were there. This room was hung with drawings, all of them monochrome, but not all in gray. As he wandered slowly along the wall, he took in first impressions, but didn't linger. He wanted to be excited, and if a picture didn't enthrall him on sight, it wasn't good enough.

The fifth drawing on the left wall did catch his attention, though. Jartris stopped before it, put his hands behind his back, and looked at it. It was black and white, showing a destroyed cityscape with some dead bodies, all of which were naked. One of them, somewhere to the lower right, but clearly the heart of the picture, was that of a beautiful women with the only flaw that her left leg had been smashed. The reason why Jartris was standing here and examining it was that it confused him, and he could not make up his mind as to what to think.

His hands resting behind his back, he stood there, pondering.

[member="Faye Malvern"]​

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye had no particular reason to be on Falleen other than personal enjoyment. Like a true noble she enjoyed the finer things in life and that included art, though she couldn't really wrap her head around all the modern stuff that had been appearing recently. Atleen Art Gallery was perfect for her intentions, she simply wanted to be alone for a while. Somewhere were she didn't know anybody and nobody knew her. At least that way the emotions she could feel reeling off them would be passing ones, one's she could ignore entirely.

The click of her heels against the marble floor settled into a slow rhythm as she paced the room, taking a minute or two on each piece. She barely even noticed there was another person there, the only indication she had was the intrigue that rolled off him and filled the empty space between them. Faye hung back for a moment, examining him as best she could with quick onyx eyes. There wasn't much to see though, considering he had his back to her.

'Beautiful, isn't it?'

She approached cautiously, the shifting silver dress she wore made soft shuffling sounds against the floor as she moved. The picture on the wall in front of them depicted a scene that for some reason Faye found very familiar. She was tempted to reach out and touch the figure at the center of it all, but her hands remained clasped in front of her.

[member=Jartris Entumaa]

 

[Jartris Entumaa]

Jartris' reverie was broken by a pleasant female voice. He turned his head and found himself looking at a beautiful woman of dark complexion. She was slightly taller than himself, or at least the heels of her footwear made her seem so, and while she was not built strongly, the manner in which she carried herself gave her a strong presence far more intense than that of most humans. What caught his attention most, however, were her dark, warm eyes. Their surface was calm, but he saw swirling depths behind them that piqued his curiosity. He examined her with interest for several moments, and then returned his gaze to the drawing.

"It is well-executed, certainly. But I cannot say I altogether approve", he said, speaking characteristically slowly. An explanation, which one might have expected to follow, did not do so. He simply stood there, resting calmly in himself. The dark purple of his simple, but elegant robes, made of a silken material, contrasted with his yellow-green skin.

[member="Faye Malvern"]​

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye offered him a small smile as he turned to face her. His shocking green eyes took her by surprise for just a moment before she remembered herself and returned her gaze to the picture. She could still feel his eyes on her, along with the curiosity that built in his mind. After glancing over the crumbling buildings in the background a thought occurred. Black and white photos often left more to the imagination than people realized. Your mind automatically filled it with color, but for some reason the picture remained grey to Faye. That was the way it was meant to be. Death and destruction had no color, no brightness, no light at the end of it all.

'I suspect the artist didn't mean for people to approve, but it does make you think. I wonder what happened to her. Why was she the only one to survive?'

[member="Jartris Entumaa"]

 

[Jartris Entumaa]

Jartris suddenly laughed out in surprise. There was no ridicule in it, he was simply amused. "Dear lady, you have quite the imagination! You see, I took her to be quite dead. And why should she not be? Beauty is her only quality, and the universe cares not for it. It could not possibly save her. That is a perfect truth, I merely thought it vulgar to express it visually in this form."

He turned back to his interlocutor, his hands still behind his back. "You are quite the optimist to suggest that beauty did shield her from demise. Though one can certainly see why you would wish this could be so", he said with a fine, telling smile. Even someone well-versed in the reading of people would have found it difficult to discern whether this was a compliment, mockery, or both at the same time.

The Falleen, the natives of this planet, had a presence that assaulted the unwary mind, and many humans and near-humans had to concede that they found them charismatic and, despite their reptilian exterior, even attractive. The Sith had found it easy to resist their allure beyond the respect he held for the creators of a beacon of civilisation in a sea of backwater worlds. He noticed with a twinge of amusement at himself that this human woman, however, made a far stronger impression on him that was not fully under his control.

[member="Faye Malvern"]​

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye couldn't help but scrunch her sculptured features up into a disapproving look. Faye took the opportunity to lean forward and inspect the painting as closely as she could without fogging the glass up with her breath. There was nothing to say that the woman was dead, nothing at all to say that the crushed leg she lay with had been her demise. It was clear the other subjects in the painting were though, pools of black blood surrounded them and if you focused hard enough you could almost see them getting bigger.

'I think you're sorely mistake to think beauty can't get you anywhere in life. I think you'd be surprised. The flowers survive because they are beautiful. As do bees and trees and birds. They're all beautiful, thus we protect them. She may be injured but I don't see death for this woman.'

She could hear his shuffling frame shifting to face her, which made her own body draw up and turn to meet him. Her deep black eyes located his, locking onto them as she the feelings rolled off him like waves on sand. The words that followed didn't perturb her, though they did cause her brows to furrow together in confusion. The emotion reeling from the man wasn't one of mockery nor was it of flattery, yet it was both at the same time.

'Optimism is my strong suit I suppose. I'm not so naive as to think beauty will protect you from death or destruction. Though I'm also keenly aware to the fact that it provides you with certain opportunities in life that would be missed otherwise. You're very brave to throw such a confusing remark at someone you hardly know.'

[member=Jartris Entumaa]