Shadows of Bankor

Vaya moved with practiced awareness through the slums, wary enough to avoid any casual snares without being paranoid enough to draw attention. Her slim little stun blaster was just a quick grab away in her waistband, and her precious package's warmth wrapped with both arms against her chest, both hiding it from view protecting it from grabbing hands.

She stepped around the broken step on the way up the to the front hall of her apartment and took the stairwell rather than risk death on the turbolift (of boredom, not accident -- it was so slow it really didn't merit the turbo). At last, she was at her apartment's door, but she went across from it to the apartment opposite, taking a hand off her package to knock, since the chime was as likely to shock you as alert the residents of a visitor.

"Dinner!" She shouted. "Baron's finest!"

It had been a very full day. And a rather momentous one. Really, Petrus felt as though he had reached a turning point in his life.

But that didn't mean he had to stop watching his soaps, did it? It just meant he wasn't retreating into them.

"Stay strong, cyar'ika." Dacen Stormheart growled. "I survived the ceremony of the twenty mega-rancors. I can survive this." Flexing mightily, he lifted his twin blades, and...

A knock at the door.

"Mblergh." Petrus said, turning off the holotube. He rolled off the couch to his feet, crossing the very few steps to the door. Rubbing a hand across his face, he pulled the door open. "Oh, hey Vaya, what's up?" He held the door open for her.

"What's up is three Bantha Breakfast Meals, with extra blue sauce and Ardee's," she said, not waiting for more of an invitation before pushing past him, knocking some empty takeout cartons from the table to clear a space, and setting down the large plastoid bag. "Feeling flush today, so I grabbed a half-dozen QuickSnacks, too." She extracted a bag from within the bag, which was sweating at room temperature. "And some IceTeroids for later." She looked at the holoprojector. "Oh hey, it's Storm-liver. Where's your sib?"

Fresh air, even in the slums it had a quality to it that relieved what staying inside wouldn't. Walking the block a few times she crossed her arms over her chest and looked off into the distance, thinking about her day.

Tossing the thought, she turned about heel and came back toward her apartment. Up the stairs, through the building, skipping the lives of so many others. Talking and hustling about their days. Doors flung wide open with music pouring out, the invitation to their preferred guests.

Past them all she eventually came to her door, sought her access card, and then promptly opened the door...

Petrus frowned. "She- hey, there we go." Petrus smiled as Jenna came in.

He walked over, arms spread for a warm and gentle, if slightly reserved, hug. "Hey, sis. I was wondering when you were getting in."

Petrus turned, angling his body between the two. "Vaya brought food. Feeling flush, huh? Get lucky on a scavenging run, or something?"

"Decent!" said Vaya brightly, leaving aside the whole other Hutt-inflected escapade from this morning for... later. "Better than decent! Great! I think I got enough to keep those folks I asked to help us deal with paperwork problems a bit ago off my back. I saved some odds and ends for you, even. They're in my room, I'll get them later. For now," she pulled out another sub-bag, and shoved it at him, "c'mon, get your biscuits while they're hot! Better than they served you back at the Academy, I'd bet." That was her code word. She didn't know if they needed one, but she got itchy saying "temple" too casually (not least because it's unclear the Jedi structure met a strict anthropological definition, anyway).

Petrus rubbed a hand back through his red hair. "I, uh, already ate. Fried noodles. But... yeah, okay, I can take one." If he was going to start regular training again, it'd be fine.

He chuckled. "Academy food was alright. A bit bland. I feel like we were trained to like it, if that makes sense. We're not really supposed to want more, you know."

Jenna absentmindedly as family does, took her brother in for a hug as if it were just another thing. Pulling back she offered him a slight smile, but otherwise seemed a bit elsewhere in her thoughts. "Got some good work done today, might not get me into a whole sack of credits but might put me into some good graces. Get me some better work," she lied, slightly, almost effortlessly.

"Thanks for bringing the food, Vaya. It was nice to take a break instead of worrying after it," she said, removing her outer jacket and shifting it onto a hanger near the door. Removing her shoes, then, on a nearby armchair thing she dragged in from somewhere and cleaned it up nice.

"Yeah? Hey, that's good." Petrus smiled. The room was actually somewhat cleaner than usual. It sometimes looked as though Petrus had walked into the apartment and then immediately joined The Force, leaving a pile of clothing. Of course, he was usually on the couch. Now, the major piles had all been cleaned up.

As Jenna took care of her homecoming routine, Petrus got out plates, setting them on the table. "So... which one of you wants to go into more detail about your good fortune today?" He paused a moment, looking back and forth between them. "This something you did together?"

Petrus Karath wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:33 am

Petrus rubbed a hand back through his red hair. "I, uh, already ate. Fried noodles. But... yeah, okay, I can take one." If he was going to start regular training again, it'd be fine.

"That's the spirit! Eat well, be merry..." she stopped herself before saying something like for tomorrow we may die, which was chance-cube odds of getting a laugh from Petrus or putting him in A Mood.

Jenna Karath wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 26, 2020 9:54 am

"Thanks for bringing the food, Vaya. It was nice to take a break instead of worrying after it," she said, removing her outer jacket and shifting it onto a hanger near the door.

"Hey, no problem," she said, smiling at the small gratitude. Despite her current circumstances, which in her more claustrophobic moments resembled the Balosar slums she had hustled and scammed so hard to get out of, the company she kept was much better than she had ever had. Definitely than the back-biting of an Imperial research team, or the acklay-in-a-pit scrabbling of Balosar, and probably even better than the University. Academics were, in her experience, some combination of solipsistic and hedonistic, and neither promoted much closeness.

Petrus Karath wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 26, 2020 3:50 pm

"So... which one of you wants to go into more detail about your good fortune today?" He paused a moment, looking back and forth between them. "This something you did together?"

"No," she answered smoothly, "I went scavenging with some debitage that met via the holonet. We rented a speeder and rooted around for a bit. Might make a day of it tomorrow. Much more sun than the data archives, and I didn't even see any Bone Pickers!"

"Hey, that's good." Petrus said, only a little dryly. "No bone pickers. Well, glad things worked out." One of the adjectives he would definitely apply to Vaya was 'scrappy'. The others varied depending on how often she was bugging him about Force stuff.

"I actually got out a bit, myself. A morning trip to Jaklu. If either of you want to try some farm-fresh cram-berries, I've got a few left." Petrus pointed to a small container on the table next to the couch. "Sun and fresh air. And water. It was nice. Check it out sometime, if you haven't." This was directed generally, at Vaya or his sister.

"Everyone's been busy today," she smiled and moved her boots aside. Collecting her portion of the food at the table she found her usual spot and sat down. "Went by Xanna again today, helped out in the kitchen some. Cleared my head up a bit. Apparently you two met today?" she said, looking toward her brother.

"Oh yeah? That's great." Petrus smiled. "Actually, I met her yesterday. She stood up to an Imperial Captain. She's..." A glance aside at Vaya, "-pretty cool." Sure, Petrus trusted Vaya, but Xanna's status as a Jedi was on a need to know basis, and a Jedi fangirl did not need to know.

"She mentioned she knew you. What'd you guys talk about?" Petrus asked casually.

"Pretty cool?" she asked, raising a brow slightly as she leaned back in her chair a bit. Making a little show of reading the room for a moment before continuing, putting on a most toying tone, "Suppose I could tell you, dear older brother. Or, I could keep my secrets about it. We talked about you, a bit," she didn't continue the thought, only shrugged.

"Yeah. Pretty cool." Petrus half-laughed, half-groaned. "I know your tricks. She probably told you that we met is all."

A short pause.

Petrus sighed. "But you are gonna tell me, right?"

Jenna just raised her brow, to torment him, and then looked toward Vaya expecting her to chime in.

“Jaklu? Isn’t that kind of a backwater, even by the standards of this backwater?” Vaya shook her head. “Still, good to get you out of the house.” She abandoned her much-touted takeout to get up and pop a few cram-berries in her mouth as the Kareths sibling’d at each other. They’re pretty good at it, considering how they didn’t get as much practice as you’d think.

She came back to the table, continuing to neglect her entree and peeling open a deeply fried side dish with a sugar-heavy sauce. “The random scavengers seemed okay, which isn’t as good as pretty cool. A Jawa, of all things. Actually, a lot of overlap with the people who caught the show at the Salty Nerf the other night,” she continued, shooting Jenna some kind of look.

“Great band there, by the way. Cute singer. They’re playing in a few days, you should check it out, Petrus. Speaking of getting you out of the house.” She waved a fried at him. It had mostly reached a stable state, but there had been points since reaching Bankor where Petrus’, uh, sedentary routine had been a point of contention between them. How could he help her find enlightenment, or whatever, if he never got off the couch? Eventually she talked herself into believing that the Will of the Force would do something productive with the situation. Probably. Eventually.

Petrus shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, it's a small city by the ocean. Some farming. But it's nice."

He smiled, with just a little bit of a smirk. "Besides, haven't I told you that Jedi don't concern themselves with excitement? It's a nice place, even if it is a backwater. Pleasant. Maybe even meditative."

He shrugged, pushing a dumpling around his plate. "Of course, that doesn't mean that we won't catch a show every now and then. Salty Nerf, huh?" He frowned. "Don't think I've been there."

“It’s kind of a black hole, honestly, but the music was good,” said Vaya, pushing the frieds-with-sugar-sauce suddenly away. “Petrus, Jenna, you want any of these? I’ve had too many.” She went over again about what he said, more thoughtfully. “Meditative, huh? Have you actually… mediated, recently?” she asks, her voice casual but her atennapalps going from their default omnidirectional swivelling to pointing more intently in Petrus’ direction.

Jenna had thought, for a moment, to take some but when Petrus' chimed in about the Jedi and then Vaya came back with the idea of him meditating she grew thoughtful and forgot. Instead her focus was on Petrus, and how he answered. Part of her was hoping for an answer in one direction. Conversations like these made her... worry.

"I'm good." Petrus waved a hand. "I told you, I already ate."

His lips quirked. "Not... as such." He shrugged, smiling. "But I've got a feeling that might change. It's been an interesting few days."

Reaching out, he gave Jenna a little nudge. "So are you gonna spill, or what? C'mon, you can't leave me dangling forever."

"Seems you have some to spill yourself," she cast a glance at her brother. "Gonna tell me about what interesting few days you've had? Gotta know before I start giving out what I've got for free, after all. Mighta worked differently for you," she smirked, teasingly with a tone that was playfully aggressive, "but with how I had to grow up you never gave something for nothing unless you knew you'd get something in return."

Petrus sighed, shaking his head with a rueful smile. "Always playing the 'I joined the Jedi while you were left to fend for yourself card'." He said. "You can't use that for everything, you know." But despite his words, he reached out, squeezing his sister's hand.

He took a breath. "Well, you know when I said Xanna stood up to that Imperial Captain? It was really more like... we stood up to that Imperial Captain. Even if she did it first." His gaze on Jenna was slightly tense; he knew she didn't like him taking chances.

"I heard," she said, she didn't quite betray her thoughts to him. Still, he would know them anyway. They were close, inseparable once, never really changed in some ways even if it did in others. "Xanna mentioned it when I spoke with her, apparently you couldn't let it be but..." she shrugged, sighed, "I'm not all that surprised. Still, sounds like you and her might have made a enemy? An Imperial Captain is no joke, considering your history. What if he looks into you? Finds out?"

"He didn't get my name or anything like that." Petrus shrugged. "And, well, he was beating up a kid. Pushing her face into the pavement." His lips pressed together a moment, and then he shrugged again. "Some things, you just need to stand up for."