=[ A/N It's been a while since I wrote so a) I apologize if this is boring and b) I apologize if this whole chapter seemed to not make sense.. Trying to get my muse back after a hectic winter. ]=-
-=[ Chapter 3 - Settling In ]=-
The bustle of the world-city of Coruscant spread it's spider like web of movement around Jordan as he stood on the balcony of his Palacial apartment. He closed his eyes, hands clenching the railing, and just let his mind wander, trying to make sense of everything that was happening around him.. That had happened around him.
He had never imagined his life would change so dramatically in such a short time. From small town boy to starving artist in the city during college... To a slave under an alien Imperial regime.. To, finally, cosmic vagabond standing halfway (if not completely) across the galaxy in a building which must dwarf the Empire State building by a thousand times and was the home to the leader of government of a peaceful allied-ship of a thousand free worlds.
Jordan inhaled deeply the strange industrialized smells of the city and it's flying vehicles assaulting his nose, yet not at all unpleasant to him. Earth, being industrialized itself though on a much cruder level of technology, had similar smells.. sometimes more acrid due to the continued use of fossil fuels.. but he had always associated the smells with life and endevour.
Sure, he also appreciated the smells of nature, clean and tangy. Being born and spending the first half of his life in a small town in the Rockies, he had a great appreciation and respect for nature. But he knew that there was a balance between Nature and Progress of man.
Balance... Was that what he was striving for now? Balance between what was and what he was becoming?
He felt so /off/ balance right now. Caught between his memories of home and what he was experiencing now.. The similarities.. The differences.
He had been in his apartments for two days now, since they had been given to him after his meeting with the alien Admiral Akbar (was it some cosmic joke that his species name was similar to Jordan's favorite seafood dish when he was a student) and the entire Older Generation of the Solo/Skywalker Family. He had received almost no visitors in the entire time here, except for Leia and
Han at Dinner. The rest of the time they let him by himself to get 'Climatized'. They gave him access to the Holonet which was translated to English to him by an upload of a Lexicon they had managed to free from the Imperial Shuttle's non-navicomp related cultural database.
The Holonet was an amazing thing to Jordan. Being no stranger to communications technology of any sort since that had been his initial interest in school, to see a network that seemed to mix the analogs of Cable and Broadcast
Television Programming, Internet, and Telecommunications into one seamless galaxy spanning network in ways he could have only dreamed of was /not/ overwhelming.. In fact is was quite the opposite. These peoples of different species and evolutions shared something with his people.
TV.
And that was a good first step for him to come to a bit more ease at his current predicament.
Not all that tired, he spent hours flicking through feed after feed of Holonet. News.. Educational Programming.. Documentaries.. Forums.. Entertainment.. Sports.
He was half mesmerized, and sometimes amused, at how similar much of the fare was to good old Cable or Satellite. There were even infomercials detailing wonderful (and completely strange) products for a range of sentient (and not so human at time) beings.
Like, who needed spray on hair for their Buttocks?
Apparently some Wookies did.. Or so the Infomercial said.
Every few hours Jordan would step away from the Holoscreen to stretch and walk around his apartment. It was a nice place, really. Okay, it was far greater then nice. It had numerous rooms. A large living-room that could probably comfortably seat well over a dozen guests of various sizes and shapes on couches and stools and chairs (at least he though a few of them /looked/ like chairs.). There was a rather good sized kitchen with many devices that surprised him as familar... Like a fridge and stove.. And, of course a few devices that he had no Idea how worked.
The bedroom was a large affair, with a bed almost twice the size of the old used kingsized mattress he had once got from Value Village. He had two bathrooms, one in his bedroom and one in the hallway off the living room. There was also a guest room and a large room that may be an office.
All in all, he was a bit in awe at the treatment he had gotten thus far. And a bit guilty. These grand rooms, though spartan in decor, were far grander then anything had had even before the coming of the Remnants of the Empire to Earth. And compared to the dorm like barracks he had been assigned after they came, it was enough to make him feel bad at how good he had it at this moment in time compared to all his friends and family.. To Humans on Earth in General.
But any guilt or remorse he felt was kept in check. He had a second chance now. A chance, however small, at making his life and those of his fellow Earthlings (Or Terrans as he should call himself since earthling sounded so.. 50's.) a better one.
So he would walk back to the Holoscreen and startviewing and searching again, trying to get the big picture of his new world (or worlds).
On the Third morning of his self imposed hermatige he awoke to a chime at his door. Having been up early after a small breakfast of something that looked like waffles, he was already dressed and his braided red hair was tied back in a top-knot so he was, at least, presentable. He didn't, however , have any idea whom would be calling on him at this early hour. Maybe it was one of the 'Guards' that had been standing outside for the past few days at Leia's request.. Not guards to keep him in so much, per se, but more like to keep the rabble out.. Whatever rabble there would be, anyways, since he doubted his existence on this world was known that much.
Pulling at his black button down shirt which had what he could only call an oriental collar, Jordan walked up to the door and depressed the release mechanism. letting the metal slab slide open.
Han Solo stood just outside, dressed casually (or what, by the few fashion articles Jordan had picked up on the holonet could /consider/ casual) in a Beige-ish white shirt under a black vest and blackish grey pants with a thin red line running up the outer seams of the thighs. The Ex-Smuggler-turned-general-turned-husband-of-the-leader-of-the-republic grinned at Jordan and nodded a greeting at the young man.
"Good Morning, Jordan." he said, stepping through the door and into his apartment. He looked around a moment and smiled even more. "Say, I love what you've done with the place." He said deadpan.
Jordan snorted and shut the door behind Han, then chuckled and shook his head. "Thanks, Mr. Solo." he said wryly, then led Han into the Living room. The Holoscreen was showing two different programs at once in split screen. On the Left was a documentary on Pod Racing, now banned for almost 25 years. On the right was a Cooking show hosted by a colorfully dressed mon Calamari who was preparing Kelp into a dish that looked suspiciously like Spaghetti.. but green.
Hand grinned and also shook his head now. "You know, that will rot your brain." he told Jordan as the young Terran offered him a seat.
Jordan Just shrugged, still smiling, and walked into the kitchen. "Maybe," Jordan admitted as he started pouring two mugs full of Caf, a drink that was a lot like Coffee to him, though in some-ways stronger. "But I need to start somewhere. And starting at the walls all day was getting tiresome."
Five minutes later they were both seated, Han leaning back on the couch and relaxing with his mug, Jordan in a large reclined with his feet kicked up on a footstool. They drank their Caf silently, letting it waken them slowly. Finally Han sat up straighter, setting his caf down on the coffee table, and regarding Jordan.
"Look, I was wondering if you'd like to get out for a bit." he told Jordan. "I mean, I know you've just got here and all.. But You're young and even after all the junk you've been through I'm sure you're getting Cabin fever." He motioned around him with his hands. "You have a whole world to see. And you can't really do anything to help Ackbar right now find your planet. So why not go out and.. live a bit."
Jordan stared at Han a moment... his gaze falling somewhere well beyond the Millenium Falcon's Pilot's personage. Han recognized that look... Like he was trying to figure out something in his mind which he wasn't sure about.
Han leaned foreward and looked straight into Jordan's eyes, breaking that far-seeing gaze. "Jordan. You need to get out." he told the young man softly. "The more you stay inside here, the more chance you'll start brooding over what you can't change or help at the moment. Leia doesn't want you falling into 'shock', as she calls it. And the only way /I/ can see around it is to get your off your butt and outside.. If just for a little while at first. Okay?"
And for yet another moment, Jordan stared.. But this time it wasn't past Han. Now it was directly at the older and roguish man. Finally he sighed and smiled weekly. "Okay." he said. "I leave myself to your tender mercies. I can't learn about the world by watching the TV, can I Mr. Solo?" he asked.
Han rolled his eyes and pointed a finger at Jordan. "Fine, but there are two thing you have to do for me before we go."
"Okay, what?"
Han smirked. "First off, call me Han. Mister Solo was my father."
Jordan grinned. "And the second?" he asked.
Han picked up his caf and peered over the rim of the mug at Jordan.
"Tell me what the hell TV is."
-=[ Chapter 3 - Settling In ]=-
The bustle of the world-city of Coruscant spread it's spider like web of movement around Jordan as he stood on the balcony of his Palacial apartment. He closed his eyes, hands clenching the railing, and just let his mind wander, trying to make sense of everything that was happening around him.. That had happened around him.
He had never imagined his life would change so dramatically in such a short time. From small town boy to starving artist in the city during college... To a slave under an alien Imperial regime.. To, finally, cosmic vagabond standing halfway (if not completely) across the galaxy in a building which must dwarf the Empire State building by a thousand times and was the home to the leader of government of a peaceful allied-ship of a thousand free worlds.
Jordan inhaled deeply the strange industrialized smells of the city and it's flying vehicles assaulting his nose, yet not at all unpleasant to him. Earth, being industrialized itself though on a much cruder level of technology, had similar smells.. sometimes more acrid due to the continued use of fossil fuels.. but he had always associated the smells with life and endevour.
Sure, he also appreciated the smells of nature, clean and tangy. Being born and spending the first half of his life in a small town in the Rockies, he had a great appreciation and respect for nature. But he knew that there was a balance between Nature and Progress of man.
Balance... Was that what he was striving for now? Balance between what was and what he was becoming?
He felt so /off/ balance right now. Caught between his memories of home and what he was experiencing now.. The similarities.. The differences.
He had been in his apartments for two days now, since they had been given to him after his meeting with the alien Admiral Akbar (was it some cosmic joke that his species name was similar to Jordan's favorite seafood dish when he was a student) and the entire Older Generation of the Solo/Skywalker Family. He had received almost no visitors in the entire time here, except for Leia and
Han at Dinner. The rest of the time they let him by himself to get 'Climatized'. They gave him access to the Holonet which was translated to English to him by an upload of a Lexicon they had managed to free from the Imperial Shuttle's non-navicomp related cultural database.
The Holonet was an amazing thing to Jordan. Being no stranger to communications technology of any sort since that had been his initial interest in school, to see a network that seemed to mix the analogs of Cable and Broadcast
Television Programming, Internet, and Telecommunications into one seamless galaxy spanning network in ways he could have only dreamed of was /not/ overwhelming.. In fact is was quite the opposite. These peoples of different species and evolutions shared something with his people.
TV.
And that was a good first step for him to come to a bit more ease at his current predicament.
Not all that tired, he spent hours flicking through feed after feed of Holonet. News.. Educational Programming.. Documentaries.. Forums.. Entertainment.. Sports.
He was half mesmerized, and sometimes amused, at how similar much of the fare was to good old Cable or Satellite. There were even infomercials detailing wonderful (and completely strange) products for a range of sentient (and not so human at time) beings.
Like, who needed spray on hair for their Buttocks?
Apparently some Wookies did.. Or so the Infomercial said.
Every few hours Jordan would step away from the Holoscreen to stretch and walk around his apartment. It was a nice place, really. Okay, it was far greater then nice. It had numerous rooms. A large living-room that could probably comfortably seat well over a dozen guests of various sizes and shapes on couches and stools and chairs (at least he though a few of them /looked/ like chairs.). There was a rather good sized kitchen with many devices that surprised him as familar... Like a fridge and stove.. And, of course a few devices that he had no Idea how worked.
The bedroom was a large affair, with a bed almost twice the size of the old used kingsized mattress he had once got from Value Village. He had two bathrooms, one in his bedroom and one in the hallway off the living room. There was also a guest room and a large room that may be an office.
All in all, he was a bit in awe at the treatment he had gotten thus far. And a bit guilty. These grand rooms, though spartan in decor, were far grander then anything had had even before the coming of the Remnants of the Empire to Earth. And compared to the dorm like barracks he had been assigned after they came, it was enough to make him feel bad at how good he had it at this moment in time compared to all his friends and family.. To Humans on Earth in General.
But any guilt or remorse he felt was kept in check. He had a second chance now. A chance, however small, at making his life and those of his fellow Earthlings (Or Terrans as he should call himself since earthling sounded so.. 50's.) a better one.
So he would walk back to the Holoscreen and startviewing and searching again, trying to get the big picture of his new world (or worlds).
On the Third morning of his self imposed hermatige he awoke to a chime at his door. Having been up early after a small breakfast of something that looked like waffles, he was already dressed and his braided red hair was tied back in a top-knot so he was, at least, presentable. He didn't, however , have any idea whom would be calling on him at this early hour. Maybe it was one of the 'Guards' that had been standing outside for the past few days at Leia's request.. Not guards to keep him in so much, per se, but more like to keep the rabble out.. Whatever rabble there would be, anyways, since he doubted his existence on this world was known that much.
Pulling at his black button down shirt which had what he could only call an oriental collar, Jordan walked up to the door and depressed the release mechanism. letting the metal slab slide open.
Han Solo stood just outside, dressed casually (or what, by the few fashion articles Jordan had picked up on the holonet could /consider/ casual) in a Beige-ish white shirt under a black vest and blackish grey pants with a thin red line running up the outer seams of the thighs. The Ex-Smuggler-turned-general-turned-husband-of-the-leader-of-the-republic grinned at Jordan and nodded a greeting at the young man.
"Good Morning, Jordan." he said, stepping through the door and into his apartment. He looked around a moment and smiled even more. "Say, I love what you've done with the place." He said deadpan.
Jordan snorted and shut the door behind Han, then chuckled and shook his head. "Thanks, Mr. Solo." he said wryly, then led Han into the Living room. The Holoscreen was showing two different programs at once in split screen. On the Left was a documentary on Pod Racing, now banned for almost 25 years. On the right was a Cooking show hosted by a colorfully dressed mon Calamari who was preparing Kelp into a dish that looked suspiciously like Spaghetti.. but green.
Hand grinned and also shook his head now. "You know, that will rot your brain." he told Jordan as the young Terran offered him a seat.
Jordan Just shrugged, still smiling, and walked into the kitchen. "Maybe," Jordan admitted as he started pouring two mugs full of Caf, a drink that was a lot like Coffee to him, though in some-ways stronger. "But I need to start somewhere. And starting at the walls all day was getting tiresome."
Five minutes later they were both seated, Han leaning back on the couch and relaxing with his mug, Jordan in a large reclined with his feet kicked up on a footstool. They drank their Caf silently, letting it waken them slowly. Finally Han sat up straighter, setting his caf down on the coffee table, and regarding Jordan.
"Look, I was wondering if you'd like to get out for a bit." he told Jordan. "I mean, I know you've just got here and all.. But You're young and even after all the junk you've been through I'm sure you're getting Cabin fever." He motioned around him with his hands. "You have a whole world to see. And you can't really do anything to help Ackbar right now find your planet. So why not go out and.. live a bit."
Jordan stared at Han a moment... his gaze falling somewhere well beyond the Millenium Falcon's Pilot's personage. Han recognized that look... Like he was trying to figure out something in his mind which he wasn't sure about.
Han leaned foreward and looked straight into Jordan's eyes, breaking that far-seeing gaze. "Jordan. You need to get out." he told the young man softly. "The more you stay inside here, the more chance you'll start brooding over what you can't change or help at the moment. Leia doesn't want you falling into 'shock', as she calls it. And the only way /I/ can see around it is to get your off your butt and outside.. If just for a little while at first. Okay?"
And for yet another moment, Jordan stared.. But this time it wasn't past Han. Now it was directly at the older and roguish man. Finally he sighed and smiled weekly. "Okay." he said. "I leave myself to your tender mercies. I can't learn about the world by watching the TV, can I Mr. Solo?" he asked.
Han rolled his eyes and pointed a finger at Jordan. "Fine, but there are two thing you have to do for me before we go."
"Okay, what?"
Han smirked. "First off, call me Han. Mister Solo was my father."
Jordan grinned. "And the second?" he asked.
Han picked up his caf and peered over the rim of the mug at Jordan.
"Tell me what the hell TV is."