The Marshal and the Acolyte

The Players: Delphine, Lincoln

Marshal's Office -- Tier City: Valentine's World

The Marshal's office in Tier is located not terribly far from the commercial district, but far from being a centerpiece of the area. It is tucked among a few warehouses that are used for market storage and is rather non-descript, the only way to really identify it as any sort of official building is by asking the locals. The thick durasteel doors separate the interior and exterior, within which can be found what one might expect on a Rim planet. A pair of cells with appropriate restraints and security fields, a desk that is linked to a console for accessing news and report filing and a rather comfortable chair that looks like it may have seen better days. The ceilings are low due to a reinforcement layer found there and the walls are thick to the exterior turning the area into a pseudo bunker. A security door leads further into the offices, into an area that serves as the living space for the Marshal.

In the living area, a simple layout exists with three rooms none of which are large. The first leads into a living area where a sofa and chair exist for comfort sitting along with a vid screen. Cooking apparatus and storage is located in the corner. The next room is the sleeping area where a rather large bed and dressers that need straightening exist and the third serving as the personal area.

Obvious exits:

<O>ut leads to Ward Bazaar -- Tier City: Valentine's World.

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The Acolyte is not meditating. The Acolyte is not practicing with her dual shock batons. The Acolyte is actually washing dishes. It's the least she can do for all of Lincoln's hospitality. She carefully washes and rinses each dish and then dries it with a clean towel. Finally, they're all done and she dries her hand then looks proudly at her handiwork. Since Sarna had gone to visit her Uncle Haytec, Delphine peers around looking for something to do. She wanders over to the comp station and starts trying to find some holonews.

Lincoln finally returns home to the Office after the day of tasks and other odds and ends that usually fill him up. He has that tendency, to go out the entire day taking care of people and things before coming back. Fortunately this time he is returning with food. Not Nerf Kebobs but rather a prepared meal that is filling his arms until he is able to set it down upon the table. "Lady Aurelia," he greets politely upon spotting the woman at the station.

"Marshal! Oooo...something smells better than nerf kabobs," she says of their running joke about the street meet. She stands and moves closer to see if Lincoln needs any help. She hesitates briefly, and after lowers the lids on her seaglass eyes for a moment and smiling up at him. "I'm glad you're here now, actually. I've been wanting to talk to you, alone," the vivacious blonde says with a slightly somber tone. "First...are you really okay with Sarna and I still being here? Or are you just too nice to tell us to get out?"

"One of the older ladies from our circle heard that there were guests from my mother, so they have collaberated to provide food. Home cooked is usually the best afterall," Lincoln explains in regards to the food, going to set his hat upon the hook he keeps it along with his blaster holster and the like. These various habits that signify the end of the work day. "Honestly? I'm very glad the two of you are here. I can deal with the rumors quite easily. It also means that those of the circle I was just mentioning aren't mentioning their cousins and the like."

"How very sweet of them!" But Delphine chuckles a little regarding the circle women and their matchmaking penchant. "And it does smell delicious. But...about that last bit you mentioned..." She levels her gaze at the Marshal despite his being acceptably taller than herself. "I want to ask you a favor. She steps in one step with her best concerned expression for him. "Be careful with Sarna...please?"

Lincoln's eyebrow lifts ever so slightly at Delphine's words, not the part of the beginning nor the middle, but of course the statement and question at the end. He looks at her levelly and manages a small smile accompanying an awkward chuckle, "I'm not entirely sure what you mean..." the words ring a bit hollow even in his own ears as he looks back at the Novice, "If you are concerned because of the tonality of many of my people, don't be. There's a reason I'm a bit of a black sheep I suppose."

Delphine has probably practiced her little speeches on this subject matter as she goes on without having really heard Lincoln at first. "She's very impressionable and has led a very sheltered life. By her age, I'd been taking contracts from Harcourt to High Centre. Along the way I've had my heart broken a few times, of course. But I suspect she's fallen very hard for you. And who wouldn't?" she asks rhetorically. "I mean, you're handsome, charming, and brave...I could go on," she says with a smile and then she seems to register something that Lincoln's said. "Oh? What is that reason, exactly?" She lifts her chin sightly in emphasis. "Help me understand you a bit better, Lincoln Abrams."

Lincoln shakes his head some and goes to sit in his armchair, settling in a bit and pondering. "Don't know to be honest. Folks around here live their lives and don't really look much beyond this place. I don't like the term simple because that can be demeaning but content perhaps?" He sighs softly, "My father isn't from here you see, he's a spacer. So I'd hear stories of beyond and what not and the reality is I don't know if I was ever meant to just settle down here. Probably why I do this," he motions with his hand, "Let's me live a bit of adventure but without having to leave home y'know?" That's when he takes a deep breath, "Which brings us to the topic of Sarna. You know you mention about being her age and being out on Harcourt and High Centre with contracts. Did you do those things alone or with a guide, mentor sort?"

Delphine raises her brows a bit hautily. "At first...of course," she replies. "But Sarna never went through what you and I did growing up around other people our age...but what does your lack of wandering have to do with you, whether you realize it or not..." She struggles for the right word before landing on, "Seducing...uh...Sarna." She might be blushing slightly or the room suddenly got warmer. She shifts her weight and brushes some golden hair behind her ear. "Because you're very...seducing. Just by being you." She gestures about his face. "Especially this situation here..."

Lincoln lifts an eyebrow as he looks at Delphine and manages a soft chuckle, "Sorry? The truth is I'm actually considered a bit of an abnormality about here because I'm not very forward." He clears his throat and then leans his elbows on his knees to try to look focused and less casual. "The reason I bring it up is because Sarna is not that incredibly different from us in age, in demeanor or really ... well much of anything. So she grew up on a ship. I grew up on this planet. You grew up with the Enclave. While those experiences give us a foundation it certainly does not define the people we will be." He takes a breath, "Did it occur to you that she is seducing me?"

Delphine paces a couple of steps away and back again. "Yes!" The acolyte huffs out a breath that blows a yellow lock across her forehead. "That's exactly what I'm worried about!" Then Delphine stops in her tracks and looks pointedly at Lincoln. "What are you trying to tell me, Lincoln?" There is trepidation in her next question. "Do you have...feelings for her?"

"Of course," Lincoln says towards Delphine. "But what you mean I think is do I have romantic feelings for her. And in that sense, yes." He lifts his shoulders in a small shrug. "Do you know what it is like to feel a mystery in front of you that you can't unravel? That is what it is like for me at present. I will tell you, if it is not reciprocated, that is something I can live with as well. I truly enjoy the company you all bring about..." he pauses and laughs softly, awkwardly. "Even if it does get me shot at more than I like. But I don't think y'all stumbled onto Valentine's, into Tier by mere chance. Do you?"

"Of course not!" Delphine says, not finding the humor in this just yet and perhaps finding some unwanted feelings within herself as well. "It was the Force that brought us together, here in Tier," she answers with the certainty of one who deals in 'miracles' daily. She frowns unhappily and folds her arms across her black and white tunics. "Or did you have another thing in mind?"

"If you are concerned for Sarna, which I know you are, why would you not want her to walk this life with people who want her to be safe but yet also grow?" Lincoln asks softly towards Delphine. "All of us grow, and while we have people that look to protect us, if we're put upon a pedestal and never disturbed then we are witnessing life, not engaging within it."

"I'm not trying to squirrel her away somewhere. Where she goes is her choice, though my Proctors would really like to meet her..." Delphine patters to herself more than anyone. Self-doubt is creeping in for the Acolyte. This had not gone as planned in any sense. "You're right. I can be concerned, but not stand in her way. But...I needed to know. That's all." With a deepening frown, Delphine turns from Lincoln, blinking her eyes and looking up at the plastcreet ceiling. "Now I know."

It takes him a moment, but then Lincoln blinks and takes a deep breath, "I'm sorry..." he says softly. "I mean, I knew. Know. This is not past tense. I know. And the truth is Delphine," he calls her by her first name, not Lady Aurelia. "I'm in an uncertainty myself. What I do understand is that something within me tells me I need to be close to her. Like you said, I do not wish to see her hurt. I also do not wish to hurt you. If I had an understanding, or an answer, I could give you..." He sighs softly and looks steadily at Delphine, "Is that what you were wanting to know? Not where I stood with Sarna, but rather where I stood with you?"

Delphine with her back still towards him, dabs below her eye with one knuckle. She wants to lie, badly. But her plentiful pride crumbles around her. "I...I can't lie. I mean..." Her shoulders shrug softly and she sniffs as she turns around, her deep blue eyes shining with moisture contained. "I thought maybe." Her brows furrow despite feeling a weight lifting from her. "So it goes in sabbac as they say..." She starts to back up and points a thumb out the door. "I think I'm going to...take a walk. If...if we're done here?"

He starts to speak, but then Lincoln bites his tongue and nods, "Of course. I'm... sorry." He offers before managing to put on that warmer tone he has, "I'll have dinner ready for you though when you get back."