Unexpected Company

[Verrin Ris'To]

Verrin walked through lower Curoscant, while he wasn't fond of the smells, the lack of natural light, and some of the... less then savory characters, lower Curoscant had a certain beauty, not in itself, but in it's people. In his few trips down, he had always met someone or saw someone who surprised him with their perseverance. Single parents working double shifts at the various plumbing, factories, and other work that required long working hours who still found time to love their kids. Children playing and frolicking in the street enjoying life for what it was, life.

But his visit was not about enjoying what little nice sights it had, his visit was to investigate a new gang. One of the Masters felt that this new gang was moving too quickly and with too much coordination to be the normal small time swoop or spice gang. While he was only one padawan, he hadn't been sent to arrest or apprehend members of the gang, just investigate and try to find out more about them, their goals, and who was leading them so their threat level could be evaluated.

It was hard to blend in, even with the plain brown robes, as Verrin was rather large, a fact that made sneaking around difficult, but thanks to help from a kind grey force user he had met, his force sense was stronger then it had been before. He could better feel the ebbs and flow of the force as well as commune with it, and he had some leads to go for as some of the employees of a local Casino had reported being either harassed or seeing shady people matching the image of the reported gang members, and so it had been the logical place to start.

From there it had been rather simple to wait around the employees apartment blocks until he spotted an alleged member of the gang, and that brought him to where he was now, following the man ensuring to stay back and out of sight using his force sense to keep aware of the man and his movements as he tailed him, but he felt the destination was getting close as the man seemed to be growing worried and... almost terrified of wherever he was going, and the feeling had been growing with every step.

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

The man continued through an apartment complex that had housed some of the workers who were employed by the casino, the Snake Eyes Casino. After making it through the complex he turned down a few streets, his feet taking him a number of blocks out of the area before he came to a bar and inn called the Soggy Gungan.

Entering the establishment the man stopped, took a look around and inhaled a deep breath. He then scaled the few steps down into the main dinning area and raised his hand, signaling to the bartender as he said, "I'll have the usual, Val.", he then continued through the dining room and found himself at a table in the back where there were three men sitting and eating, one enjoying a deep, long sip from a large mug that he slapped back on the table before looking over at the man as he said, "How'd it go?"

The man was rather large, a considerable amount larger than the other two at the table with him and the man who had just arrived. His head was bald and his neck and chest, from what could be seen of it exposed by his tank top, were riddled with tattoos. His beck in particular bore a rather new looking mark of a circle, and withing that circle was a triangle, all three edges touching the insides of the circle with four tiny symbols withing the triangle.

"It went as well as it could have, but I think we're going to do a little more convincing.", said the newly arriving man who took a seat at the table and glanced over at a young woman who was bringing him a plate of food and a drink.

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

Verrin followed the man, staying out of sight and trusting in his force sense to guide him until he finally entered a building. The Soggy Gungan, on another day, Verrin would have found the name very charming and clever, and would happily visit to try the food, but he had other priorities as it seemed it was the meeting point, perhaps even a front, for the man. Unless he happened to be going to just get a drink which would make it a waste of his time, but at the sudden spike of uncertainty from the man, he was fairly sure that a nice drink wasn't what was going on.

Stepping into the cantina, Verrin's eyes quickly took in the room as his race had rather powerful vision which included seeing in low-light areas which often came in handy despite his eyes being highly sensitive to light, a trade off that got tedious at times. He quickly spotted the man sitting with two others, one of which was incredibly large with a shaved head that reeked of gang affiliation and intentional intimidation. Verrin was fairly sure that man was his boss, but was such a man really able to inspire such... emotions from the other?

Not wanting to completely stick out, Verrin smiled and gave a small nod to the bartender trying to establish some concept of being here to enjoy himself. He could have tried to use the force to get some answers, but Verrin hated influencing the minds of others with the force, it was invasive and above all, wrong. The mind was personal and a sanctuary, even as a child he felt invading, tampering, or forcing it to obey him to be something befitting of Jedi.

Approaching the bar, Verrin sat at the stool, "You don't happen to have Emerald wind do you?" He asked trying to strike up a conversation with the bartender to cover his true attention which was the men sitting a little ways away, "What is the story behind the name, Soggy Gungan?"

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"It's actually the name we took when we renovated the place about 6 months back.", and older, though friendly man behind the bar said as he turned around and looked on at the new face pulling a bottle of Emerald Wind in toe from the rack of bottles against the wall. He sat the bottle down on the bar top and reached down under the count and pulled a shot glass and a standard short top whiskey glass. He sat them both on the bar top and plopped a couple of cubes into the short top glass as he said, "One cred a short, three a glass."

He then reached out and grabbed his side of the bar top with both hands and leaned in, seemingly waiting for the man to make a decision and tell him what he wanted as he watched him with a friendly smile on his face, but as he did he froze in what seemed like a mixture of surprise and fear.

From cross the room, the three men at the table stood up all at the same time all of a sudden. They each filed out of from around the table at which they'd been sitting and walked across the bar, not a word spoken between them as the two smaller men stopped on either side of Verrin and took seats at the bar. The third, largest man, bald and riddled with with gang tattoos stopped directly behind Verrin and stared down at him with a blank expression on his face, arms at his side, waiting like a well trained attack dog.

There was an obvious and deafening silence that had befallen everyone in the bar. Even the band that was set up on stage had slowly tapered off in the playing of their instruments, all eyes watching in fearful awe at what was unfolding before them. Most thought that it was going to be one vicious beatdown of an outmatched man, but those more intuitive could see that these men were not acting of their own will. That underlying darkness that those few sensitive could even sense the taint of the dark side in the very air they breathed as a deep voice whispered to all that could hear it through the force.

"This is limitless... priceless... power..."

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

"It's actually the name we took when we renovated the place about 6 months back.", Verrin gave a soft hum of understanding at that. Sometimes, a name was just a name, not everything had a story behind it which was a little disappointing, but sometimes it was simply the way things were, but he did appreciate that the bartender had been kind enough to share it without embellishing it. The old bartender seemed kind which was something that was rare among a lot of the bartenders in lower Coruscant, yes, it was a shame he couldn't be here to simply enjoy the place.

Verrin half-watched as the bartender pulled out the bottle of Emerald Wind, and he was relieved they had it. It was a brandy he had sampled on Alderaan that had met his pallet favorably as it was dry but did not kick like a Nerf. "One cred a short, three a glass," Verrin slid the small credit chips across the bar which disappeared in the swipe of a hand.

He had not failed to notice that the people he had come to watch had gone silent, and he was worried that he had been found out, but there was no way he could have been. None of them had ever seen him before, to his knowledge, and right before he entered they hadn't seemed aware of him in the least. Verrin looked at the mossy green liquid sitting in the double and reached out for the glass before closing his fingers in a fist as he heard the rustling of clothes.

Verrin remained still as the three men came over, as the music died and people watched with held breaths as they surrounded him, the two smaller men to his left and right sitting at the bar including the one he had tailed, the large bald man behind him. He opened his hand once again and gripped the glass raising it to his lips to take a sip as he bought time to think about what he was going to do as he had no desire to blow his cover, if he had not already, which he would surely do if he started fighting them, but his body froze at the voice, "This is limitless... priceless... power..."

The second the voice crawled through the air, he felt it. The men were being controlled... by the will of another. Verrin closed his eyes and stretched out his senses then he felt it... the same dark oppressive aura he had felt on Zeltros. Various questions flashed through his mind as well as denials, there was no way he could be there... the odds were... astronomical, but his gut told him the truth. The Sith Lord... Slade... was on Coruscant. Verrin tightened his grip on his glass, "Power? This is wrong. They are sentient beings... Why would you do this?"

To many it would look odd as if he was talking to himself as the three men had not spoken, but he knew the Sith Lord could probably hear him either through his puppets or some other means. It all seemed too calculated too... precise for the Sith Lord to have made such an oversight.

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

There was no reply through the voice or with the unaided tongue for some time, the silence hanging still in the air and growing stagnant. Soon a few of the others in the bar had even begin to whisper, surely talking about what was going on. Then the men at the bar all three took a deep breath each one as if they hadn't a in a long time, looking around at their surroundings with surprised looks on their faces before noticing they were all standing and sitting around one man.

They had been surprised to see such a thing, but it didn't taken them all very long to imagine what could have happened, and so they backed away from their places without questioning it and returned to their seats across the room, the large man rubbing his head the whole way back over to his seat. The next minute a door behind the bar cracked open as if it had been sealed for some time. It slowly opened at the push of a long arm out from a dark hall. Following that arm, a tower of a man, though young in years, stepped out into the room.

Long brunette locks of hair dancing across a youthful face fixed with a cocky smirk and golden, calculating eyes appeared. It was Christian, and his eyes were immediately on Verrin, calm and collected, knowing that in the simplest of ways, in the slightest fraction of a moment, he could dispatch that young student of the Jedi from that life and usher him into the next. "Because I can.", his deep voice responded, but this time with full bodied words from a broad chest and through moving lips of the Sith Master himself.

He had no more need to whisper to this man through the force, the workers employed by him at this bar knowing full well what he was and what he was capable of. He didn't have to hide there, so he didn't, not to those who were around him so often. They did their work as expected, and Christian paid them well. It was all that went on there aside from his dealings with the a local gang that he had taken over and been growing.

"Relax...", Christian said, circling around the bar and taking a seat to Verrin's left. When he did he reached over the bar's edge and took a short top glass, dipped it into the ice machine and placed it on the bar top. As he did that he held his other hand up and without hesitation his bartender brought him a bottle of Zee's Honey whiskey and sat it down in front of him. The next moment he uncapped the bottle, poured him a glass and glanced over at the bottle in front of Verrin. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd have been dead before you set foot in my bar."

"Emerald Wind.", he said, spinning the cap back on his bottle of whiskey and setting it back down on the bar top. "That stuff's not half bad for bourbon, to be honest, but my weakness is for whiskey.", he said, taking his glass and pressing the bottom of it to his lip to take a sip. The next moment, he gulped down a mouthful and sighed with satisfaction as he reached up and rested both elbows on the bar, his head turning towards Verrin, golden eyes glancing over his shoulder in the Padawan's direction. "Fancy seeing you here, kid.", he said, laughing lightly to himself for a moment before he followed up by saying, "Running around without your master these days? That's a good way to get yourself killed."

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

As Verrin had been facing forward, he couldn't see the sudden shift in their behavior as the three men look around confused as to why they were suddenly on the other side of the cantina, but Verrin could feel it as the oppressive aura left their bodies that their strings had been cut, for now. The shuffling of their feet as they headed back to their table had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as, at that moment, he was more wary then he had been before as there were only a very few reasons why he would let his hold on them slip, and even fewer of those reasons were good reasons.

He turned his head as the door cracked open, the tense atmosphere that had hung over the bar moments before seeming to amplify the sound, Verrin's hand flexed as his blue eyes followed Slade, "Because I can," His jaw clenched at those words. Because he could? Subjugating the minds of his people because he could? No real reason besides he wanted to? Verrin knew he wasn't special enough to warrant such secrecy, if he wanted to keep it a secret; Slade would kill him. So why? Had it been a way to remind him of the difference between their levels?

Rustling by the bar caught his attention from the corner of his eye as the bartender and the other waitresses went back to work as though nothing had happened. How far did his reach go on Coruscant? "Relax...", Verrin stiffened as the Sith Lord moved to claim the seat to his left, relax was something he doubted he would be able to do given the situation. Verrin took a sip, the ice clinking as it tumbled in the glass, to help clear his mind as the Sith Lord prepared his own drink, a quick glance at the bottom told him it was Zee's Honey whiskey something he had never tried before.

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd have been dead before you set foot in my bar," It was a blow to his pride as while Verrin understood that he stood no real chance against the Sith Lord and would be lucky to escape alive to have it said so bluntly was something else. But that meant he didn't intend to kill him, at least yet, but he wasn't sure why, but he was a little relieved. He had no desire to fight, much less, fight a fight that would most likely end up with him dead as there was too much to see in the galaxy for him to meet his end already.

"Emerald Wind, that stuff's not half bad for bourbon, to be honest, but my weakness is for whiskey," Verrin looked at the deep amber liquid in his glass then back to his own mossy green, "I don't drink much," He said taking another small sip, letting the burn slide down his throat and to his gut. Emerald Wind just happened to be one of the few drinks he had tried in his life, and his favorite on that short list.

"Fancy seeing you here, kid," that was something he could drink to. Running into Slade again, in lower Coruscant of all places, was not something he ever expected to happen. "Running around without your master these days? That's a good way to get yourself killed."

"I can handle myself better then some," Verrin said wrapping both his hands around the glass in front of him which was true on some level. Many Padawans would have tried to attack him and would have been dead for it. That was the reason he had been chosen by the Masters to investigate, he didn't like fighting and so wouldn't throw himself into those kind of situations, but he highly doubted they were aware of just who was leading the gangs, as if so, it would have been a Master, at the very least, who would have came, "I didn't think I would run into you again, especially not in a place like this."

Verrin took another sip to calm his nerves, letting his self-control reassert itself, "So, you are the one that has been leading the gang pressuring the Casino." It wasn't a question so much as an observation.

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

"Not many Jedi do.", Christian stated in response to the Padawan's claim that he didn't drink much. He was as much a light weight as any other Jedi, many that he'd conversed with, fought and even others he'd killed never indulging in things thought better left to the lower kind of being. Drinking was one of those things that many Jedi claimed to be above, but not this one, which was something that Christian could respect about him above others he'd come across in his day. It, at the very least, gave them some way to connect despite their many differences.

"I can handle myself better then some," was the next thing out of the young Jedi's mouth which caused Christian to smile as he said, "Oh, of that I'm sure.", before he took another sip of his whiskey. He then reached out and sat the glass back on the bar as those amber eyes of his, so close to the color of the very liquid in his glass, glanced over at the man's glass which had gotten low. "That's why I'd prefer to talk to you rather than kill another strong practitioner of the force. I like a challenge, and there wouldn't be much of one if I just killed you before you were able to make something of yourself, now would there?", he said, reaching out with his hand and sliding his bottle of whiskey to his right towards Verrin.

"Try a glass of that next. It might help you decide on a new favorite drink tonight.", he said, smiling as he reached up and pressed his left elbow into the bar, his cheek falling into it and propping up his head so that he could sit there, staring at the man with that smirk on his face. He watched him for a time as he noted his surprise having run into him again after their confrontation on Zeltros. He then laughed again after the man made the assumption that he had been behind all the gang activity in the local casinos of that area. "Now why in the seven hells would I have had anything to do with that?", he asked him, knowing full well that the Padawan was no fool, but realizing that he enjoyed making him nervous rather than being straight forward and aggressive like many other Sith would have been.

"You should take care of that mouth. Throwing around accusations like that can get you hurt, or worse.", he said, turning back to the bar to take another drink as his smirk widened into a grin.

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

The sith lord had a point with that. He had met very few Jedi that drank even socially or when there was little else to do as Verrin did. He never quite understood it, there was difference between excessive drinking and merely enjoying a drink here and there. He understood, better the most Jedi his age, the importance of control, but alcohol was the same as most activities in the galaxy, one just needed the control to moderate themselves. He wasn't sure if he would ever become a heavy drinker or one who went out of his way to visit cantinas and bars, but there was no point in not partaking when one was already at one of those places.

"Oh, of that I'm sure," Verrin eyed the Sith Lord looking to see if he was being mocked. While he had smiled after saying it, he wasn't sure if it was a patronizing one or his way of encouraging... no, encourage didn't seem like the right word, placating him would probably be the best way to describe it, perhaps it was both?

"That's why I'd prefer to talk to you rather than kill another strong practitioner of the force. I like a challenge, and there wouldn't be much of one if I just killed you before you were able to make something of yourself, now would there?" Well, say what he will about the Sith Lords life style, the man had a sense of humor, even if it could be rather morbid, "That wouldn't be very sporting," Verrin agreed as he wasn't a match yet, and he wasn't sure how long it would be until he was, but he wouldn't mind if he never was. There was something confining in power.

"I will, thank you," Verrin said as the bottle was pushed towards him. Despite them not being allies, even associates would be pushing it, Verrin understood the importance of manners. He brought his glass to his lips to finish the drink off when the Sith Lord started laughing at his observation, and the hair on the back of his neck rose as he didn't know if the Sith Lord laughing was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You should take care of that mouth. Throwing around accusations like that can get you hurt, or worse." Yes, he had played that card a little close to the chest, but as the Sith Lord had said, if he wanted him dead, he would have killed him already. For whatever reason, perhaps it really did seem demeaning to kill a Padawan, it didn't look like he was going to attack him. Of course, his mind said that, but his pulse was still quicker then normal as it was a situation that, well, Padawan's couldn't be trained to deal with.

"I have never been very good at lying," Verrin said as honest as ever, drinking the last of his Bourbon. He stared down at the ice cubes resting at the bottom of the glass before slowly reach out and taking the whiskey bottle to pour it into the glass, "So, why Casinos?" He asked as it had always seemed so odd. He always pictured Sith sitting on their dark thrones and scowling at everyone that came by, not owning a Casino of all things that, and he felt it would be better to change the subject.

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian smirked at the young man's next question, remembering that he wasn't as much older as this young man next to him as he acted. He was a Master, though, and his temporary companion a Padawan. There were years upon years of experience that separated them both, and Christian was wise far beyond his years thanks to his father's teachings within his and the many holocrons he'd collected over his 23 years of livilng. He knew the difference physically wasn't much, and when you considered a typically playful and friendly nature that Christian displayed, you'd think it even less.

"Why not Casinos?", Christian asked right back, glancing over at Verrin with a smirk on his face, knowing that the young man wouldn't have anything to combat that response, but he didn't need to. It wasn't really an answer, it was just another question, one which didn't have an answer anyway. You couldn't say that it was odd for a Sith to own a Casino when you considered that such establishments partook in some of the most looked down upon activities that society had to offer in gambling and drinking. Even if that were thought of, people didn't ever consider what was going on behind closed doors in the dealings of drugs, sex and black market trade.

Taking a long gulp of his glass of whiskey, Christian set the it empty back on the bar top with a, "tink", and reached over to his bottle of whiskey. He snatched it by the stem and didn't hesitate to pour himself another glass, the ice cubes within it being scooped up and sent on a round trip around the inner edges of that glass as the liquid became a vortex while he poured it in. As he did he glanced back over at Verrin and said, "I like drinking and occasionally I appreciate the excitement that goes hand in hand with rolling the dice or guessing what hand someone else on your table has.", he said, looking up from the glass as he sat the bottle back in it's place and took a sip.

"Turns out, so do a lot of other people."

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

"Why not Casinos?" A fair point and one Verrin wasn't sure needed to be answered. It just seemed odd to him that a Sith Lord would run Casinos instead of making his home in some old ruins or sitting on before mentioned dark throne to scowl at everyone walking by, but it seemed his preconception on what Sith Lords did was a little off. On some level, he could understand how owning a Casino could be a boon for a Sith Lord as he could move around freely, establish connections with other people who moved within the shadows, and gather credits and power from a self-revenue generating facility.

"I like drinking and occasionally I appreciate the excitement that goes hand in hand with rolling the dice or guessing what hand someone else on your table has." That was it? That was why he did it all? Sure, a Casino had some advantages, but someone like him could eaily find other means, perhaps easier means, to get what he needed to survive and live in comfort, so was it all just about the occasional excitement and thrill he got from chance? It seemed so simple, yet he had trouble wrapping his head around the concept. His life had always been about control, duty, integrity, doing something just for doing something without a care about the consequence it would have on others just seemed so alien.

"Just because you want to?" Verrin asked more to himself then to the Sith, lifting the glass with the Honey whiskey to his lips, he breathed in the fumes to get a good sniff of the drink, and he found the smell rather pleasant as far as alcohol went, touching it against his lips, he took a small sip, "That is good," Verrin said moving the glass back to stare at the deep amber liquid.

"If I may ask," Verrin said hesitating for a second as he wasn't sure what reaction he would get, "How did you become a Sith? Were you born into the ideology? Or were you brought in?"

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian's happy and friendly attitude slipped away in the silence after the young Jedi's question. His face was no longer presenting that typical smirk, nor was it displaying a look of anger either. His thoughts had immediately waned from the conversation at hand and he found himself staring through the eyes of a brunette haired boy watching helplessly, beaten down and discarded as his mother and father fought one Sith after the other before his Mother fell to her knees holding her throat. Only then did his father's saber fall from his hand as he rushed to her side, a red blade piercing him at the nape of his neck between his shoulder and his collar bone, running straight down into his heart.

It only took a moment, and both of them were gone...

All of a sudden his amber eyes flickered as he was drawn back to the moment, a deep breath was taken followed by a sigh as he took another sip of whiskey and turned to glance over at Verrin. Those eyes were no longer curious or friendly or even playful, but serious in nature as they eyed him. "I was born to it.", he finally said firmly as he emitted a deep and emotion free voice.

Another stale, and uncomfortably silent moment passed by before Christian raised his hand and gathered the attention of the bartender. "Get that band playing again before I have to. They've been on break for almost an hour and I'm not paying them to stand around.", he said, to which the older man nodded and hurried from around the bar to find the group that had been playing earlier. As the old man left, though, Christian turned and looked back over to Verrin, sipping his drink and then reaching out to set it on the bar top again.

"You know you ask a lot of questions?"

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

The silence was far more intense then the pressure he felt when the Sith Lord entered the Cantina, it was almost deafening. He had asked a question few, if any, had probably ever asked... or asked and lived afterwards. There were moments that he wanted to reach out and push the Sith Lord, yell at him, speak, or leave... something to cause the intense silence to end as everything in the cantina had fallen deathly silent. Finally, Verrin's ears picked up the sharp intake of breath, and the Lord turned to face him again, his face was empty. There was not the usual spark of mischievous or the underlying glint of amusement, just empty as if he wasn't truly seeing Verrin at the moment but looking through him, "I was born to it."

Verrin gave a small nod to show he heard and understood. He wouldn't ask any more about it; he was probably lucky to have been told that small tidbit, he would not push into the matter any more then he already had. The silence returned, but this time he felt it was stifling for both of them which was a welcome, if a small, change to the situation moments before, "Get that band playing again before I have to. They've been on break for almost an hour and I'm not paying them to stand around."

The bartender left in a rush to fill the orders of the Sith, and Verrin felt a little bad for the man. The bartender was terrified, and he seemed to get the brunt end of a lot of negativity. The old man had been nothing but kind to him.

"You know you ask a lot of questions?" The corner of Verrin's lip lifted at that one, yes, he did, and it seemed he needed to work on his skill with boundaries as he had severely crossed one already, "It's the best way to learn. How else am I going to be a challenge for you someday?" He said trying to steer the conversation back to the semi-light heartedness of earlier, or well, as light hearted as it could be given the situation he was in.

[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian finally pushed back those memories and stopped dwelling on them for the time being as he heard the man's last comment. A challenge for him later? He seemed to have made an impression with his earlier comment and it made him smirk finally as he said, "Yea, well, if you get yourself killed then it won't matter, and if you decide on a different path one day, you might choose to stand next to me instead of on the opposite end of a battlefield. That, however, is all up to you in the end."

Taking a big gulp of his whiskey as the band started playing again, Christian spun in his seat and glanced across the bar at them as they played. He sighed after his drink of whiskey and watched them there on stage, the mood of the patrons and gang members in the bar around them slowly returning to normality, the chatter rising to a low hum just below the sound of music and singing. "I could have ended up a number of different ways, and even now I won't admit that I'm much of a Sith, but I certainly prefer to use the dark side of the force rather than any alternative."

He knew he was sharing a bit much, but he knew that his young friend there was no threat anyhow. Sure, he might run and tell his Masters that he was running the Coruscant undercity and pressuring the casino owners into selling their establishments to him, but if he were to do that he'd find out far before anything could be done about it and will have moved by the time the Jedi actually started sending in teams that might cause him some trouble. He could never tell them a word, but come back to him strong one day, even strong enough to kill him if he were to outmatch him in a duel, but that would only be appreciated by Christian. Even so, he could one day understand that the power in the force was not so simply separated by the light or the dark side, but blurred by what resided between them in love, hate, happiness and fear. Emotion was the key to true power, not picking a side of light or dark.

"I guess we'll see how you turn out, huh?"

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]

 

[Verrin Ris'To]

"Yea, well, if you get yourself killed then it won't matter, and if you decide on a different path one day, you might choose to stand next to me instead of on the opposite end of a battlefield. That, however, is all up to you in the end." That was true. The future was always changing and shifting. In the next few years one, or both, of them may already be dead. The idea of standing next to him and fighting wasn't an idea he would really cultivate, but did most Jedi think they were ever going to fall? Or did it just happen when they weren't looking and by the time they realized what had happened they were in far too deep? It was a question he felt he wouldn't know the answer to for a long time.

The music seemed to do wonders for the rest of the people in the tavern as it created a semblance of normalcy that they could latch onto and return to their conversations instead of watching the two of them wondering who was going to strike first. The song wasn't one he knew, but it seemed the Sith did as he turned his attention to the band and the rest of the patrons of the bar, "I could have ended up a number of different ways, and even now I won't admit that I'm much of a Sith, but I certainly prefer to use the dark side of the force rather than any alternative."

Verrin blinked a few times as that was a very loaded sentience he had been told. Did he sometimes regret the path he choose? Wonder on how his life could have been? But if he wasn't much of a Sith then what was? In that moment, the Sith oddly reminded him of a darker version of Alexandra he had met before, a dark shade of grey instead of a red or black. It was... a very loose connection as Alexandra was kind, kinder then most of the Jedi Masters he had met, while Slade still had that slight darkness about him, and it seemed he wasn't about to stop using the Dark Side any time soon. He seemed to enjoy the power it gave him to enjoy other activities too much to give up on it.

"I guess we'll see how you turn out, huh?" Verrin drained the rest of his whiskey, "Yes, we will have to see. Lets hope I can grow enough, but I do have a good three thousand years ahead of me if all things go well," He said smiling as he set the glass back down on the counter. Three thousand years was roughly the higher end average that the Force-Sensitive of his kind lived with one, the oldest recorded K'paur, even living halfway through his fourth millennium.

Slowly, he pushed on the counter and stood up, "I might have to come back here to get another drink sometime," Verrin said staring ahead. He knew he should tell the masters, and he would have, but when the Sith had spoken about other paths he could have taken, Verrin may be crazy, but the Sith felt like a person instead of a dreaded nightmare with a contagious sense of humor. Maybe there was a light inside of him, and if so, Verrin didn't want to be the one to betray that even though he understood it was most likely his own naivety that created it.

Verrin slowly walked to the door and paused, he looked back at the Lord of the Sith a moment before stepping out the door and back into Lower Coruscant.


[member="Christian Slade"]

 

[Christian Slade]

Christian smiled as the man bid him something of a farewell as he rose from his seat at the bar and walked calmly across to the door. As he did, Christian rose from his own seat, reached out and wrapped his hand around the neck of his whiskey bottle and reached out to pluck his glass of whiskey, pinching one of the edges of the glass between the bottle and his index finger.

Turning from the bar, Christian walked across the room in the opposite direction of Verrin and circled around behind the bar. As he made it behind the bar, he walked with a cool air about him, those amber eyes glancing up at Verrin as he looked back just before walking out the door. He watched him with those golden brown eyes, smirking that smirk he had and flipping his free hand up in a half wave before he reached out and took hold of the door handle to the back room, opening it and disappearing inside as Verrin vanished into the street.

[member="Verrin Ris'To"]