A returning Echo

Chapter Nine

You found an arcade relatively quickly, and found that it was nearly empty when you went in.

"We close in ten minutes," the owner said grumpily.

"Can we play one game real quick?" You asked as nicely as you could. He grumbled in response and led you over to the token counter. You gave him some credits and he handed you a few tokens.

"So, what game are we going to play for ten minutes?" Echo asked while looking around the building.

"Well, we can start off by playing this game," you said while leading him over to a pinball machine, "and then when the other people leave, I can play a little game of my own with the owner." Echo's brows furrowed when you said that, and he looked at you suspiciously.

"What kind of game are you going to play with him, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm just going to use a Jedi mind trick to convince him to let us stay and play games for as long as we want."

"You sure it will work on him? I know some species aren't affected by it."

"Oh, I've definitely mind tricked a weequay before," you said, remembering a particular pirate that you had amused yourself with once.

"I thought you weren't supposed to use mind tricks for personal gain?" Echo asked as you slipped a token into the game.

"Echo," you said, looking at him briefly before the game started, "have I EVER seemed like a rule following Jedi to you?"

"No, I guess not," he laughed. He watched you as you furiously pressed the buttons on the pinball machine, focusing fully on what you were doing. The tip of your tongue started to stick out as you leaned over the game, fingers slamming the buttons every few seconds. He watched as the ball rolled down again, and this time when you hit the button, it flew up and rolled into the hole.

"Kriff yeah!" You said while jumping up once. You grabbed the tickets that came out and turned to look at him.

"And how do I know you didn't cheat using the force?" Echo teased, moving to take his turn. Your gave him an offended look before you said, "alright, fine. I'll disconnect from the force and prove that I can still win. And I didn't cheat."

"Sure," he said, "whatever you say, darling." You stuck your tongue out at the back of his head as he began to play.

Within a minute, he had scored.

"What?! That's not possible," you said while folding your arms.

"What do you mean? You saw me playing," he said, giving you a smug look.

"You cheated somehow. There's no way you could have won that fast."

"Maybe I'm just a natural at it," he shrugged, laughing at your annoyed expression.

"I'm not letting you beat me," you said, playfully pushing him aside so you could play again. You went back and forth on the game until the owner came over. You were in the middle of watching Echo play his last round when the owner approached you.

"We're closing," he grumbled. You held up your finger in a way to tell him to wait, not wanting to stop watching the game. You let out a pain filled cry as your finger was violently bent backwards. Echo immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at what was going on.

"I said we're closing," the owner repeated as you held your finger. You didn't see the flash of anger that covered Echo's face, but you did see him walk up to the weequay and get in his face.

"That is no way to treat a lady," he said. "Especially not mine."

"And what are you going to do about it, clone?" Before Echo could act, you stepped in between them.