He smiles, and it seems warm and genuine.
"Great. Why don't you go wash up, and I'll let the house know we're going to need another place. There's a wash-hut out back."
You are a little dusty and grimy from the work, and the trip out. You head out back and find a small hut divided into half a dozen stalls, with an anachronistic water-based shower without sonics. Old-fashioned, but functional. You scrub up a little, though the place is pretty open so you're not comfortable having a full scrub.
As you head back to the main building, you see Kaleco emerge from a side door. He waves you on over. You enter the brightly lit kitchen of the residence. You see four younger people in the room, bustling about with dishes and serving bowls and the like. Demaris calls out, "Everyone, this is Damaris. She got the truck running again." A flurry of voices welcome you, and you're having trouble tracking who owned what voice. Kaleco tosses out names, but you don't really follow amid all the flurry of activity.
Then a smaller woman comes forward, wiping her hands on her apron. She shakes your hand gently. "Welcome, welcome. I'm Jemma. Be welcome. We're having Bol stew, biscuits and gravy, greens, and sweet tea." She pauses a moment, and really looks at Keshani. It is only a moment, but her expression changes somehow - goes softer.
"Come on, dear, have a seat." She swats at a male about your age as he's reaching for a biscuit. "Shael! Guests first!" She pulls out the chair, and before you know what is going on, in a flurry of movement everyone else is sitting down.
Your stomach is grumbling - the food smells so much better than the rations at the rebel base. But everyone stops moving. You look a round, not sure what is going on. Without anything being said, the family lowers their heads. The youngest person at the table, a small girl of probably 8 years, says, "Thanks for the food, thanks for family and friends, thanks for good weather, and thanks for kind strangers."
There is a pause, then without anything being said, food gets heaped onto your plate. Conversation whirls around you, the inns and outs of the day, stories about farmers who came in to trade, jokes and laughter and ribbing and teasing - the ebb and flow of what must be a normal life for these people. Maybe this is a normal family life?
The food is very good, plentiful, and tasty. People make gentle invitations for you to join the conversation, but also respect your privacy and don't seem put off by your quiet manner.
But that food...
Before you know it, you're feeling uncomfortably full. You pause for a break, and realize that everyone else's plates are clean, and appear to have been so for some time.
Jemma smiles as she hands you a smaller plate with a second slice of some sort of scrumptious pie on it. "Warms my heart to see a young girl with such a healthy appetite!"
She looks at the rest of the table. "Boys, clear the table. Girls, night chores."
There is a little good-natured grumbling, a little tussling, and in short order you are alone with Jemma and Kaleco. Jemma pours you another mug of delicious sweet tea.
"Damaris, now, it's none of my business, and I mean no offence, but I have to ask - are you all right? I mean you can't be much older than my boy Shael. You got a place to stay? Shelter and food?"
Kaleco steps in. "She don't mean nothing by it, Damaris. It's plain as day you can take care of yourself. It's just, life on Dantooine can be hard. People here tend to look out for one another. A young girl blows in out of the wilds all by herself..."
They both look at you, apparently earnest concern on their faces.
