Jedi Academy

Byron was an adult, or close to one and yet romantic affairs had never really been a concern until Lady Malveaux and now that he had... well n encounter he was sort of loss trying to figure out how to find serenity when nothing seemed to be as exciting as that final night on the beach... plus Jedi Cop was on vacation after the whole zombies in the hole affair...

So he decided he needed guidance. The guidance a Master of love could give, but he opted for what he could get so he knocked on the door to Master Orgus chambers.

After a moment, the door slid open. Master Orgus stood there, dressed in his usual robes.

"Good morning, Byron. Come on in." He stepped aside, giving him room.

Byron nodded and entered and scanned the room briefly before turning and saying, "I had some... questions to ask and I guess I need some of that guidance from the Masters."

Officer's quarters were small, and were made for two. Byron could see that Master Chriala's gear next to the second bed, but she was nowhere to be seen. The most exciting feature was a little personal heater, keeping the room a bit warmer than the other ones.

Casually, Orgus waved Byron to a chair next to a desk. "That's what we're here for. What's on your mind?" Master Orgus took the other chair.

Byron paced back and forth and then said, "Well back on the last world, I..."

He frowned and then came out with it, "So I think I have a girlfriend, but she's not my girlfriend, but I think she wants to be and I am not saying I don't want her to be my girlfriend, but a Jedi should not have attachments especially if that attachment is a potential Sith and yeah she is probably going to be a Sith and she is smells really nice and I am not very sorry for any of it."

"But then I heard that you have experience with this so here I am, and I am not sure if that made much sense. Because nothing seems to make much sense lately."

There were a few moments of silence.

"Byron." Orgus said, his tone amused, but kind. "Have you ever considered not going all in on something you do?"

"I am not sure, I like to give my all in anything I do," he said in reply.

Orgus shook his head, chuckling. "So I see, so I see."

He sighed. "Okay. One thing at a time. What doesn't make sense? It all sounds pretty straightforward to me." He shrugged. "So I'm guessing it means that your feelings are all twisted around?"

"I suppose yeah, I feel like I should be able to put it aside but i am not able to just put it aside, and now I am concerned that i can't stop thinking about it when i should be focused on the trials and watching for trouble," he responded.

"Yeah, that's an attachment, alright." Orgus said, his tone cheerfully bland. "They tug at the mind, distract you from the things you should be focusing on. Maybe even change your direction."

He frowned thoughtfully. "Attachments are a bit of a dilemma, and a contradiction. It's not having a girlfriend that's the attachment. It's letting having a girlfriend dominate your thoughts and feelings. That's the part that you need to deal with."

“So if I can find a way to balance my emotions with my duties and what is expected of me, I can still be with her and still be Jedi Cop… I mean Jedi Knight that is expected of me,” he said thoughtfully.

“How do you do that?”

Master Orgus grimaced. "It's not easy. It's more a state of mind than anything else. In order to resolve an attachment, you have to reach the point where it has no control over you. Where, say, if this girl said she never wanted to see you again, you might feel sadness, but that sadness would not affect your actions in the least."

“Not like I care about her that much, so I guess I could get over her if she did that… I mean she’s the one that probably can’t get over me, just saying,” Byron equivocated… probably more for himself.

“But let’s say hypothetically it did make me sad, not that it would… that won’t affect me becoming a Jedi right? Jedi get sad. Well most of them, some just stay in perpetual states of... of scowl like Master Jaric or Knight Corvin."”

Orgus raised an eyebrow to this first bit, but let it pass without comment.

He shook his head. "Sadness is not one of the darker emotions. It's a part of life. It's okay for a Jedi to feel sad. You just can't let it control your actions, any more than any emotion."

“You ever had to deal with that kind of sadness Master Orgus?” he asked.

"That kind? No." Orgus shook his head. "But other kinds. There are friends that I've had that are no longer with us. That's a nearly universal sort of sadness, I'd expect."

“Yeah, I guess that is true, I never really think about it. I just assume I will return to the Force and that is that,” he said honestly.

“Never really consider that any will miss me.”

Orgus frowned. "Why do you think that? We don't forget you as soon as you walk out of the room, you know."

"I don't have a good reason for it, just how I feel. Like I was telling Esla, I would give my lives for any of the Jedi or the cause and they would find someone to replace me in no time," he replied with a shrug.

Orgus shook his head, smiling. "No life is replaceable, Byron. Not even Jedi number four's."

He sighed. "But we're getting a bit far afield. Let's get back to this girl." His eyebrows went up. "Just how attached are you?"