Private For Prosperity

[Iris Arani]

The Prosperity was a big ship. Like, way bigger than Iris expected. In her recent attempts to travel the galaxy again and relearn what it meant to be a Jedi, she'd been to all sorts of worlds. And, to other space stations. Which lead her to tracking down the one who'd thrown her from a train and left her scarred and broken. .. And other issues. She frowned as she slipped from her X-Wing. Her travels had brought her back to Arlo Renard , but just as quickly brought them to another argument. Or just.. A point where they didn't know each other anymore.

No, she didn't like thinking like that. She gritted her teeth as she turned from her ship, half tempted to punch the hull. Why was she so angry? With a huff she wandered from the hanger, marching towards.. She didn't have a destination. She was hoping to see if Thalia Senn was someone she could find in the Jedi registry, but where should she even go for that? Frustration boiled over as she turned and kicked a nearby trash can. Immediately she regretted it, falling to her other knee to hold her now throbbing foot.

"Chit.."

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

The new ship had her drooling like an idiot. With the temple situation in the New Jedi Order, Ara was moving around quite a lot to advance in her field as a Jedi... she still had to figure out how to not make it sound like a job. Regardless, the temple ship she was standing in was something she only experienced once before, with the Third Expeditionary and her brief travel with them before she had other duties to tend to... nobody needed to know that those "duties" were high-speed podracing.

Which was partially the reason why she was in the main hangar. Her pod wasn't along for the ride, trying to get it onboard was a nightmare, so she got her fix by occasionally helping the mechanics and sitting around to ogle at the starfighters and other marvels of technology.

Her hour or so of simply watching came to a rather amusing end when another padawan passed her and, from the sound of things, took her frustrations out on a trashcan somewhere behind her. With a curious hum, Ara leaned around to confirm her suspicions. The girl looked very familiar. Iris, if Ara remembered correctly. From the temple and the beach party. With nothing better to do, she shrugged and got up from her seat on a crate to face the girl. "Easy there porkshop, you're crampin' my style over here." She quipped as she walked up to the girl. "Almost thought the trashcan was a Maw infiltrator with how hard you kicked it." She continued to tease as she looked at Iris then at the toppled can. She calmly reached out to set it upright again before she held a hand out to help Iris up. "So what's chewing you up?" She smirked at her continuous pun spree.

It was only a matter of time before the references would catch on...

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris was just all pouts when Ara Sheridan came over. Not because of her anger, but because someone had seen her lash out. Embarrassed? Yeah. That was a new, and very unwelcome, emotion for the Padawan. She reached out to take the Zabrak's hand and stand up, still wincing as she put some weight on her foot. She healed it, some, but it was still gonna bruise more likely than not.

Figured.

The puns went well over her head. Whether it was because of how upset she was, or just who Iris was anyway, was hard to say. But she frowned, stared back to the hanger.

"Someone not quite a Sith has my friend and is probably going to torture them. But my friend wants to help them. So I let them go instead of trying to kill them. But my other friend is.. I think he hates that I didn't. And I can't talk to him without it becoming some kind of argument. And I miss him." Yeah that summed it up. Iris, in all her infinite wisdom, wasn't one to just not answer a question.

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Unfortunately, the puns seem to fly overhead as she helped the girl to her feet. Instead, Ara received an explanation that left her frozen in place and completely lost on what to say or do for a few long seconds. Her green eyes were locked onto Iris and wide as saucers as she tried to think of what to say or do.

"Sheesh... that's a rough one." Was all she could muster at the moment as she awkwardly looked away. Suddenly she realized how everyone else must have felt when she went on rants about how much her own life sucked. She looked back to Iris with a heavy sigh as she tried to figure out what to do. "You know what you need? A solid burger. I'm tellin' ya, food helps for a bunch of stuff." She wrapped an arm around the girl's neck and ushered her along as she led the way to the kitchen.

After getting lost a few times, stubbornly refusing to ask for directions, then eventually relenting to ask, she finally managed to lead them successfully to the kitchen. "Okay... what are you in the mood for? Wait... I got a surprise." She gestured for Iris to have a seat by one of the counters as she rummaged through the place in search of all the ingredients. "I know it ain't any of my business or something, but did you try to sit down with your friend? Talk to him to get to the bottom of it? Or at least... sucker punch him in the gut and slam his face into a table? Usually, both of those options work pretty damn well to resolve an issue." She spoke up as she pulled out a slab of meat, some rolls, and a few other ingredients.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Huh?

Iris blinked in surprise. Burger? Her head tilted as she watched Ara Sheridan , only to get dragged along by the Zabrak towards the kitchen. She didn't fight back, if anything, she was plenty hungry. Was this normal? Throw all of her troubles on a stranger only for them to go get her a burger? Well, no. Ara wasn't really a stranger, right? They'd met a couple times. Just never talked.

She took the seat at the Zabrak's motion, still blinking in surprise. Quiet for a moment.

"I.. Wait, what? Why would I hurt someone I want to make up with..?"

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara halted her bustling at the girl's very good question. She simply didn't know how to answer it for a few moments, having gotten used to the action over the years. At this point it was a normal thing for her to do. "Um... well... it usually works like a charm. You beat each other up, get all the negative waves out your systems, then y'all can just laugh over it and make up." She tried to explain to Iris as she stood in place with a pan in one hand and a few potatoes in the other.

"At least... it usually worked for me. Here, start pealing." She placed two potatoes and a knife down next to the girl as she got to work on their burgers. "Otherwise just talk it out. You obviously care about him as a friend so it's a matter of what you two are willin' to do to keep the friendship going." She continued to speak. Though she realised what she was doing, and how bad an idea it likely was. "Then again... I ain't exactly a good person to listen to. I usually give up if punching someone hard and then sayin' sorry as a last resort doesn't get the job done." She flashed a smirk as she flipped the patties into the pan and turned to face Iris.

"By the way, this might be bad timing, but... are you good with... um... guys and stuff?" Ara asked on a more serious note as she leaned in close with a hushed voice. She threw a quick look around to make sure they were alone before looking up at the girl again.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris just looked confused by the explanation. Fighting meant hurting someone. Fighting was.. Wrong. Her eyes lowered to the potatoes before she blinked. Oh. Peal. Without question she got right to pealing the spuds, still trying to think it through. Would it actually help to hit him? .. Did she want to hit him? She had before, that much she was certain on. A frown settled on her lips as she got a bit too aggressive in her pealing, near half through the potato in hand before she blinked.

"Ah.. Sorry." She mumbled an apology before moving on to the next spud instead. Then blinked.

"Good with guys and stuff..? I.. Huh?" Whatever meaning was lost to Iris, her head tilted to the side as she paused her pealing. "What do you mean?"

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Iris seemed confused by the Zabrak's question, though Ara didn't mind at all as she flipped the patties and continued to prepare their buns. "Like... likin' them... and stuff..." She stammered, struggling to word her thoughts as she focused on their food. Once the potatoes were ready, she dumped them into a fryer and turned to face Iris. "Basically, I got a crush on this dude, alright." She blurted out with burning cheeks and raised eyebrows. This was a mistake.

"There's this nice mute boy I've been hangin' out with, we went on a date type thing, but like... what now?!" She stirred the fries and leaned against the counter as she looked at Iris. "I think I like him, he's super awesome and he's teaching me to play guitar... but what do I do? I've, uh... been with other people before, but that was a chick... that ain't the same as this. That was just bad choices as well. I don't know anything about how this kinda thing works and even less of the other stuff people do." The floodgates were open and it merely served to make the Zabrak squirm.

"So, uh... what do I do? You look like you've been in a few relationships so I was hopin' you can help me out here. Do I ask him out? Is he supposed to do that? How does the whole thing work?" She finally finished, nearly out of breath. Only when the sizzling became louder, did she turn away from Iris and quickly flipped the patties before turning the stove down.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Oh. Oohh. Like, relationships. Iris nodded slowly as she listened to Ara Sheridan , but.. She couldn't look the Zabrak's way for long. Or at all. Her gaze stayed on the potato in hand, though she was no longer pealing it. Like she'd forgotten it was even there and was staring past it, really. ".. The only person I liked was the one I'm trying to make amends with. He's.. Not really human, either. His body is ah.. Sithspawn, technically. That's not what he started as. He started as a.. Rock, more or less. He um.. Well. We both figured we love each other, so we tried a kiss. And.." She trailed off. Whatever smile had was gone, replaced by pure misery as she sniffled.

"It devolved from there. He didn't feel anything, and I did, and then we started yelling and then he said he hated me and ran away and I didn't know what to do so I just sat and cried and now we fought again and I just feel miserable and I just want my friend back."

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Once again things fell apart for the poor Zabrak. Iris' only interest was in the exact same dude she was trying to make amends with... apparently he's Sithspawn too, which caused Ara to recoil slightly in surprise. "Wait... ain't that illegal or something?" She muttered, though she didn't want to disrupt the girl's emotional rant.

Glancing at the finished patties and fries, Ara slapped on a smile and started to dish up their meals. "Eat this, you'll feel better." She reassured her as she slapped an egg on top of each patty and set a plate down beside Iris, quickly followed by spices and sauces. "So, um... yeah, forget I asked anything. Sounds like you got a lot on your plate." She decided to shut up by stuffing her mouth with fries and burgers. This was a very big mistake. Now she was stuck with not only her own problems, but Iris' as well on top of the embarrassment of opening up to the girl like that about something stupid.

There had to be something she could do...

... which didn't involve getting in the middle of Iris' problems with the dude.

"You, uh... you wanna go somewhere? Go do something to take your mind off it?"

Didn't seem too unreasonable...

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"He's a Jedi! Or.. He was. I.. I don't know what he's doing now, but he tries so hard, harder than anyone to be good. To not be what the Sith made him." She'd caught it. How many times had Arlo Renard had to face a Jedi who wanted him dead just because of what he was? They never really talked about it, but with everything they saw on Coruscant, she couldn't imagine there wasn't at least a handful that were just waiting for him to mess up. And she was eating. Iris spoke between bites as Ara Sheridan pushed over the burger. She didn't seem to care that she was making a mess either, especially when the egg yolk started to flow and covered her cheeks with each hasty, emotion filled bite.

She paused her chewing, blinking towards the Zabrak as she offered for them to just.. Go somewhere. And nodded, still looking miserable if a bit hopeful that she wouldn't keep feeling this way.

"Mmhmm."

 

[Ara Sheridan]

The more she spoke, the more Ara began to feel sorry for the poor girl. She hated feelings like this, they usually got people killed. But as a Jedi, her job was to help people. It's what she wanted to do, why she signed up in the first place... behind all the walls, she wanted to help people avoid the life she grew up in. This was the perfect moment to put her lessons and secret dreams into practice.

Iris agreed to her proposition, and Ara quickly finished up her meal before taking out her datapad. "I think... I got just the place..." She muttered as she swiped around for a few moments. "Yeah, I know where we can go." She confirmed with a stern nod as she looked back at Iris. "Chow up, we got a trip waiting." She quipped with a wide grin. Once she was done, Ara gave Iris a nudge and led her to the Jedi quarters. "Go pack a bag, I'll meet you at the hangar where you parked." She was about to leave, but her feet remained planted beside the girl for a few seconds. Without warning, she spun and wrapped her arms around the girl for a quick and sturdy hug before letting go. "Um... yeah... you'll figure it out. Now let's get a move on." She quickly started to walk to her quarters, trying desperately to hide her face and burning cheeks.

Last time she did a public affection move like that...

When she had a duffel bag packed with stuff for the trip, she headed down to the hangar bay and waited for the girl. In the meantime, she quickly organised a freighter for them to use for the trip as well. Iris needed something to get her mind off this problem, and she had an idea to do just that...

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

A place? Wait Ara Sheridan didn't know a place off the top of her head? Or when she offered? Iris continued to munch on her burger, letting herself wallow in her sadness with food. Delicious food at that. The Zabrak really did know how to make a good burger. Though blinked as she mentioned getting a bag. "My stuffs already packed. In my ship. I can-." She blinked. Slowly, as she was hugged. Before she could react the hug was done and Ara was already wandering off.

Iris didn't think on it. Couldn't think on it. Go get her stuff, meet Ara in the hanger. Easy. She'd be there already, small pack on her shoulder. And another, larger pack in hand. Clothing and art supplies. Which was which was still up in the air.

".. So, um.. Where are we going?"

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Meeting up with Iris, Ara gestured for her to follow her to the freighter as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "A place I've always wanted to see and what might just be able to distract you for a little bit." She explained as they boarded the ship and settled into the cockpit. "Nar Shaddaa. You ever been there? I've heard the stories of that place but never seen it myself." Starting the ship up, Ara carefully flew them out of the hangar and jumped to hyperspace.

Her inexperience with piloting showed rather clearly, though she hoped that the pork chop didn't notice any of it with the relatively short bit of flying.

With not much else to do in the moment, Ara turned to face her new travel buddy. "How'd you get that, if you don't mind me asking?" She perked up, gesturing to the scars that dotted Iris' face and body. Hoping to help her feel more comfortable with the topic, she brushed her hair aside and pointed at a faded burn mark on her left cheek.

"See this? Got it when I was twelve or so. Tried to steal a swoop but I got caught. Dude tried to, uh... do some stuff with me, but I managed to shoot him... though, not before my face ended up pressed against the exhaust pipe of the bike." She explained calmly. Definitely not a glamorous story, and she was sure that her friend's story wouldn't be any brighter either.

But it did remind her of where she came from, and she started to wonder if the fabled Nar Shaddaa would be any better than the slums of Underworld she escaped from...

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Nar Shadda? Iris shook her head. "Can't say I have. .. Isn't that a Hutt world?" A slave world. Her lips thinned to a frown, for the moment. She reached up, touching over her neck. It didn't sound like a fun place to go, but.. Well. Ara Sheridan seemed adamant. Should she just assume it was bad? .. No. She tilted her head as they flew, glancing to the controls. Casually pointing out things here and there on what the Zabrak might have missed. She wasn't the best pilot. Well, no. She was a pretty good pilot. Her explanations left a lot to be desired though.

Too much feeling, too little technical knowhow.

"I was thrown from a train after a not quite Sith yet kidnapped my friend. I.. Couldn't stop them. And.. This all happened." She glanced to herself, frowning for a moment as she looked over the scars.

"I'm not strong enough to save people. .. Can't even save myself. I mean, you did. I got caught once from my tagging and was put in a slave collar. Master Noble's the only reason I wasn't sold off."

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara's gaze lingered on her friend as she explained her story, it was frankly a miracle that she survived being thrown off a train. The girl's doubt in herself, though, that was as clear to see as her scars. "You're strong." Ara spoke up. "Surviving a train, fighting out there, putting up with all this, I doubt a lot of the other padawans with silver spoons up their asses could even put up with half of what you went through."

With a light punch to the girl's shoulder, the Zabrak cracked a smile. "Plus... look on the bright side... it don't look too bad." She admitted with a chuckle as she leaned back.

"So... while you're not busy being a badass, whaddya usually do? Podracing, music... reading jedi stuff that's old as dirt?" She asked her, hoping to avoid an uncomfortably silent trip.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Paint, usually. I haven't been podracing in a long time, though." She hummed, thinking on it curiously. Should she go podracing again? Being in control of something so fast would help the trauma, or so she learned from her studies. The Padawan closed her eyes, mulling it over in silence. She was fine with the quiet herself. But the colors told different for Ara Sheridan . Iris's oddly colored eyes opened, watching the Zabrak.

Then she smiled.

"What do you do?"

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara blinked with surprise at the mention of painting. It was always an odd talent for her to see in action. To have an image in one's head and place it down on a canvas of some sort in perfect detail, with each artist having various styles to make their work unique. "Painting? That's dope. I had a dude in Underworld teach me a bit about painting, though that was either for art on a speeder or against the side of a wall. I was never good with that, though." A smile formed as she studied the girl. "I'd like to see some of your stuff, once we get back home." She admitted gently as she sat back,

Upon hearing Iris' question, the Zabrak lit up like a Life Day tree. "Oh, me? I do a bunch of stuff. Podracing is my favourite, by far. It hits different, you dig? That rush as you get to the sound barrier, the sharp turns, knowing one move can be your last moment alive... it's something else." She explained happily. "But I, uh..." The smile faltered as a sense of embarrassment took over her. "Don't, uh... go around and tell everyone... but I've started to learn playing guitar. I'm far from actually being good with it... but it's something I always wanted to do, being able to make my own music. It's just weird. Apart from the rappers and hardcore bands I'm used to, playing music or artsy stuff like that's always been a kind of... "wimp" thing. I don't want people thinkin' I'm some softie, you know?" She snickered, scratching the back of her head.

After a while, the ship finally dropped out of hyperspace and the Smuggler's Moon filled the viewport in front of the two women. But instead of excitement or daring anticipation, a momentary feeling of dread took hold of the Zabrak as the millions of lights and polluted atmosphere stared back at her. She nearly forgot to steer the ship, clinging for dear life to the armrests of her seat, but she quickly snapped out of it and plastered on a smug look as she took hold of the controls. "You ready for this?" She asked Iris as she guided the ship into the atmosphere.

 

[Iris Arani]

"I don't really keep a lot of what I draw. Some, though. Actually-" Iris reached around, digging through her paint covered pack for a moment. The rattle of cans one could assume filled with paint, and she pulled out a sketch pad. Well, a smaller paint covered bag with a immaculately clean sketch pad inside it. She handed it over, letting Ara flip through it if she wanted. Inside, realistic sketches of various 'cute' things. Small animals, children playing. Some horrifying little spider thing that shouldn't of been real but certainly was.

But, then she paused. Blinked. Stared at Ara for a moment before a frown settled on her lips.

"Who cares what people think? If you want to do something, do it. There's nothing wrong with being a softie, or a wimp. And playing a guitar doesn't make you a wimp." She wasn't going to let that go. Iris stared at the Zabrak, frowning until she got a response.

Then blinked as the ship exited and she saw.. Fear. Briefly, but it cut through the colors with ease. Iris immediately let the other thing go, nodding as she returned the smile.

"Yeah. Ready."

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

Ara calmly accepted the little book and skimmed through pictures illustrated within, clearly impressed with Iris' talent. Though she closed the book as Iris glared at her and gave a fantastic bit of advice the Zabrak still struggled with. Luckily the ship exited hyperspace and Ara managed to avoid answering what should be an easy thought to figure out for her.

Once the ship settled down, Ara was out of her seat and ready to depart... on the surface, at least. Deep down, a hint of nervousness clung to her as she looked around the buildings of the Smuggler's Moon. It was a little close to home in a very literal sense. She glanced momentarily at Iris as she led the way from the spaceport. "Playing guitar is fine, yeah. Don't get me wrong, it's karkin' awesome. But... where I'm from, if you're not hard, you're gonna die. It's... something that's kept me alive over the years. If you acted soft and stuff, people would come after you. Plus... look at us. We're Jedi. The most badass fighters in the galaxy. I can't see myself as a Jedi if I don't own up to where I come from." She admitted, knowing that each word she said didn't help her situation at all. It likely sounded more as a bash towards Iris than anything else.

"Yo, check that place out!" She called out, hoping to steer from the topic at hand. The place in question looked like a massive club, bustling wuth activity inside and around it. Ara gave Iris a nudge as she walked towards the place. "Party time, baby!"

She knew Iris wasn't going to let it go.

Iris Arani