spncentral | 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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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 Date: 2022-05-16 10:54 pm (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.

It doesn't take long for the server to notice the additional customers, coming over. Garth'zel puts in his drink order and glances over at Anakin. "Want me to order your food for you, since you can't read the menu yourself, yet?"

Of course, the menu isn't required for the drinks, given there's certain ones that are standard everywhere.

Anakin asks for water and juice to drink - whatever juice is their favorite - and shrugs looking down and away for a moment. He can feel the server looking at him.

"Yes please. Thank you sir." It's quiet and subdued. He's a little embarrassed.

"You'll catch up to where you should be sooner, rather than later, I'm sure," Garth'zel says reassuringly.

He takes time to browse the menu while the server is getting their drinks and puts in their food orders when the server returns. Needless to say, his order is heavier on meat than Anakin's, while Anakin gets more in the way of vegetables than he does.

"Our next stop is going to be for getting schooling supplies for you," he says after taking a sip of his--nonalcoholic--drink. "I'm thinking maybe about what's supposed to be about three years' worth. It should help figure out where your skill levels in various things actually are. There's bound to be some things you'll have the reaction of 'I know that already!' about."

He's determined to catch up quickly, not liking the feeling of embarrassment, of being 'lesser' than others. It also made him angry - it wasn't his fault and how dare people judge.

He's happy to let Garth'zel order for him, however, even if he could have read - he wouldn't know all the dishes and would have had to ask for help anyway, but it was different, somehow. And it's not like Garth'zel doesn't know what Anakin eats.

Anakin nodded, soothed by Garth'zel's belief that Anakin knew more than he thought he did. "Can I give Kitster what I don't need? I know you said we couldn't go often but it would still help him."

"I already had the thought of giving the schooling materials you get past needing to your mother, so she could use them to teach the other kids as time permitted, with a particular focus on him," Garth'zel says with a nod. "Schooling should help improve his chances of getting that position he wants."

Not to mention, depending on what she did and didn't know, may help her as well.

"Mom would love that." And she'd probably have a better handle on how to get Kitster and the other kids to do the lessons than just shoving things at him. Some of the older women in the area could probably help too.

Shmi had been pretty well educated by one of her masters, who had written into her will to free Shmi at her death but the heir had refused and then when Anakin had come along, sold them both. She simply hadn't had the resources or time to teach Anakin.

Garth'zel starts absently tapping his fingers on the table as he thinks. "There probably won't be any to hand over the next time we're on Tattooine, given you'll be working your way through things to find where you're supposed to be. The things you're fairly 'I know this already' about would be good practice for the later things, anyway, so you'll be used to doing them in the specific format they're in instead of whatever idiosyncratic method you've had to come up with."

...He's pretty sure the kid doesn't know one of the words he used. Oops.

Edited (Missing word.) Date: 2022-05-20 07:47 am (UTC)

"What?" He's not wrong, Anakin was following along until 'idiosyncratic' was said, even if he clearly had a question. "Why does the format matter? If the answer is correct?" This is going to be a sticking point. He doesn't realize it but he has a number of mental shortcuts he does, and he's going to struggle to wrangle his brain into working in a 'typical' manner.

"There's no way for the people who produce these things to account for every possible variation of how people work their way through things, so they need to go with the version typically taught. As 'but why?' as it's likely to be, it'll at least give you a look at how people who learned entirely through this sort of thing have learned to think and get to the same conclusions you do."

Not that he's at all certain that any of what he just said will move the kid to be less of a headache about his schoolwork.

Anakin only partly followed and they was mostly in a sense of ' you said words I know, in a sentence, that sure was a sentence' way. "Ok."

It was not going to help, no.

..Right then. He's just going to concentrate on his food, now that it's arrived. He could tell that what he said flew over the kid's head. He can try again later.

He'd gotten (a little) better about letting Garth'zel eat without pestering him with questions or constant talk. He was used to mom and him taking about their days over meals because Watto kept them separated most of the day. He did ask him to identify what he was eating, both for curiosity and so if he liked something he could select it again or avoid it if he didn't care for it. Regardless he'd eat it.

But he did keep an eye out for those monkey-lizard things, eyes darting around pretty often.

Edited Date: 2022-05-22 06:14 am (UTC)

Garth'zel does, in fact, get to give one or two monkey-lizards a gimlet stare that results in them deciding to find somewhere else to be. Along with pointing them out to Anakin, so he'd know what they looked like.

Garth'zel had ordered grophet for both of them, although in varying amounts to account for species and size difference. The vegetables were more variable.

It was an impressive stare, yes, and Anakin can't copy it but he can and does commit the monkey-lizards to memory.

He liked knowing what he was eating, and he thanked Garth'zel for the information. Mostly he was quite happy to eat something new and figure out more kinds of foods.

Garth'zel's had plenty of experience with that kind of stare thanks to his role as a Dark Council member. Anything that made his job easier and spared him the need to fight anyone, the better, so far as he was concerned. Killing people wasn't always the most effective use of his time and efforts.

"After we've gotten everything we need for you, we'll take everything back to the ship and leave it in there, so we can wander the city without needing to worry about hauling everything around," he says once he's actually ready for an actual conversation while eating.

Anakin had known people to use stares like that, but they weren't people Ankain would think of as good. He wasn't sure Garth'zel thought of himself as 'good' but he was kind and in Anakin's opinion, good. No, kind was not always good. But sometimes it was.

"Makes sense. The monkey-lizards and pickpockets." More than the burden of carrying stuff. He'd gladly do that. Wasn't even near the heaviest burden he'd carried.

Garth'zel's aware that he isn't a particularly good person, giving being so doesn't mesh with being Sith. But what he is, is someone who manages to keep the not-good portions of himself on a tight leash.

"More the monkey-lizards, really. Well, and carrying everything around would get annoying after a while." Things don't have to be heavy to get irritating to haul around for long stretches of time.

Anakin doesn't have a great grasp on the finer points of morality, or on what being a Sith - or a Dark Side User - is. He's too young and not really experienced enough with the subject to pull out the differences.

Anakin shrugged - it most likely wouldn't bother him, as he was still used to hard physical work, and while the bags got bulky, they weren't heavy. He'd be fine, and wouldn't care if he did need to carry things. "I don't mind." They couldn't vanish if he was physically touching them.

"Mmm." Garth'zel goes back to focusing on his food, finishing it a few minutes later. "Are you going to need to have some boxed up to store in the galley to be reheated for you later?"

Having more than he could eat in one meal, enough that if he tried to eat everything would result in a seriously ill stomach was still not something Anakin was used to. There was some part of him still convinced that if he didn't eat everything offered, when it was offered, he wouldn't get it back. Garth'zel had shown no signs of that cruelty, but even still it was a worry in the middling area of his mind.

But he still had nearly a third of his plate left. Worrying on his lip with his teeth for a moment, Anakin swallowed and nodded. "I think so."