OOM: Meeting new people and making friends

[the_force_abides]

 Quin's wearing pieces of his new armor (the chest piece, upper arms, and thighs) when he meets Ibani in Milliways and opens his door to a cantina of questionable repute. It's not quite a wretched hive, but it's close. He gestures with his chin towards the back, towards the isles of privacy alcoves, which can just be seen through the haze of smoke and other particulates in the air.

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[last_kallig]

Ibani has been in worse places than a cantina of questionable repute. Korriban, for a start.

She's not in her armor, because it is about as far from inconspicuous as it gets and is liable to make the people she's meeting rather twitchy. Picking what to wear thus became something of an issue, as her robes would stand out almost as badly as the armor. Thankfully, Bar was capable of providing her with pants, boots, and a shirt in a neutral beige color. Leaving her lightsaber behind was even harder than leaving the armor, but the vibroblade machete on her hip will have to do.

She inhales the air of the cantina, tasting smoke and particulates as she 'listens' to the Force, green eyes automatically checking for exits and potential trouble. She catches his gesture and follows him at a casual pace toward the privacy alcoves.

She's nervous, although she's doing her best not to show it. She doesn't have much experience being herself outside of Milliways, and she feels oddly naked without the Sith 'mask' she's worn for so long.

[the_force_abides]

When she 'listens' with the Force, there is almost a 'ping' but it is very slight, slight enough to be mistaken for not having been there at all. Given that Ibani has been near Quin when he's cloaked his presence in the Force, this might not seem so odd.

The cliental they pass seems amiable enough, parting to allow them passage as needed. They do get a glance or two, but nothing that's challenging or lasting too long.

At the table Quin leads them towards is a pale woman with purple hair, Khaleen if the facial features are anything to go on (holocoms are great if you don't mind everything being blue), and an older male, human seeming, with a scar over a clouded eye. The man is dressed is rough clothing, as if he didn't care to be noticed. In fact, one's eye tends to wander away from him if you let it.

"Thom, Khaleen, I'd like you to meet my friend Ibani," Quin says in a tone which doesn't pass beyond the alcove.

[last_kallig]

Ibani notices the 'ping', but only because of her familiarity with Quin. It's a reminder that this is not a time that is kind to Force sensitives, so she 'pulls' her power in and dampens her own presence in the Force.

Ibani nods politely at Khaleen and Thom, keeping her hands where everyone can see them. "Pleasure to meet you under better circumstances," she says to Khaleen with a small smile. "And to make your acquaintance, Thom." Ibani's voice doesn't pass beyond the alcove either. Better safe than sorry.

The tendency of her eyes to slide away from Thom intrigues her. A variation on a force cloak, perhaps?

[the_force_abides]

"Yes," Khaleen replies with a smile and a bit of nervousness. "I hope we can come to respect each other at the least."

[the_force_abides]

A variation on force cloak? Perhaps. Or a variation on the infamous Jedi mind trick. Or perhaps it's just he's that good. Hard to say from the present situation.

"We shall see. I must admit I have my doubts, Ibani. I trust my old friend, but his judgement can slip from time to time." He offers a weary and wary smile.

[last_kallig]

Ibani's smile widens at Khaleen's statement. "I'd like that," she replies.

Her smile doesn't fade at the sight of the weary and wary smile. She expected that, more or less. "I would have more than doubts, in your place," she replies. She's young in years, but her eyes are old for a moment.

The 'safest' thing for any of them to do with a Sith would have been to kill them. That they haven't attacked her is a sign of considerable trust in Quin's judgement.


"May I sit?"

[the_force_abides]

"And if the records we found are anything to go by, you would have much to fear as well," Khallen says with a glare at Tholme, which he mostly ignores.

"Please, do sit. Can we offer you some refreshment?"

Quin, for his part, grabs a chair from the next table so that he may sit as well, the table Khaleen and Tholme sit at having but one empty chair. "I think perhaps we should move past reputations and find out who we are instead, yes?" Quin, in a rare moment of diplomacy says.

[last_kallig]

Ibani sits and nods at the offer of refreshment. "Yes, that would be welcome. Talking is thirsty work."

Ibani grins at Quin's rare moment of diplomacy. "A good idea, but perhaps a difficult thing to find. I have been playing a role since childhood, more or less."

[the_force_abides]

"We all play roles," Thom replies with something almost verging on a friendly tone. "The wiser among us realize it and use it. And how we use it tells others much about us."

Quin snorts. "I must apologize for my friend here. He forgets he is not a teacher any longer."

[last_kallig]

Ibani chuckles at Quin's apology. "I don't mind. I know how hard it is to break old habits, and I have had not had so many teachers that I am weary of being taught."

There were the Overseers, of course, but calling them 'teachers' would be an egregious insult to the profession. The one that she despised the least poisoned and drugged her frequently and was indifferent to whether she lived or died. The others leavened brief instructions with pain, cruelty, and suffering.

She tilts her head inquiringly as she asks Thom, "And what does using a mask to survive tell about me?"

[the_force_abides]

Thom looks at her, assessing, while Khaleen's hand moves towards Ibani's a fraction of a millimeter before she pulls it back.

"I would say it means you are crafty, at the least, and wise. The real question, is what the mask is hiding."

The tense mood is broken by a waitress who announces her presence a good few meters from the table (speaking of survival instincts), "What can I get you folks?"

[last_kallig]

She's a bit surprised by Khaleen's hand moving a fraction of a millimeter, a gesture of support?

Probably necessary survival instincts in a place like this. "Correlian pale ale, please," she tells the waitress while she thinks of an answer to Thom's question.

When the waitress returns with their order, Ibani thanks her with a small smile.

You can tell a lot about a person by their habits. When Ibani takes her drink, she automatically dowses it with the Force for drugs or poison. It's a somewhat complicated technique, power used in a matter of seconds and so 'quietly' so that the ripples of the work in the Force extend no farther than the table. How many years must it have taken for something like that to become akin to muscle memory, and why would such a trick become a habit in the first place?

When the waitress has departed again, she answers the question. "Someone who wants to make the Empire better than it is, someone who doesn't believe that power gives you the right to be a monster."
She sips her ale. "If your present is my future, my efforts will fail, but that doesn't mean the attempt shouldn't be made."

[the_force_abides]

"I would be curious to see the historical record to see if your Empire evolved into the Republic we knew," Quin says speculatively.

Thom, for his part, had noticed how Ibani reacted and treated the server, and approved of what he saw. In fact, it went a long way towards easing his worries. How people treat those perceived as lesser is a very clear indication of character. "A noble intention," he admits with a half smile. "I hope you have plans to go with them."

[last_kallig]

Ibani grins at Quin's speculation. "An idea that would strike most Imperials as heresy and madness, but much can change in so many thousands of years."

Ibani smiles at Thom. "A few," Ibani replies, sipping her drink. "But most of my efforts for the moment must be concentrated on surviving my apprenticeship. To have any hope of affecting things on a larger scale I will need the political power of a Lord at the very least." Most likely a Darth, but one step at a time.

[the_force_abides]

"Do you have anyone to work with or are you alone?" Khaleen asks, before answering herself. "No, I doubt you do if you still an apprentice. At least if being a Sith apprentice is anything like what I've seen of...well, what once were jedi."

[last_kallig]

"I'm rather lacking in allies, yes," Ibani replies. Khem Val....doesn't really count. He may be bound to her, but he'd EAT her if given the chance.

"It's common for a Sith Lord to have several apprentices at one time, but my Master was apparently looking for someone with specific abilities as opposed to quantity."

Ibani doesn't find that terribly reassuring. The big question is what Darth Zash wants those specific abilities FOR.

[the_force_abides]

"And finding those whom are sympathetic to your views is likely dangerous," Quin says, stating the obvious.

Khaleen's eyebrows knit in though before she leans forward. "I wonder. What if we keep our eye out for old records and histories. If we come across mention of a rebellion or some such from the era, we pass it along through you, Quin. It might give Ibani a place to at least look."

[last_kallig]

"Extremely," Ibani replies with a nod.

"I hadn't thought of that," Ibani says, surprised. "That would be a start, certainly. Things get edited and altered through the years, but some truth might remain."

"My life has gotten stranger than I ever imagined, but I find I don't mind." Ibani raises her glass in a toast. "To new friends and old ones?

[the_force_abides]

"I will look as well," Tholme says with a nod, impressed at Khaleen's idea.

"To friends," Quinlan agrees, raising his cup. Khaleen raises hers as well, and much to Quin's surprise, Tholme joins them.

"What? She has a worthy goal." He replies to Quinlan's stare.

[last_kallig]

Ibani laughs at Quinlan's stare and Tholme's response, a bright, happy sound. She sounds like someone her actual chronological age, for once.

"Well then, I think I ought to buy the next round," she says, grinning mischievously.

There will be time enough to get to know one another, it's not like this place ever closes....