ℝ𝔼ℂ𝕂𝕃𝔼𝕊𝕊 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 2}

【 TEN 】

     ᴅᴇx'ꜱ ᴅɪɴᴇʀ, ᴀ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ, ᴏʟᴅ-ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ, ʙᴇᴀᴛ-ᴜᴘ ᴍᴇᴛᴀʟ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴛᴇᴀᴍʏ ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡꜱ, was the last place I'd expected Obi-Wan to take me when he'd said he had a lead. Yet, when I'd taken one glance at the neon sign in the window and asked Obi-Wan if he was joking, and he'd merely scrunched his brow in confusion and asked what I meant, I knew he wasn't. He's seriously taken me here, to this old diner in the middle of a bad neighborhood, to investigate a lead on a toxic dart.

"You're sure this is safe?" I asked Obi-Wan as I clambered behind him up the stairs into the diner.

"Perfectly safe," he told me. "I told you. I have an old friend."

I didn't even bother to ask how he'd even had time to make friends down in this district.

The bar was crawling with non-humanoid creatures. Just from one glance around, I was sure Obi-Wan and I had to be the only humans in the entire diner. Not even the waitress was a human--or even a creature, at that. She whizzed up on wheels, her metal body glinting in the overhead light as the bulbs that were her eyes regarded Obi-Wan and I.

"Can I help you?" The droid asked, staring at the two of us in what I could only assume was surprise.

Obi-Wan bowed politely. "I'm looking for Dexter."

"Dexter?" If the droid could actually have emotions, I would have had to assume that that was confusion lacing her words. "What do you want with him?"

"Oh, I just have to ask him a couple questions," Obi-Wan explained. "He's not in trouble. It's personal."

The droid hesitated, but turned her attention to a nearby serving hatch where what looked like the chef of the diner--a Besalisk with dull brown skin and a large body--was currently putting up plates of delicious-looking sandwiches. "Someone's here to see ya, honey!" The droid called, grabbing the Besalisk's attention. "Jedi, by the looks of them."

She whirred off before she could have to interact with Obi-Wan any more, but I was hardly concerned about that. I was now watching this new exchange with utter confusion, glancing between Obi-Wan's smiling face and the astounded Besalisk in the kitchen.

"Obi-Wan!" The brown creature called, slapping his large hands on the counter and producing a hearty smacking sound.

The Jedi standing next to me chuckled a little, still beaming at his old friend. "Hello, Dex."

"Take a seat! I'll be right with you," Dex insisted, gesturing toward a nearby booth.

Obi-Wan bowed respectfully, his smile still lingering on his face, then put a hand on my back, leading me away from the bustling door and toward the nearby empty booth that Dex had indicated. In any other circumstance, I would have been stunned by the fact that he was even touching me, but in this case I was still too shocked that Obi-Wan knew this diner owner--and knew him well enough to get special treatment--to even process the fact that his hand was on me.

I took the first seat in the booth, then scooted over as far as I could as Obi-Wan slid in next to me. He was dangerously close to me, yet he didn't seem to notice. Or, rather, he was pretending not to notice. Even I could tell that his entire body was tense in trepidation as he held himself as far away from me as he could possibly muster. I'm sure we looked quite stupid, what with me pressed against the wall and Obi-Wan nearly falling off of his seat, but in the moment, neither of us cared. If we were going to have to sit next to each other, it wouldn't be without duress.

"You wanna cup of Jawa Juice?" The droid waitress from earlier called toward Obi-Wan, interrupting our tense silence.

Obi-Wan glanced at me, then back at the droid. "Two, please," he ordered, then smiled again. "Thank you."