"For Lord Pradnakt," she fills in. "It's no trouble."

"The answers will significantly inform when I feel ready to... Go train. Thanks."

The droid nods. "We'll have answers for you next month, perhaps sooner." She pauses for a moment to consider - "I should ask about your parents, too, Pradnakt will want to know. Have there been any problems?"

"They've... They're fine. We really don't have much money. I'm not going to starve but it would be nice not to have to help collect wood for the generator and stuff, if we can just buy some."

"We can certainly cover that. How much do you need?"

He names a sum that's about twice as much as what the Sith and droid would pay for wood. "Should be enough."

 She nods. "Reasonable. I'll arrange it with the bank."

"Thank you. What you just covered was one of my questions, actually, so I'll revise my note real quick-"

He addresses it to Lord Pradnakt as formally as he can manage in the space he left for greetings at the top, and crosses out the lines explaining his frequent chores and how a little money could reduce them. Daisy has graciously agreed to provide a small stipend covering this question quite thoroughly. Many thanks. Then folds it back up and hands it over.

The droid's posture shifts subtly, unusually for a droid, in a way that might suggest a smile if she were human. "Certainly. Anything else?"

"I won't delay you any more. Have a nice trip."

"Very well. I'll see you next month."

A few days later there's a letter from the bank explaining that an amount of money ten percent higher than the agreed upon amount will be deposited in their account every month.

And in the meantime, Daisy brings Nick's letter to Dusk.

It's excruciatingly polite, and neatly written.

The gist of the letter is that he is very politely and rather obliquely asking two things - am I just going to have to trust you not to send me somewhere I wouldn't like? And, how harsh is the training? He won't be subjected to anything like what one hears in the horror stories about Korriban, right?

And two weeks later, there's a letter from Pradnakt in their mail, addressed to Nick and sealed with wax rather than having been delivered by the postal service.

If there's anything he'd like to have, perhaps a small speeder or a radio suitable for keeping in touch with his parents, that would make him more comfortable being away from home, that can be arranged, within reason. He's a little young for a speeder, yet, but twelve seems like a reasonable age for it, if that's what he'd like to do.

Training will be essentially nothing like Korriban; the letter includes a brief rant on the sheer wastefulness of it in pursuit of producing prestigious apprentices at no benefit to the apprentices themselves and also mentions that she can't set apprentices against one another, him being the only one she'll have. She goes on to assure him that while not every aspect of the training will be entirely safe or comfortable, she intends to avoid putting him in any unnecessary danger, and in fact is going to make a point of teaching him to access his danger sense before starting with anything like that and listening if he tells her there's a problem. "I intend to have a live apprentice at the end of this," she writes. "You'll find that I care very little for most Sith's idea of status or reputation, but in this case it matters; if I'm going to do this at all I'm going to do it well."

The word in town that day is that the Sith's droid has been in to buy building materials, enough to build a small house, with much speculation about why that might be.

He'll want a speeder. Not necessarily fast, one that can carry things. He'll want a good datapad with strong comms. Just the first one, if there's only going to be one. He greets Daisy when she arrives, but doesn't say anything else about training.

...Four months later, he tells Daisy, "I'm going to have a sibling. Once I do, or don't if there's complications, then I'm ready."

Daisy takes a trip into the city, and returns with a report on three used speeders for him to pick between: all of them have a decent carrying capacity, but they vary in speed, ease of use, and ease of customization; the most customizable one is by default the slowest and hardest to learn use but can be upgraded to be faster than either of the other two. Pradnakt sends him another letter, describing the datapad he'll have - a midrange professional model with plenty of storage and, yes, good comms, "but not good enough to reach the town; no datapad can do that. If you'd like a radio as well I suggest this model..."

"All right," says Daisy, at the news, and a few days later there's a letter from Pradnakt, asking how he'd like his space furnished and what sorts of food he likes and similar questions of day-to-day living.

'Simple' will do for furnishings, as long as he has a work area with good lights and ventilation. He'll be bringing tools and old projects. A radio would be good as well, but he doesn't want to be greedy. If any of these amenities aren't doable that's fine.

He does his own research into the speeders before deciding on the one that seems the most customizable. The rationale being that he'll probably learn the most from it. He's not especially picky in terms of food or living arrangements, though he does mention a couple of recipes he can't stand. He includes in the letter back that having time that's definitely for himself and he can't be interrupted would be nice.

...Will the stipend continue if he has a baby sibling? So his parents can take care of them well. (Daisy or Lord Pradnakt might be able to tell this question was added on after the fact)

The speeder has been acquired, and a set of radios. He can expect to have mornings to himself, with occasional assignments that he might want to work on then but no interruptions. The stipend will be continued for a few months, to allow his parents time to adjust, but not indefinitely.

Months pass.

Nick's baby sister is born at the expected time. He's eleven and a bit, now. She's healthy and happy and cute, as babies should be.

He's not sure what to expect as he reports this to Daisy, but he's surely putting on a brave face.

The droid nods. "And you're ready to go?"

"As soon as I get my pack. Go by speeder or by walking?"

"Speeder; I have the radio for your parents, too." She leads the way, and hands him the radio from the speeder's storage compartment when they get to his house. "Would you like any help bringing your things out?"

"I've got it, but thanks... They'd probably be afraid again if you helped."

She nods and stays with the vehicle.

He carries out two large bags, one crate, and one small backpack, and says his goodbyes.

Once they set off, "You're more than regular droids are. I can't put my finger on it. Not just the art."

"I'm older, yes. I haven't had a wipe in over a decade."