Private On The Rocks

[Jackie Rosso]

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Location: Veridia
Tags: Valor the Forsaken

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The pink boy let out an aggravated huff. Once more a narrow spire of rocks had toppled over from its own weight and poor balance. He was only now getting the hang of telekinesis and learning how to manipulate matter and objects remotely.

He’d been tasked by Mathew to stack stones as a way of practicing. Starting with more fine manipulation. It was simple, deceptively so. It was hard finding the point of balance and center of gravity for the rocks. Standing not being able to physically feel the weight and touch of the rocks was making it much more difficult than simply using his hands to stack the rocks. Jackie wasn’t even sure how high he was supposed to make it.

The pink boy was hoping that he’d be able to ride his swoop once he got back to the temple. Having spent the previous two days helping Braze and their friends with some technical maintenance.

Once more he started with building up another tower, once more finding a decently sized rock to rest at the bottom and function as the foundation. Treating it almost like a narrow pyramid that gradually tapered to a point of smaller tones as it got higher.​

 

[Valor the Forsaken]

Jackie Rosso

Valor watched the lad with a flat, unimpressed stare. He scooped up a palm-sized stone, weighed it lazily in his hand, then started tossing it into the air as though the exercise meant absolutely nothing to him. Up, catch. Up, catch....Bored. On the last toss he let it drop into his palm and flicked it straight at Jackie's little leaning tower of pebbles,

"Stop pouting and find the balance point. Even toddlers manage this without throwing a tantrum."
He folded his arms after the throw, not even checking to see whether the pile survived.

 

[Jackie Rosso]

Location: Veridia
Tags: Valor the Forsaken

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“Ah what the hell?!” Jackie hissed as his tiny tower was knocked over. His blue eyes flashing with frustration as he looked over at Valor. “It’s hard enough stacking them. I don't need you sabotaging me too.” Jackie still didn’t know what the point of this task was.

“They’re too smooth, not enough bumps for them to grip each other.” He tried to rationalize why he was having trouble. Thinking it was a problem with the rocks themselves rather than why he was struggling to find the balance point. “I know what to do…” He added, trying to clarify. “Why are you here? what do you want?” Jackie said as he tried once again to stack the rocks. The way he manipulated the rocks was delicate enough, but not accurate when finding the balance point.​

 

[Valor the Forsaken]

Jackie Rosso

Valor let out a low scoff, the kind that made it perfectly clear he found Jackie's entire explanation pathetic.

"Smooth rocks. Right. That's the problem." He stepped closer, nudging one with the tip of his boot. "Tell me, pink boy… do excuses stack better than stones? Because you seem a lot more practiced at those."

He crouched just enough to pick up another pebble, rolling it idly between his fingers.

"What I want is to see whether you fold every time the Force doesn't pamper you. So far?" He flicked the pebble lightly toward Jackie's half-built tower again, not enough to knock it over this time… just enough to make Jackie flinch. "It's not looking great."

Valor straightened back up with the faintest smirk.

"If you knew what you were doing, you'd have done it already. Now quit whining and actually feel the balance point instead of blaming the geology."

 

[Jackie Rosso]

Location: Veridia
Tags: Valor the Forsaken

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Jackie’s teeth clenched and grinded some within his mouth as Valor continued to press him. Trying to focus some on gently placing the small rocks on top of one another. But he gasped and flinched right as Valor flicked the other pebble.

The zeltron looked back at Valor with anger and held his fists up as if ready to scrap with the pale teen. But held back only because his small pile hadn’t been toppled over yet.

“Yeah I'm sure it’s really easy for you and your friends with years of experience and practice. I can’t put what I’ve learned to use yet. I can’t go galavanting around the galaxy like some people.” Jackie said back.

He wasn’t very knowledgeable about what was going on in the rest of the galaxy but he felt like taking his studies here was the least he could do. Maybe then he could be an asset for once. He felt the emotional turmoil others brought with them here and true to his nature it made him restless and eager to help in some way.

Lowering his fists and letting out a sigh he turned away from Valor and back to his pile. “I’m trying… but I don’t know how to feel the balance. Because I can’t touch it…” That was part of the zeltron’s problem. Right now he used The Force more like it was some sort of personal tractor beam and repulsor. He wasn’t really connecting with it, at least not properly.