JEDI FAN
by ardavenport
The Force is with us, everyone!!!
Sorry about the long message, but it's really, really worth it! :-D
I'm still at work. It's been super slow all day, even with the crowds from the Green Festival, but since I got the VIP Salon today there's not too much for me to do except greet anyone who comes in, and I've got C-4ZT-Forn and C-4ZT-Grek for back-up service if I need them. I guess the Rich and Important aren't doing anything too bad to themselves that they need a lie down for. But it is a day festival which are always better than what people get up to at night.
So, I'm only a quarter of the way through my shift and we only have one old lady snoozing on a couch behind a privacy curtain. She even had her own droid with her, so the C-4ZTs were powered down. Anyway, that's when TWO JEDI walk in. REALLY!!! :-o :-o :-o
I did NOT stare! I mean, we've gotten Vice Mayors and even Senators in here, and once Thoram Tru-Bing came in with his whole band (I wasn't here for that, just heard about it from Mir'Dok). So, I put my towel over my arm and bowed to them and offered them service.
Now the important part__what did they look like. ;-)
First they were a Master and a Padawan, both Human, light tan skin, brown hair, kind of similar really to each other, except the Master was a lot bigger. Not Wookiee big, but above average for a Human. |-:|
The Master had long head hair, tied back, very nice, and really, really blue eyes. :-D Except small, like on a Human. And he had hair on his chin and under his nose, which stuck out a bit and it wasn't quite straight. His nose I mean, not the hair! The face hair was short, so you could still see his mouth, and it was a lot thinner than on his head. He was wearing a dark brown Jedi robe (exactly like Team-O-Jedi), dark pants and heavy boots, dark brown belt and all off-white tunic and shoulder and middle cloth strips.
The Padawan was pretty young and his skin was really smooth except for a few dark dots on his face and he had lighter blue eyes, almost gray. His head hair was short and thick (but still soft and pet-able :-) ) and he had a short Padawan's lock in back and a braid behind his right ear. It was really thin, with just a few red and blue bands on it. No feathers or crystals at all. It was really plain and small. And he wore almost exactly the same thing his master did, except his robe was a lighter shade of brown and he wore white pants like his tunics. And his clothes looked newer than his Master's. I wonder if he's still growing, so he has to get new clothes a lot? ,:-|
And I couldn't see their lightsabers! :-( Their robes were covering them up, but I don't think they noticed me checking.
The Master said that his Apprentice (he said 'Apprentice' not 'Padawan') wasn't feeling well and asked if he could lie down. I looked at him again, and he did look unhappy, but I couldn't see anything wrong with his color. People talk about Human skin color changing with their moods, but I can never tell. They always look the same to me. :-|
I offered to get a medical droid from the Aid Pavilion, but the Master said no, that his Padawan (he said 'Padawan' that time) was just suffering from 'over-indulgence' and needed to rest. Over-indulgence??? I guess maybe Chitrah wasn't so wrong with Wild Jedi Knights and Rogue Jedi Trail, at least for young ones? :-D
I led them to a couch. THEN they took their robes off!! The Master took his off first and then he helped his Padawan take his off. I remembered why I was there and offered to take them. He said yes!!! :-D
I took them to the cloak alcove and I had to look at them before putting them on the hooks, didn't I? ;-) I didn't really see anything on the insides, maybe a couple of places where there might have been hidden pockets, but I didn't touch them. :-o Aside from the fact that I could be fired on the spot for going through a client's things, a Jedi would know, wouldn't he? But I still had to handle them to hang them up.
First, they're ROBES, not CAPES like in Jedi Eyes See All or Jedi In My Pocket. They're heavy woven fabric, but they're softer than they look. And they have sleeves and hoods that are just HUGE. I don't know how they manage in them. They are MUCH bigger than what you see in Code of the Jedi. I don't even think the hoods in There Is No Try were this big. Really!
I activated C-4ZT-Grek to keep the door covered. Then I went back to see what the Jedi were doing. Not much really. The Master was sitting next to the couch his Padawan was lying on, leaning over and talking to him. The Padawan still looked unhappy, but he had his eyes closed. :-/ I couldn't hear what he was saying, they were too far away and the Master was speaking really softly.
But I could see their lightsabers!!! :-D :-D
They were both pretty similar, black and silver, with bumpy black hand grips. No lights, no crystals. They were pretty plain. But the Master's had a HUGE RED ACTIVATION BUTTON on it. Really. I didn't know what it was at first, it looked so dorky. :-P I mean, the Team-O-Jedi and the Temple Wood sabers are so cool, gold and silver with crystalline emitters. And longer. These ones looked kind of small, not any bigger than the multi-chopper I have in my kitchen. :-| They didn't look that different from it either! ;-)
Then the Master looked RIGHT AT ME!!!! And he asked me to come over. :-o :-o
I knew he caught me looking, but I had to go over. He was still a client.
He didn't look upset or anything. Even with those little white Human teeth of his, he had a nice smile. He asked me to sit down. And then he asked if I wanted to ask him anything!!!!! :-o
Of course, I couldn't think of anything. I just sort of stammered like an idiot and then his Padawan was looking at me, too. :-o So, I just sort of asked if he was sure he didn't want anything for his Padawan, make sure he wasn't really sick. But the Master said that his Padawan's only problem was eating too much.
The Padawan looked really annoyed, but not at me, at his Master. I guess he didn't like being talked about.
Then the Master introduced himself as Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan as Obi-Wan Kenobi. I can't look them up on the Republic Rolls of Jedi Knights at work, but I'll do that later, or one of you guys can.
Obi-Wan Kenobi looked really annoyed at his Master now. ):-( He turned over on his side, facing away from me. But Qui-Gon Jinn just ignored him. He asked if I was interested in Jedi!!!
That's scary!! :-o
I mean, HE wasn't scary at all. He was really nice. But it's just WEIRD when someone can tell what you're thinking. :-/ I didn't know what to say. Should I just tell him about everyone in the Group-Link?? How much did he already know?? He's a JEDI. He'd know if I lied. :-[
I managed to tell him that I followed a lot of holo-dramas about Jedi. Which is TRUE!
He just nodded like now he understood. Like, oh yeah, another crazy gawker. I felt like such a tourist!!! :-( :-/ I would have just slunk off right then, but he asked me which holos I looked at.
Immediately I thought of Team-O-Jedi and Don't Spare the Sabers! but I couldn't just blurt those ones out! At least not right away. They're fun (and Master Beeli is such a cutie ;-] ) but we know its not accurate at all. I mean, Jedi can't fly and their lightsaber blades don't change color with their moods and Jedi don't wear blue and green. So, I told him about the text-heavy holos that I like, the ones that are a little more respectable, but still good. Song of the Jedi, Have Saber, Will Travel, Fiery Blades.
He hadn't heard of any of them, but he said that he didn't follow popular fiction at all. Of course not! He's too busy being a REAL JEDI to worry about the FAKE ONES!! But I was a little surprised that he hadn't heard about Lightsaber Moonlight. That one is supposed to be an accurate drama of the defeat of Darth Gurak. He DID know about the Three Knights who defeated Gurak, but he couldn't say if Lightsaber Moonlight was true to the original story or not since he'd never seen it. I didn't ask if the Three Knights were as good looking in the history as they are in the holos. ;-)
I would have tried to compare details, but his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was still lying between us. And I thought maybe we should go somewhere else so we wouldn't disturb him if he was trying to sleep. :-}
But Qui-Gon Jinn said that he was just meditating and he would be fine in a little while and that we weren't disturbing him since Jedi needed to learn how to heal their own discomforts, even with distractions. He said it nicely, but I was kind of upset. If I had a tummy ache I wouldn't want two people sitting around talking over me. Obi-Wan Kenobi was lying on his side, facing away from me, so I couldn't see his face, but I knew he had to put up with whatever his Master did.
And I had to ask, did Jedi really train their younglings with trials of pain and suffering? :-( Like in Jedi Skies or Saber Howl? :-( He looked confused by my question. I guess Qui-Gon Jinn hasn't ever viewed Jedi Skies or Saber Howl, either. But he also looked a little offended and he said that Jedi trained their younglings with experience and never pain.
That's when Obi-Wan Kenobi rolled over and said that he wasn't a youngling. But lying there on the large couch, he looked so small, he really did look like a youngling. And he looked pretty cross with both of us. :-( Qui-Gon Jinn said he was surprised that anyone but a youngling would have eaten five jumpadian parfaits. Obi-Wan Kenobi said it was only four.
I don't know if you've ever had one of those things, but they're huge and they're really rich. Four of them would have made a big Human like Qui-Gon Jinn sick. :-P I told them both that I was getting something for him.
I got up and went to the refreshment alcove. I didn't need to get the medical droid. Afuzi tea settles stomach upsets for a lot of species, especially Humans. They use it whenever one of these festivals hosts an eating contest. It's pre-made and I just zapped a container in the food-prep, half-filled a couple cups and put it and the cups on a tray. It's perfectly good to just drink if Qui-Gon Jinn wants anything. And I put on a garnish since anything I or either of the droids serve in the VIP Salon has to be properly presented.
I took it back and told them what it was and offered it to them. Qui-Gon Jinn was really looking a little hostile with his arms crossed over his chest. (:-( But Obi-Wan Kenobi took one. And he said 'thank-you'. :-) And Qui-Gon Jinn didn't tell him not to, but he didn't take one for himself, either. I put the tray on a side table and sat down again.
I guess that's when I realized I wasn't so awed to be with them anymore. Two Jedi, I mean. Wouldn't we all just hand over our nearest and dearest to slavers for a chance to meet a real Jedi??? Well, I guess not. Maybe just chop off an extra finger. Ha ha! But now I don't think so. :-| They were still Jedi, but it wasn't so special being with them anymore. :-\ It felt a little bad, like they were just a couple more demanding VIPs coming into the Salon.
Obi-Wan Kenobi drank half his tea, lay back on the pillow and I took the cup away for him and put it back on the tray. He just lay there looking a lot happier with his eyes closed and his hands folded over his stomach. |-| Qui-Gon Jinn didn't move and I'd decided that I wasn't going anywhere until I at least got a 'thank-you' from him, too.
So, I just sat and looked at Obi-Wan Kenobi. He looked like he was happy to ignore me. But I felt sorry for him for all the things that Qui-Gon Jinn was going to make him do to make him into a Jedi. :-( I guess I didn't think that these big damn heroes who have such control over their bodies and emotions and all the life-force around them would turn out to be heartless. :-(
Qui-Gon Jinn just sat there. I knew he didn't like being wrong. I could tell. I've seen plenty of the High and Mighty who come in here do the same thing. Some couple comes in thinking they know what each other wants, or parents who think their kids need a rest when they're really just bored with what their parents are doing. :-( They always end up fighting, which can be really uncomfortable to be around because they always try to put you in the middle and take their side. I've never had to call security when that happens (but some of the other attendants HAVE) but it's really hard to smile and be civil when people are being such poojus. :-(
So, I ignored Qui-Gon Jinn's prissy fit. Obi-Wan Kenobi looked like he was ignoring it, too. I wonder if he had a lot of practice. There wasn't any big change, but I could tell he was sleeping. He certainly wasn't meditating. I guess if Jedi are trained to control their bodies, they can go to sleep whenever they want? Knight Wemoto in Blue Blade Season always does.
I almost jumped out of my skin when Qui-Gon Jinn asked me for a covering.
He had put his arms down and he didn't look angry anymore. I went to the supply alcove to get one. I got my 'thank-you' when he took it and shook it out. :-) This seemed like a good time to excuse myself and I did. But I still watched from the entryway as Qui-Gon Jinn shook out the covering again and then put it over his Padawan.
Then he bent over and kissed Obi-Wan Kenobi on the forehead, just a light touch of his lips to the skin. Humans do that. Remember Grand Master Plookus in Jedi Horizon?
They're still back there, too. :-D Qui-Gon Jinn is just sitting there looking at Obi-Wan Kenobi sleeping. Or maybe he's meditating. Not.
So, I guess Jedi aren't quite so heartless, eh? ;-D
See you all tonight at the café!! :-)
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Disclaimer: All characters belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox. This story was first posted on tf.n, 22-December-2008.