Ask Nar Shaddaa On the Edge

[Thalia Windraider]

He was clearly surprised and taken aback by her reaction and that in itself surprised Thalia, she expected him to lash out at her, to yell or try to calm her in such a manner. Her mind was falling into a panicked state as she tried to look for an escape, but there was something about his presence that told her she did not need to run, some more familiar with it, would call it genuine. He held up his hands to show he did not mean harm and reassured her it was going to okay.

Max held out his hand but Thalia didn't take it, instead she looked at her own palms as though her affliction would appear. He said he would not tell anyone, but Thalia wasn't sure about it, she felt like this wasn't the first time it occurred but as she started to search her memory for the whys, her own mind pushed her back to focus on Max.

"I..." her brow furrowed in her thoughts, she knew why, there were many reasons why, but some were inaccessible. However, for certain, this was something bad, she was convinced of it, "Its...I don't know what it is, am I sick? Am I going crazy? Did you give me something?! Did this come from you!" she felt her voice growing louder and her tone higher at the same time. She looked at Max and then back at her hands and took a step back from, only to bump into the wall behind her.

"I have to hide it, get rid of it, or...or else...." her voice trailed and her eyes fell away from Max as though she fell into her thoughts again, wincing as she pressed too far.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Ah.

Max might very well be into his middle age but that did not, for one second, mean that he was equipped to deal with teenagers or other such young people. They tended to not even make sense to themselves so what hope for someone like himself actually have? It was likely that Thalia probably thought she had more in common with a rock than she did with him but... but that was just him making excuses wasn't it?

Force damn it.

He couldn't leave her looking so... so lost. Max might not be able to speak to teenagers but he could speak to someone like a person, empathize with them and help them as best he could. Hopefully teenagers weren't such an alien species that that would seem off putting to her.

"You want me to take it away, to make you feel normal again." he spoke from experience with a small frown before it melted away into a soft smile as he nodded, "I remember that feeling too. It's scary - terrifying actually - to find that there's another side of yourself waiting inside of you that you didn't know about."

Moving, he leaned back against the wall about a foot to the side of her to give her some space without leaving her alone. Instead he stood right beside her, there for if/when she needed him but not forcing it upon her.

"Or else... your life will change." he tried, "This isn't the first time it's happened to you, is it? It won't be the last either because the Force is a part of you and every living thing. Just so happens that when you were born you were born with a connection to the Force that lets you command it."

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

She starred at her palms for just a moment longer as Max spoke again before she placed her head in her hands to rub her face as though trying to wake up in reality. She thought about the other side of her that was inside, waiting, whispering, sometimes louder than she wanted it to be. "I have to hide it..." she whispered as she pulled her fingers down her face and neck and then leaned her head back against the wall as Max also rested against the same wall while explaining the Force.

Thalia did not say anything, remaining quiet as she was trying to process this thing, the Force was something she always will have. It wasn't the first time, he knew this and Thalia questioned if it was that obvious. "I have to hide it..." she repeated, "I can't command it, someone will see it, someone will tell, and I will be a slave again." she shook her head and looked at Max, "You act so calm about this!" her tone spoke of worry as it neared panic again, "You don't get what its like, if I have something, someone will take it for themselves, that's how things are out here, that's how always have been. So I have to hide it, I can't think about it, I can't show it..."

The teen paused, "but...I can't control when it comes, its like it betrays me as though it is trying to get me caught, to send me back to the life I escaped." she shook her head and turned to look at him, speaking just above a whisper, "I can't go back to that, Max."

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

The girl needed a god-damned hug.

She needed someone to lean on and someone to depend on, someone or something, that would not change. He ran a hand across his face a little bit, idly rubbing at some of his beard as he listened to her speak. Could he be that person? Max wasn't sure that he could be. As a Jedi Knight he spent a lot of time running back and forth across the Galaxy and spending his time with two or three padawans already. If he were to become that anchor for her he would be stretching himself thin.

He would be willing to stretch himself thin for Thalia though but it had to be something she wanted.

"I can teach you how to control it, the Jedi can teach you." he told her quietly, "When you have it under control it's yours. You command it and if you want to hide it? You can."

Of course part of her fears... needed to be addressed.

"Being a Jedi isn't like that thought, you can leave whenever you like. You'll remain free." he assured her plainly as he stepped away from the wall to instead offer her his hand, "... come with me, please. Let me help you. You don't have to be a Jedi or anything else but let me help you control it."

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

He and others could teach her to control it. She remained quiet as she thought about his offer, trying to think what would be the catch; she had come from a world where everything had its price and the price she would pay for this, Thalia was uncertain of what it would entail. She looked back at her palms as he reassured she could leave at any time, she would not be a slave. Max pushed himself off the wall and faced her, hand extended for her to take, leaving the decision for her to decide.

She had no reason not to believe him, he had been fairly honest since she had first met him, even if he did lie about not having an artifact. If he was in for his own interests, he would have left her a while ago, he would not have helped her off that rooftop or their getaway from thugs on more than one occasion.

So without a word, she took his hand, what this would entail, what would require her to pay in return for some control over an entity she just now learned was still unknown. "Ok, show me." she nodded as though agreeing with her own statement.

@Nefieslab