Ask Take the A Train

[Jasper Holliday]

It was a pretty nice day on Thyferra, Jasper had to say. He didn't often get sent there aside from the university required in-person classes and things like that but it was kind of growing on him. The planet was a lot more on the level than where he was from and much of the Ranger-specific work that went on involved things like paperwork or retraining qualifications. Helped that it didn't have the gross, dry heat of Tatooine's twin suns and general lack of hospitality.

Mostly he was here because he figured he'd bundle a few things together. He'd helped a bit with a minor investigation, gone through a bit of a refresher course after the recent announcements and troubles out in the galaxy, and there was something of a field trip soon that was more or less required for his classes. Which was why he was walking down the street in a basic white button-up and black slacks, an unzipped forest green bomber jacket overtop, black work boots carrying him on his way. Professional standards and all that, and he didn't feel like rushing off to change or something.

Jasper was actually on campus way earlier than he needed to be for the day so he figured he'd get some coffee while he waited, chill for a bit, poke at homework. Into a cozy student-filled shop by the student union he went, hands in pockets, and ordered a semi-sweet black. Good for relaxation, in his opinion. He moved aside and turned to lean against an empty bit of counter so he could face outwards and his brows rose up, spotting a familiar flash of bright white hair and tired eyes behind glasses.

He grabbed his drink and headed over, seating himself across from Rowan with a mildly amused smirk on his face.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, already setting his drink down and leaning casually back in the chair he'd taken up. "Just run on coffee, don't you?" Not that he could judge. He sipped his drink.

@Sreeya

 

[Rowan Allaird]

Rowan was still cramming for the MCAT that was two weeks away. He had already finished studying up what he could, so it was all minor revisions at this point. He was sitting at the cafe with his datapad and the small holoprojection of some chemical compound architectures. The Arkanian was scribbling down on a piece of paper when someone came to sit down across from him.

A quick glance up revealed that it was the Ranger from orientation day. Rowan was adorned in a university hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to reveal the tattoos along his arms. He wore jeans and sneakers, his lanyard with multiple keycards dangling from his hip.

The Arkanian offered Jasper a grin, noting how he asked for permission to sit after already making himself entirely comfortable, “Didn’t expect to see you here so bright and early,” Rowan said as he pressed a button to switch up the projection display to something else.

“How’re you liking being on campus?” He asked before he looked back at Jasper. He caught those unnaturally bright green eyes again. He had met many humans, but he couldn’t recall ever seeing such vibrant eyes before. Rowan blinked a few times before glancing back at the projection again.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Jasper Holliday]

Jasper glanced down for a moment at the tattoos over the other man's arms and then back to his bespectacled face. Rowan looked like he'd been lacking sleep, same as at orientation, and was of course poring over some kind of work on his datapad. Fit what he'd noticed so far.

"Had some Ranger stuff to do. Figured I deserved a coffee." Jazz took another drink to emphasize his point. The brief bout of blinking eye contact got his brows to raise as if asking 'What's up?' before the blues went back to his projection. "It's not bad. Very different from back home but in a good kind of way." He pulled his own datapad out and checked a holomail notification, then glanced up at the projection Rowan was looking at.

"What's that compound you're scribbling about?" he asked, leaning a little to the side to view it from a different angle. Jazz considered himself pretty smart but his knowledge of those kinds of minutiae were somewhat behind. The man could quickly patch up all kinds of issues but if you asked him how bacta worked he'd give the practical answer. At least until recently, anyway. Ranger benefits were really coming in handy.

"I'm still catching up with biochem. That professor, right?"

@Sreeya

 

[Rowan Allaird]

Rowan noticed the raised brows and realized he had been caught vacantly staring into Jasper’s eyes. Of course he was caught, the man was a Ranger. He was trained specifically to pay attention to the tiniest details. The Arkanian blinked a few more times at this, barely hearing what Jasper said. He took a sip of his caf as he watched Jasper lean slightly to regard the projection. He noticed the way his hair fell slightly over his face, the way his piercings glinted slightly in the light, and… Rowan shook his head. He was getting way too delirious with his lack of sleep.

“Citric acid lifecycle,” He said as he tilted the projection so Jasper could see better, “Studying for the biochem portion of the MCAT,” He explained, “I take it in two weeks, hence me looking like an infected,” Rowan grumbled before sipped the caf again.

When Jasper mentioned the professor, Rowan began to chuckle softly. He grinned at the Ranger, “No way, you got him too? I found out he has a penchant for lemon candies. He might go easy on you if you bring him a box. That or talking about the history of Thyferra...then you'll become his best friend."

Rowan didn’t miss how every now and then girls passed by and tried to catch Jasper’s eye. The Arkanian turned to look and then back at the Ranger, whistling, “Boy I wish I had your luck with the ladies,” He said before he glanced down at his notes again.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Jasper Holliday]

Jasper shrugged off the staring the first time, figuring he didn't exactly fit the baseline stereotype of any kind of Ranger, especially right then. He only bothered to keep his hair tightly bunned back while on the job, had his piercings and tattoos, and really didn't come off military in his civilian life. The head shaking was a little odd though. Maybe he was just that tired?

"Oh, that sounds terrible," he commented seriously, looking back at the projection. "The test, not the acid.

He was not looking forward to have to do that crap himself. Jasper already got semi-questionable sleep as it was. Frankly he was lucky they were letting him in at all with the educational standards on Llanic. "You should probably get some actual sleep, man. Sleep deprivation reduces dopamine receptor availability and shit, kriffs with memory." He sipped his caf.

"Sure you already knew that." Had he gotten his own lecture on the subject by a Ranger doctor? He would never tell. But yes. "Sure did. Lemon you say?" The Ranger looked thoughtful. He was not a man above bribing someone to be less of a hardass. And some Thyferran history was probably good for his job. Best to prepare beforehand.

Jazz noticed it when people were trying to catch his eye, glancing very briefly in the direction of some them. One of them even got a lazy almost-smile and a little nod as she waved at him. Rowan's whistle and comment got his attention back, brows raising.

"What, you don't pull? You're not exactly lady repellant."

@Sreeya

 

[Rowan Allaird]

Rowan quirked an eyebrow as Jasper casually lectured him on sleeping. This must have been an older man thing. He couldn’t help but chuckle, “Don’t worry, mom, I’ll sleep after the test,” He shook his head before switching to the next module in the projection. He finished up his caf and placed that cup next to the already empty one, having gone through two since arriving here.

A quick check on his chrono told him they had about 15 minutes before they needed to head to the boarding area. Rowan paused what he was doing when Jasper casually remarked on ‘pulling girls’. The Arkanian looked caught off guard, eyes slightly wide.

“Uh…” He muttered, “I guess I’m not interesting enough to keep them around,” Rowan gave an airy laugh before focusing back on his work. His face had grown hot and there was the slightest flush on it, almost easy to miss.

“Which transport did they assign you for the trip?” Rowan asked to quickly shift topics. Students were broken up by groups for ships that would take them off world. The Arkanian glanced down at his lanyard, “I’m A3828 apparently.”

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Jasper Holliday]

Rowan got an amused look from his 'mom' comment and a grin formed, but Jasper managed managed to cut down his return comment to a vague, "Not much of a 'mom' type," and left it at that. "Just don't pass out walking, eh?" Seriously, he'd seen that before. Could get awkward.

The white-haired younger man clocked the time and Jasper reached over with a hand to pull and slightly angle Rowan's wrist so he could see it in the middle of his answer. He let go a second later and leaned back, green eyes looking up at him when the Arkanian laughed with a small change in colour, getting him a mildly bemused look. Must be an awkward subject for the guy.

Jazz shrugged breezily. "You seem cool to me so far." They moved on then to the field trip transport. Jasper gave Rowan a look and then pulled out his own little card from an inner hoodie pocket. His eyebrows rose a bit. "A3828. Small galaxy, huh?" He put the unworn lanyard back for now and sipped his drink, shaking it a little. Almost out already, damn.

"Won't get to wear civvie clothes," he grumbled, once more distracted by the holographic compound data. "I'll be there there as a participant and Ranger observer-slash-escort. Office has me multitasking for this trip of ours." Jasper sighed and ran fingers through the loose hair around his face to move it back, a lazy grin returning. "Here's hoping I don't send the office my homework by accident."

@Sreeya

 

[Rowan Allaird]

Rowan’s eyes widened and he was caught slightly off guard when Jasper grasped his wrist. He didn’t protest against it, but he blinked curiously a few times. He could feel his face beginning to heat up for some inexplicable reason.

“Are you thinking we’re gonna run into a lot of trouble?” He asked suspiciously as he rose from the table. He grabbed not only his finished cups, but also Jasper’s, walking over to toss them. Rowan packed up his things, grabbing his bag as it was almost time to board the transports.

“Or can you not share that stuff?” He quirked a white brow, genuinely curious. Rowan began to walk towards the boarding area, observing the way Jasper carried himself. While Rowan was easygoing, he felt rigid compared to the very casual Ranger. Was he like that around his supervisors as well?

They waited in line for a moment before they boarded the large transports. Rowan spotted two seats near the back and glanced over at Jasper, preparing to tell him he’d catch up later. He had friends on the ship. However, he noticed that Jasper didn’t know anyone. Though he doubted the man had any trouble meeting new people, especially the ladies, he remembered all too vividly what it felt like being the new kid.

“Wanna sit together?” He asked after a moment, gesturing towards the seats.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Jasper Holliday]

Jazz rose an eyebrow casually at the other man, eyes following him for a moment as he grabbed both of their finished drinks to dispose of. Both rose further at the question Rowan asked at the same and a lazy smirk settled on his face. He shrugged and stood up from his seat while Rowan packed his things away.

"I think folks would rather have a Ranger around and not need it, feel me?" Hypothetically where they were going was dangerous, what with the plague and everything else, but so was most anywhere. Personally Jasper would prefer he was just there for show.

The man walked with a gait just shy of swagger, not quite so arrogant as casually unconcerned with his hands returned to jacket pockets. Clearly that was a habit of his from somewhere. It was the eyes to be watched. They never quite darted or stared but rather moved toward things as if to see something from the corner of sight.

Boarding was a short but mildly tedious procedure, but it's not like it was technically public transport, just moving people with passes on through. Jazz looked around for a quiet place to sit and was just looking at a bit of open seating when Rowan spoke up again. Jasper gave him a mildly curious look, then shrugged. "Sure, man." He put his things in a storage compartment overhead and sat himself in whichever seat Rowan didn't want, apparently uncaring about window view, and relaxed into the seat.

"Been on one of these outings before? The presenter went on about it being 'good life experience'." Admittedly it was probably better than picking pockets for character growth.

@Sreeya