|
Dangerous Minds 1/29/2022
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Sighing, Hadaza stops at the threshold of her quarters. She has got to center herself before she walks into the debrief. Her temper is still hot after the incident on the surface below and it will not serve anyone for her to walk into another spat with Professor Kenobi. Poor Tesara ... ever the peacemaker. Hadaza bets that even she couldn't stop them once they get started sniping at one another. It's not like she wanted to get into it with him. She blushes at the next though that crosses her mind.
Still in the doorway, she closes her eyes and breathes out, deeply, this time trying to refocus her attentions to the matter at hand. Nearby, she hears another door open. Her eyes fly open only to find the soull she was just thinking about at her side.
"Hello @Tesara Anerin"
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
"Hadaza." Tesara smiles. "You don't look quite as flustered and homicidal as before." She grins a little. "I've been that angry with him before so I recognize it."
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Haj falls in step beside Tesara. "He's so infuriating sometimes. And the worst part is that I can't figure him out. One moment he's saving my life and the next he's endangering it! He warbles on and on about cupcakes and then with the next breath he's a growling out orders as a master tactician with plans to become a criminal overlord! If I could just know what he's thinking ...", she trails off, wondering if that prospect actually brings her any comfort.
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara walks beside her, nodding. "I have realized that trying to predict anything he is going to do is a lesson in frustration and humiliation." She says. "From now on, I am going to assume that nothing that he does will make sense to anyone but him. AND I am going to stop taking whatever he says personally. He doesn't understand the cold cruelty of his words. And...I am fairly certain he wouldn't care if he did. So from now on, whatever wretched thing he says about me or anyone else, I will just choose to view each word as tiny, itty bitty monkeys dripping from his mouth and wandering around screeching. Easy to squash and move on."
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Hadaza frowns slightly. I wish I had that luxury, she thinks to herself. "I don't think he's intentionally cruel. Durro said something about it. Its like a defense mechanism, that he's seen so much that he just ... distances himself from his humanity so that he can survive without pain. If he treats us all as ...", her frown deepens, "as assets or as some sort of ... I don't know ... something to study then he doesn't have to think of us as living beings. He doesn't have to care."
Her face softens as she whispers, "But I think he can't help himself ... which makes him even crueler."
They walk in silence for a step or two before Hadaza slows to a stop, lost in her own thoughts about this man that vexes her so.
"@Tesara Anerin," she calls out. "I have a weird question for you."
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara listens, considering What Hadaza is saying. She does have a point. She stops as well and faces Hadaza. “What is it?“ @Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
"Well ... Durro says the Force is all things, connects all things, knows all things. Could it help us to know the Professor? To, I don't know, maybe get behind his defenses somehow, to understand him? And maybe help him to know and understand us?"
Her voice is low, hesitant and reticent. She knows what she's asking, the implications of it, the dangers in it. Her breathing slows as her mind holds on to the higher purpose of her question. There is a subtle thrill underneath that makes her guts squirm, her heart flutter. She is asking to touch something beyond herself, something new and hidden. She is like the Professor in this respect, she supposes. She waits for @Tesara Anerin's reaction, hoping she hasn't overstepped herself
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara frowns. “I’m not sure the Force would aid us in this way. It doesn’t quite work like that. While Durro is right, The Force is the very thing that holds everything together, it doesn’t exactly allow for reading someone’s mind. The Professor is very intelligent and might not be open to opening up to us. Can I ask what you had in mind specifically?” @Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
"So, then, we'd need his permission? I mean," she amends quickly, "of course we would! To act on his mind without is permission would be invasive and malicious. It would be an unforgivable breech of trust ... and his trust is important." she ends her sentence softly.
Ernest eyes turn to @Tesara Anerin , pleading that the other woman is gentle with her and understands what she isn't saying, "... but you're saying that it is possible to affect someone's mind with the Force?"
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara is momentarily astounded. “Such a thing is possible, but It is only used in extreme situations, and the chances of failure are higher than the chances of success. It is more probable with someone who is… Shall we say… A little less bright? That is not the professor at all. Besides it is only used to perhaps convince someone to think or do something differently. It does not open up one’s mind like a box to reveal truth.” She frowns.
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Hadaza's eyes drop; tears welling under her lashes. "Could this have happened to me?" she whispers.
Her head whips up sharply, features stern, determined, almost blistering, "And can it be undone?!"
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara cannot help it, her mouth falls open, then snaps shut. “It is possible, Hadaza. But it would be a practitioner of the Dark Side to do it so thoroughly. I would have no hope at all of breaking such a curse.” She pauses, thinking. “And even if I could, would you want me to? Who you are now is not who you were before. I like this Hadaza. Whoever you were before is a stranger to me.”
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
The tear that was clinging to Haj's lashes falls delicately on her cheek, a stark counterpoint to the firm set of her brow. As she wipes it away, the hand that brushes her face also wipes away the intensity that had clouded her features. "You're right, Tesara. Whoever she was can stay wherever she is. This is me ... and I like me!" she says with a broad grin.
She leans over and kisses Tesara on the corner of her mouth. "Thank you," she murmurs into her cheek.
Taking her space back and turning to head to the briefing once more, she reconnects with her original train of thought. "So, if one were interested in learning how to ... how did you phrase it? 'convince someone to think or do something differently'," she repeats Tesara's words exactly, "how would one do such a thing?"
There is a jaunty bounce in her step, as though she were plotting mischief and enticing @Tesara Anerin to play along.
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara watches Hadaza bounce away and feels even more confused than ever. Sometimes speaking with Haj is like swimming in the warm water and you get a patch of cold, then hot again, then cold. Shaking it off, she follows her. "I can show you if you'd like." She says, catching up to her. But it requires you to stop walking." She smiles.
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Haj stops walking and turns to face @Tesara Anerin with a thoughtful, steadfast countenance, her hands in the now familiar position of respect. "Alright, Master Anerin, your padawan is listening. Show me."
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara closes her eyes. "It's one of the most difficult skills to learn. I have tried it a few times and only succeeded once, and the person wasn't very bright so it was easier. However, the two of us are much more intelligent. I'm going to try giving you a suggestion to do something. If you feel and understand and do it, then I have succeeded. If you feel and understand it but can resist, then I have failed but you have learned the gist of it.
((OOC trying to get on Roll20 to roll affect mind - give me a few minutes))
(((As an 18 I would guess that Haj hops on one foot ONCE but can shake it off after that)))
Image
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
(((OOC - don't I get a saving throw? What would it be? Will?)))
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
(((Yeah that is the issue rolling without the storyteller. )))
(((My guess is Will)))
TheTraveler — 01/29/2022
(OOC: Will saving throw DC 15)
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
((Thank you @TheTraveler )))
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Image
Haj feels the wave pass over her to hop on one foot, but stands resolute. "Hop on one foot, huh?", she says with a wry chuckle. "Wouldn't that have been a sight should anyone have walked past just now."
Refocusing herself, she's determined to experience what she is asking so that she fully understands it, "Please do it again."
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara grins. "Yes it would have been a sight, but honestly I am not surprised at all that it didn't work on you." Tesara focuses and tries again, this time telling Hadaza to turn all the way around and face her again.
(((I rolled a 13 - cannot take a screenshot on Roll20 right now as am driving))
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Image
This time the impulse is stronger. She looks over her shoulder, moves one foot, before shaking off the urge and turning once more to Tesara. This time, however, there is no mirth in her. "Impressive. It felt like it was my idea, but then I thought better of it. Once more?"
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara shakes her head. "No, I think that is enough for now. It's taxing and takes a lot of concentration." She says. "Besides, we both need to be fully alert and ready to meet with the Professor. But at least now you understand what it is and what it does. It's a dangerous tool when used for the wrong purposes, and can slide so quickly into the Dark Side that I do not ever use it unless a situation is utterly dire." She watches Hadaza's reactions to her words.
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Hadaza ingests Tesara's words, "It's a dangerous tool when used for the wrong purposes, and can slide so quickly into the Dark Side". The echo of Ashanti's comments to her follow them through her soul. "Thank you for the warning, Master Anerin. I understand." she says solemnly, and turns to continue their trek to the meeting.
Before her first step, staring straight ahead, she says, "I told you once, Tesara, that the Dark is not my true nature. I didn't lie to you, though I have had to search deeply within myself to make sure. That said, I think it was ... once. And that scares me more than you know." She turns around to look the other woman in the eye. "You have my vow that I will never use this skill for the wrong purposes, never in jest, and never capriciously." Tesara has heard this tone of voice from Haj once before. There is no mistaking the gravity, more even than the words call for. The hallway thrums with energy, a stone dropped in a calm pool. "But I will use it if and when it is called for."
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
There is a sense of relief at hearing this. She knows Hadaza is telling the truth. "I am glad to hear it. Sometimes..." She frowns, looking off in the distance, "In times of great stress, I can hear the Dark Side whispering. It happened when I made the decision to send Jack to rescue Aneta without me back on Lanus. I spent several hours sitting alone, fearing I would never see him again. That was when I heard the whispering. Telling me it would be so easy to turn back, to destroy them all in order to save him. To use my powers to save them both. It was torture. It took all of my willpower to resist it." She swallowed and for a moment, there was deep grief on her face. "I sent him in there and he nearly died. Ava saved him. I owe her so much." She said, taking a long, shuddering breath. "I want to see him again, but if we don't stop the swarm, he'll die alongside everyone else I have ever loved." She turns and faces the room where the Professor is likely waiting. "And he is the one person who could stop them. Crabby and blunt and odd as he is. Deep down he does care, but caring can hurt." She looks back at Hadaza. "I get the sense that if he allowed himself to care, he'd lose himself. So we deal with him now, as he is."
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Haj's shoulders soften. This is the first time that Tesara has opened up to her like this. She has never heard the name "Jack", but it is obvious that whoever this is, he is deeply, painfully important to Tesara. So much so that she will put up with Kenobi's sharp idiosyncrasies to see him again. She reaches out a hand to hold Tesara's upper arm and give it a squeeze, all severity gone. In its place, a tenderness for others that few of the crew has seen openly.
"We deal with him as he is now ... and we hope. And in the mean time, we all are each others Light in the Dark."
She steps to Tesara's side and hooks her arm into the crook of @Tesara Anerin's elbow. "I believe you said something about the crabby, blunt, and odd Professor waiting for us? Let's not keep him waiting any longer, lest he become more of all those things and we end up devolving to more threats and name calling." She says it with a blush and a twinkle in her eye, as though she actually enjoys fencing with him, though she would never admit it out loud.
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara grins a little. "Seriously, you two were arguing like an old married couple. If the situation hadn't been so dangerous I might have laughed as well." She laughs. "I feel like I'm heading to a military court to plead my case rather than to a briefing."
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
With mock seriousness, Haj replies, "I know nothing about this 'old married couple' of which you speak" and turns an excruciating shade of red, joining Tesara in laughter.
When the giggle fit passes, she says, "I don't know about a military court. I can't imagine that there will be any sort of judgment handed down, as such, unless it's to judge us on our prowess in battle, to which I will remind the good General that he was advised not to go down the stairs and chose to ignore it. So if anyone's on trial here, it's him!" She snorts derisively. "I can believe, however, that you will be recruited to interrogate our latest addition in ways that you may find distasteful. Are you prepared to have that discussion, Tesara?" She looks concernedly at her friend, for she knows that the genteel lady next to her may not have the spine to tell the old man to take a long walk off a short docking bay. Nor does she have it in her to compel answers from an unwilling respondent. Still, @Tesara Anerin might surprise her. She certainly had today.
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara notes the blush but chooses to ignore it for now. There is so much there her inquisitive mind wants to ask, but now is not the time. "To interrogate someone who was nearly a sandwich?" She snorts. "Obviously we need information from this person but I have found it is far easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar. The first thing he needs to do is understand that he is safe, and not dead. Then we can ask questions, and hopefully get some answers. I feel like the Sisters of the Angel will help him. We can ask them when we return there."
@Hadaza
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
"The Sisters of the Angel ... you worked with them before we left. You also mentioned that the statue of the Angel in this place is Zabrak. What else do you know of them?"
The inquiry is honest, as Hadaza's memory of this sect is like so much else about her past ... missing. Plus, the change of topic allows her to get he color back so she doesn't walk into the room glowing like a warning beacon.
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara nods. “I dealt with them on Baklid. I believe the original intent of the angel herself is nothing like the current iteration of her temples. There have been choices made by the priests of her religion that I feel are not in line with what she would have wanted. I believe the angel herself is a benevolent being with the light side being her power. But they twist her words into some thing ugly. At least on Baklid they did. However, these sisters appear to have avoided the dogma that now twists those on Baklid. I was quite pleased to see the statue as the angel not a human. Humans can be so egotistical thinking that we are better than everyone else. It was nice to see that she is others and everything.” She chuckles for a moment. “I sound like one of her priestesses don’t I?”
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
"You sound like you have excellent perception about your people's short-sightedness, that's for sure," she says with a bit of a rub at Tesara's earlier deception. It still rankled a little, but she was prepared to let it go with the final barb.
"I just hope they don't feel like recruiting. I'm not called to any organized dogma. All that behaving in ways that are antithetical to being alive.It makes my skin crawl, and I like my skin, thank you very much." She shudders dramatically for effect. "If they try, I'm outta there. If the Lady herself shows up to stop me, I'll show her my good manners and my better assets as I politely march past her back to the Professor, his acamel brandy, and whatever other life affirming, spirit damning debaucheries that I can find aboard." She lightly hip checks Tesara, as if to emphasize her point about her "better assets", and laughs.
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
Tesara laughs. "Hadaza your sense of humor is top notch." She grins. "I had no idea you had sampled the acamel brandy. What else of his have you gotten into?" She returned the hip check.
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
Haj grins sheepishly. "Sampled isn't the word I'd use. I believe I owe Kenobi a bottle when we have the opportunity to procure some."
They round the corner in and head down the last few feet to where they are meeting the Professor. "Speaking of procuring things," she starts, "I owe you an outfit. I, um, well ...", she looks down. "I ruined the one you lent me when I tried to stop, "she jabs a thumb at the door, "him from dying." Distress flashes across her features. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't have anything else to use. I'll replace it! I swear!", she finishes in a rush. "Though I'm going to need you to lend me some credits to do that, cuz I have no idea if I have any in another name somewhere and no idea how to find out.", she mumbles with embarrassment. "And I was kind of hoping you'd help me, um, maybe, um ... pick out something other than," she tugs on the loathed, unflattering unitard, "this awful thing to wear day in and day out. Sadly, I don't think this is going to be the place that happens unless the Sisters of the Angel have a secret stash of pretty clothes they are willing to part with."
@Tesara Anerin
Tesara Anerin — 01/29/2022
"Please don't worry about it." She says. "Besides, the professor promised uniforms. And the next place we land that HAS a market, we will get you as many outfits as possible."
(((OOC end here as we are about to start game soon?))
Hadaza — 01/29/2022
/end
|
