Won't You Be My Neighbor?

[Halajiin Rabeak]

One hundred and seven years frozen in carbonite. Four days aboard a strange ship. Seven hours between arival on the Whalodon and being assigned his own room. One hour in the sonic shower and waiting for his laundry to be done.

If ever there was a record for having done absolutely nothing, Halajiin Rabeak had won it. And if he had won it, it would at least be something he could put on the barren shelves of his stateroom.

For all of his life, the Nehantite Jedi always treasured something. Though that thing often changed, there was always a possession or trinket which he held dear for sentimental reasons. Sitting on his bed, Hal stared off at the empty shelves, trying to imagine his old rows of knick-knacks and gewgaws adorning them now, but in the end he just sighed and slumped his chin onto his paws. He didn't even have a change of clothes hanging in the narrow closet. So much was different, now, and nothing felt right at all.

The Jedi were supposed to live in a glorious glass and durasteel tower on Coruscant, able to react at a moment's notice to help any who needed assistance. Running through space, hounded by enemies and unable to appeal to the masses just felt wrong on every level. He'd joined the Jedi because he was told he could be something great. But he had stayed because he knew it was right, and what he was meant to do.

Sitting there alone in an empty room, however, certainly wasn't helping anyone.

So, so bored. His base natures growled at him.

I know. I didn't expect this, either. His brain concurred.

What should we do? I don't even have a kitchenette in here. Or an en suite refresher. I hate communal refreshers.

Ugh, so do I, but we're just going to have to get used to it. There's a pice of flimsiplast over there on the desk, and a stylus. You could draw something.

Don't feel like it.

You could write to someone.

They're all dead, now.

Oh, yeah. Right. Um... you could... go look out the window?

Done that. There's just, like, nothing to do. Even my lightsaber's busted.

Yeah, that went out rather... spectacularly, I have to say. Good job on the reflexes.

Thanks. I miss the old Order. I miss my friends.

Me too. Hmm, I may have an idea.

Oh?

Yeah, get that flimsi and that stylus after all, we're going to get you some entertainment.

Less than a minute later, a flimsiplast sign hung outside Hal's stateroom, with writing on it in big, block letters. It read:

I'm new here.
-Hal

Leaving his door open, Hal sat himself back down on his bed, waiting and hoping that his bait would work.

It wasn't a terribly genious plan, his base natures thought, but he didn't want to tell his brain that.

[Akasha Khan]

"DAMN IT!"

The door to the quarters across the hall lurched open, and as if it had been fired from a cannon, out flew a loose bundle of electronics, which shattered against the corridor wall into a hail of plastic, circuits, and twisted wires.

"Fracking - damnit - sonova - nerf-frelling - pieceof - errrrgggh!"

Two battery packs followed, striking the wall with metallic clanks and rolling off down the hall. In the doorway stood a black-furred Orryxian female with murder in her eyes and bile in her heaving chest. She was shirtless, dressed only in a pair of beige trousers and a thin wrap of muslin to cover the orbalisk welt over her heart, but that only served to enhance the effect of her hunched shoulders and spasming claws, which gave her the look of a wild animal preparing to disembowel the first unfortunate creature to blunder by.

"It's a very simple contract," she spat at the sad heap of parts lying against the wall. "I put you together according to the manual, and you work. Why is that so hard to understand?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

He he he, that joke never gets old.

Thank you, thank you.

Hal's ears had perked at the sound of the crash and immediately he was on his feet, lightsaber in paw.

Uh, that doesn't work, anymore, remember?

D'oh. That's right.

Slipping the saber handle back into its sleeve at the back of his belt, the yellow-furred Nehantite craned his neck to peer out of his doorway to see just what had caused all the racket.

There, strewn out like a rabbit after a family of wolves had found it, lay a... something. Hal had no idea what it was, but it was electronic, which meant it probably was some neat new thing that had been created after he was frozen. Immediately he felt old. Easing out into the hallway, he then sought the executioner of the gizmo, his eyes going a touch wide as he spotted another furred being in the room diagonal to his across the hall.

Tail flicking in hope that it might be a female, he then groaned to himself as he looked up and saw a very flat, boyish chest. Another male. Not what he wanted. Still, this feline would be his neighbor, so Hal knew introductions had to be made at some point. Taking a deep breath, he smoothed out his still-stained undershirt and cleared his throat.

"You know, I don't think that's a good way to troubleshoot the problem, whatever it was," he said with a smirk.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha froze partway through pointing an accusing claw at the obstreperous little device and was suddenly quite conscious of how ridiculous she looked. She straightened her spine, still leaving her a good fifteen centimeters shorter than Smirky McSmugface, and quieted her voice to something that didn't thunder through the bulkheads.

"Trouble shooting?" she said with a manic lilt. "I don't think I'd have any trouble shooting it. Someone give me a gun!"

The Orryxian lifted a thickly padded paw, and the circuit flew into it, swinging wires like an apoplectic spider. "We are Jedi. Legendary warriors who can command the very base energies of the universe. How does lining up a bunch of wires and circuits and pieces that all look the same have anything to do with that? This is peasant's work!"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Does he remind you of Eric Benson?

Totally Eric Benson.

The smirk on Hal's face grew as he picked up more of the bits and pieces, consciously avoiding eye contact with Akasha. "Peasant's work, huh? And who are you supposed to be, prince of the galaxy?"

This looks familiar. Get that piece, too.

Crimping his brow, the Nehantite followed the path of the circuit, noting how many wires there were, and where the power cells were supposed to go. "Besides, a lightsaber is hardly a peasant's weapon, is it? It should be made by a master if you want it to be the best."

Only at that point did Hal look back to the black-furred feline, then tossed the remaining pieces in his paw to her. "You're not even close, by the way. You've run two positive leads and no negative."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha watched mutinously as Hal gathered up the wreckage of her work, too agitated to even bother correcting him when it came to a royal title that didn't mean anything now anyway. Her pride said who does he think he is, while her intelligence said, he knows about stuff you need to learn - don't be an idiot! Except not really. Nobody actually held conversations between their higher and lower brain functions; that would be madness.

She scowled as she snagged the bits Hal had tossed her out of the air. "I know I'm not close," she said. "If I were close, I'd be getting at least some kind of power reading through the... the power... meter thingy. Look, this really isn't my area of expertise!"

The Orryxian heaved a deep sigh and looked at the flotsam in her paw. "I'm not actually building my lightsaber yet, this is just a practice kit," she said. "But the instructions seem to be badly translated from Verpine. Do you know anything about this stuff?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

As another animalistic race, Akasha could most likely read Hal's body language well, especially the swish of his tail. At the moment it said, "Son, you have no idea how much better I am at this than you."

But instead of being completely smug, Hal settled for being just mostly smug, deeming that an acceptable compromise given the attitude he was dealing with. "Son, look at me, I'm a Nehantite. That's like asking a Hutt if he knows how to lounge. Now, I can't build it for you, but I might be able to give you some pointers, if you want. Name's Hal, I'm here from a long time ago."

The mongoose held out his paw for a shake, seeming entirely unconcerned that he could still see Akasha's claws past her fingertips.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha blinked, reached for the paw, and hesitated as she replayed those last four sentences in reverse.

"Okay, first of all... what? Second of all, thanks for the offer. Third of all, Hutts are a bit of a sore spot for me. And fourth of all... Son?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Grasping her paw in his own, Hal gave it a firm, but not crushing grasp and a solid shake. Then, just after letting go, he paused, looking Akasha up and down, but again he was sure his assessment of "male" was correct. After all, no shirt, and no jumblies.

Mmm, jumblies!

Not now, you idiot!

Jumblies.

Still, he could be wrong. Cracking an awkward grimace, he very cautiously said, "I'm sorry, was I mistaken?"

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

Not now, you idiot! I need to know if some females don't have jumblies! This is scary for me!

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha stared at him, head tilted, with one ear laid flat against her skull. It didn't even occur to her to be put off by the weird palm-pressing handshake people on the Wheel seemed to prefer.

"Why does everybody assume I'm male?" she groused. "What, should I start wearing bows in my fur? Maybe a pink frilly skirt and a flower behind one ear? Oh, no, it's the teats, isn't it? It's always the teats. What's the big deal? It's not like you need them anymore."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Danger, Will Robinson! Dan-

Shut! Up! That stopped being funny after the first time!

Sorry. But, uh, seriously, problem here. Female, no jumblies.

Maybe not old enough to have jumblies, yet?

Distinct possibility.

But if her race just doesn't have them, she at least still has fur. I like fur.

You like anything female on two legs.

No fat chicks.

Egads, no. Agree with you there. But you need to say something, and say it right now.

"Woah there, little lady, sorry, sorry," Hal held up his paws in defense. "It's just my experience that females, regardless of... teats.. tend to wear shirts, is all. My apologies."

Ask about her age!

You moron! You never ask a woman her age! She kicks me in the junk when you make me ask that!

Clearing his throat a bit, Hal lowered his paws. "And, from a male perspective, I would like to make the case that, while no, we don't need them any longer, it's hard-wired in our brains to still enjoy them.
But I didn't catch your name, Miss...?"

[Akasha Khan]

Very slowly, Akasha unfolded her arms. He'd offered to help her with the lightsaber kit - she might as well make an effort to be friendly.

"Khan," she said. "Akasha Khan. Firstborn daughter of Lord Akhira Khan of the... you know what, that doesn't matter."

She looked down at her pawful of electronics and lowered her ears. "So, maybe you could give me a few... small, minor pointers? My roommate said she'd help me, but I was hoping I wouldn't look completely useless."

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Crisis averted, Hal looked down at the mess of broken electronics and cracked plastic, then back up to Akasha's face. She seemed genuine enough, now, and while he wasn't near as good at fixing things as his brothers and the rest of his family had been, he had at least gotten lightsabers down fairly well.

His ears returned to normal and his tail slowed to a gentle flick as he smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

A quick glance over her shoulder - and head, pracitcally, as he towered over her - revealed a fair amount of clutter, and he didn't exactly know where he would fit to sit down. "Tell you what. My desk is cleared off at the moment, why don't you gather all the bits and pieces from your kit, and your tools, and we can work on it in my room." A moment later, he smirked and added, "That way your roomate won't find out you've had a little help."

You still want a piece, I can feel it. I know you.

Well, maybe, but at least this is something to do.

You still need to find out her age.

Dude, seriously, right now I'm more interested in getting that kit working than working over that kitten.

Oooh, nice wordplay! High-five!

Thought you'd like that one. Have fun with the kit.

Will do. Thanks.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha scurried back into her quarters, where coils and wires and testing circuits were scattered everywhere over the small floor, and hastily grabbed everything and shoved it into the plastic carrying case without bothering to sort them all. Then she carried the whole thing, wires dangling, into Hal's room.

"Okay," she said, setting the case on his desk with a metallic clatter, "there are actually two kits here. So there should be replacements in case I, um. Broke anything. I think part of the reason I was having so much trouble was that I was trying to rig it up for two blades. I thought that should be easy enough - I mean, just follow the directions twice and hook up both ends to one control matrix. Right?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal could live in a messy room. He could easily withstand the chaos of unsorted laundry. He had been known to not even match his socks, at times, and didn't mind when corn chips fell into his yogurt cup. But there was one thing which the Nehantite simply could not stand, and that was disorganized parts.

They're all mixed up!

Which pieces are which?

Sort it! Sort it!

This is madness!

Both halves of himself fought to keep from wrenching the kit open and sorting each and every piece back to where it should go in order to get a good, clean start. Tailtip flicking, he took deep breaths to calm himself, then shook his head.

"Actually, it's not quite that simple, but you're close. Still, let's work on one at a time, shall we?" he said, paw trembling as he saw pieces he could group together. One ear suddenly went up, and he shot a glance over at Akasha. "Wait, why would you want two emitters? That would just be silly. And dangerous for a girl your age. Or... am I underestimating your age as well, by accident?"

Oooh, that was smooth.

Watch and learn, carnal half. Watch and learn.

[Akasha Khan]

One of Akasha's ears slowly folded back as she fixed Hal with disdain of a caliber that only a feline, and more specifically, only a functionally teenage feline can attain.

"I'm four hundred and ninety-seven," she deadpanned.

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Hal's face was a mask of surprise, shock and confusion, but he quickly sorted it out to a normal expression once more.

"Woah. Well then, I must say you look quite spritely for age," he said, warning bells ringing in his head. "Heh, I must seem like a toddler at just twenty-three, myself. I guess my species just doesn't last as long as yours, on average."

The dialogue between Hal's higher and lower functions was strangely silent, but the reason for this was simple: Neither part of him wanted in any way to get it on with a nearly pentacenteraian.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha tilted her head and found her jaw going slack. He couldn't seriously be that gullible? If he was calling her bluff, then he was doing an extraordinary acting job.

"Well, after the first two centuries, it gets rather dull," she said with a shrug. "Anyway, what's the rise and fall of a few empires? We've got a saber kit to build."

She leaned over the desk as Hal began manically sorting through the pieces. "So you've built one of these before?"

[Halajiin Rabeak]

Wires with wires, sorted by gauge, while capacitors had to be separated from relays. Akasha had done a fine job of bungling the build process, indeed, Hal could see, and it took a moment before he could detach himself enough from his work to respond.

"A couple, yes," he said. "My own, as well as some for others, or to be used for practice. It was my punishment, at times, so to speak."

The Nehantite paused, staring down at the kit before him. "I'd imagine, though that a woman of your years and experience must have only just forgotten how to do this because her last one was so incredibly well-constructed that it has lasted her all these years. How long have you been with the Jedi Order, might I ask?"

[Akasha Khan]

Good thing Hal's eyes were on his work, because it meant he missed the smirk that wormed its way across Akasha's muzzle before she could restore her Sabaac face. Fortunately, she was nothing if not quick on her feet, and with her feline face grim and her paws folded neatly behind her back, she might have been an idol of obsidian raised by ancient aboriginals.

"Oh, I've been away from the Order for a long time," she said. "I was on a generational ship, circumnavigating the galaxy. I only returned because I sensed that they needed me. The younger Jedi need someone to look up to, you see."

She watched as Hal's paws worked quickly according to a logic that was as alien to her as a vegeterian buffet. "So what about you?" she asked "What brings you to the Wheel?"