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[Celeste Rigel]

The gardens of Silver Rest were just as lovely in autumn as they were in summer, but the weather was colder now, the air dryer. Many of the trees had turned hues or yellow, orange, and red. And the flower beds were not barren, for there were still some lovely evergreens that lined the walk. Celeste Rigel and her son, Atticus, walked hand-in-hand, the toddler boy tugging on his mother's arm.

Dressed in a pair of simple trousers, a long sweater, and a warm vest, Celeste looked the part of a mother today. She'd left her robes and formal attire at home, opting for something a bit more kid friendly. After all, it always seemed that Atticus found a way to spill something on her every day. Armed with a backpack of diapers, toys, and food, the two were ready for an afternoon of play.

Reaching into her bag, Celeste pulled out a knit hat. “Atticus, come get your hat on, please.” She said, but the toddler bolted out towards the large expanse of grass at the sight of it.

“Hey, Atti!” Celeste called, watching from the sidewalk.

With a sigh, she wandered after him. Today they would not be out here alone, at least she hoped. Celeste had sent along an invitation to the Master of the Order, [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] and his son. She'd seen the two around the temple several times, and she'd noted that Master Dragonsflame's son looked about the same age as her own – though she'd not seen him in any of her youngling classes yet.

She was interested in getting to know them both better. It would be nice to have another young friend for Atticus, and another friend for herself as well.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Both Josh and Jyoti owed a debt to Celeste. With her taking a more prominent role in running the Rest - which by what he'd seen she knew how to do quite well and probably did better than Josh and Jyoti could have done on their own respectively - the stress of that had been taken off a fair bit on the Grandmaster and the Master of the Order. It freed them up a bit more for tasks that suited them better and allowed them to embrace their strengths more for the best interests of the Silver Jedi Order. So when Celeste would offer a playdate between Jason and Atti, even had Josh not thought it was a great idea, he probably wouldn't have said no regardless. But he thought Jason making friends his age could be great for him, so he was happy to agree.

As this wasn't business, he had foregone his robes for something warmer, and Jason was bundled up more and more the colder it got. Once they reached the gardens, he could hear the voice of Celeste calling out to someone who he assumed to be her child. A warm smile crossed Josh's face as the child would come into view. He was about Jason's age, and he was curious as to if they'd get along.

"Greetings, Master Rigel" He would speak softly with a bow. Jason meanwhile, while he had been enamoured by the gardens, would soon hide behind his father when he glimpsed the newcomers.

[member="Celeste Rigel"]

 

[Celeste Rigel]

Celeste followed her son out onto the grass and quickly slipped the hat onto his head as he bolted past. The knitted cap wasn't on straight or evenly, but it had made it onto the active toddler, so she counted it as a small victory. Atticus knelt to inspect a large leaf, and Celeste turned slightly to find that Master DragonsFlame and his son had arrived.

“Ah, Master DragosFlame,” She said, smiling pleasantly. “Good day.”

Her brown eyes shifted to find Jason, hiding behind his father's legs. “And a good day to you, too!” She knelt down to the boy's level. “See that boy over there? That's my son, his name is Atticus. Feel free to join him, if you'd like.” She said, her tone light and warm.

Returning to her full height (which was still considerably shorter than Josh), she looked up to the relatively new Master of the Order. She had heard that he was fond of teaching, something that immediately endeared him to Celeste.

“I feel as though we've crossed paths many times,” She said, nodding. “Nevertheless, it's nice to finally have a chance to talk. Settling into your new office, are you?” Celeste took a quick glance over at Atticus, just to make sure he was keeping out of trouble. “I imagine you must be quite busy in your new role.”

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jason would shrink back when the woman would kneel down to his height and speak toward him. While she'd likely watched him here and there, Jason wasn't the fastest to warm up to people. He was still getting used to being at the Rest and being around so many people, so it was to be expected. His father was doing his best to help this, but this was going to be something that Jason would have to get through himself in the end.

When Celeste would point out the presence of her son, Jason would peek out a bit to see what she was pointing at but still seemed fairly nervous. But he would nod his head a bit. He'd come around before long.

Josh smiled when she would ask him if he was settling in well. "Do you mean position or actual office?" He joked. "I didn't even know I had a literal office as part of the Assembly until I became Master of the Order. Valae and Jyoti seemed to forget to mention that detail until Jyoti asked me why I wasn't doing my work there."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm adjusting, to say the least. It's a lot to take in. But I'm more curious about you, I feel like I haven't seen you around much and yet here you are doing jobs that I think I'd die if I had to do by myself" He admitted with a laugh.

Josh would kneel down then and console Jason, pointing him toward the other boy. "Jason, why don't you go say hello?" He would ask the child, who would shake his head and just cling even harder. "Why don't you go see if you two can spot any birds?"

That got Jason's attention, and he stared up at him a moment before hesitantly starting to walk toward where Atticus was. Jason clearly didn't do well with strangers, and was even less familiar with kids his own age, but Josh knew he'd be alright.

[member="Celeste Rigel"]

 

[Celeste Rigel]

Celeste watched Jason closely, he was on the shy side. She wouldn't try to push, some children simply needed some time. A brow rose slightly at the sound of Master DragonFlame's jest.

“I didn't literally mean your office.” She remarked with a laugh, “But, that would explain why the space went unused for so long.”

She nodded, continuing to listen. Celeste could imagine that such a role would take a period of adjustment, to say the least. She watched as Josh knelt to his son and encouraged him to go explore with Atticus. On the lawn, Atticus was jumping and running – burning off his seemingly endless amount of energy. Noticeably more outgoing than Jason, Atticus approached the other boy with a leaf and held it out.

Sharing was always an important skill, one that she'd been attempting to instill in him as of late. It didn't always go as smoothly as it did today.

“Oh?” She canted her head to the side. “Well, I've certainly been around.” Much like the former Grandmaster Heavenshield, Celeste kept to the Rest. “My duties keep my fairly busy here,” She gestured towards the temple. “You don't fancy chasing after younglings all day?”

Celeste laughed, but took the chance to glance over towards the boys.

“While the young ones do take up a good amount of my time, I flit about the Rest to see to the healers and help oversee the overall curriculum. It is busy, but my work day goes fast – sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it isn't.” She said, a small grin on her face.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

“Oh I knew what you meant” The Jedi responded, giving her a big grin in response. Master or not, he still had some mischief in him after all. "Like I said, I'm adjusting somewhat. I'm not exactly an office and a desk kind of guy, after all. Most of my affairs have operated through blade, whether that be on the field or in training students. So the transition is going to be... Interesting, to say the least."

Jason would slowly approach the other boy, but would stop when he held out a leaf to him. Seemingly hesitant at first, Jason would then take the leaf and look it over. Josh would peer down toward him, then. "Jason, he gave you a nice leaf! What do you say?"

Jason looked from the leaf to the other boy. "Thank you" Jason spoke quietly as he would quickly run back to his father. He held up the leaf to him, and Josh laughed a bit. "Do you want me to hold onto it for you?" Josh asked Jason, who nodded his head slowly. Taking the leaf, taking care not to destroy it by accident in his large hands, he watched as Jason would slowly make his way back to the other child. "Jason, why don't you show Atticus the birds?" Josh would suggest. Jason perked up at the idea, as Josh would point upwards to show them some of Kashyyyk's wildlife flying overhead. Jason would gasp and move back to Atticus, pointing up at the birds flying overhead in a mimicry of his father. "That is... That is a..." Jason would trail off. "A thlari" Jason would attempt, which got a laugh out of Josh. "Flarion" Josh corrected him calmly, in an encouraging tone. "Flarion!" Jason repeated, his expression seeming to light up a bit more. Josh tended to show Jason the wildlife of Kashyyyk fairly often, so he was starting to register some to memory. But he was still getting the hang of pronunciations.

Josh would smile there, before turning back to Celeste to answer her question, laughing a bit in turn. "I think I have my hands full with just the one" He would admit.

Celeste had a difficult job, he knew. Not one he could see himself doing full time. He had to wonder how she did it. "Sounds like you don't get much time to yourself."

[member="Celeste Rigel"]