Private Red Tongue, Black Heart

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow | Taeli Raaf
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One thing she had noticed, rather curiously, was that the substantial food supply in the palace had taken an extreme hit in the luxury department. Tea and chocolate were suspiciously running low, but there was no way two extra people could reasonably exhaust the enormous stores she received from the Commonwealth.

Steam curled past Lysander's face, his wry smile veiled behind the travel cup's rim. The pricey tea tasted far superior to most blends in memory. Then again, everything seemed divine after leaving a holding cell. Being out was.. nice, in a way that wouldn't be admitted aloud.

For someone always on the move, after weeks of arrest, prosecution, then extracted through a wall, a few relaxed days was surprisingly nice too. A fair amount of HoloNet nonsense, eating whatever tempted him, training in the courtyard, and occasionally wandering the palace halls. Lysander even managed to whip up his 'notorious' nuna egg scramble for both Srina and Astra one morning. Who knew when such a moment like that would surface again?

The smile slowly broadened. "So, Ms. Sadow. Have you ever been to the Sadow District before?"

They'd chosen to travel by foot. Time could be spared. To his eyes, Jutrand wasn't the most attractive planet.. just another ecumenopolis in the grand accounting of the galaxy. But he was also discovering that his taste for small wonders shifted lately. Once before, boots had traversed these streets. It always struck him as a university district, one might say. Pretty waters. Cafes. Sorcery laboratories. Madrona A’Mia would be jealous if knowledge reached her about who was being visited today. Definitely the sort of detail to rub in her face whenever spirits were higher. Exactly the sort of thing a little sprout ought to do, right?

Glancing down revealed a premium chocolate bar, Commonwealth wrapping and all. Enough was already eaten; that wasn't to say his stomach was pleasantly full, though. He snapped off a piece and offered it to his companion. "Help me erase the evidence, Astra." Perhaps somewhere in that was an echo of their courtroom alliance. "We can always stick to our seperate stories, if asked." Not that the indulgence was a big deal, really. The Empress offered resources, and he found comfort in that green light.

Ahead, the Obscural Reliquary began to draw near, towers piercing Jutrand's skyline. Unlike the ugliness of most Sith architecture, these possessed an unexpected elegance. Long before Jakku, he'd nurtured ambitions that stretched well beyond the Lyrandar complex. There were many projects worth pursuing that did not involve another battlefield. Given a choice, creation was preferable. Even as a Sith..

"I could probably spend an unreasonable amount of time studying somewhere like this." Then again, there probably wasn't another place in the galaxy that came close.

Along the way, realization dawned that he was arriving empty handed. Lysander once offered holocrons during Darth Arcanix's visit to Coruscant. Hopefully she wouldn't hold the lack of tribute against him today.

Reaching for his datapad, a thumb tapped out a quick message to Taeli to signal arrival.

 

[Astra Sadow]

"Don't spend too much time worrying about the story, Mister von Ascania. I only needed enough for plausible deniability." Astra Sadow placed the chocolate strap on her tongue and pulled it between her lips. A soft hum followed from the luxurious taste as it melted in her mouth. "Everyone knows I'm associated with criminals in The Core, but they can never prove I had anything to do with any of their activities." Just because people knew you were a monster didn't mean they could prove it -- in the court of public opinion, or that of a judicial system.

Destroying Aurelian's bug before they'd vanished had been meant to sever the story on Astra's beat. Give them sound bytes to cast a shadow of doubt as to her role in those affairs on Naboo. After that... well, an enterprising woman like her could always find a way to convince a practical and ruthless woman like Srina to let her go.

"Even if the crime is indulging in creature comforts of home." Lysander had originally meant their purloining of chocolate, after all, rather than those affairs in the High Republic.

Her golden eyes looked ahead for a moment before they drew back to the man. Astra kept her red glareshades secured to a pocket of her pitch black button-up shirt. "Enjoying yourself? A woman asked if she'd visited her namesake. In fact, I have," Astra replied honestly. "Though it has been some time since I last set foot here. I see much has changed." So it was with the passage of time. So many memories. It took genuine effort to actively recall those that mattered most so they weren't lost. Memory palaces to turn a phrase.

"Have you? If so, what sort of spire of power or peddler of influence draws your thoughts most? Where would you point a Sadow in the Sadow District?"

To answer, Lysander's eyes turned up toward the Obscurial Reliquary ahead and quietly reflected on what he might do given the opportunity. "Time. Mortal's enemy." Or had she said 'Mortal enemy' as though to all things? "There are techniques to extend your time. Some more effective than others. Some more... sufferable than others. But more time doesn't solve the greatest challenge -- knowing how to spend it wisely." A Sangnir Lord didn't just go around promising immortality to everyone they could sink their fangs into. There certainly was an interview. Skill requirements. Mental fortitude measurements. A proper assessment itself took time of which the hiring partner had plenty.

"Think we'll have the time to spend here? I certainly wouldn't mind a look around."

Lysander von Ascania | Taeli Raaf​