First Meeting (Mooney)

[Alaska!]

Am I ready?
Emmi sat on a bench in the Jedi Temple's courtyard with her head bowed. Her eyes were fixed on her knees and the ground beneath her feet. Her finger picked at a stray thread in her tan pants. Usually she would have put her mass of red hair into a braid but couldn't find the energy to do so that morning. Her nerves kept her hands busy with her fidgeting.

Stop it.
Her hands stopped playing with the thread and instead folded in her lap. This was unlike her. Normally she was so calm and collected, she never really had a reason to fidget. However, with the recent death of her now formal master she found she was not quite herself. Already, she had been given a new master. It felt too soon, but she knew that it had to be done. Emmi harbored no ill will towards the man whom she was waiting for. Where was he anyways? Maybe she was in the wrong spot.

Her hands began to twitch again, so she stuffed them into her pocket. Her hands closed around a piece of candy she'd taken from her stash. A small smile touched her lips. At some point while getting ready she had remembered to grab a sweet, she thought that it was a strange thing to remember. Emmi looked up from her knees, ready to meet Master Me'allo Talron.

(( OTL so much writer's block...))

[Moonfire]

Me'allo looked over the datapad again, though he had read the file countless times since he'd received the notification the night before. Emmi Daneb, age fifteen, was set to be his new Padawan.

Master Zyrek had died within the fortnight, and it was a loss the whole temple felt, particularly the two Padawan's he left behind. Felix, who was nearly done with his Padawanship and favored a more... action packed role in the Order had been snatched up by the respected Master Teer Ka, a high councilmember and battlemaster in her own right, but after much discussion they decided Emmi wasn't a good fit for Ka's rather direct form of instruction.

Her file described a young girl who had a lifelong dislike of conflict. Her youngling teachers left notes about how introverted she was, yet extremely sensitive. She didn't fear conflict so much as she wanted to avoid it all together. Friends were difficult for her to make, but the ones she did were golden and true.

The notes left by Master Zyrek described a girl turning into a young woman with a strong sense of intuition, though no signs of being a true prophet. Her feelings though proved to be right more often than not, he made notes to try and foster what abilities she had there more, but it seemed things had fallen to the wayside. He also seemed intent on pitting the two Padawan's against one another, trying to force Emmi out of her comfort zone.

The datafile went on in that fashion, describing even the most mundane details about the petite auburn haired girl, but nothing could truly prepare the confident young man for his first Padawan. Me'allo walked smoothly through the court yard, having been directed by Master Si Quan to speak with the girl, introduce himself, gauge her feelings towards the whole thing.

He saw her from afar, a lazy smile sat across his freckled face as he approached before sitting down on the bench next to her, relaxing back against the seat before nodding his orange curled head in hello.

"Have a piece for me?" He chuckled, his voice kind as he worked to project an aura of soothing calm. "I've always been a fan of the pink kind." He admitted in his rural twang, as though sharing a great secret.

"It's nice to meet ya, Emmi, I've heard a lot 'bout ya. I'm Me'allo, I'll be your new master from now on."

[Alaska!]

"Have a piece for me?"
The girl looked up from the orange piece of candy in her hand to the man beside her. For a moment Emmi stared at him. He had orange hair like the candy that rested in her palm. His accent was unlike anything she had heard before and it was beautiful. "I've always been a fan of the pink kind."

Emmi knew she was supposed to be sad. Felix still was, he was hurting the most out of both of them. Yet, despite that Emmi felt her smile spread across her face. There was only one person this man could be was Me'allo Talron. She was pleased so far. He seemed nice and at the very least trying to make her feel better. The air around him felt so calm which was a welcomed change from the way Felix had been acting.

"It's nice to meet ya, Emmi, I've heard a lot 'bout ya. I'm Me'allo, I'll be your new master from now on."
She turned slightly on the bench so she could face him more directly. Receiving a different master from Felix was bitter sweet. She had spent the last few years working very closely with the other Padawan, growing up with him in a way. Separating now felt wrong. However, Emmi had heard horror stories about the woman, Teer Ka, whom had taken Felix as her student. For that reason alone Emmi was relieved to have a different teacher from him.
I should probably introduce myself now.

"It is nice to meet you too, Master," she answered kindly. She inclined her head towards him in respect. "I'm sorry that I can't say the same about you. I haven't really heard much about you, so it will be nice to get to know you." Emmi held her hand out to him. The round, orange candy presented to him as a gift. "Take it, please. I don't really want it right now."

[Moonfire]

Me'allo laughed and waved his hand casually.

"No, no, I was just playin'. Save it, you'll miss it later." He said with a nod taking a long moment to look over Emmi. "Thats quite alright, Emmi. Sometimes the best of us are the least spoken of." A kind smile crossed his pale face again before relaxing, enjoying the Coruscanti sunlight.

How did one start off these kinds of things? The kindly Youngling instructor, Si Quan had told him to just be pleasant, to gauge the situation and that'd he'd understand pretty intuitively what to do next. Just be patient, he assured him. That was something Me'allo in all his years had never mastered, patience.

"Well, since you haven't heard mucha me, perhaps you can indulge me by lettin' me ramble a bit 'bout myself." He chuckled again. "I'm a healer. I spend much of my time in the infirmary when I'm here at the Temple, I was trained to be an Jedi Investigator for a while, and still sometimes volunteer on a support basis for missions with Coruscant Security Forces. Those missions are few and far between for me though." Me'allo laughed, his one leg bouncing up and down in a nervous jitter.

"Emmi, what I want to teach you is how to be a healer. Its not an easy path, requires studyin' and empathy and true grit, but from what I've heard about ya, that won't be a problem, will it?... But what I want to know from you is, what do ya want to learn? If there is something I can't teach ya, I'll find someone who can."

[Alaska!]

Emmi quickly stuffed the candy away in her pocket for later. She folded her hands on her lap and watched the man before her. Some times around new people she felt uncomfortable looking them in the eye, even when they were speaking to her. Instead, she would watch them, or something else around them. One movement in particular caught her attention. His leg kept bouncing up and down. She wondered if he had restless legs or if this was a sign of his nerves. With her former master and fellow padawan she typically knew what their ticks meant. Sitting there wondering about this was fairly distracting...

She had to snap herself back so she wouldn't miss anything important he might say.
"I'm a healer. I spend much of my time in the infirmary when I'm here at the Temple, I was trained to be an Jedi Investigator for a while, and still sometimes volunteer on a support basis for missions with Coruscant Security Forces. Those missions are few and far between for me though."
Oh good, I haven't missed anything too important. Emmi liked that he was a healer. It would be interesting to learn from someone who hadn't spent the majority of their time with combat.

"Emmi, what I want to teach you is how to be a healer. Its not an easy path, requires studyin' and empathy and true grit, but from what I've heard about ya, that won't be a problem, will it?" The skin on her cheeks turned slightly pink. Healers and teachers were occupations within the Jedi order that she admired. These were things she hadn't thought about pursuing.

"... But what I want to know from you is, what do ya want to learn? If there is something I can't teach ya, I'll find someone who can." That was a question that no one had asked her. Learning with Master Zyrek and Felix had focused on pushing the two teenagers out of their comfort zone. It had also focused more on finishing Felix's training so that in a few months he could go through the trials. It made sense as Emmi was certain Zyrek planned on having more time with Emmi once Felix was knighted. What did she want to learn?

"To be honest no one has asked me that before, "she told him quietly. "I haven't really considered what I want to be. I would love to learn how to heal, it would be an honor really. Thank you." Once again she found herself staring at his bouncing leg. "...Have you had a student before?"