Ask [Bandomeer] Homesick and Nostalgic

[Imani Din]

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It'd been a while since Imani had been home. Though her name popped up in the family group chat often, and even though she tried to call home as often as she could (or could remember), it'd still been years since she'd come back with a packed suitcase and the intention of spending a few nights with her family. She was really, really looking forward to her Ma's cooking and seeing her little siblings. The thought of Pa's cheesy dad jokes even brought a smile to her face.

Imani landed her ship down the winding dirt road where years of landings and take-offs had all but killed the grass and left a permanent patch of dirt. Ma started complaining about it a few years ago, but Imani noted as she descended the ramp that someone had lined it with rocks to make it into something more intentional. Her guess was either Pa, one or more of her siblings, or all of them. "It's a nice touch," she observed as she made her way, dragging her suitcase behind her. "I bet Ma likes it a lot more. Or hates it a bit less." The Sith woman chuckled, then continued on her way.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Ma? Pa? Laila? Emir? I'm home!" Imani grabbed the door handle and pushed open the front door, then quickly freed both of her hands to catch the child that was suddenly flying at her.

"IMANI!" Laila's excitement directly correlated with the volume of her exclamation. Imani laughed as she caught her. "Hey peanut! I missed ya!" With the child secured in one arm, Imani grabbed her suitcase and brought it, herself, and her younger sister further into the house. It seemed that her parents weren't home, but she suspected Emir was.

"Ya home, Emir?"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Emir Din]

It was a normal day at the Din residence. Ma and Pa went to the nearest town, the same way that they used to do every week. And like every week they left Emir taking care of the home and of Laila, much for her annoyance. Even if she tried to say that she wasn’t a child anymore, the boy was still older than her and their parents would always leave him in command. He liked to annoy her because of it.

With things being calm today, Emir had decided to stay at his room working on a broken astromech. He had received this one to fix last week, but the problem on it was more complex than he had expected. It was taking much of his time, which he could have used fixing other droids or even painting. The walls of his room had several paintings that he did in his free time. He used to paint every day, but with the necessity to help the family increasing when he got older, the Tiefling had little time to do it recently.

While he fixed the droid, Emir looked at the pieces with great concentration. However, his tail was moving constantly, showing that he was nervous. The Tiefling feared that he could end up breaking the astromech even more or that he would not be able to fix it. Its owner was going to pay a good sum and his family could really use it.

Then, the boy heard a voice he hadn't heard in a long time. A smile appeared on his lips when he realized that it was from his older sister, Imani. He got up from where he was sitting, leaving the astromech forgotten. Quickly he opened a drawer and pulled a piece of paper from here and ran down the stairs.

“Imani!” Emir screamed, while running toward his sister. He enveloped her in a tight hug. “It’s so good to see ya.” he couldn’t believe that she had come. With her job as a Sith Champion she used to be so busy. “I made it for ya!” the Tiefling said, before a large smile appeared on his lips and made the freckles on his cheeks to become more noticeable.

He stopped hugging her and showed the piece of paper that he brought with him. It was a sketch of Imani, holding a lightsaber. “I was going to paint it, but I didn’t have time.” he frowned a bit. Emir had started to work more these days, giving him little free time for his hobby.

@lizziie

 

[Imani Din]

"There y'are!" Imani wrapped her free hand around her younger brother, then let Laila down. She accepted the piece of paper, and her smile widened even more when she saw the drawing etched in graphite on its surface. "No, I love it! You're so talented, Emi!" Imani carefully set the drawing down on a nearby counter and made a mental note to make sure it ended up with her stuff.

"Are Ma n' Pa out in town?" she asked Emir, but before he could answer, Laila piped up and answered for him.

"Yeah! Pa said they was gonna get some stuff for dinner and Ma told Emir to set out the chicken!"

"Ah, dinner." Imani's stomach growled at the word. "I so missed Ma's cooking." There was good food to be found anywhere in the galaxy, but nothing compared to her mother's cooking. The coziness of eating in her childhood home contributed to the taste too, somehow.

"Laila, why don't'cha run my suitcase up to my ol' room while Emir and I get the chicken set out?" Imani suggested. Laila enthusiastically agreed, then ran off with the wheeled baggage to the woman's old room. She then turned to Emir and asked, "Have you got it out the freezer already?" A little shuffling to the left to peak into the kitchen and she could clearly see he had not.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Emir Din]

Emir's smile grew when Imani said that she loved the sketch. "Really? I made one for everyone!" the boy had made sketches like this one for each of his siblings and even to his parents. He wanted them to have something to remember him while they were away from home. The Tiefling knew how missing someone could be bad, so he at least wanted to comfort his family. Ma and Pa would need that too, when it was his time to leave.

The boy was going to answer Imani's question about their parents when Laila spoke up and interrupted him. He turned to look at her with an annoyed face, it was more something out of habit than with intention. His little sister used to do it all the time during conversations. After years of it, Emir didn’t care so much anymore.

When Imani asked if he had gotten the chicken out of the freezer, Amir became pale and hit his forehead with his right hand. "Kriff! I forgot!" the Tiefling went running toward the kitchen, not even noticing that he had cursed in front of one of his older siblings. He had been so distracted fixing the astromech that he had forgotten about dinner. The boy didn’t want to think how his Ma would react when she arrived.

After arriving at the kitchen, the boy would pick a large bowl and place it on the counter. Then he would remove the chicken from the freeze and place it inside the bowl. He was tempted to put it inside water, but since his Ma saw in a show in the Holonet how doing it could make bacteria fill the food, she never allowed them to do that again.

However, the chicken would take much time to defrost. Then, he turned to Imani. "Mani, dont'cha know a way to make it go fast? Maybe a Sith trick? Please?" he asked her, with the same look that he used to give to his older siblings when he wanted something. "If ya do it, Ma would be so happy."

@lizziie

 

[Imani Din]

Imani watched with an amused expression as Emir hurried to set out the chicken. She remembered once, a long time ago before Emir was even born, when Ma had asked her to set out the chicken and she'd forgotten. There was a reason the Din family "feared the slipper."

Of course, she wanted Ma to be in a good mood when she got home, so when Emir pleaded for her help she agreed to help. "Alright, watch this." The Tiefling washed her hands first, then gently placed the tips of her fingers on the skin of the chicken. Reaching deeply inside, she channeled the Force into her fingertips and gently dethawed the chicken. It took a few minutes and a bit of effort, but it was done.

"There you go! Saved yer butt and dinner!" she laughed as she moved to wash her hands again.

"So, how's school been?"

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Emir Din]

Like how his sister had instructed him, Emir watched her touch the skin of chicken. The boy smiled and his eyes sparked with excitement when he saw the ice on it slowly melt away. His Sith sibling could use the Force all the time, but the young Tiefling would still think it was amazing. It was like magic!

The boy knew that he was Force sensitive and with proper training he could do it. However, he was still uncertain about what he should do when he left home. He already thought about joining the Sith Academy, working as a scoundrel, or even becoming a Sector Ranger. All these possibilities were appealing for him.

Sometimes, Emir thought about following his talent as a painter and turning it into his job. However, he knew that, if he followed this path, it would take much time for him to have money to help his family. There were also chances of him not being successful with it. Due to that, he wanted to work with something more stable.

“Thanks, Mani! Maybe ya could teach me how to do it.” Emir said, smiling with how the ice melted in only a few minutes, when it would take more than an hour to happen normally. “Knowin’ it would be helpful. Ma would never be mad because I forgot of takin’ the frozen food from the freezer.” this also meant that he would never see the famous slipper, at least not because of it.

When Imani asked about the school, Emir’s smile disappeared and he started to scratch the hair on the back of head. “It’s goin’ well.” he said, without looking at his sister. It wasn’t going that well, though. He wasn't a bad student, only having some problems with things that needed numbers. However, since he had accepted to take more droids to fix, the boy was struggling to maintain good grades in everything, sometimes being too tired.

So far, his parents didn’t notice it and neither did his professors because his grades still didn’t fall, but he was feeling more tired than normal. This was the price of him trying to study and work at the same time. Hopefully, he would be able to maintain it this way.

@lizziie

 

[Imani Din]

"S'called pyrokinesis. It's...it's a tad bit difficult but I won't be opposed to showin' you how." Some Sith excelled at the sort of Force powers that let you manipulate the Force into other forms, like fire or ice, while others found it easier to augment their own bodies. Growing up Matukai, Imani found the latter much easier, but the former much more interesting. It took work on her part, but she'd begun to figure it out. Whether she would be able to relay that back to her younger brother would be a different story.

As for school, he didn't seem to be telling the truth. His smile dropped and he began to fidget. If that wasn't a sign of a Din avoiding telling the truth, she didn't know what was.

"You've got my number if you need homework help, ya know. Don't hesitate." She was serious. Imani had accepted years ago that she was going to be the go-to for the family's homework needs.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Emir Din]

”Mani! That would be so cool!” Emir’s smile grew, and his golden eyes shone with excitement. The abilities that someone could have with the Force were so cool. Sometimes during his visits, Altair used to show him what he had learned in the Sith Academy. The young Tiefling loved these moments.

After seeing it, he would always dream about being an Acolyte. It must be awesome, traveling the Galaxy and learning how to do cool stuff with the Force. Seeing what Imani could do, Emir thought that maybe he should become a Sith. However, he decided to think a bit more before deciding what he should do.

“I’ll do it.” Imani was probably busy doing Sith stuff that Emir didn’t want to annoy her with homework. After all, he wasn’t having problems doing it. This was because he was having a lot of time doing it. The boy wondered if he could tell it to his sister. Maybe she could help him fix the astromech.

“But I wasn’t havin’ problems with the homework, though.” Emir looked down, feeling ashamed to say such a silly problem to her. He was blushing, what made his freckles become more apparent. “I’m fixin’ droids in my free time, but now I have so many to fix that I wasn’t havin’ time to do homework.”

Then, he looked into Imani's eyes. “Ma’ n Pa don’t know that I have these problems. They only know that I have a job fixin’ droids.” his parents would probably make him stop if he said to them. “I still have good grades, but I want to help the family like how everyone does. Don’t tell them, please. I’ll find a way to make everythin’ work.”

@lizziie

 

[Imani Din]

Imani shook her head and gave Emir a sympathetic smile. "Sounds like you bit off more than you can chew," she remarked as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Emi, you're gonna have all your life to help Ma, Pa, and the rest of us, but right now you need to focus on school and getting good grades. More than anythin', I know both our parents want the best for you first."

She could sympathize with him, though. The woman remembered how the immense gratitude she felt for having Nadiya and the others work to help pay for her school was also mixed with lots of guilt. She didn't want Emir to feel like that.

"MANI! EMI! MA SAYS SHE N' PA WILL BE HOME LATER CAUSE THEY RAN INTO SOME FRIENDS!" The sound of Laila's announcement caused Imani to blink a couple of times to process the words. "They're coming back even later?"

"Well, sounds like we've got a bit of time. Why don'tcha show me the droids? Maybe I can help you figure some things out?" She wasn't exactly droid-savvy, but an extra pair of eyes never hurt anyone.

tag: @LouJoVi

 

[Emir Din]

Emir listened to what Imani said with interest, but he couldn’t avoid feeling silly. He wanted so badly to show that he was an adult and could help the family already, that he forgot that by studying he could also help them. And not only that, but his parents made a great effort to give him a good education. If he went bad on it, the Tiefling would be wasting their effort. “Yeah, you are right. Imma start acceptin’ less droids from now own.”

Then, he heard Laila’s voice, announcing that their parents were going to return later because they met some friends. Emir felt a bit relieved with it, if their parents would take more time to arrive that meant that the chicken would have enough time to melt all the ice that could have remained on it. Even with Imani using the Force to do it, the boy feared that it wasn’t enough.

The boy turned to look at Imani with a smile at his lips when she asked to see the droids that he was working with. “Really? It’s in my room.” he said, before walking toward it. Well, the bedroom isn’t exactly only his, but since most of his siblings were away from home, Emir felt free to call it this way.

When they arrived here, Emir would open the door to allow Imani to enter. She would see how the bed and bookshelf were well organized. An old desk that had been of Nadiya lay near the window, with the boy’s painting kit laying over a large sketchbook that was placed in the desk.

However, among all this organization was a chaotically dismantled astromech. It laid over an old sheet that looked more gray than white due to the times that Emir used it to support the pieces of the droids that he fixed without leaving the floor of the house dirty. Beyond leaving the house dirty, it would also give him a sight of the slipper.

He approached the pieces of the droid and picked the dommed head of the astromech, before passing it to his hister. “I had finished fixin’ it , but it didn’t turn on when I reassembled it. I disassembled it again, but I can’t find anythin’ wrong with it.” this was the first time that something like that happened to him. He wondered what could be wrong. “Mani, can you give it a look?”

@lizziie