Syndulla Scrap, Friday

[futurespacemom]

After taking a ride in Liam's ship last week, Hera was reminded that she should see about checking and enhancing the Ghost's shields. The variable frequencies thing sounded like it could be interesting, if there were a way to keep them stable at the same time...

So, the scrap yard was open, and Hera had rigged up an alert so she'd hear if someone came in.

Comments

[uncertain_dume]

So, Kanan's intention had been to pick up food somewhere after training in the park, and then meet Hera at the scrapyard with Mooby's in hand.

The actuality of it was that he hauled back and ended up throwing the tray of drinks at whatever the source of that alert was the moment it had sounded.

... And then he stood there, feeling stupid.

Look, it had been a weird week and he was apparently on edge, now.

[futurespacemom]

Hera heard the alert and called out, "Coming!" before attaching the wire she was working on and jogging out toward the entry.

"Kanan, hi!" She smiled and came over, oblivious to the drinks on the ground yards away. It wasn't until she got closer and saw the expression on Kanan's face that she slowed down and gave him a quizzical look. "Is everything okay?"

[uncertain_dume]

Please hold. Kanan needed to just facepalm. A lot. And hold up the Mooby's bag.

"I brought food. I don't suppose you have anything to drink on the Ghost, do you?"

Because he wasn't sucking Coke out of the dirt.

[futurespacemom]

"I've probably got a few bottles of something in the galley," Hera said. "No Coke today?"

What? He usually brought it, and she'd gotten to like the stuff.

[uncertain_dume]

"The Coke fell victim to an unexpected bell," Kanan muttered, waving the bag vaguely toward the cola carnage.

[futurespacemom]

Hera glanced over where he was waving, then facepalmed a little herself. "Maybe I should change that to something more friendly-sounding?"

[uncertain_dume]

"Couldn't hurt," Kanan replied, looking sheepishly at her as he started toward the Ghost. "In fairness, I'm not usually this jumpy."

Hell, he hadn't even been jumpy earlier, but his talk with Tip had set him on edge. Was he being creepy? He had no kriffing clue anymore.

[futurespacemom]

"Why so jumpy, then?" Hera headed up the ramp. "Chopper, can you adjust the alert to something...I don't know, how about music?"

Chopper beeped a question back at her.

"I'm almost afraid, but yes, you can choose the music. Just keep it not too startling."

He blatted back, and she rolled her eyes.

[uncertain_dume]

"I wasn't jumpy until this afternoon," Kanan muttered. "I was just being cautious until this afternoon. You were at the picnic, right?"

[futurespacemom]

Hera nodded. "The Mandalorian girl? She seemed nice enough, but..." She shrugged. "Definitely worth a bit of caution. Has something else happened?"

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan scrubbed at his face and then looked up at the sky. Force, give him strength.

"I think Gratuity underestimates just how different Earth's idea of 'children' is from the one back home." Hera's inability to drink in a bar here yet came to mind. "She's decided that it's creepy that I'm so worried about one... Mandalorian. On the grounds that I'm older and a teacher, and Sabine is a girl."

Who could probably still give him a run for his money.

Or at least contact the Empire to tell them that there were Jedi here.

[futurespacemom]

"You did explain that any Mandalorian could probably do a ton of damage, and that historically they've been pretty hostile to...well, just about everyone?" Hera asked.

[uncertain_dume]

"I did," Kanan agreed. "Hell, Sabine goes to class wearing her armor. That doesn't exactly scream helpless, no matter how colorful that armor is."

He sighed and nodded toward the Ghost. "Talk over food?"

The cruddy burgers were getting cold.

[futurespacemom]

"Definitely." Hera bumped her shoulder against Kanan's companionably as they headed in.

"She's in your class, then? How is that working out so far?" As much as she had reason to be wary of Mandalorians in general, Kanan had a lot more to fear.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan grimaced a little, stepping up the Ghost's ramp.

"She's my teaching assistant?"

So it was going about that well!

[futurespacemom]

Hera blinked. "Well, she can't be too bad, then. Or are you hoping to keep a closer eye on her?"

[uncertain_dume]

"She asked for the position," Kanan sighed. "I wouldn't have said no, anyway. It's not like she gave me a reason to."

He'd been pretty good about hiding much about himself, so it wasn't like she could possibly expect he was a Jedi. She was just really on board to do things.

"She seems genuinely eager to learn and to get involved. I don't think she's thought to ask why someone from our galaxy would have enough knowledge to teach about laying low, but I suppose if it comes up, it isn't like I don't have a million other jobs under my hat that I could point to."

Smuggler came to mind. He was a decently experienced smuggler, after all. Trained by the most garbage tuft-sucker in the Outer Rim.

"I don't plan on spying on her or anything, but... I'm not even the only..." he waved a hand around vaguely, "here. It isn't just me I'm going to be worried about until I know where her loyalties lie."

[futurespacemom]

Hera nodded. "So we're careful until we know. And...I have no idea why that would be creepy. You did have one student from the Empire before."

[uncertain_dume]

"Possibly two," Kanan replied, after a pause. "I don't exactly know what the First Order is, but any regime that gives its troopers numbers instead of letting them have names seems Empire enough for me."

Poor not-quite-Finn-yet.

"Mara's gone now, though. So with any luck, there won't be any more surprise Vader."

Ever. Again.

[futurespacemom]

"Hopefully never," Hera agreed. "At least a lone Mandalorian isn't likely to have that kind of pull."

[uncertain_dume]

"That depends entirely on how many Jedi she's aware of and who she contacts." Kanan grimaced a bit. "Who she has the ability to contact. And whether the Empire decides that several Jedi in one place is a situation worth escalating to somebody capable of handling it."

[futurespacemom]

"So until we know she won't make that call, we're careful." Hera put one arm around Kanan for a brief side-hug. "You've got years of practice, and I'm good at keeping secrets."

She nodded back toward the scrapyard entrance. "Meanwhile, we see how she reacts to the name on the sign. That should give us at least some idea."

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan leaned into that little side-hug for a moment, hell yes.

"It is a pretty distinctive name," he agreed, glancing back that way for a moment. "With any luck, she's okay, and all of this worry will have been for nothing. Barring that..."

He shrugged. "Maybe I'll keep an eye out for Skywalker next Wednesday and see what he thinks of the situation."

Maybe.

He didn't have great feelings about Skywalker after the whole Vader thing.

... Funny that.

[futurespacemom]

"I suppose a second opinion couldn't hurt," Hera said, a little doubtful. "But I'd trust your own feelings first."

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan glanced at her, actually faintly amused for a moment by that.

"You sound like one of the Masters," he informed her. "But... you're right. And if she doesn't mean to cause trouble here, it would be best to not draw too much attention to her."

[futurespacemom]

Hera laughed. "No, I just mean I trust your feelings more than Skywalker. I don't know him, but I know your instincts are good."

She started in on her burger. "And yes, if she doesn't mean trouble, I'd hate to make people start worrying about her. She probably gets enough of that back home."

[uncertain_dume]

"She probably does," Kanan agreed, and then sighed, picking at the wrapper of his own. His appetite was being especially fickle today. "Maybe I should take some time and just... meditate on it or something. In my quarters here. After bribing some squirrels..."

He didn't have a window in his quarters on the Ghost.

Yes, this was how paranoid he was being.

[futurespacemom]

Hera nodded. "Chopper can keep an eye out for them, too," she offered.

She gave him a serious look. "One way or another, we will manage."

[uncertain_dume]

"One way or another," Kanan agreed, glancing back at her, and then nodding. "In the meantime, I might move my holocron into my quarters here, too. And a few of the parts of my lightsaber. The security here is by far better than the apartment, and I haven't made it this long by taking unnecessary risks."

He was... actually really close to just asking if they could pretty much live on the Ghost for a while, but even he understood that that was probably a little bit much at this point in the game.

[futurespacemom]

"Keep them all here," Hera suggested. "That way they're at least all in one place."

And because she might not be Force-sensitive, but she had her moments of figuring people out, "Would you be more comfortable staying here, too? That way you'd be keeping it all close. And you know Chopper would keep an eye out for you."

He might not like Kanan as much as Hera, but he still liked him more than most other people.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan blew out a little breath at that, and then looked at her thankfully.

"I mean... it couldn't hurt to get Stance used to spending time on a ship, right?"

Yeah. Sure. That was totally the reason.

"Maybe move the Escape here, too. Have it close by. Just in case."

Of something.

Kanan was far too good at running away.

[futurespacemom]

Hera shrugged. "I can always drop you off at the apartment roof if you need to get your ship. Otherwise, having them in two different places would probably be smarter."

She smiled. "We can take a few more local trips, too, if you really want to get Stance used to it."

[uncertain_dume]

Okay. Deep breath. Exhale. Hera was thinking smarter than he was right now, and hell, did he ever appreciate that.

"Good idea," he admitted. "Uh. Both of those. Good ideas. I have no idea how well he'd handle hyperspace, but I'd rather know he can at least handle orbit before trying something like that."

[futurespacemom]

Hera nodded. "So we can stay here for a while, and take the Ghost up enough to get him used to flying, then try hyperspace."

She nudged him. "Burgers are on you, though. Unless you'd rather cook in the galley."

[uncertain_dume]

"Cooking in the galley with an excited dog," Kanan mused. "There's a thought. Still, it'd be nice to make caf in a proper caf maker..."

They could split the difference. He didn't mind cooking or buying the occasional burger or order of flatcakes.

[futurespacemom]

"If you really want to cook in the galley, I'm sure Chopper and I can keep Stance busy," Hera said, smiling. He was a good puppy, just exuberant.

[uncertain_dume]

And Kanan had actually been doing some proper training, finally. Stance was getting pretty good at 'sit' and 'stay.'

"Well, we'll see what's in the fridge back at the apartment that needs to get used, and go from there," he decided. "Maybe it will just be burgers for a while."

[futurespacemom]

"That sounds like a good idea," Hera agreed. "But then, you are a strategist."

[uncertain_dume]

"That is what you keep me around for, right?"

Kanan gave Hera a thankful smile, and then finally managed to get his burger unwrapped. Now that there was a game plan, even just a tentative one, he was feeling much better about... most things, really.

[futurespacemom]

Hera grinned back. "Among other things."