Work Text:
“Can I help you?” You were cleaning the desk when you noticed the hooded man standing in front of you.
“I need a room for the night.” His face hidden, he softly asks you for a room, never looking directly at you.
“Well, you came to the right place. We rent out rooms here for one night or longer. Depending on what you need I am sure we can find you something sir.”
His hand which was lying flat on the desk now clenches into a fist. “I…. I don't have a lot of credits… How much is the cheapest room?”
You look at the ledger in front of you and then look up at the man. “Well, currently we have three rooms free. The cheapest is five hundred a night. One bed and a fresher are available. It is small, but clean and private.”
Tightening his fist and then releasing it he sighs. “Not enough.”
You strain to hear his mumbeling, but hear enough to make it out. “How much do you have sir? Maybe I can help you.” Something about him makes you want to try and help him out. Whether it is his deep yet subtle voice or the posture of defeat and resignation with his situation, you can not help but wanting to do something for him. You have seen your fair share of people in need, you were one of them in the past. Why not help another?
“Not enough for what I need, suppose I should go and find some work to make some credits.” As he turns to walk out of the establishment, you stop him.
“Wait! We are looking for someone to help with the cleaning. It won't make you much, but it does come with a perk. You will get a small room nearby to stay in when you are not working. If you want it…”
Surprised, he turns around. “ You offer me a job and a place to stay? Do I have to be around people for it?”
Well, you need a room and we need someone to help with the cleaning. It works both ways I suppose. And the cleaning is done in the evenings, I am responsible for the rooms and daytime cleaning, you won't be around the guests here. Is there a specific reason you don't want to be around people? If you are a wanted man…..”
For the first time you hear a soft chuckle and it endears him to you. It sounds almost cute. “I am definitely not wanted by anyone here. But, I don't like showing my face that much.”
“Hmm, okay I can understand that I guess. You have the job. I`ll enter your name to the list of the evening cleaners and show you your room. What is your name?”
“D. My name is D.”
With a small smile you enter the name D. “Short and easy to remember. Well D, welcome to the Star Inn. Follow me, I will show you to your room. It is behind the Inn so you won't have to go too far.”
After showing him his new room and explaining the time he is expected to show up for work and that you will be there to help him out his first time, you leave and D is left to settle in. Taking off his hood he looks in the mirror and brushes the tattoo that crosses part of his face in the shape of a V. Dogma feels safe for now. Now, he has to figure out what to do with his new found freedom on Terra.
*******************************************
“D! Come on now, it is your day off, don`t you want to enjoy it just a little?” You laugh and yell at the man still inside of your small apartment. The moment he heard about your little plan he shut himself in and you out. No matter that it was not even his own place, no, he knew that the moment he opened the door, you would storm in and drag his ass out into the sun and among the people currently celebrating that summer had finally arrived.
“I am just fine where I am, thank you!” Sitting down at the table, Dogma takes a sip of his new favorite caf, made by you from ground beans and a dash of cocoa mixed in. “No need to try and drag me with you, I am NOT going out! Give up Sunshine”.
From the moment you had reached out a helping hand to him and began to explain to him exactly what was expected from him, Dogma thought of you as his one ray of light in a dark and desperate galaxy. When he finally trusted you enough to tell you his actual name and tell you why he was here on Terra, you just shrugged it off as just some information about him and offered him a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear for when he had to talk about whatever it was he needed to get off of his chest. He began to tell you his life story, the good and the dark times. The good times he had with all of his brothers, the respect he held for his general and his kin, the time he killed, or rather executed the general that had betrayed him, his brothers and everything he believed in. You were there, listening, offering him a bit of warmth when he so desperately needed someone to just hold him and tell him he would be ok again, to tell him that he could let go of the rules sometimes, they were meant to bent or broken sometimes and to tell him if you thought he had been in the wrong.
With a sigh of contemptment he puts down the now empty cup and looks up at the door. “I know you already picked the lock Sunshine, just come in already.”
The door opens and shows you, hands in sides and tapping your foot on the wooden floor. “You`re an ass sometimes D, but I still love ya. I'll forgive you for locking me out of my own place if you come out with me right now.” With a pout you walk up to the man still sitting at your table and grab his hand.
Dogma, annoyed yet flattered and secretly happy he had made a friend such as you, allows you to drag him from his seat and settles your hand around his arm. “Fine, but only for a stroll. After that I will go back home again.”
Grinning you drag him out of your apartment, this one you won, you would make sure to enjoy it to its fullest.
The street was filled with stalls and people selling all kinds of goods. Normally, it would be rare to see anything not Terran but, with the war still raging throughout the galaxy and refugees scattered all over the planets throughout, you now had goods available that would otherwise be out of reach. The smell of something sweet baking catches your attention and you motion for Dogma to follow you and your nose.
“What is it this time, Sunshine?” With a chuckle, Dogma follows you, knowing full well what to expect. “Oh, that smells familiar.” He sniffs the air and a gentle smile forms around his lips.
Arriving at the stall you are greeted by a broad grinning Thrandoshian selling sweet sand cookies. “Welcome! Welcome! Would you like to have a taste? They are made with my own special recipe and you won't find any more tasty!” Handing you and Dogma one of the freshly baked cookies her eyes linger on Dogma for just a second longer than on you. When she notices the look on Dogma`s face she quickly focuses back on the cookies currently stacked in front of her.
“If you don't mind me saying, you seem somewhat familiar. Have you ever been around the ringed moon of Urrtha?”
Dogma silently shrugs as he takes a bite of the cookie he was handed and looks up at the seller once again. “Can't say that I have.” The taste of the cookies leaves a soft look of nostalgia on his face as it reminds him of the better times with his brothers way back on Kamino, when training had gone well and they were granted a rare reward of sand cookies like these by one of their human trainers.
Knowing that the past is painful to him, reminders of his brothers so far away and lost to him, the fact that he was released from prison by rebels and that he was a refugee himself in a way, you wrap an arm around him and grin. “D always gets that from people. Guess he has one of those faces that people mistake for someone else. Maybe you should dye your hair sometime and get those sideburns off. Maybe we should get you a full hair and facial treatment while we're at it D.”
The Thrandoshian flashes you a grin and nods as you order a pound of the cookies.
Holding the bag of sweets, you quickly leave the stall and move away from the busy street. “I should get a full hair and facial done?” The indignant way he utters those words has you stop in your tracks. When you look at him, ready to apologize, you are left mouth agape.
Dogma laughs, his body gently shaking from holding his laughter as you walk off with him from the stall. For the first time in a while you see your best friend laugh without it seeming forced in some way. “You sure know how to make them look at me funny Sunshine, thank you.”
From that moment on the two of you almost felt carefree as you enjoyed the day out, smelling and trying out different kinds of food and drinks, looking through clothes, both new and secondhand while imagining each other in the strangest outfits.Despite s shaky start, it was a good day for the both of you and for the first time in a long time, Dogma truly enjoyed being among people again. And as the evening approached the two of you made your way back to your apartment where you would cook a small meal before going back to work.
Sitting at a table, you watch Dogma sweep the floor of the restaurant adjacent to the hotel you both work at. His posture is that of a man more comfortable in his work and life build up on this rock called Terra. He might even feel comfortable enough someday to truly settle in and carve out a little piece of his own in this life, you would be there right by his side to support him as he supports you. And if he would ever be open to let someone special in? You would love to introduce him to a friend of yours that has been not so secretly eyeing the man with a tattoo on his face and eyes that can tell many a story.Yes, you would ensure your dearest and best friend would have a happy life, even if it meant at the cost of your own happiness for now.