waaaaaaaaaaugh!

The second time Cody ambushes him in the market, he’s even less prepared. He’s coming off of the high you can only achieve with jawa juice, counterfeit stims, two double clopens, and maybe just a little rankweed to take the edge off. The extra shifts are the real issue, as Ben remembers from what feels like forever ago: Needle telling him that sleep deprivation is worse than spice, General, so I had better not see you again before firstmeal. It took him four tries to leave the restaurant with all of his things and none of Sha’ra’s, two of those tries dedicated to him getting two doors over before remembering he had his apron on and a rag in his pocket. He’s staring blearily into the setting of the first sun, thinking about buying a couple trinkets for Luke before heading back to the Wastes, when he feels a knife at his throat and a heavy presence at his back.