#the bad batch fluff

[crosshairlovebot]

you good? / crosshair x gn!reader

pairing: crosshair x gn!reader (no y/n). reader has a nickname.

description: crosshair returns to you on shore leave to find you unwell, so he takes care of you.

word count: 2,521

needed to write a crosshair version of the hunter one i did. i love him so much i can't even talk about it properly. hope this brings comfort to anyone who's reading and sick. you deserve a gentle crosshair looking after you.

also posted this on ao3. feedback is welcomed, reblogs are appreciated.

Crosshair had intended to use his unexpected shore leave to surprise you. To knock on your door and see you light up at the sight of him. That feeling always made him warm inside, to see you happy that he was standing in front of you. He relished in the feel of your arms being thrown around his shoulders and wrapping him tightly. He could live inside your arms if the galaxy let him. His chest would expand with contentment when you would gush about how happy you were to see him, knowing that happiness was not only in response to no longer being alone in your cold, quiet Coruscanti apartment, but also the knowledge that he was okay, and safe, and alive in a war that only seemed to become more endless as the fighting went on.

Crosshair would let you fuss over him, give him real food, let him have a warm shower before you would both fall into bed together, wrapped in each other’s arms – feeling like he had never left. It was easy to pretend he was just a man when he was alone with you. To get lost in the normalcy of sharing a home. You’d both play pretend for as long as you could before the inevitable end of his all too brief shore leave would sneak up on you both, and he would be shipped out again, for who knew how long with only infrequent comms for both your comforts. 

He had been looking forward to the familiar routine of his shore leave, to seeing your entire body lift once you opened the door to him, but those hopes were dashed when he knocked on the door and you opened it, blanket wrapped around your shoulders like a cloak, sniffly and half-closed eyes.

“Crosshair,” you croaked, excitement clear in your voice before you began coughing into your blanket. “You’re home.”

“Ca’tra,” Crosshair breathed as he took in the sight of you, concern immediately spiking inside him. “You’re sick.”

“It’s nothing,” you brushed off, sniffling and stepping aside so Crosshair could enter the apartment. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“It’s not nothing,” Crosshair scolded as he watched you press the close button on the door and shuffle into your tiny living room without even hugging him like you usually do.

You had made a bed on the couch, full of pillows and other blankets. The holo was on and playing some movie he didn’t recognise. You sat down, making a sound that made it sound like walking and standing had been a big effort for you. He shrugged off his pack and placed it by the door before he moved to crouch in front of you, hands on your knees.

“How long?” he asked, looking at you.

You tried breathing in, but your nose was blocked. “Was feeling a little off yesterday but woke up today feeling much worse.”

Crosshair stood up and he watched your neck crane up to follow his gaze. He placed one hand under your chin and the back of the other against your forehead. You were warm, but not feverish. With the coughing and sneezing, it must just be a bad cold. He knew you didn’t take much time to relax, usually opting to keep busy to distract yourself from his absence. He guessed it was all catching up with you, the exhaustion manifesting itself into sickness.

“Have you been to a med droid?” Crosshair smoothed a hand over your hair in a gesture so soft, that on a regular day, he would’ve watched you close your eyes and smile in response. Instead, you barely reacted before pulling away gently.

You were more unwell than you were letting on.

“Too expensive. Too much effort,” you coughed before letting yourself fall on your side, head hitting one of the many pillows as you groaned.

Crosshair watched you, crease in his brow. He sat down on the caf table, elbows on his knees. “Tell me what hurts.”

You huffed and curled yourself into a ball. “Throat. Head. I’m so tired.”

Crosshair looked at an empty plate on the floor next to the couch. “Have you eaten?”

You breathed through your mouth, rubbing your nose. “Small things. Crackers. Bread. Low effort stuff.”

Crosshair let out a breath. He hated seeing you like this. He’d never been sick, since clones had been engineered to be immune to nearly all diseases, but to not feel like yourself didn’t seem like something he would enjoy.

Crosshair pulled a blanket out from the many under your legs, and you frowned at him as you watched him drape it over you wordlessly. He pulled it up to your chin, the way he liked as a cadet before he bent over to tuck you in.

It wasn’t even a decision for him to take care of you during his brief shore leave, more like something he was willing to do simply because he loved you.

When you loved someone, you tried to do anything you could to make their life easier, to release them of their burdens and carry them yourself.

Crosshair would shoulder all your burdens unasked, no matter what they were. The act of caring for you wasn’t and would never be something you had to ask for. He was glad he was here, that way he knew you would be well taken care of under his watchful eyes.

Though he had become better at articulating his love for you with words, the best way for him to show how much he loved you was still with actions.

“What’re you doing?” you croaked, brows furrowed at him as he pushed the blanket around the edges of your body.

“What does it look like?” he replied tersely as he adjusted the pile of pillows you were reclining on, making sure they were supporting your head properly.

“Cross, you don’t have to take care of me,” you told him.

Crosshair only scoffed in response as he took in the rest of the living room.

It was messier than you usually kept it, with several plates and empty cups littering the floor and the caf table he sat on as well as small piles of discarded face napkins.

He started gathering up the dishes before walking them over to the sink. He hated mess, and he knew you did too, so the fact that you hadn’t at least taken the used dishes to the sink told him how sick you really were. He started rinsing them before he placed them in the small bench-top dishwasher he’d helped you pick out a few shore leaves ago.

“Cross,” you said from the couch, having made yourself sit up and ruin his perfect tuck-in job.

He couldn’t be annoyed at you, no matter how hard he tried.

Crosshair ignored you as he made his way back to the couch to gather up all the face napkins and put them in the trash.  You said his name again, this time falling into a coughing fit as your breath caught in your sore throat. He grabbed a clean cup from the cupboard and filled it with some water. He came back over to you and sat on the coffee table, holding the cup out.

“Drink,” he ordered softly.

You gave him a look like you weren’t happy with him. But he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to leave you to fend for yourself, not when he was here. It was his job to look out for the people he loved.

You wordlessly took the cup, and the bottom of it immediately went on your knee, like you lacked the strength to bring it to your lips. Crosshair sighed. You needed some proper food in you. He took the cup from you as he shuffled closer then placed his empty hand behind your head.

“Head back,” he told you. You did what you were told, and he helped you take a few sips of water. After, he ran his thumb across your lip to catch a stray drop. His hand stayed for a moment so his thumb could caress your cheek. He wished he could take this away from you.

“Cross, I’m okay,” you tried to tell him.

“No, you’re not,” he said, placing the cup next to him. “Lie down. Rest.”

“I’m not good at resting,” you grumbled.

“Too bad.”

You groaned and the strain on your throat only made you fall into another coughing fit. Crosshair gave you another sip of water before he tucked you in again, tighter this time so you wouldn’t get up.

Once he was satisfied you weren’t going to move again, he told you he’d be right back before quickly going to your bedroom. He stripped out of his armour and blacks before taking the speediest shower of his life and dressing in the spare clothes he kept here.

Now in loose pants and a threadbare short-sleeved top that smelt faintly like you, Crosshair padded barefoot into the living room again. He was relieved to see you in the same position as before, eyes closed. He watched you from the doorway for a moment and looked at how small you looked on that couch. He didn’t like the thought that if he hadn’t come home when he did, you would be suffering through this by yourself, without him to care for you.

He tried to move quietly, but your eyes cracked open once you heard him enter the room, a small smile on your lips. Crosshair returned it and came and sat back down on the caf table, facing you.

“You good?” he asked, placing the backs of his bare fingers on your cheek. You pulled a hand out from under the blanket and grabbed his, moving the backs of his fingers to your lips, kissing them gently. He smiled, warmth blooming in his chest at the simple gesture of intimacy. It’d been a long time since he felt your lips on his skin.

“Better, now that you’re here,” you told him honestly, your voice scratchy.

Crosshair smiled. He liked being here as much as you liked having him here.

“You’re all warm from the shower,” you smiled, pressing your face against his hand, holding his arm close to you.

“Been a while since I had a decent one.” The corner of his mouth tipped up. You chuckled and kissed his palm. He let you cradle his hand and arm, and he would’ve let you hold onto it forever, but he wanted to make sure you were taken care of before he wrapped himself around you.

“Hungry?” he asked. He frowned when you shook your head, nose rubbing against his wrist. “You should eat something. Even if it’s small.”

He sighed when you wrinkled your nose at the thought. He went through what he remembered from the Kaminoan training module on nat-born illnesses. “Have you taken anything?”

You nodded. “I took something a couple of hours ago when I woke up.”

“Did you eat then?”

You nodded again. He would have to be satisfied with that. Maybe he could get you to eat something when you were due to make more medication, but for now, he just wanted to let you rest. He’d try again later.

He searched your face, his mouth pressed in a line. He wished he could do something more for you, it frustrated him to not be able to fix this easily; that he had to wait it out with you. He was patient when it came to sniping, he could lie in the same position for hours before taking a shot with no difficulty. But he was not so patient when you were in pain or unwell. He felt himself scowl. It was the restless and useless feeling he hated. Crosshair never liked feeling useless.

“I feel bad,” you told him in a small voice.

Crosshair’s spine straightened in alarm. “What can I do?”

“No, I mean, I feel bad about this,” you gestured to yourself lying on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, poorly.

“You?” He couldn’t hide his surprise. “Why?”

He was just silently commiserating about how bad he felt that he couldn’t absorb your pain and experience it just so you wouldn’t have to. Why would you feel bad?

“It’s your time off,” you told him, your hold on his arm tightening. “You barely get any and now it’s ruined because I’m sick.”

Crosshair let out a breath. Is that what you thought? That your being unwell was an inconvenience to him?

He shook his head. “It’s not ruined.”

“We can’t even do anything fun. I’ve been wanting to take you to this new diner that opened a few levels up. I haven’t even been there because I wanted us to go together.”

Crosshair smiled at the thought. “There will be other times, ca'tra.”

You let out a frustrated breath. Crosshair crouched down and smoothed your hair back off your face with his free hand, and you watched him with those eyes of yours that rivalled even the most beautiful of stars. Crosshair leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on your forehead. When he pulled away, you were looking up at him with slanted brows, like he was the single most amazing thing you’d ever seen, and that made his chest tight with the kind of feeling he’d only ever read about.

Never in the entire galaxy did he think he would ever be loved the way you love him.

You yawned as Crosshair stroked your cheek softly, tenderly. “You should sleep.”

You tugged on the hand you still had gently. “Lay down with me?”

Crosshair stood up and shut the holo off before lifting up the edge of your blanket. You wordlessly shuffled over and when there was enough room, he lay down next to you. His feet dangled off the edge, his frame too long for the piece of furniture.

You wriggled around trying to find a comfortable position in the narrow space of the couch, before you finally settled to lying half on top of him, head on his chest, arm wrapped around his torso, and leg hooked around his hip.

Crosshair grunted as he adjusted his position, he predicted he would not be moving from this spot for some time. He didn’t care. He’d let you lie on him until you were back to normal, and even then.

He let out a breath as he draped the blanket over you both, tucking it around your frames. You relaxed on top of him, and there was something so comforting about having your body right next to him like this. He rubbed a hand gently up and down your back as you sighed, the breath all broken with your sore throat.

“Thanks, Cross,” you whispered. Crosshair smiled and kissed the top of your head. He didn’t need to be thanked. He’d do anything for you.

“Love you,” you murmured as your breathing became deep and even as you fell asleep. Crosshair tightened his hold on you as your heartbeat pressed into his. He loved you more.

banner art by @vimse thank you reading! i love writing soft crosshair so much :') it's literally my mission to fill the crosshair/reader tag with soft crosshair fics

🏷️ @starrylothcat @sinfulsalutations @moodymisty @nahoney22 @freesia-writes @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @bobaprint @crosshairsnose @jesseeka @thegalaxys-edge @chopper-base @shredderwest @leavingkamino @r2d2staser @beckbucket @pb-jellybeans @mylifeisactuallyamess @padawancat97 @littlecrowtime @jedipoodoo @ezras-left-thumb @lovelycurls @fruitsaladtree @literallydontlook @burningfieldof-clover @queencousland101 @clonethirstingisreal @skellymom @hopelessromantic727

TAGLIST FORM

[angelltheninth]

The Bad Batch Dating a Medic

Pairing: Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, Echo x Reader

Tags: fluff, established relationship, flirting on the battlefield, injuries, recovery, soothing kisses

A/N: I'm not ready for TBB to end!

Hunter is the one who gets hurt most often. Taking risks is part of being a leader so you're know that when he goes on a mission he's coming back with something that needs to be taken a look at. While he is used to the pain he does still feel it, most of the time it's caused by his own stunts so he doesn't blame anyone for it.

"I disagree, if I stay behind that means more of my brothers could get hurt. That's gonna make more work for you too. Then who's gonna spend time by my bedside telling me to stay down? No, it does have to be you, I won't listen otherwise."

Crosshair stays behind to make sure others don't get hurt so in a since your jobs aren't that far apart. He has to watch out for you too, so he likes it when you're by his side. Acts as more of an escort for you when you are in the battlefield, which means he can flirt with you with no one knowing. It's a good job as far as he's concerned.

"Lay low, or do you want to end up on the med table instead? For a medic you seem to have quite the taste for danger. Well you are dating me aren't you, what's that tell you? If you're looking to have your adrenaline spike I can do that after the mission."

Wrecker always goes in fists and blasters first and safety concern dead last. The many scars on his body are proof of his sturdy, hard nature but you don't worry for him any less because of that. Often he acts as a shield for his brothers, the heavy hitter who can take anything. Everything except seeing you upset when you see him hurt.

"I've taken blastershots up-close and lived. Thought that one guy was tryin' to tickle me. Really, it doesn't hurt at all, I swear by my brothers. I'll take it easy for today... if you kiss that spot. Don't they say you medics can heal anything, so why not heal your big guy with a little kiss?"

Tech is rarely the one who gets seriously hurt since he stays at the back of the team. Watches himself and his surrounding carefully so he's not often in the line of fire unless the mission is dire and he needs to step in. Plus he's a great strategist so he tends to look after his brothers a lot. Also enjoys sorting through medical equipment with you.

"Take better care if your things, you can't heal anyone if it's all out of order. If you need a helping hand... ouch! That was quite uncalled for, I was only stating my opinion. My hand will be fine, it's only a little burn, I know you've seen much worse, I've seen much worse."

Echo has already been through many medical procedures so yours aren't a big deal for him. Even when he does get hurt he's sure his body can take it. If you need more detailed medical records for him you know he can get them easily. You do your job well so he never worries when he's in your capable hands. It's actually rather enjoyable to be honest.

"I hope I'm not being a bother to you, there's many more soldiers to see. If you want I can stay here for a while, offer up some insight. We can go grab a drink after you're done. To help take your mind off work. Yeah, and mine too. I suppose, we can both use a break."

[kiwicopia]

❤️ Crosshair x Fem!Reader | Blurb ❤️

TW: slight spoilers from the new season, fluff with Crosshair, soft touches, written with a female reader in mind.

(🫠 I die inside every time his hand shakes)

Neither of you said a thing when finally left alone together. After all this time, after everything that happened, neither of you uttered a single word. You wanted to ask him so many things, yet bombarding him with questions wasn't the wisest decision right now. He looked lost in his thoughts, which you knew were no doubt muddled with questions of his own that he refused to ask.

His right hand trembled, and he was quick to conceal it with his left. Whatever happened to him had been horrific, though you wouldn't press him on the matter. The silence hung heavy between the two of you, until you broke it.

"Cross?"

Oh, how he missed your voice. He could never forget how sweet it sounded, but he also felt a twinge of guilt in his gut at how worried you were. It was like a vibroblade twisting his insides around, and he hated it. With reluctance, he finally lifted his head and met your gaze. He hated the way your brows furrowed with concern, and the small frown on your lips stirred up feelings he thought died long ago.

"Sorry," he muttered.

It was a soft apology. Perhaps for the way he betrayed his brothers, betrayed you, or for the horrid threats that spilled from his lips when he let you go the last time. Either way, you didn't care. You didn't care for his apologies, having decided to keep everything in the past. Who he was then would be buried, because all you cared about was him right now, in the present.

You scooted closer to him, slowly, yet he made no effort to move away or show discomfort towards your action. "Don't be," you told him. Crosshair looked down, avoiding your gaze once again, and you watched as he rubbed the back of his right hand with his left thumb. "I'm glad that you're back."

"You should be angry." You frowned at his words. "After everything I've done."

His body tensed when he felt your hand on his shoulder, but it quickly relaxed under the gentle touch. "Let's leave all of that in the past," you said. When the man glanced at you, his chest tightened at how softly you stared at him. It was as if you meant your words, but he knew better than to believe they were a lie.

Crosshair gave a slow nod before reaching for your other hand with his right, only to stop short when it trembled again. He grumbled under his breath before he began pulling it away, but you didn't let him. The light shakes that coursed through his hand ceased when yours wrapped around it, encasing it in a soothing warmth that he didn't want to admit that he missed.

The silence that came was no longer awkward, and he let out a small, content sigh when your body finally scooted close enough to press against him. His eyes closed as he finally let himself relax against you, and you smiled in response. "I've missed you," he finally admitted.

You already knew that. You also knew that he missed you as much as you missed him. Even if he wasn't vocal about it, you could always tell with his little actions. The way he leaned into you, how his thumb gently rubbed your hand as it held his, you knew all too well.

He was here to stay. Crosshair would never leave now. He was finally home.

[annwayne]

TBB Walks In on You.. Asleep

Specifically, that you passed out before they got home.

Inspired by my recent experience passing out on accident and waking up to my partner just as he got home lol

SFW, no warnings, established relationships, domestic vibes, gender neutral reader, mentions of non-sexual nudity/underwear.

As usual, if you enjoy please let me know! Reblogs, likes, and replies are welcome!

Hunter

Hunter would strip down immediately and slide in right next to you.

(He’s a naked sleeper and I’ll take no criticism)

He won’t bother getting food, brushing his teeth or hair-

he just sees how comfy you are and wants nothing more than to join in.

So he'll slide into bed with you, cuddle up to you no matter how you're sleeping, and pass out within seconds.

I think it says something about how comfortable he is with you.

You wake up to find your limbs entangled and his face right up against yours.

Echo

Echo would get ready for bed and then join you, careful not to disturb your slumber.

He’s got a lot more to take care of before going to bed, removing his prosthetics being one of them.

(In order to avoid poking you with his modifications, Echo at least wears a t-shirt to bed.)

He’d lean over to your side, whisper in your ear good night, then give you a gentle kiss before snuggling in beside you.

You wake up to Echo’s lovesick grin as he pulls you closer with his arm. 

Wrecker

Wrecker would accidentally wake you up, but not enough that you’re aware you are awake.

Instead you’d stir a little and mumble something incoherent, only for him to scoop you up into his arms and coo to you about going back to sleep, that he’ll take care of you.

You fell asleep on top of the covers this time, and in Wrecker’s eyes that’s no way to leave his partner.

Once the blankets are pulled back sufficiently he’ll put you back down and then slide in.

(Wrecker is totally a boxers only sleeper.)

When you wake up, you’re under the covers and cuddling into Wrecker’s chest. 

Tech

Tech is aware you probably fell asleep before getting anything to eat, so he’ll grab your favorite color protein bar and store it by his side of the bed for the morning when you wake up.

He almost always falls asleep after you do and wakes up before you, so this isn’t too unusual an experience for him (just much earlier than typical.)

Once he’s ready to tuck in for the night, he’ll put down his data pad and brush your check lightly, satisfied with how cozy and comfortable you look.

(Tech wears top and bottom pjs when he sleeps.)

When you wake up Tech is waiting with a cup of caf and that protein bar he kept close. 

Crosshair

Crosshair keeps the lights off when he notices you fell asleep.

It feels poignant that he'd do that, something with his eyes I think.

He doesn’t completely forego his nightly routine like Hunter, but he certainly doesn’t do it as thoroughly as Echo would.

He’s somewhere in the middle—rushing to join you on top of the covers.

He grabs some extra blankets, pulls them over the pair of you, and then spoons you.

As much as he'd like to claim he isn't big on cuddling, he never turns down the opportunity.

When you wake up he’s still spooning you, long arms holding you at your waist and legs wrapped up around you, and you notice the different blankets pulled over you both.

[starrylothcat]

Sparks

Hunter x Fem!Jedi Reader One-Shot

Summary: You and Hunter realize your long-hidden feelings for one another. Warnings: Wee bit of angst, kissing/making out, slight suggestiveness. This is my first fic! Excuse any formatting or grammatical errors...I haven't stretched my writing fingers in a long time. I also have no idea how Tumblr formatting works, haha. I needed some fluff after that finale. This one got away from me...3,000 words. Please leave your thoughts and enjoy!

@wanderer-six tagged as requested! :)

The bonfire was now huge, burning fast and bright, much to Wrecker and Omega’s delight. Sparks flew in to the clear night air, illuminating the figures sitting around it. 

Clone Force 99 and you had just finished a tiring mission and were taking the night to decompress on a desolate, forested planet. The bonfire was actually your idea, a memory you had stored deep in your subconscious from when you were a very young Jedi Padawan. After a tough training or difficult mission, your Master would often start a fire while you meditated and reflected. The heat and cackling from the flames helped calm you, oddly enough. It was something that you continued to do, even as a Jedi General during the war. It was something that burned bright in the darkness. Something that you were all now desperate for in this new Imperial galaxy.  

You didn’t speak much of your past as a Jedi at first. It was too painful, too fresh. But as you spent more time with Clone Force 99, you became more comfortable sharing small snippets on occasion, much to the excitement of Omega who hung on to every word. Echo would also sometimes add his own stories from his old squad, which would then inspire Wrecker to tell stories (sometimes embellished ones) of their missions, reminiscing on battles won. It was nice to connect again, to have those who understood you, as you were now all outcasts. Chewed up by the war and tossed to the side, now struggling to find your place in the galaxy.

Somewhat recently after Order 66, they rescued you from bounty hunters who had suspicions you were a Jedi. You tried to keep it a secret, but Hunter found you out with his heightened senses. You warily came clean to them, telling them the truth. 

You were only supposed to stay with them for a short time, only until you found a new place to hide. Hunter was wary with having a Jedi on board, especially since they already had a target on their back. But a short time turned longer. You were helpful on missions and were careful to never expose yourself as a Jedi. Omega became particularly attached to you, and Hunter saw how much Omega was benefiting from a woman on board. You also became close with them, especially Hunter. You both connected over the baggage of being a leader, and what it meant to fail as one as well. Other feelings began to blossom, that neither you or Hunter knew how to act on, or even if you should. You found yourself talking to him late in to the night, discussing next mission plans or plans from the past. But you both always left those conversations wishing you had said more. 

Tech had just carefully landed the ship on the empty, forested planet in the only clearing he could find. It was Hunter's idea to do inventory, seeing when you would need to do a supply run next. You casually mentioned the bonfire memory as you were all rummaging through gear and supplies, as this planet reminded you of that distant memory.

Omega’s eyes widened and asked, “Can we do that tonight? That sounds fun!” while looking excitedly between you and Hunter, who was sitting down and cleaning his knife. He chuckled, a low chuckle that made butterflies swirl in your stomach. Something you’ve realized has been happening more often. But you pushed that thought aside, for now. 

“Sure, kid. This planet is empty enough. I don’t think it will attract too much attention.” Tech adjusted his goggles and looked up from his datapad. “I do not see any settlements on this planet. There is no current need for worry.” He said before becoming absorbed once more in his research.

Wrecker, with much glee, shot up from begrudgingly organizing his gear, and announced, “Fire, I like this idea! This is boring anyway. Let’s take a break and go gather some wood!” He turned to look at Hunter for approval, who shrugged and nodded. “Omega, let’s go!” Wrecker hurriedly threw the rest of his unorganized gear on his bunk. Omega grinned, also happy to get away from inventory, and began after Wrecker down the ramp of the Marauder. She stopped at the top of the ramp and looked back. “Thank you!” She beamed at both you and Hunter, and skittered after Wrecker. 

Hunter had put his knife away and was now leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, gazing at you. You felt your heart beat quicken when you matched his stare.  “You’ve done it now.” He teased as he watched Wrecker and Omega run toward the tree line. You shrugged with a small smile as you stood up from putting the last piece of equipment back in your gear pack. “Well, I have to admit, I need a break too. Let’s just hope they don’t burn the whole planet down.”

Hunter released a low chuckle again and you felt heat rise up your neck. “With Wrecker involved, I’m not too sure.” Echo quipped from the pilot seat, where he was researching where they could get supplies before the next mission. “Given the current wind speeds and our distance from the trees, it would be difficult to start a blaze that big.” Tech called from under a piece of machinery he was now working on. “But I have to agree with Echo. With Wrecker involved, statistically the odds are higher.”

You gave a small laugh, which made Hunter’s heart involuntarily quicken. It was your laugh that he often thought of deep in the night, when he was having trouble sleeping. The way your shoulders moved when you chuckled, the way your eyes glinted when you smiled. How sometimes he’d find himself almost getting out of his bunk to wake you up and take you in his arms, telling you how he feels as his lips meet yours….

A sudden crash snapped him out of his thoughts, setting his senses haywire. You heard the sound too, and you looked at each other and ran down the ramp to see what the commotion was, hands on your blasters. Hunter breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wrecker standing with Omega at the tree line, who were both excitedly picking up branches from a dead tree Wrecker had just knocked over. Hunter ran a hand through his hair. He couldn’t help but always be on high alert, especially with Omega. He could see relief in your eyes as well, once you realized it was nothing to be concerned about. You lightly touched his arm, asking “You okay?” “Yeah…” he breathed. “I’m not used to…calm.” You nodded, understanding.

“I guess we better enjoy it while it lasts.”

Your lips ghosted a smile, realizing you were still touching Hunter’s arm. You moved your hand, suddenly embarrassed. Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Echo coming down the ramp to see what the commotion was. He also needed a break, and was interested in this fire idea. “Yeah, you’ve really done it now, _____.” Echo teased as you all looked at the growing pile of logs and branches that Omega and Wrecker had collected. “Hey, don’t just stand there, come and help us!” Wrecker called as he balanced more giant branches in his arms. You gave Hunter a look and continued down the ramp to help.

The sun was getting low, and Wrecker was adding the last log to a massive pile he and Omega collected. You were collecting small sticks and brush for kindling. Wrecker put down the last one, wiping sweat from his face. “Phew! Do you think this is enough?” He huffed. “If you are trying to light a fire big enough for the entire Galaxy to see, then yes.” Tech said casually as he came down the ship’s ramp, also now having his interest piqued. “Oh, it’ll be a massive fire, I can’t wait!” Wrecker exclaimed as he winked at Omega. 

“So now what? I’ve never made a fire before. Hunter, can you teach me?” Omega asked, looking up at Hunter with large, pleading eyes. Hunter looked at her softly. “Yeah, sure kid.” He glanced at you and then put his hand on Omega’s shoulder, leading her toward the log pile. 

As Hunter and Omega began to make a space for the fire, you and Echo were maneuvering some of the bigger logs for everyone to have a seat once the fire was going. Since this planet was desolate, you used the Force to move some of the larger logs. Hunter noticed out of the corner of his eye, always secretly impressed with your graceful power. It was rare when you used it, and it captivated him. 

“What’s next Hunter? Hunter?” Hunter snapped out of his thoughts and Omega was looking at him, curiously. “You were staring again.” She said quietly. “I don’t know what you mean, Omega.” He lightly scolded, trying to change the subject.

She gave a small smirk. “You sometimes stare at _____.” Hunter cleared his throat. “And I see her stare at you sometimes, too.” She said matter-of-factly, looking back at the pile of kindling they had placed for the eventual fire. “I think she likes you.” Before he could respond, you had suddenly appeared behind them. “How’s it going?” You asked. Hunter bristled, hoping you hadn’t just heard their conversation, not even realizing you were approaching. “It’s uh…going well. I’m just about to teach Omega how to actually light the fire.” 

“I have something embarrassing to admit.” You said sheepishly. “I actually don’t know how to start a fire, either. My Master just always used his lightsaber.” You laughed and Omega smiled. 

“Mind if I watch?” You sat down next to Hunter, eager to learn as much as Omega was. Or maybe you were just eager to be close to Hunter. His senses were suddenly overwhelmed with your scent, another thing he was noticing lately. His stomach felt like it was on fire. Get a grip, Hunter. he thought. He snapped himself out of thinking about you once again, and continued with his lesson. “Im going to start with the hard way first. Say you’re stranded without gear. This is important to learn.” He took a small stick to use as a spindle and a small flat piece of wood. “This takes awhile and is a pain, but this is the most basic way to start a spark.” He began to spin the spindle between his hands quickly in to a divot he had made on the flat piece of wood on the ground, held steady by his foot. Omega watched intensely, soaking up every word and action. You saw a small gleam of sweat form at his brow, and watched the concentration in his eyes. Your heart fluttered again, suddenly imagining his sweaty brow and intense look above you in a moment of passion. The smell of smoke brought you back to reality, before your imagination went further. Hunter had made a small ember that was smoking. He carefully moved it to the kindling and gently blew on it to start a small flame.

“Woaaah, let me try!” Omega gasped excitedly and went to work the same way Hunter did on a new piece of flat wood. You watched as he patiently moved her hands to the correct position, gently correcting her when appropriate. For a dark and broody Sergeant, you recognized his moments of softness. Moments that he also sometimes shared with you, which you knew were special, especially coming from someone as guarded as him.

After trial and error, and some frustration, Omega finally got her own spark. “I did it!” She yelled. Hunter smiled.

“Good work, kid. You might just be a natural. Now, carefully put it in the kindling.”

She gently moved it to the already growing flame and looked at Hunter for approval. “There you go, you did it. That was all you.” Omega beamed and said  “Now it’s _____’s turn.” She jumped up and brushed dust and dirt off her knees, and began to walk away. “Wait, where are you going?” Hunter asked. Omega turned and called,  “I want to tell the others the fire is almost ready!” She gave Hunter a look and ran back to the Marauder where the rest of the boys had gone to rest, before Hunter and you could respond. 

It was suddenly quiet, only the gentle crackling of the small fire was to be heard. 

“I guess it’s my turn to try, huh?” You said softly, realizing it was just you and Hunter for a moment. The sun was almost set, and the small fire was casting a soft glow on the both of you. “You don’t have to-“ he began but you stopped him.

“No, I want to! What good am I to the team if I can’t even start a fire? I need to impress my Sergeant." You smirked playfully. "Also, I can’t let a kid get the best of me.” You teased as you began to spin the stick between your hands.

“You bring other skills to the team, you don’t have to worry about fire making.” He stated. “Leave that to Omega and I.” He smiled, looking at you. “Also, you don’t need to impress me. You already do that.” Suddenly, you felt shy. Hunter glanced away from you, embarrassed about what he just said, wrestling with his feelings, wondering if he had said too much. 

“Thank you, Hunter. I don’t think I’ve ever expressed how grateful I am to you, and to your brothers, for taking me in.” Hunter looked at you. “You don’t need to thank me. But I’m glad you’re here. Part of this team.” He murmured, turning away from you and looking at the fire. “Me too.” You acted before you could think, gently placing your hand on his shoulder, closing the distance between you, forgetting all about the fire lesson. Hunter stiffened a little while facing you, feeling your hand on his unarmored shoulder. The touch he often thought about late in to the night. The touch he wondered if he’d ever feel. If he even deserved it. 

Once again, you felt heat climb up your neck to your face and you began to remove your hand, but before you could, Hunter brought his other hand and placed it on top of yours. Your feelings for Hunter exploded in your chest, realizing how handsome he looked in the soft light, his brown eyes shining in the dark, wondering what you should do next as you felt the heat from his hand encapsulate yours. You were taught no attachments, but that had no meaning anymore. Was this just desperation for something that used to be taboo? You tried to read his face, as he gazed intensely at you. Hunter moved closer to you, “____...I want to tell you something…”

Your intimate moment was suddenly cut short by voices as Wrecker, Tech, Omega, and Echo emerged from the falling darkness toward you. Your hand left Hunter’s shoulder and you practically leapt away from him, startled by the intrusion. You caught a small look of disappointment on his face. “Aww yeah, it’s fire time!” Wrecker bellowed as he held a huge armful of sticks and logs. “Let’s get this going!” You were still sitting near Hunter, and Echo gave you and Hunter a sly look as he sat down on a log near the still small fire, carrying ration bars. You were suddenly distracted by the giant roar as the fire grew due to Wrecker and Omega gleefully adding more and more wood to the fire, blissfully unaware they interrupted…something. Tech tried to explain the optimal way to place logs to get the most efficient fire, but his remarks were ignored and Omega and Wrecked piled more in to the blaze, and he soon gave up.

The heat blazed and sparks flew in to the air, the wood cracking and popping. The fire was massive, and Omega had never seen anything like it and was in awe. You saw Hunter out of the corner of your eye as he stared in to the flames, his face unreadable. You all enjoyed the light and intense warmth the large blaze gave, sitting in silence for a bit. You desperately wanted to be alone with Hunter again, as you listened to Wrecker tell another taller than life tale, with an annoyed Tech trying to interject the facts. Your memory was brought back to you and your Master, quietly enjoying the fire and reflecting on your day’s mission. After Wrecker finished his story, Omega turned to you, waiting for another glimpse in to your past. She understood it was hard for you to talk about, but was hopeful to hear something from before the Galaxy she currently knew. “Omega,” Hunter warned. “____ might not want to discuss it.” He gave you a soft look. The look almost melted your heart. You wanted to desperately take his face in your hands and continue what had started before. 

“It’s okay, Hunter. I have a story.”

You told Omega of your first solo mission as a Jedi Knight. You had  infiltrated a pirate base. It wasn’t too exciting, but to Omega it was the most amazing story she’d ever heard. Echo passed out the ration bars as you told your story. After you were done, you nibbled on your bar as you stared in to the flames. There was a comfortable silence as everyone ate, enjoying the small bit of calm before you were all off again on another mission.

After awhile, the fire began to dim and there was no more wood to add. Omega let out a yawn, satisfied with her first bonfire. “We should do this more often.” She proclaimed as another yawn overtook her. “Yeah kid, we can.” Hunter whispered. Wrecker had already fallen asleep, laying over a log in an uncomfortable position, snoring away. Tech nudged Wrecker, also ready to go back to the ship to sleep. One by one, they went back to the ship, leaving you, Hunter, and Echo. Echo then stood up, bidding you both a good night. “I’ll leave you two to it, then.” He raised an eyebrow and then he was gone before you either of you could respond.

Once again, you were alone with Hunter and the slowly burning fire. He looked at you, the fire reflecting in his eyes. 

He never thought he’d be grappling with feelings like this. Especially for someone like you. But you cared about him. Worried about him and his brothers, something he’d never experienced before. It was new, and frankly, it scared him. He’d never admit it out loud, but that was the truth. But here he was, with you within arms reach again, staring at him and waiting for what might come next. You looked beautiful, ethereal in the glow of the now small fire. “Hunter…” you whispered as you maneuvered closer to him, like you were before earlier in the night. Your hand was close to his on the log you were both sitting on. You couldn’t wait any longer, the tension between you was about to snap. “You wanted to tell me something earlier?”

He stared intensely at you, trying to find the words to say.

“____, I…I wanted to tell you…I care about you.” His voice was deep, almost inaudible. You fully took his hand, looking right in to his eyes. He was suddenly overwhelmed, waiting for your response. “Hunter, I care about you too.” The second he heard you whisper those words, he boldly closed the distance, acting purely on instinct, pressing his lips against yours in a soft, quick kiss. He pulled back slightly, hoping he didn’t mess this all up. 

“____, tell me to stop and I will.” Hunter’s voice was husky and deep. Almost a whisper. It sent shivers down your spine. “Never.” You murmured as you brought a hand to his face, gently cradling his head. Relief washed over you, happy you finally revealed how you felt. He closed his eyes and leaned in to your touch, sighing a deep sigh. You moved your hand from his cheek and gripped his collar, needing more. You pulled him back to your lips for a more passionate kiss. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders as the tension between you dissipated, flying in to the sky with the embers from the fire.

It was his turn to bring his hands to your face, cradling your head gently as he deepened the kiss, your heart feeling like it was about to explode out of your chest. The sensation of your lips moving on his was almost overwhelming. His hands were strong, yet gentle as they maneuvered down to your hips, leaving a trail of fire down your body. You both pulled away again, panting slightly, looking in each other’s eyes. All the unsaid words, all the silent looks, were now completely understood by both of you. 

Your hand that was on his collar moved to the back of his head, threading your fingers through his long, soft locks while your other hand gripped his shoulder. You whispered his name as he pulled you in impossibly close for another kiss, getting drunk on your scent, your body. 

His tongue slowly made his way in to your mouth, which pulled a groan from deep in your chest. Your reactions spurred him on, his hands on your waist ghosting underneath your tunic, his gloved hands moving over your bare skin making the butterflies in your stomach explode. You desperately wanted those gloves off, to feel his skin on yours. After what felt like an eternity, you parted for air once again.  The fire had now died down quite a bit, leaving you both in almost total darkness. You were illuminated by the stars, the only sound being your shallow breaths. You both wanted so much more, but now wasn’t the time. Hunter nuzzled his face in to your neck, and moved one of his hands from your hips to grasp yours, which had fallen to your side. “I’m yours, if you’ll have me.” He whispered against your neck, his heart thudding against yours. “Yes, Hunter.” You whispered back, squeezing his hand. He moved his head from your neck and brought you against his chest in an embrace, his chin leaning on your head. You both gazed at the glowing embers of what used to be the giant fire, wondering what comes next. But at least for now, you were at peace.

[freesia-writes]

Hunter Fic Master List

Want to join the tag list? Message me for a Discord server invite or fill out the form here. COVER ART BY @pinkiemme!!

Sneak Peeks:

No one makes a double entendre around Echo and gets away with it

Hunter and Lyra's first date vibes

Crosshair's advice is less than helpful

Gettin a little hot n heavy... but with whom?

Family discussion about a mysterious flower

Mood Boards Linked Here

Fanart wish list (scenes to be drawn should it spark joy)

Artwork (links and credits below!!)

Hunter and Lyra on the Beach - by @amalthiaph

Hunter in the Cave - by @perfectlywingedcrusade

Family Dinner - by @nika6q

Hunter in the Kitchen - by @snotbuggle

Hunter's Butcher Shop - by @nika6q

Hunter and Lyra's dance - by @perfectlywingedcrusade

The Cave - by @the-little-moment

Hunter in a Rain Shower - by @the-little-moment

Hunter Tries Yoga - by @matookahitaki

Hunter in his Fancy Suit - by @marymunchkiin

Hunter and Lyra on a Fathier - by @ve-ti-ver

Hunter and Lyra - by @raevulsix

Tiki Bar with Luciana - by @clownbloody

Something To Be Revealed - by @clownbloody 😂

Hiking to the Waterfall - by @acryliccassetteart

[blxem1lk]

here’s a little friday treat bc this week was certainly a lot… but you made it and i’m proud of you! 🩷🩷

brush pack used: MD Basic Brushes by michaeladianaa

[gloomwitchwrites]

Cantina Mistake

Hunter (Bad Batch) x Female Reader

Content & Trigger Warnings: fluff, humor, misunderstanding, mistaken identity, brief mention of alcohol

Word Count: 986

A misidentification of a target lands Hunter in a messy entanglement on the floor of a cantina.

ao3 // taglist // main masterlist // fluffuary 2024 masterlist

The lights are low in the cantina. It is dark, and the only source of illumination are the purple neon lights and bright ads that run the length of walls. Some of it is Imperial Propaganda, but the majority of it pushes new products or services.

This cantina is a routine spot. A place to rest and recharge. A layover between jobs for Cid.

But there is also someone they’re supposed to look out for. Cid was not specific, giving the specs to Tech instead of Hunter, but even Tech seemed a bit confused by the instructions, insisting that the briefing held very little descriptive information on the target.

Hunter leans against the bar, arms crossed, a drink clasped in one hand. Surveying the large room, he finds nothing of particular interest. Everyone in the bar is preoccupied with something, and no one appears on edge or suspicious.

Omega is not here. Hunter usually doesn’t allow her to come. She is on the ship with Gonky. Hopefully she’s sleeping and not staying up late to tinker with one of Echo or Tech’s little projects. Omega loves picking things up to understand and explore how they work. She’s constantly looking over someone’s shoulder asking an absurd number of questions.

Wrecker is arm wrestling for credits in the corner, taking on every drunkard who thinks they can unseat him. It’s amusing because no one is going to win. Not against Wrecker. Even the droid that takes a seat before the big guy goes down quickly. Wrecker lifts his arms up high, punching the air.

“It seems we’ll be eating well tonight because of Wrecker,” notes Tech, adjusting his goggles.

Hunter smiles into his cup and takes a long drink. Whatever it is, it’s kriffing strong, burning as it goes down.

“Won’t matter if we can’t locate the target,” mutters Echo.

Tech shrugs. “Cid’s instructions were unclear. Even after calculating all possibilities, I am at a loss for what or who we’re looking for.”

Echo glances across the bar and smirks.

“What is it?” prompts Hunter, turning in the direction of Echo’s lingering gaze.

Tech pushes off from the bar to glance around Hunter, peering in the same direction, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“You don’t see it?” asks Echo.

Hunter frowns and turns back to Echo. “No,” he says, a little annoyed. “I don’t see it.”

Tech matches Echo’s smirk with one of his own. “I do believe that woman is watching us.”

“Watching Hunter,” corrects Echo, sipping on his drink before setting it down on the bar.

Hunter whirls around, searching every face in the cantina for a second time. He doesn’t see what they see, and that only frustrates him. Aren’t his heightened senses supposed to help him in situations like this one? What if this woman is the target Cid is sending them after? Hunter needs to be alert. He needs to kriffing focus.

But then a tug forms in the back of his head. Like a string tied to his brain, pulling taut, dragging his attention toward the far side of the room. Hunter sees you then, lingering near a table. Alone. You are alone and fiddling with your drink, perhaps out of nervousness. If anything, you appear rather innocent. Just a civilian. But years of military training and field experience tell Hunter that he cannot leave anything to chance.

Sometimes the most innocent and demure individuals can be the deadliest.

“Could be the target?” jokes Echo, shaking his glass slightly in the air.

Tech’s mouth opens slightly as he turns to his brother, a response forming on his lips, a bemused expression on his face.

But Hunter is not listening. Hunter is moving like his namesake, weaving through the crowd, gunning for you.

“Hunter!” calls out Tech, but Hunter ignores him.

You’re looking down at the table, not realizing that Hunter is closing in fast. He silently urges you to look up. He wants you to notice him. To know that he’s coming. That he is on to you.

When you do glance up, and your gazes lock, there is a brief flash surprise that passes over your face before it morphs into shock.

Hunter leaps, tackling you to the ground. Everyone standing around shrieks or yells, stumbling out of the way. His chest heaves, and your faces are so close. Your eyes are wide and round and—

Wait.

“Hunter!”

He’s straddling your hips. Hunter has your arms trapped above your head, both wrists locked under one large hand while the other rests against the base of your throat. You are stiff and unsure beneath him, eyes darting in their sockets.

“Hunter. Hunter get off of her.” It’s Tech.

Echo is right behind him, alarm on his face. “I was kidding, Hunter.”

“Kidding?” splutters Hunter.

“I meant a target to buy a drink for,” replies Echo, hands outstretched at his sides.

Oh. Oh kriffing hell.

Hunter looks down at you. “Sorry,” he murmurs softly, swinging his leg from over your hip. “I’m sorry,” he says louder, more quickly, holding out his hands in an offer to help you off the floor. You take them and your palms are so warm.

Hunter eases you off the cantina floor, and then delicately assists you to standing.

“Did I hurt you?” he asks, cheeks flaming with embarrassment. You’re just as perplexed. Just as startled.

You laugh, and the sound is lovely. “How about you buy me a drink?” You nod toward the overturned table. Hunter immediately grimaces. “You spilled my last one.”

“Sorry about that,” mutters Hunter. He holds out his hand as if a simple handshake will fix everything. “I’m Hunter.

You clasp it, shake it, give him your name.

Tech and Echo start creeping backward, giving the two of you space. Wrecker comes barreling over but the two clones hurriedly herd him away before he can make the situation worse.

“Now, how about that drink?”

taglist:

@padawancat97 @foxxy-126 @glassgulls @km-ffluv @sweetbutpsychobutsweet @singleteapot @garfunklevibes2012 @tiredmetalenthusiast @childofyuggoth @coffeecaketornado @kayden666 @cherryofdeath @enfppuff @ninman82 @no-oneelsebutnsu @beebeechaos

[spilledkauffie]

Cute/Affectionate HCs — The Bad Batch

Individually x Female!Reader || spicy fluff? 🌶☁️

thank you so much @justfangirlingaround​ for letting me write on your Crosshair hand-holding HC, it is one of my favourites!!

↳ m a i n m a s t e r l i s t

H U N T E R ↴

“I know you got my back and you know I got you”

Loves to nuzzle — maybe it’s just instinctual, but Hunter really loves to nuzzle up against literally any part of your body when you cuddle together. A lot of times he’ll nuzzle against your chest or stomach, arms wrapped around your frame completely or just softly resting against the sides of your stomach, rubbing affectionately every now and then. The rest of his body comfortably settled between your legs (which he occasionally grazes a hand down to give your thigh a squeeze), you can feel his chest rise and fall softly against your abdomen. Usually, you’ll either be doing your own thing, like reading or on your datapad, while Hunter just snuggles as needed. Other times you enjoy the quiet before Wrecker gets back and comb your hands through his dark hair, pushing it out of his face routinely. Hands moving easily to caress his face when he looks up to say something to you. // He also frequently enjoys nuzzling against your neck whenever he hugs you and I mean seriously nuzzles. You run your fingers up through the back of his hair while he dips to nose at the side of your neck, smelling the scent of you, and giving a throaty hum, making you smile. When he playfully nuzzles so much that you begin to lose balance you have to wrap your arms around his neck as he holds onto you by your hips to keep you close as he continues to make you laugh until he gives it up and just hugs you.

The man really enjoys closeness — he’s the kind of boyfriend who is always keeping you in a close hug or at his side when you’re just standing around together. Usually, he’s standing behind you with an arm around you, loosely draped across your collarbones, hand on your opposite shoulder, as you lean back against his chest, sometimes holding onto his forearm across you. // Welcome home hugs are an absolute must, no matter where you are, whenever he returns it’s always a running hug to greet him. He hugs you tightly as you either wrap your legs around his waist or he twirls you around a few times. Greeting him with a “Hi Serg!” Hunter has to chuckle, before setting you back down and squeezing you close.

Stealing his bandana — there are 2 scenarios where you steal his bandana

↳ 1). Playfully: sometimes when Hunter leans in for a kiss, you sweetly go with it and then try to distract him with the kiss while you slip a hand up, pushing the bandana out of his hair. He can feel you smiling into the kiss when you get it out of his hair. “You don’t think I can feel that?” he chuckles, breaking the kiss, but keeping close to your lips. / “And?” you bite the bottom of your lip, perking an eyebrow. / “And…it’s not that easy,” he adds, reaching around you to try and take it from where you have it hidden behind your back, naturally you immediately extend your arm as far as you can, causing him to drop his hand, shaking his head with a chuckle. He winds up making a few attempts to get it in different ways, until finally, he catches you from behind, picking you up, but now he’s far more occupied with the beautiful sound of your laughter than the bandana really.

↳ 2). Romantically: whenever things are getting heated during foreplay your hands inevitably wind up playing with his hair, which means you can only work around the bandana for so long. When Hunter’s really in the mood he’ll just get it out of the way and fast, otherwise, you’ll gently comb it out of his hair, letting the red fabric fall between your thumb and forefinger, while you bring your hands down the side of his neck slowly, feeling each muscle move with the deep kiss he’s giving you. Until finally, you set it aside on a side table or Hunter just winds up taking it from you and tossing it, making you giggle at his hasty action.

Quality time — it’s super important to Hunter, so half the time the two of you are just hanging out together, even dates aren’t anything fancy. Sometimes dates are you and Hunter comparing hand sizes playfully as you ask him about his missions and adventures across the galaxy. Your questions make him chuckle, but he’s more than happy to answer them, interlacing his hands with yours for a while, until you stroke them up his forearms and ask another. / He also teaches you how to spin his custom knife, which thankfully involves his hands touching yours a lot as well, which is the real reason you’re interested in it. / Despite Tipoca City being pretty occupied, Hunter always knows where to find you thanks to his tracking abilities, so spending time with you is pretty easy when he always knows where you are. Sometimes when he randomly shows up places, you have to squirt and ask, “are you tracking me again?” / To which Hunter shrugs, saying, “sorry, force of habit.”

Protective — Hunter is definitely the protective boyfriend, not overly, but he always knows when to either step in or say something. Not only does he want to protect you physically, but emotionally as well. He can tell if you’ve had your feelings hurt by someone else and he’ll ask you about it. He gets pretty mad if someone hurts your feelings, but still knows when to let you handle yourself and when to engage. However, there have been times where he outright saw someone being mean or rude and he couldn’t help but step in and do something. Or someone who was previously rude is now nice, and you’re pretty sure they’re just scared your boyfriend will have something to say if they aren’t (aka, Hunter intimidated them when you weren’t around).

E C H O ↴

"If I can't find the cure, I'll fix you with my love"

Cutest Couple of the year — it’s a well-known fact that the two of you are just the perfect couple, everyone around you loves that you’re together and you’d absolutely be voted the cutest couple if there was a competition. The two of you are just made for each other! You show a good amount of PDA, but it’s nothing to make anyone uncomfortable, just enough for them to say “aww” and be a little jealous about it. Before you were a couple people actually tried to set you up together, but the two of you couldn’t be brought together by anybody, it had to be on your terms which made everyone around you more stressed about if it would ever actually happen and when it did you swore you heard a collective relieved sigh from the people around you.

Echo’s very shy about it all at first— he worries he’ll be too cold, physically with the metal and alterations. But you really don’t mind, because truthfully Echo’s more self-conscious about it than anything else. He thinks he’s super cold, but it’s not terrible unless he’s been somewhere cold for too long (then he doesn’t realise his temperature has changed or that the metal is freezing). He tries to ease into it, so it takes some time, even for him to be comfortable showing you all the modifications, like down his spine. But when he finds you’re more than patient and compassionate about it, he begins to feel comfortable.

Touch means a lot to Echo — he absolutely adores the fact that you don’t mind physical contact because he really loves it. Holding your hand, getting hugs from you, sitting close together with your head resting against his shoulder. He loves it all. He also finds it really special and meaningful that you respond to his mechanical arm the same way as you would his unmodified side. It makes him smile, even though you just find it natural to do. // Cuddles are some of his favourites because it’s just both of you being completely comfortable and cosy. When you express some insecurities about your body, Echo has a special way of making you feel a bit more loved in that area, if he knows you’re shy about it he’ll spend special attention there, but it doesn’t make you insecure. He loves to rest his head on your lap and hook an arm under your thigh using it as a pillow. The same goes for your stomach, he loves to rest his head on your stomach when laying down together. If you make any comment about how you don’t really like that part of yourself, Echo perks up and says “what? No, but it’s one of the best parts.” / “Echo,” you perk an eyebrow, “that’s what you say about every part of me when I complain.” / “Well…,” he staggers for words, “it’s not my fault that every part of you is perfect, now is it?” / Shaking your head you have to smile at the look he gives you, almost daring you to try and come up with a response, “that’s what I thought,” he smirks placing a kiss against your skin.

Little things — Echo knows that you like the more “out of date” romance things, so he does his best to incorporate them into your relationship. For example, if the boys all go on a mission where there are tons of flowers he tries to bring some back, but preserving them aboard the Marauder on the way back is not an easy task. At some point he’s pretty sure someone tried to eat one, and with Tech’s flying, it’s near impossible to keep them in a vase or jar. However, Echo has managed to bring you some successfully and tries his best whenever he can. He’s also learned what pressed flowers are and found that a little easier to manage. // Likewise, he knows you like handwritten things, so usually before a mission he likes to leave a little handwritten note behind, even something as simple as “be back in three days for you, Love.” Other times he writes out a whole little letter for you, but you can always tell it’s from Echo because at the top there’ll be an indent or sometimes a small tear where his mechanical modification hand was trying to hold the paper in place as he wrote.

Special places — Kamino can be a lot, there are always people around, obviously, but Echo knows a few hidden locations where to two of you can get intimate without anyone around. When you asked him how he knew about all these secret places he just smirk and said, “I knew Fives, he always found hideouts when we were younger.” / “And you’re sharing them with me?” you ask, as he leads you by the hand. / “Yeah,” he shrugs, “I just figured we could make a few memories, you know, away from others.” / Since then you’ve danced through a Kaminoian thunderstorm, snuggled under the stars (on a surprisingly clear night), and had some heated nights.

Signs — Echo is great on picking up your personal signs and habits, especially when you need some affection or comfort. If you’re just hanging out with the boys, sitting next to Echo, he’ll notice if you’re bouncing your knee a lot or fidgeting with your hands in your lap. Without making a scene or being hyper-obvious he’ll either gently rest a hand on top of your knee, occasionally stroking down your thigh, or he’ll reach his hand to yours, letting you hold onto his hand for comfort, even if that means you fidget with his hand in your still. When you look over to see if he was staring, he’s not, he’s continuing the conversation he was having with one of his brothers, because he doesn’t want to draw the whole attention of the room to you if you’re already feeling anxious or stressed. He knows whatever’s going on you’ll probably talk about later when you’re alone, or maybe you just need the distraction right now, either way, he wants to let you know he’s there in the little subtle ways that make you feel safe and seen.

Mutual understanding — one of the best parts about Echo is you two are almost always on the same page. Especially when it comes to being in the mood for a little more intimate affection. When you find yourselves alone, you’ll both take a deep sigh and then look over at each other. / Echo will give a “Well?” as if he needs to ask what you’re going to do next. / In a matter of minutes, you’re wrapping your legs around his waist bringing him down closer, he’s kissing his way up your neck to meet your lips, and you shiver at the feeling. / It’s nice not having to explain that you’re in the mood because it truly feels like it’s meant to be when you’re so in sync with each other.

C R O S S H A I R ↴

"If you pull, then I'll push too deep and I'll fall right back to you"

At night — Crosshair doesn’t really sleep easily, let alone through a whole night completely, he’s a bit of an insomniac due to his heightened awareness, which makes him a super light sleeper even when he does fall asleep. And at the very least, he’s tossing and turning a lot. This is when you’ll find him getting a little more open to being cuddly:

↳ 1). If he just can’t seem to fall asleep, he eventually stops tossing and turning. He very carefully and slowly wraps his arm around your waist, pulling you closer against him, your back against his chest, and groans grumpily, but softly, against your skin. Dipping his head to nuzzle against the back of your hair or right against the nape of your neck, his hand firmly holding you to him half out of frustration and half out of a need to have you close, as you tend to soothe him. In this case, you usually pretend to still be asleep, knowing he would be more upset if he knew his need for you to be close woke you up. Occasionally you act like you just happen to be stirring a little yourself after he brings you close, and you just happen to bring your hand to hold his wherever he has it placed on you, nuzzling yourself just a little further back against his chest, and humming happily.

↳ 2). If you still feel him tossing and turning, you take it as a sign to intervene. You never address it with “can’t sleep?” otherwise he’ll just totally close down emotionally assuming you’ll ask him to talk about it next. Instead, when he finally settles on his back staring up at the ceiling, you cuddle yourself up close to him, and begin slowly kissing at his jawline, he’s tense for a while, but then responds with a hand to the small of your back, sometimes he even brings you closer against his side. When he just straight up brings you into a hug, you know something’s bothering him, whereas when he just methodically strokes a pattern (most likely something in Aurebesh) against your bare back you know he simply can’t sleep and that’s when you place a hand on his chest, resting your head on his shoulder, bring your leg to rest over his hip and sigh saying: “me either.” (Even though you might fall asleep in the next 20 minutes, it makes Crosshair smile that you try and stay up with him).

Catch him when he’s actually tired though — if you manage to catch Crosshair when he’s actually truly exhausted, you’ll find he’s a super, super needy cuddler. You found this out when one night he came back from a mission, with the boys, and they were all ready to absolutely crash from exhaustion. You were waiting for him in his bunk of the room; you started to get up as he set down his rifle, but without a word, he joined you on the bed full armour and all, bringing you back into a horizontal position with him, wrapping his arms around you fully, his back to the rest of the room. / “You didn’t even disassemble-” / “Later,” he groans, eyes already closed. // In the morning, however, he’s adorably grumpy about it, because he is never that clingy in front of other people.

Sneaky — when you’re in public he’s quite good at being subtle in finding ways to get you alone. For example, when you were checking your datapad walking down a hallway, you suddenly felt two fingers hook through your uniform belt and pull you aside. No surprise it was Crosshair bringing you into a small nook out of the hallway. From there he comfortably slips his hand into your back pocket, closing the space between the two of you. / “Can I help you?” you smile, hugging the datapad closer to your chest.  / “Just wanted to see you up close,” he smirks. / Perking your brows you bite the inside of your lip, “up close? Funny, this is the first time I’ve seen you today. Are you spying on me?” / “It’s my job to keep an eye on things,” he answers, distracted by the shape of your lips as he strokes his thumb across your bottom lip. / “Mhmm,” you keep your gaze locked with his, waiting for him to make the next move, but with a sigh, he pulls back from you completely. / “Not here,” he decides. Leaving you completely distracted for the rest of the day.  

Showers — a rare time when Crosshair actually isn’t tense whatsoever. Your first attempt at joining him went fairly smoothly since he decided to take a shower at 3 am when no one else was up. However, as you tried to sneak up and surprise him you heard a warning, “I swear, Wrecker, I will burn Lula if you-” before he turned to find you looking up at him, arms crossed over your chest. It took him by complete surprise, which is something that very rarely happens. / “Wh-why are you here?” he asks, not harshly, but genuinely curious. / “I thought I’d join you?” you say as more of a question than a confident answer. Crosshair smirked, regaining his usual demeanour back realising you were far more flustered than he was. Taking your meaning, he likes your idea. // From then on you’ve had an array of experiences with Crosshair in the shower, but one of the best is simply just hugging him. Your arms wrapped around his abdomen, slowly stroking your hands up and down, either his back or chest. Him completely relaxed against you, your chest pressing against him, letting the hot water run across and between the both of you for a while in silence. You place peppered kisses all along his skin, sometimes smiling when you feel him shiver at the sensation, so unfamiliar with it.

Holding your hand — despite hating a lot of PDA, you notice it becomes a habit whenever he’s around you, he starts to have a hand in yours more often, usually with his predominant shooting hand. You’re pretty sure he doesn’t even realise he’s doing it either because at random times he’ll just reach for your hand without looking. What’s unique is the way he holds your hand, his trigger fingers usually hold a little more lightly compared to the others, as he’s used to just resting them until needed. However, there are times when his trigger fingers really squeeze your hand compared to the rest, like when Wrecker actually manages to find the two of you while holding hands, which only frustrates Crosshair. // When you ask him about the frequent hand-holding, especially once he becomes more open to it publicly, he totally denies that he’s doing it out of sheer romantic purpose, instead claiming, “I’m just used to having something in my hand, toothpick, rifle…what’s the difference?” You can see he’s obviously trying to keep up the tough guy act, so you go along with it, not bringing it up again, simply happy he’s making it a part of his habits.

Don’t tell anyone — even though Crosshair’s great at being a boyfriend, you’re pretty sure he’d die of embarrassment if you actually ever told anyone about it. You made mention of him simply being “sweet” and he nearly had a heart attack. When it comes to Crosshair he’s a pretty concealed individual, including as little PDA as possible and as little mention as needed of there actually being a relationship there. However, if someone asks him if he’s with you he’ll just say “Yeah, and?” If they inquire further he’ll perk an eyebrow, uncross his arms, take out his toothpick and say “that’s none of your business.” Yet he’ll absolutely go to war with anyone else who tries to flirt with you. You’ve heard “wait, I didn’t know you were together!” from many poor clones moments before disaster. + You’ve had Hunter or Tech come and get you to break up a fight over it, but of course when you ask Crosshair what it was all about he says “nothing…” and either someone else has to explain or you pick up on the fact that he just doesn’t want to admit how easily he’s jealous.

W R E C K E R ↴

"I'm not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets"

Actually loves cuddling with you — Wrecker doesn’t take a lot of convincing, he’s game to cuddle anytime! He’s unabashedly in love with you and he’ll totally show that. Physical touch is Wrecker’s number one love language so you get a lot of physical affection with him, even if it’s just in the small things, like when you’re boarding the ship, he’ll offer you a hand even though you might not really need it. If he’s moving around you, his hand will graze against your back, just letting you know he’s there. So when it comes to cuddles or closeness, he’s your guy because he just loves it by nature.

Picks you up so much — Wrecker literally sweeps you off your feet, sometimes at opportune moments and other times not. For example, it’s precious whenever the boys return home from a mission. Wrecker is always so happy to see you, even if it’s only been two or three days. He picks you up bridal style, as gently as he can with all the excitement and gives you nose kisses, nuzzling his forehead against yours, telling you just how much he missed you. / Similarly, when he sees you for the first time of the day, you’re usually getting lifted up in his arms. When he can tell you’re down or just in the mood for some affection, but you won’t say, he’ll literally hoist you over his shoulder and get carried off someplace to cuddle. / However there are times when you’re carrying something fragile or full of liquid that you have to actually warn Wrecker before he comes up and just sweeps you up. “Wait, wait, wait-” you repeat softly, drawing his attention to whatever’s in your hands. / “Ohhh!” Wrecker nods realising what you were saying, as he carefully goes around you, but points back saying, “you owe me one then.”

Sleeping — Wrecker doesn’t mind how you cuddle up against him at night, the thing is he’s an absolute rock when he sleeps, he’s not moving from the position he settles on, but he has no problem if you like to move around and switch up positions. It’s always funny when you decide that you don’t want to be back to back anymore because he will actually feel you literally climbing over him. / “You coulda just told me to move,” Wrecker chuckles, helping you switch sides, lifting you over. / “I didn’t want to bother you,” you admit feeling a little embarrassed about getting caught wanting to cuddle against his chest. / “It’s not a bother if it’s for you,” Wrecker states as if it was an obvious, well know, universal fact, because to him it is. // Some nights you literally just sleep right on top of him, feeling his chest rise and fall, causing you to drift asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

Spends a lot of time apologising for any bruises— receiving bruises happens very rarely and only by accident, just because of his sheer strength especially compared to you. So when he notices a little bruise forming, he immediately assumes it’s his fault, maybe he hugged you too tight, or squeezed a little too hard on accident. When you snuggle up against him Wrecker spends time rubbing your skin softly, bringing you close, and apologising if he caused the bruise. More often than not it happens after more spicy events than just a hug, but he always tries to be aware of just how tightly he holds you even though you tell him you totally understand and really don’t mind a few love marks, even if they’re total accidents. / Other times you explain that it wasn’t his fault and that you were just clumsy, like running into a table, causing a bruise to form on your hip. “Oh…really?” Wrecker asks, relieved. / “Yeah,” you smile, looking down to where he was resting his head on your lap, “I told you, it’s not always your fault, babe.” / “Well, that’s good to hear,” Wrecker smiles, before frowning again. / You sigh, amused with him, “what now?” / “Nothing, nothing,” Wrecker kisses your bruise, softly saying under his breath: “stupid table being in your way.”

Loves your booty — Wrecker is always giving you love taps, particularly on your ass. The first time it happened you blushed like crazy because Wrecker has absolutely zero problems showing you some love around other people and it came out of nowhere while you were in the cafeteria. That’s something you’ve gotten used to, but that first time took you by complete surprise. Now the moment you feel the little booty tap, you know exactly who it is. / What’s even better is when you get him back with a little love tap to his ass. For starters, it gets a good chuckle from the rest of the batch and a good laugh from Wrecker who gave you a high five afterwards and pulled you close in a hug saying, “that’s my girl, right there!”

Affirmations — Wrecker is an absolute sweetheart, so if he ever hears you being down on yourself, he’s the first one to give you some positive affirmations. When you worry you won’t be able to do something new Wrecker comes in with the confident, “what? You’re like the only person I know that could even do that!” or “there’s no way you’re gonna fail, I’m pretty sure that’s impossible!” / Sometimes he doesn’t even realise it, but he’s the perfect boost of positivity you need. It’s a well-known fact that Wrecker is a bad liar, so you know that everything he’s telling you is the truth according to him, which is reassuring to know that he’s not just saying it on a whim and sometimes his words hit deep. / “Look, I’ve been a lotta places across the galaxy, but I haven’t ever seen or met anyone like you,” Wrecker admits, giving a shrug and looking over to you. / With a soft smile you close your eyes, letting him kiss your forehead, before you rest your head on his shoulder, wrapping your arms around his bicep, “thanks, Wrecker.”

T E C H ↴

"When you're close up, give me the shivers"

Very susceptible to cuddles if you get him talking — just ask a question, and he’ll begin to explain brightly, in sheer bliss that you’ve asked a question he has an answer to. Going into a million different side notes and rabbit holes, Tech’s so focused on the information he’s telling you that you can snuggle right up against him, wrapping your arms around him as you easily bring him down to lay next to you. He uses his hands a lot, and sometimes even grabs a datapad to show you some visual aid, making it super easy to cuddle against his side while he’s preoccupied. Sometimes when he finishes his answer, he’ll sigh happily, drop his arms, and then pause before asking, “you did that on purpose didn’t you?” / “I have no idea what you’re referring to,” you smile up at him. / Squinting his eyes, he adjusts his glasses, bringing an arm around you anyway, “I believe you know my reference exactly, you just refuse to comply with an answer.” / “I would never,” you playfully gasp at his acquisition. / Tech chuckles, “I won’t even tell you the odds of that statement.” / Actually gasping at his last statement this time, you tap his chest a little offended, only making him chuckle more at your response. But when you dramatically try to distance yourself, you feel him holding onto you, clearly not wanting you to leave, so you comply and lay back down. “Apologies, no offence meant,” Tech tries to say seriously, but you can hear him trying not to laugh.

Oblivious to it — sometimes Tech will get cuddly without even realising it. Like when you’re sitting at a table in the spare room he keeps all his droid experiments in, playing some word game on a datapad. If you get stumped, you’ll just call out, “Hey, Tech,” to which you receive an attentive “hmm?” in response from somewhere behind you. / “I can’t figure this out,” you explain, staring at the datapad, under your fingertips on the table’s surface. / Tech momentarily appears behind you, bending to take a look over you at the information. His chest presses against your back and his jawline nearly touches your cheek; gently he slides his hand under yours and types in the word you need. Where he gets cuddly, is when he stays there now interested in your little game more than what he was doing before, your hand resting on top of his (or his arm), you casually lean back against him a little more, and he presses his jaw against your temple. His other hand comes around you to rest on the table, closing a lot of space between the two of you.

Takes you by surprise — you’ll just be sitting next to him, casually watching him work on some droid rewiring or minding your own business on your datapad when out of nowhere, Tech will turn to you, hook a finger under your jaw, causing you to face him, caress the nape of your neck with his free hand and give you a kiss that makes your senses light up. / “Why did you-” you begin. / “Well, according to your routine habits I’ve observed, not to mention your clear desire to be closer, I calculate that you are, mmm, how shall I put this,” he paused before meeting your eyes, “in the mood.” / Blushing fiercely your jaw dropped a little, “you can just tell when I’m in the mood?” / “Yes,” Tech nods, figuring it was obvious since he did just kiss you, “that is why I was trying to help satiate your desire by-” / Before he can get another word in, you throw your arms around his neck and return the favour until you both wind up falling off the bench and onto the floor where the rest can play out a little easier.

Sitting in his lap — Tech spends a lot of time messing around with the Marauder’s gears and gauges so you’ve gotten into the habit of sitting across his lap while he does that, Tech was a little surprised at first, but eventually, got used to it and now he easily works around you. In fact now whenever he goes to work on it he’ll ask you, “am I to expect company?”

↳ falling asleep — you and Tech often fall asleep in this position, you sitting across his lap, arms loosely around his neck to hold you up, his hand on the outside of your thigh to make sure you don’t slip off and your head against his shoulder. Half the time his head is totally thrown back, the other times it’s dipped to rest against the top of yours.

↳ make out session — the ship is a place you can get away from the others whenever you’re somewhere besides Kamino. So it’s the perfect place for you and Tech to have a little fun. Whenever he’s working on the ship alone, you come to join him, but instead of letting him know you just take a seat on his lap, facing him this time and wrapping your arms around his neck. / “clear enough for you?” You perk an eyebrow, hoping he gets the hint. / Leaning back to meet your gaze Tech drops anything in his hands, “crystal.”

Listening — because Tech loves to info dump, you hardly expected him to be such a good listener, but he is. He pays attention to every word you say when you’re talking to him, maybe it’s just a habit he has but he doesn’t want to miss a thing, even if you’re just venting about something that doesn’t have terrible consequences. However, Tech thinks that if it’s important to you then it’s important to him too, and if you’re having a problem or something’s just bothering you and you can’t figure it out her really wants to help and will do everything he can to make it better.

[crosshairlovebot]

birthday revelations / crosshair x gn!reader

pairing: crosshair x gn!reader (no y/n). reader has a nickname.

description: crosshair discovers it's your birthday, and in an effort to try and understand birthdays, he gets you a gift.

word count: 3,793

warnings: none. crosshair ovethinks a lot

Another request! Maybe not technically a request, but @starrylothcat sent in an ask for an ask prompt and said it would be nice to see me write a fic where crosshair buys a gift for the reader for their birthday or christmas and it's been stuck in my head since! so here you go! i hope i did it justice!

also posted this on ao3. feedback is welcomed, reblogs are appreciated <3

Crosshair didn’t like crowds. He gritted his teeth as he walked alone through the market on Sorgan, sidestepping people as they entered his path. It was noisy, but that didn’t bother him so much. Vendors called out to passersby, promoting their various goods for purchase with enthusiasm. Voices chattered and laughed. The smell of food wafted through Crosshair’s nose and his stomach tightened with hunger. Rations were poor choices compared to the sizzling of flavourful meat on grills, but he didn’t have enough credits to buy himself something to eat.

He only had enough to buy something for you.

He had been helping Tech with cataloguing files when he saw one on their nat-born medic. You had joined Clone Force 99 just over half a standard cycle ago with your plucky yet kind attitude, falling into the group dynamic easier than Crosshair had thought. Sure, it had taken some adjustment for him and his brothers to become used to another presence they had not grown up with, but it was inevitable you would eventually find your place in the team. You were hardworking, strong and compassionate. You paid attention to each of his brothers, giving them your undivided focus during conversation and indulging them in questions about what they were doing or their chosen skill. He had watched you talk with Tech about data decryption, Wrecker about proton-based explosives, Hunter about tracking strategies, Echo about ARC trooper training, and of course, him about sharpshooting.

He recalled the way you sat next to him for the first time on his bunk during their time in Hyperspace. He had disassembled part of his Firepuncher rifle, readjusting the scope and the barrel after it had unexpectedly jammed on their previous mission. He’d been annoyed – his prized weapon never faltered, and he was trying to figure out why it had failed on him when the thin mattress dipped next to him, and you asked what he was doing. When he’d given a particularly surly response, you nodded and then just continued to watch him. His eyes had slid to you.

“Can I help you with anything else?” He hadn’t meant it to sound so icy, but he had been frustrated with this rifle, with himself.

“Can you…explain what you’re doing?” you had asked hopefully.

He had looked at you sceptically. “Why?”

You just shrugged. “It looks interesting.”

He had studied your expression, trying to discern if you were being genuine. But you were. You always were with things like this.

So, he explained what he was doing, answered your questions and by the time his weapon was fixed, he didn’t even really remember his initial annoyance. You had smiled at him, your mouth stretching in a way that made your eyes light up. He felt a little flicker of something in his stomach before it was promptly extinguished.

Since then, you have spent time with him like that more often. Not just when he was cleaning his rifle, but other things. Like throwing Lula back and forth across the bunks as you both talked, joking about things that happened on missions. Sharing looks over briefings. Stealing Wrecker’s snacks.

But his favourite time with you was drawing on your datapad and trying to guess what the other was drawing. He had learnt you liked to draw and enjoyed drawing out something other than a medical diagram. He felt a sense of pride in making you laugh so hard you cried with his silly caricatures during long hyperspace trips. Exaggerated doodles of his brothers, tookas and the like, a portrait of you with a funny expression. You liked to draw him with a smile too big for his face, chuckling as you drew and then collapsing into laughter when you showed him. It always made the thing in his stomach flicker.

He really liked having you around.

So, when he came across your file when helping Tech, he couldn’t help but open it. You had told them all any information they had asked for, and information they had not. There wasn’t really anything you kept secret. But when he saw your ID holo looking particularly embarrassing: with wide eyes and a half-formed expression – like you were taken off guard by the photo, the corner of his mouth twisted up in an impish smirk.

He had intended to tease you about it; set the holo to the show on every Marauder screen so it was everywhere.

He opened the file to take a copy of the holo when he spotted details about your age and date of birth.

He frowned at the date. “Tech, what is today’s galactic date?”

Tech looked up from his datapad, adjusting his goggles before rattling off the date. “Why?”

He said your name before telling him, “It’s their birthday tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Tech blinked.

Age and birthdays were almost foreign concepts to clones. With accelerated aging and growing in a capsule, they didn’t really matter to them. Awkward to calculate, they weren’t celebrated. Crosshair had no idea when he had been ‘birthed’ or decanted, and if the Kaminoans documented such dates, then it was classified information. He knew his chronological age, but his biological age was a little murky. He knew he was a “mature clone”, however with the accelerated aging, he didn’t know where exactly he stood. None of their brothers knew any of these details. It was normal for them.

He read the date and your age. What would it be like to be so sure of something like that? To be sure of the parts that made up who you were?

Crosshair cleared his throat and closed the file without even copying the ID holo. He frowned to himself. Maybe he should’ve asked you about it before, but birthdays weren’t a part of his world, so he hadn’t thought to. But they were important to nat-borns, weren’t they? At least that’s what they’d all been told during their training modules.

When he lay in his bunk that night, he circled his mind for all he knew about birthday traditions. Gatherings. Food. Gifts. Would you like all that? Did you like all that? You seemed like you would. He didn’t know if it was something he would enjoy if he had a birthday…it didn’t really seem like his thing, but maybe he would. He would never know. He thought that Wrecker might be the only one who would enjoy a birthday. Maybe Echo too if you did it right. Same with Hunter.

But you hadn’t said anything about your birthday.

He had tossed and turned. You were part of their squad. You cared. Listened. Laughed. Did you not feel you could share the date with them? He didn’t know, and a part of him felt a little hurt that you might not feel you could. Were you not friends? Crosshair didn’t have many friends, but he knew they were supposed to tell each other things.

He turned again, crossing his arms against his chest as he faced the wall. Why did he even care? If you didn’t want to tell him it was your birthday, fine. He wouldn’t mention it.

He squeezed his eyes shut before sitting up on his elbows and craned his head to see you sleeping in your bunk. Through the darkness, his enhanced eyes saw you curled in yourself, and your nose twitched as you breathed deep and evenly. Something in his chest pinched. He sighed before laying back down and pulling the thin blanket over his head.

Now, as he found himself in this market the next day, he wondered what he was even doing here.

Once they had landed on Sorgan, they completed their mission easily with no complications. But Crosshair was still distracted by your birthday. You hadn’t even said anything when everyone woke up this morning. Just acted like it was any other day. You had just smiled at him as you tucked into a ration bar, saying good morning before throwing one to him to eat.

It puzzled him.

When you all started walking back to the Marauder after the mission, Hunter could tell something was up with him, nudging his shoulder.

“You alright?”

Crosshair had scowled at his brother. “…Yes.”

“You look deep in thought,” Hunter pointed out, falling into step with him.

Crosshair broke his gaze and looked away, back towards where they came, to the village they had just liberated. The thought had barely formed before he said, “Do we have time before the next mission?”

Hunter’s surprise showed in his voice. “We have a couple of hours, why?”

“I’ll be back later,” Crosshair walked off in the direction of the village before Hunter could say anything. His long legs carried him to the marketplace, where he stood now amongst the bustling bodies.

He just couldn’t get your birthday out of his stupid head; that you hadn’t said anything because clones didn’t celebrate birthdays. Just because he didn’t understand them, doesn’t mean he couldn’t try…for you.

He started combing through the vendors, most of which were finishing up resetting their stands after they fled suddenly several days prior. He moved from stall to stall, gazing at the different items over people's heads. Kriff, what were you even supposed to buy people for birthdays? Something they needed? Something they wanted? It was all a little overwhelming. And Crosshair didn’t get overwhelmed.

“Looking for something in particular, my friend?”

Crosshair startled and looked up to see the vendor, a greying man with a wrinkled face, horns protruding from his forehead and curled up in an elegant spiral shape.

Crosshair frowned, clearing his throat. “It’s…my friend's birthday today.”

The man’s face lit up. “Wonderful! Birthdays are special.”

Crosshair’s mouth tightened as the man continued to speak. “What were you thinking of gifting them?”

The hairs on Crosshair’s neck stood up with nerves. “I…I don’t know.”

The man’s face lit up. “Perhaps I can help.”

The man then went through the different items at his stand. He held up scarves, strings of beads, and handmade pottery. Crosshair thought they were all nice enough, but he wasn’t swimming in credits. And none of the items really felt like you. The vendor was patient, more patient than he should’ve been. Either he really wanted to help or was desperate for a sale in a competitive marketplace.

After many minutes and many items, Crosshair felt himself gradually stiffening, becoming more and more on edge and uncomfortable. He felt so out of his depth. He was always so sure of everything, and trying to do this thing he had no experience in, made him more vulnerable than he had in a long time. It was not a feeling he felt comfortable with. Never had been.

And as much as he liked you, maybe this was all a stupid idea. You hadn’t mentioned your birthday for a reason. He shouldn’t bring it up. If he did, he’d have to explain how he found out…and he didn’t want to go through that awkwardness. He was about to open his mouth and tell the over-enthusiastic vendor: thank you, but he wouldn’t bother with a gift, when the vendor clapped his hands loudly, making Crosshair jump.

“I may have something back here, hold on,” he said as he turned away to rifle noisily through a crate behind him.

Crosshair felt his fist curl at his sides, and this should’ve been his opening to slide away unnoticed until he looked down and saw a brown leather book. Crosshair halted and lifted a gloved hand to the soft worn cover, running his fingers over the engravings in the bound leather. He opened the cover, seeing it was a blank notebook, and it had a writing implement tucked into the spine. Not many people recorded things the traditional way anymore; datapads were much more efficient and stored more information than the pages of a notebook. He flicked through the pages, fanning them with his thumb. The dust drifted up and it was a smell he didn’t recognise, but he supposed it was the smell of paper.

“That’s a good choice.”

Crosshair retracted his hand as if he was a cadet being scolded, and looked up at the vendor, who held an oversized pot that would break the second it came aboard the Marauder.

“That would be a perfect gift,” the vendor continued, nodding at the notebook.

Crosshair looked at him before picking up the notebook – more surely this time, and turned it over in his hands. He imagined you in your bunk, scribbling in it at night with a torch in one hand. He imagined you keeping it under your pillow for safekeeping. He imagined you doodling in it, showing him your drawings with that smile on your face. He imagined drawing in it with you. The corner of his mouth twitched upward.

“How much?” Crosshair asked.

“It’s yours.”

Crosshair’s head snapped towards the vendor. “What?”

The vendor waved him away. “Take it.”

Crosshair blinked, confused. “…I have to pay you.”

“No, you don’t. I’ve been trying to sell that for years. You’d be doing me a favour.”

Crosshair furrowed his brow. “…Isn’t the customer supposed to be right?”

The vendor barked out a laugh. “Not this time, my friend.”

Crosshair dug into his pocket anyway and pulled out half the credits. “For your patience…at least.”

The vendor chuckled and took them. “Thank you. I hope your friend likes it.”

Crosshair didn’t respond as the man turned away, placing the pot down before calling out to other marketgoers, trying to entice them.

Crosshair walked back through the market, the notebook feeling heavy in his hand. Leaving the village, he made his way back to the Marauder, thoughts swimming in his head.

Kriff, what if you hated it? Or thought it was stupid? What if all his knowledge on birthdays was completely inaccurate and you would think him strange for giving you something? Or what if you just thought he was weird for getting you something at all?

Crosshair’s grip on the notebook tightened. He just wanted to do something nice. Like you always did for them. But this is why he avoided it. It was so vulnerable being nice. Being nice left you open for hurt, open for aching. It was much easier to keep it at bay, to restrict it. To hide it behind actions inconspicuously where it wasn’t out in the open. Being so open with it for you…he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it scared him. The doubt crept in. Crosshair had conviction and confidence, and he wasn’t used to it wavering like this.

He was just about ready to throw the notebook into a bush and never speak of it again when he heard your voice ring out from the steps of the Marauder.

“Crosshair!”

You placed your datapad down and ran over to him. He hid the notebook behind his back with both hands, gripping it so hard he knew his knuckles would be white as you approached him with a smile.

“Hey,” he said, hoping he sounded normal.

“Where’d you go? You disappeared after the mission.”

“I was just…looking for something,” he said carefully. Dank farrik, how was he supposed to do this? He thought he might just leave it on your bunk when you were distracted with a little note written inside the cover saying, ‘Happy Birthday’. That way he could avoid your reaction when you saw it. He didn’t even know how to get into the Marauder with it now that you were here in front of him.

You tilted your head with a quizzical smile. “Looking for something?”

Crosshair nodded. “I couldn’t find it,” he lied.

“Oh…okay,” you looked at him weirdly. Would you look at him like that when you saw his gift?

Crosshair nodded to the Marauder, desperate to get on board and stow the notebook away until he could leave it on your bunk. “Should we go inside?”

You looked at him, narrowing your eyes. “What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything, meshurok,” he lied, his grip tightening again.

“Yes, you are,” you sidestepped him to look behind him and he leapt out of the way. You grinned. “You are! What are you hiding, Cross? Why can’t I see?” you tried to chase him around, but Crosshair kept angling himself away. Kriff, he had never felt so stupid in his whole life.

“It’s nothing. Get your meddling hands away from me, you di’kut,” he walked backwards in a circle, his face and neck hot.

“Crosshair,” you chided, smiling at him. “Come on, is it really that bad?”

“Go away,” he grumbled, hands aching from holding the damned notebook so tight.

“Crosshair,” you said his name again, and your face was stretched in that playful grin that he’d unwillingly memorised. That thing in his stomach flickered again.

Then he remembered how you didn’t tell him about your birthday. And how you were friends, but you didn’t say anything about it. And how he had this unexplainable feeling he couldn’t name sitting in his stomach that compelled him to go to a village market and pick out a stupid gift for a birthday tradition he didn’t even understand just to do something nice for you the way you did for him and his brothers.

Crosshair’s expression flared and he shoved the notebook at your chest. You startled at your hand came up to grab it, sliding against his like a searing snake. He pulled his hand back and balled both at his sides as he gritted out, “Happy birthday.”

All he saw was your eyes were wide before he stalked off, almost stomping his way to the Marauder. His face burned, and embarrassment flooded his body. He felt so stupid, and he hated feeling stupid. He hated the feeling of being on the end of someone’s judgement. He hated knowing that he’d just been forced to make himself vulnerable. But mostly, he hated the feeling of you not trusting him with what was supposed to be the important parts of you.

“Crosshair!”

Your voice came from behind him, but he didn’t turn around. He was already planning different ways he could avoid you. He was going to lock himself in the ‘fresher until the next mission and make sure Hunter placed him on watch at opposite times to you. Whatever it took. His heart panged. You were one of the only people outside his brothers he liked. He would mourn the shared jokes and laughter, and time spent with you, knowing it couldn’t happen anymore.

“Crosshair, wait.”

He felt a hand on his arm pull him back. He swayed backwards, but he let you stop him. He avoided your gaze, scowl burning an outline in his brow as he stared off into the middle distance. Your hand stayed on his arm, and he felt it through the plastoid wrapped around his forearm, squeezing him there. It felt like part of him, and that made him feel both warm with content and spiked with anger simultaneously.

“Cross, please look at me,” your voice said quietly, and his heart squeezed. He slowly moved his gaze, looking down, then sliding his eyes to your bare hand on his arm before they lifted to your face. Your brows were slanted downwards, looking at him with such softness in your eyes he felt the flickering in his chest again.

“How did you…” your voice was soft and trailed off, notebook in your other hand.

“It doesn’t matter,” he dismissed with gritted words.

He felt your hand flex with your grip. “It does to me.”

He studied your face carefully before saying, “…I was helping Tech with cataloguing his files. I saw your birthday in yours.”

You continued looking at him with an indecipherable gaze and moved your hand slowly from his arm to his wrist, your bare fingertips brushing his gloves. You gently grazed his fingers as you let his hand drop softly. He watched you as you inspected the book, hands turning it over, fanning through the pages. He studied your expression, trying to discern what you thought, feeling anxiety grow in his stomach, his throat tightening. He felt something hot poke inside him as he watched your mouth turn up into a smile as you gazed at his gift.

“I’ve been so busy this year that I forgot about my birthday.”

Crosshair hoped he hid his surprise. You not telling him about your birthday…it was never about him. Of course, you had forgotten. The past six cycles had been a whirlwind for you trying to adjust to a soldier’s lifestyle, countless missions and trying to fit in with his brothers. His face burned again. He was a fool.

You looked up at him, a smirk itching the corners of your mouth. “Been too busy keeping you boys in line.”

Crosshair scoffed lightly, letting a puff of breath out of his nose. Your smile widened.

“This is a beautiful gift, Cross. Thank you for getting it for me,” you place your hand on his arm again, squeezing gently to show your appreciation He felt his heart lift and his cheeks redden, but this time, not in embarrassment.

He nodded at you. “I’m…glad you like it. I don’t have much experience with birthdays.”

Your smile touched the edges of your eyes. “That’s what makes it even more special.”

You reached up on your tip toes and wrapped your arms around his neck, embracing him. Crosshair stiffened in shock and surprise before he slowly wrapped his arms around your torso. His fingers grazed your sides, and there was something wildly comforting about holding you like this. He could feel the side of your face pressed into his neck, just below his ear, and your breath tickled the sliver of open skin not covered by his blacks. You were so warm. He felt you squeeze him gently and he didn’t stop himself from squeezing back.

You were his best friend, after all.

You pulled away, but not before you cupped his face and placed a kiss on his cheek. Crosshair flinched and his eyes widened as you lowered yourself back down on flat feet with one of the most joyful smiles he’d ever seen gracing your face. The action had surprised him more than anything else had.

“I’m going to show everyone what you got me,” you said before running off towards the Marauder.

“No, don’t, they’ll—” Crosshair started but you were already halfway up the gangplank. His brothers’ teasing was going to be ruthless.

He sighed, shaking his head before following you, that thing flickering in his chest. He didn’t understand it, but he didn’t try to extinguish it.

banner art by @vimse

mando'a / meshurok = gemstone thank you for reading! i did find this one slightly challenging bc it's very much crosshair in his head and i tried to write him how i thought he would react to a situation like this, but if it's a little OOC, i apologise! but i think he would react like this if someone he cared about didn't tell him something important about them; someone who was his friend and who he liked very much. i think he'd be kinda mad and hurt but he cares too much to not do anything at all. i have more gen requests on the way, so stay tuned if you're interested! <3

tags @starrylothcat @sinfulsalutations @moodymisty @nahoney22 @freesia-writes @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @bobaprint @crosshairsnose @jesseeka @thegalaxys-edge @snarky-mans-gf @chopper-base @wenalena @shredderwest @leavingkamino @rexamongthestars @r2d2staser @bluebird-dreams @pb-jellybeans @a-streakofblue @theawkwardartist12 @mylifeisactuallyamess @padawancat97 @littlecrowtime @jedipoodoo

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[angelltheninth]

Which TBB characters do you think would be the big spoon and the little spoon when you cuddle?

Oh fun! How have I never thought of this before this is so damn cute I'm getting a sugar high just thinking about it.

Pairing: Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, Echo x Reader

Tags: fluff, cuddles, established relationship, kissing, literal sleeping together

A/N: These were very cute to think about. Needed this after all the smut.

Hunter can be both. Its true that he's mostly the big spoon, he likes knowing that he's keeping you safe and sound in his arms and that he can react accordingly whenever needed but he also really enjoys it when he can relax into your embrace and not worry, he yearns for more of those days honestly.

He is always the big spoon. There's no way you can get him to be the small spoon, he's way too stubborn for that. Part of him feels like its a dominance thing so he refuses to be seen as weaker, but he also likes to be able to kiss you when ever he wants and run his hands over your back, feeling how you breathe and shiver against him.

Switch but prefers to be the big spoon. Holding you against him while he works is one of his favorite positions to be in. He loves kissing the back of your neck, its very easy access and he won't miss such an opportunity when its presented to him. Sometimes he will talk your ear off about random facts too, you may not catch all of them but you like listening to how passionate he gets.

Big, huge spoon that wants to cuddle you every moment he can. He will lift you up in his arms and hold you against him in bed, careful not to lean over you too much. Even if you're on top, with how big he is he can still be the big spoon technically, and if you doubt it he can always flip you over and lay half of his body on top of yours, proving once and for all that he is the big spoon.

Small spoon all the way. Being held and kissed and loved will melt his heart every time. Able to fall asleep against you very quickly when you hold him and kiss the top of his head softly. The best sound for him to fall asleep to is your heartbeat when he's all folded up against you, almost in a ball and trying to get closer and closer.

[moonstrider9904]

Abundance

Part 2 of Bread and Tea

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Summary: Christmas Eve is in the air, as is the snow and the winter chill. You’re baking an apple pie before your cozy holiday festivities begin, and someone’s sneaking bites from the filling.

Tags/Warnings: No warnings, this is just pure fluff, soft!Crosshair, domestic Crosshair, baking, coziness, and my closest attempt at a Moonstrider Holiday Special lol

A/N: I made some apple pie in advance for Christmas Eve (I’m writing this on Dec. 23rd) and thought of this story idea. I was initially going to write a Moonlight series short story, but then I remembered I had this series among my WIPs and it felt so fitting and so right that I rushed up here to write it once all the baking was done. It’s self-indulgent as ever, so I hope you’ll enjoy some soft!Crosshair in a holiday setting. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and happy New Year!

Word count: 2k

The song that inspired this was Abundance by Chris Mazuera, because I love listening to this cozy song whenever I’m baking something. Enjoy!

A preheating oven was exactly what the cottage needed.

The fireplace was your most reliable friend in the winter when the cottage got chilly, but the oven was still unmatched, as if it were your very own secret weapon. Whether you needed comfort, warmth, or a food craving needed to be satisfied, it never failed you. The smell of the recently made apple filling, a combination of cinnamon and butter and sugar and maple syrup—your secret ingredient—alongside those ripe, honey crisp apples, blended with the scent of the oak wood crackling in the chimney.

It was like a symphony to you. It was like home.

You turned the stovetop off and let the apple filling rest on its pot, hopefully allowing it to cool down enough while you worked on the crust. You’d be kneading and folding and spreading dough for a while, all in your carefully figured out system that came after years and years of baking. Apple pie was more of a tradition than a recipe now, so much that you didn’t even need the cookbook handy anymore. You knew that recipe well-enough by heart now. So you let the filling rest and cool and you turned your back on it, now facing the kitchen island where your dough was sitting ready for you to work on it.

Dough work took up all of your concentration, or most of it at least. Usually, you still had some focus to spare on the rest of the world around you. You could hear the wind, the fireplace, you could even hear your man’s steps coming and going from the kitchen.

He said nothing, as he usually would. The words that his oldest brother had used to describe him when he first introduced you to him came to mind—not much of a conversationalist. That definitely held up until that very moment when you rolled out the main disk that would go on your pie pan. He would walk into the kitchen, and then the pacing would stop. He would remain still for a moment, completely silent, most likely watching you at work. Then, he would make his way back into the living room to sit by the fireplace.

And then, he would repeat that.

Your mind began to wander. Whenever Crosshair was curious about something you were doing, he would stand still and observe you the whole time, never really bothering to comment anything, just watching. But it felt odd to you that this time he seemed to come and go. Perhaps, given the observative nature of a former sniper, he’d also gotten the recipe for an apple pie down to every last detail. You’d baked it so many times in that cottage that he must have known it by now.

Your train of thought was broken by the sound of his steps returning to the kitchen. When you felt him stopping, you stopped rolling out the dough and looked over your shoulder, and you caught him in the act. When he felt you looking, Crosshair’s eyes landed on you, standing perfectly still, but it was already too late for him to retrieve his hand from the pot of apple pie filling, with a piece of spice and sugar coated apple clutched between his fingers.

“Gotcha,” you teased.

Still staring straight into your eyes, Crosshair took the piece of apple to his mouth and ate it.

You gasped dramatically. “Have you no shame?”

“You should take this as a compliment,” he said as he reached for another cube of apple. “It’s pretty good.”

“Don’t try to mask your antics with flattery,” you turned your body to fully face him “I have a pie to fill, and that’s gonna be hard if you keep eating that.”

Crosshair shot his signature smug grin at you, his eyes gleaming with the will to tease, as his hand slowly reached into the pie filling pot once more. His teeth bared slightly as he waited for your reaction.

Of course you were going to play along.

“Don’t you dare,” you raised a brow at him.

Crosshair inched his hand closer to the filling.

“I am warning you, Crosshair, do not touch one more piece of that filling,” you said as you took your wooden roller and pointed it at him like a makeshift sword.

“You dare point that thing at me?” Crosshair raised how brow at you.

“I’m the baker, and right now, this kitchen is my domain,” you said. “You have no power here.”

“Watch me,” he said as he snatched another piece of apple and ate it while looking you in the eyes.

You put the roller down and crossed your arms, faking annoyance. “You’re not getting any presents tomorrow.”

“You’re going to cave,” he mused as he began walking up to you. “You know why?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you began to turn around, reaching for the roller, but his hand was over yours before you could lift it from the counter top.

“Because you love it when I tease you,” Crosshair purred.

His soft grip on your hand made you let go of the roller again. His hands then made his way up to your shoulders, rubbing up and down as he felt the warm yarn of your gray sweater under his palms. “You’re soft.”

“You’re not sweetalking me,” you averted your gaze, still playing along in your role of unamused girlfriend.

“I believe I am,” Crosshair grinned as he noticed the reddish taint on your cheeks. “Hey?”

“Not listening,” you said, but a smile took over your lips as you suppressed a giggle.

“Hey,” Crosshair cooed again, his hands squeezing your arms as he leaned down and pressed his lips onto yours.

You could never resist Crosshair’s kisses. His lips on yours made all of your walls come down, and your arms went up around his neck while his arms traveled down around your waist, pressing your body closer to his. Crosshair pulled you up and made you stand on your toes, and he gave your body a tiny squeeze that made you giggle into the kiss. The sound was music to his ears, and he moaned into the kiss in that low, smooth voice that you loved so much.

“Mm,” you squirmed in his grip. “Cross, I have to finish the pie.”

As you talked, Crosshair kept smooching your cheeks and your jawline, hoping to draw more of those sweet giggles that he adored from you. Although he succeeded, he was then met by you gazing in his eyes with a blend of sweetness and firmness somehow only you could manage.

“That oven’s going to finish preheating any moment now,” you whispered.

Softly, Crosshair helped settle you down on your feet. “Mind if I watch?”

“Go ahead,” you grinned and turned around, taking your wooden tool to finish rolling out the dough.

Crosshair watched as you cut some strips of dough and set them apart for the lattice, some finer than others, and he watched as your fingers delicately took the time to put three of those strips together and form them into a braid long enough to go around the pie’s full circumference. Crosshair’s lips curved into a smile as he watched you, and though you couldn’t see his expression, you felt his arms wrapping tighter around you.

“You really do love this,” he whispered.

You smiled at his remark. “Yeah.”

When you finished up the braid of dough, you took a quick moment to count the strips of dough that you had and turned around in Crosshair’s arms, smiling softly at him. “I’m going to need that filling now.”

“Of course,” his eyes gleamed with mischief again.

“Cross,” you said.

Crosshair chuckled and went to get the filling from the stove for you. He handed it to you without having taken a single piece of apple, and you mouthed the words thank you when you took the pot from him. Crosshair went back to embracing you as you put the disk of rolled out dough onto the pie dish, delicately taking it and tucking it in so that it would rest perfectly along the dish’s shape, never pulling or tugging or doing anything that would suggest rushing the process.

You then took the filling and placed it within the dough, spoonful by spoonful. The scent of apple mixed with cinnamon and butter filled your nostrils, and unconsciously you hummed in delight at one of your favorite scents in the world. And while you basked in the joy that assembling the pie brought to you, Crosshair continued to watch as he enjoyed the warmth of having you close in his arms. He watched as you put the last couple of spoonfuls of filling into the pie and set the dishes aside, and he knew it was time for you to start building the lattice to finish it off.

The little gleam of mischief returned to Crosshair’s eyes once more, and even if you couldn’t see him as he hugged you from behind, you felt one of his hands lifting from your body only for you to see it reaching into the pie for another piece of apple. You then heard as Crosshair ate the softened, caramelized apple, and you couldn’t help but giggle. He reached in another two or three times—you were too amused to count—as you finished assembling the pie’s top, and even then, he reached into one of the gaps where he could reach for one last piece.

Crosshair got one more chance to admire the delicacy and care of your work when you put egg wash over the pie’s crust, and he only unwrapped his arms from around you when it was time to put the pie into the oven. You were careful when you placed it inside, feeling the heat around you, and when you closed the oven door and turned around, you were met with Crosshair smiling softly at you, a look that you loved with your soul and simply couldn’t see enough times.

“Come here,” Crosshair said so softly it was nearly a whisper.

Without hesitation, you walked into his arms and reached up to cup his cheeks while you kissed him. He kissed you back tenderly with one of his hands reaching to the back of your neck, entwining his fingers gently through your hair. But as much as Crosshair was enjoying the kiss, he parted from you to lead you over to the living room.

He took a seat on the couch in front of the fireplace, and you went over to sit leaning on him, but only after reaching for a blanket you could pull over you both. You leaned back and were engulfed by his warmth, feeling comforted by the fluffy blanket on top of you, and as you settled into the couch and heard the crackling of the fireplace, you felt Crosshair begin to play gently with your hair again.

“What are you thinking?” You asked him.

Crosshair hummed. “You’re happy.”

You smiled softly, and under the blanket, your hands found his to give them a squeeze.

“I’m happy here,” you said. “And I’m happy with you.”

“You never think of wanting more?” He asked.

You shifted in your place to look over your shoulder enough to look him in the eyes. “All that I love and value most in the world is right here, Crosshair. I’ve seen a world outside of this place, but ultimately this is where I want to be.”

Crosshair smiled and leaned in to give your temple a soft kiss. “Then here you’ll stay.”

You smiled and turned around again, settling your weight fully onto Crosshair and the couch beneath you, with his words echoing inside you as you took in the sounds around you—the wind, the fireplace, Crosshair’s breathing, the ticking of the timer set for your pie. That place you loved so much would be where you stayed.

And it would be where you always returned.

{Next chapter (coming soon!)} {Back to series masterlist}

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[spacesurfing]

Catching the Jitterbug

Tech x Reader Fluff

Summary: Being put into the Bad Batch was something good for you, a turning point in your life. And it was certainly a crazier one when you had found feelings for the technician of the team. Was there anything that could stop you from staring at him?

Warnings: shy!reader, fluffffffff, mentions of Crosshair, the awkwardness of my brain

A/n: I write Tech really poorly, I'm very sorry. :(

GIF NOT MINE!!

•--•

He'd almost caught you once again. As you splashed water on your face, you exhaled with a soft breath. Hunter surely felt your heart rate increase, heard the heavy exhale you had made when you first introduced yourself to the refresher after Tech had looked over at you. Hunter heard everything. Stupid stupid stupid.

You had caught yourself accidentally looking at Tech quite a bit in the past few months. It was a habit you had attempted to throw out the window, to completely remove from your life, but it never seemed to disappear. You'd never tell him that you felt this striking interest whenever you looked over in his general direction, but you did. And if anyone knew at all, it was Hunter. The stupid sergeant and his stupid little senses that made you feel insecure to be in the same room as Tech because if Tech couldn't tell that you were so infatuated in him, then Hunter could. And Tech had absolutely clueless for once in his life.

Tech was smart, smarter than many living creatures for that fact. Though he wasn't smart enough to catch the hint that everytime he caught or almost caught you staring, it wasn't because you were waiting to ask him a question. It was because everytime you looked at him, he was always so in his element. He was downright adorable while working, so focused. And when he spoke to you, he tended to ramble. Fuck it made your heart swell - he was so cute when he got into one of his lectures.

You had dreamt of being next to him, allowing yourself to cuddle into his side as he worked on whatever he was doing. He was good at working while being pushed around by the boys. It made you think about how easy it would be to slip into his arms while he tinkered with whatever project he had going on or while he was reading something on his datapad.

You finally came out of the small, clustered refresher, seeing that Tech's eyes were focused back on his datapad (like always) and Hunter's were looking at you. Wrecker and Echo were outside with training targets set up, teaching Omega how to shoot her bow. You missed the kid and her big hugs even if she was just outside.

"Everything.. alright, Y/n?" Hunter asked, leaning a bit forward from his sitting position. He knew that he knew, faker. You hummed an approving noise as you back down next to the sergeant. You wanted to punch him square in the jaw, but you put that off for another day. Hunter gave you a bit more room, pulling his legs together from when he was man-spreading.

You cleared your throat, gaining the partial attention from Tech as well, "Has Cid called us back yet?"

Hunter only shrugged, "No, said she'll have a mission soon."

The silence clouded the room once again. They really didn't do that much when there was no repairs, this had been the first time in forever that the ship had been cleared for being okay. We'd all almost thought it was one of Tech's dry jokes, that's how much of a tendency we had for repairs. And it absolutely sucked to have nothing to do all day. You should've offered to help train Omega. Or just went back to bed when the Marauder landed on Ord Mantell. Those were both better alternatives than sitting in silence with a man you had a crush on and the only man that knew. Crosshair knew too. But you didn't like talking, or even thinking, about Crosshair.

You made a popping noise with your lips to clear the whole "awkward silence" thing, "I think I'm gonna visit her for a little and get a drink, I miss her attitude."

"That's a first," Tech muttered. As you stood up, you realized he was also on his feet. You didn't want to ask what he was doing, he could stand whenever he wanted to, it was just a coincidence that he also stood up when you had.

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

You looked at him with something between shock and nervousness. You hadn't been so nervous with anyone in your life before you had met the nerdy Tech, was this what a genuine crush felt like? You nodded frantically, realizing you'd stood there for a second too long just looking at him. You didn't that a lot, it became a sort of habit that everyone got used to.

"Sorry, I just.. zoned out I guess," you apologized, leaving your helmet on the table you were sitting at and starting your way down the gangplank.

Tech seemed to follow after you quickly, attempting to catch up. It wasn't odd for him to do that, he most likely had something on his mind that he wanted to share. And you were all there for it. You looked over at him, taking in his features - handsome with these soft caramel eyes, hidden by his goggles. You wanted to take them off for once, just to see what they actually looked like without the lens and all. They didn't seem to come off ever, though Crosshair used to always- never mind.

You thought of what the say to him, fuck you were staring again. Say something. What's new, Boo? No, that's too much for anyone of the boys to hear. Whaddup Tech! No, he's weird with your "civvi words."

"Hi."

Tech looked down at you with a soft expression. "Hello," he replied. He met your gaze for longer than you would have liked and you looked away again, face darkening. "Is there something you have to say?"

"I-uh no, I just thought I'd say hi since you're, y'know, walking next to me and all."

Gah! You felt your heart rate go through the roof. Why was he so intimidating? Well, he wasn't intimidating but he was Tech and Tech made you nervous and-

He pressed the back of his hand to your forehead, "Your forehead is steaming, Y/n, are you feeling unwell? Maybe we shouldn't visit Cid, it would be ideal that you get some rest."

He stopped, making you also stop as well. He was peering down at you now, hunched over to force eye contact. "If you would like, I have been researching a few home remedies in case a situation like such were to occur with your body."

"No, I'm fine Tech, I just need a drink is all," you spoke, looking back to the path in front of you. You started to walk away, but Tech grabbed your arm, pulling you back into a stumble and putting both of his hands on your shoulders. It kept you in place, letting him look down at you with knitted brows.

"I think that drinking will be the last thing that you do. I will not let you drink under your condition," you heard a slight waver in his voice as he lectured you. Tech? Worried? No, that didn't happen, and on the off chance it did, he had enough confidence in himself to distribute to the entirety of the clone army (they obviously don't need anymore though).

"Tech, I'm not sick. You never pestered Wrecker like this when he was sick."

Tech pushed his goggles further into the bridge of his nose, "Well, Wrecker usually sleeps off his illness fairly quick. You, on the other hand, are small and do not sleep as deeply as Wrecker sleeps."

You tilted your head, nose slightly scrunched as you glared up at him. You were slightly annoyed, not even hot in the face anymore. You forgot that Tech's hands were still on you, letting up from how tense they once were. "What about when Echo caught that bug from Nal Hutta?"

Tech cleared his throat, staring at me while he shuffled through answers to that question in his head. He had an answer to everything, but this - maybe not. Nal Hutta was a disgusting place that you never wanted to visit again, infested with disease and gunk everywhere. It was no surprise Echo got sick. He was upset the whole time and Tech cared about him physically of course but never ordered him to bedrest unless it was to keep him at a healthy amount of sleep.

"Simply because I knew he would be alright. I monitored his temperature, electrolyte intake and I made sure that he was eating exactly the right amount. Did I not?" Tech was always in matter-of-fact mode, so much so that you had almost thought maybe he won this small feud between you two. Being able to use such big words with certainty of what they meant, he could say the most random nonsense and you would have absolutely no clue if it was correct or not. You always assumed it was 100%, he was never wrong.

"You never ordered him to bedrest, you never made him a home remedy."

Tech stopped, his brain was working overtime - how would he get himself out of this? You stared up at him with a competitive glint in your eye, the one you had on the battlefield, always pushing back at him; he was the brains but you were the "brawn". You always had a comeback up your sleeve, you always knew what to say in an emotional aspect. He envied that in a way, wanting to know what it was like to follow your heart, not a logical conclusion set up by a droid - or better yet, the excellence of Tech's brain.

He choked up slightly and you placed both of your hands on his wrists as he let them fall from your shoulders. Maker, you were so soft.

Your face was on fire. Was the temperature rising? If it was, Tech didn't say anything. Gosh this was the worst you had ever been. Now that you were touching him, interacting with him without a wire or tool in your hand. You didn't remember the last time you had been alone with the man if it wasn't for work purposes. If there ever was a time.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" you asked, looking up at him with endearing eyes. His heart wretched at your face, wanting to just... he wanted to touch you. To hold you in his arms. Why did he feel hot all over? Was he also sick?

"I think that the sickness you are having, I have also contracted," he stated. He hoped you had understood. If it really was a sickness, then you could both go back to the ship and bunker down. That would be a simple explanation that would make this situation easy to diffuse. But if it was... something more, he didn't know how to tell you that in words. If he had to though, there was always to trying.

You smiled, shaking your head, "Tech, I don't have a sickness." As soon as you finished your sentence, your smile faded. Wait, he just said-

"Then, if my data is showing functionality, I do indeed harbor feelings for you."

You stared up at him, your lips parted. Your heart felt like it would beat out of your chest, into your throat and spit out of your mouth. Tech? Liked you? You thought you were absolutely out of his league. He never even seemed like he took interest in love, or even people in general. He always put his research and beloved datapad first that it almost escaped you that Tech could have secrets that he never shared, such as being interested in you.

"Tech, I-," you paused, swallowing and looking away from him. Your skin itched like you didn't belong in it, "I like you too."

It was like waiting for fireworks to go off, the anticipation scary. That's what he meant, right? Maker, he looked so adorable at that moment, face tinted pink, his fingers fiddling with something on his utility belt. Such as he had with his own hands earlier, you forgot you were touching him. Your hands no longer kept his wrists still, just flowed with the movement of his hands.

"May I... kiss you?" he asked, his hands already reaching up towards your face. You smiled, guiding his hands up to cup your cheeks. You then lowered your own, pressing them against his chest plate. He leaned down, pressing his lips against yours.

You never expected them to be so soft. Maker, you were lucky that he liked you out of so many sentient beings in the universe - you could kiss him for hours, days, weeks, years. You could have stood there and wasted the daylight away while kissing and never regretted a thing. When he pulled away, he kept his face only inches from yours. His forehead was softly laying on your own, goggles nudging at your brows but you didn't have a care in the world for that. You had just released so much weight off your shoulders from a simple kiss. You felt so alive, and free.

"You are certainly a perfect specimen," he stated, looking into your eyes with a crooked smile. Maybe that wasn't true if he wanted to try running experiments. Though, his statement didn't seem like a hypothesis, it seemed like a resolution.

"And you are the biggest nerd I have ever met. I love it more than I have ever loved anything."

•--•

Masterlist

[endo-bunny]

My Pretty Flower Chapter 2|Tech x Medic Reader|

A/n: I really hope that you guys like this! Feel free to tell me what I need to improve on if y'all wish! 😁

Chapters : One

Warning: Torture, needles, injection, passing out, descriptions of pain, angst, fluff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a while since anyone had come in. Crosshair barely spoke, only awkwardly holding your body. The both of you jumped as the door to the room was flung open. The scientist from before walked in, a nurse right behind him. Crosshair seemed confused when his eyes met the cart that was being wheeled in be the nurse. The usual large syringe was on the cart, but there was something new today. Instead of the dull colored chemicals, there was a bright flourecent blue substance laying next to the syringe.

"Week ain't this cute? That's too bad, cause it's time for you to get up. Experiment time," He had a crazed look I'm his eyes.

This wasn't a good chemical and it was clear by the way that he was looking at you. Crosshair tried to keep you closer to him but failed as you were roughly ripped from his arms. A clone trooper had a hold of you and one had a hold of Crosshair. You could feel your heart rate picking up, as well as hear the blood that was pumping in your ears. They strapped your thrashing, weak body to that metal table.

Out of the corner of your eye you could see Crosshair twitching like crazy. His face was as hard as stone as a low growl like sound came from his throat.

"Oh stop fighting it you little twerps."

You couldn't imagine what was going through Cross' mind, especially since they had apparently taken his chip out and then put it back in.

You looked over at the scientist, the same sadistic smile on his disgusting face. He reached over and picked the syringe up. Tauntingly, he set the brake substance up into the syringe. He held onto the syringe, flicking the needle part a couple of times. He looks down at you as if you were an animal that he was about to dissect. He was inspecting your body; seeing where to inject his new concoction. He finally chose the perfect place in his mind, your neck. You felt it when the sharp needle pierced your skin as he injected the liquid into your bloodstream. You could feel the effects of it almost instantly. It felt like electricity was in your skin. You screamed out in agonizing pain so loud that it could possibly burst someone's eardrums. As soon as a tear left, your eyes instantly evaporated. How are you surviving this? Any normal human being would have died so fast. Except you weren't a normal human being anymore, not since you were brought here. Their last experiments had to be the cause of why you weren't surviving this right now. Trying to breathe was futile as pain surged through your body. You screamed so much. Screamed and cried out until you couldn't even make a sound. You tried to stay awake, scared of what would happen if you slipped into the welcoming arms of darkness. You fought the urge until you couldn't ultimately, passing out from the excruciating pain. When you awoke from your deep slumber, you were greeted by Crosshair's sleeping face. How long have you been out for? You seemed to pass out for long periods of time often. Your body ached and your head pounded. That was a side effect of having an electrifying chemical pumped into your veins. As you slowly start to move around, Cross opens his eyes. He was immediately on alert. He scanned the room before looking down at your pained face. How long will this go on? You had to try and gain your strength back. You needed to get back to your family.

"Cross," you choked out, "Once I gain some more strength back, I need you to help me stand."

He stared at you and huffed, leaning back again as you two laid there. After a little while you finally tugged on his arm, signaling to help you up.

He gave you a puzzled look while scoffing, but doing as you asked; albeit painstakingly slow. Putting the majority of your weight on him, you stood up. You had a tight grip on his upper biceps as your knees willed to buckle. Your breath was staggered as your strength was quickly being depleted. After a minute of just standing and holding onto cross hair was when your legs gave out. He didn't realize that your body gave out until you felt cross hair with a tight grip on you. As he gently lowered you to the ground, he whispered something. You didn't hear what he said, but you already knew. He was muttering like he always said when the two of you were in a stressful situation.

"You're doing good Little Bird."

You hadn't heard those words leave his mouth in so long. The last time you remembered hearing those calming words was right before you guys had to leave him behind. You never have found out why he would call you Little Bird. You remember that day so well though.

The ship had just landed as you and the others unloaded. You were all very confused, one of your group less so than the rest. You had no clue as to what had just happened. They were dead, all of them were dead. You're in shock, and it was clear as day just by taking a glance in your direction. You didn't understand any of it.

You and Crosshair were the last ones in the bunk room, quietly sitting on Cross' bed. The two of you had a little fling going on, but you've slowly been pulling away after having witnessed him making out with one of the other medics. You were heartbroken, having fallen in love with the sniper. It was awkward in the room, to say the least. You yearned to be held in his arms. After sitting for what felt like hours, you slowly and finally felt his nimble fingers creep their way around your shoulders. His head came to rest on the top of your head while your back made contact with his hard chest. Your mind was telling you to walk away, go find the others. Your body didn't move though, didn't wish to move.

"I'm so sorry, but I promise you're doing so well Little Bird."

His voice was stoic, emotionless. Tears slowly slide down your cheek as you pulled yourself away from him. Standing up, you looked at him before leaving to go find the others.

Zoning back in, you can feel Cross' shallow breath on the back of your neck. You could tell that he had fallen asleep. You couldn't blame him, though. You were all so exhausted, but you had already slept so much. Your eyes slowly started to betray you. You snuggled more into cross' body as your own body and mind went blank.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[freesia-writes]

Kitchen Nostalgia with Tech

[Part 3 of Holiday Fluff with The Bad Batch] Dividers by @ve-ti-ver on this post here Word Count: 1.2k, LOL... Tech is always gonna get me goin. ;) SFW, just some warm and fuzzy stuff that will be a composite master post of Bad Batch sweetness. GN Reader.

“This is ridiculous,” Tech commented, unable to tear his eyes from the TV despite the array of baking materials laid out across the counter. The loud laugh track played over raucous clapping as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra introduced the next number with playful banter, crew workers pushing fake storefronts and houses across a large sound stage behind them. “It’s entirely fabricated, without any attempt to conceal the fact…”

“They weren’t trying to make it seem real,” you giggled, wanting to squeeze him as he groaned at the sight of an incredibly gaudy Christmas tree, dripping with tinsel, being rolled out next. “It’s just… the aesthetic. It’s a variety show. Television was still new, so people were thrilled to see anything really.”

“This is reasonable, however in our current day and age–”

“It’s just nostalgic. Warm and fuzzy. I can’t explain it,” you interrupted, pulling his arm to invite him to finish rolling out the cookie dough. “It seemed like a simpler time… Pure and sweet somehow…”

“Mafia-affiliated crooners singing Euro-centric holiday songs does not strike me as either pure nor sweet,” Tech commented, 

Ladies and Gentlemen! Frank Sinatra Junior and Dean Martin Junior!

“The same names?” Tech nearly choked. “First their daughters are introduced as singers, now their sons too? I question the authenticity of the organic talent of the offspring versus the undeniable favoritism from production companies due to their parents’ status.”

“Tech,” you breathed, exasperated at his constant commentary, although you couldn’t really blame 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to meet my daughter Deana,” the taller one said. You couldn’t help but start to giggle, hearing Tech’s words in your head before they even left his mouth, and as he spluttered like a fish out of water, the show continued, “And I’d like you to meet my daughter, Tina.”

“The rhyming is just patronizing at this point, and have these performers been evaluated for narcissistic personality disorder? His name is Dean, his son is Dean Junior, and his daughter is Deana?” Tech looked as though he was about to have a conniption, and you couldn’t take anymore. Leaning over him, you grabbed the remote from the counter and switched the screen off, laughing uncontrollably. 

“Okay, okay, it’s all ridiculous,” you confessed, a little indignant at his inability to move past all of the shortcomings. “I just like the old stuff sometimes, alright?” 

“I apologize if my thoughts are preventing you from enjoying your show,” Tech said, although you could tell he was just saying it because he knew he was supposed to. You stuffed down a little grumble and instead turned your thoughts to the task at hand.

“Let’s just finish the cookies,” you said, pulling out your favorite shapes of cookie cutters while he continued to flatten the dough across the counter. You snagged a small piece from the edge, popping it in your mouth and relishing the sweetness with a single, closed-eyed sigh. His face softened a bit, pushing aside the protests about salmonella risks with a reminder of their statistical occurrence. 

The rest of the baking went by with quiet conversation and little brushes against one another, and once the cookies were in the oven, the luscious smell filling the kitchen, it was time for the traditional “waiting drink” – an “adult egg nog”. As you mixed together two mugs and took a long drink from yours, you heard big band music, lifting your head to see Tech turning the television back on, an unmistakable and endearing cringe on his face. 

“You don’t have to–” you began, but he waved his hand, turning toward you with a surprising gentleness on his face. He came back over, accepting your mug and lifting his eyebrows after a cursory sip. 

“I believe I was overly hasty in my judgment,” he said, shocking you deeply at his uncharacteristic admission. Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were cracking themselves up now, dancing in over-the-top silliness as they sang a medley of their most popular songs in perfect, playful harmony. You took another sip of your holiday drink, warmed to the core and pleasantly fuzzy. 

“It’s alright,” you answered, “It’s not for everyone.”

“But it is for you, and I care about you. Therefore, in a way, it is something I can appreciate as a facet of your personality and interests,” Tech said, taking a step closer. You loved the way he could arrive at wonderfully sweet and romantic conclusions through the process of cold, hard reason. You couldn’t have possibly anticipated his next words, however, as Frank Sinatra began to sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Not usually one for physical touch, he lifted a hand to the outside of your arm, stroking it lightly with a look of resolution on his face as though he’d decided to try something. “Would you like to dance?”

“Dance?!” you blurted out, setting your mug down much harder than you intended. Tech looked concerned.

“It seemed fitting with the–” he explained.

“No, no… I’d love to!” you interrupted, heart warming at the flicker of relief on his typically unfazed face. “I just… didn’t think that was something you’d enjoy.”

“I concur,” he answered matter-of-factly, and you laughed again, a tingle washing over you as he slowly nestled one strong, steady arm beneath your own and rested his hand between your shoulder blades, scooping you into a very rigid and structurally perfect ballroom frame. He took your other hand in his, pulling you into the first step with an impressive blend of strength and grace, and began to step slowly in time to the music. 

From now on, our troubles will be miles away… Here we are, as in olden days… Happy golden days of yore…

Buoyed by the warmth of the egg nog and brandy, intoxicated by Tech’s closeness and quiet intimacy, you closed your eyes in utter bliss, guided by his firm leading as you swayed slowly around the kitchen. You didn’t know what had possessed him to try something so uncharacteristic, but you weren’t about to start asking questions. 

Through the years, we all will be together…If the fates allow…Hang a shining star upon the highest bough…

You didn’t think it could get any better, but as the song went on, his arm suddenly lowered, the rigid frame that kept you at bay replaced instead with a more snug embrace as he pulled you in against his chest, still clasping your hand in his own but resting it against his shoulder. You nuzzled in, savoring every touch and movement as he leaned his cheek against the top of your head. Holding him as closely as possible, your arm tucked lovingly around his waist, you inhaled deeply, his scent mingling with the baking cookies, and you thought you might burst with joy. 

“Thank you,” you whispered, and he pressed a kiss to your hair, deeply gratified by the overwhelming success of his endeavor. He was trying something new, channeling his focus to the senses. The feeling of your body fitted along his own, the slight chill in your fingertips, your steady breathing... He was surprised at the warmth it conjured.

Perhaps he would investigate further.

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[why-am-i-here-lol]

can you write an Echo x reader who just broke up with her bf? and echo just comforts her? tyyy!! <33

Yesss ofc we love a good comfort fic - enjoy <3 also sorry this took so long, I haven't posted in a hot minute 0-0

You knew it. Somehow you knew what was going on with your boyfriend before you found out. It was a sick feeling in your stomach like something wasn't right.

Earlier this evening you put your suspicions to the test, ultimately finding out that he had some twi'lek girls coming over whenever you went to your job at the GAR. You told him you were leaving on a mission when in reality, the medical chief gave you some time off. You saw them walk to your door, and you saw your boyfriend welcome them in like old friends... or more than friends.

Ever since then, you've been at work. The medics were all surprised to see you today, since you were supposed to be home, relaxing, enjoying your free time. A few asked you about it, but you just gave dismissive responses, too emotionally drained to deal with the stress. Since you couldn't work, you found a quiet place to settle, somewhere no one would think anyone would be.

You sat down, exhausted. And cried. You let out your frustrations, anger, sadness, insecurity, and utter despair. All these feelings and more seemed to whirl around you, like a tornado. You could feel it in your bones. Your fingers were getting tingly, and your heart just... hurt. It hurt with an intensity you rarely ever felt.

You lost track of how long you had been sitting there, in your secluded corner of an empty room, but you knew it had been a while by how much your butt hurt. You sat for a while more, working up the courage to get up, to face what happened. You knew you would have to talk to your new ex soon, but every time you thought of it, your heart would pound, your breathing becomes more shallow, and your heart would break all over again. You couldn't see him in your mind without seeing those girls waltzing and prancing into your home anymore. You couldn't see why you just weren't good enough for him. You were still shocked, even though hours had gone by.

You eventually stood up and stretched out a bit, getting extremely dizzy in the process. 'Man, I must have cried out everything I had in me', you thought.

You started to make your way out of the room, probably looking like a mess, but before you got too far, you bumped into someone and fell to the floor. They exclaimed in surprise, while you attempted to scramble to your feet.

"I'm so sorry!" you blurted, completely embarrassed. Your embarrassment doubled when the subject of your clumsiness called out your name and tripled when you recognized the voice. It was Echo. As in, the member of the Bad Batch whom you worked closely with, that you knew the least since he was still new. He grabbed your arms, helping you up as you babbled some sort of apology.

"Oh Echo! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, and I just- I'm sorry I wasn't paying atten-"

"Hey hey, it's okay," he assured, studying you to make sure you were in fact okay. Once his eyes studied your face though, his entire expression shifted. "Hey, are you okay?"

You remembered your appearance, and what it must look like for him. You fumbled over a response, never seeming to actually make a coherent sentence, but eventually gave up, just saying you were fine.

He saw right through this, of course, and thought it would be best to find a quieter place than the middle of the hallway to talk about this if you so desired. 'The barracks are taken by the others, so the Maurader might be the better option,' he thought.

"I know I don't know you as well as I should, but I know enough to know you aren't fine. Do you want to go to the Havoc Maurader and talk?"

You almost broke down then and there in that hallway. Why did it feel so... relieving for Echo of all people to just know that you weren't okay?

"Yes," you said, tears starting to well again. Echo quickly saw and wiped your tears with his thumb, looking at you with compassion.

"Hey now, you'll be okay. Let's go talk."

That's how you found yourself sitting on one of the small bunks in the Maurader, Echo sitting next to you.

"So.. what's going on?"

You stayed silent for a moment, before giving a hesitant answer.

"Just... Life stuff I guess." You looked up at him, wanting to see his reaction, and if he'd see right through you and push for an answer.

"Life must be really stressful right now then. With the state I caught you in, I'd say something big is going on."

You just looked down in response, feeling impressed to tell him more, but still not trusting fully that it would even do anything for you. 'He is taking really good care of you, you at least owe him an explanation,' you thought.

You sighed, making up your mind.

"I caught my boyfriend cheating on me today," you started, "and I'm just ... In a lot of pain from it."

"Whoever this guy is, he clearly didn't know what he had - or what he lost for that matter," Echo replied. "He didn't deserve you, and you deserve better than what he gave you." He paused for a moment, the silence making you really think before he continued. "I think for now, you need some food and rest. Time will heal. It's not easy, but you'll find it'll help you in the end and you'll be stronger than you were before."

You couldn't help your tears anymore, and once again your eyes started letting them out, first slowly, but surely speeding up as you lost your composure. You practically melted into Echo, who responded by wrapping his arms around you in a comforting hug.

"Echo?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think you'll be able to help me until things do get better? I mean.. I don't want to go through this alone," You explained.

"Of course I'll help you!" He exclaimed. "I'd do anything for you, actually." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly as you cocked your head in confusion. You couldn't help but feel your cheeks start to burn, your heart starting to beat a little faster.

"What?"

"Heh, I'll explain later. You don't need more on your mind right now," he said, smiling down at you.

You smiled at his consideration, already suspecting what he wasn't saying. The thought made you smile.

"Alright, if you say so." You waited a moment before continuing, "And for the record, I'd do anything for you too." You smiled at him, hoping he'd take the hint.

He did. He smiled at the thought of what could be.

"Thank you," he said, "but you need to rest for now."

"You're probably right," you laughed, "it's been quite a day." Your face turned solemn, thinking about all that had happened.

"I know it's not much, but you can take my hammock in the barracks for however long you need.

"That's more than enough, Echo, thank you. But what about your brothers? Wouldn't they question what's going on? What will you tell them?"

"They will want to know, but they understand privacy all the same. I'll only tell them what you want me to tell, if anything at all."

"I don't mind if you tell them," you started before yawning. "Although, I think it is time to get some rest."

"Agreed," he said, smiling softly.

You followed him through the halls to his barracks, still feeling sad, but strangely okay. You didn't feel better, but you had a new confidence that this would pass, you wouldn't feel this way forever. You knew you'd be okay with Echo. He would take care of you.