Plenty of Red Paint (D3 EA, Arali's Room)

[Arali Zian]

Arali spends her afternoon at her canvas, and a huge one at that, spread across her wall. A spread commissioned to go over a bar. 'Something dangerous but beautiful, with a lot of red,' the client asked for. So, Arali goes with a treacherous canyon of red stone, with plenty of shadows in harsh contrast.

((Charm for side job: 2eA+2eP+3eD 3 successes, 4 threat
))

[Alysele Cortess]

While Arali was in the zone, Aly was standing outside, annoyed. "Arali, Alysele here. I need to talk to you. Now." She was impatient... which made sense, as this was the 3rd time she was chiming for the washout to let her in. "Are you sleeping? Or playing with your lekku?"

[Arali Zian]

Eventually, Arali comes to, and hears her buzzer chime.

While it was too loud before, maybe she swung too far the other way when she cracked it open and turned it down the hard way. Hard to even hear it over the smooth jizz she has going in the background.

She slides the door open, wearing an apron, heavy work pants, and boots, all of them stained read, with more on her hands and face, and she looks rather surprised.

"Alysele? Hello. What brings you here?"

[Alysele Cortess]

Alysele looked over her outfit. "Apparently I'm here to stop you from getting rid of the body." Her voice was deadpan, but her stance showed obvious fatigue, and she was holding her left arm closely... too closely even.

[Arali Zian]

Arali notices the signs. She's not a doctor by training, but by necessity, she's done the job more than a few times. "Yours, apparently. Come inside. I'll get washed up."

[Alysele Cortess]

"I want a traditional Alderaanian funeral." Her voice was bitter as she stepped in. "What are you up to?" she asked, looking around in the room.

[Arali Zian]

Arali looks to the giant canvas on the wall, then to the painting supplies still out, then to Aly, and back around that loop again, thinking the answer quite plain.

"I had a sudden, uncontrollable burst of lethan envy and wanted to see what it would look like," she deadpans and taps a button on the wall with her elbow, extending her dining table as she nudges a stool towards it with her foot.

"I'll be just a moment."

She makes her way to the fresher and washes the paint off her hands. "So," she says as she returns, drying off. "You look like you've been having fun."

[Alysele Cortess]

" Mhm, yeah. Great fun." That one seemed genuine. "Unfortunately, a civilian interfered and the other guy got away." Well... that wasn't exactly what happened, but she sure as hell is not going to tell the washout that.

"Creative as always I see."

[Arali Zian]

"I find it a soothing way to enrich oneself," Arali offers idly, her words carrying a double meaning as she pulls out her medkit and her tea set, quickly tossing together a small pot of green tea and setting it to boil as she tries to suss out Aly's useless explanation.

"So... were you... tracking a fugitive?"

As she asks, she rests a hand on Aly's forehead. A useful focal point of the body's energies, when the situation doesn't call for speed. She reaches out through their connection in the force, enhancing the knight's body's natural healing processes.

((What are the severities of your critical injuries? I only have 4g on medicine and can't force heal critical wounds, but hey, that's not bad. Also, not rolling since there is no consequence to failure; I'll heal you as many times as you want. Each time heals you of four wounds, and counts as one of your daily stim pack uses.))

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly grunted, fighting the urge to slap Arali's hand away. They were never on good terms. Why am I even here?

"Someone who hunts and kills Force Sensitives." She said out loud. "He was prepared. Almost had him though."

She let out a breath, forcing her body to relax, and her sense of the Force to expand.

OOC: Already healed crit, is down 8 wounds, so wound healing would be appreciated

[Arali Zian]

((Then you get two hits of healing, and it counts as two stim uses for the day. Again, not rolling because it's not necessary; no consequence for failure means I could roll until I pass.))

"I see." But her focus at the moment is on easing Aly's wounds. A brief process. It seems she's already recovered a great deal since the fight. An intense heat washes over the knight's body as her natural healing process accelerates, easing the pain until there's just a dull, tingling warmth as Arali removes her hand. "You know the routine. You may feel fine, but the healing drew on your body's reserves. Push yourself immediately and your strength will fail you."

The pot begins to whistle, and the twi'lek takes it off the burner, and pours two cups of green tea. Simple stuff. Not cracking out her personal blends for Aly. Besides, green tea is most appropriate at the moment.

By the time she hands Aly a cup, it's stopped steaming. "How much do you know about this killer?"

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly was stoic during the ministrations. "He is part of a cult trained against force users and worshipping some kind of red god. Have you heard of it by any chance?

[Arali Zian]

Arali considers, but shakes her head. "No. The Enclave tries to stay apprised of such matters, and have assisted with similar matters in the past, but nothing fitting this description. If there is not already a bounty out on this target, I suggest issuing one for legal reasons. It's how law enforcement works on Nar Shaddaa, for the most part. This threat clearly cannot be ignored, but at the same time, we must try to avoid offending the Hutts during these negotiations."

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly frowned. "Well, that doesn't seem to bother the Imperials at all. They have a strike force on it. We... on the other hand." Aly was almost shaking now. "I get told it is my destiny to face him again, and if I need help, oh well, I can talk to Master Thul or you. I really love how worried the order is about he death of innocent Force Sensitive children." She almost spat the last part.

[Arali Zian]

"I'm glad to see you share my former master's opinion of my abilities," the twi'lek says, her tea cup clacking loudly against the table for emphasis.

"I have lived on Nar Shaddaa for nearly a decade. I have the skills to survive here, and my own resources and allies are considerable. Though I do suggest you ask yourself why the existing strike force cannot be one such resource."

[Alysele Cortess]

"Because they're Imperials." Replied Aly almost instantly. "I was not asking for a department, but... someone who knows their way around." She gestured in the air. "You know. Down there." She let out a sigh, than picked up her cup and tastes tea.

Bitter... should take it as a sign.

"Master Lorne is worried about, you know?"

[Arali Zian]

"And I worry about him," Arali says, to get in and out of that derail as quickly as possible. "The difference being, I don't let that worry shade my every decision regarding him." A curt response, and back on track.

"Now. Your dismissal of the imperial strike force. Tell me; is this a decision driven by reason? Or emotion?" She poises herself for debate. "The fundamental assumption of the current Republic presence on Nar Shaddaa is that, on some fundamental level, we can negotiate and cooperate. What's more, this force likely has a significant Sith membership. Peace is a lie; there is only passion," she quotes the Sith code.

"This is a matter that will incite passion in many. Those persons will be the ones attracted to the task force. While they may be Sith, they will be Sith who know rage towards the kidnappers, and that, in the broadest sense, makes their motives and actions knowable such that our interests align and we can work together long enough to take down this cult."

[Alysele Cortess]

"Mhm, well, you have hobbies. He has a war." She offered in return.

"It is drive nby the need to work together with the Sith. We are here for peace, and we are ready to face the killers." Her eyes locked onto Arali and glared at her. "They may be bumbling buffoons, but they are not the first ones I had to work with."

She drank more of the tea. Still bitter. "I am not afraid of working together with them on this goal. Are you?"

[Arali Zian]

Arali rubs her temples, "You don't even know what I do..." she shakes her head.

"I am not afraid. Though I have some matters I must attend to before I can take the field. Nothing you need concern yourself with."

She drinks her own tea, barely noticing the flavor. Aly's managed to drain that bit of pleasure from her life as well.

[Alysele Cortess]

"Well, tel me then." Said the fun-vampire.

"You sure about that? Like I didn't need to attend the other night?" Her tone was slightly aggressive.

[Arali Zian]

"This war has been going on longer than you have been alive," Arali points out, rolling into her more long-winded explanation in a single breath. "Almost longer than I have. And this has led us to neglect many things. Republic infrastructure is near collapse, and the resources that would go to maintaining and repairing it are instead being diverted to the war effort. I do what I can to gather supplies from outside the Republic and bolster food production, usually by helping human colonies learn and implement twi'lek farming techniques; the fungi common in our diets are able to grow on land otherwise unsuitable for farming with relatively little investment, turning colonies from food deficit to food surplus, such that said surplus can be redirected to the war effort, feeding troops without starving civilians."

And, inhale. "In other words, logistics. The battlefield has brought this war to a standstill. At this point, if peace talks do not pan out, the war will be won or lost based not on combat, but economics."

"As to the hotel? I swore to killing only as a last resort. If submitting to your smugness ends in the intimidation factor required to protect the children without anyone having to die, so be it."

[Alysele Cortess]

Wow, she is still a know it all.

"Logistics is important. How does the Force help there though? There are scientists that dedicate their lives to learning that. What can you do that they can't?" Her tone was challenging.

"I'm not smug. I'm confident." Was her defense.

[Arali Zian]

"How do clarity, foresight, and accepting the interconnection of all things in this world as a part of yourself help to provide for those in need?" Arali asks, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Oh, yes, I bow to your wisdom and shall immediately go harness that cosmic understanding to go murder people. That's something non-force sensitives can't do."

She shakes her head. "Could others do the work I'm doing? Maybe. Are they willing? Clearly not."

[Alysele Cortess]

"It helps me make the best decision when I'm fighting to protect others." Alysele shot back. "It doesn't make me more knowledgeable about a subject... and I am not sure it is a good idea to rely on Foresight when it comes to matters of research."

She let out a sigh, and raised a hand to her forehead. "What am I even doing here?"

[Arali Zian]

"And the force helps me make the best decision when I am fighting to protect others," Arali shoots back.

"My fight simply involves fewer blasters and more moisture vaporators. It is the place of the Jedi order to teach, to guide, to protect, to heal, and to listen. In the quarter century this war has been playing out, we have forgotten much of what gives us purpose, and we have grown imbalanced. Yes, I know why it happened, but that does not change the fact that it happened."

At Aly's question, Arali offers her least sincere smile, "You are receiving medical treatment, discussing philosophy, berating my life choices, listening to some lovely classic jizz, appreciating my painting, sharing intel, condescending, being condescended to, and apparently enjoying neither your tea nor my sterling wit. Not necessarily in that order."