Private Just Visiting

[Jasper Kai'el]

Just Visiting
Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

Jasper knew that he shouldn't be doing this. His emotional state had become wrapped up in anger, so there was no way that he could actually be thinking straight. He didn't care. Iris Arani had helped him through a sore point in his life, and was generally a source of support to her peers, as blunt as she was. The fact that one of her own friends would attack her in such a way sickened him to his very core. There were many things that Jasper didn't agree with, but highest amongst that list was betrayal. The padawan could think of no greater crime than attacking those who have placed their full trust in you. It was upsetting, really, that the friend in question was someone who Jasper thought was a rather stand up individual aside from a few ego driven tendencies. He didn't know Kia very well, but he had some respect for him. Key word: Had.

He was brought up to the visiting window. A slight twinge of regret ran through his mind. Jasper shouldn't be here. There was no way he could be rational given his feelings on the matter. Still, the padawan sat down on his side of the glass, waiting for Kai to be brought out. His desire for some kind of explanation was overpowering. Betrayal was something that Jasper simply couldn't rationalize. He needed to understand what happened.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Oh wow, Kai thought as he saw who was waiting for him in the visitation room. Even people I barely know are showing up now.

Jasper didn't look very happy, but then it was exceedingly rare that he had jolly visitors. Kai sat down, cuffed and collared, and activated the microphone that would allow them to speak to each other.

"Hi. You're Jasper, right?" he greeted.

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

"Hi. You're Jasper, right?"

"Yeah," Jasper frowned.

What was there even to say? Hey, a-hole, that was my friend's brain you were messing with! That's what he wanted to say anyways, but there was certainly a better way of going about it.

"Y'know, I still can't figure out what compelled you to do what you did," he admitted. "I would've understood if it was Corin Trenor ... but Iris..."

That was a different case entirely.

"I doubt you feel the need to plead your case to a stranger," Jasper continued, "But the person you attacked is my friend, so forgive me if I come off as emotionally invested."

Jasper leaned forward, his facial expression far more intense than his usual self. He rarely ever expressed anger or frustration in this manner, so it wouldn't be a familiar sight, even to someone who didn't know him much like Kai.

"So... care enough to give me a straight answer, or am I wasting my time?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

"Corin said the same thing, actually." Kai chuckled. "He figured he'd wind up a con long before anybody else. But life has a way of surprising us all."

As Jasper continued, Kai frowned. "She was my best friend," he said. "I knew her long before you came along."

No doubt that made his crime seem so much worse in Jasper's eyes, but Kai wasn't concerned with pleading his case or defending his actions anymore. He was past that. What he was concerned about was whether or not Jasper could be trusted with the truth.

"So... care enough to give me a straight answer, or am I wasting my time?"

"A straight answer?" Kai's eyebrows rose. "She caught me doing something naughty, and wanted to tattle to Master Noble about it. So I tried to erase her memory, make her forget what had happened. There's your straight answer, nice talking to ya."

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

"She was my best friend," he said. "I knew her long before you came along."

Jasper almost laughed that Kai had pulled that card. She was his best friend. He had to be aware of how little good that statement did him. What was the point?

"That fact didn't change much, now did it," Jasper snapped back.

There was something about the way Kai spoke about it that bothered him. He was being naughty? Iris went to tattle? Jasper had hoped that standing down Darth Carnifex with him on Tython would've at least earned him some respect in Kai's mind, but it seemed that, in one way or another, Kai was perfectly fine talking down to him. Jasper didn't care much. In truth, he wanted a reason to be provoked. This was his one opportunity to be reasonably angry. He sure as hell wasn't wasting it.

"Is this what you're doing to make yourself feel better?" he asked. "Talking down to the people who come to have a chat? I had a great deal of respect for you after Tython... Had, anyways. I guess that was my fault for thinking you had your head screwed on straight. Your duel with Corin should've been a red flag..."

Jasper locked eyes with Kai in that moment.

"You're lucky I didn't know what you did when I saw you at the knighting ceremony," Jasper told him. "I would've had a cell of my own."

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai was actually younger than Jasper. He was talking down to him because he considered Jasper's behavior childish. The guy wasn't involved in what happened, they barely knew each other, and he was just here to complain about it because he was friends with Iris.

"Is this what you're doing to make yourself feel better? Talking down to the people who come to have a chat? I had a great deal of respect for you after Tython... Had, anyways. I guess that was my fault for thinking you had your head screwed on straight. Your duel with Corin should've been a red flag..."

"No, I'm just talking down to you." Kai sighed. "You came for an answer, I gave you one, and yet you're still here whining about it. Newsflash, bud. Iris isn't here to be impressed by your white knighting, and I don't care what you think of me. You fought beside me on Tython, so what?"

"You're lucky I didn't know what you did when I saw you at the knighting ceremony. I would've had a cell of my own."

"I hadn't done it yet then," Kai corrected him. "Once it happened, things moved pretty quickly. I was arrested within just a few hours."

Jasper's threats were empty as long as they were sitting with several layers of transparisteel, durasteel, and duracrete between them. No doubt he was cruising for a bruising, but that simply wasn't going to happen.

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

"No, I'm just talking down to you." Kai sighed. "You came for an answer, I gave you one, and yet you're still here whining about it. Newsflash, bud. Iris isn't here to be impressed by your white knighting, and I don't care what you think of me."

"Alright, I'm gonna make this quick," Jasper began, leaning back in his seat. "If you think I'm doing this to impress someone, you need to learn how to read a room better. See, you've got it all wrong. This is a warning. I admit that three years is a long time, plenty to reflect and change as an individual... but that isn't guaranteed. If you can decide on a whim to erase someone's memories to cover your own ass, that doesn't fill me with much confidence that you won't be a threat to anyone else."

His frustration began to dial back a bit. Jasper could feel a hint of sympathy rising up in his chest. Kai would no doubt be seen as a threat for the rest of his life, even if he could change. Was that fair pressure to place on him?

"Look, man," he sighed. "I don't want to hate people. I'd rather this just be a sore point for you that people move on from, but the fact that someone I know was on the receiving end of it makes this... difficult. The Jedi way to do this would be to let it be and naturally let the situation die down, but I can't just assume that will be the case. That would be... a fate worse than death."

He was somber for a moment, but his serious expression quickly returned.

"I want to be sure this never happens again," Jasper told him, "But if I take your word in this moment and call it a day, that would make me a moron. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can expect me to be a frequent visitor, whether you like it or not."

 

[Arlo Renard]

"You think the Jedi are going to take me back once I'm out of here?" Kai's voice rose in volume, and suddenly he was shouting. "I'm going to be permanently expelled from the Order! So don't worry, I won't be your problem anymore! But quit acting so tough, like you're some kind of moral arbiter just because you didn't mess with the mind of your best friend. You're not a master, you're just a Padawan, and you don't even know what I did anyway!"

The look in Kai's eyes was wild, inhuman. Then again, he was an alien, merely wearing a human shell.

"And what makes you think I'd bother to see you even if you came back here? Don't you realize I get to choose which visitors I entertain, and which I blow off by staying in my cell! Oh, you can come here all you want, if you like wasting time!"

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

"Tough?" Jasper echoes, a grin spreading across his face. "Please, I was born in a tube, grew up alone, and can't do anything without causing problems for someone else along the way. I'm not a moral arbiter. I'm a walking disaster."

He didn't see a need to defend his pride here. Jasper knew he had nothing to lose, and he had made peace with that fact. Still, there was a new sensation inside of him. Not anger anymore: Motivation. He didn't even seem very bothered by Kai's anger.

"And how sure are you that they won't accept you back anyways?" he continued. "There are literal murders who have found their way back to the Order. You think you're unique? You may very well be defeating yourself."

Jasper sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Look, what you're saying is all technically true," Jasper agreed. "I'm a padawan, and one that no one seems to wanna pick up at that, and I have absolutely no clue what you've done fully... But I don't abandon people. Even if I didn't know you all that well, you were still there in the background going through your own difficulties. In that way we're similar, even if you may not see the way I do. You can ignore me all you want. I'm perfectly fine with that. That won't make me change my mind. I'm well known to be headstrong and irrational."

As he explained this, Jasper grew mischievous grin.

"And lets not be naïve," he added jokingly. "Even if you do leave the order, I can think of a thousand different ways you can cause problems later down the line. The galaxy is more complex then that."

 

[Arlo Renard]

Jasper just wouldn't come off it. By the time he got to his tragic backstory, Kai wanted to throw a chair at him. Unfortunately, all the chairs in prison are bolted down, and he wouldn't have been able to get it through the barrier anyway.

"Just shut up," he groaned, running his hands through his wild hair in exasperation. "All I'm getting out of this is that you want to fight me when I get out of here, and you're just making a reservation three years in advance. Is that it?"

Simply getting up and walking away without a word would've been more contemptuous, but the last thing he needed was for this clown to make the rest of his sentence into a three-ring circus.

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

"That's all you got out of that?" Jasper asked with a frown. "Jeez you have selective hearing. Fighting is the last resort if you're still a moron after this. I'm offering something different..."

Jasper was well aware that Kai was very frustrated at this point. This was a good thing, strange as it might sound. It meant that what he was about to propose could hold some water.

"Now listen," he continued, "I'll spare you the details, but I know from experience that nothing good comes from sitting around alone and frustrated. You're gonna lie in that cell of yours and grow bitter over these next three years. What I'm bringing to the table is an outlet for your rage. Y'know, someone to shout profanities at and take your anger out on. Think of it as a way to get all that pent up emotion out of your system. You'll want to take your frustration out on someone eventually. Who better than someone you barely know? Three years pass, you'll still be sane, I won't have an angry train wreck with force powers causing problems, and we both pretend like we've never met."

 

[Arlo Renard]

"No," Kai said. "You make too many assumptions. You don't know what my situation is, or all that much about me, and yet you're trying to worm your way into my life for some reason."

Probably because Jasper thought he had found a kindred spirit in Kai. Even if that were the case, this was not the way to go about trying to make friends. Or whatever Jasper was going for.

"I've had enough of this." He stood up. Immediately a guard flanked him, ready to escort him back to his cell. "Don't waste your time on me. Help Iris instead. She needs all the help she can get."

With that, he turned around and allowed himself to be led away.

Jasper Kai'el​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Prison Visiting Area
Tags: Arlo Renard ​

"Don't waste your time on me. Help Iris instead. She needs all the help she can get."

As Kai was whisked away, Jasper couldn’t help but grin. It had taken everything he could think of, but he finally had the information he wanted. It seemed that Kai wouldn’t be a threat after all, for a time anyways.

“That was fast,” he noted to himself. “Guess I won’t need to come back after all.”

“Jasper,” his droid companion Pyf chimed in, “What was the point of this? To make the boy angry?”

“Sort of,” Jasper replied. “I just needed to know what his priorities were. Getting him mad just made it easier for the answer to slip out.”

“All that talk about visiting-”

“Pretense.” he cut in. “Well, kinda. I was prepared to come back to get what I wanted, but I have responsibilities, and I’d rather not spend my time here. Not with him. Still, his priorities aren’t self centered, even if he landed himself in here for something stupid. He shouldn’t be a danger when he gets out, at least if he remains this way.”

“He’ll hate you, you know,” Pyf informed him.

“I don’t care,” Jasper shrugged. “I didn’t do this for him. I don’t even know who he is.”

And with that, Jasper set off, hopefully to never have to deal with Kai again.