she stared death in the face and was not afraid.

L O A D I N G : // …  8ABY : MONTH TWO … //

Ah, and there it was. He had heard of those for the time before him. Those in the Jedi Order and their padawans. Luke had left nothing uncovered, except, of course, the truth of who his lineage was tied to. And who he was related to. There’s a smile though and an extended, black leather gloved hand for her to shake. “Pleasure to meet you, Eldra. A pretty name.”

Perhaps he was being far too sweet for where he was placed but he knows the game well enough to stay undercover. It was one nice thing for him, where most people only saw him as Kylo Ren with the helmet on. It’s why he made sure to always where it with it’s voice modulator when he was out, when he was doing official business for those of the Order, for Snoke. 

“I’m Ben. Ben Solo.” He pauses, letting that sink in, watching her to see if she can make the connection and if she does, he’ll give her far more than a meal and a drink for being that smart and knowing his history, especially for not being from his time. “What is it that you’ll have?”

she  takes  his  hand , black  synthleather  fingerless  gloves  of  her  own touching  his , hiding  calloused  palms  from  two  decades  of  saber  training.  a  smile  coats  her  lips  at  his  compliment , flattery  &  flirtation. 

“ ben. ” the  name  rolls  from  her  tongue , simple  &  short. “ solo. ” eyebrow  quirks  upwards  at  the  latter , curious. the  name  resonates  with  han , name - known  galaxy - wide ,  but  none  with  the  future ,  the  progeny & prodigy ; avoidance  of  both  sides  blinding  her  in  this  instance. still , something  familiar  rings in  his  tone  ,  his  smile  -  an  idea  that  she  should  know  of  him , confidence  &  power  carried  in  his  posture. “ a  fitting  name ,  considering  how  i  found  you. ”

there’s a curious look that crosses kylo’s gaze and he watches her for a moment, a single eyebrow raising a little curiously but he doesn’t press, at least for now. had she not known him? had she not recognize him? perhaps she wasn’t from his time in the future and if that was the case, should he have introduced himself as ben solo, a supposed friend of the resistance or kylo ren, the leader of the knights of ren, and someone who was so feared in the galaxy most wouldn’t have accepted such a casual drink with him? options lay themselves out before him and doesn’t stop the small smirk that crosses his features. “you never know who wishes to discuss politics these days.” he half laughs, finding humor in it and finding a sense of relaxation in her presence. perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all. “what’s your name, stranger? since i’m buying you a drink and perhaps a meal, if you’re hungry.” it was a start.

“ i’m eldra. ” no  lie  slips  from  well - practiced  lips , no  falsehood  given.  the  name  is  common  enough  among  her  people ,  if  not  several  decades  fading  from  fashion -  a  clue ,  perhaps ,  if  he  were  smart  enough  to  play  along.

brow  cocks , intrigued.  he  was  being  awfully  kind  for  a  stranger , especially  one  in  this  sector ; but  perhaps  he  was  genuine.  that  smile  certainly  seemed  like  it  was.  and  if  it  wasn’t ?  the  lilac  crystal  encased  in a  smooth  hilt  that  currently  rested  in  her  jacket  had  yet  to  fail  her. 

“yeah,” trever hummed, looking perfectly unphased. he was used to being cornered (even though being cornered here made him a little uneasy), and learned early how he could act when this kind of thing happened. “gotta do what you gotta do, right?” but be meaner? that wasn’t something he liked to do. or was good at. he was better at jokes and banter. “listen — i’ve been taking care of this place for when the owners come back. so if you’re here to fight, i’d rather take that outside so that my work doesn’t go to waste.” trever didn’t mind fighting. what he really minded, though, was ferus and roan being mad at him because they were going to find out if he damaged the store.

hands go up, a mock surrender, laughing smile still touching her half-shadowed features. “i’m not here to fight.” well, she wasn’t supposed to be. but really, who hired a bounty hunter to use their words? ( her current employers, apparently ).

“and i wouldn’t dream of destroying your store.” the twi’lek adds, glancing around the dimly lit space with a curious eye. “i may have broken my way in, but i’m not the type of person to destroy the hard work of another.” well, there was a very angry - and hopefully very dead - woman out there who would vehemently disagree, but eldra had grown far past the cares of xev xrexus. and, in the process, grown into some more destructive tendencies. but trever flume didn’t need to know that.

how long had it been since he had stepped foot on the surface of coruscant without any malicious intent behind his actions? surely it had been far too long. a planet so beautiful had once been on his destruction list but he’s finding himself glad that it had survived. he makes his way towards the café, after all, he’s here for leisure and pleasure and nothing beyond that. he’s done with the war for today. no talks of such, no thoughts of it, either, he’d much rather be here, enjoying the sun and a cup of coffee outside. he takes a seat once he’s arrived at the café and has placed an order, but what he’s not expecting is the company. dark gaze shifts upward, looking toward the newcomer with mild interest. “well, if you’re not here about the war or the sides, take a seat and order a drink. i’ll accept the company.”

for a moment, she considers making a “what war?” joke ( you could never say she didn’t take risks ), but considering the moody & perhaps a little dramatic dark look that cloaks the figure, the twi’lek bites back her tongue.

“do i really look like i’m here for politics?” blue eyes look down at her own clothing, callused fingers picking at her simple shirt & worn synthleather jacket ( okay, maybe she was the dramatic one here ). “not getting off to a good foot, stranger.” she teases, voice bright & light & utterly uncaring - and unknowing - as to who she’d fallen into company with. 

at his invitation, she pulls out the rather plain chair and sits - “you read my mind” coming from grinning lips - crossing one leg over the other as if she’d been there all afternoon. she takes the moment of settling in to examine him, curious but not probing - a glance would do. something about him seemed interesting, had drawn her his way, & the former jedi wanted to find out what. with luck, it’d be that he possessed a rather large sum of credits that he was just waiting to give to some kind-looking stranger.

just before midnight, the twi'lek had taken the distraction of the anticipation & gathering in the main ballroom to take her leave ( without a goodbye ? oh, she knew she was a horrible party guest ), and retreat into the gallery, where her true intention awaited. she hadn't stolen her way into an invite just to drink expensive alderaanian wine & meet the upper crust of coruscant & core world society.

transparisteel cases covered an eggsnest of shimmering stones & artifacts, glinting under the artistically-designed lighting, surely the work of someone getting paid far too much for tinkering with some gels. what someone was getting paid for enough was the security, with the layout being far too hard to obtain & staff and rifle-wielding hapans stationed at every corner.

but she'd prepared, as any good thief did.

but no amount of preparation or study had made seeing a chiss not unexpected. she'd heard the stories, of course, from younglings from wild space during her time at the temple, from drunk pirates & cargo pilots in bars once she'd had the fortune of returning to the galaxy. the stories spoke of bloodthirsty, ruthless aliens - certainly not of rather attractive women in black-tie.

"am i the only one who thinks this display of audacious wealth might be, ah, compensating for something?"

an easy laugh parted their lips and lando offered a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, as though his flirtatious nature was not a frequent part of his interactions with others. it was, of course. he credited it with what made him so likable. “well, who doesn’t want to drink with a beautiful woman?” he countered easily, not missing a beat in his reply. “what can i get for you? chardonnay, champagne? or something a bit stronger?”

“i think an event like this requires some champagne.” she responds lightly, smile grazing her dark-painted lips. a celebration of life & new alliances, certainly, but it was shaping up to be far more successful than just politically. 

she had no interest in deliberations between the new republic & their enemies, nor the gossip of senators and jedi - no, she was not here to celebrate their dealings, ( although she had to begrudgingly admit that what the fledgling government had accomplished was impressive, considering the long-standing reputation of the hapans ), but rather to serve her own ends. the cynic in her wanted to remark that everyone here was there for their own ends & agendas - while that might be true for most of the crowd, socialites glittering & waltzing & gossiping to no end, it did not appear to be true for some of the more well-known members of republic government. and considering what she’d learned of the last regime - albeit in her history skipped over by a crimson blade & returned by the emperor’s rift - that was quite the good start. 

this was the exact kind of environment that lando thrived in –– just shy of midnight, and he could not have been more pleased with himself. although he had brought a date, he had also not shied away from giving jyn time to explore as well as taking plenty for himself. they had always been a natural for gravitating toward people that he found interesting, and tonight was no different than that. “can i get you a drink?” he offered, his usual charming smile resting on his features. 

Trever’s hideout was the same as it had always been, and he was ready to defend it. He was used to that — protecting the empty, now abandoned building of Olin/Lands in case Ferus or Roan came back had been the task he gave himself after waking up. It was useful to stay in there, even if the memories hurt. 

He had to find a place to stay after all, and apparently that Force-nonsense brought anyone and everyone back. Meaning that the shop was at risk every day of a break-in, just like tonight. Trever was about to eat street food he traded for in the Ussan market when he heard a creaking noise from behind him.

Lurking in the shadows, he followed the noise around, using the advantage that he already knew the place. And — there. He wasn’t alone anymore but didn’t recognize the figure in front of him.

“I’m surprised you’ve come this far,” Trever said, a teasing grin on his face. “but you’ll have to turn back.”

“ooh, bossy.” her voice rings out, curious eyes watching the boy as he steps about the room, following her tracks. perched cross-legged on a cracked counter, the twi’lek grins at trever, bright eyes blinking in the near-dark. her chin rests in a fingerless-gloved hand, posture & tone relaxed. odd, for someone breaking & entering, it would seem.

“not quite convincing enough, though.” her other arm moves up from her lap to prop up her chin, both hands cupping her cheeks in an almost-childlike position when matched with her grin. “try again. be meaner about it.”

FLORENCE PUGH // have you met ELDRA KAITIS yet ? SHE/HER is a TWENTY-FOUR year old CIS FEMALE TWI’LEK. she's originally from RYLOTH and now shows loyalty to THE UNALIGNED. she is best known for being A JEDI PADAWAN BOUNTY HUNTER, and i hear she's pretty FEARLESS yet EMOTIONS-DRIVEN at times; i hope she survives the galactic civil war.