spncentral | Of Sith And Street Rats

"You will," Garth'zel agrees, heading to the ship's ramp and tilting his head in its direction to indicate that Ezra should follow him. "I'll do some exploring to get a general idea of the layout of the area and look for some things I could use. Try not to steal anything over the next few days so I won't have to get you out of trouble, hmm?"

Try not to steal anything. The look Ezra gives him then is one laced full of doubt. Does this guy know how hard it is to live on the streets without stealing? If Ezra could sustain himself just off of begging and scraps from garbage cans, they probably never would have met in the first place, since Ezra wouldn't have tried pickpocketing him. He doesn't say that, though. He doesn't want Garth'zel to think that badly of him. So...

"Okay," he says simply as he follows behind. "But don't explore too much, okay? 'Cause it's gonna be my job to show you, remember?" Just in case Garth'zel's forgotten.

Once they're at the ramp, he once again has to battle reluctance to take those first steps once it's lowered. He glances back up at Garth'zel, as though waiting for one last confirmation.

"I know, but better that I find where I can buy more food if I'm going to be feeding both of us, yes?"

That way, he can get the food put away reasonably quickly instead of potentially carrying it around for hours. With a side of his commentary serving as a reminder that Ezra's going to get regular meals for the next few days.

That reminder is an important one, because Ezra hadn't quite connected that he was really going to be fed. Garth'zel can probably tell that, too, by the way the little boy's face lights up.

Congratulations, Garth'zel, you've just guaranteed that Ezra's going to have a hard time not coming too early.

"There's a- a market if you go down the street from the space port an' get on the transport that says Fair Street," he says. "There's people with buns an' fruit and jogans and... and lots of food." He's being helpful, not making suggestions, honest. It's just that that's what his mind jumps to first.

"All right," Garth'zel says with a nod. "Anything I fix will probably be a little heavier on meat than you're used to since Zabraks need more than humans do. But I'll make sure to get a decent amount of the other things as well."

Which is where Ezra's suggestions come in, to make sure there's a source of nutrients a growing human needs.

"I like meat too," Ezra says quickly. It's just more expensive, harder to steal, and doesn't keep as well as bread and fruit. "Loth-rat pie's the best!" Just in case Garth'zel's never had that local dish before.

The talk about food has its intended effect, though, leaving Ezra feeling better about leaving and coming back. He takes a step down the ramp, then pauses for just a moment. "I put your box back on the 'fresher counter." He'd briefly thought about keeping it, but at eight years old, he hasn't become so much of a thief that he'd steal from someone who's been nice to him. Even if it would be really nice to have a box like that. Then he takes off down the ramp, pockets full of food that he can have for dinner tonight - and with his little heart more full of hope than he's felt in a long, long time.

While Garth'zel was out doing his bit of exploring, he did indeed get plenty of food to make sure there was enough stocked in the galley to feed the both of them.

Then in the morning, he's sitting at the top of the ramp of his ship, sipping at a cup of caf as he waits for Ezra to put in an appearance. Then and only then will he make breakfast.

You'd think Ezra would show up pretty quickly, wouldn't you, what with the promise of food. Maybe he even would have been out there waiting before Garth'zel even got up. But breakfast time comes... and passes. Half an hour, an hour... And still there's no sign of a hungry little boy.

What will Garth'zel do?

Empty cup rinsed out and left in the sink and the ship locked up tight later, Garth'zel heads out in search of Ezra, stretching out with his senses to find whatever trace of the boy's presence in the Force he can.

The traces are there to be found. He's definitely not dead, and not in that much distress, even if his emotions do vibrate with frustration, worry, and stress. There may still be some alarm, though, when the trail leads Garth'zel to an Imperial compound.

Inside the compound, Ezra yells and kicks at the door to the room he's been locked up in. "You better let me go!" he shouts to whoever might be listening. "I didn't do nothin' to that guy at the stall! When my dad finds out I'm here, he's gonna be mad! An'- An' you'll be sorry!"

Deep down, though, he's the one afraid here. What if Garth'zel thinks he changed his mind and leaves because Ezra never showed up?

Garth'zel gets led to the compound by following his sense of Ezra's presence. He pauses outside it, trying to decide how to handle things before just walking up to the guard at the entrance. "Excuse me, but I have reason to believe that a child I hired to do some things for me may be here. He's human, eight years old, and has black hair and blue eyes."

As he speaks, he exerts mental pressure on the stormtrooper to make him inclined to actually be helpful.

Stormtroopers have never really been known for mental resistance, and when faced with such a reasonable inquiry, this one is no different.

"Yeah, we had a kid like that arrested and brought here," the trooper supplies. "He's been accused of stealing from the Empire. Still in custody, as far as I know."

"Oh for--" Garth'zel covers his eyes with one hand for a moment. "I'm sure that the worst he would have done would have been to steal some food from someone's market stall so he wouldn't starve. I also doubt he actually would have done so, since he knew I was going to feed him as that's part of his pay."

"Could you find out where he is and have someone who can actually leave their post take me to him to find out if he actually did anything or if the person accusing him was just being paranoid?" Along with taking his employee with him.

"I wouldn't know the details," the stormtrooper says. "Higher ups will get it sorted out." One way or another. Either way, it's not his problem what happens to one scrawny street kid. "Wait a minute while I call someone up to take you there."

And about a minute is all it takes for another trooper to arrive to take Garth'zel to the room Ezra's being kept in - just in time to hear Ezra still yelling.

"-an' if you don't let me go, my uncle the Emperor is gonna come down an' lock you all up!"

Garth'zel can't quite smother a laugh when he hears the latest.

"Ezra, if you're going to make up lies, at least attempt one that sounds believable," he says, strolling over. "Does someone want to tell me what he's supposedly done so I can get him out of here and doing the job I hired him for?"

Ezra has a split second of shock when he realizes that Garth'zel is there, that he came looking for Ezra himself. Then he blurts out the first thing that comes to his mouth, not even waiting to hear all of what Garth'zel just said.

"Dad!"

Look, he's good at thinking quickly, just not so good at thinking thoroughly (or coming up with believable lies).

The stormtrooper stands there for a moment, just staring at the kid. Then his head tilts toward Garth'zel, his voice hinting towards wry. "Adopted?" Whether or not he believes the story is another question, but in another moment he straightens up, back to business. "He was accused of stealing fruit from a crate being sold to the Empire. We've been trying to locate his guardians so they can pay the damages."

"I didn't steal!" Ezra says hotly. "I wasn't hungry!" And amazingly enough, that's not a lie.

"Sure, why not. I'm apparently the only one on the planet who actually gives a damn about him anyway," Garth'zel says wearily before sighing and motioning at the door. "May as well let him out. He'll stay with me instead of running."

Once Ezra's out, he's down on one knee to be closer to eye level with him. "Why don't you tell me what happened."

It's an order phrased gently. Time to find out what actually happened.

Garth'zel believed him before. Garth'zel knows when he's lying, and when he's telling the truth. He'll believe Ezra now. Ezra takes a breath, latching onto those thoughts.

"All I did was look. I was- I was just gonna go find you, an' I went down the street the guy with the fruit stall's on, and he saw me an' said I stole, but I didn't! He just wanted to get me in trouble!"

Breathe, Ezra. Breathe.

Garth'zel considers that for a moment before nodding and standing again. "All right."

He glances over at the stormtrooper. "I think this next part is going to be a little above your pay grade. A Lieutenant should be high-ranked enough to carry out my suggestion on how to resolve this."

There's only a wait of a few minutes before the man arrives and Garth'zel turns his attention to him, straightening and extruding an air of authority. "Assuming the kitchens haven't already started disseminating the contents of the box that has allegedly been stolen from, it would be best to have someone check the contents to make certain if the proper amount is in them. If there's less than there should be, I'll pay the difference. But I rather suspect the amount will be what it should, in which case, I imagine the shopkeep will get a talking to about wasting the Empire's time with false accusations."

In Ezra's experience, stormtroopers never listen to anyone except other Imperials, and that goes even more so for their ranking officers. But the stormtroopers are listening to Garth'zel, and the lieutenant who arrives obeys him, too. Ezra watches the exchange with no small amount of awe. How does Garth'zel do that? Do they all just know that Garth'zel is someone who should be obeyed?

Little by little, Ezra's anxiety eases as they wait for the fruit to be tallied, knowing that he has a man like this on his side. They'll see he's innocent, and Garth'zel will make sure they let him go. Hopefully he won't be mad at Ezra for having to bail him out of trouble even after he warned Ezra to be careful, but Ezra feels like he can handle that. This one really wasn't his fault.

Several minutes later the man assigned to the task of counting come back. Ezra exhales with relief - until the man opens his mouth. "The crate was five jogans short, sir."

What?

"But I didn't!" Ezra protests. "I didn't steal!"

Edited 2018-08-04 20:17 (UTC)

Garth'zel glances down at Ezra. "I know. If for no other reason than where would you hide that many or have had time to eat them all?"

Meanwhile, his mind has jumped to the shopkeep. He has the feeling the crate never had the full amount in the first place. Not that saying as much would do any good. "The person checking is sure that no one's used any of the fruit already?"

After receiving confirmation, he hands over enough money to compensate for the missing fruit without comment.

Ezra stares at Garth'zel as he pays for the missing fruit, an act at odds with his statement that he believed Ezra didn't steal.

"Why are you paying?" he asks. "I didn't take them!"

"I know. But they aren't going to believe you with the fruit missing." May as well save himself the headache of arguing with the Imperials.

"But that's not fair." And never mind that he's not the one paying here. Ezra's sense of justice runs pretty strong (and probably always will.)

Ignoring Ezra, the lieutenant finishes entering the necessary information in a data pad. "Alright, we've adjusted for the discrepancy. You and your... ward are free to go."

"No, it's not," Garth'zel agrees. "But one has to learn to choose their battles, and this isn't a fight worth it."

Garth'zel nods at the lieutenant and turns to go. "Come on. I know you weren't hungry when you ended up here, but are you hungry now?"

He certainly is, considering he hasn't eaten yet today.

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