#so here we goooooooo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

im-no-jedi · 2 years

Text

MLWTBB: First Time For Everything

aka the (continued) journey into my self insert nonsense✨

chapter summary: it’s finally time for Hannah and Hunter’s first date, but neither of them seem to have any idea of what to do...

notes: this is a continuation of my story, “My Life With The Bad Batch”; I highly recommend reading that first before this one! I created a few new planets for this story. I’m also not 100% versed in SW terminology, so forgive me if some things are labeled incorrectly! each chapter will be rated accordingly, as opposed to the overall fic. lastly, there is romance in this story. hope you enjoy! 💙

add. notes: this chapter was edited and proofread by my sis @jam-n-ham! thanks sis!! 😋💙 also sorry for the long delay in updates; life happened, you know how it is 😅

Chapter 16, 3000+ words, rated G (as to be expected, just more awkward romance stuff 😆)

previous chapters: Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15

next chapter

✨MLWTBB masterlist✨

______________________________________________________________

The sun was set. Several of the streets were now laden in complete darkness, but much of the city was still lit by neon lights and torches that lined the various buildings of Ord Mantell. Few folks dared to walk the streets past sunset, but the brave souls who did always did so with a purpose. And that’s exactly what Hunter was about to do.

He’d been waiting at the bottom of the stairs to Hannah’s apartment for a little while, now changed into his civilian clothes at Hannah’s request, all the time pacing and anxiously drumming his fingers on his own crossed arms. Normally, in tense situations, he could easily remain calm and collected. The others often looked to him as a stable pillar, unfazed by pretty much anything. But ever since Hannah had come into their lives, Hunter could feel his foundations beginning to crack in ways he’d never experienced before. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it still shook him enough that he questioned it.

When it came to warfare, Hunter knew all the angles. But he knew absolutely nothing about things like domesticity or... going on a date.

Wow. He hadn’t even really thought about it before. He was actually going on a date. And it was with Hannah.

It suddenly started to make sense why he was going so crazy all the time. Because he was crazy. Crazy about her, that is.

Too bad Crosshair isn’t here to see this, he smugly thought to himself.

Footsteps coming down the stairs suddenly caught Hunter’s attention, and his heart jumped. He could recognize the footfalls a mile away. The smell of Hannah’s soap pleasantly hit his nostrils and caused him to break out into an elated smile. He watched as she stepped into view in front of him, now sporting her signature black shirt, green jacket, and gray neck wrap. She even had her beloved yellow bag with her again. As lovely as the dress she’d worn to Hosnian Prime was, this was the Hannah he knew best.

“Hope you weren’t waiting too long,” Hannah said, coming up to Hunter with her hands tightly clasped on the strap of her bag. It was way too reminiscent of how she looked during their first few days together, and the smile on Hunter’s face widened.

“Not at all. Any wait would be worth it either way.”

Hannah let out a flustered chuckle. “Already starting off with the mushiness, I see.”

“Was it really that mushy though?” Hunter questioned as he raised an eyebrow.

“For you, anything other than that scowl of yours is mushy to me.” Hannah playfully punched Hunter in the arm and snickered.

“So,” Hunter started with a sigh. “What uhh, did ya have in mind for tonight?”

Hannah’s eyes suddenly went a bit wide. “Right, I was supposed to pick what we’re doing, right...” She seemed to get lost in thought for a bit, which made Hunter chuckle. “Honestly, I don’t really care, I’m fine with whatever!” She threw her hands in the air and laughed, cracking a wide smile as she did so.

“That’s great, but not really helpful,” Hunter replied with a laugh of his own.

“I know, I’m sorry... I’m not...” Hannah sighed in exasperation. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve... never done anything like this before.” She began wringing her hands together nervously and couldn’t even look Hunter in the face anymore.

Hunter watched her for a moment in silence. He felt bad that she was so nervous, but he completely understood. “Me neither.”

Hannah’s brows furrowed a bit and she looked up at him again. “Really?”

“Is that so hard to believe? Ya don’t really get a lotta chances to go out with people when you’re in war.”

“I guess so,” Hannah responded with a nod.

“If anything,” Hunter continued. “I’m surprised you haven’t done this before. You’ve lived a lot longer than I have, and... well...” He trailed off a bit and cleared his throat. “I dunno, just seems like someone would’ve asked you by now, is all.”

A fake smile grew on Hannah’s face and she shook her head. “Nope. Not once. Never even had a guy tell me he liked me before.”

Hearing that, Hunter actually got upset. How could anyone not see how great of a person Hannah was? His signature scowl briefly appeared on his face before he let out a scoff. “Well, lucky me then. Their loss.”

Slight redness began to show on Hannah’s cheeks, and she broke out into a flattered smile. Clearly, she wasn’t used to being given this kind of treatment, and Hunter was now more determined than ever to give her an evening she deserved.

“C’mon,” Hunter said, beckoning Hannah to follow him. “We’ll figure somethin’ out.”

Without hesitation, Hannah came up beside Hunter, practically flush with his shoulder, and walked at his side as they began to head towards the market together. The date had officially begun.

***************************

Heading to the market together wasn’t a new experience for Hannah and Hunter. During Hannah’s earlier days on Ord Mantell, one or more of the boys would accompany her to the market so she’d feel more comfortable. Hunter was often the one who ended up going with her, usually with Omega tagging along as well. But those times were different. They’d always gone with a goal in mind, for the purpose of things like shopping or just getting to know the place better.

Tonight, their sole purpose for going to the market was simply to be together.

A good portion of their time after leaving Hannah’s apartment was spent in silence, like their times together were prone to be. It wasn’t so much that they didn’t know what to say, but more that they didn’t need to say anything. Both of them enjoyed each other’s company so much that it almost felt like words might ruin the moment somehow. And considering what had happened on Hosnian Prime, it was no surprise they stayed silent with each other for a while.

However, the silence couldn’t last forever, and eventually Hannah was the one to finally break it with one of her signature giggles.

“What’s so funny?” Hunter asked, giving her a curious look.

“Well,” Hannah began. “It’s just... ironic.”

“What is?”

Hannah let out a wistful sigh. “What we’re doing. Going out like this together.”

Hunter looked confused, which made Hannah giggle again.

“The first time you and I were ever alone together was something just like this, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Hunter said, finally realizing what she was talking about. “Although, I don’t think we wanna go looking for cables this time. Or festival games. And definitely no fancy restaurants.”

Hannah threw her head back with a laugh. “Hey, the Prism Palace wasn’t bad. It was just Irridas who was bad. And I’d still take him over Vin any day.”

Hunter’s face turned down into a disgusted scowl. “I’d rather have neither of ‘em.”

Another laugh from Hannah. A shopkeeper at one of the stalls they passed called out to them, asking to try one of their products, but Hannah politely turned them down.

“It wasn’t all bad on Volruna, you know,” she said, running her hand across the strap of her bag.

“No, of course not,” Hunter responded, shaking his head. “I wasn’t tryin’ to say that at all. There were plenty of good things that happened that day.” His eyes drifted down, taking note of the small space separating them. “I can think of one thing for sure that we could recreate right now too.”

“Oh?” Hannah raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously. Then she felt her breath get caught in her throat as Hunter reached down and took her by the hand. The warm smile that ran across his face made her heart flutter, and she looked away for a moment to hide how flustered she was.

Now hand in hand, the two of them continued their stroll through the market in shared silence again. It wasn’t terribly busy at that time, and several of the stalls had already closed for the night. Compared to Volruna, it was a much different experience, and Hannah especially chose to not compare it any longer. She wanted to enjoy their time as much as possible, without just trying to recreate that first experience again.

This time, the silence was broken by Hunter letting out a small chuckle.

“What?” Hannah asked with a chuckle of her own.

“Nuthin’, I just...” Hunter let out a small sigh. “I can’t believe you got me thinkin’ about Volruna again.”

“Oh, is that bad?”

“No, not at all. I mean, I’ve thought about it plenty of times before.”

Hannah’s eyes went wide. “O-Oh really?”

“Well yeah, why wouldn’t I? It was...” Hunter looked down at Hannah a bit sheepishly. “A lot happened that day, ya know? And like you said, it wasn’t all bad. I try to not think of the bad stuff, if I can help it.”

This was the first instance of Hannah hearing Hunter even mention that day on Volruna to her. She wanted to blurt out how often she thought of that day, how special it was to her, how much she wished certain things would’ve happened... but she held back and let Hunter continue.

“Bein’ out here like this with you... it feels like it, in a way.” Hunter scratched the top of his head in contemplation. “There’s a word for that, when you get reminded of something that happened in the past...”

“Oh, nostalgia?”

“Yeah, that’s it. I know it’s only been a couple months so, I dunno, feels weird feeling that way about somethin’ that didn’t happen that long ago.” A small smirk grew on his face and he looked down at Hannah again. “Not that I’m complaining, of course.”

“Of course,” Hannah replied with a small smirk of her own.

Before either of them could say anything else, another voice called out to them from one of the stalls. Except this time, Hannah recognized the voice. “Well, look who it is! Out a bit late tonight, aren’t you two?”

“You’re one to talk, Mrs Ygreu!” Hannah exclaimed, dragging Hunter over to the stall with her. “Aren’t you normally closed by now?”

“Normally, yes,” the old woman replied. “But I decided to stay open a bit later tonight so I could try and sell off the rest of these Corellian apples before they go bad.”

“Now where’d you get Corellian apples from, huh?” Hunter cheekily asked.

Mrs Ygreu let out a hardy laugh. “Oh, I’ve got all sorts of connections, my boy. But enough about me...” She eagerly leaned against her own hands on the stall and looked between the other two. “I haven’t gotten an answer to my question yet.”

Hannah snickered and leaned in closer to her, whispering behind her own hand, “We’re on a date.”

Immediately, Mrs Ygreu’s eyes bugged out. It looked like she’d just been handed a million credits. “Ohoho! Is that so?”

Hannah happily nodded, while Hunter just smiled awkwardly.

“Well, in that case...” Mrs Ygreu suddenly ducked under the stall. Rummaging noises could be heard before she suddenly popped back up again, surprisingly fast considering her age. A bag full of apples was plopped on the counter. “I insist you take the rest of these with you. And don’t you dare try to talk me out of it. They’re going to go bad soon anyway, like I said.”

Hunter looked like he wanted to object, but Hannah knew better and gingerly thanked Mrs Ygreu for being so sweet. The old woman pulled her in a bit closer and told her she could properly thank her by not letting that handsome man get away from her, earning a flustered giggle from Hannah. Even though he could hear the whole exchange, Hunter pretended he was oblivious and awkwardly cleared his throat, turning away to give them privacy.

Now with a bag of apples in tow, Hannah and Hunter bid Mrs Ygreu a good night, while she in turn wished them a happy and fruitful date. The old woman laughed at her own joke, and Hannah joined in, going into an absolute fit of laughter. Hunter was far less amused and simply let out a long sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose.

The apple bag was actually small enough to fit inside of Hannah’s personal bag, which made it easier to carry. Since she no longer kept all of her personal belongings in it, the bag had even more room than before. Hunter joked that it made no difference seeing as her bag could magically hold whatever it wanted, even before she’d emptied it. With a snicker, Hannah tossed one of the apples to him, then pulled out one for herself.

“Well, they’re no sugar sticks,” Hunter said after taking a bite of his apple. “But these are pretty good too.”

Hannah nodded in agreement, licking the juice from her lips. “Man, wouldn’t these be so good with the sugar sticks though?”

“Heh, you read my mind, Solar Flare.”

Hannah went into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth to keep pieces of apple from spewing out. The nickname he’d given her still tickled her immensely.

By the time they’d both finished their apples, most of the other stalls were starting to close. It was looking like there were less and less options for them to do anything else besides walk around. Not that they minded, of course. Both of them were still simply enjoying just being together.

Ideally, it would’ve been just the two of them. Very rarely did they ever get moments alone, and when they did, it usually wasn’t for long. Hannah was almost regretting inviting the others to her apartment for the night.

Suddenly, Hannah was stopped by Hunter. “What, what is it?” she asked.

“Ugh, might be trouble ahead,” Hunter replied, and he gestured ahead.

Hannah saw that the way forward was a bit shadier than what they’d encountered thus far. There also appeared to be several individuals lingering in the darkness. Some of them had speeder bikes to boot. Instinctually, Hannah stepped a bit closer to Hunter and tightened her grip on his hand. “Who are they?” she asked in a more hushed tone than before.

“Some local gang,” Hunter replied. “I’ve... run into them before.”

Hannah sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”

“They’re not the kind to pick a fight randomly, but... they’d probably recognize me.”

“Should we just go back then?”

“Probably wouldn’t make a difference. Some of ‘em might be roamin’ around in general now.”

“Sooooo, what do we do then?”

Hunter exhaled sharply through his nose and went into his usual thinking pose, clutching a hand to his chin. Hannah repressed a giggle and began scouring the area to see if they were being watched. It seemed like they hadn’t been noticed yet, thankfully.

Then an idea came to her mind. “You’re sure they’d recognize you?”

“They’d recognize my face, at the least,” Hunter replied.

“Oh, well in that case...” With a readjustment of her bag, Hannah began removing her neck wrap. She shook it out a bit once it was off, then practically threw it over Hunter’s head. He didn’t budge once as she adjusted it. The neck wrap was large enough to cover his entire head, like a makeshift hood, and she made sure none of his hair was sticking out. She also gathered up some of it to attach around his ears so his nose and mouth would be covered. By the time she was done, the only thing visible on Hunter’s head was his eyes; the rest being just a gathering of gray fabric.

“You think this’ll work?” Hunter asked, his voice slightly muffled from the fabric.

“Unless these guys can recognize you by the eyes!” Hannah chuckled.

Hunter was still wary about approaching them at all, but Hannah reassured him, saying they would be fine. They’d taken on enemies way worse than those guys before, and plus... she snickered a bit and reached into her bag, revealing her blaster with a cheeky grin.

To say Hunter was shocked was an understatement. “I can’t believe you brought ol’ Vinny on our date.”

Hannah could barely conceal her laughter after that.

Still hand in hand, the two of them made their way past the bike gang, not giving them any attention whatsoever. Hunter remained as casual as he could, while Hannah decided to take a more confident approach. She refused to be intimidated by those hooligans and kept her head held high, taking a page out of Madame Eldya’s book. Only a couple of the gang members even acknowledged their presence, but didn’t give them more than a passing glance.

Once they were well past the gang, both Hannah and Hunter let out sighs of relief. “Told ya the scarf would work!” Hannah exclaimed.

“Never doubted you for a second,” Hunter replied, pulling the fabric off of his face. He left the rest of it on his head, rather liking the makeshift hood Hannah had given him. Also, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was thoroughly enjoying having Hannah’s scent on him now.

Now that that problem was dealt with, they could focus on their original problem of not knowing what to do. Except now they had the added issue of needing to avoid the bike gang too. Hunter said they probably wouldn’t be there for much longer, but it was gonna be difficult even getting back to Hannah’s apartment until they were gone.

Once again, Hannah was the one to get an idea and a grin spread across her face. “I think I might know a place we can hang out at for a bit.”

Before Hunter could even question what it was, Hannah was already leading him down the street with surprising enthusiasm. He imagined this was what it felt like for her being dragged around by him on Volruna and just let her do her thing. It was kind of exciting, actually. He couldn’t wait to see what surprise Hannah had waiting at the end of this little adventure.

#the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #HERE WE GOOOOOOOO #I genuinely have never been on a date before #so I'm just assuming everything really #also my man ain't as smooth as y'all think he is #he is for the most part but he can be awkward too!#as he should be!#ANYWAY enjoy the awkward I guess LOL #star warz #my storiez

3 notes · View notes