First Reply What Am I Here To Accomplish

[Sian Sestoi]

Sian kept a close watch on him, her thumb resting on her belt buckle as he took a quick step back. She found his discussion about how to apologize to a droid uninteresting, but when he mentioned a name, her eyes narrowed in confusion. She couldn't understand how this boy had survived to have a conversation with another person, given his apparent lack of awareness of his environment.

"If it's a droid, a bottle of clean lubricant works better than an apology," Sian said, peeling off her heavy work gloves and tucking them beneath her belt. "And who's Lyra? another person you left behind while you went wandering into dark basements." She further added, as Starlin Dinn stared off into the distance, eyes scanning the wide plains around them that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see.

She could just imagine him walking through miles of exposed grass with a yellow kyber crystal, an ancient tailsman and no sense of direction. He would likely be taken out by the first villager armed with macrobinoculars. "You don't even know where you parked, do you?" Sian asked, stepping closer and folding her arms over her chest.
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[Starlin Dinn]

"Lubricant... Clear..." He was setting that to memory with a small nod of his head, but faltered when her tone turned accusatory and she asked after Lyra Ventor . The boy paled, then hastily shook his head.​

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"What? No. She's back at her home, she just helped me fix Pluto that's all... She's a mechanic. Taught me how to fly my ship after I was stranded. I figured... maybe she'd know what he'd like." His cheeks were burning, he looked equal parts flustered and embarrassed.​

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"I didn't leave anyone behind" he went on to add, eyes stinging slightly, "They all left me, for years, with my uncles, and everything was good, and then suddenly I wasn't where I was supposed to be, and I was in this horrid metal room, with that silly jellyship, and not with my darling Uncles, and the droid wouldn't speak to me, and I didn't know how to get back home, and I still don't really know how, but I'm trying, and I didn't mean to come here but the jellyship is broken and it does what it wants to do, and... and..."​

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His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and the moment he lost track of his train of thought and the reality of his frazzled words hit him the boy turned and hurried away, away from the Jedi, away from the Temple, back the way he knew he had come from previously.​

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"Stupid, stupid, stupid" he was cursing himself beneath his breath. At least, for Starlin that was cursing.​

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Sian Sestoi ​

 

[Sian Sestoi]

Sian stayed quiet while he spoke, her lips pressing together as Starlin Dinn rambled on about mechanics, uncles and getting stranded in metal rooms. She hadn't asked for his life story and listening to him spill such personal information made her develop a fresh headache.

When he finally ran out of breath and stormed off, muttering insults at himself with every hurried step, Sian just stood there watching his back. The boy was heading straight across the flat grassland, completely exposed against the open horizon, leaving a clear trail of bent grass and stomped mud behind him.

Part of her wanted to thank the Force for finally taking the loud, needy kid off her hands so she could get on with her own day in peace. She could turn around, head back down the path, and never see him again. It wasn't her problem if he got lost or stumbled into trouble on his way back to his ship.

She pulled her hand down over her face with a heavy sigh, her eyes tracking his small, frantic figure as he kept walking. She missed the underworld. Down in the dark, crowded lower levels of a city-world, nobody expected you to play guardian angel, and you could turn a blind eye to a fool without a second thought.

Out here, with her Jedi training urging her into action, she couldn't just let a kid carrying a rare crystal walk blindly into danger. Sian kicked a loose stone off the path, hitched her belt up, and set off after him at a steady, silent pace, keeping enough distance so he wouldn't think she was trying to start another conversation.
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[Starlin Dinn]

Why? Why had he let all of that come bursting out? Why couldn't he have just kept his big mouth shut?​

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He kicked a rock into the grass ahead of himself and huffed, trying to breathe through it. What would Uncle Theryn do? Bigger breaths, deeper breaths, slower breaths. Sensory work, yeah... he'd tell him to ground himself. What could he see? What could he hear? The only problem was, out here there weren't many things to see at all, fewer that he could name, and save for his stompy feet and the crunch of prairie grass there wasn't a whole lot for his ears either.​

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His footsteps were soon matched by another pair, and he lifted a hand to run through his hair. Fingers clenched at the roots, before he released it and sighed in frustration.​

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"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," he said, without turning to face her. "Like you wanted. I don't want any trouble."​

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More and more, Starlin was learning why his Uncle Darien Cordel kept to himself, hidden behind curtains to engage with the crowd of people who sought his attention and favour. Maybe he was as bad at this as Starlin was deep down.​

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Sian Sestoi ​