#can I hear a yeehaw for platonic cuddles?

[showerthoughtsonly]

Subtlety Always Works (part II)

Fox x Therapist!reader

Synopsis: All you desire is to pry a little bit into your toughest patient’s mind. Perhaps if you enlisted just a little more brotherly love, you just might be able to crack him. Subtly, of course.

A/N: BLESS! I love the bond between all the clones. I’m always a slut for cuddles and familial love. I understand they’re supposed to be big, bad scary super-soldiers, but we were robbed of hugs during the show. Also, I may enjoy coffee a little bit too much, that may or may not have shown in this. Oopsie-daisies.

“Oh, great Maker, Thorn, I love you.” You gratefully allowed your forehead to collapse against Thorn’s shoulder pauldron as he handed a hot cup of caf to you. He had just arrived for his session and you were practically elated at the thought of an easy conversation. Honestly, Thorn might be your best friend at the moment. 

“Of course, baar’ur��ika. You’re more fun when you’re awake.” Thorn patted your head and sat on the other side of your desk, cheerfully spinning the desk chair from side to side.

“Mmm. Quick Q.” You gulped a bit of caf, and rapped your knuckles against your wooden desk. “What made you open up to me? What was my in, so to speak, with you?” You asked. After pondering the enigma that was Commander Fox for a little longer than what would have been considered healthy, you had come to the conclusion that you needed to establish a bonding point before delving into his psyche.

Thorn shrugged. “You seemed sweet from the first moment we met. You’re pretty damn authoritative for being so… not a soldier, but it wasn’t scary authoritative. It was kinda like… a guardian figure? I just felt like you would fistfight someone for me and I appreciate that.” He avoided your gaze and stared at the wall to the side for a few seconds too long. Your pale lavender walls couldn't be that interesting. 

“There’s something else.” You grinned, raising your eyebrows suggestively as you raised your caf back to your lips. “You got your dirty hands on some files, didn’t you?” The caf bloomed against your tongue, sharp and rich, and you nearly swooned in relief.

Thorn laughed. “Of course I did. I may have seen your little university speech on us and I may or may not have been taken from that moment on. The donuts you brought to our second meeting totally sweetened the deal, though.” His laughing increased in volume as he watched you furiously scribble down notes on a piece of spare flimsi.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up. I gotta get this down. Fox has been shutting me down at any attempt of even idle conversation. This may sound illegal, but what could I bribe him with?” You asked. The edge of your holopad cut into your thigh as you spoke, but you ignored it in favor of leaning closer to Thorn. Quickly, you brought your caf up for yet another sip, reveling in the way the flavor settled against your tongue and warmed its way down your throat.

“You can’t ask me to simultaneously shut up and answer a question.” Thorn teased and leaned back on the hind legs of his chair. He brought a hand up to the scruff he called facial hair and carefully stroked his chin in thought. 

“Well, he’s a little bit too obsessed with caf, so you could bribe him with that. All clones have a hereditary predisposition for a sweet tooth too, don’t let any of us tell you any different.” Thorn waggled his finger in your direction as he spoke, a giant grin plastered from ear to ear.

“Well, I don’t know if I should encourage his caf addiction. Those bags under his eyes were atrocious during the last session. I have half a mind to bribe him into sleeping during our sessions.” You answered, hypocritically sipping your own cup of caf.  ��Is there anything else that I could use?”

“I barely ever see that man off duty. Poor vod’s been run into the ground, honestly. Maker, I guess that’s another reason I was so happy to see you. Figured you could tell the Republic to lighten a bit of the load.” Thorn pressed a thumb into his forehead at this. You tilted your head in confusion. The war had ended. Its not like you had really been thoroughly debriefed on the schedules and habits of the men, but as far as you knew, wars ending generally meant a path to normalcy. The frontline soldiers had been given better leaves and there was currently a bill running for actual pay. It took a minute for the thought to circulate, but once it hit, it hit hard.

“Does the Coruscant Guard not get leave?” You asked, incredulous to the idea. Perhaps that was why you hadn’t be debrief on their schedules. It had taken you as a bit odd, but it wasn’t the first time people had been sensitive with security. Especially as the guard functioned similar to a police force. A high end, highly trained police force at that. 

But Thorn shook his head, eyes still just as hard as the rest of the soldiers had been when you had first met them. Maker above, it hurt your heart. The idea of not giving essential public service members leave or off time was ridiculously harmful physically, not to mention psychologically. Without consistent pay as well? They were nothing but overworked slaves at that point.

It took all of two seconds for your squeezing heart to pump out that fiery passion that Thorn had mentioned previously. It filled you from the tip of your nose to your toes and you had to fight to think straight.

“Thorn. Commander Thorn. You mean to tell me that you do not get days off… that you do not receive consistent pay beyond donations… and that you do not have leave? Despite watching over some of the most influential beings on the busiest planet in the Republic?” You asked, your tone reaching that dangerous level that only implies a later hellraising upon others responsible. It had been a while since you seriously considered marching straight into the senate to demand something, but that urge was currently hitting you harder than a blaster bolt to the face.

“No, ma’am?” Thorn grew a bit sheepish at your visible rage. Oh that's right. Session. You wouldn’t get anything done, focusing on something that remained out of control for the moment. Focus on the moment, the patient before you.

You gave a deep sigh and set your holopad on the desk with a loud thump. “We’ll be revisiting this at a later date. This essentially means that none of you could possibly have a healthy work-life balance, which will be something to work on and lets me know a lot about what else we’ll be starting at. Explains a lot, honestly.”

“We do try and let a lot of the shinies and other troopers have time off. That’s why a lot of their armor is painted the same. Senators and police forces can’t tell the difference and stuff. It just doesn’t work the same once you hit the higher levels.” The Commander eventually added.

“Still, not healthy. And I’m primarily working with the command group. I take great enjoyment from taking care of my patients. I don’t intend to let this continue. I doubt it will, with Organa as chancellor.” You added, extending a hand towards Thorn. It had taken you approximately .5 seconds after entering the guard’s offices to notice that the clones responded extraordinary well to careful, offered touch. They would flinch if it was forced suddenly from outside beings other than their own, but they readily welcomed it from each other.

Thorn didn’t hesitate to catch your hand in his own and you squeezed it.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better shrink.” Commander Thorn said with a shit-eating grin. You could only sigh at him again, keeling forward to lightly bang your head on your wooden desk. Thorn amended his statement with another squeeze of your hand. He gave your arm a light tug and you took it as your cue to head over to the couch where you normally perform your sessions.

You took your career as a psychologist very seriously. The human aspect of it even more seriously. A lot of the minds you had encountered in the past had been badly beaten or incredibly battered. Previously, you had a lot of clients that dealt with public service and had no sense of work life balance. You were seeing more and more of why you had been recruited for this specific batch of clones.

However, your current boys were a little bit worse and deserved/needed a little more tender, loving care than the average patient. And so, once you had earned their trust and vice versa, you would sit shoulder to shoulder, working to establish a touch bond. You had realized that the clones often liked to watch you take your notes as well, which you deemed rather productive as it helped them stay engaged in the session. It’s not like it was doing more harm than good, them knowing what you saw on their current states. They appreciated how blunt it was on paper and often responded well to it.

You set your coffee down on the table with a sigh, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good to try and drink it during the session with Thorn.

Thorn was quick to stack the top of his armor on the chair he had previously been occupying and practically sprinted over to the couch. The moment you joined him, he looped his arm through yours and leaned his head atop yours, tapping your holoscreen as a nonverbal plea to start the session.

As soon as you opened your mouth to begin, a sharp knock on your door sounded. Thorn raised his head, probably glaring at the door, and you patted his arm lightly as an apology before getting up to answer the door.

Your body almost jolted in shock as you opened the door to familiar armor and a salt and pepper hairstyle. Horribly enough, your pulse began ringing through your ears at the look he gave you.

“Oh, um. Commander Fox. To what do I owe the pleasure?” You asked. The sigh he gave had your toes curling in your shoes, fingers balling up into fists at your sides. He glanced over your shoulder and nodded at Thorn before returning his attention to you.

“Look, Doctor. I can’t make the meeting we scheduled, so I sent you a comm wondering if we could do it right now. I didn’t get a response, so I decided to physically check up on you.” He had the decency to not glare at you, but he still avoided eye contact.

You glanced back at Thorn, who was giving you the biggest grin you had ever seen on his face. You immediately knew what he was thinking and shook your head viciously.

Thorn nodded. “You know you want to.” He mouthed. “Double session, baar’ur. Let’s go!” At least, that’s what you assumed he said. You were still getting a grasp on Mando’a, but it was your best guess.

Fox settled a hand on your shoulder and you nearly jumped out of your skin at the jolt of electricity that fizzled beneath his touch, skimming all the way to your toes and back up to your hairline. You met his eyes and almost smiled at how much warmer they seemed than your previous interactions.

“How would you feel sitting in on Commander Thorn’s session and having a joint session?” You offered carefully, pointedly trying to catch Fox’s gaze again. He continued staring at Thorn, intermittently changing his facial expression. After not receiving a response for a couple seconds, you glanced back and forth between the two, noting that the two brothers were having an eye conversation.

“Join us, Fox! It’ll be fun.” Thorn added, patting the couch to prompt Fox into moving.

“Sweet Maker, this could be my in. Holy shit, how did I overlook this?” You thought as Fox slowly nodded, entering the room and slowly closing the door. The door locked with a slight click and he turned to you for further instruction.

“If you’d like, you can sit on that chair next to your brother’s armor, or you can join us on the couch.” You offered, nodding towards the empty chair and the open area next to Thorn.

Fox tilted his head to the side, clearly weighing his options.

“Why wasn’t there a couch in my last session, huh Doc?” He asked, the barest hint of a smile teasing at the corner of his lips. You wiggled your fingers in anticipation, wondering if this would be the session where you would get a full blown smile from him. Oh, you can just see the little crow’s feet that would bunch up in the corner of his eyes, the little sparkle that seemed to come from all of his brothers when they smiled, the pure elation plastered on that gorgeous golden brown skin.

“You refused to come to my office, Commander.” You responded, moving to come back and sit next to Thorn. The second your rear hit the plush couch, the commander seated there wrapped an arm around yours, resuming the position as you balanced your holopad on your knee.

“Do I have to sit that close?” Commander Fox crossed his arms at the sight of his brother and you. His tone was rather patronizing and you could practically feel the judgement from across the room. He leaned back on the chair and it audibly squeaked.

“No, no. It’s just very encouraged. In order for this to be most effective, I need you to trust me. The sensation of touch releases oxytocin, or the “cuddling hormone”, which is often crucial in enforcing a bond. Touch also releases dopamine and serotonin, or “happy hormones”, which are an added bonus to both you and me.” You waved your free hand around as you explained. Thorn nodded happily next to you.

“Come join us, vod. The sessions are magical when you lean into them.” Thorn encouraged. Apparently, it was enough, because Fox moved to sit down approximately a foot away from you, folding himself in an uncomfortable looking position in the corner of the couch.

Thorn groaned at him. “Get some of that armor off, you di’kut. It’s uncomfortable as hell. At least take your shoes off man!” He said, setting his head atop yours in a way he could shoot Fox a look without you seeing. Fox shot the two of you a heady glare, something that made you wince and Thorn chuckle.

After yet another heaving sigh, Fox toed his boots off, setting them neatly by the edge of the couch and settling in a bit further, grabbing a pillow to hug to his chest. Slowly, carefully, he slid his socked feet towards you before pressing them against your thigh. Not wanting him to scare away quite yet, you slowly reached out to gently pat his calf, sending him a giant smile that he refused to acknowledge.

Oh, you felt like you would actually get some stuff done this session. It was a good feeling. Almost as good as the warmth emanating from the men at your side.