Private Light Fingers

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen turned his gaze upwards, scratching the side of his neck as he considered the question. He had seen many students come through the academy over the years.

"Most students are fairly competent withing six months to a year, at least with the basics. Some show talent in more...specialist areas. That can take longer to refine."

 

[Serya Talith]

Her eyes widened, nostrils flaring. “But that’s so long!”

(phone posts!)

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Ah. Yes."

To her a year probably was a long time and not just the padding that flew by between increasingly frequent birthdays.

"Six months isn't really that long?" he asked hopefully, as a cup of caf was placed down on the table. What he really wanted was his bacon.

 

[Serya Talith]

She sat back hard, no hunger to stomach as she chewed on the concept of her next six months looking like... this.
Which really wasn’t that bad if one was being honest, but the concept of signing herself away in any extending form was... something to chew.

she picked up her cup, bringing it to her face and letting the steam wash over her as she mused.

“What does this look like... these six months... with you.” Came the careful question, not unlike a business partner feeling out terms.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"That's a good question, because I hadn't really thought I was going to be taking on a student. So I don't know. Let me think..."

It was becoming increasingly obvious that his offer really had been a spur of the moment decision. Jacen didn't have this planned out. Jacen didn't really have anything in his life planned out.

" I've been moving around a lot recently, but I suppose that will have to slow down. Be travelling off world though. Odd jobs here and there. Finding some space to train each day. It's not like I'm going to be keeping you to an academy schedule..."

All these things made sense in his own mind as he thought it through, but he was hardly painting a clear picture for Seyra.

 

[Serya Talith]

A tenor of tension ran through her, her knuckles going white. Off world? ... jobs?

“what exactly do you do again?” It was sharper than intended, but the reaction cut out of her all the same.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"I would say...the worst its described as is 'interfering where I shouldn't be sticking my nose.' I'm just trying to do some good places I go."

Jacen looked around, hoping the food would cut through this point in the conversation. It did not.

"I fought in wars Serys. The last one we lost. Spectacularly. I spent years hiding on some backwater and now I just want to...be useful again."

 

[Serya Talith]

That struck her silent, the harsh reality of his words... sobering. She shifted in her chair, a bout of guilt, or perhaps shame crawling through her as she made him admit such things in such a tired tone.

"I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm not use to people wanting something. Not to.... look a gift horse in the mouth... It's just, you have to realize how this looks to a girl like me." She couldn't afford to not be skeptical, but it was starting to seem out of place with all he had extended to her.

Was this how they got you?

"...I don't have any way to earn my keep. I don't... have a way... to be useful back." She didn't even mention the obvious, both of them had already taken it off the table. There was trust here now, budding and tentative. But it did not change her shared need to... contribute.

For many reasons, she needed that role.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen grimaced. A year as a Justicar and he had seen enough of the galaxy's dark underbelly.

"I do understand," he replied. "I didn't go about things very well to convince you...otherwise..."

Jacen shifted uncomfortably where he sat. He didn't have a sensible answer to that. Nothing to offer to give her any serious clarity.

"I know," he said. "I'm not asking anything of you. Just...try to learn. This is the point where I should really say 'promise to never tamper with minds again' but I think I've already undermined that lesson."

 

[Serya Talith]

He came back to it again-- her hurting others. It wasn't explicate and it wasn't cruel, but the manner in which he kept falling back to the concern time and time again... it painted him in a clear picture as they both sat in their awkward silence. She had questions, but in their tenuous meeting she kept them to herself. It was unclear where she felt like she was being overly cautious and just curious, but it was a line she did not care to push. Simply because she was growing tired of the conversation too.

It was a lot.

And so she was grateful when the food was place down before her, both left to their thoughts and full plates in peace.

Her thoughts ran wild, struggling to find real faults in the offer besides the gaping fact that she didn't know him and the world was dangerous. And in the end these conscerns were dashed, always circling back to the gut feeling that this wasn't the cause.

He wasn't a bad guy.

He wasn't trying to hurt her.

Still, the action of saying yes was larger than not, a whole bread roll picked apart before the decision was said.

"Okay. I'll let you teach me control. And... as long as there's no need to... ... I won't try mess with someone's mind again."

The admittance slipped. She totally knew she could do it.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"I haven't been a perfect teacher in that regard already," he said. Jacen offered a smile. The expression was an offer. An offer to let the tension break at least for a few minutes.

Food helped too.

Having that out of the way, and a mug of caf to chase some of the lethargy out of his mind made him feel as if he could face the day. At times, he felt as if he should have stayed on tatooine. He hadn't been doing any good from that remote town, but he hadn't made a mess of anything either. There had been no responsibilities hanging off his shoulders.

Compared to marshaling an entire war for the core of the galaxy looking after just one person should have felt small.

It did not.

He was mopping up the last of his food in short order, settling back in his chair to finish his caf.

"It's about the intention," he said finally. "If you try and dominate a mind - and I think you have the potential to - you could do real harm. Just a distraction, turning someone's focus elsewhere like you have been doing...that does no lasting harm. In case that was worrying you."

 

[Serya Talith]

"It wasn't," she stated bluntly. After a pause, she glanced up at him, a self-conscious thought leaving her to clarify. "They would do the same to me if they had the chance."

She wasn't a bad person. She was just utilizing her resources. Life on the streets was hard... a fact she realized she wouldn't... have to... face again? The realization splashed cold across her skin, earning a feeble smile that twitched into a frown of apprehension.

She said nothing, turning herself towards her plate and shoving her picked apart food between her lips. She'd need her strength.

Just in case he'd change his mind.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

He nodded solemnly. She didn't have to paint any more of a picture of why she might have needed to use her abilities. The consequences had she not.

"Well then..." he sighed, looking down at his plate. This was harder than dealing with the Sith they had captured. When he had tried to get through to them, they had faced him head on defiantly. Jacen knew that a wrong step here and she would simply melt through his fingers.

"...do you feel up to throwing some pebbles around?"

They would not need to go far. A repulsor train ran through the city and connected them up to a nearby park that would have enough room.

 

[Serya Talith]

Her eyes flickered up, golden hue filled with question. "...Pebbles?" She echoed.

You can move things. Intentionally.

HIs previous words came rushing back, lost to the conversation that still left her mind spinning. Understanding filled her, her brows shooting up as her expression composed. She gave him a wordless nod, trepidation growing in her gut again as a concern came back to light.

And if she couldn't do it? What would he do with her then?

Performance anxiety jittered through her, but she let a deep breath out and shoved the last of her roll in. Guess it all starts... now.

"Let'sgo." She stood, trying to not choke on a crump she had inhaled too quickly.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen had found a nice dry patch of grass beneath a tree. They were far enough from people that a passing glance wouldn't reveal what they were doing. They were also close enough that Serya wouldn't feel she was being taken out to be murdered.

Jacen had arranged a small pile of smooth pebbles on the ground around them. He sat facing her, the sun off to the side.

"We're going to leave these for now," he said. It begged the question as to why he had bothered.

"I want you to try and listen. Listen to the Force. It flows through all living things, is stopped by now barriers."

That was not quite true, but it was a lie that made life easier for now.

"Not even time can always stop it. It can warn you of dangers to come."

Jacen paused, something in his tone suggesting that he wasn't quite done.

"Been a long time since I did that spiel," he chuckled.

 

[Serya Talith]

Did he use to be a teacher then? The questions continued to build, but Serya did not ask them. For all her curiosity, she equally reserved. Things would unravel as they did, and he would tell her things as he was ready to. Beyond what her gut said, she didn't need much else to push forward with someone else.

That was, unless her mind kept fighting against it.

She pressed a finger to her temple, a small headache forming.

"Listen to what, all I hear is ringing," she grumbled, a train 'hoooting' in the distance.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Right, less literal then.

"Do you ever hear what other people are thinking and feeling?" he asked her. He needed a link, something for her to follow to start this process.

 

[Serya Talith]

Serya sat in the grass, the level of food in her stomach leaving her sleepy.

Rest had not come easy to her last night, and as the situation around this stranger grew less unsure, her own anxieties lessened. She gave a yawn, looking around.

"I-suppose. Yeah? Sometimes? I'm part kiffer, we see all sorts of things we shouldn't." She plucked up the grass and twisted it through her fingers, straining to get a memory from it. Alas, there was none. Just the vague concept of warmth and water and a random shoe.

Damn planets.

She tossed it away, frowning up at him.

"I can't do anything on purpose. Like ever." Which was part of the reason this was such a hard pill to swallow. She had had someone suggest the force to her before, but they... Her eyes swirled, the gold reflecting the sun and glowing subtly before settling back down. She blinked hard, her yawn doubling.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

She knew she was a member of the kiffer species. That gave something away, perhaps unknowingly. A child abandoned to the streets from a young age probably wouldn't know what human offshoot species she was from, not how that was related to her abilities.

Maybe, Jacen thought to himself, she was a teenage runaway. It wasn't enough to know for now. Questions like that could wait for another time.

"When you touch something you can an impression of what it has been. Do you feel something...more basic before that. Like when you concentrate on something can you get a sense of it, it's weight, it's shape and size, before you even look into its past?"

 

[Serya Talith]

Her mouth watered, the tangible sense of something rippling over her tongue as he brought her mind to the fibers of the force surrounding the blades of grass she curled her fingers back around.

Aha. Bingo.

A spark of hope hit her chest, a part of her really wanting him to prove that piece of her existed. "I guess." The other part of her remained skeptical.

"On your tongue or like... before your finger tips. The information and stuff, right?" Came her poor attempt to summarize, her words a touch insistful.