Jedi Academy

Zanja balanced a plate and cup adroitly on one arm and clutched a bowl in the opposite hand, which left her no way to carry the bag of Dewback Crisps except by awkwardly gripping its corner in her teeth. Once she reached the corner of her table, she set her burdens down one by one. She took the crimped edge of the flimsiplast bag out of her mouth, blowing out a breath, and tore it open while flopping into a chair.

The spread looked like an awful lot of food for one not-especially-big Zabrak: a large plate of some kind of heavily spiced meat stir-fry, soup, fruit juice, crisps, and, oh, right--she fished in the pocket of her robe, adding to the table a napkin, eating utensils, and a generous handful of thin-skinned green fruits. From the hungry look in her golden eyes, Zanja appeared ready to eat every bite, though, possibly not excluding the tableware.

Looking for a slightly-less crowded table, Eir spotted the zabrak setting her place and headed in that direction. She caught Zanja’s eye and gestured at the table with her food tray. It was less of a question and more of a warning as she didn’t wait for a response, but put her tray down and dropped into the seat.

Eir’s plate was more modest, a generous helping of the same stir-fry, juice, and a piece of some cake-like sweet. “Uh, Zanja, right?” They hadn’t really crossed paths all that much, at least not that Eir recalled, though she’d noticed the zabrak around lately. Truth be told, the half-arkanian had been noticing people in general a lot more lately.

"Yeah, that's me." Zanja crunched down on a crisp and leaned back a little in her seat. "You're, uh. Eir. Hey." That seemed to be all the assent that was called for, since Eir had already sat down, but on consideration Zanja added a slight nod as well. Picking up her fork, she stabbed at her plate, scooping up a large bite. "Cheers, then. I'm kriffing starving."

Screwing up her nose, the pint-sized youngling looked at Zanja’s tray, “you’re going to eat all of that? really?” Eir’s attack on her meal was a little less enthusiastic, but she was also hungry, a morning full of classes and training would do that.

Zanja swallowed her bite quickly and then grinned a little morosely, showing near-Human but subtly serrated teeth. "Yes." She crunched another crisp. "I wonder if this means I've still got a few more centimeters to go? I'd probably have to get new boots again. Oh, well."

Eir gave the zabrak an insolent, mocking look and snorted. Still a little younger than Zanja, the girl was due for a growth spurt of her own, eventually. “New boots? sounds terrible.”

Byron never missed a meal unless he had to, it was one of the many little joys of training. No matter how rough a day or how tough the training or how stressed he was from studying, he could always rely on a good meal to set him straight. He thanked the staff graciously for the bounty he was about to receive.

He smiled and greeted other younglings, Jedi, and Masters alike. He found a table and took a seat and started eating. His plate well fortified with nutritious and delicious fare ready to make the journey to his welcoming stomach, truly one of the great joys of being a Jedi.

Delicious food.

Eir wrote:Eir gave the zabrak an insolent, mocking look and snorted. Still a little younger than Zanja, the girl was due for a growth spurt of her own, eventually. “New boots? sounds terrible.”

"It's a pain," Zanja huffed in a gravelly tone that suggested the smaller youngling was missing something obvious. "These ones are broken in right. Anyway, height is overrated." She shoveled in another mouthful of protein. Precisely as if on cue, tall Byron chose that moment to make his entrance; though busy chewing, Zanja waved her fork at him in an extremely casual hello.

Taking the gesture as a greeting and invitation, he took a seat a comfortable distance from the other at the table as he surveyed the spoils created by the staff. He was pleased with the results and said before eating, “I am so hungry I could eat a bantha.”

He didn’t waste time as he shoveled the food into his waiting mouth, the flavors eliciting a soothing sound of delight. Yeah this was the stuff, eating like an army would probably catch up to him one day but for now at least, he could enjoy the generous bounty without regret.

“So how was your day?” he added as he drank some blue milk.

Eir grumbled to herself, something about having the privelage of getting new boots, and nodded to Byron in greeting.

"If you want new shoes that bad, it's not like the youngling guardians wouldn't give you some," Zanja muttered around a bite of crisp. Swallowing, she answered Byron's question as she reached for her juice. "Normal?" She shrugged. "Could be the last normal day for a while, though. That makes it kind of weird."

“Normal is good though, and weird can be good too. We wake up and the Force provides us with another opportunity to do some good and bring a small measure of peace to others plus, it’s Rylothian taco day.”

“Spicy.”

With another insolent look, this time mixed with a dash of incredulity, "my boots are fine, thanks." At Byron's words, however, she sat up a little straighter, "tacos? there were tacos?"

“You have to sweet talk up the twi’lek server, Pedaris, but his second cousin runs a Rylothian taco truck and he brings some in. It’s not Jedi sanctioned cafeteria food, but so greasy and delicious I can’t refuse. Want one?” he offered as he put one to his mouth with a satisfying bite.

Zanja raised an eyebrow about the secret taco hookup, clearly impressed, but continued working on her own dish. Well, dishes. Making good progress, too. "We were just talking about the inconvenient part of being tall," she said, after swallowing another mouthful. "I was gonna say it makes you too conspicuous. But I guess if being noticeable gets you tacos it's not all bad."

“Yes, always yes to tacos,” Eir answered quickly. To Zanja, “we get it, you grew, quit bragging.”

“Always yes to tacos, just remember Pediros only takes credits, but a couple of credits for the best rylothian tacos this side of the Core is a small price to pay. Now what’s this about being tall?” he said looking at both students.

"Nothing." Zanja shrugged and stabbed another bite, mentally filing away each detail of the crucial taco-related intel. "Somebody here wants to be taller, I guess. I can assure you, it's not all that." She arched her eyebrows at Eir, inevitably looking a bit more demonic than intended. "Anyway, so how much does he ask for those tacos?"

Byron held up two fingers and said, "He will get you a plate of the best, but only on certain days. So wait a couple days and he should have some more for sell. Tall or short, we all are as the universe needs us."

Eir did want to be taller, “you’re the one who keeps going on about it, ooh, you’re so tall now you’re fifteen,” her tone half-mocking, half-joking. Turning back to Byron, Eir sipped her juice, “how many people know about this taco deal?” she was started to get concerned about how long the taco queue just might be.