Lassa walked down restaurant alley in her work clothes as she got off from the public shuttle. She stretched out her neck a bit and rolled her shoulders as she walked, trying to get some of the stiffness out of them from her work at the desk in the morning.

She found a relatively cheap place that she had been to a couple of times in the past few weeks and found a chair at the counter.

Korvin was seated by a window in the same smallish eatery, taking advantage of one of the best deals to be had on food, maybe in the whole city. Sure, it was just a bubbly drink, rolled sandwich, and some mass-produced galactic chips, but every credit he wasn't spending on small symbols of independence like eating out was a credit that was available to maintain Ruby in the lifestyle to which he wanted his beloved speeder bike accustomed. And, truth be told, he had occasionally eaten at the fancy restaurants uptown. The food on Restaurant Alley was much more enjoyable in his estimation, even the cheap stuff.

He noticed his fellow Pantoran randomly, but set his sandwich back down and walked over to her, safely confident that it would be the woman he'd met in the park a couple weeks ago.

"Hey, uh, Lassa, I think it was," he asks politely, leaning on the counter from a seat away. He's wearing a wide smile. "Would you like to join me by the window?" Korvin gestures to the table with his half-eaten lunch taking up a tiny proportion of the space.

She looked over and (after a moment to recognize the face) smiled.

“Ah, Korvin. Nice to see you again.” She glanced over to his spot.

“Sure; if it’s not going to keep you that is. I just ordered mine.”

"Not at all. I'm not in a rush," he says standing. "Just going through sort of a pre-race ritual kind of thing."

"Can you bring hers to my table, please, when it's ready," he asks an employee who waves and nods. Korvin turns back to Lassa and leads the way to the table. "They know me here," he says matter of factly. "I'm in here for lunch more days than not, and sometimes I'm here twice in the same day," he adds with a small smile.

“A creature of habit then it would seem...” She replied with a gentle tone.

“So big race today is it then?” She said as she looked out the window to the streets.

"Certain habits are very calming. Familiarity and predictability of something to anchor yourself before something like racing, which is exhilarating but can be dangerous in its unpredictability," he observes, clearly having given some thought to his routines.

After a pause, feeling that might have been a touch preachy, he adds, "And certain habits are cost effective, which is another kind of virtue."

“Mmm, yes. Very virtuous.” She replied with a slight bit of mirth on her lips.

“Sounds like a good trait to place on an application for the Imperial Academy down the street.”

Korvin's face turns frosty. "Hm. I don't see myself doing that," he jokes without mirth.

"Being cost effective is about staying independent, not having to ask other people for money. Being an imperial..." He shakes his head against saying something meaner. "If there's one thing Bellionas doesn't need, it's more people trying to be dependent on the Empire."

She smiled ever so slightly at his reply.

“There’s that noble heart of the boy planting the trees again.”

She nodded her head in thanks as the server suddenly appeared and dropped of her drink at the table.

“So what if I told you I worked for the Empire?” She said with a coy look in her eyes before she took a sip of her kaffe.

Korvin looks at her seriously, as though his eyes are some kind of lie detector.

"I guess I'll be careful how I say things. It's like being around most of the kids I went to school with. Rich people who want to get richer, the Empire seems like a great way to go for them..." Korvin keeps the disdain in his voice to a moderate level, then takes a long drink from the bubbly beverage before him.

He gives Lassa another long look to see how she reacts to his comment.

“And what about the people for which the Empire provides social mobility? A Pantoran girl with nothing in the galaxy to her name... finding her chance to help folks wherever she can?” She asked with the same smile as before.

“Is it better for people like her to starve? Getting exploited by the Empire or not having food... Can be a hard choice for a lot of folks, no?”

She tilts her head in what seems like an almost playful manner as she waits for his response.

"When the choice is one thing or death, that isn't really a choice," Korvin notes. "But I was being skeptical of people who are already rich. They don't need imperial social mobility when they can already do whatever they want with their lives. Choosing upward mobility when you're already near the top is..." He purses his lips. "Not a choice I would make. And I certainly wouldn't expect it to come without some cost..."

He crunches a chip as he awaits the next question on Ms. Lassa's test.

“I see. So rich people suck. Off with their heads.” She nodded as if listening to a wise sage.

“And what about the people who are ‘dependent’ on the Empire? Like actually dependent on it? What happens to them if the Empire magically disappears tomorrow.”

"One, that isn't what I said. Two, if it were, it'd have to include my parents, which I'm definitely not saying."

As she got to her next question, Korvin's face flashed annoyance. "So this isn't a test. You're mocking me." He shakes his head. "Is your next question going to be about what we do if the law of gravity is repealed tomorrow?"

"Would make racing pretty trippy, no?" She said with a smile.

"Who am I to be testing you Korvin? I'm just a normal girl sitting in a sandwich shop." She tilted her head slightly.

"From the brief exchanges we've had I can tell you're a passionate young man. I am fond of people with a great deal of passion. Passion is a powerful thing... but is quick to carry one away down some dangerous side roads if they aren't careful." She took another sip of her kaffe.

Korvin's eyes narrow at the racing comment. But the normal girl remark really gets him.

"I know of no 'normal girl' who sits in this shop, talking about the Empire's penchant for keeping people from starving," he protests. "You..." He falls silent as she carries on about passion, and his face turns sulky as he realizes he's just illustrated the passion point.

After she finishes, he responds, slightly defensive and also slightly cowed: "Well, I know when I'm racing, which you'd think would be at maximum passion, I'm actually quite centered and clear. Very aware of my surroundings."

She tilted her head a bit, "I'm not sure I'd say that's your most passionate... I'd probably say that's the right amount of passion and control one needs to carry themselves with."

She puts her kaffe on the table and leans in speaking in little more than a whisper but with a sense of expediency in her voice, "Let's take a quick look at your 'surroundings'. One: You're in a public place. Two: You have no idea who I am other than I seem like I'm nice. Three: The Empire is on high alert as of late because of all the talk of growing anti-Empire sentiment. They are dying to be able to lock some people up for badmouthing the Empire... Reticence is perhaps not a terrible course of action, no?"

She leans back in her chair again and picks up her cup.

Korvin's face pinches slightly in annoyance, but he responds calmly.

"I am not so sure that you are nice, as you're being a touch argumentative at the moment," he says, raising one finger in an implied count. "I also appreciate this setting, and the fact that you said you work for the Empire. I haven't actually said anything disparaging about that, despite you trying to get me to." A second finger is extended.

"So, nice Miss Lassa, just what do you want from me and my passionate nature?"

She blinks in surprise a few times. Apparently this young man wasn’t a fan of her playful line of questioning.

“Argumentative? Okay... Apparently being concerned for your well-being is uhh... unappreciated.” The playful smile that had been on her face lessened just a tad.

“Duly noted.” She replied with a renewed smile.

The young man looks at Lassa very thoughtfully, and after a time he puts his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he says, seeming suddenly very tired. "I, ah..." He rubs his face. "Perhaps I'm not thinking as straight as I think I am."