Private I Owe You One

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Though a day or so had passed since the sparring match with Aris Noble , Azurine still couldn't creep back the feeings of guilt she had at just how it had ended. To her, it had been all fun and games, even getting knocked down like that, but the way she watched the boy slowly spiral like he'd been thrown into vast space without a lifeline punched her soul so hard that it left more marks than his fists ever did.

Of course, she did what Connel had asked of her (even if she mentally complained about it the whole time), and had been cleared by medics within the span of half an hour. By the time she'd gone back to gather her water bottle and other things, everyone had cleared out, leaving her hoping she hadn't screwed up too poorly. Even if he had mentioned limiting injuries next time, she still felt like she needed to do something to make up for it.

So, when she was moving through the library and finally spotted him for the first time since then, she didn't hesitate in the slightest. Shoving the holobook she'd been reading under her arm, she walked quickly over to him in hopes of catching him before he moved on to another spot. Luckily for her, there were no visible marks from the fight, having had plenty of time for her quick healing to take care of most of them. She may still have had the smallest remains of a bruise on her chest under her clothing, but he didn't need to know that.

"How's your head, Hotshot? Or more like your ego, really," she said with a quick, teasing grin. Even knowing he was probably just fine, she hoped the joke might keep the air light. She focused solely on the view of his aura, though, just to be certain. "Got any plans after this? I kind of owe you after you put up such a fight, lunch sound fair to you?"

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Zaiya Ceti really didn't like to see him fight.

That was the logical conclusion, even now after he'd taken some time to think on it. She didn't want to see him hurt, or hurting others. It made sense to him of course. Epicanthix were by nature a much more competitive and violent species than the Lovalla. So, here he was in the library, trying to read up more on them. So he could understand her better, make sure he didn't do something else that would upset her on such a base level.

There wasn't a whole lot of information.

The most he found was information on what the colors shown meant. He did understand most of them, given he'd spent so much time with Zaiya, but there were some colors he didn't know yet, or just hadn't seen from her. His brow furrowed in concentration as he read further in, but that was cut short.

"How's your head, Hotshot? Or more like your ego, really,"

Aris blinked as he looked up before tilting his head. He was already healed fully, not even a bruise apparent as would be expected. A soft smile formed though, distant in appearance. "You don't owe me anything, Azurine. If anything I should be offering you lunch."

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Azurine took his smile, however subtle it was, as confirmation that the situation from before hadn't fully wrecked the friendship with only one spar. That was a relief, at least. His aura, however, gave off a hint of frustration that was there long before he'd seen her. It made her wonder what he was studying up on, but as curious as she was, she didn't want to pry too much into personal matters when he clearly had the same kind of stoic personality that reminded her of someone else. She quickly shook that thought away, though.

"You don't owe me anything, Azurine. If anything I should be offering you lunch."

She couldn't quite keep herself from laughing a bit at his words. It was comedic to her how clearly polite in their own ways the both of them seemed to be outside of the ring, despite their warrior natures. "Don't make me have to knock you on your butt again so soon after the last time," she joked, jabbing her elbow at his arm, "I insist! I have ... some credits," she trailed off, thinking about the fact that she only really had what she'd made in bets during her time pit fighting in the undercity. But that should do it, hopefully ...

"Besides, you still need to tell me how in hell you manage that 'man of steel' thing. Is it natural or force trained?" she asked inquisitivly. The curiosity she had flitted through her amethyst colored eyes and made them shift with shades of periwinkle, royal, and lavander. Before he could say no, she grabbed his arm, pulling towards the exit. She sure hoped they could check out the books without having to put them back. Hers being something she probably shouldn't be looking at, specifically on the subject souls and afterlife, she certainly would rather keep reading later.

"Wherever you want to go. Bonus points if I get to fly there. And if I have to decide for you, I'm considering that an admission of defeat."

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

He let out a heavy sigh. She was insisting, which wasn't a problem at all for the boy. The real problem was the fact that she didn't seem sure her credits were any good. Were they old money, from the time she came from perhaps? At least that's where his mind went. If it came down to it, he'd pay, and thus discretely looked to his wallet to make sure he was carrying some money as he followed.

Lunch would be good. And maybe there were some questions he could ask her. Not before she asked her own, though.

"It's how I was designed. I don't feel the Force at all, but from what Zaiya noticed I'm always using it. I spend a lot of time just controlling it so I don't accidentally break things around me. If I get distracted, things do break a lot." The amount of cups he'd shattered growing up was quite the uncomfortable number that he wouldn't be sharing. Then, whiplash. He blinked as she mentioned flying. He didn't fly, though? What did she- oh she meant the restaurant then?

He thought on it for a moment.

"Mm.. I don't know. So I guess I lost."

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Azurine shot Aris a sly grin, noticing the lack of resistance to her attempt to pull him along. So she let go of his arm. Trying to drag him anywhere he didn't want to go would probably be damn near impossible, anyway. It took literally all of her strength plus his own momentum for her to manage it in combat, let alone in a relaxed situation. Didn't mean she couldn't try, though.

"Alright then, you're just going to have to put up with whatever I find," she said with a quick chuckle. She knew she had no idea where she was going, except for a couple of shady bars she'd fought at in the undercity, but she wasn't going to admit that outloud. She'd think of something ... hopefully by the time they hit the streets, which wouldn't take too long.

Shit.

She made sure to slip the holobook into one of the bigger pouches on her belt so she could finish her reading later and headed out the door, listening to everything he had to say. Of course, she paused, quickly turning to face him and walking backward to keep moving while she did so. Shock, confusion, and curiosity filled her eyes to the brim as she took a moment to look him over.

"I'm going to stick a pin in the whole 'I don't feel the force' thing for now. What do you even mean by designed?" The question held only her genuine -and probably obxnious- curiosity. She just hoped that it didn't overstep any boundaries or come off as offputting. Focusing intently on viewing his aura, she looked at the intricacies of it in more detail than just a glance. How could he not feel it when it was so brightly encompassing? It didn't fully make sense to her.

She only turned back to the front when the quick visions passed in front of her eyes, giving her just enough time to move to his side rather than slam right into another passing them in the hall when she wasn't looking.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"I will."

There wasn't any food that he had problems with, that he was aware of anyway. Aris kept his own book, tucking it in his pocket similar as Azurine did. He glanced to the door, already well aware that someone was there. Heartbeats, breathing, he could hear all of it. Zaiya Ceti 's neural dampeners she'd made for him helped to keep it from being distracting when he wanted quiet moments like when he was reading.

"I'm a clone of my father that he made a long, long time ago. I wasn't supposed to have sentience, just be a perfect vessel for him to escape his father. So, I was made this way. And when I did wake up, he adopted me. He didn't expect me to, but no hesitation there."

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Azurine took a moment to wrap her mind around what Aris had just said because it was quite a statement to unpack. He was a clone ... created by Kahlil? To be some kind of escape? It was hard for her to comprehend, given what she knew of the man from her time spent with him. Kahlil had been so kind and compassionate with her, and he was such a doting father. It was hard to even imagine a darkness in him that could have been capable of doing something like creating a body in hopes they would be just some empty vessel.

Even then, what a harsh way to be brought into the galaxy. She reached out to put a hand on his arm for a moment, "Well hey, I'm glad the intent there changed and you're conscious," Her eyes softened, but she still held true to her trouble making grin despite that and switched quickly to a tease when he realized how sappy she might have sounded, "Who else would I have to give me a challange in the ring without it?"

She pulled her hand back, once agin moving to the lead towards the temple enterence up ahead. She was running out of time to come up with something, and accepting defeat wasn't an option unless she had no other choice. If she was lucky, they'd stumble upon something on the street that she could claim was her plan all along (and pray that the food wasn't awful).

"Now, about the can't feel the force thing. Are you sure? Because your aura is intense. It's kind of hard to believe you can't feel even just a little bit of it."

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Thankfully, street vendors were plentiful near the rebuilt temple. Jedi had a habit of making people feel safe, even when there was so much rebuilding still going on all around. The smells of different cuisines would fill the air, and Aris would smile ever so faintly. He loved food, even if he still wasn't the best cook. But he would be, maybe, one day.

"I feel nothing. I know for a fact I can't feel anything with it outside my body, and I'm starting to think that I do feel it, it's just- it's like a heartbeat or breathing. You don't really hear that in your own body unless something is up with it, you know? I haven't felt it otherwise yet. Maybe at some point I will?"

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

"Kynn used to tell me that the best way to describe the force was like the push and pull of gravity." Azurine began, though a small spark of sadness twisted into her eyes for a moment, "Some days, and some places, it's more noticeable than others, and being able to identify the push as well as the pull was the key to understanding how it effects the world ourside of ourselves."

She wasn't sure if her words would be able to help any, but they had sure helped her when she had first been set on this path those years ago. Running a free hand through her inky colored hair to get the loose strands out of her face, she let out a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding. She couldn't help the images of the last time she saw him alive flashing before her eyes.

With a quick shake of her head, she pushed that sly grin back out onto her face, "That was a long time ago though, maybe it might be useful for you too."

She rushed forward through the street, hoping to find something good. She only stopped when she realized she could watch his reactions for anything that may catch his eye and use that. Though the streets were crowded and full of reconstruction efforts, it wouldn't be hard for her to identify what she needed.

Then she noticed it, the slight shift in his aura from the smell of one particular street food stand.

Got it.

And she quickly headed over to it.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Vera's the one who can manipulate gravity."

Aris took it literally, of course. He didn't understand fully how it was to feel the Force. Even when Zaiya Ceti reached through him he still didn't fully get it. He couldn't, pure and simple. His connection to the Force was such a way he'd never know what it felt like, light, dark, neither. What he did know? The scents in the air. He was like a hound, his gaze shifting around to the different stalls as he tested out the air for something that might've smelled good.

Ultimately Azurine was going to pick, but he wasn't not going to look around. At least until he noticed she was heading towards one he did sniff out.

That brought a little smile.

"You like this one?"

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber

Azurine was about to say something else but stopped herself when clearly it was her turn to feel a bit of mental whiplash. Firstly, she didn't realize Aris was going to take those words of wisdom so literally. Secondly, Vera could do what now? Manipulate Gravity?! Those two facts in tandem had her stopped dead in her tracks, and she looked up at him searching for any sign of a joke. He was completely serious. She could see it in his striking green eyes alone without even having to search his aura.

She couldn't even find the words to respond, not knowing how to for a moment.

Then, she started laughing. Laughing so hard she leaned forward to rest her hands on her legs just to keep herself from falling over. She wiped the tears from her eyes and did her best to recover from the burning in her chest caused by it. Certainly, she wasn't laughing at him, just at how hilarious she found the response. She hadn't laughed that hard in so long. It was such a nice change in pace from the ever-present stinging pain in her spirit. What a big, oblivious teddy bear he was!

Ansestors help the poor soul that ever tries to make moves on him. They'll need it!

Azzie turned her attention back to the stand that had peaked his interest, it looked like it had a plethora of things from kebabs to sandwiches of different types. Wonderful, and it smelled absolutely amazing. If he had smelled that from all the way down the street naturally, then he sure had a talent.

"It smells pretty great, so yeah, let's say I do," she said, giving him a sly little wink given she had used the spikes of interest in his aura to get to the conclusion in the first place. "Get what you want. It's on me."

A little food stand was something she definitely had credits for. Might be the last of them, but better that then wasted elsewhere.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris tilted his head in pure confusion. What was funny? His confusion didn't fade in the slightest, especially since she didn't actually say anything. More, she picked up on what he smelled and decided to lead them in for the food. He smiled, faintly, just nodding his head. There wasn't any reason to stress about it. If she was laughing and smiling, that was good, right?

Grant it, her offer probably wasn't what she was expecting it to be. Aris indeed ordered what he wanted. Meat. Lots of meat. Several servings of meat at that. Since Zaiya Ceti had helped him find the limits of his stamina he'd been building that up, and while his body could repair itself pretty quick, he still needed the protein to do so.

"What was funny, though?"

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Azurine certainly hadn't expected Aris to get so much, but really, she should have. The guy had over a foot of height on her and was built like an AT-AT. She could only imagine the type of metabolism that came with it. Since the loss of her second heart, her own metabolism and stamina had decreased significantly, but she still understood. Just another thing to add to the list that had managed to make her chuckle today. Even more so when he questioned what was so hilarious.

She shook her head and gave a fake sigh of exasperation, overly exaggerated and everything. "I just found it funny how that metaphor went so far over your head, which you'd think would be kind of difficult considering," she joked and gestured to his height as compared to hers. Of course, her voice held no bad intentions, only fondness and playfulness. She herself only grabbed a couple of kebabs and thanked the woman quickly as she did. Taking a moment to dig through the pockets of her belt, she pulled out the warn down data chip she'd been using for her bets. She was at least 80 percent certain she had enough to cover everything.

"Seriously though, thanks for that fight. I went in blind to what I was expecting, yeah, but it was one hell of a way to make an impression. I definitely needed it." Though her voice trailed off, at the end, her smile didn't waver. Nor did the fire that lit through her purple eyes.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"What metaphor?"

Aris tilted his head, visibly confused as ever as he took a bite of the kebab. Meat. He smiled faintly as he chewed, clearly focused on the flavor. There was nothing like food to make him happy. Especially good food. His smile didn't last too long though as Azurine brought up the fight. It grew distant as he looked over the meat. "I'm- dangerous. I learned that really early on after I woke up. As I started to learn to move, to act. I broke a lot of things. It took- a long time before I felt safe even being with my siblings. .. Seeing you fall unconcious like that freaked me out. It's normal, in a fight. But I'm not normal. I'm sorry, I got so freaked out."

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Azurine couldn't quite keep herself from laughing again, almost choking on her kebab as she did so. "The gravity metaphor —actually, never mind. Don't worry about it. It's funnier that way," she started to explain but thought better of it, still chuckling. Trying to break down everything about it might take some time, and she didn't necessarily know if Aris wanted that kind of force lesson from her in this exact moment. "I'll break it down for you later, if you want."

Her playful attitude was brought to a bit of a grinding hault, though, watching his smile disappear. She hadn't expected him to be so vulnerable with her like that, a hint of that deep pain she'd seen in his aura then spiking in him now. It wasn't nearly as prominent, but it was there. Given how he had spiraled so fast in the short time she'd been out when they'd sparred, she knew there had to be something buried there that could cause it, but she hadn't wanted to push too much.

Quickly, she stepped closer and did what she had wanted to do back then but had stopped herself, giving him a swift tight hug. "Don't apologize. You don't need to. Like I said, on my homeworld, it's fully expected for someone —hell, or even both— to end up down in a friendly match. It's disrespectful to pull a punch, like the equivalent of telling your opponent that you don't think they're strong enough to take it. But I get it, most people aren't used to that kind of thing, and fear happens to us all sometimes. If you ever get that worried in the future, I'll be around to help if I can, okay?" Though she couldn't possibly understand every aspect and the extent of what he'd gone through to make him think that of himself, she did empathize with deep, dark emotions altering ones views of themself.

"Dangerous is a broad term, you know. Dangerous for my wallet? Absolutely," she started with a quick joke to ease his mind, only pulling back so her amethyst hued eyes could meet the bright green of his in hopes to convey her sincerity, "We all have the capability to be 'dangerous' in one way or another, but that doesn't make you as a whole an automatic danger. Clearly, you've got so much love in you. If you didn't, then you wouldn't care how you might affect others. That alone makes you anything but dangerous. It just makes you unique, in a pretty awesome kind of way."

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

Dangerous is a broad term, was it? Aris finished off one of the kebabs before, rather casually, pressing the metal together. He held both ends between his palms, including the pointy he should be stabbing his hand part. And just, slowly closed his hands together. The metal folded as if it was paper being crumpled up, and Aris didn't even put any effort behind it.

Which, wasn't a good thing considering he was supposed to return the kebab stick. And he fully intended to. His hands started to glow a bright red, giving off a blistering heat as he molded the metal as if it was clay to remake the simple metal stick.

"If I stop paying attention, even for a moment, and I were to be holding one of the triplet's hands, I'd shatter it. I'm not an automatic danger, but, I am dangerous to people around us."

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

"And if I stopped keeping myself in check, I could probably break your mind into who knows how many pieces. Does that make me a monster?" Azurine asked, though a quick dark regret flashing through her eyes. Recalling that past memory, or even talking about it, wasn't something she liked doing. It brought her back to a dark place where she'd felt she had no other option. No, she had known there was more she could have done rather than what she'd resorted to then, but the sadness and desperation had been too much for her. She'd always toed too close to that dark line for comfort, and she still worried that one day a big enough shove would come along to sink her over the edge.

She took a quick deep breath, shaking her head, "My point is that most people have something that could make them hurt someone they never meant to hurt, and usually that something is also one of their strengths."

She stopped, watching him remelt the stick somehow, her curiosity absolutely captured by the act. It was cool as hell, though she knew he was trying to prove a point. One that she didn't think he needed to argue in the first place. Though she had no intention of negating his feelings, she just wanted to add some encouragement into it so that maybe he'd be able to work through them. "Yeah, you may need to watch yourself more carefully, and that sucks, but you're not a danger. I don't believe a big softie like you has it in you to do anything dark on purpose."

She smiled up at him, quickly taking the stick in her robotic hand but moving to begin to pull the glove off her her remaining biological hand, stopping in the motion to ask first. Maybe if he didn't believe her words, he might if he saw her perspective, or that of others. "Do you want to know firsthand how others see you? Fair warning ... I've only successfully managed this once, which was on accident —and uh— if you have anything in your past you'd rather keep in the dark, I could see it, so I apologize for that now. Echos can be ... unpredictable sometimes."

She wouldn't blame him if the answer was no, but she didn't see much harm in trying.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"You couldn't. Epicanthix, you can't affect our minds."

Aris reached up to tap the side of his head. That was their nature as Epicanthix, minds like steal traps that the Force couldn't affect. Grant it, he knew what she meant. Still, it was different. If he stopped focusing, even for a moment, his strength would hurt someone. He was controlling himself, all the time, constantly. It wasn't a matter of him loosing control like another Jedi were if he were to let heightened emotions take over.

His base level was dangerous.

He did, though, raise a brow curiously. "I.. Am confused on what you're offering?"

Azurine Varek

 

[Azurine Varek]

All's Fair In-

Outfit: Clothing | Right Arm | Glove
Weapons: Lightsaber | Vibrosword

Clearly, Azurine didn't know much about Epicanthix. To be fair, she hadn't even heard of the race before she wound up here. It made her think it was probably a good idea to take some classes on known species in the Galaxy.

She cuckled a bit to herself, pulling the glove back into place almost immediately. "If I can't affect your head at all, then never mind. It wouldn't work anyway."

There was no harm in asking at least. Turning to gather the metal sticks and return them to the stand, she stopped when he asked his follow-up question. For a moment, she searched for the best way to explain it but quickly realized it wasn't all that hard.

"I'm an aura and echo reader. I grew up thinking it was just some weird form of synestesia, though," she started with a bit of a shrug, "I see the spikes of emotions, presence with the force, among other things through it. It's less feeling and more seeing, depending on the situation. It's kind of like —uh ... everyone has a light pattern, and that pattern changes and shifts with them. As for echos, that's the Psychometry."

She sighed, running a hand through the side of her hair that wasn't braided. "Most applications of the force that came more naturally to me have been enhancment or mental in nature. So, my plan was to use something you have on you that has a lot of echoes attached to it and use that to let you see the visions I see since we can't always get a proper perspective without seeing it from the outside looking in. But like I said, if I can't get into your head, then it's kind of a moot point. Besides, I only ever pulled it off once completely on accident. I have no idea if I could replicate it or not in an environment that isn't under ambush." She shook her head a bit at the memory, then turned her full attention back to Aris, "Must be handy to have a built in mind shield." She joked a bit with the last of her explanation.

Aris Noble​

 

[Aris Noble]

"Oh. Mm. Now I'm actually unsure. Zaiya can resonate with my feelings when we're holding hands, so maybe that gets around it? Or maybe it's because I'm letting her in?" Now he was just mulling it over aloud. He didn't understand how the Force worked, how any of this worked. He just knew what he did feel. Zaiya's emotions mixed with his own. Eventually, he just let out a sigh as he instead focused on the other skewer. Thinking about this wasn't going to help. A fish didn't understand how to breath air.

"Meat's good though. Carnivore, right?"

Azurine Varek