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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"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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