The Dark Academy on Korriban

Layne kicked over a rock as she circled beyond the outer edges of the camp. Sometimes, you just had to get away from it all. And that was more often than not when you were attending a Sith academy. She sat down on another rock, too large to kick over, and unhooked her lightsaber so she could go and clean it. Honestly, some of the dust sticking to it might still have been from the tomb she'd found it in.

Walking along the outside of the camp Sylvain spotted the woman cleaning her lightsaber from a distance. He'd asked Shaisha to look into seeing what was known about the girl, since he had been so unsuccessful... but perhaps he'd have more luck today. It was an adventure... a small one but one that always had created good stories.

Approaching without hiding his approach he smiled as he drew near and took a seat on a boulder to the side of Layne.

"Evening Layne. Getting some cleaning in before heading back?" He asked.

Great...

She didn't turn toward him right away. Why'd it have to be him anyway? Couldn't Baras have picked someone else? Well, it wasn't that it didn't make some sense even to the apolitical Layne. Yeah, it made sense. Although, if it was just for the PR, he could've picked Kristal as well couldn't he? That would've been so much more agreeable. At least it wasn't any of those red fops. Zeno, or Jo'ren. They would've been even more insufferable.

She sighed.

"Your powers of observation are impressive, Torsin."

"I've worked so hard to develop them. Took a whole 9 months in my mother's womb to develop working eyeballs." He said with a smile.

"An interesting weapon you have there. Kristal mentioned it was a unique blade." He said.

"The color didn't clue you in? Perhaps your observational skills are not as impressive as I thought after all."

"I haven't seen it myself Layne." He replied.

"Then pray that you don't, Torsin."

You'll stop being useful soon enough.

"Did you come here just to compliment my weapon and point out I'm cleaning it?"

He shook his head, "No, I came to see what it is I could do for my new colleague."

Tsk.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He smiled, "Yes, you do."

Then chuckling, "Or yesterday I'm fairly sure you would have punched that Zeno in the face. Darth Baras would have been pleased you listened to reason."

"Well aren't you clever," she said, finally actually turning to face him. "That'll get you killed, you know."

"As will going around insulting everyone you meet." He said with a smile. "Anything can be dangerous. It's a matter of finding how to navigate that danger for your own benefit."

"So? How do you expect to do that?"

She really hated that smile of his. It reeked of arrogance.

"It depends on the situation really. Being only 'clever' doesn't do much in a hand-to-hand fight, but it does help open other doors that can't be busted open by force." He shrugged, "It'd probably be useful to be adaptable, or have someone help you learn how to be so."

"I wasn't asking for a vague and general listing of yet more obvious things, Torsin. I was asking for specifics."

She sighed.

"You *do* realize the mess you're in, don't you?"

He chuckled and nodded, "Do you realize the mess you're in? Three weeks ago you weren't even sure of what Korriban was, now you are a master of upper level Dark Council politics?"

"Unlike you, I've been struggling to survive my whole life. You're just a novice at it. And now, you're a high profile novice. One who'se also too clever for his own good. Two things you really don't want to be."

She stopped cleaning.

"So, I'll ask you again. How, specifically, do you intend to deal with the fact you're just a propaganda tool that's asily discarded when the time is right?"

He chuckled, "You seem to be suffering from a lack of information if you think I am merely a propaganda tool. I'm sorry I can't enlighten you further, but I am perfectly fine with you thinking I have no use beyond my face. Ignorance is such a useful tool to take advantage of."

Then leaning back on his boulder, "Let's just assume that our master would be severely inconvenienced if I were to die. Could the same be said of you? Your willingness to follow blindly offers you what kind of protection?"

Oh, it sure is.

She went back to her cleaning.

"Arrogant too. You just don't know when to quit, do you Torsin? Here I am, trying to offer you insight and advice, and all you're interested in is evening out the verbal score. Whatever happened to that supposed willingness of yours to work together?"

"That's precisely where I am trying to get Layne. Perhaps if we didn't start all of our conversations with immediate hostility we could get to more productive things quicker." He said with a nod.

"If you find me arrogant or foolish and wish to shut off that possibility that is your right, I won't force you. But I personally would prefer to see that my master's new apprentice has what she needs to be successful."

He looks over at Layne, "You seem to have gained the admiration of one of my closest friends, someone I know to be a decent judge of character. So despite your constant hostility towards me, I am willing to forget the silly insults and underestimations to get to know each other a bit better."

Looking back out over the dunes he finished, "That's why I walked over here."

"You're the new apprentice, not I."

She gave him a look for just a second before looking back down to her work.

"What do you want to know?"

He shrugged, "Almost anything really. I barely know anything at all... I know you dislike a lot of stuff. What's something you like?"

"Really? That's the best you can do? You give me that whole speech just now, and then when you get to ask me something, you ask me what I like? Do you want to know my favorite color too?"

"If it will help me sure." He said. "I put no expectations on what you're willing to give me. Because up until now all I've gotten is vitriol. If I asked your deepest darkest secret would you tell me? Probably not, right?"

"I don't like anything, Torsin. Liking things is for people like you, who have the luxury to. The kind of luxury that makes you soft and weak. Luxury I never had."

A pause.

"You fucked up. You should've asked for something else. Something you could've traced back to something you can use against me. Or manipulate me with. Not something you can use to try and pretend to be my friend. You should've figured that out by now. I don't respond well to shit like that."