What's a hotel stay between padawans?

[Varindar Asyt]

The truth was that there were numerous implications for actually acting like a refuge of integrity and transparency. If they had to advertise the place as an actual five-star hotel, with a five-star restaurant, they had to make sure that it would actually function as such. Complaint handling, too. In isolation, Varindar may as well have been a Cinderella hotelier, to the Howling Crags' eyes certainly. But a fairy-tale story like hers and the rags-to-royalty tales, where the princes(ses) were always heir apparent to kings or emperors (in which case they were only children), if not the rulers themselves, often hide or otherwise downplay the real implications of living ever after. Doesn't mean that one's couple and family life was happy that the actual responsibilities of being a crown prince/ss and, after coronation, king/emperor, would be carried out in an equally happy fashion. Even in factions where the king or emperor only held very limited responsibility. It took an additional fifteen minutes for their karkan ribenes to come up, given out to both [member="Tanaski Yumi"] and her in the same fashion as their appetizers were.

"Medium-rare karkan ribene, well done karkan ribene" the waiter told the two.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Tanasuki happily partook of the rest of his small meal as Asyt seemed to be lost in thought, perhaps once again over the state of the hotel, she seemed quite the multi tasking person if that were the case, would be a required skill for someone in a management role of any kind. Reaching out with the force ever so slightly he prodded the Padawans mind trying to glean her thoughts, being subtle about it, not wanting to seem rude in anyway, perhaps get a feel behind the whole romanticist atmosphere that she had up, and what worries where on her mind. It did not last long though as the waiter soon came back, carrying the slow cooked spiced meals for the two, probably the reason why it took a little longer then before, a rather appropriate dish considering it was native to the planet. Taking a small wiff of the young Jin could smell the Tomo spice seasoned atop the meal the sent being very inciting, even more so since it was cooked to perfection, "It look rather tasty don't you agree"?

[member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"These karkan ribenes are definitely worth the 15-minute wait" she told [member="Tanaski Yumi"] after taking the first bite of her karkan ribene.

In her mind, given the locale, the best way to expand the restaurant is to terrace the additional space, which was much cheaper than to mave walls built around that space. And worth every penny she intends to spend to get the permissible space, whatever that is, terraced for use as an annex to the dining room. But she'd rather take the time to have a proper meeting with Bumba before she could even get started in getting the outside of the restaurant terraced. Now, that's a lot better than when I last heard about karkan ribenes from this place, she thought, while eating an additional bite of the meal, and also being remembered of the day where the Ta'jars had the hotel seized from them. The day where one of the few legitimate guests returned a karkan ribene because they were nigh-inedible to the guest that ordered it. But these days are now gone. Just that she was happy to see Tanaski find the karkan ribene good enough for him. So it took all of 15 minutes again to get the karkan ribene finished, and get the pie à la mode delivered to their table, of which there were two slices served under cloches.

"Pie à la mode" the Utai waiter announced, upon depositing the plates with one slice of pie à la mode apiece on the table.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Tanasuki gave an excited nod as he politely dug into his meal, kind of trying to remember that in other cultures it is considered rude to slurp and make noise while eating, it was kind of odd but even he understood that some people liked to eat in silence, more so in a romantic setting like this. Come to think of it that what other type of rooms could be fit into this restaurant? the rooms a suites seemed to have cultural settings, perhaps it was possible to do the same with the dining area. An area for every major species in the galaxy that would be appropriate for a high class restaurant such as this one.

Perhaps adding more to the suggested refuge on a world of scum and villany that [member="Varindar Asyt"] talked about, welcoming all guest one way or another. It was a interesting proposition, one what he could discuss over the next small meal, this pie thing he had heard about, and my dud it look exotic. "My that is rather tasty looking", the ice cream and dare say delicious looking pastry of what he assumed to be an apple pie served in a fancy looking manner, already open a bit letting the flavors mix. Taking a small bite the young Jin let out a small moan of delight at the sweet taste, "Oh my its lovely, I am glad you ordered it", he remarked to Asyt, taking another bite, savoring the divine taste in his mouth.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"That meal has been worth its price, hasn't it?" she asked [member="Tanaski Yumi"] after she was done eating her slice of pie à la mode.

One lovely meal to be sure. Even though she realized that most of the competition in that bracket is on other planets in this sector, such as Kashyyyk, Randon, just that Trandosha was a limited market for the luxury segment of both fine dining and luxury lodging. Again, she didn't need to worry about their tab since the Order paid for it. That, even though she knew the Order proper only accounted for a minority of the guests, rooms or restaurant. Not enough to even pay for the whole of the tax bills, property or corporate (as expenditures, property taxes are fixed and corporate income taxes are variable), but such was the lot of state-owned businesses in sectors where they were not common, unlike armament, utilities or infrastructure. But the resturant tab is coming to Tanaski soon after he finished his slice of pie à la mode. Once the waiter showed both of the guests the bill, with the ladies being shown the bill before the males, Varindar realized the bill for this table d'hôte for two came to a hefty 79 credits, but otherwise par for the course for a restaurant of that caliber. Worth the price, but that's as much as she would be willing to pay for a meal, and only occasionally.

"The restaurant tab" the waiter came to them one last time, with the bill on the tray.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Finishing up his last slice Tanasuki gave a definite nod, "Indeed that was a very tasty and sweet meal, would not have expected ice cream and pie to go along so well". Atrisian food not really offering such strange combination of desert and other foods, though that was not to say his culture was lacking in the sweats department, more so just different from rest of the galaxy, but [member="Varindar Asyt"] was right such a wait for a nice meal was worth it. It was rather nice that the Silver Jedi payed in place for member that stayed here, but that was probably not a real high number, himself not seeing another other Jedi besides himself and the hostess. He kind of wondered how much it cost to run this place, more so payment for staff and suppliers in turn wanting to see how much there meal would cost, comparing dinners and other places that had meals fro around 10 credits, this place being 5 star and all he guessed it would be around 80. Such estimation was really close the tab coming to 79 a little less then he expected, he saw upon taking the small slip of paper. "Well, that was a nice meal if I say so myself, was there anything else that you would like to do today? I hear there is a pool around, would be nice to take a dip before the night comes upon us".

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"Ah yes, the pool. You liked the swims on the beach? A night swim is quite different from a daytime one: just be mindful of not swimming too fast in the pool immediately after eating. Plus the old owners, in addition to cancellations-powered money laundering, also held swimming races as a means to launder money, but betting on swimming races only accounted for a small fraction of the money the Ta'jars laundered using the hotel"

However, if one just wanted to relax in the water without doing high-intensity exercising, it was just fine. Night was setting outside the hotel; the palm-lined poolside had about twenty pool chairs, and the 25-meter pool had no lane dividers in place, even though the Ta'jars had the pool built with touchpads at the edges, and lane markings alongside the length of the pool, with the shallow end being 2.0 meters deep and the deep end with the starting blocks being 3.0m in depth. In short, the hotel had a competition pool, albeit a short-course one. So they promptly returned to their room for getting dressed with their bath towels and swimsuits underneath, but Varindar realized that her two-piece swimsuit is, in fact, a holdover from the Ta'jar era, much like the hotel's pool, where they were more interested in showcasing slaves than in the actual sport of swimming. Same went for her swimming cap and goggles, which she was allowed to keep even as a freedwoman. So, as she got dressed for that swim, she hoped that she would not have people betting on, or against, her in the pool as was the case under the old owners. Before she could take [member="Tanaski Yumi"] to the pool:

"I have to say, the Ta'jars have funny methods to launder money; I mean, who, other than Gungans or Quarrens, would use swimming races as a venue for moneylaundering via betting? They once contemplated building a long-course pool before they settled on a short-course one because of the extra upkeep of a long-course pool"

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"Oh yes I rather enjoyed our swim together, in more ways then on, would be nice to take a relaxing dip, especially with the slightly humid atmosphere on this place, but money laundering off swimming races? Where they that desperate for cash they had to resort to betting one people swim"? Seemed to pale in compassion to Pod racing and other event similar to it. He did have a quick glace at the pool before hand, it seemed very much like a competitive styled pool, though missing some parts that would make it look professional, it had decent length and depth, but at the end of the day racing in it just seemed a little odd. He wondered it anyone could join the races, probably quite a few sea like creatures would excel at the sport and win every time, did [member="Varindar Asyt"] participate in the races? maybe that would explain her grace and speed during the beach vacation.

"I know, swimming does not really seem like that big or exciting of a sport, maybe fun to do, but to watch and bet just seems strange", he replied to Asyt upon exciting his room. A towel wrapped around his waist, a basic swimming trunks underneath, not bothering with a rashi like on the beach, no risk of sun burn here, though perhaps some of the other patrons would stare, though more hoping his Asyt would, after all she seemed to like it when he took note of her on the beach.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"The problem with building a podracing track on Trandosha is that the local authorities are adamant about preserving the hunting grounds, and that any podracing track that would turn a profit would require significant tracts of land, too large not to affect the hunting grounds; overpasses over existing roads are the easy part. Besides, there were so many criminal organizations running underground martial arts fight cards on this planet that the Ta'jars would rather introduce new stuff, and, much like this hotel sticks out like a sore thumb here, so did swimming in the Trandoshan entertainment landscape. Long before I was taken away from Dathomir by the Ta'jars, exploting the mayhem caused by the Mandos trying to strip my fellow clanswomen from the Force, they locally marketed it as exotic, and somehow were able to hold swimming races four nights a week; these races were the brainchild of one of my predecessors as the hotel's GM"

Did Tana just insinuate that I was swimming in one of those... Ta'jar-hosted competitions? Thank the Force Jessica came in when the races were not held, or another receptionist would have been responsible for that, she thought. The missing components were kept in storage, kept in reserve for if there were competitions hosted in the future, but the Ta'jar Blood Gang ran as many as 40 heats some nights, but rarely more than 2-3 of the same variety back-to-back. If they wanted a specific stroke, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, or even medley, usually the stroke of the race would be specified, but a race without stroke specification is usually assumed to be freestyle. So she swam in essentially every race variety the Ta'jars ran at least once: 50m, 100m and 200m (all four strokes), 100m, 200m and 400m (medley), 400m, 800m and 1500m (freestyle). She trusted [member="Tanaski Yumi"] so she told him about what schedule of competition she kept while swimming for those Ta'jars, often inviting unsuspecting local high school-aged varsity athletes to race some of those nights, depending on what events they wanted to compete in.

"Some nights I even ran as many as seven races but those nights were usually nights where there weren't that many long races; when there were longer races, such as 800m and 1500m ones, I swam less races those nights. In fact, I never seemed to swim more than 2km total on any given race night. The Ta'jar Blood Gang made me race almost every race night, and I swam at least once in every event they had on offer, as appropriate for my gender, of course"

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"That is a very good point, though mind you I am not much of a engineer, though must say you are quite knowledgeable about stuff like this, rather impressive".

That was a legitimate compliment and not just plain flirting/teasing. What's more Tanasuki could understand the many difficult processes of making a Pod track, in addition to the hunting grounds there would be logistical issue with getting the workers and tools to the construction site safety with all the creatures that stalked the jungle places. Also with most of the planet swap making a good foundation would be a nightmare without using an excessive amount of materials. At that point the racing track would become to much of a cost to build and would take a life time to pay off unless funded by a government, something a planetary gang probably could not do. Swimming races where probably the only way to profit, the gang also perhaps a little cheap to make anything else of worth, like a small track for animals of some kind to run around, perhaps some other reasons behind it as well depending on who participated. As it turned out like Tana suspected [member="Varindar Asyt"] was one of those said participants, explaining quite a lot.

"Wow, kind of sad that and all, about what the Ta'jars did, I can sympathies a little as my home world and ancestral home world have both been ravaged by Sith Mandos and other savages" " Still on another note that would explain how you are so fast at swimming and your well toned bodyyyyymmm well errr yes I was keeping an eye on you while at the beach", he said, a little embarrassed.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

So the Ta'jar Blood Gang ran the pool as Galidraani ran a hippodrome; there was no gate fee for attending a swimming night so it was all about wagers for them: it was hard to distinguish legitimate and illegitimate sources of income then. In fact, no other hotel on this planet that even had a swimming pool in the first place would even have grandstands around it. The hotel had the grandstands on top of the dressing rooms and other spaces, with the bookies behind the grandstands. I must have swum at least 200m at the beach in a mostly-straight line, but with those guests there is no way I can swim so much as one length of the pool at that speed without having to swerve around the guests, regardless of stroke, unlike the beach, she thought, while she began to swim from the edge of the pool, near the centerline of the pool's lane #1 (gutter lanes being numbered 0 and 9 respectively), starting as she would in a backstroke race. Appropriate since she could then swerve more easily to avoid other users, of which one or two were bewildered to see her swimming that fast. Once again, she could feel her heart beating faster and harder, and, thanks to the Force, she could also feel the flow of her own blood as she swam. She was able to swim one full length of the pool before she could even see [member="Tanaski Yumi"] dipping in.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Tanasuki was stunned by [member="Varindar Asyt"] ability to swim so fast, making him feel kind of slow in comparison, well perhaps on land he held the edge with speed, but here on the water the hotel owner was a master. The was she effortlessly glided through the water with the help of the force was mesmerizing, his gaze not lifting off her for a second as he slowly slide into the cool water after her, swimming out to where the woman finished her next lap. "Wow, just wow, you are quite the master of spped swimming, if there is ever a battle on Mon Cal or a water covered world they would probably need your help, you are just so fast, think you could teach me to be as good at you"? Being of lighter frame and a more... stream like shape Tanasuki was confident in his ability to master such an art, perhaps a little faster having more training inn the force then Asyt seemed to have, not that she was not talented. Who know maybe they would be able to start up races of some kind back at the Jedi home world, the long beaches not seeming to get much use besides the odd party, would also keep the members in shape while having fun.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"You're right in that the two major components of Art of Movement, Force-speed and Force-jump, are often trained on land. On water, on the other hand, the technique is a little different; while the kick part can definitely carry over from land to water, there is also the upper body to think about"

Varindar could no more hide her (Force-aided?) skill as a swimmer from [member="Tanaski Yumi"] than she could ignore the remainder of the guests looking at her in amazement; most of them never saw anybody from a non-aquatic species swim that fast. Except for one of those guests, who reminded her of the people that wagered on her performance on these waters, and also that she just didn't care about the race standings back then, only about her own speed. But any Quarren bookmaker that actually took wagers on swimming races would tell you that, while the big-ticket wagers are made using methods reminiscent of Galidraani parimutuel, which are usually concerned about the race standings, more fringe bets are made on specific timing. Of course, Varindar knew that some people place bets on her in nearly every race she took part in under the Ta'jar regime, but she had no idea of who, nor how much, people actually bet on her, no more than she knew which races were more conducive to having people bet on her more. Just that there was no way, in her mind, that the Ta'jars would have her swim in so many races without her providing at least some value to them, on account of her skills or otherwise.

"What happened to the swimming races? I might have wagered on you on a handful of occasions, like a 200m backstroke race" the guest commented.

"The Ta'jars ceased holding swimming races when the hotel was seized from them"

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"I have learned art of movement and force jump, speed being quite natural to myself, so I have a decent understanding, but I have a long way to go in regards to adapting it to swimming". Tana may be a little hot headed here and there, but despite looks at the common way he acted patients and careful training was something the young Jin had gotten down pat, himself more then prepared to spend extra time training in the swimming arts, could prove useful in the long run. As a plus it may mean spending more time with [member="Varindar Asyt"], perhaps the two could use his 4 day visit to start out said training, good way to keep in shape and while on vacation, and have some fun.

Well would be fun, as some patron interrupted the twos conversation, referring to the bets and old gambling like nature of the hotels last owners, earning a slightly annoyed glare from Tanasuki. Though Asyt seemed fine about it he knew that people's pasts where not something to be played with, especially since she seemed to have been treated almost as a slave, "mister perhaps you should not say such thing, it could be consider rude". Yes, he could have easily used a mind trick or force power, but that would be hypocritical and inappropriate, he was here to relax, not have fight.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"I apologize: I didn't realize I offended other guests"

Poodoo. The former bettor has been too open to talk about how he even wagered on me in a 200m backstroke race. Then again I have no knowledge of whether anybody even wagered on me for any given race, much less a 200m backstroke race, so it's possible that guest wagered on me on other races; I never had a night where I swam just a 200m backstroke race, nor did I swim the same event more than once on any given night - or perhaps against me, she thought, while refraining herself from asking whether she actually won him anything. No two races were the same back then, and not only because entrants were different each and every time. Just that there never were more than one 800m or 1500m on any given night, and she never swam more than one race longer than 400m on any given week. Yet, for some reason, these memories were quick to surface every time the topic of swimming was approached from a different angle. In the meantime, her heartbeat steadily slowed down, as she was no longer doing any more in the water than simply floating. She turned to [member="Tanaski Yumi"], before she could even think of helping him in converting Art of Movement to the water:

"So you have seen some backstroke. The main disadvantage of backstroke is that you can't see what's happening underneath you. Perhaps you would like to practice another stroke first, say, crawl?"

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"It is no problem, just for future reference".

Tanasuki gave the other guest a small wave before turning around to face [member="Varindar Asyt"], unsure of if what he did was alright in her mind, well she seemed alright, once again with that look like that of someone thinking. Being a hotel manager must play more on someones mind then he though, or perhaps the Padawan was just thinking about that past, when the place was still under gang control. Regardless the small comment exchange between himself and the man seemed to bring no ill effects so far, which was a good. The woman suddenly perked up, asking Tana a question about swimming forms, hopefully one of many.

"Yes, I am familiar with the back stroke, more a relaxing type of stroke form what I have seen, or just racing not much else". The crawl though, or sometimes called freestyle on the other hand, "That would be nice to get the hang of, maybe use it when we go to the beach again, see whats at the bottom of the sea". An activity which would not need any equipment if the attendees knew breath control.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order before you attempt working on it"

Yes, she knew that [member="Tanaski Yumi"] actually knew swimming to an extent, but here she didn't swim nearly as fast as she did back at Silver Beach this time around; her pace was much more akin to that of the other guests. She also realized that Breath Control is a life-saving Force-power and that, in fact, she may know it. And even used it without knowing it. However, her skill in that power, if she does, in fact, know it, forced her to take a deep breath first. Even then, she would still be showing both the underwater portion of the technique and the above-water part, at a pace she could swim without the aid of the Force, and at a pace where her heart wasn't beating as fast, nor as hard, rendering her blood circulation much slower. Just as would be the case without the use of Art of Movement; it seemed that, for her, using Art of Movement needed her to be attuned to her blood circulation, especially when used for bursts of speed. And she could also feel that Tana is watching her swimming carefully, eyeing any crucial portion of the technique and the cycle for key elements in the technique, as she swam the whole length of the pool once again.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"Ah yes, by all means show me", besides recreational activity and basic training fast, accurate and powerful swimming was not really something the Jin had spent a lot of time on. As such a demonstration would be a nice thing to observe, along with other things [member="Varindar Asyt"] had to offer, 'wait not don't thing of that now, just another training session like with your master'. Gazing over the woman he observed her closely as she swam, taking in the way her arms move, legs kicked and bo- no not now. It was still impressive to see her swim that fast even without using the force to increase here speed reaching the end in no time and coming back, her figure gliding through the waster with ease as she came to rest next to him. "Your technique is very refined, i suppose I should start off with getting the from down before trying to add force augmentation to it, or would it be better for me to use it in controlled amount and get the hang of it before trying to go full force"? If Asyt turned out to be a good teacher maybe in time she could conduct swimming lessons back at the beach where they met.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"I would probably want to get the technique right first without the Force if I was in your position: you may be picking up bad habits that the Force will only make worse if you proceed otherwise"

It was an all-too-common tale for Witches back on Dathomir, whereby witches that dreamed of using the Force to enhance their ability to run, swim or any other athletic activity found themselves with little or no improvement; flawed technique could lead to big problems. If Art of Movement enhances my blood circulation, it also makes me more hungry when I have to eat afterward; and maybe even make me burn fat if I use it for prolonged periods, but long periods are not yet within my reach because of my limited Force-batteries, she thought, while she watched [member="Tanaski Yumi"] try to swim crawl, realizing that, while he had the above-water portion right, and the legwork, the underwater portion of the stroke was perhaps a little raw. She thus has some comments to make about how Tana could improve his swimming before he could even attempt to introduce the Force to a crawl swim. Usually the introduction of the Force to a swimming stroke does not affect the swimmer's technique for that stroke, but sometimes it's just because a joint may not handle the stresses of extra speed when it does affect the technique.

"Rather than to push straight from forward to behind once under water, you might want to use your arm as a shovel to dig horizontally once the arm enters the water"

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"If it is what you recommend what do I have to refuse, it sounds like the best course of action, after all your are the master in this regard, guess I will do a practice lap now, tell me what I am doing right and wrong".

Taking place along the wall Tanasuki took in a deep breath, before pushing out, kicking his legs with power but not flailing in the attempt, braining his arms over in a paddle like fashion, splashing into the water with each stroke. This would be the first time he'd actually put swimming into a race like event, trying to keep up a good speed but grace, how well he was doing would have to wait though. Reaching tho the end he spun around, pushing off the wall with a twist, making his way back to the end of the pool, in faster time then expected but no where near what [member="Varindar Asyt"] was capable of, even without the use of the force. Pulling up from the water Tanasuki flicked his side bangs of hair out of his eyes, the long hair pony tail being tied up into a bun while he been getting dressed, the boy looking to the hotelier in anticipation for correction on his abilities.

"Okay so going around your body not front to back, makes sense mean you can do longer strokes and put more push, also wider area of effect, hu, why did I not think of that, anything else I should know"? It was nice to know her style was not over rusty or bad, considering the boy had not spent a lot of time in the water until recently, but swimming was not really a skill one lost with ease, just like walking becoming part of your permanent memory.