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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'm done." There's still water in his cup, but he's not as concerned about finishing that as he would be if it was juice or milk. Water's a lot easier to obtain. Putting his cup down, he hops down from the table, reassured by the comforting weight of the fruit in his pocket.

Once they're out of the cantina, Ezra points as he takes the lead. "We're going this way now." Time to do his duties as tour guide, even if it's just leading Garth'zel to the city hall to find out what kind of stuff there is to see.

Over the next few days, Ezra gets to learn almost as much about his home planet as Garth'zel does along with showing him plenty of things he already knew about.

Not to mention Ezra finally deciding to spend nights on the ship, which let Garth'zel make breakfast in the morning as soon as he was ready for it, rather than waiting for Ezra to put in an appearance first. (Not to mention let them avoid any more 'incidents' while Ezra was on his way to meet Garth'zel in the morning for breakfast.)

"So. Where are we going today?" Garth'zel asks as he sips at his caf over the remains of his breakfast. He only has a few bites left. May as well give his stomach time to deal with what's already in it first.

Sleeping on the ship had just begun to make sense after the first couple days. He wouldn't have to worry about getting home in the dark if he stayed with Garth'zel too late, and he wouldn't have to worry about getting back on time in the morning, or whether or not Garth'zel would still be here. That was a niggling fear at times, that Garth'zel would get bored and leave, and maybe not even say goodbye. Not to mention that this means he gets breakfast sooner.

But even with those problems solved, there's still the bigger one. How can he convince Garth'zel to stay? Every day they've spent together has just made him want it even more. Garth'zel is... maybe not fun, but he pays attention to Ezra and cares about what he thinks, and he knows so much, and he's interesting, and just being around him fills some kind of empty space Ezra hadn't realized was there. He doesn't know how to describe it, just that he doesn't want it empty again.

If he can't keep coming up with things to look at, though...

"I was thinkin'," he says, trying not to show that he's been wracking his brain all morning. "Do you wanna see the flowers? They like people." He doesn't even know if Garth'zel likes flowers. He just can't think of anything else.

Garth'zel arches an eyebrow. "Flowers like people?"

Ezra's going to need to explain that one before Garth'zel says yes or no. Although he has the feeling it's going to be 'no'. Going somewhere just to look at plants doesn't exactly appeal to him.

Ezra perks up, interpreting the question as interest. "Yeah!" he says. "They bloom if you spend time with them!" And what else would that mean except that they like him?

The concept of plants that thrive off of heat or something else exuded by living beings was probably a little too advanced for him when his mother first introduced him to the daisies of Lothal.

"Are you sure they aren't just reacting to something in the area somehow?" He's not sure the plants actually have any sort of awareness.

Although it might be worth investigating to see what's going on with them.

"No, they bloom when you get close," Ezra refutes. "If you're not too close an' you just watch, they don't." See? That's totally proof.

Garth'zel raises an eyebrow. "Interesting. Where exactly are these flowers?"

He's leaning towards figuring out what's with them. He doubts they react for the reason said by Ezra.

A little knot loosens inside of Ezra, relief washing over him. It worked. He's found one more thing to keep Garth'zel's interest. That means more time to come up with something else to keep him on the planet.

"They're in the grass," he explains, then realizes that's not very specific. "The tall stuff outside the city. Sometimes people grow 'em in their gardens, but we'd have to ask to look at them, and- an' there's more of the ones outside. There's a big patch by the tower my mom and dad used to go to out there."

Not exactly a very specific description, but fortunately for Garth'zel there aren't too many towers outside of the city itself. The one communications tower, abandoned since the Bridgers disappeared and people became too spooked to use it, sticks out of the surrounding grasslands plain and clear.

"I know what grass is," Garth'zel points out in an amused tone. Honestly, child.

He finally sets down his caf to finish the last of his food. "After we're done here, I'll check what the weather for today is supposed to be like to help decide if we should go in the morning or afternoon. We'll work on other things for whichever segment of time gets spent here."

Said things involving teaching Ezra to use the Force. ...Along with probably paying a visit to one or two portions of the city, since it was probably about time Garth'zel get more food.

"But there's more than one kind'a grass," Ezra says. "I was just sayin' which one." He wasn't trying to say Garth'zel didn't know what grass was. Garth'zel's way too smart not to know about that!

His own food finished, Ezra glances one last time to be sure he didn't leave behind any crumbs. It's just not in him to waste any food, even if he's gotten more confident that Garth'zel will feed him again. It's only a quick glance, though, because he's quickly looking back up at Garth'zel. That hint of other things...

"Are we gonna do more practicing the Force?" Maybe he hasn't really gotten the hang of it yet, as new as he still is, but what Garth'zel's been teaching him feels special. It's something only they can do, and it's a secret. Ezra can't help but feel eager for the next lesson.

"We are," Garth'zel confirms with a nod. "Along with possibly a trip into the city to buy more food; I need to see what I need to get more of."

There's a couple of things he should get more of, now that he thinks about it, but he should see if there's anything else. Probably in a half hour or so.

His food finished, he rises to collect their plates and utensils to put in the dishwasher; leaving his mug and Ezra's glass out for now.

"I can help with that!" Ezra's always down to help buy food.

But first they're going to find out what the weather's going to be like. Not rainy, Ezra hopes. He doesn't really like when it rains. He always ends up wet because he can't just stay home and hole up. Not unless he got lucky earlier and already got some food. And then it takes hours for his clothes to dry out, and since he doesn't have any clothes to change into...

...although maybe Garth'zel will let him borrow a shirt again. And he can put his clothes in Garth'zel's dryer. He'd only have to wait fifteen minutes or so to have dry clothes of his own to wear. If only I could always do that... A pang of longing makes him trail behind Garth'zel almost close enough to reach up for his hand. He doesn't reach, though. It just doesn't feel like he should.

"When you go away, will you ever come back?"

"I honestly have no idea. Sometimes I go back to a planet I've been to before, sometimes I don't." It depends on if there's a reason for him to do so. Such as with Taris, back in his own time, he could see no reason whatsoever to return. Not with it being a Rakghoul-infested mess. Now, he's more willing to go back since he doesn't need to worry about things trying to eat him.

Things loaded into the washer, he closes it to let it get started. Then he deftly avoids running over Ezra to reclaim his mug to head out of the galley with it. "I'm going to see what things are supposed to be like today. I think we would prefer not to head out if it's going to be too hot or something."

The answer to his question isn't as clear as Ezra wants - sometimes, sometimes not - but it's still enough to deflate his hope more than a little. There's still a chance, of course, but still. Experience has taught Ezra that people who leave Lothal don't usually ever come back again. Too backwater, too far away from anything important, too boring, or any number of other reasons he's heard passing spacers grumble. He doesn't know which reason would be Garth'zel's, or if it would be a reason he hasn't heard before, but it still feels too likely to him.

Unless Ezra can give him a reason to stay.

Biting his lip, the little boy lets himself fall behind while Garth'zel goes to check the weather for the day. He needs time to think. He's got to come up with something.

When Garth'zel comes back, he's going to find Ezra laid out on the lounge couch. "I don't feel good," Ezra complains. (His acting is nowhere near as good as he thinks it is.) "Can we go look at the flowers tomorrow?"

Upon returning, Garth'zel gives Ezra a patient look. "Aside from the fact that you are far too young for lying to me to work very well, One of the things I learned how to do with the Force is to heal. Specifically, as many illnesses as I could although I've mostly found myself healing various types of injuries instead."

In other words, he would potentially know even before Ezra does if Ezra's sick.

Edited Date: 2018-08-31 09:12 pm (UTC)

"I'm not lying!" Ezra protests, hastily preparing to justify. Crap, he'd forgotten about Garth'zel being able to read him like that. "I don't feel good. Not... not sick, just..." But words fail him, because he doesn't want to admit he's sad and upset and growing desperate. He doesn't even have all the words to describe how he feels. But that qualifies as 'not good,' doesn't it? Doesn't it?

So he wraps it up with a plaintive, "Can't I just stay here with you?"

Garth'zel blinks slowly, a few pieces falling together. "You don't mean in a 'spend the day working on things instead of heading out and about' way."

In other words, he realizes that Ezra means on a permanent basis.

He heads over to where he usually sits for their dejarik games, motioning for Ezra to sit up properly. Time to put everything else on hold. "Do you actually understand what you're asking? Because staying with me means leaving Lothal and either never coming back or only coming back every now and then."

Ezra hadn't meant it like that, exactly - or at least not consciously. But now that Garth'zel's phrased it like that out loud, something inside him squeezes tight, lodging just inside his throat with a longing that almost hurts.

"I..." Words fail him for a moment, caught in uncertainty. Leave Lothal? Maybe never come back? He looks down, fidgeting with the edge of his shirt. "But... mom and dad... What if...?" He swallows. It's a hope he hasn't given voice to in a long time, mostly because he's grown more and more sure they're dead.

"What if what?" Garth'zel prompts when it looks like Ezra isn't going to continue. He can't actually read your mind, child. Just do a very good imitation of doing so.

He's not entirely certain of how that was going to finish, so time for some clarification.

"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.