This had already proven to be the most time that either youngling had spent with someone who wasn't Force Sensitive. It was proving to smash many preconceptions they had held about people who didn't perceive the Force. It was such a large part of [i]their[/i] lives that to try and imagine existing without it had left either boy with a rather crippling notion of average people. But the Sector Ranger person seemed... [b]normal[/b] actually.

Better than normal, considering his offer to teach them to use blasters.

[i]"Two, you aren't going to be doing your lightsabers as often now."[/i]

Each of the stubby head tails on the Nautolan's head perked up, as the boy almost did a double take. His eyes, wide, glanced over at Sor-Jan as though looking for confirmation that he hadn't just heard what he thought he'd just heard. Because that was absurd. Limiting lightsaber practice was like... like... limiting how much time one had to [i]breathe[/i]. "Huh?" Zak chirped, as he paled a more gray color than his usual verdant moss green. He was the best swordsman -- er, swordboy? -- of their clan. Lightsaber practice was the only time anything made sense to him. Which, it wasn't that he didn't [i]try[/i] the whole 'meditate on the Force' thing. But meditation was boring. And... he kinda fell asleep in one of Master Yoda's meditation classes once. 

In contrast, the young Anzati had no such reticence at the notion. Perhaps because lightsaber practice was one of the few classes in which he wasn't the star pupil. The less of that there was, the better.

So, Zak was still a little crestfallen even as the conversation shifted to better things. They were going to learn how to pilot and they were getting their own room. And the Sector Ranger hadn't said anything about them [i]cleaning[/i] their room. Just that they were getting one. So there was still hope for later negotiations to have a droid do the picking up stuff part.

Then, there was this.

[i]"...and it is really easy to fly without the Force, using the Force is just cheating."[/i]

Zak could nod his head to that sentiment in part, particularly for every time he was struggling to move a meditation rock and Sor-Jan was mentally juggling stones [i]whilst[/i] levitating himself. However, now it was the Anzati's turn to be offended. The black-haired boy's came up sharply, as a look of utter shock and then total contempt drastically changed the youngling's facial expression toward the Sector Ranger. "Cheating?" the young Anzati echoed, as though either in disbelief or daring the man to say that again.

[i]"However that is just my very own opinion,"[/i] the Sector Ranger explained.

"Cheating!?" Sor-Jan began, anger slipping into his voice as the youngling had started forward.

That was before a green, Nautolan arm whipped around the side of the other boy's face, clamping his hand down over the Anzati's mouth and slowly backing away from the Sector Ranger. Through the Cheating -- er, that is, through the [i]Force[/i] -- Zak had a fleeting glimpse as to what was about to happen. Sor-Jan had been about to kick the Sector Ranger in the shin. Now, he wasn't positive, but Zak was fairly certain it was somewhere in the Jedi Code that one did not simply kick the bombad sector ranger dude in the shin. Particularly not when they were getting blaster training, piloting lessons, [i]and[/i] their own room.

Zak didn't like the limited lightsaber practice bit either, but there were [i]ways[/i] known to younglings, secrets passed down from generation to generation of Jedi hopefuls, sacred rituals just for this sort of occasion. It was the venerated youngling philosophy of [i]just don't get caught[/i]. And, if one did get caught, it was still better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

Plus, Zak didn't want to try and imagine how much trouble they'd get into if Sor-Jan had [i]actually[/i] kicked the Sector Ranger in the shin. 

"Thanks, mister!" the young Nautolan offered brightly, as he continued to restrain a squirming, fighting, ready-to-do-battle Anzati who was still hell-bent on bringing the pain to Jacen's shin. Which, he was definitely more violent now than he'd been before. But that was true for both of them. Sor-Jan's black eye and Zak's split lip hadn't come battling clones after all.

As he turned around, intent on seeking out the protocol droid -- not for the clothes, clothes weren't a subject either boy thought much of at this age. Adults provided them stuff to wear. What they wore wasn't that big a deal. It was just [i]stuff[/i]. However, they definitely wanted to talk to this droid about room cleaning services. And so, quest in mind, Zak turned the both of them around and...

...nearly collided with a Temple Guard.

[i]That[/i] stopped both boys in their tracks. Younglings weren't supposed to be running through the temple on their own. They were supposed to be with their clan, unless they had a [i]really[/i] good reason to, like, go to the archives or something for a school project. So, when they inevitably [b]did[/b] make a break for it, running into a Temple Guard was a bad thing. It meant you'd been caught. Now, this wasn't the Jedi Temple, and neither SJ nor Zak were part of a youngling clan anymore. But, still, the Nautolan couldn't have looked [i]more guilty[/i] than when he'd nearly turned and run into Deja. Probably because it wasn't a first for him. 

After a moment of being frozen in anticipation of having been caught doing... [i]something[/i]... the Nautolan blinked with the realization that he wasn't in trouble, that he knew of anyway, and he knew this Sentinel. "Hi, Master Deja," Zak offered respectfully. "We were just, uh, going to find the protocol droid to get some new clothes," the Nautolan explained. Which wasn't a lie. That was what the sector ranger dude had told them to do. He was just omitting the part about getting the droid to clean their room instead.

A muffled sound served as a reminder that the Nautolan still had his hand clamped over SJ's mouth. Reluctantly, the green-skinned amphibian withdrew his arm, as the young Anzati immediately popped up, pointed back toward the cockpit, and exclaimed, "He said that the Force is [b]cheating![/b]" 

Sor-Jan just wasn't going to let this go.

For his part, the Nautolan buried his face in his other hand, shaking his head at what could only be an Anzati's misguided attempt at sabotaging them getting their own room.