(Untitled)

[herostanding]

There's a small boy sitting cross-legged on the floor near the fireplace, apparently watching the various waitrats who pass

Comments

[not_his_pa]

William's reading The Three Musketeers by the fire and notices Jacen when he's rearranging himself and grins,

"It looks like you found the best spot to sit?"

[herostanding]

"Oh -- yeah, I think so!"

Jacen glances from the nearest rat to the fire, then smiles at William.

"It's pretty warm."

[not_his_pa]

"It is, the days keep gettin' colder. Our stove at home don't get half as hot as this fireplace."

[herostanding]

"--well, I guess I'm used to space where it's always cold," Jacen admits, rubbing his hair self-consciously. "Definitely colder outside'f here than I'm used to, though."

[not_his_pa]

"You live in space? That's cause winter's comin', there'll probably be snow soon,"

William likes how you get proper seasons here.

[herostanding]

"Winter..."

Jacen echoes the word mostly because he only knows it abstractly. 'Winter' just means you can ski in more places on Coruscant than usual (or, of course, it's the name of his childhood babysitter; but Jacen's pretty sure it's the season being talked about just now). Seasons don't otherwise affect the government district in which he lives.

"--oh, yeah, most of the time!" He grins. "My mom and dad gotta go to lots of different planets for their jobs, so my brother and sister and me, we have a room on my dad's ship, and Threepio teaches us way more than our Coruscant schoolteachers."

[not_his_pa]

"Both your parents have ships, space ships?"

Most of the people here who live on worlds with space travel don't seem to have their own ships, at least that William's met.

[herostanding]

Jacen tilts his head, considering.

"Well, my dad has one, the Millennium Falcon. My mom doesn't have one, but she's a senator, so like, she has lots of friends who have their own ships, you know?"

[not_his_pa]

"Your mother's a senator?" Women can't even vote in his time.

[herostanding]

Jacen nods. "Yeah. She used to be Chief of State, but I think it made her sad a lot. She stepped down a few months ago."

He really means 'stressed', but he's not yet aware of the nuances; he just knows what he picked up on through the Force.

[not_his_pa]

"Chief of which State? Yeah, that must have been a lot of work and mothers tend to worry. I know mine does,"

He knew worlds were different but the idea of woman President is amazing and strange.

[herostanding]

"Well ... all of them, I guess." He wrinkles his nose in thought. "But there are lots of planets to be in charge of. I never really thought about how much work that must be. No wonder she always worries."

[not_his_pa]

"Oh, how did she get in charge of them?"

[herostanding]

"She was a Hero of the Rebellion," Jacen recites dutifully. "Um, so I guess when Mon Mothma stepped down, back when Jaina and me were babies, everyone already liked her enough to vote for her."

[not_his_pa]

"Sorry for all these questions, it's just very different from how things are where I'm from."

[herostanding]

Jacen shakes his head, grinning ruefully.

"It's okay! Sometimes I forget people don't know me and my family, here. What's stuff like where you're from?"