Chapter Text
20 BBY
Tonight, was one of her part time shifts as the DJ in the famous 79’s cantina. A place where soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic come to unwind, play some games, get a little drunk, and just take a breath. And after that breath they drink more.
It seemed that half the legions in the Grand Army of the Republic decided to land simultaneously two days ago. The courageous 212th, and of course the chaotic 501st. Truth be told you could describe the 501st in various ways. Adventurous, audacious, brave, fearless, and the list could go on and on if she felt like writing it all down. But from what she witnessed last night they were full of spirit.
From what she heard they just finished a colossal campaign in the outer rim and of course were successful. Now most of them are smart and know not to drink too much because a drunk man’s tongue is an honest man’s thought. And those who can’t control their tongue, tend to tell the entire battle with their straws and the bowl of
There are a certain…. bundle of soldiers that always come in and… spill the beans when they’re intoxicated. Theo loves watching this bundle of soldiers let loose and have a good time. Yes, they all come from the 501st because from what she’s witnessed, they’re the most energetic out of all the soldiers she’s met. It’s very refreshing.
To see them happy makes her happy.
Though she moved to Coruscant only two years ago, she didn’t pick up this part time DJ gig until four months ago, and within those four months it’s been wonderful. She’s been smiling more, laughing, and even has a little more of a skip in her step. Nothing dramatic, but it’s just a little bit of a hop.
Most of the time her laughter comes from Fives and Jesse’s drunk shenanigans. Her first time watching them on a night resulted in Jesse having his shoulder popped back into his body. They were attempting the Dirty Dancing pose, after drinking about three or four bottles of Reactor Coolant. Thankfully Kix had only just started drinking so he was able to pop it back in place. While Hardcase was dying on the floor, and shortly Fives was rolling on the floor with him. It was indeed quite the sight.
They came back the next day.
Obviously.
When Fives began his favorite cocktail, he made quite the bold statement of how successful they were in a previous battle. And it was a very clear and loud statement, into her DJ microphone. Which caused Theo to take off her seven-inch heels and beat him off the stage. Hardcase then ran up and wanted to give her hand, causing them to chase Fives off the booth with her heels.
After being chased off the booth, Fives then proceeded to buy the entire cantina a round of shots. Jesse threw in what credits he had, and Kix… well… trying to think of a way to buy more shots. And Theo was more than happy to slip a couple of credits so they could celebrate. Though this might be a part time job for her, it was always fun seeing the men who protect the republic have a few days to relax.
Theo had an hour before the doors would open and chaos would emerge for 79s. Thankfully she sits in the D.J. booth so she’s not being a bartender who works faster than a speeder passing out drinks. It was her responsibility to keep the place loud and full of excitement.
Trying to create that kind of environment required two things. First and foremost, it was spending an hour creating the perfect mood for the night. Tonight, that mood was meant to be disco, where there’s the groovy basslines, interesting dance moves, and the best dance music in the entire galaxy. A lot of the soldiers have fun on disco nights because the music itself has catchy vocals, rhythmic beats, and always makes you happy to be dancing. That’s all she wanted for these men to be, even if it’s for one night.
The second element to create this environment was connecting with the people. From her time in college, a lot of the D.J.s would hide in their booths and not even take requests. She never understood that considering she wants to have fun with the men and the staff. But no drinking on the job because she would get fired in an instant. Even though this isn’t her main job, she loves this job. It’s nice for pocket money and getting to know the soldiers. To know the men who defend the republic is a wonderful experience for Theo and loves every minute of it.
Theo was feeling very cheerful and decided to whip up something enjoyable for the staff along with bringing in cups of caf. That enjoyable treat being salted honey and chocolate bark. It was left over from her main job but since when does that bother anyone?
When she walked up the main door, she fumbled a little bit as she was carrying two drink holders and a bag full of chocolate bark. The door opened as there were only a few people here. It was an hour and fifteen before they opened and those who needed the caf were already here.
“Good evening, ladies. I bring caf and treats!” Theo called out and everyone responded back. The door shut and locked behind her to then walk up the stairs to the second floor of the cantina where the booth is. Theo climbed up the stairs to the booth and began switching everything on, but no music played yet. She put the cafs down at the end of the booth along with laying out the bark next to it. The bar had two floors with the first floor being the bar, tables, benches, sabacc, and other games. With her booth being on the second floor, she has the perfect view on who comes in and who's leaving. Next to her booth is a dance floor, a tiny bar, and booths across the wall. The neon lights weren’t lit up, so it was those depressing ceiling lights that made the entire room look draining, at least to Theo.
There are two things that Theo enjoyed about being on the second floor. Firstly, is that she has a couch to sit on when the nights are slow, or she just gets tired of standing. It took her weeks to convince Lydiana to get a couch up here. Even had to go full time for a month before a nice polyester couch appeared in her booth. Normally when she’s here, she’s got five-to-seven-inch heels on and no matter how much she loves wearing them, damn does it tire her feet out. So the couch offers her a chance to relax for a quick second.
The second reason for her love of being on the second floor might be silly but to her it’s fun. Next to her booth is a rather long pole that she can use to get on the ground floor. No, she doesn’t dance on it, it’s kind of just like a firefighter pole. And the boys love riding down on it, and even try riding down on it headfirst. None of them have broken their necks…. Yet.
“Theodosia please tell me you have my bean juice?” Lydiana, a purple twi’lek and the owner of the cantina, came up to the booth as Theo looked at the cups.
“Your bean juice with three extra shots of espresso.” Theo handed her the cup as she inhaled it and sighed. Lydiana is a pure genius in Theo’s eyes as she found a market that we didn’t know even existed. The republic does most of the funding on the Cantina and donations are given to the cantina from those who support their effort.
“This smells so divine Theodosia thank you so much.” Lydiana inhaled to then let out a very relaxing sigh. She takes a quick sip of her extra hot caf. “Oh, my gods, it's like the water from Naboo. So delectable.” Theo chuckled from Lydiana’s usual reaction. Each time it’s the same reaction, as if she never had caf before in her life. It was silly.
“Oh, by the way. I couldn’t get a special guest D.J. for Friday. Would you be able to come in by chance? You’re more than welcome to say no because I know that you can’t work Fridays.” Lydiana asked as Theo thought for a moment to then grab her planner.
“Ummmm. I won’t be able to come in till after nine if that’s alright?”
“Of course! You’re a lifesaver, thank you so much!” Lydiana sips her coffee quickly and walks to the main bar.
“Well good evening, Theo.” Her best friend Mia came into the booth and sat down on the small couch that was in the booth. Mia is a twi’lek that had sapphire blue skin, with a small diamond on her forehead that was pure white. The marking had lines connecting to it that wrapped down her lekkus. Along with her wearing knee high white boots, she wore a dress t-shirt that had a tooka embroidered on the front, and finally had a matching belt.
“Always delicious. Is that a new romper?” She held up her finger for Theo to do a 360 and end in a pose.
“Thanks Mia. I’ve been waiting for this to come all week!” The romper was a shake romper style. There were two different tones on the romper, a medium deep blue that was the base of the romper, while the baby-blue was the two front hand pockets, and the collar. Her boots were thigh high and a light brown color. Considering that it gets very hot in this building she put her large curly hair up in a bun but made sure there were curls out of the bun as well. And finally her favorite touch was her large golden hoop earrings. Theo bought these hoops hoping to find atleast some outfit that would go good with them and it was perfect.
“Our Zumba classes have been shaping your ass well.” Mia commented as Theo turned her head to look.
“Of course! That was such a good idea to take those classes you genius.” Theo winks at Mia.
The rest of the caf was picked by the rest of the staff and Theo and Mia sat in the D.J. booth. Mia and Theo met through a roommate search as Theo was in school for intergalactic studies
and Mia was working as a secretary for some tycoon at the time. Eventually Theo dropped out when she found out she cooked and baked. Both lived together in Aldera on her home world Alderaan. When Theo moved to Coruscant, Mia came along about eight months later. They’re not living together anymore but it’s nice being able to work with your friends.
Normally Mia is meant to help Lydiana with counting the bottles but half the time she’s in the booth helping Theo with a playlist. When Theo is working, she usually has some ambient music in the background and for today it was something relaxing. Her gut was telling her that tonight was going to be a very busy night.
Before they could strike a conversation. Theo’s com began going off very loudly in her front pocket. She excused herself from the booth and quickly worked her way to the employee bathroom. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation and needed to keep certain prying ears from this conversation.
“Hello?” She held the com up to her ear, keeping her voice nice and calm.
“Kitty. You didn’t say goodbye.” His voice sounded like he was containing his anger. This conversation was just another that goes round and round.
“There’s a reason why I didn’t Furland. Look… after last night… I don’t think it would work.” She had to stand firm. Fulrand was quiet for a few minutes and let out a long sigh.
Furland Pe is a pantoran who works for an engineering company that makes healthcare equipment. He was attending a fundraiser that Senator Chuchi was having, and Theo was catering the fundraiser. She did think he was handsome and enjoyed that he was a bouncy person. It was nice talking to someone who was always smiling.
“It’s me isn’t it… it’s always me.” Theo rolled her eyes but controlled herself from smashing the com into a million pieces.
“No Furland it’s me. Listen to me…” He never listened in these moments. It was always about him, and his needs. His emotions about the situation him and Theo would always find themselves in.
“No no… it’s… because I love you Kitty. Look I know I tend to get a little emotional but you’re just overreacting in this moment. It was a long night.” He sounded chirpy and it made Theo want to scream.
“We have been dating for six months and you thought it would be a good idea to propose?” Theo was remaining calm, and it felt like it was taking every ounce of energy to not yell at him. But she knows that yelling will only make it far worse.
“You’re the one who told me you wanted to be in a serious relationship!” Furland raised his voice, but quickly cleared it as if it was an accident. “Okay I’ll admit that maybe last night was not the best time to do that proposal. But I was doing it because you want something serious. So now I’m the bad guy for just giving you what you want?”
“No Furland that’s… I’m sorry, okay. You’re right. I was telling you I want something serious… and I do. Just… wanting to be serious and proposing marriage is just…” She stops herself from saying something even more stupid.
“Is just what Kitty?” He cooed and it made her almost stop dead in her tracks. She hated when he talked like that to her. It made her feel so small so quickly.
“Just want to make sure we can live with each other before diving into marriage.” That sentence was barely capable of falling out of her mouth.
In the back of her mind, all she wanted to do was to tell him to fuck off, hang up, and change the locks on her penthouse. The last time she tried to break up with him, he showed up to her penthouse and told her that he was going to change. That he was going to see a therapist and change to be a better man. It did happen, for about a month.
“Are you saying you want to move into our own apartment?”
“I think that would work. I need to save up some money but… I think that would be a good start for us.” Theo lets out a small sigh as the flame was quickly extinguished thankfully. She was able to extinguish it quickly, unlike sometimes he just goes on and on. One night he wouldn’t stop going till about three am and she had to get up at six to get breakfasts ready.
“Good. Glad you came to your senses. I’m heading out with the guys tonight, so I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.” She hung up before she could answer back to his statement.
“GODS! UNFUCKING BELIEVABLE! FUCKING MEN!” Theo yelled as she first fixed her boots, making sure they were evenly together. Her romper did not expose her booty too much, and her collars were nice and flat.
When she walked back out to the cantina. Everyone was scurrying around getting ready for the opening. Before Theo walked back to her booth, the main door opened as a pair of very loud heels came walking in.
“Guess who's back from vacation!” Floza stomped into the cantina, then falling flat on her face but held up her thumb. “I’m okay!”
“Welcome back Floza!” Mia yelled back as Mia was still up in the booth. Theo waved as she quickly went up the stairs, back into her booth.
Floza is a Mirialan with about medium length black hair that was in a series of rope braids. She wore a very short gray knit dress that had diamante cut outs to show off her hips. The dress also exposed her shoulders and all the tattoos on her back.
That was something Theo craved. More tattoos… well… just tattoos and piercings in general. She would love them all over her arms and back. Even one that would cover her scar on her chest. The problem is working up the courage to do it. But… there are… well it's complicated. So she’ll just look at the tattoos on Flozas.
“How was your ski trip to Hoth?” Theo asked as Floza got up to the booth and sat down next to her.
“Oh, my god's Theo, it was gorgeous! The resort was so beautiful, and the planet was so quiet! Like it has been years since I could hear myself think at night! You could hear a feather drop!” Floza yelled as Theo and Mia nodded along. As much as Theo adores Floza, she tends to speak very loudly without realizing. Which can be a good thing when she’s getting orders for drinks and food. “You need to check it out soon! You can ski right?!”
“Yes. I used to go back home on Alderaan.” Theo responded back, attempting to match Floza’s energy. “I was more into ice skating than skiing though.”
“Oh, my gods we did that too! Though we did it in doors rather than outside! Since Hoth is in its ice age the best lakes are covered in like ten feet of snow!” She rambled on for about five minutes about every single detail from the resort, from how her and her wife did couple massages, spas, and all those lovey dovey couple things.
“Floza! Get your station ready! I just heard through the grapevine that the 266th legion just landed which means we now have three full legions back in town!” Lydiana ordered as Floza’s eyes widened from her orders. Lydiana is a good boss, the kind of boss that is a hard ass but would take on an angry customer. Theo remembered the first time Lydiana threw out a drunk shiny because he simply reached over the bar to try and get Mia’s attention. His face met the pavement in a snap.
“So, Mia… how was the date with the Senator?” Theo focused on her playlist, but she had a small smile in the corner of her mouth.
“He was sweet. But again… another mommy’s boy.” Mia groaned as she laid down on the couch. “How’s you and Furland doing?” Mia asked as Theo didn’t respond.
“Trouble in paradise?” Mia asked one more time for her to let out a long sigh.
“He asked me to marry him last night.” Theo barely whispered, feeling completely embarrassed.
“OH, MY GODS HE DIDN'T!” Mia yelled as it made Theo want to curl up on the couch. “AFTER SIX MONTHS!? You lie Theo.”
“Do not. He…. Oh, my god he's going to give me gray hairs if I’m not careful.”
“I thought you were going to dump him tonight when you went to his place. Floza, you, and I were going to eat cheesecake and drink wine to get through the breakup and get ready for your hoe phase.”
“I’d like to make a point that I don’t want to go through a hoe phase. That’s way too much work and too much energy. But yes, the cheesecake and wine were something I was looking forward to. But anyway. He proposed last night, we both got angry, I got overly emotional, so now instead of getting married we're going to move in with one another.”
“Theo I’m sorry to say this… but… he’s…” Theo could tell that Mia just wanted to roast her dumb ass boyfriend. But Theo didn’t want to hear about him, talk about him, and at this moment didn’t even want to think about him.
“Can we move onto a different conversation please? If I make my entire night about him, I might just lose my mind.”
“Oh? Why don’t we talk about Mr. Hunky hunky you like so much.” Mia smirked which made Theo shake her head.
Truth be told there was only one person that Theo ever had interest in. He never came in, or if he did, it would be collecting his brothers to get them back to the barracks. From what the war time journalist reports, a bunch of drunk soldiers have yelled, and what Senator Amidala has told her. This soldier has wonderful compassion for his men. He’s still in charge of his men, but it’s not cruel treatment by any means. He’s fearless, as Theo heard that he’s constantly being thrown around by his General. Is determined to defend the republic till his last breath leaves his body. A hero to the Togruta colonists, a powerful force in the army, and was responsible for bringing down the Zygerrian slave empire before it could grow too strong.
Most people tend to think that all the clones mostly look alike. But working in the bar gave Theo the chance to look at the soldiers and get to know them and can now tell most of the regulars by their voice. She’s never seen what the soldier looks like underneath his armor because he’s in his armor constantly.
Who was she kidding? Swooning over a soldier? If he came in here, she’d probably faint on the spot alone. That’s a bit of an exaggeration on her end but there was something wonderful about him, and just to be able to sit down and talk to him would be the best night of her life.
“Oh, my gods you’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?” Mia giggled as she was chowing down on all the bark.
“What. Pft no. I’m thinking what kind of mood would work tonight. Kind of in a funky mood where there’s a lot of base ya know.” Theo quickly shrugged the whole situation off and scrolled through Stevie Wonder.
“Fives and Jesse are bound to make a return tonight. Maybe if I do a little…”
“Did you forget about my current boyfriend?”
“That proposed to you after six months?”
“I still like him.”
“But you don’t love him?”
“I do! I do love him!” Theo defends…. Barely. “We're just in a rocky patch right now and need to work past it. All relationships go through a rocky patch.”
“This patch has been an entire six months.”
“Let’s face it, Mia. Even if he miraculously waltzed into the cantina, why would he want me? I cook for senators and work part time here. Men like him want someone exciting, who can take down a gunship with just a pencil. Or a politician, shoot even a Duchess would be perfect. Someone refined it.” Theo started as Mia rolled her eyes.
“Refined? Theo you can be refined. You literally made a life for yourself here when you could’ve easily asked for your mom and dad to pay for everything. Your own catering business to senators, and even saving up to open a restaurant. Look at you and all you’ve accomplished! This is your hard work that got you that cozy place on the upper level. I’d call that refinement. No. Not refined. Wondrous.” Mia smiled as it made Theo shake her head.
“Careful. Furland would say you’re inflating my already large ego.” Theo stood up and put on some background music for everyone. Mostly ocean ambiance to keep everyone from getting too stressed.
“Furland is one that needs to have his ego extinguished. I’m sorry I won’t say anything negative.” Mia held up her hands to then take a quick sip of her coffee.
Furland was her first real boyfriend. She never really had a relationship before besides the occasional hookup in college. For the longest of times, she really didn’t care to be in any relationship. When you look at the dating pool of the upper class, it’s revolting. A pool of snobby men and women who pay for servants to clean their face if they ordered it. Men just looking for a woman that just needs to give him son after son. Then he proceeds to cheat on her with another man or woman.
Thankfully her home life wasn’t full of mother and father yelling at each other for cheating. Theo couldn’t remember a time they yelled. Well, there was that one-time Theo slapped the prince, but it was more of a lecturing rather than yelling. That lecturing was done by her mother Marioara while her father Askold was listening, but gave her a thumbs up for doing so.
“I think you’re selling yourself short Theo. What’s not to like? You’re sweet, patient, sexy, open, and dare I say…
“Dare, dare!” Theo said loudly.
“A wonderful cook.” Mia clapped and jumped up from the couch.
“Glad to know that’s my one good quality in life. Well… mother did say the best way to a man’s heart is through the stomach. Not the zipper.”
“Which is why I think if you make gingerbread brownies, and Mr. Hunky will be yours within five minutes.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you forget that Furland is still in the picture.”
“Mia! We open in ten! Get your station ready!” Lydiana ordered for Mia to shrug.
“You said… well your mom said it but then you said it. A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Mia responded to Theo.
Truth be told, she never thought she would get this far in life. Never thought that she would find someone who she’s moving in with… eventual. She does have her own place, and dreams. Her current dream since she moved here was opening her own restaurant. She spent every dollar of her savings on commercial equipment that was allowed in her home. Considering she’s just one person, she doesn’t want to pay employees and worry about paying for a lease in some building.
Theo’s Delights Catering Company. Senators who usually are too busy, too lazy, or have an event that needs food, they always call Theo. Now normally she’s not a cocky person when it comes to her skills. But she knows that she has some skill with a knife and a piece of bird if given the chance.
Now it still feels unreal. She’s happy with the way her life has turned out so far and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Well… she would change a few things but that requires energy. But to have a husband, a family, but that might be the one thing she won’t be granted in life. She’s been given a second chance yes and is living her life as much as she can. The universe might not let her have everything she desires, that would make her life too simple.