Chapter Text
An old classic played on the jukebox at Dex’s while two balosars finished their celebratory meal. “Two years,” Elan Sel’Sabagno said, turning his friend’s commemorative coin in his fingers. “I can’t believe it.” It had become their tradition to get dinner together, and dessert, when one of them hit a milestone. A relatively low-key reward, one couldn’t very well celebrate sobriety by going to a bar after all, but they’d both grown to cherish it.
“Sometimes I can’t either,” Hez said, taking his coin back. He watched it glitter in the fluorescent lights.
“I can’t imagine being clean that long,” Elan sighed. He hadn’t yet. He was going strong for a while there, but a moment of weakness a few months back knocked him right back down the ladder. He was back at square one, and who was there to help him back on his feet but Hez?
Hez reached across the table and clapped a hand on Elan’s shoulder. “You’ll get there. Your three-months is coming up soon. We’ll be back here for you in a couple weeks.”
Elan threw him a doubtful look. “Three-months ain’t nothing.”
“Nonsense, of course it is.” Hez threw a soft smile right back at him. “Listen, when you called me that night a couple of years ago, telling me you were rethinking your life, I was so proud of you. I was just getting started and I was so happy to have you on this journey with me.”
Elan couldn’t help but smile to himself. “You were meant for better things, Hez.”
Hez drew his hand back and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know about that.”
The waitress droid rolled by and dropped the check at their table. They paid, and, as they waited for their receipt, Elan inspected Hez’s coin again. Hez himself was distracted by the holo-screen in the corner, which was playing some news story about how “well” the new CoCo town mayor’s anti-drug programs were working. It was just a dumb puff piece. Anyone who knew anything about the scene knew Mayor Mokii’s programs were going down like a lead balloon. Guy would probably end up in jail for fraud or something like half the other CoCo town mayors anyway.
Elan preferred to focus on the important things, like the coin in his hand, or his pal sitting across from him.
The waitress brought their receipt, then Elan handed the coin back and they got up to leave. “Hey, you want to maybe keep this party going?” Elan asked as they stepped out onto the busy Coruscanti streets.
Hez raised his eyebrows. “What did you have in mind?”
“Relax,” Elan laughed. “I was just thinking we could play some holo-games back at my place.”
“Oh yeah,” Hez answered. “I’d love to, but I’ve got something else I need to do first. I’ll comm you when I’m done, then meet you at your place.”
“Alright, sounds good.”
Elan then parted ways with Hez and headed back to his apartment. Once there, he got the game console setup, got out some snacks, and waited all night.
As the hours passed, a growing pit formed in his stomach. He commed Hez again and again, each time praying he’d hear his friend’s voice on the other end. That moment never came.
Elan stayed up all night, continuously calling his friend, even after Hez’s comm was long-since dead.