ʀᴇᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴇɴᴠᴏʏ
OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR // ENVOY FIELD RECORD
TAVO HALOR
TAVO HALOR
LOCATION Tavo's Apartment, Theed, Naboo ⟡ OBJECTIVE Dinner with sibling
Tavo was looking forward to seeing his sister, though he would have preferred to see her somewhere other than his apartment.
The place had been ready for some time already, which had not stopped him from finding reasons to check it again. His attention moved through the kitchen first, where one plate, one glass, one knife and one fork rested beside the sink, washed, dried and arranged neatly enough that there was very little left to improve. There was no second set tucked away for guests, no collection of mismatched crockery accumulated over the years, and certainly nothing resembling the sort of supplies required to entertain another person. Tavo owned what he needed and, until now, what he needed had generally been enough for one.
It was one of several reasons he had suggested an early dinner in Theed rather than attempting anything here.
He crossed the living area while checking his chronowatch, though there was no urgency in the gesture. Vira was not late, and there was still ample time before they needed to leave. His attention shifted instead to the small table beside the couch, which seemed slightly out of alignment with the rest of the room. Tavo adjusted it by perhaps half an inch, considered the result, then quietly returned it to where it had been in the first place.
The apartment offered little else to occupy him. Its furniture was sparse and deliberately practical, chosen because each piece served a purpose rather than because the room required filling. The walls were mostly bare, the surfaces clear, and nothing had been left lying around without reason. Through the partly open bedroom door, clothing had been folded and arranged with immaculate precision, shoes paired beneath the wardrobe, while his evening coat waited where he had placed it earlier.
Everything was exactly as it ought to be, which should have made the prospect of Vira seeing it easier.
Instead, Tavo found himself looking around once more.
It was not that he feared her judgement. Quite the opposite. He loved his sister dearly and had been genuinely looking forward to spending the evening with her. Dinner somewhere in Theed, perhaps a walk afterwards, and enough time to hear what she had been doing lately sounded considerably better than most ways he could have spent the night. Vira herself was welcome.
His home was another matter.
The apartment was one of the few places where Tavo made no effort to accommodate anyone but himself. There was no audience to read, no expectation to meet, no reason to alter the way he dressed, spoke or occupied the space. It was quiet because he preferred quiet, sparse because he had little desire for unnecessary possessions, and ordered because there was a particular comfort in knowing that everything would remain exactly where he had left it.
Inviting someone into that felt unexpectedly intimate, and Vira was perhaps the worst possible person to expect not to notice.
Tavo returned to the kitchen and picked up the cloth beside the sink. The bench was already clean, but he ran the cloth across it anyway, slowly working from one end to the other before pausing to inspect the surface. After a moment he went back over the same section a second time, only stopping when he realised he was considering a third.
A faint, resigned smile touched his expression as he set the cloth neatly beside the sink.
"Ridiculous."
Vira would arrive, she would almost certainly notice something he would rather she did not, and there was a very good chance she would comment on it. He would survive the indignity, they would leave for dinner, and the evening would continue as planned.
His chronowatch drew another glance before his attention shifted naturally toward the door, waiting for the knock he knew could not be far away.
The place had been ready for some time already, which had not stopped him from finding reasons to check it again. His attention moved through the kitchen first, where one plate, one glass, one knife and one fork rested beside the sink, washed, dried and arranged neatly enough that there was very little left to improve. There was no second set tucked away for guests, no collection of mismatched crockery accumulated over the years, and certainly nothing resembling the sort of supplies required to entertain another person. Tavo owned what he needed and, until now, what he needed had generally been enough for one.
It was one of several reasons he had suggested an early dinner in Theed rather than attempting anything here.
He crossed the living area while checking his chronowatch, though there was no urgency in the gesture. Vira was not late, and there was still ample time before they needed to leave. His attention shifted instead to the small table beside the couch, which seemed slightly out of alignment with the rest of the room. Tavo adjusted it by perhaps half an inch, considered the result, then quietly returned it to where it had been in the first place.
The apartment offered little else to occupy him. Its furniture was sparse and deliberately practical, chosen because each piece served a purpose rather than because the room required filling. The walls were mostly bare, the surfaces clear, and nothing had been left lying around without reason. Through the partly open bedroom door, clothing had been folded and arranged with immaculate precision, shoes paired beneath the wardrobe, while his evening coat waited where he had placed it earlier.
Everything was exactly as it ought to be, which should have made the prospect of Vira seeing it easier.
Instead, Tavo found himself looking around once more.
It was not that he feared her judgement. Quite the opposite. He loved his sister dearly and had been genuinely looking forward to spending the evening with her. Dinner somewhere in Theed, perhaps a walk afterwards, and enough time to hear what she had been doing lately sounded considerably better than most ways he could have spent the night. Vira herself was welcome.
His home was another matter.
The apartment was one of the few places where Tavo made no effort to accommodate anyone but himself. There was no audience to read, no expectation to meet, no reason to alter the way he dressed, spoke or occupied the space. It was quiet because he preferred quiet, sparse because he had little desire for unnecessary possessions, and ordered because there was a particular comfort in knowing that everything would remain exactly where he had left it.
Inviting someone into that felt unexpectedly intimate, and Vira was perhaps the worst possible person to expect not to notice.
Tavo returned to the kitchen and picked up the cloth beside the sink. The bench was already clean, but he ran the cloth across it anyway, slowly working from one end to the other before pausing to inspect the surface. After a moment he went back over the same section a second time, only stopping when he realised he was considering a third.
A faint, resigned smile touched his expression as he set the cloth neatly beside the sink.
"Ridiculous."
Vira would arrive, she would almost certainly notice something he would rather she did not, and there was a very good chance she would comment on it. He would survive the indignity, they would leave for dinner, and the evening would continue as planned.
His chronowatch drew another glance before his attention shifted naturally toward the door, waiting for the knock he knew could not be far away.
HOUSE HALOR // SERVICE • DISCIPLINE • UNDERSTANDING
