(Untitled)

[sand_wormie]

Characters: Luke Skywalker and Dawn Summers - closed
Location: One of the higher underworld levels of Imperial Center Coruscant
Planet: Coruscant
When: Early afternoon on Thursday
What: Visiting a mildly seedy store in search of paper books
Rating: G? PG?

Comments

[glowyball]

It was nice to be away from the apartments without Buffy or Spike or anyone else having to worry. Luke was a kid, therefore no reason to worry about the trouble Dawn would get into with him. Therefore, Dawn was chipper as she followed along after Luke into a part of town she hadn't seen before.

"It's so different here." Her nose wrinkled up a bit, but not in disgust. It was more thoughtfulness than anything. Up on the top level, everything was so bright and different. She kept her eyes open and took all the visual notes that she could, so she could write them down in her datapad later.

"Thanks for finding this place, by the way. I've been dying to get my hand on some real books. I feel naked without having a little collection of leather bound ones." She admitted sheepishly, glancing over at Luke with a lopsided grin.

[sand_wormie]

"No problem!" He ducked his head a little, grinning back. Dawn wasn't all that much older than him, he thought - with how girls matured earlier and all, it could be hard to tell. "I can't promise there'll be a great selection, of course, but there are more 'real' books for sale here than anywhere else on this hemisphere. Or so the listing said."

Luke eyed the map on his datapad judiciously. He was fairly sure he'd done everything right, but wasn't willing to take too many risks. "...Hang on, I should make sure first. Watch my back?" This was the upper underworld, and relatively safe. It just happened that there was a thrill to saying that kind of thing, a thrill Luke was not at all immune to

[glowyball]

Dawn glared up at the native as he spoke. She didn't need to understand his language to know what he was saying, and the sentiment behind it. Her hand went up to rest on Luke's shoulder in support. "Don't even think about it anymore. It was rude and stupid."

She trusted the kid enough to let him figure out where to go. She didn't feel unsafe here, and didn't feel too out of place, given all the wonderful locations her various kidnappers had brought her over the years.

"Come on. I bet we're almost there." She took the lead then, and motioned for Luke to follow along.

[sand_wormie]

"Yeah... I wonder why he felt like that..." Luke shook his head, shedding the mood. He was entirely willing to follow, though he kept his pace up so he was almost alongside and could give directions

[glowyball]

Dawn glanced back at Luke, a little confused about what the issue would be. When she realized that he was trying to watch out for her and warn her, she just laughed and nodded. "Don't worry. I've seen a lot of crazy looking beings back home. Like all kinds of crazy demo-"

Oh wait, he didn't know about that part of her life, and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. "Demographics. You know, people and stuff. Animals too. Yep."

With that thought in mind, she awkwardly stepped past him and into the store, looking around as she did so. She was taken off guard by Mada Ukuuk's appearance, mostly because boy, she sure looked like a demon. It was almost unsettling. If Buffy were here, there would be a sword going to Mada Ukuuk's heart right now.

"We're here to look at any books you might have. If...that's okay?"

[sand_wormie]

Luke caught that there'd been a sudden word change, but shrugged it off and followed. A chime sounded as each passed over the threshold.

Inside the lighting was cooler, and there was a scent that stung the nose, like incense does. The shop had a labyrinthine array of dusty shelves that reached nearly to the ceiling, and these were stacked with, well, curiosities - small mounted alien skeletons, sculptures, instruments, jagged crystals were all visible from the door, as was the proprietress.

Madam Ukuuk grunted and growled in Swokese, poking at a handheld inventory screen with a pasty finger. A protocol droid shuffled closer to Dawn and Luke, jerkily inclined its head in greeting, and said, "My mistress, the beneficent Ukuuk, bids you greeting to her fair establishment and respectfully requests that you cause no trouble. Such material as you have requested may be found this way, if you would be so kind as to follow me."

[glowyball]

Dawn was fascinated by everything the second she stepped far enough into the store to get a good enough look around. She almost missed the droid approaching them, but once she caught sight of it, she gave a chuckle of amusement and nodded.

"Nope, definitely no trouble here. Just two kids, getting their nerd on."

And with that, she followed along after the protocol droid toward the books. She was close to squirming in excitement. Just the smell of the place brought back memories of the Magic Box, and the prospect of getting her hands on any books at all, regardless of what kind they were, made her giddy in ways that would have been embarrassing if she were more in public or around her sister.

[sand_wormie]

"They say Swokes-Swokes can't tell how old humans are at all. We just age in such a different way," Luke offered as they set off, once he was reasonably sure Madame Ukuuk couldn't overhear him. "I hear they have some trouble telling us apart, too. One day, I want to go visit their homeworld, remind myself that that's what they feel like among us."

He had to smile; Dawn's anticipation was catchy. The droid led them to a set of long transparisteel cases with internal shelves containing an assortment of books, mostly in paper but some apparently made with thin sheets of metal.

"Mistress, master, I am afraid that if you wish to examine the antique editions, including our treasured copy of Da Werda Verda dating back a confirmed one point three thousand years, I will need to check your identification; however, you may peruse these freely." The droid indicated most of the cases. "They are organized and marked by subject."