Ask Nah Boo

[Leon Baudelaire]

Nah Boo

Leon emerged from the palace in Theed with the haste of a man on fire. He hated diplomatic missions. He was so bad at talking, why in the world was he being sent to represent the Jedi? He sighed, he was dressed in his official Jedi “robes” and Naboo was hot. It probably didn’t help that Jayna (@Altaris) wasn’t on planet. He’d hoped they’d get a chance to rekindle their adventure in Serenno, but she was off taking over worlds or something awesome.

He pulled out his EZPhone and shot her a text.

What’s your favorite Caf shop in Theed?​

He didn’t expect a response, but maybe he’d get lucky, and get one before he took off. He was dying for a good iced caf.

Leon wanted to blow off some steam following his incredibly boring day within the confines of diplomatic life and was kicking himself for not bringing his skimboard. Peetwo popped his head out from Leon’s sling bag and whistled.

“There’s a what?”
The little droid warbled and chittered, Leon smiled.
“Alright, alright, I’ll check out the market, sheesh.”
Leon frowned at the BD unit incredulously.
“Since when do you care about shopping?”

A few minutes later he stepped into the bustling market. Vendors barked their pitches and fought jealously for the attention of every customer strolling by. He spotted a bench and decided to people watch for a bit.

He chuckled. Wonder if I’ll randomly run into Auntie Tia again, he thought as he pulled out his phone and started swoogling caf shops.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

Theia was actually feeling tired from the number of exams she had taken in the past week and found it even more difficult to think about how good it will feel to be on break before the new quarter started. She knew she did well overall, in fact she was certain she passed with the highest grades and despite feeling good about it, there was some social backlash she did take for being one of the smartest students in the school. While her friends spoke about their difficulties with questions, Theia reassured they were not trick questions and was able to explain it further. This of course, did not go over well as she was met with unwelcoming gazes, so she decided to bail off the school campus early and waste time in other ways.

She quickly found herself roaming in the markets, this time of day, they were busier than usual. Regardless, Theia had learned quickly how to navigate through crowded bodies as she pushed her way through, reaching a local caf shop to get herself an unnecessary caffeinated drink for herself.

For Leon as he watched the passing people go about their day, would catch the flicker of distinguished red hair. It was something she was used to by now: the looks, the nicknames, the teasing; Theia had experienced it all. Though the worst of it was when people mistaken her for her mother, because she didn't think she looked anything like her. As the teen reached the counter and ordered her drink, an all too familiar situation begun to unfold as another male took notice to her hair and started looking for the pick up line that would work Theia into agreeing to go with him. However, what was bothersome to the girl now was how he seemed to follow her from the line after she gotten her drink.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon was reading up on a nearby shop when he spotted a familiar shock of red hair streak through his periphery. His head snapped up and he frowned.

No fucking way, he thought.

Baudelaire’s eyes narrowed. Was the family stalking him? Like the WHOLE family? No, that was paranoid. RIght? Yeah, yeah that was crazy.

To his pleasant surprise, that shock of red had slipped into the exact shop he’d been reading reviews for and he decided to accept it as fate. A moment later he stepped through the door and into the bustling little shop. Lil Red crossed his path again and he flashed her a polite smile before heading up to the counter to order.

Iced Caf secured, Leon made his way to a stool facing the window and sat sipping his drink and playing on his phone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a guy approach Lil Red, and Leon stopped reading and started eavesdropping. There was something in the girl’s demeanor that made it clear the guy wasn’t a friend.

Leon closed his eyes, focusing on the words coming out of the guy's mouth, “This seat taken, Red?”

Okay, pretty normal thing to say, maybe I’m jumping at ghosts, he thought. He continued to monitor the situation, but wouldn’t interfere unless the guy just wasn’t getting the hint.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time, that randos that Theia had never met before would try to charm her into giving her comm digits to them. This one in particular seemed a bit, forward, in wanting her to give in and comply with his request.

"Look, I don't even know what school you go to, so-"

"Babe, c'mon, we'll get din-

He wanted to continue, but another guy approach, asking her if the seat beside her was taken as she had death gripped the chair's back to prevent the other guy from sitting down. Her knuckles were practically turning white as she looked at Leon, a feeling in her gut told her to trust his intentions.

"Nah, I was saving it for you." she told Leon, only letting go when the Jedi took a seat beside her.

The bothersome male eyed Leon for a moment and then back to Theia, seemingly agitated by his failings to lure the redhead to whatever he had planned. He looked at Leon again giving a quick wave of his fingers, "Sorry man- before quickly heading out of the coffee shop. Theia watched him carefully, her bright eyes following his figure as he passed by the window and down the walkway before she felt herself let out a long exhale.

"Thank you." she told Leon.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon was up and moving as soon as he heard her voice. To her credit she wasn’t scared, but her tone exuded, fuck off, and that was all he needed.

“Hey, babe thanks for saving my seat, whoa, what’s up bro? You good?” he flashed the guy an oblivious smile as he settled into the chair. Leon looked from the guy back to the girl, playing the fool. The guy took one look at Leon and muttered something under his breath as he shuffled away.

Leon watched him go until he was sure the guy wasn’t coming back. The young woman’s voice snapped him back to the present, Baudelaire flashed her a grin, “No problem, sorry for calling you “Babe,” he said with an embarrassed chuckle. He took a sip of his drink finally getting the chance to look at her.

Recognition flitted across his face for a second, there was something about her that was super familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He shook it off and said, “I’m Leon by the way,” he looked back toward the door. He didn’t have anything pressing to do so he offered, “Not to be some creepy guy, but if you’d like I can hang out here for a bit and make sure that bozo doesn’t come back.”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

He apologized for calling her babe, but she didn't mind and waved her hand to dismiss the apologize, mentioning something along the lines of don't be sorry. She was just appreciative that he could tell she needed help in deterring the creep and was finally able to take a long drink from her iced coffee beverage. He introduced himself as Leon and her head tilted ever so slightly as though she really processing something, whether him, the situation, Leon wouldn't be able to tell right away. However, for Theia, the name sounded terribly familiar, she could swear Jayna told her a familiar name, but the coincidence of running into him here was low. She thought she heard he was a Jedi, and like Ezzie, it seemed like Jedi couldn't be bothered with anything.

"I would like that, I'm just trying to kill some time until I go to pointe practice." she explained, "My name is Theia by the way." the redhead introduced herself quickly before forgetting.

"So do you live around here? I feel like I know you from some place but..." the girl's brow narrowed slightly before relaxing, "Maybe you just are one of those folks with one of those faces, you know?"

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire was relieved when she waved off his apology.

“Cool, thanks for letting me hang around,” he laughed, “Nice to meet you Theia,” he said, then he asked, “Wait, what's pointe practice?”

Okay now he was starting to feel a little crazy. She had the same color hair as the Twin’s aunt and her name rhymed with Tia. What in the hell were the odds of that? Wait, did Tia have a kid? Honestly, there was a lot going on with the Throne Family and Leon barely kept up as it was, so he decided to just put the confusion aside and enjoy getting to know the young woman in front of him.

“Oh nah, I’m not from around here,” he said with a smile, “I’m actually here for some routine diplomacy for the Jedi, wait—” He said suddenly stopping mid sentence when she mentioned him being familiar, “—Okay, I thought you were super familiar too,” he frowned then asked, “You don’t happen to know a tall, unfairly beautiful silver eyed girl named Jayna do you?”

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

"Pointe is ballet." she simply stated and took another sip from her drink, letting him continue. Her head tilted in curiosity as he mentioned he was Jedi and she wondered if he new Ezzie. However, something seemed to click in the mind of the Jedi, it seemed they both couldn't put their thumb on what it was that reminded them of someone they knew. It was then he asked if she knew Jayna, but her eyes widened as he described her as beautiful.

"ARE YOU JAYNA'S BOYFRIEND?" she squeaked as she pulled out her EZphone and started to type a message to Jayna (@Altaris). "I know Jayna! She's my cousin!" she explained taking a longer drink as she quickly sent off several messages to her cousin, "Well, yeah, cousin..." Theia paused, never really giving thought to it given she and her mom were not related to the Thornes at all. "And Ezzie, and Uncle Em, Uncle Jai, wait do you know Ezzie? He does Jedi things too now." she asked him, her mind flooding with questions.

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

“Oh Cool!” he said sincerely. “So, how serious about dancing are you? Do you do, like, recitals and stuff?” he asked.

Thia’s outburst brought a smile to Leon’s lips, “I am.”

The admission felt good. Jayna was incredible and he counted himself among the luckiest in the galaxy, to have won her affection.

Surprise colored his expression as she revealed she was Ezr– Ezzie and Jayna’s cousin. Leon pulled out his phone and immediately changed the contact name of his bestie. Her excitement was contagious and Leon found himself matching her energy.

“Wait, you’re Tia’s kid?!” he asked with enthusiasm.

Man, he thought he was having some weird ass force experience where he was gonna be stuck protecting this girl or something, this was waaaaaaaaaaay better.

“Ezzie's my best friend,” he chuckled. Leon’s mischievous little smirk spread across his face, “So, please tell me every embarrassing story you know about, him.” he said with a laugh.

@GABA

 

[Theia Durand]

He showed some curiosity into her dancing and her eyebrows rose with eagerness that someone had even asked, "We have recitals and do a seasonal performance, one in the summer and another in the winter." she sipped from her drink, "I can get tickets for you and Jayna if you guys want to come watch." though when he mentioned Tia, it took a moment for the name to process, she was not used to hearing her mom's name outside of her small family, but things were beginning to click for the teen when he mentioned he was Ezra's best friend.

"Ohh....OHHHHH, so YOU were one of the guys who broke into Mama's lab." There was a look of shock before she grimaced to the memories of her mom yelling at her security over the holo. Theia then giggled to herself, "I never seen Mama so angry! You should probably not talk to her." she advised, her voice growing concerned. She fell into silence for a moment as she thought of any embarrassing stories, "Ezzie (@Sreeya) once had a girl crush and Jayna (@Altaris) told me, so naturally, I had to yell out to the girl that Ezzie liked her." Theia giggled.

"OH, ok, this one time Ezzie and I thought we could be invisible by coloring ourselves the same color as the sofa, so we could scare everyone if they sat down, - we were head to toe in paint and marker, and then sat really still on the couch." the teen smirked, recalling the look of Jaikus' face, "I think Uncle Jai had a mild stroke when he saw us. But we were so proud at our camouflage."

@Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon’s eyebrows raised when Theia offered to get them tickets to her next recital, “Yeah that’d be awesome, I‘d love to support!”

His elevated brows lifted further when she seemed to recognize him more from his mention of her mom. A smile spread across his face, “Breaking in is such a harsh way… Okay, yeah I’m one of the guys that did that…” he said with a chuckle, running a hand through his hair.

“I think you’re right,” he agreed with a chuckle. Her concern was cute. As far as he could tell Tia could care less, but he wasn’t about to seek her out and ask either.

Leon sipped his iced caf as Theia considered his question.

“Ezzie had a girl crush? Awwww!” he said, listening with rapt attention. This was better than reading Ezra's diary.

Leon laughed, “Classic. I bet his ear’s lit up like Life day lights.”

Thia’s next story took the cake. It was packed full of the ordinary stuff you just didn’t get from the Thorne himself. Leon could see Jai’s face perfectly in his mind and the image replaying like a gif and he couldn’t stop laughing.

“Alright, don’t tell Ezra or Jayna, but you might be my new favorite,” he said with a chuckle.

“So, tell me about you. What are you studying?”

@GABA