Chilly Boulder- Monday afternoon

[notconflicted]

Sia had had things to attend to today (some of which totally had nothing to do with covering up a botched and unnecessary rescue mission, really), and then it was back to Fandom for the second time in less than a month. If she was being honest with herself, she was grateful for the chance to get away for a little bit.

Well, except that the first thing she was doing in town was going to be talking about what had happened, at least to some degree, with a person she'd mostly avoided as a student because he'd once threatened to do exactly what he and his crew had wanted to do now. In related news, timelines were awful and she didn't like dealing with them.

To make matters worse, Cade wanted to meet here. Because Cade thought he was funny. So Sia was just going to eat her ice cream as princessily as possible until he showed up.

[For one, but open!]

Comments

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade sauntered through the doors about a half hour past when he was supposed to be there, just because he could.

"Sia," he said with a little nod.

[notconflicted]

Of course he did.

"Cade," she said. "Thanks for seeing me." Eventually.

[shutupandkillsomething]

He tossed a wink at the girl behind the counter and got her to make him a sundae.

"What's on your mind that you couldn't leave in a message?" he asked.

Because he'd noticed that.

[notconflicted]

"By chance, have you run into me in your time yet?" she asked. In case that gave him a clue.

[shutupandkillsomething]

"You mean other than here?" Cade asked. "Nah."

[notconflicted]

"Then congratulations on being last in the timeline, because I've met my you," Sia said.

[shutupandkillsomething]

"If you called me here to yell about...other me, I can't help you," Cade declared, kicking his boots up onto an empty chair like the class act he was.

[notconflicted]

"I didn't. In fact, I should thank you," she said vaguely. Her Cade had also cleared out in the middle of the night so she'd never been able to talk to him. "But I have questions."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"Is it 'should Cade be compensated monetarily' the answer is definitely yes, and I'll take it in untraceable credits," Cade answered flippantly. "Though being helpful isn't usually my style. You sure it was me?"

[notconflicted]

"I suppose there could be another Cade Skywalker who used to be with the Jedi, but somehow I doubt it," Sia said evenly.

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade's eyes went wide for a second. "I'm no Jedi."

Liar.

[notconflicted]

Sia rolled her eyes. "Does 'formerly affiliated with the Jedi' work for you?"

[shutupandkillsomething]

"Did your Cade say he was a Jedi?" Cade stalled.

[notconflicted]

"Yes. And I've seen firsthand what he- and you- can do," Sia said. "Look, I've had a terrible few days, and I don't feel like hedging over something I already know. I'm not going to tell anyone."

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade blew out a long breath. "Fine," he muttered. "What do you need to know, Princess?"

[notconflicted]

"Do the Sith know about you? That you exist, or what you can do?" Her Cade had seemed freaked out enough by them that she wanted a good picture of why.

[shutupandkillsomething]

Cade shook his head. "I've worked really karking hard to make sure they don't."

They did.

[notconflicted]

"Is there anyone who does? Jedi...?"

She didn't think so, and his crew didn't, but she wasn't about to get into the middle of that. Also, she had a former Jedi back home she was going to have to talk to...

[shutupandkillsomething]

Wolf, maybe, but Cade didn't know if he was still alive and he certainly hadn't gone looking for him.

"I don't think so," he said, "and I'm not exactly the glass-half-full guy. After Ossus...I haven't gone anywhere near the Jedi, not even for the bounties."

[notconflicted]

"I'm sorry you went through that," she said, sincerely. She spent a lot of her time cleaning up her father's messes and explaining things that had happened, but Ossus was by far the hardest.

[shutupandkillsomething]

"I'm not talking about Ossus," Cade said, digging angrily into his ice cream. "Ever."

[notconflicted]

"I'm not asking you to," she assured him. When you died for a guy having a PTSD moment, you didn't really want to make him relive it over ice cream "It makes me understand some things better, though."

[shutupandkillsomething]

"Yeah?" Cade said, still stabbing his sundae. "Like what?"

[notconflicted]

"You in general," she admitted. You kind of had a damaged Thing, Cade. "Your reaction when Atton was arrested."

That had mystified her for years.

[shutupandkillsomething]

"Oh. That," Cade said. "Yeah."

Very helpful, Cade. Truly.