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tech-aficionado · 8 days ago

Text

Under The Stars

Rating: Explicit (18+ mature readers only)

Pairing: Tech x Female Jedi! Reader

Warnings: Smut Oral (female receiving), Fingering

Summary: With being on the run and pulling jobs for Cid since the end of the war, you and Tech rarely have time to spend alone together. However when Tech discovers that there are natural hot springs on the planet that you are visiting for your current mission, he manages to find time for you to sneak away and enjoy a brief respite in each other's company.

Tags: Tech x Female Jedi Reader, Post Order 66, Established Relationship, Smut, Porn With Feelings, Love Proclamations, Sex in Water (Kind of)

With the moon high in the sky and night shrouding the forest surrounding the Marauder in a thick cloak of darkness, you were ready to hunker down in the ship until morning. Hunter and Tech had returned from their trek to scout out the perimeter and to locate the base that you would be infiltrating tomorrow. You’d passed out rations, took your designated turns in the fresher, and settled in to get some rest before your next risky mission began. You could already hear soft snores coming from the gunner’s seat that doubled as Omega’s room as you walked toward your own bunk.

Smiling to yourself, you prepared to climb into bed just as a hand reached out to grasp onto your bicep. A familiar voice spoke your name, and you turned to meet the eyes of your lover.

“Sorry darling, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Tech apologized softly, his voice dropping in volume as he became more aware of the other members of your squad already sleeping around you. You shook your head.

“You didn’t Tech. What is it?”

His grip on your arm became more lax as his thumb idly rubbed over the fabric of your shirt.

“Seeing that we have some time to ourselves, I was hoping that you would accompany me into the forest. There was something that I wanted to show you.” He paused, his eyes darting between the floor and your face.

“That is, unless you would rather get some rest.”

Your heart warmed with affection for your sweet soldier as you stepped closer, aiming to quell his insecurities with a hand delicately placed on the side of his face. Tech was so sure of himself in nearly all areas of life, apart from anything having to do with romantic connections. No matter how long you had been together, he still always gave you an out, almost as though he expected you to say no one of these days. You had since made it your mission to assure him that that day would never come.

“Any chance that I have to be alone with you is worth taking.” Your hand dropped from his face in favor of grabbing his own that was still hanging down by his side. “Lead the way.”

You could’ve sworn that you saw a light dusting of pink begin to warm his cheeks before he was nodding and leading you down the steps of the Marauder.

The air outside was cooler than it had been during the day, but warm enough to be comfortable. Streaks of moonlight shown through the trees, shining light on your surroundings as you made your way through the underbrush. It wasn’t long before the lights of the ship were out of view and you were left with the peaceful chirping of nocturnal insects and the sound of Tech’s voice as he explained all that he knew about each of the unique flora and fauna that you passed.

His endless hunger for knowledge was one of the first things that drew you to him when you had initially started working with Clone Force 99 during the war. Tech nearly always had answers for your questions. No matter which corner of the galaxy you were in, you could firmly bet that he had done his research and already had a fairly clear picture of what you were walking into. His insight had proven to be invaluable on numerous occasions. It had been a reliable resource for you to lean on when you were just a young Jedi knight, thrust into leading an army in a war that you never entirely understood.

Besides being helpful, Tech’s pension for gathering intel and sharing it aloud with others has also proven to be a great source of comfort for you. During late nights speeding through hyperspace when your fears and anxieties would close in on you like a vice, you often found yourself climbing out of your bunk. Your tired legs would carry you to the cockpit where Tech would inevitably be awake, working on a various project or tapping away at his data pad. At first, he was taken off guard when you curled up in the copilot’s chair and began asking him questions about what he was working on. However, it soon became somewhat of a ritual.

Tech would gladly explain in great detail all of the latest modifications that he’d made to the ship or his gear, or he would unload all of the information that he’d gathered about the next system that you were en route to. You would listen intently, nod along, and offer up additional questions where you could. Eventually, your eyes would grow heavy as the smooth tone of his voice lulled you to sleep. You would always wake up hours later alone in the cockpit, but with a blanket that you could never remember grabbing mysteriously draped over your body.

This connection not only strengthened your camaraderie on the battlefield but planted the seeds for a blossoming friendship. Your late night discussions soon became less one-sided as you began to divulge some of your own information about planets that you’d been to or species you’d encountered. You spent a lot of time talking about your life as a Jedi and the Order. Tech had never been as close to a Jedi as he was to you, which allowed him a new window into a world that he’d often wondered about but had lacked any points of research beyond republic archives. His genuine interest in you and all that you had to say was as refreshing as it was endearing. You’d never felt as truly seen as you did when you were around Tech.

You reached over and grabbed his hand, intertwining your fingers. He’d chosen to forego his gloves as well as the rest of his armor for the night, and you were thankful for the treat of being able to touch his warm skin without the impediment of added layers. Tech continued to tell you about a particular flower that hung from vines around the trees as a clearing began to come into view. You could vaguely make out the sound of running water and saw a mist that looked to be steam billowing out from behind the vegetation.

Tech led you out into the clearing, coming to a stop once you were a few feet from the tree line. Your eyes widened as you took in the sight before you. There was a rocky outcropping sloping down from a hill that it was too dark for you to make out the top of. The rocks themselves had been smoothed out by the insistent movement of a river that ran from the cliff overhead to tumble down into a waterfall, filling the awaiting pool below. The pool was a stunning shade of teal, and it was so clear that you could see the way that the larger rocks along the edges shrank and then eventually gave way to smooth sand. What was even more fascinating was the steam that was rising up slowly from the water’s surface.

You turned your head to find Tech to be already looking at you. His eyes never strayed from your face as a soft smile curled the corners of his lips. His thumb was rubbing idly across the knuckles of your hand as he answered your question without you even having to ask.

“It is a hot spring. I had heard that this planet was home to several natural hot springs. However, I hadn’t had a chance to study the holomaps enough to pinpoint where any of them were located. When Hunter and I were scouting our route to the base, we came upon this one.”

He gently tugged on your hand in order to bring you closer. His hands settled on your waist as you reached upward to wind your arms around his neck.

“I was thinking that you would be interested in seeing it for yourself and that it would also give us an opportunity for some time alone.” You smiled sweetly before stretching up on your tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek.

“It’s beautiful, Tech, thank you.” He smiled down at you as one of his hands left your waist to gently grasp your chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“Of course, cyare.”

He tilted your face to bring his lips to press against yours in a soft kiss. You quickly relaxed into him as your eyes fluttered closed and your body began to slump forward.

However, before you could become too consumed, he pulled back. Tech took a step out of the embrace, his hands dropping to his own waist. Nimble fingers undid his belt buckle and then untucked the hem of his shirt. You watched with rapt attention as the skin of his stomach, and then his chest was revealed, inch by glorious inch. Tech was all long lines and lean muscle. He was tall but built, both from genetic engineering and years of being conditioned for a life of nothing but combat. His thumbs hooked into the hem of his pants. As he began to shimmy them down over his thin hips, you absentmindedly licked your lips.

“Did you want to get in the hot spring with me?” Tech’s question snapped you out of your trance.

“Yes,” you hurriedly replied, becoming very aware of the fact that he was now nude and you still wore all of your clothing.

You hastily removed your layers, your limbs nearly vibrating with anticipation as you set your things down in a neat pile next to Tech’s.

Tech was already wading into the water by the time that you stood to your full height. His head swiveled around to glance at the rocks and the waterfall as he came to a stop in the middle of the spring. The water was just high enough to reach his chest, and you could see the steam already beginning to rise from his biceps and shoulders.

“Alright, it appears to be safe if you would like to join me now.”

Tech held out his hand as he met your eyes expectantly. You smiled lovingly down at him as you strode forward. It was very like Tech to do a once over of the pool before allowing you to enter with him.

A small moan involuntarily left your lips as you descended into the hot water. It immediately began to relax your muscles and soothe the tightness in your joints. Traveling in the Marauder virtually never afforded you luxuries like a bath. The fresher on board was cramped and utilitarian at best, with barely enough room for a functioning shower. In fact, the only places that you could even call relaxing would be your bunk or the pilots chairs. It made this small moment in time with Tech all the more rare and something to be cherished.

You slowly made your way into the pool, your eyes staying locked on Tech’s behind his goggles. That is, until you reached the middle and realized that the water was very much too deep for you to be able to stand. You yelped in surprise as you sunk before Tech quickly came to your rescue. He swiftly wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you flush against his torso. Your legs instinctively wrapped around his waist as your hands searched for a grip on his shoulders.

“Easy darling, I’ve got you.”

One of Tech’s hands gripped your thigh while the other came to rest on the small of your back. He made sure to secure you to him before walking you both back toward the edge of the spring near the waterfall. The contrast of the cool rock on your skin in comparison to the warmth of the water made you arc back toward him, pressing yourself impossibly closer.

“Thank you,” you murmured, meeting his eyes with a sheepish smile.

“Of course. You have once again proven your point.”

Your brow furrowed in question, and he smirked back at you.

“That even Jedi can be uncoordinated or, in your case, downright clumsy.”

You rolled your eyes, though the smile playing at your lips gave away your true feelings.

“To my credit, I was a bit distracted.”

Tech’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? And, what precisely had you so distracted?”

He asked the question with a curiosity to his tone, though the glimmer in his eyes told you that he knew exactly what had your mind so preoccupied.

“It couldn’t be that you planned an evening for us to be alone and in such a state of..” You paused, allowing your hands to trail down over the hard plains of his chest.

“Undress.”

Tech smiled softly down at you. The hand that was holding onto your thigh moved upward so one of his fingers could hook under your chin to lift your face.

“No,” He began, his gaze darting down from your eyes to your lips. “It couldn’t possibly be that.”

You were grinning up at him as he leaned forward to capture your lips. This kiss quickly became more heated than the previous as he backed you even further against the smooth rock at the edge of the spring. The hand that had been under your chin trailed down your neck, pausing to cup your breast.

When Tech began rolling your nipple between his fingers, you gasped, allowing him to slide his tongue into your mouth. The press of your damp bodies was electrifying, and you couldn’t help but crave more. Your hips rocked against Tech’s, feeling where he was beginning to harden brushing up against the inside of your thigh.

He groaned into your mouth as you felt his fingers trail down your waist to dig into the flesh of your hip. Spurned on by his reaction, you ground your hips against his once again. The tip of him caught against your clit, sending a jolt of pleasure through you. You broke away from the kiss to let out a breathy moan as the urgency to have him inside you began to take over.

However, before you could insist any further, Tech changed tactics. Without any warning, he moved his other hand down to grab onto your opposite hip before hoisting you upward and away from his waist. You yelped in surprise as he gingerly set you down on the edge of the pool, seating you so that you nearly hung off the edge with the warm water still caressing your knees.

“As good as that felt darling,” Tech began, gently spreading your legs wide so that he could step between them.

“I already had a plan laid out for us tonight. Starting with me being able to take my time to taste you properly. I apologize for not informing you earlier so that you could offer your input, although I didn't anticipate you having any objections.”

His fingertips ghosted along your sides, and you shivered as you leaned back on your hands. With the way that he looked now as he leaned over you, with his doting eyes and the moonlight glistening off of the dampness that had collected along his skin, you would give him virtually anything that he could possibly want.

Your breath came out shakier than you wanted as you whispered back, “I have no objections.”

Tech smirked down at you with a confidence that had goosebumps breaking out across your skin for an entirely different reason than being exposed to the night air.

“No, I didn’t think so.”

His lips were on yours once more in a searing kiss before descending down to your jaw. Your eyes fluttered closed, and your head fell backward over your shoulders to expose more of your neck to him. Tech’s lips left a hot trail down your neck to your chest. He took one of your nipples into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the stiff peak. You whined high in the back of your throat as your hips flexed of their own accord. The combination of the hot water with the cool night air and the way Tech’s warm tongue was moving down your body was already overwhelming your senses. The stimulation was making your head swim before he had even descended below your waist line.

You were panting as he crouched between your legs. Tech’s hands slid up the inside of your thighs to spread you even wider as be became eye level with your sex. He looked up to meet your eyes, then, one eyebrow raising in question.

“May I, my love?”

Ever the gentlemen, Tech would never do anything without your explicit assurance that you were on board. You smiled warmly down at him while eagerly nodding your consent. Without another word, he leaned in to lick a long strip up your center.

Your hands flew upward to grip his hair as you moaned. It felt like you were floating. Each time that you opened your eyes, you were met with the glittering stars overhead, or Tech’s rippling back muscles peaking out from beneath the water, flexing as he lost himself in you. Tech was thorough and well researched in all of his areas of expertise, including all the ways in which he pleasured your body. You swore that he knew you better than you knew yourself sometimes. He was well studied and ready to use all of his knowledge to achieve his desired outcome. It didn’t matter if he was stringing you through orgasm after orgasm or bringing you to the brink over and over again before deciding that he was satisfied enough for you to have your release. Tech would see his plan through every single time.

You felt the solid push of his palm against the small of your back as he drove you forward but also supported your weight so that you wouldn’t fall back. When the dexterous fingers of his other hand brushed against your entrance, your breath caught in your throat. His lips wrapped around your clit as he slowly pushed two inside of you, allowing you a brief moment to adjust before seating them down to the knuckle.

You were moaning in earnest now, unable to hold back as his tongue swirled around your clit and his fingers moved deliciously inside you. Your hips began to buck along with his rhythm, your head falling back again as your chest rose and fell with heaving breaths. Tech’s responding groan was felt rather than heard as it sent vibrations through your center. He wasn’t much of a talker when he was in deep like this, not wanting to take his mouth away from you or your taste for even a moment.

Tech curled his fingers upward, seeking out the soft, spongy spot in your walls. He always knew exactly where it was, although the high-pitched noise that you made was always a tell tale sign as well that he was in the right location. Your chin dipped as your eyes flew open. They were met with his honey brown eyes as they stared back at you, gauging your reaction as he picked up the pace. Though you couldn’t see his lips where they were buried in your inner lips, the crinkles by the sides of his goggles gave away his satisfied smirk.

You were nearly riding his face as your hips flexed in tandem with the quickening thrust of his fingers. The heat was pooling in your gut, building rapidly as your muscles began to clench and pull taut.

“Tech…I’m..”

You gasped, barely choking out a warning of your impending release. Tech moaned as he pumped his fingers into you and flicked his tongue over your clit even faster. He was hurtling you straight toward your end, no doubt feeling the way that you were clenching around him.

You moaned loudly to the stars and arched your back as your orgasm crashed over you like a tidal wave. He didn’t stop working you through your pleasure as your vision whited out, and the warmth of your pleasure bloomed in your gut, up your spine, raising goosebumps along your skin.

When he felt you stop clenching, he slowly removed his fingers from your heat, pressing soft kisses to your delicate inner thighs. You watched, enraptured, as he licked his lips, and then the two digits clean, sighing happily as he savored your taste.

“Credit for your thoughts?”

Tech was looking up at you with so much affection that it made your heart ache. His way of making you cum within an inch of your life before turning around and caring for you as though you were made of glass was dizzying and made you love him all the more. You reached your hand out to gently cup his jaw.

He huffed quietly, turning his head to press a kiss to the inside of your palm.

“I was just thinking about how even all the stars in the galaxy cannot rival your beauty. I could name every constellation, and yet none of them could ever compare.”

You rolled your eyes in mock annoyance but smiled down at him all the same.

“Tech, you flatter me.”

“Flattery would imply that it is not true darling.” He explained as he emerged from the water to stand to his full height before you.

“I have never seen anyone or anything more captivating than you are in moments like this, when I get to appreciate you the way that you deserve.”

His hand ghosted almost reverently along the curve of your jaw.

“I just hope that I have conveyed how much that I love this… that I love you.”

“I love you too, Tech,” you replied as you leaned in to press a featherlight kiss to his lips. “Our stolen moments have always meant the most to me, even more so now, truthfully, since the end of the war. Every time that we are in the heat of a new battle or a new mission, I find myself returning to these moments. It gives me something to look forward to, something to rush back to.”

The responding smile that he gave you was nothing short of dazzling, his eyes nearly sparkling under the light of the moon. You thought that you could see a blush coloring his cheeks, although you had no time to harp on it before he was swooping you up into his arms once again.

“Well,” He started, backing you both out toward the middle of the spring. “The night is still young, so let us make a few more memories for you to return to while we have the time.”

You laughed softly as your lips captured his, intent on pausing time with him for a few more hours.

#nsft #tbb tech x reader #tech x reader #bad batch tech x reader #bad batch x reader #tbb tech x you #tech tbb #tbb tech #fic rec #tbb fic rec #tech #star wars the clone wars #tech the bad batch #the bad batch smut #the bad batch #tbb smut

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tech-aficionado · 8 days ago

Text

Before And After [Part 1]

Tech x Jedi!reader

includes ... post-Order 66, reunion fic, somewhere during season 2ish, Jedi!reader, feelings confession, Pabu mention, major fluff, long fic, etc.

summary: the 99 found you in the Outer Rim systems, redistributing foods, and with no place left to go, you join them back to Pabu, but now you have to decide whether you're going to stay long term. can a certain clone convince you to stay?

Writer's Note: I just got back into Star Wars recently, and guess who likes Tech a slightly more than normal amount :nerd: (I wrote this in three days because I have no self-control)

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"Hunter," Omega cuts through their conversation, cautiously.

She glances over her shoulder, briefly, to the cockpit where you and Tech navigate the Marauder back to Pabu in silence. He steers through hyperdrive, stoically focused on the space-time continuum, while you monitor the maps and comms systems, occasionally leaning over to the driver's seat to flick a switch Tech missed - which Omega has never seen him miss before.

"What is it, kid?" Hunter calls back her attention.

Omega frowns, trying to figure out exactly how to phrase her question, but as she looks between Hunter and Wrecker, she knows they already have an answer.

"We picked up a Jedi," she recalls. And both clones nod with her, uncrossing their arms. Wrecker leans forward, as if her question is a secret - one that he knows and needs to share with someone for once. "And you know her."

"We fought beside her during the War, yes," Hunter answers.

"Tech said that you guys thought you lost her." She looks at Wrecker, hoping he might be more forthcoming with your backstory, knowing that Tech (and most of the time, Hunter too) is not particularly an open book, unless prompted. "What did he mean by that?" Omega hops onto one of the bunk beds, sitting above eye level with her brothers. "I know about -" she lowers her voice, "Order 66." Omega peeks at you and Tech again through her sentence. You and Tech push forward two separate gearshifts. Normally, his large hand grabs both from the middle, pushing forward with his other hand on the wheel, but Omega watches you two do it together, index fingers almost punching each other. "But why are we bringing her back to Pabu?"

Hunter and Wrecker stare at each other for another minute; the entire Marauder so silent now that Omega can hear clicks from the cockpit down the hall. She kicks her legs between her brothers, drawing their attention again.

"Did they -" She pauses, searching for the right words again. "Did they fall in love or something?"

Hunter and Wrecker stare at each other again, the only indication of a conversation being the slight quirk of Hunter's eyebrow and a tilt of Wrecker's head. The Bad Batch knew that it was illegal for Clones to fall in love during the Galactic Republic. They were bred as property - to live, fight, and die for the Republic.

But for Omega, she didn't ever consider it to be illegal, especially not with the end of the War, end of the Republic. You and Tech, logically, might not have been able to say anything back then, but this is now. And Omega saw the way you and Tech shook each other's arms during your reunion. It looked like more than a simple forearm shake, especially for someone like Tech who barely initiates physical contact. He initiated that one though, that handshake for longer than you shook Hunter or Wrecker's hands. But you also ... just stood there, looking at him as long as he was looking at you, until Wrecker said something that made you laugh and break contact.

"Do they know it's legal now?" she whispers.

"It's, uh, a bit more complicated than that, kid," Wrecker says, rubbing the back of his neck. His entire suit creaks with his movement, filling in the silence.

Omega huffs and cross her arms like Hunter. "You're not telling me something again."

"More like they haven't told each other," Wrecker admits.

"What?!"

"Shh!"

All three of them glance forward at you and Tech, still sitting in silence, though now, you sit at the opposite edge of your seats, poking around the hyperspace buttons, not looking at each other. Omega can see Tech's ear perk in the captain's seat, from the gap between the chair and walls.

"I'll go check on our ETA. This route is still new to us, and I want to make sure Tech remembers the way," Hunter says, walking over to you and Tech, leaving Wrecker to fill Omega in on the gossip. It was one of the few things keeping life interesting for the crew during the War - Echo and Rex almost started a betting pool, and Hunter mentally prepared for any contingency plans, should the Bad Batch lose a member (he just didn't think it would be Crosshair, then Echo; then again, he didn't think Order 66 would've been A Thing).

Omega fully turns to Wrecker, sitting on her knees, eyes widening expectantly.

And Wrecker matches her energy, as equally excited, finally able to share this big secret more publically with someone. All of his close brothers knew about you and Tech, but none of them could speak about without code, otherwise face being court martialed.

"It all started on Corellia," Wrecker began, situating criss-cross applesauce across from Omega in his own bunk.

"Just checking on you guys," Hunter announces himself a quarter of the way from the pilots' chairs, his arms raised in surrender.

You single-handedly had your blaster drawn toward them, back in that seedy marketplace - no doubt to the clones that you used the Force to point the barrel at Hunter first. Taking out the squadron leader was often a strategy employed during the War, no matter who called the shots, Jedi and Clones alike. And in your other hand, underneath your open, form-fitted jacket, was a knife the size their palms. The hilt looked unnatural in your fingers, wrapping peeking between your knuckles. Even if you managed to stun - or worse, kill - one of them, Tech would have disarmed the knife you'd definitely stolen.

Evidently, you didn't trust them.

And none of them blamed you, lowering their weapons and showing off the scars on the sides of their heads where the biochips had been removed. Hunter was the first to tell you about it, but you didn't give into that trust until after Tech redirected you both to the Marauder where Omega and Wrecker waited. The kid helped you trust them a bit more - Hunter didn't know how much more though, even with Tech glued to your side, hence why he defaults to surrender in your presence.

"Take over copilot," Tech instructs monotonously, tugging a gearshift closer to himself, eyes unwavering from the window.

Hunter looks at you for confirmation, as if you ask for the reprieve through Tech, but you say nothing and you don't move.

"I only came to ask for an ETA," Hunter reiterates, slowly turning to his brother.

Tech's jaw squares and his hands tighten needlessly on the wheel (autopilot was turned on; Hunter just didn't know for how long). Hunter turns back to you, assessing the situation now. Your shoulders match Tech's jaw - squared and vigilant, but your eyes nearly fall into your cheeks, long shadows drawing a frown bellow the hollows.

You're still on alert in their presence.

Hunter guesses that the brief recap wasn't enough - again, not that he blames you; not that any of them blame you. They really only told you about the biochips, Order 66, the current mission, and about the kid. Hunter figured that they could tell you more on the way back to Pabu, but you stayed beside Tech the entire time, casually falling into routine as the copilot without another word.

"According to my diagnosis," Tech asserts, reminding everyone about his acting-medic role with Echo gone (again, something for which you did not know the history), "she needs rest, and for now, a brace until we can get someone to also bandage her chest on Pabu."

Tech speaks as if you're not seated right next to him and as if he were commanding the crew, a low edge to his tone, not up for debate. Though, you fail to agree, simply pressing two more buttons while Tech maps out your treatment plan, as if it were not meant to be implemented right now or for you.

"I'm fine," you say, short and nonchalant to both of them but mostly Hunter.

Neither of them, however, miss the way you hunch forward, using your small satchel to keep you sitting up. Tech stares at you from the corner of his eyes, and Hunter outright watches you, skepticism written across his face.

"We will be entering orbit in 20 minutes. Landing in 50," Tech notifies the cockpit, briefly speaking the announcement into the intercom so that Wrecker and Omega know to brace for impact. He sits back in the captain's chair, tightening his voice, "It would be unwise for an unprotected injury to face such gravitational force for that length of time."

"I am staying here," you assert, half panting by the end of your sentence. You lock yourself into the copilot's seat, buckling into the two-strap seatbelt, the lock ending the conversation.

"Okay," Hunter offers, having contributed nothing to the conversation but his presence. He takes a seat near the cannon controls behind Tech, to give you a visual of himself and him a visual of you.

In true Jedi fashion, you do not acknowledge him.

Once the ship docks, Omega, Wrecker, and Hunter clear the hull, shoving their latest haul into the plaza of the Pabu Island.

Omega objected at first, not exactly quietly, then Wrecker pushed her outside the ship. Hunter also followed, wordlessly and slowly, stopping at the door to see you and Tech interact. Neither of you unbuckled or removed your hands from the system controls. So, he sighed and left, closing the exit behind him.

Tech is the first to stand, immediately crossing to the singular storage cabinet in this cockpit - which happened to be behind your chair. You unbuckle as soon as he leaves your sight, holding your satchel tightly. Tech doesn't miss the way you grunt, hitting your head against the headrest.

"You need not stand for this," he says, sitting with you again.

More gently than he was in front of his brothers (and Omega), Tech holds your wrist and binds you into the brace. He holds your hand palm-side up, making sure the metal plate curves centered against your wrist.

"This will stabilize your wrist," he informs, tightening the third and final Velcro strap down your arm. He never speaks harshly directly to you, you realised before the Battles on Geonosis. Around you, yes, obviously, and sometimes in absolutes, but never directly or maliciously.

You turn your hand into his, the pads of your fingers latching loosely onto the heel of his palm. Your own palm arches where the metal rod is thickest, as if the two of you hold a small ball together.

"The brace is flexible enough for you to move your entire arm without aggravating your wrist. It will redistribute strain toward your surrounding muscles. If you feel further inflammation, ice should be applied on the area for no longer than 20 minutes. And use a towel to prevent direct contact of the ice with your skin."

You nod wordlessly, already knowing how a brace works from your time as a war commander, still staring at your hand in his. He hasn't removed it yet.

It reminds you of a marksman training remote like the ones used by Initiates at the Jedi Temples on Coruscant. You remember training with those remotes while practicing for the Trials. Tech used to interrupt your training sessions to shoot stun rays at you more practically - a helpful lesson at the end of the war as you dodged the Clone attacks under Order 66. They targeted the Jedi Masters first, en masse, to neutralize the largest threat, then hunted down their Padawans - like you.

"Tech," you call his name softly, with more emotion than a Jedi was usually afforded. But the Order is not here anymore; the Jedi are no longer here anymore. And your fatigue catches up with you. "Are you sure - Am I -" You inhale, blinking slowly before looking at him; he was already staring at your face. "Was it really a biochip?"

"Yes," Tech answers quickly, flatly in his usual cadence. He turns to the side, displaying a faded but protruding scar. "We had our chips removed roughly eight months ago. Wrecker was experiencing migraines, and Rex informed us -"

"Rex is alive?"

Tech blinks at you. Jedi and Clones severed communications after Order 66, he theorizes despite zero contact with another Force-sensitive user recently. There must be so much you do not know, and him too.

"Imperial records declared Captain Rex killed in action, yes, but he survived," Tech informs you. "And he helped us remove our biochips before we complied with ..." Your fingers twitch across his palm, and he sees your eyes flash, so he euphemises, "with that command. Wrecker was experiencing headaches and attacked Omega, showing us that we were not immune, regardless of our genetic mutations. Captain Rex led us to an abandoned Venator on Bracca where an adequate medbay could successfully remove our inhibitor chips, which were the cause for ... the incident."

"Our?"

Your eyes nearly pop out of your head, glassy pupils ready to pop if you leaned forward any more.

Here, Tech takes into account your entire demeanor, recounting the dark circles under your eyes and the deep hollows in your cheeks, as well as the burnt injury on your torso.

"We should get you to the medbay in our quarters, then the team and I will recap you on the status of the Clones," Tech declares. You almost fight back, but a yawn tears through your body and you groan with the aftershocks. "Come." He slides his hand further down your arm, raising you to your feet.

Tech instantly falls under your arm, nearly snapping his body in half to match your height. Then, he guides you out the ship, one step at a time.

"I brought some food. You looked hungry back on the ship."

It's been a couple hours since you docked, and when Omega saw the med staff leave the room, she decided to bring you a tray of fruit and bread - as a peace offering. Hunter said you were scared when they found you in the markets. And despite your best efforts to hide it, you reminded her of Gungi, the Wookie who the crew saved on one of her first missions. She pressed both Hunter and Wrecker for more information about you and why Tech, out of all of them, stayed with you. They gave her as many details about you and the former Jedi Order as they knew - which could be summarized in one sentence: Tech illegally fell in love with you, a Jedi, during the War, and he hasn't said anything about it, ever.

Omega hoped that these last few hours before sundown gave Tech a chance to confess, but the further she walks into the room, the more she feels the distance between the two of you. She places the tray on the empty nightstand and stands by your bedside in awkward silence, glancing from Tech leaning on the wall behind her to you sitting hunched over a pillow on the bed.

"Thanks," you smile at her. "Omega, right?" Omega nods, smiling back brighter, even though your tone indicates that you already knew who she is. "Tech told me a bit about you." You nod in his direction. "He was just catching me up on the status of Clones after ..." Your smile falters but doesn't fall. "After the War."

"I didn't see the War," Omega discloses, looking at the floor regretfully as if she could've done something to stop the outcome. "But my brothers are teaching me about it, and I've met other survivors. We met a Jedi Wookie survivor on one of my first missions before we settled here on Pabu."

"Pabu, right," you say slowly, swallowing a peeled rambutan. You glance at Tech again to confirm Omega's story, and he nods once, affirmatively. You both discussed the mythical Hidden Path, before Tech told you more about this planet and its safety net from the Empire and its Inquisitors, assuaging your anxieties. "Are there ... Are there other Jedi here too?" It's been months since you last meditated on The Force, not bothering to try sensing other Jedi for fear of being discovered, but maybe ... if the Wookie ...

"No," Omega answers, unable to give you something more than food again. "Not that we know. We haven't met any other Jedi either. I've just met the one. Well, now two," she gestures to you.

You put the rambutan shell back on the tray and push your satchel, with your dismantled lightsaber, behind your hip.

"Right, and I suppose Hunter told you about me," you eye her warily. If it wasn't the clones, then she heard it from a third source, meaning that someone is looking for you. It's not like you've been exactly silent the last year. You haven't drawn your saber since you found temporary refuge on a desert planet, but you have been redistributing Empire rations back to the people. Maybe someone was collecting intel on you as a rebel and pieced together -

"Yeah," Omega confirms, interrupting your thoughts. You blink at her, slowly registering what her confirmation means: no one is after you. "Hunter and Wrecker told me they knew you from the War. Wrecker said you bumped into Tech outside a meeting. He said that Tech broke your holopad," Omega laughs.

You smile with her and take a slice of bread. "Did he also tell you that Tech also stepped on my holopad and snapped it in half?"

Omega perches herself on the chair. "No! He just said that Tech broke it."

You smile at the clone behind the kid and his eyes briefly reflect your energy, giving you the okay to tell this story.

"I was supposed to arrive fifteen minutes early to meet one of the generals, and Tech ran into me around a corner."

"I couldn't have seen you," Tech speaks for the first time. Omega jumps. She looks over her shoulder at him while he continues, although she can't imagine a time when Tech wasn't looking down at some scanner. "I was following my brothers to a briefing room for our next mission. You were around the corner and half my height."

You wave him off. "Excuses. I was your commanding officer. You should have anticipated me," you joke.

"No, she wasn't," Tech tells Omega, rolling his eyes. "We were never assigned to the same battalion."

Omega tilts her head to the side, looking at Tech. "Then how did you fall -" She catches the warning in his jaw and rephrases carefully, turning back to you, "How did you get so close with my brothers?"

"My master," you start brightly, then realize who you were talking about and frown. "I was always at the Temples or in briefing rooms where 99 would get their missions, and I guess," you sigh at Tech, "we stuck together."

"So," Omega draws out, "that's it? You just saw each other a lot?"

You laugh. "We did fight on the same battlefield. We just had separate missions."

Tech crosses the room and sits on the foot of your bed. "You were one of the few Jedi who ate with us in the same mess hall."

You smile at him, sinking into your pillow again, half-eaten starfruit now resting on your thigh. "I was one of a few Jedi on the battlefield with you in the first place. The Council only assigned three or five of us at a time." You put the starfruit in an empty bowl on the nightstand and hug the pillow tighter.

Omega watches Tech watch you fiddle with your hands, none of you saying anything for a moment until Tech stands up.

"We should let you get some sleep," he declares, already guiding Omega out the door. "The medical droid agreed; rest will replenish your body. It will also give you time for the salve to heal your ribcage without straining your bones."

Before Omega can confront Tech about this new revelation (that he is in love with you), he is already climbing up the stairs, like a true assassin under the mask of night, to his quarters.

"What are you doing?"

Omega jumps at Wrecker's voice and turns around to find two of her brothers. Wrecker catches her eye first, standing tall and broader than Hunter, eyes a bit more mischievous too. Meanwhile, Hunter just has his arms crossed, face observant as ever, as if he already knew what Omega had been up to.

"Nothing," she answers to Hunter, even though Wrecker asked.

"What are they doing?" Hunter asks, nodding to the Marauder, where you and Tech fix some of the wiring underneath a collapsed wing that had been shot during a previous mission. Hunter isn't literally asking what you two are doing. He knows.

"They've been doing this all morning," Omega answers.

It has been five rotations since you arrived to Pabu, none of the clones taking up another mission while you recover (they hadn't needed credits so badly anymore without Cid). Tech stayed within your vicinity at all times, often explaining his role as acting-medic while the actual staff was busy. He reiterated that title enough for you to also explain his presence the same way. And now, you follow Tech's schedule - breakfast, ship repairs, lunch, training, dinner. It's just that this was the first time Omega stalked you guys.

"So they're fixing the ship," Wrecker comments, pointing in your direction loudly. No doubt to Omega that you heard and compromised her position. She face palms, standing up tall. "Big deal. I have some weapons onboard that need modifications too. We do this everyday. We've seen them do this before."

Before the Order, Omega notes. All of them have memories with you from before the Order, and Hunter and Wrecker have been open about them, but their stories feel incomplete to Omega. Like, how did you get close with Tech after he broke your holopad? None of them confirmed whether he fixed it, or you got a new one. Or why does a Jedi know how to fix ships, evidently on par with Tech for the things you do fix? He doesn't even need to say which tools he wants before you're handing off the correct one. Actually, Omega isn't sure you've said a word to each other the last 20 minutes that she has been observing you two.

"Have you always had this ship?" she asks, lips pursed.

"It's been in our command since our formation," Hunter tells her. "Even before ... before Echo joined us."

Omega nods solemnly. So, you have known the 99 for ... forever, before she was an enucleated egg - because that's the word everyone uses when talking about you: before. It didn't occur to Omega that the clones actually acted on their emotions. All the brothers she met were loyal and duty-bound. She fought with Tech about Echo's departure and cried to Hunter about Crosshair's betrayals. Even the clones beside Senator Chuci had no concept of after the War or beyond their military conscription.

A soft yelp tears through the empty garage, followed immediately by a metallic thud, pulling all three of their attentions to you and Tech.

"I told you to keep on the brace," Tech scolds, his tongue clicking loudly.

With his back turned to the crew, Omega can only see a glimpse of your bare wrist between the poles as Tech guides you under the flashlight on his visor. Your face is equally hidden by a pole, perfectly too as if it were the size of your head. She can't see how you react to him - hopefully not a lot, given the way Tech gently wraps you arm with a loose bandage and thin metal rod. His eyebrows hidden by his visor too, but Omega imagines them perpetually furrowed in concentration, even more so now.

"The medic said I have to build strength," you retort softly. Omega has to strain her ears to hear you, nearly falling over a cargo crate. "I can't exactly do that, lifting planks twice Wrecker's size on lower Pabu." Tech gives you back your wrist, and you cradle it against your chest. "Unless you think rebuilding homes is better suited for my skills?"

"No," Tech answers flatly, a tone that Omega is accustomed to receiving. "I suppose you are more useful transporting supplies than you are gathering them. We have grav-carts for - What?"

"You agree with me," you marvel.

"Well, yes." Omega sees Tech adjust his visor to his forehead. "You gave a sufficient argument, and I changed my stance based on new information. This not the first time."

"You disagreed with me on Yalbec Prime."

"Yalbe - You were in imminent danger on Yalbec Prime. I initiated our best contingency plan to save both my squad and your battalion, as well as the 3-32 Legion."

"You were in more imminent danger than I or any of my fellow Padawans," you retort, voice still soft. There was no debate, to Omega, that either of you are arguing. You're simply recounting another battle she had not fought, or known.

"I hardly think mating constitutes as a threat."

Omega turns to her brothers. "What happened on Yalbec Prime?"

"Uh," Wrecker starts, rubbing the back of his neck.

"The Galactic Republic liberated Anaxes from Separatist control," Hunter answers without question, in a vague, not entirely accurate record. "Come," he gestures to both of them. "Tech will take you flying later. Let them finish repairing the ship before your lessons. We should help rebuild lower Pabu while a man down."

"But -"

"Now, Omega."

"Fine," she huffs, walking ahead of her brothers.

She just wanted to know more about them, about the Republic when she had more brothers, about you. It's not like Tech was forthcoming about non-technical data or even aware of his feelings. And with them staying on Pabu indefinitely, maybe Omega can help them settle.'

Omega flashes a glance back at you and Tech and accidentally meets both your eyes. She blushes deeply and runs down to the villages to help with building houses again.

"Curious one, she is," you comment about Omega.

You sit inside the Marauder cockpit with Tech now. He is standing, though, making adjustments to the pilot's seat for when he takes Omega on a driving lesson.

"Yes," he confirms, distracted by the addition of a booster seat. "Omega grew up on Kamino with little contact outside Nala Se. It is reasonable to assume she is curious about the galaxy. We have been teaching her surveillance skills, and as we fly through the Empire, she becomes more curious about why things are they way they are." He sighs, leaning against your chair. "The only history we can explain is about the War. It's not like we were bred for anything else."

You slide your legs off the chair and put a hand over where his rest on the shoulder pad.

"Does this not count as 'anything else'?"

"I'm not sure I understand to what you are referring," he enunciates, pulling out just one of his hands to push up his glasses.

Your face falls slightly again, but you pick up your smile when he starts analyzing you.

"This," you repeat, gesturing to the vessel with your injured hand. "Tech, you're raising a kid and building a community. You've settled on this planet and made a new life for yourself."

"While true facts to some extent," he acknowledges, turning his hand palm-side up to hold yours more tightly now, "Hunter, Wrecker, Omega, and I still venture into the galaxy in search of our brothers and on our own mercenary missions. It is not entirely correct that we - I have made a new life when we still operate as a Clone unit."

"Mmhmm," you hum and squeeze his hand. "Even if half-correct, I am still correct."

Tech stands there, holding your hand in deeper meaning than when they first found you.

"Would you -" He interrupts the comfortable silence, and your eyes dilate at him. "Would you like to join me for Omega's flying lessons this afternoon?"

You open your mouth, but he continues before you can even squeak. And all you can do is smile at him, waiting with the patience of a Jedi for him to finish.

"I understand it might not be wise to fly with a ... novice pilot," he gives you a chance to decline politely, "given that your injuries's still pertinent." Tech gestures, with your intertwined hands, at your ribcage, then at your wrist. "And while not particularly optimal condition for battle or for stealth mission, perhaps your injuries could ... sustain ... a single flying lesson with Omega ... and me," Tech trails off.

"Excellent argument," you agree, as you initially would have without debate. "Will we go after lunch?"

"I would not suggest having a full stomach while Omega drives," he says flatly. But he smiles when you laugh.

"It's been a long time since I've had a full stomach," you admit.

"Same," Tech corroborates. "Although, it may become more commonplace, the longer we stay here, on Pabu."

"We?"

"Yes." Tech pulls out a tablet. "I marked the date and time when Wrecker first had a full stomach on this planet." He shoves the screen at your face, and you grab his hand with both of yours, slowly peeling it backward.

That wasn't what you meant.

"You haven't been here for as many rotations as I thought," you admit, then place the tablet between your thighs. "Was that your first night?"

"Yes." Tech pushes his glasses up his nose again. They keep falling, the longer he looks down at you. "The island experienced a sea surge that night, too, but thankfully no one was harmed. We got everyone on the high ground before the lower level flooded. It's what we're rebuilding now." Tech looks toward the exit. "Hunter, Wrecker, and Omega should be down there right now." He looks back at you, and you start running your thumb across the heel of his palm. "Omega has a friend - Lyana, daughter of the mayor. You met them at your first feast."

You hum again, recalling the same events. "Mayor Shep and his daughter Lyana." You cast a small glance at Tech, frowning lightly but not malicious. "And the pirate."

"Phee."

"Phee," you repeat, nodding slowly, trying to place the way he says her name but he speaks too quickly.

"She calls herself a 'liberator of ancient relics'," Tech recites, then grows more serious, though he doesn't understand why. "She led us here after our agreement with Cid no longer proved mutually beneficial."

You nod again. "The Trandoshan from Ord Mantell."

You'd frequented the Mid RIm Territories during the War, especially when accompanying General Kenobi to the Numidian System, but you rarely touched based in the Bright-Jewel System where Ord Mantell is located. You had no reason by yourself, as a Padawan, barely making it to a Knight in the waning years of the Republic, because Ord Mantell eventually came to house crime syndicates. All your informants were in deeper lower levels of the Galactic Republic systems, and they were few. Not everyone was as connected as the Generals on the High Council - hence why you can't find the Hidden Path now, or any other Jedi. Even, the 99 were the ones to find you this time.

"The pirate," you circle back.

"Phee," Tech corrects.

"Phee," you say slowly, mimicking his nonchalance, watching him closely. He hasn't let go of your hand yet, and his stance looks uncomfortable as he tries to match your height, though he says nothing. "Is there a reason you chose to settle on her homeworld?"

Tech adjusts his glasses again. "We were informed that this planet has minimal resources for the Empire to mine, making it highly unlikely for them to search here." He takes note of your frown. "Plus, the Mayor told Hunter it is a good place to raise a child, and we have not been proven wrong."

"I see."

"Was that ... not a satisfactory answer?"

"What do you mean?"

Tech frowns deeper than you now, and he searches your eyes. "What do you mean?" He squeezes your hand tightly.

And you wince. "Tech, you're hurting me."

He lets go instantaneously and massages your hand with both of his. "I'm," he sighs, already forgetting the conversation. "I'm sorry. I know that I am not as strong as Wrecker, but I forget my own strength sometimes."

You place your injured hand on top of your hands, sandwiching his between your palms.

"It's okay, Tech," you smile. "Should we get lunch?"

Tech nods and guides you out the ship again, gently holding your uninjured hand.

At lunch, Tech wordlessly sticks to your side.

The Mayor set up a buffet-style feast for his constituents as a reward for everyone's community service. You told them that you can hunt some fish because you haven't exactly been a stellar community member while injured, but the Mayor assured you that the food was for everyone, especially the sick and injured. You'd have continued arguing, if Tech hadn't guided you down the table for lunch, leading you by the elbow.

His presence filled up the entire space, moving behind you as an extension of your shadow. Where you go, he goes, not even following because he correctly anticipates each of your moves.

You neglect most of the protein, filling a plate full of vegetables you hadn't seen since before the War. Tech doesn't copy you. Instead, he takes the protein - two fish and a breast - with a cup of vegetables, to ward off scurvy. His meal plan, lacking variety, made it easier to follow you down the table, picking a wide variety of colorful foods.

"Fish is a lean protein-rich food that can stimulate your inflammatory immune response," Tech comments on your selection, scanning the vegetables with his goggles. "It would be best to minimize muscle atrophy with protein."

"Mhmm, what an interesting concept," you agree, grabbing a starfruit the size of your palm. You hold it up to him, smiling with all your teeth, and he smiles back at you. "These have high levels of antioxidants that can also help during recovery," you tell him, putting the fruit on his plate and grabbing another one for yourself - one slightly bigger. "Good thing, I am halfway recovered now."

"Halfway, not completely," Tech points out and adds a fish belly to your plate, separating it from the vegetables by a blade of lettuce. "According to the med droids' scan, you still have at least another six rotations until your ribs set in their proper place."

You roll your eyes and accept it.

"Are there things you don't know?" you ask rhetorically and slip to the table with the rest of the 99 and Omega.

"I know most things, yes," Tech denies. "And I know how to apply the most relevant information to our situation. It is rare that I or my scanner do not know anything."

You roll your eyes again and sit next to Wrecker, Tech following on your other side with Hunter. The table is circular, giving you a view of all the clones and Lyana.

"Hi," you wave at the children and introduce yourself.

"Hi," they wave back.

"I'm Lyana," Omega's friend returns. "I'm not sure if you remember me. We met at your first feast."

You nod. "Your aunt is the pirate, Phee, and your dad is Mayor Shep. He mentioned you the few times I've talked with him."

Mayor Shep made a habit to check on you in the mornings along with his other constituents. He always makes sure to chat with you for a couple minutes until moving onto the next citizen - no doubt for your comfort. It seems everyone noticed how on edge you were the first couple rotations of your stay.

"She's going to join us for your flying lesson after this," Tech tells Omega between bites. You didn't realise he had been carrying on his own conversation at the table.

"Really?!" Omega turns to you, practically bouncing in her chair.

You nod, munching on a carrot. They're good for digestion - and potential nausea. Tech did say that Omega is still a novice pilot, not that your skills are much better. But you've acclimated to motion sickness in the latter half of your life so far.

"I think it's a good way to see more of the planet and the island," you explain, swallowing the last bite of your carrot. "And I could offer some insight to intraplanetary flying, I think."

"Does that mean you're staying?" Lyana asks hopefully. "Here?"

"Or ... with us?" Omega adds.

You pause mid-bite, chopped up salmon halfway to your mouth, and look at the kids. Tech tenses by your side. He's an unavoidable wall between you and them, your chairs pushed so closely together that your arm rests are basically one. One that Tech occupies, keeping you close.

"I - I haven't decided anything." Both girls sink into their seats, so you add, "Yet. I haven't decided anything yet."

"It is unwise," Tech comments, using his favorite word, "to make a major life decision while injured."

"I'm halfway healed," you remind him.

"Halfway is not completely."

You frown and grumble at your plate.

The girls turn to each other, whispering a conversation only people with enhanced senses can hear. People like the three clones at your table, specifically Hunter and Tech who flank their sides. You could hear them too, if you concentrated enough, but it has been months, if not a year, since you were last in tune with the Force. Severing your ties to it was your best chance at survival, until now. And even now, you are unsure about your near-future, much less your distant future, especially with Tech - the 99 back in your life.

You'd been unsure of your future during the then-endless War, too, like when you met Tech, but after speaking with some of the Grand Masters, you figured that your feelings were the normal doubt that every Padawan and Jedi has before committing themselves to the Order, forever. And it was illegal for Clones to fall in love, according to Galactic Republic rules. You thought the Kaminoans might have made them incapable of such humanoid emotions. Maybe you even hoped they did - to make your choice easier, logical, fitting of a Jedi Master.

There were rumors, of course. Rumors that the Clones would whisper about in the mess halls when you sat with 99. Rumors about deserters who formed families. But you knew that if you saw one, you'd have to turn them into the council. It was in your job description as a commander for the Galactic Republic, and as a Jedi Padawan for the Jedi Council. So, none of them could be forthcoming with the rumors, not even as fairytales, not even as conversation with the 99 or your battalion, the 106th.

Though, you consider, taking another bite of the salmon Tech put on your plate, they could tell you about the rumors now that it doesn't matter, now that you are no longer a mandatory reporter. It could force Tech to read between the lines, maybe make one or two comparisons to connect your dots.

"Would," you interrupt everyone's conversations, mental or verbal, and they all turn to you, eerily attentive, especially Omega. You glance at Tech for a second, then look directly at the girls. "Would you both be okay if I stayed here, on Pabu, for awhile?"

They say nothing, just stare at you with wide eyes.

"It might not be forever, I don't know yet," you explain slowly, cautiously, tossing a small glance at Wrecker and Hunter across from you then at Tech who remains stiff at your side. "But if you're okay with that," you say pointedly to Omega, who walks behind Tech until she reaches your chair.

"You're going to stay?" she asks, asking to cement her loyalty to you. "With us?"

You nod once. "Just for the time bein -"

Omega launches herself at you, hugging you around the neck.

You grunt, twisting your body to face her before she snaps your sensitive ribs in two, and pat her back, as you have seen parents do with children. You look at Tech and find him already staring at you with his regularly unreadable face.

"Here."

Tech lifts your chin and points your face to the left, baring your neck at him so that he can place an intradermal anti-motion sickness patch. It's longer lasting than an injection, he told you, and you'll need it for the duration of Omega's training.

He throws the trash in a waste bin on the opposite side of the Marauder's medbay, then crosses over to the scanners, to check your injuries once more. A safety inspection, he said.

"Tech," you call his name softly. He hasn't said anything of value to you since you told Omega that you might stay on Pabu. It's only logical, you thought he might say, because the Empire is hunting Jedis. But he hasn't acknowledged your plans.

"You haven't said anything," you tell him.

"I just informed you of the med patch," he retorts, swiping to the scan of your vitals.

"You haven't said anything about my arrangements."

"Your quarters here on Pabu are certainly comparable to wherever you'd been living in that marketplace." He hooks the scanner back on its stand and rifles through a medicine cabinet.

"That's not what I meant."

Tech turns around, leaning on the cabinet now, and picks through a jar of bandage scraps.

"What did you mean?" He says it distractedly, in line with his mastery over multitasking,

"Tech, I want to stay -"

"Excellent," he interrupts, taking your hand to change out your brace for a lighter-weight compression band. "Stay still."

"Tech," you stress his name, ducking your head to block the visual of your wrist.

And he finally looks at you.

"What?"

He says that so earnestly, as if you could be talking about literally anything.

You grab one of his hands, holding it between both of yours, now bare without the brace, waiting for him to bandage you up.

"Tech," you say his name again. "I'm -" You exhale loudly in the small space of the room. "Would you be okay if I stayed here ... with - with you... r crew?"

Tech stares at you for a moment, considering your words. "Have you spoken with Hunter?"

"No, I -"

"It would be wise to speak with Hunter before making this decision, seeing as he leads the team."

"Tech."

He stares at you, and you sit up straighter, slowly pulling the words from your teeth.

"I wouldn't ask Hunter without asking you first."

"Why does my opinion matter?" He tilts his head to the side, pretty brown eyes narrowing slightly. "It is logical that you stay on Pabu, far from the Empire's Inquisitors. I only suggest that you not make long term decisions while injured. Your current condition can influence your likelihood to -"

"Tech, I love you."

"- to remain hidden or venture into battle." He pushes his glasses higher up his nose. "You what?"

"I love you," you say with more affirmation. "I have since the War." You pull your hands back into your lap, pushing Tech back a step. "I wouldn't ask Hunter without your permission, because I love you. Your comfort is most pertinent. If my presence disrupts you, then I disrupt the team and Hunter wouldn't allow me with you anyway."

Tech takes your hand again. He places two med patches on either side of your wrist, then tightly winds a bandage for compression up your hand.

"I thought it was obvious," you continue, although Tech doesn't release your hand. "I thought maybe ..."

You frown at the ground and pull your hand out of his grasp, but he moves just as quickly, placing his palms on your face, making you look at him.

"Tech," you say his name slowly, the single syllable elongating into three, your eyes walking closer to his - to really gauge where he stands.

All he says is your name.

He breathes your name, heavily accented now by Mando'a. Then, he kisses you, as equally slow and softly, as if beginning a research experiment. And when he pulls away, he mumbles a Mandalorian word - one that you have heard before, during the War, but did not understand, since it was not a strict tactical word. Jedi were only given minimal language instructions to communicate military strategies with a variety of species, not kiss them.

"What does that mean?" you ask him, drawing in a large breath and holding it in your throat.

"Cyar'ika," Tech repeats, stroking your face. "It comes from the word cyare, meaning beloved. It .. It is a term of endearment," he clarifies, "for loved ones."

And you smile at him. He used a term of endearment on you.

"So you'll be okay if I stay with the 99?"

Tech nods. "I wouldn't make definite plans -"

"While injured, I know," you finish for him, rolling your eyes. "But I am halfway healed."

"Halfway is not completely," Tech reminds you. His hand slips behind your neck, giving you support while you look up at him. "But, uh, no, I was going to say that I wouldn't make definite plans before you experience Omega's piloting skills."

You tilt your head to the side, then when you get the joke, you laugh. But your laugh is short lived as he kisses you again, pressing you toward the medical bed.

"I love you, too," Tech breaks away, his forehead resting on yours, "In case that wasn't clear. I have also loved you since the War."

>> Part Two >>

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