Private Little Girl, Big World

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Zaiya Ceti

"Umm... do I want to kiss him?"

"I, umm... I feel like I can't answer that question for you."

Astri wondered if she should have brought this topic up at all. Because all she'd done so far is confuse Zaiya, and leave her struggling with a whirlwind of emotions. Did good friends do that? She was hardly the expert on friendship, but somehow she didn't think so. Zaiya had offered her kindness and help, and all she'd given in return was uncertainty and anxiety.

She didn't know how to fix it either, and that made something in her chest hurt.

But Zaiya did have a question that Astri thought she could answer, at last.

"Boyfriends are like... the precursor to mates." She started slowly, "it's... umm, it's almost like a testing phase where you feel things out, and see if you're compatible to be mates. I think. I'm not sure what 'mate' constitutes in Lovalla culture, exactly..."

Heck, what did it mean in Echani culture? Husband and wife? Or just two people casually dating? Astri didn't know how any of this worked... no one had ever given her the talk. Probably because Father would have had Mother do it, but Mother had died when she was really young.

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

​

Astri Elyse was right. No one could answer that question by Zaiya herself. Either way, it was something to think about... later. To begin with, it was more important to understand what a boyfriend was. As the Echani girl gave her an example of what could determine what a boyfriend could be, Zaiya mused over what she could compare it to within Lovalla culture.

"So, like... the courtship period between two people? That's what we have with Lovalla. They hang out, eat together, maybe even live together to determine if they are compatible as they attempt to further their emotive bonds." Eventually, their hormones and emotive bond would strengthen, they could resonate their color shifting at the same time, and their cycles would sync, and then they'd have their red dates land on the same timeframe, in which case, they would finally be able to have sexual relations at that time. But depending on where they were in their cycle, if they formed a deep enough bond, and the length of time it took to sync, it could be months or years before anything like that happened.

This is why finding a mate was very important and took so long. Once a Lovalla found one, they had one for life.

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Zaiya Ceti

"So, like... the courtship period between two people? That's what we have with Lovalla. They hang out, eat together, maybe even live together to determine if they are compatible as they attempt to further their emotive bonds."

"Yes!"

Oh thank the Force, something she didn't have to explain—because in reality, she had no idea what she was talking about. Her every attempt to clear things up for Zaiya had only resulted in Astri making her more confused. And that wasn't Zaiya's fault, not by a longshot. It was that Astri herself had been arrogant enough to think she could educate a newcomer to galactic norms—which, given the several thousand planets in the galaxy, weren't even very "general" or "normal."

"I-It's a lot like that." Astri cleared her throat, a little embarrassed at her own exclamation, "you go on dates, and then you go on more I think? And then at some point you move in together. Then you get married and have children. Or, uh, sometimes people do those last two backwards."

She really ought to stop there, before she made things even more confusing for her friend. Where was a proper maternal role model when they needed one?

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

​

Zaiya took everything that Astri Elyse said and pondered on it for a good minute until finally she said, "Oh, then Shan Pavond is definitely courting Colette as his mate then. SEE! I knew I was right!" Zaiya cried out, giving a broad grin over to the Echani girl, bringing up two unknown names from out of nowhere.

Unfortunately, Astri wasn't aware of the circumstances regarding her conversation with the Mirilan healer who said his girlfriend wasn't his mate.

"Oh, sorry, I have a friend who tried to convince me that his partner isn't his mate, but from what you are telling me, they are doing all those things already so they've been in a courtship phase all this time already. So odds are they are already mates."

That singular thought of being right made Zaiya feel so pleased. She was going to mention that to Shan the next time she saw him.

"Oh well... at least not the having kids part... I think they don't have kids. I could have sworn he mentioned they didn't have any," She mused aloud then gave a shrug, as if to say, oh well, moot point. At least I'm right now.

"Okay, I'll know now when someone is in a courtship then if they do all those things." Go on lots of dates, move in together, then get married and have children.

A pause, "But how do you know if they even like you enough to be in a courtship to begin with? Do they act or do something a certain way? I mean, besides I guess that kissing and hand holding stuff." this was going in deep, perhaps, a bit deeper than two young teenage girls who only had teenage holonovels and holo tv series as their sole reference.

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Zaiya Ceti

Judging by the way Zaiya described the situation two of her friends were in, it sounded like she had more experience with this sort of thing than Astri herself did. Which was to say: Astri had no experience, while Zaiya had a modicum. It was becoming woefully apparent that she shouldn't be the one trying to explain this stuff to Zaiya. Astri was an uneducated teacher trying to teach a more educated student—which should have served as a lesson in futility.

"I, umm... it sounds like your friends are kind of doing that then, yeah..."

"But how do you know if they even like you enough to be in a courtship to begin with? Do they act or do something a certain way? I mean, besides I guess that kissing and hand holding stuff."

The next question gave her pause. Because she wanted to be able to answer it, but simply couldn't. Astri wasn't sure anyone had ever shown interest in her in her entire life, so how did she tell Zaiya what those signs were? But at the same time, who was she supposed to point Zaiya towards? She didn't really know anybody here yet, much less an adult figure to go to about these kinds of questions.

"I-I don't know..." Astri admitted meekly, drawing into herself somewhat, "I'm sorry. I haven't really experienced this kind of stuff before. I just know what it looks like in the movies and in books... but those probably aren't good examples."

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

​

"Okay... okay," Zaiya began to nod emphatically, the cogs in her mind turning. A sense of determination ran through her, her colors shifting a deep orange hue with blue flecks and a brief flash of a blue glow. If Astri Elyse didn't know and Zaiya didn't know, then the best thing to do in any situation when things were a problem was to tackle it like a researcher!

Yeah! Just like whenever I'm looking to find out more information, I need to see what is out there! Zaiya thought to herself.

"Then you know what, Astri?" Zaiya asked the Echani, a wide grin of excitement growing over her lips. "Then what we need to do is look for the source material to know!"

Another firm nod.

"Okay! How about we find people who are dating and ask them how they showed the other person that they liked them!?"

Those couples would know exactly what a boy acted like when they liked you. Right?!

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Zaiya Ceti

Astri knew that she should be focused on the topic at hand, especially since she was in the role of the pseudo-teacher here. But when Zaiya's patterns began to warp through colors again, she couldn't help but become distracted. She didn't mean to fawn over the other girl, but the sight of her colors was just... it was just pretty.

It was only when she heard her name, and saw Zaiya exclaiming something with excitement plastered over her face, that the young Echani was able to shake herself from being lost in the sight of the rainbow on Zaiya's cheeks.

"Okay! How about we find people who are dating and ask them how they showed the other person that they liked them!?"

"Uhh, right!"

There was one small problem with that though: Zaiya was, literally, the first person she'd actually gotten to know here. And she wasn't even a member of the Order. Astri had no earthly idea who they could go to for anything.

"But, umm, I... don't know anyone here," Astri gave the other a girl a small, apologetic smile, "I've sort of been left to my own devices. Probably because all the Jedi are busy with the war. So, I really don't know who we could talk to?"

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

​

Zaiya was not to be deterred. In fact, what Astri Elyse told her regarding being new and not knowing anyone only inspired her more. "See! That's great though! This means you can meet more people by asking questions and finding out more about them!"

It was a win win!

"We can get tablets and make a survey and start asking people..." Zaiya exclaimed, bouncing on her feet, a ripple of a bioluminescent glow radiating from her skin.

"O-orr..." she hummed, the Lovalla teen thinking a bit more, "How about I give you my comm number and we can follow up with each other and see what we find out as we meet new people! We can regroup and then see what people tell us and compare notes! I'm sure you'll meet people as you train and travel that you could ask!"

"I mean... how else are we going to know if a boy likes us? It isn't like another Lovalla where you'd get to see it on their face!"

Alas, why do boys, and perhaps also girls, have to be difficult?

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Zaiya Ceti

"See! That's great though! This means you can meet more people by asking questions and finding out more about them!"

This had both backfired and not backfired, as far as Astri was concerned. Because she had asked Zaiya to introduce her to her friends, but at the same time, anxiety bloomed in her. Or, more accurately, her anxiety grew. She was always anxious, every hour of every day. Still... she couldn't very well go about her life not knowing anyone here, could she?

So it was a blessing in disguise. At least, that's what she told herself. With logic. Emotionally? Eh, her mind was still a nervous mess.

"W-wait, who are we going to ask? Do you have someone in mind?"

Because if Zaiya asked some random person—that neither of them knew—about this, Astri thought she might keel over and die right there.

Then Zaiya laid out her plan, which required just that: asking random people about this topic. Oh no, that'd be mortifying. How was Astri supposed to ask random people about the bird and the bees? She didn't mind giving the other girl her contact info, but the rest of it? Astri thought she'd rather die in a hole than give surveys on that topic.

"W-what if," Astri started, dizzy, "what if we just asked Aris if he likes you? Like, likes you, likes you?"

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Astri Elyse did have a point there. So much for Zaiya’s great plan for research. No wait, that still had merit. She’ll save that idea for asking others later to learn more about courtships.

As for @Aris Noble…

“You are right. We already talk about lots of things. Why would this be different? Hmm… okay I’ll ask him.” Zaiya decided, giving a nod.

She still flashed Astri a grin, “plus I can also ask him what he would do if he liked someone first!”

Be a great way to get feedback. Maybe she’ll ask her other friends too. Get more info.

Her chronowarch gave a beep then and Zaiya gave a gasp, jiggling the scanner and box of tech she had in her hands,” oh I forgot I had to turn these in! Okay, do you have a comm? I’ll give you my number and we can keep in touch!”

​

 

[Astri Elyse]

Tag: Zaiya Ceti

” oh I forgot I had to turn these in! Okay, do you have a comm? I’ll give you my number and we can keep in touch!”

Had she just gotten out of giving people surveys on the birds and the bees? Yes! Victory! Astri fought not to react to that realization, however. She didn't want Zaiya to think that she thought her idea wasn't a good one, or that she didn't want to spend time with the other girl. Astri just... really, really wasn't good with people. Even now, it was Zaiya who was putting in most of the effort here.

Astri was trying, but she really didn't know how to be with others.

"Y-yeah! I-I'll give you my number!"

That, however, she was more than will to show how happy it made her. Astri didn't think she'd ever given her number to a friend before. Mostly because... she didn't really have those. Private education, private training, and a private life didn't lead to many opportunities to mingle with people her age.

"B-but next time we meet up, I want to hear how things went with Aris!"

Wait, would there be a 'next time,' or was Astri just assuming. Zaiya wanted her number so they could stay in touch... so surely she'd want to hang out again, right?

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Zaiya set down the tech box and pulled out her comm so she could add Astri Elyse ‘s code on there, flashing a grin as she said,”Great!”

They began trading codes and Zaiya gave a few quick nods of confirmation. “ of course! Feel free to contact me any time. I like chatting on the comm or doing holocalls. We should meet up again soon too! I know a few great places to eat.”

Asking Aris shouldn’t be so bad right? Zaiya started thinking about that and what would that mean. She already liked him a lot. Colette said it was love. But is it love love? Now she couldn’t help the rush of nerves that ran through her. Was that normal?

No no. Stop overthinking. Aris said to not overthink.

Right.

“Okay there’s my comm code… annndd there now I have yours!” Zaiya flashed a grin and her skin shone in a multitude of colors. “Sorry I couldn’t lead you to the archives again. Maybe next time we can go there together?”

Looking at her comm, Zaiya bend down and took the box. “Okay sorry I have to run! Message me later! It was awesome to meet you Astri! I’m glad we are friends now!”

Zaiya really meant it.