Private Smoothie Acquisition Gone Wrong

[Starlin Rand]

Smoothie Empress was a bit more upscale than the places Starlin normally got his snacks from, but he happened to be in the area and really, really wanted a smoothie. Specifically, he wanted a cryptberry smoothie, and not many shops were willing to cater to his unusual (and lethal to most other sentient species) tastes. But Smoothie Empress delivered. No wonder she was the Empress.

Sitting down at one of the little café tables, he sipped his drink and flicked through notifications on his datapad. Or rather, he marveled at the lack of notifications on his datapad. Absolutely nothing was going on, it seemed. Maybe today is just a slow day, he thought, with more dismay than he would ever admit to feeling. After all, what kind of person doesn't like a break from the rat race?

With a sigh, he slipped his earbuds in - a pair for his human ears, and another pair for his antennapalps - and cued up a playlist of songs.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

While waiting for her salakberry and banana smoothie, Cora fiddled with her over-ear headphones. The connection had been finicky with her datapad lately. She'd have to ask Makko, who was far more technologically inclined, to fix them for her later.

Music was calming. It was an escape from all the ills of the galaxy. Cora liked two types of music; given how she'd been forced to take piano lessons since she was a small child, one of her favorite genres was classical.

Figuring she got the connection to finally work, Cora retrieved her smoothie, gave the employee a thankful smile, and pressed play on her datapad.

Instead of filtering through her headphones, the song began to play through the datapad's speaker. Loudly. Violently.



Now the entire cafe knew Cora's second favorite genre of music: angry.

Face going red as a tomato, Cora's hand instinctively clutched the plastoid cup. The pale pink froth of the smoothie spilled over her hands, and she accidentally dropped the drink while frantically trying to silence the music.

Next step was for the earth to swallow her whole.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

One moment Starlin was sitting there, enjoying his tunes and his toxic smoothie. And then--

"WHERE'S YOUR SANITAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!"

Starlin leaped to his feet, his chair falling over with a clatter as he whirled around, expecting to face some roaring monster that had barreled into the shop while his back was turned. His antennapalps retracted into his hair in an effort to escape the noise. He tried to catch the buds that fell off of them, but they went skidding across the tiles toward the blonde girl with a taste for loud, angry music.

Staggering over to pick up his smoothie-splattered palp-buds, he gawped at her, waiting for the music to stop. And when it finally did... he started laughing.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora fervently tapped at the pause button. There was a slight lag on the datapad, leading to clipped bursts of loud, angry music as the angry song was paused, then unpaused over and over again. Finally, the application froze entirely and crashed.

Someone had dropped their ear buds into the smoothie pile at her feet. Said person was now in front of her, retrieving them from the icy, sticky mess.

There was a brief lull of silence before he started laughing, almost as loud as the music.

Another wave of embarrassment struck Cora.

"I-I demand that you stop laughing! At once!" She stamped her foot, the blush of mortification spreading along her neck and chest now. Shame had her words wavering, sucking much of the haughty bite from her tone.

Had there been a river nearby, Cora would have thrown herself into it for sure.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"I-I demand that you stop laughing! At once!"

The stuttering music, followed by her shrieking at him and stamping her foot, only made Starlin want to laugh even harder. Not wanting to be rude, he controlled himself (with considerable effort) and eventually his giggling died down.

"Oh man," he chortled. "Sorry, you gotta admit that was pretty funny. You good?"

By then the incident had drawn the attention of the droid employees. One began to clean up the mess while another remade her spilled order.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Funny? He thought that this situation was funny??

Well, yes. Cora would be more likely to agree had she not been the subject of such an embarrassing blunder.

Reminding herself that this was not ladylike behavior, she dropped the pout from her face, straightened her shoulders, and accepted the paper towel offered by the droid who'd come to clean up the spilled smoothie.

"S-sorry about that,” She muttered in apology to the droid while wiping her hands on the towel.

"Yes, I'm well." Cora responded with a forced smoothness, cheeks still tingling red when her voice cracked.

"Are your earbuds alright? I'm sorry that they got caught up in this…" The blonde offered him the towel now, to wipe away any of the smoothie juice before they became sticky.

"…mess."

A cringe followed.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"Are your earbuds alright? I'm sorry that they got caught up in this… mess."

Starlin shrugged. "Let's find out."

After cleaning the 'buds off with the offered towel, he pressed play. Funky music emitted audibly from the speakers as he lifted one up to his reemerging antennapalps. Grinning, Starlin bopped his head to the beat. "Sounds good to me!"

While Starlin began to dance, the server droid finished remaking Cora's drink and held it out to her.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora blinked, face pulling back in surprise a the antennapalps. What on Coruscant were those? Some sort of implant?

She could hear the bass filtering from the earbud, and her shoulders lowered in relief.

"Thank you again, and sorry about this." The blonde offered the droid server an apologetic smile as she received her new smoothie before turning back to the dancing man.

"I'm glad that your earbuds are in working order. And I'm sorry that you were subject to such…uncouth noise. Did it hurt your…?"

She gestured awkwardly to his antennapalps, unsure how sensitive they were.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"It's all good, baby," Starlin assured her, still bobbing to the beat.

"You startled me, is all. My palps are fine. They've endured worse. Battlefields, explosions, rock concerts..." He shrugged, then grinned. "You don't really seem like the type of person who would be into metal. Uh, not that I put much stock in stereotypes and all. It's just kinda funny, since you seem like such a girly girl."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Baby…?

Cora's brow crinkled in confusion.

"I am glad that your...palps...are unharmed. Oh,"

The crimson flush that was just beginning to subside reemerged on her cheeks. "A girly girl? I suppose." It made sense, given how she tended to dress very preppy and...well, girly.

"I just like loud music. Through headphones usually, not blasted in a food court." Cora held up the offending pair which had refused to work. "It seems that they are in need of repair."

The blonde took a short, awkward sip of her smoothie.

"Wait, did you say battlefields? Are you in the GADF?"

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"A girly girl? I suppose."

"You're literally wearing pink," Starlin said, pausing his dancing long enough to point to her pink t-shirt.

"Yeah, when it comes to 'phones and 'buds, the more expensive they are, the easier they break," he noted. "That's why I buy the cheap ones. If they do break, at least they won't break your bank with it. But for the most part, they're more durable than the higher-end crap."

"Wait, did you say battlefields? Are you in the GADF?"

Starlin blinked. Maybe he had gotten too used to talking to his fellow Jedi rather than the average civilian, but he had spoken as if she already knew exactly what he was talking about. "Nah, I'm not tough enough for the GADF," he replied, suddenly feeling modest. "I'm a Jedi Knight. They send us off to war, too."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora suddenly inhaled part of the smoothie when it was revealed that this man was a Jedi Knight.

She thumped a fist against her chest, fighting back a brain freeze while trying to keep the drink from her lungs at the same time.

"Jed…you're a Jedi Knight?!"

Straightening her shoulders, Cora cleared her throat and forced a more courtly demeanor past her surprise. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"My apologies, it's just that…"

Cora looked him up and down, but managed to shut her mouth before she said anything rude. It also helped to remind herself that nearly half of her fellow Padawans had been plucked from the proverbial gutter.

Tilting forward, she bowed her head in a gesture of deference. Hopefully he would not report this incident back to the temple.

"Forgive my forwardness. My name is Corazona von Ascania, and I am a…Jedi Padawan."

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

The blonde seemed genuinely startled by the reveal. She also seemed to be choking on her smoothie. "Went down the wrong pipe?" he asked, a bit concerned.

"My apologies, it's just that…"

Starlin's eyebrows rose, waiting for her to finish the thought, but she seemingly thought better than to say what was on her mind. Instead, she introduced herself. "You're the second Padawan I've met outside the Temple this week. Weird, huh?" With a gesture, he summoned the smoothie from the table where had had been sitting into his hand, then took a sip. "So, do people call you Cora? Or how about Zona?"

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Hand still at her chest, Cora cleared her throat gently and nodded.

"The second? Who was the first?" Blue eyes watched with rapt curiosity as the smoothie shifted from the table to his hand. If she'd been doubtful of his rank before, that little trick had just confirmed him to be a Jedi.

"I go by Cora, yes."

She blinked, seemingly distracted by his question.

"No one has ever called me Zona."

Cora wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"The second? Who was the first?"

"Makko Vyres." Starlin drawled out his name. "He's my Paddy now. Apprentice. Student. You ever met him? Absolute mad lad. I caught him tryna run off down in the underworld to get booze and cigs. Talked him down to a decent meal, and we just hit it off."

Starlin shrugged. "You seem more like a Cora. Maybe someday you'll grow into a Zona."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's eyes flared.

"You caught him doing what?"

Her jaw tensed, voice rumbling in surprise. A beat passed. Cora composed herself, temporary shock and anger retreating as quickly as it had come.

It took a few more moments for recognition to dawn over her expressive face.

"You...you're Starlin Rand, aren't you?"

Makko had mentioned that they'd had a long conversation, part of which cemented his decision to stay at the temple. He hadn't mentioned the circumstances under which their meeting had taken place.

He was Makko's Master. Cora could hardly imagine Makko willingly submitting to someone, defiant as he was.

The mention of her someday becoming a Zona was filed back into the periphery of her mind for now.

"You're his Master." She stated dumbly.

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

"You caught him doing what?"

Haha, oh chit, should I really be telling this random person about Makko's business? Whoops. But now he was in too deep. A bit embarrassed, he resorted to over-explaining.

"Yeah, he snuck out. There was an alert sent to other Jedi that he was missing. I recognized his picture." He waved his hand. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I got the impression he was just feeling cagey. So we went and had lunch together, talked, then came back to the Temple."

She knew who he was. She knew who he was? "Yep, that's me," he said sheepishly. "Sir Starlin Rand."

And she knew he was Makko's master. Well, he'd said as much, but she acted like she'd already made the connection in her mind. "I take it you do know Makko? He hasn't mentioned you." But she could probably tell, since he'd showed no recognition when she introduced herself.

Well, this was sort of awkward.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora regarded Starlin with a discerning gaze. She was listening very closely to what he was saying about Makko.

Her look of surprise melted into a frown upon learning that he'd snuck out. That wasn't as big of a deal as trawling the lower levels for smoking paraphernalia and alcohol, but still.

"Oh," The fact that she hadn't been mentioned to Makko's Jedi Master stung. Even though they were trying to keep things quiet, and she'd specifically asked that they keep their relationship private. Not necessary out of fear from the Jedi, but from how her father would react.

Still, it didn't feel good.

Cora's cheeks flushed red again, anyway.

"Yes. I know of him." Smooth. "I mean, I know him. He mentioned you, once."

She took a prolonged sip from her smoothie, mind racing a mile a minute.

"How...is he faring with his training?"

Starlin Rand

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin was usually painfully dense when it came to navigating romances—both his own and the entanglements of others—but Cora was telegraphing her feelings so hard, even he couldn't help but notice. "Oooh. So do you like... know him, know him?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, we've barely gotten started, but he's doing pretty good so far. Doesn't have a clue who he wants to be, but that's normal for kids his age." Makko was eighteen, but as long as he acted like a kid, Starlin was gonna call him one. "What about you, missy? You got a master training you yet?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The color of her cheeks traveled to her neck and chest. Cora's biggest weakness had always been boys. She had no trouble interacting normally with the opposite sex until the innuendo began.

"I know him." She stated, clearly attempting to force her voice to sound even. It still cracked awkwardly.

Cora took another prolonged sip of her smoothie, hoping that the icy froth would be enough to calm the heat at her cheeks. She hadn’t set out to have feelings for Makko, in fact they hadn’t gotten along at all at first. Perhaps it was the tension that had drawn them together.

"Oh, yes." Her lips pulled away from the straw suddenly. "I am a student of Master Valery Noble."

There was no small measure of pride in the way she spoke now.

Starlin Rand