Ask Let's Get Down to Business

[Auryn Angharad]

Walking down the corridor of the new temple over Ithor, Auryn thought about how much he didn't like floating Ithorian bullshit. It constantly smelled like a gross combination of flowers, leaves, recycled air, and machine lubricant. The Firrerreon liked Yavin IV's jungles better. Although the view of space was kinda nice. He grumbled to himself and took out a piece of gum to chew on.

Auryn was probably an odd sight walking into the classroom. A black sweater with rolled-up sleeves to stave off the cold of space, grey sweatpants with pockets, cheap flip-flops, and his lightsaber stuck on a magnetic holder clipped to his waistband. Most obviously striking was his mane of hair that shone like spun gold under any amount of direct light and a scar on his chin. Padawans about ran the gamut of fancy, colorful, and basic based on personal taste and how they felt about traditional robes.

He wasn't even the only one who looked like he'd just gotten out of bed. Up at the front was a middle-aged woman with graying hair seated in a meditative position. "Think she's dead?" "No way!" two Padawans traded in a stage whisper. The master at the front hadn't appeared to move or even breathe since people began filing in. Auryn trudged over to an empty bit of floor cushion, flopped down on it, and leaned his scarred chin against his hand. Still sleepy.

Like some kind of spring-loaded alarm clock, the moment it was time for class the Jedi Master up front came back to life and stood to full height, startling a couple of padawans nearby. "Welcome to class, everyone," she began in a cheerful, almost sing-song voice. Oh no. "Today we'll be working on some practical lightsaber forms." Okay, not bad. "We have some new faces today, so we'll be pairing them off with some who've been here a while!" Fuck.

Their teacher started listing off names, eventually getting to, "Padawan Thorne, you'll be with Padawan Angharad. Why don't you show him where the training hilts are?" Auryn straightened up, ignoring entirely the envious look his seat neighbor was giving him while turning to find Ezra. He stood and walked on over, fingers running through his hair to get it out of his face. Auryn offered a lazy handshake and chin nod.

"Hey, I'm Auryn. Done stuff like this before?"

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Not only was Ezra sleepy, but he was actually asleep. He was conveniently seated propped up against a wall in the back. At some point, his shades fell over his eyes and his chin was tucked towards his chest. He worked around the clock thanks to private school distance learning, Jedi teachings, and also the Emryc Thorne routine. Between that and missions, he was constantly short of sleep.

He was entirely oblivious to the other Padawans muttering about their teacher or the girls that kept trying to catch his attention. However, when the teacher called his name, his sensitive ears twitched the slightest bit and he groggily came to. Ezra removed his shades, rubbing his eyes and looking up to find a dude extending his hand to him. Damn, he was cute. However, Ezra’s gaze flicked down to his hand.

After a moment, he awkwardly extended his own, assuming the padawan meant to shake his hand. He only vaguely heard the introduction or what he was supposed to be doing, getting up from where he sat. Ezra confidently walked for a few steps until the Master wasn’t paying attention. That was when he looked at the other guy, “What am I doing, exactly?” He asked flatly, not having paid attention to a single bit of dialogue until then.

“OKAY! Is everyone ready?!”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Oh so Ezra wasn't just nonchalantly trying to look cool by leaning against the wall, he'd been totally asleep. The part-Sephi boy was pretty cute tired. Or maybe it was the slight ear movement. Auryn shook hands anyway, smirking amusedly as carried on as if he hadn't noticed. The Firrerreon boy's grip was solid despite how little effort he put forward into the handshake, skin calloused but cared for.

They'd only made it a few steps toward the training saber locker before the illusion broke, resulting in another smirk. "You're gettin' a trainin' laser stick," he answered, voice having only a slight accent but not bothering to properly finish his words. Auryn popped the case open to reveal a collection of plain-looking saber hilts. He waved his arm sarcastically toward the hilts with an expression to match.

"Ta-dah," he said flatly before handing a training saber over. "Gimme a sec," Auryn continued toward the teacher, projecting his voice louder without actually yelling when she asked if people were ready with a level that cheer that should be illegal this early in the morning. She gave him a stern look. "S'your first time in her class so I'm your trainin' partner. Ask me stuff at will." Auryn idly chewed his gum for a moment, only not blowing a bubble because the teacher was still looking in his direction.

It wasn't likely his lackadaisical attitude gave new people confidence in how helpful he'd be, although some of the non-new students were eyeing the pair and muttering something about "Sunny". On their way back to the open center of the room where different pairs were spreading out he asked, "You ever fight before? Sticks or anythin''?"

Meanwhile, showing a Jedi's patience, the teacher waited until they'd joined the others before beginning to explain Form 1, Shii-Cho, to the class.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra used the Force to tug the training saber to his hand. It was a nifty trick he did whenever possible, always marveling at the Force. He had never been able to use it openly in the past, and he found every excuse to use it now. Plus the bar was low for Ezra Thorne doing Force tricks and impressing people around him. He twirled the hilt in his hand before he walked over to stand across from…shit, what was his name?

He didn’t have anything to ask him, so he simply shrugged vaguely. Ezra had walked through the routines in his textbook. He was about certain topics, but he did pick up things quickly.

“Begin!”

Ezra drew up the practice saber, swinging it horizontally towards the blond. It was a basic move, but so were most of the moves in Form I. The quarter Sephi pivoted on his foot to end up near the guy’s left flank, “You’ve always been a Jedi?” He asked his first question.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Auryn gave the little Force pull an interested look. Not many newbies could do that while also avoiding looking constipated. The bar was low indeed. Across from sleeping beauty- get it, thorn?- the Firrerreon boy unclipped his hilt, made sure it was twisted to training mode, and snapped the green blade on.

Moving his gum into a cheek so he wouldn't choke on it, he held his blade two-handed in front of him. Auryn's stepped back and rotated to maintain distance and facing, saber snapping down onto Ezra's horizontal swing to deflect it away. "Pretty much. Since I was little," he answered, his eyes locked somewhere on the quarter-Sephi's chest.

Keeping to basics, he followed up with a diagonal upward swing while stepping straight toward Ezra, the blade providing a decent obstacle even while swinging. Straightforward and plodding, typical form one. "Footwork's good. You dance?" He'd almost asked the same 'how long' sorta question. Kinda hard to forget the media and droids around Ezra's arrival, though.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was envious of Jedi that had been at this their entire lives. They never had to go through years of hiding it or thinking there was something seriously wrong with them. He couldn’t imagine what it was like just growing up knowing this was all normal.

As the upward strike came, Ezra did a counterclockwise arc, pivoting yet again and sliding the end of the training saber to point right under the other teen’s chin. He was caught off guard by the question, slight surprise giving way to amusement in his eyes, “No, should I?” Ezra took his one point, tossing the training saber hilt to his right hand this time. He had never paid much attention to his footwork except for the times he trained in Teras Kasi with Pops. He wondered if some of that became second nature to him.

The teacher was blabbering something about disarming, so Ezra went for another strike. This was a vertical slash down and the blond would have to disarm him.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Auryn's eyebrows rose with a slight frown as his upward strike met the thrust too late, Ezra's saber positioned just beneath his chin. Curiouser and curiouser; that wasn't Shii-Cho basics. "Good move." It kinda resembled what many considered its natural counter in form two, Makashi. Especially with that one-handed grip and switching hands between practice forms. This guy been studying on his own or just smart when it came to this stuff?

Gold eyes glittered as they took position again and his question was answered, swapping his two-handed grip to left-hand forward with a wide-legged stance. "Might consider it. Y'didn't even trip," he teased. As if on cue, one of the others nearly tripped over their own feet because they were staring at Ezra's-

But then the teacher mentioned disarming. As Ezra swung, Auryn made eye contact and flashed him a brief, lazy smile. All bright, sunny, and disarmingly charming, overhead lights conveniently turning his blonde hair into a halo of woven gold. Taking a slight step back, his lightsaber caught Ezra's at a diagonal angle and whipped it in a sharp circle with the leverage two hands gave him. This would end with the quarter-Sephi's hilt pulled from his grasp to slap into the cushioned floor and Auryn's blade positioned directly beneath his chin as he stepped closer in.

"Grip's too loose for one-handed stuff," he commented, right before reaching over to abruptly pull Ezra about a foot closer by his shoulder. A hilt sailed past where Ezra'd been standing and Auryn scowled over to where it'd come from. "Not that bad though- Hey, careful will ya?" Another pair shot them sheepish looks and the teacher went over to, well, teach.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was feeling pretty confident in his abilities. He had done a lot of reading and, really, how hard could this be? He was proven wrong as the blond guy casually sent his training saber flying. Ezra had the point of a blade under his own chin, just as he had done to him prior. He didn’t look down at the saber, his lips tugging at a half grin as he looked back at Blondie.

“Know it all..” He muttered quietly right before Blondie yanked him towards himself. He was vaguely aware of a hilt sailing right behind him. Ezra was close enough to catch the glint of fangs when Blondie talked. His brows rose slightly as his mind rifled through what he was. He knew this - his father had done an entire refugee thing for them. Oh yeah! Firerreroeeoeo or whatever. There weren’t that many in the galaxy and they were almost extinct.

Ezra realized he was rudely staring and he quickly stepped back, using the Force to call his training blade back to himself. He circled around Blondie, “You ever fight a Sith?” He asked curiously.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

"Only for like, three things," Auryn shot back with a smirk, clearly hearing the quarter-Sephi's commentary. "Takes practice; lightsabers are weird." It wasn't subtle how weird they were, either. How heavy the blade was depended on a wielder's will and 'heart' for lack of a better term, wielded with the spirit and will more than the arm. Any random person picking one up would be better served swinging a baseball bat.

He either hadn't noticed the staring or didn't mind it, moving back to take a standard Jedi Ready position. Left foot forward, hilt held close at around waist height. Auryn seemed relaxed in easy in his position right up until Ezra asked about fighting Sith. The muscles of his jaw and around his eyes tensed, fingers tightening around his weapon.

"Just once. Yavin," he answered tightly in a stressed tone, now actively chewing his gum. For a moment his skin looked almost... paler, than normal? It'd take a blind person not to see the memory was unpleasant. A nearby sparring pair near them gave Auryn and Ezra side-eye.

The Firrerreon's vertical swing for Ezra to disarm him unintentionally had a tighter grip and more strength behind it than necessary.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Clearly Ezra touched a nerve with that question, and he didn’t bother asking any follow ups. As Blondie charged in with his attack, Ezra noticed it was a bit aggressive. However, he wasn’t exactly a pushover. He brought his training blade up in a block, but he slid his saber in close towards Blondie’s hilt, putting his weight into the maneuver to yank it right out of his grip. The saber went flying, conking a fellow student over the head. Ezra only shrugged when the girl glared at him, using the Force to call the blade back to his hand.

Ezra said nothing else, quietly handing the saber back to the other guy. The rest of the lesson was largely uneventful with everyone practicing simple and basic moves. He couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to hold a real saber.

When class was dismissed, Ezra exhaled and walked over to grab his things, not looking forward to the terrible cafeteria food.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Nothing about being disarmed seemed to improve Auryn's newest mood, although now there was a smidge of guilt in there for much of the class. His greatest challenge for the longest time was the classic Firrerreon temperament, where stress generally translated into anger or frustration. This struggle was immensely frustrating, which didn't help at all.

"My bad," he shot irritably to the annoyed girl, apparently not aware of his own hypocrisy around flying hilts. Or maybe he was taking the blame away from Ezra. Could be both. Regardless, things moved along without further incident until the class ended. Auryn grumpily clipped his saber back onto his belt and trudged to the door.

Rubbing his temples, he took a deep breath and walked back in to find Ezra getting his stuff. Auryn planted himself in front of the taller Padawan, hands stuffed in his sweatpants pockets. "You like burgers?" he asked seemingly out of nowhere. "'Cause there's good burgers at Meatlord Joe's."

In truth, he felt kinda bad about swinging that hard and generally being irritable with the new guy for what was probably a regular-ass question. Auryn just didn't like thinking about the answer.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was spacing out and thinking about when he could squeeze in a nap when Blondie abruptly appeared in front of him. He practically ran into the other boy, eyes widening a bit. He really needed to stop zoning out so easily… it was one of those habits he unwittingly picked up from Pops. Meatlord Joe’s? What an unsavory name.

“Uh sure,” He said with a vague shrug. Anything sounded better than cafeteria food. Ezra tossed his bag over a shoulder and followed the guy out of class, “So I didn’t actually catch your name,” He finally admitted. If he was going to hang out with the guy, it was going to be embarrassing to refer to him as ‘hey you’ the entire time.

Blondie was a nice change of pace from the people that tried to use any excuse to get to know him, but really it was wanting to know his Pops. Having a father that was a galactic celebrity was exhausting.

“One of these days I’m gonna sneak down into the Mommy Jungle,” Ezra declared, cracking his shoulders as they walked. The Padawans all buzzed about it and it carried intrigue since no one was allowed. Naturally, this meant Ezra would make it a mission to find a way in.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Auryn chewed his gum quietly for a moment after Sleeping Beauty admitted not getting his name, fingers combing through his chaotic hair. "Threw it too quick for ya, naplord?" he joked, then shrugged. "Name's Auryn Angharad." Few Firrerreo still followed that old name-giving superstition. Also many weren't... well, alive. Hrm, unwelcome thoughts.

The Firrerreon strode along the cool, bad-smelling hallway with a casual air, the pair of padawans moving distinctly opposite most of the others. Some wall holo nearby played a galactic news station that Auryn appeared to blatantly ignore. He didn't like watching that sensationalist stuff and usually just read what news he paid attention to. It was unhealthy for him to pay too much personal attention.

As for Ezra, his surname and the fanfare around his arrival kind of gave away the celebrity/politician heritage. Auryn just didn't give much of a damn. Most people willing to be Jedi had some good in them, even if they weren't all especially clever. It wasn't the life of people happy with how things were, that's for sure.

He snorted, a sound from him halfway between a laugh and snarl, though the grin gave it away as finding something funny. "'Mommy Jungle'? Hopin' for a dryad welcomin' party?" Auryn lead them down a separate hallway that opened up into what was, essentially, a strip mall in space. "There's gotta be ways down there. Ithorians sometimes complain 'bout poachers."

The scent of frying burgers wafted over them, replacing the otherwise gross air smell. Auryn suddenly found some semblance of energy and started speed-walking toward the source: Meatlord Joe's, home of the Meat Tornado. Meatlord Joe was actually an Ithorian, to the surprise of almost everybody who ever went there.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Naplord? That was a new one and a reminder that he had been completely out cold in the classroom. He would have to remember all the theoretical lessons taught because he was sure there would be a quiz.

He looked over at Auryn, feeling slightly alarmed, when he heard that almost animalistic laugh. He caught a glint of those fangs again. Ezra shrugged vaguely at the question, “Beats one of Oola’s lessons,” He muttered. Master Oola was infamous for his boring sacred text lectures and meditation classes. Almost all padawans fell asleep at some point during his lessons.

Ezra’s brows rose when he realized Meatlord Joe was an Ithorian. He knew by now that it was an entirely pacifist race, which made one running a burger joint very suspicious, “I bet this is some tofu junk,” He declared as he walked into the diner. Since Auryn was a Firrerreo, this would be especially hilarious.

He decided on a double bantha burger, sitting at a table across from Auryn. One bite and he was hooked, eyes widening in surprise. The other Padawan would notice that Ezra used napkins to hold the burger, not keen on getting any of it on his fingers, “This is the best vegan burger I’ve had,” He said, genuinely impressed.

Ezra was already plotting ways to go down to the forest, but he needed to get a vibe check off Auryn first. What if he was like a Vand, or worse, a Lia? He couldn’t handle an overly talkative companion for a rule-breaking mission.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Ezra got himself a look from Auryn. "S'got 'meat' in the name," he said like that explained everything. Obviously, Joe was Meatlord and, thus, served the meats he was lord of. Duh. The Firrerreon ordered a triple burger with cheese and started chowing down when it got there, eating quickly with little napkin involvement. How it only got on his hands and nowhere else was either luck or skill.

Auryn stared across the compact diner table when Ezra called the burger 'vegan'. After a moment he glared down at his already half-eaten burger as if it'd done him some personal betrayal. His chewing stopped, squinting at it. He chewed slowly once. Then twice.

Shrugging, he kept eating, washing it down with water. "Tastes like meat. Close enough." There was a pause. "Fuck is 'tofu'?" Swooping over with a surprising amount of grace considering their size and weight, a stocky Ithorian with MEATLORD across his apron chimed in through a throat-bound translator that was clearly set to 'cowboy'.

"Why, only one of the greatest meat alternatives this side of the galaxy. We mix tofu, a native Ithorian fruit, and mushrooms." Auryn turned suspiciously toward the MEATLORD, swallowing a mouthful. "Got meat stuff in it? Protein and whatever." "Sure does!" The Firrerreon kept eating.

"Good to hear ya like it!" Joe directed toward Ezra. "Could I interest you folks in some Meatlord Supreme Power Smoothie?"

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra silently marveled at Auryn as he devoured his burger like an animal. There was a morbid curiosity, his own food left untouched, as he watched the display. It was almost animalistic, and those sharp fangs quickly got to work. Ezra blinked in surprise, glancing down at his own burger before he continued to take small, polite bites.

On top of that, Auryn gleefully talked with a mouthful of food. What kind of planet was Firrerre? Were all Firrerreo like this? Ezra was horrified and fascinated at once. Meatloaf Joe materialized out of nowhere to give them a small lesson about tofu. Ezra shrugged at the question of a smoothie, “Why not..”

The food was exceptional, and he was beginning to see why his Pops could live off a vegan diet. The smoothie, on the other hand, was disgusting. He took one sip and almost gagged. Ezra passed his off to Auryn in case he wanted to chug a second one.

It wasn’t long before they were done and Ezra wanted nothing more than to take a nap. Perhaps Auryn being practically feral meant he could navigate great around the wilderness. An idea began to pop into his mind, and he dropped enough crowns to pay for them both.

“Let’s find a way down to the jungle,” Ezra said quietly, well out of earshot of Meatlord Joe. He worried if the Ithorian overheard, meat actually would be on the menu.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Auryn either didn't notice or didn't mind Ezra's staring, leaving the other padawan to his comparatively restrained eating habits. The smoothie was weird, the Firrerreon making an indiscernible face of confusion at it. He still inhaled the ominously green drink though, despite apparent dislike. He also drank the second one Ezra passed off to him without complaint. By all appearances, his stomach was bottomless.

Golden eyes rose to meet silver, an eyebrow raising. "Y'didn't have to pay. But... thanks." He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat and cleaned his hands on a small collection of napkins. When Ezra started whispering he leaned slightly closer over the table, brows dropping slightly. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Then he smirked. "Bribin' the tour guide? Naughty." A finger flicked his empty plate. "They ship stuff to and from, gotta be a way," he continued on from his joke with matching quiet. Somewhere in the background, Meatlord Joe was at work in the kitchen. Jerking his head, Auryn stood from his seat and stretched, then popped a fresh piece of gum into his mouth. He offered a piece to Ezra. It was sour apple flavor.

"Check out the hangar?" Unless there was some other bright idea, that's where he'd guide them next.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra took the proffered gum, regretting it almost immediately as he grimaced at the taste. However, it began to grow on him and he decided he didn’t mind it. He gave a jut of his chin for Auryn to lead the way to the hangar. He thought that was too obvious, but surely the Firrerreo had some sort of plan.

The hangar was largely empty, most of the ships old and janky. Ezra, an engineering snob, found it all absolutely revolting. He was still not allowed to bring his own ship or vehicles on campus. The part Sephi was moodily inspecting the thrusters on a janky airspeeder when he remembered why they arrived here.

“What’s your plan?” He asked Auryn, his gaze flicking past the Firrerreo towards a droid that was overseeing operations in the hangar.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Auryn Angharad]

Auryn preferred the hangar smell to much of the station. Strong motor oil, rust, and burnt ozone, but without flowers and plants making it all weird. Walking slowly and casually, he meandered into the open space with the air of a bored teenager seeing what was what. While Ezra examined the speeder, Auryn stared at... Well, nothing obvious in particular, by all appearances just spacing out.

"Hm? Oh yeah. Gonna ask 'bout fruit. Look around for Ithor shipping crates." And with that flawless explanation he strode toward the droid. It might have been unsettling how quickly his footsteps stopped making sound. Auryn stopped behind the droid, looking over it's shoulder at its datapad for a couple seconds before making a small ahem sound. The droid jumped a little and spun around to find Auryn's grinning face. "Mr. Angharad, I must insist you stop doing that! And no, there are still no bacon imports-" "Nah, nah, I like vegetables now-" "What." "-and I was just at Meatlord Joe's, right? Was this patty thing with some native fruit he said, was wondering what fruit and from where."

The droid let out an electronic sigh. "Knowin' where food comes from is important, so can y'tell me where it's from? Company or whatever." "All questions-" "C'mon man-" "-Must be-" "-takes ages-" "Fine, what did the fruit look like?" Auryn just shrugged. "Like a cheeseburger." The droid stared, possibly having 404'd on a response to that. It was hard to tell what Auryn was actually doing or whether or not it was working, but it left Ezra free to do... something else.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra stared blankly as Auryn struck up a conversation with the droid. It was so random that even the part Sephi was momentarily distracted. Quickly realizing the ploy, he shuffled away and began to inspect the various airspeeders and ships parked around. Naturally, he was a snob about these things, so Auryn would have to really up his stalling skills.

He was giving up hope when he was suddenly struck by an idea. Upon hearing Auryn ramble about Meatlord Joe a few times, Ezra walked till he found a familiar insignia on one of the parked ships. It definitely belonged to Meatlord Joe, and Joe was definitely an ithorian. This meant it would be easier to sneak down to surface in his ship than in anything else. Ezra gestured with his hands to Auryn to keep stalling as he climbed into the ship to slice into it.

“You are simply wasting my time,” The droid stated flatly, “I must return to my duties at once and I suggest you return to your classes,” With that it began to shuffle off.

There was a hum of a ship coming to life as Ezra got it working. The droid paused and slowly began to turn to look. Auryn would only have a small moment to improvise and find his way on the ship.

@Mr. Teatime