Double Noon [lmr]

[Reisier]

Well, that didn’t sound horrible whatsoever. The Jedi had been partially worried that the starship would be lost, rendered unrepairable by the Togruta, but the problem had been found to the Jedi’s relief. Of course, the idea of the engine collapsing during flight or the engine exploding, was a bigger relief still. She nodded her head eagerly, a small smile drawn across her gentle lips. “Oh, that’s great news.” She added softly, watching as Tashra turned her attention to the comical droid, the piece was handed to Percy, studied carefully, before it was returned.

Honestly, they were quite the delightful pair – complete opposites as far as the Jedi could tell. Anahid turned on her heel, following the mechanic and the droid that now hurried down the hangar and out the street once more. It wasn’t long after the trio had ventured into the city of Anchorhead once more that Tashra began to talk once more.

“I was visiting a friend of mine,” Anahid explained, a light laugh following shortly afterwards, “…he’s another Jedi, hadn’t been able to see him in several years.” Well, at least since he had been relocated to Taris with his Padawan in an attempt to help the urban planet rebuild. Thankfully, the area he had been placed in was relatively peaceful, to the woman’s relief, and had kept the Guardian out of harms way. Anahid glanced momentarily at Tashra, before she gave a smile, “So no fighting Sith for me this time around.” Though, quite frankly, the woman had never had been burdened by fighting a Sith before.

Sith hopefuls and Dark Jedi were a different story; more than once the Jedi had been forced to cross paths with the mentioned Dark Force users. Generally the fights ended quite quickly, quietly as well, for which the Jedi was greatly thankful for.

The Jedi glanced back at the droid that followed closely behind, what was his name again, Perry? Anahid stared at the curious figure for a second, watching as he walked with distinct grace “May I ask where you found him?” She smiled with clear amusement, his head hung high in the air, carrying himself with unusal grace – even for a lanky droid. “He is quite the individual.”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Darrin, my dad, well uh, not exactly my dad-dad. But my guardian?" Tashra awkwardly tried on the first explanation, and almost forgot where the conversation was going before she caught herself and continued.

"He got Perry when I was five, bought him from some Jawas because he was Aratech. Thought he could get 'em fixed up. He gave up on him and wanted to sell him to the junkyard, but I talked him into letting me keep him. I mean, he was pretty banged up. Looked like a total lost cause. And that's saying something, 'cuz stuff doesn't rust fast on Tatooine. Tech here lasts forever. But he had corrosion and sand everywhere. Perry was a mess."

It was actually not an understatement. Perry really had been in awful shape, which might have been hard to imagine now, seeing the ordinary metallic colors of his body, and the glossy red of his digital eye. His shuffling gait was perfectly normal for a droid, the soft whirring of his servos accompanying the sound of the organic duo's footsteps.

"We didn't get him fixed until I was 16. Most of his databanks were totally fried, but the personality matrix was repaired. He's got a special modular thing installed, gives him legal knowledge of the Republic and Hutt justice systems. It's a little out of date, but..."

Tashra eyed Perry, who was trailing by a distance, and she reached out to cup her hand, whispering into that funny thing on the side of Anahid's head. Ears, right? They were what they heard with?

"That's why he thinks he's a lawyer. You have to call him Counselor or it hurts his feelings. XT-2000s are a little odd like that."

"Objection your Honor," Perry said. "Counsel would like to know what conversation transpired."

"Counselor," Tashra began with a smile, revealing pointy ivory fangs, "She had to see me in chambers for a moment."

"I see." Perry said in his chipper mechanical voice. "Objection withdrawn your Honor."

The Togruta girl looked back to Anahid again and cocked her head a little as she smiled some more.

"I love this guy."

[Reisier]

So he was quite the character indeed – and with a background to match!

Anahid listened with clear amusement as the Togruta spoke, telling all that was to tell about the Counselor droid in Anchorhead. As they ventured across the insufferable heat, the Jedi found herself glancing back every once in a while to Perry’s lanky figure, before her attention settled on Tashra once more. “You and your father seem to have done an amazing job with him.” And that was nothing but true. Had she not been told about the trials and time it took to have the droid up and running again, the Jedi would have been convinced Perry was brand new.

“Ah!” She gave a knowledgeable nod as the girl spoke into her ear, cupping her hand to hide her words from the droid behind him. “Well, in regards to the modular; sometimes you don’t receive that what you wish, but rather what you need.” Granted, one did not always came to appreciate the fact until many years later, usually when one reminiscence on what now was and what had once been.

“Besides,” Anahid added more casually as she lowered her voice, “…he certainly wouldn’t be as memorable had fate given you a different module.” No counselor Perry, no evidence to catalogue – he would have just been a simple droid easily lost in a crowd, a sad thought, if you were to ask her. But, thankfully, that was nothing the mechanic should worry about – Perry, Anahid figured, had been a gift of sorts, the type of character you only have the opportunity to meet once in a lifetime.

She smiled a bit more freely as the Togruta pulled away, a smile crossing the younger female’s lips. “I can’t blame you,” The Jedi added after a few seconds, glancing back at Tashra, “He must be quite the company.”

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Objection your honor, assumes facts not in evidence," Perry said in his metallic tone.

"Overruled counselor," Tashra said cheerfully. "I want to give the prosecutor a little leeway."

The droid lapsed into silence as the trio continued to walk, reaching the machine shop after what seemed an interminable distance and an eon of walking. Even Tashra was practically dripping with sweat, her powder blue shirt sticking to her stomach and her back.

Gingerly she reached up under the fabric and pulled it away from her uniform orange skin, wiping her trim stomach free of sticky sweat as she walked into the shade of the shop, where the workers were mostly napping and lying still.

One of them approached her and they had a conversation in Huttese, which ended shortly. Tashra led Anahid and Perry back into the depths of the shop, and the girl motioned for the droid to get on with the work.

One thing Perry was remarkably good at was getting the meaning of gestures. The Togruta teenager took great personal pride in that, as she'd taught the droid everything he knew. Except legal things. He could still run circles around her when it came to the judicial system.

But hey, no one was perfect.

The droid selected a block of durasteel and put it onto a lathe, and started it up. With the noise, Tashra had to speak up to make sure Anahid could hear her.

"Oh, I forgot to ask. You can pay us right?"

[Reisier]

Anahid shook her head as she heard the mechanic and droid continue their exchange – legal terms exchanged without hesitation, coming as naturally to Tashra as if she were dealing with another ship. Perhaps she didn’t quite understand all of the terminology – or, maybe, the young mechanic did, the many years shared with Perry only increasing her knowledge. Whatever the case, it was amusing; incredibly so.

The Jedi laughed, a playful smile curling on the corner of her lips. Well, she was sure that Lossrk would get a good laugh by what she saw at the very least. But the amusement she had once felt was soon cut short, replaced instead by a more serious topic.

“Payment?” Anahid repeated absentmindedly, brow raised as her dark eyes fell on the mechanic once more. “Ah, of course…” The Jedi carried credits on her being on all occasions, regardless if the trip was only going to be short. After all, one could never be too precautious.

Yet, Anahid was slightly worried. There were many planets in this vast Galaxy that refused interaction with the Republic and all it held. Republic Credits, for instance, were not an acceptable form of currency in some areas. If found in one of those places, any who attempted to pay with credits would be met by incredulous stares.

Hopefully, this would not be the case in Anchorhead.

If there was some trouble, however, the Jedi was sure the situation would be easily resolved. There was no need for her to worry at the time. “I do hope you don’t mind Republic credits; it is all I am carrying with me at the time.” Anahid explained shortly after, glancing at the mechanic as she searched her pockets.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Tashra winced.

Just her luck really, Republic credits. Leave it to her to find the one client on Tatooine without suitable currency, and then to start work on the job before she found out. She was just too earnest and eager, and even too nice. If she'd been tough, the Togruta girl could have figured out that the Jedi didn't have money, and then she wouldn't have been stuck doing a charity case.

This was becoming a habit with her, but she never seemed to learn.

A sigh was let loose from her mouth, and she scratched one of her montrals as she formulated her reply, trying to actually think before she spoke for fear of saying something offensive.

"That's kind of a problem. We're a Hutt world, so we don't use Republic credits. You might be able to get them exchanged somewhere, like maybe at the bounty office or the swoop track. But they're not usable here."

Tashra eyed the door and thought about the machine shop owners who would want payment, and her mind told her that she was going to have to pay for it herself, out of her own pocket.

"Shit," She said flatly. "I'm gonna have to pay for this now."

The Togruta mechanic grimaced and pondered sneaking out of the shop while she still could. But it wouldn't work, they knew her. She was going to have to delve into her own savings to afford this work.