Homestead

Chapter 1. In Which a Farmer Meets a Poor Liar

The wind was brisk, and as she drove forward into it, her pair of pink lekku streamed out behind her.

Suu smiled into the wind. It was a small, satisfied smile, despite the difficulties she had to begin resolving during this trip to town; the fall harvest had been good. Her speeder truck, with grain in crates attached to it, had decided to behave itself that morning and had started up on the first try, albeit with several cranky groans of protest. She tried to take it as a good sign.

It was midday, and not quite sunny. Saleucami was a dim world, with long dawns, pale mornings, dusky afternoons and dark evenings. Noon was one of the few times of the day it became what she thought of as bright; the sun was peering through the clouds, and the town ahead was visible more by the ramshackle buildings drawing into view than by the light they emitted, reflecting coolly off of low hanging clouds.

The engine sent a groan of protest through the frame of the speeder, and Suu gave it a slightly worried pet on the dashboard, as though it were a finicky eopie. "Hang in there a little longer, old girl," she told it, sighing as the shudder ended and the town began to open up before her.

She'd made the trips many times now, down the years. More frequently as of late; it wasn't that she didn't trust Arybas – she let him watch her children after all – but he was spending more and more time away with his soon-to-be wife, and it left her frantically trying to run things with less and less assistance on the farm. Suu was shorthanded to begin with. With Arybas leaving to live with Ossa, she was in a lurch.

The speeder sputtered forward, Suu steering it along largely empty industrial roads towards the looming warehouses beyond the market district. The war had changed things. Fewer people went out, even by daylight. This part of the planet had, so far, escaped much attention by the Techno Union, being so out of the way and small. With a droid army, they did not need to draw on as many sources of food as the Republic would. Droids had no stomachs to feed. The farmers were left mostly in peace, conducting business much as they had since the Union's takeover. However, the threat of things changing hung close in the air. People moved briskly, and few paid her much attention as she hauled her freight into town. There was a time when her large truck and barrels of grain would have brought out children to chase it. She'd been one when she was young, before the Techo Union came, with their orders and their profit margins and their demands. Now parents ushered children inside and kept wary eyes, watching her as she went directly to her destination.

A flock of nuna scattered, squawking wildly as she drove through them and past the gates of the yard. Here things were busy, and the quiet of the outside was interrupted by the steady din of workers calling to each other in different languages, of repulsorlifts humming as they were steered towards massive speeder trucks ready to haul cargo towards the spaceport or towards processing factories. It smelled of dirt, of vegetables and of fuel.

A young Gran was waving her into place alongside the warehouse's broad open doors, chattering into his comm while she parked. He gave her a brief wave of greeting, then headed inside. Suu slipped the truck into park, leaned back against the worn padding of her seat, sighed, then absently patted the gearshift in thanks. "One more trip down. Maybe next year, you can retire, eh?"

The door creaked open, and she leapt down and out, turning around to lean back inside for her blaster rifle.

There was a piercing whistle. She froze, turned around abruptly to search for the source of the noise, found it, then frowned. Two raggedy men, a human and a Wroonian, were standing not too far away, laughing, their focus clearly on her. She felt her face darken with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. A fresh peal of laughter from the two men, accompanied by an inappropriate gesture, showed their lack of caring for her annoyance. Her lekku curled in disgust.

Casually, she reached back into the old truck and pulled out her rifle, propping it against her shoulder with the ease of one well practiced in its use. She tilted her head, lifted a brow, and shot them a fresher glare. When they stared back, she let her hand slip down toward the trigger as she made a show of checking on the rifle's power cell. Fully charged. The surprised faces switched quickly to scowls, and they sullenly trudged away, the pretty Twi'lek female suddenly looking much less amusing and a lot more trigger happy.

There were always idiot drifters. The townies knew better than to cross her. She'd been young when the Techno Union came, but she'd fought. Fought and lost, like everyone else. She slammed the truck door shut in irritation. She could only afford a drifter or an overgrown kid starting out. But she wasn't letting some sleemo around Shaeeah and Jekk.

"Suu, my sweetheart!" came a rolling voice, and she turned towards the warehouse to see the warehouse manager waddling rapidly towards her, arms outstretched and face beaming. "How is my darling of bountiful harvests? The eopies I sold you doing well? Of course they are! I told you they were healthy! You'll be making me more money off them by next season!"

Suu rolled her eyes, but returned the smile, bending slightly, to give the old Wroonian a half hug and a peck on his grizzled blue cheek. "I'm well enough, Chios. Final harvest for you this season, and I need a recommendation, so I can keep bringing you these bountiful harvests you like so much."

"Ah, yes, Ossa was in town last week with her sister and Arybas. Wedding's coming up," he grinned, winked and made a wave at his belly, "What with her condition and all." He reached out with one arm, began to guide Suu away from the truck with gentlemanly, if excessive, gallantry. He made an abrupt gesture at a male Twi'lek, then towards Suu's crates of grain, and the man quickly began calling for help unloading. "Arybas feels bad," Chios told her. "He can't leave Ossa now, you know how Grans are. Family, family. When I heard, I said to myself, 'Chios, that lovely Suu is going to need your help again.' So! Here you are. I find you Arybas, now I find you someone new! And you keep bringing me good harvests, and then we all make good money, and the Union doesn't bother any of us."

"I can't afford to pay much," Suu said, glad Chios was taking a moment to breathe. The old man was one of the few oldtimers allowed to keep his produce distribution business going when the Union moved in; locals all went through Chios. For all his bluster, he was fair, and did what he could to keep the Union out of local interests.

"Same arrangement as Arybas, I imagine." He hesitated, and his effusive smile and gestures quieted. He asked her, rather paternally, "You never rebuilt the shed?"

Suu flinched, but her voice stayed even. "No."

The old man kept walking forward. Two steps, then, he carefully began again, "There's a couple good people. Man okay with you?" he asked, frowning.

"Man? Human? Not Gran?"

"Human," Chios confirmed. He held up his hands as Suu began to open her mouth to protest. "I know, I know. Too much like Wroonian, too much like Twi'lek, they get the dirty brains and wandering hands with a pretty pink Twi'lek girl. But, I won't give you bad people, you know this, yes? I know the problems. Nobody's going to be putting hands on my best harvester. You don't like him, you send him back to me so I can shoot him. You really don't like him, then you shoot him. Then I find you another. And you still bring me big harvests and take care of my eopies."

Suu almost laughed. She knew, though, Chios was quite serious, and it gave her pause.

"I think you'll like this one, though. He's funny." Chios tapped the side of his head, and Suu lifted her brows. "In the head. Not stupid. Just funny in the head."

She frowned. "Chios, I'm not taking in anyone too weird. Not with Shaeeah and Jekk."

"Eh, not hurtful weird. You'll know what I mean when you meet him. He's a very bad liar. Bad liars are bad because they have no practice. So he's honest! Works like a pack eopie too, so if you don't want him, I might sign him on for a season. But, I think of you first."

Suu pressed a palm to her forehead. "And profits. Chios, you'd better not be getting me into any trouble."

"What trouble?" He asked, with the very fake kind of innocence that was clearly a joke. Then he turned to the side and roared, "Lawquane!"

Suu blinked, then looked down at him as a human man set down a large box and began to jog toward them. "Lawquane?" she repeated, disbelieving. "Like the cantina downtown?"

Chios laughed. "I told you! Bad liar! Worst I've seen, and I've seen a lot! Other boys are calling him the cantina man and keep asking if he's related to Nisus."

Suu wanted to smack her forehead. A fake name. Wonderful. Drifters were always so unreliable. Arybas at least had been from Saleucami, just starting out on his own. She shot Chios a look. "Are you sure about this?"

"Well, like I said. Don't like him, shoot him."

"Sir!" came a sharp voice, and the man named Lawquane pulled up to a stop in front of them, back straight, though the tension in his shoulders betrayed a sense of nervousness. His face was clearly curious, eyes flicking between the manager and the new arrival. He cleared his throat and made a visible attempt to relax. "Yes sir?"

Suu tapped a finger against the side of her rifle. The man's brown eyes flicked to her hand, then along the length of the rifle. There was no surprise there, but rather a blink of recognition as he took in its length and design. This was a man who knew weapons. Her lips twitched into a small frown, then a small smile as his gaze shot quickly back to her face. No lingering elsewhere. He shifted from foot to foot. "Your name is Lawquane?" she asked.

He colored. "Yes ma'am." Aware he'd made an error, she realized. It was all right there on his face. He was, as Chios said, a very poor liar. "It's Cut, actually. My first name is Cut."

"No relation to Nisus?" This was of course apparent. Nisus was Wroonian.

Cut looked increasingly embarrassed. "No ma'am."

"Good. He waters his ale. I don't eat there."

A look of confusion, which faded to relief, then back to confusion. Suu chuckled. Funny in the head indeed. And 'ma'am'? No one called her ma'am. It was more politeness than you'd get from anyone on Saleucami. Where in the galaxy was this man from? She asked him.

He shifted his weight again, and his brows began to pucker. "Not really from anywhere, ma'am. I had to travel a lot."

"Not really anywhere," she repeated. Had to travel a lot. Half truth. Everyone was from somewhere. Drifter. She looked him over, quickly. His clothes were threadbare, and seemed to fit poorly, worn out pants too long in the leg and shirt too short across the chest, sleeves not reaching his wrists. He'd bought them very cheaply, or someone gave them to him. He didn't know how to hem the pants, or at least didn't have access to needle and thread. His hair had been close cropped at some recent time, but was growing out unevenly. His head looked like a bit of dark brown shrubbery, and his face was little better. "Why come to Saleucami?"

"I'm looking for work." Truth. But now he was growing curious. "If you don't mind my asking, ma'am, what's this about?"

"A job," Chios told him. "Regular one. Not daily wages like now."

Cut looked startled, then looked at Suu with hope beginning to light his face. "Really?"

Suu sighed, then looked at Chios, who smiled broadly. She found herself frowning again. True, he was a poor liar, and true, Chios seemed to like him enough. "I can't afford to pay much. Room and board, your space in the barn, I don't have a spare room in the house. Some credits, but not much. Depends on what Chios here offers me for this harvest. But it's steady," she glanced around, then towards a knot of men on the far side of the yard sitting, watching the workers eagerly in hopes of an afternoon's wages. "And the food will be better than what you get around here."

"Hey!" Chios interjected, looking mildly affronted.

"I'd be happy to sign on, ma'am." Cut said, looking like someone had just given him an unexpected present. She supposed, in a way, she had. She felt her lekku twitch. She'd taken on Arybas with as much introduction and he'd worked well. Her finger tapped against the barrel of the rifle, slightly nervous.

"A week trial," she said abruptly. Some of the smile faded as he looked at her. He seemed honest enough, and Chios didn't hire on slackers. Still, the fact he'd taken on a false name irked her. Something felt off. He was hiding something, and doing an extremely poor job of disguising the fact. "If you work out, I'll keep you on for through the next season. I have two children. It's just us on the farm. They help with chores, but I'll need help with heavier work. Have you ever worked on a farm before?"

"No ma'am," he said, but quickly added in a rush, "But I learn fast, and I'll work hard. I'll do my best. I promise."

It was somewhat unsettling, the eagerness on his face. He looked almost like Jekk when he presented her with a particularly colorful new drawing. All hope and a little afraid she wouldn't be happy enough with it to accept it and pin it on their conservator.

It softened her a little, even as it worried her. "All right. A week's trial. You learn as fast as you say, work as hard as you say, I'll take you on through next season. Agreed?"

His face lit. It was hard not to smile in return, as she stretched out her hand. He looked startled for a moment, looking at her outstretched palm for an instant's worth of surprise, then quickly grasped it with his own, giving it a firm shake.

Chios brought his hands together in a sharp clap. "Good, good! Lawquane, you can collect a half day's wages, get your things, and I'll talk trade with Suu. We've got several bushels of grain to weigh and count out, yes?"

"Suu," Cut echoed, looking at her. He was still smiling. "Thanks."

"You'll not be quite so happy after you've been mucking out eopie stalls," she told him, amused. His smile faltered a little bit, but he shrugged sheepishly and regained it. Suu allowed herself a laugh. He was a funny man, and she couldn't quite shake her feeling of concern, but it was hard to dislike someone who smiled so easily.

Chios was turning aside, to head back to his office in the warehouse. Suu turned to follow him.

Cut Lawquane. A poor liar and funny man.

Hello all! Surprise! I don't own Star Wars. Darn.

Clearly, this is a Cut/Suu story. Since Cut and Suu do not live on a deserted island, there are a few OC's included in the story in supporting roles. Chios is one of them. All roles are quite minor.

As for the name 'Lawquane' being taken off a cantina, I figured Cut got that name in one of two ways: 1) a very dramatic, 'It was the name of a very important person to him' type story, or 2) He desperately needed to fit in to his new setting, and was frantically trying to sound normal. And picked badly. I opted for option #2, since I had no idea how possibility #1 would be explained properly in this fanfic. That, and it's just kind of amusing. Honestly, though? I figure someone writing the show just thought it sounded good. And thus Cut was dubbed Lawquane.

I hope you all enjoy the story.

Til next time,

~Queen