#rex howling with laughter in command

[stardusthuntress]

Right?

I can just see some poor, unsuspecting rebellion leader going “I have a very dangerous mission that will require the utmost stealth and agility and a team of 10 to pull off”

And Rex going “I know just the team, give me a 2-seater starfighter that you don’t care if you lose”

And the poor rebel leader going ?????? As Rex continues, “meet my little big sister and our brother, he taught her how to taunt the Empire like an ARC before she was even 4 feet tall. Meanwhile, she’s been a stealthy little thing since before we were taken out of our tubes. Come back safely! See you two in a few hours!”

Why do I get the feeling that the first thing Rex says to Omega when they connect in the Rebellion is either:

*in complete amusement* “Well, here comes trouble.”

Or:

*with no small amount of well-earned concern and panic* “Do your brothers know you’re here?”

[areyoufuckingcrazy]

Hi! I was thinking a Rex or Cody x Gen!Reader(maybe they’re a bounty hunter or just a Mandalorian) where they’re working together and they get accidentally married in mandoa and don’t find out right away? 💕

This is probably not what you requested but hope you like it either way.

“One Too Many”

Commander Cody x GN!Mandalorian Reader

The campaign on Desix had been long, bloody, and miserable. So when word came that the Separatist holdouts had finally surrendered, Obi-Wan Kenobi declared the night a rare “official respite.”

The planet was a dustball at the edge of nowhere — the kind of place smugglers, bounty hunters, and desperate soldiers all stumbled through sooner or later.

You were there for work. Quick job, quick pay, quick drink.

You hadn’t expected to find half the Grand Army of the Republic crowded into the cantina. You especially hadn’t expected to find him — broad-shouldered, scarred, handsome in a way that was dangerous when someone was three shots deep.

Cody.

You didn’t know his name at first. Just another trooper, you thought — until you saw the way the others deferred to him. Until you saw the way he held himself, even off-duty.

Like a man carrying an entire war on his back.

You liked him immediately.

You were reckless like that.

The 212th’s celebration had started simple: a little victory, a little breathing room, a little dust-choked cantina at the edge of nowhere.

Then the liquor came out.

One drink turned into three. Three turned into seven.

You barely remembered how it started — one minute you were slumped over the bar next to a broad-shouldered, grim-faced trooper who was nursing a drink like it was going to run away, and the next you were both howling drunk, arms thrown around each other, laughing at something Waxer said about when Cody bought you a drink.

Mando’a started slipping from your mouth when you got drunk — curses, jokes, old wedding songs you half-remembered from your clan.

Boil dared Cody to kiss you.

You dared Cody to marry you.

And for some kriffing reason, Waxer got it into their heads that you should actually do it.

There was a chapel down the street.

A real one.

Old Outer Rim-style — rustic, rickety, still covered in someone’s half-hearted attempt at decorations from a wedding months ago.

“You won’t,” Boil slurred, clinging to Waxer.

“I kriffing will,” Cody said, jabbing a finger at you.

You were grinning so hard your face hurt. “You won’t.”

He grabbed your wrist and started marching, half-dragging you through the dusty street. Waxer and Boil stumbled after you, cackling like a pair of devils.

Behind you, Master Kenobi — General Kenobi, The Negotiator, Jedi Master, paragon of wisdom and serenity — trailed along with a wine bottle in one hand, sipping casually like he was watching a street performance.

“Should we… stop them?” Waxer hiccupped.

Kenobi just raised an eyebrow. “Why? It’s quite entertaining.”

Inside the chapel, some sleepy old droid still programmed for ceremonies blinked itself awake when you all stumbled through the door.

“Are you here to be joined in union?” it asked mechanically.

“Yeah!” Cody barked, waving his hand. “Get on with it!”

You were laughing so hard you couldn’t breathe. Waxer was sobbing into Boil’s shoulder from laughter. Boil was recording it on his datapad.

You were pretty sure you threatened to punch Cody halfway through the vows, and he threatened to throw you over his shoulder and “get this over with,” and Waxer tried to officiate at one point but got distracted by the ceiling lights.

The droid somehow got the basic requirements out of you: names, yes, consent, yes, promise to stick together, sure why not, insert your clan name here, slurred into nothing.

“By the rites of union under the local customs of Desix,” the droid droned, “you are now spouses.”

There was a long, stunned pause.

Cody blinked at you, bleary and still holding your wrist.

You blinked at him, grinning like an idiot.

Waxer whooped.

Boil flung rice he stole from the droid’s ceremonial basket.

Obi-Wan gave a golf clap, smiling into his wine bottle.

Cody tugged you in by the front of your shirt and kissed you square on the mouth.

It was clumsy and a little sloppy and completely perfect.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against yours, chuckling low in his chest.

“Remind me to actually take you on a date next time,” he muttered.

You snorted, dizzy and stupidly happy.

“You’re such a cheap date,” you teased.

“You’re the one who married a clone after six drinks,” he shot back.

Obi-Wan’s voice floated lazily from somewhere behind you.

“This isn’t the first Mandalorian shotgun wedding I’ve attended.”

You flipped Kenobi off over Cody’s shoulder without looking.

⸻

Your head was killing you.

It was the kind of hangover that felt like someone had stuffed a live thermal detonator into your skull and set it to “gently simmer.”

You woke up sprawled across the pilot’s chair of your battered little freighter, helmet on the floor, boots still on, jacket half-off.

You groaned, clutching your head, trying to piece together what the kriff happened last night.

You remembered… the cantina.

Maybe some clones?

Drinks?

A lot of drinks.

And then — nothing. A void.

Total blackout.

You muttered a curse under your breath, shaking off the cobwebs.

“Not my problem anymore,” you said hoarsely, slamming the hatch controls.

The ship lifted off with a coughing rumble, engines flaring as you tore away from that cursed dustball of a planet without a single look back.

Freedom.

Peace.

Hangover and all, at least you—

—CLANG.

You jumped, hand flying to your blaster as something banged inside the ship.

You spun around, heart hammering, expecting a bounty hunter or a drunken mistake you forgot to ditch.

Instead, a half-dressed clone trooper stumbled out of your refresher.

You stared.

He stared.

Both of you looked equally horrified.

“What the kriff are you doing on my ship?!” you barked, blaster half-raised.

The clone — broad, buzzcut, golden armor pieces still strapped to one shoulder — squinted blearily at you.

“…Am I still drunk?” he mumbled, rubbing his face. “Or are you yelling?”

You pressed the blaster harder into your hand to resist the urge to shoot the ceiling out of pure frustration.

“Who the hell are you?” you demanded.

“Uh.” He looked down at himself, like maybe his armor would have answers. “Waxer.”

“Waxer,” you repeated flatly.

There was an awkward beat.

He looked around, frowning harder. “This… this isn’t the barracks.”

“No shit, genius,” you snapped. “It’s my ship.”

Waxer scratched the back of his neck, looking sheepish.

“I… think I followed you.”

“Why?”

He shrugged helplessly. “I dunno, vod. You seemed… fun?”

You pinched the bridge of your nose so hard you saw stars.

This was a nightmare.

You had to focus. Okay. One problem at a time.

“Do you remember anything about last night?” you ground out.

Waxer leaned heavily against the wall, thinking so hard it looked painful.

“Uh… bar… drinks… Boil dared Cody to…” He trailed off, brow furrowing. “Somethin’ about a chapel?”

You stared at him, ice sinking into your stomach.

“…A chapel?”

“Yeah,” Waxer said, rubbing his temple. “Pretty sure there was a wedding? Someone got married?”

You nearly dropped your blaster.

“No, no, no,” you muttered, pacing in a tight circle. “Not me. Not a chance.”

Waxer gave you a once-over, squinting.

“You do look like you got married,” he said, way too cheerfully for a man half-hungover in your ship’s corridor. “You got that, uh, post-wedding… glow.”

You shot him a look so poisonous he actually flinched.

“You’re lucky you’re not spaced already,” you growled. “Sit down, stay quiet. I need to figure out what the hell happened.”

You turned back toward the cockpit.

Waxer called weakly after you:

“Hey, uh… if you find out if I got married, let me know too, yeah?”

You groaned so loud it shook the bulkheads.

⸻

Cody woke up face-down on a crate in a supply room.

His mouth tasted like regret and sawdust.

His armor was half-missing.

His head felt like it had been used for target practice.

He groaned, dragging himself upright, squinting around.

Where the kriff—?

The door slid open with a hiss, and Boil stumbled in, looking just as rough.

“Commander,” Boil rasped, voice like gravel, “we’re…uh…we’re shipping out soon.”

Cody pressed his fingers to his temples.

“Where’s Waxer?” he croaked.

Boil blinked. Looked around like maybe Waxer would appear out of thin air.

“…I thought he was with you?”

Cody cursed under his breath. “We leave in an hour. Find him.”

Boil nodded, clutching the wall for balance, and staggered out.

Cody scrubbed a hand down his face.

Bits of last night floated in his brain — flashes of a bar, too many drinks, laughing until his ribs hurt — and then… nothing.

Total blackout.

He remembered someone — warm hands, a sharp smile — but it was blurry. Faded like a dream.

Before he could piece anything together, General Kenobi appeared, hands tucked casually behind his back, sipping calmly from a steaming cup of tea.

“Cody,” Kenobi greeted pleasantly. “Sleep well?”

Cody groaned. “Respectfully, sir, I feel like I’ve been run over by a LAAT.”

Kenobi smiled, maddeningly unbothered.

“Well, that’s what happens when you elope with Mandalorians,” the Jedi said casually, taking a sip.

Cody froze.

“…Sir?”

Kenobi gave him a sideways glance, the barest twitch of amusement on his mouth.

“Marrying someone you just met. Very uncharacteristic of you,” he mused aloud. “But then again, everyone needs a little excitement now and then.”

Cody’s mouth opened.

Closed.

Opened again.

“I… I what?” he managed.

Kenobi smiled wider.

“As your commanding officer and friend, let me be the first to congratulate you on your marriage.”

Cody stared at him, stomach dropping through the floor.

Kenobi clapped him on the shoulder once, almost kindly, and strolled off down the corridor, humming to himself.

Cody just stood there.

Brain utterly blank.

Marriage!?

Bits of the night started stitching themselves together in his pounding skull — the cantina, the drinks, the bet, the chapel,— a Mandalorian — a ring of laughter and shouting — a kiss that tasted like liquor and adrenaline—

His hands flew to his body, patting himself down.

There, on a thin chain tucked under his blacks, was a cheap metal band — hastily engraved, scuffed to hell — but there.

He was married.

To someone.

He didn’t even know their name.

“Kriff!” he swore, yanking the band out to stare at it.

Boil popped his head back around the corner.

“Commander, uh, bad news — Waxer’s missing.”

Cody’s eye twitched.

“Find him,” he growled. “Now.”

Because if anyone knew where the kriffing Mandalorian was — the Mandalorian he apparently married last night — it would be Waxer.

And Cody was going to kill them both.

⸻

Cody was stalking through the camp like a man possessed.

Clones scrambled out of his way — even Boil looked like he was about to duck and cover — but Cody barely noticed.

He jabbed at his comm unit again, teeth grinding.

“Come on, Waxer, where the hell are you—”

The comm crackled — and finally, mercifully, connected.

Except… it wasn’t Waxer’s voice that answered.

It was a dry, raspy groan, like someone dying a slow death.

“…Who the kriff is this?” a voice slurred over the line.

Cody stiffened.

That voice—

Mandalorian accent. Rough from a hangover.

Unmistakable.

“This is Commander Cody of the Grand Army of the Republic,” he snapped. “Where’s Waxer?”

A heavy sigh crackled through the speaker.

Then some muffled shuffling.

Finally, a different voice — Waxer’s — came on the line, painfully sheepish.

“Uh… hey, Commander.”

“Waxer,” Cody growled, “you have two minutes to explain why you’re not on the ground getting ready for departure.”

“Okay, so, uh…” Waxer sounded like he was desperately trying to piece his dignity back together. “Funny story, sir…”

“Waxer.”

“I’m on a ship. Not, uh, our ship. The Mandalorian’s ship.”

Cody’s eye twitched violently.

“You’re with them?” he hissed.

Waxer coughed, clearly embarrassed.

“Yeah. Turns out, I kinda… passed out in their refresher.”

In the background, you — the Mandalorian — muttered “Stop telling people that,” which Cody was definitely going to circle back to later.

Waxer hurried on. “They could drop me off at Nal Hutta — You know, least disruption, stay outta the battalion’s way…”

“Nal Hutta is a three-day detour,” Cody barked.

“Yeah, I said that too,” Waxer admitted. “They’re heading to Coruscant next, but it’s gonna take a few days.”

Cody paced like a caged rancor, running a hand through his hair.

“You’re telling me I have to leave you in the hands of a hungover Mandalorian,” he said through gritted teeth, “who I may or may not have married last night, and just hope you both make it to Coruscant alive?”

“…I mean, if you put it like that, sir,” Waxer said carefully, “it sounds worse than it is.”

There was a long pause.

Cody closed his eyes.

He could feel Kenobi’s amused stare from across the camp.

The General was lounging under a shade tarp, nursing another drink like he was personally invested in Cody’s suffering.

Cody opened his eyes.

Fine.

No choice.

“Copy that,” he ground out. “Transmit your vector when you make planetfall. We’ll regroup on Coruscant.”

“Yes, sir,” Waxer said, voice obviously relieved.

The comm clicked off.

Cody lowered the device slowly, breathing through his nose.

“Married,” he muttered to himself, in utter disbelief. “Married to a Mandalorian I don’t even remember meeting.”

Kenobi drifted casually closer, hands clasped behind his back, wearing the smuggest expression Cody had ever seen on his otherwise dignified face.

“Don’t worry, Cody,” the Jedi said lightly, voice positively dripping with humor. “Statistically speaking, most impulsive marriages have a fifty percent survival rate.”

Cody stared at him, hollow-eyed.

“That’s not comforting, sir.”

Kenobi took a sip of his drink, beaming. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

⸻

The ship’s hyperdrive thrummed softly as it hurtled through deep space.

You slouched in the pilot’s chair, wearing the hangover like a full set of armor.

Every noise was too loud.

Every light was too bright.

From behind you, Waxer was perched awkwardly on a crate, looking like he had a lot of questions he desperately wanted to ask — and not enough survival instincts to stop himself.

You groaned, slumping forward to rest your forehead against the control panel.

“Don’t say it,” you warned him, voice hoarse.

Waxer scratched the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.

“…Sooo,” he drawled, dragging the word out, “you and my commander, huh?”

You made a wounded sound into the console.

“I’m never drinking with clones again,” you mumbled.

Waxer chuckled under his breath, clearly finding way too much joy in your suffering.

“Hey, could be worse,” he said lightly. “At least it’s Cody. Solid guy. Good rank. Stable.”

You turned your head just enough to glare at him, one eye peeking out from under your hair.

“I don’t even remember meeting him,” you hissed. “I woke up in my ship, there was a half-dead clone in my refresher, and now apparently I’m married to your kriffing commander.”

Waxer winced sympathetically, but he was absolutely biting back a laugh.

“Details, details,” he said. “You seemed real happy about it last night.”

“I was drunk!” you snapped.

Waxer shrugged, grinning. “Still. Smiled a lot.”

You buried your face back into your arms.

Maker.

You tried to scrape together anything useful from last night — but it was all a messy blur of shouting, music, the burning taste of spotchka, and — somewhere — a deep, rumbling laugh you could almost remember.

You groaned again.

Waxer leaned back against the wall, settling in comfortably like he was ready to spill all the juicy gossip.

“So…what’s the plan?” he asked, way too casually.

You lifted your head just enough to glare again.

“Plan?”

“Yeah, you know. Marriage stuff. Matching armor. Co-signing a ship mortgage.”

You pointed a finger at him.

“You’re lucky I don’t space you,” you muttered.

Waxer just smiled wider.

“Look, could be worse,” he said again, like he was helping. “General Kenobi didn’t even seem mad. He was kinda proud, honestly.”

You groaned and flopped back into your chair, draping an arm over your face.

“You clones are a menace.”

Waxer chuckled.

“Yeah, but you married one, so what’s that make you?”

You made a strangled sound.

The ship sailed on through the stars — heading straight for Coruscant and the world’s most awkward conversation with Commander Cody.

You didn’t know how that conversation was going to go.

But you were pretty sure you were going to need a drink for it.

⸻

The ship touched down at the GAR base on Coruscant with a smooth hiss of repulsors.

You barely waited for the ramp to finish lowering before you were all but shoving Waxer out.

“Go,” you said, practically herding him down the ramp. “Fly, be free.”

Waxer grinned, shouldering his kit bag.

“Thanks for the lift, mesh’la. Good luck with the husband.”

You shot him a murderous glare as he disappeared into the bustling crowds of clones and officers.

And then — standing at the base of the ramp — was him.

Commander Cody.

Still in full armor, helmet tucked under one arm, looking… somehow even more handsome sober.

His hair was tousled, his dark eyes sharp but… cautious.

You felt the smallest flicker of Oh no he’s hot panic spark in your gut.

Cody stepped forward, clearing his throat.

You squared your shoulders, already bracing for it.

“So,” he said, voice carefully neutral. “About… the marriage.”

You gave him a flat look.

“What marriage?” you said, a little too brightly. “I don’t remember a marriage.”

Cody cracked the faintest, tired smile.

“Right. Well. I’m sure there’s a way to… annul it. Or nullify it. Whatever the proper term is.”

You cocked your head, pretending to think.

“Could just say it wasn’t consummated,” you said casually. “Makes it non-binding in some traditions.”

For a half-second, Cody actually looked relieved.

You smirked.

Right up until a very distinct voice behind you both cleared his throat politely.

Both you and Cody turned at the same time.

There stood General Kenobi, sipping from a flask he definitely wasn’t supposed to have on base, looking immensely entertained.

“I’m afraid,” Kenobi said, with that Jedi-trying-to-sound-diplomatic tone, “that would not be accurate.”

You and Cody blinked at him.

Kenobi smiled a little wider, like he was delivering a death sentence.

“From what I recall — and from what half the battalion will never be able to forget — the marriage was…” He paused delicately. “…enthusiastically consummated. On multiple occasions. That night.”

Silence.

Absolute, crippling silence.

You felt your soul leave your body.

Cody’s face turned a shade of red you hadn’t thought possible for a battle-hardened clone.

You slowly turned your head back toward Cody, your expression completely numb.

He opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

“Right,” he said finally, voice strangled. “Good to know.”

You choked on a sound that was half a laugh, half a groan.

Kenobi clapped Cody lightly on the shoulder as he strolled past.

“Congratulations again, by the way,” he added over his shoulder, absolutely relishing your suffering.

You and Cody just stood there on the landing pad, mutual trauma radiating off you in waves.

Finally, you blew out a breath.

“So,” you said hoarsely, “drinks?”

Cody stared at you.

Then — in the most defeated, exhausted voice you had ever heard — he muttered

“Please.”

[agirlnamedzoya]

I Would Come For You

part three! part two

Part III - And No Matter How Broken We Were

“That’s one hell of a nasty sprain,” Omega heard Hawke say before entering the cockpit of the Marauder, taking her helmet off. They were en route to Alderaan to aid Bail Organa with his new mission.

“Who broke themselves now?” Omega asked, eyebrow arched.

“I did,” Mohamed said, grimacing as Hawke tended to his ankle, constantly mumbling under his breath.

“When did this happen? And why?”

“Immediately after you told us to board the ship, when you went off to Commander Wolffe for orders. The fool decided to track me down on our way outside to prove the Force doesn’t make me immune to him,” Kolton rolled his eyes, “but unfortunately, I heard him, and spun around while igniting my lightsabre to fright him. I thought he’d be standing behind me, but the genius was on the plumbing, and he fell and twisted his ankle. And then I had to pick him up like some bride or something” he grimaced, while others howled with laughter, “and then carry him. Boy you are heavy.” He ended, inviting snickers.

“Why are you guys so attracted to plumbing?” Omega grumbled, and bent down beside Hawke.

“What else is broken?” Omega asked. From the height of the ceiling, she was sure he may have broken more than his ankle.

“His left femur,” Keilara replied, “due to the fact that before he could stand up, he ended up opening some sort of attic while falling and bombarding himself with boxes full of weapons.”

Omega was left staring. Left femur fractured….

Suddenly, her comm crackled, and she left to listen to the transmissions.

When they landed, Omega took her squad and sought out Bail Organa at the decided meeting place. He gave them a lead on a reported piece of a star-chart that could give them the location of the newest Imperial star base which was yet under construction.

However, he did warn them against bounty hunters that were sent by the Empire for that map.

That night, after a whole heated debate after which Mohamed successfully convinced the squad to take him with them, they went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Omega heard a strangled yell and loud sounds of fights.

At first, she thought herself to be sleep-deprived, but once she heard the Marauder’s wall get banged as if someone had been pushed against it, she bolted up, got her blasters and Hunter’s vibro-blades, she ran outside to find Mohamed glaring with a vibrating intensity of anger in his eyes, shaking as he hobbled on his good leg, until he screamed back, “COWARDS! Fight back!” to four figures running, cloaked in the darkness, but later, Christa’s rifle poked out and bolts from her and Omega’s firearms struck true.

They turned to see Mohamed panting, covered in bruises and blood, and holding the map piece out to her. She raised an eyebrow in question.

“I woke up when I heard them. Bounty hunters,” he said, words coming out a bit muffled due to either his swollen cheek or mouth filled with blood. “They had somehow located the map and stole it, thanks to their droid. I followed them, closed the door, and ran at them, while snatching the map. They put up a fight. I tried my best to have them stopped. They were also intending on blasting the ship, leaving no survivors, that’s why I wanted to kill them even more. Out of six, I took down two, and the rest were fried by you guys.” He grinned. “That was one hell of an aim.”

“Shut up.” Omega snarled. “You must have made your wound even worse. Why didn’t you wake any one of us? Me?” she saw the crestfallen look on the injured boy, then she bent down to him, and whispered, “Look, I’m sorry you had to go through this. This was my job, and the way they beat my boy up made me angry beyond words. I’m sorry love, and I really appreciate the way you just saved all of us from death, or getting scolded by Rex.” She winced, making Mohamed smile.

“Christa, you can go back to sleep.” When the cadet didn’t move, she said, “That’s an order, soldier.”

After which she supported Mohamed like she had once seen Echo support Tech and took him to the cockpit.

Not wanting to wake Hawke up, she took to mending him. The bounty hunters had done a good job of torturing him, she thought with pain, regret, rage and pity all at once, while she was only touching the wounds and startled a gasp or jolt out of the boy.

“Distract me, please.” he murmured. “I don’t want to be seen weak, but the pain is really testing me.”

“I’m open to ideas.” She dabbed ointment onto his swollen cheek.

“How about a story?”

“Hmm. Well, I have a story that matches exactly yours.”

“Then I should love hearing it.” He concealed his groan by clenching his teeth as Omega worked on his arm. “Who is this about?”

“Two of my brothers, Echo and Tech.”

“The funny pair you mentioned?”

“That one. Echo first belonged to Domino Squad, and his best friend was a clone CT-5555, called Fives. But after his whole squad died, save him, he joined the Bad Batch where he bonded the strongest with Tech.

“One day, we had to retrieve a war-chest from the planet Serenno, the headquarters of Count Dooku. My memory’s pretty rusty, so I don’t exactly remember the details, but before we could get the items we wanted, the ship left and we three were separated with Hunter and Wrecker. We ejected the ship mid-air and we were in one of the chests which flew down to a canyon, but Tech’s left femur was fractured by a mass of 150 kilograms falling on him.

“Then we found a Serennian, Romar Adell, and stayed at his house. He allowed us to stay and occupied Tech with small repairs, which was better than going out after we had Tech all wrapped and fixed up. I decided to go to the war chest to salvage as much as I can.”

“It was dangling off a canyon, right? And what was so valuable in it?” Mohamed, now quite calmed down, said with eyes closed as Omega tended to his ankle.

“Erm, yes, so I was pretty reckless, enough to not even take a grappling hook with me and went inside without the fear of falling down and dying.”

“Seriously? And then you lecture us on and o-”

“Shut up trooper, I’m your officer. Now back to the point. That chest contained Count Dooku’s property, treasure, credits, jewels, anything that could be enough to sustain us all without having to go on errands anymore. Echo came after me with Tech and Romar and pulled me out before the chest crashed and took everything with it. I was too late.

“While Romar and Echo were pulling me to safety, Tech had found some Imperial soldiers who had come looking for the war chest, I guess. He intercepted those soldiers, single-handedly taking them all down on that fractured femur, and disabled their cannon, until he finally collapsed, but not before he called Hunter and Wrecker. So, Tech saved the day, and we all got to go home.”

“Wasn’t his femur fractured? He was supposed to be at rest, and doesn’t it hurt like hell? He literally fought off a squad of troopers with a fractured femur?”

“Look who’s saying.” A corner of her mouth quirked up. “And yes, that was one of his marvels. He made a fracture look like merely more than a scratch.”

“And you came back with no treasure?”

“Yes, but Echo comforted me that it did not matter that much.” She tightened the bandages. “There. Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes, but I’d like a painkiller.”

“You got it.” She stood up and walked, but before leaving, she turned back. “Mohamed,” she called, swivelling his head, “you were incredibly brave today. Thank you for saving our lives. I’m proud of you as your Sergeant. Remember, I told you that you remind me of my brothers? It’s not of your talents, but because of who you are at heart.” She went out, and did not see the content smile that spread on his wounded face.

next

[cloneshipping7567]

Romantic Confessions Part 6

Part 6/30

5. "Are you really so oblivious?"

Pairing: Fox x Cody (as requested by anon)

Rating/WC: T/ 4006

Warnings: this one is a bit different to the other fics I’ve made so far, this one is more like a few drabbles put together. I hope you like it!

~~~

Cody doesn’t look up as Fox sits next to him, he simply scoots over so his friend has more room.

Cody understands where the rumors that Fox is cold and distant comes from, but it always amuses him how very wrong they are.

Sure, he isn’t throwing his arms over other troopers, isn’t the first to laugh or joke. But he’s never cold, never pushes people away.

Fox is quiet. He observes, takes in everything around him. He’d always rather listen to his brothers joke and talk than join in himself.

That isn’t because he doesn’t like his brothers, though. That’s just how he shows his affection.

Everyone in the commander class understands; Fox has always been like this. That’s even how Fox and Wolffe got their names in the first place; Fox is the type to curl up and sneakily observe, while Wolffe is always howling with laughter and barking out another story.

Cody knows this. He knows Fox. He knows Fox better than anyone else, if he does say so himself.

So Cody doesn’t look up when Fox sits next to him, nursing what is, more than likely, his third or fourth cup of caf of the morning. He doesn’t greet him or try to get him into a conversation. It isn’t necessary, Fox doesn’t need all of that to feel welcome.

Cody sighs and submits the report, checking the time on his datapad. 0800, Coruscant time. He still has half an hour before he really needs to get started with his day.

“Aren’t you on leave?” Fox asks softly, after taking a slow gulp of caf.

Cody smirks and turns to face Fox, letting his datapad rest in his lap. “The 212th is on leave, yes,” he says.

Fox gives him an unimpressed look, and anyone who isn’t Cody would probably take it as a sign Fox was disinterested or even upset. But Cody knows; Fox is amused by Cody’s work ethic. “Did you at least get to sleep more than usual?”

Cody doesn’t need to answer; he just smiles wider, his scar pulling at the eye.

Fox sighs, handing Cody his precious cup of caf.

Cody gasps, eyes going wide as he takes the mug. “Oh, Fox, I had no idea you felt this way about me,” he teases, scarfing down a few swallows before the addict can change his mind and grab it back.

Fox makes a noise halfway between a hiss and a scoff, but his lips twitch in an aborted smile. “Love of my life,” he snarks back.

Cody’s heart swells, but he looks down at the cup before he gives too much away. “I-“

A sleepy Rex drags himself into the room, grunting a quiet hello as he makes a beeline for the caf machine.

Fox pulls away-when had he gotten so close?- and scoots down the couch. He doesn’t say hello.

“Rough night?” Cody asks in his own greeting, drinking the last of the caf and setting the empty mug down.

“The twins won’t leave me alone,” Rex grumbles, punching the on button a little more forcibly than necessary. “We painted our armor sir, look sir, we can refresh your paint for your sir, we can can help with the flimsiwork, come watch us spar sir-when is it your weekend?”

Cody snickers, and Fox is even looking at Rex, indicating he finds the story just as funny. “Oh no, you got full custody, remember? I get visitation rights.”

Rex grunts again, shifting his weight impatiently as the coffee starts to brew. “Deadbeat dad,” he mumbles under his breath.

Cody chuckles, throwing an arm over the back of the couch and therefore over Fox’s shoulders. Fox indicates he enjoys the closeness by not moving. “Echo and Fives are not that bad. I think they’re great.”

“Yeah, because you only work with them on missions,” Rex snarks. He hits the side of the machine in annoyance. “They’re great on missions. Best couple of shinies I’ve ever- why the hell wasn’t the pot already started?” Rex turns his prideful smile back into a scowl when he notices Cody smirking at him. 

Fox’s lips twitch, Cody notices. He might actually smile. “They’re still babies, they’ll grow out of it,” Cody soothes. He sneakily pushes Fox’s coffee mug further out of sight.

Rex shoots him a glare, and Cody’s smile only widens. “I’m never going to sleep again,” he grumbles dramatically.

“I heard it’s best to sleep when the baby sleeps,” Cody suggests, and laughs as a sugar packet hits him in the forehead.

“They never karking sleep,” Rex complains, finally able to pour himself a mug. “They’re too amped up to prove themselves.”

Cody’s smirk fades into a soft smile. “They want you to be proud of them,” Cody says softly. He sneakily shifts his arm so it’s fully over Fox’s shoulder and not the couch. “Take it as a compliment.”

Rex makes a disgusted sound, but his lips are finally twisted up into a smile. “I’m sending them to boarding school, first chance I get.”

Cody’s eyes widen. “ARC training? Really? You think they can handle that?”

Fox has wiggled his way out from under Cody’s arm, stealing his mug back and pouring himself a cup. Cody fights back a sad sigh.

Rex doesn’t respond, a proud grin tugging at his lips as he leaves.

Fox turns to Cody, mug in hand and hips leaning against the counter. “When did you and Rex get divorced?” He asks drily; but Cody hears the humor behind it.

Cody rolls his eyes. “Rishi. We adopted the twins, had a massive argument about how to raise them, and the rest was history.” He stands up himself, stretching his arms above his head and groaning as his aching muscles protest.

Fox stares at him over the lip of the mug for a moment, before clearing his throat to answer. “And by massive argument, you mean-“

“He called dibs,” Cody says, rolling his neck and grinning. “He’s always had more patience for shinies, you know that.”

Fox hums, hiding his face in his caf.

~

When they were cadets, Cody and Fox were the best fighters. Out of all the CC’s, no one could best either one of them in combat.

Wolffe got close a few times, but the only CC able to beat Cody or Fox, was Fox and Cody.

But they aren’t cadets anymore, and clankers don’t follow sparring rules.

To be fair to Cody, he’s kicked countless droids into broken messes. It’s almost his signature move. (It impresses the hell out of the shinies, okay? So he likes to show off, so what?).

He just wasn’t expecting the droid to move when it did, and he didn’t expect the extended arm to slam into his ribs that hard.

“Honestly, sir,” Stitches grumbles, tightening the bandage around Cody’s ribs far more than is strictly necessary. “How many times do I have to tell you not to kick the kriffing droids?”

Cody winces, shooting his medic a pained grin. “Technically, I didn’t actually kick the droid. It got me first.”

Stitches pats the bandages closed with just a tad too much force, making Cody wince again. “Idiot,” he hisses under his breath, before taking a step back. “Take it easy for the next week, use ice if the pain gets unbearable. Nothing more to do for broken ribs.”

Cody nods once, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “No pain stims?”

Stitches gives Cody an unimpressed look. “Do you promise not to kick any more droids?”

Cody sighs in defeat, and then winces as his ribs hurt. “Probably better to save them for my shinies anyway,” Cody grumbles as he makes his way out of the medbay.

“Sir,” he’s greeted as soon as he’s stepped out the doors. Cody fights back another sigh; duty never stops. “Glad to see you’re okay.”

Cody nods once; he hates being out of armor. He’s just in his lower blacks, having had to remove the top for Stitches to look at. His hands twitch for his bucket, which is with the rest of his kit in his room. “Of course, Waxer. It would take more than a rogue punch to take me out.”

Waxer grins, his own bucket under one arm. He holds out a datapad. “Not according to the casualty reports, sir. Some idiot marked you down before verifying if you were actually dead.”

Cody groans in annoyance, grabbing the datapad and looking it over. “Dammit,” he mumbles, one hand running through his hair. “Who has seen this?”

“It’s already been sent to the top, sir, Coruscant has seen it by now.” Waxer shoots a guilty look at Cody; he probably feels responsible, but the casualty report wouldn’t have fallen to a lieutenant. It would have probably fallen on Rex’s shoulders to double check, or some other captain working the mission.

Cody groans, punching the bridge of his nose. “That’s great,” he grumbles. “Do you have any clue how hard it is to come back from the dead?”

Waxer chokes on a laugh, clearing his throat as he tries to remain professional. “I imagine it would be quite difficult, sir.”

Cody rolls his eyes, rubbing a hand over his face. “You know what? I’ll be dead for a few hours. Maybe I’ll finally get a break.”

Waxer smirks, taking the datapad from Cody. “I’ll inform the general of your untimely demise,” Waxer says, saluting once.

“Great idea Lieutenant, I knew I promoted you for a reason.”

“While you’re dead,” Waxer says, still looking straight ahead. “Might I delegate some of your responsibilities for you? Maybe the general can handle botched reports, for example…”

Cody’s eyes light up, and he pats a hand on Waxer’s shoulder. “Brilliant idea Waxer. Feel free to inform General Kenobi of any flimsiwork I might not get to while I’m still dead. Maybe he’ll shed a tear over his lost commander.”

Waxer snorts once, before stopping in front of Cody’s quarters. “Of course, sir,” he says, giving a quick salute.

Cody opens his door and locks it behind him, sighing heavily. He makes his way to his desk, grabbing his comm before gently lowering himself on his bunk. The pain is intense, sure, but he’s had worse.

A few messages from the general asking about his location, with a follow up of ‘let me know when you’re out of the medbay.’ Well, considering Cody is dead for the next few hours, he chooses to ignore that.

A couple from Rex. One indicating that he’s back on his own ship. Then, ‘lol congrats on being dead enjoy your nap.’

He sends Rex an ‘I will’ and checks the rest of his comms. Mostly a bunch of updates and requests for his advice or presence. All of which will be ignored until after he’s been revived.

He’s about to put his comm down when a new message pings through. He debates ignoring it anyway, but sighs and checks.

It’s from Fox. Shit. He might have read the report. Cody opens it quickly. ‘You better not actually be dead ’ is all it reads.

Cody smiles fondly. It may have read as cold if anyone else had sent the message; but he knows Fox, and he knows how scared he must be to have sent the comm in the first place.

Cody wastes no time, starting a holocall immediately.

Fox picks up just as quick, his eyes frantically searching Cody’s face. He visibly lets out a sigh of relief, before morphing his face back into an impassive one. “You look like shit.”

Cody snorts, and then winces as his ribs protest. “Oh, darling, you have such a way with words,” he retorts.

Fox grunts, taking in Cody’s face. “What happened? You’re reported as killed in action.”

Cody hums softly. “Nah, just got backhanded by a droid in the ribs. See?” He reaches his arm out, allowing the comm to take in more of Cody’s body, including his bandaged chest. “Stitches said I broke half of ‘em on my left side. A new record.”

“You never have been good at accepting second place,” Fox snarks, and his breathing is starting to slow again. “Puncture any lungs?”

“No,” Cody says, chuckling despite himself. “Room for improvement, I suppose.”

“Don’t,” Fox says, looking away after his sudden outburst. He clears his throat, looking back to Cody. “Don’t ever do that again. Don’t get hurt bad enough to show up on the KIA reports.”

Cody quirks a brow. “You really thought I was dead,” Cody says more than asks.

Fox narrows his eyes, shifting in his seat. “The reports aren’t usually wrong.”

Cody hums in agreement, staring at Fox’s face. Knowing the other clone was this worried, was upset, even, makes Cody’s stomach flutter. He knows Fox cares about him—they all care about each other to some degree or another. But this just feels different for some reason.

“I won’t do it again,” he promises softly. Any other day he might have teased a bit longer; but he just wants to let Fox know he’s taking the vulnerability seriously right now.

Fox nods once, taking a deep, steadying breath. He doesn’t end the call, but he doesn’t say anything else either.

Cody smirks, melting back into his normal joking mood with Fox. “I will be dead for the next few hours at least, though. Waxer is bullying Kenobi into undoing the report, and I’m not sure he even knows how.”

Fox laughs at that, almost breathless. “Do the Jedi ever file their own flimsiwork? Or do they pawn it all off on the clones?”

Cody grins, shifting to be a bit more comfortable on his bed. “Kenobi usually does his own, but Rex almost always does Skywalker’s. Honestly, I think he just doesn’t trust Skywalker to do them right.”

Fox hums, leaning back in his desk chair. “I would believe that, Rex’s general is crazy. Did you know he willingly spends time with the Supreme Chancellor?”

Cody lifts a brow. “You don’t like him?”

“He gives me the creeps!” Fox complains, a sly grin in place. “Maybe it’s just because he’s a politician. All the senators suck.”

Cody laughs softly, hissing in a pained breath. “I’ve met a couple. I like Amidala.”

Fox hums, pretending to think about it. “Actually, yeah, I like her. I saved her once from a Hutt, she was very capable. Could have mistaken her for a Jedi, the way she fought.”

Cody grins, eyes dropping in exhaustion. “I believe that,” he mumbles.

There’s silence on the other end, as Fox just stares at him. Cody’s eyes fight valiantly to stay open, but the battle is lost before long.

He’s almost asleep when he hears Fox whisper, “Sleep well, Cody.” He might have even imagined it.

~

Cody smiles fondly as he watches his troopers march off the ship in proper formation for exactly long enough to get off the ramp before booking it as fast as they can into the city.

Coruscant is a giant city - a planet-wide city - full of fun to be had and trouble to get into.

The 212th almost never gets to come here, what with shore leave being so rare and Coruscant usually being so far away from where their last battle was.

But Obi Wan was needed in the council, and it just so happened to line up with the scheduled week’s worth of shore leave the 212th earned. So here they are, more than ready to spend a week’s worth of off-duty time in the city.

As it just so happens, Cody also enjoys spending time on this planet whenever they can. And yes, that may have something to do with a certain member of the Coruscant guard.

“That’s all of them,” his general declares, voice just as amused as Cody feels. “How many do you think we’ll have to bail out of the brig?”

Cody smirks under his bucket. “I’ll bet you a week’s worth of flimsiwork it’s at least 20.”

Kenobi scoffs. “Jedi do not gamble,” he says.

“Two weeks that Wooley is one of them.” Wooley is usually a calm, mild-tempered clone, but Cody knows Ghost Company likes to party on leave. He hopes Kenobi doesn’t know this. 

“You’re on,” Kenobi says, walking off the ship without another word.

Cody shakes his head with a laugh, pulling up his comm. He pings Fox first, letting him know he’s planet side and free for a week. When he gets the coordinates to Fox’s apartment in the upper levels in response, he opens a comm to his entire battalion.

You have a week here to get arrested, don’t pull anything tonight or me and the general are leaving you there until the morning. Have fun, men.

With that done, he stretches himself out and starts the walk to Fox’s apartment. He could catch a speeder, but it’s been ages since he’s been allowed to walk at his own pace instead of march. And he’s been cooped up in that ship for the past two days as they made their way through hyperspace.

Cody loves Coruscant. Growing up on a planet where almost everyone looked exactly the same was tiresome, boring. It almost feels like no two people on Coruscant look the same, even the ones of the same species. They all look so unique.

Cody sighs as he checks his coordinates. He’s been walking for two hours, and he isn’t even halfway there. He grumbles to himself, pulling out his comm. Never mind, he just wants to be there, preferably before Fox gets off shift and worries.

Cody thanks the driver and gets out, making his way to the correct number. He punches in the codes for the door, and makes himself at home.

He sighs sadly at the state of the apartment. It’s dingy, and absolutely tiny, and the air tastes stale in here.

He puts his bucket on the tiny coffee table, and starts piling his armor on the floor in the corner. Down to just his blacks, Cody sits on the very uncomfortable couch and stretches out. He checks the time and sighs. He still has about an hour until Fox is supposed to get off shift.

Want me to get us some food? Your kitchen is depressingly under stocked. He sends comm quickly, looking around the apartment once more.

Aw, babe, were you gonna cook for me? How romantic. That’s not an answer, the asshole.

Cody rolls his eyes, but can’t help the smile from gracing his lips. His stomach warms at the thought of Fox calling him that seriously. He shoves that down, focusing on the pressing issue: what the hell they’re going to eat.

You don’t even have any ration bars, Fox. How are you still alive?

About ten cups of caf a day, and pure spite.

Cody rolls his eyes with a soft chuckle, standing from the couch. You’re worse than Rex, he sends.

I’ll pick something up.

Cody sighs when no other comms come through, and leaves it on the kitchen counter. He makes his way to the fresher, peeling his upper blacks off and leaving them on top of the closed toilet.

It’s been so long since he had time to just take care of himself more than just a quick rinse. He wants to take advantage.

Cody finds Fox’s clippers and gives himself a much overdue haircut. He cleans the hair away and rinses the sink out, before giving himself a proper shave as well. It feels nice going slow, taking his time.

Finally smooth, he shucks his lower blacks as well, and sets a clean towel out for himself. He sets the shower to an almost too hot temperature, and sighs at the water pressure. It’s not any better than on the ship, sadly.

Whatever, a hot shower is a hot shower. And there are no water rations on Coruscant; he can take his time.

And take his time Cody does. He lets the water wash over his sore muscles. He groans as he lets the hot water work him over. It feels so much nicer, just knowing that he doesn’t have to rush, and doesn't have any responsibilities for the next few days.

Eventually he sighs and washes himself, even allowing himself to enjoy the sensation of properly washing his hair.

He groans in self pity as he turns the water off, knowing Fox will probably be getting off shift soon. He gets out of the shower and dries his hair first, walking out of the fresher with the intention of stealing Fox’s blacks.

He's still rubbing the towel through his hair when he hears it.

“Oh, hello there,” Fox purrs, voice half amused and half…something Cody can’t tell.

Cody curses, using the towel to cover himself with warmed cheeks. “Force, Fox, I didn’t know you’d be back so soon!”

Fox is smirking, eyes roving over Cody’s body with dark eyes. He was halfway through getting his armor off, and he continues slowly. “I convinced Thorn to come in half an hour early so I could go,” he says.

Cody groans in humiliation, wrapping the towel fully around his hips. “I’m sorry,” he says, unable to look at Fox anymore.

Fox hums, taking the last of his armor off and stalking closer to Cody. “No need to apologize,” he murmurs, and it just sounds so sensual, so-

No, not while Cody only has a towel in between his groin and Fox. His cheeks warm even more, and he ducks his head. “Fox, I-“

Fox puts a finger under Cody’s chin, lifting gently. Cody is helpless but to allow himself to be moved. He meets Fox’s gaze, his own embarrassed eyes meeting dark, almost hungry ones.

Fox hums once, taking in Cody’s expression. “Why are you embarrassed?” Fox whispers. Cody can feel the other’s breath on his lips, and Cody is really having a hard time remembering how to breathe. “We grew up with communal showers.”

Cody swallows thickly, eyes shifting from Fox’s eyes to his lips and back again. “Because…” he feels his breath shudder as Fox’s thumb rubs against Cody’s jaw. “It’s different. You’re different.”

Fox practically purrs, stepping that much closer. “Why is it different?” He asks. “Why am I different?”

Cody’s eyes flutter, and he fights to keep his breathing under control. “Because you…you never really…I-“ Cody huffs in annoyance. He’s the fucking Marshal Commander of the entire 7th Corps of the GAR. He doesn’t stumble over his words.

And yet.

“You never really seemed as interested,” Cody finally gets out, leaving the as I was implied. It’s not really the answer to Fox’s direct question. 

Cody feels more than hears Fox’s breathy laughter. “Are you really so oblivious?” He murmurs, pinching Cody’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ve been in love with you since we were tubies, darling.”

Cody doesn’t swoon. If anyone asked him, he most definitely did not swoon. The Marshal Commander does not swoon.

But hearing it said out loud did, maybe, make his knees feel just a tad weaker. Only a little.

“You-you-why didn’t you say anything?” Cody asks, voice surprisingly husky. “I was flirting with you for so long!”

Fox lets out a long suffering sigh. “And here I thought you understood me,” he teases. “Why did you think I sought you out, and let you be in my space all the time?”

Cody hums in acknowledgment, eyes flitting back to Fox’s lips. “Yeah, okay,” he concedes, flashes of memories where Fox was being perhaps a bit too friendly with Cody flitting through his mind. Dammit.

Fox rolls his eyes, smirk set in place. “Idiot.” He doesn’t let Cody reply, before he connects their lips softly.

Cody may have been an idiot so far, but he isn’t anymore. He keeps one hand holding his towel up while the other wraps around Fox’s shoulder, cupping the back of his neck to keep him where he is. He has a lot of missed kissing opportunities to make up for.

[cc-tens]

Ok picture my idealized scene that caters to nobody but me.

Jedi Council and the CG Commanders are in a meeting. Somewhere along the lines as Fox is giving a report and mentions Palpatine, Mace Windu rolls his eyes and mumbles some dry ass backhanded comment about Palpatine's supposed leadership skills. The CG are obviously, very taken aback by this. Through private comms in their helmets they're like "is this dude fucking fr?? This guy's crazier than that time Thorn accidentally snorted Spice." Saesee Tiin, as a telepath makes a little aborted snort in amusement, something that the Guard take note of bc "did he just hear us?" This goes on through the meeting until Tiin, who is very reserved but also in my eyes, incredibly funny asks if the CG Commanders would like to remove their helmets. Obviously as 4 fuckers who had been shit talking through private comms they're worried, but do as they're told. Now though this is where the boys play their sabacc faces cause they're sweating bullets about the Generals seeing them be organic beings who emote and have thoughts. But Mace and Saesee don't call them out because despite looking like they're trying to kill someone with lasers from their eyes, "they're honestly alright as far as natborns go vod, no I'm serious. "

More meetings like this go on and over time they all realize their limits and where they're on the same page. Now imagine you're like, idk, anyone from the 501st or 212th called in for a strategy meeting. Maybe some crazy ass terrorists are on Coruscant planning on killing Palpatine yet again and the Guard are there to run ops, whatever no big deal. Until Obi-Wan notices that part way through Commander Stone's report on the Blue Guard absolutely fumbling it yet again, Mace barely lifts an eyebrow and yet it somehow screams "what kriffing idiots," and without missing a beat Stone nods even without looking at Mace as if Mace's eyebrow telepathically spoke to him. Or Mace looking to Fox and Thorn and making a coded and backhanded comment that if you think about it real hard could translate to "Why don't we just let them get to Palp, just for the drama of it all?" and Thorn and Thire are completely silent and have neutral faces but Rex and Cody can practically hear them howling with laughter. Saesee stands with his arms folded just like Fox does and when Fox relaxes a bit so does Saesee, but when Anakin says something stupid or defends Palpatine they both glance at one another from the corners of their eyes like you seeing this shit? Or how Saesee and Mace reference something that nobody knows what the fuck that means but the Guard Commanders breath hitch or someone snorts a bit and the Generals look like tookah's that got the cream. Obi-wan, Anakin, Rex and Cody leave the meeting all VERY confused bc the two stoney faced Jedi and the ever serious Guard Commanders sure seemed to be sharing a lot of like telepathic gossip.

Ya ya Fox interacting with Obi-Wan this and Fox interacting with Plo Koon that.

I want to see the Guard hang out with Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin. Everyone around them would be so uncomfortable by the insanely loud quiet, meanwhile they're all having a great time shit talking by communicating via eyebrow movements, rly subtle rolls of the eyes and someone occasionally breathes heavily.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

after finishing watching cuphead dlc, its look great dlc and got me thinking to ask this one how about a pup reader who wanted to join the howling aces when he grows up but he befriends them and having fun with the crews. the crews teaching him the basic stuff before he join the howling aces when he grows up while cuphead, mugman chalice encouraged him

Aw I like this one! Tbh I see Howling Aces as a family, with the Yippers being the kids (unless we get canon info I hc their names to be Fido, Rex, Spike, and Rufus)

..........

You’re a very ambitious puppy who dreamed of joining the Howling Aces. Seeing the Chinook flying high in the sky above Isle IV was always an incredible sight. You hoped to pilot her one day--or even just a simple plane would do.

Unsure of how to exactly approach them, you snuck into their airfield early one morning, seeing the living ship asnooze while awaiting maintenance. She was simply incredible up-close.

Unfortunately Bulldog sees you during his usual jogs and drags you off the field by the ears as you frantically explain why you intruded.

“You?? Wantin’ to fly her?!!” He erupts into laughter. “Listen ya little punk, we don’t take in just anydog with no flyin’ experience.”

“B-But I’ve been studying what it takes to become a pilot! And I wanna get real experience with the Howling Aces!! Please let me prove myself!!”

“...this is a family business, pup. We ain’t some training academy. Now scram-”

“Put him down. Now.”

You’re saved by Saluki as Bulldog tenses at her stern command, carefully setting you down. He stumbles over his words as he tries explaining the situation.

Then the Yippers rush out, immediately crowding around you in excitement.

“Another pup??”

“Awesome!!”

“What’s your name?”

“So ya wanna be a pilot, huh?”

“More than anything.” You tell them, clasping your paws together pleadingly. Your heart raced in the presence of your idols, hoping they would give you a chance.

Heck, even the Yippers are begging their parents to let you join them--or at least give you a tour if nothing else.

After some consideration, Saluki relents as she admires your ambition, remarking that unlike most residents you woke up at such an early hour. So she permits the Yippers to be your mentors from then on.

Rex and Spike help you with physical training exercises, while Fido gave you a tour of the armory and Rufus taught you how to operate a jetpack. Just basic beginners stuff.

Weeks pass and eventually Saluki allows you to perform small routine maintenance tasks on Chinook, such as brushing her teeth or tightening a loose bolt on her ears. The giant dachshund always greets you with a smile, appreciating the care you showed her.

Bulldog, on the other hand, still gave you the cold shoulder, thinking you were gonna eventually give up after seeing how “tough” the reality of being a pilot was. But you kept defying all his expectations.

When you saved one of the Yippers from crash landing after a jetpack malfunction, only then did he realize you weren’t just here for the planes or Chinook.

You were here for the family, too. 

And he accepts you, proud of your progress and showing you the workings of his fighter plane.

All the while, Cuphead, Mugman, and Chalice were happy to hear of your accomplishments! They helped you gain the courage to talk to the Howling Aces, so they’re always excited when you come home and tell them about your day.

And when you grow older and get your pilot uniform, they see you off as you finally get to take Chinook for a fly-around.

The trio cheers as you board the ship (it’s more the cupbrothers yelling their heads off while Chalice simply smiles and waves). 

They’ve supported you for so many years and will continue to do so as your dream finally takes off (pun intended).

As long as you promise not to accidentally hit them with any lasers, tennis balls, fire hydrants, dog bowls, or “BOWOW”s.

[ayo-cowbelly]

ok but what if obi wan mentioned anidala on accident

ok so literally everyone in the gffa knows about anakin and padme being together, to a certain extent, but anidala are oblivious and they don’t know that everyone else knows.

so what if one day, obi wan flippantly mentions something about anakin and padme.

and anakin is like “ummMMMmMMmM togEthEr? nO... certaiNly nOt. what is LoVe? iVe nEver heaRd of iT. wHo iS paDmE again?”

so many voice cracks, blushing, tripping on his own feet

ahsoka is dying on the floor laughing

obi wan just stares at him for a second, like “i know your game” and then just says, “ah yes. of course. I suppose I was mistaken” then he moves on

anakin leans on the wall like “phew that was close”

ahsoka’s howling with laughter in the corner and trash son anakin can’t figure out why

obi wan, to cody: has he always been this way?

cody: you're the one who raised him

obi wan: well i was certainly never that dramatic

cody: i don’t know how hard you’re bullshitting me right now but it better be a lot

rex is banging his head against a wall

why can’t everyone stop being Like This

he just sighs

he’s the only one with a braincell

cody, to rex: if i throw myself out the airlock are you cool to take over as marshal commander

rex, who is so damn exhausted: please no

later on they’re on shore leave on naboo and ahsoka (this is when she’s still young, and she knows about anidala but doesn’t know it’s a *secret*), who’s never been there before and wants a tour, says “so master, you must know naboo pretty well, since you come here with senator amidala a lot, right?”

anakin says “whAt? i’ve never been here in my life. this is the ugliest planet i’ve ever seen. i hate it here. i would certainly never visit.”

rex, done with the bullshit, is like “of course sir. makes so much sense, even though you’re the hero of naboo and all.”

anakin doesn’t get the sarcasm

we all know this happened at some point, and trash son anakin thinks he’s the best darn secret keeper in the world

[karlyanalora]

Life is a Joke (Might as Well Laugh)

Prompt: Day 4 Laughter and Bonding

Warnings: Mentioned drunkenness, impairment due to painkillers

Relationships: Fox & Rex, Fox & Wolffe, Grizzer & Hound

Characters: Commander Fox, Captain Rex, Commander Wolffe, Nala Se, Grizzer, Seargent Hound, mentioned Riyo Chuchi and Plo Koon and Padme Amidala

@loving-fox-hours

Peals of laughter echo off the walls. The noise hurts Nala Se’s ears, but unfortunately, laughter is important for human development. CC-1010 is tickling CT-7567, who is rolling on the ground with tears streaming down his face. He is smiling though, so Nala Se is very confused. She leaves shaking her head.

“Had enough, Rex’ika?” Fox asks.

“No, never!” Rex cries as he struggles in vain to turn the tables.

“Alright,” Fox says with a shrug before he attacks the bottoms of Rex’s feet.

Rex laughs so hard he can’t breathe. He struggles valiantly until he can get enough air to stutter out “Yield!” in between giggles.

Fox hops off and gives a cry of mock betrayal when Rex weakly tackles him, still too winded from laughing.

----------------

“And then the senator says, ‘I am a strict animal rights activist; I would never do anything to harm any living creature.’ And I have to bite my tongue because I know for a fact he shoots tookas from his window every morning. And Senator Chuchi knows it. But this guy is as drunk as they come and trying so hard to impress her. And she just smiles and nods, smiles and nods.”

Wolffe howls with laughter and Fox gives him a look. “Wolffe, it is not that funny.”

“But it is!” Wolffe slurs.

Fox looks at his glass of Jawa Juice. Wolffe is as high as a Star Destroyer right now from pain meds. Still, it’s good to hear him laugh. Maybe Fox can squeeze in a few more visits before Wolffe gets his cybernetic eye put in.

“Not as funny as Plo Koon’s dad jokes. I heard him let one slip in a meeting and Mace just stared at him. The whole room went silent before Mace one-upped him with another dad joke. I hear you catch them from Padawans. And apparently clones too.”

Wolffe gives a small snort in his sleep and Fox pulls up his covers.

-------------------------

Senator Amidala wanted proof of their “humanity”. And nothing was more human than singing in the sonic.

Everyone knew when Hound got back from his late-night early morning patrols with Grizzer. He’d hop in the sonic and starting singing at the top of his lungs “You Are My Sunshine”. The whole building could hear him as he bellowed. Hound was loud and unfortunately for the Guard, he had the musical talent to match that of a drunk Mastiff. (The Guard would know what that sounds like, also thanks to Hound.) He could go through the whole song twice before his shower time was up.

Fox signaled to Thorn that it was time.

They peered around the corner, thankful for the first time that a sonic, unlike a real shower, worked with your blacks on. Thorn held up the holovid recorder and hit record just as Grizzer joined in by howling along.

Fox wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know how I feel about a Mastiff sharing our sonic,” he whispered.

“I always thought he just sat outside,” Thorn admitted. “Though he does look cute with his jowls blowing in the wind.”

“YoU ArE My sUnSHINE! My onLY sunSHINE!” Hound continued to sing at the top of his lungs. “You make me hAppy when SKIes are gray. You'll never know DEAR, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine AWAY!” He held that last note for a painfully, earsplitting, long time.

Fox tried hard not to laugh as it became increasingly clear Hound was singing about Grizzer. He finally cracked when Hound got down on the floor and pulled Grizzer close as they howled the last part of the chorus together.

Hound’s face was priceless when he realized he’d been caught. “Commander!”

“As...you were...soldier.” Fox managed to get out between guffaws.

Thorn steeled himself with all his training to hold the camera steady and hit “send.”

The next day the holonet exploded.

@loving-fox-hours

[giggles-and-freckles]

hb "we're both so exhausted we can't even argue about not being exhausted" but for obi and ani and soka with cody and rex laughing and awwwing in the background

from these extremely exhausted starters

Any situation that involved three Jedi in one room was a dangerous one, as far as Rex and Cody were concerned.

Any situation that involved these three Jedi in one room was an absolute catastrophe.

“I thought you fixed the transmitter,” Obi-Wan said, glaring at his former Padawan.

“I did!” he cried in defense, crumbs falling from his mouth onto the floor. He hadn’t stopped eating since he got into the briefing room, much to his Master’s disgust. 

Rex was pretty sure there was more of the ration bar on the floor and clinging to the General’s tunic than there was in his mouth.

“Apparently, you didn’t,” Ahsoka piped in, rolling her eyes. 

“It was you who was supposed to run the test before we got airborne!” Anakin gestured clumsily toward his Padawan with the half-eaten ration bar.

She scoffed. “You never told me that!!”

“Yes, I did! After I got it up and running, I told you to test it out on our channel to see if it worked–”

The young Jedi put her hands on her hips and raised herself as tall as she could. Still falling significantly short of both generals. “Oh, you mean when you were working on it, but got interrupted by a holo-call from a certain Sen–”

Rex hoped his coughing fit was believable.

“No!” Anakin cried indignantly. “I finished fixing it!”

“Generals,” Cody stepped forward. Brave man, thought Rex. “With all due respect, this...isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“You’re right,” Obi-Wan sighed. Always the voice of reason. Until he wasn’t. “The Council expected a check-in ten minutes ago. If they don’t hear from us, they’ll assume the worst. We need to focus on fixing the–” He frowned quizzically. “The...what was it again?”

“The–” But then Anakin trailed off with a frown, too. “Er…”

“Transponster!!” Ahsoka cried out in victory.

Rex cleared his throat. “Thats, er...not a word, sir.”

“Transmitter,” Cody sighed. Tired. 

“Yes!!!! Transmitter! Well done, Cody!” Obi-Wan said with a face-splitting grin. “Did you two hear that?” He nudged Anakin. “My commander is brilliant.”

Cody looked highly uncomfortable.

Ahsoka wasn’t impressed. “So, the transponster–”

“Transmitter,” Rex sighed.

“That, too.” Ahsoka nodded. “We can probably get a signal going if we redirect–”

“That won’t work.” Anakin shook his head.

“You didn’t even let me finish!”

“But I knew what you were going to say. The Force.” Anakin tapped his temple.

Rex leaned over to Cody. “Is that how the Force works?”

“I don’t think so,” Cody whispered back with a tired sigh. “None of them have really slept in a few days.”

Rex shook his head in amazement. “How do they do that?”

Cody shot him a long look. “The Force.”

This time, Rex knew his coughing fit wasn’t believable.

The Jedi continued to argue among themselves for the succeeding ten minutes. They lost complete track of the conversation several times and started bickering about whatever random subject had been brought up. It was the most nonlinear engagement Cody and Rex had ever seen.

They thought they would be used to this by now.

“I think–” Obi-Wan held up a finger in a ‘just wait’ gesture. After the sentence didn’t finish itself, his gaze moved to his finger and he stared at it like he wasn’t quite sure how he got there. “Well–I...I don’t remember what I think.”

“You don’t think anything,” Anakin said through a yawn. “You’re trying to sound smarter than you actually are, but really you’re just exhausted.”

“Exhausted? Me?” Obi-Wan scoffed. “It’s your Padawan who can barely stay awake on her feet over there.”

“Huh?” Ahsoka slurred, jolting out of whatever sedative state she had sunk into.

Anakin chuckled lightly. But then–

The chuckle morphed into something different altogether and if Rex didn’t have as great a sense of respect as he did, he would have called his General out right then and there for the giggle that he released in the middle of the briefing room.

Obi-Wan stared at him in fear for a moment, but within an instant, his own raucous laughter was joining that of his Padawan’s. It didn’t take long for Ahsoka to follow suit.

“We can’t–” Anakin tried, erupting back into laughter. “We’re all so exhausted we can’t even argue...about being exhausted.” Obi-Wan and Ahsoka howled even louder.

Rex turned to Cody with a wide stare.

“Did he just...admit to being exhausted?”

Cody couldn’t look away from the three cackling Jedi. “I’ve never heard one of them do that before.”

[big1ron]

The Venator “Resolute” had jumped right into a separatist trap. Somehow a virus infecting the main computer has scrambled the hyperspace jump coordinates, and now the companies on board were outnumbered and without reinforcements, deep in separatist space. A few last, desperate SOSs to nobody, and the ship was quickly overwhelmed with fire. The Resolute was going down. But not before each of the escape pods could be jettisoned.

————- Chapter Six: Rescue. -————

- as always sorry for the wait and length. But here you go! May receive small edits later. -

There were a few moons in the system to check over, and they couldn’t waste much time. This was separatist controlled space and they had already shot down one Venator. Plo Koon didn’t want his fleet to be next. Still, he opted to be deployed with the rest of his Wolfpack. Leaving the fleet to Admiral Coburn. Now that he was closer to the system, he could feel Anakin and Ahsoka in the force. He took a gunship down with Wolffe and his personal squad to the command outlet the message had been sent from, as that was where they were most likely to find them.

Echo pulled up beside Jesse, now free of Kix as Kix got too fed up with the constant tripping and was now walking by himself. Jesse was still carrying Dogma, who was resting his head on Jesse’s, eyes closed.

“did he actually fall asleep?” Echo poked him in his injured side and he jolted awake with a hiss of pain.

“Well he’s not sleeping anymore” comments Jesse as echo flinches in sympathy, clearly not having intending for that poke to hurt badly.

“You karking bantha fur osik rag shabuir better kriffing have one hell of a karking good reason for doing that.” Dogma cursed angrily. Kix stifled a chuckle.

“No I just wanted to see if you were awake.”

“Jesse, if you would be so kind.” Jesse took a step closer to Echo and Dogma smacked him upside the head.

“Hey no, that’s not fair! You two teamed up on me you’re not meant to do that!” Echo complained, rubbing his head

“You did deserve that” says coric.

“You too?! You’re supposed to be the neutral party you shabuir!”

Tup continues his trek forward, now using his weapon as a walking stick, when he hears a clones voice. He can’t make out what they said but he stops and looks around.

He hears shouting and chatter but when he determines the direction they’re coming from and heads towards it, he doesn’t see anything.

Great. More hallucinations. He thinks. Maybe from the dehydration this time. He ignores it when he hears a more clear

“Hey! Trooper! Over here!”

He starts walking again, in the same direction, but he hears running footsteps behind him. He turns around and points his stick at whatever it is.

“Who is this!? Are you even real or am I just actually going crazy now?”

He’s face to face with a Wolfpack clone. But he doesn’t lower his weapon until he gets his response.

“Woah, vod calm down. This is the 104th, here to retrieve you. I’m sparker. Come with me, let’s get you back to the transports ok?” He had the signature warmth of the 104th’s relief devision but tup couldn’t quite believe it. Still, he cast his stick aside and followed Sparker back to his squad.

He gained a few strange looks from the rest of the squad as he still looked quite wild. A wave of self consciousness washed over him.

They located a couple other 501st members as well before returning to the gunship, marked with the signature “plo’s bros”. There he was looked over by a medic, and told to sit tight for the trip back to the venators in orbit.

Plo Koon’s gunship landed at the outpost that had relayed the message. Three troopers were waiting outside the command post at attention as the general stepped out. Wolffe was right on his tail

“At ease, troopers. You must be Rex, Fives and Hardcase correct? We received your transmission. It was quite... entertaining. Trooper Fives, do you mind sharing what discussion topic had you so passionate? You have permission to speak freely.”

Fives could feel Rex’s glare burning holes into the sides of his head. They had actually heard that? That was embarrassing. “It was uh... wether or not how many lightsaber blades an individual had related to how much of a bitch they were... sir. Among other things.”

Rex shook his head disappointed and embarrassed, hardcase was struggling to contain his laughter, and one of the Wolfpack members passed some credits to one of the pilots. Wolffe was definitely grinning Impishly at Rex. Definitely. Plo Koon only shook his head amusedly. “Well captain, do you happen to know where your two lightsaber wielding individuals are?”

“Oh yes sir. They should be back soon. They got bored and so made a small speeder bike track. They’ve been racing eachother.”

“Then we had better get the gunship out of the way. Wouldn’t want to skew the results.”

No doubt the Wolfpack was already placing bets. They were notorious for it.

As the men took their places along the main road, eagerly awaiting the results, Rex finally asked Wolffe the question that was burning in his mind. “Have you heard from the other squads yet? Did you find anyone else?”

“Sorry Rex, haven’t had any contact with them since they were deployed. But it’s still early. Just you wait and I’m sure at least a few will turn up. Don’t worry”

Waiting, Rex could do. Not worrying? Not so much.

Cheers erupted from the small group as the motors of the speeders came into earshot. Anakin jetted last the crowd and with a quick 90° turn he drifted to a stop. Ahsoka wasn’t far behind, but Rex had no doubt in his mind that anakin had lapped her. Ahsoka might be a daredevil but Anakin was a true speed demon. Always had been. The Two of them dismounted and met with Plo Koon as the Wolfpack paid their bets.

“Ahsoka, Skywalker. It’s good to see you two.” Plo Koon greats them.

“And it’s great to see you Master Plo” Ahsoka responds.

“Now, I assume you two have had enough of this planet?”

“Definitely” they both respond at once.

Jesse and echos squad overhear a series of howls in the distance. Multiple groups communicating to each other. Jesse signals for them to ‘stop’ and be ‘silent.’ Coric disobeys.

“No. No! Howl back!” Coric howls as loud as he can, to Jesse’s horror.

“What are you doing!? You’re going to lead those animals right to us!”

“Those aren’t animals! It’s the Wolfpack!” Coric howls again.

“It’s official. He’s lost it. Good job everyone, we actually drove him crazy.” Says echo.

Coric gets a response and howls once more, before the air is quite again. “I’m not crazy. But rescue is coming now”

“You can’t possibly know that. The howling thing is fake, we all know that.” Jesse isn’t having it.

But in just a few minutes two Wolfpack members, sinker and boost make contact with the group.

“Hey! 501st! Coric! Come over here! Man you all look terrible!”

“Yeah Thanks boost. Truth is we all feel mildly terrible too. Here to get us off planet I hope?” Coric walks over to the two, and the rest of the group follows. Jesse and echo are completely stunned.

“Yep! We were just about to leave. You were going to be left behind you know. You all got lucky. Which one of you was howling by the way?” Asks sinker, as they lead the group in the direction of the transports.

“That would be me.” Says coric.

“Ah, figured. Pretty impressive, but not as impressive as this.” Sinker takes a deep breath and howls so loud it makes the rest of the groups ears hurt. Kix winces. Boost laughs.

Rex darts around the hangar. This is the last batch of gunships and he’s still missing so many clones. He feels terrible. Especially about Kix and Echo. He can’t stand the thought of leaving any clones behind, but he knows they won’t all come back. He spots Tup getting out of one of the gunships and rushes to him

“Tup! You’re alive! I was worried when Hardcase and Fives told me that had lost you. Are you doing alright?”

“I’m gonna kill those karking nerf herders. They left me! I fell down a cliff and I don’t think they even noticed I was gone!”

“They looked for you. But fives thought you were dead. With good reason. How did you even survive that fall?”

“I didn’t jump, I slid. I rolled the entire way down.”

“Alright kid. I’m glad to have you back. You’ll have to give Hardcase and Fives a stern talking to about that.” Rex patted Tup on the shoulder before moving onto the next gunship.

His eyes fell on the group leaving this one. The group was larger than the rest, sitting at 5. Dogma, Jesse, Coric-

“Echo, Kix!”

Rex ran over and hugged the two tightly.

“Huh. Guess I am your favourite after all.”

Rex smacked Echo in the back of the head. “You’re not my favourite. I don’t have favourites. But I’m sorry for leaving you two. I had to lure a group of droids away, and I got lost.”

“That’s fine. We survived. Mostly.” Says Echo

“Thanks to Coric. Echo would have killed me if it weren’t for him”

Rex gives echo an unimpressed look, but he can’t stay mad as he’s still to relieved at seeing them both alive.

Tup storms over to where Hardcase and Fives are discussing something with Sinker and Boost.

“You two LEFT me! I was all alone! Cause you two wouldn’t too arguing long enough to notice I FELL OFF A CLIFF!”

“TUP!” Fives immediately scooped up his little brother in a bone crushing hug. “I’m so sorry! I won’t do it again! I’m not gonna leave you anywhere again and I’ll stop picking fights with Hardcase I promiseeee”

“No you won’t.”

“Ok maybe I won’t but still I love you and I’m sorry. Hardcase, you can come in too.” Fives knew he wanted too, but sometimes Hardcase needed an invitation. He joined the hug wrapping his arms around the both of them but not too tightly.

Rex watched as the troopers found their brothers, and each made note of who was there. He waited for more gunships, there was still a significant portion of the 501st missing. But the last wave had arrived, and Rex tried not to think too hard about the ones he would have to leave behind, as he saw the stars turn into smears and the planet disappear out the viewport.

Wolffe put his hand on Rex’s shoulder. How long had he been standing next to him?

“You know... we did the best we could. I’m sorry Rex.”

“I know... I know.”

“Why don’t you go join the others? Some of them have some pretty interesting stories to tell. I’m sure you do too.”

“I will, thanks.”

Wolffe knew the thanks was for more than the offer. He watched Rex go join the others, laughing and enjoying the company of those who were still there.

[nny11writes]

If you’re doing fluff prompts: “If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you.” Ahsoka & Rex

(Cause every fandom deserves a great brotp and these two deserve a slice of happiness)

This got a little away from me but let them be silly and act like kids dang it, the Emperor is dead and the Force is bright.

Ahsoka’s pit stop on Endor was supposed to be nothing more than a brief pause and sweep from her shuttle. After all, she knew what had happened just a short rotation before and had no real desire to stay. So of course she’d barely started searching the Force when she found him.

Well it certainly made sense; he wouldn’t have stayed on Lothal. Rex had always had a bit of lightning under his skin, and once he started moving it took a lot to make him slow down again. And considering what she was planning on doing, there was a good chance they might not see one another again.

Too many missed chances.

So down she went, carefully picking her path until she found the Alliance encampment. It was fun to creep along the outskirts, it reminded her of the war games she sometimes played with the men where she did her best to sneak past them and they did their best to catch her. After the brain worm incident she’d wanted them prepared for a stealthy force user. So she sneaks, cloaks, waits, and hides. Excitement building until she finally found him gazing into the forest.

She can admit it, it was far too much fun to climb up into the tree he’s been gazing at absently and hang upside down from a branch to wave.

Rex has barely started to lift his blaster when he registers which idiot he knows is there, and then he’s running through the underbrush cursing up a streak as he goes.

“Hey Rexter,” Ahsoka smiled as he got closer and dropped out of the tree, flipping to land on her feet and accept either the hug or punch coming her way.

He doesn’t stop cursing as he grabs her and squeezes her tight, both of them swaying from one foot to another as they hold on. Eventually he runs out of swear words and Ahsoka runs out of breath from laughing, and the two of them fall silent.

“Commander, next time you die I’ll find you and kill you myself.” Rex huffed, wiping at the tears rolling down his face when they part.

“You are welcome to test that theory at your leisure.” She chuckled.

It warms her heart when Rex waves for her to follow him deeper into the forest, the fact that he knows her well enough to avoid the camp is soothing. He grinned over his shoulder at her, “Don’t get cocky kid.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, ready to remind him that she was actually a full grown adult these days, when her foot caught on a root and she was forced to shuffle jump to avoid face planting. She glared at him as hard as she could around her bashful smile, “Kriff off.”

“Didn’t say anything.” He still waited until she was upright and steady to walk some more. “I found a little spot over here, rather nice for a nap, yeah?”

It really is.

The tree is huge and has been split open long ago, somehow surviving the wound and leaving a space large enough for a few people to squeeze into. The moss inside seems soft and pleasant enough, but it’s the old Republic Blue blanket tucked inside that makes her want to climb inside. Back on campaigns, when she was still shorter than any of the men, it was pretty easy for her to find places to curl up and sleep. Often napping with the men or Skyguy, she had been small enough to fit in sleeping bags and under blankets. Now taller than Rex who still has a bit of weight on him, she’s not sure they’ll fit but she’s damned ready to try.

Rex smiled at her indulgently, eyes twinkling as he chuckled, “Yeah that’s what I thought. C’mon kid, can’t function dead on your feet.”

It’s like recognizing the fact that she hasn’t slept in a full day suddenly tips her over an invisible ledge. She tried to come up with something to say, a sassy come back or quick witted quip. Instead she lumbers over and gets inside the damn tree before grabbing Rex’s hand and yanking him in after her.

“Sir.” Rex sighed heavily, but shifted to get comfortable all the same.

“Yes Rex?”

“…you steal the blankets and I will find my revenge.”

She laughed, and only laughed harder when his face blanked and he reached down to take off his boots. Ahsoka had always, apparently, run hot compared to most humans. Which made her a high sought after heater on cold planets and also meant that Ahsoka spent a lot of time shivering and yelping at cold feet and hands. Rex barely nudged at her calf, pressing his toes between her sandal straps, but Ahsoka still yelps.

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

Rex nodded solemnly, “Yes sir, just making sure you remember what it’s like sir.”

She huffed, “Alright, this has been wonderful, but I need to go back to Malachor now.”

She knows they’ll need to talk about that particular detail. In fact, there’s a lot they need to talk about before she leaves again. But it can wait. Everything can wait.

Here, in a galaxy so much lighter and brighter than it had been in her entire life; here, crammed into a makeshift bed with her oldest friend…they can let it go for the night. Take a day to appreciate finding each other again. Cuddle under an ancient and thread bare blanket and tell each other terrible jokes and connect again as if they’d never been apart. 

And yes.

She did jerk awake with an undignified squawk when Rex found a break in her accidental blanket defense, no amount of struggling could get her out of the cocoon or away from Rex’s howling laughter.

[blackkatmagic]

Cody, oblivious: "Goddamn Quinlan got another one of my shirts!" Obi-Wan, knowledgeable: 👀👀 "He did what now?"

Okay but the sheer reaction among all the commanders (+ Rex) when Quinlan shows up to a meeting wearing, like, one of Cody’s uniform shirts. Faie would probably try to hit something. Rex might faint. Wolffe would just. Howl with laughter. 

[kriffingunlucky]

Jesse x reader

It was cold. Kriffing cold and you were stuck in a tent on this frozen planet. Yeah they gave you thermal sleeping bags and blankets, but you still shook violently in your sleep. The General and Commander weren’t in this tent. They shared a different, smaller tent. “I’m sure they have some kind of heater.” You grumble with chattering teeth as you roll over, wondering if there was anyone you could mooch off of their body heat. Because damn if the clones weren’t like human heaters. Sitting up and looking at all of the piles of clones, you squint your eyes to look more closely.

Fives had rolled over and enveloped Rex in a hug, you can’t disturb them. Tup and Dogma were in a small, tangled clump. Looking so peaceful and warm you decide not to bother them either. Hardcase, Kix and Jesse were near each other. But Hardcase had snatched Kix and turned him to a human teddy bear, where Jesse had his back pressed against Hardcase’s, eyes still open and body shaking slightly.

He was cold too.

Crawling over there with a pink face and sleeping bag in tow, he doesn’t question when you unzip it and lay it over the two of you. You curling into Jesse.

“Hey, short stuff. You’re so cold.” The tattooed whispers softly into your ear, nuzzling his face in your neck, breathing out. His arms securely wrapped around your waist and body pressed against his.

“Great observation, Sherlock.” You huff with a laugh, taking his hands and lacing your fingers between his large ones. Noting how nice that felt.

You could feel Jesse’s smile against your neck, feel his handsome laughter rumble in his chest against you. It didn’t just feel nice, it felt right. Being this close to him felt right and you hoped he felt the same.

“You are such a butt sometimes, (N/n).” The strong man snorts, voice getting low and sleepy. Body not shaking anymore, it was enveloped in your heat, and he wouldn’t let go of you for anything.

“Yeah yeah,” You lay a kiss on his knuckles, “Go to sleep, Jesse.”

“Mm, yes ma’am.” He yawns and lets sleep take him over, you soon following suit. The both of you comfortable in the sweet embrace. Sleeping deeply.

--

Blinking your eyes open when you felt Jesse move behind you rather quickly, you realize he was shouting, why was he shouting? Turning with a sleepy expression plastered on your face, you watch him struggle against the firm grip of Hardcase. The mischievous clone laughing.

“Stop laughing at me, you jerk! Delete that right now!” Jesse shouts.

“Your face is so red, vod!” Hardcase howls with laughter. “What else did you do last night? I knew you liked her but I didn’t know you’d make such a bold move so soon.”

“We didn’t do anything!” He whines, face only getting more red by the minuet.

You roll over, a smile on your lips as you doze back off. Grabbing his blanket and holding it close to your form, you breath in his comforting scent.

Heh, he likes me.

---

Truly enjoyed writing this. He’s a baby and there’s not enough fanfics with him. So shoot a request for him! I do all clones! They’re so sweet. :’)

[unwhithered]

Citadel AU pt 3

Part 2

As it turns out, there is pain and there is also the Force. There are also creatures tailing them, their blood curdling howls growing closer with every minute. Ahsoka forces her leaden limbs to move just a little faster along the treacherous path between a steep drop and a river of lava, tightening her grip on the harnesses securing Echo when he shifts restlessly. She really does not feel like being eaten by oversized house pets today.

When Master Kenobi and Anakin peel off to serve as a distraction Ahsoka’s anxiety spikes. Tarkin has been making unsubtle comments about Echo slowing them down since they escaped the Citadel and without Anakin to dismiss his concerns, she is outranked and alone in her defense of the wounded trooper, since Master Piell does not seem particularly sympathetic to her cause. What Master Kenobi would call a bad feeling crawls up her spine, but whether it’s about her companions or their pursuers, she isn’t sure.

“Fives,” she pants, flagging down the trooper who has been watching her back. “Take Echo. I think I’m going to need my hands soon.”

Fives, having learned better than to question a Jedi’s instincts by now, immediately holsters his weapons and stoops to take Echo off of her shoulders and heft his brother over his own broad back. Despite hours of fleeing across rough terrain, he makes it look easy. Then again, the troopers were bred and trained for exactly this kind of strain.

Without Echo’s weight bearing down on her, Ahsoka takes a full breath for what feels like the first time in hours. When she straightens up her neck and back crack painfully and almost loudly enough to distract from the mechanical clicking coming up behind them. A half formed curse dies on Ahsoka’s lip as she ignites her lightsabers and spins. Already, Master Piell has volunteered her to stay behind with him and fight the droids, though her arms shake when she drops into a fighting stance. She wants to refuse like a petulant child - she’s too tired, she’s already hurt, aren’t there others who can fight this battle? But she has disobeyed too many times already today. She must do her duty.

“Don’t fall behind, and don’t leave Echo, no matter what,” she orders Fives, getting only a sharp nod in response before they come under fire. 

The crab legged droids are awkward and slow on their feet, but their blasters fire just as fast as any other. Ahsoka spends more time dodging and deflecting than attacking while Piell cuts his way through their enemies like butter. For every three droids he disposes of, Ahsoka cuts down only one of her own, until she is battling with the last one left while Piell catches his breath. She dispatches the hulking machine with a thrust into its central processing unit and nearly collapses along with the Sith-damned thing, swaying on her feet.

Only then does she hear the snarling.

“Master, no!” Ahsoka cries out, turning just in time to watch Piell fall beneath the weight of an anooba. By the time she gets there, it is too late. The beast dies on her blade while Piell bleeds out into the red dirt - and it’s all her fault. If only she wasn’t so weak, so slow. So distracted by her own desire to save Echo that another has ended up dying in his place. “Master Piell! I have to get help.”

“No,” he replies weakly, beckoning her closer. “Don’t leave. Listen to me carefully, child. The information, I need you to deliver it back to the council.”

“I should find Anakin or Obi-wan, they need to hear this,” she argues, though she drops to her knees beside the dying Master anyway.

“No. You must listen.”

“But I wasn’t even assigned to the team. I lied just so I could be a part of the mission, and now I’ve screwed it all up.”

“Whether you were meant to be on this mission or not, you are now the most important part of it,” Piell says, and before she can protest again he begins reciting numbers and coordinates. Ahsoka closes her eyes and silently mouths each word. Training at the Temple had involved seemingly infinite and pointless memory exercises and for the very first time she finds herself grateful for them. Master Piell takes his last breath because of her failures - now she must finish his mission, and keep Echo alive, so that his sacrifice was not for nothing.

------------

“I don’t take orders from you,” Fives snaps, glaring at Tarkin through his helmet. Widening his stance, Fives drops one hand to his still holstered blaster in warning, the other keeping Echo balanced like a sack of duracrete over his shoulder. Now would really be a good time to have both hands free.

“Your Jedi are nowhere to be seen! That means I am the ranking officer.” Tarkin spits back. He’s a foul little man, bitter and entitled and far too sure of himself, and Fives would like nothing more than to put him in his face. For now, he simply holds his ground. “And as your Captain, I order you to leave that clone or you will be left behind for slowing us down. Every moment you delay puts our vital mission in danger.”

Fives has a smart retort on his tongue and his blaster half out of its holster, ready to go down swinging to follow Ahsoka’s orders and protect his brother, when he is cut off by a voice so very similar to his own and yet recognizable anywhere. 

“Actually, Captain Tarkin, it appears I’m the ranking officer here.” Rex has taken his helmet off and is resting it against his hip, one of his twin blasters twirling casually in his free hand. His golden eyes are narrowed into threatening slits above a smirk that is anything but humorous. For a moment Fives is confused, his head tilted to communicate as much to his Captain. When he remembers the promotion that had never quite succeeded in changing Rex’s title he can’t help his bark of laughter. “The General never can seem to remember to call me Commander, and what the General does, the men follow. But don’t worry, Captain - you can call me Commander if it makes you feel better.”

Tarkin sputters, his pointed face turning an ugly shade of red before he manages to regain control of himself. “I will not take orders from a clone!”

“As you like. But my men will not take orders from you,” Rex replies with a dismissive shrug. Fives has never seen his brother treat a mongrel officer with such disrespect before, despite Rex’s quiet grumblings about them when he thinks no one can overhear. “We’ll do as our jetii ordered, boys. We don’t leave anyone behind. Unless Captain Tarkin would rather make his way to the rendezvous point alone rather than letting us slow him down…”

“Well, hurry then,” Tarkin huffs, his face once again red and dotted with sweat.

Fives lingers a moment longer, waiting until his own Captain gives the order before he slides his blaster back into the holster and takes off once more at a slow jog.

[the101stbattalion]

Battle of Baydor: Chapter 2

Masterlist: 1│2│3│4│5

Meanwhile, in Point 5, Eva and Ahsoka were defending their men with their lightsabers from the battle droids as their men fired behind the trenches. "How long will reinforcements get here?" Ahsoka asked as she sliced a few droids. "They'll be here around 15 minutes," Eva answered. 

"15 minutes, eh?" Minnie spoke, as she shot down a Super Battle Droid. "Looks like we could make use of our time here." 

"Sounds like we could do that," Rex spoke, glancing at Jesse and Hardcase. "Secure the frontlines."

"I've been waiting to do that all day long," Hardcase laughed, as he and Jesse climbed out from their trenches and blasts the droids with their blasters. "Can we join them?" Bungee begged Minnie. She let out a loud sigh. "Whatever that keeps you two quiet."

"Yeehaw!" Cowboy hollered as he and Bungee joined Jesse and Hardcase in the frontlines and waved at the droids with their hands. "Hey clankers," Jesse yelled. "Come and get us."

The B1 battle droids opened fire at the quads as Rex directed Chae, Boom and Sonic to prepare more explosives. Eva gave a nod of approval as she gestured them to threw them at the Separatist army, destroying most of them in the process. 

"Time to lock and load," Hardcase cried as he blasted them with a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon, killing them all. Eva and Ahsoka glanced at each other and pushed the battle droids backwards using the Force. "Rex, get ready to jump," Ahsoka shouted as she used the Force to lift him up and threw him into a pit of droid army. 

"Everyone, charge!" Eva howled as she ran out of the trenches and took down the droids with her blue lightsaber.

Flover and Tup fired at the droids and Rex got up and took down a couple of droids with his twin blasters. "You could've given me a headstart," he complained to Ahsoka. "Now where's fun in that, Rexster?" she chuckled as she destroyed on of them. Eva deflected their blasts when she noticed rows of tanks heading towards them. "We've got tanks incoming."

"Damn it!" Minnie cursed as she looked at Rex. "Get in position."

"You heard her," Rex told his men. "Get ready."

As the 501st and 101st stand-by in their position, Anakin and Lira stormed into battle and took down one of the tanks by slicing them in half. "Sorry I'm late," said Anakin, giving a smirk to Ahsoka. Eva sighed in relief. "Glad you made it on time."

"Hey Skyguy," Ahsoka grinned. "You almost missed the party."

"Really, 'cause I'm pretty sure you ladies needed help."

"We need help with the tanks right in front of us," Eva pointed out. "There's too many of them."

Anakin gave a cocky wink as he glanced at his teenage Padawan and the 10-years-old twin sisters. "Watch and learn, ladies."

Ahsoka, Lira, and Eva watched as he walked towards the tanks, avoiding blaster shots from the droids. Closing his eyes, he reached out through the Force and took control of the tanks, using it against the Separatist army. Tori let out a soft gasp as she and Rex saw all of the tanks were shot down one-by-one, sparring none of them. "What do we do now, General?" she glanced at Lira, whose jaws dropped on the floor. 

"We should attack them," Lira told her as she sped towards the battlefield. Tori gave a nod of approval as she shot down the remaining battle droids. Steel grabbed one of them with her durasteel arm and pulled out its head, tossing it on the ground. Fives tried to punch a droid with his bare fist, only to yelp in pain. "Ah kriff, this thing is made out of metal."

Chu shot down the droid and poked his helmet with her finger, laughing. "You're such a di'kut, Fives." 

"I wish I could do that."

Echo and Yara were firing at them when they noticed the droidekas rolling towards them. "We have rollies inbound," Echo told them. "We need detonators," Rex ordered, glancing at Boom.  

"It'll be my pleasure," he tossed the ammo as it penetrated through its shield, electrocuting them. "Try not to half of your face again," Tori warned, she disarmed a droid and punched it.

"Hadouken!" Ryu let out his battle cry as he jumped onto the droideka, with Scorpion landing on top of him. "How come they get to do that?" Echo groaned. "Because you're all talk and no action," Choerry snarked.  

"Very funny," he rolled his eyes. "By the way, where's the rest of the Dynamite Squad?"

"Dipper's injured," Chu said. "Shame, I was looking forward to that mystery boy," Fives sighed.  

"Hey donkeyheads," Tori spoke. "Maybe less talking and more shooting, eh?"

"You heard the commander," Rex said to them. "Give everything you've got."

"Yes, captain," Yara nodded as she gunned down the last droid. Ahsoka panted in exhaustion as she wiped her sweat on her head. "is that all?"

Lira nodded, holding on her chest. "Yeah, we're done here."

"So, what now?" Anakin asked. "We'll be camping out at the cave," she answered. "It's just a few klicks away."

As the sky darkened, they headed inside a large cave and lit up a campfire. Eva took out a pot from a sack and filled it up with cooking oil as she filled it in with some frozen dumplings she brought over. "So, what's cooking?" Rex asked, taking off his helmet. "We're having vegetable dumplings for dinner," Lira answered. 

"Sounds nice," Anakin smiled, as he leaned against the cave wall and rested his hands above his head. Rex and Tori watched as Kix wrapping Fives's arms with a bandage and sighed. "This is the last time I'm treating your wound."

Chu and Choerry snickered from behind as Fives gave them a death glare. "This isn't funny."

"No, but it's hilarious," Echo wheezed. "You should've seen the look of Kix's face when he saw you punching a droid."

Fives glared at Echo as he punched this shoulders. Echo shouted in pain as he pushed his brother back as Chu munched on her cookies, watching them. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Choerry encouraged, clapping her hands.  

"If you two donkeyheads fight, I'll sell you both to the black market," Tori threatened, placing both hands on her fist. Fives and Echo pouted sheepishly and held their tongue as Rex stared at Jesse, Hardcase, Bungee and Cowboy, who were messing around with each other. "Enough roughhousing, all four of you."

Tori snatched the tin of cookies from Chu's hand and put them away from her. "I think you have enough cookies for a day."

"But I only had a few," she sulked, crossing her arms and furrowed her brows. "You ate half of the tin, you donkey," the commander retorted back. Yara burst out in laughter, causing Chu to stomped on her leg. Scorpion gasped as he got closer and saw them standing up, clenching their fist when Lira interrupted them. "Dinner's ready." 

"Finally," Chu cheered as she stuffed a whole dumpling inside her mouth. "Try not to choke yourself to death," Minnie advised.  

Rex looked at Anakin, Ahsoka, Lira and Eva, who were chewing on their meals. "So, what's the plan?"

Lira opened her holomap and studied it. "We'll be fighting at Point 4 tomorrow morning," she explained. "There will be double the forces we've fought at Point 5 and Point 6 and the entire area is covered with barricades."

"So what do we do now?" Anakin asked, his hands placed on his chin. "I'll try to get the droids to fight on our side," Lira suggested. "Eva will be negotiating with the droid army."

"Is that even possible?" Ahsoka raised her eyebrows. The older twin chuckled. "There's no such thing as bad ideas, just bad executions."

"Sounds crazy but I kinda like it," Anakin commented, his lips curved upwards. "I'll get our men to stand by just in case if things go wrong." 

"I'll do my best to make this negotiation work," Eva hesitated, glancing at Rex and Tori. "Do you guys agree to this plan or do you guys wished to speak out your mind against it?"

"I agree to this," Tori said, bobbing her head. "So do I, General," Rex acknowledged. 

"Alright," Anakin spoke. "Since everyone agrees with the plan, we should get some rest for tomorrow."

[ninaahelvar]

Paw Prints

Summary: Owen owns the local animal shelter and trains service dogs. Claire volunteers there for a nice line on her resume. Everyone teases Owen about his obvious attraction towards her. The thing he doesn’t realise - the feelings aren’t one sided.

AO3

A/N: This was a prompt from an anon! I adored it so much! thank you to whoever sent it in! hope i did it justice! xx

“She’s hot, right?”

“What?” Owen said, realising he was staring. Claire sat at the front desk, her pen between two fingers as she balanced it back and forth, some lawyer talking to her with his fancy suit and perfect grin. Owen rolled his eyes when the guy laughed and Claire forced a smile. Lowery nudged Owen again.

“You know, the love of your life? Claire?”

“Shut up,” Owen shoved Lowery, who laughed and took Echo to the next room to go for outdoor training. She was a calm blue heeler who followed her commands, but liked to play a lot. Rex barked as she followed Lowery and Echo, her head held high as she walked briskly towards the sliding backdoor.

Claire worked the front desk occasionally, something about how she needed volunteer work on her resume. She was a young hotshot lawyer straight out of law school and said she liked what they were doing for veterans. Her father served once, and had required a service dog on his return. It seemed to be close to her heart, and Owen agreed to let her on - though he had tried to pay her for her work, she requested that it all be put on as volunteer stuff. He had a few paychecks to give her when she decided she no longer needed the position.

Without fail, however, every day lawyers from her classes or ones that she knew came by to give her coffee or talk to her for longer than Owen liked. They had one thing in common. God he hated pretty boys. He knew he was jealous - of their easy grins and floofy hair and the way they seemed to talk so effortlessly with her. But comparing himself was a new low. Maybe she liked pretty boys, like the ones that always came to visit. Instead, Owen was sitting there with his ex-marine status and ptsd to match the war wounds, and hairy as bigfoot.

He was training Charlie that day and, the beautiful black labrador came trotting up behind Owen as he guided her to her spot. As the other dogs got to relax and unwind outside, Owen had his own pup - Blue - sitting nearby as Lowery and Barry came to the training exercise. For some vets, crowded or tight spaces were triggers; and admittedly it was one of Owen’s, but it allowed them a unique opportunity to help the dogs understand a real event. As they walked the length of the animal shelter, Lowery and Barry came up beside Owen, their shoulders touching and pushing him into an uncomfortable position. Owen could feel his heart rate increasing, and as Charlie saw, she immediately got in between Owen and Lowery, and the same to Barry, giving Owen as much space as he needed.

The two other trainers looked cautiously at Owen before nodding and giving a treat to Charlie for her good behaviour. But Owen’s mind hadn’t kicked out of gear, reeling and charged with energy he wasn’t able to omit. And then, his head raced with flashes of memories, the realness of it all making his hands shake and he was having a full fledged attack that he couldn’t control.

Bomb. Drop.

Explosion.

Fire.

Flash.

Screaming.

Calls of his name.

Flash.

Crushing.

Legs feeling numb.

Flash.

Owen felt Blue jumping up at him and he collapsed down to his knees, the two dogs whimpering as he settled him against the wall, guiding him down and licking at his face. Charlie had already been trained in this exercise, but had never truly achieved what Blue had. Blue rested her head in Owen’s lap as he began breathing in long deep breaths. Charlie occasionally licked Owen’s hand, staying as close as she could on Owen’s other side.

It was calm, having Blue by his side. After his final deployment, he was exhausted and he knew the dreams he was having were signs of ptsd. The moment he could, he got therapy, he had his service dog - Blue - and he was having less attacks because of her around. The attacks less severe and less frequent, but he still had them bearing down on him. When he heard the owner of the local veteran animal shelter was selling, he knew he had to get in on it.

Although he knew very little of taking care of a business like this, he was good at training animals from his time abroad and when his friends all heard, they wanted to jump on board too. Zara and Zia were two vets who volunteered at the clinic for check ups on the service dogs, whilst Lowery trained animals for a living, Barry was just a lucky break when he had no job after serving and was great with training the dogs for stealth units. Franklin kept their business together - though he was terrible around the dogs, he managed to work with Claire on the books and keep away from the animals for most of the time. When they housed cats for a short time, Franklin would steal away to their section before leaving in sneezing fits.

Hated dogs, and was allergic to cats.

“Are you okay?” A voice asked and Owen looked up - his mind racing and in his own world.

“Huh?” He asked before realising Claire was bending down to his level, hand cautiously touching his knee.

“You’ve been in the corner for a little while with Blue and Charlie,” she said, and Owen felt his heart rate had definitely gone down and the dogs had calmed down along with him.

“Oh, uh…” Owen said, shifting to make the dogs get a little excited. Owen cleared his throat. “The exercise is a hard one for me. We usually do it to trigger for the dogs to see how they react. Blue is usually close by in case they can’t,” he explained, realising the mistakes of his exercise - and although it wasn’t always like this, it could be a possibility.

“You shouldn’t purposely trigger yourself,” Claire said, patting his knee gently.

“Yeah, we know, but it’s good that they experience what a real attack is like,” he said, feeling his heart rate go a little haywire. Charlie soon began licking his face, leaning her head on his thigh to indicate to him to calm down.

“Do you want me to bring you anything?” she asked.

“I think I’ll be fine,” he said, patting at the dogs’ heads. “Thanks anyway,” he smiled.

“Shout if you need me,” Claire said, rising from her crouching position to walk back to her desk, turning and smiling at him as he let his head rest against the wall. It was only a few minutes later when Owen stood and went back to work, maintaining a level head throughout the day.

It was a well known fact around the shelter that Owen was completely in love with Claire. He couldn’t help it - she was strong, smart, and never let anyone get to her. The minute she was hired, everyone made fun of Owen, how he listened to her and the way he watched her walk away all the time. He was a mess and the whole shelter had begged Owen to ask her out. Something that Owen was still struggling with…

It was hard; trying to get the courage to approach her. He’d tried - so many times he’d called her name, only to be dazed by her perfume. Or he’d walk up to her desk, plans for coffee already flying off his tongue, and she’d smile up at him and he’d choke on the sentence at the back of his throat. Finding the words was always difficult around her - in a way it had never been with anyone else. He could charm just about any woman to come home with him, take them to bed and show them a good time - and the one time he needed his charm to work, he became a bumbling mess of a man, unable to find his limbs and the giddiness erupting like a teenage boy.

Which was why, when he ran into her on a sunny Thursday, he found himself with a barking dog, a coffee stained dress shirt, and a vow to never even bother asking again. Claire had done a girlish laugh, patted his shoulder, and the courage that he could have had was now deeper than the dogshit he had to pick up later that same day.

From that day on, it became pining looks that were never inconspicuous, and daydreams that were lost to the mess of his ptsd mind.

*~*~*

Rex was a largest dog he’d ever trained, a giant caucasian ovcharka. When her owner had passed away, she had no real home to go to, so she acted as the shelters carer - but went home with Blue and Owen at the end of the day. Blue had recently had a bath, and was running around outside in the sun, as Rex relaxed inside with Owen underneath the air conditioning, following the airflow. Rex barked at Owen when he got in her way, but she wagged her tail anyway.

Claire walked in with one of the regular douchebag lawyers on her heels - Eli Mills. He wore his suits like he was the richest man in the world, but they were cheap and tacky - just like Eli, it seemed. Claire, on the other hand, wasn’t going into her firm just yet; she was only a researcher, so didn’t have cases to work. Graceful as ever, Claire wore the pastel blue summer dress, wrapped around her like she was a gift, and her hair pulled up off of her neck.

So yeah, Owen was staring.

Very obviously staring.

Rex barked, but Owen just patted her head, pretending to guide her in a circle as he still watched as Claire went over her notes and tried to hold a conversation with a wooden door.

“Yes, Owen, I do love you. None of the other men matter, only you,” Lowery whispered in Owen’s ear, and Owen shoved the shortstack aside, even though Lowery’s fits of laughter made Owen smile.

“Come here, asshat,” Owen cursed, chasing Lowery around, Rex racing after them and bellowing out howls, tailing going nuts as she jumped around. She was a dominant force, pushing them around and they both chuckled as it became a battle between the men and the beast.

“It’s a little unprofessional to just beat up an employee, don’t you think?” Eli called out and the pair looked at each and scoffed, Rex still jumping around.

“Rex, down,” Owen whistled sharply, and Rex stopped barking and stood her ground, staring at Owen as he made full eye contact with Eli, “heal,” he said, Rex meeting at Owen’s side. “Beg,” he ordered, “assert,” he said, Rex moving around Owen, barking before standing in front of him and giving three barks, equal distance apart as she sat in front of him. Owen smiled, kneeling down and patting Rex’s head, handing over a treat, which she gladly took. “Good girl,” he praised. “I’m a good trainer. If I’m good at my job, I get to fuck around,” Owen said,

“You should be concerned that veterans come here and get shitty dogs,” Eli commented, just as an old army buddy came through the front doors and Owen beamed, hollering to him.

“Sempa Fi!” Reaper called. Owen saluted the man.

“Hey Reaper! I have Charlie ready for some training,” Owen said, hugging Michael - nicknamed Reaper - arm over his shoulder as he took him to the back rooms with the other dogs.

“Owen is a veteran. I think respect should be shown to a guy that’s seen more shit than you have,” Claire replied, and Eli said something in a hushed voice to Claire. Owen smiled to Claire as he continued on.

“Rex,” Owen called, whistling again and the giant dog walked quickly behind Owen as he showed the fellow veteran Charlie and guided him through commands.

*~*~*

Owen was watching Barry as he guided Delta, an eager German Shepherd, through her basic runs as a seeing eye dog. She was very talented and could be very focused on her job. The two trainers made some remarks to one another, noting some small things she could improve on, getting her to go through the exercise a few more times with praise coming from every successful run. It wasn’t long before Owen became a little distracted by the redhead by the door.

It was the staring.

The staring always made him a little fumbly.

Because when Claire looked up at him, Owen’s attention went down to his shoes when he should have refocused on Barry and Delta.

Owen had no game whatsoever.

He crossed his arms, and felt his palms get sweaty as she walked over, the outfit of the day was a suit that made Owen’s mouth a little dry.

“I have to grab coffee today, I was wondering if you wanted to join me?” she explained, and all Owen’s mind did was focus on the word - I have to - because she was meeting Eli. She was meeting with Eli again and Owen would have to watch him try and flirt with her yet again, and his jealousy was a raging creature. He lost to it every time. Owen cleared his throat.

“Oh, I don’t want to get in the way, you go on,” he said, noticing the slight shock on her face - an unexpected response?

“Oh, okay, uh, see you later?” she asked and Owen nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling at her weakly before she moved towards the doors. Owen watched as she left, mentally beating the shit out of himself for being the absolute worst

“Owen,” Barry said, meeting Owen at his side.

“Yeah?”

“You’re a dumbass,” Barry said, and Owen looked over at his friend.

“Why?”

“She was asking you out, you complete idiot,” he said, smacking at Owen’s shoulder. Owen’s eyes narrowed - she wasn’t asking him out, that’d be stupid. She didn’t like guys like him; he wasn’t like the guys she was surrounded by. He was different and rough and serly compared to the lawyers that fawn at her feet.

“I can fire you, you know?” Owen snapped, and Barry clicked his tongue.

“Do it, I dare you,” he replied.

“Rex, chase,” Owen called, Rex bounding from her sitting position and springing up to Barry who tried to control Rex and Delta, as the two dogs set each other off - overstimulation was bad for service dogs.

“Hey!” Barry called out in a laugh and Owen whistled.

“Okay, Rex, heel,” he called, and Rex came back to him, waiting for her next task and he gave a small clicking sound before she circled to her spot and sat down.

*~*~*

Owen had Rex staying at the shelter as he did some errands with Blue. He had bangs hanging from his wrists, wandering around corners trying to find a cafe that may be service dog friendly when a voice called out in the crowd. “Hey you!” Owen looked forward, finding Claire waving at him delicately. Blue barked, wagging her tail and moving eagerly next to Owen.

“Oh, hi!” he replied, smiling to Claire. Though, his smile shifted when he saw Eli.

“Claire, we have to -” he tried to say before she waved him off.

“You go on ahead,” she said. Owen looked between the pair before trying to whisper to Claire.

“I don’t want to hold you up,” he said, but Claire ignored the question, bending down to Blue who sat patiently by Owen’s side. She didn’t interact with Blue, just waving and smiling.

“Are you going for a coffee?” she asked, and there was a small dart of her hand that was clear that she wanted to pat Blue more than she’d care to admit. Owen hid his smile.

“Ah, yeah, but -”

“Come on, I’ll buy,” she said, seemingly ignoring his efforts to stop interrupting her day. She willingly became a part of his day, it seemed.

“You don’t have to d-”

“Claire!” Eli called out, but Claire just waved over her shoulder.

“Go ahead, Eli! I’ll be right there!” she said, arm still hooked with Owen’s as she walked them to a cafe nearby.

Owen was always nervous about taking Blue to cafes or restaurants - many didn’t accommodate an animal inside, or they didn’t known if they had a certain policy against animals. Instead, it seemed, Owen was willing to follow Claire, trusting her instincts rather than his own. Walking inside, people eyed the dog with the vest on the minute they walked in. Blue stayed focused on Owen’s side as the pair walked up the counter.

The barista looked at Owen and Blue, their brow furrowing as they stammered for words.  “We don’t -”

“Service dog,” Claire interrupted, “can I grab regular caramel latte,” she ordered quickly with no hesitation. Owen was still unsure but she soon looked at him with a curious tilt of her head, “you?”

“Large black coffee,” he said back, not wanting to take up anymore of her time for that day.

“And a large black coffee,” she repeated for the barista, “oh, and some whipped cream for the dog, please?” she said, handing her card over for payment.

“Sure,” The barista smiled at the request and it was all put through.

“You know you don’t -”

“No arguing,” Claire said, taking the card back and smiling at him. Owen gave over a defeated chuckle, giving her a weak salute.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied and Claire laughed.

They sat outside the cafe for a little while as Blue laid down on the ground, licking the small cup of whipped cream before the pair decided to set off. Blue was still concerned with licking the remnants of the cream from her nose when there was a soft and breathable moment that Owen took in droves. It was a courage he was lacking, but he wanted to make it last.

“You look nice today,” he said, and Claire smiled, looking down at her outfit. She wore a flowy white skirt that went just past her knees and matched with a long sleeve pastel blue blouse. It was slightly see through, a white tank top underneath, but she looked amazing.

“Thank you,” she replied, a giddiness in her reply. “I’m meeting with the partners of the firm today and get to talk about becoming an actual lawyer instead of a researcher,” she said, holding her coffee a little tighter.

“That’s amazing,” Owen nodded, trying to follow her words as much as he could - though he had very little knowledge on what it all meant.

“It’s a little nerve wracking if I have to be honest,” she laughed.

“Yeah, Blue can tell,” Owen chuckled and Claire turned to him.

“What?”

“She’s whining,” Owen said, and the pause between their words let the dogs soft whines be heard. “It’s not because of me,” he said and Claire huffed, crouching down to Blue’s level once more.

“Hey, girl,” she greeted, “I’ll be okay,” she winked before standing. Owen gave soft pats to the border collie’s head.

“You’re gonna be just amazing, Claire,” Owen said, and there was a sigh that left Claire - a breath of relief.

“Thank you,” she said, moving into his space and kissing his cheek. She pulled back as her phone started to ring and she cursed under her breath. “I’ve gotta run! I’ll see you later!” she said, hurrying off and Owen watched as she ran as fast as she could around a corner, heading towards whatever destination she needed to go. Regardless of how many times he had watched her leave - he could do it a thousand times over.

*~*~*

Blue was being calm that day - he felt the pressure from his shoulders lifting with her by his side, and even as he paced about some business with the shelter, she still kept him calm. The forms he was reading were simple and didn’t mean anything bad, but he needed to go over them as owner of the business - it just confused the shit out of him.

Taking another lap, Owen heard the doors of the shelter open and he rolled his eyes when he saw Eli walking into the room, cocky attitude following him like a bad stink. He leaned on the front desk as Claire’s attention was on her own that she was trying to get off her desk. “Claire, you know your starting at the firm soon,” Eli said and Owen’s pace slowed, listening into the conversation that he really didn’t want to pay attention to, but he wanted to make sure Claire was okay.

“I’m very much aware of that,” she replied, voice quick and uninterested.

“Before then, I want to take you on a nice date,” Eli said, his tone seductive yet condescending at the same time. Claire looked up at Eli. It made Owen feel sick and his heart felt like it was burning - racing to erupt into something that would finally -

“Blue, hey, stop it,” Owen said, feeling Blue push herself against Owen.

“You know, wear a dress that would put any other woman to shame, get the best bottle of wine,” Eli continued and Owen clenched his fist around the paper. Blue began jumping up and down, trying to gain his attention as she whined.

“I’m calm, stop jumping,” he replied, trying to get the dog to calm down.

“Dinner, movie, walk in the park, back to my plac-”

“Woah!” Owen said as Blue jumped up and basically tackled Owen to the ground. She laid straight down on top of him, wagging her tail and keeping him pinned. Owen resigned to this feeling. It helped. And he knew why.

“Owen, are you -” Claire tried before Eli’s laugh echoed in the shelter.

“That guy really is nuts,” he said. Owen covered his eyes, patting at Blue’s head as he regained a better breathing pattern.

“You can go, Eli,” Claire said to Owen’s surprise.

“What?” To Eli’s surprise too apparently.

“I know you don’t get this job, but I’ve liked it here,” she said, and he gave over a reluctant sigh.

“Just call me about the date okay? I’ll pick you up wherever you wanna go,” he said, just before the doors shut. Owen was watching the inside of his palm, trying to remember when his life wasn’t a mess. It was never clear. Maybe the womb was his only non-chaotic place.

“You okay?” Claire said and Owen turned to her.

“Fine, I think Blue misread a sign, and pounced,” he lied, and Claire laughed as she sat down next to them.

“She looks very comfy,” she said, nodding and hiding a smile.

“I’m her favourite bed,” he said, scratching behind the dog’s ear.

“Lucky her,” Claire said, teeth nipping at her bottom lip. Owen’s heart ached.

“You’ve only got a couple more weeks with us, huh?” he said, sitting up next to.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she said, tucking hair behind her ear. Owen became unexpectedly nervous, the obvious indication was the whine from Blue. “Did you want to -”

“I’ve got a few paychecks for you,” he interrupted. Claire’s brow furrowed.

“What?”

“I didn’t want you going unpaid for this, at least part of it wasn’t volunteer work, but you should be paid for the overtime you did,” he said, shifting his position underneath Blue and managing to stand.

Claire followed him up. “Owen, that isn’t wh-”

“I’ll get that for you before you leave,” he said, clearing his throat.

“Can we talk about this, please?” she asked, and Owen stepped back from her.

“I gotta go train some of the dogs,” he said, turning on his heels and feeling his hands shake. God he was bad at...he didn’t even know what this was - but he certainly fucking sucked at it.

*~*~*

It was quiet that night; a shaking breath of a coming night that made Owen nervous. He was closing up the shelter for the night, making sure everything was off - almost about to close up the veterinary rooms when he felt the lack of something by his side. “Blue?” he called, and when she didn’t come, he whistled. Owen switched on the lights, wandering the shelter as he became more panicked. Outside, he called her name. “Blue?!” he yelled, and the reply was silence. Until he heard laughed and thuds that sounded too familiar for Owen not to notice.

Racing over to the back gate, he looked at the lock on the wooden fence and saw the lock was snapped off. He opened the door to the back alley to see something that made his stomach sink. His little partner in crime - the thing that kept him sane was struggling to breath and the only sound she was making was a pathetic whimper. The two guys saw Owen and dashed. Owen picked up a nearby rock throwing it at one before dashing after the other. The rock landed and hit the guy square in the back. Owen caught up to the guy and snatched him up by the collar, pulling him back to his friend and before keeping the guy on the ground with his foot. Owen held the guy by his collar, fuming with a rage only Blue could control and shook the guy.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asked, the two men struggled, one trying to move his foot as the other clawed at Owen’s defiant hands.

“Get your hands off of me!” the guys

“You just beat the shit out of my dog? For fun, right?” he said and the man laughed, “I’m an ex-marine, asshole,” Owen threatened and the guy stopped laughing. “Whatever you did to my dog, I’m going to you, ten times over,”

“Owen?” he heard the soft voice of Claire and he turned. She finally saw the scene and covered her mouth in shock.

“Call the police,” he yelled, pushing the guy to the fence, pinning the two guys in place, “if you know what’s good for you, you stay here,” he warned. And out of fear, neither of them moved until the police got there.

Owen’s hands hadn’t stopped shaking. He worried about his dog. He was having an anxiety attack. And he needed his dog. That was on the brink of death probably. He didn’t have time to talk about this shit. He wanted it all over.

“Yeah, thanks officer,” Owen nodded, turning to find Claire by the doors of the shelter, opening them up for him. “What’s goin-”

“I got Zara, she’s treating Blue now, but...she’s operating,” she explained, and Owen’s hand went to his forehead. He was barely registering anything, he felt everything and nothing all at once, but there was a definite tremor in his limbs.

“O-operating?” his voice shook.

“She thought you’d want to as soon as possible, we didn’t want to wait,” Claire said, holding onto his arm.

“Okay, okay,” he said, his breathing getting ragged as he stumbled forward on legs that could barely hold his weight.  

“Rex!” Claire called and the giant dog came racing, guiding him to a safe spot and settling him down on the ground, head resting near him and licking at his skin whenever she could.

“Okay, I got to get in -” Owen said, almost standing, but Claire pulled him back down, keeping him in place. He looked at her with a shaking bottom lip and his hands bound so tight, his knuckles turned as white as the bones underneath.

“Slow down, big guy, sit down,” she said.

“Blue...is-” he choked.

“It’s going to be ok,” she said, her hand rubbing up and down on his shoulder. Owen’s hands went over his face, the shake in his limbs still present as he tried to keep himself together.

“I always tell people with service dogs that they do need to understand that their dogs aren’t forever. They’re a temporary part of your life,” he said, the tears slipping past his eyes and he sniffed. “I hate that I can’t follow my own advice,” he whimpered.

“I may not be able to lower your blood pressure, or slow down your heart rate,” Claire said softly, and her hand came to his, taking the tremor-filled fingers and wrapping her fingers around his, “but I can hold your hand until Zara is done,” she said and Owen looked at her with a heart that couldn’t calm down. He nodded to her, the tears still in his eyes, and Claire rested her head against his shoulder. He kept still with her there, Rex allowing him to breathe.

It felt like a lifetime before Zara came out, her forehead broken into a sweat and she looked exhausted. Owen sprung to life and Claire followed with Rex on her heels. They came to his side and Claire hooked her hand with his again. Zara sighed before smiling to the pair.

“She’s a little banged up right now, but she’s going to be fine, Owen,” she said, and Claire sighed in relief.

“Thanks for coming in, Zara,” she said.

“Anything for you guys,” she replied, “I’ve got an early shift at the -”

“Yeah, yeah, you can go,” Owen said, clearing his throat.

“She’s on a drip, but I’d still like to monitor her,” Zara said, and Owen shook his head.

“I can do it,” he replied and Zara nodded. She picked up her things and waved goodbye to them. Claire tugged on his hand briefly.

“I’ll get us something to eat,” she said.

“Claire, you don’t have to stay,” he said, but the scowl she had told him he should have swallowed his words.

“Don’t you dare argue with me right now,” she told him, “go see Blue, and I’ll bring us back something,” she nodded, her hand still gripping tightly to his. “Rex, you stay right there with him, okay?” she said to the dog, who was pinned to his side regardless. Owen laughed as her hand let go and went outside.

Owen went to sleeping area, Blue’s pen had the drip attached to it and the dog slept soundly. She looked so broken - bandaged covering her legs, stitches piecing together wounds and blood stains in her fur that was once a polished coat. He sat down next to it, pulling blankets next to him, and on top of him as Rex came and sat by his side.

Claire came back with a meal for the three of them - though she did prepare Rex’s when she came back with their take away. They managed to finish their dinner quickly and stayed up for most of the night to make sure Blue was doing alright. There seemed to be no problems, but Rex still occasionally whined when Owen became anxious.

Claire drifted in and out of sleep. It wasn’t until Owen’s attention came to her, did he realise that Claire was in sweatpants and a large t-shirt. She had been wearing it since he saw her - which meant she only caught them there when she was going out to the grocery story or something. They had completely interrupted her night, but she didn’t seem to mind. Owen tapped his foot to hers. Her eyes opened weakly.

“Thanks for staying here with me,” he whispered and she smiled.

“Anytime,” she murmured her reply before sleep finally took her. Owen managed little sleep, but when the next day came, the entire staff was there to take their place, allowing them both to go home and rest. Owen worried the whole time - but he was lucky that he had Rex by his side.

*~*~*

A week or so had passed, Owen’s anxiety was maintained by Rex. But Blue was healing well and he liked seeing her with her panting smiles. Owen sat down next to the two dogs, keeping them calm. Lowery was training Echo, the shelter was quiet save for the entire staff being in attendance. Owen asked them why they were all there, but they had things to do that day, with Zia having an early appointment with an old dog they had trained. Zara came for a check up on Blue. Franklin was there to see the books, as this was one of the last chances to see Claire before she left. And the other two were training their dogs that day.

The doors opened and Claire came through, a very casual look of jeans and a t-shirt with a faded print on it. Her hair was tied back and somehow she looked like a moviestar.

“Hey girl!” Claire called and went racing over to Blue. The dog wagged her tail quickly, and Claire scratched the dog behind the ear. “She looks great,” Claire said looking up at Owen. He tucked his hands into his pockets.

“Thanks for helping us,” he said.

“Always,” Claire shrugged, as though what she had done for him was nothing. He took a deep breath.

“I wanted to ask you something,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck briefly before tucking it away again.

“I did too,” Claire said, taking her own breath. He had no idea what she was going to say, but he breath made him curious.

“Do you want to go out with me?” The words that came out of both their mouths echoed, cheers and high fives exchanged between their staff behind them. They both laughed, Owen’s cheeks burning, and he saw the same redness emerging in Claire’s cheeks.

“What?” Claire muttered.

“Sorry?” Owen choked.

“No, you -” Claire cut herself short.

“You -” he tried.

Claire sighed, letting out a nervous chuckle before she straightened her shoulders and looked at him. “Owen, do you want to go out with me?” Claire said, a slow smile coming to her lips.

“Yes, a lot actually,” he nodded. Another cheer from the staff before they both looked at them and they shut their mouths but laughed amongst themselves. Looking back at each other, they both rolled their eyes, smiling anyway.

“Okay then,” Claire nodded, moving towards the back of the room where Franklin had been waiting and talked to him for a bit. Owen excused himself, going back to rooms for the dogs, and when he knew he was alone, he pumped his fists into the air.

“Yes!” Owen cheered silently to himself, Blue dancing around his feet and Rex jumping up and almost knocking him to the ground.

He couldn’t believe this life was falling into place.