Star Wars Fan Fiction
In The Blazing Heat
By Kraven Ergeist
A/N: The more I write this, the more I think I'm basically writing a Star Wars version of Chobits. Well, the nature of the story is about the same as Chobits, but hopefully, Talia won't come off as annoying as Chii.
Chapter Two
The next morning, Kellen promptly downloaded a translator program. While Talia had seemingly picked up a bit of basic, it was not enough for them to properly translate. That being said, he'd been unable to get a straight answer out of her as to why she felt like sleeping with her arms and legs around him all night. His back was still cramped from that particular experience, though thank goodness she didn't seem to expect much else out of him.
When morning came around, and it came time to use the refresher unit, Kellen's decision had been pretty clear. He did want anything more embarrassing than last night to happen. He just couldn't be sure enough.
"Hello. I am D-12C, protocol AI, trial version," the computerized voice came from his holopad as the holographic image of a protocol droid popped up from the screen. "To purchase the full program, simply selec-"
"How many languages do you speak?" Kellen interrupted the program's sales pitch.
"I am fluent in over 5,000,000 forms of communication, however, for this trial version, you may select only three from my list. For more, you'll have to purchase the full package."
"Hmm…" Kellen mused, accessing one of his pirating programs. "We'll see about that…"
All the while, Talia watched in fascination as he worked, the holographic head of a protocol droid floating in the air above his holopad.
After messing with a few knobs and whistles, he restarted the program.
"Thanks you for purchasing the D-12C full version. If you could, please take the time to fill out our customer satisfaction surv-"
"Do you speak Twi'leki?" Kellen interrupted.
"Certainly, sir. I am fluent in over 5,000,000-"
"I've got a Twi'lek princess here who knows about three words in basic," Kellen said, throwing a look at Talia, who just smiled back. "She needs to use the refresher. Ask her if she's capable of using one on her own."
The holographic head turned toward Talia and spoke a few words in gibberish that Talia seemed startled at first to hear, but then after a few exchanges, the holo-droid turned back to Kellen.
"Gracious me…" the holo-droid exclaimed. "I thought you said she was a princess! This girl claims to be a slave!"
"Yeah, well, treat her like a princess," Kellen said, grumpily. He was not a morning person. "Explain to her that as long as she lives here, she won't be treated like a slave. She's going to get the respect that any normal person gets, but she's also going to have to pull her own weight, and needs to learn a few basic manners and customs. Like bathing herself – I'm not about to go in there and wash her back for her."
The holo-droid conveyed this. Talia seemed startled at first, then astonished, then confused, and then finally began to look away shyly as she spoke.
"Goodness," the holo-droid exclaimed. "She says that while she's sure she could figure it out, that particular task always fell to someone else. She requests, sir, that you do her the honor of bathing her."
Kellen's ears lit up. He looked away, bashfully. "If she can bathe herself, then that's what she should do!"
The holo-droid translated and Talia looked crestfallen.
Kellen sighed. "Can you tell her that I'm sorry, but I just don't feel comfortable with doing something like that with someone as…attractive as her?"
The holo-droid complied and Talia looked even shyer. She muttered a few words in Twi'leki and the holo-droid translated.
"She says she'll do it herself."
Kellen sighed and pointed to the refresher. "Good. It's right over there."
Talia bowed her head and wandered into the refresher, and closed the door.
Kellen sighed. "Alright, now that I have a moment's peace, what can you tell me about Twi'leks? Where do they come from? What do they like to eat?"
"Twi'leks are an omnivorous humanoid species originating from the planet Ryloth," the holo-droid explained. "They tend to eat cultivated molds, fungi, and rycrit meat."
"Not likely to find any of that floating around here," Kellen mused. "She seemed to like bantha steak well enough. Can you tell me about the level of education and training that comes from being raised as a slave?"
"That varies depending on the slaver," the holo-droid said. "I would have to ask her myself to get the specifics, but most Twi'lek females are enslaved for their natural grace and exotic beauty. Many Twi'leks actually encourage the slave market on their own planet. Some see it as a chance to make money by kidnapping or selling orphaned children, while others see slavery as a way of saving children from growing up in Ryloth's harsh environment. A number of Twi'leks believe that slavery is an efficient way to proliferate their species and preserve their culture, as the Twi'leks lack their own means of inter-planetary travel. Regardless of how it came about, many Twi'leks live as slaves or entertainers and are considered status symbols, especially the females of rarer skin hues: the Rutian and Lethan Twi'leks."
"Lethan…" Kellen muttered. "That's what that slaver said Talia was."
"Correct," D-12C said. "The red skin of Lethan Twi'leks was caused by a mutation of their genetic code."
Kellen nodded. "I see. Alright Dee, I'll be honest – I bought Talia from a slave trader, but I have no intention of using her as a slave. My goal is to eventually let her go free, but right now, she doesn't seem capable of standing on her own two feet, especially on Tatooine."
"You may want to rethink that goal, sir," the holo-droid said. "All recorded Twileks that have managed to escape from captivity usually turned to a life of thievery, using their powers of seduction as their primary tool."
Kellen frowned. "I was afraid of that."
Suddenly, there was a loud thud from inside the refresher unit.
"Sir, is there anything else you would like to know about the Twi'leks?" The holo-droid asked as Kellen got to his feet. "I have access to stored data on their religion and clan system-"
"Not now, Dee!" Kellen barked as he stepped up to the door of the refresher. He knocked urgently on the door. "Hello? Talia? Are you okay in there?"
He heard a pained stream of Twi'leki, which caused D-12C to let out a shout. "Oh my…she seems to be calling out for help!"
Kellen drew in his breath and pressed the button to open the door.
"Talia!"
Kellen rushed into the refresher unit, and froze.
There was Talia, naked as the day she was born, her red skin soaking wet from the refresher shower, lying on the floor, cradling what looked to be a bruised knee.
She looked up at Kellen's blushing face woefully.
"Kellen… she whined in pain, and then spoke a few words in Twi'leki.
"She says that she fell," the holo-droid mentioned. "Sir, if I may, you should probably try and assist Miss Talia here instead of gawking at her."
Kellen's voice caught in his throat, and he quickly averted his gaze. "Ah…right…" he felt the wall for a towel and tried to crouch down next to her without looking directly at her.
A poor choice, as it turned out. Talia's fall had resulted in a significant amount of water landing on the floor. Kellen's bare feet suddenly slipped out from under him.
"Whoa-whoa!" Kellen let out a shout as he lost balance and pitched forward, the towel flying out of his hands. He caught himself on Talia's shoulders, who was caught completely off guard and fell onto her back on the refresher unit floor.
Kellen was now on top of Talia, her naked body covered only by his own, more clothed form. His eyes opened, and he could see her face staring back at his, a look of shock, fear, and – surely he was imagining it – desire?
"K-Kellen…" she said shyly, looking away. She said a few bashful words in Twi'leki.
The voice of the holo-droid came from outside the refresher. "She says that if you wish to do it here, then that would be okay with her."
Kellen's voice caught in his throat. "Err…wait…no! That's not what I intended to do at all!"
Cautiously reaching out to where the towel had landed, Kellen pulled back just enough to cover her body with the sterile white piece of cloth.
"Tell her I'm sorry I fell on her, and that I was just coming in to make sure she was alright."
The holo-droid rattled off a translation, and Talia bit her lip. As if remembering her bruised knee, she reached down and gently nursed it, wincing. The look she gave Kellen needed no translation.
"Here…" he got up off of her and took her hand, hoisting her to her feet. The towel nearly slipped off her body and Kellen grabbed the towel by the edges, hoisting it up to its proper place.
"Dee, tell her to keep herself covered!" Kellen hollered, red faced.
When the holo-droid translated, she wrapped the towel around herself. She uttered a few troubled words at him.
"She asks if her body is not pleasing to you."
Kellen nearly chocked. "Is she kidding!? No, no, she's gorgeous! It's all I can do not to take her up on her offers! I'm just trying to stay civil, that's all."
The droid translated and Talia spoke again, looking amused.
"She says that what happens behind closed doors is nobody's business," Dee translated. "And assures you that many so-called civilized men and women indulge in slave pleasures almost daily."
Kellen crossed his arms. "Well, I don't believe in taking advantage of someone just because they're a slave! A woman should be free to make her own choices."
Talia smiled, delivering her next line with her head cocked sideways.
"She says that you've been more than kind, and that she would gladly give herself to you of her own free will."
"Yeah, well, Talia here has been raised around the ideal of serving her master. So until she sees the world from the perspective of a free woman, it's strictly hands off. Are we clear?"
Talia took all that in and gave Kellen and odd look. It looked like a look of admiration, but also one that suggested she thought he was being naïve.
"As…you wish…" She bowed her head.
"Good," Kellen turned and walked out of the refresher. "Can you handle yourself from here."
She spoke.
"She says she'll be fine."
"Good," Kellen sighed. "See why I figured we'd need a translator? Can you imagine going through that not knowing what we were was saying to each other?"
She smiled.
"She says she probably would have come rushing out."
Kellen rolled his eyes. "Gods, that would have been a disaster."
Talia began to laugh. Kellen chuckled too.
"I say, what's so funny?" The protocol droid program said of its own accord.
Kellen patted his hand on Talia's head, which she seemed to smile at.
"Nothing, Dee, nothing at all."
Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the way of breakfast. Kellen usually skipped his morning meal, ruling that it'd be better for his funds that way, and usually got by with a cup of jamba juice.
"Alright," Kellen said, offering her a cup. "First order of business is getting you some clothes that don't make you look like a cantina dancer."
Talia seemed to take offense at this.
"Don't get me wrong," Kellen held his hands up. "The black leather looks real good on you. It's just…not always appropriate, especially if you're out looking for a job."
As Kellen began rummaging through his bags for extra clothing, he remembered the question he had been meaning to ask her.
"Speaking of which, aside from dancing and giving massages, what else can you do? Cook, clean, anything like that?"
Dee translated and Talia smiled, happily conveying her response.
"She says chores like that would be easy for her," Dee translated. "Although she admits, she usually has more to work with."
Kellen glanced around his flat. "I meant for doing work somewhere else. But yeah, sorry, there's not much here. But I'm hoping to change that, real soon. I just have to find a steady job. Now try these on."
He handed her a pair of gray baggy pants and one of his white tank tops for when he worked on his parents' moisture farm. It took him a split second remember that Talia had no reservations about being seen naked, and after the briefest glimpse of her towel-less red skin, turned away with a start.
He took a great sigh. He'd really have to work on this whole modesty thing with her.
"They fit?"
Talia hummed in the affirmative and Kellen turned around.
"Oh boy…" he gulped.
Despite her tiny frame, the white tank top was about a size and half too small for her cleavage, which threatened to pop out of the thin white fabric.
Kellen rummaged around desperately for something more modest, before tossing her a matching gray jacket, which just barely zipped up the front.
"Ok…we're gonna have to do a little shopping," Kellen said, smiling uneasily. "First, let me get cleaned up. Why don't you talk to Dee and see what you need to know to get by in the real world. And see how much basic you can pick up."
He eyed the door warily. He didn't like keeping her locked up, but he still felt it was too dangerous for her to go out alone.
"You can do whatever you like, but please stay inside, ok?"
Talia nodded after Dee's careful translation.
"Alright," Kellen said. "I'll be right out."
A quick wash-up later, Kellen braced himself for the worst as he stepped out of the refresher. To his surprised, Talia's attention was utterly fixated on the holopad, which was probably an alien device to her as far as she knew. She was having a ball surfing the net, seeing all the colors and sounds that emitted from the device. And Dee, for some odd reason, seemed to be egging her on.
"Dee?" Kellen asked the protocol droid program curiously. "What's going on?"
"I simply offered her an extension on my program package. For just 299.99, I can upgrade my systems to-"
"Dee, shut down all advertising software immediately," Kellen commanded.
"Understood," the holo-droid said, almost lamenting.
"Credit card number?" Talia said out loud, looking at what Kellen could plainly see as a web page for purchasing more of D-12C's software.
"Talia!" Kellen said in alarm, before realizing he didn't have a credit card. Then, it suddenly occurred to her. "You can read basic?"
"Read basic?" she said out loud.
"Yeah, that's it!" Kellen smiled.
"That's it," Talia repeated.
"Hey, can you really understand me?"
"Understand me?" Talia asked.
"Oh I get, you're just repeating everything I say."
"Everything I say," Talia said, sounding pleased with herself.
"Well, at least you're learning," Kellen smiled, pulling his clothes on behind his towel.
"Least you're learning," she smiled.
"Come on," Kellen smiled. "Let's go find a job."
"Find a job!" Talia decreed, taking his hand enthusiastically in hers.
Kellen clipped his holopad to his belt, holding Talia's hand in his as the two of them strolled out the door.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.