Ask Fa So La Ti Dorin

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory San Marca was on the hunt. Not the kind of hunt that most would embark on however. She did not seek a bounty. She was not after credits. She sought neither man nor woman as a partner. Nor was she on the desperate hunt of a spice added addict. The addiction she sought to fulfill was much greater, of a much higher purpose. Mallory San Marca was on the hunt for knowledge.

It was knowledge, or rather the perception of lacking it, which drove her to the surface of the planet Bilbringi. It drove her through the crowded streets, her boot heels clicking with each measured step as she strode effortlessly through the throngs of sentients. The civilian bustle around her surged back and forth as hundreds went about their business in the crowded port city.

None stood in Mallory's way however as she walked through the crowd effortlessly. Those that might bump into her suddenly found themselves diverted of their own accord from her path, stopping suddenly as their mind stumbled in place for a moment as the black clad and cloaked woman passed them by. Or stepping aside unbidden as if they knew standing in her way would be the rudest thing to do in the world.

Their awareness of the mental stumble would be minimal and few would question the woman's presence. Fewer would notice the way her gloved right hand, fingers splayed in a strange contortion, hovered near her waist. None would catch the words she muttered under her breath as she walked past them, the city noise wiping the syllables away before they drifted to any casual observer's ears.

This suited Mallory San Marca just fine, it was in fact her intent to keep the path clear as she marched forwards, concentration channeled through syllables and symbols to weave subtle strands of the force on the minds of those around her. She made excellent time through the crowded streets utilizing this method and soon found herself standing in front of a peculiar building. She stopped and stared at the building, her fingers shifting slightly in arrangement to accommodate her sudden lack of locomotion.

The stream of civilians poured around her as she stared up at the Dorin embassy building, noting the pair of Kel Dor officers who stood at attention by the entrance. Her eyes scanned the various architectures and entrances. Alleys and windows, walls and rooftop. More a force of habit than any nefarious intent. Her stomach growled at her attention as she did this, prompting her attention to wander from her goal. Mallory spotted a small cafe that lay across from the embassy. The fingers of her right hand reverted to their original form as she crossed the busy walkway and made her way into the eating establishment.

The time had not been quite right. And, hunger was an unhealthy distraction.

A small chime sounded as Mallory stepped into the eatery and the heady scent of baked pastries, seared meat, and cooked vegetables clouded the air. Her black gloved hand relaxed at her side. The constant muttering stream of words fell quiet as her lips stilled. A slightly clouded look of concentration fell away from her eyes as her face relaxed and she gave a shallow smile to the Kel Dor behind the counter before moving to take a seat at a window booth with an excellent view of the embassy and the eatery entrance.

The menu revealed the food to be a Bilbringi-Dorin fusion restaurant with a heavy emphasis on the savory pies favored by the locals. Mallory idly looked over the options as she kept the majority of her attention on the embassy. Her eyes flitted between the menu, the embassy, and the door, scanning the rest of the room in between as she identified entrances to the kitchen and elsewhere within the eatery. It never hurt to be aware of ones options.

 

[Natalie Hope]

Spoiler: Music

Food. That’s what brought her back here. Cheesy. Meat. Pies. If one could say those three words without salivating, one was stronger than Natalie. Natalie had first come to this planet on the whims of Vanya, now she was her for the pies. She’d met the pie once, on the desk of the man they were after but didn’t’ know it yet. By the time they were done, Vanya was off ana way and Natalie was left to do the talking and return to Ord Mantell as she usually did.

Bilbringi was well within Jedi Crusader control now, though, which meant that meandering the surface meant nothing, right? Apparently wrong. As Natalie walk in her black tank top and dark jeans, lightsider hilt bouncing on her right thigh.

This particular person that caught her interest didn’t care that she had a lightsaber. They walked by. Walked by far enough, basically carving through the populace until they came to a food shop. Natalie walked behind the hooded figure, taking up a position next to a musician. She looked at the musician, asking if he knew a particular song, which he did. Easy enough.

“And it’s go boy go,” Natalie sang as the mucisian played. “They’ll time your every breath, and every day day you’re in this place you’re two days nearer death, but you go,” she sang. It was darker than what the planet was used to, and would definitely cause the person she was after to turn.

“Well a Mantell man am I and I’m telling you no lie, I work and breath among the fumes that train across the sky. There’s thunder all around me and there’s thunder in the air. There’s a lousy smell that smack of hell and dust all in me hair,” Natalie sang, the musician playing a perfect tune to it. Bilbringi had seen enough of her kind to know.

It was out of place, out of tune, and anyone not from Bilbringi would know it. There was yet another Force user on the planet, and this time, it was up to Natalie to determine if they were friend or foe. What the hell happened to Vanya, on that note? Quigon, fucking, Jinn. It’s like the girl starts a movement then disappears.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory San Marca had just taken her seat when the door’s bell chimed as another individual entered the eatery. Mallory's gaze took in the newcomers, not failing to note the lightsaber that rode her hip, bumping gently with each step as she stepped up to the as before quiet musicians and spoke to them. In between songs no doubt. A Jedi? Perhaps. There wasn't anything particularly Sithy about the individual, but not all of that dark order advertised their allegiance with the gothic flair that was stereotypical.

The band started up and Mallory turned her attention away from the woman for the moment, eyes grazing the menu before settling on the local specialty. A Bilbringi meat and pepper cheese pie. Her already needy stomach whined at her and she glanced around for the waiter who was approaching. Mallory glanced over at the singing woman, raising an eyebrow at her as she caught her eye for a moment before turning her head to address the waiter as he spoke.

“What may I get you miss?”The man asked, a young twi'lek man who smiled generously at her.

“I will have the Bilbringi pie, and a glass of water.” She paused, holding up her gloved hand to indicate she wasn't finished as she quietly eyed the maybe Jedi once more. “Make that two of each, and invite the lady Jedi singing over there to join me when this song concludes. I will make it worth your while.” She finished, fishing a credit chit from her pocket with the ungloved left hand to place on the table, upright and held in place with the tip of her finger.

Mallory held the coin there long enough for him to see the large value markings on it before sending it spinning in place with a flick. A small mutter and gesture with her hand as she withdrew it from the coin kept it spinning in place as she shooed him away to carry out his task.

Mallory watched the embassy idly from the window as she waited on her food and listened to the music. It wasn't anything local, it was too downbeat and dour to match Bilbringi. A song of hardship and suffering, of work and toil and future years lost needlessly. The woman's singing left something to be desired as she followed along with the band tunelessly. Somehow it fit though. And so Mallory awaited her food and invited company as she watched out the window.

 

[Natalie Hope]

And we are just going to never speak of what Natalie's writer made them do ever again! Yup, that's what was going to happen. Gonna forget all about it. Just like Molly. Fucking Molly. Now Natalie was remembering Molly. Great. The only saving grace, was that the musician got a kick out of it, and the twi'lek man was waving her over to a nice warm pie. Far be it for Natalie to refuse a cheesy meat pie, or food in general, Natalie walked over and sat down next to the stranger WHO SHE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT AT ALL. Yup, all good here.

"So, we're gonna pretend that didn't happen, yeah?" Natalie said with a smile, turning a hazel gaze to the woman. "Uh... thanks for the pie." And now to bury Natalie's face in the pie until she suffocated. That would fix things! Natalie dug into the pie in a calm and collected manner. Having responsibilities meant she absolutely could not smother herself in a pie, although she definitely wanted to. Who would blame her after the double-wammy of having first and second hand embarrassment all at once?

"I'm Natalie," she said, taking a break from shoveling some of the delicious pie in her face. The woman had bought her a pie and invited her over for company despite everything, wouldn't do to go nameless. "I uh... yeah, I'm sorry about that." Natalie loosely motioned with her fork behind her toward the musician.

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

The twi'lek returned shortly with the ordered food. A subtle shift of her fingers below the table sent the still spinning credit coin tumbling around the table as the waiter withdrew his arms from placing bowls and cups and silverware. It wobbled, rolled, and did a loop around her glass of water before rolling to the edge of the table within easy reach of the server, who watched it with a little bit of awe as it clattered to a stop within easy reach of the man's hand. Mallory gave him a wink as he grabbed it off and hurried off.

The music and singing petered out to an end and Mallory gave a quiet, unenthusiastic clap, gently tapping the fingers of her gloved right hand against the palm of her left. The twi'lek delivered her message to the Jedi and Mallory eyed her as the Jedi sat down across from her.

The possibly Jedi woman spoke with a smile about forgetting that the little impromptu show ever happened, clearly embarrassed but not enough to dampen her mood. Mallory simply nodded as the woman dug in to the pie with the manner of someone holding herself back from gorging on it. A small smirk tugged at the corner of Mallory's face as the woman ate a few bites before finally remembering that manners existed and introduced herself.

“Mallory.” The black clad woman returned the introduction and extended her right hand across the table, holding the black gloved hand out loosely for a limp handshake. “A pleasure to meet you Natalie.” She said with a sparkle in her eye as the wicked scar on her left cheek tugged her lips up into a slightly lopsided smile. At the second apology for the little display Natalie had made upon entering the eatery, Mallory waved the hand flippantly as if brushing the matter away.

“I thought we were pretending that didn't happen?” She said dismissively. “Just as we are pretending you aren't being awfully trusting for someone who followed me off of the street, sat at my table, ate the food I ordered, all without seeing whether it has been tampered with or not.” The sparkle in her eye held a malicious glint for a moment before turning playful. “It's not, but as I said. Awfully trusting.” With that she took the fork in her gloved hand and pierced the skin of the pie in front of her, savoring the delicious scents that arose from within it as wickedly hot steam curled up from within it.

 

[Natalie Hope]

"Likewiiiiiiiiiiiise..." Natalie trailed off as the woman mentioned being trusting and tampering with food. Even the assurance that it wasn't tampered with still didn't stop Natalie was solemnly looking down at the delicious cheesy-meat-pie like it had betrayed her. No, the pie was sacred, and wouldn't betray her. It was the people that would betray her. They would desecrate what was sacred, just to get to her. Well, it was too late now; she was committed.

"At this point, a tampered pie would be a blessing. At least it would be quick instead of slow and painful like my embarrassment," Natalie quipped. She did put the fork down though. In all her years of life she'd never had anything cheesy and meaty ruined for her but there she was! Appetite ruined. It was probably for the best, Mallory had a point about being trusting. Normally she was far more reserved and careful. She really didn't know what had come over her.

"Yeah I'm not sure why I did any of that, but we're here now," Natalie said. It was the first time Natalie had gotten a good look at Mallory. Another point to her for bringing up the whole trusting thing. Natalie had followed a stranger, sat down with them, ate with them, and all without even really getting a good look at them. Queen of bad decisions today, apparently. "Though it would take a very sick individual to tamper with someone's Bilbringi pie. It's about the only sacred thing on this planet." Natalie leaned back and folded her arms across her chest.

"So, why invite me to sit down with you? If the roles were reversed I'd have dipped out and lost the follower down an alley."

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

It was slightly amusing, watching Natalia slowly lose her appetite bit by bit as she considered the ramifications of her impulsive actions. Truthfully it would be hard to tamper with a Bilbringi pie, unless it had been done behind the counter and well before they had even stepped into the eatery. Natalie's line of inquiry on the matter of trust brought the conversation back around to Mallory, and it was her turn to be embarrassed.

She hid that fact much better however, leaning forward gently to blow on the morsel of pie she had just pulled from within the gooey, savory mass on her plate.

“Truthfully, I was not aware I had been followed until you walked in behind me.” She said with an unaffected manner as if the idea didn't bother her in the slightest as she sacrificed a small amount of pride on the pyre of good relations. “The mundanes,” she waved a spare hand as if to gesture at all the people inside the eatery and all those walking outside, “hardly ever notice that little trick.” She let the food hover on her fork longer as the steam slowly started to dissipate from above the bite.

“You however, are anything but mundane.” She said in an unreadable tone as she let her gaze burn into Natalie's eyes for a moment before continuing. “It is good to know, I will have to refine my technique.”

With that said, she took her first bite of the Bilbringi pie. A solid wall of flavor enveloped her for a moment, the fatty meat, gooey cheese, and crumbling pie pastry combining perfectly with the bit of crunchy heat the peppers gave the meal. She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring it.

“Truly, to die for.” Mallory said after she swallowed before glancing down at Natalie's pie. “I hope you haven't lost your appetite.” Her tone teasing, she knew that Natalie had done just that. “As for why I invited you to join me. Curiosity. It's not everyday that one garners the attention of a Jedi.” The last word held a questioning tone. She was fairly certain in her assumptions, but left it open to correction.

 

[Natalie Hope]

New skills were always a great thing to learn about for Natalie. Bilbringi happened to be the home for the last two. Her first visit to the planet, she got to play the part of innocent, worried girlfriend. An award winning performance if she did say so herself. Tricked the pirates into giving up their position. The amount of fun she had with that one! Now she was learning that she could be a ninja, sneaking up on people only to hit ‘em with some terrible singing. Maybe she should stick to the sneaking and acting. Or just being a Jedi, that could work too.

“Mundanes,” Natalie repeated, mulling the word over in her mouth. She liked that word. It was a good descriptor for everyday people. Wonder if she’d get yelled at for using it in public, though. The other Jedi would probably have an issue with her calling the people mundane. Oh well. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was a compliment.” Of course Natalie wasn’t mundane! She was lovely and adorable!

“I’ll just come back to it later,” she said, glancing down at her pie. She probably wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be having another at some point in the day. One simply didn’t just go to Bilbringi without getting the pie. “I prefer Battle-Nun, honestly. Makes me sound more exciting.” Natalie focused on Mallory for a moment, eyeing the scar on her cheek and the gloved hand, the way she savored the food.

“You’re not from Bilbringi?”

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

“A compliment, or a fact.” Mallory said with a shrug as she continued to poke at her pie and withdraw another choice morsel to cool. “In all my travels I have found no rarer blessing than to be one of the very few who possess the gift to perceive and influence the very energy of the galaxy.”

And there it was, as good a confirmation as Mallory would be getting at this stage.

“Battle-nun?” Mallory asked with a raised eyebrow as she eyed the Jedi across from her. “It is true then, the Jedi are celibates?” She asked before taking another bite. She had heard of nuns of various religions taking such vows to deny themselves the pleasures of life. How unfortunate for them.

Mallory could feel the other woman's eyes lingering on her scarred face and the concealing glove of her right hand. It burned in her. Not embarrassment or shame, she had long ago accepted her disfigurements. It was still never entirely pleasant to have such things gathering such attention.

“What gave it away?” She asked after she finished her mouthful and washed it down with a slow sip of water. “Empress Teta, once, long ago.” She pondered the rest of her response before continuing. “An opportunity presented itself to me when I was young, before I was old enough to truly understand the choice I was making.” She pursed her lips as a contemplative look crossed her face. “I do not regret it.” She returned her attention to Natalie, considering. “And you, Master Jedi?”

 

[Natalie Hope]

"Why not both? 'Natalie you're so amazing!' Compliment and fact." Natalie tapped the side of her head. Why stop at amazing though? There was adorable, awesome, coo- not the time Natalie. Right, save that for the morning mirror talks. Morning Natalie could always use a good pep talk. Curse her body for waking her up right before the sun rose every day. Just like wait an hour more, damn it!

Her thoughts turned toward Mallory's question. Celibate? Where'd she hear the Jedi were celibate? The poster boy for the whole Order was in a relationship, and both of them were pretty famous. Still, she'd never actually seen anything or anyone doing anything. Natalie was a little too busy to stop and try the whole romance thing, but others probably could. Granted, there were a lot of new Padawan, and much like Ezra before her, Natalie wasn't about to strike up a conversation one. They all had questions and aspirations, and like... optimism and stuff. Natalie had to physically stop the cringe from showing on her face. A feat she only half managed.

"A lot of traditionalists, maybe by their own choice. The Crusaders definitely don't have that rule. I wouldn't have signed up if they did," Natalie said and shrugged. "Granted, Jedi aren't really known for throwing parties and hanging out. They come around when someplace needs help and dip out." It was only happenstance that she was on Bilbringi and not Ord Mantell. Cheesy-meat-pies completely ruined her plans to go irling fishing and go tanning. Fucking pies.

What a cool name for a planet, Empress Teta. A lot better than Bilbringi that still, to this day, sounded like a Jawa asking for the bill to Natalie. Of course, Mallory went on to talk about choices and not regretting those choices, though Natalie was at a loss for what choices she was talking about. She assumed it had something to do with the scar and the glove, but Natalie wasn't one to pry, and Mallory hadn't even hit the nickname stage of acquatence yet so she was a bit of a ways away from Natalie caring. Well, she did care, but only because SOMEONE decided it was a great idea to teach her empathy and compassion. Uhg, fucking asshole.

"Brother was killed in action, parents wanted me off planet, Jedi seemed like a good place to go," Natalie said. Her infamous shit-eating grin spreading across her lips. "Though those gurus out in the middle of no where that get high all day on random plants and talk about space magic would have been a good choice too. Oh well." She picked up a finger and waved it almost playfully at Mallory. "None of the Master Jedi stuff, yeah? I'm not exactly a beacon of liberty and democracy. Natalie will do fine."

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory took the opportunity of Natalie talking to work her way through a few more bites of the Bilbringi pie as she listened. Traditionalists. Crusaders. The Jedi sounded just as factional as any government or organization.

“I will admit I haven't exactly kept up with my knowledge of the Jedi beyond a vague awareness that they exist and sometimes do things.” Mallory said with a dismissive flick of her wrist. “A shame about the parties though.” She said as she glanced over at the Dorin Embassy. Still no sign of her quarry for the time being.

“Natalie it is.” Mallory said with a slight smile before nodding her head. “I may not know much about the Jedi, but I might know a thing or two about space magic.” She winked at the Jedi before continuing. “I’ve learned a thing or two about random plants in my travels.”

 

[Natalie Hope]

“Yeah, easier to crash a party than it is to set one up as a Jedi,” Natalie said. She watched Mallory eat, and noticed that she kept looking over toward a building. What that building was? Well, didn’t matter to Natalie, really. It wasn’t particularly a building one would bring home to mom or talk about at the dinner table. That left the only two reasons Natalie could think of for Mallory scoping the place out was that she was waiting for someone inside it, or she had a debilitating kink for mundane architecture. As entertaining as the latter would be, Natalie guessed it was the former.

“Random plants, you say?” In all her time as a Jedi, Natalie never even attempted to understand plants. Why understand plants when you could understand noodles instead? “I had a small succulent, once. It died. That’s about as far into plants as I got.”

Best not ask about why she keeps looking over at the building. Not yet anyway. Plus, it would ruin the surprise! Like that one time with the hermit girl that Natalie never saw again. Little bugger nabbed a holocron and dipped out like her life depended on it. That was a fun hermit though. If only Natalie could remember her name.

“All the things I could have focused on in training and I chose brawling of all things. Lifting things, healing, doing crazy flips and stuff. All of that’s great but wrecking a dude’s face will always be more satisfying,” Natalie said with a grin. She even had a pair of phrik knuckles to help her. “Couldn’t stay awake in classes to save my life anyway.”

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

Mallory chewed her way through the meal in front of her while Natalie spoke about her poor doomed succulent.

”That's the thing about succulents.” She said while waving her fork in Natalie's direction. ”Always advertised as easy to take care of. But if you water them too much, or not enough, or have the wrong soil.” Mallory slid the fork across her throat, from a few inches away, like a knife, and made a dying noise.

Mallory gave Natalie an appraising look as she extolled her many talents, especially in the face wrecking department of Jedi skills. Mallory wasn't entirely useless in the physical skills department, though all the donuts Chef was always making for her wasn't exactly a great help.

”Well it sounds like you're well equipped for the Jedi crusade.” Mallory said with a slight smile and a nod. Glancing back over at the Dorin embassy, she caught sight of a robed Kel Dor walking towards the entrance.

Mallory made a series of gestures with her hands, tapping them together to end the motions in a square frame shape made between her two thumbs and forefingers. She raised the finger construct and looked at the Kel Dor through the lense of her hand, past the crowd. A hazy aura exuded off of everyone in the crowd, but she focused on the Kel Dor and rotated the window, peering at the alien closely. She nodded after a moment as the Kel Dor entered the embassy, and returned to her meal.

”Have you ever been to Dorin? Mallory asked after a moment.

 

[Natalie Hope]

Mallory was too right. Succulents were supposed to be easy plants. You buy one, forget it exists until you need a friend that doesn’t have opinions, and then you talk to it like it’ll save you from an existential crisis. What did Natalie’s succulent do? Die because it couldn’t handle the soil she put it in. It’s long lost cousins were growing in a literal desert and hers just up and gave up on life because it needed a specific type of expensive dirt. Fucking plants.

Then Mallory started throwing gang signs. Or maybe they were demonic summoning signs? Her hands and fingers were a blur and Natalie sat dumbfounded at how someone could move their extremeties so dexteriously. It required fine motor control, years of practice, and most of all, cool shit Natalie didn’t have. Why were all the coolest Force techniques not usable by regular Jedi?

No demon sprouted from the pies, and no gangs popped out of nowhere to throw hands. All good signs, pun intended. Natalie watched Mallory do her thing. She seemed to have an eye for a Kel Dor. Not her cup of tea, but she could dig it. Then everything Mallory just did seemed to just vanish and she returned to a normal, almost well adjusted person. Natalie wanted to learn that power most of all.

“Can’t say that I have, Fancy Fingers,” Natalie said, revealing to Mallory her new nickname. “Why?”

@Arcangel

 

[Mallory San Marca]

”Fancy fingers?” Mallory asked with a raised eyebrow. Sometimes Mallory forgot to be aware of those around her when she launched into complex spellwork. Certainly it was equal parts confusing and impressive to the casual observer.

”I don't believe I've ever been called that by a woman I wasn't already dating.” She said with a smirk.

”Dorin is the home of the Baran Do Sages.” Mallory stated before gesturing towards the door through which the Kel Dor had disappeared. ”I'm a researcher of sorts, I'm hoping to convince them to allow me to study with them for a time.” She appraised the Jedi for a moment, considering.

”Perhaps my chances of success would be higher with a Jedi beside me.” She suggested. It certainly couldn't hurt her chances.

 

[Natalie Hope]

Woman she was already dating? Was that a come on? Could have just been a statement of fact. Natalie pondered this, of course, because up until this point the only ones to actually stump her had been chiseled jawline dudes that spent every waking moment in the gym. Now her was this gloved, scar girl even suggesting that she’d dated anyone other than dudes like that and Natalie was lost in thought.

Time to think of that later, homie, Baron Doo Sausages were on the table right now. Sages, whatever. Boring meats for boring people. Natalie followed Mallory’s point to the building she’d been focused on the entire time. As much as she understood wanting to train under a sage, she also didn’t. Why would someone want to learn the Force when one could learn the intricate dynamics of phrik knuckles upon someone’s cheek bones? Being a good person, for one. And well, knowledge and shit. Uhg, of course the brain and it’s thirst of knowledge would ruin a good thing.

“When you say chances being higher, do you mean of a date or being able to study under a bunch of old dudes?” Natalie asked, giving Mallory an inquisitive look. “What would you need me for? All Bilbringi knows me for taking care of some pirates and being a Jedi Warden.” An adorable, absolute great valley girlfriend in distress actress Jedi Warden, but Mallory didn’t need to know that.

@Arcangel