Adventures in Boo-Sitting

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Boo Chiyo"] | Location : Illum , Heavenshield Residence | Objective : Keep the Kid Alive



Makai still wasn't sure how he got roped into watching an eleven year old boy. [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] had asked for him to keep an eye on the boy, which meant travelling from the Naval Base on Csilla to Illum. It was trading ice and bitter cold for...well, more ice and bitter cold. At least the Jedi...whatever Teddy had called it when he first arrived, had great facilities to poke around in without bothering to venture into the cold.


As for eleven year old boys? What did they do?


Yes he was a teenager himself but that didn't mean he knew what all kids liked. At eleven he was spending his days surfing and his school breaks salvaging out in the black. Despite not knowing what kids in this sector did for fun, Makai was going to do his best.


Right now he was squeezed behind the entertainment center, hooking up the latest and greatest HoloStation. Brought from his home on Dac, the half-Galan had also brought a great deal of gory games any boy over the age of nine would be interested in - Ultracry 4, Call of Destiny,and Outerlands were just a few in his arsenal.


Shaggy head poked up from behind the entertainment console after making the connections. Pushing the furniture back, iced azure eyes looked at the boy.


"So what game do you want to lose at first? You pick, I'll kick your behind."

 

[Zak Dymo]

[member="Théodred Heavenshield"] sure was gone a lot.

Now, he was eleven. It wasn't like he was incapable of taking care of himself. For Hutt's sake, he grew up begging on the streets of Coruscant's Undercity. However, it seemed like someone had found out about that time that Boo had led a violet slave revolt on Ord Janon that resulted in the complete massacre of the town of Bilgewater. Or the time he'd sacked Mandalorian Wayland. Or Belkadon.

He didn't think they knew about Bespin, Lorrd, or Elrood though. Those had all been assassinations that he thought he'd kept pretty much on the down-low.

In any case, the Adults Who Be seemed to have decided that some adult supervision was required in order prevent further mass casualties of major metropolitan populations, planetary disasters, or interstellar incidents.

Of course, being adults they promptly contracted the work out to someone of dubious qualifications.

Was [member="Makai Dashiell"] even an adult? Because Boo was skeptical.

The question about games had his interest, however. "Ultracry," the boy answered simply.

He plopped down next to where Makai was setting things up. Truth be told, he didn't play many hologames. He was more of an outdoor kid. Snowboarding. Running around. Assassinating former Sith assassin colleagues.

You know, normal kid stuff.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Boo Chiyo"]



"Ultracry, good choice. I've been playing it a bit lately."


A bit was an understatement. Makai had always considered himself an outdoor 'kid' as well. Surfing, sailing, camping, snorkeling and the like had filled his days of his youth. There hadn't been much time for sitting indoors and playing video games. His often sick friend Ellie was the only reason to slow down, the two of them lounging around to watch a movie.


Beyond that it was sun and sand. All that had come to a screeching halt due to the weather in the area.


Sitting back on the couch, Makai handed a controller to the kid sitting next to him. Weren't kids supposed to be chatty? Or asking a million stupid questions he didn't want to answer. This one was.....unusually quiet so far. Was Teddy beating him or something? Some kind of weird Jedi mind control for kids?


The introduction screen was coming to life in the room.


"So....What do you do around here? As in the Iron Legion and with Ted. He's your teacher or something? Scary thought, Teddy teaching and being responsible for something more than a goldfish."

 

[Zak Dymo]

The young Pantoran had his head down, looking over the controller in his hands as he tried to orient and familiarize himself with it.

"So....What do you do around here? As in the Iron Legion and with Ted."

Who's Ted?

Turning his head, the boy's amber eyes cut a sidelong glance toward this teenager. Boo didn't know Makai Dashiell. He just knew that Théo did and that the two apparently went way back.

"He's your teacher or something?"

The two apparently went way back, but Makai seemed like he was fishing for information. About Théo. About Boo. It made the Pantoran wonder how well the teen knew his friend Ted. It seemed a strange question to ask a stranger, fishing with questions for which he already had the answers. Was he seeking confirmation? Or was he really that uncertain of his acquaintance in Ted?

"Scary thought, Teddy teaching and being responsible for something more than a goldfish."

The Iron Praetor was responsible for a lot more than a goldfish. Boo's presence was probably the most marginal or inconsequential piece of everything that [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] dealt with on behalf of the Iron Empire. The comment reinforced the notion that Makai may be Théo's trusted friend, but perhaps Makai didn't know Théo as well as he thought.

Unless Ted was an alias. But... Boo didn't really think Théo's use of subterfuge was subtle enough to pull off that sort of cover or deception. Théo was sort of like a book. Once you knew him, you could sort of read him like words on a page. "Yeah," the Pantoran uttered quietly, merely affirming Makai's own statement and failing to elaborate on any of the questions that he'd asked. "Scary thought."

If Makai wasn't paying close attention, he was being stalked by an amphistaff. Azi having woken from a nap to discover a new person in the abode. The black, serpentine biot was inching slowly, silently toward this stranger.

"You're in... the Army?" Now it was Boo's turn to ask questions. He pulled the dossier on all his babysitters. Makai Dashiell was Near-Human. Part Galan. It was an aquatic race. He was enlisted in the Iron Imperial Navy. Service to date had been respectable.

[member="Makai Dashiell"]​

 

[Makai Dashiell]

The kid was weird.


Not to say Makai wasn't weird himself. [member="Boo Chiyo"] was a different type of odd. A three word reply greeted his questions to the kid. Nothing more. Silence fell like a blanket once again, the low volume from the holovision filling the room with the theme song and opening credits to Ultracry 4.


Yes, he and [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] were friends but they weren't terribly close throughout the years. Makai didn't agree with much of the Jedi way and hence didn't ask questions on how the entire Master-Padawan dynamic was supposed to work. Much of it seemed odd to him, especially sending an eleven year old boy off to fight in battles. Didn't seem the kid had ever had much of a say so his entire life if what he knew of Force Users were true.


Not seeing the beloved pet Azi quite yet, Makai saw it was his turn to be equally vague.


"Navy, yeah."

 

[Zak Dymo]

The amphistaff's blunted snout bobbed in mid-air, stretched out toward Makai as the amphistaff sniffed and took its own measure of this guest.

Then it turned and started slithering off.

"That's cool," the young Pantoran remarked. Now he had control of the conversation and could steer the questions away from himself. Makai stating that he was in the Navy made the follow-on question easy to select. "Were you on a star cruiser?"

The amphistaff was heading back toward Makai, this time with a small ball in its mouth. Coiling off to one side, the biot wagged its tail in errant hope of being noticed. Then it dropped the ball onto the floor and decided to announce itself.

Mew.

Ducking its head down, the amphistaff used its snout to roll the ball toward the stranger. Then it looked back up expectantly, it's tail wagging back and forth in the air.

[member="Makai Dashiell"]​

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Boo Chiyo"]


"Yeah, I've been on a capital ship before."


Star cruiser? What type of kid was this? Did Teddy let him do anything beyond study the Force and run off into odd battles in a freighter? Yeah the kid seemed like a moody pre-teen that didn't want to answer a single, normal question but still.....Maybe he'd have to have a talk with Teddy.


Movement caught the corner of his eye, hand slowly setting down the controller, wondering what exactly had broke into the apartment. As it drew closer, Makai realized it was a snake...or an eel....or something. With a ball in its mouth, looking excited as an eel-snake could get.


"Whoa....Is this eel-snake thing yours?!"


Tail continued to wag as his scale-speckled hand reached down for the ball at his feet. Makai mimed throwing it a few times before tossing it towards the kitchen, watching Little Eel-Snake slither off excitedly. Eyes stared after the creature in fascination. Little Eel-Snake looked like creatures he'd spotted in the oceans, curious and wanting to play. Yet it clearly wasn't aquatic....or was it? Being aquatic himself, he couldn't see how the creature would be happy unless it preferred ice cold water.


Ball was returned and dropped at his feet once more. Picking it up, Makai tossed it down the hall towards the bedrooms, making the creature slither farther. Watching Little Eel-Snake go made him miss Koa even more, despite his pet being spoiled rotten and content in the care of his best friend.


"Where's Little Eel-Snake been hiding at? You haven't had it locked up have you?"

 

[Zak Dymo]

Interesting.

Was he trying to be modest? Or evade questions about his military service? If the dossier that Boo had read on Makai was correct, then the teen was a capable star pilot. Most of those liked to brag about their skills, but Makai didn't even bring it up. Instead shrugging off Boo's question in much the same fashion the Pantoran would have.

The conversation might have arrived at a standstill, but for the appearance of the Grand Empress of Ilum herself. No doubt fresh from a nap and with a ball in her mouth that demanded to be thrown.

Repeatedly.

"That's Azi," the boy supplied, when Makai had asked about the eel-snake. "I think she thinks I belong to her." That seemed a much more accurate portrayal of the relationship.

As far as where she'd been... no telling. Possibly under the couch. Or a bed somewhere. Or in a closet. He'd caught her taking a nap inside of one of Master Théo's cloaks before. How she'd managed to get up into a hanging garment was anyone's guess.

"That's an amphistaff," the boy noted, finding a bit of amusement in the idea of someone locking up the biot. She could cut through solid durasteel. "I don't think you could lock Azi up, unless the cage was made of Mandalorian Iron," the boy noted aloud.

As if to reinforce the point, or realizing that she was being talked about, the serpentine creature looked up. Mew!

[member="Makai Dashiell"]​

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Boo Chiyo"]



"Yeah, pets are like that. Pretty sure Koa thinks he controls whatever I do with a single meow."


Makai had no idea what an amphistaff was. Well, obviously it was the creature slithering back to him with a ball in its mouth, excited to have found a new playmate. Not wanting to sound like the complete idiot he tended to be - Makai settled on searching the HoloNet later for amphistaffs. No need to be schooled by some eleven year old kid.


Azi perked up with a mew! clearly begging for some type attention. Ball rolled to his feet as the eel-snake was far more interested in slithering onto the coach and checking him out further. Soon he was eye-to-eye with Azi, almost if the amphistaff was checking to see what kind of creature he was.

 

[Zak Dymo]

"What's a Koa?" the boy asked curiously.

It sounded like a weird name for an amphistaff. But then, Boo forgot that normal people didn't keep Yuuzhan Vong weapons as pets.

The amphistaff held Makai's gaze.

The biot slid forward, extending it's serpentine neck outward as it stretched out until only an inch shy from touching it's blunted snout to the teen's nose. Then it suddenly dipped and shot forward, making an attempt at diving down the front of Makai's shirt.

The Pantoran just gave a giggling laugh. "She likes to burrow."

[member="Makai Dashiell"]​

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"Koa is my Loth-cat. He's being watched by a friend, wouldn't have been fair to bring him."


Before he could grab the little eel-snake it was slipping rapidly down his shirt. The feeling was odd as Azi slipped against his bare skin and scales. The scale-to-creature contact was a bit odd, [member="Myra Elspeth"] was the only one who had the special privilege of ever touching the blue-green patches. To have the little eel-snake slithering across those same patches brought back the nagging feeling he was more creature than teenage boy.


He always had a love-hate relationship with those smooth scales that broke up swaths of tanned skin.


"Bit frisky." Makai commented, pushing the insecure thought out of his mind. "Haven't had this much action from a pretty girl in months."


There was a grin directed towards the boy.


"Speaking of girls, whats up with Ted? I thought I had it bad but that guy? Hopeless case."





[member="Boo Chiyo"]

 

[Zak Dymo]

Snakes being cold-blooded reptiles, it might have been surprising to discover that amphistaff were quite warm, owing to the bio-electric fields that they produced.

They could sometimes cause a static shock for the same reason.

Like a cat in a box, the amphistaff piled in and started to loop back on itself, all seemingly very content to root around the shirt. If she happened to find her way to a sleeve, she'd go for trying to burrow further.

Meanwhile, Boo was still trying to imagine what this Koa thing was. "What's a loth-cat?" the Pantoran asked curiously. There were a lot of planets that the boy had never visited, and only a few that he'd ever actually lived on. Mostly Coruscant, Dosuum, Bastion, and Laekia. Well, Oswaft Station anyway. Which wasn't quite Laekia.

"Haven't had this much action from a pretty girl in months."

The look of confusion only deepened on the boy's face. Action? What?

Makai didn't start to make sense again until he'd brought up Théo. Which, the Pantoran wasn't entirely certain that he had followed the conversation...

...actually, he was positive that he hadn't followed the conversation, but he would fake it anyway.

"It's Théo!" the Pantoran answered, throwing his arms up in exaggerated exasperation. "When isn't he hopeless?"

[member="Makai Dashiell"]​

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Azi moved around in her shirt castle, moving to poke her head out of the neck of his shirt. The eel-snake looked around as if the Empress was surveying her kingdom. The creature seemed instantly bored and dived back back down into the fabric, seemingly content. Makai didn't find it overly odd -- Azi was just curious.


"Loth-cats? They are just miniature little cats...boxy heads, demanding personalities. They can be a bit violent but Koa is really laid back.He's just more or less an attention seeker."


Makai leaned back and rested his feet on the coffee table, conversation rounding back to [member="Théodred Heavenshield"] .There was a shake of his head the mention of [member="Boo Chiyo"] 's words. The kid was smart. Makai felt a bit sorry for the kid though, now Boo would be subjected to love-sick Teddy 24/7.


"Yeah, he's been hopeless since I've met him. Good point."