[D5EE] Family (Karath Apartment)

[Jenna Karath]

"Didn't give you much time to think of it, back then," she shifted the glass to the side and looked across to Petrus, "I didn't want you to know the price I was going to have to pay for finding you. Not surprisingly, finding one person in the wide galaxy isn't that easy, I tried by myself but.. you also wanted to be hidden, I couldn't. So, I made a call, I'd worked with the Hutts, on occasion, I uh.." she chuckled, bashfully, "I'm actually a pretty good thief. It's, it's why I do actually do some honest security work, it's where I learned how to do security work."

"Anyway, that's another discussion, I," she glanced away for a moment, "I'm in debt to a Hutt, they helped me find you and I didn't have enough to pay for it up front. So, I committed one of the few sins a criminal always knows to not commit; don't in-debt yourself to a Hutt. Vandil, actually, believe it or not, if you've heard the name, is the one I've got between me and the Hutt right now."

[Petrus Karath]

Emotions flickered across Petrus' face as Jenna spoke, one revelation after another hit him. "A... thief?" He considered that for a while.

He was okay with it. People did what they had to do to survive on the lower levels of Coruscant.

"Okay, so..." Petrus grimaced. "How do we deal with it? Is there anything I can do to help?" Whatever feelings he had could be put aside for the moment. The key was figuring out what to do.

[Jenna Karath]

"I don't think you," she paused, reconsidered, "I don't know. Telling you wasn't.. it wasn't part of the plan. I was hoping, once, I could just get out from under it and you'd never have to know. We could run, escape, find a new life. I'm.. I've a message from Vandil, I'm going to a meeting today, another job, and I'm going to see if I can leverage it against my debt. Get myself clear," she said, glancing away, she had some hope but she wasn't sure.

She wasn't sure about a lot of things these days. Everything used to seem so simple, and maybe it was, or maybe she just didn't used to care.

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus smiled, half-sad, half-not. "You can't escape your past, not entirely. I've been finding that out lately. We could run, but you'd still be in debt. And I'd still be a Jedi."

His smile became brighter. "So let's deal with them instead, together. Hey, I might not be a thief, able to do... whatever it is you do." He frowned a moment, then went on. "But hey, I can do some stuff. I am your big brother, y'know?"

[Jenna Karath]

"You are," she smiled, chuckled, "and, hey, I wasn't gonna just cut and run. I was gonna get out from under the debt first. I'm not dumb enough to think I can escape the Hutts," she said humorously, with a hint of seriousness, but then glanced away and thought inward for a moment.

"Guess.. guess we can't run away from the Empire any less than the Hutts then, can we?" she said, she didn't really need the answer, she already had it

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus shook his head sadly. "No. We can't." He took a deep breath, smiling wanly. "But maybe we can carve out a little place where we can be happy. The ship seems like a good start..."

He looked at Jenna. "What do you think of our crew-mates? I know Liua's a little difficult, but she's a good kid. And Sloan. And Xanna?"

[Jenna Karath]

"Maybe," she said wishfully. "I hope so, and the crew, they're a good sort. Sloan is a big guy, seems he has a good heart, feels... comfortable, safe, having him around. Liua," she chuckled, "seems like a good kid, reminds me of myself when I was her age in some ways, just some though."

"Xanna," she glanced aside, remembering a thought, "Xanna is good people. Best, really, I don't think I've ever known anyone quite like her. Having her aboard is.. it's good to know she'll be safe with us. There is... Something she asked me to help with, and, I've gotta meet her soon, actually."

[Petrus Karath]

"They are." Petrus said. His lips curled up. "Although I'm not sure how I feel about Liua being like you. I guess I can see it... it makes sense." Chuckling, he shook his head. "Maybe if you and I had one of those brother-sister relationships where we tease each other all the time, it'd be spot on."

His expression grew more serious. "Xanna is. She's special. Both in a general sort of way, and, uh..." He ran a hand through his hair. "-to me, in particular." He cleared his throat. "It's too early to say what it means, so, uh, don't say anything, but she and I might kinda have a... thing. Together." Idly, he wondered if he should have told Dove not to say anything, but she probably wouldn't.

[Jenna Karath]

"Petrus.." she smiled, slide to the side out of her chair and quickly came around the table. Looking for her brother to stand, but even if he didn't right away, "Oh Petrus I'm so happy for yooooooou," she said in that sisterly tone, hugging her brother tight.

[Petrus Karath]

"Errr..." Reddening, Petrus stood, letting his sister hug him, and hugging her back. "Thanks, sis. That means a lot to me."

"It's... we're taking it slow. We have to; that's the only way Jedi can do something like this and not... have something go wrong. So I don't know what'll happen, or if it'll work, or what. I just wanted you to know, because, well..." Petrus smiled, "well, you're my sister. And I really do like her."

[Jenna Karath]

Leaning back she put both of her hands on her brothers shoulder for a good look at him, "I'm glad," she said, smiling, "really, really glad... you always seemed a little.. lost," she glanced away for a moment, "y'know, at the start? When we met up again but now you're, well," she looked at her brother, smiled, and then hugged him tight.

"I'm glad then," she said, after releasing him, "that she'll be with us if we ever have to run. Though, uh, you said something about this with being a Jedi?"

[Petrus Karath]

Solemnly, Petrus nodded. "Yeah, lost. That's a good word for it. And yeah, you're right, I was." He smiled. "And now I am doing better, yeah." He smiled as they hugged again.

"Yeah, so..." Petrus took a deep breath. "The thing with Jedi is that negative emotions can lead to the Dark Side. And relationships, romantic ones... well, as I understand it, they're great if they work. But they can lead to hurt, jealousy, that sort of thing if they go bad."

He looked at Jenna. "And if you come to love someone and they die, can you avoid falling into despair? If someone hurts or kills them, can you avoid being consumed with anger? It's a hard thing to do." He took a breath. "And that's why, in the Order, being attached to someone like that was somewhere between discouraged and forbidden, depending."

[Jenna Karath]

"They really worry about such things? Emotions? What more is there to being.." she thought, paused, and looked away for a moment so she could think. "I.. how does feeling the pain of the loss of a loved one turn someone to.." she didn't liked the way the phrase sounded, the Dark Side, like it was some ominous presence out to get them.

"Are.. are you sure they didn't just lie to you? I mean.." she shrugged, trying to piece together something of an understanding, "we've got our own family, Karath siblings, do you worry about the same with me?"

[Petrus Karath]

"When someone is like me, Force Sensitive, negative feelings can, uh..." Petrus paused a moment, searching for words, "-fester, I guess. Fear or anger become hate, and it says with a person like that, corrupting them. So we have to be very, very careful."

He was silent for a few moments, his blue eyes wide as he looked at her. Finally, after a small eternity, he spoke. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Jenna. I don't know if I could be okay with it, or if I could handle it. So yeah, it worries me. Maybe even scares me. Because I'm supposed to be able to handle it, or not do it, but..." He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

[Jenna Karath]

Jenna took her brother into another hug, patting the back of his head lightly, "There there, you ain't gonna have to worry about losing me. Survived mom and dad, survived Coruscant, survived Nar Shaddaa, survived a good portion of the galaxy so I ain't putting that on your shoulders anytime soon," she paused, a smirk, "but I still think it's all hogwash."

Stepping back, releasing him with a smile, "Look, I now what they think, and what they said, but I think you're all still just people. Maybe it's... maybe the abilities you have make it easy to use them to get what you want, they make you powerful and that power makes you prone to wild swings in personality if you go off the deep end. People do it all the time, just look at the Hutt's, look at the Empire," she drifted off on the thought, "but you're all still just.. people, right? I think so, nothing inherently more risky going down a darker path than anyone else. Just.. remember you're my brother? With that.. with remembering you're my brother, I think you'll be fine," she finished with another smile.

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus gave her a warm smile. "That's true. I shouldn't worry about my tough little sister who's already survived everything the galaxy could throw at her."

Slowly, Petrus nodded. "We are still people. But it is more risky. You've gotta believe me. So I need to be careful, for things with Xanna, and things with you."

He smiled gently at her. "But you're right. If I remember who I am... I think it can be okay."

[Jenna Karath]

"Good," she patted him on the back. "Now, I.. I gotta go get ready, again," she groaned, "I mentioned I had to go help Xanna, right? Then I've got a meeting, with Vandil, big job coming up. Money or leverage, and we're going to need both so.." her thought drifted, realizing also for the moment it was probably the first time she talked so openly about the subject.

Felt.. freeing, in a way.

[Petrus Karath]

"Yeah? Okay." After a moment, Petrus gave her a smile. "Well, uh, have a good time. With Xanna I mean. And hey, Jenna..." Petrus' lips quirked. "Be careful. I know you're good, and you're strong. But I'm your big brother, I'm supposed to worry a bit, right?"

[Jenna Karath]

"Yea," she said, a smirk, moving ever closer to her door now, on the other side of the table she looked back, "runs in the family."

With that she went into her room to make some final preparations before heading out again that night. Had to put her face back on, after all.

[Petrus Karath]

With a sigh, Petrus sat back down. He gave a curious glance to his sister's shut door, but then smiled and shook his head. This was strange to think about... but, ultimately, he trusted her.

Satisfied, he got back to work.