An Experiment

[never_forgets]

OOC: Because apparently dramatic irony is a thing I enjoy inflicting on this character, this thread involves the pre-canon Lieutenant Illyan, from a point in the middle of the trip that will change his life.

Lieutenant Simon Illyan of the Barrayaran Imperial Security service, being between wormhole jumps on the way to Illyrica, is taking a break. Since he's never been to this space station before, he doesn't notice the discontinuity between the outside of the door to the bar, and the inside of the bar he walks into.

He's traveling on official business but with orders to keep the trip quiet, which means not only that his ImpSec Horus eyes are packed securely in his luggage with the rest of his credentials, but also that his dress and posture are almost actively unmemorable. To an outside observer, he's a brown-haired young man (probably in his mid-20s) in plain civilian clothes, who might just be off work or might be on vacation. (To a trained observer, he probably looks like someone with military training trying to act like a civilian and mostly succeeding.)

He takes a seat at the bar and attempts to suppress the visible part of his surprise when the drink he was thinking about appears in front of him.

OOC: I won't be able to respond right away, but am open to multiple threads on this post, assuming this location and asynchronous communication works for others.

Comments

[childofrebellion]

"That's how it feels sometimes. I've yet to hear a good explanation for its existence so I focus on enjoying caf in a fairly peaceful setting. I'm not sure," Cassian taps his datapad and then pulls up a map of his galaxy, he's found its useful to show the scale of where he's from and with this man, it might be useful to find similarities. Lines cut across with hyperspace routes along with small symbols of his own while there's a spreading dark of the Empire's reach.

His voice is light as he answers, "Oh no, a little trouble when I was visiting a friend, nothing to do with flying."

[never_forgets]

Simon dismisses further discussion of the nature of the bar they're sitting in with a sideways sort of nod and a quirk of his lips - a "fair enough" expression.

He leans in to study the galaxy map, mouth moving in the shapes of some of the unfamiliar planet names. "These lines" - he points to one of the hyperspace routes - "look somewhat like the way we map wormhole connections, but the rest of this doesn't look like any collection of stars and planets I've ever seen."

"Did your friend make it out of your trouble without injury?"

[childofrebellion]

"I could see that being similar. Yes, they weren't hurt and I've had worse,"

Of the people in that apartment, it was best he was hurt instead of anyone else, because he could get out.

[never_forgets]

Simon conceals a deeper study of Cassian's expression in a continued focus on the galaxy map, trying to judge the best point for his next question.

Unable to think of a clever subtlety (or maybe just too tired to expend further effort, he's not sure which), he settles for the direct. "If you don't mind my asking, is it a hobby or something else you do that results in severe injuries?"

[childofrebellion]

Cassian's not lying or concealing anything obvious but he does take a moment to answer. This is a question that he hasn't come across before, injuries are always a risk in the Empire, but as a Rebel operative he faces more of them,

"The galaxy's a dangerous place and I spend a lot of time in the less savory parts of it."

[never_forgets]

"Does this bar count as one of those 'less savory parts,' or is it a welcome respite? Or a mixture of the two, perhaps?"

The place doesn't feel threatening, but Simon knows it's not wise to completely accept surface feelings, especially in unfamiliar surroundings.

[childofrebellion]

"A rest of sorts as its not completely safe, nowhere is,"

Even bases have their dangers but they're different ones than those that happen when he's working.