Private For Safekeeping

[Braze]

Tags: Paila Dalle

​

Braze had become aware that a particular item of interest had found its way into Paila Dalle's possession, and apparently, she was within reach. That alone was enough to concern him.

A Sith holocron was not just some old artifact that belonged in a museum or private collection. It held secrets to dark powers and often offered a gateway into a vicious cycle. It was a vessel of dangerous knowledge... And sometimes the danger began the moment someone decided they alone were fit to keep it.

Braze did not know Paila well enough to judge her heart… He did, however, know enough to decide it was worth his while to find her and try to persuade her to surrender it before trouble found her.

He had followed a few tips here and there, chasing rumors through half-confirmed sightings.

At last, she was within sight.

Braze slowed his pace, not yet calling out. His pale hair shifted faintly in the passing air as he studied the distance between them, jade eyes narrowing with consideration. He did not want to corner her. That would only make this worse.... People entrusted with dangerous things often clung tighter when they felt threatened.

So he approached with his hands visible, his posture composed, and no blade drawn.

"Paila Dalle?" he called, voice clear enough to reach her without cutting through the space like an accusation. " Exscuse me ma'am, I was hoping we could speak."

 

[Paila Dalle]

Paila did not immediately turn towards him. The market continued around her as though nothing had changed. Vendors called out their wares. A crate was set down too heavily somewhere nearby. A child laughed, then disappeared between stalls. The rhythm of the place remained intact, undisturbed by the arrival of someone who clearly meant more than a casual conversation.

Only when she had finished selecting a small bundle of herbs did she straighten slowly and turn her attention toward the voice. A man standing at a respectful distance. Hands were visible. No weapon drawn. He was both careful and intentional. That, more than anything, caught her attention.

Paila adjusted the basket on her arm slightly, letting her gaze settle on him with calm assessment rather than alarm. The mention of her name confirmed what the approach had already suggested: that this was not chance. It never usually was. “You may,” she said simply. She was not unkind. Nor welcoming either. She merely just gave him an opening. Her eyes drifted briefly over his posture, the distance he maintained, the way he had chosen not to close the space too quickly. He had either been trained well, or had made mistakes in the past and learned from them. Either was worth noting.

“If you are here because of the holocron,” she added after a moment, tone still even, “then you have at least been thorough enough to find me in a market instead of a battlefield.” A faint pause followed as she shifted her basket more comfortably. “That already puts you ahead of most people who have come looking for it.” There was no defensiveness in her voice. No invitation to escalate. Only an acknowledgment that the subject itself was not surprising.

Around them, the market continued to move, oblivious to the quiet tension forming between two strangers amid stalls of bread, herbs, and cloth.

Paila did not close the distance. She did not retreat either. Instead, she simply waited, as if the next step belonged entirely to him.

Tag: Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Paila Dalle

​

"Yes that is why I am here... may I ask how you came across it?" He asked gently.

 

[Paila Dalle]

Paila studied him for a moment longer, not so much weighing the question as noticing what kind of question it was. It was not a demand. Nor was it a challenge. It was moreso a step sideways, rather than forward. The kind of curiosity that still hadn’t decided whether it wanted to become concern.

She adjusted the basket against her arm, the movement unhurried. “I didn’t find it, if that's what you're asking,” she said at last. A pause followed, small but deliberate, as the market flowed around them in its usual indifferent rhythm. “It was given to me.”

Her gaze briefly drifted past him towards nothing in particular, or perhaps everything at once: the stalls, the people, the ordinary motion of a world that had no awareness of the object they were discussing. Then back to Braze. “I was not chosen for it,” she added gently. “If that is what you’re wondering. Nor did I seek it out.” Her tone remained calm, almost conversational, as if discussing something far less dangerous than ancient Sith artifacts. “It simply arrived in my life the same way most complications do. Through someone else’s decision.” A faint hint of dry understanding touched her expression. “And then it stayed.”

Her eyes held his for a moment longer, not pressing, not deflecting; just present. “You’re not the first to ask how I came to have it,” she said softly. “But you are among the few who asked without assuming that I went looking for it. That already makes this conversation easier than most.”

Around them, a vendor loudly declared that his strawberries were “mathematically superior,” which went completely unchallenged by physics or customer agreement.

Paila glanced briefly toward the sound, then back to him. “If you are asking because you are concerned,” she said, “then you are not wrong to be.” A slight shift in her posture was made then. Not defensive, but just attentive. “But if you are asking because you intend to retrieve it...” her voice softened, “then the answer to your next question will matter more than this one.”

Tag: Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Paila Dalle

​

That was...odd.

"And... that is...?"

 

[Paila Dalle]

Paila blinked once, faint amusement touching her expression. “The person who gave it to me,” she answered simply.

Her basket shifted slightly against her arm as she resumed walking at the same unhurried pace as before. Around them, the market continued its ordinary rhythm; merchants calling prices, customers bargaining, life carrying on completely indifferent to Sith artifacts and the people who worried about them.

“He believed it needed protecting,” she added after a moment. “So he asked me to protect it.” Her gaze settled on Braze again, calm and steady. “I said yes.”

Tag: Braze

 

[Braze]

Tags: Paila Dalle

​

Braze listened as she contradicted herself over the simplest concept of his questions. His pale brows drew together, but he just had to ask.

"So… you say you were not chosen, yet someone chose you? You say you did not seek it, yet you accepted it? "

His jade-green eyes narrowed faintly, as if he found the very nature of her responses odd.

"Do you even know what that is? What it can do?" He tilted his head slightly.

"Let me get this straight. You are saying you want to protect it… but it was given to you by what? A stranger? Other people keep asking you about it, but you have not questioned why whoever gave it to you seemingly thought you would be safe to do so? Or even why you, specifically, were given it?"

He was not sure if she was already under some kind of effect from it, if she simply wanted to sound mysterious about all of this because she liked the attention, or whether she actually thought it was a good idea to keep some random Sith artifact someone had given her for 'safekeeping.'

Did she even realize how suspicious all of that sounded, he wondered.

 

[Paila Dalle]

For a moment, Paila simply looked at him. Not offended. Not defensive. Her expression was just thoughtful. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled. It wasn't amusement at his expense. If anything, it carried the quiet recognition of someone realizing that two people had arrived at the same crossroads from entirely different roads. "I imagine that sounds suspicious," she said gently.

Her gaze then drifted briefly across the market before returning to him. "Though it occurs to me that perhaps I am not the person you were expecting to find." Another faint hint of amusement touched her expression. "That seems to happen quite often."

The basket shifted comfortably against her arm. She offered him a small inclination of her head, neither dismissive nor inviting further debate. "Enjoy the rest of your day." And with that, Paila resumed her shopping, pausing a few stalls further along to examine a selection of tea as though the conversation had been no more disruptive than an unexpected change in the weather.

Tag: Braze