Private When the Past Comes Back to Haunt You

[Noelle Varanin]

Noelle laughed.

"Never trust the man that says he wants nothing. That means he wants everything," she mocked, quite childishly in fact. A smile followed it, one that managed to reach her eyes.

She pushed back her plate, her fragile appetite shattered. At least she looked more relaxed. She reached for her wine, swirling it once before relenting, "If you would like to put some time in this court, then you may. But you will need to take a more natural ... skin." She enunciated, looking distastefully at him once more.

"No one here will truly trust you if you do not look like one of their own. And besides... I probably could have received you better." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "They are going to be gossiping over that for a fortnight. Really, that was cruel of you. You could have sent a letter."

He really did like leaving her on her back leg. She had a feeling she might regret this.

 

[Kal]

"I could have, yes..." Chuckling softly, Kal's smile could only be described as irritatingly smug. "... but that would have been much less fun."

Considering her stipulation, the Shadow eyed the body he was wearing appraisingly, with as much thoroughness as was possible without a mirror or a temporary departure. "This form has been quite sufficient previously, but I suppose I can see your point. I will see about arranging one which would not look out of place in your court, identity included." He had little tolerance for sloppy work, least of all in such matters.

He may not be a run-of-the-mill employee, but that did not mean he did not have professional standards.

"It will take a little while to arrange a sufficiently plausible background, but official documentation is not an issue. No offence, but your systems in that area leave much to be desired. A symptom of the recent troubles, no doubt." Bureaucratic oversight tended to be the last thing on one's mind during times of reconstruction and shifting administrations; the Silver Jedi certainly were not liable to interfere with such matters.

Theirs was less a centralised government, more a loose cooperative.​

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

The long look she gave him informed him quite promptly that she did not give a damn about his fun.

In harsher words, perhaps.

"Well I suppose I could help you. I know all about the families you could and couldn't pass as coming from. The Vae's, for example, went off world a decade ago with a twelve year old son. Or the Tamol family, only their daughter survived the invasion years ago, and rumor has it she is not fond of courts. You could pull off a dress, I do think."

Another long look. "...Or perhaps not."

 

[Kal]

Lips tilting gently upwards into a smirk, Kal made a spinning gesture with his hand, as if to reference a pirouette.

"Oh, I have no doubt I could rock a dress, with the right body." While it was clear that he preferred to think of himself as male, he was less concerned with the details than your average human. Female bodies worked just as well, for the most part, and he was by no means opposed to wearing one if convenient at any given moment; he was even less concerned about clothing, though he did generally prefer softer, more comfortable attires.

Quite able to suppress any bodily annoyances though he may be, enjoying pleasant sensations was a hobby of his.

"I will have to look into those, though they both seem possible to unravel with a bit of effort. I tend to prefer more thorough jobs, complete with all manner of documentation, childhood friends, and genetic data." Not an easy thing to do, but Greystone already had the infrastructure in place. The most difficult part was likely the memories, but that could be avoided by borrowing an identity or faced head-on through selective insertions.

"Not that the mysterious stranger routine is not just as useful in a lot of cases, hmm?"​

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

In one breath he had both dismissed her work as sloppy and confessed to being able to infiltrate her court.

Typical.

"Not that the mysterious stranger routine is not just as useful in a lot of cases, hmm?"

Her eyes narrowed, lips forming into a dour pout. "Whatever suits you," she dismissed, plucking up her glass again. She let a delicate silence come over them as she mulled. More had come out in this dinner than she had encountered in the last week. She wondered just what could actually be achieved if he did stay long term.

"Shall you go then? Get that sorted promptly and I could introduce you to the court for the Summer Solstice festival. It is the largest event of the season. And it's in two week." She told him pointedly.

 

[Kal]

"Two weeks, hmm?"

Swivelling the remaining wine in his glass, he eyed it thoughtfully before downing it in one gulp. "That can be arranged, I'm sure." They would have to work quickly, but it was greatly simplified by the willing cooperation of Noelle and the absence of invasive medical testing. Far easier than infiltrating the intelligence agencies of the galaxy, a semi-regular occurrence among his kind.

Contrary to what Noelle might hope, his privacy-violating, excessively curious ways were more or less par for the course for the Shadows.

"Any further preferences, since you eyed this body so dubiously?" To a humanoid, their body was a deeply personal thing and criticising it would often trigger all kinds of emotional reactions. To Kal, they, like the identities that went with them, were little more than outfits in his wardrobe.

He did not mind overmuch changing his attire to match the season, so to speak.​

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

Noelle considered that question for a long, serious moment.

"Strong cheek bones."

She punctuated these words with a tip of her glass. She finished her drink with a satisfied noise, suddenly feeling five pounds lighters than she had only hours ago. She stood. Her chair scraped across the stone floor. Her dress fell like water back over her body, the wrinkles smoothing out as she glanced for the time.

"The hour grows late. I can secure you a ship, or funds if you need them. Better hurry though. The solstice waits for no one." Her heels echoed across the ground as she moved towards the door. Not too absorbed, then to see him out.

If she could toss a bag over his head though, she would.

 

[Kal]

Tilting his head slightly to the side, Kal chuckled drily. "Strong cheekbones it is."

Rising to match her, he followed along, matching her pace. "No need, I came in a ship of my own, though I will need to catch a speeder. There are only so many places one can park a sentient flying orb." His tone was casual in the extreme, making it difficult to tell whether that last part was meant in jest or not, but Kal made no effort to clarify. Perhaps she would see the Shadows' idiosyncratic shipbuilding, one day.

Reaching the end of their walk, he waved a hand, smiling cheerfully. "See you at the festival, Noelle. We shall see if you approve of my attire."

Without further ado, he was off. There was plenty to do if he was to meet the deadline, but that was no reason to stress out - if nothing else clicked the Weavers would be able to cook something up, they always were. The end result? An Echani body, young and healthy... with strong cheekbones.

Kal was not entirely sure what made cheekbones strong or weak, but thankfully he had a HoloNet connection.​

Noelle Varanin​