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Of Sith And Street Rats

Between thinking it best to steer as far away from the Core as possible given the current regime, and needing repairs to his ship, he finds himself on some backwater planet in the middle of nowhere. Not only that, but so far as he could tell, there were only a handful of cities worth the name with one of them being the capital city. Which was also oh-so-imaginatively named Capital City. It seemed to be his best bet, so it was the one he chose to land at.

While his ship was undergoing repairs, he heads out into the city. The workers don't need him breathing down their necks, so he may as well see what, if anything, was of interest. So lightsaber firmly hidden in his jacket, and anything the mechanics didn't need access to firmly locked, he heads out. May as well start with the market. Wherever it is.

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"What if..." He twists his hem some more, then finally lets it go to look up. "What if they're not dead an' they come back?" How would they find him? How would they know he's not dead? If he goes with Garth'zel, does that mean there's no chance he'll see them again?

"That's a possibility," Garth'zel says with a nod. "But, and you probably knew this was coming, do you think they'd want you to put your life on hold just in case they returned instead of doing what you need to in order to look after yourself?"

He gives Ezra some time to absorb that. "It's okay to miss them. But don't let that keep you from focusing on the present and future."

Ezra knows what the answer to that question is supposed to be, but it's still hard to answer it. His throat hurts with the lump that's stuck inside of it. Deeper still is an ache for someone who's not there, for arms to wrap around him and make him feel better even with such a hard decision to make.

"No..." he whispers, looking down again. His mom and dad would have wanted him to live with some to take care of him, he's sure. But... "But isn't there some way we could leave them a message? In case they come back, so they'll know I'm okay? And... and maybe they could call us, so they know I'm okay, too?"

"Do you know of anyone who would relay such a message?" If none of their friends were willing to take in their son, he's not sure if they could be relied on to give Ezra's parents any messages if they ever returned.

Ezra has to think about that, harder than you'd think he'd have to. His parents knew people, of course, but the ones Ezra could name have all vanished or avoid him. He doesn't know if they'd pass on a message like that.

Finally, though, he comes up with at least one possibility.

"Old Jho might," he says. "An' if my parents came back, I bet they'd see him." He remembers getting Loth-rat pie from Jho with his parents, and them talking. Surely they'd go to get food there again.

"That sounds like something to look in to," Garth'zel says after considering things for a moment. "But. I think you better take some time to think about what you want to do first before we go talk to him about things, hmm?"

Just in case Ezra decides he isn't up for leaving his home planet or has some other issue resulting in him staying behind.

Telling an eight year old to think about it isn't necessarily going to work that well, but Ezra reluctantly nods. "Okay..." He slides down from his seat, no longer even thinking about playing ill. "I wanna go out by myself for a while. Will... You won't go away without me, will you?"

Unfortunately, as whether to stay or go was ultimately Ezra's decision, Ezra gets to have the hard job of thinking about things.

Garth'zel shakes his head. "I won't. I'll head out on my own at some point to do things, but the ship will still be here."

So depending on when Ezra got back, he may need to wait for Garth'zel to return as well to let him back in. "Try to be back sometime around noon?" Then he can get lunch handled.

Ezra nods, but doesn't take much longer than that before shuffling from the room. He has a big choice to make here and...

It's not going to be easy for him.

...

When he leaves, it's not with any real path to take in mind. The streets are his home, as much as anywhere is these days. He lets his feet wander where they want to go as his mind rolls the problem over and over and over. He trails through the market, looking at the stalls without approaching any of them. (He doesn't need to. He's not hungry. And if he goes with Garth'zel, maybe he won't ever be hungry enough to steal again.) He passes by people he knows by sight, if not necessarily by name. He passes by strangers who still move with the flow of Lothal's streets. (Would he ever see any of them again?) He knows who to avoid, mostly, and can guess who he could maybe beg from. The week before he met Garth'zel proved that that's not a reliable system. None of this is. But it's... something familiar. Something he knows. He doesn't know what his future will be like with Garth'zel.

Eventually his feet take him down an empty street, to a building marked by the Empire for demolition. It's been like that for a few months now, but nothing's actually happened. Maybe they've just forgotten it exists. He stands there, just staring up at the building for a minute as indecision wars within him.

Finally, he pulls a keycard out of his pocket. "Mom... Dad..."

...

It feels like hours (and maybe it actually is) before he makes his way back to the ship. The ramp isn't down, so he sits down to wait, a Lothcat doll clutched to his chest.

Edited 2018-09-13 00:22 (UTC)

While Ezra's gone, Garth'zel works on some basic maintenance the ship needed to be done before taking his own turn to leave the ship, locking it up after him. Considering the repairs had been finished a few days earlier, he's able to leave it completely locked; there were now only two people who needed access to his ship.

His first stop while out was to determine what schooling materials he'd need to get for Ezra if he was to decide to stay with him. Garth'zel was almost certain the boy was, but was going to hold off on getting them just in case. It'll be enough to know where to find them.

Next up was the grocery shopping. He got just as much as he otherwise would have because he may as well. There wasn't really much reason to think there wouldn't be a need for just as much food today as the other days previously.

When he returns, he shows no indication that the fact Ezra had a stuffed toy with him was anything unusual and just gets the ship opened up. "Ready for lunch? I probably should have given you a little spending money for in case you wanted a snack."

Too late now.

Ezra doesn't let Garth'zel even make it onto the ramp before he latches two arms onto the man's leg, Loth-cat doll trapped between them and all. Maybe he's only known Garth'zel for a little while, and maybe he doesn't know if Garth'zel even likes hugs or wants them from him, but right now he's the best that Ezra's got, and Ezra really needs a hug.

"I don't need a snack," he says, voice muffled. "Dev says he wants a hug."

If Garth'zel's arms were free, they would have windmilled to help him stay upright, but as they aren't, he just staggers instead as he draws on the Force to help with not falling over.

After he's sure he wasn't going to either fall or drop anything, he speaks up. "He does, huh?"

Sounds like he's got his answer regarding if Ezra was staying behind on Lothal or leaving with him, considering the kid hasn't wanted hugs before now.

Ezra doesn't know himself yet that he's really settled on this, but kids are good at acting on impulse, and this is what his heart wants him to do. Not realizing how close he'd come to tripped Garth'zel up, the little boy just clings a little tighter until the man's regained his balance.

"Uh huh," he says. "He... he says he's been alone a long time."

"He has, huh? Well, he's going to need you to let go of me so I can set down the things I'm carrying and get into a better position for that hug." Given he's standing with his arms full and he's not entirely certain how well trying to put things down with a child latched on to him will work.

Reluctantly, Ezra lets go of Garth'zel, both of his arms wrapping back around his doll. He stays close, though, all but hovering. "He's been at my old house a lot, 'cause... 'cause I didn't want him to get wet an' dirty," he says, feeling like he has to explain - or at least to fill the air with words while he waits to hide his own anxiety.

"I understand," Garth'zel says, carefully setting down what he's bought, mindful of the eggs before stepping back to kneel and give Ezra his hug.

"Is there anything else there you'd want to bring with you?"

Ezra's arms are so little - too little to wrap all the way around - but the boy still does his best to hug Garth'zel tight, burying his face in the Zabrak's chest. He doesn't even pull away to answer, just shakes his head, voice muffled a bit.

"I... I left a message," he says. "In case mom an' dad come back there looking." It's not a direct answer, but he doesn't have one to give. How can he explain something that he just feels, that the stuff in his house isn't what he wants? That it's the memories and the people he wants to keep.

"All right," Garth'zel says, resting his chin on the top of Ezra's head. "There's no clothes or the like then? Because you're going to need at least a couple changes."

Which means clothes shopping if Ezra doesn't retrieve any from his old house.

Ezra doesn't answer for a moment, squirming just enough to tip Garth'zel off that he's trying not to fidget. It takes him that moment to remember that Garth'zel will know if he's lying, though, so reluctantly he admits the truth to him.

"They're all dirty. Really dirty." And more than a few have holes him them, all victims of his time on the streets without anyone to wash or care about his clothes.

Garth'zel loosens his hold for in case Ezra's wriggling was a sign that he was ready to be let go. Then he sighs. "I think that washing them so as to accurately tell what sort of shape they're actually in is going to need to happen. Then we can decide what to do with them. Any that need a simple patch job, I can fix, more or less. Others may need to be consigned to the rag pile so one or the other of us has something to wipe his hands with after working on something messy in the ship."

"But I have the feeling you're going to be getting a few new clothes if not quite enough are salvageable."

Edited 2018-09-18 01:59 (UTC)

Ezra's not trying to free himself just yet. In fact, he seems reluctant to let go - almost like he's afraid he won't get a hug again once this one ends. "Do we have to?" he asks.

It's not so much that he doesn't want his clothes... He just doesn't want to go back there yet.

On impulse, Garth'zel ruffles Ezra's hair, after moving his own head enough to be able to do so. "Do you really want to be stuck wearing one set of clothes and one of my shirts when those clothes aren't available?"

He wasn't expecting fingers in his hair, a ruffle like his dad used to give him. Ezra blinks, caught off guard and left uncertain how to interpret that. Good thing he's got a question to answer to distract him. He lifts one shoulder in a shrug that lets him stay where he is, and if Garth'zel wants to keep his hand on Ezra's head, he... he's okay with that.

"I'm used to it. And... an' it's better already anyway, 'cause you cleaned them."

"It's generally considered socially unacceptable for the person in charge of a child to have several changes of their own clothes while the child only has one set," Garth'zel points out dryly. "I'm not suggesting an entire wardrobe, just a few more clothes."

"It's okay," Ezra says, trying to reassure him. "People don't care about me anyway. They won't notice if I'm wearing the same thing." He's pretty sure about that, really. No one's ever said anything about his clothes before, except to say that they were dirty, and he was dirty, and that's not even a problem anymore.

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