Solo Rave!

[Prennis Keeoli]

[member="Voph"]'s face dropped.

And she was about to ask why, but she had perhaps taken too long steeling her determination during the conversational lull, for he then continued. Being asked a question, she didn't want to turn back the topic.

Instead, after taking a quick sip of wine, she nodded. Ah, time to recall her fabricated past; it'd be easy enough. Keep it vague, she thought. Vague but convincing.

"I grew up on Coruscant," she began. "As an orphan. The caretakers in my house were, umm, let's say not great at their jobs." A pause for the effect of a slightly troubling past, with just the underpinnings of sadness, barely noticeable. Then a small smile to dismiss it. "But a few of us older kids turned out to be better at it, so..."

Prennis shrugged, suddenly aware that she had paused for what felt like a full minute, and it may well have been. Now that must have been noticeable. When she had come up with the false backstory, it hadn't been even slightly troubling. But now, when she said it, there was something about it. In a way, distant and blurred, it was true. An unconscious seed of truth, maybe.

What had become of Taeir? Nileeta, Rache? Where they still on Dosuun?

They, the first two at least, had been nothing but good 'caretakers.' They had never neglected Prennis as Aes'ona, but even though they hadn't, she had still been led to medicine.

She shrugged. "It became a passion, I guess."

 

[Kyyrk]

Voph didn't react. Well...not outwardly. He nodded after she finished her explanation, taking a quick sip of his drink. "Most callings do. I can sympathize, it...well, it was something of the same for me." He set his drink on the bar, and reached up to scratch at his chin, right at the edge of the giant scar that marred his face. "Father always wanted me to follow the family tradition of joining the Luka Sene, so when I was fifteen, he arranged an apprenticeship for me. The deal was, I serve for two cycles, and if I didn't like it, I could..." Voph faltered. He was drawing a blank. "You know...go do whatever it was I wanted to do then."

What...WAS it he had wanted to do? He coughed, quietly, taking another sip of his drink, brow furrowing as he prepared to speak again. "Next thing you know, I took to it like a Gungan to water. Some even had me pegged to be the next headmaster of the order, but..." He smiled softly. "Father always knew I liked the field work too much to settle down like that." He looked back at [member="Prennis Keeoli"] for a moment, then asked, "How is Coruscant these days? Ever get a chance to go back? I haven't been there since..." Voph coughed, and looked down at his drink, mumbling to himself. ​"Well, let's just say last time I was there, the architecture needed some work..."

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

In truth, she'd only stopped over on the ex-capital planet for a few weeks as her new identity was being established, but she didn't even get to learn all that much history of the planet, nor had she dived all too deep into the political scene. Still, she thought she knew what he meant, but she might have not understood completely.

"It's...alright," she began slowly. "But I think there's a new dawn on the horizon," she added, in reference to the Unified Coruscant Party and new major Devlyn Kane. From what little she had seen, his hands were quite likely to be kinder to the ecumenopolis than his predecessor. "But no, I haven't gotten a chance to go back. Most of my 'siblings' are out of the orphanage now anyway, and moved around."

Then she took a drink to hide her face as she all but nervously held her breath. That was an outright lie, for one, and for another, she didn't want to go back. Chances were, doing so, especially with someone under the impression of it being her true homeworld, would not end well. But maybe, one day, she would find an excuse to head to Lorrd. Mental note to check its holding status. When she did, though, her heart would sink again from where it had just now suddenly rose with hope and excitement.

And then she thought to backtrack and ask. "I'm sorry, if this is a triggering topic, we can...talk about something else," she suggested. Granted, she wasn't entirely sure as to what. And so, not having a suggestion of her own, she simply leaning over to touch the back of Voph's hand, depending on his reaction, of course. If he allowed the contact, he would feel Prennis' real hand, part of her real body, but it would still appear to be part of the matrix. In other words, no phasing occurred. How far holographic technology had come. Of course, Prennis had originally learned on interactive holographic corpses on New Habat, but she had certainly never imagined wearing anything similar.

~ † ~​

[member="Voph"]​

 

[Kyyrk]

Voph subconsciously stiffened under Prennis' touch. Voph took a deep breath, calming his nerves. It was alright. She meant no harm. Relax. He sighed quietly, releasing the breath he had taken. "N--no, it's fine." He smiled softly. "I...well..." He drifted off into silence, his face going slack as he thought back. Thought back to that damn question that had hounded him all these years. Home. Home... Where WAS home? "I have no memory of my homeworld. I know well enough where it is....and that I come from it..." Voph trailed off again, picking up his drink with the hand not being held by Prennis. He took a long draft, then set the empty glass down after signalling for another. "But any memory I have of it is long gone."

Of course, it was not as simple as that. It never was. But he didn't need to torment this poor girl with that. "Family's long gone. So there's no point to going back. So...I sort of just...wander the galaxy. Trying to make it a better place one job at a time." He smiled softly at the girl, falling silent for a moment. Come to think of it....he didn't have any ideas what to speak of either. He'd not spent this long making small talk with someone in....some years. "So what plans do you have for the future? Finish your schooling, go out into the wide galaxy and start working with a medical team...what then?"

[member="Prennis Keeoli"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Ahh, sithspit.

Cursing herself, Prennis immediately retracted upon [member="Voph"]'s physical response. Then she leaned instead on the bar, studying his face with concern. Listening, she realized that she, to some extent, was in the same boat. She had figured the name through DNA testing--as a Lorrdian, she most likely from Lorrd, especially because the planet's primary desert terrain matched her one vision of the place--but she had no more memories than that. At the very least, she had yet to unlock them.

So, that much, she could understand.

She frowned and sat back as he gestured for another drink, less in judgement than continuous worry, but she said nothing. Soon, though, she smiled back as her companion did at her.

For the future? Admittedly, she hadn't thought that far ahead. Her second pass at medical school was, of course, a breeze, but she'd be in for five to seven more years at least. Though, maybe she could find some way to get it waived--the former doctor had found it quite easy to transition into the nursing profession. But after that and finding a team?

She shrugged habitually. "No idea, honestly," she said, opting now for truth. "I just want be a good nurse, whatever that means." ...because I wasn't a good doctor. "You?"

 

[Kyyrk]

Voph mused for a moment, frankly not expecting the question to be turned back on him. "I...don't know. Never thought that far ahead." He mused silently for a moment longer. He opened his mouth, but said nothing, pausing as if searching for the words. She was medical personnel, so she would probably understand what he meant, right? He wouldn't have to share the whole truth. Not yet. "You..may have seen this in your studies, but...death changes people. Especially their own. No matter how short a time before they are brought back. It...puts things in a perspective you never thought about. Makes you wonder why you're...here."

Voph fell silent for a moment, then shrugged. "Now that the war's over...I dunno, I suppose I've not had the luxury of contemplating life. Not yet used to the idea that I can think about what tomorrow brings, because there may actually BE a tomorrow." Voph smiled softly at Prenn. "So...I suppose I say that to say...I have no idea. I'm so used to taking life one day at a time...I've never had the luxury of daydreaming about tomorrow."

[member="Prennis Keeoli"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

In cases like this, the one she was suddenly accosted with, Prennis was always somewhat torn.

As a scientist, she wanted to know the experience of death. But as a doctor--now nurse--she had an overwhelming respect for her patients' privacy, and that surely extended to [member="Voph"]. And moreover, the agnostic part of her, entirely unsure of what lay beyond spiritually or religiously or physically, what have you, was both curious and afraid to know the answer, though it was more afraid.

Two against one. She had never asked, and she didn't dwell now. Instead, she offered a tight-lipped smile and told him that she understood. From a mechanical medical perspective, that is.

When he had finished speaking, she nodded and repeated herself. "Well, maybe, now's a good time to revel in the peace," she suggested. She was doing something similar, not that she participated in any of the First Order's many wars and skirmishes directly more than once. Or, that was what she told herself anyway. Regardless of her guilt, though, she was relishing breathing free in what felt like another galaxy altogether.

 

[Kyyrk]

Voph nodded absently, mind clearly elsewhere. Revel in the peace. Sounded like a wonderful idea. But how? He'd left Commenor because of it. To him it felt like a disease. The harmony, the fellowship... It was absolutely what Voph had fought and died for. But... "This...may sound strange to you, but...I'm not really sure I know how. You know? Seven long decades of war...Suddenly to be thrust into a time of peace and prosperity... It's..uncanny."

Voph sighed quietly. "But...it does offer its own opportunities. A chance to be the husband I never was. Or the father I could never have been..." He cleared his throat quietly, then said, "I'm...not like many others. And not in the way that I want to...feel special or have others think I am special... But...I'm...old. Much older than I look." Of course, Prennis was probably already wondering about that. A man appearing to be no more than thirty speaking of seven decades of war? "I'm nearly ninety decades old. And...I did die. Nearly five thousand years ago." Voph paused to allow Prennis to process this information. "It's...nice to know that I helped bring about the galaxy as it exists today...But I never feel like I was meant to see it. Like the old saying about the man and the tree. Plant the seed so that his children might one day sit in the shade."

[member="Prennis Keeoli"]