The Trouble with Thimiars

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti Rin had been sleeping peacefully and soundly for numerous hours, simply enjoying the soft warmth of her bed. It was good to be at one of her two homes in the galaxy. And it was good to know she was safe. Her healing had been going well, and she was in the best of hands. She wasn't worried about her welfare, she was going to live, and she was going to remain in top form. Not even so much as a scar. A smile played out across her features as she slept.

But something made her nose twitch. It was... food? It smelled like food. Was Xell bringing her a thimiar? No, it didn't seem like him to enter without knocking for fear of catching her nude. So far she'd been careful to only change when the nurse, another Togruta, arrived to help her with the task of bathing. And to make the bed. Cleanliness was important in her state. And besides, it was nice to have her quarters in clean and perfect condition.

She sniffed again as her sleep started to fade away. She definitely smelled food. Thimiar in fact. But why was she smelling it? Hunger? No, that wasn't it. She was full. Or full enough.

Slowly she realized there was a weight of some sort on her stomach, Her eyelids fluttered open and her violet eyes stared forward. There was a thimiar perched on her stomach, frame right between her breasts. Which meant she had a straight line of vision to the rodent.

It was currently scratching its ear with its stubby hind leg, but it promptly noticed her.

"Meep!"

It scampered off of her and down the foot of her bed before she could grab it. Somehow it must have gotten loose. That was why she'd smelled food.

Her eyes suddenly noticed the rest of the room. It was in a hellish disarray. There were holes dug in the carpet, thimiar droppings all over. Her blanket had holes gnawed in it. The various trinkets she had displayed on her shelves were partially eaten or knocked over. And there were thimiars everywhere.

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. But promptly her hand darted to her nightstand. Mercifully her headdress was unmolested. The rodents had stayed away from her face at least.

At that moment a knock came at her door. Without even using the Force to check who it was, she told them to enter. She diverted her gaze from the carnage to her visitor. It was Xell.

"Xell... what happened to my room?" Sherasti asked with an expression of bewilderment on her graceful features.

[ninjabot]

Xell smiled wide as he stepped in and saw the carnage produced by the thimiar. He thought it was pretty funny... until he saw Sherasti's face. He was gonna be in trouble. Definately.

"Uh... hey master! Wakey wakey eggs and bakey-"
Before he could finish his cheery morning greeting Sherasti interrupted.

"Xell... what happened to my room?" Sherasti asked with an expression of bewilderment on her graceful features.
Xell opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Just tell her. It's no biggy. She's not the type to flip out over spilt... rodents.


Xell gulped and forced a chuckle as he often did when uneasy.

"If I had to guess... thimiar?" he joked. He smiled uneasily as two "somethings" darted in between his legs and out out of the room. Xell moved in and shut the door behind him to avoid letting any more escape.

"So yeah, I'll get started on your... breakfast. Lemme just catch these little buggers and I'll... be right with you!" said Xell in between swipes at the floor. He tried to catch each and every thimiar, but they were fast. Extremely so.
Xell stopped and began moving furniture all to one side of the room. "Sorry, I'll move things back in a sec..." said Xell as his eyes darted around. Sure enough, two were under her bed. Xell reached down expecting them to come to him with just a bit of sweet talk and mewing, but they weren't as kind as Timmy was. One bit him, the other took off running. Xell groaned as he pulled his hand back and shook it angrily.

"They bite!?" asked Xell in surprise. Fortunately for him, a quick force push knocked them both into the path of an overturned clothes hamper. The two thimiar bustled around in the clutter before one running out with a sheet wrapped around it, slowing it down. Xell placed a foot on it's tail, but couldn't catch the other. It bolted over it's trapped brethren, with it's head covered up by a pair of panties. The thimiar climbed up the bed and ran for the bookshelf closer to Sherasti.

"Get him!" called out Xell.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Yes they bite," Shereasti said wearily as she reached out with the Force to grab the thimiar just out of her reach. It squealed as an invisible hand gripped it and picked the squirming creature up and lifted it. It hovered across the room and dropped into the cage, which she just now noticed was open. That was the explanation for the loose thimiars. Xell must have forgotten to close the cage the last time he'd brought her a thimiar.

"That's why I'm always so careful while holding them." She pointed out drily.

Their teeth were typical rodent teeth. Stubby, but thick and sharp. When one nipped your finger, you felt it. Unlike Xell, Sherasti had no fond spot for thimiars in her heart. Only in her stomach. They were food, not friends. It was hardwired into her to eat them, and hardwired into them to run away and gnaw things.

Her sensitive hearing was picking up the sounds of thimiars all over the room. Togruta hearing was extremely well-suited to picking up their movements and tuning in to their presence.

"Oh Force, one of them gnawed into the mattress." Sherasti groaned at the chaos that had happened to her room. And it was doubly annoying that she was, for the moment, an invalid. She couldn't just get up out of bed and go somewhere else. She was stuck there, in her formerly immaculate room. Surrounded by thimiars.

Her violet eyes looked wearily at Xell, and it was clear all her rest had just been undone.

"I can't stay here now. Mal wouldn't tolerate me being surrounded by animals and their droppings when I'm like this. Besides, you're never going to find all the thimiars. I think they'll have to just fumigate the room before they get into the walls."

Sherasti was certain of that much. Without her instincts and senses, the task of wrangling them all would be impossible. And she couldn't simply direct it from her bed.

"Help me up Xell, I can go rest in one of the courtyards while you find someone in maintenance to deal with this."

The Togruta Jedi Knight's rust-colored hands moved swiftly and surely, tying her headdress to her face, and adjusting the position properly without the need for a mirror. It framed her face well, the bronze teeth in it contrasting with her own rusty red/orange skin.

[ninjabot]

Before going to help up his master Xell sniffed around. Sure enough the animals were using every corner and crevace to releive themselves. It didn't take predatorial senses to realize it. The smell was thick and offensive. Xell had screwed up. Again.

"Okay just... just gimme a sec okay? This is my mistake. I gotta fix this." proclaimed the boy as his eyes darted around. He didn't have the honed senses that his master had, nor the depth perception she had thanks to her montrals. But the force would move through him and reach out to the little pests.
Xell stepped slowly, still holding one that he caught in his hand. He made his way to the cage before dropping it in and continuing on his stealthy search past the cage to the other side of the room.

Xell seemed to have a bead on multiple thimiar. They were not jedi who could hide their presence by vailing them in the Force, so finding them wasn't hard. It was holding on to such tiny mind. Thimiar were not capable of complex thought, thus feeling strong emotions from them was difficult. Fortunately for he, they understood fear, and that was likely the easiest emotion to sense.

Xell wondered. Could that be the key in helping him learn to sense out his opponent's attacks? Until he was strong enough with the force to feel their every movement, could boosting his empathic abilities help him feel an enemy's killing intent? It seemed to be doing him well right now, as he could sense the fear in the thimiar, and trace them to their hiding places.

"Gotha..." whispered Xell as he kneeled down to use a force pull that reeled two of them out from under a chair. He grabbed hold of them and, wincing through the pain, rushed over to the cage and struggled with opening it before dropping them both in. With the three placed safely in their cage Xell made his way back to his master, avoiding the clutter in the middle of the room on the way next to her.

"Okay... that's three. Four counting the one you caught. How many more are there?" asked Xell. As he waited for her reply he looked around, allowing his eyes to take in the mess that he was responsible for.

Xell thought back to the idea of fumigating the room. Would the thimiar be gassed because of him? It was one thing to be eaten by Sherasti, but another to be killed off for being nuisances. It seemed wrong. He'd take care of things. It was his fault anyway.

"Okay... you'll stay in my room until the fumigating's done." And with that, Xell moved over to his master and placed her arm over his shoulder so that he could help her out of bed.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Five," Sherasti grimaced. And then there were the two that had escaped through the door when Xell came in. That had been her meals for the next week. She could tell two of them were inside her mattress now. It was going to have to be replaced.

The Togruta slid her arms around Xell's neck and lifted herself as he helped her to her feet. It was a long way up for her height, and she swayed slightly, wobbling and bumping up against Xell's chest, her lekku dangling on him. She steadied herself and brought them back towards her side with her hands. Generally they weren't unruly, but they had a tendency to sway when she made sudden movements, like almost falling over onto the young human.

She raised her right arm and placed it around her Padawan's shoulders, keeping her injured left side away from his arm so he wouldn't accidentally bump it and cause her pain.

Belatedly she noticed her long legs were bare, the rust colored skin broken up by a few 'slashes' of white, phenotypes left over from the days Togrutas needed camouflage amongst the tall turu grass of Shili. Luckily she didn't sleep naked or it would have been even more awkward. However, she still blushed over it.

With a surprising speed, she reached into her dresser and pulled out a skirt like she usually wore, cream colored and of light material, delicately patterned. She pulled it on, almost losing her balance and falling over in the process. Then with that done, she grabbed the ornamental sash she always wore from its resting place on top of her dresser. She tucked it under her left arm and returned her right to Xell's shoulders.

Her upper body was still just covered by a dark yellow halter top, but Xell would just have to get used to that. With her side injured it needed to have light material up against it and needed to have easy access for any healers. And, of course, the skin had to breathe. There was no way to get over that.

"All right," Sherasti murmured as her right hand gently squeezed Xell's shoulder blade. "Take me to your room."

[ninjabot]

With an arm placed around his towering master and his other hand held comfortably around the arm draped over his shoulders, Xell made sure not to touch Sherasti's wound before stepping forward in tune with her own steps. The rhythm was natural, and didn't require any fore word as warning or to act in unison.

"Okay. Nice and easy. We'll be there in no time." reassured Xell. He breathed a deep sigh of relief after escaping the natural disaster that was Master Rin's living quarters. The thick amonia-esque smell of urine and dropping was making him nautious.

As the two Jedi made their way down the hall Xell attempted his telepathic sweep, hoping that he could maybe feel out a hidden thimiar or two along the way. He was still far and away too weak in his sensing capabilities, but he would never get any stronger without practice.

"So, I guess now is as good a time as any to explain to you what happened yesterday. It all started when I decided to head to the courtyard for a bit of training after you started your nap..."

Xell continued on and on about an elder Togruta, a blind little girl, a difference of opinions, experience vs. intuition, and compromise. She could likely feel the shame in his voice as he spoke of his afront to Master Ka, inserting an apology here and there as he spoke.

"I know, I know. It was wrong and... and I'm sorry. That's why I took one of your thimiar. I felt like she deserved it as a peace offering."

Xell waited to be admonished by his master, averting his eyes down to the floor so that he could count tile after tile to take his mind off of his mistakes.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti nodded periodically through Xell's account of his day, paying close attention to exactly how it was her quarters had come to be in the state they were in. When he finished, she opened her mouth and started to slowly and quietly tell him what exactly she thought. Each word had effort put into it; she was tired enough that it wasn't an effortless task to talk to him. Coordinating speech and movement was difficult in her state.

"I've heard of Master Ka before. You should consider yourself lucky you don't have any bruises on you. I'm going to guess your peace offering worked."

She lapsed into silence for a few more steps, rubbing Xell's shoulder with her hand. It wasn't entirely his fault. He had a youthful exuberance that sometimes crossed the line a little, he couldn't help it. It was his age acting. He'd grow out of it, she knew he would. She could already see the grown man in him. He was at a point where he was both man and boy. It was an awkward position for her in fact. She liked the man Xell was, and she did admit he had a boyish charm. But sometimes he was too young.

Obviously Teer hadn't seen the best Xell had to offer. But offering her a thimiar was a nice touch, it was good if his kind side came through. She just hoped he hadn't tried showing her his 'pet' thimiar. Try as she might, she had the distinct impression Xell wouldn't be parted from the creature.

"I don't mind. But next time, make sure to close the cage door please." Sherasti smiled wearily as they came to stop outside a nondescript looking door that she presumed was Xell's. Sherasti lowered her arm from Xell's shoulder and looped it through his arm. "So, show me your room."

[ninjabot]

Xell and Sherasti stood outside of the padawan's humble abode. Here it was. The moment of truth. What he thought would take him another year or two was about to go down. He looked over to his hulking master and smiled before placing her softly down into a bench in the hallway that his room was on.

"Give me just a sec." he said, holding his index finger up to symbolize one second. With that, he disappeared in a blur into his room, slamming the door shut.

Sherasti could hear what sounded like clothing, boots, books, and an angry thimiar flitting about the room. Loudly.

"Get in your box Timmy, be a good boy."

"Mew!" squealed the happy little rodent as he pushed around a ball with his nose.

"No, not catch. We'll play later."

"Mew?"

"Get in th-

"MEW MEW MEWM-"

"GET IN THE BOX! FORCE, GET IN THE FRACKING BOX!! I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY!! SHERASTI'S HERE!!"

"HISSS!!!" Timmy did not like Sherasti for those of us that have forgotten.

Xell rolled up a stray newspaper and ran around the room swiping wildly.

"Bad! BAD! Master Sherasti is our friend! So help me if you ruin this I will turn you into a thimiar-skin cap!!"

Moments later...

After a few minutes of squeaks, screams, and thrown furniture, he finally got his beloved pet into it's cage before rolling up all the scattered junk food wrappers, books, and clothing into a blanked and kicking it into a closet. A few sprays of aerosol deodorant onto the mattress and the lovenasium had been prepped. Aside from ofcourse the stray animal hairs and the dirty clothes hamper in the corner of the room...
Xell's head popped out of his room and looked to Sherasti. Oddly enough, there were red scratch marks along his forehead and right cheek. Lovetaps from his roommate ofcourse.

"So... you ready?" asked the young Padawan. He stepped out slowly and began helping his master up as slowly and carefully as he could.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sherasti took Xell's hand and rose to her feet again with a little assistance, staring at the scratches on his face and correctly deducing what the cause was. After all, her hearing was acute and what had been going on inside was hardly a mystery to her.

"Xell, if you insist on keeping food as a pet, you should at least learn how to handle it properly. I'd be happy to show you sometime."

The Togruta Jedi walked through the door, leaning on Xell again. The constant movement required a lot out of her, and already she was feeling tired again. Mal had been completely right, she really couldn't get up and move around. She was grateful he'd provided treatment, and that he'd provided instruction on how to recover.

With any luck, she'd only have to spend a night in Xell's room before maintenance cleared out her room. Or assigned her a new one. She wasn't sure which would happen, and it really didn't matter to her as long as she wound up with a room free from loose thimiars, and with a new bed.

She sniffed as she looked around the room, trying to place the smell. Laundry hamper? Maybe there was a hint of that, but it smelled overwhelmingly... artificial. Like someone had- sprayed something. That was it, some sort of freshener. Silently she hoped he wouldn't spray any more of it.

Sherasti let go of Xell and lowered herself gingerly onto the bed, lying back onto it a good deal further down the length of it than a human would, thanks to her curving montrals. She was also tall enough that her feet dangled over the foot of the bed. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing she'd ever been on, but it was better than standing up. She was still a little light-headed from standing up.

"Thank you again Xell, I appreciate you letting me use your bed."

[ninjabot]

"Xell, if you insist on keeping food as a pet, you should at least learn how to handle it properly. I'd be happy to show you sometime."

Xell rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what kind of lesson she had in mind when it came to thimiar control. And he would have no part of that. Timmy was NOT food. He was a friend.

Xell took his master into his room and noticed that her sensitive nose was twitching. He couldn't believe it. Even with all the all the preperations she still smelled his dirty clothing in the hamper across the room. He was so embarassed.

"I uh... I've been meaning to clean up in here." he said selfconsciously.

Once the tall Togruta lay on his bed Xell wringed his hands together and wracked his brain for some sort of conversation starter. An ice breaker to get things moving. He thought to make a joke about her feet dangling off the edge of the bed. It was funny indeed afterall.

"Thank you again Xell, I appreciate you letting me use your bed."
Xell smiled and blushed. "Yeah! Yeah, ofcourse Master Rin. I mean sure, I never thought it'd take this long to get you in my bed but... here we are."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Yeah! Yeah, of course Master Rin. I mean sure, I never thought it'd take this long to get you in my bed but... here we are."

"Xell!" Sherasti cried out indignantly as the stripes on her lekku flared sky blue rather than their usual sedate color. If Xell was blushing, she was blushing harder. Her lekku felt almost like they were on fire. She stammered out the remainder of a complete sentence.

"This isn't some kind of joke!"

She was obviously flustered, and she didn't know how to handle it. And even worse, she was again wondering if she was leading him on. Why else would he say such a thing?

Sherasti was beginning to wonder whether or not the extended hugging scenario she'd crafted had really killed his attraction, or whether or not she'd just made things worse. The Togruta Jedi Knight had no idea how matters of the heart worked. She'd understandably never been in a relationship, or even harbored a crush before. This was all uncharted territory.

Everything sort of spilled out in one long, unbroken sentence. "I just don't know Xell, am I leading you on, I try not to but every time something like this seems to happen I blame myself, I just don't understand."

She held her face with the palm of her hand and massaged her temples slowly.

[ninjabot]

Xell couldn't help himself. He laughed aloud as his master's lekku flashed to her embarassed color. It was playful teasing, but he also used it to affirm the feelings he was having. If she really felt nothing for him "that way", then she could laugh it off as if it were nothing. Instead he touched a nerve. Annoyed as she was, this pleased the padawan immensely.

"This isn't some kind of joke!"

Xell laughed a bit louder, but stopped after seeing his master wasn't laughing along with him. Nor was she smiling.

"S-sure it's a joke master... I was kidding, you know that--"
Everything sort of spilled out in one long, unbroken sentence. "I just don't know Xell, am I leading you on, I try not to but every time something like this seems to happen I blame myself, I just don't understand."

Xell remained quiet for a while before finally deciding to correct the misunderstanding. He sometimes forgot that his master was not human, despite the amount of time she has spent among them.

"Look, I was kidding. I know that you're only here because you're relying on my help, and because I ruined your room... which again, I apologize for. But that's a form of humor we humans use. To make dire situations less stressful we joke about them, implying something's gonna happen when it really won't. Do you understand?" asked Xell.

He hoped he was explaining his brand of humor accurately. He sat next to her and smiled reassuringly while looking into her doubtful violet eyes.

"Besides. You're unbearably cute when you're flustered." said Xell as he attempted to slip in another joke to make her laugh. Though that likely wasn't the best idea as it was his jokes that made her angry to begin with.

"Just... just hang out here okay? I can handle the missing thimiars. I wouldn't want them all to get slaughtered because of my mistake."
Xell stood up, but moved slowly and turned around incase things were not okay between he and his master. Hopefully she'd help herself to whatever she found in the refrigerator, so she wouldn't think to eat Timmy.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The young Togruta Jedi Knight didn't quite understand the concept of humor Xell was describing. It was still alien to her, even after so much time spent with Master Pedara and his sense of humor.

That wasn't to say she was humorless. She appreciated subtle humor, and from time to time an impish smile would appear on her rust-colored face. But by and large, she was a typical Togruta. Tranquil, often silent, and quite at peace. Xell had an ability to pull her out of her shell, to bring out those human attributes she'd taken on over the almost two decades of life she'd had inside the Jedi Order. However, humor was apparently not one of those.

"Besides. You're unbearably cute when you're flustered."

Sherasti flushed, but slowly smiled sheepishly. It was flattering actually. But it didn't stop her from blushing. She was more mindful of her appearance now that she knew someone was looking, and that made the heat in her face seem somehow hotter than it should be.

He was getting under her skin in a way that she hadn't thought possible.

She held out a hand and caught Xell by the wrist as he turned away from her. Gently but insistently she turned him to face her again.

"You'll never be able to find them all by yourself, if you have to you should ask another Togruta for help. You don't have to prove anything to me." Her violet eyes placed an emphasis on the last portion. It wasn't quite clear if she knew for sure, but it showed she had some guesses at the way he felt. Guesses that probably hit close to home.

[ninjabot]

Xell glanced down at his wrist held loosely by Sherasti before letting his gaze trail up their linked hands up to her thoughtful eyes.

"Yeah. I do." proclaimed Xell sincerely. He had no problem accepting when he was in over his head attempting something that he can't possibly accomplish alone. He DID however have a problem with giving up without trying. And he was even more annoyed by the thought of him leaving a problem he caused uncorrected.

"What kind of Jedi would I be if I had no sense of responsibility or loyalty? I want to help you Master. I want to make right what I made wrong. And I want to save those thimiar. I know they are destined to die no matter what I do, but dying naturally to their usual predator is alot better than being gassed. More dignified. Right?"

It was rethorical. He knew how Sherasti felt about thimiar. But hopefully some day she would warm up to Timmy.

Xell twisted his hand around to place a palm in Sherasti's hand and clench hold with a smile. "Alright. So... be sure to eat from the fridge. I'll be looking for Timmy when I get back." said Xell with a smirk before heading out. He trusted Sherasti. With his life. And Timmy's.

Minutes later...

Xell took a deep breath before knocking on a certain Togruta's door. He was holding another thimiar in his arms. He had found it on the way to Teer Ka's living quarters, but the sound of little girls squealing in the cafeteria drew him there. He had found a small thimiar running beneath the tables, hoping to flee from all the startled children. He was likely drawn there by the smell of food though.

Either way, it would make a great offering (though not as great as the one he offered her before), because what he was about to ask her was most certainly beneath the battle hardened weaponmaster.

Xell swallowed hard and forced a bright smile as he waited for Teer to open her door.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Teer was seated cross-legged on the floor of her quarters, facing the door as it happened. It was her usual posture of meditation. And she'd made the mistake of skipping her morning session, which made it all the more important she get it in now. She'd gotten close to exploding on Xell Rayner earlier in the day. His degree of disrespect and his youthful ignorance had been paired with the ability to get under her skin.

But in the end she'd managed not to beat him into a bloody pulp in the name of training. It had taken her restraint. Half the reason was his generous gift of a thimiar. The other half was the sneaking suspicion he wasn't entirely there. He thought Niman was amazing, he kept a pet thimiar, and he talked with it. He talked to food. Clearly there was something wrong with him. Only possible explanation.

Teer's breathing was slow and deep as she relaxed fully, letting her cares and stress evaporate away. She lost herself so fully that she became aware of someone outside her door only after he knocked.

But almost immediately she could tell who it was. There was no mistaking the Force presence she'd become acquainted with earlier that day: Xell Rayner.

Her reaction was to sigh. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good. Something was bound to be a problem. She only hoped he wouldn't try anything absurd. For all she knew he'd written some sort of manifesto for why Niman was better than everything else, or possibly he'd gotten a petition to advocate for thimiar rights. She wasn't entirely sure why he was knocking at her door. And that caused her eyes to narrow.

With a sense of exhaustion and dread she closed her eyes tightly again, and she called on him to enter.

Her spatial senses could tell he'd stopped a short distance from her, and she could already guess he had a question for her.

"Xell Rayner, what do you want?"

[ninjabot]

"Xell Rayner, what do you want?"

Well, that wasn't quite the response Xell expected. Apparently Teer didn't think of them as close just yet.

"Oh um... here. This is for you." he said as he handed over the thimiar. It kicked around to attempt a hasty retreat. He waited for Master Ka to take hold before continuing his explanation.

"You um... you remember when I brought you Fatty the other day? As a gift to show you I held no hard feelings or whatever? Well... I kinda left Master Rin's thimiar cage open and they all got out."

Xell braced for Teer's repremanding. Her heavy sigh of annoyance followed by a flurry of berating insults. Once he regained the bravery to do so, he started back explaining himself.

"So yeah... Master Rin wants her room fumigated and the missing thimiar dealt with. I took it onto myself to catch them all. I mean, I get they're just food to you, but I'm responsible for them running free throughout the temple. It's my responsibility to get them back."

The apprehensive boy cleared his throat and stood up straight to show some backbone. "I had hoped to use my sensing abilities to find them all. Strengthen my capabilities through practice, you know? But they're so small and weak-minded that feeling out their thoughts is practically impossible unless they're extremely frightened."[/color]

He then looked down at the floor and tapped his fingers against his lightsaber for a while as he thought of more to say.

"Oh, and Master Rin said I should ask another Togruta for help. She's asleep in my bed right now, exhausted from what I put her through most likely. I'll have to learn to be more gentle with her." said Xell with a smile, unaware that what he was saying was likely being interpreted as something taboo.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

The experienced Togruta Weapons Master stared blankly at the young human as he went on a rather rambling tale that seemed to boil down to a few simple facts. And she had the distinct impression he could have delivered it all much more concisely. Perhaps it was just her upbringing or her species, but she had a tendency to be quiet and minimalist in her words. Quite different from the young human, who she was starting to wonder if merely liked his own voice entirely too much.

If she understood right, he'd let loose his master's thimiars by accident, now he wanted help to catch them.

It was a surprisingly audacious request to make of her. Audacious enough that she wasn't sure she'd refuse it. Yes, it was below her. But an awful lot of things were, and she'd literally just been contemplating learning patience. Even after five decades in the Jedi Order, she still didn't have much of it.

She clutched the thimiar that had been stuffed into her hand between her fingers and her palm, applying expert pressure to still the rodent. She noticed a scratch mark on Xell's face and decided someone should teach him how to deal with food properly.

Teer's stare became more of a scowl at Xell's last statement. It certainly didn't sound appropriate. Obviously he was misspeaking. If it had happened that way, he wouldn't have bragged about it to a Jedi who could get them both expelled from the Order. But any which way, she made a mental note to have a talk with this Sherasti Rin. Her Padawan was quite possibly not stable. And at the very least he seemed to have an incredibly awkward fixation on her.

"And you want my help." She shook off the frown and rose, making a quick stop at her bed to sit and pull on boots over her bare red feet. "Fine. Maybe you'll actually learn something."

[ninjabot]

"And you want my help." She shook off the frown and rose, making a quick stop at her bed to sit and pull on boots over her bare red feet. "Fine. Maybe you'll actually learn something."

Xell bit his bottom lip. "Right. Thanks Master Ka." Said Xell as he watched her put on her boots... a little too closely. If Sherasti could maintain her figure as well as master Ka does at her age then he'd be fortunate. Believing his thoughts betrayed his feelings for Sherasti he shook the thought from his mind and quickly turned his back to step out of the door.

He and his aid walked onward and Xell immediately began feeling out for thimiar. He could neither smell them, hear their low squeaking noises, or sense their presence with montrals, so he would never be able to pinpoint them from far off. And it showed immediately.

Once they both left the room he could hear a sniffing sound from Master Ka. It was faint, and someone that lacked the OCD that he did would never have noticed, but he certainly did. And right after, Teer turned in the opposite direction, making no point to call out to the young man.

"Whoa, wait up!"

Within the first 10 minutes walking around they were on the track of one already. The only thing Xell had 'learned', was that Master Ka wouldn't waste a chance to make him look like a moron. Well, if he was going to learn something, it might aswell be something he needed. Xell cleared his throat aloud to catch her attention.

"Right so... about learning things. I was hoping I could pick your brain a bit more on certain things. Like, what you mentioned about err... Togruta relations. You said you guys mate for life? That's no different than marriage, right? Agreeing to be with one person forever?"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Luckily for Xell, Teer wasn't gifted telepathically. And her eyes were focused on her boots anyway rather than the young human who'd just noticed that her figure had aged well. It was a true observation though, she looked more to be in her forties than her late fifties. The result of good genetics and a rigorous dedication to physical fitness.

And that did bode well for Sherasti. It was likely she'd age quite well. She already had a natural poise and grace, and it was likely that her figure would endure with a healthy life.

With her boots pulled on, Teer followed Xell back out from her stark quarters and into the corridors of the Jedi Temple.

As they went along, Teer quickly found herself on the track of a thimiar. She could smell it, and more importantly she could hear it. And with a single-minded determination she went after the small rodent as if it were a Dark Jedi on the run.

Her instincts were an ally, and inside a few minutes she could sense it, hiding underneath some curtains. She pointed out its hiding place to Xell and watched to see how he'd capture it. And once he had it in his clutches she was going to provide instruction on how to hold it. How to use pressure points to immobilize it, and all the various things a Togruta child on Shili would have known.

Did she have the desire to mock him? Maybe a little. Would she? Probably not.

[ninjabot]

Xell stood still and looked back at Master Ka. She seemed to be waiting to see how he would catch the thimiar. Wasn't it obvious? He'd pick it up, simple as that. Xell ducked down and lifted the curtains away from him, causing the thimiar to run underneath his legs and behind him, toward Teer. Once it realized she was there it serpentined before turning to run towards the closest hiding spot.

"Oh no you don't!" said Xell aloud as he leapt across the hall and gripped the rodent's tail. It squealed before biting his finger and fleeing once again when he let go. Xell rolled over to look at Master Ka, who watched him with uncaring eyes.

"Don't worry! I got him. I scared him enough that I can really feel it's fear through empathy. Chasing him will be simple now."
Though the thimiar had disappeared from Xell's sight, he could still tell where it was and used a quick force pull to bring it close to him. He left it floating in mid air to avoid another bite.

"Hah! How do you like that buddy? Gotcha!" Xell laughed for a while, but stopped after noticing Teer was not amused. Whether it was the wasted movements, or the loudness or giddy reaction, it wasn't working for her.

Xell cleared his throat and watched Teer's hand that was held around the thimiar he had already given her. It looked painful for the little beast, but it seemed necessary. He pulled the rodent closer and grabbed hold of it in the exact same way. He then slowly squeezed until his hand kept it immobile.

"Like this then?" he asked.