Kamda

Manny's current theme

Manny walked slowly along the street. There was a noticeable slump to his shoulders, and not just from the heavy backpack he carried. No, it was a slump of despair!

Sighing and shaking his head, Manny looked around at the run-down, packed buildings. "I guess I'm gonna have to find someplace else to live now." He muttered to himself. "But everything looks all full up! No room for me... and where would Munchfronta stay?"

Slowly, glumly, he continued to walk along, looking for vacancies.

Raven had headed into the other areas of the city to pick up some supplies, preferring to stay away from the nicer parts.

With her wallet lightened to the point of being nearly empty, she took a different route back to the enclave to see different parts of the city. And spotted a rather gloomy looking guy that seemed familiar...

"Hey, ain't you that guy with no girlfriend? Ma... Manny, was it?" she said as she stopped beside him.

Manny straightened, wincing, his eyes narrowing as he recognized the tall figure.

"Oof! Way to kick a guy when he's down!" Manny groaned. "Not only don't I have a girlfriend, I don't have a home." He sighed. "If I had a girlfriend, I bet she'd let me crash at her place. I bet it'd be a nice place, too. And she'd be really hot." He sighed again.

Oof indeed.

"... That's rough, buddy," she spoke with as much sympathy as she could manage through the helmet. "What happened?"

Somehow, that made Manny feel just a little better. His next sigh wasn't quite so mournful.

"Some, uh, legal difficulties. Local security locked down our shop. Now, that'd just mean I wouldn't have a place to work, but I live in the back room." Smiling wanly, he pointed to his backpack. "Everything I own and carry is in here. Or tucked in my clothes, somewhere." In fact, his vest did seem rather lumpy.

Having been homeless for years herself, she could relate. "Maybe you could find a new place to work that could let you sleep in the backroom there too?" Her suggestion was completely serious.

"What kind of work do... or did you do?"

"Maybe." Manny said doubtfully. "I guess the bar might have a place above it. Or behind it. Huh. That'd be interesting. I could get done with a show, walk upstairs, be home. Hey, that'd be pretty good!" He seemed noticeably more cheerful as he imagined it.

He looked at her, half-smirking. "What, I didn't tell you? Well, at The Resistance I just sold stuff. And I try to do stuff for Vex. But at Favna..." Manny struck a pose, arms spread, "-I do magic!" He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her undoubtedly excited reaction.

If visors could give confused blinks, it would've made for quite a sight.

"... Magic?" She did seem confused.

"Magic!" Manny said, grinning. "Performance. Illusions! Excitement! Like this!" He swept a bow, his hands performing a grand flourish.

"For you, young lady." Manny extended one hand, producing as if from nowhere... a stick of string cheese. He looked at it, surprised.

After a moment, Manny cleared his throat, smiling. "I figured you might be hungry. Mandalorians seem like they work up a big appetite."

"Wha..." he couldn't see her face, but he could hear the surprise in her voice. "... how'd you do that?!"

Manny grinned, gratified. "A good magician never reveals his secrets." With another flourish, he made the stick of cheese disappear again. Partially to impress Raven, partially because, well, he was homeless, and he might get hungry later.

He shrugged. "So, that's what I do. I've got a show at Favna. You should come see it sometime." Manny grimaced. "I don't think they'd let me sleep in the back, though. Not unless I started pulling in some really big crowds.

"I'll have to keep you to that. I don't think I've ever seen a magic show." Sometimes Raven forgot to be a cool Mandalorian and was a more amazed kid that hadn't really had the chance to experience some of these innocent things in life.

"Why won't they let you sleep there though? At least until you get back on your feet."

"I do one most days." One eyebrow went up. "Most nights, I need a volunteer to help with the show. If you're lucky, I might pick you."

He shrugged, his gaze dropping. "I mean... I'm just a part time magician there. It's not like the owner and I are friends. Like, you can't sleep at your employer's..."

Manny trailed off, looking curiously at Raven. "Come to think of it, did you get an employer, you and Varina? And do you have a place to sleep?"

"Varina said we got a job for this Vex person sometime today, so I suppose we got an employer of sorts for that. Thanks to you, right? As for us..." her voice trailed for a moment, as she was a bit unsure of how much to tell Manny.

"... We got a safe place to stay. Secret place with some other Mandalorians."

Hum... he might ask some questions about that. "How much you need to get a place to stay? Only fair you get a little cut of the job, as you said before."

"Yeah, told you I'd come through." Manny said, grinning. "But... a secret place, huh? How many Mandalorians even are there on this planet? I thought the two of you were pretty much it."

He waved a hand. "Nah, we're square. Vex gave me a finder's fee. It's just finding a place. It's all so crowded here, y'know?" He looked out down the street, where residences were packed in tight. "No one I know lives here. Or, well, no good friends, anyway."

"It's... well, I can't really... I shouldn't be saying it, kind of. It's supposed to be a safe place for us. So I can't tell you how many of us there are, or where it is." She somehow managed to seem sheepish even through the helmet. "... Sorry. It's kind of a Mandalorian-Only thing."

"Nah, I get it." Manny said, waving a hand. "They're your crew. You gotta do right by your crew, right?"

He shuffled his feet a bit, scuffing the dirt with his shoes. "So... how do you get to be a Mandalorian, anyway? Is it something you're born to, or do you have to do awesome stuff, or what?"

"Both, kind of. You can be born a Mandalorian. You can be adopted to become a Mandalorian. It's not... just joining a club. It takes dedication. Committment. It is a way of life." There was a certain pride in her voice as she spoke.

"It's not an idle fancy to be a Mandalorian."

"Oh." Manny said, his face falling a little. "Yeah, that makes sense, too."

He sighed. "It's hard to find a good crew, y'know? I've got Munchfronta, but he's got his own stuff. You know, Chadra-fan stuff." Manny frowned. He wasn't totally sure what that involved. "I did a job yesterday with some people who seemed alright. But I don't think it's a long-term thing."

Manny tilted his head, thinking. "Oh, and there was the pirate girl I met today, but I don't think she wanted to invite me to be in her pirate crew. Which is too bad, because I think I'd make a pretty good pirate, don't you?"

"I... can't honestly say. Most pirates I've dealt with have no honor or understanding of camraderie. You don't strike me as that kind of person."

Her head cocked a little to the side, clearly regarding Manny closely. "Why would you want to be a Mandalorian, if you were to try and join?"