Ask Model Citizens

[Zana Ari]

Zana was still attempting to salvage the droid so she didn’t notice Thelian rushing into the cockpit. After a few seconds, she began to hear some beeps and alarms. Her eyes went wide as she snapped to attention, scrambling to her feet. It was then that she realized that Thelian was randomly pressing buttons on the pilot terminal.

“THELIAN NO!” She screeched at the top of her lungs. Zana burst into the cockpit, panicking. She didn’t have time to move Thelian out of the chair he was in and plopped right down on his lap, thwacking him in the face with her lekku as she moved to take control.

“I can fix this I can fix this I can fix this,” She chanted in complete panic as the alarms continued to blare. She punched a few buttons, pulled a few levers. For a second it appeared as if her efforts were working. However, she began to notice the stars beginning to smear and blur in a very familiar way.

“Oh NOOOOOOOOO!” She yelled as her body jerked back against Thelian as the ship lurched forward and jumped into hyperspace. Zana barely managed to stop from bashing her face in by catching her palms on the front panel. The twi’lek slowly looked up after a moment, staring at the vortex of space.

Zana could only gawk for several seconds before she finally realized her position. She quickly popped up to her feet and off Thelian’s lap. However, her thoughts were elsewhere entirely as she stared at the vortex. She blinked a few times in stunned silence.

And then the tears began to flow.

“OH MY GOODDD!” She cried out in anguish, “WE ARE SO FUCKED!” Zana didn’t even care what Thelian thought of her display. He could go fuck himself too. She was in hysterics, tears pouring down her face as the gravity of their situation began to sink in. They were careening through hyperspace towards Force knew where. They could very well end up stranded and die.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Okay, so maybe things weren’t going according to plan. But then again, had anything necessarily gone according to plan so far? Did they have a plan to go by? No, the answer to that question was a solid no. At no point, at all, whatsoever, did they have a plan – other than a vague, half-baked idea of where they were going.

As such, Thelian really didn’t see a problem with what he was doing. Zana was failing with the droid, they were about to jump into hyperspace, and doing something was better than nothing, right?

Right?

Thelian was brought out of his thoughts and mindless button-pressing when Zana abruptly screamed at the top of his lungs, fingers hovering inches from a new, very shiny button – very much looking like a child that had got caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. The Echani couldn’t help but go wide eyed when the twi’lek abruptly jumped into his lap, one of her lekku smacking into the side of his head.

The Echani stared at the back of Zana’s head, largely oblivious to whatever the twi’lek was doing in her panic. There was an immensely awkward expression on the Echani’s face at that moment, suddenly feeling the need to clear his throat a few times for precisely no reason. His attention, nevertheless, was drawn to the scene in front of them, watching as the stars began to blur and smear across the horizon.

“Oh fuuuuUUUUUUCCCCKKKK.” The ship suddenly lurched forward, gluing the Echani to his seat. His arms went to grip the armrests for dear life, trying to avoid thinking about the twi’lek plastered to his lap. After a few moments, Thelian once more peeked his head around Zana, staring at the swirling vortex of hyperspace. That couldn’t be good.

Even after Zana quickly popped back to her feet, Thelian remained plastered to the pilot’s chair – that awkward look still left on his face. Despite their exceptionally poor situation, it was clear that his thoughts were in a different place all together.

He blinked a few times, finally glancing towards Zana as she cried out in anguish. Either the gravity of the situation hadn’t quite sunk in yet, or the Echani was exceptionally good about hiding his fear of impeding doom. Probably the former. He was silent for a few moments, chewing on his bottom lip before he finally spoke – offering the most comforting words Zana had ever heard from the Echani thus far.

“Maybe we’ll be fine.”

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was too absorbed in her own hysterics to notice the predicament she had put the Echani in. In fact, she didn’t even notice anything off in terms of his body language and discomfort as she plopped down on his lap. The twi’lek’s face was full of emotion and she outright sobbed as she imagined a billion scenarios that ended with them stalled in space. They were going to jump out into some unknown region of space with nothing in it. There was no telling when they would even jump out of hyperspace. She wasn’t confident enough to attempt popping out without vaporizing them.

When Thelian spoke, Zana stopped her crying. She took a few shuddering breaths, wiping her face of the snot and tears that had accumulated there. Her golden eyes narrowed at him. She blinked at him a few times, took a deep breath and...

“NO WE WON’T BE FINE!” She bellowed, “DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? WE COULD BE IN HYPERSPACE FOR DAYS, WEEKS, OR LONGER! WE COULD STARVE ON THIS SHIP OR JUMP OUT AT ANY POINT INTO UNKNOWN SPACE! WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE’RE GOING OR HOW LONG IT’LL TAKE TO GET THERE! WE’RE GOING TO SLOWLY DIE!”

Zana took a few sharp breaths, feeling infinitely better after her explosion. She began to pace back and forth, idly fiddling with her lekku, “Okay okay..” She continued to pace, “We learned about this in Spacefaring 101. Okay so we need to check our food rations and oxygen levels. We have to double check the escape pods-” The twi’lek glanced over at him, scowling, “Why are you sitting so funny?”

She didn’t bother waiting for an answer, shaking her head and walking over to a panel to the side. She opened it and lit up when she spotted a datapad of the standard issue technical manual for the ship. Zana switched it on, walking over to plop down in the co-pilot seat, “Can you go report on how much ration we have?” She wanted to know how long before it was high time to panic.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of relief that Zana was, apparently, oblivious to his predicament. Even through the literal emergency unfolding all around them, the Echani’s mind seemed to wander to different places of its own volition – and combined with the shuffling in his lap - had succeeded in making things significantly more awkward for Thelian.

The moment Zana was out of his lap, Thelian made a point to adjust the way he was sitting in the pilots chair – attempting to make things a bit less obvious. He offered his half-baked attempts at words of comfort, and he could already tell he had made a grave mistake.

Nevertheless, the Echani was completely silent when Zana proceeded to have an entire meltdown – screaming in his face about their impending doom. His face returned to its usual deadpan expression, silver eyes fixating dispassionately upon the twi’lek until the moment she stopped screaming.

“Feel better?” He commented dryly, eyes lingering for a few moments when she started fiddling with her lekku – half listening as she began to rattle on about what they were supposed to do in this situation. Thelian, by contrast, hadn’t given their comically terrible situation any thought. There wasn’t much they could do at this point, and be pointedly didn’t linger upon the possibilities.

Silver eyes couldn’t help but go exceptionally wide when Zana made her comment about his sitting posture, staring at her silently. There was a sudden flush of red against his cheeks, and the Echani once more felt the need to clear his throat more than once. Once more, he couldn’t help but be exceptionally grateful that she moved on instead of waiting for an answer.

The moment Zana’s back was turned, Thelian spun around in the pilot’s chair – keeping his back turned to the twi’lek as he quickly shuffled from the cockpit. He was already passing the doorframe when Zana made her request for him to check the food rations.

“Got it.” He replied flatly. With that, the Echani quickly disappeared down the hall – making his way towards the kitchen and then storage compartment of the ship to check their rations. Thelian wouldn’t return until several minutes later, taking his time while checking supplies for things to calm down a bit.

He strode back into the cockpit, plopping back down in the pilots chair. “We have enough food and water for four days. Maaaayyybee five.” He said flatly, slowly starting to drum his fingers against the arm chest of the chair. “Anything useful?” He gestured to the technical manual.

Even as he asked the question, Thelian was almost positive that the answer was a definitive ‘no’.

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was completely engrossed in the tech manual and largely oblivious to Thelian taking his sweet time checking for rations. The twi’lek was a geek at heart and this was new knowledge for her to devour. By the time Thelian returned, she was poring over the datapad and had her own datapad out to jot down notes and make some calculations. She was silent when he made his report, but she did write it down.

When he asked if she found anything useful, her face lit up. Zana glanced at him, “Okay so from what I read-” And she launched into a very long, boring rant about what she had read about the specs of the ship. For some reason, she rambled about how to pilot it and her own excitement on how Imperial ships differed from the ones in the Yavin bay. After a few minutes, she circled the conversation back around, “So in short this ship will spit us out in two days just based on preventative protocol for situations like these. Based on my calculations....ummm these are the vague coordinates,” She pointed to them on her datapad where she had hastily written it in atrocious handwriting, “I’m not sure what planet or anything like that, but it should be close enough to Alliance territory to where we might not be completely stranded.”

Zana exhaled, looking back at the terminal. On top of that, the fact that they had stopped at a refueling station meant the ship was set to go far. The twi’lek finally began to relax, easing into her seat for a moment and staring off at nothing. After a few seconds ticked by, she finally rose to stand, “I’m going to go snoop in the crew quarters!” She announced almost cheerfully.

Zana paused briefly at the cockpit doorway before glancing at Thelian, “Um…” She chewed on her lip awkwardly for a second, “Will you please take a shower?” She wasn’t even sure the last time he had done so.

With that, the twi’lek disappeared from the cockpit. The two had no real choice but to kill time while the ship hurtled through space. Regardless of what Thelian did, by the time he found himself over to the common area, he would come across Zana already there. She had changed into different clothes, a tanktop and some fuzzy pajama pants. The twi’lek was eagerly watching a dramatic reality Holo show, her eyes glued to the screen. She even had a bowl of snacks with her, clearly having no qualms with breaking into the rations already.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian stared at Zana when the twi’lek suddenly went off on an exceptionally boring rant - silver eyes practically glazing over. It wasn’t for lack of interest - as for once, the Echani was actually giving his full attention to what the twi’lek was saying - but most what she was saying was almost entirely lost on the Echani. Thelian quite simply had never been an academic, and the complex and minute details all seemed to go right over his head.

To his credit, though, Thelian never made any moves to interrupt her - instead allowing the twi’lek to completely finish her several-minute long spiel before he finally interjected - filling the void of silence.

“So,” He finally said, deep voice cutting in dryly. “What you’re saying is, we’re not going to die some horrendous death in the far reaches of space?” The Echani couldn’t help the smugness that seeped into his tone, poking fun at the twi’lek’s earlier outburst and jumping to the worst scenarios. Truth be told, the Echani was immensely relieved by the news, even if he remained as cool as a cucumber the entire time.

He couldn’t help the smirk that started to tug at the corners of his mouth just then, shaking his head slightly as he sunk deeper into his chair. Silver eyes followed Zana as she abruptly rose from her seat. “Alright,” The Echani slowly started to rise from his seat, pausing only when the twi’lek made her final request.

The Echani couldn’t help but stare at the girl, blinking a few times. He was well-aware that he was grimy, and Zana had pointed out his filth prior to now. He fully expected her to make some snide comment about his poor hygiene, only to be completely thrown off-guard by the comparatively sweet way she phrased the request.

“Oh, uh.. Yeah sure.” He muttered, lifting a hand to awkwardly rub the back of his neck. With that, Thelian finally exitted the cockpit - making his way towards the refresher while Zana scoped out the crew quarters.

Several minutes would pass before Thelian resurfaced into the common area - taking his time to shower and get dressed. All the dirt and grime had been washed from the Echai’s pale skin, leaving him smelling fresh and clean. His snowy-white hair was still spiky and damp from the shower, the excess water jostled away with the towel. Discarding his gym clothes into a pile in the refresher, the Echani had changed into a pair of sweatpants and snug-fitting tanktop.

If Zana were paying attention, the twi’lek would be able see the spider-web scars that just barely extended past his tanktop on the left side of his torso - reaching out towards his shoulder.

Thelian made his way towards the couch where Zana was sitting, plopping down beside the twi’lek without a second thought. Almost at once, the Echani crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes slightly on the HoloScreen.

“The hell are you watching?”

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was fully enthralled by the show and didn’t notice Thelian walking in at first. She finally glanced over as he moved closer to the couch and her eyes widened slightly. The twi’lek honestly hadn't him seen look so clean before, and she caught herself staring a bit. On top of that the new tank, that he clearly stole, revealed a bit more of his defined chest and biceps. And his white hair looked adorable and fluffy. Zana promptly looked back at the screen before her face could cycle through the shades of the rainbow.

She thought he was going to walk right past her to disappear into some vague unsocial corner. To her surprise and mild horror, he instead plopped down right next to her. Zana popped a snack into her mouth. She had been very cozy on the couch with her legs curled beneath her. The only thing missing was a blanket.

“It’s Prince in Paradise!” Zana said excitedly. She didn’t elaborate beyond that. Everyone knew about that show, right? She glanced at him, saw his face, and rolled her eyes, “It rotates between galactic leaders like kings, princes, prime ministers, governors and their search for love. The guy goes on multiple dates with contestants and eliminates them weekly till he picks the one he will marry. It began a long time ago as Emperor in Paradise but...that has some bad connotations so they changed the name,” Zana looked at the screen again, “President Thorne has been asked sooo many times to enter but he keeps refusing,” She sighed, “I bet that’d be such a great season. Just ‘cause he’s asexual doesn’t mean he can’t find love!”

Zana extended the bowl of snacks towards Thelian, fully expecting pouty complaints about the show before he fucked off to do some pushups in the hallway. That served her just fine, because she could watch it alone in peace without thinking about his muscles.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian – unsurprisingly – seemed completely oblivious to Zana’s gawking at his defined muscles, or the way his fluffy hair tumbled over his forehead. Instead, he kept his attention fixated on the HoloScreen in front of the couch, blinking a few times at the show that was playing.

He turned his attention back to Zana when she spoke excitedly. The stupid look on his face indicated that Thelian did not, in fact, know what the hell that was. He squinted his eyes a bit, staring at the twi’lek as she began to elaborate about the show’s premise.

“So what if he doesn’t like any of them? Does he just say ‘fuck it’ and marry them anyway?” He asked, arching a brow before looking back to Zana. It was clear that the Echani skeptical of the entire show premise, completely missing the point that most people simply watched it for the drama. The Echani shook his head, looking then to the bowl of snacks. Without a second thought, the Echani grabbed a handful of crisps and shoved them into his mouth, chewing a bit louder than was necessary. “Sounds like bullshit.” He declared flatly.

He paused for a moment when Zana mentioned President Thorne being a potential contestant. Based on Zana’s comments earlier in the evening, and the way she quickly snagged that stupid hat off his head, the Echani quickly surmised that the twi’lek was a member of the half-Sephi’s fanatical fan club. Despite thinking the fan club was all a bit ridiculous, Thelian wasn’t ashamed to admit that he did follow the half-Sephi’s Fitness GalaxyGram.

Unlike most, however, Thelian did not follow the account strictly to stare at the half-Sephi’s physique – but instead followed for the purposes of following the infamous President’s workout routine. The guy was fucking jacked, after all, so Thelian naturally took notes.

Thelian kept his arms folded over his chest, managing to get through several minutes and a few commercial breaks before he finally couldn’t handle his immense boredom any longer. Without a word, the Echani quickly pushed back onto his feet and decided to break into his nightly workout routine. Instead of taking his exercises to the hallway, Thelian dropped to the ground just to the left of the couch – starting to do his pushups right then and there.

“Who the hell is the current shmuck anyway?” He spoke between reps, gesturing to the HoloScreen.

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana gave a vague shrug, “If he doesn’t like any of them, nobody wins and he can come back for another season,” It had happened on the show before - there were some terrible upsets at the end when the guy didn’t pick the candidate everyone loved. The twi’lek pointedly ignored Thelian’s opinions on the topic. The guy was dreadfully predictable and this was as expected.

However, she did turn to look with confusion as the Echani slid off the couch and started doing his pushups right there. The twi’lek stared vacantly, face scrunched up at the bizarre display. He couldn’t be more of one of those dude bro types that had bantha poodoo for brains. Zana rolled her eyes and went back to her snacking. The episode was getting juicy.

Zana munched on a few more snacks when Thelian asked his question. She barely noticed the hilarity of him being actually curious about this show, her eyes glued to the screen, “It’s an Onderon prince this time,” She smiled widely, “He’s soooo dreamy. Look at that flowy black hair!” Zana practically swooned when he came on screen. As advertised, the man was tall with jet black hair, vibrant hazel eyes with an olive tint to his skin. He was currently on a date with a pink twi’lek. She was smiling and giggling during their conversations, idly fiddling and toying with her lekku while batting her eyes.

Zana shoved mouthfuls of snacks into her mouth, staring at the show with wide eyes.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Despite the looks he was getting, Thelian was completely undeterred from his pushups – silently counting under his breath with each repetition. Whether Zana knew it or not, this was his nightly routine, one that he followed with almost religious fervor. He had no qualms about doing it in the dormitories back at the temple, and he wasn’t about to change it up simply because she was sitting right there.

His attention was drawn away from his workout when Zana spoke, his eyes flicking back up to the HoloScreen – just as the Onderon Prince came into view. Though he couldn’t deny the man was attractive, Thelian’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly on the star of the show. “Dude’s hair looks greasier than that bowl of crisps,” Thelian commented dryly, proceeding to do a few more pushups.

When his set was complete, Thelian finally sat on his knees and looked at the show once more. This was just as the camera panned onto the pink-skinned twi’lek. Silver eyes couldn’t help but linger on the woman for a few moments, though he soon fixated onto one detail in particular. The woman was idly fiddling with her lekku in the same way that he’d caught Zana doing on multiple occasions. He blinked a few times, staring at the screen and then glancing back to Zana. He didn’t say anything at first. Instead, the Echani laid back onto the ground, placing both hands behind his head with his knees bent slightly.

He proceeded to start doing sit-ups instead, exhaling sharply with each and every repetition – which was likely getting exceptionally annoying for Zana, trying to pay attention to the juicy bits. As he came up from the ground, Thelian suddenly paused his reps, looking back to Zana.

“Why do you do that thing with your lekku?” He then pointed at the pink-skinned twi'lek, doing the exact same maneuver.

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was, indeed, getting irritated with the constant huffing and puffing from Thelian. Why couldn’t he do this bullshit in the cargo bay or something? She turned up the volume a bit to drown out the breathing noises, going back to her crisps. She scowled when the Echani remarked on the Prince, a deeply offended look on her face, “It’s called hair gel,” She said icily, “And I think it looks great,” Zana said with a slight flare to her nostrils.

She was glued to the screen, hardly paying attention to Thelian adjusting to sit ups. When he remarked about her lekku, she suddenly began to cough. She continued until she punched her chest a few times to dislodge the crisp that was stuck there. Zana wheezed for a moment, eyes slightly watery. The twi’lek recovered quickly enough, clearing her throat and staring forward as if she didn’t almost just die. Her face was a familiar shade of purple.

Zana delicately reached for another crisp, watching the date very intently, “I don’t know what you mean,” She said confidently with her best attempt at a sabacc face, “I don’t do anything with my lekku,” Crunch crunch crunch.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

At that moment, Thelian couldn’t help but stare at Zana wide eyed. The Echani clearly wasn’t expecting the girl to get offended by his comment about the Onderonian prince’s hair, let alone snap back the way she did. He blinked a few times, glancing back to the HoloScreen. This was right in the middle of a makeout scene with the twi’lek and the prince, but Thelian wasn’t really paying attention to it – instead focusing his attention onto the hair-gel that the prince wore.

Conversely, the Echani never wore product in his hair – usually just finger-combing his white locks into place with water and moving on with his day. Which is probably why his hair had a tendency to have a mind of its own. Why was he making comparisons? Thelian stared blankly at the HoloScreen for a few seconds more.

“Whatever,” He finally said, shaking his head before resuming his workout.

Thelian could hardly contain the smug look on his face when he asked his question, knowing full-well that he would catch the twi’lek completely off guard. The corners of his lips gradually started to tug upwards when Zana started to cough, immediately recognizing the shade of purple on her face – eyes lingering for a bit longer than necessary.

The Echani paused his sit-ups entirely to stare at the twi’lek when she spoke, crossing his arms over his chest and turning to face her. He arched a single brow higher than the other, giving Zana a look that indicated he was entirely onto her bullshit. “Uhuh. Right.”

He shook his head. Rather than finish his set, Thelian rose to his seat and dusted himself off – plopping down onto the couch next to Zana – the bowl of crisps positioned in the middle. Much to Zana's likely dismay, Thelian brought his bare feet up and planted them onto the coffee table in front of them, crossing one ankle over the other.

To his credit, Thelian watched the show for several more minutes – allowing the sequence with the pink twi’lek to end. That was, however, as far as he’d let it go. As soon as the show next went to commercial break, Thelian reached over and snagged the remote, bringing up the guide to start scrolling through channels. “It’s been half an hour.” He muttered. “My turn.” He began clicking through channels – unsurprisingly lingering on the sports section.

“I wonder if there are any fights on..” He muttered to himself, looking almost giddy at the prospect.

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana visibly relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief when he didn’t pursue the line of questioning. She returned to the show, watching as the Onderon prince offered a box to the twi’lek and opened it up to reveal small earrings, “Awwww!” Zana smiled widely, “He’s so sweet! He brought her a gift!” She sighed with a lazy smile, looking at the handsome prince, “I hope she wins. I like her more than that stupid Pantoran,” Zana said with a slight huff.

The twi’lek looked over when Thelian plopped down next to her again, a look of disgust on her face as he promptly plopped his feet up on the table. She looked from him, to the charming prince, back to him, back to the prince and rolled her eyes.

Zana remained still until he casually reached over and grabbed the remote. The twi’lek may have been annoyed, but she likely didn't react in the way he would have expected. Instead of complaining, she sat there in silence, reaching for a crisp every now and then as a fight came on. It was a brawl between a Trandoshan and a massive Feeorin. Both were quite famous.

Zana had little interest in this, and she drew up her datapad to play a game. From the looks of it, it was a real time strategy game and she kept switching back and forth between creating units, gathering resources and building up defenses. The twi’lek was happily in her own world, calmly sitting there and letting Thelian enjoy his show.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian flashed a faint grin, shaking his head before moving on. As he rose back to his feet, the Echani couldn’t help but squinted slightly, his gaze flicking back towards the HoloScreen when Zana spoke – silvers fixating onto the touching scene between the prince and the twi’lek. The Echani hadn’t bought jewelry not once during his life, let alone for someone else.

He couldn’t help but blink a few times, furrowing his brows. It was clear that the Echani was deep in thought for that moment, lingering on the scene. It lasted only a couple seconds before he plopped down beside Zana, clearly noting the lazy smile on her face.

“The hell did the Pantoran do?” He glanced towards her. Probably nothing at all – assuming that Zana only liked the twi’lek contestant because it was easier for the girl to fantasize about herself in the woman’s place, getting presented earrings from a prince.

Unsurprisingly, Thelian was completely oblivious to Zana’s disgust – happily pressing his heel down into the very clean glass surface of the coffee table. Why the hell had someone put it right there, if not to kick his feet up onto? The Echani settled a bit deeper into the couch cushions, letting out a satisfied hum as he got comfortable.

The Echani couldn’t help but be surprised when he received quite literally zero resistance, grabbing up the remote and quickly flipping through channels. He expected the twi’lek to have an entire meltdown when he abruptly ended her show. To his glee, the Echani finally ended up on the right channel – just as a fight was starting. Had he stayed at the temple, the Echani probably would’ve spent his time watching it anyway.

Much to Zana’s probable surprise, Thelian couldn’t contain his jovial expression at that moment – his face lighting up in ways that she hadn’t quite seem before. There was a wide, toothy smile plastered across his lips and his eyes were big and wide – silvers glinting bright. There were few things that the Echani enjoyed quite as much as his boxing.

Completely entranced by the fight between the Trandoshan and Feeorin, Thelian wasn’t really paying attention to Zana’s video game. Even if he had noticed it, it was unlikely that the boy would’ve been interested. Given his lack of patience, real-time-strategy games were quite possibly the worst possible genre for him.

Instead, Thelian stared directly ahead – watching at the fight went into the second round. In a shocking twist of events, the Feeorin managed to slip a punch from the Trandoshan, countering with an uppercut to the reptile’s jaw – blood immediately starting to spew.

At that moment, the Echani couldn’t possibly contain his excitement - clearly having been rooting for the Feeorin. “FUUUCK YEAHH!! EAT SHIT!” The Echani sprang to his feet, fist pumping the air as he cheered. Unfortunately, the Echani completely forgot about the table directly in front of him.

As such, when Thelian shot to his feet, the boy managed to slam his kneecap directly into the wooden edge – causing it to comically squeeze across the floor as it was shoved. “FUCK! Ow, ow..” The Echani immediately collapsed back onto the couch, hissing as he brought his knee up to his chest – furiously massaging the site of impact.

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was focused on her game, but sometimes the stupid farmers took their damn time cutting down trees. It was during these moments that her gaze flicked up to observe the Echani. It was rare to see him visibly excited and smiling, and she found it drew out a smile from her as well. She pointedly ignored that the smiles were over senseless violence, the sight quite endearing. Zana simply shook her head and returned to her game as the corner of her screen began to flash.

“No! Ugh!” She hissed, hastily sending units to defend against the abrupt attack on her wall. She hadn’t been paying attention to her scout that ventured deep into enemy territory. It began to run back to her base, bringing a trail of enemy forces behind it, “Why didn’t you die already?! Your xp critical!” Zana shouted down at her game as the scout casually popped in through the gate and into her city that was now going to hell.

The twi’lek rapidly began to cycle through her multiple barracks buildings, cranking up unit production. She sent all her idle villagers to work, mumbling angrily about worthless citizens that stood around picking their nose.

Zana jumped a bit when Thelian abruptly yelled out, eyeing him with alarm as he went on to bump his knee. The twi’lek’s gaze narrowed to a very unamused expression at that, watching as he hugged his knee and complained. She almost thought of going back to her game, but felt a twinge of concern as she looked at him. Her face lit up slightly and she quickly paused her game.

“Ooh! Let me try something!” She sat up and moved closer to him, suddenly looking excited, “Okay, sit still and stop looking at me like that,” Zana said without even looking at the predictable expression likely forming on his face. She brought her hands up closer to his knee, closing her eyes and focusing with the Force. For a second or two, nothing happened. She finally placed her hands on his knee, “Don’t move don’t move,” She muttered with her eyes still closed. The Force channeled through her, and this time there was a golden hue that illuminated beneath her palms. Thelian would feel a warm and very comfortable sensation as the pain from his knee rapidly began to disperse and fade away. Zana’s hands began to tremble after a moment, and she drew them away after a second or two.

“Did it work?! Did you feel it?! Did I do it?!” She asked with wide eyes. Healing was one of the trickiest skills for a Jedi to learn. Padawans could only do rudimentary attempts. Right away Zana could feel extreme exhaustion setting in, her arms suddenly feeling as if they weighed a ton each.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Unfortunately, Thelian was entirely too engrossed in his fights to notice the way that she smiled at, or more importantly, the hilarious scene that unfolded with her game. Instead, the Echani focused all of his attention about the brawl between the Feeorin and Trandoshin. Both fighters were rather famous, and the victor of this match would go on for a title fight in the near future.

Thelian was entirely too broke attend such events in person, and security was far too good for even he to sneak in. As such, the Echani had long-ago learned of exactly which illegal sites on the HoloNet he could go to in order to what the exclusive event.

The knockout blow landed, Thelian cheered, and all of his joy summarily turned to ashes in his mouth. Anyone who had ever abruptly smacked their knee against a corner knew exactly the kind of agony that the Echani was going through – the kind that made grown men revert to the fetal position and wish for death. The Echani didn’t care how ridiculous he looked or sounded at that moment, furiously attempting to soothe the ache in his knee.

His attention was however drawn away when Zana spoke, looking almost giddy at the fact that he was writhing in pain. What was this, some kind of new, sadistic side to the twi’lek? He blinked a few times when Zana spoke again, telling him to hold still and accusing him of looking at her a certain way. Sure enough, the Echani couldn’t help but gawk at the twi’lek when she cupped her hands above his knee, silver eyes going a bit wide.

Silvers went wider still when the girl placed her hands on his leg, muttering with her eyes closed. Once again, there was an exceptionally stupid, awkward look on the Echani’s face as he sat there, clearing his throat a few times. Nevertheless, his attention was drawn almost at once to the golden glow that emanated from the twi’lek’s palms. The Force flowed through her, manifesting as a sudden warmth and comfort that sunk into the Echani’s knee and radiated outward – washing over the pain until it all seemed to fade away.

Thelian blinked a few times, staring at Zana as she asked her frantic question. In response, he stuck his foot in the air, flexing his knee a few times. The pain had completely subsided, proving that Zana’s attempt at healing had proved successful. “You.. Actually did.” There was legitimate surprise in his voice, a faint smile appearing on his lips. “I-uh.. Thanks.” He reached up, rubbing the back of his head as he usually did in moments like this.

“Are you good?” He asked, unable to hide the hints of concern that leaked into his voice – something that the twi’lek simply wouldn’t be used to hearing from the Echani. He clearly noted the exhaustion that washed over the girl, her shoulders and arms slacking a bit.

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana watched him move his leg around easily and she couldn’t help but smile in delight. Healing was a specialty very few Jedi pursued. She knew she wasn’t skilled enough to venture down that path, but this little accomplishment meant the world to her. It was a small reminder that she could use the Force for genuine good and go far beyond simply incapacitating someone to solve a problem as they had been doing thus far.

“You’re welcome,” She said quietly, still smiling as she looked at Thelian. The exhaustion was creeping up on her, and her eyelids grew heavy. However, when he spoke next, she blinked a few times. Thelian was normally frigid by nature, and he was always detached from everyone and everything. To hear genuine concern in his voice was jarring, and for a moment she said nothing.

“I...feel really weak..” Zana finally admitted. She shifted and plopped down weakly right there on the couch, lying down on her side, “I think I’m… going to take a nap..” Her voice faded away as she closed her eyes, the strain of using the heal becoming clear. Zana had little to no practice with it, and she had overexerted herself. Her energy was completely depleted, and she fell asleep right there on the couch, her body contorted like a pretzel to take up minimal space and allow Thelian room to sit. As a Force user, Thelian would feel the shift in her presence, the Force energy she normally had rapidly depleting and becoming muted.

@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian couldn’t help the hints of concern that was laced into his words, silver eyes fixated onto the twi’lek as exhaustion began to wash over her. Despite his usually frigid and detached nature, it was clear that the healing maneuver had brought a new softness out of the Echani – touching him far deeper than simply soothing a bruised knee.

The Echani watched as the girl suddenly slumped over to the side, falling into a state of deep slumber. He could feel her presence in the Force had grown dimmer, clearly having depleted her energy reserves to conduct healing. For him, and out of nothing but kindness. It was a gesture that clearly gave the Echani pause, causing him to linger on the couch for a long while after Zana passed out.

After a few more minutes, Thelian finally rose up from the couch abruptly – picking up the bowl of crisp and setting them down on the table – the damn table – in front of them. Without a word, the Echani turned on a heel and made his way over the hallway – silver eyes zeroing in one the multitude of storage closets that lined the corridor. There was a clear purpose to what he was doing, methodically opening and scouring each closet for what he was looking for.

Irritatingly, the Echani left each closet door at least half-open as he moved on, not bothering to close the damn things behind him.

When Thelian reached the final storage closest, the Echani finally fixated upon his price. He snatched the bundle from the closet, turning on a heel and making his way right back to where Zana was laying on the couch, twisted up like a pretzel. Without a single word, Thelian unfolded the fluffy blanket that he snagged from the closet and threw it over the twi’lek, covering her with it while she slept. The Echani was completely used to the cooler temperatures of ship interior’s – having spent so many nights sleeping within some dirty cargo hold – but it was likely a bit chilly for the average person.

With that, Thelian finally plopped back down onto the couch – giving the twi’lek enough room that she wouldn’t be disturbed as she slept. He didn’t know why he wanted to get the blanket for the girl, and the Echani pointedly avoided thinking about it – instead turning his attention back to the HoloScreen ahead. The fight was long over by this point, but Thelian was at least satisfied with the knowledge that the Feeorin had won.

The Echani picked the remote back up from the couch, turning down the volume as he started to scroll through the channels. While Zana casually drifted off into sleep, Thelian made every effort to avoid dozing off, for he knew what would come when he did. It was the same images – the same nightmares – that haunted him every time he drifted into sleep, and he knew tonight would be no different.

Sleep would bring him right back to Dantooine, and that was a place Thelian tried to avoid for as long as possible.

@Sreeya

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was completely out of it, peacefully asleep. It wasn’t the first time she had fallen asleep around Thelian, but this was definitely not on purpose. Her exhaustion was obvious, and her Force reserves were taking a while to return to normal. The twi’lek was curled up with goosebumps lining her skin until the blanket was placed on her. Almost at once, she visibly relaxed, easing into a deeper sleep.

Hours went by as she slept, her energies rapidly returning. At some point Zana was entirely comfortable and her legs stretched out on the couch as she unraveled from the pretzel. This meant that her fuzzy jammies plopped right atop Thelian's lap, her legs haphazardly resting on him. She wasn’t exactly a still sleeper, shifting around every now and then, likely kicking him a few times.

After a bit of a roll, she was wrapped up in the blanket and tumbled right off the sofa. She fell on the ground with an involuntary squeak that really did sound like a porg that was squeezed too hard. For a moment she struggled against the blanket before coming up for air, staring with wide eyes at the ceiling.

How did she end up here?! And where did this blanket come from?! She groaned as she finally sat up, looking up as she spotted Thelian sitting exactly where he had been before. Her face scrunched up in confusion. She checked the chrono on her wrist, realizing that hours had passed. In fact, he looked bleary eyed and exhausted.

Zana rose to stand, moving to fold the blanket before she suddenly paused. She looked down at the blanket, blinking a few times, “Wait...did you…?” She looked over at Thelian. The look of pure shock on her face unmistakable. Zana said nothing else about it, smiling at him warmly. While he had seen her smile and giggle several times before, it was the first time she had displayed a genuine and warm smile like that.

The twi’lek rubbed her eyes, looking back at the Holo. The fight was long over and it was nothing but ridiculous infomercials playing about bizarre gadgets to fix the simplest problems. Zana looked back at Thelian, “Why don’t you get some sleep? We’re on autopilot and have time to kill.”


@Altaris

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Thelian couldn’t help the smile little smile that worked its way into his lips, silver eyes fixated upon Zana, watching as she seemed to relax a bit more once the blanket was put over her. The Echani still wasn’t sure what had possessed him to retrieve the blanket for the twi’lek, but he knew it was something he wanted to do, and the subtle little reaction from the girl brought him an unmistakable warm and fuzzy feeling.

Putting that thought aside, Thelian settled back into the couch and began scrolling through the channels – notably lowering the volume while Zana slept. Much to the Echani’s dismay, there wasn’t much on the HoloNet that captured his interest, save for a couple old fights and Huttball reruns that he’d already seen multiple times before. Out of nothing but pure desperation for entertainment, the Echani eventually flick the channel back to Prince in Paradise.

By now, the one-on-one dates had ended, and the show had moved onto the elimination round – the Onderon Prince and all his potential sweethearts packed into a room. The elimination process consisted of the star of the show handing out Everlilies to each of the woman save for one – indicating that woman was to be sent home. The Everlily, of course, was meant to represent the everlasting love between the prince and the woman that he would eventually select to marry. Or some other cheesy bullshit like that, which Thelian couldn’t help but roll his eyes at.

Thelian squinted a bit at the entire process, watching silently as each woman was given a flower. Notably, all except the Pantoran that Zana claimed to despise earlier. He could almost hear the twi’lek’s overjoyed boasting already.

Eventually, Prince in Paradise came to an end, and Thelian was back to flicking through the channels. At one point or another, Zana finally stretched out from her pretzel-like sleeping position, inadvertently laying her legs right across his lap. Almost at once, the Echani was left with that familiarly blank, awkward look across his face, pointedly staring straight ahead at the HoloScreen. Moving – even an inch – simply wasn’t an option at this point, and so Thelian simply reclined back into his seat a bit more.

Of course, the entire situation made fighting sleep all the more tortuous. Hours passed, and the Echani’s silver eyes began to feel exceptionally heavy – exhaustion slowly starting to set in after over a day at this point without sleep. Nevertheless, the Echani bitterly fought against the exhaustion – resorting to digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands, using the sharp pain to jolt himself from repeatedly from the brink of slumber.

He was in the middle of watching the ridiculous infomercials, fighting sleep, when Zana abruptly decided to tuck and roll in her sleep – propelling herself off of the couch wrapped in the blanket like a burrito. Thelian had to purposefully bite the inside of his cheek, suppressing a chuckle as the twi’lek grappled with the blanket before resurfacing to her feet.

“Rise n’ shine.” He muttered, watching as she started to fold the blanket. Silver eyes naturally went a bit wide when Zana asked him about the blanket, somehow caught off guard by the question. As if he excepted the girl to not notice that little detail. “I uh..” He blinked a few times. “Well you looked cold so..”

The Echani immediately went quiet when Zana flashed that genuine smile. It was the first time he had seen the twi’lek smile so warmly as she did, and the expression immediately brought a tinge to the Echani’s cheeks – silver eyes flicking back to the HoloScreen.

Thelian pointedly kept his eyes ahead, fixated upon the infomercials, when Zana mentioned sleeping. “I’m good,” He replied dryly. “I got some sleep back on the freighter.” That was very clearly a lie, but Thelian hoped that the twi’lek wouldn’t be able to call him out on it, given the fact that she was asleep at the time. With that, the Echani rose up from the couch, stretching his limbs a bit and shaking his head.

“Maybe they got a Caf machine in the kitchen. And we can find something to do to burn the time.”

@Sreeya