Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

Not quite her ship, not quite not her ship, Riss sits herself in a small noodle shop with silly expensive things considering it's location in the spaceport. After her meeting with the queen this morning she wanted to change into something a tad more comfortable, which namely was her ratty jacket. Sitting on a stool at the main counter she tapped her hands along the edge waiting.

Riss wasn't the only one who had a habit of wearing the same thing all the time. Or maybe the Jedi Order simply provided their members with a wardrobe of browns and whites for daily wear. At least Kat's usual garb looked clean and proper, and it made her easy to spot among the people of the spaceport as she approached the noodle-stand.

Kat locked eyes with Riss for a moment as she stepped up to the stools, and silently eased herself into the seat. A moment of silence before she looked at her again, keeping her eyes on her. "Hey," she said in her usual soft tone, a brief half-smile, uncertain of what would happen this time.

Two bowls of noodles were tossed down in front of them, one for Riss and the other for Kat. For Kat, the noodles were exactly the kind Riss knew Kat liked best. Not hesitating a moment Ross digs in, slurps up a fork full, and shifts on the stool so she's more directed toward Kat, "Hey, so this morning I went to go meet with the queen. On a vibe, right?" she starts, there's no hesitancy to her tone just the easy calm of a common conversation.

"I've been thinking.. taking my name back, mm? Planets.. weird, strange, and sometimes awful but I care about this place. Might be a nice thing I can do to be a part of it," she takes another mouthful. Chewing as she looks to Kat half-expectantly though there seemed to be more words hiding behind the food.

Her smile came a bit more in earnest as the bowl of food was served. An extra marinated egg, spicy broth, thick noodles made of a coarser flour, fresh green onions on top, and shredded pieces of white meat. Riss could tell that she was listening as she was slurping some of the broth to start, but her eyes were on her with her form shifted to face her a little bit more.

"Hmmm... Might need lands to properly claim all that comes with a House," she remarked after some thought as she placed the bowl down with a soft thunk against the counter, and chopsticks were picked up to handle the more solid stuff of her bowl. "Are you ready for the responsibilities of being a Duchess? It won't leave much time for trips around the galaxy."

It sounded more like she was going to miss those trips, rather than doubting Riss could take on the responsibility.

Swallowing down a bite, a breath, "I'll miss them. Maybe get a chance now and again," she laughs, there's a warmth to it, "but.. no, thinking maybe I need the new direction for a while, mm? Not sure what lands I can get but first things first, I need to bury the hatchet with Thul. Easy enough from my end.. and we'll see if this Zeno is as willing to put the past behind him as he claims, even if it's a touch more recent," she chuckles, there's that brief guilty awkwardness to it.

"There's gonna be this thing tomorrow, need someone- an advocate. Major Organa, your friend, seems like he'd be a good fit in one sense.. good talker, respectable guy, likes me enough to trust me a little maybe. Offered help as an Organa but.. I'm uncertain," she says, taking the pause to fill her mouth up with another glob of noodles.

Kat was fishing up the noodles and chewing on them in silence as Riss spoke. Not one to speak with food in her mouth, she finished chewing then reached for a nearby glass of water to clear her throat.

"A thing... like a case or something, to argue your claim to the Lanar names and land?" she asked to better understand what was going on. "What is it you don't trust about Major Organa? Can't be anymore trustworthy and dependable than Captain Alderaan himself."

"It's not that I don't trust him," she blurts out, words muffled and barely intelligible because of the food still in her mouth. Taking a pause she finishes chewing, swallows, and then clears up with a gulp of water herself.

"It's not that I don't trust him," she repeats, "It's just something the queen said. That I should bring someone who believes in my cause.. the Major might, a bit, enough to offer the support of House Organa. But he doesn't know me. Might have nice pretty words but they'd be flat.. he couldn't speak for who I am, what I'd do," she says, glancing down a moment she sets the fork aside and turns a little more to face Kat.

"Cynella is probably my biggest fan, and I'm hers," she chuckles, there's a warmth to that, "Aurilie knows me best who I was when we were younger, and she's a noble, but.. you? You're a Jedi, a defender of Alderaan on not one but two recent occasions, I know, I was there," she laughs.

"But more than that, you're my best friend. You've seen my ups and downs, my left and rights. You've picked me up out of some pretty kriffed moments.. and you probably know me best over anyone else here. If I had to pick an advocate? I'd pick you every time," she says, offering a smaller more sincere smile.

Her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, and her chopsticks remained still over the bowl, clamping on some noodles that were waiting to reach her mouth, but she was just holding them there.

When she spoke, it had the sincerity that was always there. "... Thank you, Riss. I'm honored by that faith in me. Not that I've ever had to do anything like that, so I will have to read up on it. Tomorrow, yes?" She would have to check on that later. What kind of preparations she had to make. "Probably wouldn't hurt to have the major there too, as an... additional person to vouch for you."

With a small smile Kat let the noodles sink back into the broth. "So you're serious about this, huh? Staying on Alderaan, making a home for yourself here?"

"Think it's one of those 'one person only' type deals but.. yea, I'll float the idea to him if he's open to it. Always good to have the Captain Alderaan at my back if I can get him, mm?" she teases with a wrinkle of her nose, a little shake.

"But.. yea," she admits with a little more sincerity and less mirth. Toying with the noodles a bit, "I mean, what else am I gonna do. I could.. keep wandering the galaxy without a care in the world or I could be here. Doing.. something, maybe even some good, mm? Been trying to figure out ways I could do something like that, do some good, in a way that isnt.. blech," she sticks her tongue out with the noise, chuckles a bit. "Can do a lot more good here with my name, my blood, than I could probably ever hope to manage out in the galaxy too busy running around just to make sure I have enough for fuel, mm?"

"There's going to be a lot of drama and intrigue and politics, Riss," she teased a bit, picking up half of an egg, "sure you're ready for that?"

The egg was eaten in silence before she continued. "So... hmmm..." sometimes it was hard to approach a subject, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I understand I hurt your feelings and that was... a failure of mine, as your friend."

Riss laughs, making some sort of affirmative sound as she's half-waybthroufh filling up her mouth with more noodles when she was asked if she could manage it. Riss? Manage complex social dynamics? Psssh, it's already in the bag.

It was the next bit that had her chewing a bit more thoughtfully, swallowing, "I'm.. sorry I betrayed your trust," she says, takes an easy breath. "I didn't.. feel like I was doing it, because I trust him, and not over you but.. I just, I need you to be wrong about him. That maybe there's something else there.. you know?" she says, tapping the edge of the bowl with her fork.

Her chopsticks poked around a bit in the bowl, but her attention was on Riss. "I understand. I've just... been worried about you being hurt, or getting dragged into this, no matter who is right." With that, she extended a hand to offer to Riss.

"And I don't just mean hurt as getting caught in a crossfire, Riss. I do care about your heart too."

"Too late for me getting dragged into this," she chuckles, it lacks the usual energy that she can put into it. A simple shake of the head, "It's.. also a bit late for my heart in a way too, mm? He's.. he's in there. Something about him, the way he just.. cares, how he shows it but says it when it matters, mm? It's.. he's manipulated me, sure, but I was kinda the one who went to him planning the same thing ya know? Sleep with him if he's a dick, steal his files, kriff," she shakes her head again.

Taking a moment she builds herself up a little more, shoving her fork into the food for a smaller bite to buy her a little time, "I just need to figure out how to get him out of this, how to.. manage. I- I was approached last night by the Duke-consort of Thul, Zeno? Anyway.. he's looking into Bryson too and I do not like the idea of someone who sits around blaming Alderaan for their ties with the Empire getting to him. I'm.. I'm gonna go talk to Bryson later, but I'm thinking.." she hesitates a moment.

The unrequited hand slinks back, fingers curling gently against the palm as it rests against her own thigh.

"He might have manipulated you first, Riss. Maybe not you as a person directly, but who you are," she said softly, but this time explained more. "I don't know for certain yet, but... I went to speak with House Uros, about the contract on you and your brother. They were willing to talk about it, as it was a finished deal now. It had been a long-standing contract, possibly from House Thul originally to House Rist, but Rist had forwarded it to Uros. Then recently they had been notified about the contract, that there were Lanars back on Alderaan. The countess thought it might've been poor record-keeping that it had escaped their notice."

She didn't say that Bryson was someone who easily could have dug deep into old records to find something to use. But it did fit the job for a computer analyst.

"And then just like that House Rist paid down the lucrative price for Uros." She'd be pretty happy and talkative too with that many credits in her pocket. "... So, having told you this, what you do with it is up to you."

Kat picked up her bowl but paused. "Wait, what's this about Duke-Consort Zeno blaming Alderaan for ties to the Empire?"

Riss was silent a moment, thinking on everything from the first bit. Considering, weighing, a slight shake of her head, it didn't matter too much right now. Something to talk with him about later.

"When I went to talk to him about my brother. We got to talking.. 'course, you know me being not much a fan of the Empire it inevitably came up, mm? Said a lotta things about how the Empire is House Thul's shell or.. whatever, something like that? Just a bunch of kriffed up reasons for Thul and the Empire being close," she twists her first to fingers together. "Thul doesn't get any friends here.. so they need friends in the Empire. Like making friends with the Empire is ever justified," she says, rolling her eyes.

"Kriff.. if the fact my father betrayed them is true, good," she glances away, maybe not with the whole outcome of him betraying the Thul. A difficult thought for another time as she shoves another mouth full of noodles into her face.

"Hmmm..." she exhaled, then ate some more of the other bits in her bowl besides noodles.

A moment was given to the food then she spoke again. "It's no secret that House Thul had backing from the Empire when they returned, which was during the peace treaty of Nar Shaddaa." The chopsticks tapped against the bowl a little bit, her attention focused ahead there now. "Though as far as I know, House Thul helped defend Alderaan during the last war. What's more is that I think they are beginning to realise that they cannot hold their own on Alderaan for much longer with the shadow of the Sith hanging over them."

Her lips formed in a vague grimace.

"From my interactions with the Duchess and her consort... I cannot under any circumstance say that Zeno Thul is someone I would say is a good man. However, I see he is devoted to protecting his family earnestly, and I think he realises that means distancing from the Empire. Likewise, the Duchess wishes for stability for Alderaan. For safety of her House and family. I think she might have the same conclusion too, or come to it." Kat looked to Riss. "I don't particularly trust either of them as such, but I trust the kind of people they are. The duchess who comes from a hard life in exile for something she did not do, who wants safety and stability. And the consort who is fully devoted to his children."

"So, at the moment, I dont consider them to be a threat to be most concerned with."

"Threat.. maybe not, but I'm not feeling trusting on what they would do if they got to Bryson first. They'd hurt him.. make an example," she shakes her head, folding her arms in near herself on the counter. "They'd make a show that they conquered a big villain plotting the downfall of Alderaan.. but that's not who he is, he.. he cares about this planet," she sighs, sitting with the thought a moment. "All cause they wanna show to Alderaan they can support it, and not the Empire. But kriff- much as Zeno knows he has to do it, he's not of the mind to suggest letting go until someone else reaches out. Which is hard to do, when they're still holding onto the kriffing Empire for support.." she bristles a bit, but with another small bite chews angrily enough to calm herself a little.

"Real hard life.. sure," she glances away, not voicing the thought there and just fills her mouth with more noodles. Chewing rather angrily, just as before, swallowing hard.

"I don't think you or me can truly know what it must be like to not be able to go home simply because of something an ancestor did a long time ago. You a bit more than I can though. A little." Kat gave Riss' side a gentle nudge.

"But you're right. They would not try to apprehend him peacefully. He gave you the info that put them under house arrest, and their pride is hurt. And they're scared, for what could've happened to their children." She at least wanted Riss to remember that Bryson wasn't the only one with a family to look after. And the Thul children were as innocent as any other child. "I'm not defending them, but I'm explaining what I have seen and learned from interacting with them. This is something that will be important to you, as the leader of House Lanar."

Another mouthful of noodles gave the conversation a natural pause.

"If you can ask him to come peacefully, to turn himself in... maybe. I prefer things not to turn to violence, if it can be avoided."

"Y-yea, that's.." she shakes her head, coming out of some slight reverie she was falling into. A nod, "Yea, that's what I was thinking. I could talk to him.. convince him to come back with me maybe and I was thinking.. come to you? Whole.. Jedi thing and all," she chuckles briefly, looking back to her noodles and raising the bowl up to finish off what was left within, the sounds of slurping distracting even the most serious thought perhaps.

"I can be here to meet you," she said reassuringly, giving Riss an encouraging smile as she felt they were now moving in a similar lane. Maybe not completely the same, but similar, and Riss was trying to do something right.

You can't expect everyone else to be held to the same standards as you, Kataryna. The duty of a Jedi is heavy, and we must be strong to bear it for those who cannot. She remembered Syo telling her that when she was still a padawan.

"Just give me a call, alright?"