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insomnis-noctis · 9 days

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Poly Mean Dom Bacara and Neyo

Minors DNI this is 18+

Warnings: Smut, filthy smut, cursing, p in v, rough sex, squirting, multiple orgasms, dacryphilia, soft choking, dom/sub, mention of polyamory, spanking, somewhat rough restraining, creampie, dirty talk, soft degrading, fluff towards the end.

Note: Bacara and Neyo get so little content. I need more and I will provide it if I have too

"Don't stop. Even if I beg you to." It was that phrase that got you here. These two were already more than capable of wrecking you on a normal day, but you just let them off their imaginary leash so to speak. And gave them the free reign to pretty much do whatever they wanted within the rules and boundaries you had all set.

So that's how you ended up with your legs spread open to fit the man currently between them, who was snapping his hips so deliciously harsh into you, making all the muscles in your entire body pretty much useless. Your form going limp as he hit that perfect little spot. Your hand pathetically reaches to find purchase on his trim hips, attempting to slow his endeavors. With a keenly trained eye he took notice immediately and without missing a beat he smacks it away but you're nothing if not persistent in your plea for mercy. His eyes narrowed and that vertical green tattoo, that held his original designation in standard galactic lettering and numeration rolled over his tanned skin and the small whited out scars along his face.

Scars that you wouldn't be able to see if you weren't as close as you were to him right now. Very few people ever got the pleasure- or displeasure of being in his presence, let alone to hear him speak. And you seriously doubted that anyone in their right mind would want to. Neyo was nothing if not brutally honest, dark, with a harshness and cold logical driven mind teetering on the edge of cruelty and complete callousness. A mind that held loyalty to a Republic he had been indocrinated into serving and providing both his loyalty and skills too.

If Bacara was the calm Neyo was most certainly the storm. They went together perfectly. Rumor has it they bonded on ARC training with Captain Alpha-17, having a mutual viewpoint and a common goal. He was cold and calm and intense until he wasn't anymore. Until his patience ran out and his anger got the best of him. Neyo would sooner spit in your face than grace most people with time to hear his voice unless it was necessary.

"Move your hand." His voice is deep, dark and gruff from years of carefully controlled use, his tone- stern and filled with authority.

He spoke like someone who was used to having their orders followed- and he was. No one dared to question him, as he held the status of Marshal Commander- a title he didn't attain by being a push over and just conceding to whatever authority was above him. He was quick to correct anyone who got the idea wrong. A loud crack and the sharp sting that followed on the side of your ass swiftly brought you back to your senses almost immediately. You're a whimpering mess underneath him, and soon your legs fall open once again.

Taking the opportunity, you reach again, tears threatening to spill from the corners of your eyes. His frowned deepened, he seemed to already be at his wits end with you and your defiance as he spoke again- harsher this time- startling you.

"I said move your karking hand and take it." The pure dominance and sheer annoyance in his voice makes your body fall limply once again and you obey his command with only a loud and pathetic cry.

The pleasure is overwhelming your senses, you can't focus on him in front of you. "Please." You sob. He knew exactly what you wanted but he wasn't going to give it to you. After all this is what you wanted. You asked for it and he would deliver.

"Say it." He growls, continuing to snap his hips into you. "Tell me just exactly how good I'm fucking this pussy. My pussy." You're gasping for breath as you blankly stare up into his dark amber eyes, slurring the words mindlessly as he picked up his pace.

"Y- You- Oh Maker! S'good... so fucking good- fuck.... FUCK!" You managed to scream as you cum, your release coating his abdomen and drenching the mess of coarse and dark curly hairs above the base of his cock in your juices.

It does absolutely nothing to stop his brutal assault on your cunt. Causing your eyes to roll back as you keened loudly and squirmed, attempting to find some relief. Get away just enough to become coherent enough to do as he commanded you to do. Not asked- commanded. And he hated having to repeat himself.

"Nothing can compare to you- as soon as the words started to leave your lips a large hand wrapped around your throat cutting off your air supply with no hesitation. "You want to repeat that?" The hand squeezes harder and your eyes fly open- head snapping to the side as far as it's able to meet blue eyes and gaze upon the white regulation length curly hair of his brother.

Your brain melts and turns into a pile of mush- you snapping back to reality and your shocked gaze turns into one of fear. Nervously you flick your eyes away, but his voice causes your body to tense. You tighten around Neyo making his already bruising hold on your hips even more painful. You wince and immediately- without an ounce of hesitation his hold lessens in intensity.

"Look at me." He growls in his equally as rough voice, Bacara's voice was deeper than Neyo's and you immediately flicked your eyes to meet his.

"No." You barely mewl out as he loosens his hold enough for you to take a gulp of air to respond- retightening his grip afterwards. Forcing the air out of your lungs once more. He pulls you up off the bed just slightly as he leans in not allowing you to look away this time. Not that you could, your entire attention was now razor focused on him.

"You're going to regret that later." Was all he said, as he dropped you back down unceremoniously as you let out another sob. How could you have forgotten about him? How could you have been so lost in Neyo that you forgot about Bacara watching his brother utterly destroy you. By the looks of it Neyo wasn't the only one who was going to either.

"No! No! No! I'm sorry!" You plead reaching out to him but he just shrugged your hand off, fixing you with a harsh glare. Another hand wrapped around your neck and you immediately snapped your gaze to it's owner. The different sleeve of tattoos letting you know exactly who it was even before you ever saw his face.

"Don't you fucking dare look away from me again! Don't you ever fucking look away from me while I'm fucking you!" His hand tightened and you reached up to hold onto his wrist and forearm. You nodded your head furiously maintaining his intense gaze. "Yes sir! I'm sorry!" You sniffle when he loosens his grip enough for you to suck in a huge gulp of air, and then Neyo lets his hand linger as a reminder for a few more seconds, before it drops back down to your hip.

"Such a greedy thing. Take it then. Take all of it." And you do. The muscle in his jaw flex and shift and he casually reached and rolls a calloused thumb against the oversensitive bundle of nerves and you squirm attempting to escape. And he growls.

A purely animalistic noise in utter agitation. Clearly fed up entirely with your struggling he wrestles you easily, with a quickness and finesse no natborn could have pulled off. In the course of a few measly seconds he had pushed your legs all the way up to your chest. His large hands encircling not only your ankles but your wrists. Pinning them to the bed together as he pounded into you harshly.

He had never stopped. With seemingly new vigor— the force and speed of his thrusts increased while he continued to ignore your screams. Your neighbors definitely thought you were being murdered and if they didn't they most certainly hated you, but you couldn't bring yourself to even think about keeping the volume down. But even if you did it would just result in punishment and Neyo and Bacara were not known to show mercy or take pity. Neyo even less so and you would rather not be hoverchair bound for the rest of your life.

His facial expression stone cold and not a sound was made with any of his efforts still. Other than the harsh breaths he took. All the while you were screaming and forced to take whatever he chose to give you. "I can't! You have to- to stop!" You barely can croak out through your dry throat.

"No." It was a simple word. Spoke with so much repose, he never lost his composure through it all.

A true soldier in mind, body, heart, and soul. Never letting anything throw off his control, even the slick tightness currently squeezing his cock like a vice. The perfect picture of control and power while you were the opposite, the immaculate picture of loss of control and a complete and utter lack of power in not only the situation but the dynamic you three shared. Utterly debauched and a mess, just the way they wanted you. You weren't going to walk right just from the way Neyo was wrecking you. You'd hate to think about what Bacara would do to you next.

You tensed and bucked your hips into him as you spasmed around his thick and aching cock. His eyes briefly fluttered and he bared his teeth before it was gone in a flash once more. His gaze narrowing in on you for the umpteenth time and you felt your heart skip a beat. Blood turning to ice in your veins, with the knowledge you just dug a deeper grave for yourself- a hole would be the understatement of the century.

"Hold your legs up." It was not up for negotiation and through the haze you managed to do as he instructed when he rose up to look down on you. "Wider." Again you follow instruction and spread them wider and by the time you realized what was about to happen it was already too late. Before you could even part your lips to beg you felt it.

There was a loud and wet-slap- and an all too familiar sting right on your clit just as your lips parted. A scream ripping through the room in place of a pitiless plea. Did he just- did he?! Then you felt it again- harder this time and it made you drop your legs and reach in earnest to cover yourself. But your legs were pulled back into the same revealing position, if not just straight flattened to the mattress, along with your arms by another pair of roughened calloused hands.

Neyo's hand shot out a grabbed your throat again, cutting off your air enough to still allow you to breath with some difficulty. Using perfectly restrained force he pinned you back down to the mattress with ease. Barely a fraction of his strength and he had you utterly wrecked and on a whole other plane of existence nowhere near your apartment on Coruscant. "Look at me. I am not going to say it again." He growled your last warning.

Your eyes locked with his and your expression shifted into one of shock before twisting almost comically into one of pain mixed with pleasure. Your eyes widened, lips parting in a shuddering cry. The telltale feeling returned as he gave three more firm slaps to your dripping and overstuffed pussy, that had you spasming again around him. Squirting messily again on his cock that you had always believe was far too big for you. "Fucking filthy."

He angled his hips and proceeded to repeatedly hammer into that perfect spongy little wall that had your vision whiting out. Just in that moment he buried himself as deep as he could go, as he let out a soft stuttering breath. His eyes fluttering and closing briefly- handsome face twisting into a dark scowl as he spilled into you. Filling you up and prompting your already idling brain to short circuit as you clenched around him tighter than before. Neyo somehow managed to force another orgasm out of you.

Three times in a row without so much as a care. Never once getting winded. Nor giving any thought to how many tears streamed down your cheeks, or how flushed your face got. You were going to take whatever he gave you and the more you complained the longer it would be for you. After all, you were the one who wanted this.

Bacara released you shortly after- your legs falling limply on the bed beside Neyo as he rutted into you, his jaw shifting and tensing concerningly so. But you were far too lost to be afraid that he would shatter his teeth at the rate he was going. Hot cum leaking out around your stuffed cunt to your asshole, to even slowly trail down his large heavy balls. You laid there panting with your eyes closed and as Neyo finished he opened his eyes to look over your face. He rose up and with one hand he carefully cupped your neck and tilted your head to him.

Carefully wiping away your tears, before he applied a flex of pressure. Enough to catch your attention but not hurt you and your eyes fluttered open. "M'fine. Jus'need a break." You slurr before nuzzling into his hold knowing he wasn't going to hold you like this for long.

"Don't tap out just yet, civvie'ika." Your eyes fluttered back open and you tensed around Neyo making him hiss and more of his cum oozed out of your overstuffed cunt, leaving a creamy white ring around him, creating a mess on the sheets. But it wasn't Neyo who had spoken. It was.... Bacara. They weren't done with you.

You looked up to meet his gaze upside down. "You're mine now." His deep voice laced with a huskiness that melted what was left of your insides. The back of his knuckles carefully brushed the left side of your face opposite of Neyo. The gesture seemingly gentle but you knew better.

That gesture permeated with his earlier promise. The words didn't need to be spoken again for you to know he would follow through with his earlier assurance of punishment. A sharp chill shot up your spine and had you jerking in surprise, the all to smooth slide of Neyo retreating had you at a loss of words. Your little break was over. It didn't take them much time to recover, enhanced genes and all. You whimpered when Neyo's large calloused hand retreated, the warmth it carried helping you stay grounded even in your dazed state. But now it was gone, and not even a couple seconds later you felt his warmth leave you all together. You whined loudly in disappointment but it was cut off with a harsh slap to the side of your ass. "Shut up. You had a break." You clenched involuntarily at that and even more cum was pushed out of you. Both mens eyes gravitated towards it and the air shifted once more. You heard the words before, they didn't need to be said but they rang in your head anyways as they spoke. "Ungreatful, little thing." Bacara spoke.

"Wasting my cum? And after I filled you so generously. Can't have you wasting all my hard work." And without another word he used his index and middle fingers and pushed it back inside, flicking his gaze up to meet yours before it returned to your core. "When I give you something, you take it. Like a good girl." He rumbled pulling his fingers free as Neyo climbed off the bed.

"Hands and knees." Bacara rumbled. "I can't." You whine softly still recovering. He rumbled a growl and before you even knew what was happening you were flipped over onto your stomach, with your face pressed into the mattress and your knees propping you up so your ass was on display.

With a rough nudge to your legs you managed to shimmy your thighs further apart, putting yourself on display for him. Your cheeks parting to show the rosebud and the dripping entrance his brother had left behind. "Bacara please." You whined your core twitching and flexing at the thought of what was to come. Fresh tears filling your eyes at the unpleasant aching you were feeling due to overstimulation.

"Shut up. You'll cry when I fuck you." He replied with a well placed smack to your ass, you saw this coming and you attempt to swivel away to try and avoid it but failing miserable. You should have known that wouldn't have worked from previous attempts. He wouldn't miss, nor would it mess up his aim. All it would do was make him spank you harder and make him give you another one to make sure you thought twice about doing it again.

The loud noise brought you back and the sharp sting made everything come crashing down around you. A loud mewl tearing from your lips at the feeling, while your head spun as you attempted to recover. "Don't move." That was the first, last and only warning you would receive from him tonight. You resigned to just lay there and then you felt his fingers part your lips before his thumb circled your clit.

"No! No!" You shift more afraid of him abusing your clit than following directions. A loud smack rang through the air making you cry out and a sharp order followed. "Count!" You sniffled but did so.

"One!" You gasped out as you felt the impact of the second. "Two!" You yelped trying stay still so he could give you as few as possible. Before his hand delievered three smacks in rapid succession.

"Three! Four! Five!" You say without missing a beat before he delieved another three hard and fast. "Six! Seven! Eight!" You yelped.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll be good I promise!" You sobbed into the mattress. "I know you will." He rumbled.

Smack!

The sound cut through the room. "Nine!" You sobbed out.

SMACK!

"Ten!" You yell going limp into the messy sheets. "Don't run away from me. You will not be told again. Hesitate or cover yourself again and I'll bend you over and spank you so hard you won't be sitting right for a month. And you will take it and you will thank me for every one." His deep voice sounded so close to you.

"Do you understand?" He asked sounding near your ear. You jolt up and nodded vigorously. "Yes sir." You reply sniffling and wiping your tears on the sheets as you turned to look at Neyo who was lounging naked on a chair beside the bed that had been pulled into the corner from who knows where.

His eyes emotionless but a heat swirled in them still and if that wasn't a clear giveaway, his hand absentmindedly stroking his thick cock definitely was. You felt your mouth water at the sight but your attention was pulled back to Bacara. You felt him rubbing his hardened cock between the spread and wet lips of your soaked pussy. You then felt him move his cock between the spread cheeks of you ass. He was hot and hard, and the velvet skin was so soft and smoothe. He twitched against you and you moaned.

"Bacara?" You question curiously. "I want to admire my work." He said. You could feel every ridge and vein as he grinded against your ass. Then without warning he pulled back and guided his cock to your lips and thrusted into you filling you to the brim.

Causing you to gasp and choke on your breath as he sheathed himself inside of you with one go. "Put your arms behind your back." He commanded and you in your brainless state did so weakly. Then he placed one of his hands on your hip and the other grabbed your wrists. Just that one large hand eclipsed both of yours with no struggle.

Before you could get adjusted fully to him he began a brutal pace. "Oh my god!" You moaned immediately, eyes rolling into the back of your head as he completely ravaged you. "Take it. Every. Last. Inch." He growled snapping his hips hard and slow into you.

"Bacara." You whine softly. "I'm going to ruin you. You still haven't figured that out by now? After all this is what you wanted." He asked leaning down over you nipping your neck and sucking marks into your flesh.

The loud sound of flesh slapping echoed in the room along with your moans and his growls and breathing. His hips began snapping into your ass faster and harder making you involuntarily squirm, which didn't hinder him since you weren't trying to get away. "Stop whining and stop moving kark it." He snarled pulling your arms back and causing your back to arch pressing your stomach into the mattress.

"Still think that no one can fuck you like him? Still think no one can compare to him?" Bacara chuckled darkly. "No!" You scream. "Really? Are you sure?" He asked.

It was a trap and you knew it but you couldn't not answer him. Or it would be worse. You nodded your head fast to agree. "You don't have to lie to me. Are you lying to me?" He asked taking the hand on your hip and cracking it down hard on your left cheek.

"No! No! I'm not lying! I swear I'm not lying!" You gulp in a large breath as you paused.

"You both feel so good. No one can fuck me like you two. No other man can make me feel as good as you two can." You babble mindlessly, unable to stop yourself from drooling on the sheets as the loud squelching of your pussy filled your ears.

"This is my pussy. Kriffing mine!" He growled. "Yours." You echoed in a sob. You knew that, your pussy— and by extension you belong to them.

"Such a good kriffing, civvie'ika. Taking it like a good filthy girl. That deserves a reward." He rumbled darkly.

Uh oh.

Oh no.

He wouldn't.

You gasped when his hand traversed from your bruised hip to the bead of you clit. You rolled your hips to get away, but that didn't stop the assault of his flexible fingers had on your sensitive bundle of nerves. "So tight. So fucking wet." You slick muscles tightened at his words earning you a hard smack to you ass with his free hand.

It seemed Bacara was feeling talkative tonight. He wasn't usually like this. "I can feel it. Your close. Cum all over my cock neverd'ika. Cum so I can fill this greedy little pussy up." You screamed as loud as you possibly could as you came.

"There's a good neverd'ika. Squirting so beautifully on my cock. Just for me. All for me." The last thing you heard was Bacara's growl of pleasure. Before the familiar and unmistakable feeling of him cumming inside you burst in your lower abdomen just as everything faded to black.

You gasped, jolting awake, sitting straight up, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling. "Relax, pretty girl. We're done. You did good." You heard Neyo rumble from beside you to the right. You turned to him and felt him gently push you to lay back down.

"Four was the number we reached this time. That's two less than last time." Bacara replied coming out of the refresher with a warm, damp towel. He coerced you to spread you legs so he could clean you up.

"How long?" You asked. "A few minutes. No more than seven." Neyo answered immediately knowing what you were asking. You wanted to know how long you had been out.

"Sorry." You murmur. "Don't be. You're not always going to be able to handle six orgasms. Plus we were rougher than usual with you." Bacara murmured caressing the marks they left softly.

"Not to mention these weren't normal orgasms either. We made you squirt." Neyo said causing your face to flare in a dark blush. Neyo reached over to the nightstand easily grabbing the jar of bacta. Beginning to apply it to the more sore parts, along with the more visible spots as well.

But only on a few of the bad ones. They didn't want their marks to fade yet. You were never more happy then with your two lovely troopers. They were by no means the softest but they tried for you. You got to see the small glimpses of softness within them.

Only when around you did those harsh jagged edges soften. They were yours and you wouldn't trade them for anyone else in the universe or any of their brothers. They weren't soft but they were yours. The love they had for you apparent in their actions and the few words of endearment they offered rarely. Words of endearment that they were getting better at giving more often.

Then out of nowhere the dual chiming of their commlinks went of simultaneously. The soft mood now soured and you didn't bother asking them to stay. You knew they wouldn't. They had an obligation to the GAR— as soldiers, an obligation to their brothers. You would always come second or wherever in line you fell to those obligations.

You knew that when you signed up for this. You just turned on your side facing away from Neyo which left you looking at Bacara instead. But surprisingly Bacara did something different when he walked over and picked up both their commlinks. Tossing one at Neyo which you assumed was his. You watched Bacara stare at it with a scowl before turning the accursed thing off and walking over to you.

Then you felt Neyo wrap an arm around you, silencing his commlink and tossing it on the nightstand carelessly. Not even ten seconds later it went off again. He snapped his head irritably towards the device and you were sure he was thinking about chucking it against the wall. He answered it with the harshest and most terrifying glare you had ever seen. By the looks of it the glare was directed at Mace Windu.

You slinked away closer to Bacara in response so you wouldn't be seen. Neyo didn't let the man even speak before he snapped. Barking at the man not to bother him cursing him in basic and Mando'a both before hanging up and turning the device off. He bristled when you touched him but then his muscles untensed as he turned to you. Gently pulling you bit closer to him.

He pulled your arm closest to him towards his lips, placing a careful kiss to it as apology for startling you. You smiled before you felt a kiss being placed to the crook of your neck. "I didn't forget about you, Bacara." You say waiting for him to raise his head before you placed a soft kiss to his jaw, then gravitating towards Neyo to place one of his chin. A blissful silence washed over the three of you as you basked in each others presence.

"We will always make times for you. The little time we do carve out is always for you." Bacara said easing the doubts you wouldn't voice. They always seemed to know what was worrying you, and they always addressed it head on.

"But you're both Commanders of you Battalions. What if it's important?" You protested. "It's never important. They'll be fine." Neyo replied gruffly.

If they said that then you believed them. They wouldn't leave their brothers if it were truly important. It didn't need to be said that you loved them both. They knew. They always would.

#commander bacara #commander neyo #Bacara x Reader #Neyo x Reader #Smut #18+ fic #18+ only #18+ content #18+ blog #no minors allowed #I mean it you will be blocked #clone thirsting #Is this even apart of Clone Thirsting?#Fuck it. Yes it is. I legit don't care

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wanderinginksplot · 2 years

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Gar Cyare Chapter Five

More Alpha-17/fem!reader fic! If you missed the last one, check your settings and make sure you can see adult material (marked for discussion of a makeout session and a brief mention of sexual arousal). Or if that makes you uncomfortable, message me and I can give you an overview of the important content.

Word Count: 8,900 😰

Warnings: mentions of parties, alcohol consumption, and hangovers.

Make sure to check out the author's note at the end of the chapter!

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*The Next button will take the reader to the next SFW chapter. To access the NSFW chapter, follow the instructions at the end of this chapter.

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Ba'balut (On Patrol)

There was no question that the ARCs-in-training knew how to throw a party.

In contrast, there were many questions about how they had managed to pull it off, but that was another matter entirely.

“I don’t understand,” Alpha vented to you, tucked away in a corner of the room. “How did they get this much food? It’s all contraband on Kamino. And the alcohol! I haven’t seen so much kriffin’ alcohol since the last time I went to 79’s.”

“What’s 79’s?” you asked, speaking loudly in a bid to be heard over the throbbing music.

Alpha had been right: the party was wildly beyond what you had thought of being possible for a handful of ARC trainees to manage. There was food everywhere - good food - and you had gleefully loaded up a plate in celebration of eating something other than nutrient mush. The alcohol was plentiful and the drinks were strong. The music was so loud that you vaguely wondered whether the stilt supporting this section of the city was going to shake itself loose and leave you toppling into the sea. And then you stopped wondering about that because you were starting your second drink of the evening and even the thought made you dizzy.

Alpha acted like he hadn’t even heard you. “This is ridiculous. They’re supposed to be professionals, highly trained to handle any assignment the GAR can throw their way. And this is how they’re acting?” A scoff paired nicely with the irritated way Alpha shook his head. “How did they pull this off?”

“Alpha, seriously? Look around the room,” you instructed. “There are more instructors than I’ve ever seen in one place and all of them are drinking like they’re trying to drown. I think they probably helped the ARCs get what they needed for this.”

“How did they even afford it?” Alpha bit out. “Even if they convinced those utreekov bounty hunters to get them what they needed, no one is buying that much alcohol and footing the bill. Especially not them. They’d hunt down their own mothers if it meant an extra credit or two in their pocket.”

“You’re missing the biggest detail out of all of this,” you told him. “Frankly, it’s astonishing. You need to focus.”

With a deep frown in your direction, Alpha leaned closer. “What are you talking about? What am I missing?”

You took a burning sip of your drink and tilted your head to the side, smiling flirtily up at Alpha. “Even as we speak, you’re missing out on a chance to dance with me.”

Admittedly, you knew that had a remarkably low chance of working. You liked to dance and the room was full of proof that you weren’t the only one, but Alpha literally made a living by teaching tough men how to be tougher. He had admitted to being intense and he was always stern. None of those were traits that lent themselves well to dancing.

Or so you had thought.

The instant the invitation left you, Alpha took the cup from your hand, drank from it, and set it aside. You stared up at him in shock, but he was already motioning you onto the dance floor and you walked in front of him in a pleasant daze.

Alpha was a much better dancer than you would have given him credit for. Of course, your shock at the fact that he danced at all was an indication of your doubt where he was concerned, but you were still thrilled. While others may have started dancing a short distance away from you and gotten closer, Alpha stood confidently close from the start. You were in constant contact while the songs shifted. The music worked its way through genres and eras as you and Alpha worked your way around the room.

The time passed pleasantly until you were breathless and your cheeks hurt from smiling. You stopped and Alpha followed your lead, following as you walked around the periphery of people dancing.

“What are you doing, neverd’ika?”

“Looking for my drink.”

“I don’t know why,” Alpha told you. “Even if you find it, we’re getting you a fresh one.”

You paused at that. It had always been standard procedure for you in public to get a new drink any time you had taken your eyes off of your current one… but you trusted these people. Didn’t Alpha trust his brothers, his vode?

As if he had read your mind, Alpha explained, “Too many people around here. We can’t be sure that your drink would be safe and I won’t take risks with you. Besides, what if someone sneezed on it?”

You huffed at him. Throw away your meal once because Neyo didn’t know how to cover his mouth and no one let you live it down. There was only so irritated you could be, though. Alpha made a good point… and when his eyes sparkled with good humor, how could you be expected to resist his charm?

Alpha insisted on getting drinks for you both while you chose some of your favorite foods to share with him. Drift appeared beside you before Alpha came back, and you watched in horror as he reached out to take a nuna leg directly from the table and eat it.

“There are plates for a reason!” you reminded him loudly.

Drift grinned, wiping grease from his chin. “Yeah, the reason is because some people don’t eat fast enough.”

You laughed despite yourself. “Are you having fun?”

“Of course! Are you?”

The two of you chatted back and forth about the party for a while, but when Alpha returned, Drift said, “Looked like the two of you were having fun earlier. Enjoying the dance floor, Captain?”

“How did you pull this off, Drift?” Alpha asked, managing to turn a fairly curious question into something accusatory. “Why aren’t the Kamiini shutting it down? What do you have on them?”

“Why, Captain!” Drift exclaimed, pressing his hand to his chest. “Are you accusing me of doing something irresponsible?”

You snorted loudly enough that Drift heard it over the music and winked at you. Alpha was much less amused. “Do I need to remind you that lying to your commanding officer is generally considered a bad thing?”

“I’m not really lying…” Drift hedged. “Just avoiding the question.”

Alpha grunted at that, carefully picking at some of the food on your plate. He ate it deliberately, savoring it before he made intimidatingly direct eye contact with Drift. Nonchalantly, Alpha asked, “But will you be able to avoid the consequences?”

“Oh, you were asking about the party!” Drift said, chuckling nervously. “Sorry, Captain, must have misunderstood you. The Kaminoans aren’t stopping it because it’s their party.”

“Excuse me?” you asked. You had to express your disbelief somehow, and that seemed more polite than blatantly calling Drift a liar.

“Technically speaking, this is a party that the Kaminoans put on to celebrate the end of the repairs,” Drift told you and Alpha.

Alpha gave a slow nod. “I knew the final repairs had been made. Surprised they’re doing something as frivolous as throwing a party about it.”

“Apparently, they got the impression that someone wanted a party to bring everyone together and celebrate the work that has been put in on it.” Drift’s eyes flitted nervously to you as Alpha heaved a sigh and you glanced between them. “Someone sent by the Senate to write a report on the way we clones are treated.”

“Did you directly use her name?” Alpha asked, tone long-suffering.

“No, just hints and implications,” Drift admitted. “Nothing that could be traced.”

“Well, you learned that, at least.” Alpha shook his head. “Sorry, neverd’ika.”

“It’s fine with me,” you said, smiling when both men were surprised. “If I had thought about it, I would have suggested that the Kaminoans do something nice for you. I… probably wouldn’t have requested a party, but the men certainly seem happy.”

“They are!” Drift looked relieved that you weren’t angry. “I think I’m done here. Do you two need anything? Another drink? Some more ice?”

“No,” Alpha told him, voice so firm that Drift seemed to understand that he wasn’t talking about drinks or ice. “You’re not done explaining yet. Why would the Kamiini put so many resources into a party? There must be half the training budget in alcohol alone.”

“Well… maybe not everything came from the Kaminoans.” Drift guiltily shifted his feet. “They provided the basic funding and we… improvised.”

“Improvised,” Alpha repeated.

“Yeah, improvised. See, the Kaminoans didn’t specify what kind of food they wanted us to get. Or how much of the budget could be spent on food and how much could be diverted to… other things.”

Alpha stepped forward, hissing something into Drift’s ear. The room was too loud for you to hear the question itself, but Drift’s face paled as he rapidly shook his head. “Oh, no, nothing like that, sir! Just transport costs for the food and drinks. Of course, I also told some of the instructors about it and they were willing to chip in so they could get some… uh… specialty beverages ordered in. Not often Kamino gets enough of anything to be considered a bulk order.”

“That better be true,” Alpha warned, stepping back far enough that he didn’t hit Drift as he folded his arms across his broad chest.

“On my honor, Captain,” Drift said cheerfully.

Alpha’s snort was loud enough to drown out the music for a moment, and you started to laugh. Drift shook his head at both of you. “I know when I’m not wanted!”

“Wait,” you pleaded before Drift could take more than a few steps toward the crowd. “I still don’t get it. Why take such a risk to bolster this party in particular? Just because it was happening, or is there something special I’m missing?”

After giving that a moment of consideration, Drift explained, “Consider it a pre-party. Probably the closest we’re gonna get to having one of our own.”

“That doesn’t really answer the question, though,” you pointed out. “This is the closest who is going to get to having a party? And for what?”

Drift beamed at you, throwing his hands wide open as if offering the entire room a hug. “ARC graduation, of course! This is our gift to ourselves for surviving everything the captain inflicted on us.”

You were knocked speechless at that, and the lack of conversation threatened to stretch into something uncomfortable. Before it got to that point, Alpha clapped Drift on the shoulder. “And my gift to you is that I won’t take it easy on any of you men in training tomorrow morning. You haven’t graduated yet.”

“Yes, sir!” Drift agreed, offering a salute in Alpha’s direction. “I’ll be around if you need me. Enjoy the party!”

When he had melted into the mass of people eating and drinking, dancing and chatting, you were left standing with Alpha. Eventually, Alpha heaved a sigh and handed you the drink he had gotten you, long-forgotten in the wake of your conversation with Drift.

“Let’s find somewhere quieter to sit down.”

That seemed like a good idea, so you followed Alpha through the crowd. He did most of the work, of course, his height and the breadth of his body carving a wide furrow through the party. All you had to do was trail behind him before the walls of people came back together like the waves behind a boat.

Alpha led you to a seating area tucked around the corner from where the majority of the party was taking place. You were far from alone, clusters of cadets dotting the area, but the noise level was far more manageable than it had been anywhere else.

You settled into your chair, sipping absently at the drink. With more than a little amusement, you noted that Alpha had mixed the drink to be far less strong than the ones you had been drinking before. Still, you set the cup down on the table before you had made a noticeable change in the level of liquid inside.

“Talk to me, neverd’ika,” Alpha rumbled abruptly.

You shook your head slightly - not as a refusal to do as he had requested, but as a lament for your own thoughts. “I don’t know why I’m so surprised to learn that the ARCs are going to graduate soon.”

Alpha shrugged. “They’re the first group you really knew. You wouldn’t have paid much attention to the typical ARC training cycle before them. Not that it would have done you much good.”

“What does that mean?” you asked, toying absently with the cup.

“This… wasn’t a standard training cycle, not by any means.” Alpha scrubbed a hand over his head in a way you rarely saw him do. “This cycle was extended by a lot. Mostly because of the attack and the aftermath, but there were some other factors involved.”

You frowned at him, but before you could ask exactly what those factors were, Alpha cut you off. “Point is, normally the ARCs don’t take as long to train as this group did. The extra time we took made sense considering everything that happened, but orders came down. They say we need to get back on track.”

“Who says that?” you pressed. As far as you were concerned, the ARCs had already resumed their training far earlier than was wise. You would have considered it a good idea to have the ARCs continue their training on Kamino for at least a few more weeks.

“The higher-ups,” Alpha told you vaguely, sighing when you shot him a sharp look. “The GAR, the Kaminoans… even the Senate sent General Ti a message asking when the battalions could expect to get their men back.”

“They didn’t!” you gasped.

“It was phrased better than that, but all the karkin’ politeness in the universe won’t hide the impatience when a general wants their soldiers back under their own command.”

“ARCs aren’t under any one general’s command.”

In his driest tone, Alpha said, “Thank you for the education, civvie. You’re right, but the ARCs tend to be attached to a specific unit. Usually it’s the one where they started or where they were just before ARC training. They normally get sent all over the place, sure, but they can request to work with a specific unit or general if they want.”

“Normally?” you asked, picking up on his unexpected use of the word. “When wouldn’t an ARC go wherever they’re needed?”

“Only in certain circumstances,” Alpha told you thoughtfully. “One of them is if an ARC-trained trooper takes on a leadership role in a unit. In that case, the scenario flips. Most of the time, the ARC is with their own unit, but can be called into service elsewhere if needed. That’s what’s gonna happen with Drift when he goes back. He’s a captain now.”

“Drift got promoted?” you asked, trying to hide your own surprise. Those efforts disappeared entirely as you repeated, “Drift?”

“Yeah, I think he may be blackmailing someone,” Alpha grumbled, making you laugh.

Your laugh faded slowly and you took another sip of your drink while you tried to figure out how to phrase your next question. Unfortunately, even a weaker drink wasn’t enough to save your mental acuity, and your thoughts came out in a long-stretched strand. “How long..? What day- When is their graduation going to be?”

Alpha lifted an eyebrow at you but didn’t make any comments about your current state. “Day after tomorrow.”

“What? That’s so soon!” You lifted your cup for another drink of whatever mystery concoction the ARCs had thrown together, but Alpha gestured for you to pass it to him. When you did, he handed you his in return. Obligingly, you drank from his cup and felt your expression shift. “Water? Alpha, why are you drinking water at a party?”

He shrugged. “Never seen you at a party before. Thought you might get a little crazy. I figured I would keep things under control if you did.”

“Under control?” you asked suspiciously, drinking more water when Alpha pointedly glanced from the cup to your face. “How exactly would you have done that?”

“The usual,” he replied easily. “Scare cadets, threaten ARCs, distract Kaminii. Get you out of here if necessary.”

“You would talk to a Kaminoan to keep me out of trouble?” you asked, eyes prickling like you were going to start crying. Then you took another drink. You must be worse off than you thought if you were getting teary over something so minor… as much as you could call Alpha being willing to talk to a Kaminoan ‘minor’.

“Yeah.”

You grinned at him. “I think that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Alpha smiled, the expression blooming slow and true across his face. “What do you think, cyare? Do you think you’ll be happy here with just me and Limit and the kids for company?”

“Of course,” you told him immediately, reaching across the table to lay your hand palm-up in the space between you. Alpha covered it with his own. “I’ll miss the ARCs, of course. They’ve done more for me - for us - than I can really thank them for. But I know they have different things they need to do, other places in the galaxy where they can do more good than they can here. But, in the end, you’re all I need.”

“Not need,” Alpha corrected, squeezing your hand gently. “Remember? You told me that just after you got your cast removed. You don’t need me around; you want me around.”

“Exactly,” you agreed. “And I’m gonna want you around for a long time.”

It was too dangerous to kiss him the way you wanted to in such a public location. Stars, it was a bad idea for the two of you to be holding hands as openly as you were. But you were tipsy enough and so lost in your own feelings that you convinced Alpha to round the table so you could lean against him and contemplate the galaxy for a few minutes.

---

There was no question that the ARCs-in-training knew how to throw a party.

In contrast, you had many questions about your ability to survive the aftermath of that party, but that was another matter entirely.

“Neverd’ika.”

You frowned, eyes still tightly closed against the light in your room. Stars, why was it so bright? You always kept the lights turned down as low as possible. Had something gone wrong with the automatic shutters that kept the room dimmed despite the large window?

“Neverd’ika, I need you to sit up.”

The sound of Alpha’s low voice rumbling through you made you wince - any sound did - but your aching brain was soon absorbed in trying to unravel the mystery of the night before. You had gone to a party for the ARCs - no, for the end of the construction. The ARCs had just taken it over before anyone had the chance to realize what had happened.

A heavy sigh rang through the room and the mattress dipped slightly.

You groaned and rolled the other way, pulling the sheets up to your chin and curling your body a little tighter, bracing yourself as if the pain were a physical attack you could ward off with the right defense.

“Neverd’ika, I’m serious.”

Alpha hadn’t stayed with you the night before. You couldn’t blame him overly much, especially considering how drunk you had been by the time you had left the party, but that hadn’t stopped you from being bitter about your empty bed that night. Well, in the thirty seconds it had taken you to fall asleep, anyway.

“I have caf and pain meds.”

That was enough to make you turn over, blearily opening your eyes. Alpha was indeed sitting on the edge of your bed, one hand holding a mug and the other cupped as he held something. You began to sit up and Alpha gave you a warning look.

“Easy and slow, guur’gal,” Alpha warned.

“Gurgle?” you asked, the dryness in your mouth hiding the horror you were feeling. “Why are you calling me gurgle? Did I throw up last night?”

“No, but you will if you sit up too fast,” he warned. “Take it slow and you’ll be okay.”

You sat up slowly, head pounding so hard that it made you feel unsteady and verging on miserable. Alpha was still sitting on the bed, so you slid over until you could use him to prop yourself upright. You reached for the caf, but your stomach lurched and you paused.

“There’s an order to these things,” Alpha told you, putting on his best instructor voice. “Water first. Drink it slowly.”

He passed you a glass of water. It was lukewarm and somehow the best thing you had ever tasted. When you had gotten down about a third of it, he handed you two capsules.

“Pain meds. Take ‘em one at a time or you could make yourself gag and there’s no stopping what will happen next.”

You did as he instructed, swallowing convulsively when the second capsule adhered to your tongue. It had been good advice and you went back to sipping the water.

“Now some caf,” he ordered, handing you the mug. The heat felt wonderful against your hands and you cautiously drank some. It didn’t have anything to cut the strong taste, but it was the perfect temperature and didn’t upset your system, hitting your stomach and spreading that delicious warmth through your entire body.

Alpha took it back from you before you could start to drink it in earnest, passing the tepid water back to you. “Finish this off and lie back down.”

“What time-”

“I left you plenty of time to get ready,” he interrupted, having anticipated your concerns. “You can go back to sleep for about half an hour. I’ll wake you up and we’ll try out some food.”

You groaned, moving carefully back to a comfortable position. You let your hands fall somewhere above your head, wincing sharply when your comlink connected with your forehead. Alpha sighed and worked gently at the band until it slipped free of your wrist, leaving it bare and you far more comfortable than you had been.

Before you could slip back into sleep, you mumbled, “What’s gurgle mean?”

Alpha chuckled. “Not ‘gurgle’. Guur’gal. It’s Mando’a. Means someone who likes their alcohol.”

“That’s not me,” you assured him, keeping your eyes closed. Sleep was beginning to pull at you. “I’ve decided I don’t like alcohol at all. Not if this is what it does to me. I’m giving it up. Never again.”

Alpha hummed something that could have been anything from a skeptical agreement to a weather report. You were asleep before you could begin to process it.

“Neverd’ika.”

You groaned. “Give it up, Alpha. I feel awful, even with the painkillers. I think I’m just going to stay here today, sleep it off.”

When an answer didn’t come immediately, you thought you had won… but then Alpha’s softest voice said, “Today will be your last chance to watch the ARCs have a training session. This will be their last one. The ceremony is tomorrow morning, then they ship out.”

Sleep was lapping at the edges of your consciousness like the waves of Kamino did Tipoca City’s supports. It was rising higher every second, threatening to wash you away entirely. The soft temptation called to you, promising to ease your pain and leave you feeling refreshed and ready to say goodbye to the ARCs.

It was an enticing prospect. You had never felt quite as bad as you did then…

But you had worked over the past few weeks for this. Well, not this, specifically. You hadn’t known that the ARC graduation would be approaching as quickly as it did. But you had realized through some hellish combination of overthinking and overplanning that it would be a good idea to work ahead slightly. You had done a little extra over the last few weeks - not an easy prospect considering that Alpha frowned upon you pulling long shifts - and gotten about a day’s worth of spare work done in case you needed to skip a shift for some reason.

And you couldn’t think of a better reason than spending the day with the group of soon-to-be ARC troopers who had saved your life and sanity on several different occasions.

You groaned again, deep and heartfelt, but it was accompanied by a struggle to shift your weight up and onto your hands as you levered yourself up off the bed. Through incredible willpower and stubbornness, you turned to plant yourself in a sitting position - ignoring the way the room seemed to spin from the motion - and tore the sheets away from you.

When you looked over at him, Alpha looked quietly amused, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he silently handed you a mug of caf made precisely the way you preferred it. You hummed in grateful pleasure at your first sip.

To your shock, the unpleasant dryness faded from your mouth and you were left feeling oddly… okay. The dizziness had faded and your head no longer ached. “Wow.”

“Exactly,” Alpha said, satisfied with himself.

The lingering unhappiness from having to get out of bed threatened to spill out at him, but you smiled at him instead. “Thank you, Alpha. I don’t think I would have made it through that if you hadn’t helped.”

“Glad you’re feeling better, neverd’ika, but no need to thank me,” he brushed off uncomfortably. “Lots of trial and error went into that. Just glad I could share it with someone who needed it.”

“Have you been making trips to all of the future ARCs? Sharing your wisdom?” You took a sip of caf to hide the smile threatening to break out across your face.

“Kriff that. Those-” Alpha cut himself off, scowling even deeper when you gave a soft snort at his response. “First off, troopers have an enhanced metabolism and process alcohol faster than a nat-born. Secondly, if they did have hangovers, that’s their own problem, not mine.”

You smirked into your mug, sputtering slightly when Alpha deliberately jostled the bed as he stood up. “But it will be my problem if I’m late for their last day of training. Get to the ARC area when you can.”

By the time you dressed and got there, the ARCs were already deep in a training session. You slipped in the doors as quietly as possible, sitting by the wall so you wouldn’t distract anyone.

The first time you had come here, rushing to deliver a message from General Ti, it had seemed like there were ARCs everywhere. They had been doing everything from running to boxing, all of them unfamiliar to you. But the more you had spoken to them and gotten more comfortable in the previously intimidating section of Tipoca City, you had realized that there were only five troopers training for ARC status.

That seemed like a concerningly small group to you, but Alpha had given you an incredulous look when you brought it up to him. “How long have you been writing that report of yours, civvie? And you still haven’t gotten to ARCs? Classes are small, no more than five troopers - sometimes fewer. How many ARC troopers do you think there are in the galaxy? ‘Concerningly small group’. Tell you what: when you start writing about ARC training, come find me and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

It was one of the first times Alpha had ever volunteered to spend more time with you, and the memory still made you smile.

“Hey, Captain said you might stop by,” Neyo said casually as he crossed in front of your seat. “Glad you survived the morning.”

You laughed. “Yeah, I heard your metabolism helps you avoid the hangover. Lucky.”

“Not entirely,” he hedged. “It hit Monnk pretty bad this morning, but he got through it.”

“Poor guy,” you mused, searching the room for Monnk. He was sparring with Bacara and holding his own. “He seems to have recovered okay, though. Alpha said something about not taking it easy on you guys today. I’m glad he wasn’t serious.”

“Oh, he was.” Neyo grabbed a pair of gloves and started back toward the group. “But Monnk was fine after he booted his breakfast.”

Neyo nodded at you and jogged back to the group, putting his gloves on, then began sparring with Drift. Faie was partnered up with Alpha. By this point, Alpha was shouting orders at them, encouraging the men or lamenting their skills in turn… keeping pace with Faie’s fists all the while.

There were times like these when the temptation to overthink rose sharply in you. You could feel it in the back of your mind: Alpha was so at home here, being harsh with these troopers. How could he be the same man who sat on the edge of your bed and coached you through a hangover that morning, only a few hours earlier? Could any one person have such different facets of their personality, or was he lying about one of them?

As you were pushing away those doubts, Alpha managed to turn in your direction, smile, and wink, all while blocking Faie’s punches and tossing a few of his own in return. Faie’s pace sped up, blows raining down against Alpha’s forearms and turned shoulders. Eventually, one of his hits slipped past Alpha’s guard and collided solidly with his face.

You gasped, leaning forward in your seat, but Alpha just shook his head sharply. “You can hit harder than that, Faie. Do we pull our punches here, men?”

“No!” the ARCs cried, the denial reverberating through the room.

Faie’s arms moved with such speed that it was fully impossible to anticipate where the hits would land. At least, it was impossible for you. Alpha seemed to be managing, blocking and dodging every one. The other two groups were the same: punches and occasional kicks blocked before being returned by the other person, none of them landing.

Until Faie snuck past Alpha’s block a second time.

The sound of his knuckles connecting with Alpha’s chest was loud in the quiet room - the men fighting in an eerie silence - and you could hear the slight shudder in Alpha’s breathing as he absorbed the hit.

You were standing before you could begin to track what had happened. “Alpha!”

All of the men turned to look at you… except Alpha himself. A split second later, Faie swore and whipped back around, only to find Alpha’s curled fist hovering just before his face. “How many times have I told you men? Never allow yourselves to be distracted, especially in the middle of a fight.”

Faie sighed so heavily that you could see his shoulders move beneath his workout clothes. “Did you deliberately let me hit you?”

“Yes,” Alpha confirmed. “I knew neverd’ika would say something and you would get distracted. Besides, it was a good way for me to find out whether you actually were punching with full-force, and you were. Good.”

“So we can let our opponents hit us?” Bacara asked, clearly skeptical.

“Well, since most of your opponents will be clankers, no,” Alpha instructed. “But occasionally, you’ll find it useful to show a little weakness. When the enemy moves in to exploit it, you have an opening to attack them. Maybe even ambush them, depending on how well you’ve planned it.”

Drift’s eyes were dancing. “A little weakness to hide your full strength. I like it.”

“But that’s getting close to psychological warfare,” Neyo argued. “We’re not allowed to do that. We’re supposed to work on battlefields, leave the psych stuff to the intelligence officers.”

Alpha’s expression hardened. “I’m training you men to stay alive, not to follow orders. And if you believe there’s no psychology on a battlefield, you haven’t been listening to what I’ve told you. Everything plays into the enemy’s strategy: weather conditions, geography, their army’s access to food or power sources. If you disrupt their supply lines, you stand a good chance at victory. If you ruin their morale, you’ve already won.”

The men glanced at each other, faces sharpening with eagerness and a fierce pride in themselves and each other. Alpha must have noted that change as well, because he gave a satisfied nod. “You men are going to be just fine.”

In the flurry of activity that made up the ARCs’ last day of training, you didn’t really get to speak with them until dinner that night. All of the ARCs were at the table in the mess hall with you and Alpha. The Bad Batch was attending a nighttime training, but Limit had been able to leave the medbay and join you.

“So how does this ceremony go tomorrow?” you asked, poking suspiciously at your food.

Alpha shrugged. “The General will make a speech, the men will salute, and they’ll be shipped off to their first assignments.”

That sounded… anticlimactic, but when you said so, you got a droll stare from almost everyone at the table.

“It’s the GAR,” Faie pointed out. “What did you expect?”

“I’m not sure,” you said with a shrug. “Something that shows how grateful the Republic is for your service and how we all want you to stay safe.”

Alpha’s snort was echoed by about six others and you found yourself ducking your head a little in embarrassment. “Not everyone has those ideas about us,” Monnk said kindly.

“No one has those ideas about us,” Drift muttered, grunting when Bacara threw an elbow into his ribs.

“We need to go,” Neyo announced, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth and standing up from the table. The others did the same, finishing the last of their meals before getting ready to leave.

“Where to?” you asked, befuddled. “I thought you were done training?”

“Not quite,” Alpha told you. “Go ahead, troopers. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Wait, no-” you said, terror suddenly tightening your throat. If they left directly from the ceremony, you wouldn’t get another chance to see them. There was more you hadn’t said, hadn’t gotten the chance to…

“Udesii, neverd’ika,” Alpha told you. The word was unfamiliar, but soothing somehow, especially coupled with the calming tone that Alpha was using. “We have to go, but you’ll see them again. We’ll come get you and go to the graduation together.”

“What is- Where are you going?”

“I can’t tell you anything specific,” Alpha admitted uncomfortably. “Let’s just say there are certain rituals we do the night before an ARC graduation. All of the future ARCs and their trainer have to participate.”

That didn’t make you feel better. “Rituals?”

Alpha made a frustrated sound. “That isn’t the right word. They’re more like… traditions. Superstitions. The men believe they keep the ARCs safe in the field. I have to go. Are you-?”

“I’m fine, Alpha,” you assured him. “Go. Have… fun? Just be safe.”

Alpha nodded, sneaking a kiss to your cheek as he ducked unnecessarily low to pick up his tray. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

When he had left, you turned to Limit. “ARC traditions?”

Limit shrugged. “I’m not e- even an official trooper. Let alone- let alone an ARC trooper.”

“What does that mean, not an ‘official trooper’?” you asked, not realizing how peevish your tone was until Limit shifted in his seat, clearly nervous.

“Y- yeah, you know- you know this already,” he said with a vague gesture. “Because I’m-”

“Limit, if you say ‘defective’, I’m going to get very cranky,” you warned.

Limit’s mouth slowly closed and you sighed, feeling guilty. “Come on, you and I are going to spend some time together. I’ve got a few holofilms I think you might enjoy.”

You didn’t sleep very well that night.

Alpha had said that he would come get you so you could say goodbye and attend the graduation ceremony, but you were terrified that you would somehow oversleep and miss everything.

When you heard a soft knock at your door, you paused your pacing and went to answer it. If Alpha was surprised to find you awake and already dressed, he didn’t say anything. The future ARCs were all standing in the hall behind him. Each one was wearing full armor and carrying a bag over one shoulder, helmets tucked under their other arm or dangling from their free hand. Despite the early hour, all of them looked alert and ready for anything.

“We’ll be the first ones in the hangar bay,” Alpha told you as the group started down the hall. “It’s usually a small ceremony. As soon as General Ti comes in, it starts. As soon as it ends, the ARCs leave. So if there’s anything you want to tell them, you need to do it before the general gets there.”

You nodded, glancing around at the troopers. “Are you all excited?”

“Ready to get back out there,” Monnk told you. “We’ve been away from our brothers for a long time.”

You just forced a smile and nodded at that. You suddenly realized that these troopers - the ones who had protected, supported, and befriended you - were going back to fighting in the war. A war with casualty rates that were disconcertingly high. Not only that, you realized, but these troopers were the ones who would take the riskiest assignments. They would be forced to think on their feet, outwit the most brilliant minds the CIS had planning their side of the war. Other than the commandos, perhaps, the ARC troopers were the ones who faced the most dire situations.

Your throat tightened with fear for these men, along with a terrible sense of powerlessness. You couldn’t do anything to protect them. In fact, if they were injured or worse on an assignment, you didn’t have GAR security clearance in the right segment to even learn about it. Every time the holonews reported on casualty numbers, you would wonder if one of these ARCs - one of your friends - was among the dead.

When you reached the hangar bay, the outer door was already open. With the incomprehensibly large gap in the seal that protected Kamino from the elements, the breeze from the sea was welcomed into the hangar. It danced around you with a pleasant salt smell, helping ground you. A lone transport ship was waiting in the open doorway, ready to whisk your friends to a nearby ship that would ferry them to their first assignments.

The men rested their bags in a pile near the bottom of the ship’s ramp, ready to be slung back over their shoulders as they left.

“We only have a few minutes, neverd’ika,” Alpha warned.

You nodded, facing the future ARCs. All of them watched you with expressions ranging from pleasantly waiting to outright smiling. Even so-serious Faie was wearing a mildly affectionate look for you.

And, of course, you didn’t know what to say to any of them anymore. While you and Limit were watching a holofilm the night before, your mind had been thoroughly occupied with this moment. The beginning of a dozen half-rehearsed speeches tumbled through your mind, but you couldn’t force any of it past your lips.

Instead, with all of them watching you, all you could muster was a broken, “Thank you.”

A warm weight against your back made you glance up. You found Alpha standing beside you, one hand resting comfortably between your shoulder blades.

With the solid reminder of everything you had gained here, you managed to expand a bit. “You helped me. You saved me. I’ll never forget that. I’ll always be grateful. If there’s anything I can do for you, anything… please contact me. I’ll do whatever I can to help. Thank you.”

You went down the line - Neyo, Faie, Monnk, Bacara, and Drift - offering every trooper a hug and a kiss on the cheek. You were careful not to overstep, knowing that physical affection wasn’t enjoyed by everyone, but each of them willingly wrapped you in their arms and accepted the kiss you pressed to their cheek.

When you had finished, you stepped back, offering them a watery smile. You had promised yourself that you wouldn’t cry, but you weren’t sure it was a promise you would be able to keep.

“If I had the choice, I would do all of it again,” Bacara told you, echoed closely by the others.

“I would have figured out a way to throw a punch at that supervisor of yours, though,” Drift added, grinning broadly.

You laughed despite yourself, and Alpha’s thumb stroked back and forth across your skin. To Drift, he only grumbled, “You’d have to wait in line.”

“I’m glad things worked out,” Faie told you, jerking his chin at Alpha so you would be sure to catch his meaning. “You’re good for each other.”

That was surprising coming from Faie, but you hid your surprise with curiosity when Monnk stepped a little closer. Conspiratorially, he said, “Don’t let the captain get away with that kind of osik again. I’m worried he’ll get stupid without us around to keep him in line.”

“Don’t worry,” Neyo assured him. “I’ve already taught the kids a few things about what to do if he starts up again.”

“I’m still your commanding officer - for the next few minutes, anyway,” Alpha reminded him, scowling in a way that managed to lack its usual edge. “Do I need to remind you that you haven’t graduated yet?”

As if on cue, General Ti swept gracefully into the hangar. Commander Colt was following behind her, his distinctly painted helmet tucked under his arm. The ARCs stepped into a quick, neat line to the right side of the transport’s ramp, each one snapping a salute as soon as he was in place.

“At ease,” the general told them as she crossed the room.

General Ti moved opposite them, on the left side of the ramp. Alpha stayed beside you, Commander Colt coming to stand on his other side. To say you felt out of place was an understatement and you vaguely wondered if there was somewhere else you were supposed to be standing, but the general began to speak.

“Gentlemen,” she started, her smooth voice flowing over your battered nerves and making your shoulders ease slightly. “It is no secret that you have not had a typical training cycle. What was intended to be a six-week course that trained you to become ARC troopers has stretched twice that length and you have learned so much more.”

“Typically, graduation ceremonies are a chance for me to advise ARC troopers on the challenges they will face in combat. You, however, have already experienced much of what is awaiting you in the galaxy. What is more, you have already proven yourselves capable.”

General Ti surveyed the men, a soft smile on her face. “You helped defend Kamino in our darkest hour. You repelled Separatist invaders who sought to destroy everything we have built. You protected Republic assets, particularly the ones that cannot be replaced.”

You shifted uncomfortably, somehow getting the feeling that the general was talking about you in that last part. Alpha’s hand - having dropped from your back when the general and commander walked in - found yours. Your joined hands were hidden in the folds of his kama, but you suspected no one in the room would begrudge you the contact even if you were open about it.

Ridiculously, it was only then that you realized no Kaminoans had bothered coming to the ceremony.

“In short, you men are the perfect embodiment of the values that we look for in an ARC trooper. We look forward to seeing what incredible things you do for the galaxy, but never forget the crucible of your training.” General Ti clasped her hands in front of herself. “You should be proud of the things you have already accomplished, just as we are proud of you for accomplishing them. Captain?”

Alpha released your hand, scooping up a small stack of neatly folded fabric from a nearby crate. He moved to the front of the line, General Ti and Commander Colt just beside him.

He stopped in front of Neyo. “CC-8826, Neyo.”

“Neyo, your steadfast dependability is your strongest asset,” General Ti told him. “Mind that it does not influence your ability to improvise. The ability to adapt is imperative, and you are well able to do so.”

Neyo saluted, accepting the cloth from Alpha. Something about the way it moved made you realize that it was his kama. It was plain at the moment, but Alpha had explained to you that the men were free to paint or otherwise personalize their kamas just as they did with their armor.

Alpha moved slightly down the line. “CC-4317, Faie.”

“Faie, you are well known for your pragmatism.” General Ti tilted her head slightly, her long lekku swaying as she considered him. “Mind that your adherence to the rules does not supersede your own judgment. You are capable of making your own decisions, and encouraged to do so.”

As Faie saluted and accepted his kama, Alpha went to the next trooper. “CC–4792, Monnk.”

“Monnk, your loyalty shines bright in your every action.” Monnk smiled slightly at the general’s praise. “Mind that it does not lead you to follow someone unworthy of that devotion. Your instincts will tell you when someone returns your loyalty. It is your duty to listen to those instincts.”

Monnk saluted, taking his kama, and Alpha moved. “CC-1138, Bacara.”

“You have a creative mind, Bacara,” General Ti told him. “You can find a new solution to any problem you encounter. Mind that you do not waste time attempting to create a clever solution when a simple one will do. Your brilliance lies in helping your men, and you do that quite well.”

Bacara saluted, taking his kama with a reverence that made you smile even through the tears that you were fighting.

Alpha stopped in front of the last man in the line. “CT-6476, Drift.”

“Ah, Drift,” General Ti said with fond exasperation. The rest of the room gave a quietly understanding chuckle. “You have a great deal of spirit. You will be the soul of your men, inspiring them to go further and work harder than they would otherwise. Mind that it is because you are leading them, not striving to fill a role you no longer hold. Be an inspiration.”

Drift saluted, taking the kama from Alpha with a shadow of his typical grin.

“Men,” Commander Colt announced bracingly. The ARCs, already standing at full attention, somehow managed to straighten even further. “I charge you to serve the Grand Army of the Republic. I charge you to follow the orders you are given. I charge you to protect your brothers. You are officially… ARC troopers.”

All of the troopers saluted the commander, along with the general and the captain standing behind him. General Ti offered an elegant nod in return while Alpha and Colt saluted in return.

“Dismissed!” Commander Colt said, dropping his salute at the same time Alpha did. A moment later, the new ARC troopers did the same before moving to collect their bags.

Each of the ARCs managed a glance back at you. Faie gave you a half-salute, touching his fingertips briefly to his hairline. Bacara nodded at you while Neyo gave a small wave. Drift even blew a kiss in your direction. The most confusing, though, was Monnk. He tapped his finger on his wrist, cocking an eyebrow at the same time.

Despite the lingering befuddlement and the sheen of tears that were threatening to leak down your face, you beamed at all of them. “Be safe,” you murmured, counting on the fact that they would be able to read your lips.

And then they were gone.

You held it together while the transport took off, fading quickly into Kamino’s gray clouds. You held it together as Commander Colt nodded at you and General Ti thanked you for coming. When they had left and you were alone with Alpha, you started to cry in earnest.

Before the first tear could roll over your jaw to drip onto your clothing, Alpha had wrapped you in his arms. For a man as tough and stern as Alpha tended toward being, he gave magnificent hugs. He was warm and safe, holding you just tightly enough while leaving you room to breathe. He hummed softly for you. If there was a tune to the humming, you couldn’t hear it, but the sound comforted you just the same.

Eventually, your tears slowed and Alpha shifted his grip to stroke a comforting hand up and down your back. “Are you all right, neverd’ika?”

“Yeah. I’ll miss them,” you admitted freely. Alpha nodded, giving your shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Why was Monnk pointing at his wrist?”

Alpha’s brows furrowed for a moment, then his face cleared as he realized what you meant. “He was reminding you that you need to get your comlink back.”

“My comlink?” Your gaze automatically traveled down to your wrist, and you were startled to see that it was bare. Since you got the replacement after the Separatist attack, you hadn’t taken off the comlink for longer than it took you to shower. The sight of your bare wrist was unsettling, somehow. “What happened to my comlink?”

“Let’s make this a fun memory exercise,” Alpha said, making you smile. You had heard him do the same thing to his ARCs when they asked a question they already knew the answer to. “What did happen to your comlink?”

You grumbled a little despite your internal delight at Alpha’s teasing, just enough to keep up appearances. Alpha kept his gaze on you, steady with confidence that you would answer.

"I had it recently," you mused, trying to puzzle an epiphany from your own mind. "At the party for sure."

You distinctly remembered that you had thought about leaving the comlink behind since it looked out of place against your outfit, but had decided to bring it. After all, parties could be attacked just as easily as anything else.

"I think I was wearing it the next morning," you said, though the upward lilt of your voice made it partially a question.

Alpha caught it. "You think or you know?"

"I think," you admitted. "It's an educated guess, but I'm not certain."

"Good guess," Alpha told you eventually, cracking a small smile. "You had it yesterday morning. I took it when you hit yourself in the face with it."

That sounded vaguely familiar and you groaned. "Okay, that makes sense. What did you do with it?"

"Took it with me to training. The ARCs asked me to get it from you and the chance came."

You waited as patiently as you could, but Alpha seemed content to leave it as a half explanation.

"What did they want with it?"

"To give you a present."

He handed the comlink back to you. You resisted the urge to ask if they had planned to give you back your own comlink as a present. Instead, you spent your time studying the communicator. You didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Until you looked at the list of known comlink frequencies.

There were a few more frequencies than there had been the last time you went through it. Five more frequencies, in fact. They were neatly labeled Monnk, Neyo, Faie, Bacara, and ‘Favorite ARC’ (which you assumed was Drift).

You didn’t realize you were beaming until you glanced up at Alpha and saw that he looked pleased as well. “They told me they wanted to give you a way to contact them. Those are their personal comlink frequencies, not tied to the GAR in any way. They told me to remind you that you can contact them if you ever need anything.”

“That’s so sweet of them! I’ll have to send a message thanking them.” You released a bittersweet sigh. “They’re good men.”

One of Alpha’s brows arched. “Just be sure the power doesn’t go to your head, neverd’ika. You have more dangerous people willing to help you than most people in the galaxy. Except maybe Skirata.”

“Who?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Alpha glanced at the door of the hangar bay. No one had come in yet, but it was only a question of time. You and Alpha reluctantly disentangled from each other. Alpha cleared his throat. “The kids wanted to see you after the graduation. Are you doing anything for the rest of the day?”

“No, it’s the weekend,” you explained pointlessly. Alpha smiled but didn’t tease you for telling him something he already knew.

“Let’s go, then,” he suggested. You paused for a moment to put on the comlink before you left, but Alpha gently took it from your hands and looped it around your wrist himself. When he had fastened it, he glanced up at you. “Good?”

“Perfect,” you told him with a smile as you left the hangar bay.

---

Author's Note - Okay, allow me a bit of housekeeping:

First, sorry this chapter is late! I tried to post it last night, but I forgot it's horrendously long.

Second, guur'gal is a Frankensteined term I made up by combining two other Mando'a words.

Third, Alpha's hangover method is completely made up. Please don't try it (but if you do, let me know if it works)!

Finally and MOST IMPORTANT, the next chapter will be NSFW and posted on my NSFW sideblog, @somedaylazysomeday. I will add a link from this chapter to that one, but remember it is 18+! Read at your own risk. There is virtually no character development and certainly no plot in it, so you won't be missing anything if you skip it.

Thanks for reading! You can find other works on my masterlist or sign up to be added to my taglist here!

Taglist: @rexs-wife @sugarpuffsstuff @stargazingthenightaway @just-some-girl-92 @kimageddon @ladysongmaster @carodealmeida @adriiibell @nomercyforthewarrior @boomtowngirl @bitchylittleredhead @blck-omen @hrk-fic-recs @lackofhonor @captxin-rex @literallydontlook @salaminus @mothmanbelievesinyou @archivedreading @lucyhelena @808tsuika @ladykatakuri @echos-gal @shawtyitsyou @butterbug14 @skyguy-snips @fan-fic-favs @frietiemeloen @tsedeshgishnii @buddee @justanothersadperson93 @leotatombs @mavendeb @rain-on-kamino @itsagrimm @dancingwiththeplanets @hummellchen @theclonesdeservebetter @wolffeswife @ladyemxo @maulslittlemeowmeow @murder-of-crows-1 @dsburnerblog @ollovaemisc @rosmariner @staycalmandhugaclone @marennial @fordo-kixed-rex @murderofcrows1 @quietplaceinthestars

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maulslittlemeowmeow · 2 years

Text

Catch Me First

Chapter 8 - It’s A Trap!

Warnings: Tame chapter, not 18+ but the rest of the story is so like... minors pls still go away. Boys Being Boys, minor scuffle and alcohol consumption

Summary: Wolffe faces the music. Cody had warned him about Sabacc Night, and Wolffe had struck a deal with him. Now he has to put up with Cody’s taunting.

Pairing: Wolffe x Reader (cis female)

WC: 2131

Why was he doing this? He knew what was coming; All of his brothers were going to torment him through the entire night, until they were all too plastered to walk back to the barracks. Cody had made it abundantly clear that he’d be spearheading the operation, and with Cody at the helm, Wolffe knew he’d be getting more than an earful. Not even Rex could deter him when Cody got going.

Wolffe groaned as he dragged his feet down the hall to the normal meeting place, wishing he had just kept his cool at 79’s. But how could he? When he saw Cody’s mouth so close to his girl’s neck, Wolffe short circuited. So now, he had to pay the price.

The door slid open after Wolffe punched in the code and he was greeted by several other clones in various amounts of armor. Cody, Rex, and Fox were already sat around the usual table bullshitting, and they all turned to Wolffe with smiles. Cody and Fox already looked like they were a drink in. Cody had stripped his armor down to his waist, and Fox matched him, Rex was fully armored- ever the goodie goodie.

“He shows himself! ‘Bout time, Wolf’ika!” Cody calls, standing up to greet his brother and wrap an arm about Wolffe’s shoulders. Wolffe shoves him away, his cheeks already starting to heat. The boys only laugh at his obvious discomfort. “Come on, you’d better start drinking before the rest show up.”

“The rest?” Wolffe growls, looking at his brother with bared teeth.

“Of course! Neyo and Bacara are joining us too- they were so shocked, Wolffe.” Cody adds the last bit with a mocking tone, really twisting the knife in Wolffe’s gut. Wolffe can only slump down into his usual seat with a groan and hide his head in his gloved hands.

“Just my luck that they were free tonight.” Wolffe grumbles.

“Oh, Wolf’ika- I don’t think they would have missed this for the world.” Fox buts in, sliding a drink to his embarrassed brother. Wolffe takes it greedily and knocks back a good amount of it, hoping that the quicker he got hammered the easier this would be. Rex offers him a pat on the shoulder, and Wolffe accepts it, knowing that Rex will be joining in on the teasing just as much once the whole band arrives.

“You really did bring this on yourself, vod.” Rex admonishes, and Wolffe can hear the smile in it. Rex may be younger than Wolffe, but he has always been the most level-headed of the group. Wolffe wishes he had more time to slam his drink before Neyo and Bacara waltz in, but no such luck. The two arrive together, already laughing when they see Wolffe’s slumped posture. Soon after, he feels Bacara’s unmistakable gesture of ruffling Wolffe’s hair, shoving his head down in the process. Bacara was the second eldest among them, and Wolffe had always thought they were pretty similar; he’d never admit that he emulated him a bit.

“Ah, Wolffe- you’d really had Neyo and I fooled that you were some hard-ass, thought nothing could shake you, vod’ika.” Bacara teases, leaning over the table and giving a wry smile. “But the minute you get some good tail, you lose your damn mind, boy!” The rest of the men howl with laughter, and Bacara shakes him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

Wolffe weathers the onslaught with another pull from the bottle in his hand and a sour expression. The others say their hellos and settle at the table, Fox having to grab another chair for Neyo. Rex begins dealing cards and Cody distributes drinks. Cody always got his hands on the good stuff, which is why Wolffe had told him it was the required payment for his humiliation. He’d at least get bombed beyond reason in the process. There was an unsettling silence as the clones looked at their hands.

Here it comes…

“That must be some good pussy…” Fox is the one to break the silence, and Wolffe lets out a deep sigh. He’d of course fight, tell them that it wasn’t just her pussy that was good, but it would only dig him into a deeper hole. Bacara and Neyo especially would call him soft.

“Oh, Fox- she is so pretty… Especially when she cums.” Cody drawls, the rest of the clones look to the 212th commander with looks of utter shock, then Wolffe can feel all their stares turn to him and he bristles.

“You-...you shared, vod?” Neyo gasps at his side, and Wolffe groans again, knowing Cody is going to answer for him.

“Oh, no no no, Neyo. He showed the whole club who she belonged to.” Cody takes a card from the stack and then holds his cards against his chest as he leans forward on his elbows. “Had her creaming on his fingers while she played tonsil-hockey with one of his men’s girls.”

Wolffe sinks lower in his chair and rests his forehead on the table, wishing he could just disappear when the feeling of eyes on him intensifies. It’s silent again. Wolffe can just feel how smug Cody is, embarrassing him in front of all of his brothers. Why did I do it…? Why didn’t I just leave a hickey and be done with it?

“You know there are places you can do that without the threat of getting decommissioned.” Fox drawls. Cody wheezes a laugh and Rex chuckles, sounding more knowing of the subject than Wolffe cared to know. He looked down at his cards before throwing them back on the table, shit hand anyways…

“Fox has a point, vod’ika… She sounds dangerous for you.” Bacara mutters before leaning forward to take a card. Wolffe looks up from the table’s surface to see the firm scowl on Bacara’s mug. Well, that’s nothing new, at least.

“You have no idea…” Wolffe laments, a soft look in his eye. Wolffe had no idea how he got so twisted around her little finger. All she had to do was bat her lashes at him and he was melting. All of that playing predator and prey, and he was the one caught in her snare.

“Poor Wolf’ika’s got it bad, boys.” Of course it’s Cody again. He was just older than Wolffe, and he always had to rub it in his face. “You should have seen his face when I had my hands on her-”

“So this is your fault.” Rex butts in, raising a brow. Wolffe has never been more glad to have the stable brother on his side. Cody sputters a bit and Wolffe finally lifts his head to grin at his older brother. Cody glares at him and Wolffe wonders if Fox will have to pull them apart by the scruffs of their necks again.

“Oh come on- how could I just… This is the first time he’s ever- and it was so easy!” Cody complains, now looking at Fox and Bacara like they’re going to punish him. Being the middle sibling was a rough racket, and Cody and Wolffe often hot-potatoed the lickings that came with the title.

“Cody, she was dancing all nice and sweet with her friend and you came out of nowhere like a fucking nexu to get your claws in her.” Wolffe chides, settling back into his chair with his arms crossed. “You placed bets with your troopers on whether you could get me to hit you.”

Fox and Bacara turn to Cody and Wolffe thinks that they might give him a real whooping, but Neyo pipes up. “Did you?”

Wolffe only grins. “No.” He knew he was looking pretty good right about now, he managed to not get to blows with Cody- a true feat; as he’d dragged the fucker to the floor over lesser slights.

“Maybe she is good for you… I’m surprised it didn’t turn into a full on brawl between the 212th and 104th…” Rex teased, trying to ease some of the tension at the table. The sneaky little shit then lays his hand out and reaches for the small pile of credits in the center of the table. The bubble bursts and the rest of the clones groan as they toss their cards on the table.

“Proud of you, Wolf’ika.” Fox mumbles, offering him a smirk. “Cody, you know exactly what you were doing. You’re lucky he didn’t lay you out like he did after the last tactical meeting.”

“I still won…” Cody whines, shuffling the deck.

“Only because your boyfriend got involved.” Wolffe needles, his teeth bared in a grin. It was an old joke, but one he loved reminding Cody of. He’d always said his older brother compensated with the amount of women he bedded to distract everyone from how he looked at Obi-wan. Cody slams the stack of cards down on the table and shoots around the table to trap Wolffe in a headlock, the two struggling for a moment before they fall to the floor and roll around a bit. Neyo and Rex move to stop them, but Bacara waves a hand to settle them.

“Let ‘em get it out of their system. Besides, Wolffe’s earned it.” His tone is full of mirth as he watches his younger brothers tousle on the floor. Wolffe has managed to wrap Cody in an arm bar, pulling just to the point of pain, threatening to pop Cody’s limb right out of the socket.

“Come on, you shit. Tell ‘em why you did it.” Wolffe growls through grit teeth, bending Cody’s arm just a bit harder until his brother is clawing at his legs. “Go on.”

“One of my shinies had her in the back hallway before Wolffe found them- ow, you di’kut!” Cody yelps, Wolffe having shoved his head a bit harder into the ground with the back of his calf. “The poor bastard thought he could look big and bad around the 212th if he told them he’d been knuckle deep in a commander’s girl. I figured I could make a few credits if I could get Wolffe to act up.” Wolffe shoves him away, taking that as a win with how easily Cody squealed and tapped out. But Cody never shuts up… “But Wolffe’s the one fucking a force-sensitive!”

The energy in the room shifts again. No longer are his brothers amused at the tomfoolery between Cody and him, now Wolffe’s hackles rise with the impending lashing he’s about to get.

“Wolffe…” Fox starts, but Wolffe doesn’t meet his gaze.

“Who?” Bacara growls.

“The one Master Plo picked up from Naboo. That sweet little thing that moped around the temple for a few months.” Cody sneers, rising from the floor and rolling his shoulder, muttering under his breath about how Wolffe took it too far. Wolffe stands as well, swiping his drink from the table and polishing it off.

“Wolffe… That’s dangerous.” Fox continues, his words careful. “A girl you picked up at 79’s is one thing. But this one already has a record… and she works for the republic.”

“Yeah, what are you going to do when she gets assigned to my destroyer and all my boys start chasing that tail?” Cody teases, having returned to the table. Bacara beats Wolffe to the punch, literally, and swats Cody in the back of the head.

“You really stepped in it this time, vod’ika.” Bacara mutters, leaning back in his seat after retrieving the cards, shuffling them again before dealing. Neyo offers Wolffe another drink and he takes it gratefully.

“So what do I do..?” Wolffe sighs and slumps back into his seat and doesn’t even bother looking at his hand, suddenly feeling just how fragile things were. He’s surprised to hear Bacara hum thoughtfully, a soft smile curling his lips.

“That’s tough.. The first one is always gonna grip you a little too tightly- make you think of leaving everything behind for a chance at something domestic.” A few of the others are nodding, Cody and Fox aren’t a surprise- but there is a strange far-off look in Rex’s eyes that worries Wolffe. “But it’s a trap. You can’t have that, Wolffe, and you know it.” Bacara’s words cut deep, and Wolffe wishes he’d just let Cody have his fun, that would have felt better than this.

“Eh, she can entertain herself just fine with Boost’s Pantoran while I’m gone…” Wolffe muses, clearly closing the subject. He picks up his cards and takes one from the stack, trying to ignore the look Fox is giving him. The rest of the night flows like usual, Wolffe losing the only credits he has managed to squirrel away since last time they played, his poker face is shit now that Bacara’s words bounce around his head.

-----

Previous Chapter x x x Next Chapter

Mando’a Translations:

Wolf’ika - little wold (the idea came from Moth To Flame: The Bartender And Commander by allisgalaxy)

Vod - brother

Vod’ika - little brother

Di’kut - idiot

I didn’t even write this, I just took off their leashes and sat back to watch the bullshit unfold. I based their “ages” off of their numbers, just seemed easier for my brain to figure out the dynamic, which worked out because Fox and Bacara totally read as the “serious older brothers” to me. But boy oh boy, is that more angst I smell on the horizon?

If you would like to read more of my work, you can check out my Masterlist or my AO3. If you would like to be added to my taglist, send me a message <3

Taglist:

@eyecandyeoz @eloquentmoon @kimageddon @misogirl828 @nxctuaryninetythree @ben-is-a-hoe

#wolffe #commander wolffe #commander cody #commander fox #commander bacara #commander neyo #captain rex #boys night #star wars #tcw #my boys #wolffe x reader #wolffe x you #wolffe pov #fanfic #fic writing #maulslittlemeowmeow

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tcwmatchmakingau · 8 months

Text

Everybody Hates Neyo Round 2: Matchmaking Boogaloo

A/N: This is a standalone sequel to “Everybody Hates Neyo,” (NSFW) by @dystopicjumpsuit (that’s me), and “The Blacklist,” by the brilliant @blueink-bluesoul, who also generously let me borrow the character of Daria Trace (THANK YOU!). You don’t need to read those fics to understand this one, but you should because they’re great and they provide more background. I converted the Reader-insert into an OC because to be frank, she’s a piece of work, and I didn’t want to project that onto my readers. That said, as always, feel free to insert yourself into the story if you prefer; I haven’t described the OC beyond being a woman with hair long enough to pull.

Pairing: Commander Neyo x the Admiral (formerly Fem!Reader)

Rating: M | 18+ | Minors DNI

Wordcount: 6.5K (I know)

Warnings and tags: toxic, obsessive behavior; SO MUCH SMUT; hatefucking; rough sex; oral sex; PIV; hair pulling; biting; sex under the influence of alcohol; Neyo and the Admiral being absolute menaces to society

Disclaimer: Let me just put on my Auntie DJ hat for a second. *ahem* This is a work of fiction intended for entertainment only. Please do not take this as a guide to romance or a healthy relationship. Neyo and the Bad-miral are flawed characters in a wildly problematic relationship with more red flags than the Fire Nation. Enjoy!

Matchmaker extraordinaire Daria Trace was not accustomed to failure. When she applied her considerable intellect to a problem, she did not stop until she formulated a solution. Which was why her now-99% matchmaking success rate galled her so intensely. In all her years of matchmaking, she had never encountered a client so stubbornly determined to thwart her efforts as Marshal Commander Neyo. After twelve failed matches—one of which involved a call from an infuriated woman demanding to know “why the kriff you thought I was a good match for that sociopath”—she had reluctantly conceded defeat.

The blacklisting of Commander Neyo from the Right to Love Matchmaking Service spread like wildfire through the GAR gossip channels. Most of the troopers thought it was hilarious; others insisted that he’d finally gotten what he deserved. In fact, the only people who seemed to have any sympathy for Neyo were Commanders Bacara (to be expected) and Fox (somewhat less expected). And when Fox reached out directly to Daria and asked her, as a personal favor, to give Neyo one more chance, she agreed. One more chance, and ONLY to give her an opportunity to get that track record back up to a perfect 100%.

She glared irritably at Neyo’s file and clicked her stylus three times, twirling it between her fingers. The man was impossible. It was no wonder he’d turned to RTL for help finding a partner; any woman in her right mind would run in the opposite direction the minute she looked into those blank, frigid eyes. She shuddered involuntarily. Shark’s eyes. Daria had made a few discreet inquiries after he’d first signed up for the service, just to make sure she wasn’t about to set up some unsuspecting match with a serial murderer. Without fail, every single answer said the same thing: he was an ice-cold sonofabitch, but he had a strict code of honor, and no, he wasn’t a serial murderer. Probably.

She sighed and tossed his file to the side, to be revisited some other day. He was her most difficult client, but by no means was he the only problematic match candidate, and she had a small stack of what Blizzard liked to call The Hopeless Casefiles waiting for her to review. Just thinking about Neyo’s case had given her the beginnings of a spectacular tension headache, and she flipped through the folders quickly, looking for one that was a little less challenging. As she skimmed the stacks of flimsi, her eyes came to rest on one name: Reeda Wai’yen.

Now there’s a thought.

Daria was sure that Reeda was a lovely woman, despite all evidence to the contrary. She was just very… intense. Like Neyo, she had chewed through several potential matches, and the most frequent word that appeared in her failed matches’ post-date surveys was “intimidating,” followed closely by “terrifying.” Daria had sniffed disdainfully that those particular matches simply couldn’t handle a strong woman; however, she had to admit that after several months of trying, she had not been able to find a perfect match for Reeda. She pulled Neyo’s file and laid it out next to Reeda’s. As she compared their backgrounds and preferences, she became more and more convinced. This could work. Given their personalities, it might well be the best possible outcome for society at large if they were both removed from the dating pool. And if it happened to close out her two most annoying files, well. That would just be the cherry on top of her perfect-track-record sundae.

A timid knock sounded on Reeda’s office door.

“Come,” she called shortly.

Her assistant, Lissi, poked her head into the room. “Sorry to bother you, sir, but you’ve received a comm from RTL Matchmaking.”

Reeda cursed. She was up to her ass in flimsiwork, and she was meeting with the Senate Task Force on Galactic Security in ten minutes. She did not have time for this now.

“Take care of it,” she ordered.

“Sir?” Lissi asked, her wide, startled eyes giving her a distinct resemblance to a terrified ash-rabbit.

“Just take care of it,” Reeda repeated, tamping down her irritation at being questioned. “You know my schedule better than I do. Set it up. Somewhere nice—somewhere in the Federal district. I don’t have time to deal with traffic.”

Lissi blinked, nonplussed. “Don’t you want to see who you matched with?”

“No time,” Reeda said, rising to gather her materials for the meeting. “Just put it on my calendar, and I’ll be there.”

Three nights later, Reeda sat in the restaurant at the top of the tower where her penthouse was located, waiting for her mystery date to arrive. She had to commend Lissi’s efficiency in choosing the venue; the only traffic she’d had to endure was at the lift. And it was a lovely restaurant, she had to admit, with stunning views of the Coruscant cityscape. She had only eaten here once since she’d bought the flat, usually opting to have food delivered to her office at the Republic Center for Military Operations as she worked late into the night.

She had resisted the urge to bring her datapad with her to the restaurant, knowing that if she did, she would inevitably get sucked into work, but now she wished she’d taken a moment to review the file from RTL. It wasn’t that she thought all clone troopers were interchangeable; far from it. She had worked closely with them during the war, had fought by their sides, and she had found them to be brave, competent, and loyal. They were also notoriously attractive, but she was a professional, and she was their superior officer, and she had never allowed that line to become blurred—except on one memorable and highly regrettable occasion.

She had had no time for a personal life during the war, but now that it was over—well, to be honest, she still had no time for a personal life. Which was exactly why she had reached out to RTL; it was the perfect solution. She didn’t enjoy solitude. She wanted companionship, and maybe even something more. But she needed a partner who would understand the demands of her career, and nobody understood the burden of duty better than the clones. Now that she had separated from the GAR and returned to her post in her home planet’s military defense force, the rules regarding fraternization no longer applied to her.

She hadn’t bothered to review the file because she’d learned from the previous several failed dates that a promising file was no indicator of compatibility. Still, as she waited for her date, who was now seven minutes late, she wished she’d at least checked to see if he had any identifying marks or tattoos that would make him easier to spot. To be fair, though, the few clones present in the restaurant were already paired up with other diners.

Her stomach rumbled. She hadn’t intended to skip lunch, but she’d had back-to-back meetings with the joint chiefs of the Core Worlds Defense Alliance and the senate appropriations committee, and one thing led to another. The service droid had delivered a basket of fresh, hot bread rolls, which she had heroically resisted for the first six minutes past the scheduled start of the date, but now her resolve began to crumble. If her mystery date didn’t have the basic courtesy to be on time, by the Force, he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if she ate all the bread before he arrived.

She buttered a roll and took a small bite. She couldn’t suppress the groan of relief at the buttery, yeasty goodness, and she quickly polished it off, then picked up another. She had just begun to butter her third role when the unmistakable voice of a clone spoke next to her.

“Admiral.”

She turned automatically, a smile just beginning to form on her lips, when she caught sight of a familiar set of numbers tattooed on a handsome, arrogant face.

“Oh, no,” she said with disgust. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Marshal Commander Neyo replied contemptuously. “I have as much right to be here as you do.”

“I’m on a date,” she snapped.

He looked pointedly at the empty chair across from her. “Looks like your date has a strong sense of self-preservation. Probably took one look at you and ran for their life.”

“He’s just a little late,” she said, tilting her jaw at a haughty angle to hide the flash of hurt at his words.

“That must kill you,” he said with a mirthless chuckle. “I remember the time you made a Jedi padawan cry for being three minutes behind schedule.”

“There were barely tears. Do. Not. Sit,” she gritted out as he made himself comfortable in the chair across from her. He picked up one of the remaining bread rolls and took a large bite, and she sighed. “Why are you here, anyway?”

“It just so happens, I am also on a date,” he said, mumbling around the bite of bread.

“Oh?” she wrinkled her nose at his table manners. “And who’s the unlucky lady?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Some civvie named Reeda.”

Her hand tightened dangerously around her butter knife. Neyo’s eyes dropped to the blade, and he smirked.

“Disappointed?” he asked.

“You could say that,” she said, grinding her jaw. “I’m Reeda.”

He choked on his bite of bread and wheezed a bit, pounding his chest to clear his airway. Alas, he survived.

“What?” he sputtered.

“You didn’t even bother to find out my first name after you were inside me?” she demanded. Her sharp tone attracted attention from the surrounding diners, and she heard a few quiet titters from the tables around her, but she was too irate to care.

“You didn’t even bother to find out who’d be eating dinner with you?” he retorted.

“Don’t pretend you aren’t just as surprised as I am,” she snapped. “Didn’t you read the file?”

“I didn’t get a file, just a call.” He grunted. “Apparently, ‘beggars can’t be choosers,’ and I was lucky to get a match at all.”

“Why am I not surprised?” she mocked.

“Careful, Admiral. Don’t forget they matched you with me.”

“I would be insulted if it weren’t so obviously a mistake. I can’t say I’m impressed with their performance thus far.”

“For once, I agree with you,” he said. “You’d have to be a special kind of incompetent to think we were a good match.”

The service droid approached the table and asked, “May I take your order?”

“He’s not staying,” Reeda cut in.

“I’ll have the bantha filet,” Neyo replied, ignoring her. “Bloody.”

He turned to her and arched his brows. The droid waited expectantly.

“I’ve suddenly lost my appetite,” she lied.

Neyo’s mouth twisted, and he huffed a breath through his nose. “The admiral will have the roast porg. And a bottle of Alderaanian red.”

The droid nodded and ambled away. Reeda glared at Neyo.

“I don’t eat meat, you presumptuous ass,” she said.

“Liar,” he said. “Unfortunately, the souls of the innocent weren’t on the menu, so I had to settle for your second-favorite meal.”

“At least you’re safe, since you obviously have no soul and you’re definitely not innocent,” she said in a pleasant tone.

Damn him for being right about the porg, though. How did he know?

The wine arrived, and he poured a generous glass for each of them. She didn’t toast; just downed half of it in a single swallow. Neyo sipped his and leaned back in his chair to observe her. His sleek, severe hair and the large tattoo on his cheek made him look menacing as hell, but it was his eyes that made brave men take a step back. She didn’t know how it was possible for his eyes to be that unnerving. Gods, why did he have to be so handsome? What a waste of perfectly good Fett genes to have a personality like that.

“Did you stay just to torment me?” she asked when the silence stretched beyond the limits of her endurance.

“And because I heard the filet was good,” he said affably. “What are you even doing on Coruscant? I thought you’d scuttled back to whatever hellhole spawned you.”

“Kuat,” she bit out from between clenched teeth. “I was assigned to work as our military liaison on Coruscant.”

“Couldn’t stand having you back on the planet?” he derided. “I don’t blame them.”

“I need to use the fresher,” she said, flinging her napkin down on the table with excessive force. “Feel free to die while I’m gone.”

She strode purposefully through the restaurant, her face set in a steely mask. She knew she was drawing attention from other patrons, but if she sat at that table and listened to Neyo needle her for one more second, she was either going to stab him or burst into tears. She pushed through the refresher doors and went to the sink, washing her hands just to give herself something to do. The face that stared back at her from the mirror was Admiral Wai’yen, not Reeda. Stern. Unyielding. Unaffected.

She swallowed, and her face crumpled. Tears of rage stung her eyes, and she ruthlessly wiped them away with her clenched fist. A soft noise at the door startled her, and she whirled to face the intruder. Horror flooded her. It was Neyo, and he’d caught her crying in the ladies’ room.

“What the kriff do you think you’re doing in here?” she demanded icily. “Get out.”

He stared at her for a moment, and then he locked the door. Stalking across the room, he cupped her jaw in his hands and tilted her face to get a closer look. She tried to pull away, to put her Admiral Wai’yen mask back in place, but then his thumb stroked softly next to her eye, wiping away the tear that had breached containment. She gasped involuntarily, and his lips collided with hers.

Reeda was so shocked that for a moment she went perfectly still, but then Neyo flicked his tongue across her lower lip, and her body remembered how to move. She thrust him away and stood back, glaring at him. His chest rose and fell quickly, and those cold eyes blazed with a dark and covetous fire. She raised a hand to her lips and felt the slickness left by his tongue. Something snapped inside her. She took two hasty steps forward, and she was in his arms again, his hands rough and dominating on her body as they consumed each other with a kiss that teetered on the edge of violence.

Lips, tongues, teeth crashed together. He clasped her tightly against his hard, unyielding body, and unbidden, the memory of him deep inside her came flooding back. He gripped her ass and ground his rapidly stiffening cock against her. Her reaction was electric. She rolled her hips, nearly climbing him in desperation. He dropped his mouth to her neck and kissed her once, roughly, and then to her breast, yanking aside her dress as he closed his teeth on her soft skin. He picked her up by the waist and set her on the edge of the sink, dropping to his knees between her thighs, rucking up her dress around her hips, and then his mouth was on her.

He didn’t even bother removing her underwear, as though he couldn’t wait another millisecond to taste her. He licked and sucked on her through the fabric, his mouth working frantically. Her body jolted and trembled at the effort of staying upright, and then his tongue snaked past the lace and dipped into her, smooth and hot and wet. He let out a vicious growl and grabbed her hips, settling her thighs over his shoulders, and then he pulled her off the sink and thrust her against his face as his tongue speared over and over into her cunt. She yelped and scrambled to brace herself with her hands, her arms shaking with exertion.

She couldn’t come like this, but kriff, it was hot to feel Neyo throw her around with such ease, like she was his own personal toy. How many nights had she fucked herself to sleep to the memory of their first encounter? The way he’d lifted her bodily off the ground and thrust into her, supporting them both with those powerful thighs—it played on a loop in her head for months, long after the bite marks and bruises had faded.

His tongue slid out of her cunt and swirled around her clit, and her legs spasmed around his head. She couldn’t come like this. Could she? All the muscles in her body began to tense, and her pelvis began to rock rhythmically against his face. Shit, I’m going to come. No sooner had the thought formed than Neyo dropped her back onto the sink and pulled away from her.

“No!” she wailed. “You bastard, I was right there!”

He shot to his feet. “Shut. Up,” he bit out, and kissed her punishingly hard. “Do you want the whole Federal District to know what we’re doing?”

He pulled her head back to expose her throat, and he scraped his teeth across her delicate skin. She felt his other hand fumbling in between them. Within seconds, his cock was free and thrusting against the scrap of lace that still covered her. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him against her, determined to find the stimulation that she needed to reach completion.

“Get inside me,” she hissed.

“You aren’t calling the shots any more, Admiral,” he growled. “You don’t get to give commands.”

“I hate you,” she breathed.

“And yet here you are, begging for my cock,” he said coldly.

“I do not beg,” she said. “Ever.”

He released her hair and pried her legs away from himself, then took a step back. “You get nothing until you admit that you want me. I’ve waited a long time for this. I can keep waiting.”

“What the kark is that supposed to mean?” she demanded, sliding off the sink to stand in front of him.

“It means you give me what I want, or I walk out that door right now and you can figure your own shit out.”

Was this his twisted kriffing way of asking for consent? Because she was pretty sure she’d covered that when she all but ordered him to fuck her.

“Fine,” she said in a low voice. “I…” She nearly choked on the words, and Neyo’s intent gaze pinned her in place. “I want you.”

He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a bruising kiss, then spun her around and bent her over the sink. He pulled up her dress, yanked down her panties, and thrust into her. She muffled a whimper at the intrusion and squeezed her eyes shut as she adjusted to the stretch. He wrapped his hands around her hair and jerked her head up.

“Open your eyes. I want you to watch,” he ordered.

She complied, shocked when she saw her own ravaged face in the mirror as Neyo pounded into her from behind. Her makeup was smeared, her hair was a wreck, her eyes were dilated with lust, and a sheen of sweat glistened across her skin. She flicked her gaze to stare at Neyo. His face was twisted into a scowl, and if she had any sense at all, she would have been frightened, but she was in too deep to care. His hard eyes met hers in the mirror, and his jaw tightened.

He released her hair and slid his arm around her body, between her breasts, to wrap around her throat, and he lifted her upright so he could whisper in her ear.

“Do you know what you did to me?” His voice was hoarse and anguished. “Every time I kissed someone, all I could taste was you. Every time I hooked up, all I could remember was this perfect fucking pussy.”

He pounded into her with bruising intensity, furiously working her clit with his free hand. Her head began to throb. This was so wrong. He couldn’t be saying what she thought she was hearing. She was confused from the lack of blood flowing to her brain.

“I got matched twelve different times, and not one of them was right, because not one of them was you,” he snarled. “You cursed me. You haunt me.”

The world began to darken around the edges as her eyes drifted closed, and he released her throat and forced her head to the side so she faced him.

“Look at me when you fucking come,” he ordered.

She gasped, and he clamped his hand down over her mouth to muffle her scream as he wrenched an orgasm from her body. He didn’t let up, chasing after her at a frenzied pace that rocked her entire body as she sobbed into his hand.

“Inside?” he asked roughly.

She nodded and whimpered as tears blurred her vision and spilled down her cheeks. He came with two brutal thrusts, and she felt the hot rush of his release deep inside. He shuddered against her hair as his cock softened and slipped out of her. At last, he loosened his grip and turned her to face him as he leaned against the wall for support. He wrapped her in his arms and stroked her hair as she rested her head against him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she sighed as she licked his neck, unable to resist the temptation of tasting his skin.

“I’m sure there’s an official list in my GAR file,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

Reeda cleaned up quickly while Neyo went back to their table so they wouldn’t be spotted leaving the refresher together. Her hairstyle was destroyed, so she hastily repinned it as well as she could, and then wiped off the mascara that smudged heavily beneath her eyes. A quick reapplication of lipstick, and she almost looked presentable—with the minor exception of her missing panties, which Neyo had silently retrieved from the refresher floor and tucked into his pocket while maintaining strong eye contact.

When she returned to the dining room, Neyo waylaid her with a ferocious expression. Force, what is he scugged about now?

“We’re leaving,” he said, taking her by the wrist and pulling her toward the exit. A few quiet murmurs whispered around the room as he dragged her behind him.

“What?” she asked, tugging her wrist to no avail. “Why?”

“The karking droid gave away our table,” he said.

“My deepest apologies, Admiral,” the droid said. “We can locate another table if you would care to wait.”

Reeda assessed the room quickly. Every table was occupied, and none of the diners were anywhere close to being ready to leave. Moreover, at least half of the customers were eyeing her and Neyo with expressions ranging from amusement to overt curiosity.

“No,” she said. “Have the food delivered to my flat.”

“Right away, sir,” the droid replied, waddling off to relay the order to the kitchen.

Neyo looked at her inquisitively. “Your flat?”

“I live in this building,” she said. “Come with me.”

She was keenly aware of the many sets of eyes that tracked their hasty exit, but before long, she led Neyo into the private, secure lift that opened directly into her penthouse. He stood silently next to her on the trip up, watching her with an inscrutable gaze. She tried not to give herself an opportunity to second-guess her decision to let him into her home. Strange, she thought, how this seemed more intimate than allowing him inside her body. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d allowed another person into her home.

The lift doors opened, and he followed her into the flat, pausing long enough to remove their shoes, then looking around curiously.

“Lived here long?”

“A few months,” she said. “I bought it when I found out I’d be stationed on Coruscant long-term.”

“It’s nice,” he said. “Very… clean.”

She laughed. “You mean sterile. I haven’t had time to do much decorating. I’m hardly here except to sleep, anyway.”

He nodded. “I thought I’d have more time for hobbies after the war ended, but now it’s just nonstop—”

“Red tape and committees,” she finished with a sympathetic grimace. He shot her a wry grin. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him smile before, and it did uncomfortable things to her brain. She tried not to think about it, instead asking, “What kind of hobbies? Aside from plotting my slow death, obviously.”

“Oh, you know,” he said vaguely. “Torturing small, adorable creatures; sharpening my vibroblade collection; collecting stamps; that sort of thing.”

She blinked. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

He regarded her steadily for a moment, eyes unreadable as ever. “You really think the worst of me, don’t you?”

She was taken aback. “I—”

Her reply was cut off by the chime of the door. The food had arrived, thank the Force, which gave her a moment to stop herself from blurting out her immediate thought: You’ve never given me any reason to think anything else.

Neyo was a competent soldier—brilliant, in fact. There was no question that he had one of the finest tactical and strategic minds in the GAR. But as a person? From the moment they’d met, he’d been antagonistic, sardonic, cold. He’d challenged her authority and provoked her in meetings. He’d only treated her with the barest semblance of civility in public, and in private—Well. They both knew how things went when they were alone.

The service droid rolled a cart into the dining room and began setting up the meal.

“Can I get you a drink?” she offered Neyo. “I don’t have any Alderaanian red, but I do have Cheedoan whiskey.”

“The good stuff,” he replied. “I’ll have a glass. Thanks.”

The droid finished setting up and shuffled out the front door as Reeda poured two generous glasses of whiskey at the wet bar.

“Ice?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, and when she turned around, she nearly dropped the glasses in surprise to find him standing close behind her. He locked his eyes on hers and never looked away as he took one of the glasses and drained it in a single swallow, then set it down with a decisive click on the counter. Her heart began to pound as he loomed over her. He traced his fingers from her elbow up to her wrist, and then he wrapped his hand around hers and raised her glass to her lips.

The whiskey burned a fiery path across her tongue and down her throat. A few droplets escaped and splashed coldly on her chest. Neyo didn’t let up until she emptied the glass, and when she was done, he leaned down and sucked the liquor off her skin. His hands dropped to her hips and slid up her back as he located the zipper of her dress and dragged it down excruciatingly slowly, and all the while, his mouth moved across her skin. He slipped the straps down over her shoulders and let the dress fall to the floor, and then he kissed a path along the lacy edge of her bra.

“Thanks for the matched set,” he said, unhooking it and pulling it off.

“Those were expensive, asshole,” she said unsteadily.

He didn’t reply, but she knew she was never going to see that bra again. He kissed his way down her breast and captured her nipple in his mouth, abrading it lightly with his teeth. She jolted, and the empty glass slipped from her hand and smashed against the hard tiles of the floor.

Neyo barely responded to the sound of shattering crystal. Reeda froze, keenly aware that the smallest movement could result in a bloody footful of glass. She stood utterly, helplessly still as he continued to explore her body with his teeth and lips and hands and tongue. He was thorough in his attentions, and something about being entirely at his mercy was wildly arousing. Her head spun as the whiskey began to work its insidious way through her bloodstream.

“I missed this perfume. What is it?” he murmured against the soft skin of her abdomen.

“I don’t wear any,” she said.

He nuzzled against her as though he could transfer her scent to his own skin. Without warning, he scooped her up and carried her out of the room, completely disregarding the risk to himself. But instead of dropping her as soon as they were clear of the broken glass as she expected, he asked, “Bedroom?”

“Left,” she said, and he strode across the flat and kicked open the door, to her intense irritation. “You gonna pay for the broken doorknob?”

He didn’t reply, just tossed her onto the bed and pounced on her as soon as she landed. He slid in between her thighs and gripped her hard as his mouth descended on hers, kissing her as though he were trying to devour her soul. He was still fully clothed, and she scrambled to pull off his shirt. He was completely unhelpful, too engrossed in her taste. She raked her nails across his skin as she yanked his shirt over his head, and he seized her lip in his teeth in revenge.

At last, the barrier of his shirt was gone, and she writhed against him, desperate to feel as much of his warm, smooth skin against her as possible. They clashed together, sinking nails and teeth into each other. At some point, Neyo got his trousers down enough to free his cock, and he shoved into her. His belt chafed harshly on her delicate skin as she wrapped her legs around him, urging him to go deeper, harder, faster. The sounds they made were unholy, primal: growls and grunts and screams of pain and ecstasy as they tore into each other with all the aggression that they had built over the years.

She pulled his hair; he clawed her back. She slapped his face; he bit her shoulder. She snarled that she loathed him; he interlaced his fingers with hers and whispered how beautiful she was when she came apart beneath him. She thrust him away and kicked him across the bed; he pinned her down and fucked her until she sobbed and begged for more. At some point, she tasted blood, and she didn’t know or care whose it was. And when at last she lost count of how many times he’d brought her to orgasm, he curled his body around hers and traced his thumb softly over her features as she drifted to sleep.

“If I die while I’m inside you, it’s the closest I’ll ever get to heaven,” he whispered.

“Force, you say some kriffed up shit,” she grumbled.

Reeda awakened slowly, aware of something blissfully warm and soothing moving across her skin. She cracked her eyes open. Neyo was lying on top of her, dragging his tongue lazily over her body. He roamed along her curves, and it wasn’t until he paused at her bruised wrist that she realized what he was doing.

“Are you licking my wounds?” she breathed.

He didn’t answer, but his eyes met hers with an intensity that bordered on madness. Gods, everything about this was so fucked up, and she didn’t dare examine too closely why she found it so incredibly arousing. He moved slowly, meticulously, his tongue gliding softly over every centimeter of her body, until she felt like a bomb, ready to detonate at the slightest spark. She came before he ever reached her cunt, and again as he rocked gently inside her, his lips soft against her mouth, silent tears spilling from the corners of her eyes to course down her temples.

After, he guided her into the shower, and when her legs gave out, he held her upright as the hot water washed over them. Once he’d massaged her entire body with his strong, soapy hands, he dried her off and laid her back on the bed while he spread bacta across the damage he’d inflicted. It was disorienting to be cared for so thoroughly by the man who’d spent the better part of four years making her life hell. He didn’t speak, and she didn’t know what to say, so in the end, she simply watched him in silence.

When he finished with the bacta, he retrieved their dinner from the dining room. The food had long since gone cold, but after hours of intense physical activity, they were famished, and they ate it anyway, sharing bites and sipping whiskey straight from the decanter. Neyo sat with his back against the headboard, his long, strong legs bracketing Reeda as she leaned back against his broad chest.

“How did you know porg was my favorite?” she asked.

He shrugged. “They’re tiny, cute, and innocent. I just assumed you would enjoy extinguishing the life from them and consuming their remains.”

She laughed and snuggled closer to him. “Is that why you order your meat rare? Because it’s the next best thing to drinking straight from the source?”

“Finally, someone who understands,” he smirked. “Truthfully, I overheard you tell Admiral Coburn that porg was your favorite during a banquet at the strategy conference at Valor.”

She turned to stare up at him. “Neyo, that was two years ago. That was before we ever…”

“I know,” he said, burying his face in her hair and breathing deeply.

“Stalker,” she murmured.

He dropped his mouth to her neck, and she tilted her head back against his shoulder as his lips glided across her skin.

“What does it say about you that you like it?” he whispered when he reached her ear.

He pulled her close, positioning himself between her and the bedroom door. From the proprietary way he held her, she knew it was a deliberate choice; any threat that came through that door would have to go through him before it got to her, and she had a feeling that there weren’t many beings in the galaxy that were brave or foolish enough to try.

Reeda jerked awake to a furious pounding at the front door. Neyo was already halfway out of the bedroom, stark naked and armed with a steak knife from their midnight dinner.

“Wait here,” he ordered, his voice hard and flat.

She rolled her eyes as she pulled on a bathrobe and grabbed a blaster from her nightstand. Neyo glared at her when she joined him, but didn’t bother yelling at her.

“Coruscant guard! Open up,” a modulated voice shouted harshly from outside the door.

Neyo glanced questioningly at her, and she shrugged, hiding the blaster behind her robe. He stepped out of view of the door, and she opened it to find none other than Marshal Commander Fox, flanked by two Corrie ARC troopers.

“Commander,” she greeted him, not bothering to conceal the surprise in her voice.

“Good to see you’re in one piece, Admiral,” he said. “Are you all right?”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked, baffled.

“We received multiple calls about a disturbance at your address. Are you alone?”

Reeda felt a hot rush of blood wash over her face and neck. “I fail to see how that is any business of yours, Commander.”

“Sorry, sir, but it’s my duty to—” He stopped abruptly, and his visor shifted to a point behind her.

“Isn’t this a little below your pay grade, Fox?” Neyo drawled close behind Reeda.

Fox’s visor turned back to Reeda, then to Neyo, and then back to Reeda again. The two ARC troopers appeared to be fascinated by the walls on either side of the front door.

At last, Fox spoke. “I don’t send shinies to wake up admirals.”

Neyo’s hand slid possessively around the front of Reeda’s abdomen, and he pulled her against his nude body. Something large and solid prodded against her backside. Dank farrik, is he turned on right now? Sick bastard.

“Thank you for your concern,” she told Fox, “but everything is under control.”

“So I see,” Fox replied. “Still, you’ll need to keep the noise level down, or I’ll have no choice but to arrest you for disturbing the peace.”

Neyo reached forward silently and shut the door in Fox’s face, then he spun Reeda around, picked her up over his shoulder, and carried her back to the bedroom. The last thing Fox heard was the unmistakable sound of Neyo’s hand slapping her ass as Reeda shrieked with indignant laughter.

Republic Military HQ buzzed quietly with speculation the next morning when not one, but two of the most senior command staff called in sick for the first time in either of their careers. Rumors swirled: some were convinced a secret bioweapon had been released by Separatist holdouts; others maintained that the stress of dealing with politicians was beginning to take a toll; still others claimed that it was a coverup and that the marshal commander and the admiral had been taken hostage by pirates. It was whispered that Commander Fox had a particularly haunted expression that morning, and two of the Coruscant Guard ARC Troopers had contacted the legal department to update their wills. In the midst of all this, the beleaguered Lissi received a brusque order to inform RTL Matchmaking that the admiral no longer required their services.

Daria drained her third iced caf of the morning as she flicked through her holomessages. Buried amidst the intake forms and meeting invitations was an abrupt-bordering-on-rude note from Marshal Commander Neyo ordering her to close his file.

“Why do you look like the tooka that got the blue milk?” her fellow matchmaker Tarsi Renda asked as she passed Daria in the corridor.

“Oh, no reason,” Daria smiled. “The galaxy is back to normal, that’s all—and my track record is once again perfect.”

---

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#tcw matchmaking au #clone matchmaking au #91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps #commander neyo #neyo x the admiral #commander neyo x ofc #neyo x ofc #neyo x the bad-miral

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echoedcrosshairs · 8 months

Text

Foxglove ~ Commander Fox x F reader (part 6)

According the language of flowers Foxglove symbolizes riddles, conundrums and secrets along with ambition and creativity.

Summary: A small fancy caff shops pops up in the senate building. Commander Fox is not amused. Fox tries to be the bigger man to let you be, but after hearing about the breakup and his closes Vod trying to go after you; he most definitely can’t help but protect you.

Slow burn, enemies? to lovers, Commander Fox x reader,

Warnings: Angst, Smut, oral (f receiving), smut, cannon violence and talks of cannon related violence.

Part 5 Part 7 (wip)

Masterlist

I really just want to sleep, you quietly groaned hearing the door slid open. Flicking one eye open you found Kix bringing in a glass of water and a bowl of oatmeal. He saw you still in his shirt, giving you a small smile as he set the food in front of you, "How did you sleep?"

"Had a little trouble going to sleep," you admitted omitting the part it took Fox's face between your face to make you go to sleep.

"I would have assumed the opposite, although with the stress, mild guilt and having two strangers in your front room could do that."

"Yeah, are we going to talk?" you whispered, hissing when the door slide open finding Fives walking in.

"Can't take them anymore," he groaned sitting on the floor infront of the closet, "I rather fight a gundark armorless in the snow."

"Their just so upbeat and happy," Kix said drily filling in the gap, motioning for you to scoot over taking the nourishments setting them on the nightstand, "As clones we never truly have anything we can call our own, we are different people but we are the same person so we tend to share everything."

"Echo and I shared ladies all the time," Fives interjected wiggling his eyebrows.

"Butt out," Kix told him, "As I was going to say, that being said. I can't technically be mad, as a doctor I am aware of physical attraction and how it differs even when people nearly look identical. To be mad at you is to be mad at biology. However I can be mad at him, I'm sorry for that; that wasn't fair to you. You did also fall asleep in my shirt and woke up in it," his voice fluctuated between flat to aggressive to leering as his fingers played with the hem of the shirt around your neck.

"I thought they weren't suppose to know," you said tilting your head to Fives.

"I was referring to Bacara and Neyo, along with everyone else. Fives knew something was different the moment you stopped out of the his office."

"I'm the only one who can keep my mouth shut," he added.

"Bantha crap what time is it?" you said looking at the clock that Kix was intentionally blocking.

"You have 15 minutes before you get ready for work, so until then," Kix wiggled down pulling you to him, "How was it?"

"Kix-"

"I told you it was hot, so spill."

Fire bloomed across your face at his interest, "The best really," you awkward said turning your face away from both of them, the blush spreading to your ear as he gently started petting your cheek pulling you closer to his chest letting his finger trace your spine confirming the fact that you did have a reaction it wasn't as strong. Fives mumbled something about a warning if he needed to close his eyes. You buried your face in Kix's chest hearing him snap him to go back to the front room and reluctantly doing so. Fives walked out finding Fox staring at him and then at the two of you, Fives smirked at him before rummaging around in the kitchen for a snack while getting berated from Neyo about searching a civilians domicile. Fives' remark was curt that they all just broke regulations spending the night there which punctually shut him up. Fox's grip on his knee tightened, I can't lose it again not in front of them. Breath Commander. Finally he realized after watching you both leave the room, Kix joining him in the front room you heading off the refresher.

"Well we have to get back to base, we'll be seeing you commander," Neyo said pointedly slipping his helmet on, Bacara following closely behind him also giving a pointed look before passing through the door.

"You were so jealous," Fives snickered the moment the door closed behind them.

Fox snarled at him to shut up returning his attention back to the holo playing, "Stop staring," he glowered at Kix.

"Not going to join her in the shower?" he poked, "No," Fox gave the quick reply, "Suit yourself." Kix stood in the door way of the refresher keeping his eyes modestly on the floor, "Shower's a little warm," he noted both of the steam and that you jumped.

"You could have coughed," you said taking a few deep breaths.

"Just wanted to see if you got flustered."

"Of course I am," you defended, remember how you invited him to shower with you when he got back feeling another pang of guilt.

"Don't worry I'm not joining their isn't enough time," he said as if he was reading your mind, "and not when he's here," Kix added handing you the towel keeping his eyes focused on the ceiling.

You wrapped the towel around yourself, "Better?" you said rolling your eyes finding him finally looking at you with a sly nod. Shaking your head you walked out of the bathroom finding Fox's eye glued to you as you walked back into your bedroom catching the tiny movement of him putting his helmet on. Disappearing back into your room your quickly through on loose fitting pants and a top because wearing that apron it didn't really matter what was worn. Kix and Fox were bickering of course when you stepped back out finding Fives cackling while trying to compose himself, severely failing. You folded your arms over your chest glaring at both of them, "What happened."

"Kix keeps on purposely making him jealous and he keeps reacting to it," Fives said in broken syllables, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, "Seriously guys, put a wrapper on it and stick it. We have to get the lady to work," Fives managed to get out the innuendo holding it together for the most part.

"He didn't use one," Kix said flatly grabbing his bucket off the table, getting smacked from Fives.

"You seriously let him raw? Vod.." Fives said disappointedly ignoring your redden expression.

"I'm clean," Fox defended.

"You've had sex on the counter of 79's," Fives snorted.

"He is," Kix answered, "I tested him in the hall."

You deadpanned, "You planned it?"

"It's not like you didn't enjoy me," Fox replied flatly.

"Unbelievable," you said tossing your arms up leaving them in the dust as you marched towards the train purposefully sitting upfront trying to have space to mellow out before the start of your shift. In with the peace out with the annoyance, you kept repeating the mantra to yourself with every breath but it didn't help because you were still fuming when you arrived. Silently feeling them tailing you. Practically a storm cloud walking into the building, everyone darted out of your thunderous path. Thankfully today no one crowded the door although there were some troopers waiting, you quickly opened the door and closed it behind you. They made the mistake of following you in.

"Get the fark out," you hissed visually sending them daggers, "Yes me screwing Fox was wrong, but I'm not just toy to hand back and forth," you glared directly at Kix, "Just. Get out," you sighed returning your attention to the coffee in front of you.

Kix tried walking forward but Fives pulled him back shaking his head, "Let her cool down, let's go train."

Fox didn't head the warning he opened to the days holo news, sitting at the table closes to the door. He heard, "That mean's you too!" but he didn't react he just sat there reading until he saw you approach the table with a cup setting it in front of him. "Thank you," he said noticing it was full of caf, he looked up to see the scowl on your face faltered for a moment at his manners.

"Explain yourselves," you said flooding your arms over your chest, I want to know just so maybe the anger will calm down.

"We have chemistry. He wanted to know how much chemistry," Fox took his helmet off, sipping the caf waiting for the snarky reply that had to be forming on your tongue. "We don't have chemistry-" before you finished the sentence Fox shot up one hand on your throat and his lips barely hovering in front of yours. "You're pulse, eye dilation at my proximity and change in breathing say other wise," he pointed out smirked looking down into your wide eyes at the boldness. Gently he pressed his lips into yours releasing his hand after feeling another spike in your heart rate and his cock stirring, "Point made," he said sitting back down to hide the growing discomfort, feeling the warm tingle on his lips from the softness of yours. He let his similar lustful expression gaze into yours, his hand going to his combed back hair gently brushing it back noticing you still weren't convinced.

You don't know what irritated you more, the fact he was right or that he had been so forward about it especially here of all places. Watching him cock his head back towards the tiniest window known to man on the door then back at you an arched his eyebrow. You watched him stand up noticing the very prominent caged erection as he guided you behind the counter where no one could see. The tension coiling your body causing warmth to spread like steeping into a hot bath after a cold day. His hands on either side of you locking you in place, the thought of him having you right here caused a warm gush to course through you. Your cheek flush, embarrassed about the reaction to him.

"Believe me now?" Fox leaned in whispering in your ear, "Or do you need more convincing," he added letting his hand trail closer to your waist.

"Someone is bound to walk in," you stammered out as his fingers traced the curve of your hip.

"No one would dare knowing I'm in here," he amused with a smile that exposed his canines, "All you have to say is that you believe me" he said letting finger trail the top of your pants waiting.

"Kix..." you reminded as if his fingers were on fire came off. You watched his hand pat again the counter in contemplation before pulling back.

"Thanks for the reminder," he said walking back towards the table grabbing his bucket leaving. Fox's jaw hurt from how hard he was keeping it shut and his self restraint in order. Getting back to his office seemingly un-noticed he pressed the button to silence him from the world as he took care of himself letting his anger pound him into bliss. Slumping back in his chair he stared at the white mess that coated his glove. He pulled his desk door open finding his pack of wipes for pta baths for days when he practically lived in his office. He groaned noticing the faint stain on his glove, he ripped them off and tossed them into his desk slamming it shut, "Kark it all," he growled seeing you pounding on his door via his holo notification. He pressed the button, blinds and sound barrier going door, "What," he said looking down at you, his dignity covering his head and arms folded inwards covering his hands.

Gently you tried to push him back into his office but he didn't budge, "Fine. Is it just physical between us?"

"There's nothing between us," he closed the door forcing you back, slumping in the chair and pressing the button holding his hand with his hands. Kix was the better choice, kinder, easier to be tolerant, a genuinely more pleasant man. He took his helmet off staring into the visor, Commander Fox, he scoffed, when was the last time I was ever just Fox?

You stared at the door in your face. Nothing? You did your best to shrug it off for the curious eyes looking. Propping the door wide, you opened the cafe for today doing your best to put them out of your mind. As the day progress you realized he was right, Fox had been nothing but insufferable, constantly degrading you and wiping his exploits in your face at every turn. Their was no way it was anything more then just physical attraction, he got what he wanted and literally slammed the door in your face. You sighed for a what felt like the hundredth time before you finally shot Kix a message to come meet you, but he was already waking in with Fives before his pad went off.

"You rang?" He joked leaning against the side of the counter, "What's up Mesh'la?" he whispered.

"I don't get it," you said shaking your head thankful for the pause in troopers, "attraction, why don't we have more of that?"

"There is a lot about attraction we don't understand," Kix's medic tone came out, "There just is or isn't."

"So you can't make more?" you asked arching an eyebrow.

Kix took your hand staring at you, "Come'ere," he said embracing you against his chest ignoring the looks, "I am more then happy just doing this okay? It's nice having a... friend who doesn't share the same face."

"You're so kind.." you whispered, "why couldn't it..." you didn't need to finish the sentence.

"At this rate it isn't going to be Fox either, so cheer up. I got a million brothers, we'll find the right one," he smiled letting you go, "Just not Fives," he laughed watching his brother feign shock at the off handed comment, "Oh please you'd never settle down."

"You got me there," Fives joked, "Something basic Ma'am" he said looking up at the menu.

"Basic?" You blinked, he seemed less then a basic man but you shrugged getting to work handing him the caf once you were done. "What about your shirt?" you whispered to Kix.

He pulled you around the waist resting his chin on your hand, "I wouldn't be opposed if you kept it, I do like seeing you in it... if you want it for movie nights?" he suggested awkwardly.

"It would be nice," you felt the faintest sensation of lips against your head before Kix pulled off, "Something sweet for me before we head back to training."

"That's fitting," you teased not helping the faintest sensation of pain in your heart at the breakup if you could it that. You handed him the cup and he gave you a smile but you noticed the similar pain in his eyes, the smile not reaching further then his well defined cheeks. You watched as Fives and Him walked off, mentally scolding them for not saying see you later. You sighed again but this time it was more out of relief then anything that it had been so peaceful and relaxed. The peaceful feeling ended when Thorn walked in with Fox who stayed at the door as Thorn walked over.

"I take it I missed something?" Thorn observed Fox staying at the door.

"Yeah, Fox and I fought then Kix and I broke up."

"Do me a favor and make yourself a coffee too. You okay?" he asked quietly.

"As good as I can be, does sour face want one too?" You asked tartly watching Thorn press a button on the side of his bucket but you didn't hear him say anything.

"No but make him a commander, easier to question him when he has that thing off," Thorn chuckled, "So I take it you're going to be avoiding 79's for a while?"

"No actually, I'm pretty sure Kix and Fives are dragging me out tonight."

"Weird break up," Thorn said confused, "but that's good you two are still friends. Well if they don't drag you out, I will just let me know," he said grabbing the two caf's from you.

"Of course..." you looked to find Neyo and Bacara at the door, "Is it to early to close up for the day," you scowled.

"Give me ten minutes and I can handle that," he offered.

"No it's close enough anyway, there's no point." You regretted not taking him up on the offer. Minutes seemed to last for hours, every order seemed to take forever to make even if some of them only took seconds to actually make. You blinked rapidly handing the cold brew to the soldier, my day off is tomorrow; who's going to be here for them? It wasn't something you had worked out in your proposal, you opened your pad shooting the question to the HR rep with a quick reply that Commander Thorn had offered to open the place. Maybe I'll have to come in and try it. You never would have anticipated being relieved when Fives and Kix showed up at the end of the shift kicking people out.

"What's this about?" you asked putting your hands on your hips offering an awkward apology wave to the troopers leaving.

Fives wiggled his eyebrows, "You'll see."

"I'm not sure I like this," you laughed closed everything up, quickly spot cleaning.

"I'm apologizing in advance this wasn't my idea," Kix said looking his hands up.

"I really don't like the sound of this," you said your face contorting into smiling confusion finding Neyo particularly looking at you. His eyes squinting before heading across to Thorns office, "Or the look of that," you grumbled.

Fives put him his arm around you, "Trust me, these two things aren't connected. Now here," he said shoving a bag in your hand.

Opening it you found one of your dresses and heels in it, "How-"

"Don't ask."

He shoed you towards the private refresher down the hall. You stared at the dress wondering what shenanigans they usually got up to but this definitely seemed like one they would. You peeled the the work clothes off giving yourself a make shift awkward pta bath, but the seem of coffee forever lingered. Stepping out, both of them whistled at the change. You scowled feeling awkward in your place of work dressed like this. Noticing them both purposely picked here to make you pass both Thorn and Fox's office. Hearing Fives snicker you knew that was definitely the point. Walking there you kept noticing Kix's eyes shifting, having enough you floated near him, "What is it?"

"Fives is-"

"Shut up Vod," Fives said, "Sorry Ma'am no spoilers," he smiled pulling to away from Kix.

Fox watched the three of them trot by smiling as if the big punch line was him. Not realizing his eyes had lingered on the door he missed the unmistakable shape of Neyo approaching, "I think Bacara is wrong, she's definitely a beauty," his tone was flat as he watched the three of them descend in the lift. Fox's hand faltered his pen clicking again the desk, "I'm chasing your former... Lady Friend? tonight." Fox stared up into his vods well masked face, nothing betrayed what was going through his head.

"She is spoken for," Fox asserted picking his pen back up.

"Not according to the conversation I just had with Commander Thorn, she dissolved their union at lunch apparently."

Fox's pen fell again, a growl graced his lips, "Why."

"As I stated she is a beauty. May the best man win," Neyo gave him a smirk, he not no intention of chasing any woman but no one knew better how to push people's buttons then him. Hopefully be pressed the right one, initially he had come to check in with Fox but after his fair amount of eaves dropping his strategic mind got to work. Unfortunately I am going to have to go to at least make it look like I attempted. Neyo was to dignified to let out the sigh boiling in his chest at the realization. It took a while but he finally heard Fox on his heels as he approached the familiar establishment, "Yes, Commander Fox?"

"Marshal Commander Neyo," Fox growled, "Don't even think about it."

"Is that a threat?" Neyo arched an eyebrow at the unfamiliar tone.

"Yes," Fox shoved Neyo's shoulder forcing him to stare at him, "Vod to Vod, don't think about it." Fox clipped his shoulder with his own as he pushed instead finding you automatically, the shade of red perfectly matching his own. Another punch in the gut. He found you awkwardly dancing with one of Kix's blue brothers as he sat at the bar staring. Kix and Fox's eye met, They had broken up. Fox pulled away first blood boiling watching Neyo cut in. Betrayal, that was the feeling boiling up. He watched Neyo whisper something your ear, the grimace on your face before making your to the bar with him in tow as you sat between him and Kix.

"That's not good," Fox heard Fives voice not realizing he was at the commander's table with Rex.

"What are you doing here Arc?" He said flatly squeezing it.

"Trying to spice them up, to hopefully get some of that Mojo," Fives said pointing a finger between him and you, "between them."

"He's to soft for her," it was just that a statement leaving no room for doubt or to be second guessed, "Neyo is too rough for her."

"What are you? Goldilocks?" Fives scowled, "You have to be kidding me," he looked to find Neyo's hand on your leg chatting with both you and Kix. He saw Neyo's eyes lock briefly with Fox's the short evil grin before returning to his neutral expression, "Well, can't be worse then Dogma I suppose."

"Yes it can," Fox heard enough he got up without thinking about it, shoving Neyo's stool back with his foot making his hand break contact before putting himself between the two of you. His eyes narrowed to slits at his batch mate, both knowing full well what the other was capable of and knowing this wasn't the place for that fight. "I said don't even think about it," his voice was venom laced with a ton that he saved only for war criminals and traitors. Out of the corner of his eye he saw you flinch at the tone but he didn't have time to acknowledge that as he stared down Neyo for authority on the subject. He felt your light fingers tap his spaulder, automatically he softened the frighting expression on his face but didn't break eye contact with the man, "Yes?"

"Nothing, remember? Why are you interrupting."

"Principle."

Fox's balled fist flattened on the table, returning his full attention back to Neyo rage returning. Neyo did nothing but smile at the display. He was aware his even more unreadable then Fox, every inch more sadistic and cruel giving him every advantage, "Nothing, proves she isn't yours either," he chose his words carefully but provokingly. He watched him boldly step back his mouth at your neck leaving a claim before standing back in-front of him, "Have I made myself clear enough?"

"You were always the easiest the read and push," Neyo smiled, "Nothing? Keep lying and face the consequences. I proved my point. Ma'am," Neyo nodded standing up, joining a lurking Bacara in the very back darken booth.

"What the actual fuck was that?" You glared.

"Just him being a chip off the old block just as calculated and," Fox grumbled before turning back to you, the anger and frustration leaving his features. Silently noticing Kix remove himself from the moment. "Even for his usual pokes that was way to far."

"Nothing-."

"We both know I lied."

You stared at him, "Sure," you replied sarcastically, "I'll believe that when womp rats fly." You watch Fox pin you with his body to the counter, your heart starting it's embarrassing flutter.

"One date, just you and I."

"Commander-"

"Just Fox," he took a breath searching your eyes for an answer, "What do you say?"

"One," you breathed, "Fox."

Hearing his name on your lips was enough to make him lose his composure and swallow, pulling back he ran his fingers threw his slicked back hair. What the hell, he yanked his hand away dropping it at his side. He gave a small nod turning to walk off but another small whisper of his name made him cock his head to the side waiting for you against his better judgement trying to ignore the look in your eye or the way your breathing was uneven.

What are you thinking? You scolded yourself looking at him. You may have not understood what he was protecting you from but the commanding rage in his voice had set a shiver coursing through your lower extremities. Then the sudden shift to almost anxious and insecure afterwards had confused you but was almost endearing. You kept direct eye contact with him as you rose from the stool, you whispered his name again before walking passed him. This isn't like me... but it's what I need. The feeling him in you, how his body perfectly fit against yours knowing what you needed before you could think it or how a small tug of his hair made him sinfully groan. You saw the red following you out of the corner of your eye, you didn't want to wait for the train back to your place so you paid for a decent clone friendly cab and top speed. Both of you were silent the whole way, scared one word would snap the attention in the air and both of you would be all over each other. It was a trance walk back to the apartment, awkwardly running into both of the neighbors he had done. After feeling him, you didn't blame them for how loud they were.

Both of you were barely in the door when he forced it shut, dragging you to the couch by your hip. He pushed you down the couch letting his face hover by yours but not touching as he reach down pulling the hem of your taunting red dress up revealing the blue underwear underneath. He clenched his jaw quickly using the vibro blade in his vambrace cutting the thin laced sides of the garment before chucking it to the other side of the room in annoyance. He returned his blade noticing the glistening core for him, watching it coat your inner thighs. Not bothering to take off his armor he pulled you to the edge of the couch dropping to his knees pulling your legs over his shoulders. Fox kissed your swollen need, suckling it between his lips.

"Fark," you moaned, thighs clapped against his face as he inserted two fingers rapidly curling against the spongey spot nestled inside, "Donnn't stop," your hands went to the top of your dress pulling down, realizing the blue mistake Fox's mouth retracted causing the organism to fade. You saw the silently anger coating his features, you dropped your legs from his broad shoulders. Barely breathing as he stood up looming over you, one hand on the garment and one on the back of the couch. Your hands cautiously moved the back of the garment unclipping it feeling him yank it and toss it, landing it perfectly next to the cut up underwear. You stared up into lava threatening to engulf you in its heat, “Fox…?”

“Never wear that color again, understood?” you recognize the commanders order tone.

“Fox-“

“Understood,” he growled.

You nodded, swiftly his hands picked you up pulling you towards the bedroom, dropping you in the bed. He didn’t bother with his armor, dropping his codpiece and undoing his belt so his hand could free him from the constriction of the body suit. Watching him mount you, the cool plastoid bit lightly into the skin as he pushed himself in. Your fingers dug into the back of his neck resistance the urge to find his hair as he continued to split you apart. Fox’s pace was merciless as his temper fumed his thrust. Listening to his hips collide was yours you could hear the gush of your arousal coating both of you. Every time he entered you, the feel of him filling the expanse felt so perfect your mouth opened to tell him but his hand found your mouth covering it.

Watching him shift his weight to his knees to keep his weight off of you, you felt his other hand go to your clit moving wildly, “Cum for me,” he growled, the hand on your mouth moving the dress bunching it up in his fingers. The red so perfect on you he questioned if the color was his or if he wore your color. His thrust got desperate as he continued forcing himself to hold back until you become undone under him. Moaning when your fingers yanked his hair enough to pull some out he finally removed the hand between you firming resting both his palms above your head. The drooling mess of his name reverberated in the room letting his chase his own orgasm coating your insides white with his desire to have you. He felt sweat clinging to his forehead as he stared down at your perfect shape, his hand went to his hair carefully prying your cramped fingers off his hair massaging them. Removing his soak body from yours he saw where his armor had dug into your skin silently cursing himself for not removing them. He watched the white ropes from you running down your ass, he could already feel himself getting hard again at the sight. He striped the armor tossing it to the ground not caring about proper stacks in the moment. Cursing himself harder when checking his belt that he hadn’t restocked the bacta tube, he stared at the deep marks scowling he found his data pad and messaging Thorn to bring some right away, and that it was indeed a discreet order. Fox watched you curl towards the warmth of the blankets wincing as you moved. He whispered your name, “Bacta’s coming.”

The underside of your legs felt like someone had tried to use a dull knife to saw at your muscles, while the pain between your legs ached was blissful everything else wasn’t. You felt a warm cloth go inbetween your legs and the blankets partially pulled over you. Maybe you were a little loopy because your giggled feeling some of the cum bubble out at the action.

“What is it?” Fox asked confused.

“You’re so mean at work and in bed but so soft too, I just didn’t expect it,” you said yawning.

“Stay awake a little longer,” Fox scowled hearing the doorbell, “I’ll be right back.”

Not bothering to put his armor on, just in his blacks, he opened the door finding Thorn standing there his eyes going wide with Kix and a medical bag in hand. Fox’s lips twitched into a snarl, “Just needed the bacta.”

“You also mentioned wounded,” Thorn pointed out trying to keep the smile out of his face.

“What are her injuries,” Kix asked flatly.

“My armor cut into the back of her legs.”

Kix opened the bag pulling out a foreign orange tube handing it to Fox, “Use this instead. Anything else?”

“No.”

“Good,” Kix closed the bag and left.

Fox stared down at the vile, “Did you really have to bring him?”

“Actually he was already on the way with the bag, figured it would look better if we came together. Have a good evening,” Thorn waved jogging after the medic.

Disgruntled Fox closed the door pulling the blanket back exposing the deep red marks, he worked the liquid into the marks with his fingers watching your tension relax. He sat there watching you stretch, slow blinking at him as you stirred. What he wanted to say died on his tongue, “Shower?”

“And water, thank you Fox.”

“For what?”

“Being you.”

45 notes · View notes

fordo-wifey · 9 months

Text

Greetings my lovely peeps!

Note: This profile contains NSFW content, with that means no minors under the age of eighteen.

It’s My Pleasure to Meet You!

I am Maggie and I am in my late twenties and heading into my thirties, I have been writing since I was fourteen and have since made it into a career of sorts. I am also a married woman that is generally happy with life and is hoping for a better life not only for myself but for people I consider my friends.

About The Blog:

This blog is a bit weird at the moment but the only solid thing about it, is the NSFW content that I have mentioned above. As all topics I choose to write about is basically for adult eyes only.

Fandoms I Write For:

Star Wars

Naruto/Boruto

BNHA/MHA

Red Hood

Tokyo Revengers

Original Works

Note: This list could grow or lessen depending on fandom cycle...

Request Guidelines:

I generally write original fan fiction, but I am open to writing requests! Though you should take this moment to go through my guidelines:

What I WILL Write For:

Fictional characters

Reader inserts (please make sure to specify gender, anything unspecified will be f!reader)

SFW and NSFW (Fluff, Smut, Angst)

What I WILL NOT Write For:

OCs

Forced Feeding

R*pe/Non-Con

Real people

Character/Reader Death

Coprophilia/Urophilia (Sh*t/P*ss Play)

Pedophilia/Ephebophilia

Cannibalism

Necrophilia

Bestiality

Depicting abuse in a positive light

Incest

Ships (canon or non-canon)

Please please PLEASE add your age in anon asks!

If you submit a request that involves anything from the second list, I will not reply to it. The same goes for any other requests that involve anything I’m uncomfortable with. If you have questions about why there wasn’t a reply for your request, please DM me.

Thank you and happy reading!

Check out: @daisies-daydreams

My AO3

My Star Wars Masterlist is under the cut.

->Shadows of the Republic

Starring: Wolffe x Original Female Character

The fall of the Republic, and the birth of the Empire, Wolffe—a former clone Commander—finds himself in limbo. Battling his demons, as he struggles to create a life worth living, but that’s when a chance meeting with Jaina Pellian, a human woman who had fallen into the same trap as him. Will his life be better with her? Or will he suffer a loss he can’t recover from? Word Count (Completed): 000,000

-> Forbidden Ecstasy

Starring: Neyo x Original Female Character

nothing yet Word Count (Completed): 000,000

-> Station 40 (Only on AO3)

Starring: Crosshair x Original Female Character

A SOS broadcast puts the Bad Batch in a tough situation, where they have to decide whether to save the clone troopers that were sent to investigate the same SOS or take in the scientist wanted by the Republic guards. Word count: 000,000

-> The Man of Ryloth

Starring: Captain Howzer x Original Female Character

The war raged on, battles hard fought, even with the battalion of clones that were led by Captain Howzer, there seemed to be no end in sight. At least until Lissa Amnel--a human woman-- arrived with support, allowing for more victories in their wake. But Howzer who had slept with nearly every Twi'lek he could, found himself changing with each attempt to gain her attention. Word count: 000,000

-> I Was Made for Lovin' You

Starring: ARC Hevy x Original Female Character

A quick hike gone wrong, leaves Diana Brown in a world of service and sacrifice, stumbling around the galaxy that was not her own. Far from Earth or anything she might know, but a chance meeting brings Diana and an ARC trooper together. But when it comes time to leave, will she choose to return, or will she stay? Word count: 000,000

-> Trouble in The Pine Series

Starring: Crosshair x Original Human Female

Book 1: Into the Unknown Elon, a green planet untouched by the war, and the former Republic—now Empire. A place for a man to start over, if that was possible for someone who didn’t have a say in regard to his birth. Will Crosshair, a man of regrets be able to move forward and start a new? Word count: 000,000 Book 2: Title Word Count 000,000 Overall Word Count: 000,000

-> Mr. Cupid

Starring: Mereel Skirata x Original Female Character

The playboy of the Skirata clan, Mereel Skirata, was the type to get any woman he wanted. From any walk of life. But that would be only a half truth, as the one he truly wanted was Sara Vene. A woman that worked closely with the Senators, and the Coruscant Guard. They met by chance, and the two were nearly inseparable until one night when the truth of his feelings came to light. Word count: 000,000

-> The Promise

Starring: Niner Skirata x Original Female Character

The word love didn’t match up with the likes of Niner, a clone commando that wasn’t known to show much of any emotion one way or another. But when he met Malia his heart bloomed with desire, and love. Though his appearance never changed, his words spilled all. Will Niner keep his promise to Malia, or will their love die out? Word count: 000,000

-> A Soldier's Heart

Starring: Commando Sev x Original Female Character

A soldier's duty is to protect those they love, and Sev was no different when it came to his new family which was steadily growing as years passed. Lingering thoughts of his brothers often cause him to grow quiet, but when the Empire arrives on the planet he calls home, he is met with the reality of the new galaxy. Word count: 000,000

-> Upside Down

Starring: ARC Captain Fordo x Original Female Character

The birth of his son had sent Fordo over the moon, becoming a parent meant he had more to fight for, more than just his brothers or even the woman that brought his son into the world. Word count: 000,000

-> Kiss Her You Fool

Starring: ARC Commander Alpha 17 x Original Female Character

Alpha was anything but kind, strong willed, effective soldier on the field but when Syala entered the picture. His heart took a hit, a hit that made him feel more than he ever had. Word count: 000,000

Commander Fox's love letter to Alax Halcorr

Dreaming of Her (Commander Neyo x OC)

Sinful Surrender Part 1 & Part 2

-Crosshair Western AU (sort of)

-Delta Squad headcanons

-The Bad Batch headcanons

-Delt Squad Parenting Styles headcanons

The Bad Batchers First Time Holding Their Newborn! (Fluff, Angst, and full of love)

If you want to be tagged, please like this pin post, and I will add you to future works!

#star wars #masterlist #the clone wars #original character #original content #original concept #fordo-wifey #bnha #red hood #tokyo revengers #naruto #boruto next generation

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sev-on-kamino · 9 months

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✨WIP Wednesday✨

pairing: Fox x OFC (Daria Trace, and you get soft!Daria today)

Fox flirts and flatters his way to a favor from his favorite matchmaker. (super rough first draft action)

Rating: G but minors aren’t supposed to be here 👀

“You know,” Fox began, “If I have to keep coming to your rescue like this, I’m going to start thinking you just want me around.”

Daria blinked several times, her ever glossy lips parting slightly before snapping shut. Her eyes were wide as they locked onto his visor. For the first time since he’d met her, the quick witted matchmaker was at a loss for words.

“I’m fucking with you, Trace,” he said with a smirk. He’d never seen her flustered before, and he found that he liked it. Knowing he was the one who could sneak past her armor of cool professionalism gave him a thrill he couldn’t resist.

“Of course you are,” She said, recovering quickly, mask back in place. She envied his helmet, hiding all of his reactions from her.

“Everyone knows you don’t date.”

“I do date. I just-“ She paused. “Who’s everyone?”

“The vode,” He said folding his arms.

“Oh,” Daria said, frowning slightly before realization dawned on her face. “I only told that ARC I don’t date because he was flirting with me during his interview.”

“It’s true though. If any of the boys saw you on a date, they’d be gossiping about it. They’re very concerned about you finding a nice person for yourself. Especially Thorn.”

“I didn’t realize my love life would be so interesting to them.”

“They feel like they owe you one. It’s why we show up so fast when you call,” Fox confessed.

“See? That’s why I do what I do. Guys that sweet deserve every chance at happiness,” She said with a bright smile. “Speaking of which, I’m still waiting for your match to come in. I made a promise to Thorn, and I’m going to keep it.”

“What promise?” Fox asked, tilting his head at her.

“To find someone to make you take your days off,” She replied. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes that time.

“He just wants me out of the office, so he and Hound can play fetch with Grizzer in the halls.”

“A promise is a promise, and I always keep those, so watch out,” She said with smirk.

“With the way you attract trouble, I’m always watching out for you, Trace,” he laughed softly, and Daria felt her face warming up. “If you’re feeling generous, do you think you could make a promise to me?”

“Within reason,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Give Neyo another shot?”

Daria quirked a brow at him. “I said within reason, Commander.”

“Look, you’re good at this. Scary good. I thought it sounded ridiculous at first, but Thorn, Hound, Cody, Wolffe,” he trailed off a moment before tugging off his helmet. “You worked magic with them. I’m just asking you to try one more time.”

“If you’re trying to play on my professional ego, it’s working,” she said, letting her eyes roam his face. “Fine, but only for you, and I swear if he gets sideways with me again…”

“He won’t. But if he does, I’m only one call away,” Fox assured her, his voice softer than velvet.

“Deal.”

tagging: @secondaryrealm @dystopicjumpsuit @anxiouspineapple99 @freesia-writes @littlemissmanga @523rdrebel @sinfulsalutations @wings-and-beskar @starrylothcat @wolffegirlsunite and anyone else with a WIP to share 😌💙💙

#commander fox #tcw fox #tcw fox x oc #commander fox x oc #oc: daria trace #tcw matchmaking au #clone matchmaking au #wip wednesday #seven writes

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dystopicjumpsuit · 9 months

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✨last line challenge✨

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or however many you like).

thank you for the tag @blueink-bluesoul

Ok, the last thing I wrote is SUPER smutty Neyo smut, so minors under no circumstances interact, and everyone else, consider yourself warned.

CW: rough (but consensual) hate sex

The world began to darken around the edges as her eyes drifted closed, and he released her throat and forced her head to the side so she faced him.

“Look at me when you fucking come,” he ordered.

“Inside?” he asked roughly.

She nodded and whimpered as tears blurred her vision and spilled down her cheeks. He came with two brutal thrusts, and she felt the hot rush of his release deep within. He shuddered against her hair as his cock softened and slipped out of her. At last, he loosened his grip and turned her to face him as he leaned against the wall for support. He wrapped her in his arms and stroked her hair as she rested her head against him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she sighed against his neck, unable to resist the temptation of licking the salt from his skin.

“I’m sure there’s an official list in my file,” he said, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

---

I am almost embarrassed to tag anyone in this, buuuuut: @anxiouspineapple99 @littlemissmanga @spicy-clones @523rdrebel and anyone else who wants to share!

DO NOT PERCEIVE ME

#these two i swear #there's just something about hatefucking you know?#neyo x the admiral part 2 #commander neyo #smutty smut smut

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clonemedickix · 8 months

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Rating: M

Word count: 6.9K

Pairing: Commander Neyo x OC General Lara Lin

Warnings: implied clone warfare, dark humor, snarky banter

Excerpt Summary - Part 2 of the Neyo vs Lara chapter. Using the intel Neyo and his group collected, the Dragon Company is sent to find General Grievous. Neyo has met his match if he thinks he can bully General Lin into fearing him.

If you would Iike to read the full chapter on AO3, click here WARNING - full chapter is NSFW, MINORS DNI, UNDER 18 DNI

If you would like to see more fanfic posts, click here

@blueink-bluesoul @523rdrebel @anxiouspineapple99 @dystopicjumpsuit

Excerpt:

Lara walked to the ramp of the Talon, escorted by Fives, Rex, and Cody. While she couldn’t take Rex with her on the mission, they had at least seconded Fives to their group for this trip to the small Outer Rim backwater Neyo had given them as the location for Grievous. Pausing at the foot of the ramp, she looked up at her sleek flagship, its black and red paint with gray hues giving the onlookers the impression of dragon scales. Lara was proud of the detail Anakin, Kenobi and Rex had paid when getting the ship outfitted for her, taking the time to put an intimidating paint scheme on her, befitting the Dragon Company.

She glanced over at Rex and Cody and said, “Well, guess I’ll see you when I see you. Hope this doesn’t turn into a wild goose chase.”

Cody smiled at her and said, “Neyo and his group are usually pretty spot on with the information. There will definitely be something there, though whether Grievous still is - that’s up for debate. You and your lunatic Dragons be safe, General.” He reached out his hand for hers, and she answered by grasping it, skinning the fingers and giving him a firm fist bump.

“We’ll be fine. Keep Rex out of trouble,” she said with a smile. Rex smiled back into Lara’s eyes, and they repeated the little handshake, though they lingered a bit before giving each other fist bumps. They couldn’t say goodbye properly with a whole ship full of clones watching, as well as all the dock workers.

Lara turned to look at Fives and gave him a little nod with her head, gesturing to the ship, and the two of them started up the ramp. “Gonna be just like old times, General,” Fives said with a chuckle.

“I do hope so, though it’ll be a bit less sunny with Neyo skulking around.” She looked up at the large hangar when they entered the ship, watching all the crew members moving to and fro, getting ready to sail. “I wonder if I can contrive to stuff him in a broom closet for the duration of the flight, so we can continue on our merry way?”

Fives snorted. “You know the scary thing is - I know you’re actually enjoying baiting that guy, and looking forward to however else you can dig the claws in. You’d better be careful around him - he’s known for being able to sniff out all sorts of dirt on everyone.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t call the knowledge of me and Rex so much ‘dirt’ at this point. Everyone knows. They just pretend they don’t.” The pair headed for the lift that would take them to the bridge. Lara and Fives were a striking pair - the rakishly handsome ARC Trooper in his full kit, carrying his helmet under his right arm, and the stunningly beautiful, tall General in her shining enameled, bejeweled armor and chain mail, her great sword’s hilt peeking over her shoulder while her short sword and dagger swung at her hips. Her mane of curls draped over her shoulders and down her back, bouncing slightly as she strode down the hallways of the Venator with her friend at her side. Fives was more than just a friend, though it was difficult to pin down a definition of his place in her life. There was only ever the thinnest layer of control between them, keeping them from ripping their armor off and finding a broom closet of their own.

When the door of the lift opened on the bridge of the Talon, heads turned to see the General step out, Fives one step behind on her left. She proceeded gracefully across the room, acknowledging the welcoming nods of the clone staff, her head high like a queen entering her throne room. She saw Admiral Shepherd standing before the great expansive windscreens, Primer and Neyo on either side of a holo table, watching each other with very guarded expressions.

Neyo saw the General arrive on deck and was actually rather taken aback by how changed she was in her armor. Only a completely blind fool would have thought she wasn’t beautiful, but her whole demeanor was different from the day he’d met her. She carried herself like a queen, head high, back straight, a composed air about herself that immediately snapped one to attention, knowing a leader was approaching. The clone commander watched her silently as she moved forward to speak to Admiral Shepherd, greeting him with a warm smile. He felt the eyes of both Primer and Fives watching him, sizing up his reaction to their General, both men perhaps a little nervous for her sake.

“Well, Shep, what say you to getting this ship off the ground? We’ve got a fairly long journey ahead of us.”

Admiral Shepherd smiled back at Lara; he truly admired and respected her as his partner in crime after having worked so closely with her Company. He knew her quirks and manner of leadership now without any question, and had gotten used to her insistence on blaring music everywhere they went over the loudspeakers. He no longer minded it and had long ago realized that the crew worked somewhat better, able to focus around the noise in a way that seemed sharper and more relaxed. He turned to address the room and said “The Dragon Rider is aboard, men. Admiral has the con.”

The Chief of the Boat replied “Admiral has the con!”

“Helmsman, right full rudder, come to heading 060, quarter steam, make our course hyperspace lane 151.” Shepherd gave the commands easily, watching as the crew moved to quickly and smoothly carry them out, their replies sharp and succinct to indicate their receipt and understanding. The Talon started to move, pulling away from the pier of the GAR space port. Lara stood before the large windscreens, watching silently as the towers and skyscrapers of Coruscant started to slide by, then dwindle as the ship gained altitude. “No music today, General?,” Shep asked her quietly.

Lara’s head came up, a small smirk on her face. “When we get out of atmosphere. I’m not sure Marshal Commander Grumpy Pants would approve.” She didn’t even look at him, but her voice carried to the clone behind her. Lara didn’t see Fives purse his lips in amusement, looking down at his boots quickly, nor Primer’s quick glance at her back. Neyo himself shot the other two a look. Lara turned, pulling a small rectangular disk from her pocket. She stepped over to the COB’s station and handed him the disk and murmured, “I’ll let you know when the time is right.”

“Very good, General,” the COB replied.

Lara stepped over to Primer to make small talk about the Company, whether all the small details were sorted. He answered in the affirmative, filling her in on some relatively unimportant information, assuring her that everything was ready for their mission. Meanwhile, the ship picked up both speed and altitude under the command of Admiral Shepherd. Once they were in the void of space, outside of Coruscant, Lara pulled her phone from the thigh pocket of her breeches, and thumbed through the screens to the music app. Without looking at the COB, she said “Alright Chief, it’s time. Let’s have some tunes.” The COB plugged the disk into a port and punched a button, activating the shipboard speaker system. Lara picked a first song and hit play. The opening chords of “Remember the Name” started streaming from the sound system and everyone aboard seemed to mentally move into a different headspace, ready for the mission, relaxed but anticipating the action to come.

Neyo watched the proceedings quietly, taking note of the easy manner in which the crew interacted with each other, the Admiral and the General. They seemed to be a well oiled machine, all confidant and well practiced in their roles. And it was clear that everyone there both respected and loved their leader. He’d seen nothing of the flighty, almost unprofessionally bubbly woman he’d met the day of the planning committee.

The ship’s crew got them into hyperspace, safe on their journey, and Lara nodded to the Admiral. “Alrighty then, Shep. I’m going to retire to my quarters. Gimme a holler if you need something.” She stepped over to Primer and Fives and said, “For my part, boys, you’re dismissed. Come get me if you need anything.”

Everyone murmured acceptance of her parting words as she made her way off the bridge, heading for her quarters. Suddenly she heard a voice call her back. “General Lin, what are my orders?” Neyo actually wasn’t all that interested in what she wanted him to do, but he was rankled that she’d ignored him the entire time he’d stood there.

“Oh, Commander Neyo…” her tone laced with a layer of amused loathing. “Forgive me, I did not see you there.” Everyone knew she’d seen him there, and she saw Fives reach up to cover a smile on his face, turning into a bit of thoughtful stroking of his goatee. “I don’t particularly have any orders for you; we have a guy over cleaning the toilets already.” She saw Primer’s head snap toward the windscreens to hide a laugh. “Maybe you could get a bucket of prop wash and go clean out the fallopian tubes in the engine room?”

Neyo’s neck started to creep with a dull red of annoyance at her sass. He was well aware of what she was suggesting; he was no ignorant rookie. “I mean a real assignment, General. I could perhaps update you on the latest information we have obtained, or be dismissed to my own devices,” he fairly snarled in a clipped voice, the strain of not biting back with insults evident.

“Perhaps when we get closer to our destination, Neyo. I have some very pressing, highly interesting paint to watch dry in my quarters and I’m afraid I just can’t spare the time for you right now.”

Neyo stared back at her, fury flaming in his hard brown eyes. “Very well, General. I will be sure to report to your quarters at the top of every hour, just to check in on the most appropriate time for an intelligence update.”

Lara let that veiled threat sink in, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes a bit. “Fine, Needo. Come on. Walk and talk.” Lara turned on her heel, striding purposefully for the lift; she punched the button to call it, smashing it like she imagined she was gouging Neyo’s eye out with her thumb. She heard him follow behind her quickly, almost running to catch up at the last; he felt sure she’d love nothing more than closing the elevator door in his face and leaving him to wait for the next ride. He heard Lara sigh a little disgustedly when he turned to stand beside her, shooting Primer a look of displeasure at the last moment, as the door slid shut on the pair. She muttered, “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate,” in a dramatically low voice as the elevator descended to the level of her stateroom. Neyo had no idea what language she’d just spoken in, but he could at least understand that the tone indicated a distinct lack of enthusiasm for her company.

The lift door opened on the hallway; her quarters were at the end of the corridor. “So do you actually have an update or are you here just to haunt my steps like a ghoul?”

“General, I assure you, I could find all manner of things I’d rather be doing than remaining in your presence. For both of our sakes, I will make this quick.” Neyo didn’t look at her as he spoke, carefully concentrating on the approaching gray door.

“Very good, Commander.” She reached out and punched in the code for the door, stepping across the threshold when it snapped open. The clone followed her in quietly. Lara immediately walked over to the clothes tree standing against the wall, lifting her great sword, bow and quiver off over her head and setting them to lean against the bulkhead wall. Looking back she said shortly, “Have a seat Commander. You can start the briefing.”

Neyo took a seat at her desk, watching as she removed the layers of her armor, finally stripping off the chain mail shirt and hanging everything neatly on the clothes tree. She shrugged her shoulders a bit to relax after unloading the weight of her armor, then turned to step over to the desk. She was wearing the thin, translucent shift she customarily wore beneath the mail to prevent chafing; the clone took in the form of her curves and the dark shape of her sports bra through the gauzy material. Lara pulled the chair back and plopped down in it, leaning back and propping her boots on the edge of the desk, her hands folded over her abdomen, her snapping blue eyes fixed on him coolly. For a brief moment Neyo wasn’t sure where to begin, and couldn’t form words.

Lara raised an eyebrow, watching him stare at her. “I’ll remind you, Needles, I have many other incredibly uninteresting things I could be doing, rather than watching you sit her and glower at me. Tick tock.”

Neyo cocked his head a little at hearing her mispronounce his name - again - then started to speak. He reached into a pocket on his belt, removing a holo disc, and placed it on her desk, activating it. He moved through the briefing quickly, updating her on the new information blandly, watching as the General listened attentively, silently. When he was done, he removed the disc from her desk and stood. “If the General has any questions, I am at your disposal.”

“Oh, to be sure. Thank you, Commander.” Lara sat up, putting her feet on the floor again. She stood, turning her back on him, assuming he would show himself out. When she realized he was still standing before her desk, she turned around, her look askance.

“Am I dismissed, General?,” he asked in a cool voice.

“Very. Buh-bye, Nemo.” She turned away from him again, her whole posture dismissive. Get the point and leave, she thought to herself in an annoyed manner.

“I am at the General’s service,” he said with a little bow.

“Duly noted, Commander.” She was rifling through a drawer beneath the bunk, looking for a comfortable shirt to change into. As she pulled a baggy sweatshirt out of the folded clothes, she caught sight of the persistent clone still in her room. Lara stopped, turned to face him full on, and stood to her full height. “Neyoda. What the hell do you want? You’ve been dismissed. I’ve told you bye. I’ve turned my back to you in as clear a motion of ignoring you, as I could contrive. Why are you still here?!,” she asked, exasperation clear in her words.

“I have yet to hear you say ‘You are dismissed, Marshal Commander Neyo.’” There was a little gleam of amusement in his eyes as he delivered the reply; she was going to use his name correctly if he had to stand here and stare at her for an hour. Lara stared back at him, her face a bit blank at this challenge, then she ducked her chin a little and glared at him from under her lashes.

“Try this on for size, then. Get. Out. Marshal Commander Newman.” Of course he wouldn’t know what she meant, but she could completely envision the curl of Jerry Seinfeld’s lip as he snarled the name out.

“That is not my…” His words were cut off as she stepped around the desk and forcibly grabbed his shoulders, turning him and hustling him toward the door. To his surprise she was every bit as strong as any clone, and he had no choice but to move with her. She shoved him into the hall, half hurling him. Neyo quickly stood and turned, ready to finish his comment, but saw her raise her hand and shake her head at the same time.

“Don’t you dare, or you’ll be doing a FOD walk on the hull in hyperspace,” she said imperiously, pointing her finger at him. “Now, shoo.” Lara hit the button to close the door between them and then made a face behind it that he’d never see. What a pain in her ass, she thought. The door snapped open and she whirled, thinking she was going to absolutely lose her shit if Neyo was trying to come back for round two. She froze in surprise at seeing Fives and Primer, and relaxed visibly. “Oh, thank god, it’s you two.” She turned away and walked back to her bunk, quickly pulling the hooded sweatshirt over her head and arms while the two clones traded amused looks.

“Neyo get the better of you?,” Primer asked with a little chuckle.

“He did not. I was just warming up.” Lara rolled her eyes a little and bent to rifle through her bag for her iPad, then she came back to her desk and plopped back into her chair. “What can I do for you two gentlemen?,” she asked smoothly.

Fives sat in one of the chairs opposite her, leaning back and sprawling his legs out in relaxation. Primer took the other, sitting comfortably but less messily than Fives. “We were bored, and came to see what you were up to, and to know if you needed backup. Or a cleaning crew to disappear the murder we felt sure was coming,” Primer drawled out with a grin.

“Murder won’t be necessary. I can handle ole Ney-ewt there. He’ll make it back to Coruscant alive and in one piece, I promise.” Lara looked at her two friends - subordinates yes, but both so much more than that at this point in the war. “We’ve got what? Two days on the Talon until we get to wherever this place is? We can get in plenty of training between now and then with the men. Send out a general message and tell them meet up in the hangar in a couple of hours.”

Primer nodded and rose to leave so he could spread the order. Fives remained sitting in his chair. As soon as the door closed behind Primer he looked at Lara flatly and asked, “You do know Neyo isn’t a guy to be messed with, right? If you start a war with him, you better be able to finish it.”

Lara smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes lightly. “It’ll be fine. He’s just a guy I love to hate at the moment, complete entertainment. Besides, under all that ice, I think he’s all bluff.”

Fives shook his head at her, eyes wide. “I don’t think so, Lara. I’m pretty sure that man was created without a soul.”

“Well, he’s no ginger, and he’s got something stirring around in there, else he wouldn’t have taken the time to have someone tattoo his name on his face. A man who’s got pride, has spirit, and therefore some kind of soul. It might be a thoroughly rotten one, smelling of death and bad cheese, but hey it’s there.”

Fives laughed. “If you say so. Just, be careful around that guy. Spooks can’t be trusted.

“A truer statement there never was. I’ll make a bet with you - 100 credits that he’ll show some form of actual human activity before the trip is out.” Fives thought about it and then nodded, reaching over to shake on the deal. Lara sat back and asked, “Okay, my friend, what are we watching today?” The two of them settled in at her desk and flipped through her extensive library of movies and TV shows. Fives was working his way through the Marvel series, and so this time he requested Thor: Ragnarok. They watched the movie, laughing along at the funny parts and sass until it was time to head for the hangar for physical training with the Dragon Company.

Two days’ flight brought them to the mysterious Outer Rim system Neyo had designated as the current lair of Grievous. Admiral Shepherd kept the Talon in the region but far enough from the planet to shroud their presence, while they worked through what scans of the surface they had available. On the bridge, Shepherd, General Lin, Neyo and his two spy buddies, Fives and Primer worked to come up with a plan for getting to the surface and moving on the structure the rogue cyborg general was supposedly hiding in. Lara stood back, watching the information on the holo table critically, while listening to the team hash out suggestions.

The team came up with a workable plan, and got to the surface to carry it out, but as with many best intentions, there was no Grievous present on the surface to capture. The facility was empty save for battle droids, which was a complicating factor but not over all a bad thing. The men got to blow them up, the dragon got to incinerate some, and it seemed everyone went home happy. Except for Neyo.

His intel had proved incorrect, and the mission had in fact turned into a wild goose chase. He could see that General Lin and Primer weren’t overly upset about it; in fact they seemed quite content with the day’s work. But Neyo felt the cold hand of shame creeping up his neck, knowing he would have to answer for being wrong, dragging a battle group out to the middle of nowhere, burning precious fuel reserves and supplies, for what amounted to target practice.

Baiulus landed a short distance away from the Venator as the ramp dropped, and Lara watched the progress of her troops from his back, keeping an ever mindful eye out for any droids that might appear. On the whole, the trip was a waste of fuel, but good practice for the men. There were only a few wounded casualties, and Volte assured her they would be perfectly fine by the time they got back to Coruscant. When the last of the clones boarded, leaving only Fives, Neyo and Primer on the ground, Lara dismounted the dragon and patted him on the jaw, murmuring praise to him and dismissing him back to wherever he went. The dragon turned in a lumbering circle and took off, disappearing into the distance. Lara turned to her escorts and nodded towards the ship, moving to climb the ramp herself.

“Well Commander Neyo, that was a fun little side trip for literally nothing. I may be forced to start calling you Commander Null-o.” She didn’t spare him a look.

The man blushed a dusky red color in embarrassment and annoyance. “That’s just how it works sometimes, General.” He was actually mortified that there had been no sign of Grievous at all. If the cyborg had been there, it hadn’t been very recent. Rather graciously, the General said nothing more and simply headed for the bridge while making small talk with Fives. Neyo was alone with his shame, wondering how they could ever live this down.

She was also kind about the situation on the bridge, when she updated Admiral Shepherd. He’d watched their approach to the windscreens and holo table, and asked rather lightly, “No Grievous, I see?”

Lara shook her head. “No Grievous. Just battle droids. Cyclops was able to pull this off the central data computer though.” Lara held up a disc with the information imprinted on the memory chip. “Maybe it will have useful information.” She handed the disc to a staff officer, who plugged it into the holo table and worked to decode the information. Looking up, she dismissed Fives and Primer, thanking them for their work and praising their efforts that day. Neyo saw them leave, and realized she hadn’t dismissed him. Perhaps the shoe was about to drop after all. “When you get the information decoded and ready, let me know. Commander, please come with me.” Lara turned and breezed off the bridge, heading for her quarters. Neyo followed quickly, knowing he was about to get dressed down by the General, after all the bravado he’d been fronting.

As soon as the door closed to her stateroom, Neyo saw Lara turn to stand behind her desk and face him. “I don’t really have to say anything; I know you’re wishing you could find a rock to crawl under at this point. You better hope there’s good intel on that disc we pirated.” Lara folded her arms over her armored chest and gave him a piercing look. “You and your guys need to go over that stuff and see what we can glean for our benefit.”

Neyo stood waiting for real chastisement to come from the General, and when she finished talking, his eyes kind of flickered in realization - she wasn’t going to rebuke him. Instead she was watching him with a curious expression of understanding and patience that was totally unexpected. Neyo’s mouth opened in his surprise, and for a moment he forgot how to speak. “General, I am… sorry for this whole affair. I cleared that intel and verified it to the Jedi - it’s my fault we are here.” He stopped talking, staring at the desk top.

Lara didn’t speak for a long time; rather she watched Neyo as he worked to salvage the shreds of his pride. She didn’t want to watch the man struggle, so she decided to throw him a bone. “Honestly, Commander, I liked you better when you were an asshole.” His eyes snapped up to her face at hearing her. “You screwed up. It happens. Nobody died, and we got to incinerate some droids. As far as the Dragon Company is concerned, it was a good day at the range. Now, you best scuttle off and go over that intel with a fine toothed comb.”

Neyo stood tall, realizing she had basically wiped the slate clean for him, and given him an invite to continue on as they had been before. He studied her with a look of appraisal and newfound respect. The clone commander snapped a perfect salute and turned to head for her door. Before he could leave he heard her voice. “Oh and Neyozle. It’ll be our little secret.”

“What secret, General?,” he asked, completely confused.

“That under that whole shell of tough guy, cute animal torturing, cold as a frozen dead fish exterior - there’s an actual honest to god soul.” She gave him a little devilish grin. “Fives and I had a bet going. Granted, it’s a small soul. A shriveled little thing, but it’s there.”

Neyo’s eyes narrowed but internally he laughed ruefully. “I’ll send you the bill for my next shipment of tookas, General. And I hate fish.” He turned to leave and called out, “I’ll update you as soon as I have a report on the decrypted intel.” He didn’t see the small amused smile on Lara’s face as the door shut behind him. She knew she’d won the man over, though he’d probably never admit it openly.

The pirated CIS intel contained some highly valuable information, thankfully. It did prove Neyo and his spies correct - Grievous had been using the random, isolated facility as a base for some Outer Rim activities. He’d last been there a couple of weeks before their raid. The biggest find though, was the information it contained concerning other hidden CIS bases, their armament, and which leader frequented them. Neyo was vindicated, quite by luck and Lara’s quick thinking to steal information from the computers in the building, and the mission was deemed a success. The flight back to Coruscant was relaxed and triumphant, and Neyo was privy to watching the rather secretive Dragon Company’s downtime routines on their ship.

It was really quite vanilla - they trained, they played a game called basketball which the General had taught them, and also lounged around listening to the music which was always playing over head. Neyo had seen the General play a few games of ball with her men, her easy laughter and camaraderie readily apparent with her troops. She was sassy, laid back, approachable, knew every single clone by face and name. She was a leader that men loved to serve and would fight for with their very lives. She saw Neyo standing by the basketball court at one point and turned, chunking the ball at him unexpectedly. He flubbed catching it, suddenly thrust into the spotlight.

“Come on Neon, catch the ball!” She was wearing the biggest smile, and had her hands up ready to catch the ball. She expected him to throw it back to her.

“That is not my name, General,” he said in a slightly bored tone.

“And yet you answered. Hmm. How about Neil? Neidermyer? Noodles? Ney ney? Come on, I like Ney Ney.” She kept floating silly names while Neyo shook his head, his expression getting more and more stony. But beneath that painful frown, Lara could see his eyes were lit with internal mirth - it was all he could do to keep the angry look up. Lara sighed. “Fine. Neyo…Nono.” She’d seen his posture relax the tiniest fraction and then stiffen back up at the second half. The men around her were all snickering with laughter at the General bugging the Commander; she had no compunction whatsoever to behave. “You disappoint me Commander. I thought we could be friends and I could have some really cool nickname just for you. Ah well, guess it just goes to show beauty and fame can’t buy everything.” She gave him a grin and turned to get back to the game.

Neyo kept watching, trying to understand the rules, but also just admiring the General’s athleticism and bubbly nature. She talked a lot of smack to her troopers, handling the ball well on the dribble and driving to the basket to score frequently. She wasn’t afraid to slam herself into their bodies to physically move them out of the way, and they gave it right back to her. At one point a player blocked her so hard she ended up on her butt on the floor, laughing ruefully and rubbing her sore cheek. “Nice hit Falco. Gonna pay for that though!” The game went on with varying results; Lara’s team came up one point short and the winners made a lot of noise about their loss. The men enjoyed rubbing it in her face, watching her smile sheepishly and make big promises about how the next game would go.

A command staff lieutenant ran up to ask Lara to report to the bridge. He turned to Neyo and said, “the message was for you as well, Commander.”

Lara passed the ball off to the clones so they could continue playing and turned to walk with Neyo to the bridge. As they got in the elevator, Lara took a sideways glance at the stiff clone beside her. “You dating anybody, Commander?” Her open frankness always caught him off guard.

Neyo stared straight ahead and didn’t speak for a moment. “No one in particular,” he grumbled. “You applying for the role?”

“You mean you can’t find someone with that bubbly personality of yours? I’m so shocked.” Lara huffed out a laugh.

“They don’t like all the body parts in jars in my foot locker. No one understands the value of being able to go back and study things in detail, at leisure.” He said it so smoothly Lara’s eyebrows shot up and she stood regarding him with her mouth open for a moment. He heard her close her teeth with a snap and snort a little.

“I can imagine eau de death isn’t a fragrance most girls want to smell.”

“Do I smell like death, General?,” Neyo asked her with an arched eyebrow.

“I’ll give you that much, Neeman - you don’t smell half bad. Should I feel honored that you washed up for me?” Lara smirked at him playfully.

“It’s Neyo… and I wouldn’t dare put you in a position of having to choose between myself and your Captain.” His voice smoothly purred that last out.

There was silence for a moment. “If you recall, I already told you there’d never be a choice in your favor. Remember - cattle prod, artificial insemination… I like you Neyo (yes I do know your name but since it annoys you so much, I’ll probably keep finding ways to change it). But you aren’t Rex. And, while I generally never have to resort to threats, I will say that if you try to throw Rex under the proverbial sky bus because of my relationship with him, I may be inclined to use that cattle prod sooner than the end of the world, and in ways you’d find surprising.” She shot him a hard glance with her glowing blue eyes and he stared back stonily.

“What if I enjoyed the cattle prod?” He watched her with a very flat look.

“I’m not above stuffing you in a footlocker and hiding you on a lonely planet, either. You can tell whomever you like there, as long and as loudly as you like. Besides, I know I’ve already won you over to my side.” She gave him a small conspiratorial wink as the elevator finally reached the level of the bridge and the door shot open. The pair walked forward to the holo table, behind which stood Admiral Shepherd, Fives and Primer. General Kenobi was present via holo, waiting for them to arrive so he could relay his message.

“Ah we are all here now. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend, General,” Kenobi said dryly.

“But of course, Obi Wan. I was teaching Marshal Commander NoNo the finer points of the use of a cattle prod on Earth. It was a riveting discussion.” Lara leaned her weight back on one foot and folded her arms over her chest, an incorrigible smirk on her face. Neyo looked at her like he’d never seen such a creature before, while Kenobi worked to decide if she was serious. He finally decided to just carry on with the reason for his communication.

“We have been able to verify the intel given us from your data piracy, and we are moving forward with plans for sending officers to those systems to see if the CIS leaders can be captured. The Jedi Council is thankful for the assistance of Dragon Company in this matter, and to you Commander Neyo, for your work in getting us there in the first place. When you return to Coruscant, you will be given new orders for your Reconnaissance Corps. Any questions?,” Kenobi asked, looking at the attendees around the table. Most of the heads shook in the negative; they understood and had nothing further to add. “Very well. We will see you when you return to Coruscant. Thank you again, General Lin.”

Lara smiled and gave him a lazy half salute with two fingers. Looking up to address the group around her, Lara said breathily, “Whelp, looks like that was the official kudos and blessing to be off the hook Commander. Attaboy, Noodles,” she said with a dramatic clap. Fives and Primer both grinned at her insistence on screwing with Neyo’s mind. Lara knocked her knuckles on the table a couple of times and then stood to leave. She was heading back down to the basketball game if they no longer needed her.

During their two day flight back to Coruscant, Neyo found small excuses to hang out in the vicinity of the General. If he was honest with himself, it was because he found her entertaining, and enjoyed the little battle of wits between them. The man was far from personable; after leaving Kamino with his birth squad he’d become frightfully solitary and taciturn. Few wanted to put up with his surly, isolated ways. He was friends with Commander Bacara, who was a similarly lonely shark, but in all honesty, Neyo stayed aloof among clones, dated when he felt the need to pick someone up for a one night stand and otherwise moved from mission to mission. He found General Lin a breath of fresh air that made him … feel… inside. Not so much attracted to her - he just found her a comforting presence, perhaps even someone he liked. It was a novel feeling for him. Regardless, she’d proven he didn’t intimidate her in the least, and that she found his gruff nature something of a challenge to conquer. Neyo had developed respect for her indomitable spirit, her battle skills and leadership acumen, and secretly he felt Rex was a truly lucky man to have won the love of this General.

As the Talon pulled back into port on Coruscant, he joined General Lin on the bridge of the ship. Admiral Shepherd was busy with the tasks of bringing such a large vessel into her berth, so Lara had the area by the windscreen by herself. She was watching the high rises and sky scrapers of the metropolis rise before her, as the Venator sank lower to the ground. Lara glanced over at her company briefly, and back out the windscreen. Neyo had become something of a skulking shadow the last couple of days, and while she didn’t mind, others had watched in amusement to near concern; Lara was notorious among the GAR and the Jedi for her antics, and none of the Dragons wanted to see her get into trouble. Outside the ship, standing on the pier, Lara recognized the familiar shape of a clone in white armor with blue accents, with a blue pauldron over the left shoulder. Neyo snuck a glance to see her wearing a little private smile on her beautiful face, her eyes shining happily at the sight.

Lara suddenly took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “Well, Commander, it’s been a ride. I hope you enjoyed your time with the Dragon Company.” She shot him a little sideways look and grin.

“I have never been more miserable in my entire, short life. You and your Company are the biggest bunch of renegade, order refusing, nigh unprofessional soldiers I’ve ever traveled with. It’s no wonder you have the reputation you do within the GAR.” He stared back at her flatly, watching her reaction. Lara had blinked and drawn herself up, her expression one of slight befuddlement.

“Really, it was all that? Well then…” Lara pursed her lips and nodded a little to herself.

“Actually General, I would say this is the most interesting mission I’ve been on in a long time. The level of teamwork and respect between you and your men is unequaled in any of the other Companies I’ve served with. Your men love you and would follow you into any battle.” He paused and then said a bit hesitantly, “And I think I see why, now.”

She’d perked up quite a lot at his sudden change of tone. “Oh, Commander? Why is that, pray tell? Wait, wait, don’t tell me - it’s because I’m so beautiful and fantastic and irresistible that even you cannot resist my charms, isn’t it?” She delivered it with a giggle and a teasing tone.

Neyo’s ruggedly handsome face split into a smile - quite shocking for him. Lara wondered if his cheeks hurt from the stretch, and his teeth ached from the exposure to sunlight. She was shocked that they weren’t filed into sharp points. He didn’t answer immediately, trying to formulate the best reply. “I’d say it was more the lack of fear and loathing you showed me. I think most people really do think I torture small animals for entertainment, and survive off blood straight from the source. But you - you treated me like a man, no better or worse than yourself. And you didn’t let my manner insult you nor hurt your feelings. I’m not sure I’ve come up against a Jedi General of your … personality, before, and I’m impressed. If we ever get forced into another mission together, it won’t be the worst thing I’ve had happen.”

Lara accepted his words for the high praise it was, coming from this particular clone. “Wow Neyo, that was… Do I need to call someone to come check you out? You having any chest pain after all those feelings? Head spinning? I’m not gonna give you mouth to mouth but I’m totally down for foot applied CPR.” Her smile lit the room, as she laughed.

Neyo grinned back at her and put his hand over his chest. “You know General, the fact that you believe there’s even a heart to show concern over it more than most would believe. But no, all is well, I’m not having a seizure, and this was no hallucination. I will live another day to put the fear of the devil into someone.” The clone watched as General Lin turned to leave the bridge; the Talon had finally docked and taken on the mooring lines. She wanted to get to the pier to see her shore party. As she moved away, Neyo called out, “Don’t give away my secret though, General!”

He heard her laugh, and Lara turned back to face him as she kept walking backwards. “Oh don’t worry Needles. No one would believe me if I tried to tell them you have a soul in there. Your secret is safe with me. Catch you on the flip side, Commander!” She disappeared into the lift and the last Neyo saw of her was her slim form breezing down the ship’s ramp to greet Captain Rex. Her secret was safe with Neyo, as well.

#worksbyclonemedickix #clone thirsting #clone smut #original female character #captain rex x oc #captain rex #commander neyo #commander neyo x ofc #letthesnarkflow #snarkbattle #starwars fandom #starwars the clone wars #the clone wars fanfiction #star wars fanfiction #my fanfiction

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wanderinginksplot · 2 years

Text

Gar Cyare Chapter Three

Alpha-17/fem!reader fic

Word Count: 6,200

Warnings: Threats, extended flashback sequences, minor insecurities on the reader's part, Kaminoans being creepy, flirtation.

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Tome'tayle (Memories)

Tracking the passage of time on Kamino was difficult.

You were sure that the planet had seasons of some kind - most did, after all - but you had never really seen evidence of it. You rarely needed to step outside and, when you did, you found the weather extremely unhelpful in estimating the season. When there was a storm coming in, the winds whipped past Tipoca City, bringing a brisk chill to the window panes. When it was raining, the air seemed close and thick between the drops. There was never a scent of petrichor on Kamino; after all, there was very little greenery to be found. If there were no active or incoming storms, the platforms tended to be breezy and cool. On the rare occasion that sunlight reached Tipoca City, it built up humidity so intense that it was hard to breathe.

All of that was to say that your time with Alpha passed in a pleasant blur. Days turned to weeks and longer. You had thoroughly settled into your altered role with the Senate, Alpha had regained favor with his ARC trainees, and the repairs to Tipoca City were nearly finished. Life on Kamino was settling back into normalcy, insofar as it could ever be considered normal.

It was odd to think about how natural everything felt. You could almost imagine that the Separatists had never attacked Kamino.

Almost.

As you sat in your office, darkened holopad screens reflecting the gray Kaminoan skies visible through the window behind you, your attention was caught on a small holoprojector sitting on the corner of your desk. It had been given to you by the ARCs-in-training, set to display a series of images in rotation. The images had mostly been captured by Bacara, who proved to have quite a talent for recording people and scenes at the perfect time.

The current one was a candid image of the group sitting at the table you had claimed in the cafeteria. Despite the normalcy of the setting and people, you remembered that day vividly.

You had been sitting with Alpha, the ARCs, and Limit, enjoying your meal. Being in the cafeteria hadn’t stopped being uncomfortable since the attack. The cadets weren’t hostile to you anymore, not the way they had been just after the invasion, but they weren’t going out of their way to be friendly. There were no flirtations. Anywhere you went around Tipoca City, wary glares and suspicious whispers followed, but you did your best to ignore them.

The cafeteria was tricky, since you were sharing an enclosed space with the cadets. Your ability to ignore them waned in the close quarters and your heart sank every time one of them made a derisive face at you.

Still, the troopers didn’t make it easy to pay attention to those cadets. They were loud. It was something you had noticed the first time you had ever eaten in the cafeteria. You had been terrified back then, nervous that you would offend someone or be in their way. Between your fears, the underwhelming food, and the sheer level of noise in the room, you had never managed to relax in the cafeteria.

Things were still loud now, maybe even more so. Alpha and Limit were quiet, but the ARCs tended to be bold, especially when they were arguing about something ridiculous. And that was often.

Surprisingly, you didn’t find the noise as jarring when you were in the middle of it instead of on the outskirts. And you had very much been in the middle of it. Alpha was sitting beside you, occasionally contributing to the conversation but mostly just listening in alternating waves of irritation, amusement, and fond exasperation.

Somewhere between dumping his tray and returning to the table, Bacara had managed to capture the holoimage, which showed everyone enjoying a meal together, talking and laughing exuberantly.

Then everything had gone wrong.

A cadet had been moving past your group, clearly heading for a table, when someone shouted something. You didn’t hear what it was, but the tone wasn’t entirely friendly. You turned to see what was going on - worried that it was directed at you and unsure what you would do if it was.

Unfortunately, the cadet had been startled and lurched to the side with his heavily laden tray. His full glass of water had toppled, spilling cold liquid onto your shoulder, splashing it across your chest and trailing down your arm.

The cafeteria had gone silent a moment later, but you couldn’t be sure whether that had happened when they saw your drenched sleeve or when Alpha had seized the cadet by the arms.

“You have ten seconds to explain what just happened,” Alpha ordered tersely.

The cadet stammered for a moment - he was a young trooper, too young to look like anything other than a child. “I- I was walking to a table and got startled, sir. Sorry, sir. Sorry, ma’am.”

Alpha stared at him as if he could read the cadet’s mind if he looked deep enough, a hard light in his eyes. Your mind was screaming for you to say something, but all you managed to do was watch. Alpha’s grip didn’t tighten, but he didn’t let the cadet go, either. He just held on and stared grimly.

Bacara had approached the table with a smooth, easy stride that didn't quite manage to hide his worry. “Alpha, I saw the whole thing happen. It was an accident.”

That spurred you into speaking as well. “It’s just water, Alpha,” you soothed quietly. “It’ll dry and he didn’t do it on purpose.”

Alpha let the cadet go. Without breaking his gaze on the cadet’s face, he scooped up the empty glass and handed it back. “Best go get more, trooper. Take a different way back to your table.”

The cadet backed away quickly, nodding too many times. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

The rest of the meal had been quiet and tense, ending shortly afterward.

Originally, that image hadn’t been included in the rotation on the holoprojector the ARCs had given you. You had to ask Bacara for it. You understood his reasoning for keeping it out, but even the mild reminder of unpleasant moments made the rest of the rotation much more pleasant. It kept you grateful for the better times.

As that image faded, it was replaced with one of you standing with the kids. Tech was next to you with Hunter beside him. Wrecker was on your other side, already towering over you and everyone else. One of his arms was propped on your shoulder - because Alpha had scowled at him for propping it on your head - and the other was wrapped around Crosshair. All of you were smiling, even Crosshair. For that alone, you had demanded a copy of the image.

It had been a surprise for you to find that you and Alpha had apparently adopted four genetically altered troopers. Granted, you had already planned something along those lines after they had helped Alpha and the ARCs so much during the Separatist attack, but it was a bit of a surprise to learn that the adoption had essentially happened without you knowing.

In any case, the troopers had been a bright spot during the recovery, just as fiercely protective of you as Alpha and the ARCs were. You thought their efforts were more cute than intimidating, but you could see them growing, learning, and becoming more competent even as you watched with fascination and a bit of sadness.

The day Bacara had captured that holoimage, you had gone to the ARC training area to support the men in one of their late-afternoon trainings. You had finished with your work earlier than expected and thought you would drop in. Alpha never said anything directly about it, but you hadn’t missed the way he preened and showed off just a bit when you were watching a training session. And it wasn’t exactly a punishment for you, either.

When you had settled at your usual spot inside the training area - safely tucked off to one side so you wouldn’t accidentally get in the way - you were taken aback by the training. Instead of the planned training about infiltration tactics, Alpha and the ARCs were standing in a loose circle around the cadets. Alpha would announce a move or series of moves and the cadets would perform them. The ARCs called advice, encouragement, or stepped in to provide an opponent if necessary.

You couldn’t hide that you were worried at first. A lot of the moves the cadets were doing were intense, seeming far too advanced for them… but they completed every one perfectly. In that moment, you were struck by the difference you were already seeing in the four young men.

You had only known them for a handful of weeks, maybe a few months at most, and they already looked so grown-up. Their faces and bodies were leaner, they had gotten taller, and they were already starting to put on the muscle mass common to the troopers. Wrecker was taller and more muscular than his brothers while Tech and Crosshair were far more slender than typical, but the changes were clear.

While you were coming to terms with the ache in your heart, already mourning the lost childhoods of these cadets you had barely gotten to know, Alpha called an end to the exercise.

As the cadets took a moment to catch their breath, Alpha nodded approvingly at them. “That was much better. You’re improving quickly.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Tech said, eyes shining behind his goggles.

“We’re just tryin’ to keep up with all of you guys!” Wrecker tossed out, dodging and returning the punches Drift playfully threw in his direction.

“Yeah, but we’re ARCs,” Neyo countered. “If you’re keeping up with us, you’re better than most of the cadets on Kamino.”

“Not bad for a bad batch,” Crosshair said, a wry smile on his face.

You had frowned, sitting up and opening your mouth to say something when the ARCs burst out laughing. Before you could say anything at all, the ARCs had congratulated Crosshair on that piece of humor and the name had been repeated more times than you could count.

“You okay, neverd’ika?” Alpha had asked, coming to sit beside you.

You gestured at the cadets. “The bad batch? Don’t you think that’s… I don’t know… insulting? I don’t remember a lot of the Separatist attack, but I remember enough to know that they were a huge help. Why would they call themselves that?”

“I don’t know; they didn’t talk it over with me,” Alpha replied with a shrug. “Ask ‘em.”

“I will,” you decided, firming your jaw.

Alpha’s fingers on your wrist stilled you before you could move too far, and the warning look on his face stopped you from saying something immediately. “But remember, it might be more insulting to tell them that they don’t have the right to choose what they call themselves.”

You paused, deflating slightly. Alpha had made a fair point, and you had no idea how to convince the cadets not to call themselves that without taking away their agency. In the end, you settled for calling, “Why ‘bad batch’?”

The cadets paused at the sound of your question as the room’s occupants turned toward you. They exchanged glances, but when Hunter spoke, his answer was confident and firm. “That’s all the Kaminoans see when they look at us. It’s what they call us. If we call ourselves that, they’ll know we don’t see it as an insult. It’s just who we are. We’re a Bad Batch.”

You wanted to argue, to convince them that they were more than that, but when Hunter said their self-chosen title with relish, enough emphasis to capitalize it in your mind, you couldn’t say anything about their choice. If they wanted to be the Bad Batch, that was who they would be.

Somehow, though, these four headstrong young troopers were watching you with nervous anticipation, like they needed your approval. Your heart melted just a bit more for the cadets you and Alpha had unofficially adopted. You nodded gravely. “If you’re going to have a group name, you’ll need a group symbol. That way, there’s no mistake about who you are and what you’re going to do. Every place you go and every bit of good you do, the Kaminoans will be reminded that they tried to shrug off some of the best troopers this place has ever produced.”

Warmth at your back warned you that Alpha had stepped up behind you. With a heavy hand on your shoulder, he rumbled, “I’ll never forget that you stepped up to help me and these men during the attack. You put yourselves at risk for no gain. If you want to call yourselves the Bad Batch, you should. I’m proud to say that I was there for the Bad Batch’s first mission.”

There was a beat of silence before the newly-christened Bad Batch saluted the captain.

No - that wasn’t quite right. The angle of their bodies was wrong.

You had to choke back a wave of emotion when you realized that their salutes were aimed at both Alpha and you.

The image switched, breaking you from your reverie. Only then were you aware of the fond smile stretched across your face. It didn't leave as the next images in the sequence appeared.

It was an image of this very office, one major difference being that the holoprojector currently displaying these images was missing. If you remembered correctly, this image had been captured shortly before Bacara had given you the gift.

You were laughing in the image. You were half-sitting behind your desk, but you were clearly being pulled up and out of your chair by Monnk and Drift. They were laughing, too, and you distinctly remembered Bacara doing the same behind the holocamera.

You had called to warn Alpha that you would be working late that night. Since you had accepted the new contract with the Republic, your workload had lightened considerably. You still had to reach certain goals with your report, regularly submitting sections to Jaiss for review, but those goals were far more attainable than they had ever been. You couldn't remember the last time you had to work through a meal.

Even staying late wouldn't have put you at risk of missing dinner with Alpha, but you definitely intended to work past the end of the work day. Alpha hadn't been thrilled by that when you called him, but he didn't try to argue with you… which was suspicious, since he argued about everything.

At roughly three minutes after you typically left your office, you heard running footsteps in the hall followed by frantic pounding on your door. When it had opened, Drift and Monnk had invited themselves in, followed by Bacara.

"C'mon, work day is over," Monnk announced, starting for your desk.

“What?” you had asked reflexively, having heard the question but been too confused to process it immediately. “No, I just have to finish this part of the project. I’m almost done. It won’t take more than an hour.”

“Then that will be an easy start to your day tomorrow,” Drift told you. “Let’s go.”

“I can’t just leave,” you protested.

“You can,” Bacara told you. “And you need to.”

“We all saw how hard you worked before the contract was changed,” Monnk agreed. “None of us are gonna let you start working like that again.”

You were touched by their concern, honestly… but you really did need to finish this section or you would forget the point you had been trying to make. You didn’t trust that you would remember the particular phrasing that you had come up with by the time you started your next work day.

“I’ll just finish this section and then I’ll be done for the day,” you bargained.

“Nope, not good enough,” Monnk decreed. “Come on.”

He had reached out - carefully giving you ample time to pull away if that’s what you chose to do - and gently took one of your wrists in his hands. You used your free hand to save your progress on the report but shook your head at the same time.

“Monnk, it’ll be five more minutes,” you protested, the loud laughter spilling from you detracting slightly from the overall impression. “Maybe ten.”

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Drift said sternly, holding up a hand in your direction. “Are you refusing to comply with orders? Attempting to incite a riot? Resisting arrest?”

Despite yourself, you only laughed harder. “Am- am I being arrested?”

“If you don’t leave here, sure,” Bacara told you, lifting the holocamera in your direction as Drift grabbed your other wrist.

“Alpha will bail me out,” you insisted.

“Nah, Captain’s on our side,” Monnk said, utterly unconcerned.

That sounded about right, which only made you laugh harder.

“Shift it, civvie,” Drift ordered, though his grip on your arm was more insistent and irritating than forceful. He and Monnk ended up waving your hands around as they pulled you back and forth in an extremely silly manner.

“Don’t tell me she’s overpowering you two,” Bacara teased from behind the holocamera. “What kind of ARCs are you?”

“She’s a tough one,” Drift grunted, pretending to struggle. “The captain must have taught her all his best tricks.”

“Don’t worry, Bacara, we’ll get her,” Monnk promised, pulling your wrist in a way that let him strain against his own hold while you were hardly jostled. “She may be tough, but we’re tougher!”

Bacara gave a skeptical grunt. “Dunno, I might put credits on her instead.”

Monnk and Drift had looked offended for half a second before they had started laughing as hard as you were. Bacara had snapped the picture and here it was.

The image slowly faded into another one. As lovely as the other memories were, they couldn’t begin to compete with this one. It was a relatively simple one - just you and Alpha walking down one of the many bland hallways of Tipoca City. The edges of things in the background were blurred slightly from Bacara’s speed as he had taken it. For that reason, he had been reluctant to give you a copy of it, but you had managed to plead one from him.

The background may have been blurry, but you and Alpha were in perfect focus. You weren’t walking hand-in-hand or anything equally overt, but you were in the middle of a conversation. Neither of you had noticed Bacara or his holocamera yet, so neither of you had your guard up.

You were staring up at Alpha with admiration written clearly across your expression. Even in the middle of whatever you had been saying to him, you were watching him more closely than your surroundings. There was a smile curving your lips and your face was bright with happiness.

You would have been embarrassed by how openly stunned you were by Alpha… if he hadn’t looked equally adoring. His expression was a little more subtle by nature, but his eyes were warm and satisfied.

As the two of you had agreed months before, you weren’t open about your relationship. You weren’t touching, but something in your body language spoke of closeness and a familiarity formed over long exposure to each other. It was impossible for you to know for sure, but you liked to think that a stranger seeing the two of you for the first time would know that you were friends or more, just based on the way you walked in harmony even with the slight distance between you.

“Hey, you ready for-? What? Why are you smiling like that?”

You glanced up quickly, meeting Alpha’s eyes from where he was standing at the doorway of your office. Despite the judgment of his words, his tone was soft - more curious than anything. Your heart performed a series of gymnastics as you noted that he was wearing the same warm expression he had in the treasured holoimage.

“Just watching the projector,” you explained, glancing at the chrono past Alpha’s shoulder. It was time to go to dinner. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Give me a moment and I’ll be ready to leave.”

Alpha hummed, settling comfortably into a chair as he watched you. “Busy day?”

You laughed. “Something like that.”

As soon as you had finished saving your documents and storing the datapads, you shut off the lights and left your office with Alpha walking beside you.

In your more introspective moments before you had confessed your feelings, you had done your best to envision what it would be like to date the stern and imposing Captain Alpha-17. The results had often been overly romanticized - especially since you were well aware that no relationship was perfect - but you had typically reminded yourself that Alpha was, above all else, a soldier. You had thoroughly expected him to struggle in this new role, something unlike anything he had known before.

You had been wrong.

Was Alpha the perfect boyfriend? Absolutely not. But you weren't perfect either and your relationship seemed to be going just fine. What Alpha lacked in relationship experience, he made up for with focus.

Alpha had approached dating you with the intense scrutiny he used to study battle plans or landing conditions for an upcoming mission. (Or so you assumed from the stories he had told you.) If he didn't understand something, he asked questions until he did. And after he had woken from his alcohol-assisted sleep, he dissected his communication breakdown with the precision of a man defusing a bomb.

It was intense but flattering. Alpha had made it clear through his every action that this relationship was a priority for him. Maybe not the most important thing in his life, but certainly not far off. He was focused on you, studying your relationship together until he knew he understood every part of it.

The only thing you could do was put your full focus on him in return. There were ups and downs, even with your prior experiences with romance. You weren’t totally lost, but between the need for secrecy, the intensity of Tipoca City so soon after an infiltration, and Alpha’s own propensity for showing his feelings rather than speaking about them… Actually, when you stopped to think about it, your prior romantic experience didn’t help all that much.

Even then, walking down the hallway in comfortable quiet, was something you hadn’t experienced before. You had always felt the need to fill silences in the past. Why didn’t you now? Was it because you didn’t need to speak or because you didn’t know what to say? And did Alpha feel the same? He didn’t spend much time talking, but was he wondering why you weren’t? The last thing you wanted to do was hurt him yet again…

“Neverd’ika,” Alpha said suddenly, making you tense. Your gaze scanned the hallway ahead of you, automatically searching for some kind of threat, but found nothing. Alpha murmured your name, drawing your attention. “You’re frowning. Everything good?”

“Are you happy with me?” you asked, the words bursting from you before you could think them through.

Alpha halted immediately, his fingers on your forearm pulling you to a stop as well. His brows were furrowed low over his eyes as they scanned your face. “What’s going on? Am I happy with you? Of course I’m happy with you. Are you happy with me?”

“Of course!” you replied earnestly.

Alpha huffed, making an exasperated gesture that showed his frustration with you without using a single word. “Then why are you asking questions like that?”

“I just-” you cut yourself off with a sigh. “I just wanted to make sure.”

Narrowing his eyes at you, Alpha took a step closer. His height meant you were left staring up at him, but you couldn’t deny that his nearness had your heart beating faster. His hand, tucked close by his side, found yours. With his hand running gently over the back of your palm, you were caught in a firestorm of anticipation and comfort.

“Neverd’ika, I promise you this,” Alpha started, voice low and serious. “If I ever think things need to end between us, I’ll tell you. I’m enough of a man to do that. You know that, don’t you?”

You nodded and Alpha nodded with you. “And you’ll do the same with me. Promise me that you’ll tell me if you want to end this.”

You nodded again, but Alpha looked skeptical. “And you won’t be nice to me just to spare my feelings like you do with the cadets?” You shook your head, a grin fighting to form at his over-exaggerated suspicion. “Because I’m the perfect person to practice your meanness on. In fact, that might be a good idea…”

“Alpha, don’t,” you argued, half-laughing. “You know how you couldn’t help me spar because you could never try to hurt me? I feel the same way about you. I couldn’t be cruel to you. Please don’t ask me to.”

“I don’t think you would ever be cruel, cyare,” Alpha admitted. “But I think you could hurt me. Kriff, I know you could. You’re the only one who could.”

Your heart melted a bit at that and you lifted slightly onto your toes. Alpha’s gaze bounced from your eyes to your lips and back - an unbelievably quick flick of his attention, but it was enough to make your lips part with your suddenly quickened breath.

Just as Alpha started to lean down, a group of cadets passed. Alpha straightened, throwing a dirty look at the cadets. Whether it was because of their interruption or because he was preparing for them to throw an insult in your direction, you couldn’t be sure.

In either case, the cadets took no notice of you or Alpha. They passed in laughing conversation. When the noise of them had faded, you and Alpha reluctantly pulled apart and continued in the direction of the mess hall.

You and Alpha had been remarkably tame as a couple.

Sure, you had kissed. You dreamed about that kiss. You had shared a few touches here and there. You had woken up in his bed - and his arms - the morning after his encounter with Zackra Trem and her alcohol. But those scattered incidents were as far as things had ever gone between you.

There was chemistry between you. The urge to get closer physically was there, but the obstacles seemed to appear out of nowhere. If you weren’t busy doing your jobs, there were Kaminoans around. If the Kaminoans weren’t nearby, cadets were. And even when the stars aligned perfectly, there was an odd sense of hesitancy. You had initially wondered if it was coming from you, but you had noticed it from Alpha as well.

Your only guess was that months of denying yourselves the slightest physical touch had given both of you a natural reluctance toward moving forward in your relationship. At least, that was what you hoped it was. If there were deeper issues between you and Alpha, you needed to find out as soon as you could.

Those thoughts disappeared as you finally reached the mess hall, but the underlying sense of urgency still remained. Still, you tried to push it from your mind as you stood in line to retrieve a tray with Alpha. The ARCs-in-training, the self-proclaimed Bad Batch, and Limit were all waiting at your usual table.

You and Alpha were greeted as cheerfully as ever. Out of long-formed habit, you took seats facing the door, the edges of your trays aligned so that you had an excuse to sit a little closer than one would typically see in the Kaminoan cafeteria.

As you shared a meal with your boyfriend and the odd group of friends you had collected, you began to relax into things. Your tumultuous thoughts of earlier faded into nothingness as you chatted with everyone. You even got Alpha to smile.

You didn’t know exactly when you had started to lean into Alpha’s side, or when he relaxed the muscles of his thigh so that your legs were pressed together from hip to knee. All you knew was that when Limit hissed for you to watch out, you yanked away from him and the time it took to unlace your fingers felt like a heart-pounding eternity.

“What is it?” Alpha demanded lowly, pretending to pay incredibly close attention to his meal.

“Kaminoans,” Limit told you, voice the darkest you had heard from the friendly medic.

“They’re circling today,” Neyo muttered. “Upper levels. They’ve been staring down at everyone for almost an hour.”

“Why?” you asked, glancing around the table. Having people stare at you while you were trying to eat seemed like an invasion somehow, and bad manners if nothing else. But though everyone else seemed irritated by it, apparently none of them were surprised.

“They do this every so often,” Faie told you. “No one is sure why.”

“Looking for excess,” Alpha said, spearing a piece of food so hard that you were sure his utensils would go through the table itself.

“Excess,” you repeated blankly. “What excess?”

“Any excess,” Alpha said, glowering up at the raised bank of windows that looked out onto the cafeteria. “You forget, neverd’ika, the Kamiini are running a business. They watch us to search for overages in food provision or consumption, deficiencies with any of the men and the way they eat, or too much conversation between them. They don’t like their products forming bonds. There is no money to be made through brotherhood.”

The bitterness was so thick in Alpha’s voice that you felt you could choke on it. To hear Alpha sounding so angry was far from unusual… but the underlying pain made you settle a comforting hand on his forearm.

Alpha had a half-moment to glance over at you and smile before Bacara rapped his knuckles against the underside of the table with a sharp crack. “What did we just say? Watch yourselves or the entirety of Tipoca City is going to know about the two of you.”

“I’m confused,” Hunter said, speaking for the first time instead of continuing his quiet observation. “Everybody already knows about the two of you. What does it matter if the Kaminoans see it? They probably already know, too.”

Alpha stared at him, frowning heavily. “Kid-”

“You know what?” Drift interrupted. “The rest of us are pretty much done here. Why don’t we take the Bad Batchlets and teach them about the concept of plausible deniability?”

“Batchlets?” Crosshair repeated, sounding irritated.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Monnk told them, urging everyone up and out of their seats. When everyone was on their way to the garbage cans or the cafeteria doors, Monnk leaned down to speak. Glancing between you and Alpha, he said, “If I were you, I would take this time to talk about everything, especially what comes next.”

“And that means?” Alpha asked, arching a brow.

Monnk shrugged, sending you a kind smile. “Whatever comes next for you according to how you want your relationship to go. Surely you’ve got some kind of plan? And if you don’t… that might be the first thing you need to talk about.”

And then he straightened, throwing a nod over his shoulder and leaving the cafeteria before either of you could give any kind of response.

You and Alpha finished your meal in silence - you hadn’t spoken about it, hadn’t planned it, but you were clearly on the same wavelength. Unlike the earlier lack of conversation on your way to the cafeteria and most silences you and the captain had shared, this one was distinctly uncomfortable. If you had been able to see past your own sense of nervousness, you would have figured that both of you were trying to plan what you wanted to say.

Alpha’s fingertips brushed your elbow and you knew what he meant. You stood, following him to dump your tray and leave it in the appropriate place before you left the cafeteria.

You knew, of course, what Monnk had meant by ‘what comes next’. He wanted you and Alpha to talk about where your relationship was going, what you would do when your contract on Kamino ended, and any excuses you would give if you were caught and your relationship was exposed. There was a lot of conversation to be had.

So why did your mind immediately jump toward the question of moving things forward in your physical relationship with Alpha?

Your nerves were on fire as Alpha steered you wordlessly in the direction of your personal quarters. No matter which way your conversation ended up going, you were going to need privacy for it.

The snarled thoughts in your head cut short so abruptly that they seemed to echo in your mind as a cadet started walking toward you with a purposeful air. Beside you, Alpha straightened, a lethal-looking scowl already forming on his face. You pressed your palm against the warm span of his back and Alpha closed his mouth. His glare didn’t fade.

The cadet stopped a short distance in front of you, his air of professionalism contrasting sharply with his youthful appearance. He nodded at Alpha. “Captain.”

Alpha didn’t nod back, but the cadet had already shifted his attention to you. “How involved are you in the production of clones, ma’am?”

The question wasn’t outright offensive, so you did your best to answer it honestly and without clear suspicion. “Not at all, trooper. I’m just the one writing the report requested by the Republic Senate about the production process.”

“And do you have anything to do with the testing of the final products?” he asked.

You frowned at him. “Testing? No. That’s all done by the Kaminoans and their staff.”

“Do you want to be part of the testing group?” One corner of his mouth curved upward and he waggled his eyebrows as he added, “I’d be fine with it if you wanted to make sure all of my pieces work. In fact-”

“That’s enough of that,” Alpha cut off, stepping forward between you and the cadet. “Run along before I test how firmly your arms are attached.”

The cadet smirked, but you noticed his speed as he fled the area. You glanced up at Alpha, a smile growing on your face. He shook his head, voice grumpy as he asked, “What?”

“That’s the first time one of the cadets has flirted with me since the attack!” you exclaimed, trying not to tear up about such a minor thing.

“That isn’t true,” Alpha argued. “I watched you- uh, saw you in the mess. There was some di’kutla cadet flirting with you at every meal.”

Any glee you may have felt knowing that Alpha had been watching you during your separation dissipated in the face of your embarrassment. Ducking your head slightly, you mumbled, “Uh, not- not quite. But it’s okay. Let’s keep going.”

The effort it took not to run down the hallway toward your quarters was ridiculous, but you managed. Of course, it took less than the length of one hall for Alpha to catch up with you. “What does that mean, neverd’ika? I saw it. I was proud of you for standing your ground, even when I thought you would never speak to me again. You shut the cadets down without a problem and you did it every day.”

“Those cadets…” You trailed off to take a deep, slow breath. It wasn’t something you necessarily wanted to admit, but you refused to lie to Alpha. “They weren’t flirting with me.”

“You said they were,” Alpha told you.

“Technically, you said that.”

Something in Alpha’s eyes told you he was thinking back over your conversation in his quarters after your cast had been removed. “I did,” he agreed eventually. “But you didn’t correct me. What were they really saying to you?”

“A lot of it was questions,” you answered honestly. The fact that there had been a few threats and insults wasn’t worth mentioning, especially since the ARCs-in-training had dealt with those situations immediately and decisively. “As long as they were polite, I answered their questions and invited them to stay. Some of them took me up on it, some didn’t.”

Alpha frowned, but reached out to brush the side of your hand with his fingers. “I can’t believe you misled me.”

“We were arguing,” you reminded him, smiling to take the sting out of your defensive tone. “And I can’t believe you were watching me in the cafeteria.”

“Every day,” Alpha said unashamedly. “How else was I supposed to survive eleven days without you?”

Your heart lurched at that. When you could speak, your voice came out so low and rich that you almost didn’t recognize it. “Alpha, you’re lucky we’re still in public or I would show you exactly how that makes me feel.”

Alpha’s head whipped in your direction. “Your leg is bothering you.”

The sudden change of subject - especially with a statement that was patently untrue - made your head spin… or maybe that was just the shift of Tipoca City as Alpha scooped you into his arms and rushed off toward your quarters at top speed.

---

Author's Note - sorry for posting later than expected! I think I'm going to start planning Thursday posts in the future to make things a little easier. On the bright side, only about a week and a half left until the next chapter!

Thanks for reading, and extra thanks for those who commented on or reblogged the last chapter! My motivation for writing this story is starting to fade a bit and those really keep me going!

(I have no plans to abandon this story, but the reblogs and comments just make writing a little easier.)

Find other works on my masterlist or sign up for my taglist here!

Taglist - @rexs-wife @sugarpuffsstuff @stargazingthenightaway @just-some-girl-92 @kimageddon @ladysongmaster @carodealmeida @adriiibell @nomercyforthewarrior @boomtowngirl @bitchylittleredhead @blck-omen @hrk-fic-recs @lackofhonor @captxin-rex @literallydontlook @salaminus @mothmanbelievesinyou @archivedreading @lucyhelena @808tsuika @ladykatakuri @echos-gal @shawtyitsyou @butterbug14 @skyguy-snips @fan-fic-favs @frietiemeloen @tsedeshgishnii @buddee @justanothersadperson93 @leotatombs @mavendeb @rain-on-kamino @itsagrimm @dancingwiththeplanets @hummellchen @theclonesdeservebetter @wolffeswife @ladyemxo @maulslittlemeowmeow @murder-of-crows-1 @dsburnerblog @ollovaemisc @rosmariner @staycalmandhugaclone @marennial @fordo-kixed-rex @murderofcrows1 @quietplaceinthestars @dinsverdika

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vodika-vibes · 4 days

Note

Hello! May I please have a Ruby for Commander Blackout or Neyo (whomever's the grumpiest lol) x female reader scenario set in Winter where he keeps hearing about her from a lot of the the shinnies and his vod gushing about how lovely and wonderful she is and it pisses him off for some reason/or he just gets sick of hearing it; until he meets her himself and then he realizes immediately what they mean and finds himself swiftly falling deeply and passionately in love with her because there's just something so bright, warm and alluring about her and he just wants her for himself. Feel free to either make it steamy/smutty or not. I'm just happy with him being super passionate with his attraction and pursuit of her and she reciprocates? And maybe they kiss? But just go with whatever inspires you the most; I know it's gonna be great whatever it is! Please and thank either way! \>v</

Brighter Than The Sun

Summary: The new IT girl at the base Neyo is Marshal Commander of is a thorn in his side, and he hasn’t met her yet. If he has to listen to one more person sing her praises, he’s not going to be responsible for what happens.

Pairing: Commander Neyo x F!Reader

Word Count: 1200

Warnings: None

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: Hihi! I decided to go with Neyo because I love him! I also, for the first time, went over my word limit. Only by 200 words, but still. Anyway! I hope you like it!

Neyo is not in a spectacular mood.

He woke up in a foul mood, largely due to the sheer amount of snow falling from the sky. And it only became worse when he went to check what was on the schedule for the day only to see that his datapad wasn’t working.

And then he went to the mess hall for some caf, and had to listen to a group of shinies sing the praises of the newest civvie who came to the base. They weren’t saying anything he hasn’t heard before: she’s stunning, with a body to die for, and a smile that feels like the summer sun-

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the sheer amount of paperwork it would take, he’d seriously consider stunning them and throwing them in the brig for being sheer annoyances.

Needless to say, Neyo was not in the finest of moods when his General came over to find out why he was glaring at his datapad.

And her suggestion of taking it to IT to have them take a look at it was not appreciated.

Still, Neyo is realistic. He can’t fix it, and none of his vod can fix it, which is why the base has an IT department in the first place. So he finishes his caf, and the breakfast that he’s forcing himself to eat, and he makes the long walk through the base to the IT department.

There’s only one person in the room when he arrives.

The new girl.

She’s clad in long pants and a vibrant yellow shirt that reminds him of Bly’s tattoos, and she’s standing on a desk while her arm is buried in the room’s heater.

Now that he’s paying attention to it, it is freezing in here.

He clears his throat, and the woman pauses, before she twists slightly on the table to see who’s there. She blinks at him, and then flashes a bright smile, “Marshal Commander Neyo, yes?”

He arches a single brow, “In the flesh.”

“Oh, wonderful! I’ve been hoping to-oh, hold on-” There’s the sound of something hitting something and then she rips her arm out of the heater and shakes her hand out, “Ah, well. I’ll have to try and fix it later.” She mumbles, and then she hops down from the table, and hurries over to him, a blinding smile on her face, “I’ve been hoping to meet you, but you’re a hard man to catch!”

Neyo blinks at her, stunned.

Now that he’s met her, he can understand what his brothers meant. She is stunning. And now he can’t help but think that the way his brothers talk about her is grossly inappropriate.

“Well, I’m here now.” Neyo finally says, “My datapad isn’t working.”

She holds her hand out, even her nails are painted yellow with little white flowers on them. She’s karking adorable. “May I?”

“That's why I’m here.” He presses the datapad into her hand and he watches as she moves to sit at a table overflowing with flimsy. “Are you working alone today?”

“Oh. I’m the only one who works in IT.” She replies, “The previous guy who had my position quit.”

“I…see.” Neyo pokes around the room, there are parts of the room that are very neat, but the majority of the room looks like there was an explosion. “And the heater?”

“Broken.”

“...it’s freezing outside.”

“Well. Yes.” She admits, “But I have a jacket,” She gestures to a winter jacket lying on a table nearby, “I took it off to work on the heater.”

“That’s not your job-?”

She looks up, “Um…well, apparently this base has a manning issue? Maintenance quit too.” She tilts her head, and her hair shifts enough to see that her earrings are little white flowers too. “Did you not know?”

“I don’t generally handle civilian employees.” Neyo replies.

“Oh, that makes sense.” She messes with his datapad for a moment, “Um…you need a new datapad.” She smiles at him, “If you give me a couple of hours, I’ll get the new one for you by the end of the day.”

“Thanks.” Neyo pauses, “I’ll get one of my brothers to come and fix your heater. Can’t have our IT girl turning into an icicle.”

She flashes a blinding smile in his direction, and Neyo averts his gaze. She has no business being so pretty.

It’s the beginning of a slightly odd friendship.

Neyo finds himself in her office more and more often, it’s quiet, and his presence keeps even the most pushy of his brothers from trying to pressure her into a date. And she is good company, warm and welcoming.

It doesn’t take long before Neyo finds himself yearning for her.

It’s almost two months later, in the middle of the worst snowstorm that he’s ever seen, when Neyo gets the chance to make a change to their relationship. He’s sitting at a free desk in her office, his feet kicked up on “his” desk, while she’s working on formatting a datapad at her desk when the lights flicker, and then cut out.

Neyo pauses and glances at the lights, and then sighs when he hears the generator kick on. The heat comes back, but the only lights that come on are the emergency lights.

“I guess the storm won,” She jokes with a quiet laugh as she sets the datapad down.

“Guess so.” Neyo tosses his datapad on the desk and leans back to look at her, “No point in even bothering to work now-” He grumbles.

“Well, you deserve a break.” She replies, and Neyo glances at her.

“You work just as hard as I do.” He drops his feet to the ground and pushes to his feet.

“Well…yes. That’s true.” She brushes some of her hair out of her face, “But, well, let’s be honest. It’s not like I can hang out with anyone other than you. Your brothers tend to be kind of…weird, when I’m around.”

“And I’m not?”

“You’ve never made me feel like a walking steak next to a starving man-” She replies, “Not that they’ve ever done anything inappropriate, before you fly off the handle. I can manage a few uncomfortable looks.”

Neyo sighs, “I hoped that they would stop.”

“It’s fine, really. I’ve been dealing with looks like that since I was nine.”

“...that’s sickening.”

“That’s being a woman.” She smiles at him, “Anyway, I guess I’ll just return to my quarters until the power comes back.” She pauses when Neyo’s hand comes out to cup her cheek, “...Commander?”

“Can I kiss you?”

He can feel her cheek heat under his hand, and he can’t stop himself from lightly stroking her cheek.

“You…want to kiss me?” She squeaks.

“I want a lot more than that, but, for now, I’ll stick with kissing. With your permission?”

“I…yes…please-”

His lips land against hers in a kiss that starts out soft and sweet and slowly grows more heated.

And when he sits her on the edge of her desk, and moves to stand between her legs, with his lips moving to her neck to leave an obvious mark on her sensitive skin…well, he has to stake his claim somehow, right?

#star wars #tcw #vodika-vibes 500 followers celebration #commander neyo x reader #neyo x reader #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #f!reader fic #answered asks

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thefoundationproject · 6 days

Note

Re Read Wholly Unprofessional again.

First of all never getting over Bacara and Rex. I Love Love. It's so funny because Rex we expect to be So Much, but when Bacara RESPONDS!? Truly two idiots in love lol. Thinking about them all giggly smiley composing their love letters to eachother Tactical Insight Reports For The Benefit Of The GAR 🫡. Bly helping Rex because that's his baby brother and Bly is a romantic at heart. Feel like Aayla would agree.

Kot to Cody and Doom and Fox and all the others who have to witness it all though. Tbf Cody did it to himself soo.

Also Ow at Forwards Someone Hug Them 💔

Second of all LMAO Ponds is going through IT

Priority Response

Ponds: I don’t quite remember ASKING YOUR OPINION Commander Bacara.

and,

Priority Response

Neyo: The IMPORTANT question here is: where can I get myself a hot little Captain sidearm to impress with my kill count. I’m asking for me.

Priority Response

Ponds: Excuse me, what.

Vod'ika Defilers and Vod'ika Defiler Enablers Oh My!

The relazation for Ponds that Cody KNEW! 17 KNEW! NEYO KNEW!Traitors all! Ponds' Less Favorite Vode List getting crowded. At this point I see him going down the list of all the people who could've known putting a little :( Just for future refrence.... Casually asking some CC like hey weren't you on the same ARC training range....?

But VAUGHN MY BABY!!!

Lol at Neyos What? x 5. He fully short circuited. He Was Kidding Rex! It Was A JOKE REX! How dare you call him out?

Imagine Vaughn starts messaging him, sparkle, sunshine and all. And Everytime Neyo is trying! so! hard! to be Cool Suave Spy. And Everytime Vaughn gets him all spluttering blushing kicking feet.

And he's like "This time I'll catch him off guard HE won't know what to with HIMSELF". Writing The Perfect Message only for Vaughn to answer in .2 seconds with something that has Neyo screaming into his pillow. How does he do it?!

Vaughn sitting there watching the Neyo is writing... begin and stop endlessly. Grinning like a fool so excited to talk to him about anything and everything and nothing but Neyo is so careful and feeling emotion(s), so he needs timeee. So Vaughn waits with anticipation. Turns out they're talking about the newest change to some obscure tiny blaster part or something lol. But The Subtext Potential....

(Wasn't one of the like three canon things about Neyo that he and Bacara worked on some speeder tactics or something? Imagine Vaughn compliments those and gives feedback. Neyo is so impressed but oh no feelings catching!?!)

Sorry for The Wall but it's such a ride every time i read your fics again, it's like it's the first time! Always something new to appreciate. Thank you❤️

Hello!!! Thank you very kindly! Everyone expects Rex to be a shebs about things but no one expects it from Bacara. So no one suspects it coming and Bacara can just roll up and drop the shebsiest moment and stroll away. That first moment when one sees a message and realizes 'oh this isn't JUST am update' .... my heart, it's exploded. I squee for them. So very much.

Bly is not the brother that would hide a body for you. Bly would supervise the body hiding and tell you what you're doing wrong that wpuld get you caught, because the best way to learn is by doing it yourself. A+ brothering, in my opinion. He’s also naturally ride or die. Because Rex IS still his baby brother. Also 2.0 .... it's really funny watching "Cody is typing" and imaging how that annoyed eye twitch of his is going. Very entertaining.

At some point in the future, the very distant future, long after even the most paranoid have stopped anticipating it, Ponds will attack. And everyone will RUE THIS DAY. Including Wolffe who by necessity will just have to be caught in the splash damage. Ponds feels bad, really he does, just so dreadfully awful, but he couldn't risk the others being alerted. So some Wolffes had to be collateral damage and that was just a sacrifice Ponds was willing to make. As for getting Neyo, well Fox is already In Too Deep in the Edee prank war, it would be incredibly simple for Ponds to hide his plots behind Fox's misdeeds. Ponds knows how to play the excruciatingly long game but then he hits everyone all at once. He's sitting in his observation room surrounded by screens, cackling while Fox finally understands the true depth of Ponds' deviousness. Truly terrifying.

I imagine that at this point Rex at least somewhat knows Neyo. Well enough to say 'MY TIME HAS COME'. I'm entirely sure he's been plotting how to socialize/distract the in-law and all of a sudden the perfectest opportunity presented itself. And what is Torrent if not opportunistic? Vaughn is starlight and sunshine and whiskers on kittens and it's endlessly amusing to me to throw him at Neyo and say "catch". 🤣

Thank you so very much!!!!!

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book-of-baba-fett · 2 years

Text

Illicit Affairs - Chapter 16

Captain Rex x OC

Previous Chapter

Chapter Summary: Captain Rex meets up with a few of his brothers, but the weight of the war and recent events take their toll. Talia has some time alone to recover and train.

A/N: I’M ALIVE! So sorry for the delay in this one; life has just been a LOT lately. One of the reasons this took so long was I wrote a giant chapter, which I actually decided to break in two so I can promise you another update in a week! Thanks to the wonderful @galacticgraffiti for not only beta reading, but also for the amazing new cover photo!!!

Chapter Rating: M

Warnings: Angst, mourning, general post breakup sadness, implied sex, drinking

Ao3 Link Series Masterlist

19 BBY - Coruscant

79’s was quiet. Well, as quiet as 79’s could get.

Clones of various battalions in different colored plastoid filled the booths and seats at the bar, but the dance floor was practically vacant, a more somber atmosphere hanging in the air tonight.

Rex had thought, almost three years ago now, that they would have made some progress in this damned war, but the longer it dragged on the further away victory seemed. Apart from the group he was with, Rex didn’t recognize any clones in the cantina. The generation ones were something of a myth now, something the shinies stared at as they whispered tales of rumored feats, hoping to live up to the status one day themselves. Rex could see why, as he sat at the booth with the Commanders; they all looked like they had been ravaged by war. Cody and Wolffe bore the obvious facial scars, with Wolffe’s eye particularly unnerving the shinies. Neyo’s reconnaissance helmet naturally set one on edge, with the two smooth edges and thin visor slots for his eyes. Bacara was…Bacara. Huge, and gruff, his face in what some took to be a perpetual grimace, covered with a full beard. Bly was the least intimidating of the bunch, but the lines on his face alluded to his age as well as an air that portrayed some inexplicable and unspeakable knowledge. All of their armor was scuffed by blaster marks; the tally marks of campaigns and missed encounters with death.

It was rare for them all to be on Coruscant at the same time, as they usually mounted campaigns in the farthest reaches of the Republic, but leaves overlapped this night. There was a strange calm lately in the war, like the smooth swell of a wave about to break; you could see the threat of water about to burst but nothing could stop it. The troops all felt it, perhaps this group the most. They had been around so long, they now knew these nights on leave were little more than a false comfort. A brief escape from the beckoning of fate, because how much longer could this stand still go on?

Even for a lower energy in the bar, the drinks still flowed and the bass pounded on a level that threatened to form a headache in his ears, Rex couldn’t help but recall the last time he was at 79’s a far busier night than tonight.

It came to him like flashes of the strobe lights in the cantina; the loud laughter and the music, the way Tup had slyly grinned, Fives’ head tilting back in raucous laughter, Talia’s eyes sparkling at him as they danced together, the way she blushed when he leaned in to kiss her. Rex grabbed his glass and took a gulp, trying to bring himself back into the present.

The burn of his whiskey did little to numb the ache in his gut, the emptiness he felt at all times since he last saw Talia. The fight in her quarters had replayed in his head about a million times as much as he wished he could block it from his memory.

The hurt expression on Talia’s face lingered in his brain, the way her eyes welled with tears and her lips pursed in anger. The last thing he had ever wanted to do was hurt her; in fact, he had almost lost the resolve to do what he had to do as soon as her voice started to crack in the moment. He’d had half a mind to step back on his words, tell her he didn’t mean any of it. But there was that voice in the back of his head, reminding him that they would only hit this point again. That, just like this war, there might be points of calm and even what might bring him happiness, but something was bound to crash and end it all. He made the decision to end it. For their own good. That didn’t mean he was happy with it.

Rex had never been so dedicated to his work as he had been in the past few weeks. Maybe early in the war, when he was a shiny hellbent on following protocol, but now it gave him an excuse to occupy himself. The work kept him busy and prevented his mind from wandering. It delayed the flashes of everything that had happened on Turia from playing in his mind.

Sleep was evading him as of late, half his dreams were spent still digging through rubble, or waiting outside the room of the medical station, where no good news came. The worst dreams were the ones where Talia was standing and staring at him, her beautiful features hauntingly so as the argument repeated. In some, she regarded him without a care, reminding him that he was beneath her anyway. In others, the scene replayed like it had in real life, with Rex shutting the door and walking away, hearing Talia crying from the other side of the door.

Rex felt guilty, like the ache in his chest wasn’t something he was allowed to feel. After all, he didn’t feel the burn of the blaster shots he had fired. He was the one who ended things with Talia, he should be a man enough to come to terms with that. But it didn’t ease his own pain. And Talia’s reaction, and the words she had thrown at him still lurched his gut every time he thought about them.

Is that what you really think or what you were bred to? It wasn’t the first time he had similar words tossed at him. Normally they came in prejudiced tones from someone talking down to him, or occasionally from a brother trying to encourage him to see things a bit differently. But never from Talia. Those words were venom spouting from her lips, the same lips that had spoken to him so sweetly, curved in that mesmerizing way that his eyes couldn’t help but flick to them before he would steal a kiss. He didn’t know they had the capability to be cruel.

What was worse, in a way, was that he knew Talia had not meant to hurt him. But she had been so careless to say it, it flew off her tongue so easily. Was that all he really was to her, just another clone bred for war? He couldn’t believe that, not from her, but it didn’t make it sting any less.

“Credit for your thoughts, vod?” Cody asked, his brow raised as he elbowed Rex in the side. Rex shook his head out, trying to clear his thoughts as he returned to the table.

“Just tired is all,” Rex shrugged off Cody’s questioning look; he knew Cody saw right through him, but wouldn’t say anything with the present company around. Cody frowned and glanced over at the bar.

“That girl over there has been staring at you,” Cody mumbled, “Could be a good idea to get out some stress.”

Rex glanced over at the bar, sure enough there was a woman sitting at a stool at the corner of the bar, long, curly brown hair falling to her waist. She kept tossing glances over to the table, offering Rex a sly smile when he made eye contact. He could see she was attractive to some, and maybe if Rex were a younger man he would have gone for it. But things had changed, and the woman sitting at the bar wasn’t the woman he would be wanting to go home with.

Rex just shook his head at Cody and returned to his drink, “Not interested.”

Before Cody could make another attempt, Bacara huffed a deep laugh across the table. “What, not blond enough for you Rex’ika?”

Rex glanced at the commander across the table, his brows furrowed as he tried to read the teasing smirk growing on Bacara’s face. Rex was used to teasing remarks about his hair from vod, something that came from naturally standing out when the Kaminoans were usually sticklers for uniformity. Bacara shrugged and leaned in, “Heard you had a little fun with a certain general here a while back.”

Rex’s blood ran cold as he processed Bacara’s words, but he maintained a straight face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Rumour has it you and General Riva got a little bit close on the dance floor,” Bacara shrugged, his eyebrow wiggling as he took a sip from his drink.

“It’s a bar, people dance sometimes.” Rex answered bluntly, his jaw clenching. Beside him he could feel Cody shift, releasing a slight sigh.

“Come on, nothing to be ashamed of Rex’ika,” Bacara teased a flash of white teeth peeking between his beard. “I haven’t worked with General Riva much, but when I have, she was pretty attractive and if you could get with that-“

“He wasn’t getting with that,” Wolffe grunted from the other side of the table. All heads turned to Wolffe; Rex met Wolffe’s for a second before the commander rolled them to meet Bacara’s. “I was there, they were dancing. I know you don’t get enough action to tell the difference, but that’s not ‘getting’ anything.”

Bacara’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at Wolffe, flicking his eyes to Rex then back to Wolffe. He huffed and leaned back, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. “I heard they made out on the dance floor.”

Wolffe snorted a laugh, “I think Rex’ika had a little too much to drink and got carried away with himself. He could never hold his liquor, isn’t that right, Rex?”

“Yeah,” Rex gritted out, a bit too bitter at first. He dropped the tone and fixed Bacara with a cool gaze and leveled words, “You know how it is when you have one drink too many, one thing can lead to another-“

“Ehh, whatever, I’m just messing with you,” Bacara waved off, already bored with the conversation since it really didn’t give him the information he wanted. “Should’ve known you didn’t have the balls to pull something like that.”

Rex worked his jaw but kept his mouth shut. Wolffe shot Rex a quick glare that simply read ‘you owe me’ while Cody pinched the bridge of his nose before tossing back his drink and returning to the conversation.

Fuck, Talia was the last thing Rex wanted to think of right now. And having his own carelessness flung in his face just stung, a reminder of why things had to end the way they did. How many people were talking?

Rex leaned back in his chair, and even with the group already on to another topic of conversation he still felt eyes on him. Rex glanced up to see Bly carefully watching him, a curious, almost pitying look on his face. The perk of sharing a face with his brothers meant it was easier to tell the emotions they wore; even though each brother had his own way of expressing himself, a brother could see things on another’s face that natborns could miss. Still, there was no way to really read the thoughts inside Bly’s head, but Rex was suddenly brought back to something else from that last night at 79’s; a conversation with Wolffe about Bly and General Secura. Was Bly staring at Rex so pensively because, even if Rex had brushed it off, Bly had a gut feeling about the truth behind Rex’s denials? Rex wanted to ask Bly if he and Aayla were making it work, how they were making it work? But Rex also knew that he could never ask, and that even if Bly and Aayla were together, the answer would only be complicated. A clone and a Jedi. Two paths that were smooth when walking side by side, but once they crossed the road became rocky.

One drink turned into another, and soon, Rex’s head was foggy and the lights blurred a little bit as he turned his head. The boys got a bit rowdier, and a few of the girls who worked as dancers in the bar had come over to join – Rex wasn’t sure if they had been called over or if it was just such a dead night in the bar they had to resort to a more personal way of attracting clients. After so many years, Rex recognized some of them, and had even had conversations with them on similarly slow nights such as this. But he wasn’t in a chatty mood tonight. Something his brothers didn’t seem to notice or mind, only Cody casting a frown at Rex every now and then. At one point their voices rose in greeting and Rex’s gaze finally lifted from his focused gaze on the melting ice in his glass, but his stomach turned.

Two figures in Corrie guard red had entered the bar, their footsteps leading them in the direction of the booth as they were hailed. Thire and Fox. He couldn’t stay here.

He mumbled an excuse under his breath and began to slide out of the booth, as he stood, he caught Cody’s eye once more that night. Cody just nodded at Rex, a look of exhaustion on his face. Rex made his way to the bar, on his way passing the guard members; he was sure Fox stopped for a moment, maybe even said his name, but Rex couldn’t hear over the music in the club and the rushing blood in his ears.

Rex slid into a stool at the bar and clenched his fists, trying to steady his breath. He didn’t blame Fox, not really. The only thing he could fault him for was not setting his blasters to stun. Rex knew how things were in the heat of the moment, and he couldn’t begrudge a brother for a judgment call on the field. Hell, he knew Fox was accustomed to grieving a close brother now since the recent events on Scipio and Thorn’s death. But Rex had a hard time meeting Fox’s eyes, or staying in his presence too long knowing he had been the one to kill Fives.

The last time they were here, he and Fives had been in almost this exact spot, squeezing their way through the throngs to order drinks from the busy bartender. Rex couldn’t remember what they had been talking about, but Rex knew that at some point in the conversation, his eyes had caught on Talia as she stood at a nearby table, chatting with some of her men from the 412th. Her smile was wide, her hair a bit wild and astray from being in the club, her cheeks flushed, and Rex couldn’t take his eyes off her. There had been the comforting warmth in his chest, a soft grin on his lips before he’d been nudged in the gut. Rex straightened and glared at Fives, who was wearing an all too smug smirk.

“Have you told her yet?” Fives had asked, nodding at the bartender as she handed over his and Rex’s drink.

“Told her what?” Rex had been confused, not sure what Fives was getting at, grabbing his glass and leaning back against the counter, his eyes once again instinctively flicking to where Talia stood.

“That you love her,” Fives stated quickly, nuding Rex’s arm once more as his eyes lit up. “That your galaxy revolves around her, you would do anything for her, or something along those lines; that's what they say in the holos anyway.”

Rex shook his head, ignoring the nervous twist in his gut as he avoided what Fives had pointed out, “Things aren’t as simple as they are in the holos, Fives.”

Fives rolled his eyes at that, “But what are you waiting for? And, you can’t tell me you don’t because you’re a horrible liar.”

Rex did laugh at that, even if he was annoyed at his brother’s pestering. Rex sipped from his drink, knowing he couldn’t just ignore Fives completely. He fixed his brother with a look and glanced back at Talia, then back to Fives. Rex had known then that Fives was right; time wasn’t something they were graced with, Rex didn’t take it for granted because he had seen too often what time cut short looked like.

“Fives,” Rex’s voice lowered, a frown creasing on his lips as he fumbled for words. He looked at Talia again as he continued, “If something were to happen to me…if i didn’t…you would keep an eye out for her, right?”

“Don’t talk like that,” Fives’ grin had disappeared, that determined look he often had falling on his face. “You’re Captain Rex, you're basically invincible.”

“If only,” Rex added in a huff. “Just promise me-”

“I said don’t talk like that,” Fives insisted, he sighed and nodded. “You know I would, but I don’t like to think like that. We’ve lost too much. We’re going to make it out of this mess, and at the end of this you, Tal, and I will probably be back here at 79’s celebrating.”

Rex had sat at this bar so many times with Fives. Sometimes he drove Rex crazy, but he was also one of the people Rex trusted most in this galaxy. And now Rex couldn’t help but feel like he had failed Fives.

A drink slid in front of him, another whiskey on the rocks and Rex glanced up curiously; a server droid had dropped it off so he couldn’t even clarify that he didn’t order it before someone tapped his shoulder.

“You seem stressed, figured you could use a drink,” the stranger said, a human woman with pale skin, freckles speckled on her nose and kind brown eyes. She had long golden hair, sleek and shiny as it framed her face. Rex nodded in thanks. The woman took the seat next to him, holding her own drink, something bright pink and fruity looking,she held it out, clanking it to Rex’s and took a sip.

Rex sat in silence, watching the replays of a bolo-ball match before she spoke again, “I’m Naobe, by the way.”

“Rex,” he stated, glancing at her again. She was completely facing him, the dip of her neckline showing the curve of her breasts. Rex’s eyes darted back up to her face. She offered him a coy grin.

“So, do you come here a lot, Rex?” Naobe asked, a light giggle in her voice as if she were making a good joke.

“When I’m not shooting clankers,” Rex answered bluntly, something Naobe seemed to find more hilarious than her own comment as she laughed out loud.

Rex raised a brow at her but was jolted with familiarity. She had a dimple on her left cheek like Talia had. Rex tried to ignore it, the little innocuous detail that probably belonged to half the people in the galaxy, but now he was just flashing back to another moment with Talia, her head bent back and laughing, how she would smile, and that dimple would come out.

Naobe was insistent, continuing to make conversation with Rex and he did warm up; she was friendly, and even without the aid of alcohol he would find her attractive. Maybe that’s why he didn’t care how she shifted closer to him, her foot nudging his, her knuckles grazing the back of his as he held his glass, her hand resting on his shoulder. When the lights of the bar turned brighter, signaling the end of another night she mentioned her place nearby. Rex offered to walk her home; it was the gentlemanly thing to do.

As they go to the apartment doors, she offered to invite him up for another drink. Why not, Rex thought, it’s a long walk back to the barracks anyway.

In her small apartment, it was clear she had little intention of finishing the drinks she poured for them. Rex didn’t stop her when she straddled his lap, taking her shirt off and leaned down to kiss him. It felt good to touch her, to hold someone. He wanted this. A chance to work out the stress that had been building up. He just had to ignore that strange sense of guilt gnawing at him.

Talia awoke in darkness, the weight of the room enveloping her, the unfamiliar surroundings stealing the air out of her lungs. She lay in bed, her limbs tight and still asleep, her skin clammy as her heart pounded, gasping breaths leaving her body. Slowly her reality came back to her as her eyes adjusted to the shadows in the small room, even without light there was an unnatural glow to the white of the surfaces. She steadied her breath, trying to block out the images tattooed in her mind from her nightmare; the rocks falling in, the flames scorching her skin, the child crying as she tried to hold on, the rain from Turia continuing to pour and seep through the cracks of the rubble.

But the rain pelting against her window wasn’t the constant drizzle of Turia, and the terrain wasn’t the lush forests that bled into mountains. It was the torrential downpour of Kamino, no green or plantlife outside, just the massive waves breaking against the structures of Tipoca City.

Talia slowly pushed herself to sit upright in the small bed, her sheets all messy from her restless sleep. She glanced out the window, watching the streaking water droplets race to the bottom of the rim, her breath calming as she watched the rocking and swaying of the waves. They almost looked like mountains with how high they rose, with the seafoam bursting as the waves broke being their snow caps.

It had to be early dawn, by the eerie glow across the sky from behind the cover of clouds; the grey clouds mingling with the deep blue of the ocean as they met on the horizon. One time, Rex had told Talia that her eyes reminded him of early dawns on Kamino. Talia had never liked her eyes, feeling they weren’t remarkable blues to stand out, but dulled by grayness. But Rex had made them sound more beautiful and precious than gemstones, telling her how they reminded him of home. Talia shut the blinds and started to get ready for another long day.

The 412th stopped over in Kamino as a convenient stop when they needed repairs, and it gave them a chance to integrate some new troops into their forces. The Kaminoans were eager for Talia to meet with them; they didn’t have a Jedi trainer on Kamino at the moment and it seemed they were hoping the Council would send her to fill the spot Shaak Ti had left vacant when she had returned to Coruscant. But Talia struggled to think of worse scenarios than being trapped on a planet with men who shared the face of the one who broke her heart.

It had been a jolt to the gut, walking down the halls the previous day and hearing his voice echoed along the walls. But to Talia, the worst pain was knowing it wasn’t him; everything felt like a shadow of Rex - close but not quite right. And what hurt her most was how little the Kaminoans seemed to regard the clones when they talked about the future of the army. The Kaminoans clearly saw them just as property, an order they were producing for the Republic. They asked Talia for her thoughts on how the clones acted in battle, had her examine training sessions, she even sat in on an instruction for a group of cadets. Young boys, the age where they should be playing and having fun, sitting in a room staring at screens all day to study warfare. Talia understood the need for training; as a Jedi she had learned how to fight and defend herself from a young age; but there was more to Temple life than just the lessons. There were trips to other planets, holidays at the Temple, and goofing off with the other Padawans; there was fun.

The Council had thankfully been clear with the Kaminoans that Talia wasn’t there to stay, but they had their own plans in mind for her future. Talia had returned to Coruscant after Turia. The 412th had shore leave and it gave Talia a proper time to heal from her injuries. But Talia had had little time to relax, from being summoned to talk with Master Plo about how the Council felt it was a good idea for her to think about training a Padawan. I took every bit of Talia’s restraint to not laugh in the Master’s face; her, with a Padawan? How could she bring a Youngling under her wing and train them with all she knew when it seemed her only knowledge was failure?

Talia assumed it was the Council trying to prod her into a different direction, give her a sense of maturity like they had done with Anakin when he began to train Ashoka; but look how well that turned out for the parties involved. Master Plo spoke of Talia’s future path in the order, how a Padawan could be a good step for her to continue her own training and eventually become a Master. Plo had always had high hopes for her, yet Talia felt like he was just another person she would let down.

Talia felt stuck. Torn between wanting to withdraw from the war effort because she couldn’t handle the back and forth of victory and death but she was unable to stand by and do nothing. She was too devoted to Storm, to all of her men, to leave them in the hands of another. Sometimes she wondered if she would be better off alone, working as an investigator for the Temple like she had always trained to do, disappearing for months at a time in a position where she had her excuses to ignore the Council’s constant badgering. But the idea of being on her own for too long terrified her; she knew of some Jedi who went years without contacting the Order, who lived in such remote corners of the Galaxy that it was like they didn’t exist. Would that be her future? Or would she train her own Padawan, rising through the Temple hierarchy and potentially sit on the Council one day? What scared Talia most, was how she couldn’t see anything she understood in her path. She was not blessed with keen foresight like the Temple Seers, but she did have visions from time to time.

The ones of Maul were what haunted her the most, but it had been months since she had seen the burning eyes of the Zabrak. She was now thinking Dooku’s taunts were nothing more, some tool he had used against her to try and bring out some sliver of fear in her. Perhaps what she had thought of as visions were really nothing more than nightmares, her mind playing tricks on her using dark memories of her past. Another dream she had, one that had recurred ever since she was a child was one she couldn’t explain; each time she had it, it came more clear than before, the edges of her mind less blurred, the detail crisper and even though it wasn’t real she couldn’t ignore the sense of foreboding it held.

It always started the same. Talia was floating, up in the air of Coruscant outside the Jedi Council chamber. There was a meeting, but she couldn’t hear what the Masters were saying, their voices muffled and lost to the wind. The sky darkened and one by one each Master faded into shadow until the sky was black, the only light in the room from a blue saber, with a hooded figure wielding it.

Talia never truly understood it, at first looking back and thinking it was a warning sign for the start of the Clone Wars. But she still had it from time to time, the eminent feeling of danger prickling her skin every time she awoke after it, even though the dream itself wasn’t frightening. The only thing she could ever understand from it was that feeling she had of always being on the outside, out of reach for what the Council was planning.

Talia glanced at the chronometer, she had too busy a day ahead of her to dwell on dreams, but still had enough time in her morning for a training session.

One good feature of the Kaminoan facilities was the amount of training rooms. Most were large and sprawling, meant to handle large drills and exercises among the cadets. But a few smaller rooms existed, better meant for close range and hand-to-hand training. Talia knew she could have called Storm in, but she felt he deserved more than to be poisoned by her down mood. Gone was the panicked chill of her dreams; now, a burning anger festered in her body.

Talia took her wrath out on an innocent punching bag, hitting it until her knuckles were raw, kicking it, and even launching it across the room with the Force in an attempt to channel her rage. What frustrated her the most, and added to the fire, was that she really couldn’t define her irritation by one specific reason. She was frustrated that she had been fighting a war for almost three years now that it seemed no one could win. She was pissed that she had lost more men than she could possibly remember the names of, and that at this moment she was in a facility that cranked out more of them to fill the places left vacant, as if they were replaceable parts of a machine. She was mad at The Council for letting this war go on as long as they did, for getting involved as much as they were, for not seeing it coming in the first place.

The anger cooled with each blow against the bag, but it didn’t cease. It just festered, a chilling wrath that seeped into her bones. Because it wasn’t just anger; Talia was also afraid. She didn’t know what her life would be outside this war. She couldn’t see it; she just saw the clouds of death approaching. That prickling feeling that she would be lost like so many others, another body in the mass grave of lives claimed by this maddening war.

Talia summoned the bag back with the Force, only to smash it back against the wall. She called it, and slammed it away again, each time grunting and letting that cool rage simmer. Faces flashed in her mind; all the men and villagers that were slaughtered by Maul, Sergeant Church before he was gunned down by droids, her Master being shot down on Geonosis by the very template for all the clones she cared about.

Talia screamed, a guttural and anguished yell escaping her as she pulled the bag back to toss it away again, but instead of flying across the room the bag was struck by blue bolts leaving her fingertips. The room glowed from the lightning expelling her body, her arm rigid as the energy surged through her. Talia grunted, forcing her arm back down and the lightning ceased. Her knees hit the cool floor, her other hand lowering to catch her fall as Talia fought to catch her breath, staring at the hand that just shot the lightning.

She hadn’t been able to recreate it since her captivity by Dooku, not that she had tried to; the Council made it very clear that it was forbidden, a power she had only used when channeling the fear and anger inside her. Talia turned her hand over, expecting to see some sign of injury but it looked the same as always, not as if unimaginable power had just struck from it. A power that terrified her. But it felt good to use, to expel that negative energy and rage from her system.

Like the last time, Talia felt a bit weak, but she pushed herself up; the bag was a bit singed but still useable. Talia summoned it back and took her stance; it wouldn’t hurt to practice this a bit more really; no one from the Council was there to know anyway. And a part of her wouldn’t care if they did find out.

—

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echoedcrosshairs · 9 months

Text

Foxglove ~ Commander Fox x F reader (part 4)

According the language of flowers Foxglove symbolizes riddles, conundrums and secrets along with ambition and creativity.

Summary: A small fancy caff shops pops up in the senate building. Commander Fox is not amused.

Slow burn, enemies? to lovers, Commander Fox x reader, Commander Thorn x reader (platonic)

Warnings: Angst, Smut, mention of smut, cannon violence and talks of cannon related violence.

Part 3 part 5 spice finally

Masterlist

4.2k

Thorn stared at him in disbelief it was so blatantly obvious that all of them had overlooked it. He saw the confused looked on your face but none of them were going to say what it meant in basic. It was nice to have a little inner secret between brothers finally they could wave over Fox's head. He slide in next to Fox watching Gree and Wolffe take the either said of you just smiling at Fox's sneer and your confusion.

"You doing okay with Kix being back out there?" Thorn asked trying to change the subject.

"I really don't know how to feel about it," you asked seeing the confusion on his face, "I'm worried yet I have the upmost confidence in him... I don't know," you said looking down at the table awkwardly.

"Your the most level headed about having a deployed spouse," Gree said, "Most woman would envy how you feel."

The droid came with the beers, "It's not noon," you said staring at them drinking which they all gave you a shrug.

"A civvie thinking she knows," Fox scoffed setting the drink down, "This piss is basically water."

You scowled at him, "Maybe you should drink some actual water."

"What's the fun in that?"

"Is it always like this?" Gree whispered to Thorns dreadful nod, "And that's why she'll never return it," he said pointedly at Fox.

Fox's lip twitched but he set the beer down climbing up bringing back a pitcher of water and glasses. Happy? He pour you a glass first then the rest of them, grunting when you smiled at him. "Water, at least we know who the boring one is. No fun," before he could even think about it the words were out of his mouth followed by the cold rush of water being thrown on at his face, "I deserved that," he said reluctantly filling the glass watching Thorn stared at him wide eyed.

"I am fun," you stated.

"Prove it."

"Fine."

Fox watched you get up and walk to the counter, order and receive a three double shot glasses downing one after the other. Wolffe whistled something about being jealous of Kix. Fox tried to hide the smirk as you sauntered back to the table the tips of your ears as red as his armor. "What-are you-" he managed to get out before you forcefully grabbed his wrist and hauled him out of the booth. He made the mistake of looking down as you danced on him, how your perfect ass looked to the mild bounce of your breast as you dance around him before spinning into Thorn’s hand leaving Fox to stand there and gawk. Every touch sensual and suggestive but never crossing the line. Fox watched you like a predator until his jaw set seeing Gree's amusement at him losing his cool, grabbing you yanking you into the hard plastoid of his chest, "Enough," he snapped continuing to yank you back to the booth practically tossing you into it, "You've made your point."

"What the hell, I was having fun," you said feeling the warm flush.

"So did half the men in this room who were watching."

"At least they're having fun, you look like you want to tear my head off for having a good time."

Fox growled grabbing the piss for water beer and slamming it, "Don't push it."

"Whatever Foxy," the alcohol had freed your tongue further then you wanted. A small scream faded into a moan as Fox's teeth snapped at your neck, "What the fark, Fox!" you yelped.

"Making sure no one here thinkings about dragging your stupidly wasted ass home."

"I'm calling Bacara and Neyo," Gree said flatly.

"They're on deployment," Fox smirked, "I checked."

"Vod.." Gree replied staring at the visible mark and the drunkenly angry expression on your face.

"Do you really expect me not after the looks our vods we're giving her? Kix isn't here and no one would touch a commander's girl."

"Wow more than handful of words ands still an ass. If I was faking being a commander's girls it would be anyyyyone but you," you said noticing the slosh to your words.

"Why did you moan then?" he smiled leaning closer to your ear, "It was pretty noise that I caused."

Maybe it was alcohol, maybe it was days of tolerating his behavior or maybe it was just because slept with someone who looked like you and your neighbor, who knows but you slugged him square in the jaw. It hurt, it hurt a lot. You clenched your hand and it barely seemed to effect him besides the mild crack giving away the mild impact. You winced but placed the back of your hand against the cold pitcher ignoring their questions if you were fine. You just stared at the water and melting ice, the pain in your hand subsiding slowly. "The strength of your jaw almost matches your arrogance," you mumbled pulling your hand back, curling and uncurling your fingers.

"For a drunk civvie you got a hell of a punch," Wolffe commended.

"It was... decent," Fox said rubbing his jaw drinking more.

"I can try again," you tossed back, "I do have another hand."

"Ha ha. When your sober, I'll show you how to actually punch of a man."

"Thanks," you mumbled rolling your eyes.

"If we actually got paid, I would pay to watch that," Wolffe chuckled.

They don't get paid for there service? You stared at him then down the at the table and then the room full of troopers. Your hands clench and you wanted to punch something again, these men were bred to fight and die for us yet they didn't even get the minimum thank you for it? Clumsy you climbed out of the booth and headed towards the refresher. This time you ignored the scene on the counter and sat down the the stall trying to calm down. You heard the room go silent as the door opened and a small tap on the door with the faintest whisper of your name. The name was so soft and kind you opened the door excepting to see Gree or Thorn, but it was Fox. He stared down at you sighing, telling the trooper to get back to what he was doing before stepping over you pulling the door shut behind him and sitting next to you on the tiny floor.

"I thought they didn't charge you here because of your service, not because they didn't pay you," you whispered.

"They can't afford too," he whispered back, "There's a lot of things that they don't want the public to knows. Thank you for getting mad on our behalf."

"I want to go give them a piece of my mind."

"Don't."

"Sorry about your face."

"My face is fine, let me look at your hand," he said putting out his hand, watching you cautiously set it in his. He massaged your knuckles down to your fingers asking here and there if there was still any pain, "Nothing seems broken, fractured or cracked," he said looking at the flustered expression on your face and gave you back your hand, "If it begins to hurt go see a medic."

"Thanks, Commander," you said looking at your hand as it still tingled from his touch. His touches were warm and kind unlike his general rough personality. You put your hand in your lap, "I didn't think it was you at the door," you admitted.

"I didn't believe it was me either," he shrugged, "Come on before they think something is going on," he said standing up offering his hand, pulling you up. Fox opened the door finally noticing the who the woman on the counter was, "Today can't get any better," he grumbled.

"You're one to talk," the familiar woman said eyeing you, "You and your sick inferiority fantasies."

Fox bared his teeth growling as he dragged the both of you out of the bathroom back to the booth, making you side in before him pinning you in the booth. The rest of the day went by in awkward silence. The comment from the bathroom feeling like a stab wound, yes he may have used the similarities to get off but sex was just that, a way to get off. He noticed it in your awkward glances at him that it was on your mind too, "I'm going to the barracks" he said getting up.

"Don't forget your girl," one trooper snickered as he walked past.

This time it was Fox's turn to punch someone, the trooper collided with the divider wall, "Watch your mouth, Trooper, she's not that pretty or worth the trouble" he spat before leaving because who were they going to call over a fight? Fox? The thought made him scoff.

Your jaw fell open watching him walk off, "How many years would it be if I dumped boiling coffee on him?" The woman's words came back. Wait does Fox not think he's good enough? Gree pushed more water towards you, though it had been hours since your last drink you still downed to make him happy. As much as you wanted to slap him you were tempted to run after him but decided against it.

"Here," Gree pulling a small tube out of one of his various pouches, "For your neck."

You took the tube, opened it and let it begin to warm on your fingers before applying it. It stung as you massaged in into the tender area using the screen of your data pad as a make shift mirror. The mark was dark and the crevices of his teeth were still noticeable, had he really latched on that hard? I was drunk so that's probably why it didn't hurt as bad as it looks. "Thanks," you said rolling your shoulder and neck, "It looked worse then it felt," you added handing the partially needed tube back to Gree.

"Keep it, incase any thing else happens."

"Wished it worked on Fox's bruised ego," Thorn said into his drink, "Or would lower Wolffe's overconfidence."

"Hey, I'm very charming."

"As a bantha," he snickered back.

Thorn walked you back to your apartment and you told him about the woman in the bathroom, "Fox likes you, ya know?" You stopped outside the door of your apartment frozen staring at him as if struck by the maker themselves at the comment. Thorn arched an eyebrow as your keycard in your hand froze above the lock, "That's what Gree meant."

"Fox hates me or he wouldn't go out of his way to make my life miserable," you opened the door, "at least I really hope he doesn't, if he treats woman that way no wonder that's why he's single."

"You got a point," Thorn said, "Can't wait to see at the opening!"

Right the opening... You had almost forgotten about it and quickly turned on an earlier alarm to get there before any line or crowd. You took a hot-hot sweater to steam away the stress of the day. Finding your neck, there was no longer any tenderness but the memory of the undignified moan in front of bunch men you barely know made your mind go blank. You turned off the water and quickly dried off just leaving the towel around you before scrambling to your data pad.

"I hope you're doing okay," you shot the quick message to Kix.

"As it rains on Kamino," he quickly replied.

You had to google the planet to realize what he was saying, "Stay that way."

Kix's shirt laid the edge of your bed, you crawled into it still faintly smelling him on it. Even if they were... clones... they each smell so vastly different. Kix was the spiced smell of home, Thorn smelled like blaster smoke and caf and Fox... smelled like an evening stroll through the woods and Wolffe had just smelled like a man there was no other way to describe it. It was semi baggy on you but fit him perfectly, I mean why wouldn't it. Barely eating dinner you felt the wall start to shake with a smell thud and then Fox's name.

"For kriff's sake! Get off her dresser!" You shouted, which only made it louder, "I'm going to be this loud when Kix get's back and see how you like it!" Then it suddenly got quieter but didn't stop. Maybe Thorn's right, or just didn't want me to continue yelling at him through the doors. Digging through your junk drawer you found one pair of ear plugs and shoved them in while you finished your food. The vibrations in the floor stopped hours later which finally let you take them out. Note to self, find a place with thicker walls next.

Tap tap tap

One eye peaked opened and there still an hour before your alarm went off. The tapping started again, soft and unsure. You pride yourself out of the bed, "I swear Fox, this time it was your fault!" you called opening the door finding Kix standing there confused holding a couple flowers.

"Kix!" You practically lunged at him embracing him, "Sorry, I interrupted Fox yesterday and she kicked him out in the morning."

"I'm gone one day," he chuckled hugging you back, "Anything else?"

You pulled him inside, "Fox bit me because apparently I draw a lot of attention to myself on the dance floor."

Kix feigned indifference mildly jealous but understood, "As long as that's all," he pulled you into a tighter hug, "I probably woke you didn't I?"

"I had one more hour," you teased.

"Sorry I would have been over last night but I worked through the night completing after combat physicals so I could be there this morning.... You're in my shirt," he said feeling the familiar fabric before pulling back and looking down, "You look better in it," he started dragging you towards the bed room quickly removing the armor setting it on the floor, "Doctor's order relaxation until the alarm goes off."

You rolled your eyes curling into him, wrapping your arm around his perfect inverted triangle waist. Your nose wrinkle at now sterile he smelled, "I smell like you more then you do," you whispered. His breathing was deep with perfect balance to each breath. Peaking an eye open you fast him soundlessly asleep but his arm curled around you a little tighter as you made yourself comfortable. Sleep was sweet even if it was only for a little while, his warmth was comforting and there was nothing more satisfying then having someone there to chase away bad dreams.

Kix's internal alarm clock woke him up a minute before the alarm's determination. He speckled your face with kisses until he saw your eyes sleepily flutter awake, "I don't want to get up either except we have a cafe to open."

"We?" you yawned sitting up.

"Someone has to keep an eye out for Hardcase, he's no doubt there already."

You scrambled to your feet throwing on the first you saw, no way they're can't be a line already. Quickly fixing breakfast burritos for the both of you, the two of you hurried out the door finding Fox waiting helmet on waiting. Sneering at him, you walked past him, "I take it there's more to the story?" Kix whispered breaking regulation distance. You nodded, "later." Kix returned to the distance and glanced over at Fox who was staring straight ahead, This is going to go well like one man trying to drown a rancor. He stared at the unease in your face wishing he could do more to help calm you especially as that look turned to dread when you saw the tiny line of 501st and a few of the guard waiting outside the door.

"Hardcase, Fives, Jesse, Tup, Dogma and you already know Rex," he whispered, "No you don't need to memorize them right now. I'll stay out here, knock 'em dead. Not literally though," he laughed at the poor joke.

"My caf isn't that bad," you giggled slipping behind the door happy for the tiny reprieve as anxiety coursed through you trying to finish last minute task and thankful for the stash of caffeine free tea for Hardcase. You worked quickly setting up chairs at the various tables and counters along with prepping so regular caf for quick drinks. Splashing some water on your face to rinse off the sweat, you heard knock of time come, quickly pat drying you put on your best smile and opened the door.

Chancellor Palpatine stood there with his surrounding guard smiling, "Ready, my dear?" you nodded, your mouth as dry as sand as you hoped he would do most of the taking.

"Attention," the Chancellor called, "It is with great honor I am pleased to opened the Senate's very first cafe to serve our Troops and senators alike if they so wish. With in three hours of this proposal being brought to our desk we had voted in favor of opening this establishment. Our soldiers work tirelessly around the clock to protect us and keep our streets safe, with little to no thanks. There is more to be done but let this be the first of many to come."

You smiled bigger at his speech, "Thank you, Chancellor. I am greatly honored," the rest of the sentence died in your throat as you took in the huge crowd in front of you.

"Can I get whatever it was I had last time?" He asked quietly as Fox opened the door for the two of you.

"Of course."

One after another after another after another you made the various orders managing to spill coffee anywhere besides on yourself. Kix finally managed to arrive at the counter when the Chancellor's and senators have left, "Surprise me," he shrugged. It was that drink you managed to burn yourself, "Fark," you hissed sealing the drinks lid. Kix already had an open tube of bacta in his hand setting the drink on the counter and massaged it in, "Be careful," he sighed taking the booth seat closes to you. The whole 501st frowned when you handed Hardcase a cup with a huge grin on your face.

"It's caffeine free tea," you messaged Kix who showed everyone the message but Hardcase. Rex gave you a tiny playful salute before drinking his own caf.

"You and Kix...?" Fox stood at the counter waiting

"If you are questioning if we had relations this morning after he arrived, then no," you whispered, "yet." He growled at the comment. "Why do you care? I'm not pretty enough or worth it," you hissed slamming the cup on the counter which got you a few eyed looks, "If you're so interested in my relations may I'll just put them on display for you because that's what you do to everyone else. I really don't know why you get off on making me feel horrible," waving your hand at the bustling establishment, "or insulting me at every turn or screwing my neighbors loud enough to where I'll hear but it's seriously getting on my last nerve."

"You're on my last nerve," he hissed grabbing the cup stalking off to Thorn's scowling expression at one of the various tables.

"I missed a lot," Kix said eyeing him.

You sighed, "I wish I did too," you eyed the line thankful there was only a handful left. The tension in your shoulders relaxed as you went through the last motions of drinks before slugging down in the chair next to Kix which Jesse quickly vacated.

"You look like a mess," Jesse said looking at the coffee stained apron.

"I looked how I feel? That's great to know."

Kix discreetly squeezed your hand, "You did good for the first day."

"First day? It feel like a week," you groaned.

"I don't think everyday is going to be like this," Tup said hopefully.

"You shouldn't count your blessings before you receive them," Dogma chimed it.

Fox was the ever watching shadow of the group, lingering a little to close for their comfort but kept a straight face as you retold the story of yesterday watching Kix squint for a moment before relaxing.

"I think he likes you," Kix shrugged, catching a small glimpse at Fox's lip twitched, "I am sure he likes you."

"Oh please, there is no way in Sith's hell he does," you saw Fox swallow before his drink touched his lips.

"Fox, Vod to Vod, step outside," Kix said pointing at him and the door, watching you and all of his brothers gawk at him as Fox silently followed him outside.

"I don't know if he's dumb or brave," Jesse scolding.

"Vod marks up my lady and won't leave her alone, it wouldn't be just a talk. I'm surprised their not off in the ring sparring," Hardcase added.

"I'd pay to watch it," your eyes went wide at the bold comment, you covered the blush on your face with your hand and went back to the counter forcing yourself to clean the spills.

"I think you might get to watch for free," Jesse mutter looking out the door wanting them toe to toe talking.

You looked up at the clock, "It's been twenty minutes."

You tossed down the rag and marched out there glaring at both of them, "Enough."

Kix deflated, "Yes ma'am," he walked back inside leaving you and Fox standing there.

"What the hell were you two talking about so long?"

"You."

"Oh please, it's not like you have much to say," you started turning when he grabbed your wrist, forgetting himself, who he was and where he was, there was only the two of you in that moment.

"I say plenty you just don't listen."

"I listen to you fuck and insult me plenty," you said yanking your wrist back.

You saw Dogma walking over glaring, "Do you know how many regulation you just broke or do I need to recite them to you."

"I don't think someone who is practically a shiny should be lecturing me about regulations," he glared back.

Dogma motioned for you to go back inside, following after you acting as a barrier, "Is your wrist okay?" he asked sitting back in his seat.

"Yeah, thanks Dogma," he gave you a stiff nod.

Kix was still staring at Fox as he walked in taking a seat next to Thorn, "I was correct."

"What!" the words almost came out a shout and you deadpanned at him. You turned your heels and glared at the Captain. A few short strides you were you in front of him, you grabbed him by the chest plate pulling him up and out the room shoving him into his office, “For kriff’s sake, you are the most infuriating man I have ever met and you have the audacity to like me?” You said pressing a finger into his chest but he didn’t budge, “Fucking someone who looked like me? Staring at me? My neighbors? You sick twisted piece of bantha shit. What a way to show someone your interested in them!” You berated him, “What do you get off on making someone hate you?” you yelled.

Fox hit a button, the door closing and blinds shutting, “You assumed when I said productivity was going to decline it was my men not me, dancing with Thorn after I had been staring at you, calling my vod’s more handsome then me yes me saying she was prettier then you was poor on my end but she was at least staring at me. I fucked her because she looked like you because you didn’t even notice me, are you happy? Saying I have no taste? Shouldn’t me fucking her be a compliment to you that I find you attractive? Then dancing Wolffe? I made sure Thorn warned you. Then leaving with a blue? After being warned? Then dancing with me discarding me to dance with Thorn?” He growled glaring.

“That blue has a name, it’s Kix. Kix has never insulted me, held me and watched cheesy romance movie not once making any advancements nor insulted me by what I was eating which you ate so the irony. Nor asked me to refer to him by rank rather then name. Thorn has no interest in me.”

“A man who doesn’t have an interest in you is an idiot,” Fox stood in front you glaring down, “You are equally infuriating.”

“Sorry,” you said sarcastically, “That I don’t flirt through degradation. I like being treated like a person.”

Fox slowly backed you against his desk, “Not once did you ever notice me pass by your pathetic office. Who do you think made the coffee every morning before you arrived? At every turn you picked one of my brothers over me and you don’t expect me to not to be angry? I am the fucking Commander of the Coruscant Guard, I told you to call me Commander so I wouldn’t just be another trooper to you who came to that cafe. I am not handsome enough for you or worth the trouble, read between the lines,” he hissed tossing the helmet to the floor, “Happy?”

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