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.

Comments

[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....