#because AAAAAAAAAAAAAANGST

[breakfastteatime]

The final fic request, 'Campfire', goes to @flammabel!

After a lot of arguing with himself, Cal calls the Mantis and announces he won’t be making it back to the ship tonight. The landing pad is too far in the encroaching dark and he knows a snowcloud when it’s threatening to dump a blizzard on his head. Cere’s not happy, Greez even less so, but Cal promises he’ll be careful. Besides, he’s got BD-1 with him, and the two of them are proving unstoppable so far.

“Please tell me you’ve at least got a few ration bars to get you through the night,” Greez says.

Cal checks his supplies and sets Greez’s mind at ease. “Three, including the muja fruit one.”

“That’ll do,” Greez replies.

Cere’s on him a second later. “What about where you’re taking shelter? Are you out of sight? Can you keep warm?”

Zeffo’s definitely chillier than Bracca, but Cal’s found himself a nice little cave to hide in not far from the tomb. BD-1 helped him build a fire that will keep him warm without the smoke suffocating him or giving away his position. “I’m fine, Cere. Promise. No one’s gonna find me here.”

“Be careful and stay alert,” she says. “If you need to sleep, set up some kind of early warning system that will wake you up.”

Cal looks to BD-1, who proudly shows off his most obnoxious alert sound. “We’ve got it covered, Cere.”

“Alright. Stay safe. The weather’s not looking great overnight, so keep that fire burning.”

Glancing out of the cave’s small opening, Cal can already see snow starting to fall. “At least the stormtroopers won’t be searching for me.”

“There are plenty of other things that might seek shelter in a cave,” Cere points out. “Just call if you need anything.”

“Yeah, okay. Stay safe you two.”

“Same to you.”

Cere signs off. Cal settles himself as best he can, treating himself to the muja fruit ration bar. He stares into the flames, mind drifting with the Force. The fire is a focal point, the Force exploding in its heat and light. If he let himself, Cal could lose himself in its energy and motion.

If he did…

If he could…

He’d remembered a key lesson today, but the deeper he went into the Force…

Cal pulls back, and the fire becomes nothing more than heat, light and the crackle of wood. Outside, the snowfall becomes the promised blizzard, snow tearing through the wind. BD-1 checks that he’s warm enough and Cal promises that he is. “Don’t worry,” he tells his friend. “I had to sleep on old, wrecked ships in worse weather than this. We worked triple shifts sometimes so there was no point leaving. This is practically a luxury hotel.”

For some reason, BD-1 does not seem to appreciate this. He hurries over to Cal and tells him to get settled, get some sleep, so they can head out as soon as dawn rises and the storm settles.

“I’m okay, BD, really.”

BD-1, however, goes off about optimal sleeping conditions for organics, and Humans in particular. Cal laughs at that. He did his best on Bracca, but he probably hasn’t had ‘optimal’ anything since the purge.

“Thanks for looking out for me,” Cal says. He yawns. He is tired. Running all over Zeffo and fighting on top of that has really taken it out of him. He’s disappointed to not be spending the night on his bunk on the Mantis. It’ll just make getting there tomorrow even better.

Thinking of Bracca makes him think of Prauf, of nights aboard broken ships with a fire barrel to keep them warm and rain to soothe his wandering mind. They’d play sabacc, talk about everything and nothing, and tease Tabbers for being overly worried about being eaten by the Maw.

Pulling the hood of his poncho over his head, Cal closes his eyes before the tears can fall. He thinks of Prauf, thinks of his friend’s advice. Look at me now, Prauf. I’m out here living my life and finding my destiny, just like you said.

He’s crying before he can stop himself. BD-1’s there, wiggling his way into Cal’s chest and offering a gentle hum of warmth. Cal clings to him as the grief pours out. He wishes Prauf could be here too, safe aboard the Mantis, talking to Greez about how to keep the engines running smoother, meeting Cere and asking her all the questions he had about the Jedi. Just Prauf, safe and sound and away from Bracca at long, long last.

Eventually, the tide subsides. The crackle of the campfire fills Cal’s mind, pulling him down into an exhausted slumber. He sleeps deeply, waking at dawn to find the fire still crackling, BD-1 using his head to add the last of their wood to it. Outside, the snowstorm has settled back to a gentle drift. Cal reaches for his friend. “Thanks, BD.”

Wiggling under Cal’s hand, BD-1 promises he’ll always help. That nearly sets Cal off again until he reaches for the Force and lets it quiet and calm his emotions.

They stay until the campfire burns down to embers, and then Cal calls Cere and Greez, assures both he had a quiet night and promises to be back soon.jg

[harryforvogue]

2, 3, 37 ❤️

2. When did you start writing?

I started at 11!

3. What is your favorite thing to write?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaangst!

37. Have you ever written something you didn’t like but posted anyways?

Yes, only because it was heavily requested and I really didn’t want to let people down. It’s actually one of fics with the most notes on my page, and I only wrote it because people wanted me to. LOL i really don’t like that fic. i think it’s kinda obvious which one it is