For a moment, a single moment in time as Marienna approached him with the towel, she could have sworn he blushed. There was a hint of satisfaction that arose within her, warming her to her core to know she caught people off guard simply with her actions which most found unpredictable, though if one had spent enough time with Marienna they could come to realize, she was all too predictable, even she knew this about herself.
Marienna found herself delighted when Corwin agreed to remove his boots without issue. Prior colleagues would not necessarily comply with her request. Marienna loathed the thought of making more work for the utility droids who had to clean their offices at the end of the day. If she could be respectful enough and save them a few muddy foot prints she would go out of her way to do so. Just one more example of an occasion she preferred the company of droids to that of people. "Thank you." Marienna added sincerely after the action.
It was funny, she thought, or more precisely she thought he was funny. The way his attitude had completely changed from the downturn at the end of their last encounter. Here he stood before her again, most jovial. Marienna noted that his eyes seemed to light up with excitement when he talked about their work. It had been a long time since she recalled a logistician such as themselves beam with energy about their assignment. It was her general observation that most who worked within their department were less than enthused for what many deemed a rather mundane position. "I doubt I could make you look bad." Marienna commented in response to him. Grey eyes looking directly at him she did manage a small smile. "Black sheep. You've read my file, I'm sure." The luxury of being the superior office on missions like these, he had access to her record and all of the delightful violations she had wracked up since joining the Imperial work force.
The raging storm didn't phase Marienna in the slightest. In truth, she adored the rain, the thunder and lightning all of it. When the room shook with the claps of thunder she could feel the vibration of the room travel from the tips of her bare toes, moving ever upward through her extremities. It reminded her of home. Her real home, the infamously destroyed planet of Alderaan. It brought her back to a happy childhood, a childhood before her life changed forever and forced her to grow up far too quickly. Marienna took no satisfaction in Corwin admitting that she was correct, at least not in the most expected sense. Marienna was confident in her intelligence and ability, rightly so. What surprised her was that he so willingly and without shame admitted this fact with a simple acknowledgment. How refreshing.
Marienna stood from her work station and made her way toward his, clearing a spot she delicately hoisted herself to sit on the desk, legs crossed and staring off into space. Rainfall on this planet is slightly above rates for planets of this classification. The rain water contributes much in the way of success for the barq farms. They say there's something in the water that imparts that signature taste we all know and love." The last part of her statement was spoken in true sarcasm in the most dead pan manner she could muster. "You can learn too, you know." Marienna noted almost off handedly, taking a brief moment for pause. "To feel the storm before it arrives. Just takes a bit of patience, and a keen sense of observation." These things were true. A flaw, Marienna found in most people was their unwillingness to stand still and listen. To be one with their environment. You can tell so much about a world and its behaviors simply by stopping to pay attention.
She noted that his smile faded as she discussed the data, he seemed to take it somewhat heavily in a sense that puzzled her, yet he was not so terribly down. Could he really feel such sympathy for the Empire? She snapped herself out of that train of thought and back into reality. "KV and I have a working theory on it." The droid whirred happily, as if to say that he agreed with her statement. "Idiots. Our theory is idiots." Marienna's tone was not mocking, nor was it sarcastic, it was delightfully matter of fact. Her face as always gave nothing away. She stood from the desk and quickly collected a data pad. "Two major possibilities exist... mmm... maybe three. She was now theorizing out loud, hoping her superior would entertain her. "Possibility the first. Faulty equipment as you suggest. Things happen and calibrations can go awry, in which case no one noticed. Thus we conclude, idiots. Possibility the second, human error. Misreading, mis-recording... also happens which leads us to conclude that idiots are responsible. The last scenario is quite possibly my favorite. I do hope you are ready for this one."
Marienna was pacing across a very small stretch now, back and forth as she outlined her theories. Her eyes shifted between the ground she was walking and to Corwin, ever watching for changes in his expression or his mannerisms. "Straight forward theft. That's the last major possibility. Unless of course KV has been hiding information." KV beeped in protest, and Marienna actually laughed, it was brief, but she showed genuine emotion. "Right, right, sorry KV. He doesn't like it when you question his intentions, surely you've noticed? Ah, yes. Anyway, if someone is stealing they aren't exactly being subtle about it. If you had the opportunity to skim, let's say. And yes, I know you wouldn't. What would you do after? You would replace the weight of the product you'd taken with something else so all the records match. It's a bit careless to take and pray that no one notices, don't you think? So here again, idiots." Marienna continued quite happily thinking quite loudly for Corwin. "Granted, there are a few explanations... the transition from Republic rule to Imperial rule was not smooth, nor was anyone actually checking, so it's possible that such stupidity wasn't noticed because no one bothered to checked... or again, just idiocy. So to answer your question, we start at the end. A man called Kuna Syko. He oversees the loading of the transports and logs the weights and measures."
The young woman came to a stop and turned on a heel to look at Corwin, her face having returned to a vacant expression. "But if I may, sir... for a moment. Earlier, when I asked about leaving Coruscant... you seemed to respond poorly to my inquiry. I wanted to apologize if I offended you, that was not my intention. And please, when it's just us... you can call me Marienna, or Mari... we're the closest thing to friends we've got here." She wondered if she shouldn't have said anything, but there it was, out in the open.
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