Nar Shaddaa

It was tricky to find the right sort of place in the commercial district. After all, it was a little more upscale. But it was foremost a place where things were sold. And so Niall was eventually able to find a cafe with a bit more atmosphere.

That was where he waited for Arsele.

Arsele was easy enough to spot when she walked in; She bore a broad hat with a grey sundress, the dress coming a quarter down her thighs and having white flower designs near its bottom.

Taking a seat, she smiled at Niall. "Phew... You seem to ave found a pretty nice place . ...how are you doing though?" she asked, still smiling but with a little concern in her voice.

Niall smiled, standing up as Arsele came in, the Alderaanian etiquette automatic. "Thank you." He said. "I thought you might like it."

He sat back down as she did, letting out a slow sigh. "I'm well enough, I suppose." He met her eye, and then chuckled. "Or so I would say to anyone who wouldn't see right through me. I hardly know where to begin. My sister. These talks. The Sith. Aly..." He shook his head. "It's been a week."

"It... certainly has been that," Arsele said, nodding slowly with a slight purse of her lips, "And I'm only just catching up on things. I don't suppose you want to catch me up on things here?"

She spoke softly as she picked up a menu-pad, looking over it at Niall, "Or maybe they're more private issues."

"They are." Niall said. "But you get a special exception, being my oldest friend." He gave her a nod, smiling. "Or, second oldest, I suppose. I knew Aly a bit longer."

Well... that seemed a natural way to segue into one of the things that had been on his mind. "Ah..." He looked down, studying his menu. "We've, ah, well... Aly and I have been, well... seeing each other, I suppose you might say." His menu really was interesting, it seemed.

Arsele tilted her head; She knew what that mean, but it was too tempting to tease Niall's hesitant language, "I should hope so; Unless the Jedi have found how to turn invisible now."

That made Niall look up from his menu, snorting laughter. "Oh, hush. You know what I mean. We slept together. A number of times." He gave her a quick grateful smile as he realizes how effectively she cut through his hesitancy.

He sighed. "As unexpected surprises that this week has brought... that is one of them." His expression softened somewhat. "I suppose it is the most pleasant of them. Even though I don't know what happens next."

"And you two didn't invite me?" a frown, "...I thought we were friends."

The fake frown faded into a smile, "More seriously though, that does sound like a nice surprise. I can imagine few better... and many worse during these rough times around here."

Niall gave her a look, his eyebrows raised. "It sounds as though I need some re-education on the definition of friendship. I didn't know that when two childhood friends..." He paused a moment, searching for the right words. "Umm, hook up, they're supposed to invite other childhood friends."

He sighed, returning her smile. "But... yes. It was a nice surprise." His eyebrows went up again. "Speaking of, a certain Senator I'm acquainted with said some very nice things about you."

"Nice thing? A senator? Like what?" she asked with an aire of curiosity, not commenting on the first part at the moment.

"Well, she said that you taught her a thing or two about dancing. Lessons that she ended up using later." At a club; Niall rather hoped that it was a very fashionable, or at least discreet, club.

He smiled. "She also said that you're the type of person that we all need in our lives. And that I should try to keep in touch with you."

"Hm... Well, I did give dancing lessons to a certain Republican senator, off the record. Who may have worked at the strip club I work at. But where she would have drawn that opinion of me from I confess I have no idea."

Genuinely really. Unless there was something behind that Arsele didn't know.

"Mmph." Niall said. It wasn't exactly a word. Still, he felt it was the best way to acknowledge her off the record statement.

"Well... " Niall spread his hands. "Nevertheless. Apparently you impressed her. She liked you." He shook his head, smiling. "Perhaps she admired you. I think perhaps she would be happier if she had your life." His lips twisted. "Arsele Girard, aspirational figure for a Senator."

That got a snort of laughter, "Yes, I'm sure living in a two room apartment, struggling to pay bills, and stripping for strangers is a life to aspire to. Still, I can certainly understand wanting a more independent life, in that sense. And to be fair, I quite enjoyed her company as well. ...off the record, I suppose?"

She wasn't really sure how private the Senator wanted such things to be; Less than she thought, apparently.

Niall chuckled as well. "I'll admit, it's not what I would have chosen for myself. But, well... I chose this." He waved down at his uniform. "I think the Senator just has a certain amount of regret for the choices she's made. Yours represents a different way."

He smiled at her. "Besides, you can't deny that you're a positive influence in a lot of ways. I mean, my parents would probably disagree, but you certainly made me more bold. You and Aly both."

"Well, I can certainly hope so anyways; The lounge singer who lives wild and free. All while dispensing nuggets of wisdom along the way. I'd like that. ...or is that not what you mean?"

"Right." Niall nodded, his expression steady. "And I'm Captain Alderaan, square-jawed defender of justice." His jaw wasn't really that square. He shook his head. "I really don't know how that name got spread..." He sighed. "Anyway, people are always a bit more complicated than that, I suppose."

She looked hard at him before shaking her head, "I've no idea either. But I suppose I might be biased; I mean, part of me will always think of you as the little kid who hid under my skirts during a thunderstorm."

She smirked softly.

"What?" Niall said, his brow wrinkling. "That didn't happen. I don't remember..." His eyes suddenly went wide.

"Ohhhhh..." He let his head drop, chin to his chest. Helplessly, he chuckled. "I'd forgotten all about that." He tilted his head back up, his cheeks a little red. "In my defense, we didn't have thunderstorms that often. I thought we were... under attack or something."

Arsele laughed, "Hey, I wasn't blaming you; You were still only in primary school. And we were out in the middle of nowhere. Heck, I got absolutely soaked in the process."

"Yes, I remember." Niall chuckled. "Hiding under your skirts wasn't much better than outside of them."

His expression went wistful, his eyes distant as he thought back. "What were we even doing out there, anyway? I remember something about a dinner party. But we had a quest... I think."

"We were looking for a sunfruit tree; We had a picnic, but I ~insisted~ we have some fresh fruit as well. Of course neither worked out in the end... not sure I remember why I was so insistent though."