Faction Come and Present Nothing | Tython, Jedi Temple (NJO)

[Mason Phray]

Come and Present Nothing
Tython, Jedi Temple
Tags: Open

​

Mason wasn't really sure why he had decided to come here.

Was it because he was down on his luck? By now the apartment had already been leased to a new tenant. He was, effectively, homeless without this. Maybe it was to better understand those visions? How the hell was he even supposed to understand looking into the void? Gazing down into the depths of Coruscant hadn't exactly prepared him for that. A part of him wondered if saving that old lady had made him feel a little less miserable about himself, but he sure wasn't going to admit that out-loud.

Perhaps the ultimate truth was that he couldn't bring himself to fight the invitation. He just wanted to leave Coruscant behind and never think about it again... at least for a month or so.

And this place was nothing like he had ever experienced in his life. Mason could breath in this place. The air was thin and natural, not plagued by the grime of the planet-devouring mega-structure that was Galactic City. Vibrant greens, mountains towering into the sky with snow-topped peaks, and a grand ancient temple that lie at the heart of the only hustle-and-bustle on the planet, it seemed. Even the settlements he had seen from the sky were small and insignificant seeming.

He wasn't any less small and insignificant himself. The Temple dwarfed him and his large canvas bag, filled with the only belongings he still had to his name. He had packed nearly his entire room into it, the rest not worth keeping. It was hard to tell if this was like becoming a whole new person or just being the same old uninteresting person in a new place and with significantly less things. He wasn't going to kid himself and pretend that a new coat of paint was going to fix everything. The root of his problems ultimately was himself. Hesitancy wasn't an issue he had expected though. He sort of just stood at the steps of the temple slouching and staring at it with his icy blue gaze, never quite seeming to finally make the decision to enter. Mason wasn't sure why...

Maybe he'd come out of his daze after a few more moments...

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Lothal
Tags: Mason Phray
Lightsaber - Pequod


"You know you're normally meant to take your feet and put them on those steps right to get in? It's not automatic. You aren't just going to get lifted off your feet."

A voice came from behind the shaggy haired fellow, as Reina came walking over towards the temple, with a sack of fish held over her shoulder. It wasn't the same as fishing out at the ocean, Reina had taken to fishing in the river. It had been a good way for her to meditate, compared to being sat in one of the Temple meditation rooms. Yet of course on her way back, she had seen the stranger stood outside with his own bag...Of course, it wasn't filled with fish...She hoped.

"It's not nearly as big inside. Well...It is, but you get used to it. I suppose...Let me think...Anything I should give you a heads up..."

Reina frowned to herself in thought for a moment, staring off into space. She was at least starting to get more social with people, even if she did have a more sarcastic tone to her voice. At least she wasn't being snappy or as rude as she used to be to strangers as her eyes then settled back on the new arrival.

"You might see a Hutt moving about here. She's one of the Padawans. I...Bare with her please. She's a bit...eccentric. But they're good at heart."

At least Reina hoped Jobbi was good at heart. That was the main person she thought she should give a new arrival a headsup on. Everyone else seemed relatively normal. Well, normalish. She glanced down at herself, as she realised she did partly stand out with her prosthetic leg. Well then. She shook her head, and looked straight back up once more.

"Oh. I'm Reina by the way. If you ever need some fresh fish, come and call me. I'll take any excuse to cast a line out."
​

 

[Klar]

​

TYTHON​

Jedi Temple​

Maybe it was their way of letting her know they knew she wasn't doing anything useful, Klar reflected.

Not every moment at the temple was spent in mediation or martial training, obviously, just as not every position had to do with combat or ancient knowledge. Teens needed wrangling, cafeterias needed stocking, and droids needed repairing. When Klar had been almost literally grabbed by the collar by an authority figure and told that she was up on an obscure cleaning detail around the dorms, the Codru-Ji girl had weighed the cost of dutifully performing the task against the benefit of NOT doing said task and instead blowing it off. It'd been a real ethical struggle. Taken her an entire five minutes of pretending to do the task before looking for something else to do as a pre-emptive defense.

That task had been mildly less onerous, but it was still onerous. Klar had traded that detail for a more favorable job. And so on until two hours had passed and she'd mostly succeeded in chatting with her peers and not doing any actual work. Honestly? Mission accomplished.

And she HAD eventually arrived down at a favorable task - orientation! Showing new recruits around, getting them rooms and robes, answering questions. That, frankly, sounded GREAT.

Unfortunately for Klar, rather than a pack of excited younglings to sherpa around... Mason Phray . Sulky-looking, miserable-looking, fresh off the boat young man who didn't look like he wanted to be there. Worse, Reina Daival had beaten her to the job... meaning that by all rights Klar should trust orientation to her colleague and find something useful to do.

But! KLAR! WOULD! NOT! BE! DETERRED!

Just because she'd been looking forward to chasing around a bunch of kids and instead had one sulky boy to manage didn't mean that that was the fault of the sulky boy, and she wouldn't let his greasy hair or thousand-yard stare discourage her from putting her best foot forward with a new peer AND blowing off work!

Unfortunately for Mason Phray, the blonde who bounded down the temple stairs to meet him wore her Coruscanti roots in every word she spoke. "Welcome to the Tython temple!" Klar chirped, holding a datapad in her power arms as she folded her top arms and bowed. "You must be Mason. Welcome! I'm Klar."

"I see you've already met Reina." Klar added, nodding respectfully to the red-headed angler. "Good afternoon."

 

[Jobbi Chantin]

Pet (hair): Fuzzy (Sha'rellian toop)

"Welcome to the Tython temple!"

There was a squelch. Then a thud. Then the sound of something heavy moving much too fast.

The dorm corridor shuddered with momentum as a massive green blur came barreling around the corner.

"Waitwaitwait I heard we got a new one—!"

The voice came first, then Jobbi Chantin herself came into view—eleven feet and four inches of slime-slick Hutt hurtling toward the gathering like an out-of-control landspeeder, wearing a very obviously slept-in black Sleemo band T-shirt (complete with faded tour dates on the back), one sleeve awkwardly caught beneath her left armpit roll. A floppy plush Jawa dangled from one hand, dragged along the stone behind her.

Balanced (barely) atop her head, her trusty Sha'rellian toop Fuzzy posed dramatically, puffed up like a theatrical wig, his little limbs trembling with the effort to stay centered as Jobbi skidded to a halt.

She blinked her massive yellow eyes at Mason with delighted awe—completely oblivious to any tension, awkwardness, or social protocol.

"Hi!! I’m Jobbi!! I’m a Padawan too!! You’re new, right??"

She immediately extended the Jawa plushie toward him like a sacred relic.

"Taka, ya bantay! Bargon u noa hunkee da!"

A giant smile split her face. It was genuine. Alarming. Possibly contagious.

"Do you like fish?! Reina sometimes gives me the heads, and Klar’s really good at sneaking pudding – You picked a good Temple!"

She paused, glancing down at the dragging sleeve, the Jawa’s dirt-smudged face, the clear trail of slime she'd left behind – and the dedicated sweeper droid following after. A concession Xoff purchased after receiving complaints.

Fuzzy let out a proud trill, still posed like he was the top-knot of destiny.

Mason Phray Reina Daival Klar @Open​

 

[Mason Phray]

Tython
Tags: Jobbi Chantin , Klar , Reina Daival

​

"Uh..."

Nothing like being immediately overwhelmed to start his time here. There was a girl with fish, a four-armed lady, and a huttling. They all seemed to address him in rapid succession, and the information was a bit of an overload. Mason certainly didn't process anything that he had been told. The one with extra appendages seemed to know his name already. They must have had some kind of roster update board thing...

"Mason..." he greeted, his tone low and a bit raspy. The sort you'd expect from someone who hadn't slept in a while.

He didn't have much choice in accepting the Jawa plush, or at least he clearly didn't have any fight in him. An inquisitive frown came over his face.

"Uh... thanks?"

The topic seemed to be squarely on fish now. This was all going too fast for him to follow along. Yet at the same time he was nowhere close to socially comfortable enough to bail from the sudden conversation he had been roped into. Best to play along so maybe he could slip away unnoticed later.

"Fish is... okay," he chose his words carefully. He had a very neutral fish opinion.

Picked a good temple? What choices were there? He certainly didn't want to stay on Coruscant. He had just gotten away from there...

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Lothal
Tags: Mason Phray Klar Jobbi Chantin
Lightsaber - Pequod


"Afternoon."

Reina gave Klar a short nod alongside a small smile. It wasn't like her to smile, but Reina was trying to come off as more of a social person than she actually was. And then speak of the Hutt, and they shall arrive it appeared. See. She was right. Jobbi did have a good heart. Yet as she turned her attention towards Mason, she could very easily see the lack of social comfortable. It was how she used to feel herself. And of course that meant she wasn't going to let the lad feel comfortable.

"Fishing used to be my life before I joined the Jedi. Alongside diving. If you ever need help learning how to swim, come and find me."

She left out the part where she'd throw Mason into the deep end to learn. It was the best way to learn at the end of the day. If you weren't struggling against the tide, were you really learning?...Force Help whoever becomes her Padawan when she eventually becomes a Knight.

The smile stayed on Reina's face, even as she took in the sight of the other two. The four-armed lass seemingly filled with energy. Sometimes Reina wished she could be like that, but she was happy taking things at her own pace. Then there was Jobbi with her sleemo shirt...Eh. Reina was more of a sea shanty fan than anything else. Which reminded her...She'd need to make some more little sea shanties when she was back in her dorm room.

"One of these two might be better to show you around. I'm not exactly...the most friendly"
​

 

[Klar]

​

TYTHON​

Temple Steps​

"Honestly? More's the merrier." Klar laughed. "This itinerary is full of boring stuff. Where laundry is, meal times, bathroom locations." She explained, waving the datapad around off-handedly. "I thought I'd be getting to show younglings around, but Mason can probably figure all that junk out on his own." She awlwardly laughed and followed that with a light-hearted raspberry, pantomiming tossing the datapad into the bushes. Klar didn't actually toss it, though, stuff was expensive and she mostly wanted people to think she was cool.

Hands on her hips, Klar's grin was downright radiant. With Mason alone? She'd probably have been fufilling her duties. Reina as well? Big maybe. But Jobbi's presence tipped the balance towards hijinx-as-teambuidling, or at least curved the mood of the day towards socialization - at least in Klar's opinion.

"Say, when you're fishing -" Klar began, giving Reina her full focus. "Is it more or less effective to just jump in the water and try and catch 'em?" She asked animatedly. "I bet if you swam really fast you could probably wrangle at least a dozen with like a laundry hamper or something before they even knew what was happening. Spoiler, I've never been fishing or swimming before and can you please take me sometime? I love eating fish and I love baths so I'd probably be very good at both." The blonde explained. "Not to say that they are easy or anything, I assume it's a very skilled practice with a lot of layers to it."

Mason Phray | Reina Daival | Jobbi Chantin

 

[Jobbi Chantin]

Pet (hair): Fuzzy (Sha'rellian toop)

Jobbi stared at Mason as he took the plushie. Her eyes widened. His "uh" and "thanks," were... not exactly thrilled responses.

She leaned in just slightly, her massive weight squishing the stone tiles like a warm gelatinous landslide.

"Oh no," she whispered, horrified.
"He’s sad."

She turned her head toward Klar and Reina with deadly seriousness, one slimy finger pressed to the side of her snout like this was a mission briefing.

"He's homesick. I recognize the symptoms. I used to sound just like that."

Turning back to Mason, Jobbi attempted subtlety and failed spectacularly. She leaned in so close her band shirt brushed against his shoulder, her eyes nearly uncannily wide, each larger than a grown man's fist.

"If you want, I can tell everyone you’re already a Knight. You can skip orientation.."
She dropped her voice to a hush.
"Mi tonka nakuda jee oto. Mi boska bo wermo."
She gave a solemn nod like she’d just sworn an oath, her state unyielding.

Then Klar mentioned swimming, and Jobbi immediately pivoted—no transition, no warning.

"Oh, yeah, we Hutts are actually natural swimmers," she declared with the false confidence of a blatant lie.
"We can hit like… fifty kilometers an hour underwater. But we don’t. Too lazy. Not worth it. Too powerful. Would be unfair to the fish."

Fuzzy flopped sideways on her scalp with a squeaky exasperated blorp. Jobbi didn’t break eye contact. After a pregnant pause she shuffled slightly closer to Mason again, her voice quieter now, more sincere:

"It’s okay if you don’t like fish. I didn’t like anything when I first got here."
Her giant tail made a slow, nervous curl behind her.
"But it gets better. Especially if you catch Reina off guard while she's doing the brooding thing."

Fuzzy let out a triumphant chirp. Jobbi beamed.

Mason Phray Reina Daival Klar @Open​

 

[Mason Phray]

Tython
Tags: Jobbi Chantin , Reina Daival , Klar

​

"He’s sad."

Mason let out a sigh. Sad. Sure, he was certainly dreary, but sad and bored looking were two very different things. The huttlet went on about how she could pretend he was a knight, muttering something to him in Huttese that she certainly didn't understand. And then it was back to fish, which the little Hutt of course assumed he hated after giving a neutral response.

He certainly wasn't getting alone time soon.

"One of these two might be better to show you around. I'm not exactly...the most friendly"

Well that was certainly familiar sounding.

"Could have fooled me..." Mason noted in a low tone.

She had been fairly amiable when coming up to greet him. Anyone could be prickly if given the right circumstances. He gave a shrug after a moment of silent contemplation.

"I think just knowing where board and the mess hall are will be fine..." he reasoned.

Food and sleep. That would get him set for the day.

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Lothal
Tags: Mason Phray Klar Jobbi Chantin
Lightsaber - Pequod


"You've got me on a good day. Just wait until I start tellin' you to kark off or start waving my lightsaber at you like it's some kind of Hammer."

She patted Pequod at her side for a moment, her smile breaking out into a small grin. Wow. She was being really social today. What was wrong with her? She glanced over to Klar, giving a small playful roll of her eyes at the other Padawan's grin. Reina never understood how people could do that. Grin as if they were radiating light off themselves. Valery could do it. Everest. Even Jobbi could grin like that sometimes...though it was more like a slimy sun with her if Reina thought about it...Either way. It was time to answer Klar's question.

"Sometimes it can be easier that way. It's like Harpoon fishing. I have my old harpoon in my dorm room. Might start using it again, but the rivers aren't deep enough. Need a good ocean for that. With a wetsuit and my harpoon, I used to be able to bring a bunch of fish back to the Ship...Practice is important I suppose, yeah. I've just been doing this stuff since...as long as I can remember. I could swim before I could walk. And with a missing leg, swimming still feels more natural than walking."

Another way she had been getting more social. She was talking about herself to basically what were strangers to her, as she gave a gentle knock to her prosthesis. She cupped her chin between her thumb and index finger for a moment, giving Klar a proper look over before giving a satisfied nod.

"Your extra arms are either going to be a curse or a blessing for it. More often than not, the creatures best suited for swimming have few limbs if any. At least not as big as our arms...But they might be able to help."

Reina raised an eyebrow at Jobbi's lie. It wasn't something she'd call out. It made sense. Jobbi wanted to make herself look cool for the new guy. Maybe she thought he was cute or something? Reina wasn't sure. She hadn't really ever seen a cute guy before. And Jobbi deserved a chance to show herself off...even if the Huttlet did mention Reina's brooding, causing the redhead's grin to fade.

Oh. You better be careful Jobbi. I have plenty of stories I could tell about you...

It was mostly just a thought that came to her...but Reina wasn't going to say anything. Not yet at least. Instead, her focus should be on Mason. She should be responsible. Yeah.

"Board and mess hall...Shouldn't be too bad. Giving a heads up. You might have a dorm mate. Some of us do, some of us don't. It's...weird like that."
​

 

[Klar]

​

TYTHON​

Temple Stairs​

"Extra arms?" Klar asked, briefly surprised by the phrasing. She didn't let it keep her down, though. "Not a problem!" Klar grinned ear-to-ear, folding two arms behind her back. Upper left and lower right, clasping each other by the wrist at her shoulderblades. Of course this just made her much less hydrodynamic than she would have been otherwise, but that was the whole joke. Klar indicated this by winking and firing off lopsided finger-blasters. "I'm gonna take you up on that, though. Let's set a day to go try out your harpoon and swimming and eat some fish." She paused, checking her datapad. "...does Zhellday work for you?"

She wasn't about to miss this opportunity to learn a fun thing, make a friend, and eat something. Those were essentially all of Klar's favorite things, or at least most of them. But! TASK. She had a job to do, and she'd shirked too many other jobs off on other people to not do this one.

"I'll show you where the important bits are, then." Klar promised Mason smugly, tossing the datapad from one hand to the other as she stretched her arms back out. "Super easy. Just stick close. You'll be able to smell the food hallways away." That'd been her experience, anyway. After a full day of being on Tython, she'd been able to pick basically any scent out of the sea of trees, trees, and more trees. Super easy. Barely an inconvenience.

Hands behind her back, Klar took a couple experimental steps up towards the temple while wistfully swinging her hips, hoping the others would follow her begruding tour. "I wish I had a roommate." The Codru-Ji complained mildly. Even if her tone was laid-back, her motormouth continued in overdrive. "Someone I should share my space and struggles and wardrobe with. Instead there's just an empty bed on the other side of my room. Sometimes I try for a change in perspective and sleep on that side, but I never wake up feeling wiser for it," A sad sigh, a shrug, a tiny rock kicked off of the steps and safely into a shrub where it could no longer present a tiny tripping hazard to any Wisties that might walk by.

Heading up the stairs, Klar spread her arms wide to the main entrance of the temple. "As you can see here! A BIG! FRONT! DOOR! Good for letting lots of people in and out of the temple at once, especially if they're stacked on top of each other. Over the years, many people have come through and out of this door. Statistically, mostly Jedi!"

Klar stage-whispered over her shoulder, grinning. "Don't worry; I won't bore you with the ancient history of stuff unless you guys really want it." She laughed.

 

[Jobbi Chantin]

Pet (hair): Fuzzy (Sha'rellian toop)

Jobbi fell quiet.

Not sulking—but quieter than usual. Her enormous eyes blinked slowly as Klar led the tour with a radiant, boundless energy, and Reina talked about her harpoon and the deep ocean like she belonged there. Mason, for his part, didn’t say much, but he didn’t leave either. That meant something. Probably.

So Jobbi followed.

At a respectful distance behind Mason, she inched forward just enough to offer:

"Do you need help carrying anything?"
She motioned to his already fully-handled bag.
"I’m really good at carrying stuff. Like... really good."
She added, more quietly,
"Once I carried an entire stewpot on my back without dropping it. I mean, it did fall in the end, but that wasn't my fault."

When Klar mentioned wishing she had a roommate, Jobbi's body perked up like a sad balloon inflating again.

"I applied to be one!" she chirped.
"But the Service Corps said they lost the forms again. I think the datastream here has low viscosity."
She meant latency, probably. Or bureaucracy. Either way, she seemed to believe it.

Then she went quiet again.

Her eyes briefly drifted toward Reina, then down to the floor. No more bragging. No more shark-speed fibs. Her stubby arms folded politely beneath her front, and she kept pace with the group, nodding supportively whenever Klar pointed something out—even if Jobbi had no idea what it was.

She didn’t interrupt. She didn’t slide forward. She just stayed close enough for Mason to know she was there, in case he needed a second pair of slime-slick hands or someone to pretend not to notice if he got lost.

Fuzzy gave a low, comforting chirp and tucked his limbs deeper into Jobbi’s scalp folds, like a little anchor.

Mason Phray Reina Daival Klar @Open​

 

[Mason Phray]

Tython
Tags: Jobbi Chantin , Reina Daival , Klar

​

"You've got me on a good day. Just wait until I start tellin' you to kark off or start waving my lightsaber at you like it's some kind of Hammer."

"I'll... keep that in mind."

"Do you need help carrying anything?"
She motioned to his already fully-handled bag.
"I’m really good at carrying stuff. Like... really good."
She added, more quietly,
"Once I carried an entire stewpot on my back without dropping it. I mean, it did fall in the end, but that wasn't my fault."

"I'm good..." he assured. "Don't have much luggage."

All he owned was in that backpack. He didn't see the need to trouble anyone with it.

Mason was easily lead about the temple. He did his best to listen to everything that Klar was saying, but there was a lot. Or maybe more accurate was that it was very high energy and hard for someone as slow as himself to keep up with. But he got the gist, mostly. Messhall smelled loud, sometimes you had a dormmate and sometimes you didn't. Mason was an adult, so he'd surely be on his own.

It was better that way. He wasn't one for company.

"As you can see here! A BIG! FRONT! DOOR! Good for letting lots of people in and out of the temple at once, especially if they're stacked on top of each other. Over the years, many people have come through and out of this door. Statistically, mostly Jedi!"

Truly thrilling stuff. Mason offered a shrug when Klar worried about boring the group.

"I don't mind either way," Mason shrugged. "Figure classes will rattle off history to me if you don't wanna..."

He seemed content to just... flow. Or maybe he was tired. It was hard to tell.

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Lothal
Tags: Mason Phray Klar Jobbi Chantin
Lightsaber - Pequod


Reina blinked to herself for a moment. Someone was actually...making plans to go fishing with her? A very giddy grin slowly spreading across the redhead's face. She hadn't actually had anyone want to set up a plan like that. She couldn't help but give a little giggle at that...before blinking as the sound reached her ears and she let the grin fade from her face as she looked away instead. They hadn't heard anything. Totally.

"Zhellday would be perfect!...I mean...erh...yeah. I'm not busy that day...I guess...It could work."

With that, she just started to follow the trio, throwing the sack of fish over her shoulder once more as her leg whirred along with every single step. Reina raised an eyebrow at how Jobbi was acting for a moment. Offering to be useful constantly. Reina found it...familiar. Not necessarily for herself, but she had see it before. People who wanted to be liked or feel like they fit in. She sighed for a moment. Reina wasn't good at this stuff...She wasn't exactly amazing at cheering people up.

"...Hey. Jobbi. Why don't you tell Mason about Sleemo? He seems like the kind of person who would like some good music...plus think of the whole dorm situation like this. Without a dormmate, it means you get more space to have your plushies."

Honestly? She wasn't sure if Mason was the kind. But it would help cheer up Jobbi. At least that's what Reina thought. Jobbi would get to talk about one of her favourite bands, and wouldn't have to focus on being quiet. Reina could do that job. Though she did hurry up a little bit from the rear of the group to talk to Klar, as Reina rubbed the back of her neck, lowering her voice a little bit.

"If you want...we can...be unofficial roommates? Just sneak in the other's dorm every so often? That way...you can share your struggles? Not sure if you want to share my wardrobe though...I...Anyway...I should let you...get on with the history lesson."

What was she doing? Offering to let someone basically snoop in her dorm room? At the very least she'd be able to show off her harpoon and the other little doodads Reina had in her dorm. That was the bright side to focus on. Not the boringness of the history "class". It wasn't something Reina normally bothered with. Instead she let herself fall back a little bit as she used the Force to spin the air around her hand. Might as well try to do a bit of practice whilst she had free time.
​

 

[Klar]

​

TYTHON​

Temple Atrium​

Klar half-turned as she walked, giving Jobbi a questioning look. Some might hesitate to bunk with a Hutt - reputation aside, they had a way of filling a space in every sense of the word, on top of their reputed penchant for cruelty and transactional retribution. Most of them were ways Klar was well accustomed to. Smell didn't bother her, slime didn't bother her. She'd met four or five Hutts while a slave, and Jobbi didn't act like any of them. As far as the blonde Codru-Ji was concerned, it was simply a matter of logistics.

She had space. Jobbi wanted to fill the space. Klar was already figuring out where she could dump superfluous furniture to make the room more comfortable. She was more bothered at the thought that somebody had made the decision on either one of their behalf without saying a word.

"I'll say something to the dorm leads." Klar promised with uncharacteristic sobriety. "Why don't you come by tonight and check the space out, we can make it cozy for you and see if we're a good fit?" She proposed hopefully.

Additionally, Klar did rapidly nod in agreement with Reina's proposal. Unofficial roommates sounded like official friends, and that meant that whatever happened today it was going to be one for the 'win' column. "I don't know if we wear the same sizes." The blonde yammered cheerfully, plucking at the hem and shoulders of her top with a broad grin. "But it'd be fun to find out! With your hair and skin, I bet you look AMAZING in bold blues - and so do I! So basically half of what I own that isn't a robe overlaps with you. AND it's the same color as ocean water, I think! I've never actually SEEN an ocean, but I think it's mostly blue water, right? That's how it's pictured in holofilms and games. I saw a lake here on Tython and a couple of streams, but that water is brown. Which, to be fair, I ALSO wear a lot of. But who doesn't?" Klar laughed, gesturing to her untied Jedi robe with a flourish.

They reached the first big crossroads through the massive Temple doors. Jedi and support staff of all stripes passed hither and yon. Younglings going to classes, Knights moving purposefully on some errand or another, outsiders come to the temple to visit, pay respects, or seek assistance. "Down THAT hallway is the offices. The archives are right on top of them. You probably won't go there often? But when you do, be quiet and respectful. They're very boring down there. The slightest bit of excitement might throw them off for days." Klar explained, peering over her shoulder at the group.

"Down the left, that's how you get to the important facilities. Though there's a starport back there-" Klar pointed back the way they came. "-for people to get on and off planet, and that's where you came from Mason, down there is where we keep our own vessels and facilities. There's a very cool hangar down that way with some fantastically old ships in it, I keep requesting a tour but it keeps getting lost in processing. Must be the viscosity." She sighed, shrugging her criss-crossing, pointing hands.

"We're going ahead." Klar affirmed, gesturing forward with all arms. "The Old Temple is here, it's where a lot of classes are held. It's used as a meditation space. You have to pass through it to get to the dorms and whatnot, or walk around the whole building. Which you might want to do if you're trying to avoid getting pulled into something or noticed by people or whatever." She explained brightly.

Mason Phray Reina Daival Jobbi Chantin

 

[Jobbi Chantin]

Pet (hair): Fuzzy (Sha'rellian toop)

Jobbi slithered in sync behind Mason for several paces. Every now and then, she'd peek up at him—then look away, pretending to examine the walls or ceiling beams like she was totally just admiring architecture.

When he said he didn’t need help with his bag, she nodded solemnly like he’d just passed a test of strength. She murmured quietly, to herself:

“Da bagga isha gusha ta jeeska uba.”

Then came Reina’s voice, slicing through the air like a fishing line through mist.

"...Hey. Jobbi. Why don't you tell Mason about Sleemo?..."

Jobbi lit up.

Fuzzy gave a startled chirp and held on tight as the Huttlet wiggled with barely-contained excitement.

"Ohmygoshyes okay—so Sleemo is this hyper-neon sludgecore fusion band with like, six lead singers because they all got caught in a spice reactor explosion and now are psychically linked like they are the same person, but one of them is an Ithorian that smokes death sticks through only one of his mouths so one voice is super gravelly and the other one is smooth and they rotate the lead every album!"

She didn’t wait to confirm if any of that was true.

"They play out of an old garbage barge turned into sound temple, and their frontslug, Slorr Kreemo, plays a bass guitar the size of a landspeeder. They once got arrested for playing too loud near an excavation site with amplifiers from converted sonic guns and the building fell down! And they didn’t even stop playing! But their drummer died in the shootout during the concert and the new one drummer just can't match Boz Kreeho's fills, but he's getting better!"

She beamed, swaying slightly beside Mason.
"I have most of their bootlegs. The one from the excavation concert is mostly just crowds screaming and blasters, but..."

Jobbi halted–
Klar made the offer.

Check out the room. See if they’re a good fit.

Jobbi stopped, stunned. The hallway noises seemed to fall away for a second. She blinked, then nodded a little too fast.

"Yeah! That'd be... that'd be good. I mean—not that I need a room. I’ve slept in drawers before. Big ones. Storage crates. One time on my dad's throne. So like—I’m flexible."

A beat.

"...But also, a real room is fine. Cozy. Cozy is good."

Fuzzy let out a soft, supportive oink and gently flopped across her head like a bow.

Jobbi didn’t say anything else for a while. She just followed along, still grinning faintly. Maybe a little misty-eyed. But it was probably just moisture in the air. Definitely not feelings.

Mason Phray Reina Daival Klar @Open​

 

[Mason Phray]

Tython
Tags: Jobbi Chantin , Reina Daival , Klar

​

"Sleemo..?"

Mason didn't know it, but he had just had his ears sacrificed to the musical interests of a teenage Hutt. Jobbi made her interest known loundly, proudly, and very rapidly. The overload was certainly far too much for him to even keep up with anything that she said. He did feel bad. She seemed so thrilled to talk about her favorite band, but he didn't have anywhere close to that kind of energy to match.

"Sounds... interesting," he stated after her monologue, at least trying to pretend like he was listening. "I think I'm into music softer than... sludgecore..."

What an awful name for a genera. It made one imagine goopy instruments.

"The Old Temple is here, it's where a lot of classes are held. It's used as a meditation space. You have to pass through it to get to the dorms and whatnot, or walk around the whole building. Which you might want to do if you're trying to avoid getting pulled into something or noticed by people or whatever."

"I... suppose that's fair," Mason sighed, rubbing at his shoulder.

He didn't mean to try and avoid people. There were just certain situations not suited to someone like him. Social interaction was difficult and complex, and he was sort of... odd. He didn't really feel like he had much to offer in a social context.

"Do, uh... people around here get roped into things often?"