nexus_crossings | the adventures of one nerd jedi and his emotional support droid

the adventures of one nerd jedi and his emotional support droid

The Nexus was an unusual place. It was full of people and things from all over the multiverse. Wild. A little nerve wracking for Cal. He's not really used to being in such a... festive? environment. Sure is nice being somewhere he doesn't have to constantly look over his shoulder for the Empire OR it's inquisitors though. Probably. Ugh... he should be careful anyways.

His little droid friend BD-1 is significantly more excited. And eager to explore. Cal was distracted for just a few moments examining the weird and outlandish chalkboard menu of some kind of hot drink shop (Café au lait?) before he noticed that the familiar, ever present weight of his small best friend was NOT on his back or shoulder where he typically perches.

The redhead glances around. He was gone! He feels a bit of a panic coming on. BD-1 is so small! What if someone steps on him? Steals him? He can't even sense him through the Force because, y;know, droid!

It's okay, it's fine. He can find him his little friend. Deep breath. He has the rare gift of psychometry. Through echoes in the Force he can read the history of objects, he can see and hear the things that item has experienced. All it takes is a quick graze of his fingers here and there on things he thinks were of interest to his little buddy and he's got a good idea where he is.

And there he is.

...Scanning some random passerby to enter them into his databank.

"BD! You just ran off, I was worried..." with an excited trill and a series of beeps in binary the little droid runs over to the redheaded Jedi, excitedly chirping about all the things he's found. Cal looks up at the person BD has scanned, "Sorry, he gets curious. He wasn't bothering you, was he?"

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BD had approached a tall man with dark hair and dark clothes, watching the droid with what looks like amusement. Ben Solo doesn't seem bothered, more entertained, but he allows the droid to return to its Jedi owner.

A Jedi. Ben doesn't know how trained this young man is, but he knows a Force-user when he senses one. The only other Jedi who visits the Nexus is Rey, and neither of them were really part of the tradition as it was.

"No, he wasn't annoying me." Ben's not intimidated by droids, though he doesn't exactly have a good history with them. A kitchen droid had tried to kill him when he was a baby. This one looks small and almost cute, reminding him for a moment of Rey and BB-8. "He found me interesting enough to register. I should be flattered, really."

Call will probably be able to tell that the stranger is very Force-sensitive. There's more than a little darkness in him, but it's no longer as violent or as strong as it used to be, and there's light mixed in. Ben himself senses the Force in this newcomer, and he's interested to meet another Force-user here. There are no fully-fledged Jedi, as far as he knows - mostly darksiders and reforming darksiders.

Cal has had an incredibly damaged connection to the Force for the past five years that he's only begun to repair recently. It's still bruised for a lack of a better term. It takes him a moment partly because of that, and partly because panic had overridden common sense but now that he's had a moment this guy... he's really going to have to reevaluate his personal re-training if he didn't notice him before now.

Light... dark... not to longue ago he probably would have tried to avoid someone like this like the plague, but he's come to learn not all users of teh Dark are evil or terrible. Merrin is pretty nice...

"He scans pretty much everything and anything that catches his optic. And here? That's a lot," he laughs and BD chirps in agreement and nods his little head. So much to scan! "You're already acquainted with BD-1 I guess. I'm Cal."

"My name is Ben. I suppose I ought to welcome you to the Nexus, Cal." The dark young man gestures to their surroundings, then lowers his voice. "You're like me, aren't you? Force-sensitive. There are others like us here, but not many."

Ben's acknowledged the fact that he'll never truly be of the Light. He's rejected both Jedi and Sith teachings, since he believes neither of them helped him. The darkness in him will always be there, and it's his responsibility to keep it in check. Right up until relatively recently Cal would have been right to fear and keep away from Ben - but he's been working to change since then. He may have ideological differences with lightsiders, but he won't harm them now.

"He's brave, too." Ben can't identify the droid's model, but he's familiar with the personality type. "Hello, BD-1. If you're looking to explore and learn, there's no better place you could have come to."

"I don't think I know a braver droid or person in the entire galaxy, right little buddy?" he hold out a hand for the little guy to hop onto. A quick scoop and he's deposited to the safety of Cal's back. He's completely honest about the bravery thing too. He's not sure he knows anyone robotic or organic who would willing leap on Darth Vader's back and shock him to save a friend. That man... is terrifying. A true monster. Cal sincerely hopes he never encounters him again.

...Of course he's probably on the Empire's Most Wanted list by now SO...

He'll think about that later.

"I am..." he nods. There's a little hesitation and BD might have been the one scanning him earlier but now he takes a moment to examine Ben, his gaze searching... for... he's not sure honestly. Something familiar? Did he ever see this man at Coruscant?

"Are you... are you a survivor too?"

"We aren't the only ones here. There are a few others. Did you read the pamphlets?"

Even though he is Vader's grandson, even Ben fears Darth Vader. It's ironic that he actually met his grandfather in person once he had grown past the stage of his life where he openly admired and mimicked Vader. It's not a stage in Ben's life he's proud of.

And he certainly would be angry if Vader laid a finger on someone here, especially one of Ben's friends. He hasn't forgotten that he's keeping an eye on his grandfather.

When Cal asks his question, Ben shakes his head. "I was born after Order 66. You'll meet people from different times here, and people who aren't from our universe at all." He's wary about being too open about who he is - whatever Cal's been through, and no doubt it was a lot if he survived the Jedi Purge, he's young, and Ben doesn't want to frighten him. Cal was born some time before Kylo Ren and the First Order in general if Order 66 is in recent memory. But he is a survivor.

Most of the Force-users Ben has met come from the Imperial era, and the Galactic Civil War.

"I've heard a little about that. The universe and the time thing," he begrudgingly agrees. He almost seems to sag, just minuscule. BD chirps in concern but Cal just smiles and shakes his head.

"I guess it's a little different hearing about it and seeing someone who..." he trails off a bit. Someone who looks the right age to have been a young newly made knight right before the Purge. Someone who might know other survivors. Or might have known a little more about what happened. About why it happened. Or...

"Well it doesn't matter I guess," he takes a deep breath, finds his center, and smiles a little, "I guess the fact that you were born after, and you know who you are... that's something right? Gives me a little more hope for the future."

"There are Force-users here scattered from across history," Ben says. "There are good things about that - if you wish, I can point you to Jedi texts in the Grand Library. I've done some studying there. A lot of them were destroyed in our time, but I've found materials dating back from the Old Republic. If you like, I can share some with you. I imagine there aren't many older Jedi to learn from left."

Ben has something of a scholarly side that's rekindled itself in the Nexus, feeding on the vast amount of materials he's found. He enjoys teaching others, but he hasn't officially taken on a student. He worries that his training, his darkness, might taint Cal - Ben's perspective on Light and Dark is unorthodox.

"Yes, there's hope for the future." He trusts Rey to do what's best, whether that means restarting the Jedi Order or creating something new, something that would succeed where the old Order failed. It would be her decision to make. "I can promise you that."

"Yeah? That's... that's good," his smile widens. Weird. He got an answer to a question he never even thought of asking. But... he's glad for it. And just like that he's able to shake that encroaching sullen mood.

"Some of the texts survived? I thought the Empire would have destroyed everything... but I guess the whole time deal this place has got going on it makes sense. I'd love to take a look at them sometimes. It's been a long time since I stepped inside a library," he shrugs and then laughs a little, remembering something from when he was young, "I used to love going there when I was little. Before... everything, the longest I went without visiting was a week. A friend dared me to write a bad word inside one of them and I felt so guilty I couldn't step foot inside."

To be seven and the most terrible thing you think you could ever do is write the word 'FART' on the inside cover of a sacred Jedi text. He was so positive doing that would lead him down the path of the Dark he couldn't sleep for days.

"That's one of the perks of this place. The Empire destroyed a lot, but there are texts in the Grand Library dating from before the Empire came to power. I've carried out research there myself. If you want to do some training, there are far worse places than the Nexus to do it."

Ben can't help but laugh a little, even as someone who did far worse things than write dirty words in one of his uncle's salvaged Jedi texts. Honestly, in his time with Luke Skywalker such a thing hadn't actually occurred to him, and while he was on decent terms with most of the other students he hadn't considered most of them friends. He was aloof, distant, well aware that he stood out among them because of his famous bloodline and his raw power. He thinks of them, and what they all might have become in a better world, one where the Emperor had died at Endor and Kylo Ren never came to be.

"If you would like..." Ben considers what he's about to offer. "I could teach you a few things." He'll stick to teaching Cal light-side techniques and lightsaber forms. He knows enough of those from training with Luke and his own studies.

The offer gives him pause. He wants that. He wants it so much. His own training had been cut woefully short. He's still young enough that he might still be Master Tapal's apprentice if nothing had ever happened, a year or two away from his trials at the most. He's been practicing as much as he can on his own. His connection to the Force that had been damaged for so long was finally almost healed, though it still feels... bruised. But he just wants to DO so much. He so desperately wants to fill in the gaps in his education.

And Cere has certainly never offered. He can't really blame her. But still...

"I'd love nothing more then to learn something. But... I feel I must address the rancor in room," he frowns a little. Because there is one. Maybe not like... a HUGE rancor. Just a little one, "You've been awfully nice so far but... if this is some kind of attempt to sway me to the dark side I'm afraid I must respectfully decline."

...Really only he would put it so politely.

"You're free to take my offer or leave it, though I'll leave it on the table if you change your mind. I'm not trying to sway you to the dark side, though, and that's a promise."

Ben's never actually taken on a student. He's had sparring matches, but that's not quite the same thing.

Honestly, it's a valid concern. There's still palpable darkness in Ben that he's sure the other young man senses. "That's understandable. I'm not a Jedi, but I'm not a darksider, either. I'm not going to try and turn you, if that's what you're worried about. If you're going to stay here in the Nexus, though, you have to be ready to defend yourself, and there's always room to improve. There's more dangerous things than me."

Ben knows Darth Vader, or a version of him, lurks in the Nexus. He's not sure how much protection he can provide Cal, especially if the anti-violence field goes down. He doesn't have influence over his grandfather - he doesn't think Vader will listen much if Ben asks him not to kill or mangle his friends.

Edited 2020-07-09 02:32 (UTC)

"There's dangerous people anywhere you go," he recalls some of his more recent battles. Each one of them he only barely survived by the skin of his teeth. And that was with outside help for most of them. This.. this might be one of his only chances.

Ben sounds honest but... Well there was always that. Last time he touched someone's lightsaber it didn't go ideally. But he was caught off guard. Going in like this he could be careful. Use a lighter touch.

"You have a lightsaber, right? Could I see it?" BD by his feet trills in concern. He has an idea what his friend is up to, "Just for a minute or two and I'll give it back. I promise I'm not gonna try and steal it or anything."

"That's true." Ben wouldn't say he's harmless, nobody with his history or skillset is harmless - but he's not dangerous, either, at least to people who aren't causing problems. He's not the biggest threat here. There are unreformed darksiders here like Sariss and even more so Vader. Honestly, come to think of it Cal's the second lightsider here besides Rey that Ben's personally met. The presence of lightsiders is something of a relief.

He's not one himself, but it brings a sense of balance to have both sides of the Force represented in the Nexus. It's still not even - it's slanted towards the Dark - but a second lightsider besides Rey is a start.

Ben considers, then offers his saber to Cal. He, too, is wondering what Cal is up to. "Here. Be careful with it." It's a special lightsaber, made from his healed kyber crystal back from Luke's academy and a hilt from the Jawas who inhabit the Nexus. A hybrid of the past and the present, his original galaxy and his adopted home.

"I will..." He holds his hand out, hovering right above it for a moment, but hesitates. It's not that he's afraid. It's... well without Ben knowing what he's doing he might consider it an invasion of privacy if he learns later. It is in a way. Cal is used to reading the things of people long gone, not right in front of him.

"I'm psychometic. I can see the history of objects when I touch them through echoes of the Force," he explains. All the people who ARE after him already know so there's no real harm here, "I'm just going to look at what's happened around it recently. Nothing far, nothing deep. I've had some very close encounters with Inquisitors recently so I just... I just have to make sure."

And when you have a lightsaber and no how to use it, it very rarely ever leaves your side. In the five years since the purge Cal always had his on him. Even if it was dangerous to even keep it around.

"The Empire's Inquisitors were before my time. But I know about them - there aren't any here, as far as I know. But the tricky thing about the Nexus is that anything can come in at any time, and not all those things are friendly or pleasant. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to teach you. There are other dangers besides Inquisitors to watch out for, either way."

Psychometic? Ben has his share of strange Force powers - he's a direct descendant of Anakin Skywalker, himself said to be the most powerful Force-user of his generation and possibly even the most powerful since Yoda. But this is not one of the powers he has, so he's instinctively curious about how it works and how far it can go.

"You have my permission, then." He's not proud of his past, but if he's considering taking Cal on as a student it's best to let him know him the truth. He holds out the lightsaber for Cal to touch, wondering what the young man will see of his history - and of Kylo Ren.

"Thank you," he nods, more to himself then anyone. Focused solely on the lightsaber, to his sight alone it glows a bright white tinged in violet. A sure as sign as any he needed to look at it. The Force tended to be more blatant about the thing he's meant to read. He closes his eyes as his fingers encircle the hilt---

---selling pictures. I've worked rather hard one them, I started with calligraphy---bartering for baked goods, muffins my favorite flavor---

Innocent enough things so far. He pushes back further---

---a long awaited kis---

Private memory. PRIVATE MEMORY. Further---

---help instead of hurt---redemp---keep my skills from getting rusty---Midgard has a lot of dangerous creatures, doesn't it?

Helping a boy fight skeletons? Weird, but interesting... Further---

---she's strong. Too much for him now but he'll just keep on improving---

A lightsaber duel, he lingers for a moment. They're both GOOD. That confirms it about other Force users too. Further---

---ing busy. Working in a mechanics shop---

Everything in recent memory was just of the Nexus? People could return to their homeworlds... why hadn't Ben?

Further---Further---Furth---

---He's dying. He will die. But Rey... Rey will---

Cal's eyes fly back open and he releases a breath of air and drops the lightsaber back in Ben's palm. Only a minute or two had gone by in real time despite the flood of memories he'd just waded through. He takes a moment longer to collect himself.

"You died," he finally says, still a bit dazed and unaware of how blunt that must sound, "You gave her everything you had so she would live."

He's silent for a moment longer, feeling more focused now, "I didn't go back further then that. You've clearly got a past but... for now I trust you. I'd, I'd like to take you up on your offer I think."

"Yes, I did die to help Rey. But the Nexus brought me back."

Ben doesn't know everything Cal saw, but he figures he saw enough to get a sense of who Ben is and his personal history. He nods when Cal says that he died, confirming it.

"Rey is my friend. She doesn't live here, but she visits sometimes. If you're lucky you might meet her. She's a Jedi in training, like you are." Rey and Ben aren't friends, exactly - it's a lot more complicated than that. What they are even they haven't completely figured out yet, and Force dyads are rare enough he doubts Cal would have learned about them. "But you see why I live in the Nexus, and why I can't go back home."

It wasn't a difficult decision to make in the moment. Ben felt he'd wasted his life, and Rey had friends and a life to make it back to. He doesn't regret his choice, even though he's decided that his life here is worth living.

"But it's not so bad. Rey comes to visit me often, I have ways to make money here, and I have a place to live that's comfortable." Honestly, Ben's just glad he has a chance to live again at all. Whether it was his dyad with Rey that brought him back or the Force decided he was still needed, he's happy for that second chance.

Ben smiles when Cal accepts, as warm as he can manage. "Very well. Thank you." He offers Cal a hand. "To be honest, I've never had a student before, so this will be a learning opportunity for both of us."

Dyads are certainly out of his area of expertise. So much so that he's probably never even heard of them. After the basics, most of his studies were focused on learning how to utilize and live with his own unique ability.

"I haven't exactly been a student in a while, so I think we're in good company," he grins back, trying not to look too excited. Find out about Cere's past has honestly been like following a dangling carrot around that he knows he'll never actually get. He understands, he really does. But the thought that she could have helped him finish his training? It was always a little disheartening.

"And I saw your warehouse," he tries to sound casual. He's still not quite sure how Ben's gonna feel about him just knowing a few random tidbit of life here and there despite him agreeing to it. His psychometry is such a huge part of who he is, but even he has to admit it probably can seem creepy to an outsider, "I worked as a rigger in a scrapper guild the past few years. If you ever need any help with bigger projects I could give you a hand there too. As thanks."

Ben's more curious about psychometry than anything close to offended. It's an ability he's never personally encountered. He wonders if it'll grow more potent as Cal becomes a more seasoned Jedi. He, too, seeks to grow stronger and realize the potential he never quite reached back home. Sariss thinks his training was sabotaged, and while he doesn't trust her he believes she's telling the truth there.

But you'll rise. He's going to show her how right she was when she said that to him. And he'll show the people of the Nexus that he's trustworthy at the same time. There's a lot of work to be done.

"Thank you for the offer. I work by myself there most of the time - I have no employees, but Rey comes by to help sometimes on more difficult jobs. She has important work to do back home, though, so the extra hands are welcome. In return, I'll train you as best I can and teach you what you need to know about the Nexus." Cal's a new arrival, so there's a lot to learn. He reaches into a pocket of his robes, drawing out a handhels device. "To start off, do you have a PINpoint? You'll find them very useful in this place."

Ben wouldn't be the first darksider he's given a chance too. He might be one of the FEW Jedi who has successfully befriended a Nightsister after all. A very pretty, couragous, and strong Nightsister who... ahem.

"I don't think I-" he shakes his head before being interrupted by a few affirmative beeps from the hitchhiker on his back. He frowns and glances back at the droid, "-When did you...?"

BD trills and scrambles over to dive into Cal's hood. The young Jedi winces. He's used to being a mode of transportation for BD. Apparently he's now a pack animal as well? Before he can ask what he's up to the companion droid pops up from his plunge, a PINpoint balanced on his head.

"When did you even get that there?" he asks incredulously. The amount of trouble on tiny droid could get himself into was somewhat awe inspiring. BD whistles joyfully in response, "Apparently BD's got me covered on that. He 'borrowed' some of my credits and got one from a vending machine because he wanted to see what it did."

"You know...I have a soft spot for scavengers. And you've got a good companion there. He knows what you need, clearly." It was definitely thinking ahead to find a Nexus vending machine and grab a PINpoint out of it.

Ben himself hadn't grabbed one right away, mostly because in his first few weeks he was cautious about interacting with the larger Nexus population. And small things like being served in cafes or being given lodging in inns felt surreal, even if he was grateful for it. They were being nice to Kylo Ren.

He's torn between admiring the generosity of the Nexus's people and thinking they're painfully naive. His current feelings on the matter are that they're both. The place has mellowed him out, too.

Ben's quietly impressed by BD's quick thinking. "They're not hard to use. They can help you travel to other universes, if you want to, or to places within the Nexus itself. The inhabited areas are safe - for the most part - but you'll want to be more careful in the Underbelly. And the anti-violence field isn't so reliable in the Wilds. There are people and animals there who aren't so pleasant."

BD tilts his head down so the PINpoint slides neatly into Cal's hands who examines it curiously. Honestly he hasn't had anything this new and shiny looking in AGES. Very new seeing as there was a total lack of memory in it's echo. Knowing his luck though it'd have a cracked screen in a week.

"Yeah? That sounds useful. I sure could have used an instant teleport recently..." Escaping from The Dark Lord himself had not been pleasant. Besides that though... the mayhem he could cause for the Empire if he just had free reign to teleport about.

"I'll keep on my toes then. I've got plenty of experience with aggressive local fauna though. And flora," BD whistles in agreement. He's been rattled around a bit himself, "Have you ever been to Kashyyyk? Almost everything there that's alive is constantly trying to make sure you're not."

"They're useful things. Mine got me out of a few situations." Both of Ben's encounters with Jason, to begin with. "It got me into a few new ones, too. Don't go to Midgard unless you're sure you're ready for a fight. It's a lot like how you described Kashyyyk, except the weather's trying to kill you too."

Ben doesn't mind visiting the rougher corners of the multiverse, since they provide him with things to fight. Nothing like taking out a few skeleton warriors for a confidence-booster. But the typical Jedi is neither as bloodthirsty nor as hotheaded as Ben can be.

He can't help but smile a little. "I've never been to Kashyyyk personally, no, but I had an honorary uncle who was a Wookiee." Ben misses Chewbacca - the last time they'd interacted was as enemies, but Rey had informed him that Chewie knew he had come to the right side in the end and had been told Ben is still alive.

"I'll make a note to avoid Midgard then," he shakes his head, picturing some insane amalgamation of Kashyyyk and Illum. Terrifying, "...Unless someone there needs help or something."

He's certainly not bloodthirsty, no, but he DOES have a huge bleeding heart for people in need and literally WILL leap out of a ship in flight into the middle of an ongoing battle if he thinks that's what it'll take.

"An uncle Wookie? My sympathies to your ribs," he winces a bit in memory. In his experience if a Wookie liked you they could get HUGGY, "I helped spring a tribe from a prison camp once and most of them decided that the best way to get around the language barrier and express their thanks was robbing me of ALL the air from lungs."

Cal's perception of Midgard is not inaccurate. "That would be a good idea," Ben tells Cal. "There are skeleton warriors, cannibals, and trolls - probably worse things than that that I haven't heard of yet." Like Baldur. Ben hasn't seen Baldur since that one encounter, which is more than fine by him. At least Jormundgandr seems nice, especially for something that terrifying. "I go there sometimes to kill monsters who prey on people."

"I think you'd like my Uncle Chewie." From Ben's childhood memories of Chewbacca, he was certainly one for Wookiee hugs. "He's really something, I can tell you that much."

Since they're no longer enemies, he wouldn't mind seeing Chewbacca again if he appeared in Ben's neck of the woods. But Chewie and Lando live in his home galaxy with Rey, while he lives in the Nexus. He's resigned himself to never seeing them again. It's lucky for both of them he and Rey were able to find each other and repair their dyad.

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the adventures of one nerd jedi and his emotional support droid

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