Nerves Like Jelly

[Joza Perl]

Why couldn’t the Alliance put their temple somewhere like here…? She’d only been on Voss for a short time, and already she found the planet refreshing. The air was clean, not filled with toxins and ash as it was on Sullust. It was easier to breathe, but inwardly Joza knew that it wasn’t just because of the fresh air. Things seemed…calmer and less rushed. Peaceful, even. It reminded her of the less populated areas of Zeltros. She’d taken a few trips with her mother out to the countryside as a child, the lush grasslands and hills bringing to mind good memories. Already, some of the tension worked its way out of her shoulders.

Visiting Voss was something that had been on her mind lately. She was first told of the Silver Sanctum’s headquarters by [member="Krux Mullarus"], then later by Jericho. The Master Jedi had encouraged her to visit and study what she wished, citing several Masters that would be able to teach her. The young Zeltron was hesitant at first, but tried not to let her own anxiety hold her back from what she wanted. Experiencing how different types of Jedi did things was something she felt would hopefully broaden her understanding.

Even the temple here felt more open, probably because it was so…large, and not partially underground. Her footsteps echoed dully on the stone walls as she made her way through the building, tilting her head to look at everything in wide-eyed curiosity. Her confidence and stability began to waver after her first bouts of live combat, but she wasn’t doing poorly. Knowing that there was still so much for her to learn was a sort of comfort.

Drawing in a deep breath, Joza felt out the area to see if she could identify anyone she knew.

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Deep in the Academy, Jedi Knight Krux Mullarus sat cross-legged across from [member="Setzi Lunelle"] in a dark, unlit room. Their hands were interlaced with one another before them with their heads bowed and eyes closed. It was a gesture of love, as well as support. Krux was helping Setzi master Jedi Meditation.

"Feel, Setzi, don't think." he muttered, "Clear your thoughts and feel the Force in the air around you."

His hands held hers gently, yet firmly. He supported her learning to remain still for long periods of time with a clear, open mind and a slow-beating heart. It required immense patience, of which she didn't have and he had plenty of. It appeared to be going well, but he couldn't read her thoughts. Her hands were steady and calm in his, though, so she seemed to be doing just fine.

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Meditation never came easily to Setzi. When she had been a Sith, Krux was the one who had opened her eyes to it as a tool to strengthen focus and concentration. She recalled a time when she was training him on Glee Anselm, that he was able to tap into a stronger Force reserves through his own practice of darkside meditation. Unfortunately, the padawan – a Sith Lord at the time – could never quite get the hang of it.

And still couldn’t! It always seemed like an exercise in futility. Right this moment, Krux had her hands in his. Both of their eyes were closed. But instead of concentrating as he instructed her, she kept focusing on how warm his bare hands were next to hers. How soft the skin of his palms were, even though she knew he’d been in countless battles, his many cybernetics and scars a testament to this. Setzi would try to breathe and clear her mind, but ultimately her thoughts would begin to focus on external distractions. There was a fresh smell of cut grass in the air, birds whistling, footsteps, and other sounds which drew her attention away.

She knew the Jedi tried to meditate during any spare chance they had, but the brunette padawan preferred her active Soresu training, which she was attempting to switch to, feeling Makashi an extremely offensive Form used to its best advantages by the Sith.
Still, even if Setzi wasn’t successful with meditation, she enjoyed sitting in the quiet with her companion. She wondered what the other Jedi at the Temple thought of the two of them: a Master and his padawan lover. Surely it must be frowned upon? But she’d never heard any words or whisperings to prove this. Despising his disapproval, however, she stayed quiet, breathed deeply, and tried not to let him know that she was utterly failing in her attempts to concentrate.

"Maybe I need a blindfold for this," she finally said, her soft voice penetrating the silence.

[member="Krux Mullarus"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Wandering deeper into the temple, Joza let her eyes fall closed as she tried to concentrate on feeling out the signatures of life around her in hopes that she’d recognize one. Normally she’d be more frazzled about being in a new place, but so far she’d felt more unwound than she had in months. If she didn’t know any better, she would have supposed that there were pheromones at work here.

The Zeltron blinked as a familiar feeling began to tickle her senses, her face scrunching up when she could not immediately identify it. Was it Jericho? Probably not, it didn’t feel the same as him. But it was someone she’d met before, she was sure of it.

It was almost like following a string, she realized as she paused in her steps to occasionally peer into open rooms and around corners. A string that wavered when her concentration would start to slip. As frustrating as it was, it was also sort of…exciting. And satisfying, she realized as she drew closer to the room that [member="Krux Mullarus"] and [member="Setzi Lunelle"] were meditating in. By now she understood that the familiar feeling belonged to the patient Jedi she had met on Sullust.

Focusing harder, Joza slowed to a stop and tried to extend her presence out to him. In the back of her mind, she wondered if it would even work—she was still a novice, after all. But hey, you don’t know unless you try.

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Krux's thumbs began to caress her knuckles as a smile crept across his face. Despite this, he let out a sigh, "Somehow...i'll dig up that moment of clairvoyance you had on Ilum. It must have been the crystals that helped you focus. Or, maybe I should have closed the blinds..." he said, opening his eyes and standing up, stopping for a second to reconsider her remark before closing the blinds, "...Actually, a blindfold would help next time. But then I couldn't look into your eyes..." he said with a wink to her.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar presence that seemed to be trying to get his attention. Hell, it isn't Connor, is it? Ever since his encounter with his old master when Setzi came to Voss, Krux began to get the feeling Master Harrison doubted his abilities, that he was too easily strung-along by Setzi. Part of him even felt Connor resented him for it, that he let his hate for Setzi mirror itself onto him now. It sucked, because truthfully, Connor was the most influential teacher Krux had ever had the privilege of learning from - far more than Pyrrhus and, yes, even what knowledge Setzi herself passed on to him back before they became Jedi and the roles switched dramatically. Connor was a father-figure to Krux now, and father was disappointed in him. He had to prove he could turn Setzi into a capable, competent Jedi Knight and that while his attitudes and opinions may still be dark and chaotic for a Jedi, they were still benevolent.

But enough of Connor, it became clear to Knight Mullarus when the presence drew near who it was when a wave of relaxation seemes to flow into the room from the door. [member="Setzi Lunelle"] would feel it, too. Krux suddenly felt like taking his beloved's hand and leading her someplace quiet so he could make love to her. Strongly.

"Ah...Setzi, we have company. Another Padawan whom I did a bit of teaching before you came around. Seems she finally came to Voss." he said, hoping the mere mention of another woman being trained under him wouldn't make Setzi jealous. He knows of her ties to the Dark Side.

Waving a hand, he unlocked the door loud enough where the Zeltron Padawan could hear it and would likely invite herself in when she'd realize who was on the other side of it.

[member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

The stroke of Krux’s fingers on her knuckles felt so good, she was lost in the sensation for a moment. And then, as she heard a weary sigh from her lover, she tried really hard not to crack a smile. He had a right to be completely exasperated with her, but oddly enough he wasn’t. Neither Setzi nor Krux were known for their patience as Sith, but he had it in spades now.

Hers still needed a little bit of work.

She felt a relaxing aura and wondered momentarily if it was Krux attempting a subtle mind trick, convincing her to believe she was loosening up for another hour of meditation. But if it was a mind trick, it was certainly a mischievous one, as she began to feel unexpectedly amorous as well. Did her blindfold comment stir some other type of interest within her companion?

“I certainly didn’t mean to use the blindfold in that way, but now that you mention it, it could be nice."

But as soon as the Jedi Knight began to speak, indicating a newcomer was about to arrive, Setzi also realized the unusual feeling was coming from an outside presence.

“That was a strong mind trick for a padawan,” she said, not realizing that what both of them felt were Zeltron pheromones. And luckily, they had the unintended effect of soothing her enough that she felt no jealousy, nor animosity at the mention of Krux training another padawan. Setzi was curious to meet the student just as she was curious to watch her companion teach another in a complete role reversal from how they were also Knight and Acolyte in the One Sith.

[member="Krux Mullarus"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

Green eyes flickered upward toward the door as it audibly unlocked, and she raised a brow. It took her a few moments to realize that if she could sense his presence, he could undoubtedly sense her own. She pushed at the door tentatively and let it slowly swing open, the gentle light from the temple washing over the pair of figures standing on the other side.

Her eyes first fell on the existence she had recognized, giving [member="Krux Mullarus"] a soft smile in greeting. Joza’s gaze then shifted over to [member="Setzi Lunelle"], giving the woman a curious yet pleasant look. She’d made the decision to try as hard as possible to seem approachable during her visit, but not too hard…then she’d just seem strange. Hence, it was somewhat of a comfort to see someone familiar.

After a glance between the two Silver Jedi, Joza recalled the conversation she’d had with Krux on Sullust. She could feel the aura of adoration and dedication coming from Krux, and concluded that this must be the woman he had alluded to then. Sometimes her natural empathetic abilities came in handy, even if she often didn’t know what to do with the information she gleaned from them.

“It wasn’t a mind trick,” She began, tucking a flyaway wisp of hair back against her head. The Zeltron had been keeping her hair pulled back tightly lately, and still some unruly strands seemed to get in the way. “I’m afraid I’m not that good yet…but pheromones can have a similar effect, I’ve come to find.” Joza paused, looking past them and noting the darkened room they were in. “I uh, apologize if I interrupted anything.” She tilted her gaze away slightly out of minor embarrassment, hoping that she hadn’t interrupted anything too intimate.

 

[Krux Mullarus]

"Just some training. Don't worry." Krux said to Joza as she entered the room. "You're welcome to join, if you want. How've you been?" he asked her, having not seen her since at least before his Knight promotion, which had been a while. As she walked more into the room and shut the door, Krux would gesture to Setzi, "This...is Setzi Lunelle. The woman I talked about before that I was hopelessly in love with. She's here now. Just like myself, the Dark Side is now just a past memory." he smiled to his beloved as he spoke, "and, Setzi, this is Padawan Joza Perl of the New Jedi Order. I met her on Sullust, during the awkward transition of mine from Sith Knight to Jedi Padawan. A fine student. I am confident both of you can learn more from each other than you could just from me."

For a second, he thought about tossing them kendo and asking them to spar, but just as he was as a Padawan of the Jedi, Setzi isn't exactly a stranger or a novice to melee combat like Joza is. In fact, Setzi was a Sith Lord, she could have possibly been more skilled than even he, though he knew most of her skill came from her powerful sensitivity to the Force. She was more of the spellcasting type than the warrioress. Still, she was a master of Form II, and would probably wipe the floor with Joza, who was a bit more of a novice.

So he turned to them and shrugged, "Setzi and I were just practicing meditation. What would you like to practice?"

[member="Joza Perl"] / [member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi shielded her eyes momentarily from the light streaming into the open door. Her pupils constricted, and she finally made out the form of Joza Perl, noting her pink skin and reddish hair. She was a Zeltron! The brunette padawan had not met many Zeltrons. Having grown up on a farm on Aduba-III, then joining the Jedi Order, falling to the darkside early and becoming a Sith Lord under the powerful influence of Darth Pyrrhus, she hadn’t encountered the fun-loving, easy-going race. Certainly Zeltrons were few and far between in the ranks of the One Sith.

“Ohhh,” Setzi said with the realization that Joza hadn’t implanted the heady, giddy feeling towards Krux in her head with the Force. “That’s amazing! Pheromones!” The dulcet tones of her laugh then echoed around the training room. “I’m sorry,” she said with a self-effacing grin, worried that she was coming off as a naïve farm girl. “I’ve never encountered a Zeltron up close. It’s hard to imagine but true.”

Of course during her short life, Setzi had witnessed more horrors and suffering than most padawans, but it was nice that she still had the capacity to be surprised by the simple things in the galaxy – like a near-human species with those lovely pheromones.

But at risk of making Joza feel uncomfortable, she didn’t want to immediately barrage the fellow padawan with questions over her racial trait.

“I’m open to anything, Joza. You just name what you’d like to practice, and it’s likely that I also need to learn it.” She gave a sly wink to Knight Mullarus to let him know she was on her best behavior. Hopefully, he wasn't worried about any of her former Sith powers making an appearance. She felt at least the attempt at meditation helped to put her in a calmer place... along with the pheromones.

[member="Krux Mullarus"] [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Joza Perl]

“I’ve been well, thank you.” The pink-skinned girl responded politely as she took a step further into the room. In truth, she was a little surprised that the woman he had spoken so passionately about was here now and no longer affiliated with the Dark Side. Then again, she hadn’t been exposed to the Dark Side much and didn’t understand its temptations. The thought made her a little uneasy, but she brushed it aside in favor of focusing on this pleasant meeting.

“It’s nice to meet you, Setzi.” Joza offered an awkward smile, one that grew more genuine at her positive mention of the pheromones. “Oh no, no need to apologize. Everyone’s first time with a Zeltron is pretty amazing!” There was her attempt at exchanging ice-breaking pleasantries. “I-I mean, you know, the uh…the pheromones!” She stammered, a red flush dusting her cheeks. “If you’ve never felt them before, y..yeah. They’re, um. Really relaxing. Well that’s what I was told by others, I grew up around them, so...”

She gave a few soft nervous laughs, absently trying to smooth back the same stray hairs. She wasn’t uncomfortable, just a little out of place. Settling down a bit, the Padawan exhaled slowly and smiled at the pair. “I’m glad to see that you’re well, Krux. Congratulations on your promotion to Knight, by the way.” He seemed to be in a better place, more stable. A large part of it likely came from reconnecting with his lover, and to witness such a pure form of happiness made her feel good in turn. Ah, empathetic abilities.

“I would suggest a dueling lesson, but perhaps something related to meditation would be better?” She offered, unsure of what to propose.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"] [member="Krux Mullarus"]