teen house feat. lucien

[merging]

WHO: Ezra, Boba, Lucien, Catra, Rapunzel
WHERE: De Chima #001
WHEN: After Ezra arrives, before TMI event
WHAT: Ezra meeting his housemates at one point or another??
WARNINGS: N/A currently

[So far Ezra hasn't gone out of his way to meet the people he's living with. He spends most of his time either with Kanan or avoiding Kanan, so when he returns home it's usually to be alone in his room.

Most days he can be seen making a beeline for his room as soon as he can, then going on to meditate and train in there. Lightsaber sounds can absolutely be heard coming from his room, if that's any cause for alarm.

On another day, he might be in the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards and refrigerator for snacks. The food he's taking... might be belong to someone else, whoops. He also drinks milk straight from the carton/bottle/whatever and then looks slightly disappointed? It kinda looks like he's very seriously examining this milk carton/bottle/whatever, as if it's from some alien planet(which it is) or as if it murdered someone(maybe it did).

If he sees someone he doesn't recognize(ie: Rapunzel or Lucien), he'll stop and give a small, slightly awkward wave. For the rowdier teens who he's met before, he's gonna stare for a moment before still trying the awkward wave.]

Comments

[myownprice]

[Lightsaber sounds are a cause for alarm, actually.

Boba hears them after returning from a job one afternoon, a few days after returning from the latest Swear-In. He stops immediately, staring at the closed door of a room that had previously been unoccupied. At first, he thinks he must be hearing things. If anyone on this planet has a lightsaber—even the Jedi and Sith—he hasn’t seen it. But the more he listens, the more certain he is. Someone here, in his home, has a lightsaber.

Now the question is: Jedi or Sith? Or none of the above?

If one of the others were here, maybe he’d ask them about the house’s latest resident. But right now, Boba and whoever is on the other side of that door are the only ones in the house. If he wants answers, he’ll need to find them out for himself. This isn’t something that can wait.

He moves slowly, movements careful and deliberate despite the pounding of his heart in his chest. Quietly, he reaches out and turns the doorknob, before easing it open without a sound. He’ll try to get a peek inside without the other person noticing his presence. He can only hope they aren’t facing the door...]

[merging]

[It's a little difficult to train in his room, aside from the most basic things and meditating. Actual training he reserves for his time with Kanan, but it's not like he can flip the training button on and off at any given moment. Technically speaking, he's always training? Because the Force... is always there.

Right now, he's going through his basic forms, one by one. To anyone familiar with lightsaber combat, it's obvious he favors Form III, like his master and his master before him. He also uses a modified Form IV, based on the teachings of Anakin Skywalker.

As he's finishing up, he gets the feeling someone is watching him. It's the sort of feeling he would get back on Lothal when a stormtrooper would end up being just around the corner. Sensing others through the Force is still more instinctual than practiced for him, asides from sensing fellow Force wielders and people he's close to.

So. He could be totally wrong.

Not yet disengaging his saber, he calls out,]

You can come in if you want!

[Hopefully he's not talking to air...]

[myownprice]

[At the sound of Ezra’s voice, Boba freezes, hand still on the doorknob. It’s the Jedi from the plane! What is he doing here? How did he even know where Boba lives? And, even more importantly: why is he in Boba’s house with an ignited lightsaber?

Boba feels just a moment of panic, a sharp, jarring fear that whatever uneasy truce exists here has finally shattered, that someone has finally made the decision that he needs to be dealt with. But… why would they send a Padawan? Why not Kanan or Luke? Maybe they didn’t rate Boba a serious enough threat? He doesn’t know. But there’s a Jedi with a lit lightsaber on the other side of that door and he can’t let that stand.

His power activates soundlessly, armor and helmet seeming to fold out and over him from nowhere until he’s fully covered. He finds his blaster holstered at his waist and draws it, before kicking the door the rest of the way open with a bang. Without giving the Jedi time to respond, he raises his weapon, leveling it straight at the Jedi’s chest. His voice is distorted slightly from the static of his helmet’s amplifier.]

Drop the lightsaber. Now.

[merging]

When I said come in, this really wasn't what I had in mind.

[If his door is damaged, you're fixing it, mysterious tiny Mandalorian. But despite his quips, Ezra quickly raises his lightsaber, ready to block any blaster shots if need be.]

But you know, I'd do that if you weren't literally aiming a blaster at me right now. And look, aren't we done with the whole Jedi versus Mandalorian thing?

[Technically, this person could be from any point in time and absolutely not be done with it, but he's ignoring that for now.]

[myownprice]

[The blaster doesn’t move an inch.]

You’re in my house, [Boba growls.] After I told you to leave me alone. You’re lucky I didn’t just shoot first.

[His helmet is angled up to meet Ezra’s gaze, but his eyes are fixed on the glowing blade of that lightsaber. He thinks he’s out of reach, but he isn’t sure. It’s too late to step back now, though. He can’t show any weakness.]

Who sent you here? Kanan?

[merging]

[Adding his response with his height makes Ezra realize this is not just any tiny mysterious Mandalorian, but the boy he met on the plane.]

Technically speaking... The United States government sent me. I don't think I've told Kanan where I live yet.

[Lightsaber? Also not moving.]

By the way, one shot would be pretty easy to deflect. You might wanna try two blasters if you're going up against a Jedi.

[myownprice]

[It takes Boba a moment to process the Jedi’s meaning, but once he does, the indignation is clear in his voice.]

They put you here?

[Somehow, that’s worse than Kanan sending him. At least that could potentially be solved with violence or the threat of it. Having Ezra assigned to live here might actually require diplomacy.

It’s not a skill Boba is particularly adept at.]

I’m not sleeping under the same roof as a Jedi, [he says, jabbing his blaster in Ezra’s direction.] Go live with Kanan if you need somewhere to stay.

[merging]

I'm not living with Kanan.

[Somehow, that's said more firmly than anything else he's said so far. Look, he needs his space.]

What's your problem with Jedi anyways? Is it because you're Mandalorian or something else? I said I was sorry about before, and besides the Jedi and Mandalorian stuff, we don't even know each other.

[myownprice]

[That’s… interesting. Boba would’ve assumed that a Jedi Padawan would want to stick around his master. Boba shoves the thought aside for later. Right now, there’s still the immediate threat of the Jedi staying in his house.

The question gets a disgusted shake of his head. As if this is as petty as some abstract cultural grudge.]

Your Order has been trying to wipe out my family for years, [he says coldly, grip adjusting on his blaster as if he’s considering taking a shot.] That's my "problem" with them.

[applewatcher]

[Fundamentally, he has no problem with teenagers. And none with teenagers unaccompanied by parents, either: By the nature of now the Dark Brotherhood recruits its members, many of the potential initiates he interacts with are teenagers with few to turn to. He was once in this position himself, and he knows that while many eventually benefit from trustworthy adults in their lives, they believe they are--and can be, in many ways--self sufficient.

He knows all this, and is happy to respect their independence.

But why did the local government have to assign him to a house with four of them?

He's spent much of his time away from the apartment, on the excuse that his job as a radio host keeps him out at odd hours, particularly as he transitions from working in Heropa. Really, he's been using the various safehouses he's accrued as havens, where he can relax, think on his actual work, and not feel the urge to be parental.

Not that he actually knows very much on the subject. He'd lived with quite a few teenagers before, but that was years ago, before he was chosen as an apprentice to his current position, and he'd not been much older than them at that point. And he'd raised adopted children, yes, but they were Argonians. Ocheeva and Teinaava had been a pair of perfectly healthy and often well-behaved reptiles. They had to be fed appropriately-sized live vermin to teach them how to hunt, you watched over them to make sure they weren't carried off by hawks while they sunned themselves, and they didn't hit adolescence until their Name Day, when they climed up into a sapient tree, ate some sap, and came back down with a gender and something to call them by.

He'd been fine with Boba so far, because Boba was learning to be a contract killer. The others? They weren't murderers. He had to keep most of his possessions elsewhere, for fear that they might rummage through his things and find some incriminating personal affect or another. Like how many knives he owned, or find records of the payments he handled for the Brotherhood.

But, he did also have a public persona to keep to. It was one thing to be overwhelmed by a surplus of teenagers, but quite another to be suspiciously withdrawn. So, he did in fact have to do his best impression of a normal, functional adult.

And that's why he intercepts the newest teen when he's about to take from a bowl of apples in the kitchen.]

Please don't take any of those, I need them for a recipe.

[merging]

[Ezra is literally about to bite into the apple before Lucien walks in. Hearing that, he waits a moment, as if considering whether to continue or not. Finally, he puts it back in the bowl among its apple brethren.]

... Sorry. [For almost stealing it and then also still considering eating it while he was standing right in front of him.]

What are these anyways?

[Yes, he doesn't know what an apple is and yes, that didn't dissuade him from biting straight into it at all.]

[applewatcher]

Apples. Quite a healthy fruit, good for cleaning the teeth.

[He rummages through the kitchen for a cutting board, bowl and knife.] They're everywhere. And the varieties that grow on Earth are mostly tasteless and disappointing--[Red Delicious are horrible creations that should never have been spawned]--but I've finally managed to find a few that are really worth putting in pies.

[Items retrieved, he was about to reach for an apple before pausing suddenly.] Ah, but I'm forgetting my manners. Lucien Lachance. You must be our newest arrival. [He smiles warmly, setting down the knife and extending a hand.] A pleasure to meet you.

[merging]

It... cleans your teeth?

[At the very least, both his galaxy and this one have pies. As Lucien gathers his Apple Equipment, Ezra watches curiously, wondering what the fruit looks like once it's cut. When the man extends his hand, he gives it a bit of look, before taking it with his own and shaking.]

Nice to meet you too. I'm Ezra, Ezra Bridger. How many other people live here?

[applewatcher]

That's what they say, at least. I'm not inclined to argue.

[He wondered for a moment if they didn't shake where Ezra came from, but perhaps he's just being cautious. Once that's done, he returns to the apples, picking one up and starting to peel it with the knife, turning out a long, spiraling ribbon of peel. He'd sharpened the knife recently, and it simply glides along in his hand without much need for force.]

Three, I think, all of them about your age. I'm only just getting acquainted myself. [Save for Boba, but all their history was private, some unless the boy said so, other parts he would be very disappointed to have divulged.] You're newly arrived on Earth, I take it. How have you been setttling in?

[merging]

Huh.

[He says to both the apple and most of the people here being his age. Honestly, he can't help wondering if this guy was put here by mistake? And also he didn't think apples would look like that when they were peeled. He expected something closer to space fruit, but then again, this is Earth.]

But yeah, I am. And I've been okay, I guess? It's... different here. Really different from where I'm from, even when it comes to the small stuff.

[applewatcher]

I can certainly say the same. This world is strange, but... almost dull, in some ways.

[He takes another apple and continues peeling, barely looking at it.] What is your world like, if you don't mind my asking?

[merging]

Yeah, I know what you mean.

[Even with everything strange going on, it still feels too peaceful. He wouldn't call it dull, but it's hard for him to get used to a world in which he's not fighting a war every day.]

My world? Or my galaxy? Cause my world itself is kinda boring, though I guess people here would find it interesting.

[plentystrong]

[ Incidentally, Catra had the same idea about the refrigerator before... and has since grudgingly started buying her own food because she got caught by Boba and does actually feel kinda bad stealing food from a kid.

So when she goes into the kitchen to get a snack, even she has to view the scene with some measure of humor. Still, she plans to absolutely give Ezra a little scare if she can. ]

Hey, is that my food you're stealing there?

[merging]

[Oh, it's the Zygerrian(?) girl from the party thing. She probably lives here too then? This is probably her food? So the right thing to do or say would be...]

Maybe. [Then he eats it and smiles. Sorry Catra!]

[plentystrong]

[ Ah. Yeah. Been here, done that. Catra saunters over to the fridge and closes its door with a light tap. ]

Yeah, you're not gonna keep doing that.

[merging]

[He can't help but laugh at that, even if it means he's been cut off from more potential snacks for now.]

I was gonna pay you back. I actually go to my job, remember?

[plentystrong]

[She pulls a face; he got her there. ]

So why don't you get your own food?

[merging]

[And she's got him there.]

To be honest, I wasn't gonna pay you back if you didn't find out. But I will now so don't worry?

[plentystrong]

[ She moves to stand over him and lean in. ]

Yeah, you will.

[merging]

Sooooo if I'm paying, I can eat more, right?

[he is moving very slowly to open the fridge again]