Earthlings 2: The Dark Age

14

19 BBY, Ord Mantell

"Hey, Bones!" Eli turned to see Cid coming over to him with a datapad. "Do me a favor and get me some groceries, will ya?"

"But that's Kendall's job," Eli complained, leaning against the counter.

"Well, bad news for you, kid. She and Snippy left with Hasty on a mission," Cid replied with a shrug. "You're the only one besides Doc, Bozo and Klutz in here, and I know damn well that those three can't be trusted with groceries." She pointed to the two idiots, who were currently challenging Dean to a dejarik match. AZI floated away from the holotable with a tray in hand.

Eli huffed. "I barely have enough Republic credits to buy a carton of Mantell Mix, and I can't really register for a chain code to transfer money without getting caught by the Inquisitors, can I now?"

"Oh, just put it on my tab." Cid gave him a reassuring smirk. "That's what Candy does. I'll have her or Bandana pay it back."

Oh, for heaven's sake...

"Fine..." Eli said after a brief moment. "But don't count on me."

"Oh, I won't." Cid handed him the datapad. "Now get going."

Eli muttered under his breath as he trudged up the stairs to exit the parlor. It had been what, 3-4 months since Order 66? He had no idea. On top of that, it had been nearly 4 years since he'd last been in Ord Mantell. There was no way he would be able to find the directions of the market without using the Force...

"Um, excuse me-" He proceeded to tap a random Twi'lek on the shoulder. "Do you know the directions to the market?"

"Sure I do. Just go straight, then turn right," Was his response.

"Thank you," Eli said before following the man's directions. Sure enough, a bustling marketplace appeared in view after a few moments. He looked at the shopping list. "Kibbles...? What does Cid think Dume is, a golden retriever?"

He made his way to the pet stand to purchase the kibbles before reading the next thing on the list- nuna legs. Of course... Eli remembered seeing the pets and Wrecker chow down on an entire nuna leg at least 5 times respectively since he'd arrived at Ord Mantell.

Acquiring 2 packs, he moved on to the next few items, which happened to include bread- two 5 footlong loaves. These probably wouldn't fit into the bag, would it...? Not with everything else already taking up half the space. Nevertheless, he ended up buying everything, even if it meant he'd have to carry the loaves under one arm.

"Ahem." Eli whirled around to see a young human male around 18 wearing a hat of some kind, who eyed his purchases. "Aren't your hands a bit... full?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Eli chuckled nervously as he tried not to drop anything. "I can handle myself."

A loaf slipped. The man caught it. "No, you can't. I'll help. Where are you heading?"

"Cid's Parlor."

"Oh, that place. I heard some clone deserters got a job there."

"Yeah, I've seen them around. How'd you hear?"

"Phee's not really the type to keep things to herself."

"Phee-?" Eli raised a brow. "That chatterbox pirate woman?"

The man nodded. "That's the one."

They had arrived at Cid's Parlor by now, and Eli decided to quickly drop the groceries inside before meeting up with the stranger again. "By the way, what made you decide to help me anyway?"