Life is hard.

[One Pair]

A teenage couple is sitting in an abandoned section of apartments bordering on low-level Coruscant. Here, at the top of the worst and the bottom of the mediocre, they've found a free place to live within the condemned rowhouses that had once been a flourishing apartment building. It's raining hard, and holdes in the roof are letting in steady drips of water. The two have gathered buckets to collect the water, and have emptied them all at least two times in the past hour. Now they sit huddled on an old matress in the corner, watching the buckets fill again.

"Jack...do you remember back on Tolea'Fuin? Before all the trouble started?"

Jack sighs at his girlfriend's question. He remembers well. Things were happier then. Queen lived in a big mansion, enjoying a carefree life. He had been a great deal poorer, but had been happy helping with his father's business. He hadn't lost much in the ensuing incident with the Tolea'Fuin government and the Imperials, but she had lost a great deal. Now they're on Coruscant, scraping a meager living together.

"I remeber, Queen," he answers quietly, running a hand through her hair. "You were very happy."

A yip at the door heralds the arrival of Queen's puppy, Rama, and she calls him over with a whistle. The little dog slips in through a gap in the bottom of the door and jumps into her lap, putting his forepaws on Jack's face.

"He was happier, too," Queen whispers, petting the dog. Jack wrinkles his nose, trying not to sneeze. He's allergic to Rama, but he endures the puppy for Queen's sake.

"Yeah," he murmurs, rubbing the itchy red patches on his face where the puppy had touched him. "I remember it very well. I wish we could go back to it."

[One Pair]

The Aeslred mansion is positively gigantic. It's only two stories tall, but it's width and length are unmatched in this small section of the city. The giant house is ringed with a beautifully designed fence and gate that stands a good fifty or sixty meters from the house. The local kids tend to avoid it, keeping their eyes on the ground as they pass it by on their way to the ballpark. Queen Aeslred, the young daughter of the family, wishes they wouldn't do that.

The poor girl has been blind since her birth, and her parents have let her out of the mansion for very little other than school and the occasional trip into the city to run errands. She can hear the kids passing by every day, and can sometimes hear them murmuring about her house when the wind is favorable and carries their voices to her. She just wishes someone would see her up in her window and say something.

[One Pair]

One boy has, in fact. He's looked at her every single day with a red face, enduring the whispered hassling of his friends.

"Don't look at her!" they whisper. "She's wierd! Her family's mean too, they'd probably have you shot for looking at her funny!"

Jahkob Speidz doesn't think so at all. He just doesn't have the guts to call to her, or knock on her door. But today is different. He's standing before their ornately decorated fence, staring up at her quietly. She's looking out into the distance, over the top of the tree by her window. It seems she's daydreaming, or something, since she hasn't seen him yet. He gathers some courage and hops the fence, climbing it quickly without making a sound. His landing makes a small thump, however, and gives him away.

"Who's there?"

Queen looks straight in his direction, and Jahkob dives behind a nearby group of bushes, cursing to himself. She saw him! Now he's in for it, in for it for sure...

"Please, say something!" she calls again. "I won't get you in trouble."

Jahkob hesitates. Say something? Doesn't she mean to say "Come out, I know you're there. You're in trouble!"...this isn't matching up to what the guys told him. He's feeling more confident.

"Yeah? Why not?" he asks, feeling suspcious. This isn't how it's supposed to work! He's supposed to notice her first!

"Because I don't get to talk to other kids much..." she answers. "The tree by my window is close enough for you to jump in from..."

[One Pair]

She's kidding! She's got to be kidding! Come in through the window? That's an invitation for trouble. He's starting to think she's cute and using it, but soon something happens to change it.

"Queen, who are you shouting to?"

It's stuffy voice of an old man. By the first name, Jack suspects this is her father.

"Daddy, there's a boy out by the fence! Can he visit, please?"

Jack twitches. By the fence? He's inside, by the bushes.

"Certainly, dear. Go to the door and let him in."

Jack risks a peek over the bushes. Good, no one's at the window now. Quickly he makes it back over the fence, just in time to see the door swing open along with the gates. The girl is standing there, waving to the gates rather than to him.

"Come in! I want to talk!"

Jack comes down the walkway slowly, suspiciously, finally realizing why she's been acting so strangely.

"You're blind," he blurts. Queen turns slightly red.

"Yes...I'm sorry if I seem strange. I just wasn't sure where you were." She looks right in his eyes. "Now that you're closer I can tell. You're a head taller than me, aren't you?"

Jack nods, but then remembers that she can't see him nodding.

"Yes," he answers, watching as she fidgets for a moment, then reaches tentatively out to touch his arms, moving up the soft fabric of his jacket as if seeking something.

"Can I touch your face?" she asks. "I want to know what you look like..." Jack is quite taken aback by this, placing her hands awkwardly on his cheeks. She traces his ears with her fingertips, sliding them up into his hood to find a great deal of shaggy, unkempt hair. His eyes blink as she runs her hands over them, tracing the outline of his nose and lips before lacing her fingers together and blushing again. "You're very handsome," she murmurs. "Come in..."

[One Pair]

With the face touching ritual apparently over, he steps into the house and can't help but gasp.

"Holy crap..."

Queen touches the tips of her fingers together nervously.

"Is something wrong?" she asks timidly. Jack shakes his head, stepping into the house and craning his neck back, taking in the high ceiling. The hall above crosses this room on the second floor like a bridge, and above that is a beautiful dome of stained glass. Stretching away to either side and ahead of him are rooms, each one more grand than anything he's ever seen.

"No..." he mutters. "It's just...big."

Jack wanders forward into the living room, followed closely by Queen. The sofas are made of a comfortable material and center on a low table with designs carved into the legs and top. Queen invites her friend to sit, feeling nervous as she calls a maid. Jack gawks as she asks for food and drinks to be brought out, settling himself deep into the cushions of a sofa.

"Wow..." he mutters, looking around again. "This is way better than my house."

Queen follows his voice and sits down next to him, fidgeting with her shirt sleeves.

"What's it like?"

[One Pair]

"My house?" Jack asks. "Well its only one story, and small. At the very back are two bedrooms, the kitchen, and a bathroom where my parents and I stay. The whole front of the house has been turned into a shop, which my father runs. He's a cobbler."

"A cobbler?" Queen repeats with a quizzical tone.

"Oh, he makes, repairs, and sells shoes," Jack clarifies. "He's teaching me. I can do some minor repair work, but nothing major yet."

The maid returns with a bottle of soda and a plate of small sandwiches. She begins to pour their glasses, but Jack holds his hand out for the bottle.

"Let me do it," he insists. The maid reluctantly hands it to him and walks away. "No offense to you or her, of course, but it's wierd to be waited on like this."

Queen is about to answer when a loud yip gets her attention. Jack tenses ever so slightly as the girl clutches his shirt sleeve and whistles. There's a patter of tiny little feet, and a puppy bursts around the corner and leaps into Queen's lap. Jack turns pale.

[One Pair]

Queen doesn't notice. She's too busy snuggling her little dog.

"Jack, this is Rama. He's my little baby."

The tiny dog makes a happy bark, and its owner holds him out to Jack.

"Pet him! He won't bite you."

Jack squirms. "I'm not real worried about that," he mumbles. "Here, have some soda." He hands her the glass, carefully avoiding touching the dog.

"Is something wrong?" Queen asks. Jack mumbles that things are fine, so Queen reluctantly turns back to what they were speaking of earlier.

"My dad owns a big business, selling speeder parts. He's very successful. Most of the speeders and swoop bikes in this city are made by his company. He even designed a special speeder for the royal family once!"

[One Pair]

"We get the occasional big wig guy who needs his shoes polished or something, but not often. Dad usually makes me put up with them, since buffing shoes is child's play and never takes more than half an hour at most..."

Queen kisses Rama on the forehead as the puppy squirms, trying to get at Jack.

"Hold still, you..." she mutters playfully, but Rama wriggles out of her arms and leaps on Jack, rubbing his paws on the boy's face and licking his nose. Jack fumbles his empty glass and screams, sneezing loudly as the puppy sticks its nose in his hood to sniff around. Queen jumps a mile, and immediately three servants and two well-dressed people come dashing in. They all speak as one; "Queen, are you alright?", but Queen doesn't answer.

"Jack, what's the matter? What's wrong? Did he bite you? I'm so sorry..."

Jack twists his head, trying to evade the puppy's cold nose, but can't seem to get away. Queen finally manages to find and scoop up Rama, leaving Jack to lie over on the couch, sneezing and coughing and apologizing pathetically.

"I'm--kttchoo!--sowwy, but--ka-hack!--I'm ah...ah...Snk-thbb! ah..."

One of the important people, a woman, takes Rama gently from Queen.

"Sweetheart, let's let Rama play outside, okay? I don't think your friend likes him very much."

Queen nods. "Yes mother." Then, she turns her face towards Jack. "What's wrong with Rama?"

[One Pair]

"Nuffin's wong wif 'im!" Jack says swiftly, accepting a box of tissues from a passing maid. He blows his nose and sniffles. "Just got a cold, is all."

Queen frowns. "It sure hit you awful sudden..."

"Well, pollen helps," Jack says. "Rama bumped me over by the vase at the end of the sofa." It's a lame excuse, and he doesn't expect her to believe him.

"Ah, okay." Apparently she does.

[One Pair]

Jack heaves a heavy sigh. He's allergic to dogs. It really sucks, since he likes them a great deal. It's gonna get in the way of him and Queen too, he's sure of it. He picks the glass up with a shaking hand, pouring soda into it and sitting back, to take a deep, calming breath.

"Okay...I'm fine..."

Queen touches his face, just to be sure Rama didn't bite him, and finds two odd streaks on it.

"Jack, your face! What's wrong?"

His face has broken out with a rash at the puppy's touch. It feels bumpy to Queen's hands, and it feels itchy and sore on Jack's face.

"Don't sweat it..." he murmurs, taking her hands away and holding one of them.

[One Pair]

She just won't let go of his face, though. She frowns, calling for a maid to bring some kind of medicine. The maid brings it and leaves the pair again,

"How did those get there?" she asks. "I know the plant couldn't have done it."

She scoops some medicinal cream up with her thumbs and guides herself back to his face with her fingertips, careful not to get it on his clothes or in his eyes. It feels cool against Jack's skin, and he sighs softly as she gently rubs it in.

"Thanks," he says. "I appreciate it."

Queen turns red. "It's no problem."

[One Pair]

The two sit in an awkward silence as Queen tends to the allergic reaction, until at last Jack decides to say something.

"What's this stuff?"

Queen finishes with his face and rubs her thumbs off on her pants.

"I don't know. I can't read the label, and I never thought to ask my parents when they used it on me. They just always called it "that cool stuff"...Oh, I'll bet you think I'm stupid, not to know..."

"Not at all," jack answers. "I dunno what the shoe polish stuff is called either. It has a technical name, but I've never bothered to learn it. The bottle isn't labeled or anything, so I never thought to figure it out."