We Meet Again, for the First Time (D1 LA, Arali's room)

[Arali Zian]

Arali sets about her apartment, putting things in order as her tea pot boils.

Now where is that... ah!

She fishes an older painting from her closet, a landscape of a desert world she'd made. She took it down before her most recent trip, planning to make a replacement before the next time she had guests, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself yet.

Yslane Tssilla. They'd only ever spoken over comms, sometimes with spotty holovid. But they've done good work, and it will be nice to finally meet in person.

She pulls down her dining table from its hiding spot in the wall, and expands a couple collapsible stools.

Missing something... ah!

She heads to her bedroom and grabs the little flower pot from her night stand, to serve as a centerpiece. A pale, wispy thing in orange with an ever-so-slightly spicy aroma.

[Yslane Tssilla]

The bureaucrat was punctual...a common trait among their number in theory. Yslane casually knocked on the door.

"Hello, Miss Zian. This is Yslane Tssilla, with the Foreign Office." She was wearing one of her casual outfits, a bit conservative given her station and the reputation of the planet.

[Arali Zian]

At the knock, Arali opens the door for her guest, and...

...those are not eyes. Slowly, her eyes trail up, up, up. Trailing up her shoulders, tracing the curve of her guest's neck and jawline, and eventually finding her eyes, framed in lovely blonde hair.

She's a lot taller than she'd expected. And between Yslane's intimidating size and that little unplanned tour, the twi'lek finds herself distinctly aware of the body before her.

The tips of her lekku go flush, to a deep shade of violet that quickly curls behind her back to hide. "It's good to see you, Ms. Tssilla. Come in; please, call me Arali!" she gestures her guest inside, conveniently stepping aside and keeping the tips of her lekku behind her back.

[Yslane Tssilla]

Yslane, being more used to her own height, was looking downward already. "Ah....thank you for inviting me Ms. Arali." For now she seemed to not notice the Twi'lik's reaction.

Stepping in after Arali, she gives the room a quick study. Amusement filtered into her voice as she spoke again, "What can the Foreign Office do for you today?" Her eyes came to rest on her host.

[Arali Zian]

Arali, like her guest, elected for casual, and appears dressed for a rather chillier room than this; she set her climate control for a more human normal, instead of the usual, warmer preference of a species nurtured on Ryl.

The door slides shut behind Yslane, cutting off any outside onlookers.

"Just a social call. I hope you enjoyed your trip?"

She grabs a couple cups. Small, unassuming metal cups, that look well-insulated. She pours the tea, a light, flowery scent filling the room.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," she gestures to the dining table.

[Yslane Tssilla]

Given their prior discussion, Yslane stretches a little and just like that a lot of her bookish nervousness sort of fades away. "I wish I had better relations with my father...I think that would be more helpful to you then...well who I am at the moment."

She takes a seat and makes note of the arrangements. "I enjoyed as much as one can. Being at the power of a...less the honorable cartel on the trip in and all. It did give me time to better familiarize myself with the Foreign Office's protocol. Well....that's a lie, that colossal tome is simply not readable in any time shy of a decade."

"And what of yours? I trust the trip and the arrival at your home were both well? The new neighbors aren't giving you any problems?" A pause, while Yslane taps the table, "The delegation I mean. Not the other side."

[Arali Zian]

The stretching earns an interested eye, but Arali controls herself, instead plucking a plate of snacks from her chiller. Some of the fungus isn't necessarily familiar to most humans, but assorted vegetable slices are. Crisp, slightly sweet, and fresh.

As she sets the tray on the table, a keen eye might notice the tea isn't steaming anymore. It's still warm. Perfect drinking temperature, in fact. It just doesn't make sense for it to have cooled quite so fast.

"No one has the perfect combinations of ends and means; we all work with what we have." Coming from the washout with few assets to her name save her wits.

"The hutts have their own honor, in a fashion." A natural reflex to Jedi complaining about hutts at this point. "Their ways are different, but not without logic. Though navigating it can, admittedly, be very stressful.

"I was in the care of a hutt, myself, for my trip back home. Captain Xierreau and the Starcross crew. They've assembled a lively little family. I work with them from time to time. But riding with them means I haven't had much time to meet our delegation, unfortunately."

[Yslane Tssilla]

Yslane laughed a little, "Sorry I mean: I hope we haven't disrupted your routine to much." She taps her chest, "The Consulate here seemed a bit empty when we arrived."

An eyebrow quirks up as she studies the snacks. Deciding to be a bit adventurous, Yslane takes up one of the fungi. "But....if you want to know my opinions on Hutts: Well I try to take individuals on a case by case basis, still I intend to treat most of the Hutts with due caution. An opinion I extend to the Sith. "

[Arali Zian]

The puffy, spongy ball of fungus is munch-fungus, a common twi'lek snack. Not very flavorful, it is highly absorbent. This puff tastes like it's soaked in meiloorun juice.

"Oh, I try to stay flexible. I am whatever we need at the moment, and that's usually not the same one day to the next. This," she makes a vague gesture, suggesting the peace talks as a whole, "is just a little more complicated."

"I'm actually more worried about what's coming next. A great many of our people have never worked with the cartels. Working with the Hutts is entirely possible once you understand them, but that in itself is rather the problem. Caution is certainly wise. As is respect. Any Hutt you meet is going to be much older than you."

[Yslane Tssilla]

"I defer to your expertise on those matters," Yslane chuckles, "My own is limited to what Foreign Office documents have been compiled on the Hutts. Which is actually quite a bit, so....it would be more accurate to say I have skimmed some documents written by people who interviewed diplomats from Nar Shadda and then distilled that down to 'key points'."

"....basically I know nothing."

A pause as the Yslane ponders the fungus she had just eaten, "Is this from your people's home planet?"

[Arali Zian]

Arali chuckles about the Hutt comment, but decides to let that topic slide. This isn't about work. Well, not really. Though it's sure to come back up.

"This specifically? Probably not. But the crop is from Ryloth originally. Actually, a lot of the equipment and connections you've helped me with have been to spread this crop around. It grows well on rocks and caves not suitable to other crops, so it can be a major boon to a lot of rocky or food-deficit planets. And it doesn't require a great deal of tending, so it's helpful to set up on smaller colonies. If a colony has a significant twi'lek population, it tends to show up, but for predominantly human colonies, I sometimes have to help them set it up."

[Yslane Tssilla]

"So then I should consider this," Her hand passes over the snacks, "something of an advertisement." Yslane teases, "I assume the source for this plate is nearby? And I am speaking to the one who grew much of it?"

[Arali Zian]

Arali stares for a moment, then suddenly bursts into laughter.

"No, no, no, silly; I got this from the grocery store," she says once she's caught her breath. "We have those on Nar Shaddaa, you know. Well, other than the tea. I grew that. When I invited you to tea, I meant tea, not advertising. Am I going to have to crack open the wine to get you to relax?" The last she threatens with her slyest smirk.

[Yslane Tssilla]

"... well I thought I was being clever." Her faced flushed with real embarrassment, "Since you work with plants and I am sure the Jedi would allow use of their gardens."

She takes a long sip to regain her composure. "I thought I was being relaxed." Her face wasn't getting any lighter.

[Arali Zian]

As Yslane gets more and more embarrassed, Arali is aghast, the mirth draining from her face and she reaches out, resting her hand on Yslane's.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Please don't be embarrassed!"

[Yslane Tssilla]

Yslane blinked, still red in the cheeks, "Oh...ah...sorry, it just caught me off guard. I didn't mind to upset you." She smiles, relaxing a little, "Anyway...have you always lived here while on Nar Shadda? In the area around the consulate I mean."

[Arali Zian]

Arali almost falls into the circle of continuously apologizing back and forth, but instead goes quiet for a moment, the look of contrition on her face lasting just long enough to move onto a next topic.

"Not always," she answers, regaining a more natural rhythm. "I lived at the enclave for a time, but my own apartment is a more practical solution long term. I'm... less ascetic than some. And there was another apartment before this one, but I moved when they had to demolish that part of the wing for more construction."

Her hand stays on Yslane's, gripping gently. It's warm; very warm, her blood naturally running hotter than a human's.

[Yslane Tssilla]

"The...spartan life style can be problematic." Yslane nods, thinking of her own sparse room on Courscant compared to the apartment she was assigned here. "Its been something of an adjustment having a fluffy bed and a plush chair." She smiles, her eyes drop to the hand on hers then move back up.

[Arali Zian]

As Yslane looks to her hand, Arali realizes what she's doing and pulls it back, looking away sharply, her mind wandering.

"This place started out very sparse, but keep a place for a few years, and you start accumulating a home. My painting supplies. My kitchen. It was like a whole new world when I finally had a place that was mine, you know? I mean, I only rent this place, but I've been here so long, it's close enough." She casts a glance back at her bedroom door, "First thing to go, though? Absolutely the bed. The one that came with the apartment was just terrible. A good bed is always worth the credits."

[Yslane Tssilla]

"I can agree with that," Her smile returns, "The one provided for me is considerably more comfortable then the one I slept on at the Temple."

"How long have you been on Nar Shadda? Since after your leaving the order?" She adds the last bit cautiously, adding a great deal of empathy for the Twi"lek's situation.

[Arali Zian]

Arali cringes slightly at the repeated misconception.

"I never left the order," she corrects. "I am simply not a part of the knighthood program ever since my former master advised against my facing the trials." Her voice is almost disturbingly even at the explanation. A sore subject, to be sure. And to many, it's odd to point out that there's a part of the order that isn't the knighthood program.

"I have, since, been assigned to Nar Shaddaa as Master Thun's aide, at the Jedi Enclave. I choose to live at the Compound instead for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which being, the more I visibly distance myself from the Order, the better equipped I become to further the Order's interests on Nar Shaddaa."

[Yslane Tssilla]

Yslane frowned, "I'm sorry... my misunderstanding of the situation has caused you injury." Confident she may be... Yslane was still a Padawan.

"I take it from your words the Jedi are not well received on the Hutt's world."

[Arali Zian]

"It is... not an uncommon misconception," Arali accepts the apology. "Please, put it from your mind."

The Hutts, though, are a larger subject. "In the Republic, the Jedi are bestowed with exceptional authority. Even you and I are bestowed authority as law enforcers. If we deem it appropriate, we are even authorized to kill, without legal repercussions unless our actions are so dire that the Council takes action or waives our protections against the civilian courts. Then many Jedi, often who have gone literally their entire lives with these exceptional authorities, come to Nar Shaddaa in pursuit of criminals, and act as if they are still in the Republic, and take on an air of moral superiority when the law of the land takes exception to their actions. And then people are surprised the Hutts don't like us."

She takes a sip of her tea, used to having this conversation. Often.

[Yslane Tssilla]

"The Hutts don't seem to like much that impedes their profit margins." She takes a sip of her own tea. "But I understand you....we are outsiders pushing our morals on their society and interfering with their business. Which often includes illegal activity outside of the sphere of influence mind you. Its not like criminals don't flee here for a reason."

"Of course point that out to our hosts is not going to help our position any."

[Arali Zian]

"Not illegal," Arali interjects.

"At least, not generally. Hutt space is governed by its own, much looser law, and the Republic does not have an extradition treaty. When we pursue Republic criminals into Hutt space, we have no jurisdiction, nor legal right to act against them, and many acts we pursue criminals over are quite legal here. When we continue pursuit, we become the criminals. Which too many Jedi fail to recognize, and I'm left apologizing to the Hutts for our quite literal crimes.

"What makes this worse is, Hutts tend not to recognize us as people, per se. By the time a Hutt is old enough to take up a position of authority, they've seen generations of shorter-lived sapients grow old and die. Rather, they tend to form relationships and opinions about organizations. The damage done to our reputation when a Jedi goes rogue, it nurses a very personal grudge against the Jedi order in a creature who will live and build power for nearly a thousand years. That is why we try to nurture the Nar Shaddaa Enclave's identity unto itself, as an independent, if subsidiary, organization. We maintain positive relations with the Hutts, so that we may intercede on behalf of the Jedi in the highly, highly likely event that we wrong them."