"See you in the morning."

"Mmhmm." And off she goes.

Ekkreth goes to bed soon after.

Good.

Karzel wakes first the next morning and wanders out of the guest house after his morning ablutions.

Pradnakt emerges not long after and sits in the shade in front of her house, eating hash browns out of a bowl.

He walks over.

"Your art is...really something. And I think one of the sculptures needs to be reset."

"Mmhmm, I noticed that. That one's really meant to be watched, more than explored - loses something if you already know the climax, though, I bet."

"I...suppose."

"Not something you see the value of, I know." She leans back against the door. "I don't know a lot about Jedi, but I know Sith are a lot more individualistic."

"Something that looks that much like a man dying wasn't going to be a pleasant surprise either way."

"And I suppose 'trust me, he had it coming' doesn't help in the slightest." She pauses for another bite of potato. "He did, though, and I'm not going to pretend not to be proud of a success of that magnitude."

"Mm."

"-that was my master, you know. That whole trail's from when I first got here, working stuff out."

"Oh."

"Yeah. The others will be more your speed, I only needed the one."

Nod. "Even before I got to that one, the others were...well, your inspiration doesn't surprise me."

Nod. "That's part of why I want to help your friend. You wind up spending parts of yourself you shouldn't, trying to take on a project like that without enough support."

Nod. "I've been trying to prevent that."

"Yeah," she softens. "And it's a noble impulse. But there's a point where it turns into just another kind of harm, trying to stop someone from having what they need. I don't regret the choices I made, even the ones that hurt me."

"...I'm glad you don't."

"And I don't think she will either. Or she'd regret letting you stop her more, if she's the type for it. There are some things that - you need to know you're strong enough to stop them from ever happening to you again. And this is how we know."

"Ah."

That makes a certain horrible kind of sense.

"Yeah."

Potatoes.

"Is there more of that inside?"