When Sith Beat Jedi To The Prize (Of The Chosen One)

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel had intended never to go to Tatooine again. The entire experience the first time he was there was hot and miserable. The only good point, so far as he was concerned, was meeting Andronikos. But as luck would have it, his ship ended up deciding to need minor repairs. Nothing too bad, but it did require him to land somewhere to get the parts he needed, because of course, the bit that went was something he didn't have spare parts for. The only planet within reasonable range? Tatooine.

It didn't take long for a Force-sensitive boy to catch his attention. One strong enough that he was surprised the Jedi didn't already find him. Well, their loss was his gain. ...Once he pried him loose from Watto, anyway. He suspects he actually had an easier time of it than a Jedi would, although he's not going to hang around and give one the chance to give it a shot. At least, unlike them, he's willing to come to Tatooine from time to time so Anakin could see his mother. Probably not more than a couple times a year or so, due to it being best to go there when they're at least vaguely in that part of the galaxy anyway, but it's far better than 'sorry kid, we're never bringing you back'.

Of course, there is one tiny problem with this whole thing. He's never had to raise children before and doesn't know what he's doing. With the ship safely in hyperspace and not due to come out of it for a good long while, enabling him to do things that didn't involve sitting in the pilot's seat of the ship, he's in the lounge area. Time to figure out what he's doing. "Have you managed to get any kind of schooling? Like from someone you know, sitting down with you for an hour here and there as time permitted to teach you things like how to write?"

May as well figure out what he needs to teach besides how to use the Force consciously instead of unconsciously drawing on it.

Comments

[neverwantedtobesith]

He's quiet for a moment as he thinks about that one. "I think so. I mean, I try not to think about her too often because it hurts. I know the pain will eventually fade. Not go away, but get to where it hurts less."

[imaperson]

Anakin doesn't ask what to him is obvious, if thinking about her is so painful - and he can tell that it is - why did he name the ship after her or keep the ship if he'd had it before.

"Ok. I'm sorry." Both for Garth'zel's grief and his own questions which caused it to be brought up. He's quiet for a moment, trying to think of something to say to change the topic all together. Off Garth'zel's past, off the Force, at least for now. Except he can't, totally because this conversation has lead him to a path of worry and he needs to kick that away while he eats.

"I can wash up after I eat, if you want." Both an offer, because he should and to allow Garth'zel to leave if he wants to.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"What, you didn't get enough time playing in the water?" Garth'zel asks, eyebrow arched as he firmly stuffs his emotions in a mental box to deal with later.

[imaperson]

"Nope!" Anakin answers cheerfully, perhaps too cheerfully, because he is trying to forcibly take the conversation in a different direction.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel rolls his eyes. "Are you hoping for your hair to never be dry again?"

[imaperson]

"Maybe." He could be happy never feeling such dryness again anyway.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"I'm thinking of practicing with the remote, which means I'll eventually need the towels after my own turn at cleaning up. I'd like to be able to get dry," he points out.

[imaperson]

"Oh. Um. How do you do laundry on this ship, by the way?" This is completely unrelated, he promises!

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel blinks slowly at Anakin before covering his face with his hand. "How did I remember to show you the medbay but forget to show you the laundry room?"

No, he's not honestly expecting an answer. "The relevant room is just one door away from the 'fresher."

[imaperson]

"Do you do your wash or does a droid?" In Anakin's experience, droids tended to do that, if you could afford one.

But he'd also go put the used towels in to dry once he could, just to be sure.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Back when I had one, he did it, but these days, I do my own laundry." Like everybody else Toovee is millennia in the past.

[imaperson]

"Are you used to parents doing all the laundry?" He's trying to puzzle out why Garth'zel may have forgotten. "But if you want a droid again, just find one. Even broken. I'll fix it up." There's an almost 'please' unspoken, Anakin wants him to get something broken to leave Anakin to fix, since he isn't trusted with working on the ship.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Showing the kid the laundry room just slipped his mind, that's all!

Garth'zel's eyebrow goes up again. "Child, I'm perfectly capable of doing my own laundry, as seen by the fact I do it myself these days."

...Child, what do you think you've been doing this morning?! Playing make believe?

[imaperson]

"Droids are useful to have around." And he wants to have one to play with.

...Doing stuff he's been able to do for years without supervision?

[neverwantedtobesith]

Give him a break, a course he's going to want to keep an eye on the nine-year-old at first.

"Mm-hmm. And I had one when I had too much to do and not enough time to do tasks like cook and clean as well."

If he does get another one, it'll probably be an astromech droid, rather than another one like Toovee or Threepio.

[imaperson]

"Most ships this size have an astromech droid or two, even when they have a bigger crew. A lot of the pilots used them to help navigate." He's not really arguing, he just finds it odd that there is only Garth'zel for crew.

[neverwantedtobesith]

"Most ships also aren't owned by people who lost everyone that mattered to them, including their droids," Garth'zel says tartly.

Anakin may want to take this as a hint that the man's patience is wearing thin.

[imaperson]

Anakin tenses at the tone, pausing just briefly, just long enough to be noticeable, with his fork midair and mouth hanging open before shoving it into his mouth. And falls silent, shoulders slight hunched. He hadn't meant to poke at anything, he'd been commenting on crews and what he knew was normal, not what Garth'zel did or didn't have anymore.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Garth'zel soon finishes his own food and rises to put his plate and fork in to be washed when he runs the cleaning unit later. "I'm going to go practice with the training remote. You can watch later if you feel like it."

Just give him time to work his temper off first.

[imaperson]

"Yes Sir. I'll come later." Anakin is quiet, subdued even.

After Garth'zel leaves, Anakin finishes his food and cleans up the kitchen quietly, then puts the towels in the wash to wash and dry - and just busies himself with tidying up for a while until wandering towards the practice area, hoping Garth'zel is in a better mood.

[neverwantedtobesith]

Said practice area is the hold, because really, where else is one going to do this sort of thing without potentially getting something shot that shouldn't be? By the time Anakin shows up, Garth'zel isn't even thinking about the earlier conversation, just batting bolts from the remote back in its direction with his lightsaber, mostly going for near misses. The hum of the lightsaber overrides the sound of Anakin's approach, but Garth'zel can still sense it. "When I think you're ready for this, you'll practice with the remote and lightsaber both on lower settings," he says, tone considerably more relaxed than earlier. "My setting for the remote would take you down in seconds, and as my lightsaber is a lethal weapon, best to lower the intensity of the blade to where getting hit with it will just hurt rather than remove a limb or worse."

[imaperson]

Anakin had stopped and listened to the hum of the lightsaber before approaching but staying well back as he watches. It very much looks like a game and a fun one at that. He isn't going to argue about not being able handle it right now, but he wants to at least hold the lightsaber.

"I didn't know you could make them less powerful."

[neverwantedtobesith]

"It's a good idea to be able to adjust the blade if needed," Garth'zel comments, next deflected bolt whizzing right below the remote--if it was aimed at an average human-sized person, it would have just hit them in the throat. "Like when you're just practicing and don't actually want to kill or maim your opponent."

[imaperson]

Anakin whistles at the impact, staying back at his distance. Given they can still talk and Garth'zel hadn't shouted at him to back up, he is going to assume he's at a good distance for safety.

"When it's less powerful, is it shorter?"

[neverwantedtobesith]

"It can be shorter if you want it to be, it doesn't become shorter by default when lowering the intensity of the blade, no. I am not going to let you take mine apart to figure out how it works. You can build your own to tinker with when I think you're old enough for one and have a good enough handle on using mine." Although proper training spars are going to need to wait until after they both have lightsabers.

"While lightsabers generally have the same components such as power supply and so on, there is individual variation," he adds a moment later.