spncentral | 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.

Current Mood: calm

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"I can generally tell when people are lying to me," Garth'zel says with a shrug. "So, are you going to make a thing of it, or are we going to get moving?"

"Really? How can you tell?" Sure, Ezra will trot along at Garth'zel's side, but he's definitely going to make a thing of it, too. Curiosity coupled with amazement guarantee that.

"The same reason I knew what was coming when we met and was able to move that glass without touching it." In other words, because of the Force. If someone's skilled enough it's harder for him to tell, but an eight-year-old doesn't have those skills.

"You used a Force?" Ezra presses, just to be sure. "So I could learn that, too?" He's not even paying attention to where they're going anymore, or thinking about the dejarik game at all. This is a lot more interesting to him right now, and Garth'zel doesn't seem to mind him asking questions.

(He's really different from most of the people Ezra's met on the streets before.)

"The Force. There's only one Force, although there's more than one aspect to it," Garth'zel corrects gently but firmly. "Eventually, yes, although I think you're a little young to have it work well."

Once they're back in the lounge, Garth'zel reclaims his previous seat.

"Can I still try?" Ezra climbs into his seat, but makes no move for the dejarik controls. Garth'zel was right to predict earlier that an eight year old's attention span wouldn't hold for long. Now that there's something much more immediately interesting to talk about, the game just doesn't hold the same appeal.

Garth'zel shakes his head. "You barely know the Force exists, much less how to use it properly. You have plenty to learn before you can get to that point. And I'm not going to be on Lothal forever to teach you."

Meaning Ezra would need to leave with him if he was to learn.

Oh. Of course he was going to leave. That's what space travelers do. But somehow Ezra had forgotten to think about that, and now disappointment pulls heavily on him. He should have known better, really, but the offer of a job and a safe place to stay had felt like something more permanent.

"You can't stay a little longer?" he tries to wheedle. "What if I have lots of stuff to show you?" Even with as short a time as he's known Garth'zel, he already doesn't want him to go.

"Eventually, you'll run out of new things for me to see," Garth'zel points out. "I'll probably be here for about a week. Maybe a day or two less."

Depends on if there's a need to wait for parts to fix things on his ship. At least this way, he'll have plenty of time to find things to restock his ship.

Every word crushes Ezra's hope a little more, until he's just looking down at the table, kicking his feet in the air. A week or less... That's hardly any time at all. Not when there's so much he wants to learn. It's not easy stuff either. He couldn't even get the plate to move when he tried. Maybe he won't be able to learn anything before Garth'zel goes.

I wish I could go with him...

It's a brief, fleeting thought. He's never thought of living anywhere but on Lothal, and there's still that hope that maybe his parents could still come back someday, but...

But it's been nice, being here with Garth'zel. He's given Ezra food, and cleaned him up, and he's talked to him like Ezra's a person and answered all the questions he has. He's even played a game with him, and... and Ezra hasn't felt lonely even once, and...

And of course it was too good to last.

He probably wouldn't want me around anyway, Ezra reasons. No one does.

Still...

"Will you stay until I run out of stuff to show you?" It's a small straw to grasp, but he'll grasp it.

Garth'zel nods. "I think I can manage that."

Even if he has the feeling he'll be twitchy about staying on the planet too long by then.

He reaches out to put a finger under Ezra's chin to tilt his head up to make him look at him. "I'll try to teach you what I can in the time available. Although as I said before, I'll need to remember how I was taught so I'll be able to teach you properly."

Ezra's mood lifts with that promise. It's not as much as he wants, but it's better than nothing at all. And maybe he can find something new every day to keep Garth'zel there a little bit longer.

Like an open book, it's easy to see when Ezra's expression changes to something a little happier, more hopeful, if still tempered by disappointment. "I'll come back tomorrow," he promises, coming to a decision he hadn't settled completely on yet. But Garth'zel's been nothing but kind to him, and Ezra's been around him long enough now that he doesn't think it's a trick. (The promise of money and more food helps, too. One good meal, or even two, just doesn't erase the memory of desperation, or fatten up a child who's still way too thin.) "Will you a'member by tomorrow?"

"I'll remember," Garth'zel says with a nod. "I'll just need some time to wake up properly first."

In other words, try not to show up too early in the morning. Let him have time to drink some caf and wake up. Although he'll hold off on making breakfast. May as well not only make food for the both of them at the same time but time it so Ezra's will still be hot.

"Okay," Ezra agrees. He figures he can scrounge for breakfast before he comes over and that that should be plenty of time for Garth'zel to wake up. (Whether or not he'll have any luck finding food is another question, but it's one he'll worry about tomorrow.)

With that settled, Ezra reaches to turn the dejarik table back on. They still have a little time before his clothes are dry, so they might as well play another game.

...a game he's losing (again) when their time is up, though maybe not quite as badly as he's lost the other games. Ezra puffs out his cheeks in childish frustration. "This game is too hard."

"You're just inexperienced," Garth'zel corrects. "When you were learning to tie your shoelaces, did you give up and say it was too hard or keep trying until you got it right?"

Time to make a point.

"Tying my shoes is lots less hard than this," Ezra argues. It's not a fair comparison at all. "An' I don't gotta beat anyone better than me. It's just shoelaces."

Time to get used to fighting to make those points, Garth'zel.

"Tying them was still something new you had to learn. And you are getting better at this. You just aren't seeing it because you still lost. But it took you longer to do so than previous times. That's improvement." Garth'zel isn't giving up on his point.

"I still lost though." But his discouragement is lessening a little bit now, his mood responding to Garth'zel's praise. Praise from adults is a rare, rare thing. It feels good to hear someone say good things about him. Even if he thinks he might not deserve it. "So it doesn't matter, right?"

"If you were in a professional competition, no. But you're playing it with me as learning how to do so. So it does." Even as he speaks he turns off the table. "Time to check on your clothes so you can change back into them."

And give him his shirt back. Although he's probably going to leave it in the crew quarters so Ezra can have something to wear to bed if he were to decide to spend the night the next day.

Ezra's still not sure he's convinced, but the change in subject distracts him from any further argument. He gets down from his chair, hiking his borrowed shirt up his shoulder again, and follows the Zabrak out of the lounge so he can reclaim his clothes.

Clean clothes, he discovers a few minutes later, smell really, really different from what he's grown used to. And they look different, too. There's no dirt or stains! (Well, a lot fewer stains.) It's almost hard to believe they're the same clothes he had on earlier.

And they're warm. Warm and soft in his arms, just fresh out of the dryer. Standing there, Ezra hugs them up close, marveling at the feeling, and forgetting that he's supposed to get changed.

"Are these really mine?"

"Considering that I doubt someone snuck on board to replace your clothes in the wash, yes," Garth'zel says, amused. "You remember where the 'fresher is so you can change back into them?"

Well, when Garth'zel puts it like that, no, it doesn't seem likely at all. More likely would be Garth'zel switching them, but even that doesn't seem plausible. This is just what it's like to have clean clothes, as novel as that is.

Ezra nods and scampers off to go change - and sure enough, when he does pull his clothes back on, they're definitely his, with holes in all the right places. They're just clean and no longer stiff with grime. On his way back to Garth'zel, his footsteps slow, though, until he shuffles to a stop once he's there.

"I guess it's time to go," he says, feeling strangely reluctant. Will it all be a dream if he leaves and comes back? Will Garth'zel still be here tomorrow? "I'll see you later?"

"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.