First Reply Down for Maintenance (Open to a Jedi)

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Vayla Mirana

On one hand, Gatz wondered if their conjoined grip would give people the wrong impression. On the other hand, who gave a shit? It wasn't like anyone here really associated with him, outside of his Master and the Chief Healer. Anyone who saw them holding hands wouldn't know who either of them really were: Vayla, because she wasn't a resident of The Vonnuvi, nor him, because nobody gave a damn about him.

Usually he saw that as a curse. Today, however, it was probably a blessing. For the both of them.

“Butter. Chocolate chips. Cinnamon. And pecans! Cream. Blueberries. Strawberries. Shredded coconut. Scrumptious” Just sprouting toppings and making herself hungry. “Even had eggs on top of my waffles in one instance. Ate a stack of pancakes along with. In one sitting.”

"...You're gonna have to explain to me how you keep a trim figure when you eat like that."

Gatz was jealous, really. Even when he could afford to eat, he had to watch what he ate. Else he'd get fat. Or too skinny. He wished he could just inhale whatever someone put in front of him.

But then they came to a stop. Gatz was confused for a moment, but then understood when Vayla pointed out that there were two waffle places. Then he was confused again because he swore there was only one a week ago.

"I... did they multiply?!" He blinked, "I don't even— I guess just pick one?"

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Pick one. Wasn't this much up to him? Then again he did (not entirely) offer to buy her breakfast. That was an offer she wouldn't forget. Oh yes, Vayla would remember to eat her fair share of portions. It wasn't like she ate like that every day. A woman had to keep her figure!

"Hmmm let's see...what do my feelings tell me?" She searched within, trusted her judgment, knew her feelings to be true, and finally decided. "Waffle Hut it is!"

Hand in hand, Vayla all but dragged Gatz toward the entrance, walking fast as if this was her first or last breakfast within the entire universe. Past the entrance, the scent of fresh eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles and pancakes tickled her nostrils. The sight of all this made her lick her lips.

"Table for two?" The hostess smiled, glancing at the pair of hands.

Vayla had almost missed the sign inside and past the entrance that read: 'Couple's Discount Day!'

"You bet!"

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Vayla Mirana

Look, Gatz wasn't picky. A waffle was a waffle, and so if Vayla wanted Waffle Hut, then he'd treat her to Waffle Hut. One way or another, she was getting the breakfast she wanted. He still wasn't quite sure how she'd talked him into buying breakfast, nor why he'd agreed so easily, but what harm was there in that? At least he wasn't alone, for once. And it wasn't like he'd picked some totally random stranger. She was a Jedi Knight.

Really, he could do a lot worse for fake girlfriends.

"Table for two?" The hostess smiled, glancing at the pair of hands.

Gatz had to hold back a snort, as he and Vayla glanced at the sign that offered a couple's discount. Was it very Jedi of them to lie to save a few credits? Maybe not. But it was kind of funny, and lying had been half his life once, so Gatz went along with it just fine.

Once they were seated with their menus, Gatz ordered a black caf before delving into what Waffle Hut offered. Looking at the menu itself, he realized that the other waffle restaurant must have been the one he was familiar with, because none of the menu items rang a bell for him.

"So what do you think? Should I get the waffles, the waffles, or the other waffles?" A pause, "ooh, maybe crepes?"

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Look, as far as Vayla were concerned, this pair of man and woman holding hands were a couple. What was a couple? In definition: two individuals of the same sort considered together. They were a couple of Jedi as far as could be defined.

Bending the definition a bit? You bet she is!

Call it the gift of a Jedi Shadow who straddles the line between the light and the darkness or some such nonsense.

Ah. Black caf. What a champ. Not that Vay had it against anyone who took creamer or sugar with their coffee. Some simply ended up taking coffee with their creamer or sugar. Like that Ithorian. Wow. How many packets of sweetener is that? Ten?

That was two black cafs that had been asked as Vay sat back with a menu in her hands.

“Nope. I wouldn’t get any of those.” The Shadow suggested in the manner of a princess. “Instead of waffles, you should get waffles. I haven’t been to Waffle Hut but I can confirm waffles are waffles, while waffles are waffly and the waffliest of waffles are, wait for it…waffles.” Her lips spread into some devious grin.

“Wait.” Vay looked left, looked right, realized the menu in her hands, and gazed into Gatz’s flirtatious face. “You did break away from our grip first…right?”

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Vayla Mirana

Gatz noted that Vayla also took her caf black. Finally, a woman who wasn't a heathen. Or, well, he supposed he didn't know enough about her to make that judgement, but her caf order was a step in the right direction. She was probably crazy though: her tirade about waffles being waffles being waffles and waffle-y wasn't exactly a point in favor of sanity. That was okay though—Gatz wasn't really sane either. A man couldn't come back from the brink of death as many times as he had, and still have all his marbles.

“Wait.” Vay looked left, looked right, realized the menu in her hands, and gazed into Gatz’s flirtatious face. “You did break away from our grip first…right?”

Gatz blinked. Well, shit.

"Yeah," Gatz sighed, "I suppose I did break our grip first. Victory goes to the Jedi Knight."

Oh well. If he had to lose, it was better to lose something silly and simple like this. His other losses and failures in life had been much more serious, and far deadlier. Well, he supposed Vayla was probably deadly, but she likely wasn't going to kill him for losing their little game. Unless she was a preying mantis in disguise, or something along those lines.

"Well, since you won, I guess I should tell you what your prize is: a second breakfast date."

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Ha. I knew it. “Ha. I knew it.” Vayla made sure to give Gatz a victory wink. Had her sanity been slipping? Not really. Just a bit of amusement given their amusing circumstances as proven from one moment to the next and one environment to the next.

Then again, maybe Vayla had lost her sanity somewhere in between light and dark and shadows and becoming a Shadow or…something.

“It’s only right that the Knight should win against the Padawan am I right?”

Rhetorical question. The couple of Jedi and just Jedi at this time if not quite a ‘couple’ in that definition had already moved on.

Oh my. This guy.

He just wouldn’t quit even when he lost.

“What’s next? iHob? International House of Bacon?” Vayla’s grin maintained, she was too busy waiting on first breakfast to think about second. “What’s after second breakfast? Elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper?”

Further insanity? Probably. Maybe. Potentially. Might not be.
Oh, she did like to joke.
Or is the Knight being just as flirtatious as the Padawan was?

She leaned forward toward him, face hovering over the center of the table, so he couldn’t kiss her if that’s what he wanted.

“I have one rule, Gatz Derrevar: No second dates until there’s a first spar.”

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Vayla Mirana

"I suppose it is my place to take my lumps."

The truth was that Gatz was using this whole façade as a distraction. It was all too easy for him to sink back into the depths of misery, overwhelmed by everything he'd lost this past year. Compound that with his struggles with his Jedi training, and the sheer amount of trauma he'd sustained by almost dying, like, ten times... and, well, it was a genuine marvel that he was still sane. Mostly.

Honestly, he probably owed Vayla an apology and an explanation. But Gatz didn't have it in him to pour his heart out to a stranger, and so instead, he'd just... not do that.

She leaned forward then and Gatz blinked. He thought he was awfully forward, but it almost looked like she was leaning in for a kiss. And there was—much to his shame—a time when he would have obliged her. But these days, Gatz found very little real interest in such things. Actual attachment to people like that always ended in more pain, so what was the point? Kissing Vayla, as much as it would continue their game, was a line he wasn't willing to cross.

"Why do you like fighting so much? I mean, I understand the importance of a Jedi being trained for combat, but wanting to fight is sort of counterproductive to our duty."

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Finally. The flirtatious man went away and was replaced with whoever Gatz was becoming. Vayla had no idea of this man’s past but he wasn’t an idiot. He semed to be a Padawan not just on the surface.
He just maybe misinterpreted a harmless position of elbows on the table and chin on hands as Vayla being flirtatious. Yet, if not leaning in for a kiss, she did lean back, sipping on black caf.

“Fighting. Sparring.” She shrugged. “I prefer to believe there’s a difference as with target practice or simply wrestling. I like the lightsaber, the art of the blade, on its own merit. Swinging it at your opponent, a dummy or another person, with no consequence, isn’t the same as swinging it with intention of damage and destruction. To maim and to murder. In a way that’s what separates me from being a Sith. Perspective.”

She was being simplistic but so was their game. They seemed to no longer be playing at that moment anyway. Whatever became of their company, Vayla would definitely be enjoying her breakfast as soon as it came, and at least she didn’t have to pay for it.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Vayla Mirana

"I guess that makes sense," Gatz sighed, "I just... I can't separate it from actual conflict. I've already cut down more people with my lightsaber than I'd like, even in the short time I've had it. It's just another reminder that I'm killing when I thought I'd be saving."

He'd come back to the Order with a goal: to help people, instead of making riches off of their suffering as he had in the past. Hell, that was what this whole last year was about: doing better. But ever since he'd come back to the Order, Gatz increasingly found himself on the battlefield, cutting down Imperials like he was whacking weeds. And with every mission, he'd become more and more jaded about the Order and what the Jedi were supposed to represent.

Gatz didn't plan on leaving. What else was out there for him? Nothing. But... he couldn't pretend that he was satisfied with his duties.

"I guess I'm just not cut out to be a Jedi Knight." Gatz shrugged, "but I already figured that."

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Vayla did not shun the weapon that hugged her hip day and night, as a Jedi, as a Shadow, though she was no warrior woman who lived by it as her religion. Practice, the enjoyment of the art, was different, but Gatz Derrevar was a man with his own heart beneath the surface.

She of course did not know his history, of whoever the boy or the man was before either became the Jedi Padawan sitting before her, but she could sense past if not see it and his was written on his visage.

“Rue the day you ever hear a Padawan speak of killing many only to say they are cut out to be a Knight the next day.”

As always, Vay didn’t immediately know what he would make of her words as she sat sipping her coffee, relaxed and speaking casually, but the nature of the topic felt it warranted.

“The Jedi speak of peace as much as keeping the peace. I know what that means to me personally. My hilt is silver, my blade is blue, and my sword is my truth.” More than that, of course; hers was a light for the shadow.

“I am a Jedi Knight but not for my sword.” Vayla glanced over his shoulder at a server. Hopefully their food would be soon and as tasty as this coffee. Giving Gatz her gaze, the Shadow watched him but thought back to her own master at that moment.

“When you separate the weapon from the instrument, the art from the artist, you may do the same with killing and saving by your blade but that is not for me to say. Only that you are on a path with more challenges ahead, in a galaxy with more war, and it isn't about knowing if you're cut out to be a Jedi Knight but if you're cut out to be a Jedi."

Gatz Derrevar