The Dark Academy on Korriban

After the fancy party, Khalim found himself wandering down to the mess hall to find something to eat. While there had been food at the event, there had been little time to eat any of it due to the continuous conversations and schmoozing. There was, however, plenty of time to drink and if he didn't eat at least -something-, tomorrow wouldn't be the most pleasant of days.

He heads over to the serving area and gets a serving of the...delectable...paste, and then finds an empty seat. He toys distastefully with the paste briefly before beginning to eat it.

This crap is only a temporary setback. You'll have real food again soon.

The Sith wasn't the only one for long, as Xevine arrived as well, her stomach grumbling. Today was a rollercoster, and despite her success at orientation, the pitiful showing later burned in her. Taking a bowl of paste, she moved tiwards Khalim. Might as well talk to someone before she burst up in flames.

"Hello."

"Good evening."

He gestures invitingly to a seat at his table, "Please have a seat, if you like. Nobody else here at this hour, after all, and conversation might make this paste more palatable."

"No, no it won't." She sat down with a smile that she forced upon herself. "I am sure they find this character building. Also budget saving. Congratulations on your showing today." She looked at the paste, trying to force it to have an actual taste.

"You're right. I doubt little could improve this...stuff. I'm not sure whether it's the taste or the consistency that's worse."

He bows his head a bit at the congratulations. "Thank you. You did quite well, yourself."

xevine's mood improved somewhat. "Just conforming to expectations of the family." She decided to take a dive and took a spoonful of the stuff.

"I think it's a well designed package of terrible."

He chuckles, "Perhaps they put too much thought into how terrible they could make it, though."

He takes another bite of his paste, and somehow manages to force it down. An act of willpower, no doubt.

"I look forward to seeing what other expectations of your family you conform to."

"Well, you know how bureaucracies work." She tried chewing on the paste, an obvious failure. She forced a gulp of the material.

"I could conquer this planet in the name of the Sith? Though that might not be taken well. Or I could be yelling in a war room fill of bumbling armchair generals? Do you have one lying around?"

He taps his jaw once, thoughtfully.

"You know, I think someone may have beaten you to the whole 'conquering this planet in the name of the Sith' thing... And I'm afraid I didn't bring my pocket generals with me; they didn't fit in my luggage."

"The weight limit on the ship for luggage was an atrocity." She let out a mock sigh. "Oh? You're a scholar now, besides being a noble scion, wielder of lightsaber and user of the Force? My, what a versatile man you are."

He smiles amusedly at her, "Well, versatility is certainly one way of attaining strength, wouldn't you agree? The trick is versatility while still being good at all of it."

"I think that is called perfection." She mentioned offhandedly while battling The Second Spoon. "You been here before?2

"The mess hall? Yes. I had breakfast earlier."

His voice and face are completely straight in his response, so either he has no sense of humor, or he's messing with her.

She looked him in the eye, then tilted her head. "Really? Does teasing me seem like a good idea?" There was a slight edge in her voice. "I am happy to make sure you don't starve and feed you my own paste as well."

He smiles somewhat, "well, at least not everyone thinks I am humorless, then."

"I rather doubt that any of us are in danger of starving, though. While not particularly palatable, this paste is full of the necessary nutrients."

Xevine shrugged. "It was a fifty-fifty chance, I gave it a shot. I'm not force choked yet, so that is something." She looked at the Dreaded Spoon the Third. "I'm sure in reality, the planet's core is filled with the stuff." She looked up at him. "You were at the ball, weren't you?"

He nods, "Indeed I was. And as to your original question, this is my first time at the Academy, or upon Korriban."

Xevine let out a brief, genuine smile. "That is reassuring. It seems that everyone who has red skin has already been on this planet. So, Aspirant Tsaikuzu. What did you think of the gathered lords and darths?"

"There were a number of quite prestigious Sith at the gathering, any number of whom it would be an honor to learn from."

The neutral answer of someone who knows he's in public and doesn't really feel like getting killed while eating nutrient paste.

Well, he is smart. Or a coward. An important one at least. "That has been an ongoing concern of mine as well, to e honest. Perhaps sometime later I could ask your opinion on the matter?"

"Of course. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunity to discuss the merits of each in the coming days."

He works on forcing down another spoonful of his...'meal'.

"And what of you? Do any of the Sith Lords particularly interest you as a prospective apprentice?"

Spoon Number Four! Truly, this was the true enemy of the Sith, not the Jedi!

"Well, all of them. I only know of them through their legend. I want to prove myself worthy, but of course, that can take different forms."

"If you keep performing as you have, I doubt that such will be a difficult task."

He takes a drink of water to try and wash away the flavor, or lack there-of, of the nutrient paste.

"Do you have any other interesting plans for your time on Korriban aside from graduating?"

"Networking." She said with a straight face. "If we are to leave here as the most elite that we can be, we cannot rely on our masters to provide everything, now, can we?" She looked up at him, putting on Spoon Fifth. "And you?"

"I also seek to build alliances for the future, and I also intend to see what lost knowledge I can find while I'm here and it is convenient to do so."