milliways_bar

Entry tags:

EP

"As if I needed the reminder that my subsection of the Reclamation Service was built to fail," Ibani mutters as she walks in, staring at a datapad.

She looks up when she feels that she's in Milliways. "Thank the Force, I could use a drink."

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"Not on her, on her partner in crime," Garyn says.

"When our strider was stopped at watering hole she played me with a ruse about having lost a ring in the pond. As I was searching for it, her friend fired an arrow at me. Bounced right off the armor you gave me."

He pulls an amulet out of his shirt pocket.

"She was concealing herself with this."

"Good," Ibani replies, smiling fiercely at the news that the arrow bounced off.

She carefully touches the amulet, examining it with the Force. "Do arrows usually bounce off of armor? Solid projectile weapons do exist in my universe, but they're rare. I've never seen one fired."

"If it's high-quality steel, it usually doesn't penetrate deeply enough to kill unless it's a powerful longbow or an enchanted weapon," Garyn says. "But bouncing off is rather rare."

Ibani smirks. "Then I bet they were quite surprised, briefly." If they didn't want to deal with otherworldly armor, they shouldn't have attacked Garyn!

"It feels a little like my force cloak. Something to help you blend in to the background?"

"Yes," Garyn says. "When the enchantment is cast, you can barely be seen at all. She was wearing drab colors underneath. If I hadn't traced the flight of her arrow I'd never have found her."

"I'm glad you did. I'd bet you weren't the first one they tried that scheme on."

"Should be useful for you, too, which is a nice benefit." Stealth is...not Garyn's strong suit, not that she's going to say that.

She leans in to him, rubbing a thumb along the edge of the medallion. "It's good, being here with you. You're not afraid of me. The Citadel is saturated with anger and fear and it....grates."

Garyn wouldn't be offended at all if she'd told him how bad he was at sneaking around. He already knows full well that there was a reason he never made it as a thief.

He kisses her forehead and nuzzles it.

"Nothing could frighten me from your side. I'm sure you know that."

"I know," Ibani replies, smiling softly. If her reaction to Kaal hitting him with Force lightning didn't scare him off, it's probable that nothing else will! "That knowing is something to hold on to when the night is long and idle thoughts are sharp as knives."

"My department is afraid of me, and they have every reason to be. And I must be cautious with how much of myself I show. Someone is always watching, on Dromund Kaas."

Garyn clutches her hand a little more tightly as he hears her speak.

"You've been careful all your life thus far. I trust you'll continue to be."

"Careful, yes. Good at working within circumstances imposed on me and cutting where I can to give myself room to make things better."

"Heh. Cutting. That's how I got this, my first little act of defiance." She taps the scarification under one eye.

She bends light to form a large copy of the pattern on the table, then 'erases' lines one by one. At the end, what's left is a string of letters and numbers in Aurebesh, like a cattle brand. (Which is what it was, more or less.)

Garyn nods, his expression solemn. "We carry our childhoods with us on our skin."

She brings their clasped hands up and kisses his knuckles gently. "On our skin and elsewhere, but at least we ended up quite dashing in spite of them."

"I'm sure Rylee is going to have a lot of paperwork for me to look over. Investments, plans, my cult is growing leaps and bounds still."

"I suppose I must be doing something right."

"Indeed," Garyn says. "I'd expect you to attract admirers as a matter of course, but worshippers are something else entirely."

Ibani blushes. "I've tried to establish myself as a philosophical and temporal leader more than a god. To use their passion to tear down what is wrong and build something better for themselves."

"A pity," Garyn says. "I'd take you over most of the ones I was taught about as a child."

Ibani flushes, red spreading dark across her cheeks. "I may be powerful, but I'm nowhere near THAT powerful." She's kind of hazy on the whole idea of gods and tends to think of it more as a power level than anything else.

"Why would you take me over most of them, were they so terrible?"

"You've been there."

"Well, that does count for something, I suppose."

She chuckles softly. "But I would far rather have partnership than worship, particularly with you." She runs her fingers through his hair.

"Not that I'm sure what's involved in the worship of gods. Prayers? Sacrifices?"

Garyn hums as she runs her fingers through his hair.

"Well, judging from my experience with the Imperial Cult, the gods seem to need lots of money."

Ibani snorts. "Hm. I can't imagine that a god would have much use for money, but I suppose if you speak for a god you can claim whatever you please."

"I may have to watch out for that myself, eventually. So far, no one has dared." She's rather more IMMEDIATELY present than most 'gods', which could have a dampening effect on that sort of behavior.

"I'm not entirely sure myself, but a few of the priests seem to make out well," Garyn says. "Others behave as though they actually believe their teachings, of course, but those are rare enough.

"Might be a good racket if you'd care to run it, though."

"After I retire from my current racket, perhaps," Ibani jests. She's not going to GET to retire from being a Sith, unless she dies.

She eyes her data pad and sighs. "I've been using Milliways to sleep when I can, so I suppose using it to review paperwork as well is in the same vein."