Ask Coruscant Just In The Neighborhood

[Orenth]

THEME​

Byron arrived on Coruscant a few hours after sunset. He could have landed on the daytime side but the person he was hoping to meet was not on that side of the planet. Thalia was a Sector Ranger and had invited him to meet up with her some time. The man was a bit nervous about calling her now. She had mentioned him being a Jedi the next time they saw so maybe she had not actually meant to see him after only a few weeks. He hit the button to send the call out. Part of him expecting her to ignore the call or just not be available.

"Well she made it seem like she was....there were signals....right?" Then there was of course the Jedi teachings that some would suggest to avoid unnecessary attachments. His finger tapped on the escalator railing as the tone of his commlink ringing Thalia's commlink indicated she had yet to pick up. "You're thinking too much." He told himself and tried to cross his arms and keep himself from fidgeting and just continue the walk and expect to hear the voicemail message any moment.

He needed some assistance in the area anyways. In fact if he had not discovered a lead on a possible Jedi artifact he would have probably not even called the Sector Ranger yet. How she handled herself on Corellia was what came to mind more than anything. The people he was expecting to cross paths with were probably just as rough as the ones they first met. Thinking back he wondered if they were an associated criminal group.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Since the attack on the prison from the Sith, things had gone downhill for the Ranger, so much so she was not allowed to come back to her duties fully. Her supervisor knew something was amiss with the young Ranger, but Thalia made sure to pass it for inexperience, it seemed reasonable for her to be taking it hard for such a neophyte in the law enforcement field and Thalia was happy to accept it as such. But that also meant she was taken off some of her more intense investigations and left with lack luster work and a limited amount of hours she could complete any of her work. To an extent, she liked how much support she had from her colleagues, insisting they take on some of her work, understanding her pain and struggle, she wasn't the first nor the last among their brethren to face such obstacles. Though, she was uncertain if they understood all of her, the Force tended to make things complicated.

She glanced at the chrono, noting the time as she finished the last of the reports. Finish and go home until you're called. Were her orders from her Sergeant. Her comm buzzed and she pushed the device to the side but something nudged her to pick up.

"Ranger Windraider speaking." she said in her stern officer voice. Waiting for the recipient's response, she begun to push her papers into a pile and pull her jacket from the back of her chair, readying herself to jet from the office for the weekend.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

The change in tone on the commlink was enough of a give away to get Byron to stop walking and pull him from whatever thoughts were present. Swallowing and then clearing his throat he answered Thalia. "You gave me your work info?..." It wasn't an introduction but his tone almost sounded taken aback by this realizatin. She wouldn't know who it was still but Byron realized that maybe Thalia giving him her work number was an indicator too. His face grew a little warm from embarrassment from his assumption. "Imeanofcourse! Why wouldn't you give me your....sorry."

He cleared his throat again, remembering why he called and why he was also reaching out to the Sector Ranger. "This is Byron...Ryker. From Corellia, and also Ajan Kloss." One eye closed and squinted as if bracing for the awkwardness in her response. The aspiring jedi tended to trip over himself sometimes when it came to interacting with people.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

The person on the other line questioned her giving them her work information and the tiredness that fogged Thalia's mind was not immediately registering who was on the other line. She had gotten dozen of calls from dozens of beings all across the galaxy, making this one seem more like an annoyance that they were not getting to the point. She pushed the finished papers into a file folder and laid them in a basket when the voice apologized, and Thalia's brow narrowed. She heard that before, the trailing of his words, apologetic, and then he gave his name.

"BYRON!" She exclaimed, it suddenly clicked and everything in her world seemed a lot lighter upon their current conversation, "Byron! Yes! Hello! I'm so sorry...yes, my work number...but its really my personal comm...I just answer like that when I'm working, but I'm not working...now...done...." she was clearly spewing words and unable to stop in her excitement as she zipped out the door of the Coruscant's central headquarters.

"When are you coming to visit? I miss you." she paused, blinking, questioning if that sounded too needy as she started to walk to the station, "I mean, yeah, I miss you," she wasn't sure what else to address it as, "I want to hear more about your Jedi training and I gotta tell you about these Mandalorians." she said, realizing she needed to pause long enough for him to have a chance to answer. However, she would also pause in her steps, finding a bench to sit down for a moment to savor the conversation.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Hearing Thalia respond and the way her voice changed made him smile. The tone of recognition was more than he had expected. She's done with work! Perfect. Ask her if she wants to meet up.

What she said next made him do a double take on his commlink. Mostly out of confusion since moments ago he was just concerned if she would have time to talk, let alone miss him. Though it put a smile on his face and warmed his heart a little to feel wanted even if he would never admit it. "Wai- , Mandalorians...like you heard something about them with all your cool police contacts?" He was hoping that was the case.

Byron remembered she had asked him when he was arriving. "Oh right, actually I'm already here. I was just expecting to get your voicemail but since I got you....I was wondering if you wanted to grab a coffee..." What felt like a long pause he would just add a quick "...or maybe a drink I guess...since it's Friday." The Jedi decided to stop talking at that point and wait for her response.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

A look of bewilderment fell on her face as he described already being present, but the idea knowing he was near brought her smile back as he asked her if she wanted to get coffee or a drink.

"We should get coffee, I'm already exhausted, I could use a warm drink and some food too." she decided, "Here, meet me at Arth's Diner." she paused and typed in the coordinates to send to him, "Its not too far from the Ranger headquarters here, so I'll wait for you to get here."

Thalia stood up and turned in the direction of the diner, she was uncertain on where he was exactly on Coruscant, but she hoped not too far away especially if he followed her coordinates from their last meeting. "I'll wait for you there."

___________​

It wouldn't take long for Thalia to show up to the diner knowing Byron was probably still on his way. She stopped in the referesher to make sure she looked presentable. She was still in her work clothes, thinking she looked over dressed for a visit with Byron, but at least her hair still looked good. The woman found a table and waited, watching the door as beings came and went, the place remaining fairly packed for the hour. Thalia was certain this place never was empty at any hour; the waitress came by with her cup of caff and inquired if she could get her anything, but she waved the waitress away. Her fingers drummed on the table top as she waited, her senses reaching out as far as she could to see if she could spot Byron before he arrived.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

When she mentioned a specific restaurant he looked up and made a mental note to search it's location as soon as he was done with the call. A beep came later as Thalia was apparently thinking the same thing and he saw that she sent him the information. Hearing that it was not too far from the Ranger headquarters meant that it was in a similar district on Coruscant he was in then. ""Great, I'll see you soon."

_____________​

After looking at the location and snagging a taxi he was able to arrive after twenty minutes. He hoped Thalia wasn't waiting long. Byron saw her off to one side after entering and smiled with a little wave. Turning to look towards the waitress. "A coffee and pie please." He asked before coming over to the table. "It's good to see you. How've you been?"

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia drained several cups of kaf prior to Byron arriving, she wanted to be alert and not let the end of the week drain her of the remaining energy she had before she could even see him. It had been a long week, but knowing the Jedi was arriving soon lit a spark in her, removing any terrible memories she had from all that had happened. The waitress came by again to fill her cup and she decided to order some food at least; she left Thalia with her kaf and Byron had entered the diner.

She waved, even though she knew he had her attention as soon as he walked inside. He took a seat at the table and asked how she was. A grin stretched across her face, she felt utterly stupid for letting her excitement reveal itself, but she did not think he would mind, not too much she hoped.

"I've been doing alright, about as good as one gets to be as a Ranger." she said with a shrug, "Though tonight feels like an exception, a wonderful surprise to see you. How's being a Jedi?" she asked him.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

The smile Thalia exhibited was enough to keep a similar expression on Byron's face as well. A work day was behind the Ranger while for Byron, his 'work days' weren't the same as they used to be when he was just a normal galactic citizen. Byron wasn't sure if she meant tonight was a good exception or a bad one due to a rough work day, or maybe even week.

"It's been pretty good. I think I'm making some friends with some of the other Jedi...I think. Lots and lots of training in the woods actually." People were going off on missions and that left a lot of time for the dull and exhausting training he had been going through. "Oh...I got a new ship!" He opened his mouth to tell her about the story only to close it as the waitress arrived. It was probably for the best considering he had earned some of the credits to purchase his new ship with winnings from a technically illegal shock boxing match. That, and Byron also crashed his previous ship which was nothing to brag about.

He slid the plate of pie over towards Thalia and then sipped on his own kaf. "Don't Rangers get vacation time or something?" He asked with genuine ignorance and curiosity. Until he had met Thalia, Byron had never met a Sector Ranger and did not know much about them.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Her stomach grumbled at the sight of the food arriving and she was glad the chatter in the diner was loud enough to elicit looks and awkwardness. Though she was more distracted to hear about Byron's new ship as he followed up with asking her if she had vacation time.

She gave him a coy grin as she scooped up a fork-full of food, "Are you asking so we can take a vacation on your ship?" she said between bites, however, there was a sudden self-conscious realization of how that could have sounded. She swallowed her current mouthful of food and cleared her throat, "Or I guess, yes, I do get vacation time." quickly she shoveled more food in her mouth and sat back in seat, waiting to see his response. She fiddled with her fork, thinking she could cover any vacation time as work time with an investigation with a jedi.

Picking up her cup of caf, she took a few sips, feeling herself observe Byron, catching features of his profile that she did not see before. She let out a long sighing breath, feeling as though she was finally relaxing in the first of many months.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron looked up in thought at Thalia's question, chewing his food for a moment before swallowing. Thalia's ravionous eating made the padawan chuckle but consciously take more managable bites while watching her. "I don't think that would be the worst idea." He grinned afterwards and resumed eating. "Though the ship would just be the ride, the destination should be worth while too." His mind was on the last time he visited a tourist locale. It had ended with undead taking over a night club and him fleeing for his life.

"Yes." He said flatly and put the fork down on the edge of the plate to look at Thalia. "I'm asking if you want to take a vacation, on my ship." The man felt his body temperature rise. Byron wondered looked as warm as they felt. Each new rapid heartbeat came with a new anxious thought. Not to mention Thalia just kept staring at him.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

She glanced back down at her plate, feeling the anxiety rise from him. He reaffirmed her question and she slowed down on chewing her food, listening to him as he said it out loud. She swallowed hard, washing her mouthful with some caf before grinning widely. "I think I can accommodate some time." she nodded, "But this worthwhile location," she paused, gathering some maple syrup on the edge of her fork and quickly popping it into her mouth, "Is this like a legit vacation or the kind of vacation where the destination sounds delightful, but we end up finding ourselves in some unnecessary trouble." she quirked an eyebrow.

There were many times where she experienced the latter and it seemed like there was no barrier between being just Thalia and being Ranger Windraider. The waitress returned to the table, topping off their cups before leaving again; it was probably not helping her excitement to having her friend finally visiting her on Coruscant in combination with the stimulating effects of the hot beverage. Though, it probably was helping her from not passing out from exhaustion while listening to the details of his invite.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

He was glad to hear that she was open to the idea. Byron chuckled at how specific her skepticism was about the destination. "I meant a legit one but then again the last time I was at a tropical beach front club I got swarmed by the undead." He said and then realized how crazy that also sounded.

"It's probably my luck that even if I picked a perfectly private place. Some call to adventure coming up in the middle of it." The padawan blew the coffee until it was a little cooler. Byron thought of a picture in his mind. The two of them just relaxing at some exotic vacation and then have something like more arms dealers come up and interupt them.

"I have an idea. We'll rock hop. Go on a road trip." It was a different approach and if he hadn't known Thalia also had a background in engineering and interest in travel. She was a Sector Ranger after all so he hoped it might be an appealing idea. Before joinging the order, the furthest he traveled in any sort of frequency was inside the Truum sector and not any further. "There's probably some crazy rock climbing on Utapau. I've never seen a Worshyr tree. Dorumaa I hear is a good resort moon too." He stopped himself from bringing up anything else. The man mainly just wanted to go somewhere fun but could see the was also coming off of a long day at work and maybe the specifics could be talked about later.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia paused when he spoke about an island getaway overrun by the undead. She was certain she had seen that in a holofilm, though she couldn't sense any deception about as she slowly quirked an eyebrow in curios thought. He continued and Thalia let him, leaving the island of the undead for a story of another time. Sipping her caf, Byron suggested they rock hop, which seemed like an outlandish idea for the Ranger. She never knew that to be an actual thing, and mainly thought it was themes of holofilms or space-o-gram couples wishing for others to admire their wealth and sense of adventure.

"Is that a legit Jedi thing to do? What about like your training?" she felt skeptical of the idea, but it may have been in part with how tired she was feeling currently. She let him continue as he listed all the different places he would like to see and Thalia smiled, she could tell he had been thinking about this for a while.

"Maybe like one or two places...I feel like if we see everything we want to see now, it won't leave anything for us to see later." Thalia shrugged. She took a long drink from her cup, finishing the last of it before it became too cold. "I would just need to get few things from my place and then we can go though, I think it sounds really fun, and different from what I've ever done before." she grinned, clearly in agreement with a trip of some sort.

@Darasuum

 

[Orenth]

Byron paused and then shrugged. "I dunno about jedi thing so much as a me thing. It's a vacation." He made it sound like there was nothing else to it.

Her points were valid though. He worried about coming off too excited. But so far she seemed to have a fair amount of enthusiasm despite her tired state. It made him smile hearing that this was a first for her. Technically he had never done it either but with his new freedom and open mind, traveling to different planets and moons on a regular basis was reality.

"We don't have to leave right away or anything..." He added. wondering if Thalia meant she wanted to go to her place and leave soon. Byron wondered if she needed to ask for days off. "...but we can, if you want to." The padawan got the feeling he was the one with a flexible schedule. The server came back around for refills or to see if they wanted anything else to eat but Byron thanked her and declined anything else. Despite Thalia drinking the caffeinated beverage he knew she needed sleep sooner rather than later.

@GABA