Having a Drink (Cassidy Williams, open)

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage walked into the bar, smiling. He nodded at the security guard.

"Good afternoon, Mabeev," he said to the guard.

"Good afternoon, Master Jedi," he replied cheerfully.

"I see you have day duty as you requested," Sage commented casually.

"Yeah, my kids need me to tuck them in. You know how it is," he said as he blushed, rubbing his hand on his neck.

"Not firsthand but I'm pleased you have more time for your family. Nice seeing you, Mabeev. Keep up the good work," bowing, he ventured into the bar.

"Thank you, sir," Mabeev called after him.

"Hazzard, you better not order water again," Lehr, the weekend bartender said, chuckling.

Sage laughed, sitting on a barstool infront of the bartender.

"What kind of Jedi would I be if I formed a beer belly?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you want to eat?"

"Whatever the special is. Oh, and I'll take some milk instead of the water," he added, winking.

"You like to rub it in don't you?" He asked, handing the order to the chef.

"What, staying in shape?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, yes, I do."

The two laughed together.

[Cassidy Williams]

It was a lovely day--or rather, it had been. Cassidy Williams, uopn waking had decided to visit downtown Coruscant and reminisce with some 'friends' who knew her father, tie up whatever loose ends she could; sort of a tribute to him. Everything had been going fine...When Mikay'la showed up.

Mikay'la was the daughter of Cassidy's Uncle Derrick, who wasn't really her uncle. The two girls ahted each other with a passion. Of course by now Kay'la knew that Cass' father had been jailed; practically everyone she'd ever known knew. The only difference was Kay'la felt the need to rub it in. Had it been anyone else Cassidy would have just walked away. But it wasn't and she hadn't/ Consequently, she ended up wrestling in a rather dirt puddle waiting for Mikay'la to yell 'uncle'.

Needless to say, as the young padawan entered the Bar and Grill, sopping wet and filthy, she was not in the best of moods.

"Cup of tea. Please."

Cassidy grimaced as she lifted herself onto a stoll, wet clothes sticking to her in a most unomfortable manner.

"'Daddy got caught, eh Cassy?'"

Cassidy mimicked Mikay'la in a not-so-flattering tone.

"Yeah well, I don't suppose you'll be messing with me again, stuck-up little snitch. 'Oh no! I broke a nail!'. Pansy."

SHe smiled to herself and drummed her fingers on the bartop, perking up at the image of Kay'la screeching as she was covered in muddy H2O. When Cass looked back down at the bar, there was a glass of milk in front of her. She looked at it, surprised for a moment.

"Uh, Sir?"

She adressed the bartender.

"I don't think this is mine..."

[Sage Hazzard]

The glass slid itself down the counter to Sage's hand. A little Force razzle dazzle was the culprit.

The bartender started to reply to the lady, when Sage talked instead.

"No, that'd be mine," he smiled, swooping up the glass in his hand. "Thanks Lehr."

The bartender nodded in response, leaning towards Cassidy.

"What'll you have miss?"

Sage spoke before Cassidy could reply, wiping off the milk mustache from his prior sip.

"You should try this. Helps build strong bones."

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy looked at Sage blankly, unaware of who the man was.

"I, uh, don't drink milk. I don't like where it comes from."

She made a face and waited until her tea came before speaking again.

"I'm Cassidy, Cassidy Williams. Who're you?"

She tilted her head inquisitively, raising an eyebrow. THe eleven year old had never had any qualms about introducing herself to strangers; she was always confident that there would be some way to find a way out of the situation, if perchance they turned out to be deranged.

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage recovered from almost shooting milk out his nose. Her comment on "where it comes from" shocked and humored him to no end.

He recovered in time for her introduction.

"Hello Cassidy, nice to meet you. I'm Sage Hazzard."

[Cassidy Williams]

Grinning, Cass grabbed one of his hands with no hesitation and gave it a hearty shake.

"Great to meet you too."

She grabbed a packet of sugar from a little container and emptied into her tea. And then another. And another.

"So, Mr.Hazzard, you work around here or somethin'?"

All the while she was talking, Cassidy kept dumping suger into the tea, until she had quite a pile of wrappers. The girl gave it a stir, took a seat and grimaced.

"This is really bitter!"

She continued to add packets of the sweet granules, waiting for his response.

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage raised an eyebrow at the sugar rush and repressed the need to warn her of tooth decay.

"Well, I don't try to think of it as work. I'm a Jedi."

His meal arrived. A plate of steak, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. Absolutely wonderful. Sage started in on it.

[Cassidy Williams]

She nearly dropped her cup.

She did spew tea everywhere.

Cassidy looked at Sage with wide-eyes excitement.

"You're a Jedi! That's wonderful! Me too! Well, I mean, I'm going to be... Do you like it?"

She put her cup down, completely distracted.

"Have you eer had to kill someone? What about those clothes, do you have to wear 'em all the time? And this whole Force thing that I read about..."

Cassidy didn't even wait for an answer, so busy was she with posing questions.

"Wow! Hey, how long have you been a Jedi?"

[Sage Hazzard]

...

Sage drew a breath.

"Yes, I do enjoy being a Jedi. Yes, I have. Not all the time, it's not required. You'll learn much of it and it will be the most extradionary thing you've ever experienced, when you first sense it."

Finally, Sage breathed. He had answered her questions in order, not for the last one.

"Since, I was ten so... about ten years now. How long have you been... I'm guessing a Padawan Learner?"

[Cassidy Williams]

"Two days."

Cassidy picked up her cup again, the momentary shock disspelled. She kept looking at Sage, taking in the man.

"Ten years is a long time. And if you started when you were ten that'd make you around twenty... Whoo, you're old."

Twenty to an eleven year old was a lightyear away.

"I hope I'm not dead before I'm twenty. I read bein' a Jedi's a pretty dangerous job."

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage nodded, somberly.

"Indeed it is. That is why we train so hard, to defend against those who make it dangerous for us and others."

He smiled, breaking the sadness of his mood.

"So, what have you done in these two days?"

[Cassidy Williams]

She shrugged.

"I dunno. Not much. Just gettin' used to the place, y'know? And I visited some... friends..."

Cassidy wiped some of her damp hair out of her face. It was starting to dry and the dirt was making it stiff.

"Just, uh, hanging out I guess. This is prob'ly the only place on Coruscant that I don't know well. It's nice bein' back here again. I haven't lived here since I was six but I always visited. I like it here."

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage raised an eyebrow. He enjoyed the open country and green grass himself.

"Yes, the Jedi HQ can be massive at first. Over time though you'll know it well, like the back of your hand."

The Jedi Master squinted his eyes as he inspected her hair from the distance he sat.

"What happened to you, hmm?"

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy blushed.

"Nothing... Almost nothing."

She tried her best but couldn't keep the smallest of smiles off her face.

"I just had a disagreement with a friend. Y'know, a little squabble. It wasn't much of anything."

The girl's smile widened into a cheeky grin.

"She ended up with the worst end of the stick!"

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage shuddered to think what that'd be.

"I'll assume, for my benifit, that you tried a peaceful solution first," he winked at her. "So, who's your Master?"

[Cassidy Williams]

"Oh, if it's for your benefit certainly assume it was peaceful."

She gave him a thumbs up sign happily. Her tea was cooling down and Cassidy took a gulp of it, choking as it 'scratched' her throat.

"Oh I don't got a master yet, but I've only been here a little while. I mean, it doesn't happen right away, right?"

The girl impatiently pulled her hair back again. It kept swinging forward in wet clumps and plastering to her face, in a most annoying manner.

"Who was your master?"

[Sage Hazzard]

"Very true, very."

Sage sighed, looking off as if he could visually see fond memories.

"Darth Stone. Don't let the name scare you, he was a Jedi. Though he went to the Darkside shortly after my promotion to Knighthood. I haven't heard of him since... since a incident you should assume, for your benifit, was peacefully dealt with. Though I assure you he got the worse end of the stick," he allowed himself a wink, despite the bad memories creeping in.

[Cassidy Williams]

She smiled, but could tell that the conversation was drifting too darn close to an uncomfortable silence. So she changed the subject rather quickly.

"I bet you get to travel a lot, huh? I mean, you gotta go where teh problems are right? I travelled a lot with my dad. Never lived on one planet for more than four months at a time."

Cassidy was an expressive speaker and used hder hands quite a bit.

"Ever been to Tatooine? We lived there for a few weeks. I hated it there."

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage sighed and nodded.

"On many occasions. My ship crash landed in fact. Almost didn't get off world with my life. Though that's a tale for another day."

He took another swig of his milk.

"So. what planet were you born on?"

[Cassidy Williams]

"Promise you'll tell it to me though?"

Cassidy was always one to listen to stories. She waited until the Jedi Master nodded before answering him.

"I think I was born on Abregado, but I dunno for sure, my dad told me a lotta things that weren't worth Bantha spit. I've lived too many places to remember anyhow. First place I know I lived was Antar 4. I remember being scared living there."

She smiled.

"But the most recent place, 'sides here, was J't'p'tan. You ever been there?"

OOC: SO sorry :)

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage twisted his face, thinking back.

"Can't say I've even heard of it. What's it like?"

OOC - It happens, no biggie. :)

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy shrugged, running her tongue over her elongated canines.

"It's nothing special, but it sure is peaceful. It's in the Koornacht cluster. There's a bunch a people who're in this nutty religious cult, the H'kig. But the land's nice, mostly gardens and plains. Some people go to see this big temple there, but I don't think it's allt hat great."

She shrugged again.

"But now I'm here and that's all that matters I guess. But I think I mighta offended someone already."

She blushed guiltily.

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage's brows narrowed.

"Who?"

[Cassidy Williams]

"A Knight."

She sighed deeply.

"I think I said somethin' wrong. And she was really nice too! Then I had to go and open my big mouth and just upset Knight Xazor--"

Cassidy stopped and covered her mouth.

"Oh shoot! I wasn't supposed to mention names!"

She looked at Sage sternly.

"You have to swear never ever to mention this to anyone! Swear that if you do you'll die a slow painful death and then your corpse will be infested by flesh eating worms!"

It was obvious that the padawan had been reading too many pirate books.

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage curled his lips.

"Heck, why not?"

He sighed and went back to his drink. Then, casually glancing to his side.

"Just to ask, about that thing I'm not supposed to talk about, why not mention names? Hypothitical of course. Not saying weither or not you did or didn't mention names."

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy rolled her eyes as if it were ovious.

"Because--"

She began slowly.

"--It's against the rules to mention names. It's impolite."

She looked pointedly at the Jedi Master, having expected him to know this. It was only a matter of minutes before she was off teh subject.

"Hey, do ya wanna blow this popsicle stand--"

Cassidy'd been waiting to use that line ever since she'd become a member of the holovid-of-the0month club.

"--and find somethin' exciting to do?"

[Sage Hazzard]

The Jedi didn't seek excitement, or atleast the lessons he had been tought said not to, but he could tell this young lady would seek it anyway. Better to have someone looking over her.

"Sure."

[Cassidy Williams]

"Good."

Cassidy paid for her tea and slid off the stool, hopping from foot to foot impatiently as she waited for Sage. As soon as he was in order the young padawan raced out the door and onto the bustling pedwalk. It was only a short walk to the nearest hoverbus station and by the time they arrived Cassidy had a mischievious grin on her face. She turned to Sage.

"This is the fun part."

Spinning around with her eyes closed Cassidy stuck a finger out.

"Eenie, meenie, miney...MOE!"

She opened her eyes and after a bit of wavering from her fitful spinning, Cassidy found the transport that was best in her fingers range.

"That's the one we're getting on t'day."

With a skip and a jump she started toward the transport, humming.

[Sage Hazzard]

Sage raised and eyebrow and chuckled.

"Curious method."

He followed her to the transport she had chosen.

[Cassidy Williams]

"It keeps things interesting."

She plopped down into a seat and started to swing her legs, calunking them against the bracing. An aging Twi'lek stared at her over her newspaper, obviously annoyed. Cassidy stared back.

"What?"

Quickly the Twi'lek woman diverted her eyes. The padawan bit her lip to keep from chuckling and turned to Sage.

"I don't like it when people act like I'm doin' something wrong by bein' a kid. I'll bet you that when she was my age, she used to make noise too."