[OPEN] A Late Lunch

[TAC]

Open to all current members of NJO

Jedi Base, Kothlis

The galaxy was a place that was always alive, always in motion, and always requiring attention. This was a reality for people all over civilized space, whether your Mom lived on the other side of your planet or a business partner lived on the other side of the galaxy. For the Jedi, it meant that you had to create your own cycles of days and nights, as frequent travel to many different places did not allow a shared pattern of sleeping and living.

The Grand Master of the New Jedi Order felt that there was never enough time to sleep. It was not a new thought to the aging Corellian, but it had certainly taken on a renewed vigor in the last few weeks. Fires to put out, Jedi to promote, the rulers of the galaxy to overthrow for the betterment of the galaxy - you know, just Jedi things. It all seemed too much sometimes, but nonetheless life continued on and the cycle continued.

Today, however, was a different sort of day. Larik had found that he had nodded off during hyperspace traveling to the Jedi's main base of operations on Kothlis, and he had awoken somewhat concerned for his own safety. There was some mild irritation, as well, when he found that he could not fall asleep in his room on the Jedi's beach base. Realizing he still need to relax while he had a few minutes, he had elected to do something a bit out of the ordinary to help steer his mind from the last mission and to relax.

And so, at about 4:00pm local time - about the time he should probably be sleeping - Grand Master Novan was seen wheeling a fair sized portable grill from the kitchen through the halls. A few Padawans stopped to watch, and they were even more surprised when they saw him go back to the kitchen and then disappear again. The base was by no means large, but it could hold a fair number of the Jedi comfortably. Many who were mingling around might be surprised to hear a lively beat ring from outside as the sounds of a song started to permeate the white sandy beach surrounding the base.

Outside, complete with sunglasses, a half-buttoned flower shirt, and swimming trunks, the Grand Master stood shoeless over a grill and began cooking a few delicious looking meats. The Corellian hummed along and nodded his head as he focused on the task at hand. "Hey," he said to a Padawan who had ventured out to investigate, pointing his spatula at the young Rodian, "Go change into your swimming trunks and grab a few chairs for out here." Without waiting for a reply, the man turned back to the now sizzling meats.

 

[Lamper]

"Hey Reeses! Look at what I found!"

Cappi came gliding out on a white hover chair borrowed from the infirmary meant for paraplegics, busting a wheelee despite there being no wheels on this particular brand. Shirtless, in grey boxer-briefs and sandals, Cappi had no idea he already fit the dress code.

"It's Ryisis. And I said chairs, not ... that. The Grand Master, of the entire Order, said to get chairs. The Grand Master. Do you understand??" The Rodian barely held onto the three chairs he had his arms wrapped around.

"Oh c'mon. Cut the crap Rice Crispies. Grand Master'd never show his Gold Bond'd, wrinkly-eyed, diaper wearin' face around here..."

 

[Night Owl]

Love... peace.. harmony.. Love.. peac..

And there already ended her mediation, abruptly stopped by music coming in waves through her ears and ending all attempts of meditation. Getting up after she just fell down a few centimeters onto the pillow castle she erected for no real reason except 'because she can' she decided to take a look on what's going on outside, checking the watch on the way. 04:00. Sweet, only an hour less than usual, nothing she could not bear with. When she reached the door, her hand grabbed the knob, opened the door a little and slammed it shut again, before she abruptly turned around and tried to ignore the burning in her cheeks, dress in her robe and return to the door.

Now armored for the outside world, she went out and once again stopped when she saw three other Jedi, a confused Rodian with two chairs and a human on a hoverboard, and one of them was already preparing a grill. Eyes used to analyze and take in things in milliseconds immediately widened, expanding their effect to the mouth getting a smile she immediately knew what she saw..

"BBQ PARTY!" she exclaimed, wheeled on her heels and disappeared into her room to get her most appealing white Bikini and a black triangular summer scarf to bind it around her waist and was back in less than half a minute. This was one of the things she loved so much. Being able to speed up yourself with the force. She could not imagine a life without it.

"So, what's the occasion? Did I miss a celebration day or is this just because of?" she asked the now in her mind dubbed 'Grill Master', 'Hoverboy' and 'Chairy'

 

[Richie B.]

Quite not something the young Jedi was use too, having time to himself Jaleer found himself at the Jedi base of Kothlis trying to meditate but that was interrupted by noise though only 16 years old the young Jedi liked to think mentally he was older, of course even the young man would get himself in trouble for childish things. Getting up from his meditated the young sage was only wearing his brown pants, no shoes or shirt the young Jedi began to walk towards the noise.

Once Jaleer was outside smelling the great food cooking, and seeing several other padawans were beginning to investigate the young man only hope he wasn't embarrassing himself by being shirtless, not that the Jedi didn't have a tone and fit body but Jaleer was still young and self conscious about his looks. Of course it took a minute for the young sage to realize who was cooking and his jaw felt like it broke off at that moment.

The grandmaster the one that helped Jaleer get a master, the one that saw him at his lowest and helped the young confused and scared Jedi was just wearing some weird shirt cooking meat. It took Jaleer a good minute before he closed his mouth and allow his hunger to take control of his higher functions standing behind the grandmaster Jaleer looked around the older Jedi in a attempt to look at what was cooking.

"Grandmaster do you think you have enough meat there?" Jaleer could only hope the grandmaster grabbed enough food seeing as he was about to be attacked by every single Jedi at Kothlis for some of the good looking meat.

 

[Andreas Ayers]

For the first time in almost eleven years, Andreas wandered the halls of a Jedi installation and things were...livelier than the Rebel remembered.

Padawans of all ages scurried everywhere dressed in swimsuits, carrying folding furniture and towels. Knights, some Andreas remembered from his own padawan class, others he didn't know at all, looked harried and surprised as they dashed about. Just what was going on, he wondered. If he had been anywhere else, he would have assumed that they were holding a company beach party but these were Jedi and Jedi didn't do beach parties.

Or maybe they did. Who knew, much had changed with the Jedi and more change was to come. Maybe Master Novan was just trying to put everyone at ease. Or maybe Master Novan was drunk. Andreas didn't know...his memories of the esteemed master didn't lend themselves useful in this particular situation. But what did it matter, anyway? Everyone seemed to be having a good time and there was nothing Andreas wanted more than to simply relax for a while. However, it was somewhat vexing that he hadn't brought swimwear...and he doubted very much anyone would appreciate him wandering around nude. With a grim sigh he snatched a towel from a passing padawan and ducked into a supply closet.

He emerged a few moments later wearing nothing but his briefs (if he was embarrassed by the fact that they were pink camo patterned, he didn't show it) he draped the towel over his shoulder and watched the masses of people moving around. Leaving his neatly folded clothes and lightsabers sitting next to a jug of Sani-Sol and a mop he joined the throng of Jedi heading out of the building. Nothing had prepared him for the image that met his eyes when he reached the source of the commotion. Master Novan, dressed like a retired business man on vacation to some resort world stood behind a large grill flipping burgers and turning sausages. Andreas grinned, maybe the Jedi had finally decided to take themselves less seriously and enjoy life a little more.

Grabbing a paper plate and a bun he joined the line for some food, shuffling along in his brazen underwear until he stood directly in front of the Grand Master.

"I'll take one of the burgers, if you dont' mind," Andreas said casually before adding with a mischievous glint in his eye, "This is quite the little event Master Novan. It's been quite a while, I'm glad to see you haven't lost your sense of spontaneity. It's good to be back after all this time."


OOC: Yes, Andreas is wandering around in pink camo briefs. Deal with it.

 

[Zee]

In a matter of minutes, the peaceful Jedi hideout had become a stirred bee’s nest. Everyone was running around, carrying things, forgetting things, talking at a fast-forward pace. Blinking and perplexed, Zee naturally assumed that they were under attack. Swimsuits. Were they supposed to escape through the sea? As she couldn’t remember the emergency procedures for the life of her, the girl shrugged and calmly continued chopping her vegetables. Tock, tock, made the knife on the palm-wood cutting board. She couldn’t remember how she got around to helping in the kitchen, and didn’t care for how much longer she would be there. She didn’t perceive the work as a chore. There was pride to be taken in her flawless potato cubes and in equally-sized carrot cylinders. Surely even the Sith would take their hats off in front of that mathematical perfection!

It’s not that Zee was good at cooking. She was terrible. The geometry of things bewitched her to the point of ignoring everything else. She could waste minutes simply perfecting the corners of a single swede slice. When the chef warned Zee that she’d be there all day, she simply looked at him with her big eyes and nodded. Of course, the butter knife she was using made things a bit slower still. But sharps were forbidden. The chef had stated that very firlmly after the fourth chopped-off finger (three of them belonging to Zee). The scars from her day in the kitchen covered her hands, thin like a cobweb, and the color of dried moss. It was neat that they had healers on standby capable of reattaching body parts, wasn’t it?

The reason that no one had kicked Zee out yet is that people were rather prone to forgetting she was even there. It was just the way her haywire Force powers acted. While no one had noticed it yet, focusing on numbers and patterns was, in a way, meditation; unknowingly, it strengthened the girl’s connection to the Force. Still, her budding power wasn’t strong enough to keep up with the whirlwind of activity that swept the kitchen with the declaration of a Bar-Be-Queue (how could a bar be a queue?, Zee wondered. Did the bartender just run along a long line of customers?). Promptly, the girl was told to get out of the way, given a platter to transport to the party and carefully told to stay there and have fun.

Have you ever seen a genuine two-left-footed clutz trying to carry a large platter before? Barefoot? Through sand? It seemed amazing how both Zee and the food arrived in one piece.

“The chef said not to forget the sodium chloride…” The figure in a lemon-yellow beach dress mumbled. “Also said that mixing peppers and Ojomian onions among the meat would increase the taste. Oh!”

And then, of course, she bumped into somebody.

The platter filled with colorful, precisely cut vegetables flew promptly through the air. The salt and pepper shakers rattled.

 

[Zay]

[beebox3=70%]Kaythous sat in his ship head resting on the main console where he'd fallen asleep. His recent expeditions had been running him ragged. He rose carefully from the position and stretched. His back and neck were stiff and he let out a grunt of pain as he eased the tightened muscles. Blurry eyes peered into the dark hanger and he rubbed them in an attempt to focus. Running a hand through his overgrowing mane of hair, he decided it was time to take a day off. Dragging his feet as he moved the Jedi master made his way to the refresher.

A quick shower was enough to put some pep back in the Jedi's movement. He threw on a tank top and board shorts and headed for the beach.

Before he made it out of the hanger the melodic rhythm of island music wafted into his ears. He followed the melody to the back of the base and spotted the grand master grilling food in beachwear. A smile spread across his face as he watched momentarily. A few padawans were helping the grand master cook and offering their own opinions on how the food should be made. One of the padawans bumped into a platter and sent the contents falling toward the ground. With a simple wave of his hand the sliced vegetables halted and then returned the way they came.

Kaythous made his way to the group and addressed the grand master first. "Is this a private party?" While awaiting Larik he would greet the others. The Jedi hated formalities, and was rather straight forward when it came to an intro. Addressing the group as a hole he said, "Hey, I'm Kaythous." adding a quick wave. He smiled as he looked to each one of them and then was forced into a double take at Andreas's shorts. His grin widened, and he said, "I dig the speedo man." Kay was totally serious. He liked when people got out of the box and the pink camo shorts did just that.[/beebox3]

 

[TAC]

A few mouthy Padawans were the first to enter the scene, and Larik gave them a wide smile as he flipped some of the roasting meet on the grill. Jaleer, a young Padawan who Larik had assigned to work with his predecessor in spite of her disassociation with the Order, joined them. They all seemed mildly interested in eating, and with good reason, as the succulent smell of roasting meet and the up-beat music promoted such BBQ-thinking.

"There is plenty to go around," Larik said reassuringly and with some enthusiasm. The first few were beginning to get done, and he scooped them into a plate. Before explaining the different kinds he glanced over to a Knight who was investigating the noise. "YOU there, Knight Pendl. Go tell the kitchen we're going to need some help with our BBQ. Now the rest of you, listen up - we've got Nerf burgers, a few nerf stakes, and some veggy burgers for those that would rather." The Corellian pointed to each of the meats, separated in different bins, in turn. Next to them sat condiments and varying types of rolls, and the Grand Master waved them on as if to invite the beginning of the festivities.

A voice from behind caught Larik's attention next, and he turned to face a man he recognized as one of the rebellion's commanders. The young man had been a Jedi once upon a time, as well, although Larik had never had a long conversation with him they had met on several occasions. "Ayers," the Jedi replied with a pleasantly surprised look, switching his spatula over to his left hand so he could extend his right to the man. "Good to see you again! It is a nice little get together. The turnout surprised me, though, so I gotta get grillin'. Remind me to catch up with you before you leave, though, I hear you're getting into plenty of trouble over there with Bastele."

A table was set up in quick Order, and Larik continued to dish out plenty of tasty looking meats as more and more Jedi gathered. The kitchen started sending out sides, of their own prerogative which made the Grand Master smile, and he felt a small push as a Padawan carrying a tray bumped into him. The Grand Master turned as he felt Kaythous reach out, saving the veggies, but the Corellian's attention turned to the small Padawan - a young Zelosian named Zee Irving, if he remembered correctly. "Are you alright there, Zee?" he asked, steadying her with a hand. He had never seen nor met the young woman, but just as he had as Shadow Keeper, the man ensured he knew the face and name of every member of his Order... Or at least, enough to be familiar with them. Padawan Irving had stood out in his mind for some reason, but he could not quite remember why.

Assured that she was alright, the man turned to Kaythous, extending a hand to the newly promoted Master. The young man had recently returned to the Order, but Larik had high hopes for the down-to-earth and energetic young man. "Jedi only," he said with a grin to his fellow Master, "Do you meet that requirement anymore?"

 

[Lamper]

"Oh ... wow ... you weren't kiddin'. Uh. Hey boss."
Cappi's enthusiasm quickly died. Like his heart. A couple of hairs on his head surely greyed just then, as he waved a pageant princess' paddle paw at half mass; hoping to sail smoothly through this blunder. The hover chair glided slowly as his sailboat. Though thankfully color returned to his skin as the Grand Master smiled as though he hadn't even heard Cappi's slanderous spill, rolling his tongue back up inside his mouth and realized a line had already begun to form.

"Whoops."
Cappi saw a utensil had fallen on the ground, stopped, and bent down to pick it up. Then someone bumped into the Grand Master. Food went flying, but then suddenly froze and returned safe and sound.

"Vegetable medley," he narrated commentary. "Ooh. Nice catch," he double pointed to Larik.

Acceptance of the state of things began to settle. And Cappi couldn't help but nod his head with approval. And smiled. Jedi typically turned his stomach, as they poised themselves perfectly erect and pompously pinned their noses up with their middle fingers to the galaxy. But this, he agreed, was a welcomed disturbance. This. He had a good feeling about this.

"Veggie burger please," he raised his hand high and held out his plate. "Save the rainforest." He then proceeded to the sides, starting with the lettuce and tomatoes. He piled on a mess of condiments and extras, and proceeded back behind the line; passing the others on his way.

"Hello. Hello. Cappi Tremaine. Nice to meet you. Hello. Grand Master Larik for president. Larry for short. There'll be a ballot box by the recycling bin. Don't get them confused. Write your name in ketchup. It's fun."

Suddenly Cappi saw the light and realized it had spoken to him. His jaw dropped. His plate went limp, burger building folding like a house of cards onto his lap. But he didn't care. Dawn had come, and so had the providence of its seductive allure. Worship me, it said to him. And he obeyed.

"Good morning sunshine," he greeted Dawn with a pearly grin. "Just how are you this fine, lovely day? I must say, that black scarf suits you perfectly but would look much better not so on you." He folded his bare leg, ankle over knee, ignoring the festival of food on his lap as he stroked his beard in observance of his new holiday called "this girl, day".

 

[Elijah Brockway]

"What a strange Grand Master we have," Cotan Sar'andor mused to himself, watching - with the same small smile he usually possessed - Larik's party as it slowly started to coalesce and begin. He himself had recently been out training, so he was dressed quite simply - dark blue keikogi, black obi and black hakama, uncommon clothing for what he might normally wear but relatively common training clothes across the galaxy. His feet were bare, and the only items he had on him were his clothing, a sheathe, and the vibrosword that belonged to said sheathe.

In Cotan's opinion, practicing with a lightsaber was all well and good, but practicing with real steel was also a very good way to build up your strength, something that could still prove quite important in a duel with weightless blades.

He sheathed his blade, stepping out from the forest that was so near to the beach where all the other Jedi were present, before making his way to where Larik was standing and grilling. After a moment he also attempted to help stop the various vegetables and such that one young Padawan carried out from hitting the ground, before noticing that he needn't have worried, as somebody else had it under control anyways. Then he noticed Andreas Ayers walking around in pink camouflage underwear and very nearly laughed. He walked up behind Larik, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Master Larik, you look like you need to sit down, relax, and eat more than anybody else here. Why in the Force are you the one doing the cooking?" he asked with a small laugh.

 

[Andreas Ayers]

"It's my underwear," Andreas said to Kaythous with a shrug. "Didn't pack my swim trunks or anything so deal with it...or join me in modleing outrageous underwear, your choice." He turned back to Larik, paused, turned back to Kaythous, looked him up and down and said, "I'm Andreas. Pleasure's all mine."

Leaving the young Master to contemplate what he had just said and to decide if he would join in the flashy underwear scene, Andreas turned back to Larik.

"Soooooo...is this burger happening or not?" Without waiting for an answer, Andreas narrowed his eyes at one of the pattys on the grill. With somewhat more force than he was expecting it rocketed off the grill and smacked him squarely in the face before landing on the bun in Andreas' hands.

Totally unperturbed by getting smacked in the face by a rogue hamburger, Andreas seized a fistfull of Larik's garish flowery shirt and wiped the juices off his face. If the grandmaster's look of astonishment mixed liberally with equal parts disgust and exasperation bothered the CommandeCommander he didn't show it.

"Things must be tough," Andreas said around a mouthful of burger, "if you're looking to save me from Bastele's wrath." Andreas grimaced..."In my defense, shooting a rifle at Vereor is both a heroically stupid and ineffective thing to do...I just saved him the trouble of coming to that conclusion himself."

He noticed the grandmaster turn to check to make sure the girl who had bumped into him was OK.

"And stay away from the underaged girls!"

 

[Night Owl]

So, this was the grandmaster? Larc Novan?

Something about this name rang a bell, but she could for the life of her not put a finger on it. Luckily, her thoughts were interrupted by hoverboy, dropping a pickup line on her and a burger on his lap.

My, would you look at that.. should I ask him if he sleeps on his belly? the girl raised an eyebrow on this strange answer. But soon after, a cheeky grin came over her face when she put her weight on one leg, tugging the knot of her scarf slightly and by far not enough to loosen it with two fingers and while she usually tried to deflect these lines, she liked what she saw and would not mind to have this body for a night.. he could have it all his life, after all. So she countered in a slightly sultry voice, intending to declare the game's start

"Well, the scarf and the bikini I am planning to wear today.." and then added with a mischievous smile and a no less twinkle in her eyes, while moving to the direction of the grill, intending to grab herself a plate "unless someone hovers by and succeeds in talking me.. out of it"

 

[Richie B.]

Jaleer was happy seeing so many of his family in one place and having fun it was clear they needed this, many of them had gone through a lot deciding that it would be nice to take a swim the sage ran to the water and did a cannon ball into the water. The water wasn't cold nor was it warm it was just at the right temperature and it felt amazing to the young man, that was born on Ryloth. Allowing himself to hit the bottom the young sage decided it would be nice just to meditate under the water, crossing his legs Jaleer kept his eyes closed as he began to feel everyone around him through the force.

It was amazing to sense so many Jedi in one place, it felt like a light house full of Light that would guide everyone and anyone to a good and safe path. But with the Sith still at large the Jedi will need to focus on beating them back before they can full retake the role of the helpers and saviors of the galaxy because right now the galaxy needed warriors and protectors.

 

[Zee]

“T-Thank you.” Zee glanced down, at the magical flying vegetables rolling back onto the platter. Against her best efforts, her lips broke in a childish smile. This was the magic of top hats and snapping velvet capes. Something she loved. It was an aspect of the Jedi that she hadn’t considered before, and something which couldn’t be more different from deadly things like lightsaber duels.

That wasn’t real magic.

Somebody managed to catch her before she stumbled on. “As right as ninety degrees!” A smiling Zee answered to his concern, her thumbs-up translating for the less mathematically-inclined. She paid little mind to having her name called out by a stranger, and instead sought for a place near the grill where to safely leave the food. In her memory, names and faces were often as fleeting as ripples in a pond. It is doubtful that, even if she had known who the grill overseer was, she’d have been intimidated. At most she would have given him a pat on the back. In her mind, leaders were those unfortunate souls who had to do the boring things that no one else wanted to do.

The party was becoming animated, spinning round her like a colorful pinwheel. Everybody was speaking fast in Basic, but Zee didn’t understand half of the words. She stopped a Padawan returning to the kitchen and mentioned something about napkins, then skillfully sneaked away to the edge of the crowd. Her face slowly froze in a deer-in-the-deadlights expression. Why should the grill overseer star away from young girls? Was he allergic to them? Also, while the Jedi philosophy stated that the Force was in everything, why greet the sun? It was light-minutes away, wasn’t it? And why greet it while looking in the opposite direction? Zee sat down on the sand and pressed her fingertips to her temples, too confused to even try getting food. She watched the waves ticking the shore. Seen from afar, today the sea was as smooth as a mirror.

Zee didn’t normally notice people. But today there was a spiny problem in the binary base crawling in the back of her brain. ‘One’ person went in the water, yet ‘zero’ got out. Looking around, nobody seemed concerned. It could have been a Jedi thing. At first for entertainment, she started counting.

When she got to 60, Zee was impressed.

When she got to 120, she was amazed.

180, and she curled up, feeling a bit cold.

200, and a strange feeling stabbed like a needle in her spine.

She started looking around every ten seconds, with clockwork precision, yet nobody seemed worried. She was too embarrassed to speak out. For all she knew, the boy had dived very quickly and climbed back ashore without her noticing. If it was her, she might’ve been fascinated by shells and sand patterns and forgotten to breathe, but not everyone was as stupid.

When the mental tick-tock hit 290, Zee calmly took off her dress, folded it, placed a rock on top to protect it from the wind, and, in her ninja-black two-piece swimsuit, walked into the water. She’d lived in a seaside city for most of her life, and so diving into the waves was a relief. In some aspects it was incredibly strange: the water felt neither cold nor warm, to the point that the skin’s sensors could no longer perceive it at all. It felt like floating in space. Still, the way the sandy bottom sunk so quickly in front of her eyes made her stomach tighten. She could swim, but it was the psychology of it.

She caught sight of the boy at her first, inexperienced dive. His brown hair floated over his shoulders like seaweed. Motionless, he sat in the exact place he’d dived in minutes before. Hit his head? Unlikely. Still a while away, Zee was urged to return to the surface by the tension building in her lungs. She gasped, took a deep breath, and dived back.

Her arms weren’t strong enough to carry her all the way. The physical forces pulling her upwards were beyond the means of a mere datacard-worm to defeat. So she turned back, tangled her toes in the Padawan’s soft hair (smacking her heel between his temples just as an unintended consequence), and swam back to the surface glistening with light in this odd way, until she could reach delicious oxygen and subsequently pull him up by an arm.

Halfway there, her strokes gained the franticness of ‘I’m drowning, I’m drowning!’. But her toes only grasped tighter.

 

[Richie B.]

When using a hibernation trance Jaleer was pretty good underwater that of course was interrupted when another Jedi decided to kick his head and pull his up using his hair, did it hurt and stun the young sage of course. Once he look up he had a inappropriate view and turned around and using the force to strength his entire body the young girl will realize she was being shot up like a rocket, as the sage kicked and swam to the surface.

Once they reach the surface Jaleer was breathing heavily as he tried to get back the oxygen he lost when the girl grabbed his hair and kicked him. An after he was not in danger of losing consciousness from lack of oxygen he looked at the Jedi. She was a young girl which looked about his age, after staring for longer than the sage should he shake himself out of it and smiled though Jaleer didn't realize he was smiling. Patting his head to make sure his hair was still there and moving it out of his eyes.

"Thank you for the concern but I was alright. Take a moment to catch your breath I don't want my savior to loss consciousness because I wanted to take a swim." Jaleer said with a worried tone hoping the girl was alright.

"Oh an where are my manners my name is Jaleer Jedi padawan and let me help you back to dry land." Jaleer said with a more relaxed voice.

Jaleer swam next to the girl placing his arm right arm over her and onto her right shoulder and started kicking. Aiming at the shore the two would get there in about a minute since the sage was using the force to both strengthen and speed up his body.

 

[Krajin]

Kade had observed the gathering from his little perch, the balcony of his room and decided to come on down. Casual clothes were the order of the day and the large Kushari headed downstairs to mingle with them. He decided to pause and grab something from his personal stash and hauled down a large cooler with some drinks, setting it down near the grill and food table. "Drinks are here. Sodas and non alcoholics for the kids." He grinned, sometimes it was great being older than most.

He was sporting cargo shorts and wrist wraps, to hell with wearing a shirt of any sort and he may as well show off the striking gold markings he had. He looked to the Grandmaster and grinned a tiny bit "What brings the Grandmaster of the Order down to have a Barbecue on the beach?" He asked curiously.

 

[TAC]

The Grand Master continued to smile, shake hands, and flip burgers. He was quite pleased that those staying at Kothlis had decided to join him. Connecting to your environment and making it a home was important, and making the decision to abandon their outposts had not been one Larik made lightly. To bring the Jedi together and begin making Kothlis have a similar atmosphere to Lamareed or Arbra was personally important to him.

Larik was quite surprised when Ayers wiped the juices from his face, but he checked the expression. Weirder things had happened to him, and people had certainly done more offensive things, so he wiped the concern away as quickly as the rebel had wiped his burger's juices. The rebel then made a comment about Larik helping the young Padawan, and the Corellian scowled at him as he turned his back to him to continue flipping burgers.

"Hello, Kade," Larik greeted the Kushari, smiling to match the Padawan's grin. "I grabbed some meat and a grill and it seems that the entire Order came out of the woodwork." Larik laughed slightly to himself, his attention turning momentarily to the burgers on the grill as one spat and sputtered, demanding to be flipped. The Corellian obliged, but a ringing in the back of his scull brought his eyes up and turned them to the water. He saw a few others turn as well, mostly those a bit more aware of their surroundings due to experience or natural sensitivity.

Zee Irving - the young Padawan that had knocked into him - appeared immensely calm. Through the Force, however, the Grand Master could feel her fear and just how scared she was. Larik reached for his lightsaber, but it was inside. Setting the spatula down he weaved through the few Jedi standing between himself and the ocean as the young Padawan dived. He could feel Jaleer - an extremely troubled young Padawan - somewhere in the water with Zee. Extremely alarmed the man tossed his shirt off after ripping it up and over his head. Larik was certainly aging, but a lifetime of a tight health regime and constant movement kept his tanned body fit enough for his work, and thus far more in shape compared to most men pushing 50.

Running into the waves and then diving headlong, Larik called upon the Force as his long arms powered him through the ocean and its waves. Jaleer and Zee were rising, but Larik could feel the later's fear as she struggled for oxygen. They surfaced, and Jaleer patted his head before helping the other young Padawan, who was obviously struggling to stay afloat as powerful waves surged past them and crashed into the ocean. Reaching them, Larik kicked hard, keeping himself afloat as he pulled Zee from Jaleer. "I've got her," he said, inviting no argument as he transferred her from Jaleer's arm to his own. The young Padawan was still struggling for air.

Larik allowed her a moment to catch her breath before heading back to shore. He kept stride with the young 16 year old male, despite Zee's added weight and his age. Once they arrived on shore Larik steadied her to her feet, the now quite subdued tide lapping at their ankles. "What happened out there?" the Jedi Master inquired, looking between the two of them firmly and then pausing to catch his breath.

 

[Elijah Brockway]

Cotan was almost completely unperturbed at being entirely ignored. He'd spent a decade with Larik before, he knew how it could get; so, instead, he just smiled and nodded at Kade - before his eyes turned to the same sort of distress Larik seemed to be feeling. And then Larik ran off to take care of it, likely without much trouble. The Padawan from Naboo pursed his lips for a moment, contemplating running off himself to help, and decided against it; there were more than enough able Jedi present, and Larik himself was taking things into his own hands. He'd just be getting in the way, really.

So, instead, he turned and started doing what he was subtly offering to Larik that he'd do anyways. There were still numerous people out who had yet to eat. Cotan picked up the spatula, put another couple patties on to replace those which had already been taken, and set to work cooking himself. Thankfully, cooking was one of the few skills he had that didn't actually relate directly to being a Jedi or to fighting, that he still actually practiced.

 

[Khivas]

Blowtorches were hot, and using them made you hot. Not the ripped abs and sexy eyebrows hot, but sweating like a bantha in heat kind of hot. Khivas was putting up the finishing touches on the rotating turret on The Mirado that he had been putting off for ages, and now with help from the Rebel Alliance's finest mechanics and his droid Wyatt, Khivas was finally able successfully and in full install a rotating turret on top of his ship, something that would come in handy if he ever had to fight off enemy fighters while making an escape.

Sliding and jumping down from the top of the ship, Khivas felt a sense of accomplishment and relief that this job was finally done, and as he stood there shirtless with his jumpsuit tied around his waist, body covered in various greases and dirt, staring and admiring his handiwork, the sound of music and joy reached his ears. "What in the devil is that?" He thought to himself as he turned his head towards the direction of the noise.

"Ah that's just them Jedi doing some beach party or something. To be honest I'm surprised those guys know how to relax at all. All I ever see `em do is sleep sitting up and waving laserswords around." One of the crew chiefs said, answering Khivas' inquiry. "Wait, ain't you a Jedi?" The same Chief asked.

"Yea, I am. And plenty of us know how to relax, thank you very much." Khivas said back to him, "But I'm a bit mad I didn't get an invite to this thing. But I guess crashing a party ain't too bad a thing, no?" He said, and with a few encouraging words from Wyatt, (something along the lines of sowing his oats and making more walking meatbags) Khivas decided to head out and check out the beachside festivities.

And boy was he not disappointed.

The sight of the Jedi Grand Master in a pair of swim trunks and a flowered pattern shirt was something else to behold, and rather comforting knowing that Khivas wasn't quite so far from his Leader of Leaders in terms of personality, and as he watched a bunch of other padawans, knights, and even masters, some of which he had already met and gone on missions with, Khivas felt himself loosening up a bit and despite still being covered in black grease and dirt, walked up to the grill to introduce himself to the Jedi present. Of course this was dashed rather quickly when he saw the Grand Master suddenly rush towards the water like an actor from those old holo-shows about lifeguards and the such, and after a moment in the water, started to swim back to shore with two younger padawans in tow, one of which being Khivas' friend and comrade Jaleer. "Damn kid went and got himself in trouble again, tsk tsk." He joked as he made his way to the shore to help offer a hand in getting the three of them out of the water.

"Grandmaster." He said with a friendly nod and held his hand out to help the man and his charges up, giving Jaleer a bit of grief at causing a bit of a stir, "It'd be a damn shame if we went through all the crap we put up with just to die here Jay, especially from drowning of all things. Now then, since we're all back on solid ground, I'm going to go get some chow in my gut, you guys care to join me?" He said to them over his shoulder as he turned and started to walk back to the grill to get some much needed food.

 

[Kaythous Silver]

[beebox3=60%]As the Grandmaster welcomed him Kaythous smiled and shrugged at his comment replying, "What even is a Jedi." The young master chuckled and turned his attention to Andreas, his chuckle turning into a full laugh, "Challenge accepted, Andreas." Kaythous awaited the man to produce a pair of identical briefs and the Jedi master jogged off to throw them on.

Returning a few minutes later in the ridiculous skivvys Kaythous strutted with pride and positioned himself beside the former knight and the grand master. Noticing that some of the food was prepared he made himself a burger and enjoyed a blue tonic. The general ambiance was nice. For once the Jedi weren't meeting to tear each other apart, they were just hanging out.

For this one instance they were at peace. He couldn't help but admire Larik's charisma. The man was a bit scatterbrained at times, but he truly cared for each Jedi and that was his most admirable trait.

Finishing his food Kaythous looked out to the water and decided he was ready to cool off. The sun was beating down and he'd begun to sweat a little, luckily he'd changed into the briefs. Shedding his tank top he bowed to the one's in his company and said, "Gentlemen, I'm heading to the water."

Kaythous had never been on for crowds and now he wanted nothing more than to submerge himself in the cool waters and relax. [/beebox3]