Mr Sandman or How I Learned Not to Spend a Twelfth Birthday and Start Worrying

[Loki Ahmrah]

“Jeez, Giger, I know I’ve said it who-knows-how-many times on this trip already, but who’d have thought that we’d find ourselves on a Mon Calamari cruiser, for public transport no less!” Loki’s voice was full of the same wonder that it had been when he and the rest of the travelling party had boarded the monstrous vessel from the “Space-Sesswenna” Port back on Coruscant two days ago. Presently, he and his once mute, bald and estranged friend, Giger, now a talkative, fair-haired and estranged fellow padawan learner could be found sat in one of the two food courts enjoying a late breakfast. Giger drummed his fingers on the pristine, white table whilst waiting, rather impatiently, for his Full Coruscant meal.

“Actually, I think we can settle on calling it Brunch. After all, we’ve only got twenty-five minutes until lunchtime. What do you think?” Asked Giger, choosing unsurprisingly to not humour Loki’s undying enthusiasm, for the umpteenth time, and instead pondered further on how to address their upcoming meal appropriately; he had fidgeted with the idea of calling it a late breakfast or an early lunch. A conclusion, it seemed, had been reached and the thick, dark-haired padawan gave a curt nod bringing Giger’s one man debate to an end. Suffice it to say, both had slept in. Again.

“You know Cassidy is going to be ashamed of us, right?” Loki grumbled in sudden misery, like he had seen a thunderous, black storm cloud float across the room and stop above his head with Cassidy’s scrutinizing face piercing the rain and lightning flashes, her ruthless glare never breaking for a second. The boy shook his head resignedly. “Getting up so late again, she’ll never let it rest!”

“Or us for that matter!” Blurted Giger, then they both chuckled. Cassidy, another member of the Jedi group onboard, was nowhere in sight right now but was notorious for being an energetic, wide-eyed, intelligent young lady who claims: “Breakfast is to be shovelled into your yawning gob at breakfast time. I expect you to be here at nine sharp tomorrow, Loki Ahmrah!” She was evidently more energetic than the two boys at least and she was probably reading the GNN Daily Edition or browsing an article about Mon Cal Cruisers in the ship’s databanks or catching up on her latest novel. In any case, she’d be reading. “That girls a Readaholic!” Giger laughed, some colour coming to his pale cheeks. “And I tell you what else; I think--”

The waitress arrived, a droid on wheels complete with a shiny, metal skirt which was short enough to belt anyway, Loki noted, she promptly served the two meals from a stack of five then whisked off. He looked up from his breakfast of waffles and syrup wearing and satisfied grin, Giger was already devouring his plate of beans, bantha sausage and bacon, grilled mushrooms, scrambled eggs, all Chandrillian no less, and a side of toast. His fingers moved nimbly over his knife and fork using them like highly refined cutting instruments in a surgical operation as opposed to Loki’s chainsaw and pneumatic drill.

“You eat too neatly!” The boy remarked, occasionally revealing mashed waffle on his tongue as his muffled words spilled out. These charming eating habits were picked up from spending many a lunchtime in the Bar and Grill with Taataani, Loki enjoyed his food more this way and would bet half his personal possessions that he would finish his meal before Giger was even half through his own Full Coruscant dish. Nevertheless, the padawan was constantly reminding himself that the moment they set foot on Chandrila his table manners would have to revert back to those he had originally left his homeworld with otherwise his mother would have much to say. Loki stuffed another wad of waffle in his mouth and thought about the people who he would see at the upcoming party when in mid-munch the fear that he might get face humiliation in front of his old schoolmates haunted him once again. Then reassuringly, he remembered all the friends he had made since joining the Jedi Order almost four years ago and how much he had changed since and happily finished his breakfast.

[Giger]

"Yes, but you eat far too hap-hazardly for my liking. I've seen krazy-mazes with more organisation than your table manners." Giger made sure his mouth was empty before opening his mouth. One can't be too hypocritic amongst friends. He inhaled deeply as the aroma drifted up from his plate. The bald-headed, bright young thing smiled to Loki. "I love the smell of beans and toast in the early afternoon!". He chuckled lightly before consuming another mouthful of mushrooms. As he ate, Giger began reflecting on the previous nights events. He and Loki had enjoyed a pleasant battle of wits. He was very pleased when he found Loki to be his match in a game of holo-chess. After all, winning all the time can become boring after a while. To say the least, the game was more than satisfactory and mentally stimulating. Following that, they conversed in the lounge with Cassidy, though Giger suspected that his contributions to the discussion were, at times, uninvigorating and plain boring. He tried whenever he could to change the subject to something more fun, but it proved not to be his forté. He retired to the double room, which he was sharing with his best friend, Loki, after two hours, leaving Cassidy and the other boy with their drinks and the warm glow from the lamp on the table. And thats when the dream came. Unfortunately he couldn't remember very much at all. The elements that he could remember were very vague and incomplete. It frustrated him mildly, but he tried not to show it as he ate.

Whilst he pondered on the dreams events, he didn't have to worry about ingoring Loki since he had a natural ability to take in multiple sources of stimulation simultaneously. He could think about one thing whilst listening to two conversations and taking part in both of them. Glancing across the large foot court, the young boy noticed a group of people enter via the side doors that led through to the main lounge and beyond that the recreation area.

"Here comes trouble!" Smiled Giger, giving Loki's shin a light kick underneath the table whilst gesturing to the door with his eyes. "Do you think they'll notice us if we keep our heads low?". The cheecky grin was blatant on his face as he began tittering to himself. Loki looked over and began giggling with him. "No, no! You think I'm joking. I'm not! Hee hee!"

[Sejah Haversh]

If there was one thing Sejah loved about trips away from the Order, it was that he could wear whatever he wanted instead of the common robes. That morning he chose another assortment of semi-designer casual clothes that he had won from the Rho'istaan tournament. In all honesty, he really had no idea how much stuff he had recieved, or was still recieving, as complimentary goods for winning, but as long as he kept getting enough clothes to never have to do laundry again, it was fine with him. All he had to do for the trip was pack jsut so many pairs of pants, shirts, and other items fresh out of their shipping boxes and into a complimentary suitcase and he was ready.

"Morning boys," Sejah called out once he spotted Loki and Geiger. He knew Loki quite well, but hadn't talked much Geiger, so he played it safe and simply called to the two of them. Of course, he had blown whatever cover they thought they had, but Sejah was a hard beast to hide from, especially on a spaceship.

Sauntering up to the table, he smiled and leaned on it with his paws. " Up late again last night, were we? Tsk tsk, what was it this time? Holovids? Hologames? Trying to peek into the ladies' shower again? Wait, no, it's best that I don't know, isn't it. Might go spilling the beans and all. Say, speaking of beans, that food looks pretty good, don't mind if I do." he said, suddenly snatchign a sausage off of Gieger's plate and popping it into his mouth before standing up straight and continuing on through a half-full mouth. "Oh, by the way, I told Cassidy I saw you two running around earlier, so, you shouldn't get a talkin' to about sleping in again, okay?" Sure he had lied to her, but, it was all for the greater good .

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy for one had been up for hours already. She'd been just as enthralled with the ship as Loki, and spent much of her spare time retracing her explorations, book in hand. Rising promptly at seven the padawan had eaten an quick breakfast before settling back in her room to finish one of the many novels she was involved with. The room itself was littered with datapads and brochures, all about Loki's homeworld; history, geography--Cassidy knew all about Chandrilla now. After all, one could never be too prepared.

The previous night had ended at a rather late hour, and though she would never admit it, Cassidy had been tempted to sleep in herself. Only the fact that the boys would never have let her forget it made the girl stick stubbornly to her schedule. Still, despite her best attempts, Cassidy had to re-read pages of her book more than once because of dozing off. It was nearly lunch hour when by the time she finished, closing the book with a satisfying thump before skipping out.

The girl was quick to reach the food courts, and as she bounded over to her a companions a wide-eyed grin was on her face.

"Have you guys seen the public restrooms? They're hu--"

Cassidy suddenly glanced at their plates and frowned. You could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she thought. Hands on her hips, with a scrutinous glance at Sejah having been delivered, the feisty padawan rolled her expressive eyes.

"You're not just eating now, are you?"

[Estelle Russard]

She had been watching the pair for quite some time from where she sat at a table against the far wall of the great Cruiser's dining area.
She smiled to herself at how enthusiastic Loki was attacking his meal. His taller, balder counterpart was not quite as flamboyant with his table manners, but he, too, appeared to be enjoying himself everybit as much.

Estelle was glad. She watched the young toussle-haired Jedi with a deep fondness. Once more, a wave of relief and thankfullness washed over her at the thought of him safe and sound and home again with the Order.

The ordeal of his kidnapping by the Sith Lady Daiquiri, her and Tataanni's own failed rescue attempt, his abscence and susequent return to the Jedi Academy had been something she would never, ever wish to revisit. Having him back was like a precious second chance and no words could adequately express how thankful she was.

She sipped her tea, and a feeling of wellbeing settled upon her. Looking down now to read over the visitors brochure, she made a mental note to be sure to see the Museum of Flight while in Chandrila - thats if she could find someone to join her. Though given the bright inquiring minds she was travelling with, she doubted that would be a problem.

This was a trip simply for the comradeship and celebration of Loki's Birthday and Estelle had been delighted when Loki had approached her about coming along. Allbeit, she was one of the chaperoning adults, which somehow made her feel old..Not that Loki or Cassidy or even Giger could not take care of themselves, but they were still young and adult supervision was always a good idea, no matter how able an individual was in the force. But she felt a sneaking suspicion Loki wanted to show off his home town, his roots and Estelle was thrilled to be a part of it and share this with him.

A rise in volumn from across the way made Estelle look up. Sejah and Cassidy had joined the others at the table, and what was becoming a familiar scene - Cassidy with hands on hip, Loki with feigned innocent gestures of protest. Seems Loki had been caught out in some mischief once again. Sejah was looking noncomittally about the room, and Estelle caught his eye. There was a distinct sheepishness about the look and Estelle felt sure he was part of whatever conspiracy Cassidy had uncovered.

She pushed away her cup, and took her slouch-bag by the strap and hooked it about her shoulder. Standing up she began to make her way, meandering between tables of diners, over to the foursome.

[Giger]

"Excuse me, but this is an early lunch, right Loki?". His lie came across elegantly, though whether or not Cassidy bought it was another question entirely. He smiled covertly at Loki and Sejah. As he did so, a droid waitress came over with a crystal-clear oval-shaped tray balancing on the palm of her silvery metal hand. The waitress, obviously female in design, had a solitary rotary wheel connected to the lower abdomen by a support beam. She was rather pudgy for a droid, and reminded her of one of the women who worked in the cafeteria back on Coruscant at the academy - even her apron was similar. Her eyes were very large and light orange, and her mouth was a thin black groove. Giger often felt sorry for droids who couldn't really express their emotions. He even felt sad for those droids that were incapable of emotion. Still, it was out of his hands. Giger smiled at the droid as she placed the tray on the table in front of him.

"Thank you Marge." The droid responded with a rather cold, mechanical "Your welcome, Master Giger." Giger whispered to his friends. "She thinks I'm a Jedi Master! Tee-hee. I told her, naturally. But I'm not really, it's just a joke!" He took a cup from the tray and poured himself a drink. "Help yourselves - I ordered enough for everybody." Taking a quick sip of the drink, Giger turned to Sejah and Estelle. "It was very kind of you two to join us. I know you and Loki are close friends, which is good since he almost scoffed at my suggestion we ask the council to provide some supervision. I know we're off to Loki's homeplanet and all...but you can't be too careful, right?

The young boy idly glanced over at the time.

"Oooh! What time do we er....I mean how much time do we have before we arrive at Chandrila?". There was a sense of urgency in his voice, and his eyes were wide and alert, darting from one pair of his companions' eyes to the next.

EDIT: TTT

[Loki Ahmrah]

"Oh no! They have us trapped; it's a Pincer Movement! Look!" Loki gasped prior to Sejah's arrival, pointing out Cassidy zeroing in on their location from the other side of the room. He and Giger chuckled and then greeted the first arrival, the brown-furred Nehantite; Loki was particularly pleased about Sejah being appointed as one of the trio of supervisors, not only because they were good friends but now he had the chance of returning the favour of showing his friend his own homeworld. He grinned when he identified the clothes the mongoose was wearing as being those with which Sejah had been rewarded after winning the Rho’isstaan tournament.

“Good morning, Sej. You’re looking rather dapper today, again. I mean what have you become, ‘Sejah the Trend-Setting Mongoose’?” He laughed; remembering some of his friend’s infamous, dodgy footwear then with a foot pushed out a chair from underneath the table and gestured to it. “Take a seat, furball, and let’s hope that Miss Williams fails to see past the rather ingenious deception. Here she comes.”

Cassidy was a young padawan roughly the same age as Loki, the two had met each other some time ago back at the Bar and Grill and immediately seemed to hit it off, the feisty, young girl practically being the boy’s counterpart, sharing his love of books and reading. Loki had taken to her almost instantaneously for regardless of who you are or what interests you have, Cassidy will always prove to be interesting and entertaining company. One day, Loki plans to bring the camera which he obtained - or rather Sejah snatched from an over-zealous photographer back on Nehantish - and use it to capture one or two of Cassidy’s more classic hand-gestures in mid-conversation. They should be framed and sold because coupled with the priceless facial expressions, it’s pure comedy gold.

“That’s right, Giger, an early lunch. I’ve finished mine and it looks like this fella here will be finished soon too--” Loki glanced at Giger’s breakfast then waved his hand in the general direction of the eight-year-olds plate, did a double-take with a look of shock at the amount of food still left uneaten yet then added casually, “--In about ten or fifteen minutes. So it looks like you’re running behind schedule today, missy!”

As much as he tried to fight the temptation, the padawan allowed a quick pulling of the tongue towards the pouting young lady. Her narrowed eyes suggested that she was about to tear their web of lies to pieces at any moment in a fit of I-told-you-so's along with plenty hand-on-hip action. The three braced themselves and prepared to accept their fate and walk the last long path to damnation at the hands of Padawan Williams and her uncanny powers of deduction, however there was one comforting constant remaining; they would see it through together. They were brothers in arms bearing tools of mischief and weapons of deceit and if they were caught out red-handed, then they would have each other to turn to and rely on as they go down in a show of flaming glory.

That was until Loki saw Estelle approaching and took the opportunity to jump up and dart over to her thus escaping certain doom. He jumped up and threw his arms around his surrogate-sister with genuine glee. Shortly thereafter, she released him, four years had passed since they had first met, back when she could pick him up without any effort and throw him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, slowly but surely he was getting bigger and heavier. He looked forward to the day when he would be able to pick her up.

“Good morning, Estelle! How are you today?” He beamed happily, seizing her by the hand and enthusiastically pulling her over to the table, looking back at her occasionally until they were back in the thick of it all with Cassidy at the helm. Now he had back-up with him or perhaps Gigers latest question would throw the determined, young girl off the scent. Loki quickly took advantage of the situation.

“Oh well, I’m not sure exactly; probably another hour or two. Anyone have any idea?” He looked about the group with eyes wide and eyebrows nearly touching the ceiling, and then a puzzled look overcame him as he glanced about the food court. “As anyone seen Ori today?”

[Cassidy Williams]

Cassidy rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. She was contented to sit down at the table and let the boys think that they’d fooled her. Perhaps she would have believed it—it was a well put together fabrication—had it not been for the glances they kept shooting one another.

“Loki Amrah, I am not behind any such schedule!”

Cassidy loved spontaneity, but there were certain things that she needed to do in a routine. When the situation allowed the Padawan could be counted on to be like clockwork. Today was a good example. Though the waitress droid had come by several times, Cassidy had yet to order lunch on the basis that there were still fifteen minutes until the hour. And nothing could convince her otherwise to order early.

“I haven’t seen him yet…But I’ve been reading in my room all morning.”

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"It isn't too late for tea, is it?"

Anbira entered the dining facility, and spoke to the nearby serving droid. The droid informed him that he was on time.

"Wonderful. Zansanar tea it is, then."

The aged Jedi took a seat at Giger and Cassidy's table, and looked at the mess around him.

"I would surmise by this that one young Mr. Amrah has decidedly not finished his breakfast."

His grey eyes looked across to his padawan.

[Estelle Russard]

Loki had greeted her warmly, and as always, this made her smile. He was always so exuberant. So full of expectations of adventure and learning. What a wonderful spirit he had.

Getting comfortable, she said goodmorning each to Cassidy, Giger and Sejah as she sat. She was going to answer Loki, that she hadn't yet seen Oriadin today either, when, Anibra also joined them.

"Hello Master Hicchoru - I think you have come just in time to see Loki start on lunch now."