Sandy Adventures Of The Sand Kind

[Iona Immarya]

"I hope so," Iona said smacking her lips a few times as she fought down the bitter aftertaste. That was a punch in the teeth if there ever was one, an 'acquired' taste, she was sure. Still, if [member="Lilla Syrin"] says it will then she would believe it, plus, it was fun to try something new like this. It wasn't something she got to do all that often, but it was her favorite part of the Order, there was nothing like being able to travel the galaxy, see places she would never dream of. It was wondrous and often overwhelming. She took another bite and attempted another sip.. and winced again.

"Well.." Iona said as she tilted her head. Image was important, incredibly important to the scum of the universe, if they were seen as weak, they were seen as vulnerable. But to go that far for mere image, "If their image and ego outweighs the fear of betraying the buyers," which was another crux, in the scum line of work, reputation was important, it wasn't good to be a snitch or someone who betrays a deal, but on the third hand, she really wanted to play, "But, why not? I've always got a backup plan."

She ventured another sip, "Y-You're sure this gets better?"

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla was aware that Iona was taking a while to get acclimatised to the taste of the drink. Lilla did not have a sweet tooth as a youth – she was a slave and sugary things were a treat not afforded to her rank in the scheme of things in Mos Espa. And what you didn’t know, you didn’t become accustomed to.

Water she drank – and cheap beer was the second least expensive liquid she would taste (albeit infrequently). So her taste buds were used to and sought out flavours on the opposite end of the spectrum to sugar.

“Back-up plans are never a bad idea,” Lilla responded. “Sometimes a Plan C is helpful too. But I’d settle for two at the outset.” Her training at the academy had been thorough. Every contingency was considered and often a large number of options considered before a best approach decided upon. And she was also taught to think on her feet – improvisation was a spy’s second best weapon, just behind planning.

“And yes, the taste will. Or at least it should.” Lilla thought for a few seconds. “Here’s the deal. If it doesn’t, you get to choose a desert – and I promise to eat it too.”

[member="Iona Immarya"]

Spoiler

If I go quiet for a few days, don’t worry. I’ll be back next Monday at the latest.

 

[Iona Immarya]

Well, Iona was sure mentioning her back-up plans tended to be her swinging around a very deadly glowstick and hoping for the best would do nothing for [member="Lilla Syrin"]'s confidence in her. She had never really considered a plan 'C' before, honestly, she considered a plan very well thought out if smacking things with her lightsaber or running away wasn't her primary plan. This was, probably, why these kind of missions were left to the Shadows and not to Padawans, but, well, they didn't exactly have the manpower to spare important Shadows. Yes, nothing like sending the Z team because, literally, every other lettered team was doing something more important.

"Wait, wait, wait," Iona said as she raised an eyebrow, "How is me buying us a desert that you get to eat a reward for me?" That just didn't sound right. It was like someone telling another person they were lucky enough to buy them an airspeeder, that, out of everyone they had on their list, they were the lucky ones. Not that she minded buying desert as that sounded great, but it was an odd thing to say.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla hadn’t considered the fact that Iona would consider buying dessert a minor form of punishment.

In fact, now she reflected on it, she wasn’t even sure it was a punishment — given she did not necessarily eat sweet things, and therefore didn’t rightly know if she’d dislike them. She just spent her limited budget on practical food. Protein and carbs primarily. Enough of the former to maintain some muscle density and sufficient of the latter to not die of malnutrition.

The puzzlement was no doubt etched on her face, as she considered this conundrum. “A fair point,” LIlla finally replied. “The thing is, I don’t have a sweet tooth. At least, I don’t eat sweet things. So, if I’m being entirely honest, I may have a sweet tooth, I just don’t know about it.”

“I mean…I may be the galaxy’s best floonorp player, but unless I actually try to play one, we’ll never know, will we?” Lilla had a faraway look in her eyes right now, no doubt imagining playing the instrument in some seedy cantina here on Tatooine or a fancy concert hall on Coruscant.

“The point is…actually, there may not be a point. So if you want dessert, it’s my treat and I’ll try whichever one you want me to. Agreed?”

[member="Iona Immarya"]

 

[Iona Immarya]

Well, to be fair, Iona hadn't had time to develop much of a sweet tooth yet either. Serving extra sweet deserts wasn't exactly what the Jedi were known for and she rarely was able to simply go to restaurants on her own as she didn't tend to have many credits, the pay for a Jedi Padawan was abysmal and nonexistent. Anyone who said Jedi didn't deserve some kind of payment never had to be cursed to travel the galaxy doomed to stare at people eating amazing foods from the other side of the window like a sad kath puppy. Still, despite that, Iona knew she liked sweet things, to a point. Somethings were just too sweet and rich for her and she didn't quite know how to process it.

Iona tapped her lips, ignoring the bead of grease that had slipped from of the shark... thing and rolled down her knuckle as she pretended to give it thought, "Well, lets try it! Once we are done here, lets get something neither of us has had before," she said almost wiggling in her seat with excitement. There was little she loved more then to try new things. So excited to try something new with someone else who was, for once, just as ignorant as herself in it took up too much of her attention to notice how [member="Lilla Syrin"] seemed to stare off as her mind wandered.

"Oh! And how much are you to be paid for this?" Iona asked, well, she should have known and it was likely in the debriefing, but she rather forgot to read all of it as she was want to do. Plus, she was not overly worried about Lilla lying to her, it helped to be a Jedi when someone tried to lie although it would hurt her opinion of the young woman if she did even if Iona wouldn't blame her for trying to angle for a few more credits.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla gave up on the sliders. She’d eaten her fill — the down-side to eating little was that, even if a feast was offered, there was only so much room in a stomach that was used to eating meagre rations. And besides, she had to save room for a dessert.

She waved a waitress over and asked for two dessert menus, before returning her attention back to Iona.

“To be entirely honest, you could choose anything on the sweet menu and you’d be guaranteed to pick something I’ve never had before. So I can’t even advise you on a good choice, they’re all foreign to me.”

Lilla scanned the menu when it arrived but nothing stood out as better, or less sweet, than anything else. “You can choose for both of us. Or get two and we can share them?”

Lilla was procrastinating. She’d heard Iona’s last question but felt uncomfortable discussing payment. She’d do the task for free — the meal alone was worth more than she typically made in a week. Finally, she knew she had to give an answer.

“I can’t remember a fee — not precisely. I guess whatever the going rate is. OK?”

[member="Iona Immarya"]

 

[Iona Immarya]

Right, going rate. Whatever that was. Iona wasn't exactly in the business of hiring mercenaries on a common basis and she wasn't exactly sure what informants or guides were paid either. But she was supposed to be as the bounty hunter she totally wasn't which meant she had a day to figure that out or, at least, pretend she knew. Who would have known that such a simple thing would have been where she stumbled and grew confused at, yes, she would make a terrible Jedi Shadow, good thing she had no desire to ever become one of them.

"Alright, I'll pick us something then!" Iona said with more confidence then she felt as she picked up the menus that had just been brought by their waitress. She looked over it for a few minutes, reading and then rereading the options and not really sure what to pick before picking the prettiest one on the menu which, while a poor means to ever really judge something, was the best she could do, "A slice of meringue cake to share please," Iona ordered, this way [member="Lilla Syrin"] wouldn't have to pay for much and if they didn't like it, there would only be a little bit leftover.

As Iona waited for the desert and the check, she pondered on what would be a suitable payment. Perhaps just whatever credits were left over? It wasn't like Iona could use them, as soon as she could back she was to give any left over sums back to the temple, and she was sure Lilla could find better use for it then the temple which wasn't going to run out of credits anytime soon. It seemed fair. Her thoughts were interrupted when the waitress came back with a slice of cake, a very tall, layered, piece of cake, the white.. well.. foam? She wasn't sure how else to describe it, on top in stylish slightly browned peaks.

Iona offered Lilla one of the two small forks that came with the cake, "nothing ventured-"

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla smiled. It was a trait taught at the governess’s academy here on Tatooine — to deflect. If you were asked a particularly hard question, the first option was to sneeze, or cough as if you had something stuck in your throat. This was typically enough to ensure the subject was changed. It was especially useful if you were asked a question that your alias should have known, but you did not.

But if that was not going to be an option — say because the question simply couldn’t go away — then you had to deflect. To make something else more interesting than the subject at hand.

So desserts was the card Lilla played, given it was all she had in her hand.

And the young woman gave Iona her full attention, as if the choice of dessert was the most important thing in the galaxy.

Meringue cake? Lilla racked her brains, trying to remember back to her etiquette training. Meringue was something light. Made with eggs, or something similar. And a cake was baked and typically heavier. It should make for an interesting mixture and she had the good fortune to suggest they shared it. With any luck, Iona would love the choice and eat the majority. That way, Lilla could appear chivalrous in opting to take a small portion of the dessert.

When it arrived, Lilla raised her eyebrows. Half of a small piece of cake she could manage. Half of what appeared to be an entire cake? That was something else. She was sure she’d be feeling the sugar rush for a whole week.

She took the fork good naturally and turning it sideways, used the edge to cut a small piece from her ‘side’ of the treat. “Nothing gained…” replied Lilla. “Except for about three kilos on the scales I suspect.”

She closed her eyes as she put the morsel into her mouth. Not to savour the flavour but as a reflex — expecting the sensation to be unpleasant. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The pasty was moist and buttery. The meringue was light and airy and the filling was decadent yet had an undercurrent of Corellian brandy.

Lilla beamed. “Excellent choice,” she said, and this time cut off a much larger piece and deposited the whole lot in her mouth, oblivious to the food that now adorned her lips as she ate.

[member="Iona Immarya"]