[closed]

[myownprice]

WHO: Boba Fett and Catra
WHERE: De Chima 001
WHEN: Shortly after the housing change-up
WHAT: Boba meets his new housemate, questionable first impressions are made.
WARNINGS: Probably nothing, will update if needed!



[Like most people, Boba prefers not to work too late. It has nothing to do with his sleep schedule or even feeling unsafe after dark; it’s just that his job is easiest when people mistake him for a student and that cover becomes harder and harder to maintain the later it gets. There’s not many schools open at night, after all. So he usually finishes up in the early evening when he can help it.

He couldn’t help it today. The colder weather means fewer willing couriers, which means more work gets shunted onto him. It’s not completely a bad thing—it’s certainly been a profitable season for him. But it means he’s been having a lot more late nights recently than he had before.

It’s already dark by the time Boba returns to his new home in De Chima. He’s still getting used to the place, but he prefers it to Maurtia Falls. At least he doesn’t have literal cops living with him here. Now, it’s just him and Lucien.

At least, it was. When he enters the house this time, he hears noise coming from the kitchen. At first, he assumes it’s Lucien, because who else could it be? Backpack still on his shoulders, he makes his way towards the noise, expecting to see the older assassin busy preparing something in the kitchen—and instead sees an unfamiliar figure hunched over the fridge.

A shock of alarm goes through Boba at the sight of a stranger in their kitchen. But it’s anger, not fear, that colors his voice when he speaks up, loud and demanding.]

Who are you? What are you doing here?

Comments

[plentystrong]

[ So maybe getting settled into this new world is not going very smoothly for Catra. She took one look at her job description and balked, so naturally, she has not been working and not been receiving money, and she has to stretch the amount she received upon arrival to make it last.

Which means that, when she returns to the house she's been assigned to with her stomach growling ravenously one night, she finds herself positively raiding the fridge for edibles.

She is munching away happily, her worst hunger stilled, when she hears an accusing voice behind her. A quite young-sounding voice. Catra turns her head to look at the boy standing there, still chewing. At least she has the decency to swallow before responding. ]

I live here. What about you? You live here too, or do you enjoy breaking into people's homes?

[myownprice]

[The figure that turns to face him isn’t human, but that isn’t shocking to Boba. She could be Cathar or maybe Zygerrian—his galaxy is no stranger to non-human races or even ones with feline features. No, it’s her words that cause surprise to flash across Boba’s face.]

You live here? [he repeats dubiously, as if she might be confused.] De Chima 001?

[He knows that sometimes the powers-that-be place strangers together, but he’d thought they’d given them their choice of housemates this time and he certainly hadn’t chosen this stranger. Had Lucien?]

[plentystrong]

[ Catra shrugs, chews, swallows. ]

Yeah, that's what it says in my file.

[ Honestly, it's not like Catra is very happy about it. She resents just being told what to do -- even if that is exactly what she's doing at home, but she's also following her own agenda, and it's the best possible outcome she has. Going through the whole thing again, in a strange world, with a strange power in charge? It rankles.

But it's the only place she's got to go for now, so she grudgingly accepts it. ]

[myownprice]

[So they had assigned her to this house—and without so much as letting him know ahead of time. His expression changes from suspicion to irritation. How is he supposed to differentiate between housemate and home intruder if nobody even tells him who lives here?

It’s then that he notices what she’s eating.]

Even if this is your house, that’s definitely not your food. [Boba says, moving to close the fridge door before she can take anything else.] Go out and buy something if you're hungry.

[plentystrong]

Really? It doesn't belong to everyone?

[ Obviously more feigning ignorance than anything -- honestly she's feeling cagey about merely being here, so not going to work and eating other people's food is one small way in which she can rebel. She feels kind of bad about it, though, now that she knows she's stealing from a child. ]

[myownprice]

[Boba doesn’t look too impressed by her ignorance, feigned or not. He’d used an almost identical ploy when he was still stealing food on Tatooine and he’s not falling for it now.]

No. Unless you want to pay for it.

[plentystrong]

[ Is... she being admonished by a kid? ]

No.

[myownprice]

[Yes, she definitely is.]

Then it’s not yours. [He crosses his arms.] Didn’t they assign you a job when you got here?

[plentystrong]

Yeah, but it's a terrible job so I didn't go.

[ To her... credit?? She's at least keeping the fridge closed now. ]

[myownprice]

Then you should find another one. When I first got here, they tried to give me a “volunteer” position, [he says, putting “volunteer” in air-quotes as if it’s a foreign and contemptible concept.] So I went out and found something paid instead. They don’t care.

[At least, they don't check. Boba hasn't gone to that school they assigned to him either and nobody has pestered him about it.

Now that the stranger isn't trying to steal anything, some of Boba's hostility starts to shift towards curiosity. So, this is his new housemate. At least she seems unlikely to be law enforcement, unlike his previous neighbors.

But there's one other thing Boba needs to know before he decides how much of a threat she might be.]

Does the word "Coruscant" mean anything to you?

[plentystrong]

[ Wow, so this kid... is actually being helpful. Catra may just consider it -- she does need to eat, after all. Much as she's still of the opinion that they should get paid just for being here, if they're gonna be tasked with this superhero business.

At Boba's question, she just stares blankly. ]

Nope, never heard of it.

[myownprice]

[The answer gets a single, short nod from Boba. Good.]

We’re not from the same galaxy, then. [That sentence, which would’ve seemed like madness a year ago, is now said with the same mundanity as comparing hometowns.] My name is Boba. What's yours?

[plentystrong]

Catra.

[ She musters him. ]

Would that have been a problem? If we'd been from the same... galaxy? [ What an odd way to phrase it. ]

[myownprice]

[Boba shrugs.] Maybe. Maybe not. But if you’re not from my galaxy, then I know we don’t have a problem. Not yet, anyway.

[That might change in the future. But for now at least, they have a clean slate. The same can’t be said for everyone from his own galaxy.]

Just don’t take any of my things—or Lucien’s—and it’ll stay that way.

[plentystrong]

[ Catra just snickers. ]

Awww, the pipsqueak is threatening me. Cute.

[ Then she quirks a curious eyebrow at him. ]

So, what? You have a problem with your entire galaxy?

[myownprice]

[Boba doesn’t take kindly to being mocked. If there’s one thing he knows, it’s that if someone insults you, you have to do it right back—and he certainly doesn’t feel any hesitation doing that now.]

Yeah, because I know I can take you, [he says, arms uncrossing to hang at his sides.] You’re the one who came crawling in here looking for scraps.

[The question doesn’t get him to relax at all. His eyes narrow.]

Most of it.

[plentystrong]

[ A short laugh erupts from her, then she crosses her legs and props up her hands on her thighs, fixing him with a curious look. ]

Okay, I'm not usually one for small talk, but you've got me curious. How do you get almost an entire galaxy mad at you?

[myownprice]

[Boba’s glare only intensifies at Catra’s laugh. And yet, at that question, his head tilts just slightly to the side, even as his eyes narrow suspiciously.]

What do you mean?

[plentystrong]

[ She just looks back at him quizzically. ]

Uh, duh? I mean something must've happend for a twelve-year-old to have a problem with that many people.

[myownprice]

I’m thirteen, [Boba retorts, standing straighter as if to prove his point via height.] And that’s just the way things are. Sometimes people are on different sides.

[It’s just that, as the son of Jango Fett, Boba happens to be on a very unpopular side indeed. There’s one other factor as well, one that’s only been further confirmed from the conversations he has had with others from his galaxy.] And maybe people think it’ll be easier killing me now because they know won’t stand a chance when I grow up.

[They don’t stand a chance now, either. But Boba can’t stop people from deluding themselves.]

[plentystrong]

[ It's quite telling, what Boba says, and it is not unfamiliar to Catra whatsoever. If she softens a fraction... well, that may have something to do with it. ]

You're gonna give them hell, then? Show them where it's at?

[myownprice]

[Boba gives a soft huff of annoyance. He’s pretty sure he’s being patronized, but that doesn’t change his answer.]

Yes. [A pause, then he shrugs.] I’d just prefer to do it somewhere where the dead stay dead.

[plentystrong]

[ Catra just nods sagely. Or tries for "sagely", at least. ]

Makes sense. Why put in all the effort for a subpar result?

[myownprice]

Exactly. Better to wait until we’re back home where it’ll count.

[The others from his galaxy seem to share a similar view for the most part. At least, Boba assumes they do, given another war hasn’t broken out here. They’re all in stasis, though not a very comfortable one.

Now that the conversation seems to have taken a less hostile turn, Boba’s wariness towards his new housemate starts to ease towards curiosity.]

What about you? Is it the same where you're from?

[plentystrong]

[ She puts her chin in her hand, pondering the question, thens hakes her head. ]

Hmm, not really. I mean, I have enemies, [ she leans in, grinning widely ] but I'm also in command of an army. [ A beat. ] Well, second-in-command, but who's counting?

[myownprice]

[Boba seems less impressed by that boast than Catra likely would’ve hoped.]

Is that army here? [he asks.]

[plentystrong]

[ Her ears droop a little. ]

Well, no.

[ She quirks her eyebrows at him. ]

So what about you? Got any allies here?

[myownprice]

[Well, having an army in a different universe is about as good as not having an army at all. But he’ll remember that Catra at least has a history with some kind of military.]

Nobody from my galaxy.

[Not that he'd had a surplus of them there, either.]

I’ve made a couple of fr—allies here, though.

[plentystrong]

Hmm. Pretty smart.

I'm still shopping around for allies. Just got here and all that jazz.

[ She gives him a contemplative look. ]

Now, you and I, I think we could understand each other, yeah?

[myownprice]

You don’t get in my way and I won’t get in yours.

[It’s not exactly an alliance, but a non-intervention treaty is still pretty good in Boba’s eyes. And she’s still mostly a stranger at the moment.

His head tilts slightly.]

Unless you’re thinking of something more specific.

[plentystrong]

Nah. Staying out of each other's hair sounds good.

[ Really, she has better things to do than being annoyed by some kid. Though not by much. And fighting with roommates is something she's done, but it sounds tiring. ]