spncentral | Of Sith And Street Rats

"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.

Ezra follows him out, glad to escape, but unhappy with the outcome itself. It still doesn't seem right to him.

And that's what prompts him to shake his head when Garth'zel asks his question. He'd just paid for five jogans for him. Ezra doesn't have any money to pay him back. This is the only way he can make it even.

"'m not hungry yet."

He's already forgetting that Garth'zel can tell when he's lying.

"You know better than to lie to me," Garth'zel admonishes without any real heat. "Come on. Let's go find somewhere to get food. What I was going to make for breakfast can wait until tomorrow."

Ezra ducks his head guiltily when Garth'zel calls him out on the lie. But it hadn't been a bad lie. He hadn't been lying to be mean or get away with something he shouldn't. "But you already paid money for me today," he says, dragging his feet.

"So? That doesn't change the fact you still need to eat," Garth'zel points out before side-eyeing Ezra.

"Am I going to need to tuck you under my arm again?" Mostly to get the kid to speed up.

In response, Ezra edges away from him. Can't pick him up if he can't catch him!

"I had my sandwich that I saved, so I'm okay, an'- an' I told you, it's not fair. You didn't even have to come get me, so I already owe you lots."

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the galaxy isn't fair." Considering that Ezra's on the streets with no parents.

"While you may supposedly be fine, I need something to eat. Do you really want to watch me eat while you sit there and wait for me to be finished?" He thinks not.

Life isn't fair. Ezra knows that. But usually when it's not fair, it's not in his favor. That makes this feel even more weird.

On the other hand, it's been long enough since he ate now that his stomach is starting voice its own opinion. With the memory of being so hungry before still fresh in his mind, it's really hard to ignore its argument that if Garth'zel wants to feed him, he should let him. What if he doesn't get another chance to eat after this?

It's that hunger and memory of desperation that prompts his feet to pick up their pace, enough to keep up with Garth'zel.

"What if you didn't pay me for today? Would that make it even?"

Edited 2018-08-06 01:18 (UTC)

"I suppose." They finally walk out of the compound as they're talking. "Does anyplace come to mind as having good food?"

Time to redirect Ezra's attention, he thinks. Get him thinking about eating, rather than what's come earlier.

Good places to eat? Ezra has to think about that for a moment, because it's not like he gets to go into restaurants or cafes to buy food. Sometimes he does get to eat people's leftovers, though, especially if they ate outside, and he's got lots of experience eating the food that gets tossed in the garbage. If that's anything to judge by (which Ezra thinks it is) then...

"Ralstaan's. It's got really good food." Pleased at being able to answer with what he thinks is the best place, Ezra almost starts forward to lead the way. But he falters after the first step as he realizes there's a problem with that place. "But... But it's expensive, so if you don't wanna spend a lot, Old Jho's got Loth-rat pie. It's good, an' it doesn't cost a lot."

"Don't worry, I can afford it. But Old Jho's might be the better option for today." Given he has Ezra with him and the kid would definitely stand out at a nicer location like it sounds like the other one was.

"Let's go get breakfast, shall we?"

He really would. Even with cleaner clothes than he usually wears, there's still no disguising the worn holes.

But Ezra like's Jho's. He likes the food, and the man himself can be nice. He even has a standing offer that if Ezra manages to catch any Loth-rats, he'll buy them from him for his pies. So Ezra's more than content to lead Garth'zel to the cheaper option he picked.

"So after we eat, did you wanna look at stuff? What kinds of things do you like to see?" He's taking his job as tour guide seriously.

"Things of historical interest comes to mind. Are there any you can think of, or is Lothal too far away from anything else for people to bother doing much of note here?" He has the vague feeling that it may have been part of the Sith Empire, albeit on the very edge of it.

History? Ezra gives Garth'zel a look caught between blank and deer-in-speeder-lights, because history isn't something he can remember paying attention to, even though he knows his teachers sometimes talked about distant events like the colonization of Lothal, or when people first built Capitol City, or the stuff about the Empire itself. But he can't admit that. This is how he's going to keep Garth'zel here for as long as he can! Think! He's gotta think! There's gotta be something he knows about.

"What about the city hall?" he says, grasping the only thing he can think of off the top of his head. "That's where they sign important stuff, and... and it's been there for a really long time."

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