Twice in a month? A new record!(Vanita)

[Zeke Mantias]

It was now twice this month the guards had let him go into the Tavern. Plus, he came to befriend a few of them. So, being the patient and compliant Jedi he was now, they let Zeke have a second time out of the prisons and into the Tavern to mingle with folks. The man was happy to get out of his cell and stretch a bit. Have a drink or two and mingle and talk with those who came to the tavern to socialize themselves.

Walking up to the large tavern, Zeke was escorted by two guards on either side. They'd kept him uncuffed the whole time, since Zeke complied with anything and everything they wanted him to. They also came to trust he wouldn't do anything stupid. Why would he? He was a Jedi now and he had overcome the tempations of the Dark Side. In that fight against the Dread Master he'd overcome all of it and in the end the Jedi had won.

As they stepped inside, the two guards went up to the bar itself sitting in the stools as Zeke did himself. Ordering a glass of water first, then a few shots of whiskey, the bartender, Tom, stopped in front of Zeke.

"Hey, Zeke. Second time this month, huh?" He said giving Zeke a warm grin.

"Yep, that must be a record for Jedi prisoners." He said back with a chuckle, "I'm happy about it."

"You should be. Soon enough you won't need the guards to escort you everywhere." Tom said handing him his shot glass then filling it.

"Eh, I'm not anxious to get outta there yet. Plus, I've befriended these guys. I'm in no hurry to rise through the ranks. I'm just here for the ride. Learning and stuff." Zeke said taking the shot glass and downing it.

"I get that." Tom said pouring another before going to the guards.

[Vanita Narcista]

After a minute or so, the tavern door opened again and a petite blonde haired Jedi entered, her features covered by a long thick coat which did a great job of keeping the cold out. It had been a long time since Vanita had stepped inside the place and in truth, it had been well over a year since she had stepped on Yavin VIII at all. She had optimistically hoped that she would have only been gone a week when she left but sadly, it hadn't ended up that way at all. Her ties with her family had been strained ever since she had told them of her decision to become a Jedi and now, she did not have a family at all. The Narcista family was nothing more than a joke now on Hapes and the Padawan had all she could stomach of Hapan politics and values.

When she had come to the Jedi and begun her training, Vanita had been such an energetic and curious young woman, always eager to learn and impatient to always be moving forward. There had always been a smile on her face and nothing kept her down for long. Yet, that was not the case any longer and her year leave had done nothing positive for her at all. A year of uncertainty and struggle had taken its toll on her and she felt overwhelmed by it all.

Sighing, she pulled the hood of her coat back and then hopped up on to one of the bar stools.

"Hey Vita, been a while," Tom quipped, grinning at her.

"Too long Tom, too bloody long," she replied, before ordering a whisky herself.

[Zeke Mantias]

As Zeke was about to take his other shot, the Padawan then turned and looked as a blonde walked in. Smirking he then shrugged as she sat down a few seats from him. The guards who escorted him were at the very end on his right. When Tom poured their shots, he then nodded to both of them. It was then Tom walked to the blonde and said her name. Vita? That was an interesting name to the Padawan. With a shrug he then saw the barkeep pour her a whiskey then go around and clean up with a rag the whole bar. Tom did this more then once, usually when he was here anyways. He couldn't imagine how many times the man did it when he wasn't.

That made him laugh, shaking his head. Either way, he may as well mingle with someone besides the 'Brother's chuckles'. So, he then inched to another stool sliding his drink as he did. Turning his head to glance, Zeke then decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, returning home, huh?" Zeke said with a warm smile, "It's still cold out though. Never could get used to that. Then again, where I was born you had to deal with worse then just cold weather."

[Vanita Narcista]

"Where I come from, it's the people who are cold rather than the people," Vanita replied bluntly, taking a sip of whisky before adding, turning towards Zeke and forcing a smile, "Sorry, it hasn't been a good trip. My name's Vanita or Vita for short."

She didn't mean to come off as irritable but Vanita was just all over the place mentally and could barely get her thoughts straight. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who wasn't judging her though and the blonde did her best to cool off a little, enough for her to have a proper conversation. That was the reason why she had come to the tavern after all, just to unwind for a while. She should probably try meditating instead but it had never been her best suit and the blonde was out of practice.

"Haven't been around for over a year or more," she then glanced towards the guards and then back at Zeke, "What's with these two?"

[Zeke Mantias]

"Well, coming from Vjuun there is a lot of acidic rain. Used to live in Bast Castle. Well...part of it anyways. The other part was sealed off." Zeke said with a shrug, "I'm Zeke."

Although Zeke had been on the Jedi planet for a year or so, his training had gone well. Plus, the mission with Garyn, Satkia, and Caltin had gone well. But, he thought for a moment that the Dark Side would have grabbed hold again. It tried, but, in the end the Light won. Still, afterwards he meditated a long time. Pondering over what he could have done.

"I've been here for about that long. Seems longer...sometimes shorter." The former Sith said then looked at the 'brother's chuckles', "I'm a former Sith. I came here and now I'm a Padawan. They have to escort me everywhere. You could say I've befriended a lot of the guards in the North prison."