Ask Spaceports, History Books, and Shared Interests

[Reikki]

"How much for this?"

"One-fifty."

Two credits hit the countered and bounced twice before settling — clinking and clattering against the durasteel counter with that ever-so-distinctive sound. With a thumb and a finger, Reikki swiped the postcard she'd just purchased up from the counter and into her hands to study. Honestly, if she continued to purchase a postcard for every spaceport she visited, she'd end up with more than she knew what to do with. The idea of documenting her travels like this was too tempting to give up though. Maybe she should just stick to one per planet and moon?

She'd think about it. Reikki pocketed the souvenir and turned away from the counter, giving space for the next person in line to make their overpriced purchase of three hotdogs and a tiny water. The woman mosied her way over to a row of chairs, slumped into one, dropped her bag, and took a deep breath. She still had to decide where she was going to go next, and since she wasn't actively putting herself out there for work at the moment, it was up to her to make that choice. But, for now, she felt like reading.

After fetching History of the Galaxy's Most Notorious Force Cults from her bag, the Dathomirian took a second to pull her long hair back into a ponytail, then flipped to where she'd left off, crossed her legs, and began to read.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory San Marca was third in line at the small space port convenience store. It was another space port in a long list of spaceports that the woman had visited over the years. Spaceports varied in many ways, but were all the same in quite a few ways as well. The small spaceport convenience store never changed.

It was a stopover planet. Mallory had descended to the spaceport all while cursing the system's lack of an orbital fueling station, and was just popping out of her ship to get some fresh food and a few books. She had three books tucked under one arm; a local scientific publication, Rocks, Minerals, and Gemstones of the Galactic Core, and a book named 10,000 Light-years Away, a romance novel about two lovers separated by circumstances and their story of finding their way back into each other's arms.

The food selection in the store had been absolutely abysmal and Mallory settled for a meal bar and a bottle of local fruit juice. When it was her turn at the check stand, she raised an eyebrow at the clerk as he informed her of the price.

“113 credit's ma'am.” The young human boy said before sniffling and scrunching his nose for a minute. Mallory eyed her meager offering sitting on the counter and sniffed in return, eyeing the youth for a moment. She reached into her bag with her gloved right hand to fish out two credit chits. A 10 and a 5.

”Vid Aliha Valle dir." Mallory said under her breath as she made three distinct signs with her left hand behind her back as she placed the pair of coins into the young man's outstretched palm.

”What was that?” He asked as he glanced at the credits, seeing nothing amiss with her payment and putting the money away. His eyes had seen exactly what he had expected to and he gave her 17 credits in change.

”Nothing dear, have a day.” She smiled acidly sweet before gathering up her things and walking away from the man, walking over the the row of chairs where she could sit for a moment out of the spaceport walkway.

Mallory had noticed the other woman in the convenient store, particularly the distinctive tattoos in her face. There were of course multitudes of cultures, human and alien alike, that favored facial tattoos. The style of the woman's tattoos however had piqued Mallory's curiosity, tickling and itch at the back of her brain that insisted they meant something relevant to her lifelong study.

Mallory took a seat three chairs down from the woman, putting her books down next to her on the chair nearer the woman. She started to peel open her meal bar while glancing over to take a peek at the book in the tattooed woman's hands.

History of the Galaxy's Most Notorious Force Cults. Not exactly the most popular of titles except in certain unrelated circles. Piqued interest was further piqued. Mallory took a bite of her meal bar and immediately regretted her choice. The texture was chalky and it tasted like burnt ash and shitty chocolate. Sure, it was packed with a meal's worth of essential nutrients, proteins, and fibers. That's all it was though. She made a face as she washed it down with the juice before looking over at the woman.

“Does that have anything in it about the Baron Do Sages?” She said loud enough to break through whatever reader's haze the girl might be lost in, gesturing towards the book in an exaggerated manner so it would be caught in the woman's peripheral vision.

 

[Reikki]

It was a wonder Mallory managed to pull Reikki out of her 'reader's haze' without also causing the woman a fright. She was notoriously easy to scare.

"Huh?" The Nightsister looked up at the stranger, blinked, and took a moment before the question registered in her head. "Oh! Um..." Happy to indulge the curiosity, Reikki quickly flipped to the index and began looking for 'Baron Do'.

"Uhhh yeah. Page two hun- " Using her thumb and the tension in the bent pages, the woman quickly flipped to the relevant page. In large, bold font, the page was titled "the Baran Do Sages of Dorin". Apparently there was a whole chapter on them. Reikki flipped the book around so that Mallory could see.

"Are you um, interested in that sort of stuff?" she asked a bit shyly, as if she felt the follow-up question might offend the woman.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory eyed the meal bar with distaste while the stranger quickly found the Baran Do in her book. She glanced at it, giving the presented chapter head and page a quick scan. It seemed to be mostly stuff she had already learned about the sages but if there was a whole chapter. Well there were chapters and chapters of likely valuable information in the book.

”You could say that.” Mallory said with a smile. ”I'm actually on something like a spontaneous pilgrimage to Jedha… or what's left of it anyways.” The statement started out strong, but Mallory grew a little sheepish in the second half as she realized she might be sounding like a little bit of a religious wacko or something. Ah what the hell, technically she probably was one to a mundane person.

”You know Jedha, of course you do.” She glanced down at the book on force cults before forging on. ”Tons of force cults, and then there are all the old Jedi leftovers.” Mallory had little interest in today's Jedi, or even the Jedi from before the fall of the Old Republic. But the OLD Jedi stuff was intriguing enough.

”I'm Mallory by the way.” She said as she shifted in her seat a little to put an arm over the one next to her and leaned forwards slightly to extend her right hand for a loose shake.

 

[Reikki]

Mallory's friendliness was a relief to the Nightsister, who quickly relaxed.

"Jedha?" The name was vaguely familiar, but Reikki would be lying if she said she could say much about it. She wasn't even sure where it was. What she did know, though, was that she had read the name in either the book she had now, or a similar one she'd read before. Trashy romance novels were her guilty pleasure... but she did make a point to pick up a history book now and then. Though they were notably less tantalizing, they could certainly be just as interesting.

"Ah, the Jedi. RIght." Reikki shared a similar opinion of the Jedi as Mallory. She held neither a strong disliking or liking for them, though as a Nightsister from Dathomir, she was perhaps a bit more distrusting of them than her new friend. "That sounds really interesting!" She wished she could visit, though there really was nothing stopping her...

The Dathomirian accepted the extended hand with her own, placing a soft but equally calloused hand in hers for an introductory shake. Despite the otherwise civilian look about her, she had more going on underneath the surface. "Reikki! It's nice to meet you," she replied, her lips pulling into a friendly smile as the shake ended.

"So um, what exactly do you plan to do on Jedha? Examine the ruins? That sort of stuff?" She was so completely intrigued about this strange new face and the mind behind it now. "I wouldn't really say that I'm super well versed in such things, but I find it interesting as well! I like to..." How should she go about phrasing this? If this woman was interested in force sects, then surely she would know about the Nightsisters?

"I find them very interesting. I'd love to visit such ruins some day, maybe learn something myself." Reikki trailed off, biting the inside of her lip.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

By the look on the woman's face the name Jedha wasn't exactly ringing any bells. Or if they were, they were rather faint ones.

Mallory sat back as the shake ended and toyed with the wrapper on the mostly uneaten meal bar as she considered how best to answer Reikki’s question.

”Delving the ruins is at the top of the list, I'm hoping to find some interesting stuff there for a research project of mine.” She held up her gloved right hand with one finger up. ”I'd like to visit some of the cults there too, if any still exist.” She held up a second finger. ”And of course visit the edge of the impact crater… if it's safe.”

Now that they were facing each other, Mallory had a better view of the tattoos on Reikki's face. She pursed her lips in thought before just out and asking what was on her mind.

”So I don't mean to pry.” She started cautiously, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. ”But you wouldn't happen to be from Dathomir, would you?” She asked, tapping the center of her own forehead with her already raised hand to indicate the tattoos that graced the same location on Reikki's face.

 

[Reikki]

Reikki's dark eyes widened. "Oh, uh... yeah. I am. I'm- I'm surprised you recognized me as a- as from there." She lifted her hand to press her fingers against her right cheek, where the tattooed motif of a sun stained her pale skin a darker grey. That, the three lines on her forehead, the spots around her eyes and her chin — they were markings of her ascension to adulthood as a Nightsister. They meant she'd passed her trials, and culturally, they were extremely important. But, to most of the galaxy, she was just another woman with facial tattoos. That was a bit more convenient than having everyone recognize her as a Nightsister, but it was a pleasant surprise that Mallory did.

Although, maybe it wasn't so much of a surprise, considering. "Or, well, I suppose if you're interested in force cults and stuff, it really wouldn't be a stretch for you to also know about Dathomir, considering the Nightsister culture and such..." Reikki trailed off, then cleared her throat.

"Where are you from then, if you don't mind me asking?" This was how small talk worked, wasn't it? Just asking one another surface-level questions until it was acceptable to talk about other things.

A dull pain swelled in her chest. She missed her sisters so much, even if half their conversations were squabbling, she'd give the world to have either of them tease her for her stupid trashy romance reads again.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory observed a moment of surprise on Reikki's face as she correctly assumed the woman's world of origin. Reikki stumbled a bit with her response as she touched her own tattoo on her cheek, taken off guard by the interaction.

”Most wouldn't, I assume.” Mallory reassured her. ”But I've made the study of the more obscure facets and cults of the Force something of a life's work.” She shrugged as if that explained everything away, as it did.

Mallory blinked as the conversation turned back to her and her origin and she glanced away for a moment.

”Empress Teta, but it holds little significance to me. Just the place I was born.” She had a faraway look for a moment as she considered the homeworld of her childhood, what life might have been like had she stayed. The family she had left behind. She closed her eyes for a moment and with a bit of will pushed the thoughts away before turning to face Reikki once more.

”If I had stayed, I never would have become who I am today.” She said with certainty as she eyed the disgusting meal bar in her hand for a moment. Then she tossed it gently up into the air.

The trash, for that's what it was, rose into the air before dipping to fall back down. Mallory snapped the fingers of her hand that had held it before shifting them into a rigid shape that had all but her pinky and thumb pressed against her palm. The trash bobbed for a moment aboved her hand before floating there for a moment. She shifted her hand to point at the trashcan across the corridor while extending her two forefingers to point at it, and the unfinished meal bar and it's wrapper shot across the corridor and into the trash can with a small thud against the back.

”Completely inedible.” She said with a grin as she turned her attention back to Reikki. ”I was hoping to find something better to eat around here. Maybe a restaurant, or I've got food on my ship.” She pursed her lips for a moment as she considered the two options. ”Would you care to join me? I'd love to pick your brains about the Nightsisters if it's not something you'd rather not talk about.”

 

[Reikki]

Reikki nodded when Mallory mentioned Empress Teta. If she didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't pry. In a galaxy this big, one's home was either vital to their identity, or just another coordinate on the galactic map. For Mallory, it seemed it was the latter. She just nodded.

Way more interesting than homeworld however, was the trash making its own way over to the trashcan. No, had Mallory used sign casting? Reikki's eyes widened again and her mouth opened into the beginning of an excited smile. A force user? But clearly, she wasn't a Jedi — she'd already said the Jedi didn't much interest her — and she doubted she was Sith either, by that notion.

"Oh! Um, yeah, sure!" She wasn't expecting the invite, but she wasn't upset about it. She was incredibly curious about this woman now, and the brain-picking would surely be going both ways. "I'd be happy to chat about it!" Of course, there were certain things that outsiders were not permitted to know about Dathomir. But, perhaps in time, Mallory would be permitted to know a bit more.

'You have your own ship?" she asked as she stood and began to gather her things.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

The words weren't even halfway out of her mouth before Mallory realized that she had basically just invited a complete stranger back to her ship. She felt a heart wrenching moment of panic as she questioned her impulsive decision making and worrying about being embarrassed. At the same time Reikki seemed open to talking about her own cultish ways. That didn't mean she would learn anything really secret, but it was a start on a new pursuit of study. Who knew what sort of secrets that might unlock.

”That I do!” Mallory said beaming as she stood alongside Reikki, gathering up her own novels. ”An old IV-9 Rangemaster scout skiff. It's a bit cozy but she's taken me all across the galaxy.” Mallory bragged. It might be old but she had been from one end of the galaxy to the other in the vessel. She led the short walk to the hangar where her ship was landed.

The cylindrical IV-9 Rangemaster in the hangar was painted stark grey color and had a dark grey star symbol painted on the side. There were also two droids on scaffolding around the ship, pressure washing the hull. The droids were painted, one of them red and one of them blue.

”This is the Greystar.” She said, presenting the ship with her hands. ”And that's Red,” She pointed to the red droid. ”and that's Blue.” She pointed to the blue droid before waving at them. The red one waved back.

”They help me out, keep things around the place tidy.” Mallory lead the way up the ramp and into the small half filled cargo bay. There was a variety of “cargo”, supplies, tools and equipment in the bay. And a yellow droid that stood by the entrance to the cargo bay.

”This is Steve.” Mallory said, patting the droid twice on the chest fondly as she passed him by. ”He's in charge of the cargo bay. Keeps inventory on everything and keeps the ship in good supply. I'd be lost without him ” She laughed before leading the way up to the habitation section inside the body of the cylinder. There was a small common area/kitchenette past two small guest quarters immediately to the left and right of the ladder up out of the cargo bay. The right hand door had the words “Droid Sanctuary” printed in precise block letters.

”So… this is the ship. I suppose it's also home too.” Mallory said a little nervously as she led Reikki into the small open area. It was exactly that, home. Cozy was a word that would describe the size of the room. A narrow seat that could seat “4”, with a narrow table that could fold up into the wall. There was a small open area that could be used for activities requiring room to move was opposite the seat. What would be most eye catching however, would be that the walls were covered in plants.

Plants all along the rim of the room in long trough pot shelves. Plants on shelves. Vined plants climbing trellises. The majority of the plants had some sort of fruit or vegetable growing from their stalks, from ripe red tomatoes to neatly tucked away squashes, medicinal and traditionally delicious herbs lined the far wall in little ergonomic square pots. There also seemed to be a whole row devoted to different vibrantly colored flowers. Scattered among the plants on the walls were a few vibrantly colored paintings of exotic and staggering landscapes featuring grand geological marvels, framed with sprouting vines featuring beans or cherry tomatoes.

A few dozen little bugs floated around the room, glowing a faint blue. On closer inspection they would be revealed to be miniscule droids. They would zip in and out of a small decorative looking hive structure hanging on one wall, underneath which a pair of small open cages filled with tufted grasses on which sat a couple of eggs. A pair of Endorian chickens were strutting and clucking around the floor nearby, pecking at tiny seeds scattered around the outside of their cages.

A small kitchenette area took up a portion past the common area, near the door to the next section. An odd looking droid was stationed behind the counter. The droid looked up, whirling into motion as they entered the room.

”You didn't tell me we were having company. We never have company.” The droid poured and mixed flour, milk, and a few other ingredients into a mixing bowl before sucking it up through a tube in its face. Oil boiled inside its transparent head as puffy round strings of dough rose out of its face and up into the area behind the droids eyes. ”I hope you like donuts. Coffee? The droid asked, with an almost desperate tone to its voice. Mallory had been drinking tea for the past three weeks.

”That's Chef.” Mallory said before leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. ”He likes to be called the Head Chef though, like he runs some sort of fancy restaurant.” She laughed lightly before speaking to Chef. ”What else is on the menu besides donuts?”

”Besides donuts!?” The droid shouted incredulously before surveying the walls of the room and settling on the large bright red tomatoes hanging within reach. ”I can do a shakshouka, grab me those eggs and take this plate of donuts to the table.” The droid bossed, clearly in his head chef element as the piston on top of his head started firing repeatedly. A dozen donuts of various flavor and icing arced out to land on the plate Chef held expertly, accurately catching each one to make a perfect pile. A pair of coffee mugs were filled with coffee and placed on the edge of the counter while the stove pan heated and tomatoes and onions were chopped.

”Sorry, it's probably a lot to take in at once.” Mallory said as she moved to place the plate of donuts and cups of coffee on the table before quickly collecting the eggs for Chef. She did not do this by hand, instead making a series of signs that had the eggs floating up and away out of the chicken cages to bob their way over into Chef's waiting outstretched bowl.

 

[Reikki]

With her bag slung over her left shoulder, Reikki followed a short distance behind Mallory while the woman led her through the spaceport to where she'd landed her ship. The ship was presented, the blue and red droids were introduced — Reikki gave them both a small wave —, and then she was led inside. The final droid was introduced, and then they were both fully within the ship.

"Oh, it's so nice... I love all the plants." Reikki, driven by curiosity, walked straight up to the pots and crouched down in front of them, studying the insectoid droids and the plants they busied about with her hands placed firmly on her knees. "It really makes a ship feel more... homely."

She and her sisters had decorated their old ship, Bog Standard, with a variety of things, but never plants. Whenever she was able to get a ship again one day, maybe she'd take a page out of Mallory's book.

"Oh! Um, yes, I like both." She preferred tea over coffee, especially since her coffee preferences were hardly considered coffee at all by some people. But she wanted to be polite, so she kept that to herself. 'The Head Chef' and Mallory made a few more exchanges, the droid lamented being asked to be made something other than donuts, and then the opportunity to sit finally presented itself.

The Nightsister happily sat down at the table, set her bag to the side, plucked one of the donuts up from the platter, and took a bite. It was sweet and fluffy, and her teeth tore right through the still-warm pastry. Reikki could practically feel the serotonin (and sugar) rush through her body. She eyed the coffee suspiciously for now.

"No, no, this is all really nice! Truly." She hadn't experienced this level of hospitality from anyone since leaving Dathomir, and it was a really comforting change of pace.

"That's sign casting, no?" she asked, gesturing to the motions Mallory was making with her hands. She knew it existed — though little about it — yet she'd never seen it used before. "I don't know much about it. It is entirely hand signals?" If it was, that would mark a large difference between the Nightsister magicks and it. She relied mostly on incantations and force of will to manipulate the ur-spirits.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Whatever anxiety that Mallory felt about her little home eased away at Reikki's words of admiration for the place. She glowed a little bit, privately smiling with her back turned to the Dathomir woman as she conducted the eggs over to Chef. The heavenly aroma of cooking oil and frying onions began to fill the small cabin as she caught the pair of Endorian chickens bobbing their way over to the unexpected guest.

”Oh shooshoo shoo.” She shooed one of the chickens back into its cage, but the other strutted over to Reikki's feet and started pecking curiously at her shoes.

”So sorry about that.” Mallory said as she scooped up the chicken and carried it back over to the cages, scolding it. ”C'mon Lunch, back into your cage. Why can't you behave like Dinner?” She spoke quietly to the chicken before locking him away as well. Finally, straightening, she brushed off her clothes and turned back to her guest.

”Yes, what was that? Sign casting? Yes I suppose that's a name for it.” A bee droid buzzed over and settled on Reikki's shoulder and glowed softly there for a moment before taking flight once more. ”Mostly gestures, though I sometimes throw some incantations into the formula as well for more complex workings.” She moved about as she spoke, grabbing her books and trying to find a place for them in a crammed bookshelf before giving up and just placing them on top of a nearby stack.

”It helps to move some of the concentration load to the subconscious, channeling it through predetermined gestures and spoken words. Allows for more complex control, that sort of thing.” Mallory glanced about for a moment, frowning before looking up at the ceiling.

”Imp, guest protocol. Be nice.” She said out loud in a firm voice to nothing in particular. A moment later a seeker droid floated down out of its hiding place in the ceiling above Reikki, a quietly sparking stun prod deactivating as it settled on Mallory's shoulder. Finally breathing, Mallory sat down and reached a hand up to pat Imp on the dome.

”Sorry about Imp, he's a little paranoid.” Her words had hardly left her mouth when the droid tooted rudely at her before launching into a rapid, beeping tirade. Mallory's cheeks flushed as she flicked the droid on its visual sensor to shut him up and glanced at Reikki, hoping she didn't understand droidspeak. ”Zip it Imp, this is nothing like the last time. Don't you have some skulking around to be doing?”

The droid gave the binary version of a huff before floating off her shoulder. It hovered in front of Reikki for a moment and pointed at its own large visual sensor and then pointed at her face before hovering off to the room marked ‘droid sanctuary’. The sound of loud electronic music and vague blasting sounds echoed out of the room before the door slid shut again.

Mallory sighed and slid down into her seat a little bit before taking a sip of coffee and grabbing a donut, shaking her head as she gathered herself.

”So, am I being too presumptuous to ask if you are actually a real Nightsister?” The words leaked with excitement at the prospect. It wasn't everyday that Mallory ran into an interesting Force user at the spaceport. Or invited them back to her ship.

 

[Reikki]

Huh? Reikki looked down at her feet at the feeling of something sharp poking at her boot, and was tickled to see a chicken pecking curiously at the old leather. "You named them Lunch and Dinner?" she laughed, waving her hand as she did so to dismiss Mallory's concerns. She wasn't bothered.

"Oh, okay. That's... that's really interesting." She looked down at her own hands — one of which was holding a donut — and considered what the woman had explained. Channeling concentration through gesture was a sort of genius on its own, now that she thought about it. It was like how she could voice an incantation like second nature, fully expecting to happen what would happen, while she worried about other things. Perhaps this was something she could look into. It would certainly make her work a lot easier. "Is this something you've been doing for a while now, then?"

For those who weren't raised in a Force-heavy culture like Reikki had been, it seemed that the discovery of force-sensitivity could sometimes show up as late as the early teenage years. For an unfortunate few, even later. She had no way of knowing if Mallory had the same intimate familiarity with the Force as she did.

Nightsister magicks, and specifically the Nightsister culture, viewed and used the Force in a much different matter. Before Reikki could spiral into musings about that though, she was interrupted by a droid buzzing in her face.

"I- huh?" Clearly the droid was speaking in its own binary language of beeps and whirls, but unfortunately, the Nightsister understood none of it. Marshmallow could speak Common, so she'd never had a need to learn the trills of the droids. It made the universal sign for "I'm watching you", then dipped.

Okay. Well, anyways. "Um, I mean, I am!" With her palm turned upwards, Reikki summoned the shadow magicks into her palm. Her eyes smoked with an eerie green as a shadowy chartreuse mist formed in the air above her hand, whirling in swirls and shapes that, to Mallory's untrained eye, seemed just like the natural movements of smoke. A moment later, it was gone.

"I understand though. Not many of us leave Dathomir, and even fewer travel alone," she added, a hint of grief in her voice. She took another bite of the donut, chewed happily, then swallowed.

"So, you really like droids then, huh?" she asked, changing the topic. "I have just one myself. His name's Marshmallow. He's a bit... erm, sassy." She wasn't sure where he was right now. He liked to wander off at spaceports, and he often returned with something he wasn't supposed to have. Just like a real cat.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory shared a laugh with Reikki at the names that she had given to the Endorian chickens that lived aboard her ship. ”Well Emergency Rations One and Two was a bit of a mouthful.” She joked semi seriously. The question of how long she had been doing magic, or using the force for was an easy question that came with a complicated answer.

”Quite some time now.” She said as she visibly thought back, mouthing numbers for a moment. ”Let's see. I ran away from home at thirteen when the opportunity to learn real magic presented itself to me. Not my best decision making if I'm honest.” She laughed and brushed that off before continuing. ”I spent ten, no twelve years training under a master magician, until things went badly between us.” She subconsciously touched her fingers to the scar that carved away from the side of her mouth and up her cheek, the shadow of a painful past welling up in her eyes before being stuffed back down.

”It’s been ten years since I've been on my own, pursuing my own independent studies, and I'm all the better for it.” She grinned before taking a big bite of the donut she held.

Reikki clearly didn't know what to make of Imp and Mallory felt the need to explain, or over explain. ”Don't worry about Imp, he just acts like he's my dad sometime or something. Overprotective. Like c'mon, I'm thirty five, I don't need a chaperone watching my every move whenever I have a guest in the house.” She laughed, a little anxiously. That had probably been too much.

The display of Nightsister magic was at the same time surprising and fascinating. Mallory's eyes went wide and she got stuck with a half chewed piece of donut in her mouth as green smoke wisped from Reikki's eyes and a curling green miasma formed in the palm of her hand.

”Mmmph- woah, that's incredible.” She exclaimed after forcibly swallowing the half chewed donut and nearly choking on it. Unfortunately the show was over before it had hardly begun and before Mallory could get a better look at the magic. ”I would love to get another look at that under some spectrum analysis spells.” She said as she grabbed a notebook out from a drawer under the seat and took a few notes on what she had witnessed, oblivious for a moment.

”Sorry. It's just,” She trailed off as she tried to grasp the words she was looking for, ”This stuff is what I live for, studying magic, the force, the source, whatever you wanna call it.” She grinned sheepishly as she folded the journal back up and set it to the side.

”I am fond of the droids, though I will admit there is a high degree of practicality to them all. Everyone of them plays a role that eases the burden of everyday life so I can focus completely on my studies, my craft, and my art.” She gestured to the various paintings of bizarre alien landscapes that hung on some sections of the wall. ”Marshmallow, what a cute name. I'd love to meet him.”

 

[Reikki]

She did her best to look at it politely when Mallory explained her past and alluded to the reasoning behind her scar. Up until now, she'd avoided staring at it, but she gave herself a few moments to look at it now that it had become a topic of conversation. The curve suggested some sort of knife or blade; there was a quiet sympathy in the back of her dark eyes. "I'm glad you're doing better now," she said quietly before the topic moved on.

"You're thirty-five?" The topic moved on quickly, and Reikki slapped her own hands over her mouth after her exclamation fell uncensored from her lips. Her pale skin flushed with embarrassment, and she quickly stumbled to explain herself. "Gods, I'm sorry — I didn't mean it like that! I- I thought you were my age!" It was true though; she didn't look a day over twenty-five. Maybe she should say that. Or maybe she should just quickly move on.

Magick, thankfully, came to save the day.

"No it's okay! It is interesting!" she assured the older woman. She'd love to talk at length with her about it, but unfortunately, the Nightsister magicks were not common knowledge for a reason. There was a lot she couldn't talk about, plenty of which she didn't want to talk about, but that wasn't to say she couldn't share a bit. Maybe one day, she'd feel more comfortable sharing more.

"A cute name yes, but his attitude is not so cute most of the time," she chuckled. He was so snippy. Hell, he was just mean sometimes. But they had a good working relationship, she thought. For all the shit he talked, he never actually levied any serious complaints. She liked to think that, secretly, he liked hanging around just as much as he liked to complain.

"These donuts are really good," she added after having stuffed another in her mouth. Tentatively, she took a sip of the coffee. Bitter. "The coffee is... also... it's quite bitter." She really was partial to tea, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful, so she took another swallow.

"So, you travel around to learn more about aspects of the Force, then?"

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Despite the kind words, Mallory didn't linger on the episode of her past involving her old master. It wasn't exactly something she wanted to speak in depth about with pleasant company. Maybe if they got to know each other better. She did however laugh at Reikki's reaction to learning her age.

”Yes well I suppose time has been kind to me. That and I take good care of my skin.” She patted her face before turning her attention back to the half eaten donut. ”Chef does his best to try to make sure my age shows in other ways though.” She joked as she raised the donut in indication before taking a bite.

”Yes well you should really eat more. Spending days locked away in your study, hardly eating. It's not healthy!” The droid shouted from his place in the kitchen as he cracked eggs into the pan of simmering tomatoes, onions, and peppers.

”And if you had your way I'd be plus a hundred pounds and sedentary.” Mallory shot back to the droid who muttered something inaudibly over in the kitchen. She laughed and gestured to Chef. ”Well I'm sure you can see that I know all about droids with attitude.” The donuts were good though, and she definitely ate a few too many more than her daily caloric intake could afford.

”Yes, more or less.” Mallory responded vaguely for a moment to the question about her traveling habits before elaborating. ”Tracking down obscure artifacts, ancient traditions, cataloging what I find and really digging into the philosophical and practical differences between the various force orders.” When she dove into a subject, she dove deep. ”That and finding new locales for my art.” She indicated a painted piece above the table that depicted violently crashing waves against tall sheer cliffs.

Chef appeared at the table that moment with two plates of shakshouka. Soft cooked eggs among a bed of simmered down sauce consisting of tomatoes, onions, and spicy peppers. A generous dusting of green seasonings and salt lay on top of the offering he put before the pair, followed by utensils.

”Thank you Chef,” Mallory said to the droid, ” Now be a dear and take Reikki here's tea order will you, I don't think she's much of a coffee drinker. I'll have black tea.” She said to the grumbling droid, having noted the nightsisters reaction to the coffee.

 

[Reikki]

Reikki looked up. This woman was just chock-full of surprises, wasn't she? Sign casting, droids, plants, historical shit, and now art too? If she was half this interesting at thirty-five, she'd consider herself a success.

"Yes, thank you, Chef!" She prepared to dig into the absolutely heavenly-smelling tomato and egg dish when tea was mentioned. 'Thank the gods.' "Black tea works for me as well. Um, strong with milk, please?"

"Well, what's next on your visit list?" she asked in-between bites of shakshouka. "You mentioned Jedha before, didn't you?"

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

The shakshouka that Chef had whipped up was divine and Mallory savored it for a moment as the droid wandered back to the kitchen to start their tea, muttering all the way about hot leaf water, not a real beverage, and a lack of appreciation for a real solid roast bean. She shook her head and smirked at the droids back.

”Yes, Jedha.” Mallory nodded at Reikki's question. ”You could call Jedha a two for one, as far as my interests go. The place is crawling with old forgotten ruins, and it has some of the most bizarre visual geography that I could paint.” The half blown apart moon featured an enormous impact crater that ran right down to the planetary core.

”What about you? You mentioned being interested in Jedha. Do you have a destination in mind?” The question was purposefully dropped into the conversation. Mallory wasn't exactly eager to part ways with the nightsister quite yet. The younger woman had been pretty tight lipped about her culture and Mallory was hoping to be able to get a bit more out of her about their unique perspective on the force of she could.

 

[Reikki]

"I'm in between jobs right now, and since I usually travel to wherever I need to go... well, I don't really have one in mind, no." She'd been hanging around the spaceport trying to figure that part out. "But Jedha does interest me quite a bit now, yeah. I'll have to visit one day..."

Honestly, now would be the best time, while she didn't have work obligations. But a trip out there would probably be expensive if it was a remote planet, and she didn't have her own ship. Maybe if she was lucky, Mallory would invite her along. The feeling of not wanting to part ways yet was mutual.

"I suppose now's as good of a time as any, but unfortunately, I don't have a way there." Rest in pieces, Bog Standard. You are sorely missed.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory listened with a sympathetic ear as Reikki talked. No she didn't really have a destination in mind. Jedha would be an interesting trip, a destination for some day. Now was, of course, as good a time as any. Oh but she didn't have a ship or other way there. It was all very convenient and synchronistic. Mallory sipped her coffee thoughtfully as she weighed the risks and rewards of the impulse that she was trying to suppress. Trying and failing.

”Well, if now is a good time.” She spread a hand to indicate the ship and let the implication of what she was suggesting sink in before elaborating further. ”I do happen to have a spare guest room that nobody is occupying.” She nodded towards the door back down the way they had come across from the droid sanctuary.

”And I do find myself enjoying the company.” She pursed her lip as if considering the offer that she had already decided to make. ”So I guess I wouldn't mind if you tagged along.” She admitted finally, before raising a finger.

”But,” She cast about in her mind for a but, now that she had raised it. ”I would like to see more of that magic at some point.” Yes, that was it. The magic was interesting, beyond interesting really. A whole new discipline of the force had been presented to her and she would be loathe to let the opportunity of study slip her by.