OOM: First Meeting, part I

[iprotectyou]

"Your parents are dead."

Eight-year-old Baze didn't hear anymore after Master Sheotar said that damning statement. Her voice, thin and strained with the news, faded away in his ears. He heard her speak for as long as he was able, and then fled the room, hot tears blinding him as he ran down the halls of the Temple of the Kyber.

Comments

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut considers this as he continues to nibble at the plate of food he refused to let anyone take away. He's going to regret the excess later, but for now... he's never felt so full.

"I think they would be. Proud, I mean. You're friendly and nice and... well, you can make things happen with your mind, you did, earlier. Or at least, I think you did. Does that mean you're going to be a Jedi?" He asks in all innocence, sucking the juice out of an apple slice.

[iprotectyou]

Baze blinks at him, opening his mouth and then shutting it again. "What do you mean, I made something happen with my mind?" he says, and shakes his head, forgetting that Chirrut can't see the gesture. "I'm not going to be a Jedi. I'm not near Force sensitive enough for that."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut scoffs, climbing up a bit on his stool to reach across the bench for another one of the rolls that smell so good. He sits back with a thump, his treat in his hands.

"Of course you did, you didn't notice? When that lady with the clippers and the goons had me pinned, you did... what were you doing, anyway? It changed all the currents."

[iprotectyou]

Miracle of miracles, Baze is full from his second helping of dinner, so he doesn't reach for a bun. He also doesn't begrudge his friend one; living on the streets must build up an appetite.

He peers at Chirrut as if he's a particularly interesting bug. "What currents?" he says, trying to think back to that time. "And I guess I was praying. The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force. That sort of thing. I was thanking it for bringing you to me, and hoping you stayed still."

[idontneedluck]

"Well... I did. So you made it happen, with your mind, so they must be wrong." Chirrut is very logical about the whole thing, or as logical as one can get when stuffing your face with a fresh-baked roll.

"And what do you mean, what currents? I mean, no one ever talks about it, sure, and sometimes it's not helpful at all, but... you know, how you know something is right or not."

[iprotectyou]

Baze's eyes widen again. "Chirrut," he breathes, "I think you might be talking about sensing the Force. Have you told a Guardian about this?"

Baze can't help but feel the tiniest bit jealous. He doesn't feel any currents, and the doubts that have plagued him for the past two years about his own Force sensitivity come back to haunt him. If Chirrut really is feeling the Force... Well, Baze decides they'll get to the bottom of this and figure out what to do from there.

[idontneedluck]

"No way, they're crazy." Chirrut scoffs, very visibly debating going for another roll. He's not sure he can actually physically eat another roll, but... they're really good.

"Besides, it's not the Force. You said Jedi could do stuff with it - it doesn't do anything for me."

[iprotectyou]

"Sensing the Force and using it are two different things, I think," Baze says, fidgeting and playing with his fingers. His hands flutter about like two distressed birds. "You really should talk to the Guardians about this. They'll know better than I do whether it's the Force or not."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut pauses in his debate over whether or not sending himself into a food coma is worth it, frowning. Then he scrabbles across the stools to get to Baze, his hands lightly tracing over his face again.

Stunned, he sits back.

"You're really worried about this."

[iprotectyou]

"Well, yeah," Baze says, nonplussed by having his face touched again. He drops his hands into his lap to keep them from twitching. "It's a fact about yourself. Don't you want to know? If you're Force sensitive, you have an opportunity that other people don't. And an obligation to honor the Force."

[idontneedluck]

That mutinous expression that disappeared once he made his choice comes back, and he makes a stretching grab across the table for the rolls to have an excuse to get some distance.

"No I don't. I have an obligation to you, that's why I'm staying." The rest of this place can go hang. Except for the kitchen staff, Chirrut is in favor of them at the moment.

[iprotectyou]

Baze sits back, rubbing his cheeks with his cold hands. Chirrut will come around. Baze can feel it.

Master Sheotar chooses that moment to interrupt, entering the room from the corridor. "I believe your friend is right, Chirrut. Come with me. We need to test your Force sensitivity."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut vaults the bench their dinner was served on to get some distance, landing clumsily on the other side, the last dinner roll he took clamped between his teeth to keep his hands free. He takes another set bruises to his shins for that, but he doesn't seem to care at all.

"No way, last time I went with you it hurt." He retorts hotly.

Twice, because the first time he tried it with the bread in his mouth, and it didn't come out very defiant at all.

[iprotectyou]

Master Sheotar watches the vaulting with no small amount of amusement glinting in her eyes. "I'm sorry about that," she says, holding her hands up in a placating gesture that she forgets he cannot see. "We won't hurt you again. We just want to see if you can use the Force, like your friend thinks you can."

Baze unsticks his tongue from the roof of his mouth. "Go with her, Chirrut. I'm curious, too."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut tilts his head this way and that, trying to get a read on them, trying to figure out his best plan. He could run, he knows. They're spread out enough that he has room, if he really tries.

He promised.

And it seems to be important. To Baze, at least.

...

Would it really be so bad, to be a Jedi? Then he could force the bullies in the market to leave the smaller kids alone.

"Baze comes too."

[iprotectyou]

Baze squirms under Master Sheotar's intense gaze. She assesses him for a few painful moments, and then bows her head. "Very well," she says stiffly, making a sharp gesture towards Baze to encourage him to come. He all but falls off his stool, and chooses to cross to Chirrut instead, taking his hand.

(Continued here.)