Sith Eat Lunch Too? (Eclipse)

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Korriban. As much as Naraka disliked the dusty lump of rock in space, she found herself on it rather often. That was the downside to being a Sith. Sure, people called her Master and she had no shortage of morons to instruct, but she was always trapped on Korriban. Bleak, dusty, desolate Korriban.

The Togruta woman didn’t like it, but she’d made her choice by joining the Sith. While she could always desert, that opened up a nasty little can of worms, with death marks and hunters after you. It really wasn’t worth the hassle. Besides, she’d have plenty of notice if the war turned and the Sith started to lose.

If Naraka was good at anything, it was looking out for number one. When the time came when her interests were better satisfied elsewhere, she’d leave behind the Sith. Loyalty was earned, and the only two people she’d even been loyal to had earned it.

Kalima Dey had been devoted to her two Masters, one light and one dark. They’d shown her love, kindness, protection, and attention. If someone did those things today and truly cared for her, Naraka would readily reward them with her own loyalty. That was simply the way the universe worked, on the basis of quid pro quo. You scratch my back and I scratch yours.

However, there was no need to leave yet. And it was lunchtime anyway, which was one more good reason not to leave.

Bare red feet carried Naraka into the mess hall, or hell as she liked to call it, and the Togruta woman caught her reflection in a piece of metal décor. She was curvy as always, something magnified by her clothes, and her red skin was eye-catching. However, the white bandages on her throat were apparent.

A Doctor Sobi Q’asdan had put them on, to chill and heat the bruising around her neck from a rather delightful hour or two of rough sex in full view of a dozen people in the Dreshdae cantina. Luckily, Sith could get away with just about anything in Sith space.

The Togruta walked over to the serving tables, eyeing the nutritional fare laid out before settling on some kind of meatloaf, which was soon accompanied by a small salad and a piece of fruit she recognized as some kind of citrus. When the plate was fully loaded, Naraka progressed over to the only remaining empty table and sat down at it.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath of the aroma before reaching down to her fork and spearing bites of food. Frankly she hated silverware, but for some reason she still went to the trouble of using it. Probably because Adri had been rather keen on it. And Dervin by extension, though she’d always been considerably less inclined to think of his opinion as binding law.

The food still tasted the same, regardless of fork or fingers.

[10Tickler]

Lunch! Ah yes, that most Glorious of midday meals.

Well, not as such. See time is one of those wonderful, flexible things, and considering a few simple facts, one could easily observe a few details and make a safe assumption that this was NOT the second meal of Zaenia Urto's day. Firstly, there were the dark puffy bits of skin hiding under her bright eyes, or the bedraggled, unkempt hair that topped her head similar to the sprouting of black weeds from her scalp, with no regard to fashionable styles like some of the haired Sith females would be found wearing.

The final clue, would of course be the fact that she moved similarly to the undead, feet dragging, mouth opened into a wide yawn and the sheer fact that she was in her pajamas simply sealed away the deal. Not that they amounted to much more than a broad shirt over her torso that covered far more than most women's robes did these days...yet, eyes still followed her, almost as though they were surprised to see someone dressed thus. It was with a series of grunts, grumbles and other inarticulate noises that the Blunt Sith worked her way through the line in the Canteen, finding herself loaded down with a tray filled to the brim with nice-looking and smelling fruits, as well as the largest Sim-Caf that she could acquire, and now she was stuck looking for a place to sit.

Once, and only once before, she'd made the mistake of trying to sit at the last seat left at a table, only to be rebuked by people that she'd rather have killed than listened to, but since these were the people whom she was forced to work with, and in some cases, for, she had decided to ignore that deep, heartfelt desire, and instead moved, finding a nice place in a corner to sit. No such luck today, apparently it was sloppy joe day or something, because, save for one table which was apparently being given a wide berth, the rest of the room was jam-packed with the raucous sounds of Sith, young and old alike, chatting and whatnot with all of their little buddies and whatnot.

So, instead, Zaenia decided to head towards the mostly-open table, going for the ignoring and ignorance approach in relation to it's current inhabitant, a mildly-disgruntled Togruta, as she began on her 'breakfast' without a care in the world.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

A woman, human or near human, sat down across from Naraka, and the Togruta Master looked up. She was very messy in the hair department, and wearing pajamas. Her appearance was hardly geared to impress, and her manners weren't stunning either, as she hadn't even bothered introducing herself.

However, that didn't mean Naraka was going to either. She didn't feel the burning need to be the social butterfly after all, as there really wasn't that much to gain. This woman, as the type who didn't bother saying hello, was likely not the type to suddenly become warm and fuzzy when she was greeted.

As far as the Sith Master was concerned, it probably wasn't worth the effort.

She speared a bite of meatloaf and chewed it over in silence, not even looking at the other woman as she ate. The initial glance had really been all that she needed. Naraka had seen her face and her attire, not recognized her, and then moved on.

Some people might have found that treatment to be infuriating, annoying, or rather galling. After all, who liked being ignored? However, Naraka didn't have any particular malice in mind. This was a casual neglect, and not intended for offense.

Soon the meatloaf was devoured, and Naraka moved on to the citrus, peeling it with agile fingers, and eating it piece by piece.

[10Tickler]

Continued to eat, noting the Togruta's meal with a sense of mild amusement playing across her face as she swallowed a bite of a thin-skinned fruit who's depths were cooling and sweet. You know, cooked meat has been linked to higher risks of Cancer she said, simply, if nothing else, Zaenia was trying to elicit some sort of reaction from her unwillingly tablemate.

Sorry about that, daddy always did say that I never knew when to shut the hell up she added with a soft chuckle, filling her mouth once more as she allowed her eyes to wander, studying the female before her, tracing over the muscle groupings in her face and jaw, trying to read her emotions better, glancing at the woman's shoulders and upper arms, waiting to see if the Togruta was one of those Sith who would simply try and silence her, rather than deal with the annoying, petite, woman.

Another big swallow, showing that even though she had just woken up and was likely lazy as hell usually, she found her meal boring enough to speed it up some, and her mouth was clear for more words to spew forth from her lips, high-pitched voice chipper as she woke up a little more finally. Mind you, I really don't see why some people get so worked up over food, it really does seem like such a chore, having to eat every few hours. Hell, usually I'll just suck a tube of NutriPaste and have some water, flavor really hasn't done much for me since I was a teenager

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"I don't normally eat it cooked," Naraka said calmly before sinking her wicked fangs into the flesh of the fruit, tearing off a large piece and chewing it to extract the juice before finally swallowing the pulp.

"I prefer my meat crusty on the outside, and bloody on the inside."

And other ways too, She didn't say, taking another bite of the fruit.

There was something deep in her carnivorous nature that rejoiced over a bloody piece of meat, the metallic taste in her mouth... She could feel herself salivating over the thought, and she licked her lips.

Suddenly the Togruta woman wished for a thimiar. It had been years since she'd had the staple prey of a Togruta on her home planet, and she craved its succulent flesh. She also wanted to see how Miss Bedhead would react to seeing her bite an adorable rodent in the neck and let its body spasm on the table before she ate it all.

Humans were so easy to agitate. Some were racists like the one she'd met the other day, Virgil, and others were just so sensitive about cute things, even self-proclaimed Sith who elected to be here still showed a certain squeamishness.

In her experience, life was a cheap blessing that could be stolen away at any time by anyone or anything. You couldn't afford to hesitate when it counted.

"I imagine you're not a big fan of raw meat," Naraka said calmly, with an amused expression on her exotic features.

[10Tickler]

Setting down the core, what remained of her slightly-sweet fruit, the Sorrusian Sith smirked a little as she lifted a carrot to the corner of her mouth. Well, there's always that way around it, another is to use natural heating methods to cook with she said, chuckling as she took a massive bite of the orange tuber. Chewing thoughtfully, the crunching hiding most, if not all, of the noise around her, she remembered her own youth, and the myriad of fine foods that her father was more than happy to stuff her with. Not to mention, with how cheap Beauty Treatments were, if she gained unwanted weight, she could just have had it sucked right out...or the Stims could have done that too...

Shaking her head rapidly for a second, Zaenia forced herself to focus on the Togruta's actual question, she would need to respond before the Master felt forced to repeat it. I've had it before, I understand that most races need some of the key things found in meat to encourage brain growth, I don't mind someone else eating it... she began, shrugging and talking around a full mouth, having just taken a bite before continuing. I ate a lot when I was a teenager, and now that all I pretty much do is kill, I'd rather not take lives that don't deserve it. Bankers, Media Moguls, people who are lying and cheating the honest people of the Galaxy? Sure...A stupid cow what doesn't know better? No thanks. Go ahead though, Enjoy your lunch. My Name's Caliga she finished, using her Given name, rather than her birth one. It tended to make things less messy overall.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Naraka," The Togruta woman introduced herself in return. Like the other woman, she used her Sith name, as her actual name was reserved for friends, of which she had none. And Dervin, who was probably the closest to a friend that she had.

With Adri and Ashla gone, he was the one she'd known longest, and that was sad commentary. She was somewhere between her late thirties and early fifties, and she really should have had a few friends by now. However, that hadn't been the way her life had gone.

There was no sense in going there however, and she chose to focus on the conversation instead.

"Don't feel sorry for the cow. It dies for us to live, we kill it because we need to eat it. You should feel no regrets for taking whatever you need to survive, that is the way of nature."

For a long time, Naraka had idealized nature, and she considered it the only governing ideology in her life. Let everything flow naturally, and don't worry about anything else. Be governed by self-interest first of all.

Anything else was just trying to make water flow uphill.

"Take what you need, and don't feel guilty for it."

That was the soundest advice she could give.

[10Tickler]

"Don't feel sorry for the Cow", the Togruta had said, giving Zaenia a perfectly logical reason, not that it would sway the younger female. "Take what you need and don't feel guilty about it" the older woman had added, making Zaenia chuckle, ever so slightly. If only Naraka knew the things that the Sorrusian lived with. It had been years since she'd last done anything, but there was still that niggling feeling in the back of her mind, the tiniest whisper, telling her that things would be so much easier, if only she would do a line...or two...or twenty. It was tempting too, the focus, the drive and desire that she had always felt coursing through her body like rushing flames on trails of fuel, feeding her mind with their burning fingers...

Blinking, the Sith shook her head, literally biting down on her tongue to help clear her mind, the pain always did help some. Ah, but how many of us know the difference between needs and wants? she finally retorted, after what seemed like minutes of silence, even though it was more likely that a mere moment or two had passed. What I want might seem like a need at the moment I want it most, but if it doesn't keep me healthy, energized, or alive, It's not truly a need. she said, reaching down to her platter and setting down the carrot for something else, another fruit, this one thick with a rind, the same kind of Citrus that Naraka had eaten earlier, with a pale outer rind, and soft, slightly-bitter, dark-red flesh within.

Peeling it with her nails, she shrugged a little. I know too well the temptations of the flesh, how a little meat might seem to push you all day, but it ends up slowing Me down she told the Master, emphasizing the word me. Simple Fruits, Veggies, grains and the like tend to work better for me, It's not Like I'm a raging brute of a Sith anyways, that would be reallllly funny though, my tiny self, raging against whatever came my way... again, she chuckled, before biting into one of the little pre-sliced sections within the citrus, the pulpy juice staining her lips with it's vibrant color.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The difference between needs and wants. It was hard to tell at times, and for Naraka, that was quite frequently the dilemma de jour when she was surrounded by people. When she was alone in the wild, she could go completely blank for hours, meditating only to stop for hunting.

The Togruta woman missed being in a lonely forest, sitting before a crackling fire, roasting meat on a skewer. Water to quench her thirst, and not a single other soul around.

When she was in the wild she didn't need anything but her needs, and the superfluous aspects were easy to spot. Here in the Sith, that determination was a little harder, as it was tainted by such things as duties and responsibilities.

Missions, classes. Trivial little assignments she had to do to be a team player, which she had precious little interest in. Her arrival with the Sith had been the result of machinations by her partner, not her own ambitions. The fact she stayed was due to a mixture of boredom, loyalty to power, and the fact that if she left, it was likely to have some nasty repercussions.

Not to mention, where would she go? It wasn't as if the Jedi would roll out a red carpet for her, and she had no one to bond with or rely on in the universe. Really, this was all she had in her life.

And that's sad commentary, Naraka said drily in her own mind.

Still, maybe a vacation at some point.

The Togruta Sith Master realized she'd been neglecting the other woman, and replied.

"For your species, that's fine. But I'm a carnivore. I need meat, frequently. I kill to live, and I don't feel qualms or regrets over that. It's a fact of life that the strong prey on the weak. Why fight our natures?"

[10Tickler]

Naraka's words echoed in the back of Zaenia's mind as she closed her eyes, forcing a smile onto her face. "Why fight our natures?", repeating itself over and over, that little addictive monster in the back of her head, craving it's fix...one that Zaenia refused to give it. It took a few moments, but finally, the Sith Assassin was able to quiet it, mainly by focusing on something else.

Nodding in response to Naraka's point, the petite woman tried to change the topic to something that would be...less provocative to discuss. How about this boredom, huh? she asked, reaching back with one hand to scritch at her own spine quickly, not really caring that she'd just shown a half-dozen of the other diners a decent shot of her barely-covered rear, the shorts she'd worn to bed the previous night far too short to be seen in public worn by anything more than a hooker of some sort. It's times like this that I regret how badly I suck at using the Force, I'm great at internal stuff, but telepathy, tee-kay, stuff like that just evades me usually she said with a shrug, returning to her food with a grin, talking again through another mouthful of citrus.

There ain't many assassin-needin' missions that I've seen, how about you, what do they gotcha doin sister?

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sister? Naraka smiled wryly.

This woman was rather casual, and surprisingly friendly. It was a refreshing change from all these brooding and ambitious little curs who played their little games of ambition. Somehow she doubted Caliga was as erratic or unconventional as she was, but certainly the assassin had better claim to call her 'sister' than most others.

"Anything and everything," The Togruta woman said with amusement.

She swallowed her last bite of fruit, but didn't get up to leave. The conversation was just now getting good after all.

"I've been on a few missions, ranging from assassinations to distractions. I was present for Dantooine, but I haven't fought the Jedi since. Mostly they have me teach classes to Initiates, seeing how many of them can hold two lightsabers at once without stabbing anything or anyone accidentally. And,"

The Togruta paused for a sip from her glass of water before continuing on to the crowning moment of her 'job' with amusement. It was clear she actually enjoyed talking like this.

"I swear I can never find someone suitable for Force Flight. I've thrown a dozen Initiates from the rooftop, and not one can even use the Force to angle their fall. It's pathetic, I was doing that when I was fourteen."

Apparently not everyone had the same level of skill as she did, which was a little gratifying actually. Despite the fact that a huge amount of these Sith had started at a young age with formal Jedi training, Naraka was still more successful at many practical applications than they had been, despite her own late education in the Force.

Proof that anyone could succeed with determination.

[10Tickler]

With a frown crossing her average, yet still somewhat pretty face, Zaenia considered Naraka's answer. Clearly, being a master had been something good for the woman's life, seeing how busy she was, and yet, having specialized so much had held the younger Sith back. Finishing her smaller meal soon after Naraka completed her own, the woman sat back in her seat and sighed a little, frowning some more.

While it was nice that her mind was diverted from it's earlier attempt to relapse into old habits that she didn't feel were a good idea, now she was preoccupied with how damnably bored she was. Shifting again, restlessly, she opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again, clearly irritated. When Zaenia finally did speak again it was more to fill the silence between the Two Sith as Naraka described her adventures with training brats to do things like fly. Chuckling at the tales and complaints, she shrugged, trying to force herself into a more neutral facial expression.

Well shoot, at least you get to spend your time doing something. If I don't have someone to kill, I don't really even get sent out on missions. I don't think I've killed a Jedi...ever? I can't really remember right about now, but I've harassed one pretty recently she said, chuckling again, remembering the otter-like Jedi that she'd dumped into sewage and taunted. Yes, repairing the ship had taken some time, but she knew now, if nothing else, at least she'd have a mortal enemy waiting for her in that sector.

Stretching out again, she yawned a little. And that's why I'm here at lunchtime, eating breakfast in what barely amounts to clothing. Because I've been bored and lazy and...ugh. I don't even have an apprentice, if I'm lucky, I can get like...40, and train them to be my little minions, running and getting me sandwiches and drinks and stuff. More likely, knowing my luck, I'll get some little emo turd who takes the Assassin thing way too seriously. she said with another chuckle, shifting her chair slightly and extending a hand, offering to take Naraka's tray up with hers, now that they were both done.

Whatcha doin' for the rest of the day?

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"They're all little turds," Naraka said with a laugh, convinced that she liked this woman now.

The jury had been out, but the verdict was returned now. Caliga was found entertaining by more than just a simple majority. She was someone who Naraka could make snide commentary with, and likely be irreverent with.

Admittedly Naraka wasn't likely to suddenly devise jokes about the Inner Sanctum, perhaps coming up with amusingly pictured captions of Renata, but she could still tease over Initiates without fear.

And really, they were so hilarious, usually unintentionally. These were the exact people who quit the Jedi Order because they were 'slaves to ideology,' and then promptly swore themselves to a Sith Code and started talking about ambition and unlimited power.

The best ones were the dutiful ones desperate to impress a Master, who could be relied upon as cheap assistants for anything. You didn't even have to use the fools for a real task; sometimes just sending one all the way across the Temple to bring you an item you didn't need was delicious enough.

"As to what I'm doing, I have a little class on Jar'kai to teach late this afternoon. It's down to three students now, as some rather arrogant Sith decided to reduce class sizes the more grisly way. I was simply planning on meditating or wasting water in the shower for a half hour, but if you have some other idea?"

Naraka prompted for ideas, chiefly because she lacked her own, but also because she wanted to see if the woman had any goals of her own she was working for, to see if this was some effort to impress her.