Barriss didn't think anything was up. Sure, she might be nursing a small crush, but that had nothing to do with their current situation. They were going and getting lunch. Satine and Padmé were acting awful weird over just getting lunch.

Everyone was acting a little weird, actually. The waitress was all smiles, someone at the table next to them cooed when Korkie pulled her chair out for her. But the Force was always weird after she had a meltdown, so she ignored it.

She sighed, staring out the window as she stirred her drink idly.

"Barriss, you there?"

"Huh?" She blinked, looking back at Korkie. "Oh, sorry. I spaced out. Were you saying something?"

"Not really. Just trying to start a conversation. Unless you'd rather just sit in silence. We can do that too."

"Oh. Okay. I tend to be a little spacey after a meltdown. That's what those episodes are generally called, but they look different for everyone. I don't have violent meltdowns though, which is good. One of my kids tends to have violent meltdowns when she's overwhelmed."

"Your kids?" He looked confused.

"They're my class. I teach a small class of neurodivergent kids once a week. Four of them are autistic. All of them can and have had meltdowns, but my aspie kiddos are more likely to. From what I've seen, they have more trouble recognizing when they're getting overwhelmed and need to take a break until it's an imminent need and they can't always put words to the feeling. My ADHD kids are better at telling me they need a break, but that doesn't mean they don't have meltdowns. Pearl is a sweetheart, really. She just has severe sensory issues, especially with bright lights. I keep the lights lower anyway in favour of sunlight from the window because white light really bothers me, and I have dark glasses for her too if she's having a bad day. If she's having a really bad sensory day, usually she takes a nap in the tent during class and listens to the lesson recording afterwards."

"You don't make her attend?"

"No. Never."

"Why not?"

"It's directly harmful to them. I would never force my kids to do anything unless they are actually acting up and being brats. Which is extremely rare. I'm not going to punish them for being wired differently. And like I said, Pearl has violent meltdowns. She screams and throws things and has hurt herself and others before. She can't suck it up and deal with it like I can and I won't force her to try. And she wouldn't learn anything even if she could. She'd be too focused on masking and not have the bandwidth to pay attention. So there's really no point. It's helpful to exactly no one and will end in a violent meltdown where someone could get hurt. I really don't understand why the other teachers do that."

"I see. Hmm. Interesting. You seem very protective of them."

"They have no one to stick up for them. No one who wants to stick up for them. I can advocate for them and give them a safe environment where they can be their goofy, silly selves. They're kids who want to learn, just like their classmates. It's not their fault their brains work differently."

"I see. I'm currently working toward a degree in behavioural therapy. I'm trying to research autism specifically, but I'm running into a lot of pushback and no one will take me seriously anymore."

"Why not?" Barriss wasn't sure she actually wanted the drink anymore as much as she wanted to stir it and watch the ice twirl around.

"Everyone else that I'm trying to meet in the field is trying to cure it, but that's not what I want to do. I'm looking for ways to either help those people accommodate to a hostile world or help our world accommodate them. I recognize that there's a gap there and I want to close it. So apparently that means I'm delusional and childish and why don't you go off in the corner with your daydreams and let the grownups talk. It's ridiculous."

"I'm sorry. If it helps, I know some people who might listen to you. I can see if I can get you in."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you. Are you actually going to eat? That was the entire purpose of us going out."

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. I got distracted. I just want to also participate in conversation and letting silence go for too long feels awkward and I don't know how long pauses in conversation are supposed to be and ugh, social cues are hard for me."

"Hey, it's okay. I may not understand it because I don't have ADHD, but I can understand that it's hard for you. If the silence is what gets you, I can keep talking. Would that help?"

"Actually, yeah. Thank you."

He kept talking as Barriss finished her food. And he didn't mind that she was staring out the window watching the traffic fly by for most of it either. He told her about his work on Mandalore, working with his aunts to make the shift of power as seamless as possible. Forging his own set of beskar armour, mostly for ceremonial purposes he explained, and just having it was important to many Mandalorians. He didn't plan on wearing it often, if ever.

Barriss was starting to get sleepy as she finished the last of her sandwich. Now that she'd eaten, gotten through a meltdown, and had nothing else for the day, her body had decided it was time to shut down.

"You all good there?"

She jumped, rubbing one eye. "Yeah, just getting tired, that's all. I've had a rough day."

"If you're done, we can head back."

"Okay."

Barriss managed to mostly stay awake on the way back. But riding in a speeder was soothing and she found her head slumping forward and to the side. Korkie reached over and gently pulled her head down to rest against his shoulder.

"Just so you don't get a crick in your neck," he whispered.

She hummed softly, relaxing against him.

She still didn't fall asleep, but she drifted into a calm state between asleep and awake, mind meandering as it would and body completely relaxed. Korkie didn't seem to mind and she even thought she heard him whisper, "Goodnight."