Private Across the Stars: Knight to Knight

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

His ticket to a better part secured, he milled about, making small talk as best he was able to, pedaling about the smaller circles to find the one he'd first encountered here at the party.

"Eeny meeny miney moe, where did the emotion girl g-oh!" He caught a glimpse of her in his peripheral. Twisting at the hip to cut a path her direction.

Iris. That had been her name before she'd intervened in his leaving.

Had said Amani was the closest thing she had to a sister. And while he might not have known then, he wanted to learn more about the people Amani had gathered around her.

This one seemed aloof of the large gathering, or at the very least lost deep in her own thoughts as he approached with a low wave to catch her attention.

Not that she likely didn't notice his approach.

"Iris right? Or do you do the formal last name thing? Armani? N-Arani. Sorry. Anyhow." He smiled before glancing around and back to her.

"You alright?" He might not have been able to sense emotions like she did, but the way he'd bumped into her and the following glances he'd stole around him had painted enough of a picture for him to ask.

 

[Iris Arani]

She'd found herself alone again. Not for lack of people to interact with. She knew she could. They'd all welcome her to their conversations, and she knew it. Iris just.. Stopped feeling welcome. She chose to leave their circles, chose to walk away from their lives. Even as she leaned on the balcony and looked at the view, it wasn't distracting her from the colors behind her.

Why'd she have to go and remove herself from them?

"You alright?"

Iris blinked, only now realizing someone was there talking to her. She turned her gaze up to him, blinking slowly. There was a moment of just a blank expression as she did as she'd always been trained to do as a Shadow. Put those feelings in a box to process later. Instead she smiled, just a little.

"Course. Seems you and Amani were able to reconnect at least. I'm glad."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

His face settled into an expression of baltant disbelief, joining her on the balcony and leaning down onto the railing. His arms covered once more, he rested his weight on his elbows and looked out at the view.

He clicked his tongue before speaking, turning slightly to watch her from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah. Yeah we did. I uh. I wasn't sure that I'd stick around. But that's, stuff on my end to deal with I guess. Thank you for the push by the way." He swayed a little in place, pausing long enough to listen to the people behind them.

"Everyone keeps looking your way. Well. Not literally everyone. But a good number of people. They seem worried about you," He twined his fingers together, still watching as he spoke. "And you seem troubled. Or confused. Either way, it's okay to be either. Or both. Both isn't as good, but I mean it's possible."

He'd remembered a time when dealing with those younger than himself seemed entirely troublesome. Aside from his favorite anyway. And maybe Ura. She was alright, if a little shifty on account of being sentient sand.

"You helped me, and I think it's only fair I offer a bit of help in kind, Ms. Arani."

 

[Iris Arani]

"I could tell you needed it. Or that you were just looking for an excuse to run. Not too sure, I don't see thoughts." Her smile remained for a moment, though it twitched as he went on. Then settled into a more.. Somber expression. She shrugged her shoulders, seeming to just slump more against the railing. She'd already been seen through. It was more exhausting to pretend.

"I made a choice that keeps me from really being in their lives. Not like I used to. I have to keep secrets. I have to lie. And I really don't want to, so I just keep my distance and watch. I want these days for them to keep happening, so I can't really stop. .. So here I am. Watching from a distance."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

His smile widened at her comment about reading thoughts.

"Reading thoughts are over rated. At least in my opinion. I already have enough intrusive thoughts to be inviting someone else's into my mind." He chuckled to himself before watching her... sink.

Deflate more like.

He listened. Offering a nod as she finished and mulled on her words. He'd heard a similar woe somewhere or sometime in his life. But couldn't bring the face to the front of his mind.

"Not guessing your choice of work, but you sound like a spook. And in my travels I have learned one... well tw-three things." He corrected himself.
"Taxes suck. Traveling with no money is an experience everyone should have. And everyone you meet has a secret." He offered not so quietly. His face turned, a frown plastered on it.

"Are you lying to keep the peace and stay friends, or are you lying to keep people from worrying?"

 

[Iris Arani]

Taxes.

She couldn't say she understood that one. Her line of work, her being a Jedi, taxes were never a problem. But the other two she understood. A frown stayed settled on her lip as she kept her gaze out, focused on the horizon.

"Both. There are things I'm not allowed to talk about. And things that if I did, I know would worry them. They're not problems I have to handle alone, just.." She was spinning an excuse. She realized it as she spoke, and it had her trail off completely into a sadder sort of smile. ".. I just don't want my only time around them for them to be worried. But it's still.. I'm not sure how to handle it anymore."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

He grimaced at the mounting idea that Iris was indeed a spook, and that he had guessed right. His smile returned when she got to the meat of the issue.

His head turned round to spy inside from their perch on the balcony.

"Mm. I can see how that would be difficult. Going to take a guess you are at least a Knight with how you are talking." He raised a hand to a passing waiter that stopped short to bring them out drinks. "That being the case. What's your work-life balance like?"

A quick thanks as he pointed to Iris after securing his own drink of choice. When the waiter returned inside he continued his point.

"It sounds like you had a very social training time, but got into something you weren't entirely warned about. Or it's just mounting with this, that, the other thing, some of that over there, and that thing that I've kicked under the desk to let myself forget about it." His hands were animated as though actually pointing to an invisible set of objects, but still managing to keep his drink from sloshing.

Mostly.

"If I'm way off base just let me know."

 

[Iris Arani]

"Mm. Knight Arani. Was a Healer, like Amani." She either ignored the fact that rhymed, or just didn't notice. Probably the latter, given it was Iris. "I don't really have a life outside being a Jedi, not anymore. .. Well not really ever. You'd be surprised how easy it was for me just to get lost in what I see. Never really learned how to talk to people." She shrugged her shoulders before listening.

Then let out a laugh. Nodded. Watching the drink slosh around and waiting for it to just dump out over one or the other or both was entertaining on it's own. But she sipped her own drink, calmly, before speaking up.

"I knew what I was getting into. Someone I look up to made sure I knew before they let me. Just.. There's a lot to it. And everything else I want to do to help with the wars going on." She shrugged.

"I don't want their colors to ever dim. Any of them."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

Another healer. Nodding to her title, he let her keep going without interruption.

There wasn't anything outside of being a jedi for her. His eyes narrowed as he pondered who her mentor, or at least inspiration had been to make such a choice. She had already given a crucial detail to narrow his thinking.

Now he just had to broaden the possibilities by meeting people.

"Ah. You aren't lost in the woods so much as you've always been in them." He sipped on his drink before continuing.

"You are allowed to be more than just a jedi. More than an intergalactic peace keeper with good intent at heart. Even with wars going on, people exist day to day." He expertly poked a thumb behind them with drink in hand. "Amani got married to a senator. During a war that lingers on the border."

He shook his head a bit to break up the severity of his words.

"You are headed for a burn out. Putting everyone and their worries on your shoulders I mean. Being a jedi is certainly a way of life for people, don't get me wrong. But it sounds like you are frustrated on top of being..." He shrugged before leaning against the rail. "Worried. For everyone. And it isn't a bad thing to worry about your friends."

He'd felt like he'd had this conversation with someone in the past.

"But worrying isn't going to stop things from happening Iris. And yes, bad things happen. It's the galaxies way of balancing. But worrying is going to leave you missing the other stuff." He motioned to the room behind them. "You have friends in there. And they will get sad. About stuff you can't help. Some stuff you might be able to help with. Some. But you can't care for other people if you don't care for yourself also."

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris paused for a moment, watching him. Then reached up with her more mangled hand, the one missing it's pinky. The one that looked like cracked stone. And poked his forehead. Gently, but with a smile.

"Sorry, might not've been clear enough. I know I can have a life outside being a Jedi. My Master, Valery, she's here with her husband. Their daughter." She lifted the hand, staring at it again. Smiling sadly. "I got hurt a lot. We all do. But what I'm doing can stop anyone else from getting hurt like I did. Maybe not everyone, but if I can spare just one person from what I had to go through, I don't need that kind of life."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

He was having a severe case of dejavu as Iris poked his forehead.

Her hand was a mess. And there was likely more if the sorrow in her eyes was anything to guess by. He wasn't so different in that way he supposed.

It didn't ease the nerve she'd struck.

His eyes narrowed sharply, mouth drawn tight as the scar across his cheek flared. The drink in his hand now levitating in place as both hands pinched her cheeks and pulled slightly.

The best ones were always stubborn.

"It won't always look like that kind of life. Won't always be the happy family picture. But denying yourself even a little bit of happiness is going to make them worry more." His eyes kept to their orange color rather than shifting to the yellow hue.

He let go of her face and rolled up his sleeve to share his own wound. His hands had been healed enough to hide the worst, as holding a weapon was paramount for his second life.

The scars were alight as he channeled the force to keep the glass floating.

"I gave everything once." The sleeve stayed up, taking the drink in hand as the scars dimmed to a lifeless gray similar to her hand. "And while it was well worth it, it made far more people hurt than I was saving. I'm not saying to quit helping. Not in any way. What you're doing is wonderous work."

Setting the glass on the rail, he pulled the sleeve down to cover the scars that had begun to burn once more beneath the charred and torn skin. Nerves alight with a familiar pain as the sleeve was tugged down.

"But you deserve as much happiness as anyone else. We all do. And we should take it where we can get it. I'm sure Noble would agree with me on that."

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked. There wasn't a lot of thought in her face as her cheeks were pinched of all things. If anything, she seemed to just freeze up in confusion. It certainly got her to focus on what he was saying. Her gaze shifted to his own scars. The one on his face. The arm he exposed. The arm that still seemed to be in pain. The colors, they were weird. Dark, swirling. Unnatural.

"You're dead."

She spoke without thinking again. Then cleared her throat. Frowned at herself before nodding and dropping that subject entirely. Reached up to rub her cheek that he'd pinched.

"The wars hurt a lot of people. I just don't want any more Padawans to have to relearn how to walk or talk or paint like I did."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

He about choked on the sip he was taking when she spoke. Humor streaking through and removing the irritation that had been riding him.

"And I still made time to come see Amani." He didn't push the topic any further than that. Sometimes the strangeness of the galaxy was best left alone for a while.

He couldn't argue with her about the wars hurting people. But there was something else she wasn't seeming to think of.

"They do. And they will from now till the last one is fought. But you can show those that come back getting hurt isn't the end. That it's hard. But you can still make and have friends. Still live, if a bit differently." He leaned against the rail, swirling the drink and nodding quietly.

 

[Iris Arani]

".. I don't like you. I mean, I do. But you understand too much and make too much sense."

She turned to her drink then, took a long swig of it. The fruity, boozy drink it was.

"That's part of the reason I didn't talk to them. They'd say the same. .. Maybe I shouldn't be a Shadow."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

He turned his head slightly to hide the slight smirk, unable to stop the roll of his whole body at the stifled laugh. Eventually turning to face her again once he'd calmed enough.

He wondered how he still had that effect on people.

"Well. If it's any help, I'm usually a good source of sense when it isn't my decisions. I'm glad I got to meet you. Hoping I get to meet you proper in the future." He stared at his sleeve, a slight smile appearing.

"Sounds like they care about you." He shrugged. "And friends sometimes aren't the ones you want to hear it from."

He downed the drink, flexing his free hand to work the pain back.

"It's your choice in the end. But there's always another way to help. It just might not be obvious." He offered, turning the glass round and round as the final drops clung to the edges.

"Get in there an mingle. Let everyone know how irritating I am." He nodded inside, watching her with an overly pleased expression.

 

[Iris Arani]

"I know they care about me. I care about them too. It's why I'm- .. Ughhhh."

She slumped a little, putting her head in her hand as she took another sip of her drink. Then looked back to him. The colors around him. Frowned again. There was a long, awkward moment of silence before she stood straight up, downed what was left of her drink, and reached out to just snatch his hand and pull him along.

"Fine, but you're coming with me. I wanna dance, and I'm not doin' it alone again."

Tarish Galland

 

[Tarish Galland]

LOCATION: Tython
WEARING: Fancy Robes, Force Talisman
TAGS: Iris Arani​

He didn't bother to hide the smirk this time. Her exasperation fueling the twisted sense of humor he kept about him as she stood and grabbed him.

Shaking his head, he let himself be drug along.

"Alright, alright. Let's go turn heads." He chuckled and followed her in.