"A good chunk of it. Didn't have a job at first, but the Admiral made it pretty clear we all had to make ourselves useful. So I guess I took it upon myself to take the most thankless job of all."
He's smiling, but also not truly joking.
"Half the inmates come here after dying and don't feel like suddenly cleaning toilets and mopping floors. Can't blame 'em, but it'll be good to have someone else to try and reel those in."
Leia hadn't heard yet that this wasn't always a provision of the Admiral's that everyone had to have jobs, but it seems secondary to learning all she can about her own newly acquired position.
"How much reeling in do you actually do?" Leia asks frankly, no stranger to thankless tasks. "I was under the impression that all the Inmates are assigned to custodial if they don't pick something else, and that trying to force them into it wasn't going to work."
"Your impression is correct, but a couple conversations can work wonders."
He takes a sip and slumps in his chair a little, crossing his feet at the ankles. "Pagan only shows up to do anything because he likes talking to me, but that gives him a couple times a week where he can't go around makin' trouble. And there's others who might hide away, but hidin' away and not talking to anyone tends to make people disappear."
She's gratified to see her partner on this job immediately pinpoints Leia's very concern.
"That's what I'm worried about," Leia admits. "If they're not showing up because they have other things to do, fine, but I don't want anyone to fall through the cracks on my watch. I signed up to do this because I have experience organizing large groups of people -- but I don't know how helpful that will be."
It's a very different circumstance here than with the Alliance, or before that on Alderaan. No one here necessarily respects her.
Leia's used to being famous or infamous depending on who she's talking to, so it's still new to her to have to explain her background -- her name isn't enough, here.
She sips her caf before replying, deciding how to sum it up as simply as possible. "I help organize a revolution, and I'm a princess." Though whether anyone here understands what that means, Leia's come to doubt.
He has never met a princess. He's met debutantes, but not
princesses, and Leia doesn't even look like the former. His eyebrows
draw up. "A real princess, huh?"
"You'd be sorely mistaken, we had a ball just last year," he says, with a
little grin at her. "Don't worry, the wardrobe's probably got something
appropriately princess-like."
"My cabin is my old bedroom, so I have plenty of clothes, trust me," Leia responds wryly, concealing her complicated emotions about what it was like to walk into her royal bedroom on Aldera the first time without warning. A place she will never see again, unless she gets her deal.
"Point being, I'm used to having people in my employ, but I'm not used to them having no reason to listen to me."
"Do you one worse, they have plenty of reasons not to," he tells her, with a lopsided little smile. "But I can give you all the advice in the world, we ain't the same person. Something people here appreciate: don't pretend you are someone you are not."
"That one I think I can manage. I'm not eager to go back to that ever again."
Drinking her coffee, Leia thinks of what advice she does need. She's used to being part of a leadership team, not being the undisputed commander of any kind, which probably shows when she goes on, "I don't want to trip over anything you've already established, at least. Can you tell me a little about the way you've been running things?"
"Sure. I got a schedule up - some things we do daily, some things we do weekly, some things we do if maintenance can't keep up with all the work."
He makes a face and explains: "Sometimes things fall apart for some reason. We got a couple people who're happy to help out every day, other inmates come by a few times a week. I got a schedule for those too. If it's real bad or a slow day, I pick up the slack myself."
"I don't mind helping out, either, but I'll probably need someone to show me how it all works." By which she means cleaning. Leia would try to pass it off as unfamiliarity with this century's technology, but she's not actually embarrassed about being a princess.
"That's a relief," she says wryly, because the last thing she needs is interpersonal conflict with the other Warden assigned to the one job she can do. Keeping busy is Leia's primary coping strategy.
"And for your information, cleaning is mostly done by droids where I'm from -- everything's probably going to be as unfamiliar as the caf machine."
If he's going to practically give an open invitation to ask, Leia will ask -- she doesn't mind if someone decides not to answer, but she's generally personable, and she likes learning about other people.
That reminds her of Han. Leia knows very well that being involved in crime as a child doesn't mean you'd wanted to be, and she doesn't see any reason to ask prying questions about it.
"It'll be strange to stay in one place here for so long," Leia admits, tacitly agreeing. "I've been a fugitive for the past several years."
That gets a bitter smile out of her, staring into her coffee as she reflects on it. It's so far from anything she'd ever had to worry about, Leia is almost wistful to imagine such simplistic concerns. Domestic politics... ha.
"No, I've been staging a rebellion against a tyrannical empire. Princess is just a title now."
"Oh. That's what the rebellion is rebellin' against?"
That's a lot more than he'd actually given her credit for. But with her talk of servants and lack of knowledge about cleaning, he'd assumed it wasn't that serious.
"You're quite the interesting young woman, ain't you?"
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"A good chunk of it. Didn't have a job at first, but the Admiral made it pretty clear we all had to make ourselves useful. So I guess I took it upon myself to take the most thankless job of all."
He's smiling, but also not truly joking.
"Half the inmates come here after dying and don't feel like suddenly cleaning toilets and mopping floors. Can't blame 'em, but it'll be good to have someone else to try and reel those in."
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"How much reeling in do you actually do?" Leia asks frankly, no stranger to thankless tasks. "I was under the impression that all the Inmates are assigned to custodial if they don't pick something else, and that trying to force them into it wasn't going to work."
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"Your impression is correct, but a couple conversations can work wonders."
He takes a sip and slumps in his chair a little, crossing his feet at the ankles. "Pagan only shows up to do anything because he likes talking to me, but that gives him a couple times a week where he can't go around makin' trouble. And there's others who might hide away, but hidin' away and not talking to anyone tends to make people disappear."
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"That's what I'm worried about," Leia admits. "If they're not showing up because they have other things to do, fine, but I don't want anyone to fall through the cracks on my watch. I signed up to do this because I have experience organizing large groups of people -- but I don't know how helpful that will be."
It's a very different circumstance here than with the Alliance, or before that on Alderaan. No one here necessarily respects her.
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"Well, I surely don't have that kinda experience, so who knows. What do you do back home that's gotten you that experience?"
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She sips her caf before replying, deciding how to sum it up as simply as possible. "I help organize a revolution, and I'm a princess." Though whether anyone here understands what that means, Leia's come to doubt.
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"You don't say?"
He has never met a princess. He's met debutantes, but not princesses, and Leia doesn't even look like the former. His eyebrows draw up. "A real princess, huh?"
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"Sorry, I left my royal dress in my cabin." This is actually true. "I didn't think I'd need to attend any formal functions."
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"You'd be sorely mistaken, we had a ball just last year," he says, with a little grin at her. "Don't worry, the wardrobe's probably got something appropriately princess-like."
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"Point being, I'm used to having people in my employ, but I'm not used to them having no reason to listen to me."
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"Do you one worse, they have plenty of reasons not to," he tells her, with a lopsided little smile. "But I can give you all the advice in the world, we ain't the same person. Something people here appreciate: don't pretend you are someone you are not."
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Drinking her coffee, Leia thinks of what advice she does need. She's used to being part of a leadership team, not being the undisputed commander of any kind, which probably shows when she goes on, "I don't want to trip over anything you've already established, at least. Can you tell me a little about the way you've been running things?"
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"Sure. I got a schedule up - some things we do daily, some things we do weekly, some things we do if maintenance can't keep up with all the work."
He makes a face and explains: "Sometimes things fall apart for some reason. We got a couple people who're happy to help out every day, other inmates come by a few times a week. I got a schedule for those too. If it's real bad or a slow day, I pick up the slack myself."
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"Do you have a list of who doesn't show up, too?"
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He raises an eyebrow - sure, princess, but really?
Anyway: "I sure do. But it might need some updating."
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"I'd be happy to help with that, if you like."
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"I would like." He gives her a smile and sips his coffee.
"I think we'll work together just fine, once you figure out the complicated workings of the common mop."
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"And for your information, cleaning is mostly done by droids where I'm from -- everything's probably going to be as unfamiliar as the caf machine."
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"I spent the past few years camping out in the woods," he informs her. "Everything was unfamiliar to me. You'll be fine."
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If he's going to practically give an open invitation to ask, Leia will ask -- she doesn't mind if someone decides not to answer, but she's generally personable, and she likes learning about other people.
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He doesn't mind talking about this specific part of his life. In fact, he's found it's best to be open about these things.
"I rode with a group of bandits from a young age. Livin' like that, you don't always live a stable life. But I didn't mind that."
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"It'll be strange to stay in one place here for so long," Leia admits, tacitly agreeing. "I've been a fugitive for the past several years."
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"New king and queen take over?"
He doesn't mean it facetiously. He just assumes, since she's a princess, that they chased her out.
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"No, I've been staging a rebellion against a tyrannical empire. Princess is just a title now."
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"Oh. That's what the rebellion is rebellin' against?"
That's a lot more than he'd actually given her credit for. But with her talk of servants and lack of knowledge about cleaning, he'd assumed it wasn't that serious.
"You're quite the interesting young woman, ain't you?"
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