Cantina adventures that take a turn

[notallofus]

For all that the climates of different regions and planets are vastly different, there's something comfortingly the same about every cantina Kanan's been in.

Maybe it's the smell.

Maybe it's the grumbling of pilots and criminals the galaxy over, insults and friendly banter jumbling in and over each other until a body can't tell which is which.

Maybe it's the drink.

And the drink -- and the cheap food that isn't protein paste -- is what gets Kanan to leave his seat at the table with Hera to go fetch them some more of both.

"I'll be right back."

Comments

[notallofus]

"Hey, guys," Kanan calls, to the asshole's friends a couple tables over.

"Come pick up your human, he's making a mess."

[for_everyone]

Hera lowers her arms, leaning back in her seat, her hand moving close to but not touching Kanan. She keeps watching the man, but she doesn't speak again, merely lets the seconds pass until at least, he seems to get bored.

"Eh, whatever." He rises from the chair, hooking his left hand around its back to pull it with him as he leaves. But as he does, he reaches out to Hera, dragging two curled fingers quick across her collarbone. It's over before she can jerk away, and the man doesn't even glance back at them.

[notallofus]

It's funny how he trips just as he gets back to his table, slamming his chin down hard as he goes.

Looks like he bit through his lip.

"You wanna introduce him to Chopper?"

[for_everyone]

Hera shakes her head, her eyes on the table now.

"He couldn't get anything out of me, so he tried to start a fight with you."

It's not a rebuke, but there's a shade of warning to it.

[notallofus]

"And I'm still sitting right here."

It's kind of a promise, because the last thing Hera needs is someone else handling this for her. Probably the last thing, anyway.

"It's not my fault if he can't walk in a straight line."

[for_everyone]

"All right." She definitely believes you, Kanan.

Hera reaches out, her fingers tapping the side of her glass, curling around as though she might lift it, but instead she shakes her head again.

"It's no use, I can't concentrate anymore."

[notallofus]

"Yeah."

Hey, she's met him before. Plausible deniability only works on other people.

Anyway.

"Want to work on tuning up the shield generator when we get back? It's going to involve lots of banging stuff with wrenches."

And then scrubbing corrosion off the connectors. The wrench part seems like it might be cathartic. That, and this maintenance task has been slipping down the list because it's not that urgent. But it'll be nice to have it done. It's probably the only peace of mind he can try to give her.

[for_everyone]

"Sounds like a good idea."

Her eyes are still down. It does help, as she imagines the steps she'll take, the systems she'll work on. But she's still glancing across the room, checking that the path the door is clear, that no one's approaching them again.

[notallofus]

Kanan sticks behind Hera and a little to one side, just to keep her sight lines as clear as he can.

And, maybe, to keep any other assholes in the cantina from staring at her. Not that it isn't too late for that.

"I may need two hands to count my ideas soon."

Maybe after the next three . . .

[for_everyone]

Hera closes her eyes for a moment, then looks up at Kanan.

"Let's just go now."

She knows she shouldn't have to leave. That maybe it's 'giving in.' But she also doubts she's going to be able to relax as long as she's still in here.

[notallofus]

"It's a shitty cantina, anyway."

Which is to say, yes, it's time to get gone.

[for_everyone]

Hera seems content to leave her drink mostly full.

But as she rises, she cups her hands, and lifts the remaining walda blossoms from their bowl. They've really been the highlight of the night.

[notallofus]

Kanan gives the blossoms a quick, sideways look as they start heading out.

"You know, I bet we can figure out how to make these."

Eventually.

[for_everyone]

"I'm betting it's not that hard."

Hera looks up at him, but she still keeps the other tables in her peripheral vision. "If we can find the blossoms."

That's the tricky part.

[notallofus]

"Good thing we have all those contacts of yours."

He's keeping a mental eye out with the Force, too, or maybe it's more accurate to say he's got a light hand on it, to nudge negative emotions down. Hera really doesn't want a fight, and he'll do his best to oblige her.

"Call in a few favors, borrow Chop to stir the frying oil . . . "

[for_everyone]

Hera relaxes the moment they step out into the cool moonlight. There are still plenty of reasons to be wary - the dark walk back to the ship, the drunken stragglers that could be heading to or out from the cantina. But having the sky above her always calms her.

"There are places where Imperial secrets are easier to get than a decent meal."

[notallofus]

Hopefully they'll get a mission soon. The sky above is great, but being in it (and also away from this place), will be a welcome relief.

"Must be a hot market for bribing with edible food."

What?

[for_everyone]

"'Edible' and 'decent' aren't always the same," she points out.

Hera raises her eyes. This stretch of land is desolate, only the thin glow of landed ships and shuttles and a few farms spread out across the distance. The cantina is good for an out-of-the-way rendezvous, or a drink undisturbed by the Empire, but now the little light on the ground means the stars shine clear in the unblemished sky. She smiles, briefly, listening to their steps on the rocky ground, feeling the soft, crisp petals of the blossoms between her fingers.

But then, she says, "Maybe we should talk about it."

[notallofus]

He turns to look at her, a too-quick motion rife with startlement.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

It happened to her, after all.

[for_everyone]

"I don't want to have to talk about it."

Her smile has faded. Hera looks from the stars down to her hands, the white moonlight highlighting the pale blue of the flowers in her hands. "But I think it might - help if we ..."

She sighs. Nothing sounds right. "... thought about our strategy."

[notallofus]

He's already missing her smile.

"I can do that," Kanan says promptly. (Is he relieved at the thought that maybe there's something he can do to make this less awful? Or to make his contribution . . . something that doesn't make everything worse? Yes. Yes he is. Theoretically.)

"Do you . . . do you have a strategy in mind? I can come up with some, but I'd rather do what you want, with this."

[for_everyone]

"Maybe I'm just questioning myself."

She looks over, glancing to him in the moonlight. "I'm glad that you listen to me, that you don't try to fight this kind of thing over me. But I wonder if I'm right. Not to engage."

[notallofus]

Kanan's quiet for a moment, taking a breath to tamp down the misplaced anger that such a slimeball of a person could, in aggregate, make Hera doubt her own choices.

Dammit.

"I think it comes down to what you need in the moment. This time it was not engaging. A lot of times it's not engaging. But I bet if you'd seen someone there who'd be helped by you making a fuss, or taking a stand, you would have."

[for_everyone]

"If there was someone there," she agrees.

"But would he think twice the next time he sees a Twi'lek in a cantina, if I had now?"

She shakes her head the moment she finishes saying it. "And I know, that can't be my responsibility. Maybe he would, maybe he'd think it was a great story, maybe it'd just put me in danger."

[notallofus]

"I think," Kanan says, after another moment of silence, "that he's the kind that will see you as an individual when you're doing something he doesn't like, and then go back to looking at all Twi'lek as if they came from his favorite holovid as soon as you're out of sight."

He rubs his face with one hand, hoping he didn't pick now to say the wrong truth.