Tw: Alcohol.
"I'm so sorry to ask this of you, but could you please take these down to the school?" Cham Syndulla held out a crate of wood. "I was going to do it myself, but... I have urgent matters to attend to."
"Of course. Where's the school?" Howzer accepted the crate.
So he was given orders of where to go. He followed the instructions and ended up in front of the school, holding the crate in his arms.
"Howzer!" Tine screamed, hurrying over.
There were children of all ages playing and running around the rundown building that was the school. Most of them seemed to be fairly young, but they all seemed to get along.
"Can I help you?" Leila asked, walking over.
"Howzer's here, Ms. Carson!" Tine excitedly told her.
Leila smiled kindly at him. "I can see that. Why don't you go play before your outside break is over?"
Tine obediently nodded before scurrying away, leaving them alone.
"What's this?" Leila questioned, inspecting the crate.
"Just a bunch of wood, I think," Howzer replied, peering into it. He offered it to Leila. "You want to carry it?"
Leila took it from him, propping it up with her hip. "Ah, these are the supplies to fix the school."
"Looks like it needs a lot more than just a couple planks," Howzer remarked. He was afraid that a strong breeze would knock the school over.
"The Empire promised to help us. I'm sure they will soon." Leila gave him a pointed look. She sighed and walked into the building, motioning for him to follow. "Supplies are limited right now."
"How many classes are here?" Howzer wondered as she opened the door to her classroom.
"Three. We have to put certain age groups together. I teach the youngest ones." Leila placed the crate on her desk and wiped her hands on her pants. "I'll probably stay overtime to patch up some holes in the walls."
"How?" Howzer questioned. "Do you have a drill or something?"
"I was thinking I'd just... stick the planks in the holes," Leila admitted.
Howzer gave her a skeptical look. "You really think that's gonna be good enough?"
"I don't suppose you know how to fix a building?" Leila challenged, raised an eyebrow.
"As a matter of fact," Howzer grinned, "I know quite a bit. I had to help build some houses when the war was just finishing. I'm in no way a professional construction worker, but I think I can patch a few small holes."
Leila thrust the crate into his chest, forcing him to catch it before it fell. "Great. I'll take you to the 'small holes' that you need to fix."
And so Howzer was led to a gaping hole that took up an entire side of the school. He glanced between it and the small planks several times before shaking his head.
"I can't do this. There's not enough supplies to patch it up!" Howzer held up one of the wood scraps to the school before letting it drop out of his grip.
Leila rolled up her sleeves. "Fine. Give up if you want, but I won't."
Howzer's jaw tensed. "I don't give up."
"Sounds like you did." Leila narrowed her eyes at him and flicked his chest. "You gave up."
Howzer grabbed her hand. "I don't give up." His voice was lined with warning.
And desperation.
Leila's expression softened and she pulled her hand away. "Alright then, Captain. I have to return to my class, but I'll be here all night if you happen to stop by to help out."
Warning bells rang in the back of his mind.
He never told her he was a captain.
But at the same time, he couldn't give up on this school.
"I'll see what I can do," Howzer told her, jogging away.
Leila frowned at her work.
She had stacked the small planks of wood. That was it. That was what an hour of fiddling with a box of tools had accomplished.
"Wow. That's horrible."
Leila whipped around, fist raised before dropping it to her side. "I'd like to see you do better with just this."
Howzer dumped a huge crate of actual wood at her feet. "Or I could just use this."
"Where'd you get that?" Leila asked in amazement as she kicked her pathetic stack of wood aside.
"It's no big deal." Howzer shrugged the question away.
"Thank you," Leila gratefully said. "It means a lot to us."
Howzer rummaged through the box of tools. "Where'd you get these?"
"They're mine. I mostly used them to repair my ship, but I sold it. They were laying around my house so I figured I'd put them to use." Leila started bringing the heavy pieces of wood out of the crate.
Howzer hummed, sitting back on his calves, legs folded beneath him. "These might work. They're mostly for ships, though."
"They better work. I paid a whole bunch of credits for those tools." Leila pushed the crate away to focus on the materials.
Howzer plucked a knife out of the toolbox, running his thumb along the edge. "What's this?"
Leila took it from his grasp, smiling. "It's nothing. I forgot it was there."
Howzer frowned, brow pinching together. "Leila-"
"I'm so happy you're helping!" Leila excitedly said. "We really appreciate it!"
"It's my pleasure." Howzer hadn't forgotten about the knife. He tucked that pice of information away for later.
"Should we start?" Leila held up a piece of wood next to the hole.
So they worked on fixing the wall, until it had was patched up. Leila was proud of how good it looked, while Howzer believed it could be better. Nevertheless, he packed everything up with a grin when he saw how pleased she was.
"I can't thank you enough," Leila said, placing the palm of her hand on their newly constructed wall. "This is amazing."
"Think of this as payment for the bracelet," Howzer told her. He adjusted it so she could see it better.
"That was payment for helping Tine. I guess I owe you." Leila snapped her finger. "Let me get you a drink! I have this great bottle of wine at my place that I won't be able to finish myself."
"Sounds good," Howzer agreed, trailing behind her to arrive at her house.
He took in the small house and sat on the couch, taking the offered glass of wine. She settled next to him and curled up against the arm of the couch.
"Tell me a bit about yourself, my friend." Leila's fingers tapped against her glass.
"Not much to tell. I'm a simple man." Howzer sipped at his wine as he thought about it. "I'm a clone. I fight and die. Not a lot of in between."
"Haven't died yet, though." Leila raised her glass. "You must be doing something right."
Howzer liked her response. It was refreshing. Usually people tried to tell him that dying for the Republic was a noble purpose.
If it was so noble, why didn't they do it?
"What about you?" Howzer returned the question. "What's something interesting about you?"
Why do you have a knife?
How did you defeat that man at the bar so easily?
But he didn't ask that.
Leila swirled her drink around, staring at the glass. "I teach kids. They're nice, but it can be stressful." She glanced up at him, the corners of her eyes wrinkling as she smiled. "That's pretty much it."
Howzer doubted that.
"You've never done anything exciting?" Howzer pressed. "Nothing?"
Leila supported her chin on her fist. "No. Just a teacher. Nothing more."
"You don't have any secrets?" Howzer wanted to know what she was hiding. He couldn't just let it go.
Leila's lips thinned. "This has been fun, but I have to get up early tomorrow. It's probably best if you leave."
Howzer's heart sank.
There goes one of his only adult friends.
Scratch that. There goes one of his only friends in general.
"See you around?" Howzer tentatively asked, placing his glass down on a table.
"Sure." Leila's wine spilled over the edges of the glass as she set it down, staining the white furniture.
She couldn't peel her eyes away from the splotches of red. It was like blood.
She'd seen so much blood in her life.