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Caritas - Friday evening [Open]

It was a quiet night at Caritas. It wasn't until Tino slipped Jolee a note that he realized why.

"'I'm not speaking again until you apologize for how you've treated me in the past," Jolee read. "'I am on a sound strike.' Good. It'll be good to have some peace and quiet for once."

Tino hadn't expected that kind of trickery.

[OOC: I'm around!]

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Then there was music

And wonderful roses, they tell me

Jaina was feeling a little blah, and not really wanting to head to the gym to get the endorphins going, she decided to just go out instead. And since it was a Jolee night, she might as well stop in. "Hi," she said, taking a seat at the bar.

"Hello there," Jole said. "Long time, no see. What can I get for you?"

"Just a Coke, or something?" she said. "And I know. Sorry. It's been sort of insane for the last... year."

"If insanity makes you more comfortable, I can act like a senile kook and talk about local vegetation for a half hour," Jolee said. "And don't think I can't do any of those things at a moment's notice! I've been gardening."

Jaina smiled. "As thrilling as that would be, I'd rather just stick to things like 'Hey, I didn't know you gardened.'"

"What else are you going to do when you live in the Shadowlands for twenty years?" Jolee asked. "Well, besides fighting all sorts of nasty creatures who think you'd be a nice dinner. A man's got to have hobbies besides making carnivores go hungry."

"Yeah, I've known Kashyyyk plants to eat people, so I didn't think gardening was a big thing there," she explained.

"That's only most of the plants," Jolee said. "Give it enough time and you can find several non-violent plants. And then tachs will run in and eat them."

"I think I like the treetop villages better," Jaina decided.

"So do the Wookiees. They thought I was insane for staying down in the Shadowlands," Jolee said. "Well, first they thought I was a strange, hairless god. Eventually they realized their mistake and then they thought I was insane."

"Why didn't you stay uptop?" she wondered.

"Why did I build a mud hut in the woods here when there's plenty of housing available?" Jolee asked. "I like the quiet. But I don't mind when it's interrupted by the occasional swarm of kinrath. Also, I was able to help any Wookiees who had the misfortune of getting lost down there. I knew the place better than most of them."

Also, there was the matter of trying to get into the Star Map computer deep in the forest. It had been a good obsession before Revan spoiled it.

"Okay, that sounds like a pretty good reason," she said. "I could never do it, but..."

"Then you'll never make it as a curmudgeonly hermit," Jolee said.

"I don't think that was really a possible career path for me anyway," Jaina said. You know, what with the dying young. "I don't think I could be believable telling kids to get off my lawn."

"If you have a hose to spray trespassers with, you can get away with not yelling that," Jolee pointed out. "I prefer to do both."

"I'll be sure not to stop by unless I call first," she said dryly.

"Well, that's only polite," Jolee said.

"So how have you been?" she asked. "Since it's been so long."

"I've been well. Aside from a few exceptions, things have been nice and quiet," Jolee said. "Just what I was looking for in a retirement."

"It's good someone's got some quiet," Jaina said. "Sometimes you just need boring."

"And you have to appreciate it for as long as it lasts," Jolee said. Especially when you didn't know how long it might last, thanks a lot, Revan.

"I sort of don't think it ever does," she said honestly, speaking from way way way too much experience.

"Of course not," Jolee said. "There's always something building up somewhere that needs to be taken care of."

"You don't think it ever gets better?" she asked curiously.

"Of course it does. For a time. And then it gets worse for a time. And then it gets better again," Jolee explained. "Before I was born, the Jedi and Sith were battling for the fate of the galaxy. And then there was a period of peace. Then when I was young and stupid, Exar Kun brought the Sith back and battled the Jedi for the fate of the galaxy. After that, we had some peace, then the Mandalorians attacked. After that, we had some peace, and then Revan's Sith Empire attacked, only to see Revan himself bring peace again. Each and every time, the galaxy had never encountered a threat like this. This time, every time, it's really serious. And then, eventually, it balances out for a while. Does it get better? Sure. Does it stay better? Of course not. But that means that it never stays worse, either."

"And if it just gets worse?" Knowing her galaxy might have two more wars in fourteen years.

"History's consistent with the 'eventually getting better' thing," Jolee said. "I'm not saying it's going to be soon. It may take a very long time, but any period of darkness is followed by a period of light. You just had to be mindful that there's a larger picture than what you're seeing."

"I don't mean to go all serious on you," Jaina said. "It's just sort of relevant lately."

"Please. Two years ago I spent months touring the galaxy with a reformed Sith Lord, a homicidal droid, a Mandalorian who liked talking about how honorable battle was, a pilot who had bigger trust issues than anyone I'd ever met, a banished Wookiee, and a couple of Jedi who couldn't keep their emotions in check," Jolee said. "When the being best able to lighten the room is the droid who'd really like to see all of you dead, you get used to stretches of seriousness."

"And don't get me wrong, he was funny in his own way. But it was dark comedy."

She grinned a little at that. "Any advice for lightening things up? Aside from my own homicidal droid?"

"Shades of gray," Jolee said. "Remember that wherever there's darkness, there is light right there to balance it. Appreciate your friends and let them help you see the light. The people you love can help you find and get a handle on even the smallest bits of light and that can make all the difference in the world. If you can do that, then the dark often doesn't seem quite as dark any more."

She was quiet for a moment before saying, "My mom would love you. Thanks."

"Of course she would. I'm a very lovable person once you get past my gruff exterior," Jolee pointed out. "And you're welcome."

In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn and dew

I don't know why that song's in my head, but I think I need to listen to some Beatles music tonight.

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Caritas - Friday evening [Open]

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