Get some meat on your bones

"hey kid, slow down a little"

This would be his first meal on the ghost, Ezra knew he should take it slow, eat just enough to stave away the worst of his hunger, then leave the rest for later. Things usually took a bad turn when he ate too much after practically nothing, and the last few days had been rough, between just general bad luck on the streets and his abrupt adventure with the rebels whose ship he now shared, not to mention his brief imprisonment. Those dratted imperials had even gone to the trouble of taking the yogans he had.... earned, and not even bothered to spare him a few ration bars! Ezra pouted. He hoped they choked on the seeds...

By the time he had finished sulking over his lost fruits and looked up, he saw Hera handing Sabine a bowl which she accepted with gratitude before retreating to her room. As the colourful girl stepped lightly past him he could smell the food, it smelt like salt and meat with that undertone of starchiness that all rations had, he could almost taste it. His eyes followed the steaming stew and Sabine rolled her eyes, thinking she was the focus of his gaze, but for once, his mind was elsewhere, revelling in the thought of a hot meal. A hot meal! His mouth watered. He couldn't count how long it had been since he'd had one of those!

Hera soon arrived at the table where he and Zeb sat, as far as possible from one another. Kanan followed soon after, they both carried two more bowls, each filled with the same protein stew. To his obvious dismay, Zeb was forced to scoot closer to Ezra to allow Kanan and Hera room to squeeze in, his face twisted in a dramatic disgusted snarl. Ezra gave a repulsed grimaced in retort and Hera shot them a look that was gone in two seconds flat, melting back into her companionable smile, but it had been just long enough to scare the pants off of the both of them. Ezra deduced that this little "dinner as a family" thing was Hera's idea given that her gentle smile looked out of place when put next to Zeb's scowl and Kanan's face that somehow managed to convey an air of masked awkwardness and acceptance. Kanan seemed to be good at conveying his feeling through only the slightest expression, or maybe he wasn't, Ezra thought, maybe it was just this force thing the man liked to babble about, he wasn't sure. It wasn't just emotions the Lothali boy had picked up on either, even in the short time he had known the man, Ezra got the impression Kanan sometimes had a hard time saying no to Hera. He was fairly sure he didn't need the force to see that though. In the corner of his eye he saw Zeb glance at him. he started to envy Sabine and wonder how she got out of this.

His thoughts where completely shattered when a bowl and a spoon clinked down on the table in front of him and the tantalizing sent of food flooded his senses with salty promise. Instantly, his earlier rules of taking it slow were forgotten.

Kanan watched his newfound apprentice pick up the spoon with enthusiasm and begin to shovel the stew into his mouth. He was about to just roll his eyes and continue with his own meal before a grim thought wormed its way into his head. Now, he didn't know much at all about Ezra, and he could admit that, no matter his knee jerk reactions at first, he knew the boy was more than just some reckless punk wanting to cause troubled. When Hera had told him that he was an orphan it had added an extra layer to Ezra's motives that he hadn't thought to consider before. He grazed a look at the younger boy, who was still intent on his food, and suddenly noticed the hollowness of the lithe teens eyes and his sunken cheeks, even the way he chewed looked awkward. His mind wandered back to the days he had spent rooting through dumpsters after order 66. He remembered the way hunger had clenched at his empty belly with an iron grip and sowed a weariness into his heart that made him snap and lash out if someone came too near. His hand clenched subconsciously around his spoon.

"you okay love?" he heard Hera say softly, he didn't reply but gave her a meaningful glance that made her soft smile stiffen into a line of concern, before turning to speak to Ezra

"hey kid, slow down a little"

Ezra glanced up at the sound of Kanan's voice and swallowed the stew in his mouth with a bit of difficulty, his throat had a hard time with food occasionally. What right did this guy have, to tell him how to eat his food? So, in response he just gave an irritated grunt and shot the Jedi a striking blue glare before pulling his bowl closer almost protectively and eating even faster. Even Zeb glanced at that before going back to his own meal, the genocide of his people had ensured he was no stranger to hunger. They were all rapidly beginning to expect something was going on here.