Ask How You Doin?

Leon Baudelaire

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Baudelaire chuckled at her comment about his driving, “
Really? Wow, that’s hurtful, and here I thought you were someone who didn't mind taking a little heat.


Jayna’s next words caught him off guard a bit. He’d been joking about the date thing, but now as he looked at her… she actually seemed interested? No, that was him being insane. There was no way someone like Jayna Thorne would waste time on some pissant from Adumar, so, Leon didn’t have a problem treating her like a normal person or like one of the squad.

Duh,” he retorted with a “how could you not see this coming” look that was very over the top. “Think about it, you, beautiful, eyes of moonlight, me,” he frowned and shrugged, “questionable company, sitting in a cozy booth at a cafe judging the shit out of this guy's SWINDER account?” Baudelaire did a little chef kiss as he concluded, “Ugh, it’d be perfect.

Then because he can’t do anything seriously he laughed. However, he didn’t miss the touch of crimson adorning her ears. Curiously, it was the same way Ezra blushed when Dash was around if he recalled correctly.

With her permission he stepped in and went to work. Upon closer inspection he was relieved to see the cut wasn’t bad. “Face cuts can be serious bleeders,” he said calmly as he tended to the wound. “This might sting a bit, but it’ll stop you from getting one of these.” he said gesturing to the ruined criss cross of his cheek. He applied some bacta creme and finally finished it off with a simple bandage.

There good as new in like an hour there’ll be zero proof I let you get hurt,” he said with a playful clap on her shoulder. She tentatively reached up and felt the bandage.

Leon laughed at her surprise, “I know right, it’s weirdly shocking when I can do anything.

He felt an inquisitive eyebrow cock as she adjusted the shoulders of his blastvest. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she was considering something. He reigned his hormones in a second as he reminded himself of the multiple attacks they’d just survived. He was just about to make sure she was okay when she spoke.

Suddenly, Baudelaire's mouth was dry and his head was buzzing. What? WHAT! SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.

*old school dial-up screeches*

He blinked, halting the confusion stampeding across his face, and swallowed, “Cool… Coolcoolcool,” he managed, very aware that his reaction was anything but.

A few minutes later they were in the previously mentioned café, sharing a booth and waiting on their drink order. His datapad and the guys wallet were on the table, but the only thing he was interested in was her.


@Altaris
 

Jayna Thorne

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Jayna tilted her head ever-so-slightly, her lips tugging up at the hints of a smirk when Leon spoke. “Don’t sell yourself short,” She said simply, finishing up with his jacket. The Heiress didn’t miss the way that the Padawan practically did a computer reboot right in front of her - eyes going wide as saucers and words seeming to fall out of his mouth. There was something undeniably endearing to it all, and the Heiress had to keep the smile on her lips from spreading any wider as they stood there.

Somehow, it was easy to forget about the chaos and near-death experiences they’d just been through.

Unsurprisingly, Jayna was little conversation as they made their way to the cafe - slipping into the booth just opposite of Leon. When it came time to order, the quarter-Sephi didn’t hesitate to pester their server on the quality of caf being served. While her order was significantly more simplistic than her twin brother in terms of ingredients, Jayna had no shame in requesting some specialty blend of caf espresso beans, sourced from Garqi and freshly ground. A lemon scone was order to accompany her drink.

Despite their stated purpose, Jayna didn’t even bother glancing over at the Nalphone they nabbed - shockingly uninterested by browsing some random dudes Sprindr account. Instead, she passed over her card to the server, waiting for them to leave before her silvery gaze fell upon Leon.

“So,” She said, leaning forward a bit. “How’d you end up a Jedi?” Jayna asked after a moment. Normally the quarter-Sephi didn’t pry much into other peoples lives or dig for information, but she couldn’t really deny the sudden interest. “I know the way my brother joined wasn’t exactly common. The Order take you in as a baby?”


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Leon Baudelaire

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As the server left Leon asked, “Have you had any single origins from Dantooine?” it wasn’t often someone else knew about caf the way he did and based on her line of questioning with the server he could tell she at least knew what she liked. Where her order was elegant and refined, his was paired back, simple. He got a black iced coffee.

In all honesty, he was surprised she could eat after the limbs he’d sent rolling, but then again, Thorne’s were just built different.

With the server gone, Jayna’s attention swung back to Leon, and as it did he caught the look in her eye and decided to stay a while. It wasn’t often anyone asked him about his past. Hell in the time he’d lived with Ezra they’d never once discussed Leon’s life before the Jedi. And because that made him feel vulnerable he decided to make a joke of it.

Nah, I’m the sadder stereotype,” he said with a laugh while running a hand through his hair, “I’m from Adumar, my force sensitivity put my family in danger,” he puffed out his cheeks, “So, it was leave or be the reason someone I loved got hurt,” he finished with a shrug.

Of course, the situation hadn’t been that blasé. He’d been running for his life. His father’s identity had been revealed and life as he’d known it was crumbling around him as he was thrown into the back of a transport, but that’s just semantics right?

The server returned and placed their order on the table. He’d completely forgotten about the mission. He took a sip of his coffee, while wishing he was a lemon scone and asked, “When you're not training to take over the galaxy, what do you like to do?

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Jayna Thorne

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Jayna had to pause for a moment or two, silver eyes widening at the question. In truth, it wasn’t often that anyone could match the Heiress’ enthusiasm or knowledge of speciality Caf blends, and Leon would recognize at once that he’d struck gold. While it was one of the most widely available beverages in the Galaxy, the exclusivity and quality of some single origin beans caused the price to skyrocket, limiting supply to the more elite circles of the Galaxy. As a Thorne, Jayna had developed a taste for it.

“I haven’t,”
She said with almost a disappointed huff. “Imperial blockades and trade restrictions make it difficult to find - especially now,” Trying to get much of anything from Imperial space was difficult these days, even if the war between the Empire and Consortium had entered into something of a lull. “Some of the best came from Firrerre,” She said after a moment, nodding. “We have some of it kept in stasis to preserve the freshness. Usually it gets brought out during the holidays." Due to her Axxilan heritage, both of the twins had grown up with some cultural influences from Jaikus - traditional coffee brewing included.

The Heiress gradually glanced down to her scone - opting to go at it with fork and knife. She cut off a small corner of the lemon-flavored pastry, asking her question before taking a bite. In truth, the images of severed limbs and explosions still lingered at the forefront of Jayna’s mind, but she didn’t allow any of that to manifest at the surface. It was far easier to bury all of that down and compartmentalize. To remind herself that she’d lived through it successfully, and that was all that mattered.

She was silent for a while, nodding along as Leon told his story. Growing up, Jayna had been extremely close with her parents and twin - and frankly couldn’t imagine having to be separated forcefully from them. Jayna reached a hand across the table, laying it gently against Leon’s forearm. There were no words of sympathy or encouragement because the Heiress was frankly awful when it came to offering them. But it was a silent, supportive gesture that Leon would recognize.

“It is a full-time job,” Jayna said with a smirk, leaning back into her seat for a moment. It was no secret that politics were her passion, and the Heiress had grand plans for her own future. Outside of that, though? She pondered the question before speaking again. “Martial arts and music have always been my forte,” She said with a small shrug. “Piano, Violin.. I’ve been playing since I was a girl.” Most of her childhood had been filled with recitals, practices and the like. “Daddy ensured both me and Ezra were trained in Teras Kasi since the time we could walk. Kept up practice ever since.”
 

Leon Baudelaire

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Leon leaned forward, attention wrapped up in her moonlight eyes as she bemused the struggle of a refined Caf drinking.

Yeah, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want all the BS going on in the universe to be over, so I could drink amazing caf,” he admitted with a playful smirk.

I’d do a lot of questionable things for a cup of that caf,” he admitted absently giving her a coy smirk before taking a sip of his caf.

Leon felt her hand on his arm as he spoke. It was strange sharing the worst moment of his life with her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but when she didn’t add anything he didn’t keep talking. Leon was a talker, but he wasn’t much for sharing. So, he let the joke hang in between them and savored her touch for the briefest moment.

Jayna leaned back in her seat and Leon cursed his inability to freeze time. Luckily, the small smile he got before she started talking made it all better. Why did he feel this way? Normally, he was great around girls. Okay, great was a stretch, but normally he wasn’t this fucking nervous.

Oh, I’m sure,” he shot back with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. But of course, as he’d found at nearly every turn, Jayna once again surprised him.

Got it, Warrior Heiress, not just Heiress,” he teased, pretending to make a note in his NalPhone, before adding, “I’d love to hear you play sometime.

Baudelaire had always appreciated music. It was a huge part of the Downbelow’s culture on Adumar, and it wasn’t until this moment he realized how much he’d missed it. He made a mental note to put in a speaker system in his hideout on Ellora.

How’s your grappling game?” he asked, “Teras Kasi is great for striking, but I’ve always thought it was lacking in it’s ground game.

Before joining the Jedi, Leon had been a Blastsword Duelist, so his sword and saber work was always miles ahead of the class. His hand to hand and grappling had needed some work, but since his adventure and continued training on Ellora, Baudelaire had been honed into a dangerous kid. Even if he wasn’t aware of it.

It was only now that he realized she’d been eating a scone with a fork and knife, “You don’t relax that much do you?” he asked with a chuckle, "I promise I won't tell anyone if you eat that normally."

Ezra was terrible at sitting still. He was always working on something, it drove Leon nuts because he was normally dragged into whatever it was, but seeing it in both siblings made him wonder if it was part of their training, then again they were each a quarter-selphi, so maybe it was a cultural thing?

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Jayna Thorne

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Jayna tilted her head a bit, offering Leon a sideways smirk. “That makes two of us,” She said in response, rather agreeing with his statement about doing questionable things for quality Caf. Of the many things - because there was quite a bit - that the Heiress was something of a snob about, good Caf was one of them.

“Maybe if we survive the rest of this mission,” She said in response to his comment about her music.

Her brow raised when Leon asked about her martial arts abilities - piquing her interest at once. “Not as good as my striking and footwork,” She said with a small shrug. “I’ve tried to pick up on some Echani techniques to supplement where Teras Kasi lacks.” She said. “Got a gym back on my ship where I do most of my sparring.”

“So what about - what do you like to do for fun?”
She said between another neatly forked bite of her scone. “When you aren’t playing Jedi savior, I mean.” The Heiress still wasn’t entirely sold on the Jedi as an organization or their altruistic adventures through the Galaxy, even if her brother had softened her to the concept. Somehow it was incredibly endearing on Leon.
 
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Leon Baudelaire

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I’ll have to remember that,” he said, smile shifting to flirtatious, as he began to grow comfortable in her presence.

Oh, now you’re just being a tease,” he replied with a chuckle. He did take notice of her phrasing and a pang of guilt spread through him. He was supposed to be on a mission figuring out who was ruining the local populace’s lives. Instead he was flirting with his best friend’s sister. He sat up a little straighter, deciding as much as he hated to, he needed to get back to work sooner rather than later, but for just a moment longer he’d indulge himself and enjoy her company.

Jayna’s expression lit up just like it had when he’d brought up Caf. It was fascinating hearing her discuss the finer points of martial combat. He loved nerding out about it, and knowing that was something they both shared gave him a terrible case of the warm and fuzzies.

Leon clucked his tongue chidefully, “Echani? That’s like Teras Kasi’s cousin. You gotta get out of the mainstream and into some deep water,” he said watching her lift the fork to her lips and, for the second time today, wished he was suddenly cutlery.

You heard of Nogri Juijitsu?” he asked, matching her interest. “I’d be happy to show you some of their foundational stuff, if you’re interested,” his smirk reclaimed it’s mischievous air as he tipped his cup back finishing his coffee, “As long as you promise to go easy on me.

It was clear Jayna wasn’t sold on the Jedi. In her defense her brother was a member of the order, and he wasn’t sold on the Jedi. “I’ve always had a hard time sitting still,” he chuckled adding “Hard to believe, right?” before actually answering her question, “I’m huge on hiking right now, I’ve been hitting this old trail across a set of mountain’s on Ellora,” he did a little chef kiss, “It’s been awesome,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “Oh, I skimboard a lot when I’m stuck on Ithor—” his NalPhone buzzed and it nearly stopped his heart.

He only had three friends, well, four if you counted Komie, but no one ever reached out. He glanced at the screen and sighed. It was Hera. He’d forgotten about his new master. The text gave him a time, he looked at the clock then frowned, this had to be for tomorrow. Then he read the rest of the message and his heart finished sinking. He’d been re-assigned. He looked into her moonlight eyes and basked in their glow.

Looks like my time is up,” he flashed her a mournful smile then quickly jotted his number down and slid it to her, “You didn’t ask, but I know you wanted to,” he winked, swiping the goon's stuff from the table and giving her a little two finger salute before sliding out of the booth.

A moment later the server would return to the table, “Here’s your card back ma’am, the guy who just left picked up your tab.

/exit thread

 
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