A Conversation

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"I know my house is here somewhere." That was true enough, even in her addled state she was positive that Borleias was her homeworld. She had some very good memories here, and had even visited this place before Vineta had ever been built. The canyon was beautiful all on it's won, even without all the glitz and glamour that came with the new luxury city. Of course in her current state communicating that was far more difficult than one might imagine.

"I'm..." Aela yawned. "Just not sure which direction it's in."

She hiccuped and then laughed again. A part of her world was still spinning, but at the very least she had managed to get her breath back, that was something, A small easy smile pulled on her lips as she slowly backed up, she fell against the small wall of the dam, sitting herself down. "My legs are tired."

Aela complained.

"I think I need a nap." She yawned again.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"What? Here?" She looked around. Night had fallen. The small lamps that illuminated parts of the walkway had turned on. This was most definitely not the time nor the place to take a nap, although Aela's yawn caused Jamie to reciprocate, feeling a small pool of water fill her eyes as her own heavy yawn pulled at her jaw. "Aela! I you can't nap here!"

Jamie sat down next to the other girl. "You can't take drunk naps on the dam! We'll get in trouble!"

She hiccuped one more time. Ugh! Can't you go away!?

"Come on, get up! Let's go back to the hotel." WHERE IS IT?!

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"I'm a Jedi!" Aela said as she nudged against Jamie. "I can nap wherever I want."

It was sound logic. Who was going to tell her that she couldn't nap somewhere? Probably the Security forces, but as soon as she mentioned that she was a Jedi they would go away...or so she thought in her drunken logic. She shifted slightly and yawned, suppressing another hiccup giggle combo somehow as she scrunched her face. For a brief second she thought that perhaps she might throw up...but that quickly passed as she managed to get control of herself. "Walking is hard."

She complained again.

"Let's just rest here." She leaned her head back against the cool duracrete. "I won't nap."

But she did want to rest. "Just rest."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Is that allowed? Can Jedi just do that? "Are you sure?" That doesn't sound like a law.

Aela was pretty dead set on sleeping there. For a whole laundry list of reasons that was a bad idea, the least of which being the concern for being robbed while passed out. And for how long was this so called rest going to be for? What did resting entail?

"Are you going to close your eyes? Cause you'll fall asleep!"

That was Jamie's primary concern. If Aela passed out, waking her butt up would be a challenge.

Still, sitting down was pretty comfortable. Even more so after the yawn that followed.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"No I won't close my eyes!" She wasn't going to! Probably. She didn't feel like it at least. The Jedi Marshall frowned slightly and shifted, her weight moving so the wall a bit more. Duracrete wasn't all that comfortable even when you were more than a little drunk. A part of her felt like she was going numb, that was mostly the reason why she wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon, she liked warm and comfortable beds.

Not hard duracrete.

"I will wait until we get back." She sounded very composed, her tone stern, but the illusion was quickly broken as she burst out into laughter, unable to control it as though it were a simple reflex by now and not doing it would have been strange. "It's fine."

She giggled. "Everything is fine."

For a moment Aela paused then, thinking about what they had done today, everything that they had done that had brought them here. She frowned for a moment, and then remembered why they had gone out tonight in the first place.

"Is everything fine?" The Question was quiet, almost innocent.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde squinted in disbelief at Aela, getting awkwardly close to her face, as if trying to examine the girl's soul for deceit. "You better not." She said, before leaning back and setting her hands on her lap. Idle hands felt the fabric of her shirt, attempting to somehow brush away the small wrinkles from sitting. "I'm watching you, missy."

She yawned once more, laying her own head against the wall, looking up toward the sky and the stars that sparkled like tiny little diamonds in the sky. Planets and systems across the galaxy shined above through the cloudless evening air. It was a pleasant sight.

"Is everything fine?"

The question was somewhat strange to hear. "What do you mean?"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

For a moment she paused. They hadn't really talked about what had happened. Kurt, the Sith, the creatures in the Outpost. All of that had come crashing down on Jamie right around the same time, not to mention what had happened with her family. There was so much, and Jamie was holding most of it in.

"With you, I mean." It was a silly question, of course nothing was fine, but Aela didn't have the tact currently to put it any other way.

"I'm worried." She waved her arm. "With these bracelets I can feel half of everything going on in your head."

She was being far more forward than usual. "I just..."

Aela frowned. How was she supposed to do this? Aela had never been good with emotions, even her own. She could hardly talk to boys, or rather she didn't even notice them, and she kept most everyone else at arms length. She really only had three friends in the entire galaxy, and she more emotionally closed off than a Krayt Dragon.

"I just want to make sure you're okay." She said quietly.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"With...Me?" Oh. Her hands shifted, fingers rolling over one another as she bit down on the corner of her lip. "Oh definitely! I'm great!"

That was probably the alcoholic confidence speaking. "I'm great." She mumbled an affirmative "Mhm" along with a nod.

There was definitely nothing wrong. The realization that she'd been lied to by the person she trusted more than anyone her entire life for the past twelve years. That was no big deal, right? Or the pressure of being one of the voices for her people back home to the galaxy? Just a job. Or even being kidnapped at that home and tortured nearly to death by some crazed, vengeful Sith. That was just a bad day. Fleeing in terror from those monsters that had decimated that Alliance outpost? Jedi business as usual? Maybe? Or Kurt having a baby with another woman? Just a breakup with a stupid boy.

It was all totally fine. She was great.

No need to.....cry. Or anything.

"I'm--" She swallowed the knot that formed in here throat. "Fine."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela of course knew that was entirely a lie, she didn't even need the bracelets. Despite being drunk, or perhaps because of it Aela could see the truth of the matter on Jamie's face, the way she truly felt about all this. A sigh escaped the Jeid Marshall. She couldn't blame the padawan, perhaps admitting it, any of it, would simply have brought down some sort of emotional wall that she couldn't put back up again. For a moment Aela sat in silence.

Then she reached out. With small hands she enveloped Jamie in a tight hug.

It was all she could really think to do at this point. Trying to dig more information out of her padawan didn't seem like a good idea, but maybe, just maybe a hug would be enough. In her current state she likely wouldn't have been able to put proper words together anyway, and she didn't want to risk saying anything that would trigger anything more upsetting for Jamie.

"It's okay." She said as she embraced her padawan."You don't have to always be strong."

Her father had taught her that.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The muscles in her body tensed up the moment Aela hugged her. It was entirely unexpected and unprompted. The only people who ever really touched her aside from a handshake out of general mannerisms were her parents and Kurt. Even a hug was a very personal and affectionate means of contact to Jamie. Something she did not afford most people, even despite her generally warm personality.

"I...." For a few seconds she remained incredibly tense and uncomfortable, feeling as though if her muscles contracted any further they might very well snap.

The longer she held onto Jamie the more she could feel both her physical connection and the mental one they now shared through the bracelets chipping away at the underlying need to keep all of this emotion and thoughts repressed under lock and key. An ever so slight tremble in her lip preceded the stuttered breath. The wall was collapsing despite her best attempts to prevent it being so. This was not the place for crying.

"I'm..." A stinging sensation could be felt in her eyes, knowing that if she continued to speak it would all come crashing down even faster. It was only a matter of time either way, but she knew that another word would open the flood gates to a world of tears unlike any she had ever felt before. Instead she buried her face in the space between Aela's shoulder and chest where labored breathing slowly became sobs backed by streams of water that would slowly soak through the girl's shirt.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela didn't move or say anything.

There weren't really any words or even actions that could fix this. Jamie had lived quite a hard life over these last few months. She'd lost a lot and a part of her still wasn't even sure what she had lost in the first place. It was impossibly difficult for someone of her age, for anyone really, to go through everything she had and not fall apart. It was expected, perhaps even necessary by some peoples point of view.

It wasn't the falling apart that mattered. It was how you put yourself back together.

At the very least Jamie would have Aela there by her side. She would have a friend, and a Master that cared about her enough to make sure that none of this permanently broke her into pieces. Aela's arms tightened around Jamie for a few moments, an act she hoped the Padawan would take as reassuring.

Tears slowly began to roll down Aela's cheeks as well, her addled state couple with the effects of the bracelet making it so both girls were balling their eyes out.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Did these bracelets cause an emotional loop? When Aela began to cry Jamie simply cried even more.

Her arms lifted and wrapped around the other girl as they sat beside the dam sobbing together. "It's not fair!" She shouted, voice muffled between Aela's body. Those three words were all that she could quickly force from her lips before her stuttered gasping returned to join the river of tears pouring down her cheeks. It was probably for the best that Jamie hadn't applied any makeup prior to leaving their hotel room, lest she look like a terrifying clown, mime, or some other hideous horror film creature.

This was hardly an ideal place to let emotions run wild, though thankfully it was late enough and an unpopular enough area that there wasn't really anyone around to witness two girls weeping beside a massive dam in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"I know." Aela hadn't really experienced half of the things Jamie had.

She had been tortured by Sith once or twice, but she'd never had the same experience with her family. She'd never had a boyfriend, and she'd certainly never experienced someone she liked sleeping with, much less getting someone else pregnant. Those two things were really the most foreign to her. The torture she could relate with, as odd and sick as that was, but the other subject matter she had no idea what to tell Jamie, what to say to her.

"I know." She repeated again.

All she could do was be supportive, though she wasn't sure if she was accomplishing that by continuously crying alongside Jamie.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Nothing made sense. All she had wanted to do since she learned of her ability to manipulate the Force was to leave Naboo and learn more about both it and the galaxy as a whole. But at the same time since the moment she left everything in her life had been met with turbulence and anguish. The few spots of light that made it through were smothered by all of the tragedy that befell her. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. It wasn't okay.

What else was there to do besides cry into Aela's soggy wet shirt at this point? She knew the moment she began to try and speak it would be drowned out by the staggered breathing and sobbing. Maybe once that stopped? Maybe. When would it stop? That was probably a better question. Now that her own inner defense had shut down it was like the dam they were sitting atop had cracked and collapsed, letting all of the water that it had held back through all at once.

Her hands tightened around Aela's back, as if she was worried the girl would let go and fade away like everything else seemed to be doing.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She had no idea how long they sat there crying, no idea if anyone saw them and then slowly decided to back away, truth was she didn't care either. She had only ever shared a few moments like this with her siblings, and each time it was significant, just as it was with Jamie. She wouldn't have cared if a Security Officer had come along and told them to go away, she would have just yelled at them and told them to go away. Part of that was probably the alcohol, but it didn't matter.

"It's alright." Aela said quietly. "It'll be alright."

Aela wanted to help somehow. She wanted to help Jamie get over all of this, but she was jsut so out of her depth. The problems that her Padawan had, all of them were so unfamiliar to Aela that she felt like saying anything would have been wrong.

"We can talk about it if you want." She said quietly, a small slur still at the end of her words.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Eventually the flood was somehow, somewhat contained. Jamie pulled her head away from Aela's shoulder, leaving a rather gross looking wet spot where her face had been. Looking at it the blonde cringed, knowing how terrible that likely felt, though at the same time she laughed at what a mess she was. A hand came up to wipe the glossy liquid away from her eyes, sleeve used as an improvised tissue. She already looked like hell, what was the point in worrying about what her shirt looked like?

For a few more seconds she simply sat and looked at Aela while she struggled to steady her breathing through slow, deep breaths.

"I don't even know where to start."

Everything was broken.

"Sorry about your shirt." She said, nose scrunching as her lips pulled to the side.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"It's fine." Aela told Jamie. "I never liked it much anyway."

That was true enough, Aela never really cared for any clothing at all. The few garments that she did take extra special care of were usually borrowed from her mother, and even then it was only because they had been borrowed rather than the fact that she liked them so much. "Just start with what you think is best."

Aela said quietly.

There was a lot, she knew that, but if talking about it would help Jamie then Aela was willing to hear it.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Where to start? Oh gosh.

Her head was pounding like a drum. Was that because of the intense cry session or the alcohol? Probably both.

Aela had already known bits and pieces from more or less each of the tragedies she'd experienced as of late. She knew Jamie and Kurt had split up. She knew she had a half sister. She knew the Sith had tortured her. And she knew that Naboo had been twice now attacked. And finally, most recently, knew that she was not quite alright with what had happened or what she had seen back at that Alliance outpost with those...Things.

But the whole stories to each were still sort of up in the air. Perhaps the girl pieced them together on her own, but perhaps not.

"Kurt told me before all this happened that he shared his ship with someone, a roommate, a girl." That would probably be enough on its' own to make most people a bit suspicious. "I worried a lot about that. A guy and girl alone together, constantly. In the empty void of space. With just each other. Something was bound to happen." Her hands came up to brush away the mess of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "Despite that, he reassured and swore to me that nothing was going on between the two of them." First mistake. "Obviously, I was wrong."

Even if Kurt was technically telling the truth, it was a fine line and this was her side of the story, after all.

"Back on Pelagon he told me she was pregnant. That it was probably his kid. That he didn't know what to do and hadn't talked much to this girl about it yet."

Jamie was still incredibly dumbfounded about how they hadn't spoken much at all before he went to see her. The blonde paused for a few seconds to prevent herself from crying more, until she was thoroughly certain she had stifled back the tears again. "But he didn't want to lose me. But that was it. That was all he had to say. Like that was enough to justify it all."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Oh." Aela said quietly.

It made sense in a way, the logic behind why Jamie was so upset. Aela herself would have been livid in the same situation, probably mad enough to smash several speeders. She frowned for a moment, thinking about just how much this 'Kurt' had messed up. Her lips eventually turned into a scowl and a bit of rage bubbled beneath her skin. Her fingers wrung together to form a fist. Aela didn't like the thought of betrayal, especially on that level, within a relationship, within love.

She scowled, then went on. "Have you spoken to him since he told you all of this?"

It was all she could think to ask. It would be more than obvious to Jamie that Aela was upset for her, with her.

The only other thing she wanted to do was call this 'Kurt' a dirtbag and tell Jamie to leave him forever, but that was neither her place nor her duty. She was well aware that her view of romance was...warped. Her parents were really the only example of love that she had, and they were practically the perfect couple. In nearly thirty years of life Aela had never once seen them argue, and a problem like this was simply unthinkable.

This really wasn't Aela's place, but she was trying to be helpful.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A quiet shake of her head would be Jamie's response to Aela's question.

"He ended up in the hospital before I left." Though judging by the other girl's expression it was obvious to Jamie that she required elaboration, as she seemed to have the indication that it was Jamie who had put him in the hospital. And while that might have been partially true, it wasn't for the reason Aela was likely thinking. "No." She said, "I didn't hurt him." The blonde drew in a breath, or rather, tried to, through her nose, but quickly found it entirely stuffed up from all of the crying, leaving it to make a terribly disgusting snorting sound instead.

"I guess the stress of the situation, coupled with whatever else he had going on these past few months knocked his body out of whack."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I stayed with him until he woke up. Said my peace, he begged me not to go, I got angry and both ripped a cabinet off the wall and threw it with the Force in a tantrum before I left." A small smirk appeared on her face through the misery. "He was lucky I didn't throw it against his head." As quickly as it came the smirk faded. "I left him there afterwards. He sent me a message a while back saying he was out of the hospital, that he was sorry, and that he would figure it out." A small shake of her head followed. "I told him to stop contacting me."

[member="Aela Talith"]