Ask Ziost Bumpy Bumpy

[Celeste Stythani]

It seemed like her assessment of him amused him, which only verified her guess though. He was obviously guilty as charged and well, he wasn't even denying that. "There's nothing wrong with questions. I'm super curious myself" she amusedly replied, as if he hadn't noticed that as well already.

What was even funnier though was how be turned that around and blamed her for it, and so while chuckling even more, she started shaking her head. "Are you serious? Pff...you could have at least warned me" she jokingly answered, obviously teasing because after their first session together, she had already noticed that he was indeed interested in deep conversations.

She finished up her meal and he did the same, so that the eating part was actually accomplished already. "So for continuing the talk, I'd suggest we either make ourselves comfortable in a training room" she suggested, assuming that most were empty by now anyway, "or maybe you have a better idea for a better place. The acolyte quarters are shared spaces, so that might not be the best choice". Of course her droid friend would accompany them, but she really wanted to move to a safer, calmer space as the story was a rather long and well, obviously intimate one too.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn finished up his food and downed the remainder of his Emryc Energy before cleaning up the table and getting ready to move on to another space.

There's some study spaces near the library. Better than a poorly furnished training spaces, he said. Because, of course he knew where the study spaces near the library were. What else would he be doing with his time?

How about you droid-o? How do you feel about going over outside the library? he asked, looking back at the droid as they walked.

Why, I thought no one was ever going to ask me. You know, most people just pretend that I am not here, the droid said, seeming to come to life a bit at having been addressed. Varyn could already feel it in his bones, this droid was going to end up being sassy, wasn't it?

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

After cleaning their table and finishing off the remains they were already on the move when Varyn pointed out that there were indeed more comfortable rooms available. "That does sound promising" she replied with a smirk before she let him lead the way, however she was suddenly surprised when her droid companion turned out to be more talkative then first assumed.

It really surpised her that a simple form of adressing had breathed new life into the automatic security droid and the way it replied already told her that it was probably up for some more chitchat. Well, perhaps it had chosen to prefer communicating with Varyn anyway, or Celeste had simply not shown enough interest in starting a conversation earlier, because she had assumed the droid wasn't actually the social kind, but here they were...

"Then...well sorry for not asking earlier. I hope you don't mind staying up longer today" she politely replied, throwing the droid a slightly forced smile before she directed her gaze back at Varyn. She was not planning on being rude to the droid, but there was a slight hint of blame in the look she gave him as he had possibly just invited a sassy, third wheeling party to their talk.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

She looked over to him with a judging look and he shrugged at her. It wasn't really his fault that she had ignored her droid!

Well, not this guy, droid-o, he said in response to the droids statement.

My battery reserves will last for another 32 hours at current consumption. I have no problems with "staying up," he said, lifting his fingers to mimic the motion of quotations around his head.

He plowed on, pretty much unperturbed by the droid, though she seemed as if she'd have preferred him to stay silent. He didn't seem that bad.

The Champion peeked in various rooms before finding one open and sliding into a chair, waiting for her to do the same and gearing up for what was hopefully going to be an exciting story.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

Even though droids, especially security droids were usually not actually perceptive when it came to emotions and social cues, she was not risking to show her slight inner state of uncertainty about this new...development. For now, it was definitely amusing and she was curious about what else he had to tell and whether starting such a conversation was a good idea after all...but one way or another, she knee Varyn was to blame.

His reply to the droid made her snicker, but the droid's answer was even more amusing although she wasn't fully sure whether he was being a bit cocky or petty about those details. For now, she amusedly shook her head."Oh wow...seems like this can turn into a long night then", she cheekily replied before she followed him inside the first, empty room.

After getting comfortable in her chair, she faced him with a smirk on her lips, playfully tilting her head to the side as she asked him:"Before I start with the emotional parts, have you ever wondered whether I had been involved with the Senator of Kashyyyk, too?" she asked him, wondering if he had fallen for the amusing tabloid back then as well. Altair had...and she had been absolutely surprised about how this had happened, but she thought this was an excellent way to lighten up the mood before she would share more darker parts of her story

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn sat down and settled in for a short listen when she started off with something... else entirely. He stared at her blankly, and clearly what she was saying was not making any connection.

His face went from blank to confusion as his eyes narrowed and eyebrows dropped.

What? he asked. If there was one thing that Varyn didn't follow and couldn't care less about, it was the tabloids, and it was quite clear he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

 

[Celeste Stythani]

With her legs crossed she watched his reaction change and it even seemed like the droid didn't even want to comment on that. So he hadn't seen it? She couldn't help but to laugh, especially because it seemed even more amusing since he had no plan what she was talking about.

"Good. So you haven't. It was tabloid so no, I haven't been involved with a wookie, but I was curios about whether the whole galaxy was convinced we had something going on". It had been rather amusing for her back then, especially because she had been convinced no one was believing it anyway, but after having figured out that some people had actually started to believe it, she had been a little confused back then.

But it didn't matter now. "Nevermind" she chuckled, a smile, perhaps even a slightly embarrassed one crossing her lips, "You're here to hear different stuff anyway" she then pointed out, referring to the fact that they definitely didn't need to discuss such speculations and bs.

"So to begin with, I grew up on Kalist IV and my childhood was relatively carefree - that is, if you leave out the deaths of my parents...My uncle raised me and he was also the one training me when I wasn't at the Academy. In my years as a Champion, there was not much super interesting stuff going on, but I'd say it all began on Rattatak back then. Have you ever been there? I bet you've heard of their fighting pits, right?" she began, curiosly tilting her head to the side. She was actually extremely curios about whether he had already been there or not and so she excitedly awaited his answer.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn continued to be lost as she didn't really explain what she was talking about, but if it wasn't true anyway then... that was fine? He wasn't entirely sure he was really following anymore and she seemed to decide it wasn't worth bringing up either, so she just... pressed on.

He listened to her talk about her early life but he wasn't familiar with the planet she was born on. Rattatak, though, he was familiar with. Granted, not incredibly familiar with it, but he'd read up on it and, of course, visited once when he slightly invaded her home. But that, she didn't need to know about.

I've read about it a bit, he said. And I've heard of the fighting pits. Didn't you get rid of those? he asked. He may have been wrong about that, but he thought he'd heard it somewhere.

@LadyRen

 

[Celeste Stythani]

He still seemed a bit confused and she felt responsible for that, however she wondered whether he really wanted her to explain the whole story that was revolving around the rumors. There had been a few incidents that had obviously fomented the rumors, but she could easily come back to that later.

For now, she sticked to chronological storytelling and so Rattatak was indeed the first station to begin with. From his answer, it definitely sounded like he hadn't been there himself and so she obviously had to elaborate a bit, but we'll, the night was young and if he wanted the story, he'd get it.

"Yes...I had to stop the pits for quite some time because the majority of it was based upon slave fights..." her expressions darkened a bit, as her first experiences on the desert planet hadn't been pleasant at all. "When I first landed on Rattatak, I came to discuss business, but I was knocked out and thrown into one like an animal. Obviously, they had taken away my lightsaber and so I had to get along without it, but instead of participating in the actual fight, I used my voice to rally the slaves inside the pit and overthrow the arena. Some needed additional convincing. The Force obviously came in handy and it was a pity they didn't know I was great at mind manipulation" she explained, now a smirk crossing her lips again.

"After brining order to the planet and dethrowning the tyrannical warlords, I did open the pits again, because they were an important part of their culture. Nowadays, fights are completely voluntary and we've cut back on brutality. I was not trying to undermine their culture in any way, but I did abolish slavery, and so chosing to enter a pit is a deliberate choice now...The Rattataki simply love fighting for honor and glory...Nothing unusual for a planet consisting of combative warrior tribes". It was still a bit ambiguous that she had banned slavery, because that had been a part of their traditions, too, however through a reformation of the economy and the clever usage of the preexisting discontent, she had been quite successful with that change.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn heard her out and nodded along, curious about what it would be like to witness a fight in the pits.

Wow, that's impressive, he said, eyebrows rising to indicate his feelings about it. Sounds like you've had quite an eventful life, he said. Not hard to see why you might want to get some payback and rip down their little kingdom, he said.

His comlink buzzed and he looked down at it,, giving a quick read of the work that he needed to do. More ISB reports flooding in. Duty called, and there was no rest of the wicked.

Sorry, I... have to go, he said, looking up and sliding the comm away. Duty calls, he said with a shrug.

It was good to see you again. I'm sure we'll run into each other again if you stick around Ziost, he said, rising to leave the room with a smile.

 

[Celeste Stythani]

After having rambled on for quite a bit, she had given Varyn a quick moment to react and so he actually did by expressing his admiration. She nodded after his remark as eventful was definitely a fitting description for all that.

"Yeah, there was not much room for breaks either, but I don't have to tell you that" Like she had already figured out, he was quite busy as well and while she had then thrown herself into politics, he had gotten very active at the academies.

She was about to raise her voice again while the sudden buzzing of the comlink interrupted her and she shot him a curious look. "Well, so much for the night off" she replied with a wry smile, already waving him goodbye. "I'll see you around Varyn, take care". He was an interesting partner for a conversation, but definitely...special in that regard. She definitely admired him as a teacher and was probably seeing him again soon. She finally turned back to the droid and said, "Sorry. Seems like we'll be in bed early after all"

@Phoenix

//Thread End