| abstract
| - Early afternoon holds court above the park, the pale pinkish light shining down onto the winding trees and footpaths. Tucked away into one far corner of the complex is a secluded ring of benches, which afford a view of exotic jungle flowers and trees. Through the thick treeline, glimmers of a winding river are visible, the ambient noise of the park far-removed from any who would wander through the clearing. A footpath swings by in a loose, graceful curve, winding away toward a more open region of the gardens, though for a fair distance it is lined by trees. Brek Halsmer occupies one of the benches, his usual military posture giving way to a more relaxed demeanor. His hands are folded behind his head, folded feet extended before him. He scans the sky, occasionally lifting a hand to frame the clouds above, preoccupying himself with finding shapes in the puffy, heavenly bodies. Strolling down the grove path is Myiari, her nose practically buried in a holobook as she indulges in the habit of walking and reading. Still clad in a dark medic's uniform, it's apparent that she's just come from work. She doesn't seem to be watching where she's going either, occasionally straying off the path and into the grass. Her focus on her book is only removed when she walks straight into a bench nearby Brek, the back of it ploughing into her stomach, winding her and nearly sending her tumbling over the edge of it. With the Senate in brief recess, Tokoga's taking the opportunity to do a little relaxing. For the Mon Calamari, that consists of a quiet, (hopefully) uninterrupted day in the park with a few mystery novels and a pack of his signature thinly rolled botanical cigarras. Shane was back on New Alderan after a three day sorti in near by deep space for a training mission and was eager to take the free time he had to relax in the park. During his time meandering through, He happened apone Myiari and Brek. "Funny running into you all again. How are you two fairing?" he would ask in a chearfull voice. "Gotta be careful there, miss.", a voice can suddenly be heard saying, as a matter of fact it is that same voice that just moments past was guffawing loudly at the medic's troubles. Of course, there was that inquiring glance as the fellow tried to figure out if serious injury was caused. Rainier had appeared almost out of nowhere, but knowing how out of place he looked in the Organa Park, a place more for the higher-up in the city and those who worked in the nearby government centre, there might have been a good reason for his presence. Brek, who had risen from his bench at seeing the book-absorbed medic's direct course for the bench, was unfortunately not quick enough to stop her from barreling into it. However, he makes his swift way over, reaching out to grab her and prevent her from falling and coming to further harm. "Myiari!" he comments in surprise, only then recognizing her. A self-conscious air to his movement, he releases her and steps away, brushing his palms across his tunic. "Hey, are you all right?" He turns at hearing Shane, forcing a dim smile onto his features. "Hello - yes. Funny. I'm fine, thank you." His eyes dart aside to Rainier as well, and recognition sets in, accompanied by a suspicious expression. A nod is all he spares, before he offers Myiari another concerned glance. After a few seconds of struggling, Myiari manages to right herself, straightening her hair and her clothes, leaving her looking no worse for wear. In response to the questions, she grimaces and rubs lightly at her midsection, bending over to retrieve her fallen book. "I'm alright, I think," she replies, offering a smile of reassurance. "It's just a bench. A very HARD bench. Ow... Remind me to not do that again." The nearby commotion is enough to draw Tokoga's attention away from the stormy night and gruesome murder scene depicted in the text. Pocketing the book, the Senator stands up and walks the short distance to the bench where the others are congregating. "Afternoon, Myiari, gentlemen," he nods in the way of greeting, focusing on the medic. "Enjoying the weather, or are you too busy dodging furniture?" Shane greats Rainier and Takoga in turn as they make them-selves known. "It seams fate or providance keeps brining us all together." he says with a light chuckle before turning to Miyari, "I hope you did not hurt your-self too badly. That would be quite embarassing for a medic." Gradually, Rainier's mirth fades although it is simply a consequence of the situation that caused it dissipating rather than his mood souring. "I would think that most people would know not to do that, we learn it early enough in our childhoods after bumping into tables and things of the sort." Of course, his attention is drawn quickly to the second of the alien to approach, Shane having been given a nod just moments before he notices Tokoga, and a similar gesture presented to the Senator. "Just the man I wanted to see." Brek glances around at the impromptu gathering, the suspicion still clear and evident on his chiseled features. At length he drives his hands into his pockets, nods to the Senator, and glances upward at the sky. "This is a nice park," he comments, as though pointedly ignoring Rainier's remark. He expounds on the thesis, continuing: "I'm not terribly used to worlds with much in the way of foliage, let alone anything this expansive. It's a new experience for me. I'm actually sort of envious that the rest of you get to live on the same world as this beautiful place." At Rainier's comment, Myiari shoots him a glare, seeming to fight the urge to hurl the book she's holding straight at his head. However, she refrains from doing so, instead tilting her head towards Tokoga. "Enjoying the weather and a good holonovel, but those benches can be brutal," she replies, a hint of wryness in her tone. When Brek speaks, she nods. "I can understand that too. The city I lived in back on Commenor had parks, but never this big or this pretty." "Oh?" Tokoga grins, liking the way Rainier said that--maybe he had uncovered something that they could use. "And why might that be?" "I am used to places like this, so I cant really say I understand. Though honestly, I would prefer the cockpit of my b-wing and the vacume of space. Those two things hold greater apeal to me then parks like this." he says with a friendly smile. Looking to Rainier he adds, "THe more I hear your voice, the more I fell like I've heared it before. Sooner or later I will figure this out." "I find that desert worlds are as pretty as lush, forrested ones and that freighters have things going for them. Starting with being able to pack up and leave at the first sign of trouble.", Rainier replies before turning to Myiari first, his gaze eventually settling on Brek. "So, what brought you to this world, a tourist as well or thinking of settling here?" And as for Shane's comment, a shrug is given, "What can I say, I've one of those voices, but if you recognize me, let me know. It'll be proof t hat the galaxy isn't that big." "I'm on shore leave," answers Brek, meeting Rainier's eye with a slight, almost imperceptible flinch. "The ship I'm with gave me a month off." He hesitates before adding, his head tilted to one side, "Mercenary vessel." But his eyes lower again, scanning the garden, his demeanor less guarded and more contemplative as he comments more freely: "I would like to settle here, though. This is a good world, better than most I've been on. You may like the barren desert worlds, but I find them inhospitable and menacing. Mostly, I've traveled for a very long time and I've never felt tied to any one place or thing. I'm used to spacecrafts, but they've never felt particularly homey." He raises his wrist in order to check the time, registering the early afternoon hour with a surprised quirk of his eyebrows. "It'd be nice to change feeling like that," he comments more quietly. "Maybe when I retire." Myiari chuckles softly and settles onto the bench she had originally collided into. "You sound almost like you're homesick," she notes, a slight teasing lilt to her voice. "Or like you've forgotten what it feels like to walk around in a place without artificial gravity or durasteel walls wherever you go." She lets out her breath in a huff and leans back against the bench, allowing her elbows to dangle over the back of it. "Sometimes I wonder how you spacers handle it without going insane. Just being on a shuttle for a few hours frays my nerves." Shane quirks an eyebrow at Brek when he mentions being a Merc, but otherwise does not react. He knew well enough that not all Mercs were bad, and so far this one seamed to be a halfway decent person. Rainier on the other hand gave him pause, though he did not know why. "Retirement is something we can all look forward to I think." Shane offers up with a smile, "When I retire, I plan to buy my own ship and travel from one world to the next." A satisfied look comes to his face as he thinks about doing just that. "There's not much to it really, it's not like holonet signals don't reach most of the big routes today so you're conneted to the outside world. And on the more remote ones, well if you're there, than it's because you want the money it gives and that's comfort enough. Plus, spend enough time on it and being planet-side feels weird.", Rainier says, a shrug added afterwards to add a certain air of 'to each their own' to the whole reply. "I've dealt with mercenaries before, some you like, some you don't, but as a group a whole heap better than bounty hunters. And that sounds like a good idea soldier, but I don't think that I'd ever retire." "Well, there'll come a time when I won't be able to do my job very well," Brek replies, glancing down at himself with a helpless shrug. "Old age creeps up on you, and you stop being quite as good at bouncing back from blaster wounds and fistfights. Give it a decade or two more and it'll come down to quitting or digging myself a grave." He grins slightly at Rainier, before adding, "You're in the information trade, right?" His curiosity has gotten the best of him, wry amusement fading slowly into a more neutral expression of inquiry. "You probably don't run into that sort of problem so often." "To be honest, mercenaries and bounty hunters aren't all that bad," Myiari adds with a frown, folding her arms. "They're better than Sith, anyway. You run into a mercenary or a bounty hunter, you can run, hide, or try to kill them, and it'd be possible despite their skill. You run into a Sith, escaping is difficult, and killing one is next to impossible unless you're REALLY good or a Force-user yourself. Consider yourself lucky to escape an encounter with one alive." The world of mercenaries and bounty hunters isn't exactly one that's familiar to the Mon Calamari--though the Senator himself is of a more progressive mindset, such individuals are generally regarded as riffraff on whom the noble task of starship command was wasted. "In my experience, they're generally alright people," Tokoga says, Lanze coming to mind. "Who's paying them is what you should be worrying about." Shane nods at the different comments and view points. "So is everyone just here to relax? It seams fortuitous that we all chose the same place at the same time. Some might even say it was the will of the force, if you belive in such things." he says with a smile. "Not at all, I was on m way to see the Senator, not that I'm sure they'd just let me walk in into the complex.", and if they did, just what kind of security would let armed, rough-looking people in just like that. Rainier's gaze turns to Tokoga, and he begins to speak in a lowered voice, certainly all those gathered around can hear, but beyond that his words don't carry. "Did we ever decide on a price for information about that crime group? I have some that might be interesting." Brek, nodding shortly to Rainier, turns away and refocuses his attention on Myiari, his hands swinging idly at his sides as he permits himself a smile. "You must have just gotten off work," he observes, with a gesture toward her uniform. His eyes dip downward to take it in completely, before rising, his hand falling at the same time. "Actually, I was kind of wondering if you'd pass by here. You mentioned the park and reading, and I thought to myself, 'where would a reader like to sit?' I suppose I was lucky." He reaches out, brushing his fingers over the edge of the holonovel. "What have you got there?" "Ah, so you remembered. So you're trying to figure out all of my haunts, are you?" Myiari comments, a small smirk on her lips. She raises the book and waves it around in the air casually, putting it on display. "This little gem's an old historical fiction set in the Old Republic. It follows the story about a soldier during one of the Republic's bigger wars. I only just started reading it." "That depends," Tokoga answers, taking a draw off the cigarra held in his hands. "Just how interesting do you think it might be? Jaw-dropping interesting, caffe cup falling on the floor and breaking interesting, or just 'meh'?" Shane looks on at Rainier with great interest and idley wunders, "Just how did you come by this iformation?" His military training getting the beter of him for a moment. "I got my information the way I find out most things, you go to the right places, sit beside the right people and ask the right questions.", Rainier replies, which is his way of replying without actually offering anything. "Turns out that the people who are running this group are in need of flyers, something about their old crews having gone off. And with my experience...well, I can tell you when to see one of their bosses in action taking a shipment of smuggling. Would that interest you?" Brek, at least, seems interested, his eyes darting momentarily aside to Rainier before returning to Myiari. He glances down at the book again, smiles, and nods. "Sounds like a good book," he remarks approvingly. "Speaking of which, there was a bookstore I was looking up, and it closes soon, so I think I'm going to go find some reading of my own before that happens. It's been good seeing you, Myi." He nods, first to her, and then to the rest of the gathering, politely and silently excusing himself as he wanders away down the footpath. "I'll call you," he adds, with a last smile. Myiari waves goodbye to Brek as he darts off, a faint, almost imperceptible blush rushing into her cheeks at his last words. She casts an awkward glance to the others, but pointedly avoids their gazes, dipping her head even lower to hide the color in her face with her hair. "Ehm...Anyway. You'd better be careful of what you're getting involved with, Senator," she says after regaining her composure. "Can't have you faking your own death again and landing another prosecutor in the intensive care unit."
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