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 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."

[middleoftheforce]

He looks up, directing his words at his brother.

"Once. Not now."

[jedi_librettist]

"Bail..." Ben whispered, finally meeting his twin's eyes. Then he nodded reluctantly. "But that one's too small."

[middleoftheforce]

"Yeah I don't how you size this stuff." How did you work out sizes for kids? "Get him something ... bigger?"

[jedi_librettist]

Ben grabbed a matching shirt several sizes larger and held it up. It looked like it would fit the child. Maybe it was a little big. He shrugged. That would probably be good. Ani could wear it longer.

"Can we please get something plain for the other shirt?"

[middleoftheforce]

Solo shrugged. He didn't particularly care, but he had an odd feeling that the kid might.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben handed the larger shirt to Ani and took the tiny shirt away and carefully folds it and puts it back on the display. He pulls a light tan shirt off the display.

"Now for pants."

[middleoftheforce]

"He's probably gonna need a couple more shirts than that," Solo says. "He's 2. Kids are messy."

[jedi_librettist]

Ben stares at the other man. "Two is extra. It's a lot."

[middleoftheforce]

Solo shook his head. "No. It's fine to get more. Kids need more." There's a muttered agreement from a parent who looks particularly harassed - two small children pulling at their legs being the likely source.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben nods slowly, eyes wide. He pulls a couple more light tan shirts from the display. That should be enough, right?

Ani pulls another blue shirt out and the reaches for a green one with a gold pattern embroidered on it. He tugs on Ben's pants and lifts the shirt up.

"I... I don't know..." Ben looks over to Bail.

[middleoftheforce]

"It's fine." There was a wave of calm coming from him, trying to direct it straight at his brother. It's okay, you're safe now. He gestured around at the kids nearby. A lot of bright colours. For kids, bright colours is the way to blend in.

[jedi_librettist]

He shrugged. He took the blue shirt and swapped it for a smaller shirt this time. Then he hesitated, looking at the fancier shirt. He took it and folded it precisely. He put it on a shelf and picked up a plain green shirt instead. He looked between the two brightly colored shirts and sighed, putting the second blue one back.

Ani watched him fold the green and gold shirt. He reached toward it, lips quivering. When Ben put the blue shirt back, he started wailing and the original green shirt floated to his hands.

Ben looked at him and then his brother. "What do we... It's too much. We already picked out four..."

[middleoftheforce]

A parent beside them cut in: "trust me, you'll need triple that, at least."

Solo gave a bit of a worried look. Oh, he had the credits, but still...

[jedi_librettist]

Ben stared at the parent, jaw dropping. Three times as many shirts?! He couldn't even imagine owning half that many shirts. He turned to Bail. "That many?!"