Private How Do You Do Fellow Kid | Colette

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

It'd been about a day since Aryrene had arrived on Coruscant, and their day had been sort of awful. Despite their near-desperate need to meet people, upon their arrival at the Jedi Temple they found themselves exhausted. The decision they'd made suddenly weighed on them. Was it the right choice? This was so far from anything they'd ever known; they'd never even been to the Core before.

They found themselves thinking of the lessons their master had given them -- everything was an opportunity. They were surrounded by potential friends (enemies) and needed to do everything in their power to befriend them (defeat them). Sticking to Sith teachings while surrounded by Jedi was definitely a good idea.

When morning came they wandered down to the cafeteria in their part of the dorms. They introduced themselves to the server, who gave them the stink-eye and didn't say anything, just giving them their tray of food and abandoning them to the swathe of tables and people in the cafeteria.

Aryrene scanned their surroundings. Old robed people? No thanks. Twenty somethings hanging out? Too old. Fellow teenager sitting alone? BINGO.

They marched over to the lone padawan (maybe?) and plopped themselves down across from them.

"Hi. I'm Aryrene." They stared expectantly at the Jedi.

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Had Aryrene ever seen a porg stuck in the headlights of an oncoming speeder going about a hundred on an open plain? Because that was just about the expression that they got from Colette when they introduced themselves. The kid was mortified, positively overwhelmed for a moment before she gathered herself and allowed herself a moment to breathe again.

"I- I-.. Iiii am Colette." She stammered and swallowed the rest of the words she wanted to blurt out in defense of herself. When it was clear that the other initiate was going to take the time to sit down and talk to Colette she slowly began to pack her items into a neat pile next to her tray.

A moment of silence, heavy with the drip of both socially anxious and awkward energy passed before Colette began to open her mouth with another attempt to speak. At first she couldn't find what it was she had wanted to say, but that hardly meant she was going to stop herself from speaking.

"You- wow- I… Okay, this is…" A panicked chuckle parted her lips into a thin, wiry smile as she rubbed at the back of her neck. "No one's ever— okay, okay, uh…"

"What are you doing?" Colette asked and quickly followed it up with, "Right now, I mean."

"As- as- as in— duhhhh, I mean, of course, you are talking to- to me, but… Uhhh…"

"Why?"

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"You were sitting alone," they said. Before she could get the wrong idea (that Aryrene was doing this out of altruism) they continued, "I'm trying to meet people. It's easier to meet people if they're not already talking to other people.

"I think. I don't know a lot of people." They looked at the girl and tilted their head slightly. "Did I scare you? I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry."

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

"No." Colette murmured rather awkwardly before she spoke up. "I mean, yes, but also no."

"I am… New. Very new, and everything is just… So new." She allowed herself yet another moment to gather her thoughts before she continued. Her eyes fell upon the horns embedded in Aryrene's head. Colette had seen a few people like that around. "You must be a… Uh, 'sobrack', I think they called it?"

A slightly shaky finger rose to point at her own forehead as if to illustrate.

"Sorry, that's probably rude. I…" That panic flared again. "I—"

Long exhale, it got warm in here.

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Zabrak. I'm from Dathomir." They tilted their head.

"You're all knotted up," they said, staring intently, but without expectation now. "Are you a Jedi? All the ones I've seen have been a lot less... stressed. Do you need a massage?"

And yet, it was heartening to see that they weren't the only new one. Coming to Coruscant, they'd expected a world -- a galaxy -- set in stone, people already knowing everyone. At least they weren't the only new one around here.

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

"N-no. Not yet." Colette stammered and grew even more red out of embarrassment. "I am new. To the temple."

"I am not used to this many people in such a small space, or how dead this planet is." Colette admitted. "I am used to open spaces and tight-knit communities. I can't even name most people that I pass by here."

"It's unnerving, I'm sorry."

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

Aryrene stared at Colette for an eternity (a few seconds) before saying, "Yeah, it takes getting used to. Especially when people don't want to- or can't- talk to you."

They shrugged.

"This is one of the better places, though." They took a moment to look around. Things were clean, but not in a desperate way. No pressure emanated from the people in the room. And- oops. Their food was starting to get cold, and it'd actually looked alright. Much better than the slop served on a Sith cruiser, even as nutrient-packed as it was.

They took a few spoonfuls of a greenish soup of an unrecognizable yet delicious flavour. "Mm. Anyways. Where are you from?" Again, an expectant stare.

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Aryrene understood though. This temple had people who seemed to understand, but that hardly meant that Colette would be able to drop the feeling any time soon. Community had always been important to her, and especially having everyone on a first name basis.

She supposed with time she would be able to forget even that.

"We never had a name for my home." Colette admitted and began to shift in her seat. "At least not those of us who lived there. It never felt right to us to give a name to something that wasn't made by us. We were the passengers, the planet was the vessel, that sort of thing."

"There were wide open deserts and sparse forests with different clans and tribes who traveled around the world to mark spots of interest and danger."

A frown fell upon Colette as she looked down at her books.

"I… Miss it, but I can do greater things here."

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"Cool." Despite their similarities, Aryrene got the sense that Colette had a much greater adjustment to go through.

"What kind of things?" they asked, stabbing carefully into some kind of vegetable. Only after tasting it were they sure that they were eating it wrong. "Me personally, I'm- not sure if I want to be a Jedi at all. But like, this is alright. And where else am I going to go?"

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Colette's eyes widened in surprise that soon turned into… Something. She had never quite felt this feeling before. To hear someone so casually say they don't know that they want to do something despite already being there and assumedly doing it.

"I want to help bring people together." Colette said and looked at Aryrene. "Help with problems people might have with each other, or at the very least stop them from attacking one another if it comes to that."

"How—" She stammered at first but then her brows sunk as she stared into Aryrene's eyes. "How can you not know that this is what you want to do?"

"You're already committed, aren't you?"

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"No?" They raised an eyebrow, before going back to picking open the veggies on their plate. "The, uh, Master- Master Noble said I didn't have to."

They'd already dropped out of one Force tradition; while the Jedi seemed alright, they weren't ready to commit just yet. Still, Colette's gaze was starting to make them uncomfortable. "I'm not going to do anything I don't want to do. I'm just... figuring out what I want to do."

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Oh. Colette's expression softened as she listened to Aryrene's 'defense'. It seemed they weren't actually committed as much as considering it. And Master Noble's name was thrown in there, so that was certainly somewhat reassuring.

"Oh," She said and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I thought you were one of the initiate— uh, padawans, like me."

"Well, is there anything keeping you from wanting to commit? Did you do something before that is making it seem as bad as it is?"

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

Aryrene stiffened slightly at the reminder of where they were -- in relation to where they had been, at least. "No," they said. "Yeah," they said. "Mm," they said.

"I don't really know anything about the Jedi. Well- what I know is wrong. I think. And- I've never really tried anything else. I don't know."

 

[Colette]

Colette let another questioning brow rise.

“Wrong?” She asked and tilted her head. “Where are you from?”

Aryrene

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

Aryrene was mentally squirming. They didn't like lying, but... they were coming from literally the sworn enemy of the Jedi. Everything they'd heard from Ghaesmae about Jedi was that they were evil. It was an odd mix between how the Jedi were weak and incompetent, but also how they were too powerful to be challenged directly.

Xeykard had added some nuance, but only for the goal of manipulating the Jedi. On numerous occasions he'd "surrendered" or "called a truce" to make things easier for himself and lead Jedi into traps. Of course, he never stopped wanting to kill them.

They supposed that if Jedi were, indeed, that peace-loving, they probably wouldn't try to kill them here. Master Noble had seemed... chill.

"I was a Sith acolyte. I just left."

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Colette blinked.

“Huh.” She said and leaned back in her seat. “No joke?”

She eyed Aryrene up and down one more time before she leaned back against the table.

“From the way some described the Sith I’d almost have thought that you’d be drenched in entrails and had horns.” Then she remembered that Aryrene actually had horns. Her voice fell into the lower spectrum as she began to stammer and stutter again. “Ah, em… Uh… Bigger horns, I guess.”

“Sorry, I— I am… Not used to all of this.”

“Where I’m from it was rare to see someone who wasn’t human outside of the spaceport.”

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

Aryrene snorted. That was... a better response than they'd hoped.

"Fair. I honestly don't know that many humans, if I'm honest. I feel like I've seen more in the Temple than anywhere else. Though- I don't know if humans in full legion armor count. Sometimes it's hard to tell," they shrugged.

"But, um, Sith... they don't- all- have horns. All the ones I know are awful, though. I'm glad I left."

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

“All the ones with horns, or do you mean the sith in general?” Colette asked and once more caught her lack of filter a moment too late. “D- Don’t answer that.” She exhaled. “Un- Unless of course you want to then answer all you want, I can’t control you.”

“But if you do, you know, if you do want to then do that, or like don’t.”

“Ah, uh, hm, what I mean is that you are not under any, uh, threat— no! I meant obligation— to answer me. Because you are… You.”

“And that’s not BAD, you seem really cool for being… What you—”

“I…” She looked over at Aryrene. “I am going to shut up now.”

 

[Aryrene]

Colette
​

"I meant the Sith," they said.

They let Colette stay shut up for a bit, while they picked at their food a little longer. "You're not a humanocentrist, are you? I heard there are a lot of Jedi like that. I mean, I thought they were probably wrong. But I don't know. There are a lot of them here."

They sighed.

"Whatever. Anyways, how long have you been here? Have you learned anything cool?"

 

[Colette]

Aryrene

Human-o-what-now? Colette looked confused for a second, both because she had to figure out what that word was and second because Aryrene had already moved on by the time that she managed to sort that out.

“I— Uh… I am very new, but Master Noble has shown me a thing or two.” She said and closed her eyes while she circled her hand in front of her as if to spool back a tape. “Just, rewind a second or two.”

“I’m really sorry, that—” Colette cleared her throat. “I am not good with words. My childhood put a bigger emphasis on speaking in clear, short, and to-the-point words. But, I think what you asked before was if I hate non-humans?”

Colette’s brows furrowed.

“I’m… Sorry if you thought that about me.” She spoke with a very serious undertone in her voice. “I am a fu-” Someone nearby coughed loudly. “-up, socially, but I would never hate you for being who you are. That’s what gets tribes killed, and it’s disrespectful to who you are.”

“In fact, I think that your horns are beautiful. I think the fact that your skin is so red fascinates me, and during our conversation I have had the hardest time figuring out whether or not you are a man or a woman.”

And then, with that out of the way, Colette leaned back in her seat again to let out a long sigh of relief. All in all, it felt good to get that off her chest.

“I— I didn’t wish to assume, so… I’m sorry. It’s all very new.”