Ch 43
Rey
"No, I need you to hand me the wrench that I'm pointing at!" I yelled at Ben.
"Would you stop yelling at me? You're starting to stress me out!" he said back as he finally handed me the right wrench, on the fifth try.
"I'm sorry I just… I get in this mood when I get to fix things and just really focus so I'm sorry if I get kind of… angry when it doesn't go the way I expect" I said cringing as I finished retightening the last bolt on the speeder.
"It's okay, that's how I was when I used to draw" he said as he helped me get up.
"You used to draw?! How come you never told me about this?" I said smiling up at him.
I saw the tips of his ears turn red, I think he was embarrassed to talk about this.
"Well… kind of. I know we don't use paper things to read or print, but, I used to practice calligraphy"
"What is call… cagriph…?" that got him to laugh.
"Calligraphy, it's writing very artistically, you can add colors and different styles, sizes in letters, small drawings. Anything really, I can show you if you want."
He the climbed on to the speeder and I climbed on behind him. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"I would love that"
It was about a 30-minute rise on the speeder to Xucphra City from the base. There weren't many tall buildings. I could only see about 3 or 4 of them. Ben told me one was a flight station, one was a hospital, and he wasn't too sure about the other two. He assumed one was probably for transporting or creating bacta kits and such.
We ended up parking the speeder outside of a restaurant. The restaurant was in the middle of a wide plaza, which was currently occupied by a giant street market.
Vendors were all shouting in different languages and dialects, trying to sell fruits, meats, and whatever they could to make a living.
I'd never seen one before, it was so… beautiful in a way.
I felt Ben take my hand and we made our way around the market.
We purchased various tropical looking fruits. One in particular had caught my attention for its bright orange color and purple seed. The vendor offered me a slice and when I bit it my mouth exploded with a juicy and sweet flavor.
I could feel Ben's amusement at my reaction to eating such a strange and new fruit.
You're adorable, we can take some with us. Anything else princess?
He asked through the bond. I instantly started sampling as much as I could, to the point my mouth went a little numb from trying so many new things.
We kept walking around for about an hour. We bought some bread and meat, enough to last us a week. Eventually we found a stand that sold clothing. It was rather large, so we split up and looked for our own clothing.
I was able to find two shirts, one grey and one white, both with ¾ sleeves. A black leather jacket and two pairs of black pants. I also found a belt with a holster that wrapped around the thigh. I was also able to find a pair of knee-high black boots. I would probably keep wearing this tunic until we left Thyferra, but it wouldn't be practical for the wherever we were going after this.
I made my way to the paying station where Ben was waiting with some of the bags in his hands.
"I already paid for my things, ready?" I nodded, and he paid for my clothing.
When the cashier took his payment card he saw when I held his hand and started screaming in a strange language I couldn't recognize.
Ben weirdly answered back in the same language.
After a few seconds Ben pulled me away.
"What was that about?"
"I guess on Thyferra it's not customary for people to wear wedding bands. He said to them it's a sign of owning a slave. I told him we were from another planet and were not aware." He said shrugging.
I looked back at the green alien and couldn't help but notice the somewhat worried look on his face.
"We should get moving. It's going to rain soon"
I looked up at the sky and sure enough, thick grey clouds were beginning to form.
The air around us was super warm still, would this mean warm rain would be warm?
I'd only seen rain on Ach-To and it was cold, but beautiful. I loved how fresh and clean you could feel after the rain, how it felt like everything could be washed away by it.
When we got to the speeder a few giant drops began to fall.
By the time we reached the base the rain fell harder and harder.
We were completely soaked. Luckily, the food and clothes were in a small compartment inside the speeder, keeping it dry.
Ben and I grabbed everything as fast as we could, and we ran into the base. We were completely soaked as we set everything down on the ground. Our sprint had caused us to feel a little out of breath.
We left the door opened, and on an impulse, I ran back out.
I stood in the rain for what felt like hours. Laughing, holding my arms wide open and at one point I started dancing and jumping in the rain.
I knew in that moment that I would never feel more at peace than in the rain.
