The Evening Watch

[Dasquian Belargic]

The Jedi Knight stopped, stretching with a slight groan as he looked around. For an hour or so now he’d been wandering, as he usually did, through the lower streets of Coruscant. Down here there was nothing much more than housing, engineering workshops and bars. Almost every street had at least one neon sign advertising drinks and betting. It was a far cry from the polished white of the Jedi Order.

He had decided to take a short break and get a drink to cool down – though it was hard to tell from it being quite so dark, it was mid day. Though most people did not take kindly to the Jedi in these lower levels, they didn’t often make anything of it. As he entered one of the quieter looking bars a cursory glance was the most offered to him.

“Can I just have a water please?”

He was an alien, so to speak, but then so was everyone else here. Sat down on a stool as he was, between a pair of quarreling wookies and a rodian, only his robes marked him out as being an outsider – and a Jedi.

[Mikhail]

-Mikhail sat quietly nursing his drink when the Jedi entered the establishment; if it even deserved to be called that.
His artifical eyes sublty swept the room but it was clear that no-one was here to meet this Jedi.
The wookies got up and left so he took the opertunity to slide in for a closer seat, a couple of stools away.
He shared his thoughts with the Knight.-

"So, Jedi,.......What brings you too this dank corner of the lower levels?..."

-His piercing black eyes, with only their red pupils for colour, peered at the Knight from where he sat. His tone was not sinister or harsh but showed simply an air of curiosity. Even if the lop-sided smile presented it otherwise, his intentions were completely harmless.-

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Just taking a walk,”

Dasquian replied, glancing to the side to look at the man who had addressed him for but a moment before looking to the bartender as he was handed his drink.

[Mikhail]

"..Do you always wander this far?"

[Carsey Eviness]

God he felt good. For the first time in days Carsey was spooning food into his mouth, eating the noodle dish without swallowing, without savoring. The smell off the boy was disgusting, caused by life on the streets, an all too common one on Coruscant. He lived here, in these lower stages of the planet; he lived in the alleys, and the abandoned buildings, and the decimated boxes.

“Bill now. I wanna pay.”

The bartender nodded and held the bill out at arms length, not wanting to get any closer to the boy. Carsey grabbled at it, flung some credits onto the countertop and jerked off his seat, wincing. Weren’t nobody that could afford to get a doctor down here, and he’d had plenty of broken bones that hadn’t healed properly. They hurt him fiercely sometimes.

Barely casting a glance at the Jedi and his company, Carsey managed to flit his hand into a woman’s purse as she passed, scooping out her wallet into his pocket and pushing out into the outside world.

“That was wrong.”

[Dasquian Belargic]

“When I need to think, yes,”

Dasquian again smiled, although his mind was elsewhere. Most of the peoples thoughts in here could be read fairly easily, and right then as he’d spoken he’d gotten a little cautioning that something wrong had just happened.

“Excuse me a moment.”

Standing up, he stalked across the bar to the doorway and Carsey quickly found a firm hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t want to steal that woman’s purse. You want to take it back and apologize, saying you found it on the floor.”

[Carsey Eviness]

Carsey jerked in surprise as he felt the hand clamp on his shoulder. But he quickly found himself inexplicably calm and at ease.

“You don’t want to steal that woman’s purse. You want to take it back and apologize, saying you found it on the floor.”

He nodded, smiling.

“Yeah.”

Turning with the bag clutched in his hand, the young man entered the bar again and scanned the room for the woman. She was sitting with a group at a far table and he crossed the room at a good clip, smiling broadly.

“’Scuse me, you dropped this on the floor.”

Carsey held out the purse. The woman looked him up and down with an unsure smile and then took the bag gently, nodding. Satisfied, Carse turned and left. He’d walked a few paces from the establishment before he realized what he’d done. Suddenly he felt cheated, angry, and desperate.

With a roar he ran back to the pub and burst through the swinging doors, overturning a table angrily.

“It’s not fair!”

The band on the raised stage stopped playing and species of every kind were staring. Carsey jabbed a thumb at himself.

“I didn’t ask to be like this! I…I try to…and then it all gets taken away! They always take everything away from you, and you can’t ever get ahead because they’re always there, they’re always there! And maybe you’re tired of working, but it’s never enough because…”

He was winding down now, his energy completely spent.

“…You can never get away from them.”

[jedi oliver]

I enter a strong bounty hunter wondering whats going on.After further examination i notcied what was happening and asked the jedi why he was here."this is my place people fear me u must leave at once or suffer the full power of the bounty hunters fist.

I pulled my gun out and pointed it in his face and gave him ten seconds to leave this pub or die!!!

[Dasquian Belargic]

As if the disturbance covered by the thief wasn’t enough now he had someone brandishing a pistol in his face. The Jedi simply smiled.

“I am just having a drink, sir,” he replied, “Surely there is no harm in that.”

Dasquian looked for a moment at Carsey, mentally noting to talk to the boy once this disagreement had been solved.

[jedi oliver]

I hit the jedi in the face with the butt of my gun "i dont think u heard what i just said"

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian scrunched his face up, frowning at the sudden impact. Shaking off a little confusion, he looked back up and, with a wave of his hand, called the gun up into the air with the Force, straight into the Jedi Knights hand. He rose the barrel and smiled thinly as with what appeared to be minimal effort he snapped the weapon in two rendering it useless.

“Let’s all just calm down, shall we?”

[jedi oliver]

What How did u go that My gun.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Magic.” :D

[jedi oliver]

Wow ive never seen anything like it i better leave you to your drink.hey let me buy you one what will you have?

[Dasquian Belargic]

“I was just having water, but I’ll pass. I need to go talk to that boy over there,” he said with a nod at the thief.

“Good speaking to you though, eh? Sorry about the gun.”

This said the Jedi bowed before heading towards Carsey.

[jedi oliver]

Thats fine if you ever need help with anything contact the galaxys best bounty hunter and ill help you out.

[Carsey Eviness]

He’d fallen against the wall and sunk to the floor, shaking. But when he saw the Jedi heading towards him, Carsey pushed himself onto his knees and staggered out the door. The young man turned to look over his should, misjudged his steps, and fell hard. His face struck the ground with a loud crack, and he cried out. But instinctual terror made him ignore the blood dribbling off his cheek and scoot forward on his hands and knees.

“Lemme alone!”

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Wait… wait, I’m just trying to help you.”

Dasquian jogged forward and lowered himself into a crouch by the boy, frowning. He didn’t look at all well.

“You’ve got a pretty nasty wound there… don’t you think you should go to a doctor to sort that out?”

[Carsey Eviness]

Carse shook his head, curling into a ball on his side.

“Don’t need a doc.”

He wiped at his chin, smearing the red liquid over his face. The blood mixed with the dirt that was already there, clumping into little pellets.

“You took it away from me. You’re just like all the rest of them. Always have to make sure we don’t get ahead.”

[Dasquian Belargic]

There was a lot of turmoil in this one.

“Just like the rest of whom? I don’t understand.”

[Carsey Eviness]

Of course you don’t understand, you’re one of them!”

Carsey’d risen by now and was staring at Dasquian with hate.

“We come here, wantin’ a new life. And you look down your nose at us, no matter how hard we work! Work us to death, barely pay us and then take it all away! Just when we think we might make it, might be able to give our family a real life,”

His shoulders slumped, and he shook his head.

“You show up and put it in your pockets. Don’t leave nothin’ but scraps for us. Make it so that the children have to go out an’ work. So that parents got no way out of the hell but death. You’re all the same.”

He spit at the Jedi, cursing him.

“Damn you. You go tell your boss that he may have owned my father, but he sure as hell don’t own me.”

[Dasquian Belargic]

The look of hate was returned with one of confusion.

“I’m sorry... I think you’ve got me mistaken for someone else. I don’t know who you think I am but… I’m a Jedi, someone who would never do any of those things. It’s my job to help and protect people… to make sure they don’t live like that.”

[Carsey Eviness]

The spiteful look didn’t change. If anything, it grew more pronounced and intensified.

“You’re doing a hell of a job. Take a look around mate, you Jedi don’t make a spot of difference down here. Up there,”

He jerked his head up, indicating the higher levels.

“You may be heroes. But in the dungeons you’re about as useful as a grease-covered rag on a clean floor.”

[Dasquian Belargic]

“We do what we can. We can’t be everywhere and with everyone, and if people don’t tell us there is a problem it is incredibly hard for us to fix it. We don’t all have clairvoyance enough to be able to see all the problems that plague the world.”

Dasquian’s tone was bordering on something between stern and sad, disappointed that this an ordinary person disliked the Jedi so fiercely.

[Carsey Eviness]

“You’ve gotta be blind not to see it, Jedi. Bloody blind.”

Carsey stepped forward and gave the man a shove, snarling.

“Look around…Go on, do it! Don’t need any Jedi powers to know about this hole!”

His voice cracked and he took some shaky breaths.

“They don’t advertise this part in the brochures.”