Ben Solo – Takodana - 10
The planet was hot, green, and full of strange stalls and stranger people. For Ben Solo, this wasn’t unusual, and the dark-haired boy with the prominent ears looked around, curiosity masked behind an irked frown as he followed in the shadow of his father and the even larger Chewbacca who was there to visit with Maz Kanata. The grump of a boy had his arms folded across his chest as he strolled behind them, something his father did notice.
“Lighten up, kid,” he said, glancing back and down at him, “I can practically feel your annoyance.”
‘Good.’ He thought, but didn’t say.
“I thought you wanted to come along?”
“I did,” Ben stated, glancing at the castle they were heading towards, “but I thought I’d get to go exploring.” He never got to explore. “You said I could.”
“I said you could in the castle, not out here. Your mom would kill me.”
Leia was overprotective, of course. Ben would be a great kid to kidnap. He’d be worth millions of credits. Even not considering that, Leia still had countless enemies, and Han Solo had even more. “The castle’s fun.”
Ben rolled his eyes, and continued to sulk all the way to the castle, and inside it even as he took a seat initially by his father to spite him by not wandering around but hanging by his hip, making it awkward when Han’s clients showed up to talk, and he kept giving them The Stare every bored child had mastered.
“Gimme a second,” Han finally broke the meeting up, put a hand on Ben's back, and led him away and around a corner. He stooped down to his level, and held up a finger, “Okay kid,” he said, “if I let you go wandering outside, you promise me your mom never finds out. Deal?”
Ben’s eyes lit up, before they narrowed, “What’s the catch?”
“What—there’s no catch. You know, besides don’t go getting yourself kidnapped,” Han said, “I don’t think I can hide that, even if I do get you back.”
“I’m not going to get kidnapped, I have the Force.” Not to mention he didn't really stand out. Han didn't have him wearing his Alderaanian clothes, just some beige and brown tunic and slack mix. Boring. Blended in. His dark hair wasn't even braided, just put back in a bun, although it was long enough for braids since it went beyond his shoulders when it was loose.
“Yeah that’s what worries me sometimes,” Han sighed, but didn’t elaborate. He never did, and Ben always felt that disconnect whenever The Force was brought up. It was a force between them, something Han clearly had mixed feelings about, and very few of them felt positive when he addressed Ben about it, and Ben had no idea why. “Oh, and maybe you could go find some wires for the power converter?” Ben groaned. There was the catch. And the distraction. “What? I’ll give you enough credits for it, and more so you can have some fun. What do you say?”
Ben frowned, but put his hand out, “Fine.” He might just talk his way into getting the wires for free. Maybe Han would approve of that use of the Force? He always prided himself on talking his way out of situations, even if Ben was pretty certain he talked himself into more corners than anything else.
The credits were exchanged, and Ben went running off – unaware that when Han returned to his own negotiations, he asked Chewie to go follow at a distance. No, Ben was enthused about this freedom, and hurried through the stalls of Takodana outside the castle, seeking out the wires he needed so he could have some fun with browsing and mingling on his own terms.
Of course, he wasn’t used to navigating marketplaces, let alone chaotic ones where just about anyone could lay down a table and sell whatever they wanted. Takodana’s lawlessness was infamous, after all. He was quickly lost in the mess of it all (not that he ever lost sight of the castle, of course), and found all sorts of strange things he couldn’t let himself linger at, because he had a mission first.
He wanted to ask someone, yet didn’t, at the same time. That streak of needing to find it manifested in him not asking an adult, but recognizing another child in the crowd, he approached her, “Hello,” he sounded formal. Stiff. He didn’t like it. Why did he always revert to that? ‘Leia.’ “Uh—” well now he was uncertain, darn it! “—are you from here?”
Smooth.
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