Faction Today’s Special: Existential Crises and a Side of Bread

[Braze]

TAGS: Open to Jedi

Following the events on Tython, Braze had no clear direction, no immediate leads on where exactly to start. He thought gaining favor with the Argent Vanguard could yield resources for furthering his search. What was supposed to be a quick reconnaissance and retrieval mission on Tethar had ended before it even truly began. A single shot, well-placed, had cut through his plans just as swiftly as it had cut through him.

Now, he sat in the Jedi Temple's grand cafeteria, staring down at the soup of the day. He wasn't sure what it was supposed to be. Something thick, a pale shade of orange, the steam curling up in lazy spirals. His spoon rested untouched at the edge of the tray, his hands settled loosely in his lap.

It had been days since he was dropped back on Coruscant;delivered like some fragile cargo, not even left with a name or a message. No sign of the sniper who had spared him. No explanation for why they had gone out of their way to keep him alive.

Braze exhaled slowly. His mental shields were ironclad as always, but the weight in his chest remained. This wasn't where he was supposed to be at present and he was considering what he should be doing next. First on his list was… figuring out how, exactly, he was supposed to eat meals going forward.


The black cloth mask covering the machinery on his face was sort of an obstacle. An obstacle that, at present, stood between him and the dubious-looking bowl of soup in front of him. He stared at it. It stared back.


Braze exhaled through his nose. This was fine. Totally fine. He had fought through worse.

With a glance around the cafeteria, he scanned for anyone he knew... perhaps someone who could offer guidance, distraction, or at the very least, a topic of conversation that didn't involve figuring out how to drink soup without making a mess of himself.

 

[Phy]

Coruscant
Tags: Braze

Droid Body​

"Have you considered a straw?"

Phyla sat down next to Braze, letting out a melodic click that was indicative of her thinking, something she did akin to sighing or some other gesture of the like.

"Uh, sorry," she was quick to state, giving a sympathetic frown. "That wasn't meant to be rude. Uh..."

That didn't work out very well. Phyla really needed to work on that sort of thing better. She didn't usually worry about starting conversations and saying something in poor taste.

She probably shouldn't mention poor taste either.

"Is... it working okay?"

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Wearing: Jedi Jumpsuit (Black)

Armed with: Training Lightsaber (Blue)

Objective: See Braze

When he had heard what had happened, he was already headed to the temple.

Braze didn't know it, and probably never would until the end, but a duel he had once had with his fellow Padawan had inspired him to later marry Vera Mina and reform House Bloodscrawl with her. He owed a lot to the boy, to the point he had even once constructed a Lightsaber in secret for him to use at his leisure.

He had been nearly shot dead by a Sith Assassin. The shot had apparently taken most of his face.

Nathan was still considering ways to try and help him when he came across him in the cafeteria...

Nathan his the grimace that threatened to cross his face as he immediately sat down across from him, inwardly cringing at the advice Phy gave the boy as Nathan sat down to join him.

"Hello, Braze..." Nathan said quietly. "It's a relief to know you are still among the living."

Nathan had grabbed a breakfast burrito and observed the extent of his injury. Yeah. It was permanent disfigurement unless drastic measures were taken.

"I know what it's like to get that close to death. I...know what it's like to actually BE dead..." Nathan admitted. "You aren't alone..."

Indeed, Nathan didn't trust the canned advice the Masters would give him. There was no Jedi lesson yet made that could help you through the trauma of a shredded face. He needed to talk to one who has been through it...

 

[Aadihr Lidos]

Outfit: Clothes, Earring, Bangle
Weapons: Walking stick / Lightsaber Pike

Aadihr had fallen into the habit of wandering with his mind's eye, did so while eating. It wasn't until he was dabbing his lips with the napkin that he noticed the table at which Braze had company - and an inorganic prosthetic jaw.

This drew immediate concern - naturally, he cleaned up after his breakfast and pulled another chair at the Knight's table.

He tried to think of something to lighten the concern, like between the two of us we almost have a full face but decided it was much too soon, and the metal additions might be the last thing Braze wants to discuss.

"Have you considered a straw?"

Not a terrible idea. Aadihr considered the idea of using the force to replicate plunger effect of a syringe to suck up the food into a vessel before doing the reverse once the vessel was in place - assuming the implants were still fresh and the suction action might dislodge some healing bonds.

Aadihr silently began medical examination of the prosthetics, checking where flesh meets metal through the Force without interrupting.

He hadn't met the other two, Nathan Bloodscrawl and Phy , but their auras showed concern enough for Braze that they were perfectly fine in his book. A far cry from the paranoid reception Aadihr used to have for every new Jedi.

Waiting until it was appropriate without overwhelming Braze (otherwise remaining silent) Aadihr spoke:
"How are things? We haven't spoken much since..." Since Ord Providence. since Jasper Kai'el went missing. Since Braze was knighted. Aadihr had gone avoidant, but hoped Braze didn't hold it against him.

He turned to the others with an earnest smile. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Aadihr," leaving the knight honorific out of his name.

Braze | Nathan Bloodscrawl | Phy​

 

[Braze]

TAGS: ​

Phy Nathan Bloodscrawl Aadihr Lidos

Well, this was certainly an interesting group of friends to have all in one spot, Braze thought. He might have smiled, if he could. He swallowed lightly, the sensation still strange with the new hardware nestled beneath his skin. He wasn't super used to the odd vocabulary he had now.

"No... I hadn't thought of a straw..."

Could he even create suction now? The intricacies of his wound were likely not polite table conversation. He tugged the black cloth mask away from the prosthetic and glanced toward Phy.

"How does it look?"

he asked, shifting those somber, jade-green eyes to Phy. His voice carried that same metallic resonance, faintly softened by the neural interface but still unfamiliar enough to make Braze inwardly wince.

He looked to Nathan and offered a bow of his head. "It's been...hell, yeah. Kinda hard to think about adjusting after that kind of experience... but I find once you have good friends you can talk to, it helps distract your thoughts long enough to fake it...and if you fake it long enough, well, it's no longer faking it."

"Are things looking up for you?"

he asked Nathan gently. From what little he knew about him and the characters present in his life, it was likely an intense affair he often dealt with.

He looked then to Aadhir as he spoke. "Yeah... I don't think any of you have met before. Aadhir, this is my sister, Phy. And..."

He turned to Nathan, considering their history... friendly acquaintances, perhaps, but that meant friends, didn't it? He still remembered their ridiculous outing, something akin to a B-movie horror flick served with a side of lowbrow comedy. Yet he'd been genuinely relieved they'd made it through that particular ordeal together.

"This is Nathan, a friend of mine."

Braze paused, then asked lightly,

"Did any of you try, uh...today's soup special yet?"

He resisted the urge to calmly add that he was already planning to track down the woman who'd stolen the beauty from his face, and his basic ability to enjoy a meal. That, too, would probably make for poor table conversation, he decided.

​

 

[Phy]

Coruscant
Tags: Nathan Bloodscrawl , Aadihr Lidos , Braze

Droid Body​

"How does it look?"

he asked, shifting those somber, jade-green eyes to Phy. His voice carried that same metallic resonance, faintly softened by the neural interface but still unfamiliar enough to make Braze inwardly wince.

"I think it looks okay," Phy noted. "I... did as good as I think I could have with such short notice."

Phy's gaze shifted towards the new arrivals. One was older, clearly, speaking with a tone that implied a great deal of experience. The other was a younger knight a miraluka. She offered a polite wave to the two, knowing that Aadihr would be able to feel the motion through Force Sight. Jalen was the same way.

"Yeah... I don't think any of you have met before. Aadhir, this is my sister, Phy. And..."

Oh. Not even step-sister. Something about simply being referred to as his sister was... nice. It certainly gave the impression that she was more capable of learning to connect with him than she thought.

"I am unsure of if my taste receptors have all the bugs worked out yet," Phyla stated in response to Braze's question about the soup, "But my analysis determined it was non-hazardous. I... believe it also came up as comparable to Nerf feed though... Take that as you will."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Phy Aadihr Lidos Nathan Bloodscrawl

"I really appreciate the effort you've given at helping me be just a little bit more whole. Thank you, Phy."

Braze offered gently.


"Your kindness is more than I deserve."

He concluded before moving to get up briefly to go search out a disposable straw, then returned and plunked it into his soup, stirring it about.

​

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan listened to Braze's response, brow furrowed.

"Nasty bit of business, your face...but there's no faking it if you truly want to pull yourself from the rubble..." Nathan said. "There were moments where I faced mutilation like that. Injuries I still don't talk about. You just can't really hide yours like I can."

Nathan tried to dig for his own humanity a bit more than usual when speaking to Braze . He DID consider him a friend, or else he wouldn't have made the saber.

Nathan began to consider how best to heal him. His adoptive Mother, Magdalena Bloodscrawl , possessed advanced capabilities at healing tissue. She was one of the most powerful Force Healers he had ever seen. Perhaps one of her special Amulets might help. At least he hadn't been so beyond help more drastic measures would have been needed.

Nathan had been near death once. Fatal internal injuries, untreatable by normal Force healing methods. His adoptive Mother had mutated him into a Deputy to save him. It had taken him years to find the will to free himself, reversing the mutations. He had never fully gotten rid of some of them.

Some of those traits had been passed down to his daughter...partly at least. Traits enhanced by his Jedi Master, Moya De Lifte.

He had been desperate to protect his daughter at the time...

"You'll never feel like your old self ever again..." Nathan said truthfully. "All you can do is adjust. Day by day. It will be hard work. But that injury is not you. It's only a part of you. Mental and Physical. There are no shortcuts to being functional again."

Nathan blinked.

"Can you tell me who it was that shot you?" he asked.

Aadihr Lidos

Phy

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Nathan Bloodscrawl Phy Aadihr Lidos

Braze let out a weary sigh that came out more like a slow hiss, shaped and stretched by the internal profiles of his prosthetic.

"I'm sorry to hear that.... and no... I can't really hide it... I dunno... Some lady calling herself Strelok, I think? I'm not sure—it could have been a fever dream. Lia Ka Rai said she woudl assist me in uh... Fixing this..."

He waved a ahnd about his general face area. Braze didn't want to come to terms with what his subconscious had tried to tell him during that time. It was easier, to believe it was just a strange, delirious episode in the throes of oncoming death. Easier than admitting it felt real. He shook his head and set his straw down.

". . . All I remember was being sad about Jasper after I landed and then lots and lots of pain."

He reached up and scratched at his brow, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. It really wasn't a fond memory. Braze then looked over to Phy.

"The Mud Duck is almost done being retrofitted. I ensured to clear a room out to be available for a sensory deprivation tank... When you want to look it over, you can."

He offered, eyes lingering just a beat too long before glancing away, maybe looking for a change of topic, something easier to sit with than the memory still clinging to his voice.

​

 

[Phy]

Coruscant
Tags: Braze , Nathan Bloodscrawl , Aadihr Lidos

Droid Body​

"I really appreciate the effort you've given at helping me be just a little bit more whole. Thank you, Phy."

Braze offered gently.


"Your kindness is more than I deserve."

"I... wish I could do more," Phyla noted in a softer tone.

More than he deserved... He was really so much like Jasper, it almost seemed uncanny. She wanted to do everything she could to help him, make up for being so distant. After all, she couldn't just be his sister, even if he introduced her as such. That was a place in his life that she needed to earn.

"The Mud Duck is almost done being retrofitted. I ensured to clear a room out to be available for a sensory deprivation tank... When you want to look it over, you can."

"Oh, thank you," Phy sighed, coming out of her daze of thought. "I'll be sure to assess the space when I can. I have some leads regarding a large piece of Force Crystal to utilize within the chamber. I should be receiving it soon."