Arcade Adventure

Arcade Adventure
Date of Scene:	17 May 2025
Location:
Synopsis:
Cast of Characters:	159, Cayde Alexis

---

Athena (159) has posed:
It's dusk, and in a few hours time, the group that had come to Jedha from Ilum is scheduled to leave, and return to Tenoo.

Everyone's packing, though Cayde with his few belongings may find himself ready ahead of schedule and perhaps bored while Yvon and Jahni try figure out the best way to fit everything in the cargo hold...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde had already gathered up what few belongings he'd brought along, yes...

    And he had been trying to help Yvon and Jahni load up, but apparently they had some very particular ideas about how everything should be arranged...

Athena (159) has posed:
Jahni had banned Cayde from the cargo hold within five minutes of him arriving and trying to help, so the young padawan will be left to figure out what he might do with the last few hours he has on Jedha.

He may find himself wandering when he runs into Thaarin, who is standing in the cockpit, watching the hustle and bustle of the hangar with a distant look in his scarlet eyes.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    He was going to just wait in the cabin, when he notices Thaarin staring out of the front windows. It seemed there was something on his his, so Cayde just settles in and starts surfing the HoloNet.

Athena (159) has posed:
But when Cayde comes in and starts surfing the Holonet, Thaarin immediately notices him and comes to sit down next to him. He peers over his shoulder, then asks, "Can I watch?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde arches a brow at him, surprised. Watch him....what?

    Oh...

    He glances back at the commlink, which is connected to some kind of social page, it seems.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin only seems partially intrigued by it -- he studies the social page for a moment, then turns to Cayde and points at the display, "This is you?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The picture on the page looks like a slightly younger version of him, however it seems to have been there since five or so years ago.

    He looks up at Thaarin and nods at the question.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin chuckles softly. He seems amused as he studies the picture of Cayde on the display. But the young padawan won't be able to know why, as he doesn't elaborate. He can't, anyway.

He straightens, then gestures towards the gangplank. "Go out," he says, "for a little bit?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    The page actually seems to be some kind of blog, but it doesn't have any entries.

    Cayde looks up toward the walkway out, following Thaarin's gaze briefly before he looks back to the blue man. [Where] he signs.

Athena (159) has posed:
The former naval officer smiles faintly at the young padawan. "Somewhere nice," he says, "you pick?"

Then he nods, and looks inquisitively at Cayde.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Huh...

    Cayde looks back at him, realizing that he has never really been asked that question before. He doesn't just 'go somewhere nice'. In fact, he can't really remember the last time he went out somewhere just for fun...

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin seems to understand, somehow. His faint smile broadens ever so slightly, and he ushers Cayde towards the gangplank, placing a gentle but firm hand on his back.

"You'll know," he says, "when you see." He says. "Let's go?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [Okay] Cayde replies, and nods, starting down the walkway toward the starport and the market beyond. He isn't quite sure what to look for on the dusty streets of Jedha, but perhaps there is much he hasn't yet seen.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin lets Cayde lead as they head away from the starport and into the market beyond it.

The streets are busy, but less busy than earlier in the afternoon at peak traffic time.

There's a few night life joints that are lighting up - a bar, a casino, some night market vendors and an arcade -- advertising a buy one, get half off admission rate.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Bars he has been to plenty for one reason or another, casinos, sure. But what was this other place? It seems similar to the casino, yet seemed to have a bit more variety. And a good admission price, too. [How about there] he signs, pointing toward the arcade.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin looks amused again. "Sure," he says. Then he gestures for Cayde to lead the way.

There's a droid out front, giving out colored little bracelets to indicate admission into the arcade. It drones out a demand for thirty credits when Cayde and Thaarin approach.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde just wonders what it is that Thaarin finds so amusing. [What is funny] he asks.

    When the droid asks for payment, he takes out some of the spending dividends he'd saved up. Not that there was anything in particular he wanted, but there just hadn't been many occasions for him to use them over the years.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin doesn't respond, instead, he pushes the hand carrying credits aside and offers the droid some of his own. Where he'd gotten them, will have to remain a mystery for now.

The droid nods and slaps bracelets on both of their wrists before stepping aside, gesturing for them to go inside.

"Have fun," it drones. Thaarin starts going inside, but waits just inside the doorway for Cayde.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde looks down at his wrist as the droid puts the bracelet on him to signify he has become a validated patron of the establishment, at least for tonight. He starts scanning the room, glancing at the different games. He hasn't really done anything like this, at least not recently. Not since he used to sneak out to that candy shop with Kuv...

Athena (159) has posed:
There are lights, colors, sounds and flashing things everywhere. Dartboards, ball games of sorts, wheels one could spin for prizes, digitized dance competitions, even punching bags that could calculate how hard one had hit it. The opportunities are endless, and not like anything Cayde has ever seen in his life before. It doesn't seem foreign to Thaarin though, he watches everything with mild interest.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde wanders about a bit aimlessly for a bit, but finds himself lingering in front of one of those dance competitions. The music is...catchy, and before he knows it, he's bobbing to the rhythm ever so slightly.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin taps him gently on the shoulder and then points at an open spot next to a pretty young Umbaran girl - she's playing alone and has no one to compete against.

"Try it," he encourages. "She wants company, maybe."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Oh...

    Cayde glances over at the Umbaran girl, then cautiously approaches her, waiting for her to finish the session before moving into her field of view and waving. He smiles slightly at her and points toward himself, then over toward the open spot next to her.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Hi!" the girl says enthusiastically reaching forward to shake his hand even though he hadn't offered it. "Nice to meet you, I'm Sicilli. What's your name? Just so you know, I'm here every week and I've beaten every single level, so... " she giggles. "You probably won't beat me."

She then pins him with a curious look. "You're Jedi, aren't you?" she says without skipping a beat. "The other priestesses told me about them," she says.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde accepts the handshake anyway, nodding. Oh, he doesn't expect to beat her, it seemed she was very good at this.

    He spells out his name for her in letter sign. Hopefully, the pronounciation is obvious enough.

    He nods to her question. Well, she must live at one of the other temples here. He almost tries entering her mind to learn more about her, but resists the urge. [Coruscant] he tells her, referring to where he comes from.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Oh, I see," she says, "I've never been there but I heard it's one of the biggest ecumenopolises in the known galaxy, rival only to Troithe. I've never been to any ecumenopolis," she rambles, scrolling mindlessly through the songs. "Anyway... Cayde," she says, "what kind of music do you like? Do the Jedi get to have dance parties at the Temple on Coruscant? We don't have those on the Singing Mountain," she says, "but my clan and I are on a pilgrimage right now, which is why we're in Jedha for the next month or so," she says.

"I love this joint," she says, eventually selecting a song, "It's like, one of the only fun places in this entire city!" she rolls her eyes. "unless you like hiking across a sandblasted rock face while the wind blows away all your belongings..."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde just lets her select whatever song she had in mind, stepping up to the second player position beside her.

    He shakes his head at her question about dance parties. At least, not any he knew about. The Order wasn't much for any sort of self-indulgence.

    He seems to enjoy her chattering, though. [How you win] he asks, then points at the screen.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Just follow the instructions on the screen!" she says, "Ooh, the song is starting now..!"

She finally shuts up and starts dancing, and seems fully absorbed by the music and fully in her own little world where she's dancing the night away.

She'd bragged about being good, but at least she hadn't been lying. The way she moves is almost mesmerizing...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde sheds his robe, draping it over the back of the console. Then he steps up to the plate and starts doing his best to follow the prompts.

    For someone who has never done this before, he actually doesn't do too badly. The whole thing is almost cathartic...like practicing saber forms except more fun. Of course he didn't beat her score, but that didn't matter. It has been a while, since he'd actually enjoyed something like this.

Athena (159) has posed:
He doesn't beat her, but he seems to have come closer than anyone else. "Wow!!" Sicilli cries when she sees his score. "You did really good! Congrats!" She suddenly reaches over and hugs him tightly.

"This is so fun!" she says excitedly, "No one ever comes here with me to play the games, the other priestesses are just boring and weird like that." She then grabs his hand and starts dragging him towards a cage in the back that has a miniature obstacle course. "We gotta do this one! Haha, you'll probably beat me... I haven't been practicing my forms as much as I should," she says, her eyes lighting up.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    When she hugs him, his face suddenly becomes hot, even though he'd sort of seen it coming.

    Normally, Cayde doesn't like getting dragged by the hand, but this time he doesn't seem to mind and follows her over to the obstacle course. However, he doesn't go in yet, waiting for her to get a head start.

Athena (159) has posed:
She giggles, delighted. "Your loss!" she cries and dives headfirst into the obstacle course, clearly having the time of her life.

However, she trips about half way in, and it becomes startlingly clear that she has not, in fact, practiced her forms in a long time. "Nooo!" she cries, "... help me....!"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    This course is actually not much of a challenge for Cayde, but he takes it slowly anyway just so as not to leave her in the dust too much. So when she trips and finds herself dangling off of a platform, he hurries back to her and helps her up.

Athena (159) has posed:
But unexpectedly she doesn't pull herself up, she actually just drags him down with her into the ball pool below the swinging ropes. They tumble into the colorful menagerie of cushy plastic spheres. Sicilli is laughing uncontrollably, clearly having a wonderful time.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Suddenly, Cayde wonders if she had possibly done that on purpose to lure him in.

    Once he recovers himself, he picks up of the balls and chucks it at her...possibly with a bit of Force push behind it.

Athena (159) has posed:
And she deflects it back at him, with the Force, perhaps to Cayde's surprise. Then she picks up another one, and with a flying roundhouse kick, sends another ball flying in his direction.

They'll likely romp in the ball pool for another several minutes, until one of the security droids tells them they need to get out because there's a line for the obstacle course forming.

At that point, Sicilli begs him to play another game with her, and another, and another...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde deflects the ball right back, and it bounces back and forth in the air for several minutes.

    He continues to play with her, until they have visited almost every game in the arcade. It was too bad he would be leaving soon.

    [Thank you] he tells her. [You are beautiful]

Athena (159) has posed:
"I want to play the dancing competition again!" she says, tugging on his sleeve urgently.

She smiles wide when he tells her she's beautiful, and her eyes light up happily. She hugs him tightly. "You're beautiful, too," she says, "I haven't had this much fun in so long. I can only hope you had as much fun as I did..."

But then Cayde's bracelet beeps unhappily. A tiny holodisplay pops up, and it says, "YOU'VE RUN OUT OF TIME! BUY ANOTHER SESSION?"

And if he looks at his chronometer, he'll see that he's been in the arcade for four hours. They were leaving soon -- like, in half an hour soon. But Thaarin.. he's nowhere to be seen. Cayde had been so busy spending time with Sicilli, he'd completely left the tall blue alien alone...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde sighs as he looks down at the holodisplay when it crops up to remind him that his time is up. And it truly is, this time around. He points to it and shakes his head. [I have to go]

    [Leaving Jedha] he continues. But he offers her his commlink info, in case he ever came by again. [Another time]

Athena (159) has posed:
She nods, though her expression becomes sad. "Okay," she says, noting his commlink frequency. "I'll see you... someday, hopefully." She hugs him again and then kisses his cheek briefly before turning around and hurrying back into the arcade, giggling softly.

He's received a text transmission from Jahni, demanding to know where he is and if he's seen Thaarin...

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde looks at the message, and then glances around the arcade, his face still flushed from that kiss. But Thaarin is nowhere to be seen. Had he left? Frowning, he tries sending the young officer a message.

Athena (159) has posed:
However, the young officer doesn't reply. Well, that's not a good sign. But perhaps the droid right outside the arcade had seen him leave?

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Oh, no. Had he be snatched by BPIC? Perhaps he shouldn't gone out...

    Cayde sighs and approaches the droid. [Did my friend leave] he signs to it.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Yes," the droid says, "you didn't notice? He left more than three hours ago. Told me to give you these coordinates. He's on the outskirts of Jedha, taking care of some ... personal matter."

Then the droid shows Cayde a location specified on its datapad.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Oh...phew. Cayde is relieved that he wasn't arrested. [Thank you] he signs quickly to the droid and hurries off toward the location it showed him.

Athena (159) has posed:
When the young padawan arrives, he'll find Thaarin near the banks of a river on the outskirts of Jedha, alone, in front of a bonfire that seems to be surrounding a... body?

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde sighs. It must be his brother. Maybe they should have offered to honor him together.

    He approaches and sits down on the riverbank next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Athena (159) has posed:
Cayde will notice that Thaarin's eyes are glassy, and his expression is glazed over -- an unusual countenance for the typically composed and demure young naval officer.

When the young padawan sits down next to him and places a hand on his shoulder, he wipes his eyes and smiles faintly at Cayde. He signs, /Did you have fun/

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde nods quickly. [Thank you] he signs back. [Are you okay] he then asks, looking concerned.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin waves dismissively at Cayde, though his smile becomes sad.

/If you're happy/ he signs. /Then I'll be happy. Don't worry/

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [But...you are sad] Cayde points out, and he doesn't need the Force to know that. [I am sorry] he continues, looking down at the body of Thaarin's brother. He shouldn't have to bear this alone.

Athena (159) has posed:
/Don't worry/ Thaarin signs again. He pats Cayde's shoulder gently. /I'll be fine/

/The most important thing... is that you're happy/ he signs to the young padawan. /You were having fun. I didn't want you to stop/

Cayde's commlink pings urgently. Jahni is giving an empty threat about leaving without them, but Thaarin clearly isn't finished here. He hears Cayde's commlink go off, and seems to know they have to leave soon. /Don't wait/ he says. /I'm sorry/

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde glances at the comm again, but he knows they wouldn't leave without him.

    ...but maybe they'd leave without Thaarin. And Cayde won't let him get left behind. Not with the treat of him being arrested or detained or sent to some labor camp. He shakes his head. [No...I can wait]

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin gives Cayde a faint smile, and then suddenly hugs him tightly. HIs eyes become glassy again, but he looks away.

/Thank you/ he signs.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde accepts the hug, and holds it there for a while before pulling away.

    [You should not be alone] he replies. [Not about this] No one should be, right?

Athena (159) has posed:
/Only if you want to be here/ He signs to the young padawan.

He sighs, and then leans on Cayde a little, his expression melancholy as he watches the fire burn. /I loved him/ he signs. /And I miss home/

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [I want to] Cayde tells him, nodding again.

    [Want to go home] he asks. Perhaps there was a way. Maybe a comms expert at one of the temples could find a way to help him contact his family. [Contact your family] he offers.

Athena (159) has posed:
He shakes his head. /No/

/They don't miss me/ he signs to the young padawan.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [But why] Cayde asks, frowning. Maybe he didn't have a good relationship with them.

    Anyway, he moves on. [Then...someone else]

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin gives Cayde a sad, wistful smile. He shakes his head again.

/It's alright./ He pauses. /They're not...coming/

/And I cannot go back like this/

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    But what did he mean like this?

    [Like...what] Cayde asks, still frowning.

Athena (159) has posed:
Thaarin shakes his head, in mild frustration.

/Can't explain/ He sighs. /Don't know Basic well/.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [Then later...another time] Cayde assures him, nodding. Then he pats his shoulder again. [Have to go...soon] he signs, glancing at the commlink messaages and showing him Yvon's empty threats of leaving without him.

Athena (159) has posed:
The fire is dying down now, so Thaarin sighs and uses a bucket water he's set aside to put out the flames and then sweep up the ashes and put them in a ceramic urn.

Then he nods, and starts heading back towards the starport. He smiles faintly, and pats Cayde's shoulder gently. /Thank you/

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    [I want you to be happy too] Cayde adds, as Thaarin finishes putting out the fire and collecting the ashes. Then he follows him back to the starport.