The Road to Maturity (open)

[SashaKovalev]

He placed the ketchup covered napkin off to the side and twisted the cap from the bottle. As the red substance oozed onto the edge of his plate, he considered De’Ville’s offer. Certainly, anything occurring on a planet close to Balmorra was of interest to not only him, but his uncle, he was sure. And perhaps for that one reason alone, he was willing to take the chance to go there and learn a bit more, first hand, about it.

Aside from that, there were other reasons. De’Ville, he knew, was someone you would be better to keep as an ally than enemy. And this favor was perhaps a way to gain her trust and maybe form a bond of sorts. It was an opportunity that had not come knocking before – and besides, Feliciana trusted the woman. Though, he couldn’t always trust her judgment – afterall – she had followed Jeseth and joined the Krath….but then, everyone made mistakes.

And beyond all of this, he was reaching a point where there would be much to be gained from teaching another. Students, he knew, sometimes made the best teachers, as they sometimes asked questions to which answers had not yet been found. They forced the teacher to keep learning themselves.

He dipped a fry into the ketchup and took a bite. And when he’d swallowed, he nodded.

“Alright. I’ll come to this planet you speak of.” He agreed. His gaze flickered to his ale and then back to the woman before him.

“But Im not promising anything.” He added, somewhat pointedly. It wasn’t that he would refuse – it was just that he wasn’t going to agree to anything without first being fully informed.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Certainly. I understand." She put her sandwich down on her plate and reached into her tunic, pulling out a datacard. "The coordinates are on this. I assure you they are quite safe, and free of grav wells or black holes, and there is indeed a planet there. Once I give you these, you will of course be able to reference the name of the planet. And that will probably give you more questions for when you arrive."

De'Ville slid the card across the tabletop, and then tossed a credit chit on the table. "For lunch. I am afraid my time is limited and I must leave you."

[SashaKovalev]

Alexander looked for a moment as the card that was slid across the tabletop to him. And then he reached for it, studying it for a moment. A credit chit being tossed onto the table drew his attention. He raised an eyebrow in silent question.

”For lunch. I am afraid my time is limited and I must leave you.”

He leaned back in his seat then, the card still in hand. He sighed softly and nodded.

She was like this, he had noticed. Evasive. Always running off to somewhere. It had been like this in all of his interactions with her. He wondered if it would ever change.

“I have a few responsibilities at the moment, but I’ll see what I can do about getting back to you in a reasonable amount of time.” He stated as he watched her pull her tunic on.

“Had you anything in mind as to when you wanted the training to begin?” He asked this as he stood with her – not to leave, but out of gentleman’s courtesy. When a lady stood, so too, did the gentleman.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She adjusted her cloak as they stood, and smiled slightly. "Within the next month, if at all possible. Giran is eager to learn."

De'Ville nodded in good-bye to Kovalev. "Fare well, Sasha, and good skies until we meet again." Then she walked to the front of the restaurant and left the tavern. Her half eaten sandwich lay on her plate in front of the credit chit that was worth more than double the price of lunch.

[SashaKovalev]

He nodded and when she’d left, he sat back down again. He didn’t reach to touch his food just yet, but rather, he grabbed his pint glass of ale and leaned back in his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face.

This had been an interesting conversation to say the least.

It had been quite some time since he had been the teacher. And perhaps, a part of him was truly missing that aspect of his life.

He had been a student again since he had left the order. A student to Wargrave. To Taylor Millard. And at the University.

He took a good slug of his ale, the bitter finish of it awakening taste buds. Or perhaps, it was just that something else within him had come alive again. A challenge of sorts. Something of interest to him.

He would speak to his uncle, certainly. But there was no doubt that his curiosity would also lead him to the coordinates on the card that he now tucked into his pockets.