Ask Starlight Skimming

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon weaved in and out of the empty streets on Starlight. He couldn’t believe how much fun it was street skimming Starlight. A super small, suuuper selfish part of him kinda wished he could have the place for a week to himself, but he’d settled for a day or so before the rest of the galaxy found out about the place. Some Jedi higher ups had arrived to look things over.

Baudelaire hit a tailslide off a handrail and pulled off a pop shove-it before landing. He stepped off his board and popped it into his hand. He’d been at this for hours and was loving every minute of it. He pulled out his new EZphone and scrolled through his contacts. His eyes hit a name he’d been too afraid to reach out too.

Maura.

Leon’s brow furrowed. He didn’t know if he could handle finding out she hadn’t made it off Ithor. The Adumarian chewed on it for a bit then sent:

If you’re on Starlight, come to the Jedi Quarter, and bring your board!!!!!​

Of course that was like ten minutes ago and he’d been checking his phone non-stop, but that was totally normal, right? SHE WAS FIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

By coincidence, Maura was on Starlight. Now that she was a knight and really able to just... do whatever she wanted, she'd been traveling. The constant moving around and fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants trip planning helped keep her mind off everything that had been bothering her recently. It wasn't a perfect solution, not at all, but it was helping. A bit.

The pada- knight stared down at the notification on the screen of her datapad, black eyes widening then narrowing at the name that appeared above the message: Leon Baudelaire. She hadn't spoken with him in a while. She hadn't spoken with anyone other than her master in a while. Her finger hovered above 'Mark As Read' for several seconds, but eventually flicked upward and opened up the messaging app. Slowly, she typed out a response: > gimmie 15

True to her text message, fifteen minutes later the blonde-haired knight arrived, coming to a halt atop her skimboard. She didn't spot Leon right away, and he might see her looking about for him. She looked a lot different from the last time he would have seen her. She was a little taller, but still just as toned and athletic. The rainbow dye had completely grown out of her hair, and her bleach blonde hair had grown out to kiss the top of her shoulders. Her padawan braid was gone, and there were faded but still obvious dark circles under the girl's dark eyes.

> here. where r u?

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire was laying on the ground when Maura’s response came through. He’d just missed an easy gap, the nose of his board had caught the curb, and he’d tumbled head over heel. Leon rolled over with a grunt. He felt his phone vibrate, so he pulled it out and felt a jolt of excitement sit him up. His head spun momentarily as his equilibrium settled.

He hopped onto his board and made for the main courtyard outside the Jedi Temple. He settled under a tree that had a good view of the space. He was sure she’d be easy to spot, there weren't a ton of people on the station yet and he hadn’t seen another skimmer, well, that and the fact that the last time they’d seen each other she’d had rainbow colored hair.

A few minutes later he spotted a blond on a skimboard and he hopped up. He got a text and smiled. He didn’t respond, he just jumped on his board and shot off in her direction. A few seconds later he stepped off and caught his board in hand, “Marua!” he waved with his free hand. Trotting the rest of the way to her.

He’d dap her up and throw in a little side hug if she let him.

“Dude, what is up!” he asked excitedly.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura turned to look at the sound of her name being called out, and upon spotting her fellow knight she offered him a happy-looking smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Leon! Hey!" She threw out her hand to complete the dap-up, then leaned in for the side hug he was going for. 'What's up?' A lot was up.

"I'm a knight now!" she offered as a response, brushing her hair aside to reveal the lack of braid in her hair. "Knight Starwalk - after 11 years in the Jedi," she added with a small chuckle.

The knight averted her gaze to glance up at the station around them. "So you all found this place, huh? Pretty neat." It would be good for the Jedi to have a new place to call home. And 'Starlight Beacon' was a very Jedi name.

"What else have you been up to? I don't think we've talked since..." 'Ithor.'

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire could see she was struggling. They all were. It was the way her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, the same expression he was so used to plastering on. He decided to let her lead on that front. If she wanted to talk, he wanted to talk. In the meantime he’d be happy to just help take her mind off everything for a bit. That’s what friends were for right? Yay, coping mechanisms!

“Oh dope! Congrats!” he said, excitedly.

Leon took a turn chuckling, “Uh, found is being generous, but yeah.” As he spoke he took a moment to just look around. He’d been so busy trying to keep himself distracted that he’d kinda forgotten to just take it all in.

Her follow up question was a bit loaded for him. He’d been charged by a grandmaster from a bygone era to hunt down a force cult, started dating Jayna Throne, and took on a padawan, all while in the process of completing Starlight. Ya boy was straight up tired.

“Oh ya know, Jedi shit.” he laughed, “I have a Padawan now, she’s awesome. Honestly, I think you two would really get along, she’s more like us—” he gestured back and forth between Maura and himself, “And what I mean by that is: Fun,” he laughed.

“Speaking of fun, you tryna skim?” he asked. Challenge colored his tone and his mischievous little smirk rested on his lips.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

"You have a padawan? Already?" Maura blurted out, interrupting him unintentionally as soon as the words registered in her head. "Damn, congrats." She could not imagine being responsible for a padawan so shortly after becoming a knight. 'So help me if Alex assigns me one...' Surely her master wouldn't? She'd just turned eighteen after all, and she still looked sixteen to every other stranger. On top of that, she was definitely not ready for the responsibility...

'Speaking of fun?' Oh, right, skimboarding. Maura looked down at her own board, which at this point was about a quarter her own age. She really needed to invest in a new one. Maybe she'd pick up a side gig at some point. Put her tech savviness to work. 'Maybe I could make money off skimboarding?' she wondered, amused by the thought of it. She did have an "in" having participated in that last skimboarding tournament when she was like, twelve...

"Oh!" She'd completely forgotten he was waiting for her to respond. "Yeah. Always. You're gonna have to show me the good secret spots around here." Maura added that last part with a grin, elbowing Leon gently and playfully before dropping her board and expertly hopping ontop. She swayed forward and back again as the vehicle recalibrated itself, and she pushed her heel back to keep it in place until Leon was ready to head off.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

“Yup,” he shrugged, “Desperate times, desperate measures,” he shrugged. The culmination of Koemi becoming a Jedi and the council directly asking him had felt like a move of the Force, so Leon had followed it’s guidance.

“Thanks, I don’t recommend it, it’s stressful. For sure avoid it as long as you can,” he laughed.

“Duh,” he teased, “I’ve got a spot I saved just in case you came out!”

As soon as Maura was on her board Leon was dropping and hopping onto his. He took off with a woop, beckoning for Marua to follow. Baudelaie would pull out onto the main strip and take it to the other side of the station. This section was still under construction and it was a solid city block long. It basically looked like a map from Tony Hawk Pro Skimboarder 2.

“This is gonna be cleaned up by the end of the week,” he shot her a sly grin, “You ready to skim Starlight?”

Leon didn’t wait for her answer he shot off calling back over his shoulder, “What are you waiting for?! C’mon!!!” All while laughing like a maniac.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

And off they went.

Swaying, balancing, and surfing the air above the interior streets of 'Starlight Beacon.' It was always a bit strange to skim in indoor places like this massive ship, even if she'd done it hundreds of times before on Brighthome and other space stations. The place was so much bigger than Brighthome, though. It was cool.

Never afraid of speed, it wasn't long before Maura bent down and zoomed ahead of the knight that was supposed to be showing her around. One hand hovered over the front of her board while the other palm was splayed out just behind her hip. One foot forward, perfectly centered. One foot back, perpendicular to the front, and pushing on her toes or heel to determine the curve of her movements. On sharp turns she leaned to keep her center of gravity above the board, standing solidly against the platform even if her body swung almost horizontally to the ground. And if she got going fast enough...

"Watch this!" she called back, checking to make sure he wasn't above to sneak up to her left just before she took a sharp turn that way - straight toward a wall. She bent heavily at the knee, lowered herself toward the board, then gripped the right side and jerked herself in that same direction. Working with gravity, Maura circled from the left wall, across the ceiling, then down to the floor as if the room was a simple tunnel. She nearly lost her lightsaber in the process, but caught it with the Force just before it slipped from her pocket.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

The wind whipped through Baudelaire’s curls as his verdant gaze swept over the sparsely populated street. He went to look back at Maura to make sure she was keeping up, only to have her whip past him.

Oh, it’s like that! He thought, his mischievous smirk spreading into a smile.

Leon’s heel pressed the accelerator and he shot forward, the thrill of the chase filling his chest with excitement as he looked for an opening to pass Maura. He’d craved a challenge that didn’t involve weapons and here it was.

They rolled in a double helix criss-crossing one another falling into a high speed ebb and flow.

Maura called out and he eased off to give her space. She cut into a wall ride with ease treating the flat wall like a ramp.

“Ayyyyyye!” Leon called out, chirping her up.

Leon Fell in behind, then as she weaved to the right image spotted a rail and took his chance. He smashed the accelerator, popped the tail, and smiled as the satisfying sound of metal on metal sent sparks flying. He kickflipped out, felt his back heel reconnect to the board and fist pumped as he took the lead.