Aren't You that Guy? (Neo)

[Mal]

Mal was sitting in a dark corner of his cantina of choice. His choice of location along with his choice of dress, cargo pants, a blank shirt and a coat all in dark blues and black, almost made him look like a mercenary. This was done by choice tonight, his clothes combined with his obvious military bearing made him look intimidating. There were less than reputable people in this cantina he knew, though there were honest ones too, and he wanted them to see him. If they saw him here, and the blaster on his hip, then they might think twice about fighting him while he was working. The cross shaped scar on his cheek did more than mar his otherwise handsome appearance, it made him memorable. That's what he wanted, anyway he could prevent a fight from happening before it happened. He didn't want Ina to be in danger.

Taking another drink, he made a point of casting his gaze around the cantina again. He'd chosen this particular one because, while criminals were known to use this as a place of business, it was still reputable enough that no one would look twice at a senator's bodyguard from setting foot in it. In fact there were three cops, two lawyers, and a doctor in here right now. Some were probably crooked, but most were most likely honest. Aside from that he knew that there were several working stiffs in here making a stop on their way home, and he could see at least one death stick dealer. He didn't particularly like the idea of sharing a space with one of those slime, but if he tried to sell to Mal, all he had to do was call the man out loud enough and the problem would be solved. He almost hoped the dealer would be stupid enough to try selling to him. Almost.

Mal set his glass back down on the table and leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs out and propping them up on the chair in front of him. Glancing around again, his eyes landed on the dancers for a split second before moving on. The door opened and closed and more people came in, he even caught a faint whiff of what he thought was perfume for a second before it faded away. He could vaguely hear two men a few tables away making up stories as to how he got his scars, he pretended on to hear them at all. Truth be told, Mal didn't think they could handle it if he told them how it happened. Not because it was a big story or anything, but mostly because they were drunk. And it wasn't as awesome as these two were making it out to be. Besides, it was almost entertaining.

Mal turned his attention back to his drink for a moment, or seemed to anyway. He was still perfectly aware of everything going on around him. And he was careful to drink with his left hand, leaving his right free to go for his blaster if needed. Not that it would have mattered, he had a hold-out blaster and mechanism hidden up his left sleeve. A flick of his wrist and the blaster was in his hand and ready to fire. He was even starting to consider building a second one and wearing it on his right arm. It was still in the planning stages however, if he was going to build a second one right now it would most likely go to his employer. No sense if her being defenseless if both he and Ofi were busy dealing with other threats to come to her aid when she needed them most.

Mal sat straighter in his seat, his feet moving back from the chair to the floor as he ordered another drink. This one non-alcoholic, he wasn't the type to spend his mornings hung over. Unlike many of the people in his platoon and many of his classmates that went to college, the party life had never grown on him the way it did with them. He'd always been the more down to earth type, the designated driver more often than not. His mind was pulled back to the present by the same faint whiff of perfume he'd had before. Only now it was clearer, not overpowering, but it wasn't being blown in his direction from an open door. Just like before however, the scent stopped reaching him, a glance up revealed that it had stopped reaching him because the woman it belonged to was not moving anymore and was standing near him. "Ma'am?" His voice was polite and more neutral than anything else, maybe a faint bit of confusion as to why someone he didn't know would stop by his table. The confusion was alleviated a few moments later as he recognized the complexion as being Arkanian Offshoot.

[Neology]

Darth Novus stepped out of her rented speeder and onto the busy thoroughfare. She shot a glance over her shoulder, toward where she knew the Jedi Temple to be, a brief frown playing over her lips. What if they'd twigged to her arrival? One Jedi she could talk down, two she could fight. Any more than that and she'd have to flee – at an extreme disadvantage, here at the heart of their power.

“Paranoia doesn't suit you.” She muttered under her breath, shouldering her purse. With her presence within the Force tamped down, hidden, there was very little chance of the Jedi discovering her. Not unless she did something to give herself away, which was, well … Surprisingly tempting. Ever since arriving on Coruscant, she'd begun to dearly miss some of the unspoken benefits to her title. Personal space, most notably; no one crowded a Dark Lady of the Sith.

Unfortunately, tonight she was Arjha Tikaris - aspiring xenobiology student on her first visit to the Republic's lavish capital. And of course, Arjha just couldn't let a chance to meet someone close to her mentor, Senator Irrina Icharus, pass her by.

Novus's interests were slightly less well defined. This Icharus woman represented her home world within the Galatic Senate – worthy of a look in itself, but even more intriguing was the fact that the young senator was an Arkanian Offshoot. Hopefully, a chat with the Senator's new bodyguard would prove just as interesting.

A man in a long coat – just the right length to conceal a blaster rifle, if one removed the stock – opened the door of the cantina for her. She lingered just within for a moment, spotting her query out of the corner of her eye. He lived up to the bodyguard ideal of part time soldier, part time decorative furniture - young, fit, and traditionally attractive. She smirked to herself, a touch relieved. Not exactly her type, all told, but feigning romantic interest wouldn't be difficult, or unbelievable, if it turned out that the situation required it.

She went to the bar first and found the selection to not be quite as terrible as she'd initially feared. The bartender scanned her credit chit and handed over an unopened bottle of Alderaanian red wine with little more than a vague grunt of commentary. With bottle in one hand and glasses in the other, she finally approached the bodyguard's table.

Her dress was, if not standard Coruscanti evening wear, a close approximation. Sleek falls of pale blue Lashaa silk brought out her eyes and showed off her height to excellent advantage. A belt of silver medallions encircled her waist. She wore her hair down, loose silver-white curls that hung halfway down her back, parted on both sides by the point of her ears.

“You know, I think I've seen you somewhere before. Mind if I sit down?”

[Mal]

Mal took a long drink from his mug before setting it down on the table, grey eyes roaming the room again. His eyes passed over the blue dress, vaguely recognizing the the young woman in the dress was pale like Ina. He was more focused on trying to seem imposing enough to the underworld types laced throughout the bar, that they would leave him alone in the future. This whole trail of thought however was ruined by the same woman in the blue dress that now stood before him asking if she could sit down. His eyes moved up and down her quickly, not intentionally checking her out, but he wasn't going to complain about what he saw either. She claimed that he looked familiar, but he was pretty sure he'd remember seeing her before today. He'd remember legs like hers- faces! He meant to think faces...

A smile crossed his lips and he motioned for a moment and dipped his head in a shallow nod. "Of course ma'am, it's a free planet." He let his voice adopt a carefree, easy tone, trying to be someone who was easy to talk to. He was trying to intimidate anyone who was out to hurt Ina, that didn't mean he had to be rude to attractive women who came to his table and ask to sit. Though he was still wary, he knew she could be just as dangerous as anyone else in this room. Perhaps more so than many others, maybe even more than him. The lightsaber scar on his cheek tingled slightly at the memory of the Twi'lek Sith running her blade down his cheek. He resisted the urge to reach up and rub his cheek, he didn't even let anything show that his mind had shifted, his small soft smile never shifted.

Mal down what was left in his mug and set it back down on the table, making no indication that he was going to refill it. "And I think I'd remember you if I'd seen you before, by the way." He stated, his mind going back over all the people he'd met since he started working with Ina, and even in his last few weeks in the military. There was no need to assume that he had met this woman through Ina, even if she did happen to be an Arkanian Offshoot just like his employer. Still, what were the chances that two attractive women of the same race would come into his life in the same time-frame? He'd have to remember to guard himself and be careful. He wouldn't be surprised if Ofi sent someone to test and make sure he was the right person for the job. He got the feeling that the droid didn't like him. Which was fine with him, he wasn't the galaxy's biggest droid fan after all.

Mal leaned back in his chair, content to stay quiet for the moment, he didn't have anything to say at this moment anyway. Once he did he would speak, but he'd learned long ago, it was often more wise to remain quiet than to speak. And he was fairly sure this was one of the times where silence would allow him to learn more than blabbing about his life. Besides, he didn't think that his life was interesting enough to warrant a story. Maybe a few short quips from some of his posts, or drunken nights from when he was in training. But nothing that would net him a swarm of women running to his table hoping to earn his favor.

[Neology]

Novus set the glasses down and settled into the empty chair, a faintly mischievous smile on her lips. That appraising look he gave her was a good start that bore immediate benefits; she rather doubted he'd drop that rough demeanor for say, the duros seated two tables over.

“Ah. Very true, but I would not wish to impose upon you.” A bit of a lie, though to be fair, she was much more interested in imposing upon his new employer. Later down the road, of course. She wasn't even sure what use the young Arkanian senator could be to her yet. “I'll just have to prove my company is worth the inconvenience.” She opened the wine and with a short nod toward his empty mug, then poured a fairly restrained measure into each glass.

At his denial, she fell silent for a pensive moment. Then she shrugged, smile returning. “I might be mistaken, of course. You remind me of those recruitment vids they put out for the Republic. Very soldierly.” Her voice was warm with approval, her gaze drifting absently to take in width of his shoulders and then back up to the scar on his cheek. There was something oddly intentional about the criss-cross shape of it. Maybe, if things went well, she could coax out the story behind it.

She raised her glass in a brief mock toast and then to her lips without waiting for any involvement on his part. As far as she could tell, the wine was fairly good, but then she'd never had much experience with expensive luxuries. Hopefully, he didn't either.

What next? Her certainty about her cover was starting to fade – she didn't know enough about the senator to fake it as a long-time admirer and he wasn't volunteering any new information just yet. Better to avoid giving away too much about herself, in case she needed to improvise. The name though, there was nothing to do about that. It was on all her documentation already.

“I'm Arjha. It's nice to meet you, Mr. …?” She trailed off invitingly. “Come on, though. I can't be too far off the mark. What do you do?”

[Mal]

Mal watched as the woman settled into the chair and made her comment about not wanting to be an inconvenience. Something told him she was used to people telling her she wasn't an inconvenience, and in that dress he wouldn't blame them. "No inconvenience at all ma'am." He said with a smile, in the same friendly easy going tone. She poured them each a small amount of wine then held the glass up before drinking the wine herself. He'd only drank wine on a few occasions and found that he didn't care for it much, but this woman had just spent money on it and offered to share. He would be rude to refuse it, so picking up the glass he mimicked her, holding the glass up in a toast then taking a sip himself. He found he still didn't care for wine much, but it wasn't bad either.

She said that she might have been mistaken about recognizing him, but he looked soldierly like a Republic recruitment vid. Well, he could live with that. He had spent the last ten years in the military, it would have been strange if it hadn't rubbed off on him at least a little. His clothes were crisp and clean, there was a military grade blaster pistol at his hip, his hair was cropped short, and his face was clean shaven. He supposed he did look military, and it was all without thought now. Mal had done it all so long that it had simply become second nature, he woke up in the morning and got ready.

Mal pushed the thought from his mind as she introduced herself as Arjha and asked what he did for a living."Well Arjha, my name is Mal." Now she wanted to know what he did for a living. Well, he could be honest, or he could leave out part of it. He wasn't sure how it would go down with him being a bodyguard, he fit the profile just a little too well right now. In the end however, he decided with the truth. "I spent the last ten years in the Republic army, now I'm in the reserves and working as a bodyguard for a senator." He didn't need to state which senator, not yet anyway. He didn't know anything about this woman, other than the fact that she made that blue dress look very good and had a nice pair of legs on her. Other than that he knew nothing about her, he'd have to get to know her before he told her much more about her than her name before he said anything about Ina.

Mal, leaned back in his chair and took another small sip of the wine. He preferred a good ale to all the fancy wines and champagne in the galaxy. He was a simple soldier, not a rich man who valued the fine things in life. All he wanted was to live a long life and have a couple kids one day, maybe see his grandkids. Pushing the thought from his mind, he refocused on Arjha his smile widening slightly. "What about you? You can't tell me you just go from cantina to cantina flirting with any ruggedly handsome soldier you see." He was starting to wonder a bit about her, maybe she did have a thing for soldiers. He wasn't the best looking man in the room, but he was far from the worst looking man in the room. The man at the door being the best example, he looked like he had fallen down the ugly tree and got hit by every branch on his way down.

[Neology]

She leaned forward in her chair, listening attentively. Her brows rose in interest as he spoke, confirming a bit of what she already knew. Curious that he hadn't mentioned Senator Icharus by name.

“That's got to be a relief. Stay in the Core, get all the equipment you need.” She drank from her glass, then moved to refill it. “Or is it very boring?” She let her thoughts wander on the subject, the ghost of a frown forming on her lips and then vanishing. Long periods of vigilance broken up by frantic moments of action, a certain finality attached to even the smallest mistake … No, bodyguard work was not for her. She preferred to be on the offense, planning the attack rather than how to weather it.

“Ruggedly handsome, huh?” She laughed and shook her head, blue eyes glinting mischievously in the dim light. “Well, I wouldn't call it a hobby, but my dad was in the Navy. I guess I kinda learned how to spot 'em.” For all she knew of her father, that could be true, if unlikely. She'd have to be careful to remember everything she said from here on out; the young solider, stubbornly sober, would surely pick up on any inconsistencies.

“I'm a student. Or I was.” She shrugged, a sheepish frown crinkling her brow. “Xenobiology, specializing in native Arkanian species - dragons to jellyfish. I quit, recently. I wanted to travel and well, if not now then when, right?” That was not so different from her original cover, minus a few details. She'd decided to play it slow, to let him introduce any and all information on his employer. It was safer that way – not a negligible concern when he was armed and she was not.

“This is my first time on Coruscant, actually. I don't suppose I could convince you to show me around sometime?”

[Mal]

Mal nodded, and then shrugged. "It can be a bit boring, but it's better than being on the front lines everyday. I now only have to worry about two lives, mine and the senator's. It's really not too different from being on a battlefield honestly, same amount of focus, just aimed differently." Truth be told he was just as vigilant standing next to Irrina as he was when he was in the middle of a battlefield. His mind operated the same way in either situation, identify the threat, and neutralize it before it got out of hand. Hell, that was half the reason he was sitting in this cantina, trying to deter anyone from attacking Irrina. And himself, he really didn't want to get attacked either. That tended to put a damper on day.

Mal laughed with her, his grey eyes on her blue ones. "Well hey, a guy can exaggerate can't he?" He couldn't help but nod a few times, he couldn't say anything for growing up with the Navy, but he'd spent a decade in the Army. He had the ability to pick out people who were military or former military by sight as well. There tended to be specific signs, crisp clean cut appearance, clean and pressed clothes, the way the body was carried. Then again there was also the other end of the spectrum, some ex military were completely different. They were messy and unkempt, but the eyes always told the story. Maybe had what was called the thousand yard stare. In any case, military folk were usually easy to spot in a crowd, or anyone with combat experience anyway.

Mal leaned back in his seat again and smiled, "That's quite a range. Dragons to jellyfish huh? I didn't even know that there were dragons on Arkania. Then again, the closest thing to a dragon I've seen was a Krayt dragon's skeleton on display in a museum " The memory was only vague, his mother had chaperoned a class trip to one of the museums on Corulag. The most he remembered of it was walking in the front door and seeing the skeleton starring down at the students. That one moment had instilled something in the young Mal, that was only reinforced after he joined the Army and his mother was killed. No matter how big and dangerous you were, you were still mortal and could die at any moment. A lesson that Mal had taken to heart and intended to never learn first hand before his time came as an old man.

Mal couldn't help but agree with her on the traveling, they looked to be roughly the same age. "Hey, if I hadn't joined the Army I'd probably still be on Corulag working with my dad." His father was a successful merchant, but that kind of work wasn't for him. He was too restless, he had to keep his mind busy if nothing else. And buying and selling various wares brought in by sometimes questionable people didn't capture his interest. Unfortunately for him he found his current work interesting, it was always different and it let him meet lots of people. Ninety-nine percent of whom weren't trying to kill or hurt him at all, this was a vast improvement to his old job where ninety-nine percent of the people were trying to kill him.

Flashing the girl a lopsided grin, Mal nodded a few times. "Of course, just tell me when you want to meet up. I'll show you around."

[Neology]

The front lines - that conjured vague, unpleasant images to mind. And against what enemy did the young soldier imagine himself? The Empire, surely, with all of its menace and legend - whose troops she possessed a certain amount of obligation to, in battles to come. 'I agree completely. Stay here, where it's safe.' Novus left that thought unvoiced, working carefully to stay cheerful and attentive. Even so, a thought crossed her mind: she'd rather face Mal across the table of a dingy cantina than on some far away battlefield. Conversation and shared space had the unfortunate side effect of humanizing the young man. It would be harder to kill him, if that ever became necessary.

And yet … If that encounter on Vendaxa could go peacefully, was there not some chance of talking the soldier down from any future hostility, as the need arose? He could hardly have better reason to kill her than the second in command of the Blades, the Jedi Order's most militant branch. The memory of that stolen kiss still brought a captivating hint of blush to her cheeks. 'And what does that make this, girl? Another exercise in Things You Cannot Have?'

“Well, it's not really as impressive as it sounds. As far as we know, the dragons died out a few hundred years ago. Every once in a while a miner come in that thinks he saw something, deep in the older diamond mines. Nothing that anyone's been able to verify, of course.” She shrugged, glancing down at the contents of her glass. “They were supposed to be pretty smart. Sometimes, I like to think they just learned to hide.”

Her gaze flickered back up to meet his eyes at that mention of other directions his life might have taken, piquing her curiosity. 'You don't know much about Offshoots, do you?' Just as well, and not surprising.

“Originally, I guess I was trying to follow in mom's footsteps. She was brilliant. I never could quite match her, though it wasn't for a lack of trying.” A wistful tone edged in on her voice. She shook her head, as if dispelling dark thoughts.

“Well … What about now? We could walk a bit, if there's anything to see on this level, and if not my airspeeder is parked just around the corner. Unless you're busy?” She quirked up an eyebrow, returning Mal's grin despite herself. There was something strangely novel to this, to pretending to be just a regular person.

[Mal]

Mal nodded, listening intently to her talk about the dragons. He liked dragons, found them fascinating, they were the root of a great many legends he had heard of. He was not however, interested in meeting one face to face without a grenade launcher in hand. He was well aware of how dangerous they were, and he was not overly eager to stumble upon one. "Well, I do hope they're not extinct. It would be a shame for such a magnificent creature to be gone forever." Mal smiled when she said she hoped they simply learned to hide. "I agree. If they were supposed to be smart, then I hope they started hiding." He'd have to remember to do some research on the Arkanian dragons later, it would be something worth looking into at least. Though the irony wasn't lost on him, he was terrified of snakes, but give them wings and the ability to breathe fire and he was intrigued.

It was quite the contrary, he knew a bit about Offshoots, and how difficult it was for them. However, it was Offshoots like Arjha and Irrina that he was impressed by. They raised themselves up and improved their lives despite the difficulty of being discriminated against. He chose not to talk about it unless the other person mentioned it first however, he didn't know what kind of painful memories would be attached to it. The last thing he wanted to do was offend her, he may look the part of a mercenary, but he was more soldier than mercenary. "I'm sure you've done a great job, from what I understand an Offshoot getting to go to college at all is quite the accomplishment in itself. Can't be easy growing up with a race that looks down on you."

Mal smiled when she suggested getting out now, nodding a few times before drinking what was left of the wine in his glass. "I'm off duty for the night, besides better to spend time with a lovely lady than to spend time with..." He trailed off and looked around the room, trying to find the best way to describe the eclectic crowd. "This mix of criminals and honest workers." Standing, Mal's hand automatically checked the blaster at his hip making sure it was secure. An old habit that he was not interested in breaking in the slightest. He was half tempted to modify the pistol so that it only fired for him, a safety protocol just in cast it was ever stolen. He'd feel horrible if his blaster was ever used to end an innocent life. After double checking the straps holding the pistol in it's holster were still secure, he smiled and motioned toward the door.

Mal walked with her, eyeing down the man at the door when they exited. The two men had a slight history, which was evident by the door man reaching into his coat and Mal flexing his left hand, getting ready to extend his hold out blaster. The two men then laughed and slapped each other on the shoulder. After they had walked a distance away, Mal glanced at Arjha. "Sorry, helped him throw some trouble makers out of the bar a few years ago. Gotten one free drink a visit ever since." Truth be told if there had been any chance of violence with the workers, Mal wouldn't have been in that building. He didn't want a fight with them, they were just trying to earn a living. No sense in their lives ending, or his life ending, over something that could be prevented.

"Well, what would you like to see? I know more about where parks and gardens are than where a lot of other places are. I know a few good restaurants, and a holo-theater. Most are around here, a few farther up." Thinking about it, he'd lived on Coruscant for years now and there were still places he didn't know about. Then again, there were probably people who were born here and never left that knew just as little, if not less, about their home planet. If they had been in his home city on Corulag however, he'd be able to take her all over the place and show her the best places. Even some places in the bamboo forests he was sure no one else knew about.

[Neology]

Her mood shifted under that regard, a set to her shoulders that was not there before. Her chin jerked up, a defiant tic. “There is very little great or accomplished about it, Mal. I was – am - lucky. Most people don't get the chances I've had: ability and opportunity aligned.” Novus shook her head, frowning slightly. The young man seemed sincere enough - he probably hadn't meant his comment as an insult. She took a deep breath, letting the tension flow out of her shoulders, then continued speaking. “But it's more complex than that. When the Arkanian geneticists began to work on their own species, creating the first offshoots, lifespan was not one of their major concerns. Would you want to go to college if you knew it'd eat up more than half your life?”

Force Sensitivity changed things. Novus could not guess how many years she might have left, though she found the idea of succumbing to old age laughable. More likely that she would die fighting, either in this war or the next.

Mal stood, checking the blaster pistol at his waist by some old reflex. Her eyes followed the motion, quietly sympathetic. She was beginning to miss the familiar weight of her saber hilts. A tiny ceramic knife, sheathed beneath the skirt of her dress, was small comfort.

She smiled up at him, one eyebrow quirked up. “Oh? And do you always sit alone? I admit, a polling of our follow patrons would be, well, rather uneven.” As far as she could see, there were only a few other women present, and at least one of them worked here. Shrugging, Novus got to her feet and matched the young man's stride. She left the bottle of wine behind, writ off as the cost of initiating contact. It would not be the strangest thing she had ever billed to the Empire, though of course all of Arjha's funds were carefully cleaned of their Imperial origins.

The door guard, big and ugly and hiding a rifle with the stock removed under that coat of his, looked to be reaching for a weapon. Novus slowed, watching Mal's reaction. He went tense and then, quite abruptly, the two men began to laugh. 'What in the world?...' Pale and frowning, she followed Mal outside.

The night air was cool and pleasant against her skin, a relief after the cramped and smokey atmosphere of the cantina. Mal spoke, explaining the strange encounter by the door, asking where she wanted to go. She ran a hand through her hair, indecisive.

“Gentleman's choice? I'm afraid I don't have much frame of reference.”

[Mal]

Mal figured the question was probably rhetorical, but he decided to answer it anyway. "Yes, yes I would. Just so that any children I had could have the same or better opportunities than I had." He stated simply, smiling at her. Leaning back and letting his back pop a few times he grunted and looked at her, "Luck has little to do with it. You made it happen, you were presented with the opportunity and you took it. Without you making the choice, luck wouldn't have mattered at all. It was YOU that made the path you're on Arjha, and only you can guide that path." War had taught him many things, primary among them was to not rely on luck to get things done. Look for the opportunity and then do it. Just like why he had decided to try and learn about the Force.

Mal smiled and then slowly nodded a few times, "Yeah, I do always sit alone." And that was the end of that as far as he was concerned, he wouldn't carry on with it at this point. Instead he turned his thoughts to where they could go for this tour she had asked for. His favorite garden was nearby, but he wasn't sure if she would like that. Then there was a few parks, some even had a few animals in them. A thought hit him then and he smiled, up two levels and down there was something that he hoped she would enjoy. And he hadn't been there in quite a while himself, not since his mother had come to Coruscant to visit him.. He cut off that line of thought and shook his head, turning to look at her and smiling. "Yeah, I got an idea for something fun. Where's your speeder? It' up a couple of levels."

Mal followed Arjha to her speeder, he wasn't sure if he should offer to drive or not. He knew the way, and could give directions, but it was her speeder they were taking. In the end Mal looked at her and smiled, shrugging slightly. "Would you like me to drive? Or I can give you directions, it's really not hard to find." He finally offered, waiting for her to make the choice before climbing into the speeder as they left for their destination. He thought about what she said about traveling around, looking over at her after a moment and finally speaking again. "If you're looking to keep traveling and seeing planets, I'd recommend Alderaan and maybe Naboo. They're both quite beautiful planets. At least I've heard Naboo was, I've never actually been there."

Mal leaned back in the seat and got more comfortable, they'd be there soon so he didn't bother relaxing too much. Looking out over the city lights he couldn't help but marvel at how peaceful it all looked, despite his recent run in with the gang with Clerix. He was hoping to NOT have a repeat of anything that dangerous anytime soon. It wasn't something that he enjoyed, though he couldn't help but admit to himself that he never felt more alive that when he was in the middle of a life or death situation. Pulling his mind back to the present he pointed at the roof of a nearby building. "That's where we're going Arjha." On top of the roof was a flat platform, and since it was night there was no one there at the moment. A smile spread across Mal's face, the platform was in reality a series of water spouts that were set on a timer.

[Neology]

“Follow me.”

It was a short walk to the speeder. Novus let it pass in relative silence, mulling over his words. Children. Really? While she did not have Renata's vaunted talent for seduction, she was still pretty sure the conversation had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Had she misjudged his interest entirely? She snuck a quick glance at Mal and adjusted her gait slightly, letting each step cross in front of the last. Swish, swish.

“Ah, here we are.” She said, stopping by the airspeeder, an open canopy model in bright yellow. “The rental's in my name, obviously, but I feel like living dangerously. You drive.” She tossed him the key and climbed into the passenger seat, buckling herself in. Novus leaned back, looking out the window as the speeder rose smoothly into the air.

Coruscant was beautiful in it's own frantic, overcrowded way. She'd never really noticed it before, when she'd livid at the temple. But now that this was denied her … That line of thought rankled sorely. Even with her senses so dampened, she could feel that this was a very, very different place than the desert planets that the Sith called home. Alive.

The soldier was talking to her. She turned her head, smiling automatically as he offered up travel suggestions. “Oh? Maybe I will. What's Alderaan l-like?” The question broke off with a sharp intake of breath. Novus squeezed her eyes shut, gripping onto the fiberweave seat belt. When she opened her eyes, a jagged outline was overlaid with her vision. 'Mountains?' She blinked rapidly, struggling to clear the premonition. “I just – my head hurts. Please, excuse me.” 'Something's wrong. I'm running out of time here.'

Mal parked and she got out, hoping to avoid further explanation. Her long stride carried her out onto the middle of the platform. Deep breaths. Focus. Bring Arjha back. She spun around once, twice, taking in the view and open air. “What is this place?“ A quick glance down at the grated drains underfoot and she rather thought she knew.

[Mal]

The adjustment in her gait was not lost on Mal, he noticed and raised one of his brow slightly as he noticed the new saunter. Swish, swish. This was either a great coincidence, or this girl knew exactly what she was doing. He was leaning more toward the second one. He was brought out of his thoughts when she stated that he would drive and tossed him the keys, he had no problems with that at all. "Well, I did learn to drive in the Army. It might not be quite as safe as you're used to." He said with a smile and a wink, she'd be perfectly safe. He wouldn't do anything too stupid while driving her speeder. It was a rental after all. "Alderaan? It's beautiful, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers. It's very peaceful and quiet."

Right after he spoke he felt it, something was radiating off of Arjha, he wasn't sure what it was. If he was more sure about what he felt, he'd ask about it. For the moment he'd take her word for it that it was a headache... He wasn't entirely convinced though. Something felt off about it, he would need to keep up his lessons so the next time something like this happened he'd be able to pinpoint it better. "You sure you're OK? Need me to stop and get anything for you Arjha?" He sounded concerned, which made him glad because the only other option for him was confusion. He just hoped that he was over thinking all of this, that it really was just a headache, that he was imagining what he had felt. However, he knew that it was the Force telling him something. What it was telling him he didn't know, but it was telling him something.

They landed moments later, and she got out first, walking out to the middle of the platform. Mal removed his coat then followed her out slowly, a small smile playing across his lips as she asked what this place was. She looked down and he thought that she guessed what it was from that look, she was intelligent after all. "You'll find out in about, ten seconds." He said, counting in his mind as the seconds ticked by. Then it happened, the first spout of water erupted a few feet behind Mal, a bright blue light illuminated the water. More water started shooting up from the grates, various colored lights illuminating the water. Red, blue, yellow, green, pink, purple, white, every imaginable color was on display through the water.

Mal moved next to her as the water continued to erupt around them, his hand reaching for her's. "Get ready." He said with a smile, again counting down in his head. "And here... we... go!" A few seconds after he said go, water shot up all around them and came raining down on them. Mal started laughing, then pulled her to him and spun, water shooting up under them as he kept laughing. The water wasn't cold, quite the contrary, it matched the temperature of the air around them. Still laughing, he let go and took a few steps back, letting the water hit him and opening his arms at Arjha. He had been described as childlike on more than one occasion, a description that tended to fit as long as he wasn't in the middle of a fight.

[Neology]

The fountain proved a riot of color, jets of illuminated water raising up in no pattern that she could discern from within. Novus had never seen anything like it. The fountains that the Jedi kept were small, silver things, conductive to meditation. The Sith kept no such things at all.

'Oh, this would be an excellent place for saber practice.' That wistful thought vanished as the soldier's hand found her's. She grasped his fingers back, shooting him a curious look. 'What now?' The fountain began another part of it's cycle, drenching the two of them. Laughing, the soldier pulled her to him, spinning her around as though she weighed nothing at all. She laughed too, though likely for different reasons.

This was wonderfully absurd. She could just imagine Lord Paxis, hacking cough and all, laughing himself half to death at the thought of such a thing. Wherever he was, she wished him the dubious joy of it.

Mal released her. Novus ditched momentum with a few sideways steps. One hand came up to brace her head, feigning dizziness. The impish smile remained. She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Very mischievous, Mal.” A vague wave of her hand indicated her dress, pale blue silk rendered clingy and translucent by the water. Likely ruined, but she would not have been able to keep it anyway. She spotted a bench and crossed to it, stepping around the grates with exaggerated care.

“I'm leaving tomorrow, you know?” She avoided eye contact, trying to project disappointment. Her thoughts, at every unsupervised moment, drifted to that truncated vision. It was clear that she had to leave, though to what end she could not begin to guess. “But I'll be back. Coruscant is ... The center of everything, it feels like.” A light breeze had her shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself, dared to search out his gray eyes.

[Mal]

A lop sided grin crossed Mal's lips as she stuck her tongue out at him, then made mention of him being mischievous, which earned her a wink. It hadn't been his intention per-say, but hey who was he to complain right? She started walking to a bench, taking care to step around the grates in the floor. His eyes moved up and down her body for a second, yeah. He was not going to complain about this one bit at all. As she was going to the bench, Mal made a side trip back to the speeder and grabbed his dry coat. Mal followed her to the bench and draped his coat on the side for now, sitting down by her and listening to her speak. "Yeah, I was gonna ask when you had to leave." He smiled when she said she'd be back, he'd wanted to hear that.

Mal pulled his coat over and wrapped it around her shoulders, smiling and rubbing both her shoulders through the coat to try and warm her up. "Good, you'd better look me up when you get back too." He slid closer to her and reached up to brush her hair off of her face gently. Wrapping one arm around her he went back to rubbing her shoulders to warm her again. "Well, Coruscant is viewed as the center of the galaxy." He was here mainly because of his job and the Jedi, but he did more or less enjoy the planet. There were days he'd rather be back on Corulag however, in the middle of one of the bamboo forests with a river nearby. Yeah, that sounded real nice right now, sit Arjha down in front of a fire with him...

Mal slowly stopped rubbing her shoulders and simply wrapped one of his arms around her, his other hand fell to his lap. His grey eyes stared into her own grey eyes, the thought process hitting him that they had the same color eyes for the first time. "When you get back here, how'd you like to go out to dinner?" He had no idea where they'd go, he had no idea of any good restaurants for dates anywhere near. But he had to ask, he'd be foolish not to at this stage. She seemed like a very smart, very intelligent woman. And then there were her legs, and the part where her legs met her back... the rest of her didn't hurt either. But he was still drawn mostly by her intelligence, he could practically see that intelligence in her eyes.

Mal turned to face her better on the bench, his hand moving to brush hair from her face again. A small smile spread across his lips as his hand gently brushed her cheek before slowly starting to move back down to his lap. He considered it for a split second, not sure what he should do. It had been a number of years since he had been on anything even resembling a date. Unless you counted getting the scar on his cheek from the lightsaber wielding twi'lek Sith. And frankly, if one was to consider that a date, then one needed to have their head examined. Or shoved inside a starship engine. Whichever applied more to that person, Mal wasn't picky about which one would be best.

[Neology]

Novus watched him move about, a wry smile touching her lips very briefly as he retrieved his coat. So he'd planned ahead - she could not fault him for that. She accepted the jacket with a few murmurs of half hearted dissent, then leaned back into his arm, trying to seem relaxed.

This was all very, very strange. She was used to being, for lack of a better word, the initiator. Men that were aware of her rank, well … Sith could be many things. Arrogant? Often. Stupid? Sometimes. Suicidal? Never. Mal lent her his jacket, rubbed her shoulders, brushed hair out of her eyes, as though she was any other woman. It wasn't bad, not really. Might even be nice, if she was more used to it.

'And what would this nice Republic solider do, if he knew who you really were?' Run like hell, she hoped. Or ... There was a good chance he'd try to kill her, instead. Some fatal, misguided idea of duty, perhaps. Well. Never mind the truth, then. She was always able to get further with a smile and a clever word, anyway.

“Dinner, hm?”

The fountain began it's cycle again. Novus clasped his trailing hand; it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. Her thumb drew lazy circles against his palm. She stifled a yawn with the sleeve of his coat, snuggling in to lean her head on his shoulder.

“Sure, that sounds nice.”

[Mal]

Mal couldn't help but smile at her obviously half hearted attempt to stop him from putting his jacket around her shoulders. She then leaned back into him and let him rub her shoulders, he could get used to having someone sit with him like this. She didn't seem fully relaxed, but that could easily be because she was sitting on a bench in the arms of a man she had met a very short amount of time ago. He wouldn't blame her at all if she was still a little uneasy with him, there were things that he wasn't going to tell her until he got to know her better after all. So he wouldn't press her for anything, not yet anyway. Not until it really mattered after they'd gotten to know each other better.

She wasn't the only one who thought this was strange, though he thought it was strange for a different reason. He hadn't been in this kind of a situation in at least seven years, just before his mother had been killed. He'd been hit on a few time, but this was the first time he'd let it go on this far. This was the first time he'd even thought about asking a woman out on a date. He had no idea where to take her or what to do, maybe this had be a bad idea. He didn't panic though, instead he made a mental note to ask for some advice from Ina. Maybe she knew of a good restaurant to take Arjha. Pushing the thought from his mind he smiled as she took his hand and started tracing lazy circles on his palm and snuggled to him. OK, he could get used to this.

"I promise, no fountains next time." Mal said with a lopsided grin, resting his head on hers. He simply sat their and watched the multi-colored illuminated water shoot from the grates in the ground. The thought crossed his mind that he could come back here at some point and get some of his Force training done here. Wait for the water to start shooting up and try to out run it from one end to the other. He'd tried it once before on his own, but he hadn't been able to do it. He hadn't taken more than five steps before the water had caught up to him and soaked him. Maybe once he had control of the Force he'd be able to run from one end to the other without getting so much as a single drop of water on himself. For now though, he wanted to focus more on the young woman beside him.

~End thread~