Private Nasiri Demsin nearly swayed when Grand Admiral Thrawn had approached her, telling her she was to accompany him planetside. Whenever he'd given her an order, she had already been present, and it was usually to tell her to go away. This was to inform her that he was meeting Lady Luxsolaria Viita-Tristane at the TIE Defender factory and she may need an aide while she was present. Nasiri usually filled that position, so she was to go with him and the stormtroopers who attended him. Once she'd turned around to leave after being dismissed, she'd smiled from ear to ear. She was officially Lady Luxsolaria's aide when she was on the Chimaera!
Currently, she waited behind him as the lambda that carried Lady Luxsolaria landed. The door lowered, and through the steam floated the little form of the lady, as if carried by the mist from the shuttle to the pad and across the space between to embrace the Grand Admiral in greeting. He bent down to allow her access to his cheek to kiss as he wrapped his arms around her, returning her hug gingerly before letting her go at the same moment that her lips left his skin. He slipped one of his hands into his pocket, where it lingered a moment, before he drew it out and clasped them both behind his back again.
Lady Luxsolaria slid her arm around her, looking up at him with a beaming smile on her face. His smile was small and rare, but Nasiri noticed he had it much more often when Luxsolaria was around, as if she amused him somehow. The two of them began to talk in a language that Nasiri did not understand.
Nasiri had mentioned to the Grand Admiral once, after one of his teas with the lady, how impressive it was that he spoke so many languages.
The Grand Admiral had looked at her surprised and said, "I speak only a handful, Lady Luxsolaria speaks a plethora of them." He had a note of admiration in his voice when he'd said it, before turning around dismissively.
Nasiri didn't know how many his handful was or how many her plethora was, but she only spoke Basic, herself. Speaking any other language was quite an accomplishment to her. It also meant she had no idea what they were talking about.
The talk among the Chimaera, and among the lower level paparazzi that followed the Grand Admiral, was that the two of them were having an affair. Nasiri followed the paparazzi about Lady Luxsolaria religiously, if she was to be her aide, she had to know what the media was saying about her. She saw clips of her with her two children, a boy and girl, both of whom were almost full grown. She saw her out with her friends at art galleries, plays, operas. She saw her at court with her brother. She never saw her with her husband. If one went by the media alone, she didn't have a husband, he never went out anywhere, it seemed.
She also saw all the clips of her out with the Grand Admiral. She saw one of them at the opera in a set of box seats. The clip zoomed in on their hands, clasped together momentarily, their fingers laced, before they let each other go to reach for their drinks. Another was of them saying goodbye, where her lips lingered on his cheek for a long time, his hands rested on her hips, only to snake away from her when she pulled away and got into her droid chauffeured airspeeder. One was of them speaking together in a garden on Coruscant, their faces close together, as if they did not want those around them hearing what they were saying. Their body language told of a couple used to invading each other's space, but they never touched each other in that particular clip.
She could see people thought they were having an affair, but she really didn't think they were. Not because she couldn't rebuke any of the reasons that others would give her. But because they didn't have the time.
Just as often as not, when they had tea together, they had someone else with them. When they did not, she stood at the closed door, waiting for them to be finished, and could hear them speaking, sometimes in Basic, sometimes in another language. If they were talking, and sometimes they were talking quite vigorously, they couldn't very well be, well, affairing, could they?
Then the door would be open, and Nasiri would be accompanying Lady Luxsolaria back to her shuttle to be taken to the Crimson Asp, like a precious artifact shuttled from one star destroyer to the other.
She continued to follow them, along with the Grand Admiral's stormtrooper contingent around the factory. He seemed intent on showing the lady every nook and cranny. Nasiri couldn't imagine why. Who in the world wanted to see an entire factory? And why would he want to show it to her in the first place? While Nasiri might ponder such questions, they weren't hers to ask. She was just there in the rare case that Lady Luxsolaria turned around and asked her for something.
She noticed the Grand Admiral reach into his pocket more than once, only to draw his hand out again and place it once more behind his back.
Lady Luxsolaria switched to Basic. "And the entire process is done here on site?"
"The entire assembly process," Grand Admiral Thrawn corrected. "Only the minor manufacturing is done onsite. Major parts are outsourced."
"How exciting!" Lady Luxsolaria said. She sounded like she meant it.
They continued to walk along, and the Grand Admiral stopped walking and finally pulled something out of his pocket. "I have a gift for you," he said smoothly, holding up the item that seemed to be weighing down his tunic all this time.
"You don't need to get me anything," she said.
"I never repaid the gift of the lace mat you gave me," he said.
"That was a reward, not a gift," she countered.
The Grand Admiral held up a necklace of purple stones that twinkled the factory lights.
Nasiri held in her gasp.
Lady Luxsolaria did not.
"It was not a reward," the Grand Admiral said. "The reward was the statue of the ship."
"No one defeats me at Snooks," she said. "And you did."
"I did not," he countered. "You threw the game."
There was a long moment of silence. "How else was I to become your friend if I didn't throw the game?" she said quietly, blushing. The swirls on the side of her face began to show.
"This is for the lace you made for me," he replied, just as quietly, leaning forward. "A very precious gift."
Nasiri knew that Astaraxxi princess lace was the best in the galaxy. What she hadn't known, until recently, was that it was also made by the actual royal family of Astarrax, which was still a genetic line and not voted in. It was exorbitantly priced, only the richest families in the Galaxy had pieces on their clothes. Usually it was reserved for wedding dresses or groomsman robes. With Lady Luxsolaria being a member of the royal family, it meant that every piece she made was worth a small fortune. And she had lace on every item of clothing Nasiri had ever seen her wear. The outfit she was currently in was probably worth more than everything Nasiri owned. And she'd given the Grand Admiral a mat she'd made. That, alone, was worth a small fortune.
But then, so was that necklace, probably.
Lady Luxsolaria gave a small nod, and then raised her head so he could put the necklace on her.
"Southern Lothal is known for its mining," the Grand Admiral said. "These stones are from one of the mines there."
"I can have a piece of Lothal wherever I go," Lady Luxsolaria said, "to remind me of you." The stones glittered on her neck as she preened once he clasped them on.
Grand Admiral Thrawn did not answer her, but Nasiri suspected that a reminder of him was his intention. It was probably best that they weren't alone very often. It was gestures like this that fueled the rumors of an affair. And she had very little evidence to refute it when the argument came up.
They continued to walk, and eventually came up to the speeder section of the factory.
"I have a problem," the Grand Admiral said.
"Oh?" Luxsolaria raised her eyebrows and regarded him.
"I have a saboteur, or rather a party of saboteurs, in this part of the factory," he elaborated.
"What are they sabotaging?"
"When the speeders reach a certain speed, they explode," he explained.
"Killing the driver," Lady Luxsolaria's voice was dark.
"Exactly."
"Do you want me to talk with the workers?" she asked.
Nasiri had heard of her talking with the servants at Ryloth to root out dissidents. She repressed a shiver at the thought at how Lady Luxsolaria had managed to figure out who the dissidents were. That she was possibly Force sensitive was unnerving. Nasiri liked Lady Luxsolaria and wanted to continue to like her. Liking someone who was Force sensitive seemed dangerous.
"There is no need," Grand Admiral Thrawn said. "However, I would like to know how you suggest handling them."
It took her no time to answer. "Make each worker test their speeders personally," she said with emphasis. "Up to full speed. They can die the way they make our men and women die."
Nasiri did not repress the shiver at the satisfied smile she saw on the Grand Admiral's face.
"I will keep that in mind," he said, "when I decide to handle the situation."