It's leather for leisure and a Velcro for sport

[jedi_librettist]

Ben stared at his brother for a full minute before he said anything. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"No! You promised, Bail! You said I could just be Ben still. What do you call walking around with you and an honor guard? Do you really think no one will figure it out? I'm not doing it!"

Comments

[jedi_librettist]

Ben relaxed a little once they'd figured out what to get. He picked Ani up.

The child kept pointing at things around them and babbling. He patted Ben's face and pointed to a tree. "Teeteetee!"

[middleoftheforce]

And of course, Solo snorted in laughter.

"Apparently you're a 'tee'."

[jedi_librettist]

Ben gave the other man a look.

"He's pointing at a tree."

[middleoftheforce]

Solo rolled his eyes. He did know that but he was trying to have a joke.

"Fine."

[jedi_librettist]

Well, the joke seemed to have gone over with at least one person. Ani laughed and patted Ben, repeating "tee" over and over.

[middleoftheforce]

"See, the kid agrees. You're a tee."

[jedi_librettist]

Ben pretended to scowl at the toddler. It earned a peal of laughter and some more excited "tee"ing.

"I know I'm tall but I'm not a tree. And you're just as tall."

[middleoftheforce]

"But I'm not a tee."

Because he was an ass.

[jedi_librettist]

"No, you're just telling Ani that I am."

Ben tried to hide a yawn.

"How much further?"

[middleoftheforce]

"Just ahead." Solo nodded ahead of them, towards where the stalls could be seen.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben sighed with relief and set Ani down, taking his hand. The market was large, much larger than he had imagined. He looked at the different stalls.

"Where do we start?"

[middleoftheforce]

He tried to think practically, tried to think of what Leia would say.

"Clothing."

[jedi_librettist]

"But which..." Ben gestured with his free hand. "I mean which stall do we start at?"

[middleoftheforce]

"The nearest one?"

[jedi_librettist]

Ben nodded, grimacing. This turned out to be so complicated. He hadn't expected that. He walked toward the closest stall and then stopped, shaking his head.

"These are all women's clothes."

[middleoftheforce]

"Yeah, when I said nearest one, I meant nearest one with kid's clothes." He hadn't thought he needed to add that last bit...

[jedi_librettist]

"Wherever that is." Ben sighed. He looked around with wide eyes. The market was so large.

[middleoftheforce]

"It'll be near." He glanced around, looking and then nodded. "Look, there." He pointed to a stall that showed a few people - obviously parents or family members - holding up smaller items of clothing.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben sighed with obvious relief. He set Ani down and took his hand. He glanced at his brother.

"How hard can this be?"

[middleoftheforce]

"No idea," Solo responded with a shrug, walking over. He kept one eye on the kid, mostly out of a vague awareness that kid was small and while not crowded, there were a lot of people taller than the kid around.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben froze just inside the stall. It was more like a small shop. The amount of options was too great. There were colors and styles of clothes he hadn't seen in almost twenty years. None of them were the simple wear that he was used to.

Ani pulled his hand away and darted toward a display, babbling excitedly. He pulled out a bright blue shirt several sizes too small for him and waved it at the brothers. "Mama bwu!"

[middleoftheforce]

Solo squeezed his brother's shoulder lightly - reminding him that he was here - before crouching a bit to look at the top Ani held.

"So.. you like blue?"

Look, he never claimed to be good with kids. He really wasn't.

[jedi_librettist]

The child nodded vigorously. "Mama bwu!" he repeated.

Ben walked over to them and sighed. "But we don't need anything this bright. Can't we just find him something simple?"

[middleoftheforce]

A frown.

"What's ... wrong with bright? The kid likes it."

[jedi_librettist]

Ben looked away. His hands formed fists at his side's before he relaxed them again.

"It's better not to stand out like that."