EXT. ZORQO'S ZOO OF ZANINESS/PROMENADE -- DAY
The VERPINE VENDOR at a hog dog stand takes out a fresh packet of weiners, tears it open, and begins laying the lengths of processed, pale green pseudo-meat down on his grill as Obi-Wan and Nemec approach.
NEMEC: Hey, there.
VERPINE VENDOR: (speaking through a translator) Well, howdy! What can I do ya for?
NEMEC: (scrutinizing the green dogs) What kind of dogs are those?
VERPINE VENDOR: Why, those are bona fide processed magenge weiners, hoss, the finest this side of the Roche system!
NEMEC: Magenge? Never heard of it before. What kind of animal is that?
VERPINE VENDOR: Not a creature, hoss. No, not a creature. It's a fungus.
NEMEC: (cocks an eyebrow) A fungus?
VERPINE: Indeed, hoss. A sweet fungus. My peoples' main consumable, to tell ya the gods' honest truth. Its taste is like the seventh heaven, I can tell ya.
Nemec and Obi-Wan exchange glances.
OBI-WAN: (shrugs) I'm game if you are.
NEMEC: (to the vendor) Alright, I'll take two.
VERPINE VENDOR: Either of ya like ketchsup on yours?
OBI-WAN: I'll have some.
NEMEC: None for me, thanks.
The vendor quickly assembles the pair of dogs with silent haste; Obi-Wan cringes when he sees the ketchsup -- a dark, plum-coloured condiment totally unlike the ketchup/catsup he's familiar with -- squeezed onto his weiner.
VERPINE VENDOR: That'll be six ingots, if ya please.
Nemec promptly reaches into his right pocket for his wallet. When he doesn't find it there, he then goes for his left pocket. Not finding it there, he begins patting down his shirt in search of it; obviously, he doesn't have the wallet on him.
NEMEC: Damn, I forgot -- I left the wallet with Corin.
OBI-WAN: That's alright, I'll pay for them. It's the least I can do.
Pushing aside the fold of his coat, he goes for his utility belt and, reaching into a pouch, pulls out six Corporate Sector ingots.
OBI-WAN: (to the Verpine) Here you are.
Obi-Wan hands the ingots to the Verpine, who promptly hands him the two weiners.
VERPINE VENDOR: And here ya are.
OBI-WAN: (takes the dogs) Thanks.
Moving away from the stand, Obi-Wan and Nemec head off down the promenade. The Jedi hands the farmer his green hot dog.
NEMEC: (turns the dog over in his hands) A hot dog made out of fungus ... what the hell was I thinking paying for this?
OBI-WAN: It may not be all that bad.
NEMEC: Only one way to tell, I suppose.
In synchronous tandem, the two men take bites out of their magenge dogs.
OBI-WAN: (disgusted) Ugh! Revolting!
NEMEC: (shrugs) Really? I don't think mine's half bad. It's probably the ketchup on yours -- you shouldn't have gone for any.
Spitting the unpalatable mash out of his mouth, Obi-Wan is quick to toss the rest of the dog in the nearest trash can. Nemec is quick to finish his.
NEMEC: Not bad. They don't hold a candle to real dogs, of course, but they're decent for all that. (beat) We should have a barbeque next Benduday. Corin makes the best hot dogs on the planet, and I mean really makes them; she grinds up the meat, mixes in the starch, the whole works.
OBI-WAN: I didn't know Corin was such the gourmet.
NEMEC: She took a course offworld fifty years ago. She hasn't put the spatula down since. (beat) Does Siri cook at all, Obi?
OBI-WAN: (grins) Afraid not. I'm the breadmaker in the family.
NEMEC: Well, let me tell you -- when you have fifteen children to take care of, it helps to have two parents who can cook to feed them.
OBI-WAN: Fifteen children? Is that all?
NEMEC: (laughs) I'm ninety years old, Obi. I married Corin when I was twenty-two. When you've been in a fulfilling marriage as long as I have, you have plenty of time and opportunity to sow, grow, and harvest your own oats -- especially when there's nothing to do between sleeping and working. (beat) Besides eating and that other thing, of course.
OBI-WAN: (sighs) I suppose not.
Nemec's brow furrows as he hears the forlornness in Obi-Wan's voice.
NEMEC: I'm sorry. I forgot about the ... situation with your wife.
OBI-WAN: It's alright. It's just ... it's just difficult to think about right now. (beat) We should have waited, but we were too impatient to become parents -- too damned impatient.
NEMEC: Are you going to try again?
OBI-WAN: Perhaps. I'm not sure. I was so anxious to have a child before, but now ... with this ... I'm just not sure.
NEMEC: It's just a matter of finishing the treatments, isn't it? You've just got to wait until the doctors say she's fit to carry a child to term and everything should be alright.
OBI-WAN: If Siri gets pregnant again, she'll constantly worry about losing it. I don't know if she can handle that stress. Besides ...
NEMEC: Besides what?
OBI-WAN: I've thought about it -- run it over-and-over again in my mind -- but I've never openly discussed it with her ...
NEMEC: What?
OBI-WAN: (sighs) You know that Siri and I follow different paths in the Force?
NEMEC: Aren't you both Jedi?
OBI-WAN: Yes, but Siri's a Jedi of the Coruscanti Order. I'm a ronin Jedi. The two schools are very different from one another -- in some regards, the two are in complete opposition. (beat) You've noticed that I don't have my lightsaber on me at present?
NEMEC: Your lasersword? Yeah, I noticed it wasn't on your belt when you went to pay the bug. Siri's had hers on, though, front and centre.
OBI-WAN: My master Yoda taught me that weapons -- lightsabers included -- are only to be taken into situations where their presence is justified. The Coruscanti Jedi, on the other hand, teach that the lightsaber is an extension of the self -- another limb, basically, that must never leave one's side. (beat) Siri and I have argued and disagreed on this and many other subjects over the years, but we've come to respect one another's differing beliefs.
NEMEC: But with kids ...
OBI-WAN: With children, there'll always be the question of what to teach them, which doctrines to expose them to and which to steer them clear of. Can either of us step aside and allow the child to follow teachings we, personally, don't believe in? Can we reach a compromise? (beat) I honestly don't know what to do in that sort of situation.
NEMEC: (pats Obi-Wan on the back) This is why I'm happy Corin and I are both atheists. No religion, no conflict.
OBI-WAN: No conflict, hmm? Sounds like a recipe for boredom.
Hearing this, Nemec can't help but grin.