Of Chamber Music and Millefeuilles

Elarys hadn't thought that her first visit to the imperial palace would be to pick up Lise Tarkin for their date. That was quite mind-blowing and amusing. She hadn't been the smoothest when accidentally asking the blonde out but she had had zero regret about it. She was looking forward to the evening and no matter how it went, she was just grateful for the opportunity for she very much enjoyed Lise's company since they had first met.

Granted it had felt a little bizarre to have to submit the full itinerary for the evening in advance; but she understood the need for security given Lise's situation and what had happened with the Empress. So she had provided all details with due diligence: the Kaasian Opera in the Art district for the recital, as well as the Relais Fleuri, for dinner afterwards. The Kaasian Opera was much smaller than the more well-known institution the Imperial Center Opera was; but it had a solid reputation for supporting smaller-scale projects as well as various innovative ones. Elarys had been happy to hear that Veneko's reconstruction of chamber music was to be performed there. As for the restaurant, it was a relatively hidden gem, which had been in the family for three generations, especially known for their desserts.

After pulling up at the designated parking area, Elarys went through security, until she was led to one of the halls of the palace. She had worried she would feel under-dressed; but going for elegant yet comfortable had been her choice. She saw little point in pretending to be someone she wasn't. She was a little nervous standing there, with some guards and a couple of attendants staring at her; but she was nevertheless looking forward to seeing Lise.

After the assassination attempt on her daughter and the death of Gallus, Lise moved into the palace. It was unfortunate that such disaster allowed mother and daughter to mend their relationship, but Lise embraced it. She was back in Miranda's life instead of just some trophy mother that was brought out to play with at formal events. There was still a lot of work to be done to further mend the wound, yet it was wonderful to see her daughter glow with pregnancy! She was even privy to some of the Empress' day to day work, slowly building trust again. Lise was no advisor but every now and then a curious question was thrown her way and she ate it up, beaming within despite how she answered quite succinctly without too much adoration and approval in her voice.

Though she also got confirmation what she suspected all along - that Miranda was honing her Force potential. Subtle responses and probing questions went far beyond spies. Lise felt the caress of her daughter's mind as she did Navaria's. Miranda was more focused and thankfully blinded by her ascension within the Force to take notice that her mother was on to her. Or that her mother was latent with the Force.

No one knew because she couldn't do a thing with it. She was able to sense her daughters, know when someone was in her mind, and get a read of the room. Nothing overt at all and Lise would keep the secret that she had kept since realizing the joy in holding her twin girls didn't just come from her, but also from the babies that she held in her arms just minutes after being born.

This morning Miranda had playfully teased her mother for going on a date with a woman.

"Ran out of men that you decided to dabble with the fairer sex?" the Empress said.

"Better late than never, dear daughter. I wasn't so comfortable with such things than you were with Sorsha."

Miranda blanched but quickly recovered, even chuckling at how bold her mother was. "I had a feeling you knew ..."

"Mothers always do." She confirmed with a proud smirk. "Though your father was as oblivious as a nerf being stalked by a manka cat."

They shared a laugh and things felt normal between them, Miranda even assisting in picking out what Lise was wearing tonight.

Miranda was not present to meet her mother's suitor tonight but wished Lise well before retiring to the throne room for official business. Elarys saw the large ornate doors to Lady Tarkin's reception room pull inwards by guards on the other side was Lise's brilliant smile waiting for her. Lise could not help her eyes taking in the full sight of her escort's beauty upon approach.

"Ms. Amarank ... it's a pleasure to see you again," she said honestly. "You look lovely."

Elarys felt the pre-date jitters the moment she heard the doors open. She turned on her heels at once and beamed as she saw Lise. This grey dress complimented her complexion and bright hair to perfection. Above all, she found it enhanced her sharp eyes. A long list of cheesy compliments ran through her mind and she was grateful that she didn't have to speak for a few seconds as her date made her way to her.

She was still smiling when the aristocrat stopped in front of her, without a care about the guards in the hall.

"Good evening Lady Tarkin; you look quite dashing yourself," she replied in earnest.

She offered her arm to the other woman.

"Shall we?"

Her smile was bright, seeing the earnest response written upon Elarys' face instead of mere formality - or going through the motions of courting Lady Tarkin. She immediately took the arm. "Why thank you."

The arm not wrapped around Elarys' extended towards two guards who immediately stepped forward. They were dressed in formal armor and plumage upon their helmet. "I know you were briefed, but these will be the two guards in plain sight. Others have already taken their position at the opera hall and restaurant but ..." she pat her date's hand when she brought it back around, "I asked not to know the destination of dinner since I wanted to be surprised."

Elarys was still smiling when Lise took her arm, grateful for the unexpected easiness in their discussions and interaction.

She gave a look at the guards before returning her attention to her date as they headed towards the exit of the palace. In a weird way, it didn't bother her or made her self conscious, past the first "oh shit" moment when the aristocrat had asked her point blank if she had indeed just asked her out.

"I appreciated how clear the briefing was."

She had had no idea of what it would look like but had nevertheless been positively surprised. Surprise showed on her face when Lise admitted to having chosen to be surprised by the later part of the evening.

She caught sight of other personnel finishing to give a last-minute inspection of her vehicle, which she knew would happen. When the all-clear was given, she led Lise to it, a functional medium-class model in shades of silver and burgundy, and opened the door for her.

"I didn't expect you to keep this a surprise. I like it though."

She went to take the driver's seat, catching sight of the two other speeders flanking them as they departed.

"Veneko asked me to sit for a couple of the later rehearsals, and he changed a couple of musicians for his arrangements. I believe we are in for a treat."

"Once upon a time ... not too much surprised me. Then you came along." Lise smiled wryly. "I'd like to keep it that way. Being surprised. Hence dinner being the unknown variable tonight."

She stepped inside the vehicle and settled before buckling in. "Oh that sounds lovely! I wonder who will delight us with their presence tonight and make it a concert we won't forget."

She glanced over at Elarys as her date hopped in and as they started to go, Lise ask tapped at the armrest in excitement. "Any theories on who will be performing tonight?"

Elarys didn't expect that she could surprise Lise but it nevertheless made her happy.

"I hope you'll like where we have dinner. It's been a favorite of mine for years, whenever I would visit even before I worked here."

She was a decent and safe driver and she kept her attention on the traffic although she was happy for the conversation opportunity with her date. Hearing the enthusiasm in the blonde's voice was lovely.

"Two, possibly, three musicians from the Imperial symphony may perform tonight. Violinist Ianos and harpist Gerin are confirmed, and were at the rehearsal. Veneko also did some work for a solo with viola player Ditan, but he might have a scheduling conflict."

Grinning, she mused over what other possibilities Veneko had hinted at.

"A couple of the Meleca Institute best students are also part of the dozen musicians. And he wouldn't say her name but hinted at the possibility of a well-known mezzo soprano for the most recent pieces he has been reconstructing. While vocal work was rare for such genre back then, it appears that one type of occasions warranted such pieces."

Taking advantage of having to stop for a brief moment, she spared a look at Lise, curious to know her thoughts.

"Any idea of who it might be, or who you would like her to be?"

"No! Ditan may be possible since he's still on Imperial Center." Lise said first. "I know what conflict that was happening since I was being a snoop for the concert. He was supposed to go out to Bespin to visit family but I've got it on good authority that was cancelled."

It was quite helpful having your daughter-in-law being the baroness of Bespin!

"High probability we'll be three for three tonight!"

Lise couldn't contain her enthusiasm.

"But hm..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I sincerely hope for Amica Topas."

She got chills thinking about the range of the Corellian born woman, even closing her eyes when the solo of The High Stakes of Sloane came to memory. Her range was impressive Amica's voice invoked all the proper notes of emotions during the disgraced senator's fall from political stardom. She graduated top of her class at the University of Corellia and was immediately scooped up by the Imperial Center opera circuits.

"She's just grand. And perfect for this."

Elarys couldn't help squealing when Lise said that Ditan was going to be there. He was an outstanding musician and they really were in for a treat. Realizing her reaction, she chuckled.

"This is fantastic! I attended a couple of other reconstruction recitals in the past; but Lerne's rendition never fully convinced me because it erred too much on contemporary quirks; and while I liked Gouviers' intention, there were too many brass musicians and it felt like a mini military fanfare."

She appreciated more recent chamber music generally speaking but for reconstruction projects, she preferred when the artists attempted to really work with archeologists and historians.

Lise's enthusiasm was very much contagious and she loved being able to just chatter away about the recital and their hopes.

"Amica Topas would be fantastic! I remember missing the last performance of The High Stakes of Sloane when she participated. I had finals the very next day. I drove my sister-in-law slightly crazy with playing the records while visiting her though."

They soon made it to their destination and she parked before circling to open the door for Lise and offering her hand with a smile. The place was more crowded than she had expected, which was a good sign for the performance.

"It's only the second time I'm attending an event here but I love the acoustics."

Flanked by the two guards, they made their way inside, all the way to the box that Elarys had reserved. Even before knowing who she might ask out, Veneko had insisted on letting her picking whichever box she wanted because of all the support she had provided.

Lise nodded in agreement as Elarys pointed out her issues from previous performances. "Veneko has the right players and instruments in place to elevate the Builders Forge. The piece isn't about traditional war but ... the struggle of the Light and Dark Side of the Force. This isn't Empire verses the Rebellion and then tweaking things around with something more modern for the New Republic."

She audibly scoffed, practically snorting with contempt as she leaned against the door and fought rolling her eyes. "Modern spins on classics that want to be provocative for the sake of being new is tiresome."

But her mood brightened as the topic shifted back to Amica and chuckled. "I dare presume it wasn't slight with you driving her crazy."

Elarys was a focused woman and she could see her being repetitive when working on a project she was passionate about or something she personally enjoyed - like music.

With a smile, she clasped Elarys' hand and stepped out of the speeder. Her arm immediately wove between her date's. "This is perfect. Intimate. Hardly a bad seat. But I'm glad they have the holoprojectors here all the same."

The powerful visage of Imperial guards turned heads - curious whispers of which member of the royal family was in attendance tonight! Everyone recognized Lise Tarkin and the whispers turned to curious gossiping as to who was on her arm, for the majority were not familiar with the young woman. An usher immediately stepped aside and wished Elarys and Lise a wonderful evening and Veneko sent his regards as well.

"You and Veneko," she began, impressed and curious eyes sweeping from the premium box seats to Elarys' lovely face, "know each other well?"

Elarys had always been passionate about classical music and arts, which had made for fantastic conversations with Lise even before tonight, beyond their interest in education.

"Exactly! It is important to understand the heart of a piece and not try to cram themes that belonged to others!"

She couldn't help chuckling at Lise's scoffing about the supposedly artistic practice of adding irrelevant if not outright bothersome twists to older classics. She nodded along and was happy when they both got to gush about Amica. And she grinned in response to her date's observation.

It was amusing how she had asked the noblewoman out of the blue but here they were still fairly comfortable around and with each other. It made her happy and while she noticed the whispers and looks as they entered the smaller opera, her attention remained upon Lise. Past her first doubts when she had talked with the blonde at the museum event, she was just happy to spend this time with her. She chose to simply enjoy it, whatever might come. While she was an overachiever in her studies and now her career, she trusted Lise to put a stop to things if she wasn't happy.

As they took their seats in their box, Elarys quirked a brow at Lise's unexpected but unsurprising question. She briefly wondered if her date wondered whether Veneko might be some sort of competition.

"I met him when I first helped put together the list of candidates for the Museum of Fine Arts' residencies. He was one of my personal favorites and when he didn't make it to the second-to-last round, he started to have options to work on what we're here for tonight. We struck a quick friendship and it turned out that his husband was a visiting teacher in finances at the University of Kuat the semester I did there. I didn't take his class but had friends who did."

Life is strange. Who would've thought that she'd find a kindred spirit with many of her passions with Elarys Amarank? Just a regular encounter in her philanthropic circle has evolved to a pleasant date that she hadn't had in years. She had to go through many faces of the past to conjure the last one that was passable and it was probably General Ingro Xerta when they went to the Coruscant Opera House to attend The Agony of Tarkin when it was updated to include the loss of her husband, Andron Tarkin.

He was thoughtful, asking if it were appropriate. It was a rare treat to have someone consider her feelings, but she didn't want to risk becoming too attached just to have someone she cared for die in battle. There were a few other dates with Xerta and it was clear her was looking for a traditional military wife - quite unlike the loving marriage she had with Andron. It made it easier for her to cut him loose.

Her eyes narrowed, not looking at Elarys as she explained her relationship with Veneko, taking it all in. She was delighted to learn that there was absolutely no competition from the artist. Not that she and Elarys were anything close to being exclusive but it made Lise come down from wanting to throttle Veneko. It was an exhilarating feeling to have again.

"That's wonderful you became friends," she said sincerely. "It's quite impressive all the contacts you've made during your studies. You're a natural for your chosen career."

Elarys was so happy that Lise shared her interests beyond their passion for education. While there were other cultural hubs in the Empire, the capital remained such a wondrous place for anyone who loved arts. It was one of the reasons why she wanted to build her career primarily there, even though she took opportunities elsewhere for short-terms opportunities.

She didn't know where things with Lise would go and she was happy to take things one at a time. Having witnessed Giu and Shana when she was younger and how her brother died so early, she had learned early one to embrace life as it came.

She smiled at the blonde's reaction to what she shared about Veneko and felt color rise to her cheeks at the compliment.

"Thank you. I got lucky that my sister-in-law taught me early how to make the best of building connections and how it could make a difference. Shana has always been a role model for me since I was a teenager."