Chapter Title: A Place

Series Title: Unlikely Brothers

POV: Miss Willa (diner owner in Kaolin)

Ages in this chapter: Tanner (14) Dashen (20)

Chapter Summary: A view point from the owner of a diner that the boy's frequent.


They'd come into my diner enough times over the years, I'd gotten to know a little about them. Calling themselves brothers, but they weren't. At least not by blood. Most people cared less, most people didn't really see them. I saw them. It was my way, to observe and notice. Aside from there being not a single physical characteristic shared between them; there wasn't anything in common that I could see. They were opposite in every way imaginable. Was there something deeper that I was not privileged to? Possibly. What that was however, I couldn't begin to imagine.

They were good customers. Respectful. Tipped well. Didn't drive me insane or make me want to toss them through windows as I'd done on more than one occasion with certain troublemaking patrons. The younger one was quite plain. Boring even. Brown hair, light brown eyes, slight build, small for his age that I guessed was around fourteen. He was methodical though. Always folded his napkin a certain way, placed his fork to the left and set it down carefully after each bite. He had habits he was used to, that were born into him and for which he stayed true. He was intense in his attention. When he spoke to you, he gave you his complete self. Eye contact, alert, interested, absorbing, smart. Wanting to know you, about you, and remembering those conversations. But those same eyes that soaked up the world around him, could also flicker emotional. There was a tragedy somewhere in his past.

The older one, he was more my usual clientele. A local. Wary. Watching. Waiting to sprint at any second. His long black hair countered brilliant green eyes; eyes that camouflaged an intelligence that he kept hidden. There was also a hollowness there if you cared enough to see past the surface. Immense loss of someone dear to him. Like the younger one, he too harbored past tragedy.

Is that what connected them? Loss? Possible. Might even explain their fierce reliance on the other. They may not be brothers of true blood ties, but they where family; they were interdependent. The older one looking after the younger. The younger looking up to the older.

I set two dinner plates on their table. "Here you go, boys."

They were creatures of habit to an extent. Usually ordering the same thing each time.

"Thank you, Miss Willa. My favorite. It looks delicious. We always get the same thing here, don't we? Same old routine, I guess."

The younger one. Always polite. Always looking for conversation. Tanner was his name, though the older one tended to call him 'Mouse' often enough. There was a story there, in that nickname. A story I'd never know.

"Same old routine's are reliable, Tanner. Dependable. I like same old routine if it doesn't get me killed."

The older one. Difficult. Stubborn. Dashen was his name.

"Dash, you keep eating those bantha burgers and you'll start growing horns."

"Don't knock my burgers, Mouse. Best food there is. Well, next to bantha bacon and even you and your weirdo ways can't resist that. Besides, we're here to wind down from the day, not to be adventurous in our eating habits."

An open window - just a crack - to find out a little more about these boys.

"Difficult day?" I asked curiously.

Dashen laughed. "Ha! Day? How about week. Upside down in just about every way. But... we're good. Just having some family time in one of our favorite out-of-the-way establishments."

Family time. These two didn't have much in the way of family. That much was evident. No sign of parents or actual siblings. I'd not seen them in the company of any, other than the criminal, Virgil Colton. I suspected they worked for him, though they did seem to know him better than most. Were they spending time away from him? Did he do something to them?

I inquired carefully. "You boys work for that Virgil Colton fellow?"

Tanner shrugged, a little uncertain. "Sorta." He finally said. "He's our uncle." A lie. "Dashen works for him here and there." Another lie, partial this time. "But he looks after us too." There was a truth.

Dashen grunted an almost inaudible clearing of this throat, directed at his brother as if to signal him to stop talking. Too much information that someone not part of their inner circle just didn't need to know. A subtle and quiet sign, that throat clearing, but it was again the older protecting the younger.

These boys had a story. But then again, didn't every soul that came into this place have a story? Who's was I to judge? I had my own tales to tell and I'd told very few.

I left them to their meals as I greeted incoming customers. A group of three. Nothing too exciting about them. Most likely a few local mineral minors, so said the gear they carried. I sat them across the room from the boys, took drink orders and caught my sight on Dashen watching the trio with practiced eyes. Casual. Almost unnoticed. Shoving food in his mouth and checking the newcomers for what? Simple curiosity? Sensing for danger? The eyes were careful, thorough and wary. When eventually he got what he wanted, attention was turned back to his food and to his brother. All quite interesting as it all seemed to revolve around an acute sense of protection. Dashen assuring himself and his younger brother that there was no threat from the trio across the diner.

A story indeed. These two had one. A big one. My own eyes turned away when Dashen tossed a glance in my direction. Seeking only a refill of his drink, he'd actually missed my spying of his attention on the other patrons. I obliged the refill, he thanked me and normal resumed.

I went about my job, they went about their meal. Shoulders relaxed as the pair delved into pointless discussion about the size and speed of adult banthas. Tanner, the younger, spouted a profound book of facts about the large creatures and why it was impossible for them to reach specific speeds. Dashen, the older, countered with his minute by minute recap of the time he'd been chased by one of them. The conversation was useless and silly and serious and relaxed all in one sitting. A smile ran across my face. Whatever their story, whatever their non-blood connection, they felt and acted like family; like brothers.

More customers straggled in. The same routine repeated for all. Dashen gave them a careful glance, then returned to his own. No threat found.

That changed thirty minutes later when a off-kilter pair entered through the doors. Not mineral workers. Not two old friends catching a quick meal. These two were edgier. Bounty hunters, though it didn't feel as though they were actually engaged in a hunt. It wasn't rare to get this type in here. My diner served them all. Locals and tourists. Implants and stopovers. Bounty hunters came through here just as they came through any town on any planet. Unless they were on a job, they generally caused no trouble as they grabbed a bite. I certainly didn't discriminate against them. What customers did in their own time, in their own lives, was not my knowing or business. As long as they treated my place, myself and my employees with respect, we'd get along just fine.

Such was the case here. These two came in, sat, ordered.

Dashen eyed them. The tension was back in the shoulders. Wariness returned to the face. He signaled to me, this time to pay their bill. Not in any hurried movement to attract attention, but clearly he was avoiding unwanted attention; that of the bounty hunters. Were these boys being hunted? We're they wanted? Was this something in their past? I couldn't imagine them being wanted. Their ease with each other and their respect and kindness toward my establishment was genuine, but there was definitely something out of sorts.

Nevertheless, I took his credit chits and watched as they did their casual best to go unnoticed moving to the door. As I did with all my customers, I opened and held the door for their leaving.

The slight concern noticeable on both faces, I had to make certain. My voice was a whisper for their ears only. "You boys all right?"

The older one took the lead. "Yes. Just... something came up suddenly." Another lie. Easy enough to see through that one. "Thank you for the meal, Miss Willa."

"See you soon then?" I asked with a glimmer of concern on my voice. Dashen caught it. He'd caught it because it echoed his own concern as his eyes flashed indiscreetly again toward the two bounty hunters.

He nodded at my question. "I hope so, yes."

A quick flash of something then. A feeling. A sense. Tanner. The younger brother. Something about him. Different. Unusual. I shook it from my head. Whatever it was, it wasn't dark or evil. It simply felt young and strained before it pulled back as quickly as it had appeared. That feeling, it could mean a number of things, but one stuck out more than the others, if for no other reason than the reaction to the mere presence of the bounty hunters.

I didn't know, no way to confirm without asking and I wasn't going there. These boys were my customers and good customers at that. As I had no problem with bounty hunters dining here, I had no problem with those they hunted dining here.

Tanner though, he knew that I knew. Or at least what I thought I knew now. I wasn't a Force user, though I was Force sensitive from my mother's side. I'd never harnessed any of its power, more problems that it was worth if the wrong people found out. My family came first before anything else in my world. Apparently for these two fake brothers, the same could be said. I'd not put my family in danger and neither would these two. Their leaving quickly upon recognition of the hunters was as much about their own safety as it was about the safety of those around them.

Yes, as I'd known from the start, these were good boys.

So when Tanner returned back to me before I'd released the door to the diner, he motioned for Dashen to give him a moment.

Pale brown eyes, sincere in every way, met my dark ones. His lips pursed in a neutral position, attention squarely on me. It was a look that from any other, would cause discomfort or awkwardness. But not with this boy. No, with him, it was just his way and there was a strange ease to it.

"We're all right, Miss Willa. Thank you for the concern and the discreetness. My brother and I just want to live a normal life, however best we can. We're grateful for your wonderful diner that is open to all with no questions asked. We'll definitely be back. I promise. You're a good person and good people aren't always easy to find. We will see you soon."

Confirmation. Of what he was and also of what he wanted to be. Normal. To live in safety and without fear. It's what we all wanted, who was I to strip it from he or anyone else. I nodded and accepted his hand, his cupping around my own and squeezing lightly.

"Be well, young man. You and your brother. Until next time."

Another party of customers came in through the door I held as I watched the brothers wander off. The older tossing an arm around the younger's shoulders and pulling him close in a quick embrace. That same older brother then reaching a hand up to ruffle the younger's hair. The younger irritated and slapping the hand away as he popped a soft punch to the older's arm. A smile spread across my face. Unexpected - and I didn't wipe it away. Inside now, the bounty hunters had no concern for the departure of the boys, nor any concern about the entering of the new party. Minding their own business, treating my place with respect.

It was all I asked. Give what you receive.

Those boys though, they stayed on my mind. I wondered about their story. How young Tanner ended up here on Terra. How he came across the older Dashen. How they became what they are and what they would always be.

Truth be told, I also worried about them. Especially when they didn't show later in the week as I thought they might.

Those worries fell by the wayside the following week when they returned to my place, greeted me with smiles and took residence in their usual booth.

They wanted normal. This was what I could offer them.

A safe place with good food and decent company.

A place for brothers and hunters alike.

A place for anyone and everyone.


END