Kamda

Home sweet home. His new place. His bachelor pad. His magic place.

"Huh." Manny said. He looked around. It looked alright. A big vidscreen. A sofa. All his favorite posters. He was basically all moved in!

He moved to the still-open door to grab his last bag...

Varina, looking like she had just gone through a long exodus, walked up to the apartment. Well, as much as a teenage dirtbag could look worse for wear.

"Hey Manny. Find a girlfriend yet?"

"What?" Manny said, blinking. "I mean... what?"

He shook his head. "Varina, what are you doing here? Where have you been? What... what... what?" Manny sputtered, completely surprised.

"Okay," Varina said, trying to keep track of all the questions, "I was out in the wilderness, I wanted to say hi?"

"Well... hi!" Manny said.

After a few moments, he scowled. "And no, I do not have a girlfriend." He frowned. "I do have a lot of friends that are girls. That doesn't count, does it?"

"That definitely doesn't count," Varina agreed, "How did you not manage to find a girlfriend after all this time?"

Manny groaned. "I've been busy. I mean... what even is a girlfriend, really?"

He shook his head. "You want anything to drink? I've got water. Soda. Beer... wait, no. Just water or soda." He narrowed his eyes at the teenager.

"You can't even keep your fridge stocked with beer?" Varina crossed her arms. "No wonder no girl has offered to be your girlfriend."

"There is beer. Just not for you." He said firmly. "You're too young to drink beer. I mean, sure, I was getting drunk pretty regularly at your age, but, well, I'm a responsible adult now!" He wasn't.

"What do you mean I'm not old enough to drink beer? I'm sixteen years-old!" Varina stomped once on the floor, just like a kid throwing a tantrum would. "How are you even responsible anyways?"

"I... have my own place!" Manny said. "And I'm a working professional... magician." Manny frowned. When he said it that way, it didn't sound responsible.

"And... I shot some people?" He offered hesitantly. That always seemed to impress Mandos.

"Do you even get paid doing that stufF?" Varina asked, just like her dad would have asked her. Mom was so much cooler in the way that she didn't care about money. Well she did, but she got to negotiate her salary by being cool!

Bringing up shooting people, though. That did seem to get her approval. "That's an adult thing to do for sure. But are you shooting the right people?"

"Some of it." Manny said, sighing. "By Vex. Not by the resistance. But I think that means that I'm shooting the right people."

He flopped down on the couch. "How many people have you shot, anyway? Or stabbed? Is it a lot?"

"I guess?" Varina shrugged, "Money is money. Unless..." She peered at him. "Do you have a crush on Vex?"

She scratched her chin. "Uh, I guess like... three that I can confirm?"

"Vex?" Manny laughed. "Yeah, right. There's no way. That's like if I had a crush on a vid star, or a senator or something."

He shrugged. "Well... that's pretty good, I guess." He cleared his throat. "So... you were out in the wilderness? What are you doing next? I mean, are you still looking for stuff, or what?"

"Just because she's like important or whatever doesn't mean you can't like her."

Varina scratched her head. "I kind of just... got away from things for awhile."

"I dunno. I feel like it does. And besides, she's not..." Manny chewed on his words a moment, "... nice?" He sighed. "She is pretty hot, though, I'll admit it. But... no."

He shook his head. "Got away from things." He chuckled sympathetically. "If it helps, I totally get that. I used to do that from time to time. Not for a while, though. Back in the homes, or the gang, or stuff."

"Yeah she's not a nice lady. But I think you like that more than you'd admit," Varina added with a wink. She didn't feel like the wink was a good one so she did it again.

"Oh no, I didn't want you to relate to that."

"I do not!" Manny said, indignant but grinning. "I need someone who can appreciate my magic. And my jokes. What do you use to unlock doors on Kashyyk? A Wook-key!" An expectant pause.

He cleared his throat. "Well... hey, it happens. Whatever. Now you're back." He chuckled. "So, are you gonna try to set me up with someone again? Is that what you were doing before?"

"Ha." Varina then crossed her arms. "That's a really stupid joke," she followed up, much more serious.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. You were supposed to hit on the librarian by being the big tough guy."