Dante smiled. He always smiled. From ear to ear, from chin to nose, he always smiled. Really he didn't need to be happy, he didn't need to be amused, he just smiled for the helI of it. He liked the feeling that he got when he saw others ask themselves (Or at least that's what he thought) how someone could be as happy as him.

Of course he, being as pathetic as he was, enjoyed the attention from others that regarded him as a superior being. So that's how he made his way through Coruscant, through the Jedi Temple and towards the roof.

He had gone through some tough times, and was in search for some council so he set up an appointment with a therapist at the Jedi Temple. However, Dante didn't want a shrink, he wanted to talk with a Jedi.

See, Dante had bad luck. He worked taking pictures of places for a real estate agency, and had just recently lost his job because of his goofing off. Also,he had just caught his girlfriend cheating on him with at least 3 men... at the same time. And if that wasn't enough, she had kept all his things and kicked him out, leaving him with nothing more than a camera that wouldn't produce any more money.

He stepped into an elevator, with his stupid grin still on his face and patted his chest as if seeing if he had grown a gut. The elevator began to shoot skywards towards the roof, where he had been told a Jedi Master was, hoping that he could get an idea or two of what to do next.

Bandit knew that someone was coming not because of his awesome Force senses, but because the elevator that Dante was riding on was a complete wreck. It was possible to hear every gear grind as the thing worked its way upward. The screeching was horribly loud, and he couldn't help but wince at the noise. He could only assume that some incompetent moron, probably K1ddy, had built the thing. He would be sure to bitch and moan about it at the next Council meeting until K1ddy decided to fix the damn thing.

Finally the screeching came to a halt, and the elevator doors parted, revealing some grinning idiot. Bandit's head tilted to the side.

"Hello there."

Dante stepped out from the elevator and onto the rooftop, looking at the cape wearing man. He looked like superman or something, with his cape billowing in the wind and all. His smile shrank a bit, and became a simple grin.

"Hello, I'm Dante. You're a Jedi right?"

He didn't really have much time to spare, his permission to roam the Jedi Temple was going to expire in a few minutes and if he wasn't out of there by the time it did, he'd probably get himself a few weeks in the can. He was stupid, but just smart enough to grasp the concept that jail was bad.

He patted his stomach again.

"Yeah, I'm a Jedi. I'm guessing you're a hopeful or something? Sorry, pal. I don't detect any Force sensitivity in you. Go run off and play now, 'K? I'm busy."

Bandit turned back around, and proceeded to look awesome with his cloak blowing in the wind.

"Not a hopeful. Just needed some council, help if it isn't too much"

With this he pulled from his pocket a pack of cigarettes and took one to his mouth. Lighting it he took a deep breath and exhaled. He was kind of embarrassed about having to tell his problems, especially the one about his wife, to this Jedi.

"Mind if I know your name?"

Bandit glanced back around, and inwardly groaned. This is the exact type of crap he hated doing. His eyes caught the pack of cigarettes, and shrugged. He turned back around and walked closer to the man, his hand slightly outstretched.

"Sure, I'll give ya a hand. If you can spare one of those cigarettes." He smiled lightly. "Name's Bo Darvelle. You are?"

Dante gave the Jedi a cigarette, dropping it into his hand. However he was shocked by the Jedi not even remembering his name after about 18 seconds of having said it.

"... Dante."

Dante could kind of tell that this guy was a Jedi, he seemed to have a little glow to him. Like a halo or something of the sort. Anyways, it reminded him of some weird character he met in a bar the other day. It was ugliest bastard he'd ever seen and the guy just bought him a drink out of the blue. Dante must have gotten drunk afterwards, because the rest was just a blur.

Anyways, he decided to start to this little session.

"Well, Master Bo, I am in serious problems because of bad luck. No home, no job and no support whatsoever."

He patted his stomach.

Bandit accepted the cigarette without any thanks, and stuck it between his lips. He reached into his cloak pocket, retrieved a lighter, and brought the flame to the tip of the cigarette. He actually had both a pack of cigarettes and a few cigars somewhere on him, but what the hell, right? If the kid was willing to give up one, why not take advantage of that. He took a puff and exhaled deeply, blowing smoke slightly above Dante's head.

"Right. You told me that, Dan," he said, deciding to leave the ending of the name off because it sounded ridiculous. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He took another puff of his cigarette, and watched as Dante patted his stomach again. He allowed the smoke to escape his lips slowly this time, wondering what in the world was wrong with this kid.

"It's a big galaxy, kid. You could try your luck out somewhere else. I'm sure you could find a transport somewhere that could give ya a lift. You don't have any family, do ya?"

Dante took another suck on the cigarette. He couldn't leave Coruscant. He was too stupid, too poor and just couldn't adapt well enough.

"No, no family. My girlfriend just threw me out. I can't leave the planet, I have no money. Nothing."

He thought back one week in time, when he got drunk at the bar. It was weird, ever since then he had felt the urge to go to the Jedi Temple to seek help. Maybe that ugly guy had talked to him into seeking some mental help.

Bandit ran his fingers through his hair, which he realized was getting far too long. It was well over his ears now, and the back was beginning to touch his collar. He sighed slightly, removing his hand from his head and allowing the gathering of hair to fall back into his eyes as Dante patted his stomach once more. It was becoming very hard to ignore that tick.

"Well, what're you good at? Surely you're good at something. Everybody's good at something. Maybe you can use whatever you're good at to get a job." Bandit was beginning to realize how terribly awful he was at this whole "helping people" thing.

"I dunno. Maybe you can stay here in the Temple until you get back on your feet. I'm sure we could work out something, so you could stay a limited amount of time."

Dante's smile almost grew to it's former size, how it was when he had just arrived. However, he did not seem to feel happy on the inside. It was a mechanical reaction, not one of truth.

"Pictures. It's really the only thing I know how to do; take pictures."

He hoped he could get some sanctuary here at the Jedi Temple, hopefully get back on his feet. It would be great if he could get a job as a janitor or something at the temple. He had no high aims, he just needed something so that he could scrape by.

His patted his chest, and the shirt stuck to it for a quarter of a second, and his stomach seemed to be oddly flat.

"Alright then, that's good. You can stay here at the Temple, until you can get a job. Maybe as a photographer or something? You'll have to pull your weight though. This ain't a homeless shelter." Bandit didn't really care if he pulled his weight or not, and he doubted if the other Jedi did as well. He just wanted to maybe get his sheets washed and maybe some food cooked for him.

"Y'know, nothing serious. Just like janitor and cooking work. If ya can't cook, well, I guess I could have you wash up the speeders and transports."

"That'd be great. Could you tell me where to sign up for shelter? It'd be nice to get there before anyone else."

He smiled a bit and took another breath from the cigarette. He was feeling better now, not as worried as before. Still he had quite a few problems ahead of him and all, but at least now he knew he could count on the jedi.

"No need to sign up for anything. There's plenty of room in the Temple, and we really don't have many people coming down here. A lot of people don't like the idea of staying with Jedi." Who could blame them, though, considering some jerk like Malas would attack the Temple every week. "You can just head down to room, um... 452A. The access code is... 2104, I believe." Bandit smiled lightly. this was, of course, K1ddy's room. Oh well.

"Well, I'll be going now. Thanks Master Jedi."

Dante patted his stomach again and once more it clung to a plate or something he had under his shirt. With his wide smile he backed up into the elevator shaft, which closed it's doors rapidly and began to descend.

Dante was happy now, and his smile finally had a reason behind it. Maybe things would turn around for him? He was finally happy again.

The elevator was perhaps two or three floors down from the roof, picking up speed. Dante lifted his shirt up and revealed to himself the odd, square, computer device which was strapped to his stomach. With his stupid smile stretched across his face, and eyes that seemed to be empty, like those of a robot, he pushed a little button on the computer and the elevator shaft filled with fire.

The explosion would rattle the Jedi Temple, not destroy it but simply shake things up. All doors to the elevator shaft shot open and from them dust shot into the many hallways of the Temple. The walls around the elevator bent outwards, some caved in while and others were unaffected. The roof of the building would shake as if an earthquake had happened and fire would spit from the shaft like a serpent's tongue. The casualties of the explosion would be minimal, but the structural and material damage would be significant. A small little square box of resistant metal fell to the bottom of the shaft, it was a sort of holopad.

Dante was killed instantly, blown apart and cooked to a smelly crisp. His head had maintained it's shape, instead of being shattered into a million pieces, but like the rest of him had lost all flesh.

He was still smiling.

( ^ That post is so full of fucking epic win. )