Getting ready to leave took most of the day, even with all of them helping. Bodhi and Array had a fair amount of possessions for two people who'd lived such a humble life for so long. Then again Poe supposed they'd been all over the galaxy, once. He could barely contain the desire to know all of those stories and right now, but he put it aside in favor of getting back to Finn as quick as they could.
Array and Jess had instantly magnetized to one another, and Poe paused to watch them tell jokes for a moment as he leaned against the ship's gangplank; they'd driven it as close as they could get it to make moving everything easier. Array stood with a box of harvested melons balanced on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing, gesturing animatedly with his other hand as Jess regaled him with some tale Poe was only a couple meters away from being able to understand.
Zawati and Bodhi likewise talked, but they did it in a nigh-whisper as they took cuttings from the garden, blooms in pastel blues, pinks, and yellows against the midnight of Zawati's dress as she gathered the stems gently together. Mathilde rolled on her back in the field nearby, soaking up every free moment before she had to go back in the cargo hold. Jennet and the other two akk-dogs jumped around her, barking joyously as if they'd just found the best playmate in all the worlds. Just then even Poe who had spent less than a day in this place hated to leave it.
Jess came up with an armful of folded quilts. As he watched, one of Bodhi's loth-cats peeked its head out from between two of the blankets, blinking its huge eyes and gazing at him with suspicion.
"Hey Poe," Jess said, flashing a grin. "Quit standing around and help, huh?"
"I grew a whole kriffing tree less than a week ago! Give me a break."
"Sorry, sorry. Forgot you just gave birth," Jess said, passing him to go into the ship. He laughed, but it wasn't far from the truth. He felt exhausted, yet fulfilled at the same time. His mind snapped to what he'd seen in the Dragon Cave, him and Finn being told they were going to have a family. Maybe it would be literal one day, and he'd really know what it was like to create another life.
Eventually, they'd found a spot for everything in the freighter. The garden had given up all its bounty, only to be lovingly tilled over by Array and Bodhi. They both looked stricken by the necessity, but Poe didn't want to embarrass them by calling attention to it. Array put a steadying hand on Bodhi's shoulder when they'd finished, and Bodhi smiled tremulously at him. Trying, Poe thought, to put on a brave face.
Probably scared to leave. Can't blame him.
Bodhi had a core of durasteel. Poe could tell that much from the vids, and from K2SO's recorded history of the things that the droid didn't have footage for. But Bodhi also came across as a person who felt tremendous anxiety, someone who had suffered significant trauma. And if the sign language were anything to go by, he'd dealt with disability too. Maybe it wasn't just physical. The ears might have healed, but the mind hadn't. Array sure followed him around like a support animal would have, vigilant and quick to act whenever Bodhi was about to falter.
Jess made a couple more trips with Array's help, Zawati and Bodhi doing the tasks needed around the garden and house to close it up with care. They swept out the main room, tying bundles of dried herbs to the rafters so that the air would be sweet when they came back. They raked the dirt in the akk-dog pen, closing the gate and locking it tight. Array came over to help, putting his arm around Bodhi's shoulders when Bodhi hesitated to close the front door to their home.
That wing almost completely enveloped Bodhi like a ragged cloak; he looked thin, almost too much so despite his ability to cook. Array murmured something to him outside of Poe's hearing, and Bodhi shut and barred the door. Array let him go and he went towards the ship, his dark, wounded eyes wide and searching.
