Obi-Wan, Dei and Bant had only been in the restaurant for a matter of moments, but already the three had drawn the attention of the entire lunchtime crowd.
"I told you we would stand out here!" Bant complained in a harsh whisper as she edged even closer to Obi-Wan.
"Hey, I think it's a real classy joint," Dei murmured sarcastically as she took in the pleather seats and formica tables. "And just listen to that music... stuff that good is so hard to come by."
"Look, you said that I got to pick the place," Obi-Wan complained. "I've heard that this place has some of the best food in the quadrant." Just as he finished, one of the server droids rolled past, its hand balancing a loaded tray high above its head.
"And, oh look, there goes the special of the day," Dei said, watching the droid move away, "heart attack on a plate."
Shooting the Kiffar a dirty look, Obi-Wan instead placed a hand on Bant's lower back, guiding her toward a nearby booth. "This looks like a good place to sit," he suggested, sliding into the booth and motioning for the other two to join him.
"I wonder if I shouldn't have brought my med kit..." Bant whispered as Dei took a seat beside her, leaving Obi-Wan alone on his side of the table. "At the very least, the antibacterial spray might have been good to use on the table. I bet there are at least twenty different species of life thriving on it."
Deciding that to comment would only encourage his friends; Obi-Wan instead removed three slightly greasy menus from the display, passing one to each of the other Padawans. Dei grabbed hers from him and began studying it, while Bant seemed to hesitate before finally gesturing for him to set it on the table. "I'd rather not touch anything that isn't absolutely necessary," she murmured as he gave her a strange look.
Repressing the urge to sigh, Obi-Wan flipped through his own menu; trying to remember what his Master had said was so good. With his attention on the menu before him, and the girl's attention on their own choices, none of the three noticed the rather large figure of the diner's owner until he was standing over top of them.
"Well hello there," the large Besalisk called, after clearing his throat. "And who might you all be?"
"Uh... well," Obi-Wan began after neither Bant nor Dei made any move to speak. "I'm Obi-Wan, and this is Dei and Bant. We're all Jedi Padawans."
"Well, I could tell that right away son!" the Besalisk commented, his deep laugh echoing. "Obi-Wan... Obi-Wan... you wouldn't happen to be Qui-Gon's Padawan now would you?"
"Yes, I am sir," Obi-Wan responded, while kicking Dei under the table to prevent her from tripping the server droid as it rolled past. "Do you know Master Jinn well?" he continued, always curious to hear more about the enigmatic man he called Master.
"Well now... perhaps that's a story for another day," he commented, as he looked at the two other Padawans who were pretending to be engrossed in their menus. "You'll just have to come back some day and ask for Dex, I'll be glad to tell you all about your Master," Dex finished in a lower voice, winking at Obi-Wan. "Now, I'd better get back to the kitchen. It looks like you all will be wanting something to eat."
"Uhh... Thank you!" Obi-Wan called as Dexter lumbered out of view through the swinging doors at the back of the diner.
"Well, that was certainly interesting," Bant commented as Obi-Wan turned back to look at his friends.
"I think I'm going to have that," Dei stated, pointing to some unpronounceable item on the menu. "I'm not sure what it is... but you can only die once, after all. Right?"
Sighing, Obi-Wan studied his own menu, coming to a decision just as the server droid came to their table to take their order. "I'll have the special," he declared, after Dei had proudly pointed to her own decision. As the server droid turned to Bant, the Mon Calamarian was still studying the menu.
"Um... I'll have... that," she stated, finally just pointing to one of the items on the menu.
As the droid rolled away to take their orders to Dex, Obi-Wan shared an amused glance with Dei. "So, Bant..." Obi-Wan began, waiting until he had her full attention. "I must admit I'm surprised at what you ordered."
"Yeah, I had no idea you even liked that!" Dei added, with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Well, I guess there's a lot you don't know about me then," Bant answered slowly, as she scanned over the menu trying to remember what it was she had gestured to.
"Yeah... who would've thought..." Obi-Wan started, allowing Dei to finish his statement as his voice dissolved in laughter.
"...that a Mon Calamarian would order Calamari!"
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"It's chewy..Is it supposed to be so chewy?" Dei Tinomeril twisted her face to match the stress her jaw was feeling.
"I know. I've had calamari before, but it's never this chewy." Obi-Wan slid his plate back to his setting. "You owe me big for this."
Bant shrugged, staring into her food, "How was I supposed to know? I just chose where my finger landed."
"Well you're lucky we're as nice as we are, or you'd be suffering more than you can imagine at this moment." Kenobi rearranged the tentacles on his plate to resemble a wounded star.
"Tchyah" grunted Dei, her own collection of tentacles cowering under a mass of pasta. "Actually, it doesn't taste too bad. It's just... Chewy. So very chewy. Like flesh. Chewy."
"At least you think it tastes good."
"Hey, it was your idea for you and I to trade half of our food for half of hers. Besides, it's not like Bant is actually biologically related to squid. Whoever decided to call squid Calamari was one sick person."
Obi-Wan smiled in a confused kind of way. "I'm sure whoever coined the term ‘Calamari' is long dead by now."
"Well it better have been an unnatural death. Maybe long? Drawn out?" Dei accented her opinion with a stab to her hidden seafood.
Kenobi stared off to the right. "I'm sure it was the will of the force. Light or dark, though, I cannot say."
Bant sighed, hoping for a subject change. Smiling she glanced up from her drink and she spoke. "Dei. Your fruit flies followed us here." She waved away a lone fly perusing the area. "Call them off!"
Obi-Wan raised his hand to aide her when the conversation was cut off with a shriek from the back. All activity within the establishment seemed to screech to a halt, save for the rustle of every person within turning to stare at the man writhing on the floor near the back of the room. A woman who was assumedly his wife stood unmoving next to the man; her face frozen in a silent scream. All that could be heard was the groans of the downed customer as Kenobi turned to stare at Bant. The entire restaurant seemed to push away their plates at the same time as the sputtering man was hefted out of the establishment by several of Dex's employees. The silence went on for several long seconds, until a shrill chirp broke the silence. Dei laughed nervously to herself as she pulled her comm. out of her inside pocket. Rising to leave, she was only tugged back down to her seat by a hand on her sleeve.
"As classy as this respectable establishment is, I think you should stay with us for this call," Obi-Wan whispered with his eyes still on the door.
Dei struggled to keep a straight face as her stomach twisted in panic. "But it's rude to talk on comms at the table."
"It's also rude to be abducted in the Ghetto without permission," countered Bant, visibly enjoying herself.
Dei glanced from person to person, hoping her counterpart could feel her fury. Sighing, she gave up, and violently punched a few buttons on her comm. Taking in the caller's name, she gave a more dramatic sigh. With nowhere else to hide, she slid under the table of their small booth. The last thing she saw before going under was the utter confusion upon Obi-Wan's face.
"Dei here."
"Hi, it's Soren. I just wanted to tell you that I'm done in the kitchen. I'm in my room picking up my gift and, uh, freshening up a bit. I'm on my way down now."
"Okay, good. Does ‘done in the kitchen' mean that you have the munchies?" Dei whispered, hoping the force was on her side this time. Then again, could the Force really understand the way of the Surprise Party? Dei thought not.
"It does, among other things."
"I don't think I want to hear about the other things." Dei said suspiciously, glancing about her lower surroundings.
"You don't. And neither does the chef, I guess. But as I said, I'll be down shortly."
"That's good. Don't lose the munchies on the way or something."
"Of course not... have you no faith in me?" Soren asked.
"No. And please try not to run into the chef, will you?"
"Bye Dei."
Dei gave a last glance around the place she hoped she'd never find herself again before hoisting herself back into her seat. Brushing the hair out of her face, she beamed at both Bant and Obi-Wan, one of which still held a confused, but now more amused, look.
Bant shook her head. "I think it's time we made our exit, right?" Dei laughed and nodded passionately. "From the look of the panties that reside under Obi-Wan's seat at this present moment, I think yes."
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First part by CK second part by sguid
Go on to Next Chapter | Surprise
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