Private Deep-Fried Determination

[Jasper Kai'el]

Deep-Fried Determination
Denon, Warehouse District
Tags: Marissa Shoda

Jasper could finally remove his mask. The heat from the flames had caused sweat to pool up on his brow beneath it. With the fire now nearly extinguished, there was no concern for toxic gas filling his lungs, at least not the lethal variety. Denon's air was still terrible. As he sat on a bench in the Warehouse District, the padawan reflected back on a few things. There was a lot on his mind. The highly damaged cyborg, where the fire had originated from... but the top of that list was easily the masked man. Red. Who the hell was this guy? To the untrained eye the dude just seemed tough, but Jasper knew better. The man was force sensitive and highly skilled, suggesting that he had some kind of formal training. Come to think of it, all the vigilantes that he had met up until this point seemed to express some kind of force sensitivity. Hell, some even had lightsabers. There was no way these guys were Jedi, right? Such a thing would be ridiculous. Not to mention hypocritical, seeing as they always wound up telling him to bug off. It seemed odd. Jedi were always doing stuff like this. Why would they need to hide their faces?

His stomach began to growl. Jasper had gone this entire time without being able to eat. He was sure that the meal he had ordered was long gone by now, another casualty of his chaotic existence. The padawan always seemed so close to trying Denon's street food, but it was always pulled away from him at the last moment. Jasper really needed to get something to eat...

As he looked back up, he noticed the local officer from before. She was still here? Jasper sighed, hanging his head a little. He had been rather short with her when everything went down, and he always hated using his status as a Jedi to undermine local authority. The least he could do was apologize. The duelist stood, making his way over to where the woman was still standing.

"Hey," he began, "Sorry for being short back there... I don't really like bossing people around..."

Did he feel warm? No, it was probably nothing. Just what was left of the fire.

"I-I don't think I gave my name. I'm Jasper," he introduced, but stopped himself from saying anything further.

Something was wrong. He had been getting much better at talking to people recently. Why had he stammered? Come to think of it, he was a lot more nervous feeling than before, and he was always nervous. It didn't take long for him to deduce what was wrong. It was himself.

Oh great, he though, here we go again...

 

[Marissa Shoda]

With the fiasco taken care of, Marissa could find a moment of respite for herself to catch her breath. Her job was done as far as service was concerned. Standing by her cruiser, the officer gulped down a bottle of water greedily in an attempt to cool off and get some energy back.

Though her attention was quickly drawn by the Jedi from earlier approaching her. Her cybernetic eyes blinked and turned bright yellow as she scanned his features for a moment. Now that he had his mask off, she could get a proper look at him. "It's fine. Normally I don't like Jedi on my planet, but you and Red Mask did good today. You helped out a ton. Thanks for that." She spoke with a tired voice as she held the bottle of water out to him. A smirk formed as he stammered to introduce himself.

"Marissa Shoda. Pleasure to meet you, Jasper." She leaned against the car as she watched him, her eyes turning red to do a quick medical check-up on him. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry as hell. Can I buy you something to eat? Gotta repay you for the help somehow." She offered as she pushed off the speeder and dropped into the driver's seat. As she opened the passenger door for him, she dropped her helmet on the floor along with some other items. "Get in. I just gotta go clock out, won't take long." She explained casually.

Once they were off, Marissa focused entirely on the road. "Jedi, huh? You know Iris Arani by any chance?" She asked him as she spared a split second look at him.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon, Warehouse District
Tags: Marissa Shoda

Jasper immediately took note of her cybernetic eyes. Had it not been for them changing color, he likely wouldn't have noticed that they were implants. Perhaps the remnants of a past injury. Not really his place to pry.

"It's fine. Normally I don't like Jedi on my planet, but you and Red Mask did good today. You helped out a ton. Thanks for that."

"Yeah, I... sorta figured as much," Jasper noted. "I don't like throwing that authority around. Jedi aren't generally known for working well with locals, not that many come out to places like this in the first place."

He had spent enough time in the underbelly of Coruscant to see this for himself. It was easier to ignore, so they did. They had left so many to fend for themselves that Jasper understood why they didn't want the aid of the Jedi. Case in point: Red Mask.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry as hell. Can I buy you something to eat? Gotta repay you for the help somehow."

She hopped into her speeder and told him to get in. Perhaps this was finally his opportunity to get some street food after trying for months. He couldn't say no to that.

"Y-yeah, sure," he responded somewhat awkwardly, getting in as she had instructed. "I was actually trying to eat when all that fire business went down."

As they sped off, Marissa brought up something interesting. Jasper knew Iris. She was a good friend of his. Still, it was kind of amusing that she had asked if they were acquainted. There were a lot of Jedi. It was hard to know all of them.

"Iris?" Jasper echoed. "Yeah, she's a friend of mine. Basically the same year of training... sort of. I'm just a bit behind. You know her?"

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Marissa chuckled at his mention of having to abandon his meal. "Yeah, this planet tends to do that. Had to throw my caf or noodles out the window more than once over the years." She commented as they zoomed through the air. Upon hearing that they were in the same class, Cricket blinked with surprise. "No shit? That's karkin' nova." She quipped with an intrigued smile as she looked back at the road.

"Me and Iris are working a case together, actually. Thought you might be part of her team. Not going to give away too much, but we're trying to gather evidence on some elements on Denon." She explained casually. The short ride came to an end when Marissa landed the cruiser in a vacant spot by the precinct and motioned for him to get out. "That red speeder right there, just give me a sec." Cricket pointed to her speeder sitting idly in a parking spot a few yards away before running off into the precinct.

A few minutes later, the officer emerged dressed in far more comfortable clothes with her pistol and badge neatly placed on her hip. "Sorry for the hold up. There's this super great takeaway shop not too far from my place. You gotta try their nuna nuggets." She spoke with a more relaxed voice, far more normal. Without wasting a second, Marissa took off with a heavy foot on the throttle in her obviously new speeder. "As many problems as CorpSec got... really ain't complaining about the salary. Had my speeder stolen twice now. Hopefully this one can stick around." She quipped as she sat back and got comfortable.

"So what's got you all quiet and nervous? Not used to a cop buying you something?" She asked as she gave his cybernetic arm a slap.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

"Me and Iris are working a case together, actually. Thought you might be part of her team. Not going to give away too much, but we're trying to gather evidence on some elements on Denon."

"Yeah, I feel it," Jasper nodded. "I've done a bit of that sort myself, though I'm more working out of Coruscant usually. I've worked with Iris here and there."

He didn't need to elaborate further there. Even beyond Alliance space people knew that Coruscant had an underworld. Jasper was comfortable in leaving the rest to Marissa's imagination. Before long, they had moved to her personal speeder, after Shoda had changed into more causal attire. It was a Hexcorp air speeder, of which he had seen before. Perhaps even stolen some components from during his time on Corellia. This, of course, wasn't confirmed. It was hard to resist messing around with nuclear, after all. Jasper's nature simply dictated that he do so.

In his examining of her speeder, the padawan sort of blankly agreed to her suggestion of food. At this point, anything sounded good. Then she talked about CorpSec, stolen speeders... but then the topic shifted to him. Nervous? No, he wasn't nervous. Never.

"I-I'm not really used to anyone buying me stuff," Jasper shrugged, trying to remain calm. "N-not that I don't know people who would, but more so I know that they really shouldn't..." And he was rambling again. Jasper paused, slowing his breath. "It's new," he concluded. "There are a lot of new things these days."

 

[Marissa Shoda]

The Jedi's argument really wasn't all that convincing as he stammered away with an explanation. Marissa couldn't help but smirk in mischievous delight at seeing a Jedi fall over their words so badly. Luckily he managed to salvage his thoughts and give a coherent reason for it all.

"Oh I get that." She agreed as she slowed and started to look for a parking spot. "Only ever been to another planet once in my life, but you'd think Denon is its own galaxy with how things go around here. Few years ago, the routine was unmistakable. Now you got terrorists running around, Jedi all over Denon, crazy cultists tearing the galaxy apart, corpos claiming they're good guys... hell, it even snowed on Denon." She chuckled as she parked the speeder and spared him a glance.

"But hey. They say change is as good as a holiday. How boring would things be if we met the same people and did the same stuff every day without any change?" It was a rhetorical question, but the hopeful smile indicated that she wasn't bothered in the slightest with him accompanying her. "Come on. Dunno how the food is on Coruscant, but I'll bet nothing can there can top this guy." She teased as she nodded to a man by a stall flipping burger patties.

Baker's Row had many problems, several of which would have been her direct problem... but she turned a blind eye to a number of illegal operations running from the strip. If they weren't endangering lives or destroying things, Cricket would keep on hopping by.

Once they were out, Marissa made sure to lock her speeder and ensure the kill switch was engaged before turning her attention to the stall. An elderly Duros ran the little burger joint, though he brightened up a bit when he saw her.

Marissa placed an order for two cheese burgers with fries, but she returned to Jasper's side with two boxes of nuna nuggets once the order was completed. "Try these. Guy's barbeque sauce makes it so much better." She didn't waste a second to pop a few into her mouth as she sat on the hood of her speeder. "I'm curious. Iris never really gave me much of an answer, but what kind of-" Marissa's voice cut out with sharp static, earning a grimace as her hand pulled the collar from her neck to massage over a scar along her throat.

After a few attempts at testing, her voice returned and she looked back at Jasper, albeit with a reddened face of embarrassment. "Sorry, just ignore that. Um... what planets have you been to?" She asked, though with far less enthusiasm than before.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

It was relieving that Marissa had accepted his response, even going on to talk about change that Denon seemed to go through constantly. Still, as he spoke, a pang of embarrassment lingered in the back of his mind, like he had made a complete fool of himself. Jasper was still working on social interaction, to be fair, but that fact didn't make him feel better about himself. As they got out, Shoda took a moment to hype up the joint, which was run by and elderly Duros man. Seeing the old alien light up a little when seeing the officer was an unexpectedly wholesome sight. It was a great judge of character, which didn't bode well for Jasper's anxiety.

Soon, Jasper had been presented with a box of nuna nuggets. Sure enough, they were good. Great, one might even say. There was a certain uniqueness to the flavor, and a savory taste that was brought out even more by the barbeque sauce. Jasper couldn't decide if it was better than Coruscant street food, but it was definitely of the same caliber.

"Wow. That's really good," he stated, taking a moment to let the flavor of his first nugget linger on his tongue.

"I'm curious. Iris never really gave me much of an answer, but what kind of-"

Shoda paused, her voice cutting out. As she fiddled with a scar on her throat, Jasper immediately got an idea of what it was that she was doing. It seemed that she had more mechanical components than her appearance suggested. When she was embarrassed by this, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed himself, like he had put him in this situation to feel bad. He hadn't, really, but Jasper was really good at getting in his own head.

"R-right," he began, trying to remain composed. "W-well, I've sorta been all kinds of places. Corellia, Dorin, Sedri, Empress Teta... I... never really get the chance to see them for long, or get a good idea of what they were like. Burning villages, superweapons, slavers... The war has... done a lot to the galaxy. I wish I could have seen those places before... well, you get the idea."

He sighed, leaning back a little on the hood of the speeder. That had really killed the mood.

"I-it's not all bad," he shrugged, trying to recover some optimism. "I've been some cool places... Helps that I spent a lot of time in the shady part of Coruscant. There's a lot of things to find out there if you aren't afraid of taking a shiv to the back."

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Her malfunction luckily went by without much attention drawn, which she greatly appreciated. It seemed that Jedi really didn't draw attention to moments like that, a relief for the officer.

A smile formed as Jasper went on to talk about the different planets he visited and the kinds of things he had to deal with as a Jedi, though something quickly began to stick out for her. "You know... you're the second Jedi I've met who has access to a starship but doesn't explore the galaxy to learn about it." She quipped with a smirk as she gave him a sidelong glance. "Come on! Have you never went to a planet just because you wanted to see the sights and unwind a little?" She asked him with a smile as she passed him, giving him a nudge as she fetched their meals.

Setting hers aside, she held Jasper's burger and fries towards him with a smug look. "I'll bet you ten creds that there isn't a better burger joint on Coruscant than this place." She challenged him as she finished her nuggets and began to pick away at her fries.

"How'd you lose that, by the way?" She asked as she nodded to his arm. "Lost it while fighting those other space wizards with the red blades or something?" She continued. It was probably a good idea to find out about the Jedi and their bad counterparts while she had a chance. "What do y'all call them again? Basically the same as you guys but they're bad and stuff. Just putting it out there, I don't know anything about you guys. I just know you got space magic and laser swords." She admitted with a chuckle.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

"I used to explore a lot when I was younger," Jasper admitted when Shoda asked why he didn't travel for recreation. "I cobbled together a ship out of junk I found and went off to see the galaxy. It was fun... but the galaxy had other plans."

Before long, their burgers had been completed. Marissa made a bet that it was better than anything they had on Coruscant. Unlikely, but not impossible. Jasper sank his teeth into his to be the judge of that. It was fantastic, as he expected. Maybe it was even as good as the joint Ara had taken him to. It was hard to tell.

"How'd you lose that, by the way?" She asked as she nodded to his arm. "Lost it while fighting those other space wizards with the red blades or something?" She continued. It was probably a good idea to find out about the Jedi and their bad counterparts while she had a chance. "What do y'all call them again? Basically the same as you guys but they're bad and stuff. Just putting it out there, I don't know anything about you guys. I just know you got space magic and laser swords."

"Not a SIth," he told her, managing a laugh. "I got shot down by pirates over Balmorra, ended up crashing pretty bad. A piece of the shell tore off and went through the cockpit window. It tore clean through me."

He remembered the day very well. It was hard to forget the pain of it all, especially having to close the wound with his lightsaber. Jasper had been real reckless in those days.

"Jedi don't exactly use magic," the padawan continued, "But I don't think I can explain it in a way that makes sense, so it's a good way to think of it. Sith are... more than just the evil counterpart to that. They're a separate culture born out of hated and fear. They feed on the lifeforce of others to continue their own. I don't know if you've heard about what happened on a planet called Panatha..." Jasper paused. He had been there moments before it was sucked dry of all life. It was still something he needed to process himself. "But that's a good example of what fuels them."

Jasper took a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing.

"Your mods from injuries as well?" he asked. "I noticed you checked me with your eye-scanner things. N-not that that's a weird thing. I-I just noticed it and thought it was kinda cool is all."

He wanted so badly to face palm.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Marissa blinked as he described how he lost his arm. She was silent for a moment before the officer slowly shook her head. "Definitely one way to get some chrome." She quipped with a faint laugh. "And here I thought pirates would be easy work to take care off. Damn." She continued before taking a bite from her burger.

Jasper went on to describe as simply as possible the differences between his group and their counterparts, though the officer still struggled a little to keep up. Although one aspect did stand out to her. "They feed off hate and fear, huh? Sounds like another day on the job for me." She joked. "Can't say I've heard of Panatha. But I've heard a lot of what the Maw has done. If the... Sith... are rolling with them, I can see why everyone would want to put a bolt through their heads."

"Your mods from injuries as well?"

"I noticed you checked me with your eye-scanner things. N-not that that's a weird thing. I-I just noticed it and thought it was kinda cool is all."

Marissa snickered at his words as she glanced away for a moment. "What can I say? My job is to check out cute guys who act nervous around me. You wanna admit what you're hiding now or later?" She quipped as her eyes flashed yellow for a brief moment. "Nah, the eyes are a mod. Did that with my second paycheck. Neighbourhood I grew up in is serious about their chrome and I felt I'd be letting la famille down if I didn't. But it does help a ton with my work. Voice ain't a mod, though." She helped herself to a few more bites for a moment before she glanced back at him.

"Year or two ago, me and my partner got ambushed on a call in the slums. Bolts tore through the windshield, ripped a hole through his face and I caught a bolt in the neck. Barely made it out alive. Though they put some seriously discount replacement in for my voice. Thing cuts out every now and then, it's karkin' embarrassing." Her mood slipped slightly as she faced him, her frustration bleeding through somewhat. "I mean... imagine you get sent to a planet to help solve a diplomatic issue or something and your voice cuts out when you're trying to calm things down." She vented a bit before sitting down on her speeder's hood again. Luckily a smile quickly returned as she glanced at him with a mischievous look.

"Still has its uses, though." She spoke with his voice, perfectly mimicking the tone and accent.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

"What can I say? My job is to check out cute guys who act nervous around me. You wanna admit what you're hiding now or later?"

Jasper could feel his heartrate begin to accelerate. His face went flush red. Cute? Him? She thought he was cute? This was a double edged sword. Not only had she said that, but she seemed to imply that she knew why he was flustered. In every way, her assumption was 100% true. She talked about the injury that she had sustained to have her throat modded, even showing off a cool mimicry feature... but Jasper knew that he couldn't leave her question unanswered.

"R-right..." he began, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "I-I just... Well... Y-you see..."

The padawan sighed, letting his head hang back a little. He took a moment to breath. Just shoot your shot, he thought to himself. If he was gonna try anything, now was the time.

"I... think your really interesting," Jasper admitted. "I-I don't usually feel that about people I meet... I-I dunno, I thought maybe it would be cool if... we did something later. Get to know each other or something..."

Jasper let his head hang, palming his face. That was awful.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

What was simply meant to be a casual cop joke quickly left Cricket entirely perplexed as Jasper fumbled over his words... to ask her out. With wide eyes she looked at him for a long moment as she tried to process the sudden handbrake turn in the conversation.

"Um... I..." She pursed her lips in thought for a few seconds. "It was just... wait, can Jedi even do that? Don't you guys have a rule against relationships or something?" She asked with a smile. The thought of that had her entertaining the prospect more than she'd care to admit.

A cop aiding a Jedi in breaking some cardinal rule was a slice of irony she didn't want to pass up.

But aside from the joke behind it... Marissa found herself considering it. Between her work and her family throwing her out, she had been alone for a good few years. No real friends, nobody who cared about her. Plus Jedi were solid people, they wouldn't have stuck around for so long if they weren't.

"You know... why not?" She muttered with a smirk as she shifted a little closer to him. "I got tomorrow off as well, you wanna go check out the amusement park?" She asked him casually as she finished her meal. "It'll give you a chance to show me some of that space magic." With a light tap on his shoulder, Marissa tossed their empty containers away and made her way to the driver's seat.

Of course, they had a bunch of terms and conditions to iron out. With him being a Jedi and her being an officer, it might be hard to make it work. But she was working on something for that.

All of that could be discussed later, though. For now, they both needed to see if this was worth pursuing.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

Jasper couldn't believe what he was hearing. She had said yes? Marissa had quipped about the Jedi code, which was admittedly more flexible than most people understood, but if he was understanding right, she had agreed to meet with him again. His face began to burn up as she shifted slightly closer to him.

"Y-yeah," Jasper responded, still a little star struck. "That sounds awesome. I'd be down for that."

Amusement park, huh? Not typically the kind of thing Jasper went to. In fact, he couldn't recall a time he had ever gone to an amusement park. A new experience it seemed. Of course, there was all kinds of logistics they were going to have to work out, what with their professional obligations, but that could wait. Jasper's brain was practically bouncing around his skull. He followed suit when Shoda made her way to the driver's seat, almost in a daze.

This was the single strangest thing Jasper had ever felt in his life... and it was great.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Her answer didn't seem to calm him down at all. If anything, he seemed even more anxious now that she agreed to basically go on a date with him. A nervous Jedi wasn't something she thought she wanted to see in her life. This was going to be way too much fun... if she could figure out what to do. She had never been to the amusement park on Denon in her life, let alone with someone else.

As a date of all things.

Luckily she was good at keeping a straight face under pressure. "I'm gonna make a guess and say you've never done anything like this, huh?" She quipped as she spared him a glance. "Although, it's probably fine to admit that I haven't done anything like this either." She chuckled as she felt her cheeks warm up just a little bit. The gravity of the situation was starting to sink in for her.

Her mind was blank all of a sudden. What do people talk about in situations like this? Her last relationship was when she was sixteen with another street she grew up with. That "relationship" was also not exactly something to write home about. She hoped that the stories about Jedi feeling emotions weren't true. The last thing she needed was him calling her out for being nervous.

She looked at Jasper again for a moment. "So... you never really answered me. Can Jedi even be in relationships? Or am I aiding and abetting in a Jedi knight breaking some kind of boring cardinal rule?" She asked him as a smile returned.

Yeah, that was a good way to start it off...

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Tags: Marissa Shoda

"Not exactly," Jasper explained. "Jedi aren't supposed to let attachments take control of them. Plenty peruse relationships... with each other in a lot of cases. A lot have families and stuff. The whole 'no romance' thing is usually just nonsense spouted by the more 'traditional' types, even though that was a newer concept."

There was reasons why some people perused relationships and others didn't. That wasn't really his place to judge. All he knew is that there was more value in connections then many thought. He had seen how powerful they could be first hand. It was something that he knew he would regret for the rest of his life to not follow. Only if just once.

"I... haven't done anything like this either," he admitted. "I-I mean, I bet that one was obvious... But, y'know, trying new things can be good, right?"

He paused, taking a moment to gaze out at the city. Denon was quite interesting to look at at night. It was dirty, crime infested, and worn down. Not many would think fondly of it, but it reminded Jasper a lot of Coruscant and running around in the underbelly as a child. Maybe he just needed to think about it like that. Something new to be discovered.

"They don't have a rule against dates for cops, do they?" Jasper joked. He was starting to get over his nerves a little. Taking the first step had helped with that.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

"No attachments?" Cricket pondered aloud for a moment. "I don't know about you, but hooking up with another Jedi and starting a family seems to be a solid way to throw the whole attachment thing out the window." She commented casually. It was probably her professional thinking doing the talking, but it didn't really sound that well thought out. "But hey... dying alone really doesn't sound like a good way to go." She chuckled as she glanced around them.

Jasper commented on the current 'adventure' they had going on before he turned the question on her. A smirk curled across her features as she spared a glance. "You'd have a lot of fun if we were breaking some rules, wouldn't you?" She teased as she flashed a wink. "But no, nothing serious. Just the typical professional etiquette. No fraternising with another officer, no interference with work, the usual stuff. Lots of cops got families and stuff... some of them are loyal, top." She remarked with a snicker at her terrible joke.

"Yeah, nothing serious for us. As long as we don't mix work and house life, or hook up with our partner or something, we can do whatever we want. I, uh... I've just been focusing a lot on my work to really pay attention to that kind of thing. So this little outing is a breath of fresh air for the both of us." She explained as she slowed the speeder. They passed through the main entrance and soon the hunt began for an open parking.

"I'm actually considering a career change, actually. Been looking at the Alliance Defense Force stuff lately, actually. This life... I ain't really cut out for it like the others. I've only been in the force for three years, but it feels like thirty. Hell, it's hard to believe we were fighting a cyberpsycho in a burning factory an hour ago." She admitted calmly as she landed in a vacant spot and shut off the machine. Getting out, Marissa nonchalantly locked her speeder then hooked an arm around Jasper's just to rattle the cage a little bit.

Riling up an already nervous Jedi was going to be a new hobby at this rate.

She covered the entrance for the two of them, but that was where the easy part stopped. With confused eyes she looked around and let her HUD give a brief description of what each ride was.

It didn't help one bit.

"So... where do we exactly start for this kind of thing?" She found herself asking as she looked up at Jasper for a moment. The only thing that made sense to her was the snack bar.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

"You'd have a lot of fun if we were breaking some rules, wouldn't you?"

Jasper became red in the face at this remark. He always danced the line of breaking rules or not. Sometimes unintentionally, sometimes because he didn't think things through... a lot of times because it was fun. He had snuck out to explore the underbelly of Coruscant as a kid for a reason, after all.

"Well," he began, a wobbly smile spreading across his face, "I wouldn't be against it."

When she mentioned a career change, signaling out the GADF specifically, his ears perked up. He knew all about that. Hell, he worked with the DF all the time.

"I've done work with the defense force," Jasper noted. "They do good work. I mean, it isn't easy, but most things aren't these days. Open too, which is good. Don't have to worry about shady conspiracies with them, though I guess they got the SIA for that."

Marissa suddenly wrapped an arm around his. She was definitely doing this on purpose now, almost trying to get him nervous... and it was working. There was a bubbly feeling deep in his chest that made him feel all floaty and Jasper was increasingly more red by the minute.

"So... where do we exactly start for this kind of thing?"

"Um... Jeez," Jasper frowned, folding his lip ever so slightly into his mouth.

When she looked up at him, he was overcome by a slight wave of pressure. He should figure something out. He had been the one to ask her out after all. There was only one thing that really made logical sense to Jasper.

"I don't know about you," the Jedi continued, "But I could go for something with an unhealthy amount of sugar."

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Jasper immediately had Marissa's undivided attention the moment he spoke about the Defence Force. She was nervous about applying and trying her luck, especially when it came to military groups. Fighting a war was rather different than being an officer.

But that could wait until later. For now, she wanted to enjoy her first proper night out in years alongside a guy who straight up asked her out.

A warm smile formed as she looked up at him. "Hell yeah. Getting some more meat on your bones would do you good." She teased as she nudged his ironically toned shoulder. Marissa walked with him to a shop and immediately picked out a stick of cotton candy and soda, taking a bite off it almost immediately. She seemed surprised by the taste for a moment as she stared at the treat.

"It tastes weird. Is it supposed to taste like that?" She asked as she glanced at him with an embarrassed smile. "It's nice, though!" She took another bite as she walked with him. He probably didn't have to know already that it was her first time eating something like that.

A stand stuck out to her as she looked around. Cups were stacked and contenders had to hurl a ball to knock them down. Cricket pointed to the stand and tugged Jasper along. "Wanna show me those moves or what?" She quipped as she looked at him. "You go first." She offered as she stood beside him... with a nefarious intent.

She let him throw a few without any bother, but by the fourth ball, Marissa inched closer and snaked her arm around his waist to tug at his shirt.

Time to see how focused Jedi could be...

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon
Tags: Marissa Shoda

Before long, Marissa was dragging him along to find something sugary. When she joked about him being skinny, an embarrassed smile spread across his face, so much so that a laugh escaped. Soon, the two of them had cotton candy and sodas and were off again.

"It tastes weird. Is it supposed to taste like that?"

"It's supposed to taste like fruit," Jasper recalled, "But it doesn't really. I don't really care either way."

It was pure sugar. Sometimes, that was all Jasper really needed. Soon, he had been pulled off again, now to a nearby stand. It was a simple game, throwing a ball to topple a tower of cups. When Shoda let him go first, Jasper began to move down the line, making use of the measurements he knew on his self-made mechanical arm to roughly calculate what the right trajectory would be. With a single ball each, three stacks fell. By the fourth, however, Marissa's arm had wrapped tightly around his waist, tugging at his shirt. His skin went flush red, his focus breaking for a moment as he was flustered. The ball sailed off to the right instead of where he had intended it to go, but Jasper rather quickly recomposed himself and nudged the ball in the right direction with the force.

"Okay," he noted, "I see how it is. Why don't you give it a try then?"

Almost absentmindedly, he had let his own arm wrap around her waist. This wasn't really something he had experienced before. It was... nice. That was how he would describe it. Mostly because he was bad with words anyways. Jasper still had a smile glued to his face.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

While her trick initially worked, Marissa was surprised as the ball shifted mid-flight to collide with the stack of cups. Cybernetic eyes looked on in shock at the pile of cups on the ground. Then it was her turn. Cricket flashed a grin as she moved into place and waited for the cups to be reset.

But once it was her turn to throw, she felt his strong arm around her waist. Her face turned bright red and her attention was completely shifted away for a brief moment. The last time she had an arm around her waist like that, it was a suspect trying to throw her off during an arrest.

"Getting brave, huh? Putting your hands on a cop like that. Should I break out the cuffs?" She teased softly as she tried to put on a brave face, but the damage was done. The first ball sailed past the pile. The second one managed to topple half the stack. The third scored a full hit, but the last one simply fell short. Even her eyes couldn't help her with her shaken focus. "I'm gonna get you back for that, master Jedi." She muttered with a bump of her hip.

When the time came to pick a reward, Marissa left him to make the choice on his own in order to go buy them some more snacks. "How the hell are you supposed to eat this thing? I'll get sick if I have to finish this." She snickered as she held her cotton candy up, though she quickly handed him a type of dough-covered sausage on a stick. "Don't know what this is, but it looked good." She admitted as she broke the sweetness with a bite of the savoury snack.

"I need to figure out the name, this is amazing. It's even got cheese in here." She muttered. She was having a lot of first moments with this Jedi. Food she never even heard of, a place she never visited... she was loving every bit of it. "So, what reward did you pick?" She asked as she turned her attention back to him.

Jasper Kai'el