Email, She Wrote

[Charity Luckless]

It was 13:28, precisely two minutes before the meeting time requested by the Grandmaster. Therefore Charity Luckless remained outside the door to her office, awaiting the exact time to enter. Besides, she was aware that she would have a colleague involved in whatever discussion was to ensue. It was not often that she was so specifically sought out, but when she was, she came.

The unusually tall woman appeared nearly inanimate as she awaited the arrival of her peer and the clock's strike of the half hour, arms folded within her cloak patiently. For a human of her size, she created little noise, and her composure was entirely serene as she studied the holographic icons of past Grandmasters along the walls. It was not a position fitting for her, she knew. But one could envelope themselves enough in the environment of these halls to affect their imagination and wonder. What might one have to triumph, witness, and suffer to attain such a prestigious office in this esteemed Order? Perhaps the Grandmaster herself had waited in these halls one time with the same contemplation as she did right now.

What mission did the Grandmaster think she could possibly be the proper Jedi for?

[member="Eri'anya Forr"], [member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

"Sorry... 'scuse me! Sorry!" Eri'anya gave a half bow of apology, before turning on her heel to resume the jog to her destination. While there had been no collisions yet, the young Jedi had vaulted through the personal space of several peer in her hasty trip to the Grandmaster's office. It was the first time she had been specifically summoned for an assignment, and she yearned to make a good impression. Arriving late was absolutely not an option.

Besides, Eri'anya most certainly was not running, she just new that with her stature, a comfortable walk would result in her inevitable tardiness. All her life, everything was just a little farther away, or slightly out of reach for the diminutive Jedi. It was a fantastic motivator for the girl, imbuing her with a nigh-insatiable drive to succeed and grow. Others may occasionally call her out for her zeal, but she was fairly certain her heart was in the right place.

13:28... two minutes! Almost there! The young knight whipped around the final corner with the barest hint of a slide, reducing her pace to that of a slow jog as she trotted up to the Grandmaster's office. She had made it on time, a faint trace of heavy breathing giving away just how close she had come to missing the meeting to only the most discerning eye. At least she hadn't worked up a sweat.

Stepping up to the door, Eri'anya took her place leaning against the wall, directing her gaze up to find that of the very tall Jedi before her. For her size, she had a remarkable lack of visual presence, standing motionless as a statue as she seemingly waited for the minutes to tick by. It seemed almost cosmically perfect that they would have to stand next to each other this very moment, each woman's stature accentuated by that of the other. The imagery pulled an easy smile across Eri'anya's features, giving the taller woman a respectful nod in greeting.

"Hello there!"

[member="Charity Luckless"] [member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

[SIZE=24pt]As[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] the pair of Knights made their way to Arisa's office, she was at the kitchenette preparing tea. Nothing special, just white tea. As the tea leaves finished seeping on the pot, she placed it upon a small tray already topped off with a jar of honey, cups, and utensils. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Just as she picked up the tray to transfer it to her desk, she could feel two new distinct presences right at her door, open as usual. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"Please, enter." she called out to them both as she set the tray down on the desk, then turned to meet her coming guests right at the door step, ready to shake hands with them both once they joined her inside her office. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Near the start of her tenure, the office wing within the Silver Temple had received some renovations, making them more open and inviting, with some kind of plant lining nearly every wall. No better was the change exemplified than within Arisa's own office, chock full of potted and hanging plants, only a few steps from being a greenhouse. The room spanning windows at the far end of the room gave an excellent view of the lakefront outside, busy with activity. In the years since the Silver Jedi had originally settled into the valley, the small community of temple dwellers had expanded into its own vast campus that now housed thousands across many different fields of employment, from soldiers to medical researchers.[/SIZE]

[member="Eri'anya Forr"] [member="Charity Luckless"]

 

[Charity Luckless]

There were some things she simply did not have a decent grasp on, and one of those things was conversation. And, in a way, it felt difficult to break her usual silence to speak when approached by someone she was unfamiliar with, like there was a gag in her throat that prevented discernible syllables from coming out. It always just seemed best to be as polite as possible while attempting to suppress any following talk. She wasn't good at small talk, anyway. She feared it would be more offensive for her to flounder and shrink from conversation than to just put the idea to rest in the first place. Besides, it felt a little rude to... look down upon the young woman.

And so Charity simply returned the new arrival's greeting with a nod, doing her best to portray a soft smile. There was something curious about this associate of hers--apart from her particularly short stature--but there was no point in dwelling on it when they had business at hand. The Grandmaster was calling.

She accepted the Grandmaster's invitation and strode into the office with uncanny fluidity. With her feet hidden beneath the fabrics of her robe, it was like she was skating on the floor, barely a jolt in her steps. Bowing her head, she brought Master Yune's hand into her possession for a moment in the typical saluting gesture of humans. Then she stepped to the side and allowed her... shorter peer to participate in the ritual.

[member="Arisa Yune"], [member="Eri'anya Forr"]

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Well, okay then...

Eri'anya could take a hint. It hardly took a genius-level intellect to discern that the towering woman wasn't feeling up to talking. For all the dignity and grace she carried herself through her stance and posture, there was a flicker of something in the other Jedi's eyes that hinted at a certain reluctance. That, or it was just a light reflecting in her eyes due to the angle she regarded her from. There was more than a foot separating the two women's respective heights, and Eri had to crane her neck to avoid staring at the other Jedi's chest. How was she so tall, anyway?

Before she followed that line of thinking to its unpleasant conclusion, Eri'anya was shaken from her reverie by an invitation to enter into the Grandmaster's office. The other Jedi entered first, seeming to almost levitate forward in a manner that seemed to perfectly match her stoicism. She also didn't care for the fact that she felt entirely obscured by the woman's larger frame, resisting a childish urge to peek around her to confirm the Grandmaster's presence.

Luckily, no such indignity came to pass, the unnervingly silent woman stepping out of the way to clear a path for the much smaller Jedi to shake the master's offered hand. She made a point of giving a nice, firm grip, feeling suddenly small as she waited for the meeting to officially start.

[member="Charity Luckless"] [member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Both Knights entered her office shaking hands without any verbal greeting. Charity came off as being stiff while Eri'anya had more of a nervous energy about her. After the silent exchange, she first motioned for the pair to take their seats in front of her desk, then came around to sit.

"Luckless, Forr. Thank you both for meeting with me today. I took the liberty of fixing some Sapir tea, so feel to help yourself as we talk."

She helped herself to the tea first, filling her personal mug and then drizzling in a few lines of honey. She enjoyed a few sips before speaking again.

"Before we get into the matter, I'd like to know how you two are doing. How has your transition into the Silver Order been going?"

[member="Eri'anya Forr"] [member="Charity Luckless"]

 

[Charity Luckless]

Charity took her place, settling into the chair on the left--Master Yune's right. Her hands folded into her lap as she acquiesced to the seat's curves, her body not entirely matching with the contours but nonetheless comfortable enough. She was used to it.

She balked at the Grandmaster's offering of tea, preferring to let everyone take their share before she drank. It was just her timid nature. She had already picked her seat first. It was only fair that she wait for her peer to get the first serving.

How you two are doing. Open-ended questions like that always made Charity uneasy. It was like Master Yune was asking for an entire appraisal of health, and yet she knew it wasn't entirely that either. But it wasn't simple enough for a simple reply. She glanced at the Jedi beside her in hopes that she would get the ball rolling. She could give the other girl a head start. Only fair since she took the first seat, right?

[member="Arisa Yune"], [member="Eri'anya Forr"]

 

[Eri'anya Forr]

Swallowing back her nerves, Eri'anya followed the taller woman's lead as she rounded the chair in front of her. Taking a firm grip on the arms, the Jedi carefully leaned back into the provided seat, only to pause as the barest hint of a flush filled her cheeks. Much to her personal horror, she realized she had to make a critical choice. She could either keep her feet on the floor, affording herself an easier time with the offered tea, or she could find some comfort by allowing herself to lean back in her chair. Her frame would simply not allow her both comforts simultaneously. It certainly wouldn't do for her to pull in the chair... would it?

Clearing her throat behind her hand, Eri quickly hefted herself up onto the seat behind her. While she felt like it drew a bit more attention than she liked, she absolutely refused to hop. Once she was properly situated, the young woman leaned her body forward to reach for her offered cup, having to reach more than she'd like to pour herself some tea. Fortunately for her quickly withering pride, she did not require honey in her tea.

Allowing herself to relax back into her seat, Eri quietly regarded the teacup clutched before her for a moment as she licked her suddenly dry lips. She took silent pride in the lack of any spills due to her careless antics, relocating her lost composure as she held the aromatic beverage below her sensitive nose. It smelled lovely, and she found her raised shoulders relaxing in spite of herself.

"Honestly, it's been rather nice. Everybody has been more than friendly..." She had almost said the word accepting, but it would have felt overly judgmental on her part to let that slip. In truth, everyone whose face she had learned the name for has been nothing if not polite. Perhaps she was merely a little out of her depth, having spent so many years associating primarily with her former master. She was still getting used to the feeling of an accepting crowd.

She finally took a sip from her cup, the flavor eliciting a heady sigh from her lips as her eyes fluttered closed. It tasted heavenly, and in moments the weighty thoughts were swept from her mind. Sapir, she had said? The knight made a mental note to acquire some more for further sampling.

[member="Arisa Yune"] [member="Charity Luckless"]

 

[Charity Luckless]

Charity sat straight, giving her peer the head start, so to speak--though it was admittedly a slight ploy to let the other young woman test the tea and test the waters in conversation. It was easier to follow that up. She supposed her passivity was a mark against her in initiative, but she always presumed patience to be a powerful virtue. It was true that her timidity occasionally prevented her from accomplishing goals as quickly and suitably as defined. Did that make her unfit as a Jedi?

She wondered that if Master Yune could read her mind at this moment, would she be retroactively rejected for whatever mission was at hand? Deciding it was best to act a little more confidently--even if feigned--the tall Jedi retrieved a cup and poured herself some tea quickly, carefully minding the sleeves of her extra long robes as they swept across the desktop while she performed the little ritual. The violet-haired Jedi was already becoming acquainted with all this tea thanks to Master Kitra.

She would not wait too long after Knight Forr had spoken to present her own thoughts, either. Not that they would be incredibly insightful. "I'm grateful to have been provided this opportunity, Master," Charity murmured. "I appreciate your recommendation to study with Master Kitra."

[member="Eri'anya Forr"], [member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

For several moments after she had asked the question, there was only silence. Chatty bunch. She couldn't recall a time she had ran into a pair of such awkward Jedi. By comparison, her current apprentice Yuroic seemed to talk a million miles a minute.

Finally, after Eri'yana piped up, Charity would follow, the speech of the tall women low and stilted. It seemed to take a great deal of effort just to say what little she did.

"Charity, Eri'yana, you can both relax," she told them as she set her cup down. "I apologize if it seems like I'm putting you on the spot, but that wasn't my intent. Every one of my pupils and colleagues matter a great deal to me, so I just like to make sure they're doing alright. Don't hold your tongue on account of my feelings. I prefer honesty."

After attempting to assuage the pair, she hoped they would finally relax and become more candid in their responses.

"Charity, I'm glad that you're enjoying your time with Master Kitra. She's very talented in the healing arts, so I think you'll learn a lot from her. So before I ask anything of you two, is there anything that you need from me right now?"

[member="Charity Luckless"] [member="Eri'anya Forr"]