Advent Day 1!

[annalalaith]

So,the first entry! Yay, by Munnin! I am posting these in the evening- well my time- as it was always tradition in my family to do advent in the evening.

In a different world…

The market town of Napdu was a good place to make plans. Busy enough to be anonymous but far enough from everywhere to give them sanctuary from the Empire. Some local clothes and skin dyes helped to make them less obvious as off-worlders.

And it freed them to explore. To learn. To just… be themselves.

Saw Gerrera had the message. The rebels were planning their attack. Jyn was with them.

The father-daughter reunion had not been quite as smooth as hoped for. Some many years of separation, of resentment, of hopelessness. Jyn was Saw’s lieutenant, loyal to the father who had raised her, not the one who had left her.

There was hope. Perhaps. But they both needed time.

And Galen and Bodhi needed to stay hidden. At least until the Death Star was destroyed and the threat of Orson Krennic was lifted.

So they found a place on Napdu. To hide. To wait. In the hope it would be over soon.

It didn’t take long for Bodhi to find work. The world needed pilots. Especially those with experience. But for fear of giving himself away, he found work in a restaurant instead. New and interesting recipes, a willingness to try new things, to work with what he had.

Galen found himself at something of a loose end. He enjoyed exploring, learning about this new world. But without work, he lacked focus, tending to dwell. On Jyn, on Lyra.

On his mistakes and on the past.

Bodhi tried to distract him. Dragging him to the markets to buy for supplies for the restaurant.

The local wildlife fascinated Galen – cute fat little rodent things that seemed to scurry around everyone’s feet. The locals kept them, often in fenced off little pens around the base of their stalls.

“We should get one.” Galen announced one day, catching a stray that had escaped from a pen and handed it back to the stall owner. “It could be nice, having a pet around.”

Bodhi give Galen a sideways look. “Gal, they’re not pets.”

“What do you mean? Everyone here seems to keep them.” He reached down to scratch one as it crawled up the side of a pen.

“That’s because they’re food.” Bodhi pointed out gently. “They’re the main livestock on Napdu. They make up most of the meat we’ve been eating.”

Galen paled. “I’ve been eating-”

“Yeah, sorry. I thought you knew.”

Galen walked on in silence for some moments.

Bodhi looked at him sideways as they headed away from the markets. “I take it I’m cooking vegetation from now on?”

“Please?”

Comments

[munnin]

<3

[diehard_daniel]

It's good.

[munnin]

Thank you.

[diehard_daniel]

No, thank you for participating. And you are welcome.

[i_am_your_host]

Awww.

Let him have an edible pet.

[munnin]

I can see Galen setting up a rescue home for the little critters.

[exiled_heir_of_the_eighth]

This. A thousand times this.

[munnin]

Thank you! There deserves to be at least one version of the story where they get a happy ending.

[exiled_heir_of_the_eighth]

Definitely. And since canon will never give them one, I guess it's up to fans like you to tug at my heartstrings. Thanks for making a really boring day a bit more interesting with your writing!

[sardonicynic]

B'aww, I love this glimpse of Galen and Bodhi, after. Rebuilding themselves, brick by brick — each learning how to be a person, again. Thanks so much for writing this, and for sharing it with us. ♥

[munnin]

My very great pleasure. Thank you for reading it. They both went through so much, it was fun to imagine them happy.

[sunbaked_baker]

Aww! Loving this.

Though I entirely see Bodhi coming home one day to find Galen having 'acquired' a few of the creatures, and given them all names.

[munnin]

And they get fatter and fatter because Galen can't resist their cute little faces. And I imagine they'd breed like rabbits too.

"Galen? Did you seperate the males from the females?" Bodhi asked, peering under the couch.

"No, why? Should I have?"

"Um... yeah. That would have been a good idea." he reached under to pull out a bundle of a dozen tiny round babies, their pink noses already twitching for food. And nesting in what was left of Bodhi's favourite scarf.

Galen looked helplessly pleased, crouching down to give the mama a scratch behind the ears. "At least we know where your scarf went now."

[bjornwilde]

This was cute! I love the "opps, their food".

[munnin]

Poor Galen is very clever but not always a practical man. Glad you enjoyed it.

[thebattycakes]

This story made me happy, and the little snippet you added under Saph's comment melted my damn heart.

I'm so impressed with the tension and ease of this piece, yes they're in hiding, neither of them really doing what they're meant for, but they've got each other and that brings a kind of peace and hope. I love it.

Thank you for writing this and sharing it with us.

<333

[munnin]

My absolute pleasure. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

(Even if I now want the bring the little critters into Milliways and accidentally set them loose.)

[thebattycakes]

BWAH! DOOO EEEEET! It would be Hi-Larious. XD