Private Babysitting

[Ara Sheridan]

Kashyyyk/Jedi Temple Hangars​

Late Afternoon/Clear Skies​

School was over and the weekend was about to start. Usually at this time Ara would be mentally and physically preparing herself for an onslaught of customers and drunkards thinking they were funny. But luckily she no longer worked in a sleazy bar in Underworld for little to no pay. She now had an actual opportunity to do something with her life. But one thing that she quickly picked up was the rule that the weekends were her own, no exceptions. She had no issue working hard after school or staying up into the early mornings to make sure her work was done, but nothing could get her to do something against her own wishes over weekends. At least her mother seemed pretty understanding over it.

In the hangars of the Jedi temple she had a hydrospanner in her hand and a headset over her head. Her horns made it a little awkward but she made it work. A song thumped from her headphones, blocking out the sounds in the hangar as some other mechanics still worked on ships around her. In front of her was what looked more and more like a podracer with each passing day. Seeing her dream so close to being fulfilled gave her to push herself harder and learn everything she could about what went into the machines. Thankfully Matt and her mom also helped out which gave her more time to figure it all out. She shuffled around one of the engines and torqued down a panel after plugging in some wires, dancing and vibing with the song she listened to. She didn't know all the verses, but that didn't stop her from bobbing her body and singing along with some over the verses as she worked. Her happy and content mood was ruined a little, however, when the hydrospanner sprung off a bolt and slammed down on her finger.

"MOTHER KARKING SON OF A HARPY!" she shouted, flicking her hand in an attempt to ease the pain. With a scowl she glanced around, sucking on her injured finger. Her eyes met those of a nearby mechanic that seemed a bit startled by her shouting, not that she cared about them. "The kark you looking at?!" she snapped at him before stomping away. She slipped the hydrospanner into the pocket of her worn, oversized jacket and went looking for a faucet or medkit lying around. Luckily she managed to borrow a bandaid and some bacta from another guy who was nursing his own injury. If she wasn't so ticked off, it would have been a rather funny exchange for her. When she reached a sink to clean her finger, she paused her music and slipped the headset around her neck. With her injury taken care of, she glanced at the entrance of the temple and entered the place with a nonchalant walk. She could do with a drink or something... and if she got chewed out by someone, she could blame it on her mother. That would teach her for running off while they were supposed to sort out the power couplings together. She was rather amused at how much she stood out with her gutter rat attire around the prim and proper Jedi walking past her...

Zemira

 

[Zemira]

"Focus on defence. If you're too busy trying to attack then you're leaving yourself open to attack." She knelt down and spoke softly to the youngling while she placed an ice pack on the newly formed welt he had just received from a training lightsaber. "That goes for all of you." She addressed the group as she got back to her feet to face the small class of younglings who couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old in their respective species. "I know you want to win the duel but defence is just as important as attack. You need to wait for an opportunity to attack." She told them as they watched her with expectant eyes.

"Choose one of you in your pair to be the attacker. It doesn't matter who because you'll both get a go." She instructed. The younglings quickly responded and resumed their earlier practice duels which Zemira watched over for a moment before returning her gaze to the child who was nursing the welt from earlier and was now sniffling. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked as she took a seat on the ground beside him so she could still keep an eye on the others. "No one is ever going to pick me as a Padawan." He replied sadly to which Zemira shook her head and replied softly. "That's not true. You're disciplined, talented and willing to learn and that's all a Master wants. They don't want a perfect Padawan otherwise they'd have nothing to teach them. They want someone who they can help grow to become a good Jedi and it's clear you want to do that so I don't think you'll have any problem finding a Master." She comforted him.

It seemed to cheer him up however as he gave a half-hearted nod in response before finally a smile which Zemira returned. "Ow!" echoed across the room as one of the younglings yelped from getting hit so Zemira rose from the floor to identify who but only one duel was continuing while the others stopped to watch on in confusion. Zemira could feel the anger from the attacker and rushed over and gently grabbed her by the wrist to prevent her from lashing out at her opponent who she had been hit by. The girl looked up at the Jedi Knight and her anger immediately diffused upon seeing the Jedi's stern look but Zemira didn't need to say anything to evoke an apology. "Sorry, Master." The girl said remorsefully. "Just remember for next time." Zemira warned.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of another Knight lingering in the doorway with a group of students huddled behind him. "Oh!" She exclaimed, realising she'd lost track of time. "Put your training sabers away, it's time for your next class." She told them and was met with some frustrated groans from the younglings who didn't get to be the attacker this time. Once everything was away, she ushered them out of the room, offering an apologetic smile to the Knight by the door as she did, and they made their way to their next class.

Finished with her last class for the day, Zemira decided to take some time to herself to go back to her room and read a book but as she turned the corner, up ahead she could see a girl who looked very out of place in the temple and with a quizzical expression, as they got closer Zemira intercepted the girl to see if she needed any help. "Are you lost?" She asked with a friendly smile. It wasn't unusual to have visitors at the temple but this one seemed peculiar and younger than most of the visitors they had so it was a possibility she was looking for help of some kind.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

As Ara walked through the temple, she was stopped by a woman. She looked up at the woman and blinked in surprise. She was pretty. Bur everyone knew the rules about pretty faces...

"I doubt you can help me. Pretty faces like yours don't usually have much else going for them." she stated bluntly before continuing on with her trip. "Kitchen's not that hard to find anyway." she spoke over her shoulder but came to a halt pretty much as soon as she said it. "Wait... was it the right or left side?" she asked herself as she glanced around.

After a few seconds of mentally kicking her own backside she turned towards the stranger. "Yo which was is it again?" she asked her loudly as her one hand gently massaged her injured finger. Whichever way she chose, she was going to make a mental note. She needed a map for this place...

Zemira

 

[Zemira]

Zemira was taken aback by the girl's comment but did nothing more than seem a little surprised. A Jedi would never behave in the manner the girl just had but the Knight was used to dealing with a range of people. She watched with curiosity as the girl tried to figure out where she was going. Either side of them Jedi were passing in the somewhat busy corridor.

When called on for help, Zemira approached the stranger again. "Follow me." She told her before leading the way to the kitchen which was semi-empty aside for a few people, given the time of day. "Are you hurt?" She asked upon noticing the special attention the girl was giving to her finger. Zemira pushed herself up onto a countertop and watched the stranger curiously. "What brings you here?" She asked.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara merely did as the woman told and fell in beside her as she led her to the kitchen. Her hand held onto her injured finger as she followed the Jedi, letting out a sigh of relief when she noticed the lack of people in the area. Not wasting any time, Ara got herself a glass and started to rummage through the kitchen for the juice. "Huh?" she muttered, glancing at the woman. "Oh, this?" she asked, pointing to her injured finger. "Yeah my karking pod's engine panel dropped on my hand as I was working on it." she explained with annoyance, gently touching her injured finger. "It's fine, though. I've had worse. It'll be fine in a day or two." she continued, pulling the juice from the fridge. She poured herself a glass and started to pull out some ingredients.

The woman spoke up again and Ara shot her a rather unimpressed look. "I'd say it's pretty obvious why I'm here." she answered with a tone thick with sarcasm before continuing to gather ingredients. "There's actually a lot of stuff here..." she commented as she studied the items sitting in front of her on the counter. "You want a dagwood and fries? I'm gonna make me some." she asked as she got to work. Pretty soon the kitchen was filled with the smell of ham, bacon, fries and all manner of pleasant smells. Like a professional Ara shuffled between checking the fries, drinking juice and preparing the sandwiches. "So what are you supposed to be? A Jedi? I've never seen pretty faces in the Jedi order before. So far I've only seen ugly people walking around with robes... not that their brains made up for their looks, though." she commented, taking another sip of her drink.

"What's your name, by the way? Also, do you got those laser swords? I asked my buddy to show it to me but he didn't want to." she asked her casually as she started to dish up her dagwood and fries.

Zemira

 

[Zemira]

The Knight watched as the girl began to search for whatever it was she came for. She seemed almost absent-minded given her distracted response to the question but she seemed adamant that her finger would be ok and swiftly moved onto the next topic. The Hapan wondered how someone so young was allowed to work with the pods and even so how she was knowledgeable enough about them at her age when she didn't know the first thing about them herself.

The attitude she received in response surprised her but she didn't react to it, having experienced a variety of people throughout her life, including many unsavoury characters from the criminal world in her childhood. Still, it was not so common for her to receive such an attitude nowadays since much of her time was spent amongst the Jedi. "Right." She simply said in response but the girl's mind seemed to move a million miles per hour from one topic to the next.

"Uh... Sure." She replied, unsure how to take such an offer at first but she figured it would be okay since she would be supervising the girl. The Knight nodded in response to her following question. "Yeah, I'm a Jedi." She replied and then shrugged. "Looks aren't everything." She told the girl. While she knew it may seem hypocritical for her to say such a thing, it was a notion she believed and she did not respect a Jedi any more for their looks, only for their skill and compassion.

"It's Zemira. Who are you and where are your parents or carers?" She asked in response. Since the girl clearly wasn't a Jedi, Zemira was curious where she came from and why she was working unsupervised in the Jedi temple. "Yeah, I do." She pulled the weapon's hilt from her belt and ignited the blue blade to show the girl for a moment before deactivating it and replacing it. "Can I see your injured finger?" She asked as she hopped down from the counter.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

The woman seemed as laid back as ever. She was calm and didn't get worked up at all. It was nice to see. Someone who didn't get angry over the silliest things... but at the same time, she wanted a reaction out of her. She wanted to see the woman take offense. Unfortunately it would seem that it would be a fruitless endeavour.

Dishing up their lunch, Ara looked up at the woman with excited eyes, anxious to see what a lightsaber looked like in real life. "Oh man, I want one." she muttered as she looked the blade over. Afterwards the woman introduced herself, asked to see her finger as well as find out who she was. Ara carefully held out her hand for the girl to see as she glanced around.

"The name's Ara. Ara Sheridan. My mom's one of the mechanics working in the hangars. But she ain't my babysitter. I do my own thing after school, especially on weekends." she explained confidently to Zemira. She continued to eat a few fries as she waited to see what the woman wanted to do. "... I won't lie, you look like a supermodel. How the kriff did you end up as a Jedi master?" she asked with a calmer voice, staring into Zemira's eyes.

Zemira