Corellian Sector, Coruscant [Thursday late afternoon]

[momslilassassin]

Ben, mindful that the last time he'd been in the Corellian Sector he'd been a member of GAG and kicking down doors looking for terrorists, put a bright smile on his face, prayed no one recognized him, and led Karla and Ender around.

"This is where you can find really astral food," he said enthusiastically, because this was Ben and food was pretty much top on his list of judging how good a place was, just below "are they shooting at me?" "There's also neat stuff to look at and almost everyone here speaks Basic. You might run into some Selonians or Drall, but Corellia itself is mostly human."

[OOC: For the two with him!]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

"Maybe so, but you're older now," Karla pointed out with her amazing deductive skills. "Age difference shouldn't matter so much anymore. I bet you can make friends with them now--you made friends with me, didn't you?" She tilted her head at him. "What's Haven?"

[momslilassassin]

"I don't really spend much time with other Jedi," Ben admitted. "If there are missions, we tend to deal with them as a family unit. Blame the writers that I have no friends. Haven was where all of the Jedi children who were too young to fight during the last war--the one Jaina and Tahiri just finished up--were stashed."

[glacial_queen]

"That sounds...incredibly lonely," Karla said, with her customary tact and diplomacy. "Don't the Jedi ever, I don't know, hang out? When there aren't missions, I mean? Just to get to know each other and bond and become friends?"

Her words were blunt, but her tone sympathetic. She understood loneliness.

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe," Ben said with a little shrug, "but I didn't go to the Academy, either. I'm not generally included. It's not a big deal."

[glacial_queen]

"Yeah, well, I think it might be," Karla said. "Ben, you're one of the best people I know. You reached past all my inner barriers and got me to trust you within a matter of weeks. You might be a giant ball of repression, but I'd offer you a contract in my Court in a heartbeat if I thought you'd take it. You're the kind of person I could trust my people with, Ben, and that's not something I say lightly. So you'll have to forgive me if I think that it is a big deal that you're not included, okay? It's stupid!"

Karla, your pep talk might go over better if you weren't glaring at Ben as you delivered it.

[momslilassassin]

Ben took a step back at her vehemence. "Really, it's fine," he insisted. "Both of my parents were on the Masters' Council. This kind of stuff happens when you're the boss's kid."

[glacial_queen]

"Doesn't make it right," Karla huffed. "You're astral, Ben. So there."

Best. Diplomat. Ever.

[momslilassassin]

Ben turned red. "If you say so."

In Fandom, he was quite at home with himself. At home things were a little different.

[glacial_queen]

"I do say so," Karla said, sticking her tongue out. "And you know that I am frequently right. So deal with it. Nyah."

[momslilassassin]

"Nyah to you too," Ben replied, sticking his tongue out in reply.

[glacial_queen]

"Don't stick your tongue out at me!" Karla said, hands on hips. "You can't stick your tongue out at someone when they're right, you know. Everyone knows that!"

[momslilassassin]

"You just made that up," Ben decided.

[glacial_queen]

"Psssht," Karla scoffed. "Just goes to show that you're secretly an unlettered barbarian, it does."

[momslilassassin]

"I am not," Ben said with a small snort.

[glacial_queen]

"If you weren't, then you'd know these things," Karla retorted, trying not to grin.

[momslilassassin]

"I think you're just making things up so that you're not always wrong," Ben decided.

[glacial_queen]

"Prerogative of a Queen," Karla lied airily. "In fact, we can shape the very fabric of reality to mean we're never wrong."

[momslilassassin]

"Explains your approach to games," Ben said dryly.

[glacial_queen]

"Just because you're lousy at cradle doesn't mean that I need to cheat," Karla snickered.

[momslilassassin]

"I'm not lousy at it," Ben protested. "You just change everything halfway through, or when you're losing. Or because it's Tuesday. Or all three."

[glacial_queen]

"I only change the rules within a hand when we're playing the wildcard variation," Karla reminded. "Though if you wanted me to come up with some variation based on the day of the week and maybe the moon-phases, I'm sure I could..."

[momslilassassin]

Ben put his hand over his face. "Please don't go to any trouble on my account."

[glacial_queen]

"I can't wait for you to meet the rest of the coven," Karla said, eyes shining. "Then you'll see I'm not cheating. And Kalush is really good at cradle, better than me. And Grezande is the best at coming up with new variations. Elan won't even play with her anymore."

[momslilassassin]

"Maybe I'll just play with Elan instead," Ben said.

[glacial_queen]

"Chicken," Karla murmured, turning to look at a dress.

Not quite under her breath, though.