Private Slow Down

[Colette]

Loomi

“The what-arch?” Colette asked, eyebrow raised at Loomi as if she had just said some absolute nonsense. “I mean, yes!”

“To uh, both? If possible, I mean?” The little tribal cleared her throat to try and pep herself up. “To the garden and the arch, I mean. Maybe, uhh… Arch, cantina, garden, and then back to the dorm?”

As the duo walked along the corridors it was quite clear that Colette had no idea where she even was. The amount of times that Colette accidentally stumbled into Loomi when she took a turn or simply kept on walking when she stopped was proof enough of that along with the redness it brought to Colette’s cheeks.

It felt weird to be this out of her element. Colette was usually fairly adept at tracking and being aware of her own surroundings, but Coruscant was just one big metal scrap heap. It was hard not to feel overwhelmed every now and again.

As the two stepped into the room with the kyber arch, her eyes went wide in surprise.

“That must be it.” She said in continued wide-eyed amazement. “It’s beautiful.”

 

[Loomi]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Colette

“That must be it.” She said in continued wide-eyed amazement. “It’s beautiful.”

"Yeah," Loomi nodded, stepping deeper into the chamber. "I think so. Not everyone does though, at least that's what some people have told me."

The Godoan let the tip of her finger touch one of the many kyber crystals that lined the arch. They resonated with the force, filling the room with a somber, yet oddly calming air.

"It's the remnant of sacrifice," she explained, "Kyber left behind because their Jedi passed on... some find it to be too morbid."

A soft smile came to her face, light reflecting off her large remaining eye.

"But I think it's cool."

Cool was a good word.

 

[Colette]

Loomi

So it was a sort of plaque to commemorate the dead and to find beauty in death. Colette slowly nodded her head. There was no way to really skirt around death. As living, breathing organisms their existence would alway be finite. This arch was the closest thing that a lot of jedi would ever get to immortality, just like other people had a gravestone.

“If our ashes can’t be spread to fertilize a world or our bodies can’t be left to help bring sustenance to those who starve, then this is a good alternative.” Colette added with a solemn smile before she exhaled a chuckle and looked over at Loomi before setting her attention on the arch again. “My people see death as merely the next step of a journey. At the end of our cycles we convene with our tribe on how we wish to be sent off.”

“It’s morbid, but… In some clans they want their bodies to be left behind for the animals to consume so that they can become part of that animal and then live on in that cycle, and then the one that comes after that once the animal is consumed, and so on.” Her frown returned. Even talking about death made her miss home. It felt messed up. “Although most just prefer to be turned into ash and used to help fertilize the world around them, myself included.”

“It’s—” She stopped and looked over at Loomi to assess her mood on the topic. “Sorry, I can… Stop.”

 

[Loomi]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Colette

“Sorry, I can… Stop.”

"I don't mind," Loomi insisted. "I think it's rather beautiful."

She had been taught to respect death just as much as life, a means of renewal. Loomi didn't know who had taught her this, but it felt very important. Deep down, she couldn't help but feel that in was the only thing that was left behind from a period of her life she would never know, or ever get back for that matter. All she had were little proverbs that kept her morals in place.

"We should probably get going," she did finally admit with a faint chuckle. "Last time I was in here I lost an entire day. I don't know if you wanna stand here for that long."

 

[Colette]

Loomi

Beautiful might not have been the word Colette would have used, but it was an appropriate one nonetheless. More often than not it felt comforting to know that death was but a small part of the journey, and that there was always a purpose to existence even if it was sometimes hard to tell what it was.

“This was great, thank you for showing me this.” Colette said and beamed a smile at Loomi. The duo continued their trek. Spots here and there felt familiar, but beyond that Colette couldn’t really say why. She had walked around a bit, gotten lost mainly, but at least seen some of the areas.

The corridors continued to twist and turn.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Colette said and looked at Loomi. “But you’re kind of odd.”

“But like, in a good way!”

 

[Loomi]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Colette

Loomi was quite pleased to hear that Colette had enjoyed the kyber arch. It was relieving at least to know that she wasn't just leading her around the temple randomly. As they made their way out and back through the winding halls, Colette said something that Loomi, at least upon hearing it initially, struggled to process.

“But you’re kind of odd.”

“But like, in a good way!”

"Thank... you?" the Godoan remarked, confusion very evident in her voice.

Odd, like strange. So she was strange, but that wasn't a bad thing. So it was good to be strange, or at least in this instance she was strange but it wasn't a bad thing. Either way, it was still a compliment, so there was really nothing wrong with being strange.

That made sense.

"Yeah," she nodded finally. "Yeah."

With that figured out, the two finally arrived at the cantina. It was standard, albeit bland as far as the temple went. The food was good, or at least Loomi thought it was. She had heard people complain, but the Godoan was just content being able to get something edible in her stomach.

"And here we are," Loomi stated contently. "Not confusing at all."

 

[Colette]

Oh no, it must have come across as an insult. Colette rolled back on her confidence a little. Loomi had clearly thought this was an insult. She was doomed, they would probably be enemies forever now and living together would be—

Colette stopped her mind from derailing with a deep breath.

“Sure,” She said and grinned with an uneasy smile. “I mean, I would still get lost. But it’s good to know more paths leading to this place.”

Today was some sort of fish thing, depending on your diet and all that. Colette got herself a small serving of the food and followed along with Loomi to find a seat, and once a seat each was acquired she began to eat. These rumors of “bad food” struck her as disingenuous. Few people seemed to appreciate how luxurious just having this much prepared food at hand was.

People were starving, and the temple had more of it than they really needed.

“I imagine people are used to the luxuries here, huh?” Colette mused aloud and looked at Loomi. “I mean, we just walked to a place and had food ready to go already.”

“I couldn’t ever have imagined that where I come from.”

Loomi

 

[Loomi]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Colette

“I mean, we just walked to a place and had food ready to go already.”

“I couldn’t ever have imagined that where I come from.”

"It's... still really strange to me," Loomi chuckled. "I don't think I've ever had access to food like this before."

Her good eye dilated with excitement as a thought came to her mind. A large smile spread across Loomi's face. There was something that she had to share.

"Come on, you gotta try something," she insisted, ushering Colette along to one of the food stations.

One of the heat stations had prepared meat patties sandwiched between two pieces of bread. Loomi had developed a great love for the meal, though it wasn't to an addictive level. That was reserved for sweets, or at least she had convinced herself of. The Godoan certainly still could've been addicted and in denial.

"It's a burger," Loomi stated. "That's what the lady in the back said it was anyways. The name's weird, but it's real good."

 

[Colette]

Loomi

A burger? Colette raised a brow at that and looked at the ‘sandwich’ in her hand with a curious glance. It most certainly felt a bit novel. Back home they usually ate their meals with a side of bread, not as part of the actual food itself. And even then, bread wasn’t all too common given that not many of her people ever settled down and remained static. The desire to wander was just too strong.

“So, is this also like the sandwiches I see some of the Knights eat?” She asked and looked back at Loomi. “Do we pour that white gel all over it, too?”

“The uh, major nays? Shouldn’t there be more… Vegetables in this?”

 

[Loomi]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Colette

"White gel?" Loomi frowned, cocking her head. "That just sounds like shampoo."

Who would want to put shampoo on a sandwich. That just seemed kind of weird. The topic of toppings continued, however, as Colette asked about vegetables.

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "There's a station for that stuff across the way. I like the green leafy one, but they have this strange fruit that I don't like. The seeds get stuck in my teeth all the time. Sometimes I chips in it. I don't know if that's offensive to someone's culture though..."

She frankly didn't know where burgers came from, but she had heard about cultures who got offended by the existence of technology, so there was someone out there who had to be upset by how she ate a burger. Ultimately she couldn't be too hard on herself. Loomi didn't know what a burger was before recently, and she had been basically living off scraps when she was...

When she was what?

"Oh golly," she laughed awkwardly. "Spaced out again. Sorry."