Meet-n-Greet

[cityship]

After being released from stasis, having the slime removed from their bodies and clothed in the creepy, pulsing leaf-suit that everyone wore, and being taken to the Weapons & Possessions lockers to collect their belongings, the new arrivals would find themselves standing in the Observation Deck. Round windows lined the fleshy walls, revealing the bright display of lights that was inter-dimensional travel. They would also discover that there were people--members of the command staff and crew that had woken earlier--waiting for them.

Comments

[craaazyisland]

Steve looked at the guy sidelong, his expression answering that yes, that was the last thing he wanted to hear right now.

"There's nothing else I can do," he reasoned. "I'm just a dumb kid."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"I doubt that," Luke said. "You'd be surprised at the kinds of things that 'dumb kids' are capable of." He thought back--at nineteen, when Threepio and Artoo had ambled into his life, he'd been a dumb kid himself.

"We don't know anything about this place or why we were chosen to be released from those pod things," he said. "I can only assume we've got some kind of special talents that are needed here."

[craaazyisland]

Steve didn't really reply to that, a deep scowl still set on his face. He could shoot and he could work vehicles, and that was about it. He wasn't particularly good at either of them, too. Was that really worth aliens abducting him?

"I don't know," he said. "I just want to go home."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke was quiet for a bit, then reached out and rested his hand briefly on Steve's shoulder, radiating soothing emotions in the Force so that hopefully the young man could pick up on them and calm down. "I know," he murmured. "I do too."

Ben would be confused when he woke up and his father wasn't there; Leia and Han, who had already lost so much, would be devastated. There was plenty that Luke wanted to go home to.

"If you ever need anything," he said quietly, "My name's Luke Skywalker. I'll help you out as best I can, okay?" Without another word, he stood up, stretched, and walked away.

[craaazyisland]

Steve wasn't sure why, but he felt a little calmer all of a sudden. He wasn't the only one who wanted to go home, of course... it was easy to forget that when you were in a situation like this. He watched Luke stand up and hesitated before he said anything.

"I'm... I'm Steve," he said as Luke turned around. "...Thanks."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke looked back over his shoulder, smiling gently. "It's nice to meet you, Steve," he said. "You're a lot stronger than you think you are. Just have a little more faith in yourself."

[craaazyisland]

He still looked surprised by the man bothering to pay attention to him, but maybe a little less mopey now. For Steve Burnside, this was a big deal.

"Yeah, okay..." he said, sounding mostly confused.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"I'll see you around, then," Luke said, and walked off through the crowd of people.