(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

[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.

"All right, we'll want to take a right here, and ignore the next corner." This brought them into a shopping district, rather more crowded and chaotic than where they'd just been. Vendors with carts sold food and small trinkets in the street, and children rather younger than Luke ran wild. The low, steady murmur of conversation was punctuated by the modulated shrieks and whistles of a group of feathered people with decidedly nonhuman voices, vying for a selection of necklaces.

To either side there were stalls for slightly larger and less mobile businesses, compared to the carts; between some of those were doors leading to actual, permanent shops. Those had signs, many of them brightly colored, others apparently plain white. "Those signs are usually actually not white, just not in colors humans can see - wait, here!"

This sign was a carved collection of alien letters painted orange and allowed to dull and fade. Under those letters, in plain but perfectly legible print, was "MADAM GRAGRA UKUUK'S CURIOSITIES". The section of wall that the sign was on was visibly a little cleaner than the wall on either side.

"Wait, wait-" Luke caught at Dawn's arm. "Um. Just a warning first, Madam Ukuuk's listed as a Swokes Swokes. I don't know if you've ever seen one before, but they can look pretty bizarre at first."

[They can.]

[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."