Character

Wearing: xxx
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Jackson didn’t answer right away. The glow from the forge caught faint highlights along the grain of the sappirewood, and for a long second, he simply stared at it with his thumb brushing lightly over the surface like it might offer an answer. It didn’t, of course, but it felt solid like a real piece of something that hadn’t been taken from him yet.
Vera’s presence was grounding as she approached, even if it was unexpected. She didn’t press or fill the silence with noise, she just let it hang there between them like a soft thread waiting to be picked up.
Finally, Jax glanced at her sketches, brows lifting slightly at the range. Some were all curved and elegant, others squared and brutally practical. There were one or two that had notations which looked like something Romi might’ve jotted down. He didn’t comment on that. Instead, he gave a small, appreciative nod.
“I’m not really the ‘fancy’ type,” Jackson answered quietly. “Never have been.”
He turned the datapad toward her. The screen displayed a simple frame. The design wasn’t quite finished, but it was close. The lines were clean, almost severe. Everything about it screamed function over form. It didn’t have a flared emitter or cross-guard, just a hilt that looked like it belonged to someone who spent more time surviving than showing off.
“I was going to just build something basic. Straight grip. Non-slip wrap. Balanced for one-hand use. Nothing that would call attention to itself.”
He hesitated, eyes flicking to the wood again.
“But I dunno. This stuff,” he tapped the sappirewood, “it’s got weight. Not just physically. Feels like… something I should honor, not just slap onto a pipe.” His fingers curled slightly against the table’s edge, jaw tight for a moment before he added, more quietly, “Romi would’ve said it should say something. Even if no one else ever hears it.”
He sat back slightly, the beginnings of a thought taking shape behind his eyes.
“Maybe a little fancy, then. Just not loud.”
A beat passed, then his gaze shifted toward Vera, just a touch wry.
“But I’m probably going to regret every decorative decision the second I mess up the carve.”
Which he wouldn’t because Lesans were actually pretty good at crafting things. His tone was dry, but something unspoken had softened in him, even if only briefly. The barrier he usually kept between himself and this new group of Jedi erased by degrees.
He nodded toward her notebook.
“You think you’ll go curved? Or something more simple this time?”