Private Whistle While You Work

[Lief]

Eliphas wasn't exactly keeping track of time either. He just stood there, fingertips lightly grazing along the back of her shirt in a continual soothing motion, until she slowly pulled back. Instinctively, he reached up a hand to brush away some of those stray tears which lingered upon her cheeks. Then peered down at her as she apologized.

A small frown furrowed his brows.

"You don't have to apologize for being human" he told her, softly. "How do you feel?"

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"I'm not human. I'm Keshian." She sniffled heavily. Reddened eyes glanced up towards Lief for a moment. Before she blinked and looked away. Oh. Figure of speech, and one she'd heard before. Right. She sniffled again.

".. Not so lonely anymore."

 

[Lief]

Eliphas couldn't help but smile when she defended her species, and nodded his head. Information he wasn't previously privy to, that was always nice. But even so the point finally seemed to stick, following a long blink. He reached up and tucked some stray hair behind her ear.

"Good," he replied, with a small nod of his head, "You don't have to let it build up so much, not with me at least. I'm sorry you've been feeling alone, Iris..."

All at once he was trying to figure out ways he might remedy such, without letting it detract from the moment. Then he realized that dinner had barely even been prepped yet. "Do you want a tea, or a coffee?" he inquired after a few seconds of thought. "I'm going to make a drink." A slow ease back into normalcy. "And if you ever need a hug again, I'm always here..."

Well. Most of the time.

Starlin did like to take his training further afield. But still, the point stood.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"I never felt alone until I became a Jedi." She never felt a lot of things before becoming a Jedi. Maybe that was more of a blessing. But didn't that mean she'd never have friends like she did now? Iris frowned a little, back in her own head. Thinking things over that she really didn't need to but did anyway. "Coffee. Coffee is good." Yeah. Maybe the caffeine would help. She wandered from the kitchen, ignoring the steak and potatoes to plop down on the couch, knees hugged to her chest. She could cook later. Right now she just felt drained.

"Thank you. Eli."

Lief

 

[Lief]

Her initial statement was enough to make his heart break in two. "I know," he whispered, voice rather breathless, "It's a change I'm struggling to adjust to, too. Back home... Well, I had my family, siblings, friends... It's like starting all over again. So many people reside within the Temple, yet I know maybe like two of them. Isn't that weird?"

Eliphas offered her a small smile of encouragement. "I'm sure it will get easier, though, Iris. And you'll always have me, and Bri, and Master Noble."

Then he stepped over to the kitchen while she made her way over to the sofa to slump. One tea and one caf' coming up! It didn't take him too long to get two hot mugs ready, and in the meantime he put away the unprepped food back into the refrigerator for later. His stomach grumbled slightly, but he rolled his eyes at himself and ignored it for now.

Brought her the caf' instead.

"You want to watch something?" he asked, offering out the mug, "It's been a while since we just... relaxed." Their time together had largely become painting time, or drawing time, or whatever other artistic thing she had in mind time, though they'd made their start watching silly reality and game shows. "I can order something quick for lunch, if you'd like, and we can tackle making dinner together?"

She'd seemed really excited to cook; Eliphas felt bad for bringing the mood down.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Back home I was too lost in the colors to even think what it might be like to care about someone, let alone miss them." Becoming a Jedi just meant she got to learn on all the things she missed. The good parts and the bad parts. Like being alone. She stared off at the floor, mulling it all over. Why did it have to be so hard to just.. Exist? The smell of warm caf pulled her out of her mind as she glanced to the mug. Then took it with a faint smile.

Nothing a good cup o' dirty bean juice couldn't handle.

"Lunch. .. Yeah. Pizza?" It was all she could think of offering at this point. Something she knew they both liked. At least they could relax together.

"And yeah. Watching something. You pick."

 

[Lief]

Eliphas really couldn't even imagine having something so all-consuming in his life, something that took up the entirety of his attention and left room for little else. At least it seemed as though she had found a healthy balance now, she wasn't purposely isolating herself or ignoring those around her. Not that he'd seen at least. But nor had she rejected the colours, found a way to remove them.

Not that he thought she could. They were an integral part of her being.

"Is there anyone back there?" he inquired softly, before he could really stop himself, "You know, before the Jedi? No family..?" He felt certain that if there'd been family she would have had to care about them, right? Maybe asking was a bad idea. Still, he'd asked.

"Pizza's always good," he stated, touching the device on his wrist to activate the holopad and allow him to begin making the order. Plain cheese pizza, just as they always had. Creatures of habit, these two. She suggested he found them something to watch, too, and though he still hadn't adjusted really to its use he activated the holoscreen and browsed through the shows on offer for a short while, until they landed on something which seemed fun.

Some trashy reality show, no doubt.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"Oohh. Alderaanian Pickers. Good choice." Rather deftly she avoided talking about home. There was nothing to talk about that she could remember. No, there was, she just.. Didn't want to think about it. It was easier for her not to. She didn't miss anyone there, because she didn't know their faces or their voices, but now that she understood what it was like to miss someone, she couldn't help but think they might miss her.

".. How long until the pizza gets here?"

 

[Lief]

Clearly she didn't want to talk about it, so Eliphas didn't pry any further. Instead he turned his sights from Iris to the holo and allowed his mind to shut off for a time while watching trashy reality tv. Some shows were better than others he'd discovered; this one wasn't too bad.

Her question drew his eyes back to her.

"Maybe another fifteen? Not long, I promise."

Reaching out he took a blanket from the back of the sofa and settled it over her, then glanced back at the screen.

"I can't believe they'd offer to pay that much for scrap..."

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris nodded a little. Pizza. Yeah, that's what'd distract her from all these emotions. Last thing she wanted to do was dump anything more on Lief . They were here, relaxing. Relax. She let out a puff of air, her gaze still on the show. "It's not all scrap. Sometimes it's the personal connection that makes it so expensive." Or so the show had explained at one point in her binging.

Her eyes shifted though, glancing back to him. Looking him over.

"Did you get taller?"

 

[Lief]

He contemplated her deduction for a little while in silence, still watching the show but under further scrutiny now. It was the sentiment which made it worth more? But the pickers had no such attachment... Did they really want that particular piece so badly they'd pay what the seller wanted?​

​

Might be. Some of the pieces were pretty vintage.​

​

"They must see its potential" he finally replied. Broken things could have their uses too. That's why he'd chosen the most beat-up hilt casing for his saber, a reminder of such.​

​

Her question caught him off guard. He turned his head toward her and chuckled. "I'm not sure, did I?" Reaching up a hand he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I don't really keep track." Had it been long enough since he ventured off for him to have grown at all?​

​

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

She stared for a moment longer, studying. Maybe she just never actually bothered to think about how tall he was. Or anyone else for that matter. How tall was she now that she thought about it? Still, she smiled as she shook her head. "Not taller. Just.. Grown. You've learned a lot under your master, huh?" Satisfied with that as why she noticed something different about Lief , she turned her gaze back to the television.

"Sometimes they pay more for sentimental items because it helps the seller be alright with selling the rest of their things. For cheaper, more often than not. Spend money to save money."

Now she was reciting a line from an earlier episode. She still didn't get the point of money herself. She understood how to use it, just, didn't see the point? No, didn't understand it. Should she try and learn? She hummed in thought, drifting into her own mind again. Maybe she should learn how to handle her money.

 

[Lief]

"Uh... Yeah. A lot happened in a short space of time, I guess. Lots of opportunities to learn."​

​

Too much one might argue. A small shudder wormed its way along his back, and he focused his attention back on the holoscreen in order to avoid it. Thoughts of Not-Eli! trawled through his mind, visions of the HRD cut through with jagged pieces of metal still fresh and harrowing.​

​

He was grateful for the change in conversation when it came.​

​

"I don't think I'd trade my sentimental items for credits like that" he mused aloud, frowning as he considered it. Truth be told there was only really one item he couldn't bear to part with, that which was housed within his saber, the rest? Well as had already been proven back on the pitstop, the rest was replaceable.​

​

He hadn't come to the Jedi with very much at all, no doubt a fact which would surprise most who knew of his noble background. Nope, the lightsaber and the crystal it housed was all that he needed to keep for sentimentality, and he wouldn't give it up for all the credits in all the galaxy.​

​

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris's gaze shifted back to Lief for a moment. The colors shifted enough. Concern. That's what she felt as she saw them. Something happened on his mission then? But he didn't seem to want to talk about it. Instead focusing on the show.

So she did too.

Iris nodded a bit, leaning back in her seat, humming in thought. Did she have anything she'd like to keep for sentimentality? .. Nope, nothing came to mind. She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the screen now.

"I'll trust your words on that, I guess. .. I don't know a lot about it. Caring about an object enough to not want to part with it anyway."