I Pie With My Little Eye [Open]

[Ibby]

[SIZE=12pt]Zen rubbed a hand over her face, which had aged with stress over the last six years. She’d fallen out of contact with her family before they could really get to know each other, the diner had been robbed twice (with both repairs costing more than she’d wanted) and, recently, this whole glaxy-wide disappearance. And with the switching of Rendili from Republic to Sith hands, it was a struggle to maintain her diner. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Now, for example, there were very few customers in the diner. Sham and Cran were in the back, getting some cleaning done. Eoh and Torr were sitting at the bar, playing a card game. The holoprojector in the corner of the diner was off, having been turned off since the occupation, and Zen was restacking the cups for the thousandth time. Eventually, Eoh looked up from her hand to face the woman. “Aunt Zen, you really need to stop doing that. The cups were fine the first time around.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She sighed. “I know, baby. I know. I can’t help it.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Torr looked up too. “Why not?” But Zen smiled instead of replying, not wanting to answer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“What game are you playing?” she asked, moving over there. The children beamed up at her for a moment, and the girl said, “I’m teaching Torr how to play sabaac.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Both of Zen’s eyebrows shot up. “Sabaac? Where in the world did you learn to play that?” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Torr grinned, completely oblivious to the older woman’s shock. “Daddy taught us, Aunt Zen!” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Zen merely shook her head in amusement. “Good grief, child. I’m going to go back to stacking my cups.” She moved back, but while she worked, she caught herself looking back up at the patrons and wondering....wondering if one of them were like her, like her employees. Wondering if any of them were fellow sympathizers. Hell, if one of them were agents for the Republic, just undercover. For a brief moment, the woman smiled. I'd be in the right position for that, she thought. Yessirree -- not that anyone contacted her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Fixx Kearney"][/SIZE]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Fixx Kearney glanced down at his wrist com. Nothing. The galaxy was coming out of some nightmare he didn’t understand, something down to the Force users and ghosts and goblins and the Jedi and Sith and god-knows what else. Meanwhile the ordinary soldiers, pilots, leaders and politicians were battling the scum of the underworld in keeping as much peace and calm as possible.

He hadn’t seen Kayleigh for a good few months, but he knew she was alive and out there helping the Republic keep hold of their slice of the galaxy. While Fixx was out of his official jurisdiction in One Sith space, he wasn’t a typical Republic officer. He was a blunt instrument to be used in the right hands, and if he went about things the wrong way, he would be in trouble.

But right now he was keeping his head down and ear to the ground – intelligence gathering. There were many people living in fear under the tyranny of the Sith and those people needed a lifeline, a glimmer of hope. Fixx would try to be that hope and do what he could to help them and boost the spirit of the Republic in these dark confusing times.

Hunched forward by a window, he wasn’t in any immediate urgency. All he had on him was his com and sidearm and his memories. That was it. He wasn’t a one man army; he was a lone operative. Fixx picked up his caf and took a satisfying gulp whilst watching the world go by on Rendili, just one of the Core Worlds Fixx was visiting. It was satisfying to find diners like this one still operating as normal, keeping the everyday man going and not losing touch with humanity.

Placing the cup down, it was quiet inside the diner. Glancing around briefly, he noticed a female working away behind the long counter with a great deal of commotion behind her; obviously a family business with professionalism out front, chaos in the back. Fixx let his blue eyes take the establishment in as he returned to finger the side of his cup. He didn’t get much down time at present, but was thankful for this right now.

[member="Zendaya Selah"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Fixx Kearney"]

Zen finally arranged the cups to her liking just as the caf maker behind her dinged. Oh, good, she thought. The children looked up as she moved to go refill her cup.

"Can I have some caf?" Torr asked, his tone implying this was the thousandth time he'd asked this question.

"No, honey," the diner owner replied, her tone also implying that this was the thousandth time she'd answered this question.

"Why not?"

Struggling to keep her face straight -- every day, it seemed, the two would always have this conversation -- she explained, "Because caf has a lot of energy in it, and while us big people can handle it, the little folks like you will turn into great big ball of hyperactivity. Next thing you know, your daddy, Cran, and I will have to chase after you with a net just to catch you."

"But Aunt Zen, that sounds fun!"

Failing in her efforts, she laughed. "Fun for you, not for me."

"But--"

"I said no, Torr. Now, go take your sister's allowance or something." Refilling her own cup, she checked to see if Sham and Cran needed refills, though both were fine. Shrugging, she took the pot and scoped out what little customers she had, when her eyes landed on a human hunched by the window. Finally finding something useful to do, Zen carried the pot of caf over and awarded the man one of her best smiles in greeting, scoping him out as she did.

Not too bad looking, if I say so myself, she thought. "Would you like any more caf, sir?" came out of her mouth. What her eyes said, though, was, "Sir, you can and will say 'yes' because I kriffing need something useful to do, or else I'm going to go crazy."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Fixx sensed the waitress approaching and saw her slide to the edge of his small booth after a few raised words from behind the counter.

"Please," Fixx said with a smile, holding the cup for her, " thank you."

He watched the caf flow gently into his cup.

"Not as busy as I was expecting - local community affecting business?" Fixx glanced at her.

[member="Zendaya Selah"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Fixx Kearney"]

As Zen filled the man's mug, she carefully considered his question. On its own, in a different setting, it would have been innocent enough. But here, under the watchful eye of those Sith dogs (not to mention this fellow's opinions being unknown -- if only she'd been blessed with telepathy, not telekinesis!) she needed to be careful.

When the mug was full, the woman stopped pouring and gave the man another once-over. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." She flashed her teeth in a quick smile. "Between the whole ordeal with folks disappearing and the, ah, recent acquisition of Rendili by the One Sith, some folks just haven't settled in yet." There, that wasn't so bad. She cast a quick glance around at the other patrons before reaffixing her eyes on her customer. "Would you like anything else? Some pie, maybe?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

Fixx looked out the window as she spoke, and then gently stirred his caf – two sugars, as always.

"It’s a real shame, but it’s nice to see you’ve kept your business and are still going strong – don’t stop, because it’s not over."

She was an innocent, trying to make a living in times of tyranny and she was just the sort of person the Republic was fighting for, and the sort of person he was trying to protect. However, he couldn’t help smile a little at the mention of pie – he was keen on the odd sweet treat.

"I would love some pie, thank you - " he noted her name badge, " – Zen. What’s on offer today?"

[member="Zendaya Selah"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Fixx Kearney"]

Zen tilted her head slightly, studying this stranger. "No," she replied softly. "Let's hope it's not." She wondered if, perhaps, this man was a sympathizer like her. Did he want the Republic to retake Rendili, too? Lords knew she wasn't a fan of her father and his Order, but the woman harbored no ill will towards the Galactic Republic.

It pleased her to see that the mention of pie made him perk up, though. The diner, as of late, had been a bit on the gloomy side, even with Sham's two children. Straightening her apron, the woman thought for a moment, flashed him a grin, and said in a louder voice, "Well, right now we've got Barabel Fruit Pie as our special. Most folks are put off by its look, but I assure you it's the tastiest thing since Saba's Special Shake." Zen chuckled a bit before continuing. "It also comes with a scoop of regular blue milk ice cream, though that's optional."

To any outsider, her choice would seem innocent enough -- but growing up in the Jedi Order, Zendaya had read of many Jedi of old for her classes -- one of whom was Saba Sebatyne, a Barabel who fought with the legendary Luke Skywalker during the Yuuzhan Vong War. And, obviously, there was no such thing as Saba's Special Shake. It was a long shot, and not particularly easy to guess at, but it was the only way she could think of to see where this man's loyalties lied.

 

[Connor Harrison]

With a nod of his head, Fixx moved his caf away to the side.

"Sounds delightful."

He edged to the side of his seat and stood up, taking his cup of caf and indicating the long bar that stretched across most of the dinner, underneath warm lighting and facing the back of the business.

"I'll take it at the counter if that's alright? No point sitting over there on my own."

Fixx took a sip of the hot caf and let out a small gasp at the heat, "Mm that's good."

He sat on a stool and placed the cup on the counter and laced his fingers, leaning on his elbows and watching Zen move back to her station.

"So tell me, how bad has it been with the Sith here."

[member="Zendaya Selah"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Fixx Kearney"]

Zen took a step back to give the man more room, nodding her head once. "That's absolutely fine." She gestured wryly at the bar. "It's not like there's no seats. Take your pick, sweetie. I'll go ahead and have the cook get you a slice." Following the man to the bar, the woman went around back and set the caf pot back, scribbling out the order on a ticket.

"Sham! I got an order for you!" Sliding it in the window, she then turned around and rested her elbows on the counter in front of the man. With a grim look and a quick glance at the children, she lowered her voice.

"Our diner's been lucky so far. All we got was a drop in business, but no Sithly visitations. Although...." Zen hesitated. "Out there, on the surface, everything looks fine. There's no savagery, no riots. But if you watch these folks--" She pointed out the window, and swept her hand across to the scarce number of patrons in the diner. "You watch them, and you see fear. Oh, it's not very obvious, but folks are afraid to speak out against their rule. Heck, why do you think I turned the holoscreen off?" The woman curled her lip. "There's even been rumours of folks disappearing, folks who spoke out or resisted at first."

She straightened up, shaking her head. "The Republic has its flaws, but it wasn't that bad."

A clatter behind her notified Zen that the man's pie was ready, so she turned away to grab it. Meanwhile, Eoh looked up from her hand and called out, "Hey, mister, you wanna play sabaac with us?"

Torr looked up and behind him, a grin splitting his face. "Yeah! We might even let you win the first round!"

 

[Connor Harrison]

As Fixx listened, he toyed with his cup and took in all of what Zen had to say. He let her paint a picture of the type of tyranny the Sith had the planet under, and just who and what was most at risk. It sounded like anyone with a mind for freedom and free speech were targets.

"Shocking. Positively shocking." Fixx took a small sip and looked through the double doors into the back to accompany the noise.

At her invite, Fixx looked around and thought this was something better than nothing to get a good idea of what was happening planet side - the more systems and innocents he could save or let the Republic free from the Sith was only a good thing. He nodded and smiled, taking his warm cup.

"Why not. I'd love to - go easy on me, it's been a while since I played this."

He'd go easy on them for a while.

[member="Zendaya Selah"]