Private An Unlikely Love Story

[Himalia Tavers]

Cato Neimoidia

​

The young Jedi Padawan walked along the smooth silver pathway behind the entourage. After her dangerous mission on Nar Shaddaa, she was sent to Cato Neimoidia to guard some Neimoidian representatives of the Concord. She guarded these nobles and politicians for about a week, until a ship arrived from Commenor. It was a diplomatic vessel, sent by the concord's Jedi leadership. Himalia stood by the Neimoidian politicians as the group of Jedi Masters descended from the ship. She didn't recognize any of them, but was still relieved to see friendly faces. Then as the Jedi delegation properly greeted the Neimoidians, a young Padawan soon exited the ship with their droids and a few Antarian Rangers. He was small in stature, not entirely impressive psychically, and she could already sense his mental unbalance. However, she could see parts of a kindred spirit within the Padawan and some qualities that she liked. Growing a girlish grin while staring at him, the focus at hand pulled her back to reality, as the Jedi Masters finished greeting the Neimoidians. As they were being led to the large governmental spire in the center of the bridge city, one of the Masters, a Yarkora, stopped and greeted her. She quickly stood taller and bowed to the elder Jedi, "Master", she said. The Jedi nodded back with a smile and then continued onwards with the main delegation. Himalia followed behind, and slowed her pace in hopes of walking next to the young Jedi boy. A few moments later, he and the droids caught up, still only a dozen yards or so behind the large group. As he approached at her side, she straightened her posture and discretely showed off some of her "psychical" assets, perhaps hoping the boy would notice. As he became parallel with her location, she turned her head and greeted him nicely.

"Umm, hey". She hesitated a bit, not what she was hoping far. There was something about him that made her feel.......well....she wasn't really sure. She stayed composed and spoke again.

"I'm Himalia, nice to meet you", she said with a sweet smile.

Subject 648 Slipknot ​

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Himalia Tavers

Slip stepped off the ship, and looked around. The group of Neimoidian Representatives stood off nearby, waiting for them. The sky was a dull overcast, filled with fog and clouds. And the bridge cities were bustling with people.

Slip sighed. Another fun assignment. And by fun, he meant mostly standing around and doing nothing. He seemed to be assigned these missions a lot, for some reason. He had no idea why that was the case, but the Masters from the Jedi always seemed to love giving him assignments like these. And, a mission was a mission.

He wasn't sure what this assignment was about. All he knew was that he had been assigned to help escort some delegation between Neimoidian Representatives and the Jedi Masters. He wasn't all too sure what this assignment was about, they had probably told him what it was about at some point, but Slip probably hadn't been paying attention. Probably some negotiations about something he didn't understand, as usual. Of course, he was also brought here for another reason. He did have a certain affinity for droids, and was great at working on them. So, he was also sent to ensure that the droids of the entourage were all working.

Slip watched as the group stepped forward, greeting the Neimoidian representatives. Soon, introductions finished, and they were headed towards the large government building. Slip sighed, and walked after them, being followed by a group of droids. Slip looked down at the datapad he was holding, looking through the data on it as he followed the delegation.

Since he was so invested in the datapad, he didn't even notice the person slowly approaching.

"Umm, hey".

Slip jumped a bit, startled. He looked up from the datapad, and saw the girl. She must have been another Padawan assigned to this mission. He hadn't been told that there were people already waiting. Slip was also startled by the fact that someone noticed him for once, usually most people just liked to ignore him, and he was rarely talked to by anyone.

"I'm Himalia, nice to meet you"

"Uhhh..." Slip said, dumbfounded. This was... new. Most people weren't this friendly at first to him. Slip even looked around a bit to see if she was talking to anyone else. "Wait... you're talking to me?" he asked, bewildered.

"Sorry, I'm just not used too... people talking to me and introducing themselves?" he said sheepishly.

"Er-, right. I'm Slip, nice to meet you, Himalia," Slip replied, not exactly sure what to say. This girl kind of made him feel... nervous, and he wasn't sure why.

"So... you assigned to this mission too?" He asked her as they followed the delegation. Today was going to be an interesting day.

 

[Himalia Tavers]

Cato Neimoidia

​

The young woman gave him a cheeky smile as he struggled with his words a bit and looked flustered. It was kinda cute when boys did that, even more so that he was doing it. She responded to him in between his sentences. "Hehe, nice to meet you Slip".

She now looked at him in full. He seemed like he was around her age. Something about him, just made her more intrigued. She still couldn't put her finger on it. She now gave him another sweet grin and a cheeky blink. Himalia kept pace with him as they trailed behind the delegation. One of the Masters looked back from the group at them and Himalia caught him sporting a small smile. He soon turned his head back around. As they both followed the larger group, Himalia inched a bit closer to his side, but not enough for him to notice. She now spoke after his most recent question. "Umm yeah, I was assigned to guard the Neimoidian representative to the Concord". "Been here for a few days so far". "Hopefully I'll get to leave after this". She now sported a slight frown to draw him in. It would most likely work. However, it wasn't all fake. She indeed didn't love it here, there just wasn't much to do except her mission.

Now she left the conversation in the hands of the boy beside her. This would determine whether he had any interest at all. Himalia was hoping he did.

Subject 648 Slipknot ​

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Himalia Tavers

Ah kriff... Slip was already messing up this introduction. As usual, he was pretty atrocious at social skills and interacting with people. They were too... unpredictable, Slip never knew what to say. He was always awkward when talking to people, he just didn't know how to interact with them. Well, at least Himalia seemed to not care much, even smiling at his awkwardness.

He could feel her looking at him, examining him. It made him feel slightly nervous. Rarely anybody had paid this much attention to him before. It was strange. Slip looked back at her, and gave a nervous smile, before looking back forward. There was something about her that was... strange to Slip, but he couldn't tell what it was.

Slip turned back to her as she responded to his question.

"Umm yeah, I was assigned to guard the Neimoidian representative to the Concord". "Been here for a few days so far". "Hopefully I'll get to leave after this"

Slip nodded. "Yeah, I can get that. This isn't the most interesting of missions. This assignment doesn't really seem like there will be much to do." He replied.

"But, I mean, I thought I'd be the only Padawan here. I thought it was only going to be me and the Masters and the delegates. I'm kind of glad to have another Padawan here. At least I'm not alone on this mission." Slip told her.

"Besides, it can't be all that bad here. What do you do to pass the time around here?" He asked her.

 

[Himalia Tavers]

Cato Neimoidia

​

Himalia could see that Slip was still feeling awkward. That was normal though. He looked at her strange for a second and then responded to what she had said before. He agreed that this mission was boring, and he also spoke a bit awkwardly. But then he stated that he was glad he was with another Padawan. It seemed to lighten him, as it did the same for Himalia when he said that. He paused for bit, and Himalia threw in a quick response.

"Yeah, I am glad too". She giggled a bit an gave him a sweet smile.

Slip now spoke again and asked her what she did to pass time. She smiled back him and thought of what she had been able to do since arriving. She was patrolling and guarding most of the time. When she wasn't, she would watch the Holonet in her room or read through historical sagas that the masters had provided to her before she departed for the mission. However, a few times, she would go out into the Leisure sector and visit the nightclubs. They weren't as festive as the ones on planets like Zeltros, but still it was somewhat fun. Besides this was the first time she had another Padawan to hang out with, for she had been here by herself for the entirety of the mission so far. She was glad that Slip was here, she liked him a bit already.

"Yeah there isn't much to do, but once in a while I visit the Leisure sector". "Its fun I guess". She stepped closer to Slip, out of earshot from anyone else. "Hehe, I also fooled around with the doors once, using the force, made all of the Neimoidians freak out". She started to giggle a bit louder as she drew apart from him and resumed the original distance. Himalia wanted to show she had a bit of a playful and friendly mischievous side to her. She gave him another sweet smile and batted her eyelashes a few times. As they kept moving far behind the main group, she now let him take back control of the conversation.

Subject 648 Slipknot ​

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Himalia Tavers

She was definitely a strange one. Slip was confused by her and her attitude. Then again, most females confused Slip. He didn't understand their attitudes and their actions, and why they acted strangely sometimes. They always behaved oddly and in strange ways. He didn't know, they just... confused him in their actions. Besides, he had never had someone pay this much attention to him.

"Yeah there isn't much to do, but once in a while I visit the Leisure sector". "Its fun I guess".

"Leisure sector? I don't think I've ever been to one of those. I've never even heard of them to be honest." Slip replied. He didn't have much experience in going out and doing stuff, he really mostly stayed in and did other, more solo activities. Plus, he had no idea how to act at those places. He would probably be extremely socially awkward there. Then, Himalia stepped closer to him, whispering.

"Hehe, I also fooled around with the doors once, using the force, made all of the Neimoidians freak out".

Himalia giggled and returned to her original distance. Slip chuckled at this. "Oh trust me, if you want some tricks to freak people out, I have plenty." He replied. She might confuse him, but at least they had somewhat similar interests. They continued walking towards the government building, following the main group.

Perhaps this assignment wouldn't be the worst after all.

 

[Himalia Tavers]

Cato Neimoidia

​

Himalia continued to walk beside Slip as he responded a bit awkwardly to her last few lines. She gave him another cheeky grin, as he spoke another sentence, this one more natural than the first. He seemed more interested than earlier, which made her a bit more excited. He seemed like someone that didn't get out much, but Himalia would possibly endeavor to change that.

Both of them continued behind the larger group as it reached the tall government building. Himalia and Slip entered in behind them, passing through the lax security checkpoint. As they more closely followed, the main group made its way up some stairs and then into a large conference room where the Neimoidian were having food & refreshments served while they discussed. As the two Padawans followed the group into the room, one of the Jedi Masters stopped them as the rest of the main group entered and began to sit.

"Hold on you two, you're coming with me, the other Masters can deal with the Neimoidians". His name was Master Troyjen, a Dyplotid.

Himalia now spoke, "Yes Master, are we on patrol duty while the meeting commences?"

"Yes Padawan, that is correct, I want you two to patrol the west corridor while I take care of the east one". "Understood?"

"Yes Master". Himalia finished and glanced over at Slip who was still next to her. Once he would agree to Master Troyjen's orders, they would begin to make their way down to the west corridor of the government complex.

The idea of her together with Slip, just the two of them, made her more excited about what could happen. She started to realize that he was actually pretty cute.

Subject 648 Slipknot ​

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Himalia Tavers

They continued walking, following after the group. Soon, they entered the large government building, walking inside. As they stepped inside, Slip looked around. Wow! This place was huge! The group made their way up a set up stairs, Once they reached the top, the group entered a large conference room, taking their seats and taking in the refreshments provided. Huh, he had never been on a mission where food and refreshments were prepared and laid out. He hoped to at least try some of that food...

Right before they entered, however, Himalia and Slip were stopped by one of the Jedi Masters. Slip stopped, looking at him attentively.

"Hold on you two, you're coming with me, the other Masters can deal with the Neimoidians".

"Yes Master, are we on patrol duty while the meeting commences?"

"Yes Padawan, that is correct, I want you two to patrol the west corridor while I take care of the east one". "Understood?"

Slip nodded as Himalia affirmed. "Understood, Master." He affirmed.

Slip walked alongside Himalia, both of them heading down the west corridor of the government complex. Slip felt a bit nervous. Just him and Himalia? Alone? He wasn't the best when interacting with girls, especially when it was just him and them. Still, he did feel a little excited. Himalia hadn't been put off by his social awkwardness, in fact she seemed even more excited by it.

Perhaps things were finally looking up for Slip after all.