Private Family Fun

[Cataline Holt]

"Mom," she said with a chuckle as she placed the elaborately made pasta dish in the center of the table. "We really don't need that kind of negativity! Look at how great we're doing. We have each other's backs, we're moving forward. It's going to be fine," she said as she scooped a bunch onto her plate, moving next towards their dad.

A mom with tired eyes gave her daughter a smile. "True. We would be so lost without you and your brothers," she said quietly.

"Hopefully [member="Marcus Holt"] and [member="Steve Holt"] show up soon, I'd hate for their food to get cold," she muttered after a few seconds.

"They'll be here when they get here, don't worry," Dave muttered as he propped his feet up on the table. "We'll get the best parts."

Cataline chuckled, glancing his way as she placed her own plate down and slipped cross legged into the chair. One fork spun the noodles around her fork as she sighed contently. They'd probably show up, sooner or later anyway. Heck, for all she knew, they may have been napping somewhere in the apartment. It wasn't like she had been searchin' for 'em.

 

[Marcus Holt]

"You said you had the alarm disabled, Douglas!" Marcus screamed to his companion, Douglas, while jumping across rooftops. He had narrowly escaped a building full of the Coruscant police, after attempting to steal from a somewhat wealthy resident of the underground. "It wasn't that simple, the algorithms contained a subroutine built into the overall mainframe and- Arghh!" A blaster bolt hit Douglasin the back, causing him to fall down to the streets below. Marcus, after witnessing his death started to make his way downwards towards the streets, not to check on Douglas, but because he knew of a small passage that could take him most of the way home.​

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He reached the passageway, climbing inside of it. The passage was dark and somewhat tight to fit in to, though any larger route would've been to far away. He emerged from the small cramped tunnel, cutting his forearm on the way out, into an alley way not too far from his apartment. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his bag to check if he had managed to secure anything at all. A small purple jewel, an old mask and some kind of machinery. The hike back to his apartment began and all the way back he was thinking up excuses.​

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As he stood outside the room, he could smell the food and his father speaking of him and his brother. "Ok, happy face, happy face..." He placed as good of a smile as he could on his face and entered the room. He was greeted by the faces of [member="Cataline Holt"] and his parents. "Hey, sorry I'm late, complications at work." He placed his bag down by the door, trying to be as gentle as possible in order to keep everything inside from colliding together and making noise. "Where's [member="Steve Holt"]?"​

 

[Steve Holt]

Steve looked at the battery, holding it between fingers using a rag and frowning as he turned it around finding it covered in some kind of green crust. He tossed it aside with a sigh, he had a sack with him filled with bits and pieces of things people threw out. If it wasn't for the fact that he used these parts he might think it a shame just how much people threw away. The trick though was catching it before it got cleaned up either by another scavenger, or scrapped by a company. Fortunately, people who steal from the trash are not exactly the ones people really pay as much attention to.

He pushed off and started his way home. Another trip, another only semi-success. Batteries of any kind were extremely hard to find. They were the pieces that went bad the fastest, next only to computer chips which usually broke right off the bat if they weren't missing pieces. If he could just get a few more batteries and computer parts he might be able to make something that would actually make some good amounts of money.

He came back to find [member="Marcus Holt"], [member="Cataline Holt"], and their parents already there and Marcus asking where he was at, "Sorry, I got a bit distracted." he said setting his sack off to the side and noticing Marcus must have also brought something, "I uh, still didn't find everything I wanted but I'm sure I can make something worthwhile out of this." he nudged his sack before coming to plop down and get a dish.

"Oh man," he said smiling as he smelled it, "This smells great."

 

[Cataline Holt]

Cataline chomped down on her food as she briefly checked the clock on the wall. She had the graveyard shift tonight at the shelter, so she had a lot to get finished before heading in. Plus, her entire morning would be spent organization with the other shelters and community organizers.

She glanced towards [member="Marcus Holt"] as he came. Cat's eyes naturally found his bag. Complications at work for her muscly brother was not a good sign. "Your arm is cut," she commented softly as she nodded towards the trickle of blood. Naturally, Cat got up and got a cloth, poured some alcohol on it and forced Marcus to a seat at the table as she placed the rag on the wound.

"God knows what germs you've picked up," she muttered. Their mom, on the other hand, smiled brightly and quickly scooped a bunch of pasta and poured it onto his plate.

And then [member="Steve Holt"] showed up! The whole family would be together. Dave waved to his sons, "Welcome home," he muttered in a deep voice.

Cat's head popped up after tying the bandage over Marcus arms. "Well, dig in! Made it from mostly scratch," she said with a smile, beaming with pride over her meal.

 

[Marcus Holt]

"C'mon Cat, I haven't even been sick for years, one small scratch isn't going to kill me." He said as his sister wrapped a cloth around his arm, how many times has this happened this month? He was almost dragged to the table by Cataline Holt, somehow despite her being the youngest, he could never find himself able to disobey her. As he sat at the table, he heard the door open and in walked Steve Holt , He gave a quick wave with the arm that wasn't being tended to.

He noticed both the plate of food in front of him and the deep voice of his father, welcoming the two home. He simply smiled while cat finished whatever she was doing to his arm. A simple bandage covered most of his lower arm. He picked up on Steve's lack of useful equipment from his day scavenging and got up from his seat to his own bag. Reaching into it and pulling out a small piece of machinery, throwing it into the air and catching it simply out of habit. "Might be something of worth in this... uhh... Whatever this is" Safe to say, Marcus hadn't a single clue what is was.

He walked back over to the table handing it to Steve before strolling back to his seat and finally taking a bite to eat.​

 

[Steve Holt]

Steve glanced as Cataline Holt mentioned Marcus Holt had a cut arm. Sometimes one had to wonder what the boy was up to, he wasn't sure whether he'd want that said aloud though. Maybe he'd ask him about it later. He smiled as he waved back to everyone as his dad greeted them both, rubbing his hands together and taking a few bites savoring the flavor before catching the machinery as Marcus handed it to him, "This is called a servo motor and it's very useful in droids and machinery. I just...really need a power source. You have no idea how difficult those things are to find. I could probably build a computer chip with the parts if I had them but the chemicals in batteries and stuff just deteriorate or are too dangerous for me to work with." He shook his head takinga nother bite.

Mumbling through bites, "Sorry, bit distracted, I've just been really trying to get something that's actually worthwhile. These things are all great but...they don't mean much without either an actually fair deal, as if I could find one, or a battery to make them into something better. You know what would really help? A ship! Not that we could even pay to get the fuel to go anywhere I guess. Honestly I'd almost take up bounty hunting if it wasn't so freaking dangerous and, you know, questionable. At least I'd get some actual credits other then the garbage I'd get for turning this in."

 

[Cataline Holt]

Cataline tsked as Marcus Holt protested her medical care. Indeed, it wasn't the first and it definitely wouldn't be the last. But that didn't change the fact that they needed to tend to the wound. If it got infected? That'd set them back by a couple months. And with the health of their mom and dad getting worse every year, it wasn't something they could risk.

Cat's eyes caught Steve's and she gave a weak smile.

Plus, he let her do it anyway. He never actually fought her on it. Cataline was sitting comfortably back in her chair as Marcus got up to investigate Steve's bag. Her eyebrow perked as she watched, even as their parents watched him return.

Cataline gave a nod to Steve Holt . "I'll see if I can find anything tomorrow. It probably wouldn't be the best, but it may be enough to give it some juice? I find plenty of junk working where I work," she commented with some hope. It wasn't a lot, but it was there. Their mom placed her hand on Steve's shoulder and squeezed it quietly, "My smart boy."

Too bad fair deals on this level didn't exist. And to get to the richer levels was... Difficult. She blinked as his suggestion of a ship. "A ship?" She nearly choked on her food. "Who knows how much that would cost," she commented as she sighed. "No bounty hunting, Steve," she scolded along with her mother who pouted. "You're too smart for that kind of work," their mom commented. Cat gave him a smile, "Things'll turn around. We've had bad luck for 10 years, surely something has to give soon." She had something that may result in something good, but she didn't want to comment on it just yet.

 

[Marcus Holt]

A ship? Why hadn't Marcus ever thought of that? No wonder Steve was the smart one. Now that the idea had been placed into his mind, certain points of interest occurred to him. The old scrappers market downtown, the numerous people who own some form of ship, and the most obvious choice, the scrap yard, a good thirty or so miles away from the apartment. Of course going there would be pointless if he went alone. If they managed to find a ship that worked enough to fly outta there, Marcus wouldn't be able to fly it, and if they intended to build one, he wouldn't have a clue what parts he would be looking for.

Of course there was always the option of buying one, But as Cat stated, it be a ludicrous sum of money for the family. Even if they we're to pool all their resources, if Steve made the best sale of his life, and Marcus managed to rob a Jedi of their Lightsaber and sell that. They probably wouldn't even be able to afford half a ship. "Well, a ship isn't that bad of an idea but, bounty hunting is ridiculous and stupid. This is all we've got and we don't need to lose one of our own. Stick together and we'll get through this life."

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Steve Holt Cataline Holt​

 

[Steve Holt]

Steve smiled and held up his fork like a wine glass, "Awesome!" he said gratefully. And chuckling slightly as his mother complimented him, "Thanks mom."

Life might be hard, but they had all of each other. And while his comment on the ship was heard, it was definitely too expensive. And his bounty hunting comment too was tossed out, his mother again mentioning his intelligence making him chuckle appreciatively. Marcus too seemed to not like it, with good reason in tow. If they lost someone, bad things would happen.

That reminded him to look again at Marcus's injury. But, again, he didn't want to mention it here. "Yeah. Guess we'll just have to find a way to make it work." he said smiling in response. "But hey, as long as we've got food, shelter, and each other. We'll make it regardless. Just wish there was more I could do to help. Yeah I guess bounty hunting was a bit ridiculous though. I'm exactly fit for it."

He continued to eat, though his mind certainly wondered. He almost commented that Marcus probably was fit for bounty hunting but he didn't want to actually suggest such a thing. Because he realized once he wasn't talking about himself such an idea really was pretty darn stupid.
Marcus Holt Cataline Holt

 

[Cataline Holt]

"Exactly what Steve said," Cataline replied with a smile to the group. She took a bite of the pasta. Their dad chuckled, "Gods, we're going to see on the holo that the kids have stolen a ship..." He began to cough, roughly for a few seconds before giving a tired smile to his kids.

"We'll figure it out," Cat commented after a moment of thought. "We have each other and we'll figure it out." Cat gave a weak smile to Steve Holt . "Do more? Look at all you do! If anything, I should be the one doing more." All she did was help the less fortunate - which ironically included her entire family and herself.

Bounty hunting wasn't a good idea. Maybe if they had lived on some backwater planet and had experience fighting and stuff. Although, in truth, Marcus Holt did have the build for it.

"I was invited to help build the new constitution," she said sheepishly to the group. "Kind of as a representative from the outreach programs."

 

[Steve Holt]

Cataline Holt Marcus Holt

Cateline agreed again, and dad joked about stealing them ending up on the holo. Steve leaned back in a, intentionally very fake, prideful expression, "Oh don't you believe in us, they'd never realize we did it!" before letting out an equally fake and very exaggerated laugh. Though, he still noticed his father was tired. They were aging. It was an unfortunate truth. And no amount of technological tendencies were going to help that from where they were.

Cateline kept up though, they'd figure it out. Yeah. Then complimented Steve for what he did while saying the reverse for herself, "Now hold up, you're always busy doing something, so don't say that. Also." he slurped up the noodles while maintaining eye contact and smiling, "I can't cook nuts and bolts."

A moment later, she mentioned she was invited to help build a constitution. As a representative. He raised his eyebrows and clapped his hands, "Oh ho! That's cool! Maybe put something in there about batteries and where to put them! I'm kidding, obviously. But very nice! Congratulations!"

 

[Marcus Holt]

Marcus became tense as his father mentioned idea of the kids becoming thiefs, after all, one failure criminal in the family was enough. He almost entered a trance whilst the rest of the family spoke, blocking them out. His mind began to race with thoughts he struggled with almost hourly... What if they knew about his 'Job'. He had never really given a clear answer on that subject. When he left this trance, he found that he had unconsciously bent his fork out of place, he tried to pull it underneath the table without any noticing to straighten it back out. Cataline was also stating something about building a new constitution.

"You wanna explain what that means? Not for me obviously but Stevie here is clearly lost." He gave a light smile and placed the fork back onto the table, noticing his parents faces. Tired. Sick. Poor... Dying. He had come to accept that they weren't going to be around much longer, and that he couldn't change that fact, though he could atleast try and make their end easier. An old pharmaceutical store was on the verge of closing down just downtown, they had to have some painkillers right? He decided he would scout the place tomorrow, checking for any entrances, making sure he knew where he was looking, and most importantly, making sure he could get back out before the police turned up.

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Cataline Holt Steve Holt​

 

[Cataline Holt]

Cataline gave a smile as she squeezed their dad's hand gently. Blue-green eyes watched with worry as he coughed and their mother seemed to be in a daze. A life in the mines, plus the stress of being in a constant survival state their entire lives had really brought a toll on their family. Her heart hurt with worry about what she knew was coming sooner than later.

They didn't have the money, resources, and... Even if they did, all it would do was make their quality of life better. Probably.

She laughed a little as Steve Holt confirmed her business. "Yeah, yeah, but you could learn it if you spent some time on it, smarty." She slurped some of her own noodles, enjoying the savory taste as their dad got distracted by the holotv.

"Thanks," she said quietly. She laughed at Marcus Holt 's comment. "Well, lemme explain Steve," she replied with a wink. "I dunno, it kind of just happened. You guys know I've been working with the programs for a while now and I guess they thought I could convince them to look out for them." She shrugged a little, not completely sure. "But I'll be there with the Lord-Imperator and with some of the Houses."

She looked between them all. "Kinda scared, honestly," she shrugged a little. Their mom smiled. "What have we always told you three? Take those big steps that we couldn't," she squeezed Cat's shoulder as Cat gave a weak smile.

 

[Steve Holt]

Steve made a face at Marcus Holt about his comment who who was or wasn't lost. Didn't really say anything about it though. No need to cause strife certainly. The moment was cheerful and that was best. She did go on to explain though. That she'd been working so many programs it seems they thought she was someone worth sending with the upper people. He raised his eyebrow as she mentioned she'd be talking with Lord Imperator and the Houses.

At first he was gonna comment on her apparent lack of surprise but then she mentioned she was scared, at least a little. Mom certainly seemed good with it, weak though she may be. Life was hard, and they were leaving soon. But he didn't want to aknowledge that. At all if possible. Steve added, "Big steps indeed! You're talking to the guy who could ruin or save what stability we have."

He didn't want to push Cataline Holt too much but...this was a big chance, he took a little bit more of a serious face as he thought about it, "In all actuality. This is important. I don't want to scare you about it but...I feel like you should know what you're going to go in and say."

 

[Dominic Shiro]

Whoops​

 

[Marcus Holt]

Lord Imperator... honestly, Marcus hadn't the slightest clue who he was, nor did he really care, he had confidence in his sister though, after all, she wouldn't make life any worse for them. "Well, congrats Cat." He got up from his seat and headed to the kitchen wanting to grab a drink. "You'll be fine Cat, you're about the only one here who even has a chance to do well. You lot want a drink?" He grabbed several glasses from the cupboard and started to fill one with water, while just about over hearing Steve's comment on her knowing what to say when the time comes.

"To be fair, he's got a point." He filled a second glass and placed them in front of his parents as he spoke. "I mean personally I'd just go and tell them to get their act together, but then again, that's the reason I'm not a representative." He returned to the kitchen and peered out the window, watching the signs of bars and stores flicker, barely visible through the layer of smog. Hopefully, whoever was actually in power, whether it was that Imperator or a discount Palpatine, would make the underground more bearable.

______________________________
Steve Holt Cataline Holt​

 

[Cataline Holt]

Cataline held back a chuckle at Steve Holt 's reaction to Marcus Holt 's words. Siblings, they'd all had their fights and makesup and she knew any of them would do what they would for each other.

Cat nodded solemnly towards Steve's words, "Yeah, it could be a chance for a real change for us. Mom and dad, you guys," she commented as she slurped more noodles, her eyes hovering over to their parents who were still dazed and mostly watching the holovision from across the room. She gave a nod, "I've been practicing, reading up on things."

"Thanks guys. Y'all know I wouldn't be able to do it without your support," she said with a smile as she gave a nod to Marcus. "I'd love one," she replied. "Who knows, that may be the best approach, Marcus," she teased with a wink once he came back over.

 

[Steve Holt]

Steve looked at Marcus Holt as he asked about a drink and jokingly called out, "Yeah! Throw it to me!"

Then chuckled again at Marcus's comment about how he would have spoken to the people and why it wouldn't make him good for the position, "No kidding, and I'd probably get so caught up in irritation that I can't have some of those fancy droids or something they're bound to have floating around the place. Just forget about the whole negotiating part entirely."

He looked at Cataline Holt as she agreed it was a chance to change, and that she was beginning to read things. And that she appreciated their support, "Hey, remember that when you become a...whatever it is they call politicians. I don't actually know it's not like I'll ever be able to do anything about it."

Steve was more focused on the here and now. And technology. Things he understood. All this political stuff was so filled with people that it really made things a lot more complex.

 

[Marcus Holt]

Marcus returned into the room, carrying two glasses in one hand and the last one in the other. He caught Steve's last comment about his drink. "Don't tempt me." He placed a glass in front of each sibling, before returning to his own seat and picking up on his sister's statement about their support. "C'mon Cat, we've been supporting you both figuratively and literally since you were born. Ha, Steve, remember when she was learning to walk? Tripping over everything. We supported you back then and we are always going to, no matter how bad of a mess you make." He smiled and ate once again, piling a substantial amount into his mouth and slurping up whatever he could, spreading all manner of it around his mouth.

"Personally, I like to refer to those.... Politicians as nothing more than liars. Not including you of course Cat." Marcus took an old rag from his pocket and wiped his mouth down, folding it back up and throwing it toward the bin, somehow actually making the shot. Maybe the family should do something together soon, play a board game, watch a movie or maybe just stroll around town. Something to give their parents something to do before they bite the bullet.

"Do we still have that old board game? Maybe we should do something together for a change, seeing as we don't really spend all that much time in one another's company"

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Cataline Holt Steve Holt ​

 

[Cataline Holt]

Cat scowled at both Steve Holt & Marcus Holt's comments about throwing the glass of water. She'd end up being the one to clean up a mess, so she wasn't very happy with the idea. But, she smiled still.

"If I was a politician, we'd be enjoying life a lot more. I don't foresee that in my future. It'll probably be a one off thing." She shrugged a little.

Another scowl at Marcus. "Pssh, you guys are only a little bit older then me! Not fair!" She said with a little laugh. "Better not include me, Mr, or I'll take back my plate." She said with a wink.

A board game? She blinked, nodding. "One moment," she said as she slipped out of the chair and went to one of the bookcases, moving some dusted books out and around to find it as she brought it back and placed it on the table. "Here."