First Reply Tagging Denon

[Iris Arani]

"Dum- I am not dumb!" She huffed in annoyance, but he was already gone. She dropped after him though, just leaning forward to let herself fall the three stories. No pausing for her. The rush of the drop was one of the things she loved about being a pilot. The weightless feeling in her stomach. Iris touched down with ease, uncaring if anyone was even watching her at this point.

Then blinked. Oh, right. Not obvious. Whoops. Maybe Corin didn't notice?

"Doesn't matter to me so long as it's spicy. The spicier the better, honestly."

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

He noticed, and it caused him to die a little death. On the inside, that is. His eyes scanned about, watchful for the stares that often followed such an act. Maybe someone could consider her an acrobat instead, a show off, no one to offer attention to? Entirely possible, the vigilante decided, but soon acknowledged that this was Denon; a freighter would never so much as swerve out of the way of you. No one cared, and that was the problem.

"So what, is that one of your things?" He asked without so much as looking at her, with a focus facing forwards. "Spicy food and paint?"

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Kinda. How I 'see' the Force is very.. Overwhelming. The colors tend to block out a lot of things. Sound, sight. Taste. .. Weird I'm sure, but that's just how it is. Spicy food though, that cuts right through it. Now all I want is spicy stuff."

She shrugged, almost nonchalantly as she walked beside him. Painted hood pulled even lower after her little drop.

"What about you? I got the mask thing and the ass thing, what's your food thing?"

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

Ideas washed over his mind in a wave of warmth. It forced an all too sincere smile, the same sort that creased a kindness into his eyes as much as it settled in the corner of his mouth. Memories, old memories often left burrowed. Dead, and buried. For solid reason, too. Back there in the recesses of his mind, no matter all the joy the initial burst of the recollection afforded Corin, all that followed was the dead and decayed husk of a life that no longer was. Like a closed wound, a scar, one that threatened to re-open. "My uh..." His smile faded as he cut himself short, a whispered and inaudible murmur followed.

"I learned not to be too picky," he deflected with experience, "For a second there though, I thought you were talking about my ass."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"I'll have you know I haven't once bothered to look at your ass. Your mouth's been working double time for it." Was that clever? She hoped that was clever. Even had a smug grin like what she said actually was clever. And, well. The sullen colors that took over, she didn't want to press on those. Whatever sadness it was he'd started to remember, Iris didn't feel right prying into it. It wasn't like she was his friend, or at least, not one for very long.

The most she hoped was someone was out there that he could talk to about it.

"There's nothing wrong with being picky. Otherwise you'll end up like Silas and die from the spiciness."

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

"Somehow, I'm not surprised to hear that." His amusement manifested into a faint chuckle, both soft and short-lived. It was hardly a shock, though whether the idea of Silas to Corin was based on facts or his own egregious self-crafted image remained to be seen. In either case, Corin firmly believed it tracked. His ideas of his fellow learners were often of that nature, one-note and amplified in his mind. Each with their own stories and lives, boiled down into a complete description that numbered no more than ten words.

"But the mouth can be pretty bad, can't it?" Just a moment of inner-clarity, "Sometimes feels like they're waiting for another sparring class for a go at me." Despite the circumstances, he treated it in good humour.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Good humor and good fun is one thing. But.. Yeah. Pretty sure half the others are looking for an excuse to beat you up." At least he seemed to be aware of it. No, that just made it more confusing for her to try and figure out why he was so adamant about keeping people at arms length. Actually, come to think of it-

"How's Jem?"

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

With stifled laughter, Corin continued. "They're all welcome to try," he remarked eagerly, as if the thought had come to mind before. Several times, even. "But I think we know how that ends for them. I do, at least, if you don't want to admit it." Despite the playfulness to what was said, there was a thinly veiled seriousness there all the same.

It gave him pause, the question about Jem. His relationship with her was an odd one, on the account of a younger Corin almost being stabbed to death and thrown from an entire building in the middle of a Sith invasion. If not for Dagon, he would be dead. But maybe that could be said about several scenarios, too. But since she returned, it was... better, rocky to begin with, then a tense peace before the two gradually came to accept the existence of one another. He tried not to think on it, really, but invasive thoughts entered her mind still on the topic of her 'replacement'.

"She's... Good." He nodded in confirmation, "Good as you can be when you come back from a genocidal campaign with your now dead father who was content to exterminate all life. It's getting better for her, even if she can't see it all the time."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris's smile just softened at the answer. Her gaze lowered as she nodded. ".. I'm glad. I really wasn't able to help her much, even after everything she did for me." It wasn't a lot, sure, but it meant way more than Jem probably would ever know to the Padawan. She took a breath, then turned her gaze to their surroundings. Yeah, that was all she wanted to hear about Jem. Her life was getting better.

Good.

"Spicy food! I can smell it. Close! And- You still haven't fought me y'know. As the eldest Padawan of the Sword, you're pretty cocky to think you're number one until you beat me." Did he say as much? Probably not, but it was an easy change of subject from the awkwardness for them both.

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

In protest, Corin laughed. "The Fraud Sword, you mean. No one earned that mantle more than Dagon; suits him better, since it all started with his friend Ryv after all." He could be thankful this is what amounted to Jedi politics in the end; debates over who swung a sword better, or maybe even a popularity contest regarding it. Who knows, and frankly who cares? Maybe Corin did, but Corin was relentlessly petty at the best of times.

"But let's be honest, Iris." He switched into a mock seriousness. "You couldn't take me even in your dreams. I'd put you and Silas in the ground at the same time. I might not even break a sweat."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Fraud sword? What even as Dagon done? He just seems tired all the time and-" She blinked, slowly, before glancing to Corin. And squinted at him. He didn't care if she told him about this, did he? That's why he only said Valery before. She hadn't thought about it like this, but was that why Dagon was tired all the time? Why Corin was adamant about him having done more?

Was Dagon also a vigilante?

Her eyes narrowed. Not on that thought anymore. If it was important, it wasn't her place to just figure it out. "I distinctly remember you getting headbutted by Kai and dragged off by Master Aaran. You didn't even see me fight. I assure you I'm very much in a class of my own when I'm not limited from my lightsaber." Or her paint, but she wasn't going to say that.

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

Of all the possible reactions Corin could have mustered, all that came was the soft tilt of his head with the incline of his brow. His mouth lazily and faintly held open as the brazenly confident disposition switched into that of a burdened or bothered question. He was ultimately unsure if she was serious, that much was true, though Corin certainly had some element of truth to the opinions the Padawan held; maybe a sweat would break out, he truly thought, still rather positive of his ability to take them both on.

"Kai threw a cheap shot in a practise duel." His defense fired back as a reflex, "He's lucky I didn't lay him out for it, but maybe I should have. Given he took it as some personal vendetta."

Corin was an instigator. He provoked Kai, of that there was no doubt. But even though it had been against all their lessons, all their rules, there was some fraction of Corin that wished he acted differently that day. Yet not for the better.

"League of your own all you want. You can't outdo the doer."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Out do the- What? Doer? What do you even mean?" She frowned, tilted her head. She didn't get that one, at least. So many different sayings and things people used. She'd learn them one day! Just, probably not right now. She didn't linger on the question long though. The scent of spicy food pulled her gaze to the nearby stall, a grin taking over her expression almost immediately.

"Okay. Spicy food. C'mon. I can beat you up later."

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

"Mhmm," the Padawan mumbled in a dismissive manner, not so much as a beat lost in his stride while he continued to weave in and out of the crowd. Sometimes even chose to be the ram so many others elected to be, the sort that refused to move. Someone could move out of his way for once. Came with a newfound size and demeanour, even if Corin had been much the same in his once shorter stature.

In the densely crowded marketplace, there was no shortage of vendors and customers. It seemed as if there was a consistent line of them down the streets, left on either side but in no organised placement. Rather a chaotic mess of them. Some tucked themselves off to the side while others had thrown themselves in the middle of foot traffic, all in an effort to catch the eye of a someone. Be them a local or off-worlder, whether interested in whatever it was they sold or not.

"Lead on," Corin waved forwards. "Sniff out your spicy food."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Lead the way Iris did. there was nothing like a good spice to cut through the scent of the city. At least to her nose. the slums where she lived before becoming a Jedi certainly brought it's advantages in navigating this city. It wasn't long until she lead them towards one of the food stands. Meat, by the look. Spicy, juicy meat. Iris was practically drooling at the scent, her larger eyes scanning through the selection.

"This, this looks good."

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

Skewered meat coated in flecks of herbs and spices. From behind the portable vendor, a man made the rounds. Back and forth, the all too repetitive process of the food-for-credits trade as his undoubtedly ready-made meals sat under the heater on the cold night out. It may have been all the exhaled breaths and body warmth that ensured the lower streets remained hospitable, least more so than the tops of skyscrapers Corin and Dagon often frequented. Part of him wondered if it was a bad idea to involve another in this life without even a sliver of consultation from his master. But if nothing else, Kaze was more of an older brother than that of a surrogate father. Easier to take a verbal beatdown from the former, the vigilante noted.

"Just two of those," his words were accompanied by an insignificant number of credits. She can owe him one later. He handed Iris her sticked meat and allowed himself to sink into the smell and taste of his own, left to wander aimlessly from the heart of the crowd.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked. Oh, right. Money. No, she didn't have any money on her. In fact, she never had any credits on her. She really should start to invest in just.. Having money. She followed after Corin, happily munching away at the offered sticked meat, not even thinking that she should probably pay him back at some point.

"So.. Where do I buy a mask? There a vigilante store or something?"

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

"No, so, that's the fun bit." His obvious lie spilled forth with a mouth half-filled with food, and what followed was all the forced enthusiasm Denon could afford; "You get to make your own. How fun." It was tedious, meticulous work. Least for those without any prior experience, but it came with the territory. As did self-stitching wounds, applying salves of bacta, or other various anti-bacterial ointments and creams. Beneath his clothes now, there was no shortage of bruises and healing cuts, whether fresh or scabbed over. Jem may have stabbed him first, but the Padawan had been stabbed near countless times since.

"You know, I never thought you'd be on board with something like that." Corin was quick to form opinions based off minimal impressions, a constant and reocurring theme in his life. "Figured you'd be like Silas and try your hardest to be the best little student a master could ask for."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"You'd be surprised about who a lot of the Padawan's are, you just need to be willing to learn. Or cheat like I can and just see people's colors and know from a glance their intentions." She shrugged a little, taking another bite.

"Also you clearly haven't seen my paintings around the temple."

Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

“Wait, wait. You see people’s colours, what does that even mean?” He said with a narrowed gaze.

Iris Arani