Private Before the Rush

[Aurelian Veruna]

LOCATION Druckenwell Office, Theed Royal Palace, Naboo​

They had not spoken since Thyferra. It was probably for the best, given her magnificent temper. Still, her influence in the Republic was climbing, and with the Sith war machine smashing at their borders, petty grudges felt like a luxury he could not afford. Aurelian was prideful, but survival required coordination.

Instead of his usual habit of kicking down doors at dawn, he sat quietly on a bench outside her office before the morning rush. Staff filtered through the palace, casting sidelong glances and muttering behind cupped hands. Stuyveris's sycophants always looked at him like he carried a plague. Let them chatter.

A frail young woman with copper hair and hollow cheeks approached him. She looked like she had never seen a square meal, a typical product of Druckenwell's neglected outskirts.

"May I assist you King Veruna?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"No," Aurelian said, offering a lazy wave of dismissal.

She blinked, entirely paralyzed by the blunt refusal. He ignored her and went back to tapping on his datapad.

This approach was far more civil than his last visit, where he had bullied his way into her senatorial pod and bribed an aide who had mysteriously vanished soon after. Showing up unannounced without an appointment felt like a proper tactical move. Verity was likely already drowning in red alerts, and unsettling her morning routine was just a pleasant perk.

INTERACTING WITH | Verity Stuyveris |
ITEMS AND GEAR: X | X | X | X | X​

 

[Verity Stuyveris]

​

Verity and her shadow, one Jedi Master Corvain, had settled into a silence by the time they reached the corridor that hosted her office. Verity was uncertain, for the moment, whether it was companionable or not. There had been an argument over -- something she couldn't quite remember -- in the car. She had exited on the wrong side of the Jedi, thus putting herself in a position of exposure during the three second walk from the elevator in her apartment building and the speeder. She had pointed out that that was a ridiculous thing to complain about in a garage that should have been secure.

It was not a convincing argument to Corvain, but he handled it more gracefully than would have Dane.

He muttered a warning and stepped ahead of her when he saw a figure sitting on the bench outside her office. The bench had, in his experience and her own, hitherto been decorative.

"It's fine," Verity answered back. This one was no threat. "Your Majesty," she said with as much pleasantness as she could muster at this hour and for this man. "You look... better." This had the benefit of being true; she hoped that her concern for his health didn't show through on her face; that simply wouldn't do. "Is there something which which I can assist you, or are you just -- "

Verity had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from saying here to lower my property values.

" -- visiting?" she concluded diplomatically instead.

Aurelian Veruna​

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

LOCATION Druckenwell Offices, Theed Royal Palace, Naboo​

He did not need the Force to sense her arrival. The temperature in the hallway seemed to plunge the moment Verity stepped into view. The Ice Queen had finally arrived, trailing a Jedi. Aurelian kept his gaze fixed on the pair, even as the copper haired aide and her flock continued their hushed murmuring nearby. Whether they were gawking at him or her Jedi guardian, he neither knew nor cared.

As the Jedi moved to intercept him, Aurelian smoothly rose to his feet. Given the recent riots, the assassination in the Senate Hall, and the relentless creep of the Sith, he could hardly fault her paranoia. He simply doubted whether a monk was the most efficient shield. Before the guard could interpose himself fully, Verity intervened. Aurelian locked eyes with the older Master for a fraction of a second, matching his rigid posture, before turning his full attention back to her. Mystics were always so delightfully predictable.

His amber eyes swept over the tall blonde, dissecting the brave facade she wore like armor. It was an easy trick to spot, mostly because he used it himself every day.

"You look..." he began, pausing as his mind searched for the right description. Surprisingly put together? No. Unique? No. Tired? Certainly but better not. He discarded the thread entirely before the word slipped out. "Well, yes. I figured a visit was in order."

Aurelian straightened his tunic and lightly folded his hands before him, assuming the posture of a monarch at ease.

"I was hoping to discuss some scuttlebutt I have been hearing," he said, flicking a pointed glance toward her stoic companion. "I also wish to petition you for some aid, if you will have me. Alone, if you may. Official Senatorial business."

INTERACTING WITH | Verity Stuyveris |
ITEMS AND GEAR: X | X | X | X | X​