Ahsoka had worked four hours when she stopped for a lunch break right around noon. She had finished quite a few repairs, and she felt like she had done a good job on them. More difficult than the actual work was remembering not to use the Force, however. It was so tempting to simply pull the tools she needed to her, rather than reaching over or standing up to grab them, but she knew that if she didn't condition herself now the impulse wouldn't go away.

She had packed a pretty light lunch since she wanted to try and get out at 5:00. She had given it some thought, and if she put in at least an eight and a half hours every day, Monday through Friday, and she let the extra rollover after she filled her 40-hour quota, she could give herself wiggle room for days when she wanted to visit the surface.

There was another reason, one Ahsoka wasn't so sure she was happy about. She couldn't shake the feeling that even though she had officially retired from any and all military service, she wasn't done fighting in the Clone War. She couldn't tell if it was the Force or just her instincts, but she was almost certain that sooner or later something would happen, and she would be back on the battlefield. If that were to happen, she wanted to make sure she had enough extra hours to cover for the days she might miss.

In all honesty, Ahsoka would be completely fine if she was never shot at again. After seeing the effect it had on civilians and unwillingly helping Sideous with his plan to conquer the galaxy, she was done with war. Although she was somewhat interested if only for the sake of people she knew, she had purposefully avoided looking at the news updates about which systems were occupied by who. Who knew if the press even was telling the truth anyway? She knew all about censorship.

Now that she had a job, and she had the chasm to explore, she didn't feel as antsy or bored as she used to. If that ever were the case, Ahsoka could just come in and work extra. Maybe she could even ask to see what saloons or restaurants were good down here, or head up to Halda's for a quick, but expensive, bite to eat. After seeing prices down in the Lower Levels, Ahsoka knew that surface food was expensive, but she had visited a couple of times with Anakin, and they liked to eat out when they could. Anakin especially liked it because it streamed pod races from around the galaxy live.

Not that she could go to the surface right now. She would have to wait until after her name died down. Ahsoka's name was still being discussed in multiple media, on both public and private platforms. She was still too recognizable.

Ahsoka sat in a chair next to the wall in the staff room while she ate, and prepared to watch the others socialize. She wanted to see what they were like when they weren't working, so she refrained from speaking at first. It wasn't hard, she didn't understand some of what they were saying anyway.

Of course, Granger had to walk in first. He didn't spare Ahsoka a glance as he opened his locker, grabbed some food, and slammed it shut. He as far away from the Togruta as he could get, and opened the seal on the soup he was holding without so much as a word.

Wonderful start, Ahsoka thought. Someone else get in here, quickly, please.

Journey and Thyla answered her prayers. They were walking with their hands joined and laughed about something they must have said before they walked in. When the two saw Ahsoka, they smiled and waved. Thyla retrieved her lunch and pulled a chair out from the table in the center. "Come on, Tano. It's no good sitting by yourself."

Ahsoka did as told, and pulled her chair closer to the table. Journey sat on the other side of Thyla and started munching on a sandwich. "Id oo uth the asm?"

The Togruta sat still for a moment, thoroughly perplexed by what he had meant. "I'm sorry?"

Journey swallowed and repeated himself. "Did you use the Chasm?"

"Oh! Yes, I did, this morning."

"Did he show you that?" Thyla asked, somewhat exasperated. "I don't get why it's so interesting. He loves it, but he's a history nerd."

Journey jabbed her in the side, and she snickered. Ahsoka smiled, unsure if it would be wise to do otherwise.

"Maybe if you saw it, you would like it," Journey objected. "I promise, as long as you mind your own business, you would be fine."

Thyla shook her head. "Hard pass."

"Don't feel bad," Wheeler called from the hallway, poking her head inside the room. "We're all afraid of something, Thyla."

She threw a grape from her fruit pack at the Pantorian. Journey laughed at their banter, and Ahsoka wondered what the 501st Legion was doing at the moment.

Rya and Luce walked in, with Jake in tow. A scowl was twisting his face, and Ahsoka could have felt his irritation from a lightyear away. He was clearly upset about something.

"My new bench still isn't here," Jake moaned, and punched in the code to his locker. "It's just a metal frame now, and I can't sit down on it."

You could still sit on a frame, Ahsoka thought, as long as it's still standing. The others just groaned, though, so she didn't say anything.

Rya kicked his leg. "I told you, just because we put the order in doesn't mean that it just automatically appears. The manufacturers have to open he fax and process it before they make it, and then it has to ship, so for the love of God, please shut up."

Who is 'God'?

"Well, they should work faster! It's bad business to move so slow!" Jake objected, but the others just laughed, providing a chorus of response to Rya, such as "He doesn't shut up" and "Jake has no off button" and "Atta girl, Rya."

"I still don't get why Fuller hired a twelve-year-old," Luce commented, pretending to try and lower his voice. Jake went red in the face and sat down in a huff while the others, even Granger, snorted and stifled their laughter. Ahsoka didn't, wanting to respect people she had just met a few days ago, but it was so similar to the jokes she heard the clones make about shinies that she had to grin. Just a little bit.

"As you can see, Tano," Wheeler said, addressing her, "Jake has a bit of an inflated ego. Don't let it get to you."

Thyla winced. "That's a little blunt, Wheeler."

"Hey, I call it how I see it."

"You need glasses, then."

Journey and Luce nearly spat out their lunch at Jake's comeback.

Rya went to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack. She threw one at Wheeler and everyone except for Ahsoka started busting a gut laughing, even Wheeler, but Ahsoka was so lost by then that she was more confused than ever. What's so funny about an ice pack?

Thyla was one of the first to regain her composure and noticed that Ahsoka wasn't quite tracking. She decided to pull her into the conversation. "Is lunch normally like this on the surface?"

For Ahsoka, it definitely wasn't, but she had been a Jedi, so she decided to go with what normal surfacers might have said. "Well, the food has normally been fried, but more or less, I'd say so."

Wheeler caught Thyla's drift and went along with it. Groaning, she rolled her eyes and sat on the table. "They fry everything up there. I swear, even fresh stuff gets dipped in oil before it comes out of the kitchen."

"That has to be so unhealthy, though," Journey mused, staring at his own sandwich. "If you eat that all the time, without working it off-I mean, I can see it happening every once in a while, kind of like we do, but unless you're running around every day, then..."

Granger slipped out while Luce responded. "Maybe that's why you always see those people in commercials who look like they eat for a living. It's all the grease too many burgers."

"It's better than the ones who look like they don't eat at all," Thyla countered. "It's normally either one or the other."

"And it's so expensive!" Jake added on. "You can buy two meals, sometimes three, for the price of one up there. It's not worth it. Ribsy's had better food than anything up there, and it's half the price."

"Have you been there yet, Tano?" Rya asked. "It's up a couple of levels from here, about ten blocks from the elevators."

Ahsoka shook her head. "I've been eating at home to save credits. I figured it would be cheaper than eating out."

"You're not wrong," Wheeler affirmed, "but you've gotta go sometime soon. We're friends with a lot of the staff there, and we can get you acquainted."

Smiling, Ahsoka wondered if it would be like Halda's at all. "Thanks. It will be good to get out a little more after I get used to this."

Luce leaned up against a wall. "Yeah, and hopefully, Granger will get used to you, too."

"You had to bring that up," Journey chastised him. "We all saw him go, you didn't have to say anything."

"He has a point, though," Wheeler interjected. "Tano didn't do anything except say 'hi', and he's already shunning her. I know we all liked Frand, but they weren't that close."

Rya thought for a second. "Maybe it doesn't have to do with anything about her specifically. He's not exactly the friendliest guy out there."

Thyla shook her head. "No, for whatever reason, it's personal. He's never done that to any of us."

"I can handle it," Ahsoka assured them. "I've dealt with worse, really, you don't have to worry about it."

"Well, too bad, we are," Jake replied stubbornly, and Wheeler smacked him.

Journey leaned back in his chair. "You shouldn't have to, but we can stay out of it if you'd like."

Luce snickered. "We know you can handle him, Tano. If anyone can, it's probably you."

The collective chuckled, but Rya glanced at the clock and began to pick up the garbage from her meal. "I've got to go. The others will get mad if I stay any longer." She dashed out without another word.

Ahsoka stared after her. "What does she mean?"

Journey pointed at the doorway. "There have to be at least two clerks on duty during customer hours, just in case. Leslie isn't here today, so only one of them can take a lunch break at a time."

Wheeler chewed on a bite and swallowed. "Speaking of, I think you kind of scared her off. Something about lava mountains?"

Ahsoka winced and looked down. "Someone else, Jackson, I think, had asked which planet I thought was the coolest, and the first one I thought of was Mustafar. I didn't realize it would startle her."

"Don't take it personally," the Pantorian assured her. "Leslie isn't much of a thrill-seeker. You didn't know."

"Jackson, on the other hand, probably ate that story up," Jake added. "The guy wants to travel the galaxy one day. He's convinced that he's going to see every planet worth going to. I'm going to head back to the shop too, by the way."

"See you in there," the others called, and Luce picked up the conversation.

"He's a lot of talk," the Rhodian joked. "I don't think he's ever flown anything bigger than a speeder before."

"Well, he wouldn't need to in order to travel," Wheeler pointed out, "but you're not wrong."

"I'd like to see him visit every planet," Ahsoka commented. "Especially without his own ship, and during a war. That ought to stir up trouble."

"Who's stirring up trouble?" Jackson asked, walking into the room to join them. "Granger again?"

"Always," Luce joked, "but at least he's staying on Coruscant. You, on the other hand..."

Ahsoka grinned at the confusion that crossed his face. If one thing ever made her feel comfortable, it was banter. Despite the rough start with Granger, working here was going to be fine.