Weekend and Sunshine (Mooney)

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra Gly was on one of her typical positions, lying flat on her back. She was not asleep, nor was she engaged in lovemaking (either good or bad); the Togruta teenager was tinkering, in this case with a landspeeder.

"Repulsors are all wacky..." She muttered intently to herself as she pried loose a metal cover to gain a better look at the workings. Everything was covered in sand, and she had to close her eyes from a stream of it that poured out, threatening to get into her round, amber eyes. When the feel of it had subsided, Tashra shook her head to get the sand off and opened her eyes again.

I know...

"Hey Perry, hand me a wrench," She instructed her droid, who was eager to please. It was nice to have a best friend like Perry. You just didn't get more steadfast than a droid, they were always there for you, round the clock.

Yes your honor. The big one or the small one?

Of course Perry was slightly crazy.

"The small one counselor," Tashra instructed, knowing her droid preferred to be treated as if he really was a trial lawyer in a courtroom. And promptly she received exactly what she'd asked for.

In a manner of minutes, the teenage mechanic had the repulsors all cleared, and they even worked. A few more minutes, and she held out her hand to receive payment for her work. Sure enough, the promised twenty credits were delivered, and with a big, stupid grin, the Togruta girl wandered out into the streets.

First stop, lunch.

Tashra found herself in a short line for dewback kabobs, grilled over a piece of metal grating. Hardly fine dining, but just the thing for a young carnivore in need of sustenance.

Plus, it was the weekend.

[Moonfire]

Lorelei had only spent a few hours of Tatooine and while certainly... exotic compared to Ruusan and the House ship, she had already deemed it pretty terrible. The suns beat down on her pink skin relentlessly, the harsh natural light causing her to blink repeatedly as a hand tried desperately to shelter them from the rays. And lets not mention the heat, the way it prickled across the tender flesh of her exposed collar and shoulders, was most unpleasant. And yet the girl was thankful, thankful for the opportunity to be on the planet, a kind traveler having picked her up and deposited her there on her journey towards Zeltros.

The space port she had found herself in was a curious one, the area around it more a bazaar filled with various shops peddling arms, strange foods, a garage of some wort. All of these things new and interesting and strange. Glancing both ways down the street, feet bare and relishing in the warmth of the paving she walked down, taking in the many voices and strange words of the inhabitants of the port.

And the smells, oh the smells that wafted through the air around the young woman. Her nose wrinkled at the awkward musky sweetness of the cooked meat, her disgust betrayed by an animal like groan came from her stomach as it twisted, reminding her that it had been nearly a day since her last meal.

The simple leather pouch at her side jangled as fingers went for the credits within, rustling the few chips she had as she followed the scent to its source. A moderate line stretched out as a Besalisk turned and rotated the mysterious meat. The vendor with his large mouth, four arms and bizaare appearance was too much for the young girl, small hand still clutching the sparse chips in hand. Did she even have enough?

At the end of the line was a girl, close enough to her own age, who seemed by all accounts harmless. A togruta, that Lorelei could recognize, having met a few during trading stops as a small child. And were certainly less frightening than the monstrous stall vendor.

With the quietest steps Lorelei moved behind the girl before tapping her on the shoulder.

"Pardon, Mister," She began, holding out the credit chips for Tashra to see her accent thick and fluid. "Meat, what sort is it? Enough, yes?"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra was whistling to herself when she felt the person behind her tap her on the shoulder. Promptly she turned, and blinked a few times as the pink girl called her Mister. Or she thought the pink girl called her Mister.

A quick glance from side to side verified no one else was around who could be called Mister, so the Togruta girl decided it was apparently her. There was also a handful of credits involved, which Tashra didn't think was being offered to her. Judging by the broken words in Basic, the girl wanted to know what meat was being sold and whether or not she had enough for it.

"Well, they've got dewback, and bantha. Those are a big lizard and a, uh... big... fuzzy... thing."

The teenage mechanic lost track of her thoughts a little as she mentally wondered how exactly you described a bantha, but she managed to find her way back to the topic of meat pretty fast.

"Bantha's kinda gamey and stringy if you ask me, and dewback's a little different. Takes some getting used to. I think it's tasty personally, but I kind of grew up with it, so... Oh right, money."

Perry was already leaning forward and scrutinizing the money, and he pronounced a quick ruling about it in his usual clinical tone.

"This is not legal tender in Hutt space."

Tashra gave a sympathetic look to the other girl and pulled out her own small pile of Hutt currency, counting it quickly. Then she made her charitable act of the day.

"I'll buy you a kabob though, you look kinda hungry." Another sympathetic look accompanied the statement, along with an appraising glance. Tashra had missed it at first, but the girl did look quite hungry. She was also barefoot, and Tashra looked wide-eyed.

"You're barefoot? Are you crazy?"

[Moonfire]

Lorelei watched, brow wrinkled in confusion as the Togruta girl, after kindly explaining the mysterious stuff on the grill then went about rummaging in her own bag, the mechanical voice of her droid announcing that her money was 'not legal tender in Hutt space'. After a moment of struggling to comphrend her actions and words the realization dawned.

"No, no!" She waved her free hand, tucking the useless Republic currency back into her satchel. "No, no no." She struggled for a moment, face twisting as her mind reeled for the right words, plucking them out of the air in Basic.

"Very kind of you, Mister. I can... How you say? Get through? Get... by? Get..." she seemed lost in thought, brown eyes glazed over for a moment before coming back. "Yes, get by. I can get by." Of course she was hungry, but accepting such charity? From a stranger? Oh no, everything in life must be earned.

Her eyes followed Tashra's to her feet, the dusty pink toes peering out from underneath the long calico skirt. "Crazy? No, am very sane. Shoes are uncomfortable." Lorelei nodded decisively, as though it were the most obvious answer in the world.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra looked back up from the protruding toes after the girl's comment about shoes being uncomfortable, the rest of her statement totally lost somewhere in the Togruta girl's mind where they hadn't really registered.

"Well yeah," She admitted. "But it's over 41 degrees out here, you could get your feet burned during the day."

Sparky tilted her head curiously before making a suggestion. "You could, uh, at least stand in the shade. Might cool ya down a little bit."

The line advanced further and Tashra reached the front, producing a pair of chits and ordering a pair of dewback kabobs, then stepped to the side after paying as they were being cooked. There was a shady recess next to the wall the stand was on, and Tashra did her best to herd the other girl over into it like a mother bird attending to a chick.

Then Tashra simply stood there, briefly scratching one of her montrals and not sure what to say. After a few long seconds she figured something out.

"So, I'm Tashra, people call me Sparky. And this is Perry, my droid. What's your name?"

Perry waved a metallic hand and echoed Tashra's greeting politely before falling silent again.