Who Made You the Boss, Lady?

[Kay-Larr]

Kay wondered why [member="Akira Kono"] wasn't eating yet. Was he waiting for permission? He was shaking and mostly just staring at the food. "You know...I think the stew has cooled down enough. Why don't you try it and see if you like it? If you don't then, well there are other foods that can be ordered."

She spooned a mouthful of stew into her mouth and ate it before speaking again. "I'm not from here either. I was born on Naboo, although now I'm a citizen of Commenor. It's a nice planet full of forests and deserts and canyons. Have you ever been there?"

 

[Akira Kono]

When [member="Lady Kay"] had questioned Akira to try the stew that was sitting before him there was no hesitation left in the starving boy as his hands darted out toward either side of the bowl that contained this precious food. His mouth, and the lip of the bowl, met halfway and from there it was nothing but a nice warm feeling that filled his body and warmed his throat, and stomach. It was as if he was a wild animal--in his mannerisms--as he drank down the stew. He had hardly chewed any of the ingredients before gulping them down in such a vigorus fashion.

It would be obvious that this would have been his first meal in a long enough while--more precisely since he had boarded the shuttle to this planet--and his stomach began to groan from being filled up so quickly after having been empty for such a long time. Akira's own eyes would betray his feelings, and yearning, for more food of any kind but his voice could not find the words to ask for anything more than the kindness that he had already been shown on this day.

"Th-thank you, ma'am," Akira began as he gasped for the air that he had neglected to breathe in as he nearly inhaled his meal. "But I haven't been to either of those places. Not yet. I've been mostly floating around the Inner Rim. I go wherever I can find a shuttle that I can..."

Pausing was something he was used to--he wasn't sure if he should share his methods for space travel. Namely, he wasn't sure if he would lose all of Lady Kay's goodwill by admitting that he spent his life stealing aboard vessels for passage that he could never dream of affording on his own.

 

[Kay-Larr]

She saw that look that [member="Akira Kono"] had given. She recognized it, having seen it on countless slaves and refugees on her travels and missions. So she signalled a server and asked for another bowl of stew, as well as some bread.

Kay had another spoonful of her stew as she listened to him speak. So he was a drifter, more than likely taking advantage of whatever opportunity presented itself. "I don't own my own ship either. I just hire out. It's a safer way to travel, you know. Makes it harder to be tracked."

Another bowl of stew appeared for the boy, as well as some bread rolls. Kay picked up one of the rolls and began munching on it. "So what else do you do besides trying to steal lady's satchels?" She grinned and winked as she teased him a little bit.

 

[Akira Kono]

"I don't own my own ship either. I just hire out. It's a safer way to travel, you know. Makes it harder to be tracked."

With the words that [member="Lady Kay"] had spoken, Akira could only help but to wonder what, exactly, gave her cause to hide her tracks--as well as how much money that she actually had if she could afford to book private passage from world to world. For someone so keen on downplaying her own significance, Akira was beginning to raise a suspicious eye on the gentle maiden as the second wave of food arrived at the table. It was at that point, however, when an uncontrollable sense of shame washed over his features at her next statement.

"So what else do you do besides trying to steal lady's satchels?"

"Umm," Akira began before stuffing more food in his mouth to give himself extra time to think what to tell the woman across from him.

What, exactly, did he do? There wasn't much else besides drifting through space--searching from planet to planet--for something to catch his eye. From learning a new skill, discovering a new philosophy, or even finding a new crush to watch from a distance, Akira didn't have much of a purpose in his own life other than keeping his legs moving to the next planet to seek a cure from his own lack of a home.

"I survive," he said with a stern face and a resolute tone that could only be described as a grizzled demeanor. "But you wouldn't know much about that."

 

[Kay-Larr]

She raised a brow as [member="Akira Kono"] made quite the assumption about her. "Oh? Do you think that I'm some rich person that always has had everything done for me? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I had to scrape from the bottom. After my husband died, I ran and hid from everyone. I survived on very little, lost a lot of weight and was in such a sad state for a few years. It wasn't until recently that I allowed myself to face the Galaxy again, and start all over. I'm not rich, not by any means. I just don't have a home to pay for. I sleep in my office. Everyone thinks that I go home somewhere, but I don't. I use my credits to free slaves with."