A Year Is A Long Time Passing

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"I don't think you're considering all the variables." The female turned her head ever so slightly, an eyebrow raising with curiosity as to what exactly he meant by this rather suspect statement. "Oh?" She said, waiting for Varus to elaborate on the subject. No doubt he had some sort of series of events playing through his head to get a rise from her. He had always been rather proficient at that. Leaning back she lifted up the glass of water, her alcohol having been consumed, and took a slow sip, her eyes staring into his as she drank, listening to him. Her head craned back at the mention of this tart, looking at the girl he was referring to, before turning back and narrowing her eyes towards him, the glass of water clinking against the table rather abruptly.

Sera lifted a hand when Varus mentioned that some of the boys from the club preferring other boys. "Perhaps. Though keep in mind that means they may just take interest in you, grinding up on you while you try and dance." She made a wolfish smirk of her own. "Oh, and there may be other girls there that prefer females as well. So you will have twice the competition, you know." She laughed rather loudly and abruptly, almost snorting her drink. "People could get hurt if I'm seen dancing with someone else huh? You trying to tell me something? Are you marking your territory with me?"

The older woman wandered back over as Sera finished speaking to check on them, "Can I get either of you something to eat? Or more drinks?"

"I'll take another Twistler, and if you have it, Rycrit Stew."

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"Something with two pieces of bread and meat between it for me, please. Medium well of you don't mind.", Varus said, glancing away from Sera for just a moment to smile at the woman who rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. "Best waitress here...", Varus muttered to himself as his smile slipped away into nothing more than a light smirk.

When she commented about limp wristed young men and marking his territory, he laughed lightly, happy to feel that the present air of their conversation was getting lighter. In their past, the pair of them had shared some rather intimate moments, as well as their ups and downs, but for the most part they were flirtatious, playful and happy to share eachother's company. It was beginning to feel like it used to, at least to Varus, and he couldn't have been happier to notice it. In fact, if he could, he was going to embrace that very thing and nurture it.

The boys are of no interest to me, and I'll assume that the ladies don't much catch your fancy either, but who am I to say?", he asked her as he plucked the paper off of the end of his straw that had gone on ignored all this time. "I don't know everything about you, after all, but I'll take your improving mood and playful banter as a yes to my request for your company tonight. Or are you playing mean games with me?", he asked her as he raised his hand, pressed the straw to his lips and blew. When he did, the paper sleeve shot off and poked Seraphina right on the forehead before falling to the table as Varus lowered the straw to reveal a rather satisfied smile.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"How very adventurous of you, a sandwich." Sera said with a bit of sarcastic condescension, her grin widening as she watched for his reaction, yet nodded at the mention of the more senior lady being a fine waitress.

The Twi'lek shrugged as Varus mentioned her potential interest in females, not because he was wrong, but because she knew she could get a rise out of him due to it. Whether that was excitement, confusion, or disgust mattered little to her, she simply wanted to see how he might react to such a thing. She ran a hand down the side of her lekku, looking towards Varus as if contemplating the proposition. "I have to check my calendar, make sure I am free, you know?" She paused, a fake expression of surprise on her face, her mouth dropped open before she snapped her fingers in realization. "Oh! Wait! I can't check! You broke my datapad!" She stuck her tongue out again. "I'll be sure to bill you for that. That wasn't nice you know. That was very sentimental to me. I will expect an apology for that at some point. But I suppose my schedule is clear to go on some kind of date with you, if that's what we're gonna call it anyway."

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"You leave my meal choices alone. They don't deserve your sarcasm.", he told her as he looked her up and down, watching as she stroked her lekku carefully, wondering what she was thinking in that moment. "And your datapad had it coming. She was always such a queen anyway, talking behind my back and what not.", he mumbled lightly as he narrowed his eyes at her, smirking lightly at his own joke as he waited for what he was sure would be a snarky response from the pink woman. Before she could respond outright, though, the waitress had brought them their meals and sat them down in front of them both, and as she turned and left them to their own devices, Varus picked up his glass of water and took a sip of it's cool liquid.

"Besides, you don't need that old thing to keep you occupied. You have me.", he said, rather energetically as if he were serious, although he quickly grinned and began to laugh, more at himself than anything. He realized that in moments like these, as their relationship slowly repaired itself, he had to be able to laugh at himself. He was happy to let that happen in order to smooth things over, and for the life of him he couldn't help but to want to make things right between them. They'd both played a role in the destruction of a friendship that could have been so much more, but at least for his part of the deed, he aimed to rectify his mistakes.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CmadmM5cOk​

"My sarcasm comes free of charge. It's a perk of spending time with me. And if you think my datapad was so bad, you should have heard what all those younglings used to say about you. Quite the reputation you have." She clicked her tongue a couple of times as she shook her head. "So much pent up tension and no avenue for relief. Unless of course you count my face as of late." Sera rubbed her jaw and shifted it slightly, obviously pretending that it was still in pain. "And as for not needing it? I'll have you know it has some very important things stored in it, Mister Confidence. I think we need to get you into some center of being classes. I think all of that working out in the temple gym is just inflating your ego, as much as your physique."

Seraphina nodded and quietly thanked the waitress with the delivery of their food before turning back to Varus. The Twi'lek took a sip of her drink before gathering a bit of the stew in her spoon and leaning in towards him to take it from her. "Try it, it's a Twi'lek specialty, you unadventurous sandwich lover. I promise it won't kill you, or will it?" She smirked with narrowed eyes, her tongue pressed between her teeth in anticipation of his response to both her offer and her teased warning.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yOPjpOJ6Yg​

Varus took a bite of his sandwich, but mid chew he winced a bit during the onslaught of her insults and stinging comments. He then shook his head lightly as if there was a twinge of pain that rushed through him with each comment that she made, but when she noted her sore jaw, Varus set the sandwich down and swallowed as his other hand reached up to rub his neck gently. "Yea, I know what you mean... feels like I've been in a fight with a Sith or something, OH WAIT...", he said before narrowing his eyes in a knowing way and rolling them over towards Seraphina to display for her a slight smirk as he shook his head in disapproval.

"Sorry your jaw hurts, but I got electrocuted yesterday.", he told her, that same dull look on his face as she reached up to offer him a sip of the soup she'd collected in her spoon. That was actually sweet, a change of pace from her guilt trip she'd been giving him in jest. It was something more intimate and gentle than they hadn't been able to enjoy as much lately, and when she offered it he didn't refuse. He grasped the edge of the table softly with both hands and leaned over, pressing his lips carefully to the edge of the warm spoon before drawing in the liquid as she had suggested.

He then pushed away and leaned back in his seat, expecting the soup to be too bitter, sour or sweet, but really it wasn't bad at all. A bit stronger than he would have imagined any soup would be, but tasty none the less. "Not bad.", he proclaimed as he smiled before taking his sandwich in his hands again. "I'll make sure to respect your opinion on cuisine in the future.", he told her as he reached out his hand and held his sandwich up to the woman's cheek as if he was offering it to her in the same way. He wasn't trying to be sweet, however, and used her same tactic for a joke in order to illicit a smile and perhaps a bit of laughter from her.

"Come on...", he said as he poked one of the corners of his sandwich into her cheek gently. "It's gooooooooooood... It's got lots of protein."

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera stretched the side of her mouth back, her teeth pressing against one another as she rubbed the back of her lekku with her hand. "Ohhh right. About that. I meant to apologize for that. I felt terrible doing that to you. I'd never used that on anyone, or anything, aside from some droids. I'm very sorry, though you really didn't give me much choice. It was all I had left." She took a few more bites of her food before looking back up after Varus had tried some himself, her glass in hand to sip from the water. "Good. Maybe then you'll start eating more than just sandwiches." As she felt him press the bread against the side of her face she gave him a rather discontented look, as if to ask really?

Her eyes glanced down and to the side, her head maintaining its position as she tried to unnecessarily strain to see before turning, and taking a bite from it. While she chewed it she watched him, and made a dramatic overexaggeration of her enjoyment of the sandwich. "Mmmmmm!" After she had swallowed the bit of food she rubbed her stomach in an almost mocking way. "That is sooooooo good. I'll have to start trying sandwiches more often!"

As they continued with their meals Seraphina looked to her arm briefly, the dull pain reminding her once more that she should have taken Jedi Healing classes back on Ossus when she had the opportunity. "Perhaps when I have some time in the future I will learn a bit of Force Healing. At least then the next time you take your anger out on me I can fix it myself without being asked a dozen questions." She gave him a rather coy wink, knowing full well the injuries most recently sustained were very much her own doing.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus smiled and rolled his eyes as he retrieved his sandwich, which she had just insulted heavily with sarcasm. "Fine... next time we're stranded on a planet I won't go out and find a beast to kill for dinner that would end up hunting us anyway because my meal choices are 'Just so bland', or so says your sarcasm.", he told her, shaking his head at his with a bit of a smirk playing upon his lips as he heard what next she had to say. When she suggested that she should have learned how to heal when she was at the temple, he would have agreed, he'd have been able to use such abilities as well, but there was something about Sera that always itched at Varus's nerves.

When she should have stopped talking or just left a point alone, she didn't. She always drove her points home with insults or banter that was overall playful, but in the long run it may not have had the effect she was expecting. He'd been laughing and playing along up until that point, but when she noted him taking out his anger on her he glanced away for a moment as he took the last bite of his sandwich he was willing to. He then put to down and scooted it to the edge of the table and sighed lightly as he said, "Yea, you're right. Sorry about all that."

Looking back at Sera from across the table after a few silent moments of contemplation was hard when he thought back on how he'd hurt her, but he offered her a smile again, not wanting to dull the mood as he said one of the only, overly serious things that he would that day. It was a rare thing for him to do around someone like Seraphina seeing as the both of them got along so well and played games with one another almost all the time, but they couldn't be sunshine and rainbows as Jedi. Every once in a while there was a cloudy day, which in fact Varus preferred. He loved foul weather, but he hated strain being any part of the few relationships he had, and certainly in the few relationships he truly cared about.

"I... uhm.", he said, not really knowing how to present to her what he had to say, but deciding to just say it. "I don't ever want to hurt you like that again, and... when I say I'm sorry, I hope you know that I mean that."

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera laughed out loud unintentionally, loud enough that the other patrons could hear her and glanced over for a moment. "I wasn't aware you hunted sandwiches. Those must be quite elusive! Will you teach me how to take down one of those big game sandwiches?" She laughed at herself again, though this time made sure to be much quieter so as not to attract the attention from the other guests again. Their stares were strange and made her uncomfortable.

There was silence from her as he spoke, and even after, for a minute or two. Her chin rested in her hand, though her eyes never left his for more than a second. Each time she looked away she was right back there, looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry." She reached forward, placing her free hand on top of his, squeezing it lightly. "I won't bring it up again, even jokingly. We both did terrible things. I would much rather not keep it in mind any more than you."

She slid out from her side of the booth they were sitting at and sat beside him, pushing him inwards towards the wall with her hip with a smile before placing her hand on top of his thigh and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Let's get out of here huh? We have a casino to lose money at."

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus was pleased with Sera's reaction to what he'd said, smiling a bit as he watched her move from her seat only to join him. She scooted into his booth seat, invading his personal space with her hips as she got comfortable next to him before resting her hand on his thigh. It was a gesture that he welcomed eagerly as she kissed him sweetly, a light blush rushing across his cheek before he raised his arm up over her head.

He draped it over her shoulders and pulled her into his side a little more snuggly as he leaned over and pressed his lips to her forehead. It made the sweetest, lightest sounding smack before he leaned away so that he could look down at that beautiful little creature next to him. "You have never been so pretty to me...", he whispered down at her as he watched her facial expressions closely for her reaction. "...than when you tell me you want to go and lose all of my money.", he told her, his chest beginning to vibrate with the light laughter that he couldn't have stifled if he wanted to.

"Come on. Let's go...", Varus whispered as he scooted out of the booth with the little pink Twi'Lek who's heart he was hoping to reclaim. When they were up, he continued to allow his arm it's perch across her shoulders as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the cred needed for the meal. He then tossed them down on the table and guided them out of the little restaurant, facing them towards the nearest hospital in the direction of the casino they were planning to attend.

"I'm glad I never gave up looking for you. You know that?", he asked her as he glanced down at Seraphina who was securely tucked against his side and walking along with him. He even offered her a smile before be raised those deep blues to the blue roof he could see about a mile away, deeper into the city, which belonged to a hospital they were soon going to be visiting.


[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The woman held back her typical sarcastic retort when greeted by a compliment. She knew it drove him crazy, and she didn't want to ruin the moment by opening her mouth and saying something to irritate him, even if it was her personality in doing so, and by now he should have been expecting and used to such responses from her. Instead she simply nuzzled closer to him as he put his arm around her. "I'm happy you think so." She said, in response to his rhetoric about the casino. Her head tilted up to look at him with a smile.

"Alright, let's go then!" She slid herself out from the booth along with Varus and walked beside him back out into the streets of the city, lights still bright as ever, crowds as large as can be. "Me too. I'm glad. Aside from all of this -" she gestured towards nothing in particular, but rather as a meaning of everything collectively. "What have you been doing with yourself? Have you any student of your own?" The hospital wasn't too far away - hopefully it wouldn't take too long, she was rather eager to get to the casino and see what she could do to his credits.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"Only one that's worth mentioning. The same student works hard and cares enough about what she's doing to change the Galaxy, but no others have that kind of drive.", he whispered over to her as they walked together, his arm still hanging off of her shoulders as they walked up the sidewalk to the hospital. "I've... invested a lot of time searching for you, if I'm being honest.", he told her as he pulled her close to his chest and leaned over to kiss her forehead again.

"I don't even know where I belong anymore unless I'm standing right next to you getting into trouble.", he admitted to the young woman as he divulged to her a few things he'd been meaning to tell her. "I was asked to sit on the Council. To lead our allies in war. To consult much greater Jedi than myself. For what? So the Republic can just die? So that they can turn on one another?", he asked as he dipped his head a bit. "I think I'm done with all of that."

Turning and walking up to the front automatic doors of the hospital, Varus lead the Twi'Lek inside to be taken care of.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"I see." She said rather quietly. There was a bit of guilt hidden in that response, knowing that she had taken up quite a bit of his time in needlessly looking for her for over a year. "At least you've had someone to occupy your time. You haven't taken advantage of her, have you?" She said with a grin. "I wouldn't want to have to break the news to her."

She paused when Varus mentioned sitting on the council. "You declined the council position? Are you remaining in the Order? I have to admit this is a little bit surprising to me, given the recent events. I can't really say how I feel one way or the other. Whatever you choose to do is your own decision, just make sure it is what you want, and not what you think anyone else, least of all I, want." She placed her hands lightly on his chest and lifted herself up by the tips of her toes to kiss him, before heading into the hospital.

Inside the doctors would do what they had to, poke, prod, and examine her for an hour or so. Tests were run to make sure she hadn't injured anything else in the fall that could potentially come to light in the future. She checked out OK, with the exception of the minor fraction to the upper arm and evidence of having dislocated the shoulder. She was given a few rather potent painkillers, instructed to keep from using the arm for about a week and use the bacta injectors she was given to expedite the healing, before being sent on her way.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"She's beautiful, talented, determined, brave and promising, not to mention far too young for boys to be screwing up her life already. She might be a little disappointed if you said something about it, though.", he whispered to her with that same, confident smirk he always seemed to have in moments like those.

When she spoke of the Council Varus lost a bit of that playful attitude as the look of on his face grew almost sad. He them looked down towards Sera and said,"I agreed to attend of a few sessions in order to fill in for other, better Jedi, but yes I did decline a permanent seat.", he said as he remembered a time when he'd taken Seraphina's seat, in fact, when she'd escaped into the recesses of the stars. "I had to fill your seat for a little while... and soon someone will have to fill mine.", he told her as he glanced down at the pretty little thing on his hip as they reached the doors. "I can't send any more students ill prepared into battle with monsters and demons. They deserve to grow and to mature, and even to love if they so deem it an acceptable part of their lives. I'm done with the Republic...", he admitted as she stopped him and pressed her gentle hands into his chest so that she could push herself up and kiss him.

Those lips were as sweet as they'd ever been, honey licked, warm and just for him. He couldn't wait to get her out of her element and see how they'd do with a little alcohol in their systems, which was why he waited patiently for the doctors to fix her up, appearing to be the young, patient boyfriend. He sat there with his legs crossed in a chair against the wall and watched her with those frozen eyes, catching her playful little glances every now and again until she was done and they walked out together.

"Don't take too many of those if you plan on having a few drinks.", Varus said as he stepped out of the hospital with the pink Twi'Lek on his arm, practically purring as she seemed to do every now and again. "Next stop... the Sabacc tables", he said as he lead them towards their destination with a smile on his face.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Oh? Would she now?" Sera narrowed her eyes in a bit of a glare. "You more interested in this younger student now than me? Or do you honestly think every girl gets weak knees around you?" Her glare turned to a smirk. "You think you're that much of a gift? That's rather conceited."

She raised an eye at the notion of Varus being done with the Republic. "Are you sure about that? You were pretty adamant not too long ago about defending it until your last breath. What changed your mind? Me? I wouldn't ever try to force you into doing what you didn't want to do."

As they walked along the street she looked down at the painkillers, and then to Varus, her voice overly sarcastic and coy. "Oh? And why's that? You wouldn't try and take advantage of a girl whilst she is intoxicated, now would you? That would just be wrong, so, so wrong. And here I thought we were just going out to have some fun rolling some dice and winning some credits."

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus just walked with Sera, refusing to look at her and give her the satisfaction as she poked at his buttons. She liked toying with Varus, which was something he didn't all together mind, but only because she was so cute. "She's a child who admires greatness, I suppose.", Varus said as he finally looked over at the little, pink, troublemaker. "But you need not worry. I'm only interested in supple, well developed women.", Varus said as he leaned back just far enough so that he could get a good look at her round, shapely ass.

"As for the Republic, I've been losing faith in them for a long time now...", he said as his tone got a bit more serious. "Really, if I'm being honest, I was lying to myself and playing a part in a play. A story acted out of a time long ago when the Republic still meant something. I used it as an excuse to pursue you... to find you and try and play the role of the peacekeeper who can't leave well enough alone", he told her as he glanced back over to her, watching her with that serious look on his face as his jaw drew tight. "But I can never regret what's happened because it brought you back into my life, kicking and screaming or purring like a kitten, I don't care which."

When they scaled the steps into the casino, Varus finally let go of his stern look and allowed a smile to grace his face as Sera got back to her jokes. "I wouldn't take advantage? You mean like a certain Twi'Lek began to do back when she'd first met a cute boy she wanted to play with? Using the sway of her hips, the seductive look in her eyes and the unstoppable power of cleavage to maintain his attention no matter how he struggled against your mind games?", he asked her, his smile eventually becoming a grin as he escorted her through the middle lane of a long path of tables. The games had begun, though something told Varus that they would both win in the end.

"Come on, you little evildoer. Let's get a drink."

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Mhmmmm." She said in a rather mocking tone. Her hand swung low and slapped Varus on across the top of his thigh, having caught him out of the corner of her eye taking a rather blatant look at her backside. She narrowed her eyes before she spoke. "Are you sure that's all? You're not at all interested in her?" She looked at him with a slight look of disbelief. She knew what a sweet talker he was, and he rarely shied away from flirting with the women he met. "Maybe I ought to meet this girl, make sure you haven't already ruined her innocence."

As Varus spoke of her like she was some type of free spirited flirtatious dame she turned her expression to one of shock and surprise. "I don't know what you mean. I did no such thing. I think you simply saw what you wanted to see. My cleavage paid no part in this, I can't control that they're there. There's only so much one can do you know. And as for a seductive look? I have no such look. I was nothing but a pure, fellow Padawan and Knight, before you came along. This was all your doing. So if we're to call one an evildoer, I believe you earned that title."

Before giving him a chance to respond she trotted up the stairs to the casino's entryway, overly swaying her hips as she did so, simply to spite him. The inside was magnificent, decorated with hundreds of artworks, framed and signed by various prominent artists, thousands of slots, sabaac tables, a vibrant bar with dozens of seats, and thousands upon thousands of patrons all playing, chatting, or wandering with drink in hand observing the various games.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"I'll admit I was a little pissed off at you at first. I was fully intending to move on past you, and started to, but she looks a lot older than she is.", he said, a very rare moment of uncertainty about him as he displayed an almost sick to his stomach look. "She's more like my sweet little sister who was always more talented than I was.", and that's how it's been for a long time.

He didn't want to lie to Sera, seeing as he had already promised not to. The subject she'd breached, though, was awkward for the Blonde Jedi, knowing he'd been far out of sorts and out of his element of confidence when Sera had rub away from him. Ever since then, there hadn't been another, and the few times he'd gotten close, it hadn't felt right. It hadn't felt like home... Sera felt like home...

""I'd like you to meet her, in fact.", he admitted as they walked together, knowing how good a mentor Sera could be. "She's a bit of a fan, actually. She kept up with the stories of your time servicing the Republic.", he told her, smiling lightly as he knew that would likely be an ego boost to the pretty little Twi'Lek.

When she feigned innocence Varus laughed to himself lightly as he immediatly responded to her accusal lf him being the evil one."You playing innocent is like Palpatine claiming he was framed. You know damn well you use those curves like a showgirl, but better. I've never se...", his words were cut off by the air that cought in his throat when she trotted up the steps, doing exactly what he'd just accused her of doing. He coughed, attempting to regain his composure as he galloped up the steps behind her and into the casino.

"Cheater... Where to first?", he asked

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"A little pissed off? Need I remind you of what transpired not long ago? If that's your definition of a little, then I am actually, seriously petrified of what you mean by a lot then." She strained her lips in a backward motion, her neck muscles flaring a bit as her teeth showed through the expression. That face quickly turned to one of sarcastic disgust when he brought up this new girl's age. "How old is she, exactly? If you're calling this girl your little sister then she must be pretty young." He was never one to turn an eye from a cute ass, or a pretty face, so Sera knew this student of his couldn't have been considered a human adult if it caused Varus to shy away from the pursuit. An eyebrow raised ever so slightly when Varus told her that this girl was a fan of hers. "My stories? I'm not like some kind of legend you know." She laughed rather loudly. "I'd be happy to meet her, but what stories could there possibly be to tell?"

Making a devilish grin she made what would likely be the only defense of that monster Palpatine she would ever make. "You never know. Perhaps he was abducted, cloned, brainwashed, and turned into a Sith. We can never be 100% sure, can we?" When Varus finally managed to close his mouth from what was likely drooling and catch up to her she simply snickered at his comment and headed towards an open Sabacc table. If you were going to win or lose big, it may as well be there.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

"Meh...", Varus said as he shrugged as he glanced over at Sera with a half smile on his face. "You had it coming.", he told her jokingly, knowing she'd have some kind of smart ass thing to say in retort, unless of course she chose to leave the past in the past so they wouldn't have to keep bringing up their little scuffle. Varus knew that at least he would have preferred they move past it, but he was aware that he'd hurt her. That was the point, though, wasn't it? This grand gesture? Wasn't this the bigger point in all off this?

Getting past the trivial things was hard enough, but moving past a knock down, drag out beat down in which the both of them took the beatings of a lifetime before Varus stumbled and staggered to his ship with Sera in his arms... to get past that would make them unstoppable.

"Sixteen if I'm not mistaken, although we haven't spoken for quite some time.", he told Sera honestly. "It took... a lot of time and devotion to finally find you, and I've been back and forth to the Temple to train with her, but if I'm not mistaken the last time I saw her was three months ago.", he said to the little Twi'Lek who questioned what stories he was speaking of. "You didn't rent a room at the Temple so you could hop around looking all cute with a glow stick in your hands, Sera. You were on the Council. There were plenty of stories passed around of your bravery, determination and compassion. Some of those stories may have been stretched and exaggerated a bit, but their origins were meaningful all the same.", he said to her, truly believing that, no matter what she said or how intensely she might disagree.

When Sera had lead them over to one of the Sabacc tables Varus followed behind her with his usual, calm pace until he'd come to stand right next to her. "I suppose you never know... but there's always a way to find out the truth.", Varus suggested as he turned to Sera and gently wrapped his hands around the back of her neck, his thumbs grazing across her jawline as he leaned over her and kissed her deeply, his tongue making a few playful swirls around hers before he slipped it free from her mouth and let her go. He then smirked at Sera and stepped around behind her, his right hand reaching out and swatting Sera's right butt cheek, a playful squeeze to her firm backside before he let go and made his way around the Sabacc table to sit directly across from the seat she was standing next to.

"Good luck, Little Sera...", Varus whispered as he pulled out his chair and stepped around it to sit down and wait for the hand to be over so that he would be dealt in for the next game.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]