Funny Finding You Here

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked quietly, still looking up at her from his crouched position. "I've been told I have a very calming effect."

He smiled at her.

Of course for Jamie...well, Kurt had made her experience a rather large range of emotions. He supposed that would be part of her training, getting those in tighter control. That was the other thing about Jedi that he knew, they weren't very emotional, or rather, they never showed if they were. Maybe it was because they had always been at the forefront of battle and had needed to look good for the troops, but truth be told it had always been something that freaked Kurt out.

Emotions made you human. Anger, fear, love, joy, they were all things that made people...people. Without them they were no better than droids. "Bet I can help clear your mind."

There was no innuendo in his words.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"A calming effect, huh? You hide it well then." She smirked, poking his shoulder. "The majority of this day has spent as anything but calm, if I recall."

She took her hand and patted the seat beside her, gesturing for Kurt to sit down next to her. "You really think you can help me?"

Jamie wondered what he could mean and how he could possibly help if he wasn't able to feel or use the Force at all. For the longest time she had no idea of the gift she had, if that was what one could call it. Now she found it hard to imagine not being able to feel it at all, even if she was profoundly terrible at controlling or even using it in such a simple manner. She planned on being a Jedi but couldn't lift the slightest of object on command. Her cheeks reddened a bit at the thought.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He smiled.

"I know I can." The force was all about calm and control, all about reigning in thoughts and emotions. That was difficult in it of itself, not many people were able to control the way they acted, those few who did usually had some kind of pre-natural inclination towards remaining calm. Kurt was one of those people now, but at one time he hadn't been. Before he'd learned to properly pull himself together Kurt had been a bit of a hot head, and even more of a narcissist.

Slowly, the Pilot stood and sat himself down on the couch next to Jamie.

"Come here." He motioned for her to lay down and put her head in his lap. "Trust me."

Kurt offered her that same boyish smile.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie stared, her eyes wandering from his own blues to his lap, then back again.

"You just want me to put my head in your lap?"

It was far too difficult to hold back the smile and laugh, she simply started giggling.

"You're joking, right? This isn't some sneaky way of just getting me to kiss you again?"

She bit the inside of her lip, drawing back the laugh to a coy smile. A slight pause segued into the girl doing just as he asked, despite Jamie's wondering of his intentions once she did as he bid. She turned her body, laying her head in the shallow valley between his legs, blonde hair covering his thighs as she looked up at him, her legs and feet hanging over the arm rest on the far end.

"Okay. Now what?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

His hand very gently settled on her stomach, his thumb gently stroking over her skin.

The trick that he was about to teach Jamie was something that his father had taught him, a trick of the mind that helped calm oneself and gain focus. It wasn't oft used, and in truth it was probably archaic, but it worked for him when he was flying, so maybe it would work for Jamie when she was trying to use the force. It was at the very least a shot, especially since they had an hour to kill anyway. "I don't need to be sneaky to kiss you."

Kurt mused as she finally settled, smiling slightly.

"Okay, Close your eyes." He waited for her to do so. "It's a trick my father taught me. Think of yourself. I mean a representation of you as an object. It can be anything. A crystal, a flower, anything."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Pale blue eyes shut.

Jamie wasn't sure whatever he was going to do would work for her, but she trusted him enough to give it a try. It couldn't hurt, or at least, hopefully not. She listened to his guidance. She thought for a moment of what she saw herself as in the way of an object, not a person.

Finally she settled on a simple tree she had often wandered past back home on Naboo. An ancient, vibrant green tree with a massive canopy that sprawled out for at least 20 meters. It provided a great deal of shade, dwarfing most other trees in the area. It always felt soothing to sit beneath it on warm days where the hot sun had broken through the clouds.

Quietly the girl answered him and gave a nod, "Okay."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Now, imagine that thing." Kurt said calmly, his voice soothing. "Center yourself around it, form yourself around it. Concentrate and then begin to imagine a bubble around it."

This was what Kurt did before he flew. He squirreled everything away, pushed emotions, thoughts of the past and the future aside, he concentrated on everything around him. Entering the Void his father had called it, finding ones center. It was entering a state of complete lack of emotion, of thought. It was pushing your body to drive on it's instincts instead of ones paranoia's, fears, and angers. It was a way to detach oneself and find true calm.

"Now think about that bubble, empty everything from it, push your thoughts, emotions, everything outside that bubble. Picture a void around that tree, nothing to harm it, nothing to influence. No wind to push it over, no man to fell it, nothing but the tree." His voice remained even, calm, neutral

His thumb continued the soft stroke across her stomach.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie thought for a moment, what he was explaining to her. This was frighteningly similar to the meditation that Keira had instructed her how to do back on Naboo when they had first met. Perhaps Kurt's father knew something more about the Force than Kurt realized. Or maybe he simply took joy in the act of meditation, even if he was unable to sense the Force himself. Or even more so, perhaps he could and just never knew it. That left a great many questions in her mind that perhaps she could gather answers to later.

For now, she followed Kurt's instructions and allowed herself to slip into a bit of a mental trance, expunging thought and emotion from her mind to the simple idea of the large tree. She saw herself there, beneath it, like when she was younger. She could see herself, some of her friends, even the Sun on the horizon as it fell behind the mountain range. Her shoulders slowly wiggled as he rubbed her stomach. Despite his instruction, she couldn't help but enjoy his soft touch on her bare skin. It was a simple joy she had discovered that day, one that she would surely miss.

Without even knowing, she reacted to that touch, a soft hum purring from her.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

His soothing touch would continue, this time in rhythm with his words. "Now. Think about what you want to do. Concentrate on that task and that task alone, clear your mind of everything else."

For him, that task was always flying.

When he found the void, when he trapped himself inside of it and filled that little bubble he couldn't think of anything besides flying. No matter the ship, no matter the mission or the path, he did it to perfection. It was perfection, almost flawless. Kurt could not have described how it worked or why, just that it did. The void brought him solace, peace, it allowed him to move forward without thought or worry of what might happen, allowed him to simply...act.

There was a perfection to that, something impossible to describe.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Her eyes remained closed and she followed as she was instructed. Though this was eerily similar to the words Keira had used when she gave the teenager a quick introduction to the Force back on Naboo. Perhaps Kurt's father knew something he hadn't shared with Kurt. Or perhaps he was taught something similar by another. It was entirely possible that Kurt's father may have been sensitive to the Force, even if he didn't know as much. The same would have been said for Jamie, had Keira not been one to point that out, and assist her in exploiting that gift.

Her mind moved back to the lamp, feeling through the Force to grip the object with invisible hands. A moment later the object would begin to slowly levitate from the end table, a foot or so in the air, lightly dancing back and forth as it drifted about in the air.

"It's almost like seeing and feeling with an entirely separate pair of eyes and hands. If that makes any kind of sense."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Oh shit.

That wasn't his lamp.

His mother had given him that particular article of furniture when he had been to Tatooine last, if Jamie now dropped it then it would likely break. His face paled slightly, but he decided it was best not to say anything in that regard and simply continued on the path that. His thumb gently stroked at her stomach, his hand petting her hair with the softest of touches. Kurt had no idea what the Force was like, how it was used or even what it really did, but this...well it was interesting.

"Oh?" Kurt said quietly. "What do you see?"

There was genuine curiosity in his voice.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I don't know. It's difficult to explain. Like trying to explain eyesight to someone born blind."

She had never known anything like it before meeting Keira. It was still incredibly strange to her, and any questions he may have for her she likely wouldn't be able to answer.

What Keira had shown her thus far had only scratched the surface of what was to come, and the training she'd be put through along the way.

"It's like I can see the thing I am focused on, and yet, while I can still sort of see the surroundings, your hand through my hair, it's all in the backdrop. Sometimes I can focus and maintain control, other times not so much."

For a moment the lamp faltered, nearly crashing to the ground as she spoke to Kurt, though she adjusted herself and regained control, slowly placing it back onto the table before opening her eyes and looking up to him.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He winced as the lamp nearly crashed into the ground, though gave a heavy sigh of relief as it came floating gently back onto the table. Kurt certainly wouldn't be telling his mother about this particular incident...for multiple reasons, not just the lamp properly. The force was an oddity to him, something that he had minimal experience and honestly couldn't even quite comprehend. The very idea of it confused him, and a few short years ago would have denied the existence of at all.

Now.

Well he had just seen it himself.

"I see." Kurt said slowly, his thumb stopping slowly as he looked down at her. "What if you try to see more? Can you...look beyond what you see now?"

He remembered back to that time above Kashyyyk, to the thing that the Jedi had done for them. Battlemeditation. Was that something Jamie would be able to do? Was it something all Jedi could do? Kurt was curious, and Jamie would likely be the only person he could never ask.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"That's just the thing, when I try and do that, focus on more than what I am attempting to do, that's when I lose control. Maybe I'm just too new to this, or maybe I'm just not good enough. I really don't know."

There was still so much of the unknown that she would have to explore with Keira's guidance. She was almost too nervous to try when the elder girl was not around her to give her instruction.

"The person that found me on Naboo, she explained that was why I was so much better than my peers at swordplay, because it's like my brain can predict where people will strike, or move, before they do it. And everything around me seems to slow when I'm in that heat of the moment." She shrugged, still not entirely convinced herself, "I'd always just thought that was normal, that when you were in the zone, so to speak, everything moved slowly. Instinct was what guided me. I guess it wasn't entirely true."

She reached up, placing her hands on his cheeks with a smile. "Thank you, though. - For the help."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

His hand reached up and curled around her own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

A shrug carried over his shoulders. "I hardly helped. It was all you."

He offered her the same boyish smile as before, though this time there was a softness to it, as though he wasn't trying to impress her, but just comfort her. The Courier wasn't very good at that, had never been, but he tried. He knew that she was likely still anxious, sacred even of what the future might bring. Kurt just wanted to make her feel good, if only for a little while before their parting. His other hand slipped through her hair, gently caressing blonde locks.

"You'd make a great pilot with that." Kurt said with a smile. "Being reactive, it's a lot of the same thing, really."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I'm not so sure about that." She laughed, lowering her hands to try and tickle his waist a bit.

"I did almost blow us up. And I also know about as much about the Force as I do about ships."

Her assault of his midsection continued for as long as he'd allow, her fingers digging just beneath his ribs to find the perfect spot. It was a bit difficult though, given her position in his lap. Still though, she was relentless.

"Besides, if I need a ride, I'll just give you a call."

Her face reddened as the words slipped from her lips and she'd realized she had just made some kind of sexual innuendo reference without intent. "I- I mean like transportation! Not....You know....That."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt winked at her, squirming slightly beneath her touch and half trying to get away from it at the same time.

"Well, either way..." He trailed off for a moment and leaned down, pressing a kiss against her lips. "I'd be happy to oblige."

Hopefully that would distract her enough from the tickling to allow him a moment to think. The Force was apparently something to be learned like everything else, something that needed to be practiced and trained at. That made sense to him, given how many years Jedi studied before they even left the Temple, but what did that mean for Jamie? Would she be stuck inside of a temple until she was in her thirties? Would she be allowed to go out? Have fun? Enjoy herself?

That troubled him, mostly because it made him feel trapped.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The girl relented her tickling and returned the kiss, moving her hands towards his cheeks to hold him for a moment.

"Good. Because who knows what kind of damage I'm going to do when these crazy people you convinced to hire me give me a ship. You must really hate your reputation."

She smiled, her lips parting wide to showcase her pristine whites.

Jamie sat up, checking the lamp on the end table just to reassure herself that she hadn't dropped it to the floor or worse. Seeing that it was resting in tact on the end table she felt relieved. Breaking something of his would only make her feel that much worse about their parting ways in the next hour or two. Turning her body she straddled his lap, kissing him once more. "Maybe next time I see you I can meet your roommate and ask her how in the world she puts up with you."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Sure you can." Kurt said with a grin. "If she doesn't end up going on one of her trips again."

Kaile often jumped off The Messa to go and do other things around the galaxy.

Kurt wasn't quite sure what those trips entailed, and he had never bothered asking her either. Though she was his roommate, Kurt firmly believed that Kaile deserved her privacy. They had their boundaries, odd as they were, and neither of them were really willing to break those boundaries. The frequent trips that Kaile went on were her own thing, not for Kurt to question or dig his nose into. It would be the same for Jamie if she would ever stay with him. Her business was her own.

"You just have to remember to call." Kurt winked at her, grinning slightly.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I'd like that." With a nod she crossed over the other side of Kurt, laying her legs across his lap and her head against the arm of the furniture. "I have to imagine she's just as crazy as you if she's survived you this long."

Her voice broke into a bit of a laugh at her own joke. Jamie did want to see him again, sooner rather than later. Despite his ego and crass behavior there was something beneath the surface that she'd manage to unearth, something she was both attracted to and curious about. He knew the buttons to press to irritate her, but also the ones to make her smile and blush. There hadn't been someone capable or even daring enough to do so back home. That in and of itself was what made the girl so interested in him.

"Remember to call?" She said, cocking her head to the side, eyes narrowing with a bit of a confused tone to her voice. "What exactly do you mean?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]