Worth: A Star Wars Story (ON TEMP HIATUS)

45. The Families We Choose

Apparently, Wylan's return was a cause for celebration. We were herded to a long table after a while and sat down, me on his left and Tarrec to his right, though soon, Hana squeeze between them, excitedly chattering away to her father and uncle. The massive wooden table was set up with little stands for helmets on the left side, and as all of the Mandos filed in and sat down, I watched them all make the same motions as they removed their helmets and sat them down beside them. The sheer diversity in how many different species there were was cosmopolitan, and I was impressed that you had aliens like Rodians and Twi'leks all with the same if not more social standing than humans.

What surprised me was that after Wylan had made it clear where I stood, most of the other Mandalorians seemed to just shrug and go along with it. "You're one of the Coruscant Guard, eh?" One woman asked, leaning across the table with a crooked smile. "Heard that they're pretty good. Think you could take one of us?"

I couldn't help but snort a laugh, "You do know that I legitimately am not stupid enough to answer anything but 'No, of course not', right?"

"I like this one!" The woman barked out a laugh and gestured for my then empty cup, which she filled with a generous amount of dark liquid. 

"You made an impression on Wylan if he's willing to vouch for you," it was Jorun who spoke as the woman passed me back my cup. His deep voice sounded clearly over the raucous din that was the hall as the dinner kicked off. He was watching me like he was trying to get a read on me. "Not easy to do. Must have been something."

"How'd you do it?" A twi'lek leaned across the table, his face lit up excitedly. "Jai'galaar teh Haran is probably one of the hardest people in the Clan to impress."

"Shut it, Raorun," Wylan's voice next to me almost made me jump, and I turned to see him frowning at the twi'lek. "It's not my fault that I have standards, unlike your family." I half expected the twi'lek to get mad, but he just laughed. Jorun snorted and hid a smile behind a drink of his liquid. "As for Kando, he helped save Ros Beroya's kids. He's my tal'vod, so it's as good as saving my nieces or nephews."

At the short recount of Ryloth, Jorun's expression changed from one that had been scrutinizing me the entire time to one of what I could only guess was respect as he gave me a nod and gestured to me with his cup. Raorun nodded with a small "Kandosii" before following Jorun's lead as the woman took a long, approving drink. Wylan shook his head and muttered something under his breath about the time that Hana excitedly clambered into his lap and began chattering to him in Mando'a. The look he got on his face was so... fatherly. Seeing him not look like he wanted to kill someone was a new look.

It was creepy.

As the dinner went on, most people broke from the larger tables and dispersed to various smaller ones scattered about. A few fights broke out only to finish and be resolved with the combatants laughing and getting one another drinks. I caught Tarrec leave with a sleeping Hana in his arms, giving Wylan a wave as he passed out the front door, and soon he arrived at the little table in the back that I had taken up so I could watch the doors and keep an eye on everything. He passed me a cup of the drink from earlier and I looked up at him inquiringly, he chuckled, "Tihaar. I'm surprised you made it through the first cup. Better than me the first time."

"Eh, likely because of all of the strange stuff I've drank at the local bar on Coruscant," I shrugged and looked up at Wylan, who got a dismayed look on his face as Jorun slammed another Mando onto the floor to the sound of cheers. "So... your family..."

"Not by blood," Wylan shook his head and sat down next to me as I sniffed the tihaar. The alcohol was strong, stronger than my first cup, and burned my nose. "They're my family. I chose them and they chose me, and I've got the name, so I'm an Ordo. End of discussion."