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Stellan Gios tried to find his center in his favorite padawan dojo. But the normal calm embrace of the Force wasn’t coming to him and neither was patience. He glanced at the clock on the wall for the fifteenth time in the last half hour. Every two minutes, he checked it, huffed, adjusted his kneeling position once again, tried and failed to meditate, and sighed at the clock again.
He’d been looking forward to returning to the Coruscant Temple all week. His master, Rana Kant, insisted on them going to the Outer Rim as much as they could. The frontier was tiring, to say the least. He always yearned to be back in the hallways of the Temple with its peaceful quiet, not the blazing fire of blaster bolts flying at him. He always wanted to curl up in the familiar chairs of the archives, not in a muddy ditch on some planet. He wanted to drink the tea from the cafeteria, not whatever dirt-flavored water he could get, chilled by the snow drifting from the sky.
Okay, Stellan was happy to be back from Mimban and hoped he wouldn’t return there anytime soon. Mimban was hands down the worst mission he’d had yet. A day later, his feet were still cold. He’d jumped into that mission far too quickly.
Most of all he missed his friends. That was probably the toughest part of being a padawan. The people he was raised with were suddenly not around anymore, all off on their own adventures with their masters. It’s why waiting in the dojo was supposed to be a happy reunion. Instead, it left him annoyed.
Gritting his teeth in another failed attempt at centering himself, Stellan finally gave up. Hopping up, he gathered his things, tossed his padawans braid over his shoulder, and strode to the door.
But as he stepped out of the dojo into the hallway, his comm beeped in his pocket. Stellan clicked it on to see the face of Elzar, “I’m so sorry I’m late! Hey!”
“Where are you?” Stellan crossed his hands over his chest.
Elzar flashed his most charming smile that never worked on Stellan, “I sort of got in trouble.”
“Sort of?”
“Okay. A lot of trouble.”
Stellan couldn’t help but give in a bit, “What did you do?”
“I thought it could be fun to try and shelve books in the archives with the Force.”
“And?”
“And I knocked over seven shelves and almost squished a few younglings.”
Stellan rubbed his eyes, “Is everyone okay?”
“Other than my sore ears from getting yelled at by OrbaLin, everyone is fine. I still need to clean everything up. I thought I could make it and… welp, I didn’t. Sorry, Stellan. I’m not going to meet you. But maybe we can meet up later? Like tonight!”
Stellan felt his heart drop. He’d really looked forward to spending time with his friend. But Elzar would be Elzar, and there was nothing he could do now. He forced a smile, “Yeah. Sounds great. Do you know where Avar is?”
“Yeah… funny story….” Elzar turned the comm to the furious face of Avar Kriss just behind him. “Soooo, Avar was with me and OrbaLin thought she was in on it too and we’re both sort of in trouble.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Avar glared him down. “This is so unfair.”
Stellan felt his heart drop even more. Even Avar was busy? Sure, things had been weird since the incident , but Stellan hoped the time away had smoothed everything over. He’d been so dumb to think things would magically be better. “I’ll see you both later.” Clicking off the comm, he sulked down the hallway. What a crappy return home this was.
And… Did his friends forget what today was?
“Think he bought it?” Elzar whipped around to Avar. They were in one of the many padawan common rooms, not the archives.
Avar frowned, “Maybe a little too well. Perhaps you should have met with Stellan. He seems really down.”
“Too late now. But don’t worry. Sskeer will be here any minute so we can get started. We’re going to make this awesome for Stellan. He’ll totally forgive us, you know, for everything,” he stroked his hands down her arms.
“You better be right.” Avar glanced to the side, not looking too sure. “I think we should deploy Plan B.”
“Really? But he should be helping Sy.”
Avar put her hands on her hips, “And you might have made Stellan too upset! You know if Stellan gets too bummed out, he’s just going to go to his room and sleep or go into deep mediation. We gotta deploy Plan B. Now. If anyone can keep Stellan busy, it’s him. Do it.”
Elzar nodded. She was right. Avar was always right. He clicked his comm, “This is Brains Man to Bookworm-”
“These nicknames are dumb,” Cohmac’s picture popped up. Sy peeked in behind him.
“Shut up! They’re cool!”
Sy judged him so hard, “They’re really not. What do you want? We’re busy in the kitchen.”
“We gotta deploy Plan B.”
Cohmac raised an eyebrow, “Already?”
Elzar pointed at Avar, “She’s making me do it! I think we’re still fine!”
Both Cohmac and Sy relaxed at that. Cohmac smiled, “Oh, if Avar says so then.”
“Hey…” Elzar huffed.
Cohmac glanced to Sy, “Do you have everything here?”
“It’s just following directions,” Sy shrugged. “How hard can it be?”
Avar leaned in, “Once Sskeer gets here, we’ll send him to assist you. Orla, Indeera, Te’ami, and Mikkel are going to be here soon to help us set up.”
Sy crossed their arms over their chest, “It’s not like I’ll set the kriffing thing on fire! But Sskeer is better with these kinds of things so whatever.”
Cohmac rubbed their arm, “This isn’t the time to prove a point.”
“Well that snooty nosed Torban Buck shouldn’t be such a snob with us in the kitchen! It’s a free kitchen for everyone, but noooo! His cookies have priority!? Pfft, he can get bent.”
“Kant!” Cohmac laughed.
Avar cut in, “Cohmac, go. Please. Find Stellan. He needs you.”
“I will-”
Elzar interrupted, “You gotta use the nickname!”
Cohmac narrowed his eyes, “No.” And clicked off the call.
Avar snickered, “Sorry your nicknames aren’t cool.”
Elzar grumbled, “Let’s get to work.”
Changed back into his temple robes, Stellan sulked down the hallways not really going anywhere in particular. It was the weekend so any of his fellow padawans should be out of their lessons and relaxing. But he couldn’t seem to find anyone around.
Maybe he could hang out with padawans from other classes. They were friendly enough. But they weren’t his friends friends.
This was his fault. He put too much expectation on his return to the temple. If he wanted to see his friends this bad, then he assumed that road went both ways. Right? Did his friends not like him anymore? Were they too busy for him now? Elzar and Avar were always such staples in his life, but lately, since they became padawans, the two of them spent all of their time together.
Okay, a lot of time together.
He felt the heat rise in his cheeks, knowing the reason why. But still...
Stellan missed them. He missed Elzar and Avar. It was weird, but part of him wished he was in the archives with them trying to shelf books with the Force. He wanted to see the bookcases fall over, feel the terror and the shock, and get yelled at by OrbaLin too. It was an experience the two of them had shared. Elzar and Avar would laugh about it later.
Stellan wanted to be part of that too.
Glancing up, a familiar green teenage Twi’lek turned the corner ahead of him. Stellan immediately brightened, “Loden!”
Loden seized up spotting him, immediately tossing some kind of cloth bundle down the hallway whence he came. “Stellan! There he is! Look at him! It’s Stellan!” He blocked Stellan’s path and leaned awkwardly on the wall, tossing his silka beads padawan braid behind him with his lekku.
Loden looked like one of those HoloNet shows when someone failed to look casual. What was going on?
Raising an eyebrow, Stellan asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah! Yeah! I’m great! You’re great! You look soooo great! Your little human peach fuzzy face hair is… spectacular! Humans, am I right? Amazing people! Ah ha ha ha!”
“Have… you been drinking?”
“No! Not yet anyway.” He took Stellan by the shoulders, turned him, and pushed him back down the hallway, “Where are you off to?”
“I was actually looking for someone to hang out with. Are you busy right now?”
Loden’s eyes flickered back towards the way he came from before falling on Stellan’s face, “Sort of. I’m… doing something… for my master! Yeah! My master has me on errands. What a hardass!”
“Oh,” Stellan’s shoulders dropped, stepping out of his grasp. “Well, when are you going to be finished?”
“It depends.”
Something was off here. “On what?” Stellan raised an eyebrow. He leaned in, gazing up to his tall friend.
“Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
Loden failed to look calm, “Master and padawan stuff.”
“Okay, what is going on?” Stellan put his hands on his hips.
“Nothing is going on! Everything is fine! A calm afternoon! I’m calm! Very calm.”
“Then what did you throw down the hallway?”
“I didn’t throw anything down the hallway,” Loden lied.
“I clearly saw you toss something around that corner! Why are you acting like this?”
“Cohmac!” Loden’s face burst into a wide grin. He spun Stellan again to face Cohmac who paced down the hallway towards them. “Cohmac is here! Hurray for Cohmac! Anyway, got to go. Bye!” The Twi’lek sprinted away, quickly turning the corner. He emerged a moment later hiding some kind of bundle under his robes and rushing away.
“Hey!” Cohmac slowed and stopped beside him, “Welcome home.”
“What is going on!?” Stellan whirled on him.
Cohmac casually shrugged, “You know Loden. He’s probably doing some kind of weird scheme with Kantam. Now that I think about it… I haven’t seen Kant all day.” Cohmac grimaced, “I’m not bailing the two of them out of whatever this is again.”
That… sounded plausible enough. Loden and Sy were both known to get in trouble together, often weaseling their old roommates into whatever it was. That duo caused Stellan to have just as many extra chores as Elzar’s meddling.
Still, Loden and Sy were apparently hanging out together. Just like Elzar and Avar. Everyone seemed to be off with friends or having some kind of fun. That lonely little feeling needled its way into the back of his mind again.
Cohmac asked gently, “Hey, are you okay?”
“Are… you busy right now?”
“I was actually looking for you. I heard you got back, and I wanted to hear how Mimban was.”
“Horrible,” Stellan grumbled, falling in step with him. “I actually don’t really want to talk about it.”
“That’s alright,” Cohmac said, gazing off like he was thinking about something. “I wanted to try out some new boards in Chance . Do you want to play?”
A game would take his mind off of things. And it would be good to spend time with Cohmac. Better than sulking around all alone. Stellan smirked, “Trying to get a sneak peek on the new playing fields to beat Sy?”
“No. I want to destroy you and savor my own victory.”
“You’re on!”
Chance was a strategy game popular with many Jedi. With over 1,000 planets to choose from, each with their own maps to pick, they could play as many games as they wanted in a lifetime and probably not see every map. The point of the game was to capture the other person’s flag.
On the table between Cohmac and Stellan, a grid map of Naboo was projected from a digital hologram. They chose the city map of Theed, which would provide a landscape of buildings to work with. With every game, the players would start with five Jedi characters. They also got vector pieces, but they had to decide at the beginning how many of the five Jedi would be in the air or be on the ground. Swapping the characters in and out of the ship took a turn for itself.
The map decided what kind of civilian troops they would get to aid their Jedi pieces. Since they were on Naboo, they each got two platoons of civilian troops, five tanks, and two Naboo fighter ships to accompany them.
Every five rounds, they chose a card at random. This card would change the battlefield conditions such as rain, famine, disasters, and sometimes would wipe the battlefield clean of negative effects.
Each of them was paired with a datapad to use. This allowed them to pick characters to hide in stealth mode. These characters would be hidden on the map to simulate the stealth of the Jedi or of civilian spies. But there were several ways for them to become visible once again. A roll of a dice or if they attacked would make them become visible again. Their dice also calculated damage at random. A bad roll could have a Jedi character killed off by a stray blaster bolt.
It was strategy, working to outwit the other opponent, and, as the title said, a bit of chance to win. The random chance cards could make or break a game if the player didn’t account for every factor. Stellan had played a game against Avar where both of their sides got swallowed up by a sinkhole, leading to a rare stalemate. The chance of it all was the most powerful force in the game.
Stellan input his moves for the round, his pieces moving slower as the rain made the hologram streets muddy. He had a Jedi character hidden in stealth mode. Each turn, he had rolled well to keep it hidden. If his luck continued, the piece would be in Cohmac’s base within two turns.
But Cohmac had taken out all of his vectors and Naboo ships. His friend had managed the civilian troops well so Stellan’s only other remaining Jedi on the ground guarded the flag. This would be a hard battle to win.
“So what’s wrong?” Cohmac finally said, the glow of the game board reflecting in his dark eyes.
Stellan had to be wary. Cohmac often played with Sy, who would often distract their opponent with idle chat and make them lose focus. He carefully said, “How do you mean?”
“You seemed sad in the hallway when Loden left. Like you were eager to hang out with him. Not that we don’t hang out! You just seemed…” Cohmac searched for the word.
“Desperate?” Stellan slumped back in his seat. “Maybe I was a bit.”
“Because of Mimban?”
“Not just that,” Stellan frowned as Cohmac’s vector took out his last tank.
“I assumed so. You’re never this bad at Chance .”
He huffed, running a hand through his hair in annoyance, “Yeah, you’re about… seven moves away from beating me?”
“Four actually,” Cohmac input a move, setting off a trap he placed to reveal Stellan’s hidden Jedi. With a roll of the dice, Stellan’s character got struck down. “Three now. What’s going on with you?”
Gazing over the board, Stellan’s eyes fell on his lone Jedi piece guarding the flag, “Do you ever feel left out? Like with our friends?”
Cohmac considered the words, “I have before. It’s never been a secret that you and I aren’t the most ‘seek out adventure and get into trouble’ sorts.”
“You used to be before-” Stellan bit his tongue.
A wave of sadness passed over Cohmac’s face, his eyes squeezing shut, “Before Master Simmex…”
It had only been a couple of years since Cohmac lost his master. Since then, Cohmac’s cautiousness only grew worse. Stellan whispered, “Sorry…”
“It’s fine,” he answered, a bit too quickly and clearly not wanting to linger on the topic. He gazed into Stellan’s eyes, “But yeah, I get that. I sometimes still feel that way with Kant and Loden. They have this natural relationship that fits together. Humor that only those two understand. Gods, and their crappy music they always sing and dance to.”
Stellan laughed. Their youngling days in their shared room were often loud as Loden and Sy tried to learn whatever new dance craze was popular that year. Stellan, Sskeer, and Cohmac often fussed them out, trying to study. Elzar would egg on the dancing duo to keep going because it messed with everyone.
Elzar…
Stellan ventured, “What did you do?”
“I talked to them. Kantam, I mean to clarify. I had to learn to accept that it was okay that my relationship with them would be different than how Kantam was with Loden, because we’re all different people. It didn’t make them any less of my friends. Who am I to dictate Loden and Kantam’s relationship? I needed to trust my friendship with Kantam and my friendship with Loden. They’re both different just how you and I are different kinds of friends too.”
Well, Cohmac made it sound so easy! It’s not like Sy and Loden were, well, romantically involved with each other. The rumors had made the rounds in their padawan circle that Avar and Elzar were dating as much as padawans could.
It hadn’t been a rumor for Stellan though. A month before, he’d gone to Avar’s room to ask her for some meditation advice. Knocking softly once, he thought he heard Avar beckoning him in. Though, her voice sounded muffled.
Opening the door, he had been so, so wrong. There in Avar’s bed, Elzar shot up with only his trousers on. Avar’s robe was gone, and Stellan had never once wanted to see what her undergarments looked like. They screamed. Stellan fled. No amount of meditation got that image out of his mind.
Since then, the once dynamic trio had been awkward to say the least. The two had profusely apologized over his own apology. No one really knew what to say. Stellan in no way wanted to fault his friends for being in a relationship. In fact, he was so happy for them! He knew how they felt for the longest time, both confiding in him.
But had he ever told them how happy he was? Not that he could remember in the last month, but he’d also eagerly taken on whatever mission Master Kant threw his way. Stellan quickly left for the Outer Rim.
Still, as he laid in the muddy trench on Mimban, he wondered about Elzar and Avar. What they were doing. How they were. They hadn’t really had a true conversation since the incident. And Stellan realized how much he really missed them both.
But would he also be their third wheel? Would his very presence mess them both up? What if they were trying to be alone and him being there got in the way?
Cohmac revealed two hidden Jedi on the board, slicing down Stellan’s final piece and seizing his flag. He gazed up at him, “Stellan, just talk to them.”
“Who?”
“Elzar and Avar.”
Heat flooded into Stellan’s cheeks, “What is there to talk about?”
“How you found them in bed together- Yes! We all know. Do you really expect Elzar Mann to keep his mouth shut?”
Stellan groaned and covered his face, “I hate him sometimes…”
“Honestly, Elzar and Avar were both asking us all for advice. They’re worried about you.”
His brow furrowed, “About me?”
“Yeah,” Cohmac shut down the Chance board and set his datapad to the side. “They don’t want to lose you. And even Elzar, the Elzar , said that he wasn’t willing to lose you over dating Avar. Avar agreed with the sentiment. They love you so much, just as much as they care for each other. Enough to make sure you’re okay.”
They would throw away their romance for him? Stellan’s heart dropped. He didn’t want that! Stellan knew how desperately they both loved each other. He didn’t want to destroy that between the two of them! No, no he had to fix this.
Avar and Elzar meant everything in the galaxy to Stellan!
He stood up quickly, “I gotta go talk to them.”
“Actually,” Cohmac glanced at his watch. “Come with me.”
“No! I have to-”
“I promise all the weird stuff from today will make sense. Just come with me please.”
Cohmac didn’t say anything as they walked through the hallways back towards the padawan common rooms. They passed several until they reached the last room at the end of the hallway. Finally, he smiled and motioned to it, “Stellan, knock on it three times.”
“You’re being scary vague right now. Are you sure you haven’t lured me into one of Loden and Sy’s schemes?”
“If you must know, it’s Elzar and Avar’s scheme. They did all of this for you. Just knock three times.”
He didn’t like this, but Stellan carefully lifted his fist and rapped on the metal door three times as directed. It slid open revealing a darkened common room. But he could sense several presences inside. Cohmac nudged him into the darkness, coming in too. The door slid shut plunging them into-
The lights flared on.
“SURPRISE!”
There were all of his friends together in the decorated room as paper streamers hung from the rafters. Balloons drifted around the floor. The center table held a cake with snacks and drinks on it. Beside the cake was a messily wrapped package in bright purple paper and a gaudy red bow. Hanging above them all was a homemade banner with the words ‘Happy Birthday’ scrolled across it.
In the center of the group were Elzar and Avar with big smiles on their faces.
Stellan felt his eyes water, “Wh-what is all of this?”
Avar hurried forward and hugged him, “Do you really think we forgot about your birthday! We all sent Master Kant messages this week trying to get you home in time.”
Elzar strode forward, plopping an obnoxious paper crown on top of Stellan’s head, “I mean you only turn sixteen once, right? Might as well celebrate with the people who love you.”
Throwing his arms around both of their necks, Stellan pulled his two closest friends into him. He held them so close as his body began to quiver.
Avar immediately wrapped her arms around him, “Are you okay?”
“I just missed you both so much.”
“We’re here,” Elzar’s fingers held the back of Stellan’s head. “We’re not going anywhere, okay?”
“Yeah,” Stellan bit back a sob. This wasn’t the place for these emotions, instead allowing happiness and joy to take over. “This is amazing.”
Avar laughed, “Well Cohmac and Sskeer are the real MVPs of this plan. Cohmac kept you busy while we finished up, and Sskeer stopped Sy from burning down the kitchen.”
Sy huffed, crossing their arms over their chest. “That cake recipe was all messed up! It was faulty from the start.”
Elzar pulled Stellan into the group and picked up the box, “And we all pulled our money to get you this! Loden snuck out into the city to buy it.”
The Twi’lek put his hand to his chest, “I am so good at sneaking out.”
Sskeer snorted, his arm draped over Orla’s shoulder, “You walked through the front door.”
“Sneakily!”
Avar motioned around, “And Orla, Indeera, Te’Ami, and Mikkel helped us decorate, set up, and get plates and stuff!”
Elzar shoved the box into Stellan’s hands.
He ran his fingers over the crinkled paper, stroking the velvet bow. His friends really did all of this for him? And here he thought they were all too busy, all forgot about him. He should have trusted them more.
Stellan was so happy to be wrong.
“Open it!” Elzar shook him by the shoulders. “Come on! Don’t be neat! Rip the damn thing up!”
Everyone cheered for him as he tore the paper and the bow apart, letting it fall to the floor. He’d clean that up later.
Actually, no. Not this time. It was his birthday!
Ripping open the cardboard box, he gasped and slowly pulled out the gift. It was a tawny-hued poncho with black trim around the hem and hood. The outside was waterproof while the inside was lined with black, smooth faux fur. It was nice, yet practical for various situations.
Avar leaned in, “If you go anywhere as horrible as Mimban again, you can wear that and it’s like we’re there to help keep you warm.”
“Or just don’t go to Mimban,” Elzar shrugged.
Stellan clutched the gift to his chest as he gazed out to all of his friends. Not just the two he was closest to, but everyone he cared about was here, “Thank you. This means so much.”
The party kicked off with music blaring from their player. Cake and snacks were passed around. Though, Avar made sure all the drinks were appropriate for Stellan’s party. No moonshine from bathtubs could be found, though Stellan saw Loden and Sy sneak flask-shaped containers out from under their robes. Cohmac clearly disapproved of it, but Stellan, for once, didn’t mind. It was nice to see everyone here.
A hand flopped down on his shoulder, and Elzar beamed at him, “So did we get you?”
“Get me?”
Avar came up on his other side, “Surprise you! I was afraid that Elzar was too mean earlier.”
“Yeah, you got me,” Stellan set his empty cake plate to the side. “Hey, would it be okay if after the party we… the three of us… talked?”
Their energy both shifted. There were nerves there, but another sensation was so much stronger. They both felt hopeful.
Avar nodded, “Yeah, we all sort of have some talking to do.”
“I’d like that,” Elzar agreed. “Whenever you want to leave, we can sneak out and head up to the roof like we always do.”
Avar eyed him, “It’s Stellan’s party.”
“And when has Stellan ever stayed for a whole party?”
Stellan chuckled, “I think I might stay longer than normal at my party. But you’re not wrong. This…” He motioned around the energized room full of people, “This is a lot! So yeah, the roof sounds great.”
“We’ll be there,” Elzar patted him on the back.
Stellan knew that the conversation would be awkward and probably tough at times. They’d need to discuss boundaries and what their friendship would look like. His insecurities would probably come out.
But looking between Elzar and Avar, the two people he loved most in the galaxy, Stellan had a feeling that it would all be okay.