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

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.

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Anakin's clothing - on top of being used - was made in a quick and dirty homespun style. Cheaply, with coarse fabric. Buying something new from a storefront was novel and not something Anakin had really thought about doing, even in his dreams of being free. He always saw himself in an open-air market, crowded with stalls and shops crammed into doorways. In his defense, it was really all he knew. "I'll stand still." He hated it, but he could, for a brief time.

"It wouldn't surprise me if whatever employee ends up working with us is able to gauge your size just looking at you," Garth'zel tells him. "Might be off by a size or two, but at least it should help work it out quickly."

He's fairly certain it would be a good idea to get some clothes that were the next size up as well, for when the currently correctly-sized ones get outgrown.

"Now that I think about it, we should probably get things appropriate for swimming in, since I'll need to teach you how to do that," he muses.

"Mom always gets them too long so I can grow." He didn't think about it, but Shmi tended to get things that had smocking that would add length pinned by smocking that would add width, as children tended to grow round and then long. On Tatooine and dealing with what they had been, it had made sense and she could unpick the smocking as needed.

Walking beside Garth'zel, and still holding onto his hand, Anakin's posture was more confident, even if he was still constantly looking around. "...are they different?" He'd seen people in little clothing in water but given the circumstances, he had assumed it was for masters and their guests to ogle rather than for practical use.

"Wet clothes get heavy. It's why there's separate clothing for swimming, since it's of a material that doesn't absorb as much water," Garth'zel explains. Hopefully, Anakin understands why wet heavy clothes while swimming is bad. Granted, there's likely to be times when they won't have much choice, but may as well save inflicting that on themselves for when they actually have to.

He does know that water is heavy - full water barrels are often the only thing Tatooine's winds can't knock over, and water on ships is rationed (generally) because they add to fuel costs. He's never experienced truly wet clothing so he can't really work out how heavy that would be, and he's seen things float on water and broth. So he's quiet while he works out how much of a problem it could be. "People don't float in water?"

"Not if they're too heavy, they don't," Garth'zel says drily. "Not to mention, someone who doesn't know how to swim is likely going to be too busy panicking and flailing around to have the presence of mind to attempt to float."

A clothing shop catches his eye a moment later, and he starts steering Anakin towards it. "Let's get you some clothes appropriate for non-desert planets, hmm?"

Around half a dozen changes of clothes of varying weights should do it for now, he figures. With one set being intended for anything Anakin may be getting into that involves grease and who knows what else.

"Why would they panic?" Says the boy who has never even been in a full bathtub. "I mean, I guess if it was really cold?" Anakin's never even been in knee-deep water, much less had to think that water has a current much like the wind - and he likely wouldn't understand it with experience anyway.

Luckily, for clothing Anakin entends to get greasy and work-stained, he's fairly smart about what works and doesn't, having learned what it takes to scrub clothing clean(ish). Left to pick something out, he'll go for something dark bluish-grey, and if it's a coverall set with lots of pockets, even better. And if he's given a choice between colors, he tends towards blues. Some dark, some bright, but after all of Tatooine's beiges, washed out whatever, and suns bleached fabric, having color is refreshing.

Even if he can't quite make himself believe he gets new things.

"Probably because of being afraid of drowning and not particularly wanting to die," Garth'zel says drily. Don't make him re-explain drowning, boy.

He's perfectly happy to let Anakin make his own color choices, given Anakin's going to be the one wearing the clothes. He'll just veto any color combinations and such that are too 'out there'.

The problem is he doesn't understand what downing is. After a few attempts at swimming he'll understand but not yet.

Even while shopping, Anakin looks often to his 'adult' and between shops takes his hand again.

Anakin has a (possibly surprising) grasp of proper clothing. Medium browns and dark greys for neutral colors - mostly pants - and blues for tops, covers, etc. Outer clothing, such as a cloak or wrap he goes for heavy, durable, and subdued pattern. Tiny toothy pattern so it blurs into a grey pattern. Heavy boots with deep lugs (and he does indeed know how boot size) not easy to wear, a 'nicer' pair of ankle boots that shine nicely but are still made for practical walking than show - traction on the sole, padding around the ankle foot support. A heavy work belt and pouches to carry things. A bandolier that locks to the work belt. A nicer one for 'dressy' things.

Heavier work clothing was not present at that store and it took some questions and reassuring to find a places which offered work clothing in Anakin's size. Gloves, knee pads, safety goggles. An apron for protecting his clothing and space.

He does want fabric to do wrapping on his arms (and sometimes legs) but he doesn't ask, instead wandering slightly away to look at the fabric. Not touching but looking longingly. Given some of his sleeves are loose and more flowing it makes sense but he doesn't was to push his luck. He also really wants to touch the fabric.

Anakin's jewelry that he's wearing he made is easily visible while he's shopping, a collar that was loose on his neck and spread five to seven centimeters over his shoulders, rounded and dipped down over his back and chest between twenty and twenty size centimeters. Is handmade, carved from bone and wood, hand polished and painted, mostly beaded with quilling scrolls centered on his chest and back. He could have honestly sold it for a tidy sum as it's well made. And it's not the only one he has - there are five of then which Anakin has been wearing over the trip. But he picked the nicest one for this.

Edited 2022-05-14 05:14 (UTC)

"I'm reasonably sure that no kowakian monkey-lizards will fall out of the sky at you if you touch that," Garth'zel says in an amused tone, noticing the way Anakin was looking at the fabric.

"If one of those damn things have gotten into my shop, I'm turning it into dinner," the shop owner mutters, having overheard.

"I remember having to chase one of them around to get a datapad back," Garth'zel says with a nod. "So I understand the sentiment entirely. Even if I'm not sure if they'd taste any good."

"Kowakian monkey-lizards. Those weren't in my lessons." He tried to picture what that might look like. Even given permission, he touched the fabrics lightly. Feeling texture, feeling weight.

"You did what? You couldn't just," Anakin mimed reaching and grabbing something midair.

"They're annoying and will be seen around here sooner or later," Garth'zel says drily. "There were a lot of identical ones around, and I wasn't about to use the Force to pull every single one to me. So, an irritating amount of chasing them around for the right one. It wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't go around a corner, breaking line of sight."

"Are they predators or pests?" Because that was important. Anakin ran a thumb along the cut edge, seeing how it frayed. "They are fast?" He had to assume so.

"Pests, although they're happy enough to eat smaller animals." They're certainly fast enough to snatch them up. "Mm-hmm."

Garth'zel raises an eyebrow at Anakin. "Is that something you're intending to get or are you just messing with it?"

"How small?" Because well. People's definitions varied. He was small!

"I. Um. I would like to have it." There was only a slight pause, not quite a stutter but it could have been, in his speech.

"The full-grown ones are generally about half your size. Maybe slightly over," he says, after taking a moment to gauge things properly.

He shrugs. "Okay. Tell him how much you want." Relax, kid.

"Oh. That's good." Puntable then if needed.

It's going to take time. Weeks wouldn't be enough to rid years of trauma. But he did know those measurements, because arm and leg wraps were a lifesaver, and he knew how to turn a square of fabric into long strips. He can do more math in his head than he realizes, even complex math that he doesn't even know is math really. Width of strip by length, converted into total width of fabric and length when the numbers isn't actually translate that way. But he could still spit an accurate number out. Of work quality fabric and dressy-er fabric.

Good thing those numbers are getting relayed to the shop-keeper, because there's risk of Garth'zel's eyes glazing over if they get fired off at him too fast.

After they're finally done at that shop, Garth'zel takes a moment to see what time it was. "Close enough to time to eat, we may as well find someplace. Might get in before the main rush." He'd rather not wait forever to eat.

Anakin's math, the process he used to get numbers, likely did not resemble anything close to what his lessons would teach. It mostly revolved around engineering, technical things, and such - the fabric was simply part of it. The shopkeeper even tucked a packet of needles into the parcel of cloth. Anakin would have to secure the thread on his own.

"Ok. What do they cook here?" He had heard from the spacers that different planets had different specialties. And he'd like to know what they were.

"You do remember it's been a few thousand years since I was last here?" Garth'zel reminds him drily. "The best I can say is 'food'."

He's fairly certain the fare would be fairly normal, anyway, aside from the meat being mainly from local animals.

Having grown up in the slave quarters, 'normal' was a strange thing for food - all different cultures, different practices with food, abject poverty and often starvation rations - these things meant making do, and Anakin had eaten a wildly diverse diet even if it was sometimes just a mouthful given when Watto wasn't feeding them. As such, he'd eat just about anything.

"Ok. Is there anything I should be looking for?" Because well. Reading was still something he was working on.

Edited 2022-05-16 22:54 (UTC)

"Um, pretty sure that grophets are one of the meat choices. I... wouldn't recommend the tonitrans, given they're carnivores and as such, don't tend to taste good." He's fairly certain it's mostly just the local Rishii who were inclined to eat them, anyway.

He spots what seems to be a small restaurant that was half indoor and outdoor and heads for the outdoor seating.

"No they don't." Carnivores, he means. Tonitrans he's never had. But grophets at least ping a memory of something he's heard spacers speak of.

Anakin followed happily, the smell of food giving him a warm feeling.

Garth'zel claims one of the outside tables, taking a seat. "You may want to think about sitting on your new things. Not for the added height so much as to make sure those damn monkey-lizards don't get into them."

Yes, he'll help chase them if required, but ugh. Better to avoid the need entirely.

Anakin had thought he'd meant pickpockets until he finished talking, and shook his head, muttering he'd rather have Jawas around because those you could talk to. Still, he carefully folded the bags together in a way the openings were pinned against the opposite package. A shame he didn't mention that possibility when they left the ship, Anakin could have brought twine to tie them together. He placed them down on the seat and double-checked the stability before sitting down on them.

Then he looked around, taking in the restaurant and trying to pick apart the smells. He could smell some heady, heavy fruit and the rich, savory smell of roasted meat and root vegetables, spices he couldn't figure out, and other things as well. Some kind of bread or pastry.

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