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Riyo was pretty sure that Commander Renard had spread the word that the annoying leeches needed to be kept away because the one and only time another creepy stalker grabbed her arm, a Coruscant Guard magically appeared again, and from the distinct crack of his wrist the man was not going to do it again anytime soon.
Riyo had changed, she realized it in these kinds of moments. It was not a bad change though, at least in her humble opinion. She remained compassionate, just... she kept her compassion for those who deserved it, and that was not the case for those who ignored her advice and well-being by being deeply selfish and insensitive.
It was a discussion she had had several times with Ahsoka and it had found an echo in the words of another young Jedi a little older than the Togruta, a Mirialian named Barriss Offee. The young woman had yet another point of view, of course she was Jedi and the Commander of her Jedi Master, but she considered herself as a Healer above all and even from an uninitiated outside point of view Riyo had been able to see the difference in consideration and treatment between the two young women and the soldiers who accompanied them.
Every man in the 501st she could see seemed to be emotionally close or at least open-minded with Ahsoka, she was one of them. With Barriss, the relationship seemed to be more distant but not necessarily less intense, just... on a different register.
Ahsoka saw them as peers, comrades, equals, while Barriss saw them as work colleagues... and victims.
She did not know which posture was best though.
Perhaps none, because most of these men managed to create spaces of freedom and life in misfortune, they were not just victims... that said, they remained slave soldiers who would not survive and would never be respected if they were not helped by people aware of their precariousness and revolted by it.
That evening she did not have to wait, even arriving three minutes early – the three minutes of Pantoran punctuality – the Jedi were there. Apparently being on time for a Mirialian was an even more serious matter than for her, the young Healer Ahsoka invited had come to pick her up early and forced her to prepare to leave even earlier in case public transport traffic revealed itself as unreliable as usual. Her friend had complained about it at length and Riyo had burst out laughing listening to her say it. Dragged along to a high table, she had gotten to know each other and had a good time, finding that something was missing before realizing what: she had not seen her usual group.
Were they there? She hoped they were okay, they seemed to be there every time so much so that she was starting to suspect they were from the 501st, otherwise she wondered how they managed to be there all the time...
Their usual table was occupied by two clones chatting with a Mon Calamari, and there were so many people that she did not know if she could make them out in a crowd of clones when their distinctive signs were not so obvious... Damn it.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I'm going to go get another drink, do you want a refill?"
"I'll stop there," Barriss replied with an amused smile for Ahsoka who had sipped from her glass of alcohol when she was not paying attention and was now having a buzz, smiling like nothing was wrong but she could not keep her eyes in the right place on her face so it was...really hilarious.
"I'll be right back."
She slipped into the crowd and tried to get a bartender's attention by talking louder and louder, but she was too quiet to really attract attention.
"So, what will it be?"
"The usual Stone, thank you."
With a cute stubble on his jaw that was not there last time, the guy smiled and winked, taking his place with a 'look at the pro'. Eventually, he insulted the bartender until he was served so that he would leave and Riyo laughed so hard that it took her a few minutes to be able to come to her senses.
"What a pro indeed," she teased.
"Well, it worked didn't it?"
The Pantoran had looked towards the bar, stunned to notice that yes, it had worked, and very quickly at that.
"I could never do that though, " she sighted. "I don't speak loud enough."
"Well no alcohol for you," he ruled, pointing to a table full of people. "We are there with guys from different battalions, do you want to join us?"
"I would love to but I'm here with Ahsoka and her friend Barriss."
The clone repeated "Barriss" with a wary look before following her gaze and laughing, instantly more relaxed.
"Wow, Thorn will be impressed to learn that the little lady is building herself a harem of Jedi."
"Jedi take a vow of celibacy," she reminded him.
Stone raised his eyebrows with a smirk:
"That's even more impressive, what a womanizer."
Riyo shook her head and squinted in the direction previously indicated and briefly caught sight of Thire who waved his hand in her direction upon seeing her. They seemed to be doing well, it was nice to see.
"Please say goodnight to the others for me, Stone."
"Thank you, have a good evening too."
The end of Riyo's night involved carrying a drunk Padawan back to her Temple without dropping her and it was kind of tricky when you were wearing heels, but it was still a funny moment. They had not been in danger at any time, but perhaps it was the clones who followed them without being too adept at hiding that reassured her more than the ambient security of Coruscant. Once again: very funny.
Barriss had even taken photos of Ahsoka and the clones following them, arguing that this kind of blackmail material would never be lost, and sent it to her.
To think that one day soon Ahsoka would be much taller than both of them...
She would never get used to it, she was just small.