Private The Pompous And Entitled

[Maran]

She shouldn't of gone.

Lukan Rath was cool. She had fun, actually. Some. But the moment she saw the club she shouldn't have gone in. It was horrifying. Even now she was still shaking. Maran stared at her hands. Why did she still have to be shaking. One hand pressed atop the other as she willed herself to calm down. It was fine. They were fine. They hadn't been caught, or they had. Honestly, she wasn't sure. But- no, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Just stop shaking.

It wasn't working. Maran nearly let out a sob before just rushing out of her room. Anywhere else. Maybe outside. Maybe air would help. The garden? Yeah, the garden. She booked it right towards the garden, as quick she possibly could. Barreling through people if she had to. She just needed to get outside.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The garden was nothing grand, at least not compared to the luxurious landscaping of the Ascania estate. Still, it was a pleasant, well-maintained space where one could find a measure of peace and tranquility. Even the maze-like hedging provided privacy, in some areas.

Cora had been seated on a bench, cup of tea at her side and datapad in hand. While her parents had reached out for the occasional status report, some of her siblings had made time to send the Padawan missives. With seven brothers and sisters, there was quite a lot to scroll through.

With a placid smile, she raised the cup of tea to her lips. Paused, to inhale the blend of earthy leaves and spices.

The calm was shattered by a girl bursting through the greenery, and Cora dropped her teacup. It shattered against the screen of her datapad, and she cried out in dismay.

"My tea! My letters! Oh, look what you've done!" Rising to her feet, she wiped desperately at the cracked screen, hoping that the tea hadn't soaked into the device's core.

Looking over at the disruption, Cora's ire twisted into confusion as she saw the Mirialan girl gasping for air.

"Er...are you alright?"

Maran

 

[Maran]

Run. Find somewhere alone. Find somewhere alone. Find somewhere sa- Oh?

Something caused her to trip. She face planted right into the dirt, groaning for a moment before rolling on her back. Staring up at the sky as she continued to gasp for air. Look before you leap, right? Maybe that was what she needed to learn how to do-

"Er...are you alright?"

What. A person? Someone tripped her? Immediately she sat up, practically latching onto the idea that it wasn't her fault. She brought up a hand, pointing it right at the girl. "You! Watch where you're sitting! Jeeze!"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"You! Watch where you're sitting! Jeeze!"

Cora balked in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

A hand went to her chest, scandalized by the accusation levied in her face. The audacity!

"Watch where I'm sitting? What does that even mean? You're the one who charged in here like a rancor in a china shop!"

The soaking datapad became her focus once more, and Cora rubbed frantically across the damaged screen with her sleeve. "What's more; you've gone and spilled my tea onto my datapad! Now it won't turn on, and that tea was a premium blend, too. Very expensive."

She tried the power button again in vain, clicking it almost aggressively. The thought of losing the one remaining link to her large family caused her throat to tighten.

Sniffing at the distraught Mirialan, she pointed a slender, haughty finger right back at her.

"Well then. How do you plan to right this?"

Maran

 

[Maran]

Wait what? Expensive? There was no way Maran could pay for something expensive. For a moment, she was panicked all over again, for a completely different reason. It showed in her eyes as she glanced from Cora to the tablet. Then back to Cora.

And the rest of her. No, no. Cora was a Jedi, right? Already she knew what to say.

"Your master would be disappointed you're so attached to your material possessions." Maran tried not to look smug. Tried, being the key word. Not that she did. An all too wide grin formed on her face.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora physically recoiled. Who was this smug little-

"And your Master would be disappointed in your inability to take responsibility for your actions!"

She huffed, sending a stray blonde lock away from her field of vision.

"Besides-" She gestured to the cracked datapad. "You've managed to damage some very sentimental information in your carelessness."

There was still some tea left in her quarters, thankfully.

Maran

 

[Maran]

"Jokes on you I don't have a master."

Ha. Cause that was a burn, right? But why did it make Maran feel bad? She pushed those thoughts of having someone to turn to but really just being alone aside to puff out her chest. Hell no she wasn't about to get roped into paying for some obviously expensive tablet just because this girl sat in the way of her running. And was drinking tea over it. Who drank tea over something that expensive?

"Go buy a new one, rich girl. Jedi have no need of money."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's face pulled into a grimace. She hadn't expected that response, but the modest took the edge off of her anger.

"It's not about the datapad, it's what was on the datapad." Cora rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. In her foolishness, she'd put off backing up the letters. "Perhaps if you had a master, they would teach you that an apology is proper etiquette when you destroy someone else's property."

Arms folded across her chest, Cora huffed again and stared down her nose at the green girl.

"What were you running from anyway?"

Maran

 

[Maran]

On the Datapad?

Maran squinted. "Don't need a Master to know anything you save on those things shoulda been saved on the holocloud. And you were drinkin' tea around somethin' you couldn't easily replace? Are you dumb?"

Then right to the crux of it. Maran's expression practically gave it all away as she turned her gaze off, crossed her arms. Tried to ignore the panic that was welling in her chest all over again.

"Just.. Doin' a mornin' jog. Y'know. What people do. Totally normal. Nothin' goin' on."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's eye twitched.

"Yes well…I simply haven't found the time to back them up."

The Mirialan was correct, but Cora would not admit that. Especially after she had call her stupid—no, Cora instead retrained her focus elsewhere, onto Maran's crossed arms and averted gaze.

"I don't believe you." She stated simply, finding a different crevice to probe. "No one jogs in the garden. Perhaps you've committed a misgiving against someone else and elected to run from that too?"

Maran

 

[Maran]

"Oh yeah, just running away from all my problems." She was absolutely bitter at that. It wasn't completely correct, yet kind of at the same time. It just made her think more about the whole fact that she'd stolen Jedi stuff, helped sell it. Got drunk. .. Panicked. The other bits didn't matter. Just how terrifying it was to be there, that mattered. Too much. She grumbled a little before just plopping down on the ground. Arms still crossed, still looking away.

"I don't normally make issues with people. Just people who do dumb stuff."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora watched as the green girl plunked herself to the ground in a huff. She found it curious that instead of stomping off, she'd elected to stay.

The gardens were nice, and they provided a semblance of privacy.

"I see." There was a vaguely curious lit to her voice, though still wary. "Did someone do something dumb, then?"

A smile threatened to twitch Cora's lips. With the pouting, her fellow Padawan reminded her of her younger sister, Fantine. The younger Ascania glowered in the same manner when she didn't get her way.

"Cora, by the way."

It was the first time she'd introduced herself in such a casual manner, but hurling her full title at the girl didn't seem like the most empathetic move.

Maran

 

[Maran]

"Yeah, kinda."

It was more her own choices she was frustrated with. And the panic it brought. She visibly pouted as she thought back to it. Her choices. .. Some of which she didn't exactly remember. Getting drunk. The fear of what happened after that. Ahhh don't think. Too much thinking was just going to put her back into the panic attack from before.

"Wha- Oh. .. Maran. .. What was so important on your datapad?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

For a moment, Cora had forgotten the datapad. Seated once again on the bench, she picked up the busted device and stared at it sourly.

"Messages from my family. Some pictures as well." The blonde was being purposely curt in an attempt to still the emotion swelling in her chest. Her siblings were missed terribly, and father would be most displeased to hear that she'd managed to break her datapad. Swallowing down her nerves, she traced a finger along the cracks in the screen from where the teacup had struck. The cup itself had shattered, but that was far less important. She hadn't fancied that particular design, anyway.

Cora sighed.

"I suppose you don't know anyone who is good with electronics? I would like to have this repaired as quickly as possible."

Maran

 

[Maran]

Oh.

Maran shifted a little uncomfortably where she sat, practically glancing around for something.. Literally anything else to look at. Not much, despite being here in the garden. Well, not with the obvious guilt filling her mind.

".. I'm sorry. I'll get you a replacement. .. Maybe you can still salvage the messages off it, too. Like uh.. I dunno. There's gotta be someone good at tech around here, right?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Maran's apology, however sought after, still came as a surprise.

"You don't need to do that." As quick as she'd been to demand retribution of some kind, Cora was now waving off the younger woman's offer to replace the datapad. It was an expensive model, one she'd be easily able to replace. That, and the girl looked satisfyingly guilty.

Large purchase her father's approval, of course. Involuntary, she winced at the thought of that conversation.

"Perhaps this is a task for one of the more technologically inclined Jedi." She doubted that an Alliance engineer would bother with a simple datapad. "It would be nice to recover those messages." A forlorn smile settled onto her face as Cora mumbled in thought.

"I suppose I should contact my father in preparation for the expenses."

This time, she grimaced.

Maran

 

[Maran]

"It's no biggie. I came into some money."

That she had no idea what to spend it on anyway. She frowned, already remembering why she was even running to begin with. Too focused with her own problems she nearly missed the grimace. Nearly. It was too terrible for her to miss completely. Even Maran, as self centered as she was, felt an immediate pang of sympathy.

".. Uh.. Maybe don't? We'll just get you the new one. He'll uh, never know?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"You've…come into some money?"

Cora's attention had been pulled away from the datapad, suddenly suspicious about how Maran, a Jedi Padawan, had "come into some money".

"I was under the impression that Jedi had no need of money." She asserted, parroting the green girl's earlier words back at her.

Blue eyes narrowed just slightly and fixed a poshly discerning gaze on Maran.

Maran

 

[Maran]

Maran blinked. Then blinked again. For far too long she was just quiet, obviously looking for some kind of excuse or way to play this off. The money she'd earned wasn't.. Earned. Not really. But she wasn't going to tell anyone where it came from. Never. It wasn't just her who would get in trouble. Not after everything that happened.

"L- Do you want the new one or not? Jeeze! So sorry I look too poor to pay for it."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora sighed. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose.

What even was this conversation? She demanded repayment for the datapad, and Maran refused. Now Maran was offering and Cora was turning her down.

It just didn't seem right.

"It's not as though you look particularly poor, Maran. You just don't look like you'd have enough credits on hand for such an expensive purchase."

Which was a roundabout way of saying, yes, I do think that you look poor.

Cora shook her head.

"I can't let you do that. I'd rather the device be appraised first to see what needs to be fixed." She added, with no intention of allowing the Mirialan to pay.

"Save your recently acquired credits for…I don't know, candy? Whatever it is that children like."

Maran