Private Catch Up Patch Up

[Amani Serys]

Medic duties continued to be a steady source of distraction, and given the NJO’s relative shortcomings when it came to Jedi Healers, Amani had been particularly feeling the workload that came with the lack of Iris’ presence most lately. So when word got to her that the young padawan had returned, she was relieved to have the extra set of hands back.

Well, except that Iris was going to have to play the patient for a bit. Whatever little trip she had been on left the Keshian with a busted up arm, meaning Amani was stuck managing as is until Iris got back in working order.

But hey, at least they’d get a chance to catch up a bit. Not since Tython had they really gotten much of a chance, and even then, it wasn’t exactly a high note to end on.

“Heyyy~” Amani entered the exam room with a singsong tune, “What’s up, kiddo? ” She snorted. She wasn’t that much older than Iris to warrant a ‘kiddo’, but that just made it more entertaining in a way. The Mirialan pulled up a stool and plopped down, giving her datapad file a cursory glance before looking back at Iris expectantly.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris glanced over her casted arm, more studying how the droid had finished wrapping it up. It wasn't really needed. The bone had already healed, and it was set properly. Well, as best as Iris and Kai could get it anyway. Still, she'd been away long enough that she felt the need to study something. That, and sleep didn't come easy. Not anymore. A familiar color flooded into the room, pulling her gaze up. Her smile brightened.

Amani.

The smile didn't stay for long though, replaced instead with a slight pout. "I don't remember you being that much older than me. Should I start calling you my elder?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

“To be honest I don’t know how old you are exactly,” She laughed awkwardly, “But uh, I’ll gladly never call you kiddo again if you agree to never call me your ‘elder’ again,” Suddenly the thought of gray hairs springing up crept into her mind. Sooner rather than later, in this line of work. Amani shuddered.

She then cleared her throat and grinned, still just happy for a chance to talk again. “I hear you’ve been on quite the adventure,” The Mirialan gestured towards the castbound arm, “Wanna tell me what the deal is?”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"I'm not really sure how old I am either, heh." Another price of her world of colors. Loosing track of time growing up. Hell, she wasn't even sure when her birthday was, if she even had one to begin with. Ah, that was a sad thought to think about. One she pushed right away as her gaze fell to her arm. "Ship malfunction sent Kai and I crash landing on an uncharted planet. Busted up my arm real bad there. They wanted to make sure it's all.. Set, I guess? I won't be in it for long I bet. You? How've you been? It's been a while since we last talked, right?"

And y'know, then she didn't have to talk about herself.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

The implications of Iris not knowing her own age brought a sadness to Amani's smile. They'd have to find some way to change that soon, but maybe after they checked on the arm. She listened to her story with visible curiosity, nodding when the padawan finished, "Jeez. I had a trip like that once. It's definitely… something."

Amani stood up to retrieve some medical tools from a supply closet, "But yeah, we'll just give it a quick check-up to make sure everything's healing correctly. Should be no biggie, and once you're all clear I can start shoving some of this workload back on you," She smirked teasingly at her fellow healer, then spun around to wheel out a large scanning device, stopping it beside the exam table.

"As for me, I'm doing alright. And, yeah, haven't had much of a chance for a one-on-one since Tython," There was a fleeting frown that came as soon as it went. Tython wasn't great for… anyone, really. And even the chats they had then were brief, and set against that distractingly unpleasant backdrop. "For once, life feels like it's going a little easier on me. A little… Not to jinx it," Amani raised her brow and chuckled. Hopefully that comment wouldn't come back to bite her later.

"How's Kai? Didn't get too beat up did he? I haven't seen him in yet."

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"He's.. Fine." As fine as some bruised ribs and such could be. He wasn't in any life threatening danger, but even bringing Arlo Renard up as a topic had a confused and frustrated expression on Iris's face. The kind that made it pretty clear talking about him distracted the young woman from literally everything else.

"We slept in a small cave together. Had to share the one blanket."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

"Fine, huh?" The padawan's wording, combined with her expression, made for an interesting and indiscernible display. Amani punched a few inputs into the machine she rolled out, and it began scanning Iris' arm, gradually piecing together a digitized overlay of skin, muscle, and bone on the attached screen.

"Oh," She wasn't even sure how to react, trapped between some mix of amusement, curiosity, and concern. "How, like… how are you two? Is there like… Do you wanna talk about it, or…?" Obviously there was something going on, but what that something was, Amani had yet to decipher. Although given the look on Iris' face, she might not have either.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

And so opened the flood gates.

"I met him really early on when I first joined the Jedi. Master Noble and I joined him to fight against some Sithspawn and I almost got eaten by some zombies and then we started sparring together and learning how to fight better and we started to become friends. Then close friends. Then I told him I loved him then he kissed me and then we got into a fight cause he didn't actually love me like I did and he lied to try and make me feel better. Then I got hurt and he didn't even come see me and we got into another fight cause I was angry at him and we finally started to make up and be friends again.

Then he got this human body and starts telling me about how beautiful he thinks I am and I just- I don't understand it! I don't get any of it at all. I just got him back as a friend after everything that happened. Then he asked me to be his girlfriend and I just- I didn't give him an answer. I just went to sleep." She groaned, setting her face in her hands. She didn't like how complicated this all seemed to be.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

The sudden outpouring of information was something Amani was wholly unprepared for. She simply grew a wide-eyed, high-browed expression, waiting patiently for the padawan to slow down. When Iris finally did, the mirialan smacked her lips and readjusted in her seat, "Wow. Okay." How to go about this…

"I think… with all this body swapping, Kai is experiencing some… new emotions? Stuff he hasn't really had the chance to process until now. Compound that with the fact that you're both teenagers, well.." An awkward clearing of the throat.

"It's a lot. I get it. For both of you." Teen drama. Even now Amani couldn't fully escape it, it seemed. "Now you two just need to make sure you're very clear with each other. Which… sounds like you've more or less got that covered...Maybe..." If the way Iris had explained things was any indicator, they were both fairly blunt throughout the process. "There's not really a single right way to go through these things. Everybody's got different ups and downs. But- You should both be comfortable with where things are going, and how fast."

"If you just want to be friends, that's your choice, that's perfectly fine. And he needs to respect that. If you've made that clear to him then it's ultimately on Kai to either accommodate or… step back, basically." She'd learned a thing or two about pacing in her relationship with Alicio. Thankfully, they were more or less on the same page. But if that was something these two couldn't quite agree on, well… there wasn't really a satisfying answer for either of them in that case.

"I mean… Do you want to be? His girlfriend, that is?"

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"That's the problem though. He's experiencing it all so suddenly that I'm not even sure if that's how he feels. When we kissed he said he did it because that's what he thought he was supposed to. What if that's all this is? Just what he thinks it's supposed to be?"

A more sullen frown took over as Iris curled up. Pulled her knees to her chest to hide her face behind. Sullen, worried. Scared. She closed her eyes as she hid her face completely. Did she want to be his girlfriend? After everything that happened, after everything they'd been through. How they'd always been there for each other up until things got messy. "When I got thrown and hurt I couldn't even leave the hospital bed for so long. And he didn't come see me. Because of everything that happened he didn't. And I needed him. I needed my friend but he wasn't there! I don't- I don't want that to happen again."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

“Then- Give it time. You shouldn’t rush into anything, especially if you’re not certain. Like you say, with how fast he’s going through all this, he might need some time of his own to really sift through those feelings before he can make a more clear-headed decision. In that meantime, stick to your guns and decide what you really want. If he really cares about you, friend or otherwise, he’ll respect your decision.”

Amani frowned. This was even more distressing to the young padawan than she thought, “I’m sorry, Iris.” The scanner rudely interrupted their talk with a beep, to more or less share information the healer had always presumed: Her arm was set properly and mending as expected. “And have you said as much to him?”

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

The beep alone made Iris jump. Seemed she was more antsy about the whole thing than she wanted to admit. The surprise in her face faded to the troubled expression all over again though. Had she actually explained any of that to Kai before? ".. Not in as many words, I think. I.. Should, yeah."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

There it was. Amani offered a small, sympathetic smile, "You should, yeah." Without some actual communication, all of this was dead in the water. "Talk to Kai. Be honest with each other. And you two will figure something out."

"Your arm's fine, by the way," She chuckled a bit, briefly switching their focus just to see her job through, "Don't do anything dumb with it, and the bone will be fully mended in no time. But I probably don't have to tell you that," Iris was a promising healer in her own right. And it didn't take a genius to understand it should be left unstrained. Well, hopefully it didn't, anyway.

"Anything else you need me to check on, or…?" Amani shrugged, "Or anything else you wanna talk about? My schedule's actually pretty clear for the next few hours, but I won't keep you locked up."

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

Yeah. Talk to him. That should be easy. They were always pretty blunt about.. Everything, right? Should be fine.

Iris didn't look fine. But she nodded and forced a smile anyway. At least her arm was going to be fine.

"I.. Lets talk about you. Um, if that's okay. I really don't want to think about this kind've stuff. And you seem really good! Did you find a boyfriend or something?" To her credit, Iris was saying that as a joke.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Talk about her? Amani didn't see the harm in it. She'd already imparted the knowledge she felt Iris needed, and if the girl didn't want to talk more about it, then Amani didn't want to inundate her with more in case it became overwhelming.

And you seem really good! Did you find a boyfriend or something?

Her composure dropped almost immediately, "I- uh, er- What? I mean- How did-? Did Valery tell you?" There was almost a twinge of disappointment in her voice, at the thought of it being revealed. Well, except that her answer more or less confirmed it. Amani pinched the bridge of her nose at this realization and scoffed.

In truth, she didn't have much reason to feel this guarded about it. It's not exactly like there was anything shameful or illicit about her and Alicio's relationship. But they were still only just beginning to ease into it publicly, and Iris' apparent knowledge had caught her in a strange conflict of emotion.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

".. Huh?"

Iris blinked. Stared. Then sat right up. Excitement, confusion, curiosity. Mostly excitement and curiosity. Iris grinned wide, sitting literally on the edge of her seat as she looked Amani over as if dating suddenly made her change physically. "You have a boyfriend!? Who are they, what are they like? How did you meet!?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

"Well-- Maybe I have a girlfriend, hm?" She sassed, just for the sake of being contrarian; A halfhearted attempt to recover some lost ground after spilling her own proverbial beans. Alas the last woman Amani flirted with was a Sith vampire, and they weren't exactly on speaking terms now. That would have been illicit.

She rolled her eyes and relented, "His name is Alicio. We met at the refugee camp on Tython." A smile couldn't be helped at the thought, "...He's great."

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Is it?"

Iris blinked innocently. Man, woman, didn't really matter to Iris. Hell, the last person to flirt with her was technically a space rock possessing a human body, so.. She laughed. Not at the thought, but at the name. She actually know Alicio.

"You're dating the senator? That's great! He's really nice. .. Well, I mean, if it's the same Alicio I know. Heh. But! It has to be, right? The senator?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

"Y-yes. The senator. The Organa," Amani couldn't help but laugh herself. It occurred to her that Valery mentioned meeting Alicio at one point, it stood to reason Iris may have been a part of that as well.

Small galaxy.

"How do you know him? Aside from the refugee camp, I'm assuming," That part of the story she never quite heard.

Iris Arani​

 

[Iris Arani]

"I met him with Eli a while back. Then I beat him up on a private beach." Context was lacking, but Iris wasn't here to talk about herself and Alicio. She grinned wider, scooting ever more towards just falling off the bed.

"so what's it like? Dating? Dating him? Is it fun?"

Amani Serys