Private Light Fingers

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Taking the girl of the streets and back to a hotel wasn't something he had given much thought to. It was going to be particularly awkward.

Fortunately the reception to the hotel was particularly quiet. Yet when the street girl followed in his wake the man at the desk gave him a particularly withering stare.

"Don't judge me" he said to Serya Talith . "I'd like you to forget all about this, but first I'll need another room please."

"Another room please," echoed the receptionist quietly. Her eyes went vacant and she tapped away before passing over another room key.

"All yours," he said, passing it to Serya and turning to walk away. "I'll see you at breakfast at...hmm."

He wasn't sure how to go about suggesting that he buy her clean clothes. The whole situation was remarkably awkward.

 

[Serya Talith]

Serya took the room card, her brows raised as he did the exact thing he told her was too dangerous to do. Perhaps this was a 'do as I say, not as I do' moment, but to Serya it just read as 'do it just don't get caught'. After all, she had been doing it for years with no adverse affects. If such things really did exist, maybe it would take a bit more training to actually put people at risk? Then again, If that was true, why offer to train her at all? He seemed really worried something would go wrong if she kept using it.

Maybe he just was afraid she'd figure it out herself and flup up? She very clearly didn't understand what was going on here, but she pocketed the card and gave him a small nod, relieved to see he had no intention of even walking up with her.

Serya had many things to be concerned over, but the concept that this man would try to hurt her was quickly falling to the wayside. He had had so many chances up until this moment. As he turned to walk away, he paused, looking back at her.

"...Sunrise?" she offered, trying to fill in his blank.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Sunrise?" he asked rhetorically, looking shocked. He might have been up got classes early once. That was when he had been a jedi. Perhaps not technically employed, but it had been expected of him.

"How about eight?" he asked. He was getting older and without any obligations he enjoyed sleeping in.

"You can read clocks? Sorry, that's not meant to be rude but I have no idea how long you've been surviving out there for." His tone brushed past the topic as if it was discussing different kinds of rain and not how horrible the street rat's life had been.

"The, er, sonic shower can usually be used to wash clothes in a pinch," he said, finding a solution to the other problem.

 

[Serya Talith]

Serya's expression fell dead, a bit of ire coating the tone that followed.

"I know how to read clocks. And books. And your DNA." She couldn't help but to drop the last one, a bit of pride seeping out of her. It didn't gain her anything good to drop info bits like that on him, but it felt good to show him up. Not that he had any reason to believe the boastful claims of a street rat. She just didn't like how he was looking at her.

It reminded her a bit too much of her mom.

"I'll see you at eight." She pushed past him, forgoing the elevator to take the stairs. Her confidence turned on a dime again, the girl questioning if this was a good idea. It was hard to tell. This whole experience left her filled with adrenaline and confusion. So... just a normal day as a street rat, then.

Fact remained, she still could leave at any time. It was a solace. She clung to it, hoping he'd give her no reason to regret this.

Life usually did.


The rest of the night was spent in similar confusion. Serya was not unuse to a warm bed or showers. There was little awe to be felt and all the more trepidation. There was something exciting about being told she could refine her skill further. But for every positive addition his reveal gave her, she found three reasons more to be concerned over this new title of 'special'.

She didn't want to be special. She wanted to be fine. Just fine. Not hungry. Not dead. Not a risk to others-- and definitely not one of those mystical wizards at war. Just... Fine.

Her brain did a good job at dissociating the connection he had drawn between her and those stories. It was all a bit too large to swallow.

She could have run in the night. She could have taken the food, the shower, the warning and ditched. She didn't. Come morning she was still there, uneasy but secure in her decision to see what more he could tell her before making the call to go. Knowledge was power. It was like her mother always said. She walked down the stairs, pretending her decision to walk into the lobby at eight sharp was a choice and not the strange tug inside of her pulling her forward.

What was with that, anyway?

She cleaned up rather well, her soft complexion almost pretty against the chestnut hair and orange eyes. Her clothes hung wrinkled but clean against her body. She had washed them because she had wanted to. Not because he had said so! She crossed her arms over her chest, sitting self-consciously into the lobby cushions and slyly sniffing herself. She winced.

Her mother would be so disappointed to see her like this.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"You can read my DNA?" he muttered under his breath after she was gone. Jacen remained standing in the reception, wearing a deep frown.

"What are you running from?" he mused out loud.

"Huh?"

Realising that the receptionist was coming out of their stupor, Jacen headed quickly for his room.

---

Jacen came down a few minutes last eight. He always underestimated how long it took him to get awake and ready in the morning. Once he had been a soldier, snatching minutes of sleep when and where he could. Those days were long behind him.

She was, to his surprise, still here. Given time to reflect he was certain she would have gone. He crossed the space between them and sat down next to her.

"Good morning," he said. "I am Jacen, by the way. Can't even remember if I gave my name."

He left a pause to see if she would respond in turn.

 

[Serya Talith]

Serya sat up straight, the bolt of movement occurring as he sat across from her. Late. Her eyes skimmed his face, distressed as it sought out a noticeable reason for his delay. Second thoughts? Had he been speaking to someone? Was this a trap? She couldn't help the way she glanced around, attuned to the enviroment and any noticeable shifts in the atmosphere. It was moments like these that made the difference between safe and not.

She could trust that he meant well, but she would be foolish not to double check herself.

"...Serya," she said after a moment, relaxing a little back into the chair when she found nothing amiss. "...Good morning." Her response was tempered, the girl feeling out the man before her. There was uncertainty over what would come next. She had tried to picture it last night-- what these 'lessons' might look like. Would he have her try to sway the deskworker again?

Himself?

The more she thought on it, the more confused she was over how it'd work. It wasn't like there was a switch she flipped. Would he kick her back to the side if she couldn't produce? Her heart sped up at the thought, a nervous wobble to her throat occurring as she swallowed hard.

"So um. Do we just... Do it here?"

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Huh? No. No first we get breakfast. Then we get a repulsor train to the nearest open parkland and we'll talk through some basics a fair distance from people..."

Jacen trailed off before - without missing more than two beats - continuing.

"Or just a big open park where people can see us but can't see exactly what we're doing or hear us. The first piece of leaning control is just as simple as lifting up small rocks."

 

[Serya Talith]

Heat filled her cheeks, but just like him, she skipped over it. It was his next set of words that sent her spinning, or brows pulling together in visible confusion.

"You want me to... lift rocks to... get better at making people say yes?" Call her stupid, but she did not see the connection between arm muscles and ...what ever the nightmare it was that she did.

The disconnect between what was common to him and to her was evident, even simple content like telekinetic lessons needing context.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"What? Oh no, erm..." Jacen went. He looked around at who was closest to their table. He had told himself he would make a strong start this morning. Instead he was already flustered and muttering.

He could recall a time when he had been quite a good teacher. Once he had been impulsive, but time had worn the edge off and left him a patient man. He was just out of practise, he told himself.

"With the Force," he said as quietly as he could. "It's the easiest thing to do with it and less dangerous."

 

[Serya Talith]

Serya blinked softly, her gazing leaving him and threatening to go hazy as indistinct memories bubbled up. Flying... things... Jumping onto hooks... trash cans... easy... too easy... Like the vibro knife. Only he had done that, and she-- the feeling of being lifted came back to her, her fingers tingling as if she was gripping for the wall she hand nearly scaled to escape him yesterday.

"I've moved things before," she reported, her voice firm as if trying to convince herself it was true. The sensations slipped away, her brows furrowing as the images were lost to the fog like a dream at first light.

Her gaze snapped his, fire entering them as light returned as quickly as it faded off. "You're saying I can do more of that?"

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Well what can you...actually don't tell me," Jacen said. "You can show me later."

There was a fine line to walk here. If she was a Talith, she could be the terrifying sith her ancestors had been. Not even ancestors, just a couple of generations back.

Too much information, too much enticing with power and would send her down the darkest path. Too little and she might even skip before btreadast.

"Let's eat," Jacen went on to say, skirting around it. "I'm hungry and the details can wait for when we have some space.".

He stood, hoping to draw a line under it for now. There were some separate tables through a small door for breakfast. A droid was checking room numbers off a list.

 

[Serya Talith]

She made a noise of frustration, her most vital question dodged as he dismissed them for breakfast.

"You don't trust me," she stated, standing and chasing after his heels. She had meant to play it cool-- Not show a need so he wouldn't find a leverage point he could press with her. She couldn't help the feeling that grew when he started talking. Like she needed to know. She needed to hear more.

"Is this cause I stole your thingy, cause I gave it back. If there are people coming for me, I need to know this." Unlike him, her voice was not soft. She reeled around, him, placing herself between him and the table he nearly sat at. "Tell me now," she demanded, showing more spine in that moment than she had with him yet.

The force echoed behind the demand, attempting to sway him yet again.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

It was like striking a wall. Not her gaze, or even her form blocking his path. It was the mental strike that had him reeling. Jacen came to an abrupt halt. His eyes narrowed as he defended the sanctity of his mind from the iron hard spear of her will.

"I think that right now, I trust you more than you trust me."

The response came through clenched teeth, sounding more angry than it really was. His expression smoothed out as his mind was returned fully to his own will.

"You remind me of someone," he replied. "Those eyes and your strength in the Force. Maybe just a resemblance, but it caught my attention. As does the thought of my hot breakfast."

 

[Serya Talith]

She stared at him, exasperated as he dodged and dismissed her once again.

"That doesn't answer my question." She yanked at the chair, sitting down in sync with him. At first it was him urging her to give him a chance, now he wouldn't be able to shake her if he tried.

"Is that why you don't trust me? Are they a bad person? Are they who will come for me?" As the words slipped out of her mouth, a chill crept over her body. The hairs on her arm raised, a deep sense of sudden unease filing her.

What?

She glanced around, knuckles white as she leaned forearms first onto the table. "Please just tell me." A hint of fear flooding her tone, the lack of control she possessed driving her spine rigid.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Look, I don't even know," he admitted bluntly. "Being powerful in the Force and having golden eyes is hardly enough to be certain. And in that family are good people and bad people. They don't concern me, unless you're already aware of any of them looking for you. Galaxy is a big place."

Jacen shifted in his seat. His eyes traved the line of tension from her fingertips to her shoulders.

"Are you? Aware of anyone else chasing you?" he asked bluntly.

 

[Serya Talith]

Her silence spoke volumes, her lips pursing as she frowned down at the table.

"I am no one," she finally commented, her voice hitting an odd lull. Like reading from a script. "My mother is dead. I have no other family. There is nothing special about me. ...Please," she finally whispered, a desperate sheen to the golden gaze that snapped up to him.

"Whatever you're so afraid of me abusing, I won't." He never said he was. She called him out on it anyway. The menu laid out before her, she did not pick it up. Her attention leveled on him, a bit of intensity to her gaze.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Is that what you really want?" he asked.

Finally, Jacen seemed to have given up on food. At least for the time being. Could she not have let this crisis be between him and bacon?

"There is something special about you," he insisted. "You can't change that."

He fixed her with a level stare. He had fixed Sith Lords with that look when they had threatened the livelihood of everything he held dear. It wasn't aggressive, it was just a statement that he was holding his position, that he would be true.

"You can learn to control that, with me and...at the end I'll help you find just a regular job at the end of it all. A fresh start. And I won't ask anything of you for it."

"Well...I'm going to ask you to please let me order some breakfast...but you get the point..."

 

[Serya Talith]

Silence.

That was all he recieved when he dropped the grander picture.

Training. A way to not be found. Freedom. No strings attached. It was entirely too good to be true, but if it was a long con she didn’t have the experience to understand what it might be for.

Sex was much cheaper to buy than that room and her meals, and slavery of any sort was always forced, notgently coaxed over a series of days.

She didn’t have the vocabulary to know how force sensitives could be swept from the streets. She only had the gut feeling that he was trying to help her.

This gruff, guilt ridden grandad who reminded her of home...

She gestured for him to eat, leaving him to his morning cup as the street rat stared down an offer of a life time.

And she stood paralyzed to it.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen didn't know what she was thinking. He could have tried to push back the walls she would almost certainly raise instinctively. If he looked for the answer he would probably make it for her.

There was a science that had rules about such things, observations defining results. He didn't know it. Jacen was a soldier. He had been a jedi first, but not for long. Even when he had become a jedi again, he had been a soldier too.

Jacen left her to her thoughts. At least until a serving droid came to their table. Jacen ordered nuna eggs, bacon, toast, more bacon and caf. The droid asked Serys what she wanted too. She'd managed a dinner out of him, she could get at least a second meal too.

 

[Serya Talith]

She replicated his order, her decision made long before she found her courage to voice it. There was fear in the finality of it.
A sense that if she stepped forward, there was no going back. And deep inside, two conflicting forces tugged her in opposite direction.
She knew which voice she wanted to listen to. It started with a small and innocent question.
“How long? Control, how long does it take until you’re,” she gestured vaguely to him, lacking vocabulary.