First Reply To Trim Flowers

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Royal Palace Park, Cinnagar, Empress Teta
Outfit

Damian had folded his arms across his chest to give himself a sensation of control over his emotions. His chosen walk near the palace of Cinnagar was a chance for his anger to subside and the cool air allowed the return of cold rationale. Not that such walks had ever produced more than a slightly tired and mear smoldered fire of resentment; it was the thought that counted for the young du Couteau heir.

At least this forces me to keep a mask of a small smile.

Truthfully he was rather thankful that he had only one eye to worry about appearing angry whenever anyone would glance his way or approach him for questions or greetings. Silver linings and all that but Damian would never openly admit to what he would consider vapid positivity. It rubbed him the wrong way to ever be thankful for any misfortune, perhaps a chance to learn and grow but to thank a galaxy for its cruelty? Damian mentally shook his head in defiance against such a notion.

No, my thankfulness will be given to people not ideals or figments of philosophy and metaphor.

His walk continued to a nearby public park, the flowers and pathways had all been recently rebuilt and Damian paused to find a sense of peace. His sole crimson eye scanned the park for its beauty and quickly he closed his eye and sat down on a bench. Damian breathed out in relief, his body relaxed from the tension he had carried within since he left the palace to escape from his anger. Not that he ever could leave his anger too far behind, but he had at least reduced it to just embers.

“Maybe I should sleep it off.” He muttered darkly to himself, he knew how terrible of an idea that was but all the same Damian had no intention of changing his plans. I only want to make sure I mark the correct targets. Damian learned from his father the importance of being a patience gardener and how to be gentle when the pruning begins; lest one to prick themselves by thorns.

 

[Sky Wulicailt]

Empress Teta was far, far from one of Sky's preferred stops, but the spacer had little choice when the captain of her ship insisted on picking up yet another too-good-to-be-true job he overheard during a game of sabacc.

So when it turned out that the job was 'less than legal' and a 'textbook sting operation' by Alliance trade enforcement agents, the casadastraphobic woman found herself trapped between a rock and a hard place.

"Chit, chit, chit!" She muttered under her breath and tried as fethin' hard as she could not to look up.

A public park with plenty of sky was the last place she wanted to be caught when anxiety was already overwhelming enough, and to make matters worse, she lost her sense of direction after narrowly avoiding the bust. Oh, and now she needed a new employer for the fourth time this cycle. Great.

Her internal checklist was as follows: Lie low, stay out of trouble, then find her way to the busiest spaceport she could reach.

When she saw Damian du Couteau sitting alone on a park bench, a choice emerged.

Do I approach him? Seems solid enough...

"Hey!" Sky called out with an earnest wave, and that winning charm she developed at the Flight Academy.

A few steps closer, "are you from around here?"

The one thing she couldn't do, however, was allow her glance to gaze skyward, and so she kept her head tilted low.

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Royal Palace Park, Cinnagar, Empress Teta
Outfit

A voice broke through his train of thought, rather a distraction appeared at rather the most opportune moment. His plans for the future derailed for the time being, Damian turned his head to address a woman that waved to grab his attention as she stepped closer. There was a certain cheerfulness in her voice that Damian recognized as being genuine enough. Most Tetans would have recognized him and addressed him by his family name, but she sounded off-world.

At least her question sounded honest and not feigned curiosity.

“Yes I am,” Damian answered, his lone crimson eye focused on the woman as his lips stretched into a small smile. “Do you need assistance?”

He stood up straight to address the woman appropriately while his arms fell from his chest and clasped behind his back. A proper appearance of any dutiful servant or rather what the young du Couteau heir hoped he appeared as at the moment. Even if she wasn’t a Tetan citizen and as the current Senator, he had to appear helpful. And ready.

“If it’s an emergency I can also help you find the proper authorities.” Even though it had been a few months since the liberation the emergency services were always on the move.

Always something that needs fixing or taking care of. . . .
​

|| Sky Wulicailt ||​

 

[Sky Wulicailt]

Sky almost didn't notice his question until he reaffirmed his willingness to assist her, should she need it.

It really wasn't the best time for her phobia to act up, especially while trying to maintain the facade of staying calm about the other crisis of the day. Sky worked up a smile and did her best to maintain eye contact, as much as she could while avoiding even a sliver of sky in her periphery.

"Assistance?" She barked back as she processed his question aloud. "Ah... Not quite, no," she said with a chuckle.

The spacer felt awkward standing around as she did while trying to maintain a conversation. "Well, yes. Sort of! I'm kind of lost?"

"Actually, it's more embarrassing than that. Mind if I sit for a moment? I've been walking for hours." She asked again with a smile.

Sky gave off every appearance of a spacer. Her plain, worn jumpsuit stood out among one, but she also smelled like the inside of a freighter, which did have a unique sort of scent sometimes called 'spacer's breath,' which of course spacers themselves coined.

Damian du Couteau

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Royal Palace Park, Cinnagar, Empress Teta
Outfit

“Yes of course, please take a seat.”

Damian gestured with a nod and offered a bow towards the bench. He waited for her to sit before he too sat down with his arms placed neatly on his lap. Damian kept a healthy distance between them to allow her enough space to breathe and for his own courtesy as well. He noticed a bit of stiffness in her head movement, but he figured it was to do with what troubled her more than anything else and not some tiredness.

Stress can cause any amount of bodily ailments. Something that he was far too familiar with presently.

He figured it best to give her a few moments to collect herself and it allowed him a moment to inspect. She appeared as if she had just come from work from the starport but she mentioned she was lost, so not a local worker. A new arrival from the starport and got herself lost in the city? Damian considered giving her just some credits to help pay for a taxi but he figured it best to offer something more. If he couldn’t help himself at the moment than why not help someone else in need.

Is she worried about her ship leaving without her?

“If time is critical, I can get you where you need to be as quickly as I can.” Damian offered, his lips formed away from a smile and into a concerned frown.
​

|| Sky Wulicailt ||​

 

[Sky Wulicailt]

Sky let out a deep breath as soon as she sat down. She was curious about his apparent politeness, as it wasn't a sort of decorum she had experienced ever since she left home.

Are you a noble? She wondered. He certainly wasn't pretentious at first glance, but his stance, behavior, and manner of speech certainly reminded her of many such nobles she had met in the past, her adoptive father no less among them. There was a brief reprieve as she sat there and he considered his thoughts before an offer was made.

"Oh!" She perked up at what he proposed. "I wouldn't want to impose..." To even her surprise it was a genuine statement. She really didn't expect such immediate generosity.

The spacer cleared her throat a little before her gaze slid over towards his eyes, making little note of the patch, other than it was there.

"Well, I was going to make my way towards the spaceport once I got my bearings... I'm a spacer by trade, actually, but..." She rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled. "I just lost my latest gig and need to find a ship to take me off-world."

Damian du Couteau

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Royal Palace Park, Cinnagar, Empress Teta
Outfit

Damian relaxed as she noted that there wasn’t anything urgent or rather anything that amounted to an immediate emergency. Given enough time he could generally solve most problems, but of course the opportune word being ‘time’. At least for the moment the young du Couteau heir could give himself a moment to think about his next offer. There were quite a bit of space traffic as commerce and normal trade returned to the Tetan ports.

“You needn’t worry about imposing. Helping others is how we Tetans managed to rebuild so quickly.” His words were well practiced and rehearsed.

Honestly I should add a bit of flare to such statements.

Damian paused as he placed a hand beneath his chin, his thoughts spun different ideas and proposals together. There were a plethora of opportunities when it came to space faring jobs; of course the key was finding one that offered enough both in terms of pay and interest. Damian had read enough reports of how certain jobs simply were too uninteresting to keep long term employment.

Ah Spacers, to think that a galaxy shifted and needs to be re-explored and us just trying survive here on the surface.

“Well, I can take you to the spaceport easily enough.” Damian offered as he gestured with his other free hand. “-In terms of employment though, what kind of jobs were you looking for? To find the same as the last one or something different?” He looked at the woman sitting next to him with a curious look, his mind bounced between different ideas.

“Ah! How terribly rude of me. My name is Damian du Couteau. You can call me Damian.” He introduced himself with a small head bow. Saying my full name every time just wastes so many syllables and breath.
​

|| Sky Wulicailt ||​

 

[Sky Wulicailt]

Sky looked around the park, all the while doing her best to avoid looking 'up', as Damian remained in thought. She found it a pretty enough scene, that for a moment she lost sight of her own problems. It was a rare reprieve, especially given that she hated being outside on a planet.

She turned her attention when Damian thought about the situation aloud, and worked through it like a teacher helping his student with a problem.

He had asked her what she was looking for in terms of employment.

"Well," she began, "I'm a trained navigator and a pilot. My last three gigs were all on freight haulers, but honestly, all I care about is decent pay and a reputable captain."

That last part was especially true given that this most recent job went south because she didn't go with a reputable captain. He was a total amateur. Inherited the ship, and took unnecessary risks at every turn. He saw himself as some kind of daring scoundrel when in reality he was just an incompetent hack who regularly got lucky, until today when it all ran out.

Oh, right, introductions.

"Damian? I'm Sky, a pleasure to meet you." She met his bow with a pleasant smile.

The bow of his head was telling enough, and Sky swore she might have heard the du Couteau name somewhere before. If she did, it was likely from her father, or maybe she saw it somewhere on the HoloNet. She'd bite.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Damian, but where have I heard your name before?"

Damian du Couteau

 

[Damian du Couteau]

Damian du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Royal Palace Park, Cinnagar, Empress Teta
Outfit

Navigator and trained pilot. Hm.

Damian mused as he pushed his mind through near ancient memories of administrative groups and past excellence. Much like how Teta was, rubble nearly forgotten due to irrelevance and past disastrous mistakes. Nearly fatal in regards to the scant memory Damian had of the Hyperspace Navigators’ Guild, an old House of Tetan nobility.

What is the line from a poem goes? Dust to dust?

“The honor and pleasure is all mine Lady Sky,” Damian spoke as the corners of his lips tugged upward to form a small smile.

With a thought expression that quickly followed Sky’s next question, Damian figured it best to keep his response short. Mostly for brevity’s sake, but he feared the way it may appear to toss around every lofty title he happened to possess. Perhaps his ancestors might have rolled at the thought but Damian would deal with that galactic karma later.

“Well I happen to be the current Senator of Teta. . . though my father left a large mark on Teta proper during his tenure as a Senator and with his sacrifice during the first invasion of the Maw, perhaps my family name ‘du Couteau’ is what you might have seen during your time on our surface.” Damian explained.

Damian had no real guess where Sky might have seen, but there were a few remembrance sights with his father’s name. He hoped it was that and not anything related to his own recent struggles with the Nobles, political drama always rang out the loudest.

Forever under both a shadow and critical eyes.

“The Mining Guilds could always use more Pilots, though if you’re interested in something a bit more. . . exciting; I can offer a sponsorship of sorts for some Hyperlane-data collection.” Damian fielded the options with a slight shrug.

“With the shift you can imagine how fraught navigation has become with old lanes needing updates and entirely new lanes needing to be mapped for more efficient hyperlane routes.” Damian added his explanation.

“-But please do not feel the need to accept my offers, life today has thrown me unexpected punches and I figured by making someone else's day feel better. . . I can entertain some cosmic karma if you believe in it.” Damian spoke honestly for a moment as he looked down towards his feet.

When was the last time I thanked the Force? His left hand gently grazed his eyepatch and with a smirk he sighed wearily. The jury is still out on that one if I’m going to consider it a miracle or curse.
​

|| Sky Wulicailt ||​